Chapter Fifteen: Search and Shopping

Shigure'd had a grim determined expression on his face when he'd set out that morning. He'd purposely waited until Tohru and her friends had left before he set about on his mission, with perhaps an uncharacteristic determination, considering his objective was not to manipulate someone but to find them. He had not forgotten about Kyo, and the fact that he had not yet returned was indeed a very bad sign, especially after learning that the boy had never made it to his karate practice the night before.

He'd already called a few of the cousins, just in case he'd dropped by to see them. Kagura had not heard a thing and he'd had to quickly reassure her that nothing was wrong to keep her from charging over and wreaking some kind of havoc in his house searching for him. He didn't want to tell Akito of the disappearance just yet either, because that could possibly put a kink in his plans with Tohru. The head of house would likely do something incredibly unreasonable that might ruin everything he was working so hard to achieve.

Hatsuharu hadn't heard a thing from his older cousin either, but he offered to help in the search. There was no way Shigure could keep his concern from this younger cousin. Even though the boy had a black side, his white side more than leant itself to concern for his fellow blood relative and he'd insisted on knowing the details. And so Haru and Shigure now walked side by side, searching for the missing orange-haired boy.

They'd covered quite a bit of ground, considering they were both walking. And since Haru was more familiar with Kyo's usual haunts and paths, Shigure had let him take the lead. But so far, their search had revealed nothing worth mentioning.

Haru found a convenient bench and slumped down into it. "We might as well just admit we're getting nowhere. If Kyo wanted to be found, we'd have found him by now."

Shigure was half inclined to agree. It was less likely that he'd been abducted and more likely that he'd run off, though the reason behind that would certainly be useful. He let out a sigh, thinking about Tohru's panicked state last night. Once she remembered that Kyo was missing, and realized that no one had done anything seeming productive about looking for him, she would probably set off into a frenzy of panic and he couldn't have that happen.

"Let's look a little longer," he said, running one hand through his hair. "Maybe we'll find something on the way to Kazuma's place that will tell us something. After all, he was supposedly headed that way when he disappeared."

In his pocket, something vibrated. The sound became more audible as his phone rang.

Haru glanced pointedly at his older cousin. "You gonna answer that?"

"Hmm?" Shigure looked a bit confused, then realized the vibrating coming from his pocket wasn't his imagination. He pulled the device out and looked at it, just as it stopped ringing. "Missed call," he announced. "I can find out who later. Or, if it's really important, they can try again. We have a cat to find." He slid the phone back into his pocket.

Haru nodded as he stood. "Yeah. Hopefully we'll have something to tell Tohru by the end of the day."

Tessa held the thin strand of something she'd randomly grasped back at Yuki Sohma's house. She hadn't had time to look at it until she'd safely reached her little nest. And her first priority was to look in on Kyo. She had to mentally remind herself that she'd have to find him some kind of nourishment before the day was out. After all, it would not do to have her newest toy sicken and die before she'd had a chance to really play with him.

But she put those thoughts aside as she held up the strand of energy with two fingers, examining. She gave it a little poke with one finger, and then settled it into a crucible, where she stirred it around with a bone. It appeared as fragile as spider silk, and yet was incredibly strong for such a small filament. She could faintly feel a signature coming from it, one she thought she recognized, but couldn't but a name to whom she thought might own it. It was almost as if it had some kind of repulsing affect that kept her from just grasping the truth.

"Who do you belong to," she mused aloud. "Whoever you are, you are someone to deal with cautiously." She wondered why it had been there in the first place. It was definitely out of place, as far as she was concerned. And it was less than likely that it had wandered there of its own accord. Spiritual energies did not just do that.

She tapped one finger on her worktable. Should she attempt to find out who this energy belonged to? Or should she move onto her next location of interest, Kyo's foster father's house? Both were important, but which was the more pressing?

Ciel pouted. After about an hour of trying on various clothes, he was finally more "modernly" attired, though he couldn't say that he liked it. He felt like a delinquent wearing the far too casual outfit of what he'd been told consisted of a pair of denim jeans and a polo shirt in light blue with some kind of company signature embroidered on it. His arms felt naked under the short sleeves. He felt naked with only the one actual layer of clothing to cover him, despite reassurances that he was completely modest.

"Ciel! You look so cute!" Tohru couldn't help but give him a half hug, careful to mind his encased arm.

Pink highlighted the boy's cheeks as he turned his head away. Cute was not something a noble should look, and definitely not one of the male sex. And though he wouldn't admit it, the slight red on his cheeks was due to fatigue as well. The continual putting on and taking off of different articles of clothing, albeit with Sebastian's help, had exhausted him. His shoulder also did not appreciate the constant abuse, no matter how gentle his butler had been with his assistance.

Momiji glanced thoughtfully at the transformed earl, one finger to his chin as he thought. Something was still off about his outfit. What was it? "Ah!" He pointed at the slightly younger boy's shoes, still the Victorian era style of higher heels. "Even if you wear clothes like everyone else, you'll stick out like a sore thumb with those shoes."

Everyone's attention turned to the very elegant shoes Ciel was wearing, dark leather, and higher heels. They definitely looked like something a woman would wear, instead of a boy his age. At least in their current time. And they definitely did not match the more casual outfit he was now wearing.

Sebastian pocketed the remaining money from purchasing his master's new wardrobe as he attended to what everyone was saying. "Master Momiji has indeed made a most excellent point," he commented. "Though your clothing may fit the role, your footwear does not. We must remedy this situation immediately."

Ciel was about to let out a protest but decided against it. Their conversation had drawn the attention of several shoppers ready to pay for their purchases so he wisely kept his mouth shut and just nodded, something that made his head ping and he winced ever so slightly. "Fine."

