Author's Note - It's been a while I know ^.^
I'm trying my very best to finish all my original stories, so I hope you guys all enjoy the ride with me =3
Natsuki slowly eased open the door that she had been held captive in, and carefully looked up and down the poorly-lit hallway.
Seeing no one else around to impede their progress, Natsuki lightly tilted her head forward to Shizuru to silently say the coast was clear. Shizuru returned the slight head nod, and watched quietly as Natsuki slipped out the door and into the empty hallway. The dark-haired young woman kept the gun held out in front of her, as her emerald-green eyes darted around to make sure that no one was really in the hallway with them.
After a few seconds of continued silence, Natsuki made a 'come forward' motion with her hand, and Shizuru silently eased out of the room with the stun gun Natsuki had tossed her, held out in front of her body ready to send any fool dumb enough to come close to her, twitching painfully to the ground.
Natsuki began walking softly down the hallway, with her back pressed up close against one of the hallway walls. Shizuru followed closely behind her, making sure to check down the hall behind them every few steps, to make sure no one got the drop on them from behind.
Natsuki finally made it to the end of the hallway, and took in and released a deep breath as she prepared to step around the corner, and hopefully towards a door that would lead them out of this godforsaken place.
Natsuki stepped out from the edge of the hallway, and stepped around the corner into the next hallway...and came face to face with none other than Reito himself.
The dual expressions of shock on both their faces would have been comical to a stranger looking, but to both Natsuki and Reito this was a very unpleasant surprise. But they both recovered at the same time, and Natsuki cried out for Shizuru to "move move move" as she spun on her heels, and shoved Shizuru before her to turn and run back down the hallway they had just come down.
The distinctive sound of bullets being fired into the air around them caused Natsuki to curse loudly, even as a bullet flew passed her face and slightly nicked her ear.
Reito was hot on their trail and the asshole was not giving up, no matter how fast she and Shizuru ran.
Finally they both ran out of hallway, and came to a dead end. Or rather there was a door, but it refused to open when Natsuki grabbed the handle and began yanking desperately at it.
The sounds of Reito shouting orders for his men to shoot and kill came to their ears from further back down the darkened hall, and in a fit of pure desperation Natsuki aimed the gun at the point behind the door handle, and unloaded every bullet in the gun's chamber into the spot. With a low groan the door eased out from the wall, and Natsuki wasted no time on yanking the door opened with the now busted handle. She quickly shoved Shizuru through the door, and they both stumbled into a deserted alleyway.
Natsuki quickly grabbed Shizuru's hand, and began a full sprint down the empty alley, desperate to get the honey-haired brunette away from this place of degradation and danger. They ran as fast as they were both able down the alley, and finally burst out onto an empty sidewalk. It was pretty dark in the early morning hours, but Natsuki saw that a taxi was driving slowly down the street, and she practically ran in front of the car to get it to stop.
The driver immediately stopped the car and Natsuki hurriedly bundled Shizuru into the backseat, even as she breathlessly gave the driver her apartment address. She had also quickly stuck the uncocked gun into the back of her pants before she got into the car, and dropped her shirt over it so that the driver wouldn't see it. The fact that there was a line of blood still silently dripping from her bullet-nicked ear didn't go unnoticed by the taxi driver. But he'd learned over the course of his taxi driving days, that when you picked up passengers this late at night that it's best to just shut up, take the money due for the ride, drop 'em off wherever they wanted to go, and then hightail it outta there after they'd left his car.
Shizuru gently took Natsuki's hands into her smaller ones, and gave Natsuki a tremulous smile as she looked regretfully at the small wound on Natsuki's ear.
"I am...so sorry to have gotten you mixed up in all this, Natsuki. So...very sorry," Shizuru whispered in a trembling voice.
Natsuki gave Shizuru a soft, crooked grin before she reached up with a hand, and gently cupped the side of Shizuru's face. She then leaned forward and placed the softest, most tender kiss on Shizuru's forehead. Tears spilled unbidden from Shizuru's eyes at the gentle press of Natsuki's lips. Natsuki softly wiped at the tears with the pad of her thumb and then leaned forward once more, but this time to place her kiss gently against Shizuru's soft lips. A light gasp escaped Shizuru's mouth as her lips parted, and she leaned into the sweet kiss Natsuki offered.
The taxi driver made sure to keep his eyes focused straight forward, and only on the road in front of him. It wasn't any of his business what was happening in his backseat. This was also how he'd managed to keep driving his taxi after so many years. Never ask questions, and never show any kind of interest in the goings-on of his passengers.
Finally the driver pulled up to the apartment complex that Natsuki lived in, and the dark-haired young woman quickly paid the driver with the few bills she still had in her pocket. She may have overpaid him a bit in fact as she'd just dug into her pockets, grabbed whatever she had, and quickly handed it to the driver. She didn't care though. She had managed to get Shizuru away from that scumbag Reito, and she just wanted to get the two of them safely inside her apartment.
Natsuki knew thought that Reito was not going to let this go. She also knew that her apartment had been compromised, and that Reito more than likely knew where to find her whenever he wanted, considering he had sent Shizuru to her that first time. But this was something to worry about a little later.
