Stolen

As Akina approached the large Sohma building, she felt heavy and filled with sadness. Work was the last place she wanted to be, but at least it would take her mind of things. Climbing the many stair cases to the floor where they kept her cleaning coat, Akina left her things in one of the spare lockers and quickly changed. On her way out, she grabbed a cloth, mop and bucket from the cleaner's supply closet and then went to look for her boss.

The night dragged out so long Akina found her mind wandering the whole time, not realising she had been cleaning the same patch of floor for ten minutes.

"Akina, there you are!" announced Tohru as she wandered into the room. "Boss said you were here, I was wondering how the council meeting went."

"Oh it was fine…" Akina sighed, sitting on the floor and beginning to clean a new tile.

"If you do it like that, it'll take you forever!" said Tohru, watching Akina use the cloth to clean a tile at a time. "You should use the mop, that way you can cover big areas quicker." Akina nodded slowly and climbed to her feet. She dipped her mop into the bucket of soap water and began slowly wiping the floor again.

"Akina-san… Are you okay?" Tohru asked anxiously. "You seem troubled. If you want, you can talk to me about it." Akina looked at Tohru, she had picked up on her mood, but she didn't feel like sharing.

"Oh no, I'm fine. Just a little tired, that all," Akina said with a fake smile. Tohru nodded, understanding that her friend didn't want to talk right now.

"Okay. But if you do feel like talking, I'll be on the third floor. Just come and find me." She turned and left Akina to ponder her words. She acts as though she's worried about me…Akina thought. She's very kind, she hardly even knows me yet she wants to know if I am okay, and it seemed to upset her when she knew that I wasn't.

Finally the large clock on the wall struck Nine O'clock and Akina was free to go home. She changed and collected her things before walking downstairs to meet Tohru. They left the building together.

She bid goodbye to Tohru at the entrance and then walked down the street leading to her home. Akina wasn't keen on getting home. She knew her sister would be all stressed out after another bad day at work, and Akina hadn't had the best day herself. She knew how her sister got under stress, and now that their Grandmother had passed away, she would let things get to her twice as bad, although she tried to hide it.

Akina turned a corner and walked down an alley, which she knew led to the entrance of the park. She figured she would take the long way home and dawdle across the fields and flower beds. Akina approached the large iron gates at the entrance, to find them chained and locked. Since when does the park close? She thought irritably, turning around and heading out of the alley, but a rustling noise made her snap back around.

"Wh-Who's there?" she stammered; terrified of what it might be. She slowly stepped backwards until her back pressed against the gates. She felt the lock dig into her and jumped forwards. There was that rustling noise again. Suddenly, a dark figure emerged from the shadows. Akina clutched her chest, she though she was going to have a heart attack.

"Wh-Who are you?" she asked, sounding rather more hysterical than she had hoped. The figure took another step forward, part of their face shone in the street lamp glow.

"Y-You," said Akina pressing as hard against the gates as possible. She felt them sway behind her. "G-Get away from me!" she cried. She then turned and frantically rattled the gates, willing them to some how burst open. There was no way to climb them, Akina was trapped. All of the while, the figure loomed ever closer, before slipping their icy hand over Akina mouth and holding something silver to her throat.

"Don't move," said the cold voice. "Or I will hurt you, far worse than last time."

Tohru smiled when she saw that Shigure had left the porch light on for her. She slipped her shoes off and entered the house, leaving her school bag by the stairs; she then walked into the kitchen and found the dinner Kyo had made set out ready for her. She smiled and smelt the deliciously set out bento box. She took it into the living room and joined Kyo and Shigure by the kotatsu.

"Welcome back Tohru! Our little flower has returned," cried Shigure. Tohru smiled.

"I'm home, and thankyou so much for this meal Kyo, it smells delicious!" Kyo tossed his head casually, although a slight blush crept across his cheeks.

Shigure decided to take this opportunity, not to torment Kyo, but to go to bed. "I am exhausted! Ah the life of a writer," he said dramatically as he stretched out his arms and yawned. "Goodnight you two; don't stay up too late!"

"Goodnight!" Tohru beamed, Kyo glared after Shigure as he retreated to the hallway, crossing Yuki's path.

Tohru was about to take her first bite of the meal when Yuki entered the room.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your meal Miss. Honda, but was Miss. Saito at work tonight?"

Tohru nodded, a little curious as to why he was asking. "Yes she was, although she seemed a little sad. I think something was troubling her."

Yuki nodded and then left the room. "I'm going for a walk," he called from the front door as she slipped on his shoes. "I might not be back for a while." Shigure watched from the top of the stairs as Yuki left. Hm? Why would he want to go and see her so late?

Akina awoke to find herself alone is a large room. The floor was cold and wooden, and her back ached from lying on it. She sat up and looked around, observing her surroundings. It was dark, and there was hardly any furniture in the room, aside for a small wooden table, on which a pot stood with a single wilting flower inside. But it was a large sliding door at the far side of the room that caught Akina's attention. Slowly she climbed to her feet, he limbs throbbing under the sudden pressure. She gradually ambled across the room, careful not to make too much noise. Akina reached the doors. She held out a shaky hand and rested it against them. She was just about to push them open when a voice caused her to leap with fright.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," it said coldly. Akina slowly turned to find the shadow of a person standing in the far corner of the room, not far from where she had been lying.

