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Tanaka Returns
Part 2
By Usa and Emiri
Disclaimers in Part 1
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Tanaka hung up the phone. How convenient, he mused, smirking. Little Usagi was all alone, and they hadn't even moved. How easy it would be to kidnap her, and make her pay for the hell he'd endured.

Usagi shook her head at the phone. That was a weird survey. Deciding she was tired, the girl went upstairs to attempt to go to sleep. She couldn't brush away the feeling that she was being watched though.

"Kami, Mama, get here fast!" she whispered to herself.
Mercury says:

Seeing the house in darkness when he arrived a few minutes later, Tanaka decided that this would be the perfect opportunity. He slunk to the house, and twisted the doorknob. To his surprise, it had been left open. He smirked, and silently cracked open the door. Moving slowly through the darkness, he crept up the stairs, toward Usagi's room.

Usagi was pulling back the covers of her bed when she heard the front door open. Silently thanking whoever was on her side, she opened her bedroom door and came face to face with... HIM.

Her breaths came in short gasps as she stared at the man in front of her. "You look surprised to see me, my dear," he smirked. "Did you think I would forget what you and your little friends put me through? The troubles you caused me? Well, I haven't...and this time, there's nobody around to protect you." With that, he lunged at Usagi, knocking her to the floor. Her head smacked off her dresser with a sickening crack.

Usagi cried out when Tanaka rushed at her. She felt her head spin as she dropped to the floor. Tanaka stood over the unconscious girl, grinning as a pool of blood surrounded her head like a halo.

Tanaka laughed to himself as he quickly wrapped the unconscious girl in her comforter, and carried her out the door of her own house. Quickly, he stuffed her into the back seat of his car, and sped off.

************

Ikuko locked up her car door and tossed the car keys back into her purse. It had been a really long work day and all she wanted to do was go to bed. Looking up, she saw that the front door was wide open. She ran up to the porch. "Usagi!"

There was no answer. She frantically ran inside and up to her daughter's room. "Usagi--" she trailed off when she saw the pool of blood on the pink carpet. "Kami... Usagi!"

She was finally able to walk out of the room to the phone and quickly rang the police. "Juuban Precinct," a male voice answered.

"I-I need some help! My daughter's been hurt, kidnapped, something!"

"Ma'am, please calm down," the officer instructed. "Where are you located? Are you alone?"

Ikuko nodded, almost forgetting the officer couldn't see her. "I'm at my house and I'm alone."

"Where is your house, ma'am? We'll send some officers over, please don't touch anything or move from your location."

"44 Kyoko Street."

"Alright. Please wait there, ma'am. Would you like me to stay on the line until the officers arrive?"

Ikuko managed a shaky response. "H-hai, arigatou."

"Now, how long have you known about your daughter's disappearance, or, do you know how long she's been gone?" The officer collected some background information as he dispatched some men.

"I just got home from work not too long ago. The front door was wide open. I went up to her room and there was... there was... Kami, it was all over her beautiful pink carpet..."

"What was all over?"

"Blood..."

"Does your daughter have any enemies?"

"Just one, but I thought he was in jail," Ikuko replied.

"Is this man an ex of hers?"

"Iie," Ikuko said. "He's my ex-husband. He... he's hurt Usagi before. He... almost killed her 10 months ago."

"I see," the officer sighed. "Do you think he could have found her?"

"M-maybe. I don't know. He was supposed to be in jail! That's your job to keep him there!"

"I'm sorry, ma'am," the officer tried to stay calm. He was used to people saying such things. "Have the officers arrived at your house yet?"

"Hai, just now. Arigatou."

"Douitashimashite. I hope they find your daughter." With that, the officer hung up, and left his cohorts to deal with Ikuko.

Ikuko hung up the phone and headed to the front door to greet the officers. She had left it standing open. "Did you call for us, miss?" The first officer asked.

"Hai, come in." She was certain her appearance was less than stellar, but at the moment, she didn't care.

