Chapter Seventeen: Curiosity and Popcorn

Lau Tau was bored. It was a definite fact. He'd gone to call on the little earl, Ciel Phantomhive, just yesterday, only to find out that he'd been called away on some urgent business or other. Imagine, not being told or even given the chance to help out! It was almost insulting in a way.

Lau puffed away at his hookah; smoke billowing around him and his companion, Ran Mao. "I can't believe he didn't even talk to me before going," he complained. "Where was he headed again?" He tilted his head one way, then the other, as if trying to remember, but the truth of the matter was, no one had really known, other than that he'd headed towards London, but the horses and carriage had been returned earlier than anticipated.

The Chinese man's own intelligence on the matter had discovered that Ciel had never gone to London, nor had his carriage been seen near town at all. That, of course, either meant the little earl was trying to go about in secrecy to some unknown place, or something terrible had happened to him. But knowing that Sebastian had gone with him made it more likely that he was going for secrecy, or at least the appearance of it.

He rolled over to his stomach, hookah still in one hand as Ran Mao stood to fan him. "Where on earth could he have gone? It's not really fair for him to leave me behind!"

Ran Mao patted his shoulder consolingly. "We go find," she said succinctly.

Lau perked up. "Now that's the best suggestion I've heard all day." He rolled back over and stood in one fluid motion. After all, he wasn't just an opium dealer, but the leader of the Chinese mafia. And even though he often acted the fool, enjoying his own wares, he was usually more aware than most people realized, and far more agile than all but a few knew.

Without so much as a goodbye to the rest of his employees, he and Ran Mao took the first available ride towards the little earl's estate, bent on finding out just where he had gone off to, starting from square one.

Sebastian flitted from shadow to shadow, practically melting into them in his secrecy. It would not do to be detected prematurely by his quarry. He was still uncertain as to her nature, though he was more than suspicious. It was almost a bit disconcerting that he'd only caught some vague traces of her "scent" intertwined with many others. And there were the occasional dead ends where the scent went cold. But he was thorough if nothing else, and he would not leave any stone unturned in his search for his prey.

He started back at the spot where the rip in time had spewed them into Japan. The trail had been old, of course, but since there were less scents to confuse with it, he'd easily followed it into town, where it had become much more difficult. Of course, there had been other scents on the road, those of their now companions, the Sohmas, and Miss Tohru's friend. However, for some reason, the scent of his quarry had become stronger on the road, coming and going in the direction of Shigure's house. He would definitely have to look into that a bit later. But first, trying to find where the trail was most concentrated, if possible.

Ciel had nodded off. He was almost afraid to admit it when he woke near the end of the movie. He could only remember the first ten minutes, a few minutes past when Sebastian had left them, but that was all. He mentally bereted himself for being so stupid as to do something so weak. He wasn't sure if the others had noticed his falling asleep or not, but now he could not tell Sebastian about the movie.

The end credits began to roll up the screen, the music almost blaring in its soft, gentle way. Even though it was louder than he was used to hearing, it was not unpleasant. He tried to stretch, which was hard, considering his one arm was in a sling and still hurt like nothing else. He turned briefly to the aisle seat where Sebastian had been at the start of the movie, unsurprised to see the butler had returned.

Sebastian returned the look, fully aware that his master had fallen asleep by the constant blinking of his uncovered eye, as well as the slight circles under it as well. He had already thought this might happen and had prepared by listening to several people coming out of an earlier showing, as well as asking a few, discretely, about how they'd liked the film and what were their favorite parts. He was fairly certain that he could fake his way if he was called upon to give his opinion.

The others began to stir, moving from their seats. Tohru's face was glowing with happiness, her hands clasped in front of her. "Wasn't that just such a good movie?" She turned to look at her friend.

Hana returned her friend's raptures with a gentle smile. The movie had indeed been worth the watch, she had to agree. The story was adequately sad and happy at the same time, bittersweet, just the way she liked them.

Momiji let out a noisy yawn as he stretched, standing to his tiptoes. "Wee! Wasn't that a good movie? I could watch that one all day!" He turned to the young earl. "Hey, Ciel, what did you think of it?"

Ciel blinked in surprise, still sitting in his chair with his uneaten popcorn. "I…" He scrambled to remember anything about the movie. "I really liked it." He let out one of his best fake smiles, the kind that charmed all around him. "I thought the story was very good." He mentally reminded himself to ask Sebastian about it later, or even Tohru. He didn't mind confessing to her that he'd fallen asleep, though he'd probably go to Sebastian first. He seemed far too sure of himself to not know more about the movie than he should, having not actually watched it.

Tohru beamed at him. "It was, wasn't it?"

Momiji noticed that they were the only ones left in the theater and pointed that out. "Hey, what should we do next?" He looked at his watch. "It's only five. We still have plenty of time to do stuff!"

Ciel glanced at his butler as he stood. What he really wanted was to find some quiet time alone with him to go over what he'd found, but with the added tag alongs, that wasn't exactly possible. He let out a fake yawn, which actually bordered on a real one.

Tohru looked over at him with concern. "Are you tired, Ciel? I know all this excitement probably has worn you out. And still being injured!"

