Warnings: Some mild violence at the end of the chapter.
Kyo let go of the window and dropped to the ground. He had to run away. It was the only way that Shishou and Tohru would be safe. It was the only way that they could live. He had considered killing himself briefly, but he knew that would hurt them more than running away. He knew without a doubt that they would be worried about him, but he rather they be worried about him than dead. Anything was better than having them dead, even if they hated him for this.
He quickly ran into the woods at the back of the house and kept running. It wouldn't take very long for someone to notice that he was gone. He needed to cover as much ground as possible quickly as possible. Shishou would come looking for him, and he would probably bring more people with him. If he could get out on the street and into the city, he would probably be safe. It didn't matter how hard this would be, how hungry or tired he got, he would have to stay away from anyone that he cared about. Everyone he cared about died because of him.
"Ayame! Shigure! Kyo's missing! I can't find him!" He didn't wait for them to answer as he ran out the door and toward the woods. Kyo was very small and couldn't have gotten very far. He was still in the woods; he had to be. He wouldn't be able to live if Kyo was gone. What if he someone managed to get into the city? There were plenty of people who would want to hurt him. Children were easy to prey upon. He could be kidnapped, hurt, and even killed. Why hadn't he stayed with him in his room? He knew Kyo was been depressed lately, he never should have left him alone. His mother's death had been laying on him heavily. Maybe he hadn't run away, maybe he was just wanting some fresh air and alone time. He could be getting worked up for no reason.
He would not have packed up his clothes if he was coming back in an hour or so. He run away. Admit to yourself, and find him. Your son ran away from you. But why? Why would he do this? Have I been doing something wrong? Does he hate me, and not want to stay with me anymore?
Kazuma pushed those thoughts out of his head and continued through the woods. He could see branches pushed down here and there, confirming his thoughts that Kyo had headed into the woods. He followed the trail, believing that he would find the child in a few minutes. He reached the edge of the trees and stopped. Kyo was nowhere to be seen. He stepped across the small clearing and onto the sidewalk, looking around. He could see no orange heads among the crowds bustling to work. It would be virtually impossible to spot him in the crowd. He was so small and everyone else was so big.
He spotted a woman walking past him. "Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you, but you have seen a little a boy with orange hair?" She gave him a puzzled look, and shook her head before walking on. Kazuma continued to stop random people and ask if they had seen Kyo. No one had. An hour later, most of the crowds had disappeared with no one having seen a little boy with orange hair. None of them had even seen a little boy, period. Kazuma was getting desperate, panic gripping his chest, making it hard to breath. His throat, eyes, and nose were stinging, tears begging to be shed.
He jumped as someone laid a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around, hoping it was someone who could tell him something about where Kyo might be. Shigure was standing behind him, a pitying expression on his face. "Did you have any luck?" Kazuma blurted out, eyes and voice frantic. Shigure sadly shook his head, serious for once.
Kyo could be anywhere. He was probably wondering the streets while tramps peered out from alley ways, imagining the best way to kidnap him. Kyo would be touched if anyone like that got a hold of him. Then he would probably never trust anyone again. It would add another scar to his life. What if they beat him? Starved him? What if they never found him, and he was to wonder all his life what had happened to his child?
"Kazuma, try to calm down, and think clearly. Have you checked the dojo yet? He might've gone somewhere that's familiar to him. Children who run away often at least visit places where they're comfortable. Sometimes they stay there." Kazuma nodded, immediately latching onto the idea that Kyo was safe and sound at the dojo. That was it. Kyo was at the dojo, simply waiting on him to come and get him. Maybe that was why the child had run away. He's testing my love for him. He wanted to see if I loved him enough to try to find him. He had been asking me if he was being a bother. Maybe he's only testing that.
The man allowed himself to be led away by Shigure as they called a cab and drove to the dojo, where Kazuma was certain the Kyo would be.
