Hello everyone! I have a very long chapter here for you! I'm trying to be timely with my posts, but as I have said before, it is difficult to keep on a particular schedule. Thank you so much to those of you who have been reading since the beginning and have been leaving me lovely reviews! I really appreciate them. As for you people who read and don't review (you know who you are), PLEASE review! I am a feedback enthusiast and if I get no reviews I feel like I'm not doing my job because no one likes the story… :(

GONE…?

Chapter 17- No Better Time to Bleed

Shigure woke suddenly, but remained motionless, trying to discover what had roused him. It was still dark, and he was alone in his room in the Estate, so far as he could tell. However, his canine-like senses were buzzing with apprehension. Something was out of place. Carefully, he rolled over and searched the darkened room with trained eyes. Satisfied that he was indeed alone, he pulled his kimono closer and softly crawled out of bed. It was chilly this morning, he thought to himself as his bare feet tapped across the polished wood floor. He put an ear to the door before silently sliding it open. There was no one around. He padded along to the window and saw the sun was only just rising, the sky now a deep blue instead of a thick, hazy black.

Still the feeling of wrongness persisted and Shigure pulled himself away from the window and wandered back down the hall, stopping for long moments at each door to listen for… well anything out of the ordinary, really. He heard nothing. It was too early for the maids to be up yet, Yuki was sound asleep, there was no noise from Akito's chambers, and yet, something was amiss. Shigure stopped and scratched his head. He had reached the end of the hall now and was still unable to detect what was causing this strange sensation. He was not usually an early riser and would have liked very much to go back to bed. He stood there in the dark for a moment longer, his hair tousled and his kimono lopsided. Finally, trying to brush off the strange sense of foreboding, Shigure turned to head back to his room. It was only then that he heard the quiet cry of dismay.

He immediately pulled open the outer door. In the misty haze of early morning, he saw a young woman dashing frantically toward him. He could see she was one of the maids by the color of her kimono. "Ah! Shigure-san!" she panted when she saw him. "Please! Somebody must be informed! I… I don't know how it happened, and I'm sure to be punished for it!" she rambled, cringing and wringing her hands together as she came to a stop in front of the perplexed man.

"What is it?" Shigure demanded sharply, very much out of character from his usual patient and friendly nature. "What's happened?"

"T-The Cat!" she stammered. "I… I went to bring him his morning meal and the door was open! I have the keys, so I don't know how he managed it, but…"

"He's gone," Shigure finished for her as she hung her head in shame. "Oh dear. Akito will not be pleased to hear this." The maid trembled at the name of the mysterious head of the Sohmas.

"Please, forgive me! Tell Akito-sama it was not my fault, oh please!"

Shigure sighed. "Don't worry, I'll handle this. Run along and continue whatever you were doing." The girl still shook slightly, but she bowed deeply and said, "Oh thank you Shigure-san. I apologize for troubling you!" before hurrying away.

Shigure was left to collect his thoughts. So Kyo had managed to escape. Not bad for only having been imprisoned for two weeks. Naturally, he had not done it alone. Shigure knew better than that. But the question was, who had let him out? And where had they gone? Knowing that Akito would only be more upset if Shigure did not bring the news at this very moment, the Dog whined to himself and then turned on his heel and stepped quickly to the Head's chambers.

………………………………...

Yuki started awake as he heard a loud crash and a shriek of anger from the room down the hall. He quickly pulled on a shirt and darted out into the hall to hear Shigure trying to yell over the furious shouts of Akito.

"Akito, calm down, we'll find him and bring him back, all right?"

"I'll kill her! I'll kill her I'll kill her I'll kill her! Let go of me Shigure, I'm going to find that Honda bitch and kill her! She's behind this I know she is! She thinks she can just take what's rightfully mine? I'll show her! She will suffer for what she's done!" There was another crack and a yelp that sounded like it was from Shigure before the doors burst open and Akito swept into the hallway, a gleam of malice in those dark eyes. Yuki hurried to get out of Akito's way, but the Head of House grabbed him by the arm and dragged him close. "You listen here Yuki. Tohru Honda is a traitor and a thief. If I so much as hear her name again in this house as long as I am alive, there will be hell to pay. If I find you are still in contact with her, you will watch her die!" Akito then shoved Yuki back against the wall and continued down the hall, shouting for the servants to find Kureno.

