Gomen nasai! Lo siento! De sole! I am so very sorry! I have no excuse for making you all wait so long for this chapter. I could blame school (midterms, papers, finals) or Tae Kwon Do (2 hour practice three nights a week), or work (8 hour shifts during winter break five days a week), or my boyfriend (who I talk to on the phone at least once every day when we're home from the university for our winter break), but really I just had terrible writer's block. And that is no excuse. So I sat down tonight and made myself type the thing and I worked out the general twists and turns and closing of the plot. (Only a couple more chapters folks!) So again apologies to the readers and thanks for your patience and reviews!

GONE…?

Chapter 16- On the Run

As they swiftly made their way back through the darkness to the bushes, Tohru paused and glanced in the direction of Kyo's "house". This could be her only chance. She listened with all her might to the sounds of the estate, but she heard no alarm. For the moment they were safe. Uo frowned as Tohru began to head toward another low lying building, but followed her without complaint. Standing on tiptoes as before, Tohru glanced in the barred window. There was no light and so she could not tell if there was anyone inside. "Kyo?" she whispered. She waited, yet no answer came. Thinking he might be asleep, she spoke a little louder. "Kyo-kun are you there?" Still there was no answer. He wasn't there, she realized. Kyo was not a heavy sleeper, he would have awoken instantly when she called. The only explanation was that he had managed to escape. Or so she hoped because the alternative was to terrible to consider. Uo stared at her friend in the utmost of confusion but Tohru waved away the look, a pinched appearance of worry on her tired face, and tugged her friend into the greenery from whence they had come.

………………………………...

The streets were dark but for the dim orange glow of the street lamps. It was well past midnight by now, and few pedestrians and fewer cars appeared in the streets. Leaning against the solid stone of a building, Kagura and Kyo panted for breath. They had made a mad dash from the main house and had not slowed down until they were certain no one had followed them. For several minutes there was nothing but the sound of their labored breathing as they fought to slow their racing hearts. Both teens subconsciously strained their eyesight to its utmost capacity, believing they were free for the moment but still afraid that any moment they would be caught.

Finally Kyo spoke. "Well, we made it. I'm free! But… now what? Where do we go? We can't go back to your house! They'd find us there for sure! What are we going to do?" He looked to Kagura for the answer but what he found in her eyes left him feeling very lost indeed. Kagura's face had lit up in joy when he mentioned his newly acquired freedom, but when Kyo had asked what now, it seemed that she had only just realized the problem facing them. "You have no idea do you?" he asked, a hint of pleading in his voice.

"I… Well, I just haven't thought that far ahead yet. I just knew I had to get you out of there and then… that was as far as I really thought. I mean, we could come up with something… I just don't know what yet…" Kagura looked on the verge of tears at the disappointment and frustration in Kyo's face.

Kyo scratched the back of his head in irritation. "Well… look, Kagura you know that if they find out that it was you who broke me out, Akito will… well, you know… he'll go crazy and he'll hurt you. I wouldn't want you to get into any more trouble than you've already gotten yourself into. If you don't return home, everyone will know it was you. So thanks for all the help, but I want you to go home and forget you ever saw me. I'm gonna make myself disappear for awhile."

Kagura glanced up at him wide-eyed. "But… but Kyo-kun… I…" It was Kyo's turn to go wide-eyed. He recognized the signs of Kagura's emotional fit coming on and did all he could to stop it before she (loudly) beat him half to death in the street.

"Look, don't freak out okay! I'll even call you in awhile if you want! I just can't get you into anymore trouble. If you come with me you'll be dead if they catch us and they'll know it was you who set me free. Think about it. You're better off going home!"

Kagura began to tear up. After all she had done for him, he still rejected her. Of course she realized that what he was saying made sense, but it didn't matter to her if she would get into trouble. If it was for her dearest Kyo, she would take any punishment with her head held high. "But where will you go?" she asked in a small voice, trying to control her raging emotions. "I can't leave you to fend for yourself! A good wife would never do that to her husband! You don't have any money or food and it looks like it might rain! What would happen if you took sick from the weather because you have nowhere to sleep?!? I would blame myself! OH KYO!!!!" She attached herself to him and would not allow him to pry her off.

"Look, Kagura, I am NOT you husband. And you are NOT my wife! I'll figure something out though. I'll go live in the woods if I have to. Now let go, and GO HOME." He said it with such a fierce resolve that Kagura instinctively backed away. "I mean it. Keep yourself safe and don't worry so much about me all the time. You're just as bad as her sometimes, geez. Now go home and pretend like nothing happened. I'll call you in a couple weeks when things settle down if it will make you happy." He turned his back to her and Kagura knew she had lost. She also knew that she may never see him again. As he began to walk away, Kagura dug through her kitty backpack and found her wallet. She ran up behind him, spun him rather violently around, shoved some money into his hand, kissed him on the cheek and ordered him in a very loud voice which made the poor boy cringe that he be careful and not do anything stupid before stampeding away through the night.

