I Need Your Love

Tenth Chapter: Sacrifices

Meanwhile, running through the forest, Fuuto continued to run as fast as he can while the police tried to look for him from behind. Before, he realized just what he had done to Ema and wanted to apologize to her so badly. It was as if the demon within him had ran away after he fell towards the ground.

Then, when the police suddenly came, the first thing that came into his mind was to run away, since he knew that if he was caught, he would probably have to spend the rest of his life in jail, away from the person he genuinely loved.

As he navigated his way throughout the forest, he eventually twisted and turned his way towards an exit. Passing the last tree, he stepped onto the snow covered pavement in front of him, taking note of the calm river that flowed just beyond the fence.

That was when he realized that he was in a park, the same park where Fuyuki confessed to Ema. Walking around, he noticed that the police weren't there anymore, probably still searching around the forest. As he stepped towards the fence, he looked down towards the river, staring at his reflection.

His hair was dirtied, covered in dirt, snow and small twigs, as his face had a couple of scratches on it, something that was far from his usual handsome face that he would show to the world as a famous idol. Now, he was a pitiful man who had made a mistake that he would most likely regret for the rest of his life.

Then, as he felt a single tear roll down his cheek, he noticed it fall swiftly towards the river, creating a ripple which distorted his reflection for a moment. Continuing to walk along the fence, he let the following tears slide down his face, knowing how much he hated the fact that he did that to the one he loved the most.

"Do you love her?" Fuuto heard a voice roar through the sudden gust of wind. Turning around, he was slightly confused, since there was nobody standing there. Looking at his surroundings, he felt a shiver as he heard the words, "Answer me, Asahina-san!"

"Who is this?" Fuuto asked, wondering if the demons were out to get him. Then, as another gust of wind blew past him, he heard the voices again, saying, "Tell me, do you love Ema? Is that why you ran me over?" At that moment, he knew exactly who it was.

"Shiraishi-san?" Fuuto asked, falling onto his knees. All of a sudden, more wind blew past him, gently ruffling his hair back and forth. Taking this as his confirmation, Fuuto gradually began to cry, feeling sorry for all the things he had done to Fuyuki and Ema. "I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"But do you love her?" Fuyuki whispered through the wind. As Fuuto nodded his head up and down repeatedly, saying that he really was, he began to sob, not bothering to hold back his tears. Fuyuki, watching Fuuto from above, pitied Fuuto, a young man, poor at heart, who made many bad decisions in his life.

"Save her, please! That's all I ask!" Fuyuki said, before his voice disappeared and the wind stopped blowing. Fuuto, wondering what was going on, stood right back up, remembering those words. As the sound of Fuyuki whispering those into the wind resonated throughout his head, Fuuto had the feeling that she would be in great danger.

Then, all of a sudden, looking far into the distance, he noticed that there was a giant cloud of smoke coming from the area where the Sunrise Residence was situated, while the building was illuminated by a fire, one that seemed to grow after each passing second. That was when he realized what danger Ema was facing at that moment. Suddenly, not willing to waste anymore time, he made a run for it, not trying to avoid the police but to save the step-sister he loved so dearly.

At the same time, early in the morning, while the sun still rose high in the sky, a car rushed in front of the house, only to run into the firefighters, still trying to fight the already enormous blaze. As the driver, Masaomi Asahina, stepped out of the car to negotiate with him, the rest of the brothers, except for Fuuto who wasn't present, led Aiko out of the car.

"Aiko-nee!" Hikaru grabbed her hand to an area where she could see the full extent of the fire. As she looked at what used to be the Sunrise Residence, her eyes widened as she saw the entire building, up in flames. While those who rented the nearby apartments managed to get away safely, from the urgent screams of the firefighters, she heard that there were still people trapped in the mansion.

"What do you mean he's not here! Save him!" Masaomi started yelling at the firefighter, holding his tears back, while Ukyo tried to calm his older brother down. This was in response to the news that Wataru and the others were still stuck in the burning building.

"I'm sorry, I can't," the firefighter tried to reason with him, who was just about ready to burst into the building himself and save his little brother, the one he had such a special bond with. However, when one of the men yelled out, "We've found some survivors!", Masaomi began to cry tears of joy when he noticed Wataru, along with Michiko and Ayako, among those led out, unscathed, without a need to go to the hospital.

"Masa-nii!" Wataru ran into Masaomi's arms as they cried in each others shoulders. At the same time, Aiko noticed Michiko and Ayako and ran into their arms, sobbing loudly. That was when they started looking for Ema, who was nowhere to be seen.

"Aiko-nee-san!" Ayako cried, letting all the tears fall out. "She's still in the building! They couldn't find her!" As they sobbed, Aiko, scared that the person who became her little sister was stuck inside the inferno. When Aiko asked her why, they suddenly turned their heads towards Wataru when he looked down towards the ground.

"I'm sorry!" Wataru suddenly started to sob. "I let her take care of the candles after the power outage! Forgive me!" All of a sudden, he started to go on his knees, while Aiko suddenly held him up and pulled him into a hug with the others. As they cried in each others arms, Aiko reassured that it was never his fault.