Kyo was, in fact, not at the dojo, but wondering the streets like his surrogate father feared. He had been scared of all the grownups walking around and had gone into a store and waited until they had disappeared. He hadn't seen Kazuma looking for him, or him and Shigure getting into a car and driving away. Kyo had enjoyed looking around the candy shop, eyes focused on only the candy surrounding him. He hadn't spared a second glance out the store window.
The five-year-old was now walking down the sidewalk; looking around, backpack on his back. He had a little bit of money with him, small fist curled around it in his pocket. He was feeling much better than when he had been at Shigure's. He couldn't call it home anymore. The streets would be his home now, he decided. He had seen homeless people before. He was going to find some that he live nearby, and maybe borrow some of their food until he got the hang of living in the streets. He was going to have to get out of the city first that way no one would find him. He figured that if walked until it was dark that he would be out of the city by then and be safe.
At first, he had been nervous about crossing the big streets. Kazuma hadn't allowed him to do that by himself. He had dashed the nervousness away, reminding himself that he was alone now, and that he didn't have to listen to what Kazuma said anymore. He wasn't with him, and he never would be again.
Kyo was…what was the word he was looking for… he was enjoying himself. It felt nice to explore the city, to look at all the building and people, without anyone telling him where to go. This would fun, he decided. He didn't need any adults. He could take care of himself.
Kazuma leaped out of the cab and ran into the dojo, yelling for Kyo. He had left someone in charge to keep it open, and there were about ten students there practicing. He asked them all if they had seen Kyo. They all said they hadn't seen him. Kyo's hiding, he thought, somewhere in the dojo. It's just another game of hide and seek. He's somewhere, hiding.
Two hours later, after he and Shigure had searched every inch of the dojo, Kyo was still missing. Okay, so he's not here. Shigure said run away children are often somewhere familiar, so we just need to search familiar places and we'll find him. Simple as that.
Shigure turned to him as he hung up his cell phone. "Ayame and Yuki went the kids' high school, but no one has seen him. Tohru is also helping now, but I think we should consider that he did go into the city. That's where we need to start searching." Panic gripped him tighter, nearly stopping his breath.
"But you said that run away children are often somewhere familiar." His eyes plead with Shigure to tell him this was true, that it would be that easy to find the small boy.
"Sometimes they visit them, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they stay, sometimes they don't. We've searched everywhere that's familiar to him that we know of. Our only other choice now is to search the city."
Kazuma felt his heart drop to his feet. His little boy was somewhere in the big city, all alone, with only a few changed of clothes, and even less money. They couldn't search the whole city. There wasn't enough of them. How could they ever find him?
Kyo was getting tired, his feet ached horribly, and hungry. He bought an ice cream cone from a street vendor, happily licking it as he continued walking. He spotted a park and immediately headed for it. He could sit down and even play! He would have to be careful about girls though. He had to stay away from girls. No one could find out his secret.
He sat down on the bench and sighed. His feet had never hurt so much in his life. He knew that walking so much could cause so much pain? He finished his ice cream cone before looking around. It was a good size park with three different playgrounds. One was directly in front of him with a jungle gym, monkey bars, four slides, ten swings, and a see-saw. Kyo didn't even consider anything but the swings. He contently swung for an hour before going over to the slides and the various things around them. There was a swinging bridge that he amused himself with.
Most of the children there were all a year or more younger than he. They all decided that Kyo was the "big kid" and had to be treated respectfully. Kyo entertained them by making the swinging bridge arc out as they squealed with delight. This lasted another hour before they all became bored with him. He could see some of the parents giving him suspicious looks. Maybe coming to the park wasn't such a good idea. The parents of the other kids where bound to notice that he had no adult with him. He was old enough to be in school, and they were definitely going to be wondering about why a school boy wasn't in school and had no adult with him.
He began to walk out of the park, down the paved walkway, as a man stepped in his way a few feet down blocking the whole path way. I'll just walk around him on the grass. He stepped off the walkway, looking down. When he lifted his head, he discovered that the man had moved also, still blocking his way. Kyo stopped, trying to think of what to do. Should he simply ask the man to move? He didn't seem menacing, or scary. He looked nice and friendly, smiling at the child openly. Kyo cautiously approached him, Shishou's voice ringing in his ears.
