Disclaimer: All the Hana Yori Dango characters are owned by Yoko Kamio

Chapter 9

Tsukushi woke up in a cold sweat. She had not been sleeping well for the past few days; not since the day she had dropped her glass of milk as she was suddenly stuck with a sense of foreboding. That sense of foreboding even followed her into her sleep. She could still remember the horrifying vivid details of her first nightmare…

IIn the starkly white operating room, Tsukushi was laying on the operating table, her legs up in the straddle. Then a doctor came in, his mask covering half his face, but his eyes strangely familiar. He walked to the end of the operating table and stood between her legs. She tried to ask what was wrong but she could not mutter a word at all. Then he reached between her legs and lifted up a bloody, underdeveloped fetus. She screamed and as she looked into his eyes, she realized that they were Tsukasa's eyes, gleaming evilly at her… /I

She had screamed her head off and woke herself up. And she proceeded to have a breakdown. Since then, her nightmares had all been variations of the same theme: of Tsukasa killing the child in her body. She shivered violently in the warm night. She felt so frightened and alone; can she really escape Tsukasa's clutches forever? Just then, the baby in her stomach started to move about, as if to reassure her that everything will be fine. "I certainly hope so, darling child," she said out loud. "I really hope so."

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

Akira stood outside Tsukushi's apartment. His heart quickened its pace at the thought of seeing her again. When did his feelings for her changed from platonic friendship to something that is deeper, he mused. 'It does not matter at this moment though, what matters now is keeping Tsukushi safe,' he thought to himself.

He rang the doorbell. He heard someone moving about inside, and after awhile, the door opened, and his arms were filled with the warmth of Tsukushi's body. He hugged her closely, savouring the feel of her in his arms. It felt so right.

Just then Tsukushi pushed herself away from him, and he saw that she was blushing. It was so like her, he thought indulgently; she was married and was even going to have a child, yet she still retained that old innocence nature of hers and could blush at command by contact with another man. "I sure hope this is not how you greet every visitor that comes to your door," he teased her gently.

"Don't be silly," Tsukushi retorted pertly, but with her eyes staring at the ground. "I was just so glad to see a familiar face again. I…have been lonely." The last part was spoken very quietly, as if it was hard for her to admit to being human and having human frailties.

His heart broke again when he heard those last words; she had to go through too much by herself, and she must be at the end of her tether to admit that to him.

He put his hand under her chin, raised her face up and scrutinized her beloved face. He could see the deepening lines of strains around her eyes and her mouth, and she had dark shadows under her eyes, as if she had not been sleeping well. He nudged her gently into the apartment and closed the door behind her.

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

"Sir, Mr Mimasaka entered this apartment building four hours ago, and has not been seen leaving yet. It appears that either he has an apartment here or he is staying with someone who is a resident of this building," Aori informed Tsukasa.

"Find out which apartment he is in. I expected that information by tomorrow night the latest," Tsukasa ordered.

"Yes, sir," Aori bowed deferentially and exited.

Tsukasa looked at the brown liquor in his wineglass, swirling it around. Then he threw the wineglass against the door. He could feel Tsukushi in his bones; he knew that he had found where she had been hiding for the past few months. Now, all he needed was Tsukushi back where she should rightly be: in his possession once again.

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

Her face was a ghastly white and her body was deadly still: it was a posture of utter terror. Akira had told her what Tsukasa had said and now she was absolutely afraid, it seems that Tsukasa was going to use her baby as a weapon against her. 'He is such an expert manipulator', she thought dispassionately. 'But I would not let him near enough to me for him to execute his plans.'

"Tsukushi, you can't let him make all the moves. You must retaliate too,' Akira was now telling her. "Let me tell Soujirou and Rui what has been happening so that they can help us too," he pled.

"I don't want any harm to come to them. In fact, you also shouldn't be here at all. You should leave me be, and I'll think of a solution myself," Tsukushi said quietly.

Akira's temper flared up at hearing that. He clutched her arms tightly in his hands and shook her, "How dare you say that! Don't you know how much you mean to me, and to the others? You had wormed your way into our cynical and long-hardened hearts! We would gladly give our lives up for you! Can't you see that we would do any and everything for you? I would give up everything in a heartbeat, Tsukushi, to keep you safe. Do you know why? Because I love you. I LOVE YOU!" he yelled the last three words into her face. Then unconsciously he realized what he had been doing to her, and immediately dropped her arms. And he started babbling, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?"

Tsukushi, who had kept silent throughout his tirade, said calmly, "I'm alright. Don't worry. Your 'hurt' does not compare to Tsukasa's." Akira winced at the comparison to Tsukasa. He said remorsefully, 'I'm really, really sorry, Tsukushi. I know what you have been through and I can't believe what a fool I am, to manhandle you like that. Perhaps I should leave. We'll talk in the morning again." There was no reaction from Tsukushi. Akira sighed and moved towards the door.

"Don't leave," Tsukushi's voice stopped him. "Stay," there was a beseeching quality in her voice.

And he did.

AN: Ok, a great big apology to everyone for letting you wait so long for my update. Usual excuses, school too busy, hence no time. What more, my exams are in 2 weeks…but I'll try to get in another update either in this story or "Forgotten Memories" before my exams…but no guarantee.

As per usual, please review. It will give me more motivation to update faster, hint hint.