Then, from the corner of Ayako's eye, she noticed Fuuto running towards the mansion, all tattered and torn. There was a desperate look on his face and his eyes widened when he saw how big the fire actually was. While Ayako began to run towards him, Michiko suddenly held her back, preventing her from doing so, while Aiko began to walk towards the young man.

"How dare you show up here!" Aiko screamed as she slapped him across the face, while the rest of the brothers gave him a bad look. "You don't have the right to come here! I swear, if I could, I would kick you out in behalf of Miwa-san!" While Ayako managed to get out of Michiko's grasp, she ran towards Aiko in an attempt to hold her back, while Fuuto only stared at her, finally noticing how much she cared for him.

At that moment, Iori, one of those who tried to stop Fuuto from doing the unthinkable to Ema, joined Ayako in holding her back, much to everyone's surprise. When Aiko looked back, she was so shocked to see him that she just froze in place. After all, he was the one she treated so badly when she thought that he was the one who killed both Fuyuka and Fuyuki, her younger siblings.

"Iori-san..." Aiko said, shocked at what she saw. Then, as she slowly went to her knees to apologize, tears pooling in her eyes, Iori stopped her, saying that he had already forgiven her, telling her that she doesn't need to apologize to him. After all, he knew that all the things she had done to him was out of grief, something he had experienced when Fuyuka had died right in front of her eyes.

That was when Fuuto suddenly ran from his spot and into the burning building, dodging all of the firefighters that tried to catch him. While all of the brothers watched in horror, both Natsume and Yusuke suddenly ran in to stop him. Natsume, being a runner, ended up catching up to him, while Yusuke joined him. As they held his arm, Fuuto tried to free himself.

"What are you doing? Are you stupid?" Natsume scolded his younger brother, who refused to look at him. As he tried to drag him back, Fuuto suddenly turned around and punched him in the face before running straight towards the front door, mouthing the words, "I'm sorry...". As Natsume looked from the ground he fell on, Yusuke ran after him.

"You idiot!" Yusuke screamed, while Fuuto defiantly kicked through the door and walked inside, already feeling the heat of the scorching flames. As Yusuke followed him inside, Fuuto briefly turned around and said in a serious tone. "I have to save her. I have to tell her that I'm sorry..."

Then, as Fuuto ran straight towards the stairs, Yusuke quickly decided to follow him further into the burning building in order to save the person he had liked for such a long time, even though he knew that the flames were strong enough to kill a person. According to his logic, anyway, he'd rather die with her alive than live on with the pain of her tragic death.

Rushing towards the living room, they quickly spotted her body. While Fuuto rushed over to her side, he was overcome by a wave of tears. Quickly wiping them away, though, he tried to pick her up, though, tired from the night's events, he realized that he was too weak to do so. Fortunately, Yusuke, by his side, picked the unconscious Ema up before turning back. Staring at each other, Fuuto simply smiled, since for the first time in forever, both he and Yusuke were a team, something he had hardly experienced, due to their arguments in the past.

Looking around as they ran, Yusuke finally realized how great the fire was. Seeing the house he used to live in on fire was a surreal experience for him. After all, it was the place he grew up in, the place he spent so much of his time with Ema in, the place where he experienced both his ups and his downs. Seeing it all in flames had pierced a hole in his heart and just seeing made him want to cry inside. However, he had to live on, even if it would mean leaving the place he used to live behind.

Running down the stairs, Yusuke noticed that all of a sudden, Fuuto stopped before collapsing on the ground, coughing greatly. Concerned that Fuuto stopped at the worst possible place in Kichijouji, Yusuke stopped for a moment, before Fuuto promptly told him to continue on.

"Please, you imbecile!" Fuuto screamed, tears falling down his eyes. "Just go! You don't want to let her die, idiot! I'll be fine! Even if I die, it's what I deserve after treating her like that! Just please!" Yusuke, amazed at the remorse his little brother felt, felt tears in his eyes, but he tried to hold them back, since it wasn't exactly the best place to do so.

Fuuto, with his pleading eyes, tried standing up, but suddenly, he fell towards the ground, right on his knees, after being overcome by a strange smell mixed with the smell of the smoke in the air. It was as if there were a bunch of rotten eggs somewhere in the building. He wasn't the only one who smelled the foul stench. Yusuke had noticed it too, though he didn't exactly know why. Then, as he heard a faint hissing noise, he finally realized what was going on.

"Idiot! Go now!" Fuuto yelled at the top of his lungs, prompting Yusuke to take Ema tightly in his arms. As he was about to leave, taking a look back, they simply smiled each other. He knew that though they had their fights, whether petty arguments like they would usually have when they were younger or full-out conflicts like what happened that night, nothing would change the fact that they're brothers and that they deeply cared for each other.