Ciel waved an errant hand, yawning again, this time for real. There was something contagious about yawns, after all. And he had slept through most of the movie. "I'm fine."

Sebastian raised a brow, knowing perfectly that his master's behavior was partly ruse and partly real. "Perhaps it would be best to return to the manor and allow the young master to rest."

Tohru was nodding as Hana glanced around in a somewhat distracted way. She thought she had felt something but quickly shrugged it off. "I think the butler is right," she agreed quickly. "We can always spend more time together tomorrow." She glanced behind them once more, almost as if she'd forgotten something, but she was fairly sure she'd felt the presence of someone or something that shouldn't have been there.

Momiji pouted for a moment, but brightened up at Hana's suggestion. "Okay! I'll go call the cab to come pick us up. Then, after a good night's sleep, and some of Tohru's home cooking, we can spend all of tomorrow together!"

Ciel groaned inwardly. That was the last thing he really wanted but he nodded tiredly, or so he hoped it looked. He just wanted to get back home where he could discuss Sebastian's activities. He wasn't sure if he wanted to include Tohru in them or not, but decided that could wait to be seen. Momiji went to call the cab.

Tessa followed the two Sohmas as far as the Sohma Estate, where she left them. It would not do to confront three of them all at once. It was better to get them separately. Not to mention that at least two of them had similar abilities to Kyo's, not that she knew what forms they would take, but it was better to be cautious than headstrong and go into a situation she wasn't sure about.

Instead, she retraced her steps, heading back towards the heart of town. A nagging thought tugged at her again. She needed to find some kind of nourishment for her slave if he was to keep up strength. He was human, after all, even if she was not. And she didn't need food. He was more than enough for her.

She took a careful, deliberate taste through her connection with him. Distance didn't matter so long as the spell continued. From what she could tell, he was still asleep, which was just as well. She could feel the connection growing between them. Soon she would have access to all his thoughts, all his memories. He would be completely hers to do with as she pleased, but she had to make sure he didn't waste away.

Ahead was a shopping complex with a large building that announced itself as a theater. Inside the large glass doors, she saw people munching on something she presumed to be food. They were laughing, talking, moving about. If what they were eating was good enough for them, it would be good enough for her treat.

She went inside and to the nearest counter, watching the people ahead of her exchange slips of colored paper, or coins, for the food they were given. She didn't have any of those funny slips of paper that she was sure was some form of money, but she could quickly conjure some. She uttered a spell under her breath and the nearest wallet sailed towards her from some unfortunate mortal's back pocket.

A crowd of moviegoers was exiting one theater as she moved forward. Not sure why, she subconsciously masked herself as she placed a bill on the counter. "I want as much of that," she pointed at the popcorn in its displaying popper, "as this will buy."

The man behind the counter looked at her incredulously. "You sure? That's gong to clean us out of popcorn for today and tomorrow. Most people don't eat that much in a year."

Tessa quickly rethought this. "Fine. Give me two of the largest bags of the stuff."

The man took the money and gave back the change in a small stack of lower denominational bills and a few coins, then went to fill two of the largest buckets with the popcorn.

She sniffed a bit disdainfully as the man had his back turned to her. A faint hint of a slightly familiar "smell" filled her senses and she reached out a hand to catch a small filament of soul energy. If she was correct, it exactly matched a similar fiber that she'd found earlier at that bumbling school president's house. What was that witch doing here?

She quickly looked around, trying to figure out which of the many people milling around the strand belonged to. But with so many people, their soul threads intertwining with each other, it was difficult. She thought she caught a glance of a rather odd group exiting the building but wasn't sure. Two were dressed all in black, one a female, one a tall male that she thought she should recognized but didn't. But before she could second-guess the possible relationship, they were gone.

"Here's your popcorn. Enjoy your movie," the clerk said, handing her the two large buckets of concessions. He turned to the next customer without a second glance.

Tessa took the buckets, one in each hand, sniffing delicately at the sickly aroma of butter and popped corn. How could humans eat this? She shrugged as she shouldered her way past a bunch of teenagers not paying attention, heading out the doors, waiting until she was in a more secluded area before casting a quick traveling spell to take her back to her abode and her prisoner.

Yuki stared at his phone in frustration. Why wasn't that stupid writer picking up his phone? He'd been trying for hours now and his battery was almost dead as a result. What was the idiot doing? He let out an exasperated sigh and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

He'd looked everywhere he could think of. The school. The park. He'd even almost gone to the Main House, though he'd rejected that idea almost immediately. Kyo didn't go there unless he had to. But where on earth was he? It was almost like he'd just disappeared from off the face of the planet.

Yuki found a bench and sat down. This was not working, he decided and pulled out his phone again, calling the house. The phone rang and rang, just as it had all day since he'd left. Where were Tohru and their guests? Were they off sightseeing? Where they looking for Kyo too? He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

He was near a park with a clock. The hands swung around to indicate it was now half past five. His stomach growled, reminding him that he'd skipped lunch. He'd been out searching for almost eight hours now, totally neglecting his homework and other school related duties to look for that stupid cat.

With another sigh of exasperation, he stood from his perch and pointed himself in the right direction to head home. It would probably take him at least half an hour to get there, but hopefully, by then, at least someone would be home.