I don't own these characters; Sunrise does.

10: Caught

Natsuki groaned as her eyes opened. She found the world around her to be fuzzy and her head felt like it was swimming. For a moment, she wondered if she was drunk, but she remembered that she had not had a drink since becoming pregnant. Pregnant? Takara!

The ebony-haired Otome tried to bring her arms up to feel her stomach and make sure the baby was all right, but found it quite impossible. Her arms would not move; her wrists were bound by cold metal from the feel of things. Trying to assess the situation, Natsuki blinked a few times with the hope of clearing her vision. It did not work. Damn it! I'm in serious trouble, I know. I just know it.

She attempted to remember how she got into her current predicament, but nothing was coming to mind. It felt like her head was crammed full of bubbles. She could not even recall getting out of bed that morning. The mystery would be cleared up sooner than she liked.

"Are you awake now, Headmistress?"

The voice sent a shiver through Natsuki and froze her blood. That definitely was not a reaction she liked while she was bound and unable to move, unable to protect the baby. She knew that voice—Tomoe. Tomoe was probably holding her captive.

Now she remembered that she had been drugged and bits of things started coming to her. Sakura probably did the drugging from what she could piece together, recalling that she had not felt well even back at her office when she was meeting with Sakura. Her "dear" sister-in-law had then questioned her about Kenta. After leaving Sakura abandoned her with Tomoe, the green-haired maniac had dragged her to a car. While in the car, she had enjoyed injecting Natsuki with some clear liquid that felt like it burned her muscles and bones. Tomoe then delighted in beating her about the face for no good reason.

"While you were sleeping, I was just getting to know Shizuru-onee-sama's baby," Tomoe commented. Natsuki could more easily hear the smile on her face than see it.

"Don't you dare touch Takara," Natsuki snarled, sounding much more menacing than she felt at the moment. In fact, she was half certain that her body had become liquid goo that would not do anyone any good, but she would be damned if she would show any weakness to this sow.

"Takara? No, no, no, that name will never do. Shizuru-onee-sama's baby deserves a much more beautiful name. I think that she and I will pick out the name after our daughter is born," Tomoe commented, sounding almost cheerful about that.

"Your daughter? You really have lost whatever mind you had left, huh?" Natsuki inquired, not thinking about how she was at Tomoe's mercy. Mercy that she was sure the younger woman did not have.

"I haven't lost anything. This was supposed to be my baby with Shizuru-onee-sama! You ruined everything, just like that pesky little ant tried to ruin everything before! I focused on the wrong person before, but now I've got it figured out, Headmistress. Once I get rid of you, Shizuru-onee-sama will see that I'm the one for her," Tomoe proclaimed proudly.

Natsuki tried to laugh, but she ended up coughing. Her eyesight started to clear up, giving her a better view of where she was. It was dim, almost dark. Her eyes were locked on rocks above head; they looked suspiciously like stalactites. Glancing to the side, she could not see too far, but darkness quickly swallowed any details of the place. From what she could tell, they were in a cave of some kind.

"You do know…they're going to come after me. They're going to find me and come get me and when I get out of here I'm going to whip your demented ass!" Natsuki declared with a furious snarl. She was not too upset that Tomoe was threatening her, but Tomoe was a threat to her baby.

Tomoe chuckled. "You sure talk really big for someone at my mercy," she commented, walking around Natsuki.

The principal growled as she watched Tomoe circle her like a curious buzzard. A crooked, wicked smirk tugged at Tomoe's face, turning her features into something Natsuki imagined the devil looked like. She wondered when Tomoe became this freaking crazy. Maybe I had her in that headlock a little too tightly before and cut off all the air to her brain.

"Tomoe, think this through," Natsuki said as calmly as she possibly could. It would do her no good to piss off Tomoe while she was essentially immobilized and not even clearheaded enough to know what was holding her down.

"Oh, I have, principal! I have thought this out very well!" Tomoe proclaimed, still grinning like a happy piranha. "It started with your little sister-in-law. It all points to her, you know. The drugs, the fact that she thought you had information for her, she was the last person you were seen with, and when they do catch up to her, she's going to lead them to a house where you're not. Even if she brings me up, they'll assume she's lying because you're not where she'll tell you are. They probably assume she chose to blame me after seeing how you treated me back in Saxas. They'll then assume that she's done something to you, probably killed you or something barbaric like that. Hopefully, she'll get a nice long punishment for all of the horrible things that she said about Shizuru-onee-sama. And then there's you, principal."