Kyo was left standing alone in the middle of the empty street with a rather stunned and confused look on his face as he tried to piece together what in the world had just happened. After a moment however, he remembered his purpose and ducked into an alleyway to avoid being seen by unfriendly eyes. He counted the money in his hand as he walked; Kagura had given him 2000 yen. Not a lot, but enough that he could get a couple of meals and maybe a bus out of the city. The sensible part of his mind was telling him that this was both ridiculous and impossible and that he would probably end up dead on the streets in a few days, but the fearful part of his mind knew damn well that if he didn't leave he would only end up dead in Akito's arms. If he had to choose between the two the streets sounded like a nicer option. At least he would die a free man.

As he walked down a less populous road, he spotted a 24 hour convenience store and his stomach rumbled softly. But he had only the 2000 yen and so he decided to continue on. Food would have to wait until it was absolutely necessary. He had to spend wisely or he would certainly be in trouble. As he rounded a corner, glancing behind him for the three hundredth time to make sure he was not being followed, a voice whispered from the darkness to him. "Kyo Sohma."

He jumped and twisted sharply around. Several paces ahead of him was none other than Saki Hanajima, dressed all in black and looking like nothing less than a creature of the night. Her pale complexion looked even whiter in the dim light of the city. "Ha-Hanajima! What the hell?!? You scared me half to death! What are you doing here of all places at this time of night?"

"I sensed your presence and I abandoned my earlier quest to seek you out. You have been missing from school for several weeks and Tohru-kun has been worried about you although she does not tell me such things. I felt it was of the utmost importance that I return you to her." Kyo was certain that Hana's eyes were glowing in the darkness as she spoke in her soft almost monotone voice.

"Tohru? How is she? Where is she?" he demanded. Then he realized that he was the equivalent of an escaped convict at the moment. To go to Tohru would invite disaster. He had just finished telling Kagura what trouble she would be in for helping him to escape. If Kyo were to return to Tohru, Akito would certainly find him there. And Kyo couldn't very well whisk Tohru away when he had no money or home and was running away from his family. Not for the first time, Kyo was faced with the reality of his own inadequacy.

"She has gotten thinner," Hana commented, her eyes seemingly unfocused, as though she was gazing at something above his head that was vaguely intriguing. "She is living with Arisa for the moment, and she has continually told us that you and Yuki will return from the Estate soon. However, I am aware that this is most certainly untrue. Tonight I had a vision of Tohru and I was told that she would need my help with something very important. Something involving you and your family. I was on my way to her because I feared for her safety, but when I sensed you nearby, I was compelled to find you. Now that I have, you must come with me to her. She needs you. You and I are the final pieces to the puzzle she needs to resolve."

Kyo shook his head as Hana glided toward him in a most unearthly manner. "I can't," he informed her. "I… look I can't tell you why, but I can say that my family refuses to let me come in contact with her and if I go to her now… they might hurt her. I can't let that happen. She's… too important to me."

"Yet you have nowhere else to go, is that correct?" Hana asked.

"Well, I mean… wait a minute, how did you know about that?" Kyo demanded, more than a little perturbed at Hana's intrusion into his mind.

"You emit waves of loneliness and misplacement. Very well, I have decided that you will stay in my house until the moment we are required to fulfill our parts in this game of Fate. Tohru will not know of you but neither shall those you run from."

Kyo was stunned into silence. The very idea of being in Hana's house was enough to make him uncomfortable. To live there was beyond his scope of comprehension but he was certain it would be enough to scare him out of his wits permanently. He looked down at the money he still had crumpled in his fist and then back to Hana who waited with a patient but disturbing silence. In truth he had not known how he would live, but now that he had been offered a place to hide, he would be a fool to pass it up. Scary as she was, Hana seemed set in the fact that Kyo was an ally, thus he would be safe from her dempa waves for the time being. He may even get to see Tohru again. At last he nodded. He didn't know if he liked the idea that Hana knew so much about his situation but he would not ask any questions if it meant being safe from the wrath of Akito.

"All right," he told her. "I'll go with you."

A short chapter, I know, but that's all I got for you now! The next chapter will be Kyo entering the Hanajima household! Dun dun dun! Poor boy. I hope you liked it and again I'm sorry for the wait! Please leave me reviews because they make me happy! Constructive criticism, as usual, is welcome.