It was almost dawn now and while Natsuki hated the very air that Reito breathed, she had to make herself believe that the man wasn't quite stupid enough to try anything to either her or Shizuru in bright daylight. That meant that she and Shizuru had some time during the day to plan their next move. And to also get some much needed rest.
Looking at Shizuru's weary, almost wilting body made Natsuki realize the chestnut-haired woman truly needed some rest from the trials and dangers of this night. Natsuki was a police officer in training, so she had already been in training for harrowing, life-threatening situations like she'd been in tonight. And in fact, she was actually a bit proud of herself for getting the both of them out of that deadly situation alive. But now she had to focus on somehow getting Reito put away for good, and helping Shizuru move on with her life in a positive and healthy way.
No more prostituting.
Natsuki had made a promise to herself to see that Shizuru never ended up like her mother, and she intended to keep that promise.
No matter what it took.
~o~o~o~
Shizuru could barely put one foot before the other as Natsuki led her into her darkened apartment. She was so very tired. The events of the night plus the horrors that she knew that Reito was now going to inflict on her life...and the life of the one person she had left in this world to love...was playing havoc with her heart and soul. As Natsuki flipped on the lights to her apartment Shizuru quickly turned around, grabbed fistfuls of Natsuki's shirt with her hands, and stared with desperate tears in her eyes at the woman who had just risked her life to save her.
"Natsuki...my sister...Reito is going to...he's going...oh god, Natsuki...Reito's going to kill my sister now that I've run away from him!" Shizuru finally burst out, as she half-collapsed into a stunned Natsuki's arms.
Natsuki blinked a few times in a state of quiet shock, before she carefully led the crying Shizuru over to the living room couch, and gently helped her sit down. She then gently wrapped her arms around Shizuru's shaking form, tucking the chestnut-haired head onto her shoulder, and softly began making soothing sounds to try to calm Shizuru down enough for her to speak.
"Shizuru..." Natsuki began softly, then licked her dry lips and tried again. "Shizuru, what do you mean by Reito killing your sister? I didn't know you had any other family members...alive," Natsuki said quietly, as she gently stroked her hand up and down Shizuru's back.
Shizuru let out a soft sigh as she allowed herself to melt into Natsuki's gentle embrace, the tears that had flowed so freely from her finally tapering off enough for her to speak again.
"I have a...younger sister, Natsuki. She doesn't know me. She has never known any of her true birth family. When she was born my mother gave her up for adoption. We...we couldn't keep her. My mother was...too sick. She couldn't care for her. It was already so hard for her trying to care for me, and in fact I was doing most of the caring for my mother. I was...so young...I didn't want to lose my baby sister, but we didn't have much choice!" Shizuru exclaimed in an anguished voice, as she buried her face back against Natsuki's neck, and tried to regain control over her emotions so that she wouldn't start crying again.
Natsuki held Shizuru a bit tighter against her body, quietly offering Shizuru all the comfort and support she could. Finally after a few minutes of quietly pulling herself back together, Shizuru was able to lean back a bit, and look into Natsuki brilliant-green eyes to continue her story.
"But even though we had to give her up I never...never...lost contact with where she was. I began working lots of odd jobs, and began saving up whatever money I could spare after taking care of mother and myself. She was never adopted, and by the time she turned 10, I had enough saved up that I could afford to have her sent to boarding school. I contacted the orphanage, and they were happy enough to take the money, and send my sister off to somewhere others could care for her. By this time I'd run into...Reito...and he found out what I was doing with the money I was beginning to...earn...working for him. So in typical Reito fashion he threatened me...with the life of my baby sister. He told me that if I ever tried to leave him he would hunt my sister down...and kill her. My sweet little sister whom I've only gotten the chance to see and hold once, and that was when she was born. She was so small...so tiny...so defenseless in a world as cruel as ours. She was so beautiful, Natsuki. We have different fathers, but still she was so beautiful. Soft golden hair, sparkling-blue eyes, and a smile so angelic and pure it made you want to cry. My beautiful baby sister...Alyssa. And I only got to hold her that one time, before the nurses took her away from us...from my mother and I...because we wouldn't be able to care for her," Shizuru murmured in a soft, weary voice against Natsuki's neck where she'd laid her head back down.
Natsuki swallowed down the tears that had formed in her throat, and then gently nuzzled her face against Shizuru's neck to offer what comfort she could.
"Don't worry, Shizuru. I will not allow that sick, twisted bastard to get anywhere near you or your sister. In fact, you and I are going to take a little trip, and go get your sister before Reito even has a chance to get near her," Natsuki said with a small determined nod.
Shizuru leaned back slightly to give Natsuki an incredulous stare.
"Natsuki...my sister has never even met me before. She doesn't even know that I exist. All she knows is that a 'generous benefactor' pays the boarding school each year for her education, plus her room and board. She won't...she won't want to see me...she'll...probably hate me if she ever finds out that she still has family alive who gave her up for adoption," Shizuru exclaimed in a distressed voice, as she tried to pull herself out of the warm cocoon of Natsuki's arms, to stand and pace away from the dark-haired woman.