As a tear ran down Yusuke's face, he turned around and bursted through all the flights of stairs, sprinting his way towards the front door. Making his way outside, all of a sudden, Fuuto yelled out, "Please tell her I'm sorry! That's all I ask!" As he stepped outside the building, after being both greeted and scolded by firefighters, he burst into tears, crying over the fate his little brother may face.

Then, Natsume, watching from outside, asked Yusuke, "Where's Fuuto?" only to see him, teary-eyed. As Yusuke continued to cry, a paramedic took Ema's unconscious body, placing it carefully on a gurney. That was when Yusuke went on his knees and sobbed.

"I was forced to leave him behind!" Yusuke cried to Natsume's disbelief. "He collapsed on the ground! I... no... Both Fuuto and I had to make sure that Hinata-kun... Ema's safe!" As a firefighter led Yusuke to the ambulance, all of a sudden, Natsume took off, running straight into the burning building to save his little brother.

And there he was, crawling down the stairs, trying not to inhale the putrid stench in the air. After all, he knew exactly what it was. As Fuuto finally made his way towards the last flight of stairs, he noticed a running figure in the distance. After a closer look, Fuuto's eyes widened after recognizing that it was his brother, Natsume's.

"Why?" was the only thing that ran through his head. In his own eyes, he wasn't worth trying to save from a fire. He knew that he was a complete jerk. He was involved in Fuyuki's death, which he never apologized for, he kidnapped her so many times and he even attempted to make her his. He was a disgrace. Even so, he was remorseful for his sins, regretting every single thing he did to Ema, Fuyuki and the entire Asahina family. He sincerely wished he was able to turn back time so that he wouldn't do the things he regretted so much.

Then, at that exact moment, the words,"Run away, Natsu-nii!" were the only thing he was able to yell before falling unconscious.

"Mom, Dad, Rintarou-san... I'll be with all of you soon... I guess..."

Meanwhile, from outside the driveway, everyone stood outside, watching the scene unfold. As the fire grew, they were slowly led back by the firefighters, who continued to do whatever they can to fight the blaze.

"Hey! Another one ran in!" screamed one of the firefighters, bringing the crowd into a panic. As Aiko looked on from afar, she began to scream at one of them with Michiko and Ayako by her side, trying to get in to see if Ema was okay. At the same time, Ayako was crying litre upon litre of tears, knowing that the person she loved, Fuuto, was still in there.

"Help him, please!" Ayako sobbed at the firefighter, struggling to get inside. "Save him!" As they tried to push, the firefighter tried to reassure her, saying that they would do the best they can. This didn't help ease their emotions, and if anything, made them even more restless.

While the others tried to hold them back from doing anything drastic, from a distance, they saw the paramedics lead Yusuke towards the ambulance, while others pushed the gurney Ema laid on as they followed. This eased a lot of their tensions, seeing that one of their brothers and their step-sister was, for now, safe from the fire's wrath. However, there was still the fact that Natsume and Fuuto were inside.

All of a sudden, a firefighter screamed, "It's too dangerous!", as the crew retreated from the inferno. While one of the firefighters asked what had happened, he remarked that there was a foul odour leaking from the building, as described by Yusuke, who was inside the building when the stench began to spread around the entire building.

"What's going on?" Ayako asked as the firefighters pushed the crowd further and further away. She became extremely worried after seeing what was going on, especially since everyone started running away from the burning building. "What do you mean by, 'It's too dangerous!'?"

"There's a gas leak inside!" the firefighter screamed as loud as he could, while the firefighters forced the bystanders to run away from the fire. As Ayako was carried by the crowd, she began to sob, screaming at them.

"How could you let this happen?" Ayako screamed, knowing that Fuuto was stuck in there. She wasn't the only one trying to fight the crowd. Azusa and Tsubaki felt the same way, knowing that Natsume, their fraternal triplet, was inside as well.

"What is the meaning of this?" Tsubaki screamed at the firefighter, who apologized profusely to the brothers. As the firefighter explained how dangerous the situation was, they still tried to protest, though they knew that there was nothing they can do. It was only up to fate to decide what would happen to them.

Then, at that precise moment, it happened. As the bystanders ran for their lives, Ayako, Tsubaki and Azusa fell towards the ground, cowering at the impact of what had happened. As flames rapidly flew across the sky, huge chunks of the building began to shoot out the building. While more and more people retreated from the scene, Ayako stared at the mansion, tears falling down her eyes as if it was a waterfall.

"No... No... This can't be happening!" Ayako sobbed in disbelief, before fainting into Michiko and Aiko's arms. Both looking at her sympathetically, they too began to cry, knowing what had happened to the fullest extent. After all, what had happened was that there was a sudden explosion at the Sunrise Residence.

TBC

So, we're on our way to finishing the entire series! There's only two chapters left until this is finished. Pretty soon, you'll figure out who she will end up with. Results will be based on the combined score of Poll One and Poll Two, the highest one winning. (The results of Poll Two were never released, so that it wouldn't spoil the story.) Anyway, please review and/or favourite this story as I write the last two chapters of the "I Need Your..." series. Thank you very much! Bye bye!