Natsuki snorted. "What about me?" She hated to admit that it did seem like Tomoe had thought things out rather well. But, she knew that Shizuru never would just accept everything as neatly as Tomoe hoped. Shizuru would be after her, for her sake, for the baby's sake, for their family's sake.

"You see, you can't lift your head to find out what I have waiting for you, but let me explain a few things. I've waited a long time for this and researched it as time went by. Right now, we're deep underground and blocked by enough earth and metal that makes it certain you will not be tracked. No signal will be getting in or out of here. None, not even from your nanomachines. Your GEM is gone and disabled thanks to my genius, so there is no way for anyone to find you. None." She paused, waiting for a smartass remark from the older woman that did not come. "Well, don't you have something to say?" Tomoe demanded.

"What? That was your whole evil rant? In the movies they're usually longer," Natsuki commented. With luck, she figured that she would be able to keep Tomoe talking until she thought up a way out of her current mess…or at the very least regained some feeling in her fingertips.

"You should try to be nicer to me, Principal. I do have your fate in the palm of my hand," Tomoe stated bluntly.

"Is that it? You plan to kill me?" Natsuki inquired as if she was unimpressed, keeping her cool.

"Oh, no, principal. I could never do that. Not while you're carrying my little piece of Shizuru-onee-sama anyway." Tomoe's hand traveled down to Natsuki's swollen belly, caressing the body part like it was a pet. "No, I couldn't kill you while you carry such precious cargo. This is my child with Shizuru-onee-sama, after all."

"Tomoe, I'm almost certain you weren't this fucking crazy the last time I saw you. Or this bent on my personal destruction either. What the hell happened?" Natsuki asked, genuinely curious.

"What the hell happened?" Tomoe echoed and put her finger to her chin, as if she were trying to recall. "After my aunt brought me back home, she claimed that I was harassing Shizuru-onee-sama and that I made you, the great and powerful principal, do something so unladylike to defend your fiancée! My parents insisted that I was growing obsessed with Shizuru-onee-sama again and they had me committed and forced into therapy, but there is nothing wrong with me! You made my aunt think I was out of my mind, but I'm not!"

"I beg to differ," Natsuki muttered.

"Everyone kept insisting I was delusional and that I was bordering on schizophrenia or was suffering from some sort of personality disorder. There was all this medication and therapy that I didn't need!" Tomoe shouted in anger, tearing at her hair for a moment.

Natsuki doubted that was true, but she had to admit that all the medication and therapy really only seemed to make Tomoe worse. And as she thought about medication, she remembered her own. The urge ran through her to place her hand on her stomach as a quiet vow to the baby that everything would be all right, but her bonds kept her in place. Tomoe noticed her trying to move against the metal, though.

"I like it when you struggle, principal. It makes me want to punish you," Tomoe commented with a demented grin.

"Tomoe, listen to me," Natsuki said as the green-haired woman stepped out of her view. "I understand that times have been rough for you, but kidnapping me and trying to force Shizuru to love you isn't going to solve anything. It's only going to make matters worse," she insisted.

"No! Making matters worse was when you kept me from Shizuru-onee-sama the first time! You're the reason my aunt told my parents all those lies! You're the reason the doctors kept trying to make me think I was the one out of my mind and I was living in a fantasy world! I see it all clearly now; you've stolen my life, principal. You took the life I was supposed to have with Shizuru-onee-sama. I will have that life," Tomoe vowed darkly.

"Tomoe, think about this—" Natsuki said, but she was cut off. She was so panicked now that she forgot that she had said that already.

"I told you already that I have, principal. Believe me, I have. I know exactly what I want to do to you because of all of that thinking. So, just sit back and enjoy the show. I'll be sure not to harm my baby in the process," Tomoe promised as she came back over just in time for to see that Tomoe was holding a cat-o-nine-tails whip. "The scourging is going to be first because I really want to hear you scream in pain for the way you manhandled me the last time we saw each other."

Natsuki took a deep breath to steel herself. A beating was nothing, she assured herself. Mustering her cockiest voice, she made a simple request. "Just be careful of the stomach."

Tomoe growled and moved Natsuki into a better position. It was then that Natsuki realized that she had been reclined on a metal table, but obviously Tomoe had made a lot of adjustments and planned for her prisoner. The pull of a lever hoisted the emerald-eyed woman from the table, forcing her to her feet. Leg restraints opened automatically as she was pulled up. As she was left with her arms in the air and standing on her toes, Natsuki let a silent prayer go—let the baby survive.

"I was going to strip you, but I'm sure it'll be more fun to just go through your clothes," Tomoe decided and she let the whip fly. Natsuki did not cry out as she felt a flick against her back. She hoped that her jacket and shirt lasted longer than Tomoe's arm.