"Y-you kidnapped me?" Akina asked in disbelief. This was too surreal, she had to be dreaming. But if this were a dream, would she be capable of feeling so terrified?

"I could have done much worse, Miss. Saito," they said, pushing away from the wall and moving into the centre of the room.

"H-how do you know my name?" she replied. Her whole body was shaking uncontrollably. The figure emitted a high, icy laugh that sent a shiver down Akina's spine.

"My dear, how could I not?" The captor moved across the room and stopped a foot away from Akina. They then reached out their hand and snatched her wrist. Akina closed her eyes, willing herself to awaken; but it didn't work. The figure then pulled hard on her arm and hauled her into the centre of the room. Akina struggled to find her footing, then straitened up and turned back to the stranger. Tears formed and spilled from her eyes.

"Oh no, why are you crying?" the figure asked, as they moved closer; their loose kimono dragging along the floor. The captor then snatched Akina by the hair and kneed her hard in the stomach. "Is it because you're sad?" they asked, as Akina fell to her knees, her tears dripping onto to the floor as she clutched her stomach.

"Is it because –" They then hit her fiercely across the head. "- you're confused?" Akina let out a cry and bit her lip, this pain was unbearable.

"Oh no, I think it's because –" the figure began, seizing Akina's hair once more. "You're scared!" They then kicked her as hard as possible in the ribs. Akina felt her breath rush out of her lungs as she collapsed onto her back, crying in agony.

"Say you're scared!" screamed the figure, towering above Akina. "Beg for your life!"

Akina sobbed loudly, she was struggling to breathe. In the corner of her eye she saw the figure pull something silver from their kimono. It gleamed in the light from the street lamp that seeped through the window.

As Yuki approached Akina's house, the address she had given him clutched tightly in his hand, he spotted a light seeping through the glass panels of the door. She had an apartment; it was above the pet shop. Yuki smiled, he wondered why she had missed out this detail. It would have prevented him from walking around the last ten minutes trying to find it. Yuki knocked on the door, only to hear thundering foot steps down the stairs and then the door flew open. He recognised the frantic woman standing there in her nightdress and loose dressing gown as Akina's older sister, Akisame. The woman looked a nervous wreck, her eyes looked bloodshot and red, she was breathing heavily and her once perfect blonde hair was messed up.

"I know you!" she announced hysterically. "I saw you at the hospital! You know Akina! Oh dear god, please tell me you know where she is." Yuki was in complete shock at the woman's words.

"N-No I just came over to see if she… She's missing?" The woman clapped her hand to her forehead, fighting back tears.

"She finished work an hour ago; it only takes five minutes to walk home." Yuki nodded, he was starting to feel worried also.

"Maybe… Maybe she went for a walk?"

"At ten o'clock at night?" Yuki thought for a moment.

"I'll go looking for her."

"I'm coming!" Akisame announced, before dashing back upstairs. A few moments later she reappeared in jeans and a tee-shirt.

"Let's go."

They set of walking down the road, not having a clue where they were going. Yuki then had an idea. "Payphone, where is the nearest payphone?" Akisame pointed to the corner of the street, and Yuki placed his hand in his pocket, pulling out a dollar. "I'm going to call my family; they can come and look too."

Yuki ran to the phone and dialled the number of Shigure's home. After several rings, Kyo picked up. "Yo," he sounded from the other end.

"Put Shigure on," said Yuki urgently.

"Hey you stupid rat don't you talk to m–"

"-This is urgent cat!" yelled Yuki. Kyo was stunned by Yuki's outburst, but called for Shigure none-the-less. After a few minutes Shigure came to the phone.

"Yuki, what it is? You disturbed my beauty sleep."

"Shigure, Akina has gone missing; again. I'm scared the same thing will happen this time as it did last." Shigure suddenly fell silent.

"I'll call Hatori," he said before the line went dead. Yuki hung up and placed the rest of his change back into his pocket.

"My cousins are going to help," he called to Akisame. She dashed over to him.

"I think we should go to the Sohma building and see if we can spot her around there," she announced. Yuki nodded.

"Ha'ri, that Saito girl has gone missing again," Shigure announced urgently down the phone.

"When?" Hatori replied simply.

"I'm not sure, Yuki didn't say, but I heard Tohru say she was at work, so I would assume only an hour or so ago."

"…Akito," said Hatori.

"What?" asked Shigure. He had no idea what Hari was talking about.

"Get over here, fast." Then the line went dead. Slowly it all began to make sense in Shigure's mind. He dashed into the living room.

"Kids, get in the car," he announced. Thank god I bought that car… he thought frantically before slipping on his shoes and climbing into the car.

Kyo and Tohru didn't have time to react; they simply did as they were told. Once all three of them were in the car, Shigure drove into town.

"Where will Yuki be?" he asked Tohru, looking at her in the mirror.

"Um… maybe at my work, you know the big Sohma building?" Shigure put his foot on the pedal and drove them rather recklessly to the office block.

"Are you sure you got your licence?" Kyo spat, on the verge of whiplash. Shigure ignore him,

"There!" he called, spotting Yuki and Akisame wandering the path outside. He honked the horn at them and they ran over.

"Shigure what are you doing?" Yuki asked in amazement.

"We are going to Sohma house, get in quickly."

Yuki jumped in the back as Tohru scooted into the middle and Akisame sat in the front. She had no idea what was going on, all she knew what to trust these people and maybe they might know where her little sister was.