Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket, and I do not follow the Manga.

Chapter 4: Lost and Found

Kyou was searching for Kagura, he still hadn't found her, but he had the feeling he was on the right track. His feelings were confirmed when he spotted a nearby strawberry plant with a scrap of fabric attached, "Looks like this came from something that Kagura might wear."

He snatched the fabric from the plant and stuck it in his pocket. Hopefully this wasn't a sign that there had been a struggle. There weren't any broken branches or any other sign of a struggle. So she had probably just stopped to gather up some berries. She must be starving having been gone for so long.

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Kagura hadn't walked too much further in her search for food. She was now curled up under a tree, shivering slightly as she slept. Her stomach growled again, there was a stream running past this tree and it was full of fish, but she had no means to catch them. She had decided that sleep would take her mind off her hunger, and that after a nap she would wade her way across the stream, and continue to search for food.

The scenery was beautiful, but she hadn't taken the time to notice. The stream trickled past; its crystal waters tumbled around rocks. Trees were thick on the edge of a small clearing on the water's bank, and there leaves fluttered in the breeze, as did the grass of the clearing. The sky was glowing with the colors of twilight, and the temperature was dropping slightly as the warmth of the sun began to sink into the horizon.

The boars which had been comforting her had dispersed, and she was completely alone, or so she thought. The girl had no idea that a certain orange haired adolescent was hot in her trail.

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Kyou heard the sound of running water, he was getting thirsty, but wasn't willing yet to pause for a drink. He was walking past the spot where the water passed closest to his path, when he thought he noticed the sound of a soft whimper. He froze as he tried to focus on that sound, which way was it coming from? He called out to try and get the attention of his cousin; he knew it had to be her, "Kagura?"

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Kagura opened her eyes. Sitting up and stretching, she looked around. Had she heard someone calling her name? It couldn't have been, she must have been dreaming. She sighed and leaned back against the tree, closing her eyes once again.

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The cat heard a sigh. It was close, on the water side, right on the other side of the row of trees he is walking past. He ran the short distance to the clearing at the water's edge, and there beneath the tree, eyes closed, was Kagura.

His eyes widened, there she was. Was she breathing? God, let her be breathing, he thought as he approached her, "Kagura!"

The brown haired girl opened her eyes and looked at him in surprise, "K-Kyou? What are you doing here?"

"Well that's a stupid question. I came looking for you. You have the family worried sick." Kyou crossed his arms and tried to act like he wasn't really concerned.

Kagura blinked up at him, a little surprised, but glad that he cared enough to look for her. Then she remembered the way that he acted around Tohru. It was obvious to anyone who paid attention how he felt for the girl who had come to know the family's secret. As she turned her head away, her eyes threatened again to fill up with tears.

"What the hell is wrong now? I came to take you home! You don't have to be lost out here anymore!" Kyou looked at her, a little confused by the fact that she didn't seem to want to see him? Since when did Kagura not want to be around him, painfully declaring her love?

"Oh, gee…" Kagura felt terribly guilty for making people worry. But she couldn't go back, she wasn't ready to deal with Kyou and Tohru yet, "I…I don't think I'm going back…"

"What? Why not? Are you hurt? Don't you think you'll be able to walk?" Kyou stepped towards her and looked her over for any obvious sign of injury.

Kagura continued to avoid his gaze, her tone bland as she spoke, "I just don't want to go back yet. I'm fine. Sorry if I worried you."

"Who said I was worried? You can't stay here, though. You don't have food or anything." Kyou sat beside her, still trying to figure out what was wrong, and why she wouldn't look at him.

"Well…I can't go back. There really isn't a reason to, now is there?" She wrapped her arms around herself as a breeze sent a slight chill up her spine.

"What?" Kyou had thought he was her reason for, well, for everything. He noticed her shivering and pulled of his own sweatshirt, handing it too her. He had a t-shirt on underneath, and could resist the cold fairly well anyway.

Kagura took the sweatshirt, but didn't put it on, she didn't answer him either. She was trying very hard not to let herself cry. Just being around him and knowing she couldn't have him was too painful to bear.

Kyou sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Ok fine, I admit…I was a little worried. There, better?"

"Just head back to Shigure's house, tell them all I'm fine, and leave me alone…" Her voice cracked on the word 'alone', "I'm sure Tohru's worried about you, staying out so late."

