"..."
The young man stared at her stopping her from falling for a moment before letting go of her wrists and looking at her with cold hard eyes.
"It's..." Tohru blinked registering the orange hair and handsome face stare at her.
"Why are you here?"
Again she felt the chill of his cold voice register throughout her body.
"I thought I saw you. I wanted to thank you." She stammered.
"I see." He looked away. "You don't have to."
"B-but I really am grateful. I want to at least buy you coffee or something in return for your generosity."
"Buy me something?" He repeated glancing at her.
"Yes." She nodded.
He looked at her in the eyes for a moment.
"I don't like coffee."
"Oh.." Tohru's expression fell as she racked her head. "I could get you a drink?"
"You don't have to get me anything." He sighed and turned to walk away.
"W-wait. I really wish to give you something!" Tohru gasped.
Kyo stopped and turned his head to glance at her. She was looking at him with a mixed expression of sincere gratitude. He had never seen a girl look so determined to repay someone. Why was she going so far to thank him?
"I don't want anything." He said.
"But...there must be something I can..."
"Then pay for my gondola ride back."
Tohru frowned. She was slightly taken back by his sudden request. It was such a simple one.
"That's it?"
He shrugged. "If you don't want to then you don't have to." With that he turned to walk away but Tohru hurriedly caught up to him and walked beside him smiling gratefully.
"No! That's fine! I'll just let the store owner to let Hana chan know on the way back that I'm going with you!"
"Hana chan?" He repeated confused.
"Ahhh you see I'm on a vacation with my friends here in Venice. That's why...I can't speak Italian."
"Ahhh I see." He breathed. He seemed to be disinterested but this didn't faze Tohru one bit.
"Why are you in Venice?"
"I live here."
"Really?" Tohru blinked surprised.
He looked at her with a mixed expression of surprise and frustration.
"Yes."
"I see..."
The two fell into a lapsed silence until they reached the end of the street connecting to the canals. A large gondola awaited them on either side for tourists to use for convenience. An old man with a black and white striped shirt and a Venetian hat smiled at them calling over to them.
"Need ride?!"
"Yes please!" Tohru waved at him smiling. She felt a weight on her hand and noticed the young man had pushed her hand down from waving.
"People in Venice don't do that." He said simply, then walked in front of her to get inside the Gondola.
"Lady he has no manners." The old man in the striped shirt noticed the small interaction and shook his head clicking his teeth. He eyed the young man with skeptical eyes staking in his bright orange hair jet black clothing.
"Ah! It's fine I'm in debt to him." Tohru smiled reassuringly at the old man handing him euros out of her purse for the gondola ride.
The old man took the euros gladly and helped Tohru get inside the gondola. Kyo sat on her left and the man stationed himself on the back of the boat. As the gondola began to move Tohru shifted and clasped onto the bottom of the boat tightly. The two were sitting side by side. It was now becoming sunset and the canal was a bit peaceful with live chattering at the sides and tourists walking along the bank. The gondola began to glide along the canal evenly, and soon the boat was moving in a steady motion.
Tohru looked over at her companion and noticed he had now crossed his arms and was peacefully enjoying the ride.
"Excuse me...what is your name?" She asked.
He blinked looking at her. "Why?"
"Because...I keep having to refer to you as a companion. I can just call you by your name and it would make things easier-"
"Kyo."
Tohru blinked. The name had caught her slightly off guard. It was very Japanese.
"Kyo then. Kyo..kun then?"
A corner of his mouth twitched upwards as she said the ends of kun. "This isn't Japan."
"Yes but...still.." Tohru murmured.
"Kyo-kun is fine." He sighed looking down the canal towards the direction of the sun. "Your name is...?"
And for the first time he looked directly at her in a polite and calm manner. Tohru blinked at him.
"Tohru...Honda."
"Honda-san." He confirmed and looked away settling back into his chair.
Soon they were riding under bridges and archways. Tohru couldn't help admiring the beauty of the city in the sunset glow of the mid afternoon. It was breathtaking.