"Now, how long has your daughter been missing, and what makes you think she was kidnapped?"

Ikuko explained everything, ending with Tanaka. "He's supposed to be in jail, but I don't know..."

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but he was released this morning. Do you think he'd really come after your daughter, though?"

"If you look at the reports Officer Saiban filled out, you'd know he would. Even if it wasn't him, that blood on the floor of my daughter's bedroom is proof something happened!"

"We need to examine her bedroom, if that's alright," the second officer spoke up.

"Of course," Ikuko replied, leading them to her room. She didn't dare go in there again, though.

"Does your daughter have a boyfriend, ma'am? Is it possible they could've gotten into a fight?"

"Iie, he would never do something like this! He's a very kind person."

"Alright. Just understand that we have to examine all possibilities."

She nodded as the officers set to work. Ikuko decided to call her best friend, Mizuno Ayeka. Besides, Ami would need to know about this as well. She went downstairs to make the call.

*************

At the Mizuno residence, Ayeka picked up the ringing phone. "Moshi moshi," she answered

"Ayeka-chan..."

"Oh, Ikuko-chan! I thought for a moment that Usagi was calling for Ami."

Ikuko held back a sob. "I wish that were true."

"Nani? What do you mean? Is something wrong?"

"Usagi's missing... Ayeka-chan, there's blood everywhere... My baby girl... kami... Usagi..." Ikuko was muttering incoherently now.

"Nani?!" Ayeka gasped. "Do you have any idea what happened to her?"

"I think I do. Tanaka was released from jail today. Something about good behavior..."

Ami tried to concentrate on her science book, but her mother's scared voice piqued her curiosity.

"Shimatta! Have you called the police?" Ayeka ran her fingers through her hair nervously. She was just as shocked and scared as Ikuko was. "Do you want me to come over there?"

"Th-they're here now," Ikuko told her. "I-I just... hai, could you come over?"

"I'll be there within ten minutes. Don't worry, they'll find her." Ayeka tried to reassure her friend.

"Arigatou, Ayeka."

"It's the least I can do."

When her mother hung up, Ami walked over to her. "Okaasan? What's wrong?" Ami had never seen such a haunted look on her face.

"Ami...Usagi's been kidnapped," Ayeka cried. "Ikuko thinks it was Tanaka..."

Ami stared at her mother in shock. "Iie..." She didn't want to believe this at all. "Princess..." she whispered.

"Nani, my musume?"

Ami, realizing what she said, changed the subject. "Okaasan, isn't Tanaka still in jail?"

"Iie," Ayeka shook her head. "He got released early for 'good behaviour'."

"Usagi-chan... do we know anything at all? Is she all right?"

"The only thing Ikuko told me was that the police were at her hous, looking for clues, I'd assume...I'm heading over there now, if you want to come as well, you can."

Ami nodded. "Do you think I should call the others or wait?"

"Well, you can call them and let them know...maybe they'd have some idea of how to find her. The more minds the better, ne?"

"Okei, I'll do that and we'll leave."

Ami sighed as she sat in her room, holding the cordless phone in her hand. "How did I think this would be so easy." Summoning up all the courage she could, she dialed Rei's number.

"Moshi moshi," Rei yawned into the phone a few moments later.

"Rei-chan..."

"Hai, Ami-chan? Is something wrong?"

"It's Usagi-chan."

Rei sighed. "What did she do now?"

Ami took a breath. "She's been kidnapped."

Rei let out a noise somewhere between a gasp and a scream as she dropped the phone, shocked. "Rei-chan!" Ami exclaimed.

She picked it back up a few moments later, hoping that Ami was only joking. "Who told you this?" she asked shakily.

"Usagi's okaasan called mine a few minutes ago. We're heading over there soon."

"Well, I'll meet you there," Rei decided. "You want me to call Mako and Minako?"

"If you could," Ami replied.

"Hai," Rei nodded. "We'll meet you at Usagi's."

Ami hung up and grabbed her jacket. "Usagi-chan..."