After Akito had disappeared, Yuki hesitated for a moment but then bolted into Akito's room to find out what had happened to Shigure.

The room was dark, just the way Akito liked it. Deep inside the room, Yuki thought he saw an imperceptible figure stirring. "Shigure?" he asked quietly, pacing forward cautiously.

"Damn," said an oddly calm voice. "That certainly was not how I intended that to go over."

Yuki sighed audibly as he stood over his elder cousin who was seated on the floor. "And here I thought Akito had killed you. Shame, really."

"Wha?" Shigure moaned pitifully, "You're so cruel Yuki-kun! I am wounded!" He struck his arm to his chest just to further dramatize the fictional pain Yuki caused him. Yuki's eyes widened and he grabbed Shigure's arm. "You are wounded," he told his cousin seriously, showing him the nice blood stain smeared across the chest on his pale kimono. Shigure examined the cut inflicted by one of the many missiles Akito had thrown at him. "'Tis but a scratch," he concluded, standing up and brushing himself off, but holding his wrist aloft so as not to bloody himself or the floor further.

"You should probably have Hatori take a look at that," Yuki told him apathetically, realizing that Shigure was fine if he could continue with his theatrics. "But Shigure, what was that all about? What did Honda-san steal?"

"Hmm? Oh that. Well, I don't think Tohru-kun was behind it, but our dear Cat has found his way out of his room. Probably sometime last night. I was unfortunately the bearer of bad news." The two were now walking out of the main house and were on the path to Hatori's rooms. Yuki spent a millisecond contemplating how little sleep Hatori probably got between all of the interruptions and demands on his time before returning to the problems at hand. "Idiot Cat. Does he realize what sort of trouble he's getting the rest of us in?" But that wasn't really what Yuki was troubled about. He was ticked off that the idiot Cat was out of the hellhole and he, God's trusted Rat, was still stuck.

Shigure walked up to Hatori's door and knocked loudly, "Haa-san! Hatori!!!! Ha'ri!!! Ha'ri-saaaaannnn!!!!!!"

The door slammed open and a very disgruntled Hatori with dark circles under his eyes stood in front of them looking very forbidding indeed. "What do you want? Normal people are still asleep at this hour as I last recalled."

"But Haa-saaaaaaan! I'm bleeding!!!!" Shigure complained, holding up his wrist to show his friend and in doing so causing several small rivulets of blood to cascade down his bare arm. Hatori sighed and let them in, only after demanding that Shigure find a more reasonable hour to bleed next time.

………………………………...

Kyo's eyes were wide as he shuffled into Hana's house. He had been expecting some sort of movie-style haunted house with lightning and a cemetery in the front yard. And yet, Saki Hanajima did in fact live in a two-story no-nonsense, picket-fence-in-the-front-yard kind of house. Still, Kyo was careful to peer around the corners just in case the everyday average home set up was some sort of diversion so people wouldn't sneak in and inadvertently find the pet monster in the front closet.

"Saki-chan!" came a cheerful voice from the hallway. A very cheerful blond woman walked up to the girl and grasped her hand lovingly. "I was wondering where you had gotten to. You know you shouldn't worry your poor mother so much by going out on these late night walks!"

Kyo balked at the word "mother". Hana looked and acted absolutely nothing like her mother. "I am sorry mother. I ran into my classmate and he is in need of shelter for several days so I gave him permission to lodge here for the present."

"Well, it's so nice to see that Saki has so many friends! Welcome to our home!"

"T-thank you Hanajima-san… I'm Kyo Sohma, it's nice to meet you," he stammered, the whole time he spoke he was trying to find some sort of connection between the pleasant woman before him and the creepy girl Tohru was friends with.

"I will show him to the upstairs," Hana told her mother, firmly grasping Kyo's shoulder and steering him with unprecedented strength toward the stairs. The gloomy darkness of the hallway scared Kyo, but being a martial artist (and knowing he had nowhere else to go), he swallowed his fear and marched up the stairs. Hana stayed close behind him. It was pitch black on the landing, Kyo reached his hands out in front of him to find a light switch and felt his hand brush something soft. "Good evening Kyo Sohma." said a whispery voice. Kyo jumped three feet from the ground and fell back against Hana.

