Disclaimer: I don't own PoT. I don't own PoT. I don't own PoT. Ok, I think I convinced myself.

Ch. 2

Surprisingly, a month had already passed since that terrible first day of Junior High. Echizen Ryoma- er, Takeda Saicho- was slowly falling into the pattern of school days in Seigaku. He'd learned to watch out for that English teacher, to sit as far away from Ryuzaki as he could during Science, to eat the junk that they called food in the cafeteria. Actually, he still tried to bring lunch as much as possible. That so-called food was just not edible.

"Takeda-san!" Ryoma groaned. There she was again. That Ryuzaki girl. He was avoiding her for a reason, but she never seemed to get that.

Ever since the first day, she'd been determined to discover his "secret". She didn't have any idea what it might be, but she'd been certain that he had one. After all, what Junior High kid had 8 bodyguards, and was enemies with the Akashiyas?

Sakuno practically bounced up to Takeda-san. She was delighted with the turn of events. Grinning, she pointed to the flyer in her hand, practically shoving it in Takeda-san's face.

Before meeting Takeda-san, she'd never been an outgoing girl. She was one of the quiet ones that sat in the back of the classroom, never being noticed by anyone. All her friends always laughed about how shy she was. Only one of her friends knew her true personality. Why else would Tomoka be friends with her?

Cheerfully, she said, "Look! It's a dance! Next Friday! Come on, you've got to go! Half the girls in the school want to dance with you! You're smart, quiet, cool, sophisticated, everyone wants you to be there! You've got to go!"

Ryoma just managed to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Sakuno had been so much easier to handle when she was quiet and unassuming. Her exuberance was something Ryoma had yet to encounter, and therefore hard to deal with.

And of course, her comments struck a nerve. How was he smart when he screwed up so badly on the first day? How was he quiet when he was screaming with rage about his stupid bodyguards? How was he cool when his temper was so fiery? How was he sophisticated when he glared at everyone around him? He had a horrible feeling that she was mocking him.

But it would be a new experience, he mused. After all, at his former schools, he'd never been allowed to go to a dance or any other social event, just in case someone tried to hurt him. Now, though, he wasn't that rich heir Echizen Ryoma- he was just plain old Takeda Saicho. Nobody would ever come after him, right?

Annoyed, Ryoma pulled his cap down over his eyes. He did want to go. That was what annoyed him. In the end, he really was a rich heir. He shouldn't want to go to some stupid dance.

Sighing, he gave in., and muttered, "Fine, I'll go." Delighted, Sakuno leapt at him, latching onto him in a tight hug, even as he squawked and protested. "I knew you'd come!" she exclaimed, ignoring his struggling. When she released him, she had a smile on her face about a mile wide. Ryoma very nearly groaned. Just what had he gotten himself into?

***

Nervously, Ryoma kept his back to the wall, an old habit that sprang up whenever he was anxious. He'd learned from his father long ago that it was always best in a hostile situation to keep your back against the wall so you wouldn't get ambushed. Though he wasn't likely to be ambushed here, he felt nervous and out of place, so he stuck against the wall.

"Come on, Ryoma, come out and dance!" Vehemently, Ryoma shook his head, glaring at Sakuno. No, of course it hadn't been a bad idea to come to this dance. It wasn't like he couldn't dance or anything… oh right, he couldn't. That was why he was glued to the wall- he'd never danced before, and he wasn't about to start making a fool of himself now.

Sakuno rolled her eyes, but she stayed near Saicho, leaning against the wall herself. She wasn't very comfortable with dancing either. Enjoying the music, she closed her eyes for a brief second, letting the beat of the drum throb through her.

Maybe it was because her eyes were closed, but somehow Sakuno felt the exact moment when Saicho disappeared. It could have been the strange sound that clashed with the music-it sounded something like a door opening. It could have been the feel of cold air as someone opened a door- or maybe the rush of air was because Saicho had been pulled away. Whatever had alerted her, it made her eyes snap open, and she barely caught the door closing out of the corner of her eye. Where Saicho had been leaning, there had been a hidden door, one that nobody else seemed to have noticed. Not even Saicho. And Sakuno had just been able to see it swing shut.

She bit her lip, looking frantically about for Saicho's strange friends. Those eight people had tried to capture her because they thought she had wanted to harm him. They were loyal to Saicho. But no matter how she hard she looked, she couldn't find them. Finally, she let out a breath, and examined the door again. It really was well-hidden; only someone who knew it was there would have been able to find it. She closed her eyes briefly, steeling her nerves, then opened the door, surreptitiously slipping inside. Nobody around her noticed her absence.