The butler glanced over towards the two girls and their younger friend. "Where should we go now to procure the young master with appropriate footwear?" He already had a fairly good inkling of where to go, having quickly canvassed the area while they were not looking, but it was only proper to allow those who were local to play lead.

Hana glanced over at Tohru, who blinked back. "The best place for buying shoes would be in a shoe store," she said. "Wouldn't you agree, Tohru?"

Tohru started, having been lost in her own thoughts for a moment. "Oh! Right! A shoe store! I think there's one just a few shops down!" She glanced over at Ciel, wondering how he was feeling. After all, it was only last night that he'd fallen off the roof and hit his head. She noticed him wincing ever so slightly. "Um, maybe we should take a break first though."

Hearing the concern in her tone, Sebastian also glanced towards his master and noted the slight alteration to his coloring that the pain he must be feeling brought out. "Perhaps Miss Tohru is correct in believing a small break is in order," he seconded. "Is there a convenient place where we might sit for a moment while the young master recovers?"

Momiji pointed out a small food establishment across the street. "We could go over there," he suggested. "We can also get some lunch!" His words reminded everyone that it was past lunchtime and they had not yet eaten.

Ciel's stomach rumbled slightly at the suggestion of food and the matter was settled. They walked over to the establishment and found a table, where Hana was asked to look after the boy while they ordered.

Tohru went up to the counter and looked over the menu. "Something not too hard," she mused to herself, remembering Hatori's orders from the night before. "It has to be gentle on his stomach. Ah!" Her eyes lit up as she noticed one of the menu sections advertised smoothies. She pointed it out to Sebastian, who had joined her. "One of those would probably be best."

Sebastian peered up at the menu, then nodded slightly. "Yes, I do believe that will do," he agreed. Ciel would probably not agree, however, but the boy would learn to deal accordingly. And once he was definitely feeling better, they would allow him to eat more solid items that would, no doubt, give him a greater feeling of satiety. But, until that time, the frozen beverage would have to do.

The butler insisted on paying for everyone's food and the order was soon placed. Hana had already told Tohru what her preference was so that part had been easily taken care of. Momiji took a bit longer to decide.

It did not take long to get everyone safely situated at the table, their order in front of them. It was Hana, however, who noted that the only one without any food in front of them was Sebastian, who actually chose to stand behind his master. "Aren't you going to eat, master butler?" She was very curious as to how he'd react to her question.

Sebastian gave her a slight smile. "It is not seemly for a servant to eat with his master," he said simply.

Momiji nodded. None of the servants in the Main House ate with those of importance inside. They took their meals later, when they would not bother anyone. It was a servant's job, after all, to be ready to do whatever was needed at any given time. And even though his own house didn't have servants, he'd been at the Main House enough to know how it worked.

Tohru wisely did not mention that the butler had once, as far as she knew, eaten at the same time, and at the same table as his master. Of course, she was sure he had done so to humor her. Not even when she'd been back in England, during their time period, had the servants eaten with the others. Of course, she also knew, though she would never admit it even to herself, that Sebastian did not really need to eat human food.

Ciel ignored all of their comments as he stared moodily at the Styrofoam cup in front of him. This was definitely not his idea of real food, but he knew that trying to persuade Sebastian otherwise, and Tohru, for that matter, was useless. He dutifully sipped at the frozen beverage through the straw provided. At least it tasted good.

Shigure and Hatsuharu had decided to recreate the route Kyo likely took to Kazuma's house last night. Haru knew the area fairly well, even if he did get lost a lot, and made guesses as to which particular route he'd take to get there the fastest. After all, he knew his cousin was very gung-ho about his martial arts training.

"If I were Kyo, I'd take this street," he commented as they stood at a corner. "It cuts down half the time from the station." He pointed down one lane with a gloved hand.

"Hmm," Shigure mused, then headed down the street indicated, walking slowly. "Maybe he dropped something that will tell us he really went this way. After all, Kyo is rather careless sometimes."

Haru nodded, his face mostly expressionless. "Yeah. Maybe." He scanned the ground as he walked, hoping that his older cousin was right that they might find something Kyo had accidentally lost.

Shigure stopped in mid-stride, bending down to pick something up. "Hmm? What's this?" He picked up a thin woven band. "This looks like something Tohru made," he commented.

Haru moved over to investigate, taking the strand from the writer's fingers. "Yeah, you're right. Tohru gave this to him last week at school. He kept it on his wrist, hidden by his sleeves so that no one knew he was wearing. But why would it be here on the ground?"

Shigure stood from his half crouch and stared at the woven band, the muted colors winking up at him in the early afternoon light. "A good question. He probably wouldn't take it off unless he was getting rid of it. And from what you said, he probably wanted to keep it around, even if he was embarrassed to wear it."

Haru glanced wryly over at his cousin. "Hey, think you could use this to track him down?"

Shigure blinked in confusion. "What? How could I use that to track him down? It's just a piece of string!"

Haru's expression remained fairly flat as he continued to star at his cousin. "You're a dog right? Can't you just use your sense of smell to find him?"

"Um…" Shigure resisted the urge to bite his lip. "It doesn't quite work that way," he tried to laugh, sounding more forced than anything as he had to swallow the lump forming in his throat.

"I could find a girl so you'll transform," Haru offered. "That way we don't have to worry about waiting for you to get too stressed about it. And I can knock her out before she really sees anything."

"How about we….not do that, okay?" Shigure edged away from his white and black haired cousin, eyes wide. "Besides! I'm not a bloodhound! If I'd thought something like that would have worked, I'd already be three steps ahead of you by grabbing one of his shirts before we left!'

Haru nodded slowly. "Ah, so you did think about doing that."

Shigure laughed nervously, unable to deny it.

"Well," Haru shrugged, "at least we know he came this way, even if he didn't make it to Shishu's. That's something, right?"