Don't ever, ever, ever, never, never, never, ever talk to strangers, understand?
Kyo had nodded his head at the time, and promised ever, ever, ever, ever, never, never, never, ever to talk to strangers. He told the voice to go away, and reminded himself that Shishou wasn't here, and he was never going to see him. The orange haired kid, saddened at that thought. He was going to miss Shishou, but he would rather miss him than to be responsible for his own death.
The man was still smiling kindly, and motion to him to come closer. Kyo went forward more until he was standing at the man's feet, craning his neck to see him. The kept his smile in place while scooping Kyo off the ground. A squeak of surprise and alarm reached the man's ears. "Now what's a pretty little thing like you doing out here all alone? You know those parents were starting to wonder about you. You should be in school, yet you're not, and you appear to have no parents with you. My name is Seth. What's yours?"
The five-year-old bit his lip, thinking. The man, Seth, seemed nice enough, but he knew appearances could be deceiving. Yet being with him solved the problem of the other children's parents wondering about him. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to tell him his name. "My name's Kyo," he said quietly. Seth nodded, his blonde-brown hair moving with the movement. Kyo noticed that the man was rather pale and had a very eastern look about him. Maybe he was visiting the country.
"So, Kyo, what are you doing out here all alone?" Kyo now recognized his European accent, even though his Japanese was very good. His were a light blue-gray color. His arms were hard and muscular against the child's small body. Kyo looked down and realized how tall the man was. Shishou was not this tall; he was never so far from the ground when his father had held him. Kyo was so busy studying the man's features that he forgot about answering. "Has the cat got your tongue?" This snapped him back to attention, wanting to roll his eyes at the man's question. He couldn't count how many times he had heard that one.
Should he tell the man the truth? Would he make him go back to Shigure's? Could he make him go back home? "I ran away from home." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, instantly regretted. He should have made something up. What if this man wanted to hurt him? Kyo hadn't noticed until that moment that they were moving, already out of the park and back on the sidewalk. He looked back at Seth's face as fear wrapped it's cold fingers around his body, causing him to shiver in the bright daylight.
Seth's smile was firmly in place, but it was no longer friendly. It was malicious and evil. Kyo wanted to run and hide. His eyes were no longer warm and friendly. They were dark, cold, and hungry. "That's good. I like little boys who run away from their homes.
Kazuma was about to have a mental breakdown. He had spent the last two hours at the police office describing Kyo's appearance to them while Shigure gave them a picture they had taken since Kyo had been turned into a little child again. He had almost decided not to go to the police, not wanting Akito to find out that Kyo was missing. He considered Akito to be a spoiled child that had no power over him, but he knew the member of the zodiac feared him. He didn't want Akito to blame Shigure, Ayame, Yuki, or even Hatori for his disappearance. He did know that once he got Kyo back, Akito was not coming near him. No doubt Akito would want to punish Kyo for running away, but if there was any punishing to be done, he was going to make sure that Akito would have no part in it. He would deal with Kyo when and if the time came.
They had called the main house and told Kagura what was going on. She had immediately agreed to help them look, as did her mother. They had gone back to the high school and got Haru and Momiji out to help them look. Shigure was currently calling Kisa and Hiro's school to see if they would be willing to help hand out posters with Kyo's picture on them. Yuki and Haru were currently doing that. They had all agreed that they were last two Kyo would come to if any of them saw him.
Kazuma headed toward the park hoping that Kyo had stopped by them to play. He had an arm full of flyers to hand out to people. He walked into the first park he came to and immediately went over to the parents who were sitting and watching their children play. His heart leapt as someone recognized Kyo.
"Yes, he was here about an hour ago. He was leaving with some man as I was coming into the park. I thought the man was a relative somehow." Kazuma tried to tell himself not to get his hopes up. The man could be anyone, he could be someone bad who was hurting Kyo at this very moment.
