They walked in comfortable silence, his arm around her shoulders as she guided him back to his room. He breathed in her scent, feeling at peace, something he hadn't felt since her parents were alive, and he was with them.
Captain Munakata and Lieutenant Awashima were waiting for them in his room when they opened the door, along with Akiyama, and from the way the Blue King's eyes twinkled as they came to rest on them as they came in, it was obvious he knew that they had confessed their feelings to one another.
Fushimi straightened, moving his arm from Amaya's shoulders to her waist, and adjusted his glasses, his face taking on its usually bored expresion. Amaya's face reddened slightly at the knowing smile on Munakata's face, and she bowed slightly in greeting. " Captain, " she spoke. " Lieutenant. "
" Good afternoon, Fushimi-kun, " the Scepter 4 Captain returned. " Tenjin-kun. "
As Fushimi closed the door behind him and Amaya, his superiors sat on the long sofa against the wall on the right side of the bed while Akiyama stood beside them, and watched the young third in command ease himself onto the bed with help from his fiancee who made sure that he was comfortable, his pillows plumped up. Munakata smiled inwardly at how comfortable his third in command seemed in the presence of his childhood friend and fiancée; the signs weren't that obvious to the ordinary eye, but they were there nonetheless: Fushimi's prominent scowl wasn't as severe as it usually was, and the shuttered look in his blue eyes was almost absent when he looked at her. As Amaya Tenjin asked him if he wanted her to adjust his pillows a bit more and he declined, Munakata saw the fond look Fushimi gave the girl before the young man reached up, and brushed a strand of hair from her eyes, tucking it tenderly behind her ear.
Sensing that the Blue King and his second in command wanted to speak with Fushimi in private, Amaya excused herself, but, unable to resist, she leaned over, and kissed her fiancée tenderly on the lips, telling him that she would be back later. She heard the startled sound that Awashima made at the sight, but she didn't care, and grinned; out of the corner of her eye, she saw Akiyama's eyebrows go up before he glanced away discreetly.
Hell, she thought. Everyone knows that we're engaged, so I can kiss him if I want!
Amaya left the room grinning like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland.
" Uh… Fushimi-kun? "
Scepter 4's third in command turned towards the woman, almost smirking at the sight of her gawking, although he covered it with his usual bored scowl.
The Blue King, however, was able to grasp the situation faster, and chuckled in amusement. " I see that things have progressed quite nicely, " he commented.
Fushimi clicked his tongue. " So what's going on? " he asked, determined to steer their attention from what he considered to be his private moment.
The light, teasing atmosphere became more serious as the Captain spoke the words that brought the nightmare that Fushimi had thought was over back to life.
" Ayato Manato and Chou Tenjin have escaped from prison. "
Silence.
Fushimi's face, already pale, turned a ghostly white. " Wait… what?! "
Munakata's carefree, teasing smile disappeared as he listened to his second in command fill the young man in on the details, Amaya Tenjin's childlike face appearing in the Captain's mind.
" We received word from the Metropolitan Police, and the Bureau of Corrections, " Awashima explained in her usual business like tone. " There was a prison break last night at the penitentiary where Ayato Manato and Chou Tenjin were being held, and it was confirmed that they were among those who had managed to escape before the riot was quelled; both of them were not among those who were apprehended. "
Fushimi swore inwardly as he remembered the night he had learned the truth about what Amaya's life had become after her parents were killed, and she was placed under her sister's " care ".
God in Heaven above, how he had wanted to kill Ayato and Chou – not only for the latter's neglect and abuse of her younger sister, but also for being an accomplice in her boyfriend's perverted attempt on Amaya.
He remembered the fearful, despairing look on Amaya's face as Chou held her down, and Ayato was attempting to pull her pyjama bottoms off as she kicked and struggled…
" Get off her! " Fushimi's voice startled the three individuals in the apartment, and as all of them turned to look at him, he flung his knives in their direction, making sure that none of them hit Amaya even as her Chou and Ayato leapt away from the barrage of steel, releasing their intended prey.