"Have you ever been to Venice before?" He asked all of a sudden.
Tohru looked at him, again surprised at his direct questions. They seemed genuinely polite.
"N-no. I haven't." She smiled. "So everything seems so unreal. I feel like I'm in a dream." She trailed off looking down the stream where several small buildings were decorated with pots of flowers and colors.
"You're very lucky to live here Kyo-kun."
"Mmm." Was all he commented darkly. It felt as if a grey cloud had gone over what she had just said. She wondered if she had something she wasn't supposed to, and soured his feelings.
The two were silent again, and Tohru couldn't help but take out her small sketchbook inside her leather backpack. She took out a small lead pencil and began to sketch the view in front of her making light strokes onto the paper.
Kyo glanced at her actions but didn't comment and simply watched as Tohru sketched the small buildings, the canal, the water, the archways, and the sky.
It was peacefully quiet as she sketched and the gondola passed along the canal. There was a faint background music of the tourists oohing and commenting on how beautiful their gondola was.
Tohru finished most of her drawing and glanced at Kyo-kun. He had his arms crossed once again and was simply gazing down the canal. The wind trailed through his orange locks, and the sunset shone on his eyes a bit giving them a softer glow.
Tohru had the sudden urge to sketch him, but knowing it would be rude focused her attention back onto her drawing.
"Lady we are almost there." The old man in the back called to them.
"Ah ok!" Tohru smiled at him. "Thank you!"
"No problem lady." The man smiled. "What are you drawing?"
"The canal." Tohru explained showing him her drawing.
The old man peered over to glance at her drawing as he oared. He stared at it, then blinked at her looking surprised. "Lady that is beautiful. You could be an artist!"
"Ahhh well. I am an art major." Tohru admitted, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"No wonder. You are very good. Very good! Better then most artists here in Venice." He gave her a thumbs up smiling widely at her.
Tohru smiled happily at him.
"We're almost there." Kyo cut in not paying attention to either of them.
"Ah-yes!" Tohru blinked a bit embarrassed. "You can let us off here!"
"Alright. Thank you!" The old man bowed oaring his way back to the walking paths. He stopped and gently got off the boat first helping Tohru off.
"Visit again lady. You are very beautiful." The man bowed to her taking off his hat.
Tohru blushed brightly at that but nodded. "N-no thank you for the ride!"
Kyo-kun sighed and began to walk ahead of her.
Tohru noticed and hurriedly waved at the old man once more before following Kyo down the alley that led towards a crowd of people and tourists.
"Are you normally that friendly to everyone you meet?"
"Huh?" Tohru looked up at him.
She thought a bit before answering.
"I guess? I mean he was so nice and friendly!"
"He was only acting that way out of business formalness." Kyo-kun sighed.
"B-but...what if he wasn't?"
He stopped to stare at her and almost seemed angry. "This is why you almost got hurt that day. You're too trusting of people."
Tohru bit her lips.
"Is it bad to trust people...?"
He was suddenly silent. It was as if what she said create a large impact in him.
"Is it.." He murmured.
"Um...where do you need to go now?" Tohru asked trying to keep pace with him now that he was walking a bit more briskly.
"Home." He simply replied glancing at her. "Aren't you going to go back?"
"Um...I first have to figure out where I am." Tohru admitted. She glanced around her noticing she was completely unfamiliar with her surroundings.
"I'll get Momiji to walk you back." He sighed and walked ahead of her.
"M-Momiji?" Tohru repeated. He didn't comment more as he led the two of them down the street, then made a sharp turn to the right leading them down a narrow alley that nobody seemed to know about.
Finally they reached a dark green door with gold letters "3402" on it. It was a building that seemed ancient Venetian style, and very different from all of the other buidings surrounding the area. Tohru also noticed that it wasn't connected to any other buildings and stood alone.
Kyo took a gold key out of his coat pocket and put it inside the door before turning it and walking inside. Tohru blinked wondering whether or not she should follow him inside before she heard him call after her.
