AN: Greetings and salutations! I'm LinaStar and this is my first Furuba fic so go easy on me if you're going to review! (which I'd appreciate very much!) The story starts out slow, but it gets better I promise! So please read and enjoy!
GONE…?
Chapter 1- Without a Trace
"Hey, has anybody seen Tohru-kun?" Shigure Sohma asked of the other residents that he graciously shared his house with.
Yuki was sitting at the table playing a game with Momiji and Hatsuharu, who had come to visit earlier in the day. "She went out to meet Uo-san and Hana-san a few hours ago, why?"
"Oh, no reason, it just seems awfully quiet around here without her," he said before setting of to work on his three weeks overdue manuscript for Mii, his editor.
"Haven't seen Kyo around either come to think of it. Then again, it is raining pretty hard out there, he's probably cooped up in his room or something," Yuki added.
"That guy is always disappearing, just like cats always do. He'll be back when dinner time comes around," Haru said, laying his tiles down. "And I think I win."
"Aww, darn. That's the third time in a row!" Momiji groaned. "Can we play again?"
Yuki glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already a quarter past eight. "Hmm, that's strange. Honda-san should be back by now. She knows I can't cook, and Shigure isn't much better. Then again, I'm sure she's just having fun."
As the other two cleared the table, Yuki looked out the window. The rain was coming down in sheets and the day grew darker as the clouds rumbled ominously. I shouldn't worry so much about her. She can take care of herself. But still…
Slow, heavy footsteps could be heard on the stairs and soon a boy of 17 was seen in the doorway. "Hungry… Where is she? I want dinner."
"Tohru's not here yet," Momiji answered brightly.
"Well where the heck is she?" he demanded. "I'm hungry!"
"Well you can cook then, because she isn't here to tend to your every desire," Yuki said coldly, annoyed by Kyo's very presence.
"Shut up you dumb rat! At least I can cook, unlike you!"
They glared at each other, gold against violet, burning fury against cool disdain. Haru and Momiji stared at them for a minute with calm expressions. After all, this sort of argument was continually played out each and every day. Yet they would never know who would win this round because just then there was a hurried knock on the door. For a second longer they stood firmly, but then the moment was lost as they heard Shigure's voice in the hallway. They couldn't hear what was being said, but his tone seemed worried. Maybe Mii had come back to haunt him again. She wasn't too happy with his continual slacking off and she had come to call several times trying to get him to write. She had even gone so far as to lock him in his room just to have her manuscript. However, that technique hadn't worked too well and in the end Shigure had convinced her that he would write better in "more open spaces", so she had left only after threatening to cancel his paycheck unless he gave it all he had in finishing his work. One by one, the poked their heads out into the hall to see who had arrived. The mystical eyes that met theirs could only belong to one person. "Hanajima-san?" Yuki asked. "What are you doing here?"
"I've come looking for Tohru-kun. We waited for her for hours but she never showed up. I thought she might have forgotten our plans, but it seems that she is not here either. Would you happen to know where she is?" her voice was calm and filled with that strange supernatural tone, but she seemed to know that all was not well.
"She… she said that she was going to meet you and that she would be back by dinner. You don't think something's happened to her, do you?"
"I'm afraid the electromagnetic waves around this house are too great for me to decipher them clearly, but I feel that there is something terribly wrong. Something that must be dealt with quickly. Will you help me search for her?"
"Of course we will," Shigure hastily agreed.
"Yeah, let's go," Kyo agreed, already halfway out the door as he spoke.
"Where is Uotani-san?" Yuki asked as they grabbed umbrellas and joined Hana down the path.
"She went out looking for Tohru. Most likely Arisa has gone to search in the park and Grandpa Honda's house."
Shigure took Momiji with him to look in the main house, and Haru said he would stay at Shigure's and call to the Hot Springs house, the beach house, and all the other houses that the Sohmas owned. Yuki and Hana went to search the school, and Kyo said something about going to check out the building she worked at some nights.
"I really hope that she just forgot to call and say she would be late," Yuki panted as he and Hana raced back to the school.
Three hours later, they regrouped back at Shigure's empty handed. Not a trace of Tohru Honda had been found. Nobody had seen her since three o'clock that afternoon. Naturally, all of the Sohmas had been notified of her disappearance. Shigure had told Akito, as was his duty, but the head of the house had merely sneered and said, "It's about time she left, too bad Hatori didn't erase her memory first. As long as she doesn't tell anyone about the Curse, then I don't care what happens to her." Hana and Yuki had bumped into Uo as well upon entering the school grounds and she had turned up no clue on their missing friend's whereabouts. It was with a heavy heart that Shigure finally called off the search until morning. "There isn't anything else that he can do for her tonight. I think the best thing we can do right now is get some sleep and in the morning we'll go look for her again."
"How's that gonna help her?" Kyo insisted. "She's out there somewhere Shigure, and we've gotta find her!"
"I understand Kyo, but we've tried tonight and come up with nothing, I'm just hoping that things will look brighter in the morning. Now please, don't argue for once in your life. Saki-chan, Arisa-chan, would you like to stay here for the night or will you be returning to your homes?"
"We'll meet you here in the morning," Uo replied, with a wave of her hand. She seemed close to tears. "C'mon Hana, you can crash at my place tonight." So they disappeared into the rain once again.
Slowly and reluctantly, the Sohma boys trudged back into the house, wet, cold, hungry, and tired. However, none of these really mattered. For they were all little things that could be abated. As Kyo had readily pointed out, having Tohru back could not be easily brought about.
"Haru, can I sleep in your room tonight?" Momiji asked quietly, half asleep already.
"Sure," he replied, glad to have company on such a dreary night.
Alright! You made it to the end of the chapter! If you liked it, please review. If you didn't, please feel free to tell me why! (I like constructive criticism, could you tell?)