Kenta and Nao decided to take up the search for Sakura, believing that if they found her, then they would find Natsuki. They left Shizuru in Mai's care. The latter pair was busying themselves by making phone calls to see if anyone had seen Natsuki, but they were not having any luck. Shizuru had pled for Kenta to call her if they found Sakura and she was the one behind things.

"Do you really think that Sakura was behind this?" Nao inquired as they went to the hotel that Sakura was staying at. Shizuru had the information, not that Kenta needed it. It figured that his very spoiled and self-important wife would stay in the most expensive, grandiose hotel in the whole kingdom.

"I think that she could be. It doesn't help that she's the last known person to be with Natsuki," Kenta answered.

"But what would she do with Natsuki?"

"Try to find me or lure me out of hiding. I should've just told everyone what she was up to. No, I didn't have any proof and she might have spun it to make it sound like I was reading too many war books, but that would've been better than this," Kenta said, shaking his head.

"You can't blame yourself."

"I can and will! What kind of coward runs to his baby sister when he gets in trouble? I should've just told everyone what she was up to."

"What good would that have done if they wouldn't have believed you? She would have just been more cautious and she wouldn't have let you know what she was doing anymore. Before you know it, she could've pulled off the coup and your whole country would be shot to shit. Listen to me, you know that pup of a sister of yours isn't blaming you. You came to her because you knew that she could offer you the support and help that you needed and she was happy to give it. Now, you need to give her support and help by finding her and not blaming yourself."

Kenta smiled a bit and nodded. One of the things that he liked about Nao was that she told it like it was without sugarcoating things. She also had a good talent of giving him a figurative kick in the ass when he needed one, like now.

"I bet Sakura never tells me anything again," Kenta remarked.

"Lucky you, you don't have to hear from a nagging wife anymore."

The blond nodded and they went into the hotel. Kenta showed that he was not totally useless and was easily able to get the clerk to tell him about what room Sakura was staying in; a royal badge and passbook went a long way. Nao hung back while Kenta spoke with the desk clerk for a few minutes. He then returned to the redhead.

"So, what happened?" Nao inquired as Kenta led her out of the hotel.

"He said that Sakura hasn't been back at her room since this morning, around the time that she would have left to meet with Natsuki," Kenta answered.

"Okay, so we know she met with Natsuki. Now what?"

"Well, she met with Natsuki looking for me. If she took Natsuki, she would want to know where I am."

"But, would Natsuki tell her?" Nao wondered aloud. "I doubt it."

"I doubt it too. Still, if she hasn't been back here, she's out looking for me or trying to get the information from Natsuki. Let's go check places she thinks I would be," Kenta suggested.

Nao agreed with that. They rushed off to go to obvious places Kenta would like. They did not have any luck on that. They contacted Shizuru after a couple of hours to let her know that their status had not changed. Shizuru was sad to report the same thing.

"Shit! If I were me, where the hell would I be and would Sakura check there?" Kenta growled as he scratched the back of his head. It was getting late and now they were sure something happened to Natsuki because she had not turned up and it was close to dinner time for her.

"Calm down and think about this carefully," Nao said, grabbing onto his arm to help him keep his composure.

"Fine. We've been like to every place I would go to and we haven't seen Sakura yet! Natsuki's been missing for over six hours and Shizuru said she's already missed her time to take her medication. God, what if something happens to the baby?" Kenta looked ready to punch something and also ready to burst into tears.

"The pup's tough and I bet the baby is too. One miss isn't going to stop her or that kid," Nao assured him. "Now, let's think where haven't we been…" She searched her mind, but it really seemed like they had gone every place that would appeal to a Kruger. She then slapped herself in the forehead. "You know, we didn't go to the one obvious place."

"Obvious place?" he echoed, glancing at her. The look in her eyes must have triggered something in his mind because realization struck him. "We haven't been to the hotel!"

"Let's get there and hope for the best!"

The duo ran off. Nao had to resist the temptation of activating her Robe to get to the hotel faster, but that would draw too much attention and she wanted to convince herself that things were not that serious anyway. Natsuki was probably fine, she told herself. They would find her alive and well and then she could get back to teasing Kenta.

"What if this whole thing is just a wild goose chase? What if Sakura doesn't know what happened?" Kenta asked.

"Stop worrying so much. You're going to make yourself sick," Nao replied. "Think about what happens when we find Natsuki and we kick her ass for not telling us she's pregnant. Think about that."