"Megumi, shouldn't you be asleep?" Hana asked without even twinging, a touch of warmth coloring her usually monotone voice.

"I was waiting for you to return, sister. And I heard you had brought a boy home so I assumed that it was my duty as your brother to greet him formally." A dim light flickered on in a room behind the boy so Kyo could see his shadowy figure. The boy stood directly in front of Kyo and looked up at him. "Treat my sister well and with the respect she deserves and I will grant my approval to you both," Megumi said solemnly.

"I… but… what? Whoa! No, no, no! We're not…" Kyo spluttered, beginning to wonder what on earth was wrong with this family.

"Megumi, that is very kind of you, but Kyo Sohma's heart belongs to another."

"Ah, Tohru-san," Megumi nodded sagely. "Very well." Then Megumi bid them goodnight and returned to his room as Kyo tried to discern how the boy could know such things, and how he would be able to sleep in a house full of psychics that knew his every thought! Seeing Hana's room, draped in black curtains and littered with vampire novels and objects Kyo was certain were tools for devil worship or something equally unpleasant, did not help to ease his building agitation.

Next to her room, Hana pulled open a door to a seemingly harmless room. She laid out a futon and before she left she whispered, "Tomorrow when I return from school, we will begin preparations. I feel that the time is very near." She was about to close the door when she added, "I almost forgot. I wouldn't suggest opening the closet. You might let something loose." Then she closed the door and the lights went out. And Kyo was left huddled in the middle of the room wondering what he had gotten himself into.

………………………………...

Half an hour and several stitches later, Hatori and Shigure found themselves in deep discussion. Yuki, feeling very out of place, was unable to decide whether he should leave or stay where he was. Thankfully, his mind was made up for him.

"With Kyo gone, Akito has already turned this place upside down," Hatori had commented after one of the elderly servants had come into Hatori's home unannounced to demand all the Zodiac members assemble in Akito's room. "I think Akito is looking to make sure the rest of us haven't bailed out."

"It's a wonder Kyo even managed to get out with all the heightened security around here. Who do you think Akito's so afraid of?" Shigure asked darkly. He looked to Yuki who had been frowning slightly. "Yuki-kun?"

"Honda-san. Akito is afraid of Honda-san…" As he spoke, Yuki realized what this could mean. "Shigure, if Akito is afraid that Honda-san is the one behind this mess, will he… will he go after her?"

Hatori sighed and adjusted his glasses. "It's a possibility. I believe Akito has probably kept close tabs on Tohru-san since she left here. Akito is careful and wouldn't just let someone who knew our secret walk free to tell the world. Most likely she's been followed off and on since she left."

"And now if Akito seriously thinks that Honda-san is responsible for the Cat's disappearance, he'll try to find her!" Yuki exclaimed, standing up. "I'm going after her. Akito won't lay a hand on her if I have anything to say about it. She's been through enough as it is. Even if she did let the idiot Cat loose."

Shigure grabbed Yuki by the tail end of his shirt with his good hand and pulled him back down. "How do you expect to get out when Akito has guards at every entrance to this place Yuki-kun? Not only that but we have about five minutes before Akito sends people to bodily drag us over there."

"I'll do it the same way I did when I was younger, but without borrowing Kyo's clothing," he replied icily. "I don't have much time, so I'm leaving now. I would appreciate it if you could cover for me for about ten minutes. That should give me enough time to be long gone by the time they start looking for me."

Hatori shook his head, but then said, "All right. Just don't do anything stupid. If it were anyone but you, Yuki, they would be dead for thinking of doing this." He placed a warm hand on Yuki's shoulder. "Keep her safe. And don't get caught."

Shigure grinned. "I always have to be the scapegoat, don't I?" Yuki gave him a pained look, but Shigure shrugged it off. "Go. So long as Tohru-kun is safe, we'll be all right. She's our last chance Yuki-kun. Don't screw up."

He nodded firmly and dashed out the door. "We're gonna be in so much trouble," Shigure complained.

"Then we shouldn't have let him go," Hatori replied, lighting his cigarette before standing up leisurely and motioning for Shigure to follow him to Akito's chambers.

The author has suddenly realized that this story probably should have been a collection of several stories… It's getting so long! Well, I hope to have it end before chapter 25 so we'll see how it goes. Please review! Please? I like hearing from you people! It makes me happy and it makes me write more!