It hadn't taken Tohru long after she'd into the woods run after Kyo to realize that there was no way she'd catch up to him. It also didn't take her very long to realize that she had no idea where she was going. And that she could no longer see the house.
She spun around in slow circles, her eyes desperately scanning the trees for any telltale flash of red hair. Suddenly, thunder erupted loudly above her, and the skies opened up in waves of rain. Tohru gasped slightly, ducking quickly beneath one of the larger trees. Despite the warm weather, the rain felt cold down her back.
"Kyo?" She called after a moment's hesitation. "Are you out here?"
When there was no response, determination formed in her face. Her jaw line set, and her eyes sparked with willpower. She would find Kyo, she decided, even if she would have to spend the entire day searching the unfamiliar forest in the pouring rain.
Tohru nodded to herself, taking a small breath before stepping from the protection of her tree. She was soaked within minutes, her drenched hair hanging in thin strands over her shoulders. But this didn't stop her from her search, squishing through the mud and wet leaves with the look of determination still plastered on her pale face.
Meanwhile, back at the house, everyone had been roused and alerted to the situation. A mutual decision had been made to leave Haruhi asleep until the storm cleared, as she would only be upset if they were to wake her.
With Shigure as their "Leader from Afar" at the house, they split themselves into four groups of two (as it was decided that Ritsu and his mother would be better off manning the house along with Shigure). Hikaru and Kaoru would search the area near the hot springs themselves, Honey and Mori would take the woods near the driveway, Tamaki and Kyoya the center of the forest, and finally Yuki and Momiji would tackle the section directly in front of the house.
"Do you think Tohru is okay?" Momiji asked the moment he and Yuki set out.
"She had better be," Yuki's mouth formed into a tight line. "Stupid cat. If Miss Honda is hurt because of his stupidity, I'll kill him."
"You'd kill you boyfriend over Tohru?" Momiji's eyes widened. "Whoa..."
"I'm not going to say it again. He is not my boyfriend!" Yuki snapped.
"But Shigure said-"
"Do you think I don't know what Shigure said? I haven't stopped thinking about it since then."
"Whatever you say," Momiji smirked. "But seriously, do you think Tohru is okay?"
"I don't know."
"Tohruuuu?" Momiji called out suddenly, his usual volume considerably weakened under the sound of rain hitting leaves overhead and the occasional bellow of thunder.
He did this repeatedly, until his voice was thick with tears. He abruptly stopped and pressed his hands to his eyes, his lips quivering violently. Yuki stopped as well, coughed, and slowly bent down onto his knee.
"Get on," he muttered.
Not saying a word, Momiji crawled onto Yuki's back, curling his fist against his neck. Yuki rose and continued on at a much faster pace, despite Momiji's added weight on his back. His cheeks were flushed an unusual reddish color, and his eyes were bright and feverish.
They walked like that in the downpour for what felt like hours, Momiji's face buried in the back in Yuki's neck and Yuki's pace gradually building. Eventually, they reached an almost running speed, and Momiji's head snapped up.
"Yuki," he said quickly. "I know that you're really worried –trust me, so am I! But you need to slow down and really look, or else we'll get just as lost as they are. Who knows, maybe one of the other groups have already found her, and you're using up all of your strength for nothing!"
Yuki jolted to a sudden stop. Something was off. His breathing was strange and ragged, and his skin was burning hot against Momiji's. He coughed again, only this time it sounded pained and rough.
"Yuki?" Momiji tapped Yuki frantically on the shoulder. "Are you alright? Yuki?"
"We've got... to find... Miss Honda..." Yuki said fervently, his voice hoarse.
"Yuki, sit down or something!" Momiji insisted.
He jumped off of Yuki's back and onto the ground, his burgundy hat toppling off of his mass of blond curls. Yuki swayed on his feet a bit, before attempting to take a final step and collapsing entirely onto the wet forest floor. Momiji immediately ran to his side, panic beginning to set in.
"You're just tired, right? You'll be okay, right?" Momiji fretted.
Yuki looked at him through half-lidded eyes, his face flushed and his chest heaving. His breathing was growing increasingly worse, and his eyes looked glassy.
"It's an asthma attack!" Momiji realized. "We just need to get back to the house somehow," he assured Yuki, his voice cracking a bit. "You'll be okay, and so will Tohru!"
It was then that Momiji had the insidious realization that he was a very small, physically weak boy. There was no way he could get Yuki into the house without some form of help.
"Okay, just wait right here!" He tried to give Yuki a reassuring smile. "I'll be right back!"
He took off at a full sprint through the woods, searching desperately for any sign of people. It was a long while before he finally did find somebody, and when he did, a small part of him doubted they'd actually be of any help.
Tamaki and Kyoya were standing in a small clearing when Momiji caught sight of them. They had helped themselves to the spare clothes at the house, so they were wearing equally ridiculous combinations of brightly colored bedclothes. Tamaki was complaining about the rain and begging Kyoya to let him wear his robe, while Kyoya, in turn, ignored him.
"Hey, you guys!" Momiji ran up to them, out of breath and covered in mud.
"Ah, young Honey-like child!" Tamaki greeted him excitedly. "Could you please tell Kyoya that my shirt is much thinner than his is, so I should get to wear the robe?"
"You should have brought your own robe, Tamaki," Kyoya growled. "It's not my fault you didn't dress properly for the weather."
"Well I didn't know we'd be out here for this long!" Tamaki stamped his foot into the ground with a squelching sound.
"This is important," Momiji said once he semi-caught his breath. "Yuki had an asthma attack!"
"Where is he?" Kyoya asked immediately, calmly running the protocol for asthma attacks in his head. "How bad is it?"
"He's this way, I just need you two to help me get him to the house," Momiji used his arm to gesture in the general direction in which he'd left Yuki.
"Of course! We will always help someone in need!" Tamaki declared.
Momiji led them at a slightly less frenzied speed back toward Yuki, mentally ticking off landmarks he had noticed on the way over as they were passed. Tamaki lost his noble, gung-ho demeanor the moment he slipped and fell in the mud, splattering himself and leaving one slipper behind with it.
By the time they reached Yuki, he had lost conciseness and his breathing had thickened alarmingly. Kyoya immediately knelt beside him and lifted his head from the ground, the back of his hair caked with mud and dried leaves.
"We need to get him inside," he concluded coolly. "Tamaki, get his other arm."
Together, Tamaki and Kyoya managed to lift Yuki from the ground and sling his arms over their necks. Momiji walked ahead of them back to the house, although he frequently glanced over his shoulder to check on Yuki.
"This little search party has already claimed a casualty, I see?" Shigure smirked when he saw the four approaching. His sneer disappeared the moment he could get a good look at the expression on Momiji's face, however. "What happened?"
"Yuki had an asthma attack," Momiji ran the rest of the distance to the porch and grabbed hold of Shigure's kimono sleeve. "You need to get Hatori to come up here, right now!"
Shigure chewed his lip slowly, his forehead wrinkled, as if he had a thousand different thoughts running through his head but not a single one did very much for the situation.
"Momiji, the phone lines are down and the roads are blocked," he said, very slowly. "There's no way we could get any doctor here, let alone Hatori. I'm sorry, but right now, I suppose the only thing we can really do is keep him warm and dry, and hope for the best."
Author's Note: Okay, I know I don't usually do these, but I need to clear this up for you guys. Please don't worry, Yuki isn't going to die. That's all I'm going to say to make my diabolical little cliffhanger a bit more bearable. Thanks for reading! Chapter 10 will be out soon :)
Xoxox
-lubluebell
Chapter 10