" Saruhiko..! "
He didn't waste any time. Striding towards Amaya as she managed to sit up, and attempted to fix her ruined clothing, Saruhiko snatched the girl up, flinging some more of his weapons at her assailants to keep them back before carrying her into her room where they pushed the drawer set against the door.
Quickly, they unlocked the window of Amaya's room, and ran down the fire escape. As soon as they reached the bottom, and landed on the concrete pavement, Fushimi took Amaya's hand in his, noticing how cold it was, and tightening his hold as they ran in the direction of the nearest police station…
Amaya hadn't been able to look at him, as if she was ashamed to face him.
The officers working the night shift at the precinct were startled as the glass doors burst open, revealing the two individuals – one a teenager, the other a tiny girl in torn pyjamas, and knew that something bad had happened. As they reported the attempt, Fushimi noticed how Amaya avoided looking at him, and they'd needed to have a female doctor examine her to determine if she had been sexually assaulted since she almost went into hysterics at the idea of a male doctor touching her.
Even after it was confirmed that Ayato hadn't succeeded in touching her, Amaya still couldn't look at him…
" What's worse, " Awashima's voice brought him back to present. " Is that both of them had pictures of you and Tenjin-san in their cells, and there were red target marks drawn on them. "
They were coming for revenge.
Dammit, Fushimi thought to himself. How am I going to tell her?
" She needs to know, " he stated simply. " It's her life in particular that's in danger. "
" We have assigned Kamo-san to accompany her when she isn't in your presence, " Munakata revealed. " She will also be informed as soon as she returns. "
Despite Munakata's assurance, it was obvious that Fushimi wasn't going to take any chances with her safety. Picking his phone up from the bedside table, he dialed Amaya's number, his heart in his throat as he waited for her to answer.
She answered on the second ring. " Hello? "
" Where are you? " he demanded.
" Huh? " Amaya's confused tone greeted him. " I'm on my way to the grocery store with Kamo-san to pick up some stuff. " She paused. " What's wrong? "
" Screw the groceries! " Fushimi growled. " Get back here, now! It's urgent! "
It was obvious that she was miffed, and about to go into stubborn as a mule mode when he heard Kamo-san's voice in the background, although he couldn't make out what he was saying as he spoke to Amaya. After a moment, she came back on the line, and sounded a bit more subdued. " I'm coming. "
She looked annoyed, and ready to explode when she entered the room, and marched right up to Fushimi who was sitting on the side of the bed. " Okay, spill it, " she demanded, her hands on her hips.
Kamo tried not to smile at the feisty little teenager's blunt, straightforward approach. During her phone conversation with the unsociable third in command, Kamo had received the text message on his phone to bring her back to the hospital because it was urgent, which he had relayed to her; the result was that she had agreed to come back, albeit, not without scowling ominously.
Captain Munakata cleared his throat to get the attention of the two individuals who were at the center of the drama that threatened their lives. " My apologies for the sudden demand, Tenjin-kun, " he stated. " There is an urgent matter that needs to be brought to your attention, just as it has been brought to Fushimi-kun's. "
Amaya Tenjin's unique eyes looked the Blue King closely, her scrutiny cut short by his third in command suddenly lifting her onto the bed beside him before he put his arm around her waist.
As Awashima repeated what she had told Fushimi, Amaya's face paled, and her eyes widened so that she looked like a startled owl. If they thought that the news about her sister's escape, and plotted revenge was enough to make her faint, or shrink away, they were wrong. After a moment of silence, Amaya snorted in an unladylike way. " She always liked to play it cheap and dirty, " she commented, her eyes flaring with fury as she remembered what her sister had done to her.
" We have decided that you will stay at Scepter 4 headquarters until the situation is resolved, " Munakata informed her. " It will be much easier to keep you and Fushimi-kun will be under our protection. " His violet eyes twinkled. " If you are at our base, we will not have to worry about Fushimi-kun sneaking off to see you. "
The said young man gave a strangled sound even as his fiancée blushed at the double meaning in the Blue King's words.