"What did the man look like?"
"He looked very western, brown-blonde hair, pale eyes, and very tall. He seemed to be friendly enough. The child, you said his name was Kyo, looked slightly uncomfortable with him, but there could be a million reasons for that. If I had known he was missing, I would've called the police," she said apologetically.
"It's okay, this helps a lot. Did you see which way they went? How long ago did they leave?"
"About an hour, and I think they went right. I'm so sorry, I really hope you find him." Kazuma nodded, thinking only that Kyo had been here at least an hour ago and had left with a man. The police had given him a cell phone to call them on if he found out anything. He thanked the woman while dialing the police to give them the man's description. He groaned as he hung up the phone and went back to the park, praying that the woman was still there. They wanted to talk to her and get a better description of the man. He caught her just as she was leaving, her daughter swinging off her arm. She agreed to go down the police station and give them a description immediately. He thanked her generously before going right, searching the crowds for a tall Eastern, brown-blonde haired man.
"If you try to escape, make any sound, or movement I will cut you with the knife that I have in my pocket, understand? The more you struggle, the more it will hurt. Of course, sometimes, I like a struggle." Kyo flinched back, tears stinging his eyes. Suddenly, all he wanted was to be at home snuggled safely in bed with Shishou's breathing less than a foot away. He didn't care of Shishou was in danger because of him. He needed Shishou, and he needed him now, to save him. Running away had been a very, very, very, very, very bad idea.
Seth was taking him into a building and walking up the stairs. The man's hand was on the back of his neck, pressing his face into the soft material of his shirt. Kyo couldn't stop his tears. He wanted Shishou; he wanted his daddy.
Kyo heard a door open, but kept his head on Seth's shoulder afraid of what the man would do if he removed it without permission. He had already had his thigh pinched extremely hard to looking around. It was still stinging quite painfully. "Life your head up" Kyo obeyed without a second though. Seth's voice was calm and nice again, soothing almost. Kyo almost lost his balance as he was sat down on the ground as Seth kneeled down to his height. "If you're a very good boy, and don't cause any trouble I might let you eat dinner with me, okay?" Kyo nodded his head, something he had learned was the only right response. "Do you see that door over there? Turn and look at it." Kyo did as he was told. "I want you to go into the room and not come out until I tell you to. No matter what you hear, or how long it is, you are not going to leave the room, understand?" Kyo nodded again, fear consuming him, making it hard to breath as Seth began to remove his belt.
The first slap landed hard on his back causing to cry out in pain and surprise. "Shut up!" Seth bellowed. "I'll beat you within an inch of your life if you make another sound, understand?" Kyo managed to nod his head despite the pain. "Now walk to the room." Kyo began walking, hoping that Seth would leave him alone, but Seth was determined to make the walk to the room the most painful Kyo had ever endured. Hit with the buckle of the belt rained down constantly all over his body. Kyo knew he would be black and blue in a few hours.
He collapsed into the pile of dirty blankets in the room, crying silently. Seth shut the door without a word casting the small child into darkness.
Kazuma wanted to die. They had discovered whom the man was that had taken Kyo from the park. The police had been hunting him for years. He went around parks looking for children who were alone and easy prey. His name was Seth Locker, born in Great Britain and moved to Japan ten years ago. The children he took always turned up dead near hospitals, beaten to death and starved.
Author's Note: Wow, this is long. I think this makes up for the short chapters. I will try to post again soon, I promise. Habitat is building my mom, my sister, and I a house so I don't know how much I will have to work on that, and lucky me, I have English Honors 1st semester and now have to read a really boring book in just a little over a week, which I don't want to do. My school starts August 7th, and I just got my schedule today. 1st semester is REALLY crappy. I have all my hard classes, and GYM! So I will do my best to update as quickly as possible, and to get out as many chapter as I can before school starts. THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS! I HAVE 106! PLEASE REVIEW!