Kenta nodded and smiled, trying to picture in his head the safe return of his baby sister and everyone getting on her case for letting them think that she was just gaining weight. As they came to the hotel, Kenta spotted his wife almost immediately. He was on her faster than Nao had ever seen—and that included Otomes in their Robes.

Kenta was ready to wrap his arms around Sakura's throat, but he held off. Glaring down on her, his body shook with unaired fury. As she calmly climbed to her feet, he had to quell the urge to slap her.

"Kenta, I was wondering if you would ever arrive. Come, we're going home," Sakura calmly ordered.

"The hell with that! What the fuck have you done with Natsuki!" Kenta demanded to know, face burning red from his outrage. He could not believe the gall of this bitch that was in front of him, daring to command him after all she did!

"Natsuki-hime? What makes you think I would have done anything with her?" Sakura asked, innocence shining through her eyes a little too much for her husband to believe.

"Because you were the last person to see her! Now, what the fuck did you do with my sister!" Kenta hollered, earning stares from the few people in the lobby. Nao came up against his back and put her hand on his shoulder to cool him down.

"Kenta," Nao said. "You have to calm down or they'll end up throwing us out before we know what the hell is going on."

He turned to face Nao, eyes imploring her. "How can I calm down when I know she did something to Natsuki?" he growled.

"Then let's get to the bottom of it," the redhead suggested with a twisted smile.

He nodded and then turned his attention back to Sakura. "Okay, look, you were the last person with Natsuki…"

Sakura was not paying Kenta any mind. Her attention was focused on Nao and the comfortable way that the young woman had her supple body pressed up against her husband's form. Her eyes shot chilled daggers at Nao, who only smirked more.

"Kenta, who is this woman?" Sakura demanded, pointing a well-manicured finger at Nao.

"Doesn't matter who this woman is. What matters is what happened to Natsuki and that's what you're going to tell us. You were the last person to see Natsuki," Kenta repeated.

"Did something happen to Natsuki-hime? When I last saw her, she seemed perfectly fine. She whined some about cookies or something. Very unladylike behavior," Sakura answered, turning her nose up in disgust with Natsuki's behavior.

"What happened after you left Natsuki?" Kenta inquired.

"I went searching for you. Now you are found, and we can return home," Sakura declared.

"Fuck no, we can't. We're not going anywhere until Natsuki turns up and we're not accepting your bullshit story either. Come with us," Kenta commanded Sakura, not leaving any room for argument.

The blond took Sakura by the elbow and led her out of the hotel. She was so shocked by her husband's sudden forcefulness that she did not even out up a struggle. From his grip, she knew that escape would have been impossible anyway. Nao was ready to whisk her away too if she decided to scream or anything that might attract unwanted attention.

"Kenta—" Sakura started to speak as her wits returned to her.

"Don't talk," Kenta ordered curtly. "I'm really not in the mood to hear you right now and I won't be responsible for my actions if you started spitting some bullshit," he informed her quite seriously.

Sakura took the hint, never having heard such anger from a Kruger sibling, especially her husband. The grip that he had on her elbow helped to keep her mouth shut, telling her just how strong he really was. She never imagined the power he was hiding in his compact form. The trip back to Garderobe was uneventful, aside from Kenta glaring at his wife every now and then. Sakura worked out how she was going to get out of things in her mind as they traveled.

"Is Shizuru still at her apartment or is she at Natsuki's office?" Kenta asked Nao.

"Apartment," Nao answered.

They went directly to the principal's suite. Shizuru was slumped over in the armchair in the living room and Mai was on the phone. Mikoto was rubbing Shizuru's back, trying to comfort the distressed Otome.

"Sit," Kenta ordered his wife, pointing down to the couch. He then stepped over to his sister-in-law. "Shizuru-chan, you have to be strong," he told her, putting his hand on her shoulder. He found it easier to be strong for her, to try to help her keep it together than he could do those things for himself.

"I'm fine, Kenta-kun. I'm just tired of making phone calls and tired of not getting anything back," Shizuru informed him as she picked up her head. Her crimson eyes were shining with unshed tears and laced with worry. "No one has seen Natsuki all day. Youko-sensei is working on tracking her GEM and her nanomachines. She's not surprised by not getting any signal from the nanomachines because they should be extremely low in Natsuki's system, but she is worried about the fact that the GEM is not responding. Something is very wrong."

"Then maybe you'd like to help me find out from Sakura what's wrong and where Nat-kun is," Kenta suggested, motioning over to his seated spouse.

Shizuru turned her eyes to the princess. Sakura felt a subzero chill shoot through her when those blood-red eyes locked onto her. Shizuru climbed to her proper height and stalked over to the princess, power and strength pouring off of her with each elegant step. Looming over Sakura, Shizuru glowered down at her. She then asked a very simple question while Sakura squirmed in her seat.