"Oi. Come in."
"Yes!" Tohru walked inside and noticed the house smelled slightly musty and old despite its modern exterior. The living room area was quite empty except for a few pieces of furniture here and there, but she noticed how packed the kitchen was with other items. Some items she couldn't even identify. There were small items that looked like toys, bombs, candles, lighters, dynamites, and packs and packs of dolls.
She noticed the kitchen looked unused and messy.
"Do...you live here?" She asked, unable to contain her genuine curiosity.
"Yes." Kyo answered nonchalantly. "With Momiji."
"Someone call me?"
Tohru almost jumped. It was as if he had appeared out of thin air. She had no movement or sound but suddenly there was a young man behind her.
She turned and blinked at him. The young man smiled at her. He had bright golden blonde locks of hair that were tousled and pale smooth skin. He seemed almost European except for his large green eyes. He was also very clean and neat despite the house interior, and his garments of clothing were chosen colorfully and lavished. It was as if he had the clothing taste of a small child but a tall and lean body.
"Y-you..." Tohru blinked. He seemed very familiar.
Momiji blinked surprised registering her face then grinned at her in excitement. "Oh! You're that girl!" He immediately reached out and took her hand. Bringing it to his lips he kissed her hand softly earning a bright blush from Tohru.
"My lady."
"Stop it. I need you to take her home." Kyo cut in.
Momiji glanced up from Tohru's hand and beamed at Kyo.
"What a coincidence! How did you two run into each other?"
"What?" Tohru blinked confused at the situation. The stranger in front of her was acting as if he had known her for years.
"We just bumped into each other twice." Kyo answered smoothly.
"You mean you knew who it was? Why didn't you tell me?!" Momiji whined. He turned his attention back to Tohru and grinned. "Nice to meet you! I'm Momiji Sohma."
"N-Nice to meet you as well." Tohru blinked feeling a bit embarrassed under the boy's intense gaze.
"D-do I know you?" Tohru asked nervously.
"Well...not really." Momiji shrugged. "But now you do." He winked at her. "Where do you need to go? I'll be your escort."
"I'm not exactly sure what it's called...but I do have the address." Tohru pulled out her slip of paper and handed it to Momiji.
Momiji took it and glanced at the piece of paper.
"Kyo you work right near here!" He said surprised. "Another coincidence huh?"
"Shut up." Kyo sighed. "Well I'm going to bed."
"Already?" Momiji frowned. "You don't want to go with us?"
"You already know why I don't" Kyo murmured before heading up the stairs.
The two watched him leave and Momiji turned back around to face Tohru excitedly.
"Well what's your name?! I'll gladly help you get home!"
"My name is Tohru Honda." Tohru smiled.
"Ahhh are you from Japan?"
"Y-yes! Are you?"
"Kinda, my mom is German and my dad is Japanese. But I'm also living in Italy so you could say I grew up Italian too. I'm 18 how old are you?"
"I-I'm 19." Tohru said surprised.
"Wow! Cool! Kyo is 21. He doesn't seem that way though since he acts like an old man half the time.."
Tohru giggled into her hand. Momiji had a very energetic personality. She had never met someone like him before.
Momiji fell silent watching her laugh then smiled at her.
"Ok, should we get going?"
...
Tohru was surprised someone could talk as much as Momiji did. He rambled about various topics leading her through narrow alley and down pavements next to the canals of Venice. He talked endlessly about his favorite circuses, about the weird people he met, his love of food, his love of pastries, how annoying Kyo was, and just some of his travelling adventures. It was hard for Tohru to keep up with all of the topics he was throwing at her.
"And then he got this huge watermelon see-? And then it went straight into-!"
Suddenly Momiji stopped abruptly and Tohru almost lurched forward and went ahead of him. Slowing her pace she looked at him surprised.
"Momiji-kun?"
"Aw...how cute." A deep voice from the side of the alley echoed to them.