Natsuki gently tightened her hold on the struggling honey-brunette until with a weary sigh, Shizuru leaned back against Natsuki's chest. Natsuki gave into the instinct to lean forward and place a soft, chaste kiss against Shizuru's forehead before she began to speak again.
"No one related to you could ever hate you Shizuru. I promise you that. Alyssa will love you. You're her big sister. Any child who grew up without her family would give anything to know that she still has even one living relative. And one who loves her so much she sacrificed practically everything to keep her little sister safe and sound," Natsuki replied softly, as she reached up to tenderly stroke her fingers through Shizuru's soft, chestnut locks.
Shizuru could only nod her head in weary agreement. If Natsuki truly believed that Shizuru's little sister, the very same little sister that Shizuru hadn't seen since the day she was born, would like much less love her...then Shizuru would put her whole faith in Natsuki's belief.
A soft yawn suddenly escaped Shizuru and her eyes began to close, though they opened back up briefly when she felt herself being lifted up in strong, steady arms.
"What are you doing?" Shizuru asked in a low, drowsy voice. She felt Natsuki breath lightly against the skin of her neck, as the dark-haired woman leaned her head down to answer directly into her ear.
"You need rest, Shizuru. Lots of it. We have a busy next few days coming up, and I need to make arrangements for our trip. I have to call my police officer trainer to explain that I need a few days off for leave, as I have an urgent emergency that suddenly came up that I need to take care of. Then I'll pack us some stuff that we'll need for the trip. Then we'll head out to the train station later today, after you've gotten some rest. I want to be out of town before dark, and Reito decides to come busting in here looking for us," Natsuki replied softly, as she carried the exhausted woman in her arms into her bedroom, and gently laid her down onto the bed.
Shizuru made quiet, protesting noises as Natsuki laid her down, but Natsuki gently shushed her before she reached down and gently tugged off Shizuru's shoes, and made the tired woman comfortable beneath the soft sheets. Natsuki leaned back with a soft smile down at the half-asleep woman in her bed, and began to turn away when a firm grip wrapped around her wrist and held her in place. Natsuki looked back down into garnet-red eyes that sparkled with an inner light, even in the curtain-darkened dimness of her room.
Shizuru licked her lips lightly, as she clutched almost convulsively to Natsuki's wrist. She didn't want the other woman to leave...to leave her...even though she knew that Natsuki wasn't going very far, and that she would be close by in the apartment if Shizuru really needed her.
Still...
Shizuru tugged gently on Natsuki's wrist, causing the ebony-haired woman to lean back down over the bed, until her face hovered mere inches above Shizuru's. Shizuru licked her dry lips again, and something in Natsuki's stomach knotted at the almost erotic sight, and she leaned in a few more centimeters until her lips were barely brushing Shizuru's. Shizuru's breath hitched and she had to resist the urge to lick her lips again, as Natsuki closed the scant distance between them and pressed her soft, full lips against her own.
Shizuru's eyes closed and a soft sigh of the deepest pleasure escaped, only to be swallowed up by Natsuki's mouth, as the dark-haired woman slowly deepened the kiss. A low moan escaped both of them as the sweet contact between their lips continued, until Natsuki slowly and regretfully pulled back from the kiss. A small whimper of need escaped Shizuru's throat, and Natsuki had to fight the urge to lean back down, and press her lips back against Shizuru's.
Natsuki took a small, steadying breath and then smiled down tenderly at Shizuru, who had once again opened her beautiful scarlet-red eyes, and was looking up at Natsuki with an expression so open...so vulnerable...like she'd never been kissed with such gentle devotion before...that it practically broke Natsuki's heart. So Natsuki just had to dip down once more to drink from those lips that tempted her so sweetly.
Shizuru hummed in approval, as Natsuki dipped down for one more kiss. Then as Natsuki was leaning back, a soft yawn once again escaped Shizuru. The pout that came to Shizuru's lips after the unexpected yawn caused Natsuki to laugh softly, as she tenderly brushed a stray chestnut curl from Shizuru's brow.
"Get some rest, Shizuru. I'll get us all packed and ready, and then I'll come join you for a little rest myself later," Natsuki murmured softly, as she gently squeezed Shizuru's hand.
"You promise?" Shizuru asked in a soft, hopeful voice and Natsuki gently squeezed Shizuru's hand again, and nodded that she would.
Shizuru smiled up at her and nodded back, before she let go of Natsuki's hand and pulled the covers up a bit, so that she could snuggle down beneath them and get some sleep.
Natsuki smiled softly at the sight, before she turned around and made her way towards her bedroom door. Once at the door she spared a moment to glance back at the snuggled-down Shizuru, and a feeling of such pure sweetness gripped her heart it was almost painful.
"I will protect you, Shizuru. You and your sister. I will never let Reito get his filthy hands on you ever again. This I swear to you, Shizuru...I swear."
AN - I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It's been a couple years now since I had a creative surge to update it, and I really hope there is still an interest in it out there. So please review and let me know if you guys are still interested in reading, and if you enjoyed this newest chapter ^.^