"First, everyone's out late. We're all looking for you. Second, Tohru's more worried about you, she'd be out her looking too if Yuki hadn't stopped her cuz he thought you got kidnapped. And third, what does Tohru even have to do with any of this?" Kyou questioned his friend, who was on the verge of tears.

"Everything!" Kagura said, finally sobbing, unable to hold it back any longer, "S-sometimes I just…I j-just…" But she couldn't speak through the tears.

Kyou blinked in concern. Tohru had upset Kagura, but the dense cat still didn't understand what his friend had done to hurt the boar. He put an arm hesitantly around the girl, trying to get her to stop crying, "Oh…come on now! Don't cry! Geeze!"

But Kagura didn't stop. She continued to sob, her face buried in her love's shirt.

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Momiji sat on the couch in Shigure's house, watching as Tohru paced. From the window, to the wall, then back to the window, where she would pause and look out, searching for any signs that Kagura was on her way, or that the search was over, and her friends returning. The blond little boy put his hands behind his head as he spoke, "You know why I think she left?"

Tohru stopped and looked at the rabbit, shaking her head as she sat beside him on the couch, "N-no. Why do you think she left Momiji?"

"I think she's jealous." Momiji said as he hopped off the couch and made his way to the window, gazing out at the painted horizon.

"Jealous? Why?" Tohru asked as she folded her hands in her lap and looked at the little German boy.

"Well, I don't want to make you feel guilty, but I think she's jealous of you. You know Kagura's had her heart set on Kyou. When she sees you and him together, getting so close, I guess she must figure that he likes you the way she wants him to feel about her. I mean, just imagine, watching the one person you've loved most for so long drift away and fall for another person. It can't feel good. When they find her, I think you two need to have a talk." He turned to face her, and saw her eyes were full of tears, "I'm sorry, Tohru! I didn't mean to make you cry!"

Tohru shook her head and stood, "N-no…it's ok. You're right though! Poor Kagura! She must feel terrible if that's what she thinks!" Tears streamed from the emotional girl's eyes, "I promise I'll talk with her as soon as I can!"

"Good," Momiji said with a small smile, "I'm sure that will make everyone feel better." He skipped over to Tohru and gave her a hug to make her feel better, poofing himself into a rabbit in the process. Tohru held the bunny in her arms and continued to cry softly, "Don't cry Tohru…"

"O-ok…I'll try n-not too."

Another chapter done, since I received a few nice comments on the conversation Yuki and Haru had; I decided to add another one, this time, obviously, between Tohru and Momiji. If there are any other characters whose thoughts you would like to see on the issue, don't hesitate to ask. Oh, and I apologize if any of them seemed OOC. I thought the conversation between Tohru and Momiji worked, because Momiji is good at seeing what other people feel. He just closes his eyes and can imagine what anyone is going through. On the other hand, I wasn't sure because I didn't know if I could see him saying something that would so obviously make Tohru feel guilty. Anyways, there's my commentary to prevent flames. Lol.

Promise Keeper: Thank you. I'm glad you like the story. I must say, you're review style is refreshing. I love the way you point out you're fav thing about each chappie! It makes me feel good about myself, and my writing.

Lucinda the Maid: Good point on the Akito thing, And sorry if my grammatical errors confused you. Usually I'm a grammar freak, but just about sentence structure. Homophones get me all the time, cuz the spell check doesn't catch them, and I'm always doing this stuff late at night, so I don't catch it either, cuz I have a very limited time to work in.

Baka Neko: Thanks for the compliment. I like your name! A Kyou fan obviously, Or else a fan of Yuki being mean to Kyou lol!

Oz: I can't believe you've never seen a story on this pairing before! I'll admit, compared to Kyou/Tohru they're rare, but they do exist. In fact, visit this site: http/www.nekoino. it's a Kyou/Kagura site, and there's tons of fics.

NightBlue: Thank you. I tried to keep it reasonable. I've never read that book, but I think I heard part of it read at a forensics (speech and debate) tournament when I was in high school. I'll have to check it out sometime. King's a great author, even though I've only read The Green Mile so far.

Haruko Sohma: See, I've only read to book 7, so I haven't met Kureno yet. And it's not like I was saying I liked Kyou/Uo better than Kyou/Kagura. Kyou/Kagura is way better. I can just see Kyou/Uo happening too, it would be cute.

P.S. If any of you are also fans of my story And Now I Cannot Touch You, I don't know when I'll be able to update. I'm completely blank.