It was as if a chilled atmosphere had suddenly surrounded them. Tohru realized that the two were not alone in the street. It was almost nightfall and the sun was setting quite rapidly in the city. However, this made the street seem even more dangerous as three men, all tall lean and muscular looking emerged from a hidden sideway arch. Tohru blinked and realized they had emerged without even making a sound. She also noticed the alley was nearly empty except for a couple of homeless men and tourists walking away.
The three men stood in front of them. All wore sunglasses to cover their eyes, and wore black crisp suits. They seemed old in comparison to Momiji and Tohru, but they definitely did not seem friendly. One bald man even had a cut across his cheek that was left unbandaged, and another with a ripped tear in his expensive looking pants.
As if the situation had switched, Tohru felt Momiji suddenly grab her arm and force her behind him. Momiji stood protectively in front of Tohru and she held onto her arm as she stood behind him.
"M-Momiji-kun?" Tohru asked nervously.
"Shh.." He warned in a low quiet tone. Immediately Tohru sensed a dangerous situation. Momiji sounded so serious. So different from how he had talked before...
"Sohma-sama there's no need to hide the lady. We won't harm her." The bald man held up his hands as if admitting defeat and grinned at the two of them.
"Like hell." Momiji snarled. "How'd you find me?"
"We have our ways..." The bald man took off his sunglasses as he spoke, and Tohru almost gasped. The bald man's scar on his cheek led right up his left eye as if someone had slashed his eye badly. Or was it a scar...?
"See this Momiji-sama? This is what I got for letting you escape." The man's words lost its false cheery attitude as he spoke and turned into a threatening cold trickle of words.
"Ohh I'm very sorry." Momiji said none too kindly. "But I guess I should thank you?" He shifted his body slightly to cover Tohru a bit more while he spoke. Tohru felt Momiji's shoulders stiffen and she looked at him concerned.
"Oh I don't know if I would accept the apology.." The bald man grinned laughing loudly sounding half amused half frustrated. As if this was setting a cue, Momiji instantly lurched forward and threw something that looked circular and large. In the same instant, he turned holding tightly to Tohru's arm and ran in the opposite direction.
"GAh!"
Smoke engulfed the whole alleyway in an instant. Tohru couldn't even see her hands in front of her. "M-Momiji-kun!"
"Run!" He commanded, and she felt him pull her along at an intense speed through the alley and smoke. Tohru struggled to keep up with his quick feet and felt him pull her along, then through a series of new alleys and small nooks.
"Momiji-sama! Momiji-sama!" She heard the men angrily call after them.
Tohru couldn't even speak for how fast they were running. Momiji led her in several different directions before her eyes could finally see the smoke clearing out. The first thing she did was glance behind her as they ran, but to her immense relief saw that no one was following them. But this didn't seem to stop Momiji from continuing to run at the immensely fast speed they were in. They continued to run, but in a totally different route from before. Tohru couldn't even recognize half the ways they were running through. Momiji swerved and suddenly stopped at the edge of the alley and hid in a small nook on the side.
Tohru was suddenly pulled next to him, and he covered her mouth with his hand and closed in her extremely close. Their noses were almost touching.
"Shh." He warned. Tohru's bright blue fearful eyes met his bright green ones and the two looked at one another both frozen to the spot. Tohru was about to ask what he was doing, but then she heard a faint noise of scattering feet in the alley they had just been in.
"Search every corner, they're probably heading west. If they're in the canal search that too!"
"Akito-sama is going to be pissed we lost them again."
There was the sound of a bit more scurrying and Tohru tensed as the sounds grew nearer to their location. Momiji breathed deeply and rested his forehead against hers as the two waited in silence. Finally the sounds of their steps disappeared down the alley.
Wasting no time, Momiji let go of his grasp on Tohru and peered left down the alley before pulling her out and running once more in the opposite direction. They crossed bridges across canals, wormed their way through small cracks between shops, and finally the two ended at the end of the alley.
