Sorry it's taken so long for me to upload this chapter! Luckily it's a relatively lengthy one! I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Seven - Say goodbye

Okay. It's now or never.

Tomoyo quickly scanned the area for any signs of movement.

None.

She took a deep breath, slowly sat up, and wriggled out of Hakkaku's arms. Steadying her breathing, she jumped over the two men and ran for the exit. Thankfully, it wasn't blocked, since everyone was fast asleep. She was curious as to where Koga was but was equally grateful that he wasn't there. Her attention was drawn back to the snoring pair. For some reason, she felt a slight tinge of guilt for leaving them without saying goodbye.

"I'm sorry. Yuki needs me." she sighed, as she ran out of the darkness and into the broad daylight.

In the snowy mountains, a lone grave sat frozen in the bitter coldness.

Koga dropped to his knees and laid down a bunch of chrysanthemums on top of it. He wore a sorrowful expression, and rested his head in his hands. His eyes prickled and he could feel the tears building up behind his eyelids.

It was over now. It was too late. He had failed her.

He didn't deserve her.

He had just watched as she stood there, trapped and afraid. He had tried. But all he could do was watch as she burned, and fell into ashes.

He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth as memories he tried to forget resurfaced.

It was too late now.

"Ginta!" Hakkaku shouted as he ran around the cave like a crazy dog.

Ginta yawned loudly and rubbed his eyes. "What? I was sleeping, y'know."

"Tomoyo and Koga are missing!"

"Eh?!" Ginta jumped up, completely ignoring how tired he was, "You don't think…?"

They both sweat dropped.

"He ate her?!"

Right on cue, Koga strolled into the cave, a wild boar thrown over his shoulder. "Yo, guys. I caught a…" He looked up at his friends shocked expressions. "… What is it?"

They cleared their throats and stuttered, "W-Where's Tomoyo?"

"Hmm… what?" Koga cocked his eyebrow and threw the boar onto the cold, hard floor.

"You didn't... eat her? Did you?" Ginta murmured.

Koga stared at the pair in confusion.

"Eat her? Wait. Are you saying that the redhead is gone?"

"Well—um—yes." they replied, avoiding his burning gaze.

Koga sighed and turned towards the exit in anger.

"Koga! Where are you going?"

"To find her. Where else would I be going?"

"You're actually going after her?" Ginta smiled gleefully, and started following his companion.

"Obviously," Koga grunted, "She took the damn stone with her."

"Oh… But, y'know, it does belong to her, so…"

Koga stopped and snarled. "That stone is the reason all this happened! It's to blame! It's why… why… she isn't here anymore… It's all that stone's fault."

The cave was engulfed in silence.

Breaking it, Koga walked forward and called one of the wolves over. "Everyone split up and find her," And then he ran, following the young girl's scent.

How many hours has it been? Five? Will I lose daylight soon?

Tomoyo stressed as she pushed on through the heavy snow. Thankfully, she had stolen one of the furs from the cave, therefore her arms were no longer completely bare. However, she had lost one of her shoes a few miles back. This made it slightly more difficult to run since her feet were absolutely freezing.

Her eyes widened with a sudden burst of hope. What was that, up ahead?

Was it… her way home?

Finally, she could see her sister. However, thinking about that only made her worry for Yuki's safety more.

She had to hurry.

Tomoyo grabbed the door handles and pulled herself out of the snow and into the warmth of the wardrobe. But then she turned around and came face to face with someone familiar.

"Where the hell is that stupid woman?" Koga snapped to no one in particular.

The wolf by his side rolled its eyes at its master's short-temper.

Koga sliced a tree in half and threw it across the field, when suddenly, something caught his attention. It was small, but it was there.

A scent.

"Tomoyo, where are you going?" Hakkaku asked, sadly.

"Look… I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye, but I had to. I couldn't risk it."

He looked down to the ground and lightly kicked some snow.

Finally, Koga found her. She was with someone. He looked past the tree but stopped when he saw Hakkaku.

"She needs me," Tomoyo whispered.

"Who does?" Hakkaku asked.

"My sister. She's all alone with… with him."

"Who?"

She sighed. "Ren. Our brother."

"What's wrong with her being alone with her brother?"

"Because… he doesn't have a great temper."

"Neither does Koga."

Koga cursed him under his breath.

He would get him back for that.

"No. Not like that. He… breaks things."

"So does Koga!"

"He hurts me! Okay? … He hurts me."

"… What do you mean?"

She dropped to the floor and covered her face with her hands. "He… He…"

Tears rolled down her cheeks and down onto the cold snow. Hakkaku's eyes opened wide in shock and he sat down next to her. "Hey, don't cry," He wiped one of the tears from her face, causing her to glance up at his smiling face.

Koga looked away. Why was it pissing him off? Why did he want to pull them away from each other?

Why did he want to swap places with Hakkaku?

"Why am I still stood behind this goddamn tree?" he muttered to himself.

"He hits me… when he's angry," she carried on, "And I'm scared that if I'm not there, he'll take his rage out on her instead."

"I understand." Hakkaku grabbed her hand and pulled her up. "Now quickly, go before Koga gets here."

Too late, Koga thought, resting his back against the tree.

"Thank you, Hakkaku," she smiled, and then hugged him. He blushed but hugged her back, inhaling her unusual yet gorgeous scent.

Koga's snarled loudly.

She eventually released him and went further into the wardrobe, closing the door behind her. Hakkaku then placed his forehead on the door and sighed deeply. "What am I doing?" he muttered to himself.

"I was about to ask you the exact same thing."

Hakkaku turned and came face to face with a very furious youkai.

Is a romance blossoming? Review!