However, several people observing from above saw it immediately. Tezuka stiffened, seeing the Akashiya look-alike disappear into the same door where Echizen-sama had been taken. Perhaps they had all been wrong. She still looked like an Akashiya, no matter what Echizen-sama said. She had also been right beside him when he had been kidnapped. There was no way it was just a coincidence again. It was very possible that she was involved in the kidnapping. Quickly, he contacted the others, hurrying towards the door. As he went, he warned them to be cautious- nobody should know about their operation. Ensuring that nobody else was looking his way, Tezuka entered the door, following the Akashiya look-alike. He would get to the bottom of this. Nobody would get away with harming his master.

Sakuno swallowed hard. She'd always been scared of dark places. Think of Saicho, she told herself sternly. Think of what he must be going through. Despite that, she was still pale and shaking by the time she finally saw a glimmer of light. There was a room up ahead! Seeing a couple of handy boxes by the door, she crept in and hid behind them, observing the scene through a small crack between the boxes.

Saicho was in a chair, tied tightly with rope. Despite his position, the look in his eyes was still defiant, cocky and arrogant. Around him were about 20 guys, all of them holding something black in their hands. Sakuno felt sick when she realized they were wielding guns.

One of them placed the muzzle of their gun under Saicho's chin, forcefully bringing his head up. Sakuno felt dizzy- what if they actually shot him? "Hey, Echizen Ryoma-kun," the guy slurred. He was obviously drunk- his manner, his speech, all pointed towards that fact. But why was he calling Saicho "Echizen Ryoma"?

Slowly, Sakuno started putting the pieces together. The Echizens were a very rich family- on par with the Akashiyas. It was well known that the two families had a great rivalry, although neither one had done anything illegal to the other before.

Echizen Ryoma would need bodyguards, being such a rich heir and the target of many kidnappings and ransoms. Sakuno thought back to when Saicho's friends had attacked her because they thought she was an Akashiya. Only the Echizens were enemies of the Akashiyas. And only a member of one of those families would have a need for 'friends'- Sakuno was willing to bet those eight people were actually bodyguards.

She remembered from a newspaper clipping that Echizen Ryoma had withdrawn from some American school and gone missing. Nobody had been able to find him. But what if he wasn't missing? What if he was just in hiding? As another person? As maybe… Takeda Saicho?

Sakuno gulped almost audibly. It was rather disconcerting to realize that the person you'd been friends with for a month wasn't who you thought he was. Carefully, Sakuno mouthed the name to herself. Echizen Ryoma. She liked it better than Takeda Saicho, but it didn't sound right somehow. Then, she shook her head. What was she doing? Saicho- er, Ryoma- was in mortal danger, and she was thinking about how his name sounded?

"Listen, Echizen Ryoma, we've got nothing against you personally, understand? But we do need the money. I mean, our gang's practically falling apart!"

Gang? What gang? Sakuno thought hard. The Akashiyas were a honourable family, despite being rivals with the Echizens. However, there had been some incident before where Ryoma had been taken hostage in the US. In fact, right after that, he'd disappeared. Sakuno bit her lip. Could it be the Shirayukis?

"Well, we can't kill you if we want money. But that doesn't mean that we can't hurt you." The gang leader flicked his free hand, and someone behind him grabbed a pipe, handing it to the leader. Grinning, the drunken man waved the pipe menacingly. "Oh, you're gonna get it," he said in a singsong voice.

Sakuno couldn't just watch. Ryoma was her friend, no matter what he had been hiding. The guy raised the pipe above his head, and Sakuno let out a scream. "No!" she cried, leaping out from her hiding spot. Slowed by the alcohol running through their veins, the men weren't able to catch her as she threaded through their ranks, going straight to the leader. She latched onto the pipe with all her strength, preventing him from hitting Ryoma. "I won't let you!" she cried.

But in this position, she couldn't see behind her. Ryoma watched, eyes wide with horror, as a man raised his gun and pointed it right at Sakuno. He tried to speak, but his mouth was too dry, and all he could do was croak, "No…"

The gunshot rang through the air, echoing into the silence that followed.

A/N: Hee hee! Cliffie for you! Mwahahaha! … *realizes I posted the next chappie already* damn, not much of a cliffie. Anyways, read on!