Momiji opened the door to the first building on the right and pushed Tohru inside before slamming the door shut and locking it several times.
Tohru stopped gasping trying to catch her breath. It felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her. The two stood in silence gasping as they both tried to regain their normal pace of breathing.
After a few moments there was a loud commotion upstairs and a pounding of feet and Kyo-kun appeared at the top of the stairway.
"What the hell is wrong with you two?" He blinked shocked as he took in the sight of both Momiji and Tohru doubled over regaining their breaths at the end of the steps in front of the doorway.
"Akito." Momiji gasped out.
It was as if Kyo-kun had froze in time. His whole body didn't move as he registered the words, and his eyes grew wide. For the first time Kyo-kun looked shocked.
"What? How?" He asked in a hushed whisper.
"They found us. Me and Tohru. In the street. I ran back home and threw a smoke bomb to distract them. They said they had their way...but it was three of his men. Like hell..."
"Three?" Kyo-kun cut in sharply.
The two fell silent and the only sound that could be heard was Tohru's fast breathing as she tried to regain her composure. Kyo-kun made his way down the steps and looked at the two of them.
"And what about her?" Kyo-kun nodded his head towards Tohru's direction.
"They saw her. She's not safe."
"Damnit!" Kyo-kun growled and punched the wall hard with his fist. A large echo resounded throughout the house. Tohru blinked shocked to see his loss of composure.
"I...I'm sorry." She managed to gasp.
"Don't apologize." Kyo-kun said sharply. "This has nothing to do with you."
It was as if these words pierced her for the second time that day. How could someone so beautiful be so cruel to her? She felt the shock ebb away from her body and replace it with a mix of pain and resentment.
Momiji watched Tohru's expression before turning to Kyo. "Shut up. Don't take it out on her. Let's figure this out ok?"
Kyo sighed and ruffled his hair before sitting in a nearby chair. Momiji walked over to the kitchen, filled a glass with water and handed it to Tohru.
"Sit." He ordered.
Tohru nodded meekly and sat on a stool next to her.
Momiji sat himself and sighed. "So if the three of them are here...that means there's probably more."
"Or Akito himself." Kyo murmured.
"Or Akito himself." Momiji agreed in a much more tired tone. It was as if he had aged three more years and was no longer his cheerful blabbering self he had been moments before.
"We need to leave." Kyo said simply.
"Where? You have a job here...I have my show.."
"I can find a new one. You can just do the same thing you're doing in the new city. We should leave tonight. They might already know where this house is."
"Then shouldn't we leave right now?"
"That's another option."
"But what about Tohru?"
The two men glanced at her, and Tohru gazed back at them her eyes wide and frightened. What on earth were they talking about?
"Why do you have to leave?" She managed to ask.
Kyo looked away from her, and Momiji answered. "Tohru...I'm really sorry. You barely know us. I know this is totally out of the blue. But can you trust us?"
"I.." Tohru started more confused then before. "What do you mean..?" She whispered.
"As in I need you to trust us with your life." Momiji got up and put his arms on her shoulders looking deep in her eyes. "This is a serious matter, and Tohru, I'm sorry to say you just got involved. Those men are assassins. Not just any assassins, they're assassins hired by my grandfather Akito-san. He hired them to kill us."
"A-Assasins?!" Tohru gasped. She searched Momiji's bright green eyes for any hint of a joke or lie, but felt her stomach tighten, as she found none. "Why would you be hunted to be killed?!"
"Because we betrayed our family." Kyo said tiredly. As if it was an old story he no longer wished to talk about. "We belong to a large powerful family called the Sohmas. We left Japan two years ago, and in doing so betrayed them." He got up from sitting. "We will tell you details later, but for now I think we should get moving. If you don't want to be killed you'll trust us and follow us."
Momiji nodded to Kyo and left Tohru immediately opening a door that led down a fleet of stairs.
About a few seconds later he was back with two large backpacks. Kyo-kun appeared right after Momiji and filled one bag with a smaller bag. He also threw two coats to the two of them and put one on himself.
Tohru grabbed the coat and looked at it. It was a large black coat that traced up to the neckline.
"Put that on. Let's go." Kyo said.
"W...what?" Tohru blinked.
But to her surprise Momiji didn't look at her and immediately put on his coat, put on one of the large backpacks, and checked the windows outside.
"The street's empty...but we should leave through the basement."
"Yea. Tohru, put on your coat."
"Yes." Tohru felt very unsafe about the whole situation. However, she felt it was much safer to trust Kyo-kun and Momiji-kun rather then the three scary men they had just encountered...
When she finished the top buttons of her coat, Momiji grabbed Tohru's hand leading her down the stairs of the basement. He had a flashlight in one hand and Tohru heard the footsteps of Kyo-kun following in right after little light she saw was gone when she heard the door slam shut behind them and lock. Tohru glanced behind them but Momiji pulled her forward and led her down the basement towards the back. He removed a chest hiding a large hole in the wall, and bent to go inside helping Tohru follow after him. Tohru immediately felt uneasy as the walls were all dirt, and the ground was not floored. She realized the three of them were literally making their way inside a large man-made tunnel.
Soon they reached a small dead end, and Momiji lifted a large wood panel to reveal the light of the streets. Tohru blinked registering that it was now almost dark outside. It was faintly blue outside, and they were in front of a large mainstream street.
"Th-this is.." Tohru gasped. They were in front of the Grand Canal. One of the largest squares in Venice. It seemed mind boggling that their small apartment led straight to the main center of bussling tourists.
"Let's go." Kyo said quietly, he led in front of them and winded himself through several crowds of people. Momiji held onto Tohru's hand tightly and she followed as the three of them navigated their way through several large crowds of tourists in the bussling nightlife of the square.
As Tohru bumped into several people, she noticed Kyo-kun was making great pains to travel through large crowds. She wondered if it was to be less conspicuous. He led them through cafes that were two wayed, and open on either end. Then through some small crowds of people sitting in table and chairs. Finally they were led through the last end of the street and ended at the end of a bussling square of taxis, busses, and several cars trying to the make their way across the bridge entering and exiting the city of Venice.
The three of them made their way through lines of people waiting for busses, and as a green bus arrived, Kyo immediately made his way to the front and the three of them got on the bus.
They made their way to the back and the bus was seemingly empty. Perhaps since it was almost nighttime.
They sat in the back and Tohru blinked at the two of them.
"Why not a cab?" She asked.
"They might have hired cab drivers to hunt for us." Momiji answered simply.
The three fell silent and Tohru watched the outside window trying to figure out where they were going. After several stops, she realized they were heading further away from Venice.
"Are...are we not coming back?" She asked feeling she was stating something obvious.
"No. We're not." Momiji answered.
"B-but how? Do you have the money? The food? Materials? Clothing..?"
"All here." Momiji smiled at her for the first time in a while, and indicated to his back. Kyo-kun was wearing the other large backpack on his back, and was looking out the window of the bus with his arms crossed.
"But...I have to tell Hana..and Arisa..they will be worried."
"You can email them later with wifi. Just tell them you're safe, and that you have a family emergency or something."
"But...my clothes...my things.."
"I don't think you understand." Kyo-kun cut in all of a sudden. Tohru was beginning to think he only spoke when he got irritated by the lack of information they seemed to have.
"You're in danger. We're all in danger. It isn't a matter of people worrying about you. Right now the main thing you should be concerned with is yourself. Those assassin are trained to find me and Momiji, and now that you're involved, you as well. If you want to die, be my guest, but for now, just follow us, and don't complain."
Tohru opened her mouth then closed it. She wasn't sure whether she felt angry, confused, or hurt by his comment. But this did register to her that the situation was very serious.
"Where are you guys going..?" She asked quietly.
The two looked at one another.
"We haven't decided." Momiji shrugged at her.
Tohru blinked. This was one complicated journey she was about to be in...