"Where is Natsuki?" the Third Column inquired in a very controlled tone. There was something dangerous, almost deadly in her voice.

Sakura gulped loudly. "I don't know…" Her voice quivered just a little, coming out lower than she meant to.

"You do know. You were the last person to see her. Tell me where my wife is," Shizuru said in the same manner.

"I do not know." Her voice was stronger that time, but her heart rate was faster than ever. There was something very lethal about Shizuru and Sakura knew that she needed to tread carefully with the Otome.

Shizuru nodded and then she leaned down to speak in Sakura's ear. The Graceful Amethyst whispered to her, so no one else in the room could hear. The others did watch as Sakura's face went totally pale. As Shizuru stood back up, glaring down at Sakura in a manner that made her visibly shake. Shizuru was about to continue speaking, but the phone rang and she was interrupted.

"It's Youko-sensei," Mai reported, handing the phone to the brunette Otome.

Shizuru quickly reached for the phone and answered. "Please, Youko-sensei, tell me you have my beloved!" her voice was beyond desperate.

"I was able to track down her GEM. I figured you'd want to know where and go there yourself," Youko answered.

"I would!"

"All right. Please, don't go by yourself, Shizuru-san. Take Mai with you," Youko requested.

"I will," Shizuru said. She knew taking Mai with her was supposed to be assurance that she did not lose it on whoever might have taken her spouse. She then waited for Youko to give her directions to the place and she disconnected the call. "Youko-sensei has located Natsuki's GEM. We can go there now."

"Then let's get moving!" Kenta declared, moving for the door, not thinking about how he had no clue where they were going.

"You can come along," Shizuru stated almost politely, taking Sakura by the arm in a very impolite manner and grip.

"I can walk on my own!" Sakura barked, trying to yank her limb back. All she got for her effort was Shizuru crushing her arm, causing her to scream in agony.

Shizuru did not say anything, but continued to drag the princess with her. No one commented on Shizuru's handling of Sakura. They knew that saying anything would only agitate Shizuru and they thought that Sakura needed to understand just what kind of trouble she was in. If they did not find Natsuki soon, the last thing on Sakura's mind would be the pain in her arm.

Mai, Nao, and Mikoto followed behind Shizuru. Shizuru moved to catch Kenta before they had to look for him too. She told Nao to keep a better eye on him because one missing Kruger was more than enough. Nao only nodded, recognizing the furious aura radiating from the Graceful Amethyst.

The group had no problem with finding the place that Youko located Natsuki's GEM at. Everyone looked unimpressed with the broken down structure. Sakura was ready to faint when they pulled up to the bungalow. She hoped that Tomoe was able to get Natsuki those drugs to make her forget what happened or they were going to be in serious trouble.

"Doesn't look like anyone's here," Nao noted.

"Or they've been here in a while," Mia added on.

Shizuru and Kenta stepped inside, scanning the area with their eyes as well as watching Sakura. For the most part, she was keeping her calm, but they watched her carefully. Her eyes seemed to be searching the area just as much as they were and they doubted it was out of concern for Natsuki.

"Hey, I think I found something!" Mikoto called from the back of the house.

"Natsuki?" Shizuru asked with hope, moving swiftly to the back. Everyone else was right behind her.

When they came to the open backyard, they were able to see that Mikoto had not found Natsuki. Something on the ground had her attention, but they could not see what in the fading daylight until they got close to it. Shizuru bent down and picked up the cracked and broken GEM; Tomoe had driven over it hours earlier.

"Natsuki's GEM," Shizuru muttered and then she turned her eyes back to the ground.

"There are some tracks, but they lead right to a road and disappear," Mikoto said. "Whoever has Natsuki is probably long gone…"

"Natsuki…" Shizuru whispered and then she shocked everyone by taking off running. Before they could say anything, she was in her Robe and speeding off in the direction that the tracks were facing.

"Should we go after her?" Nao wondered aloud.

"No, she might luck out and find Natsuki. If not, she might wear herself out and at least be able to sleep later on. This is really hitting her hard," Mai replied.

"That's understandable. Some of us aren't married to backstabbing bitches," Kenta stated, snarling in his wife's direction. "Don't think this over either, Sakura. I know you had something to do with this and I swear if as much as a hair is out of place on my sister, I will see you rot in prison!" he declared, storming off. Nao immediately followed him.

Mai did not move, making sure to keep an eye on Sakura, who seemed to be disturbingly unconcerned about her husband, the Otome noted. Sakura was more curious as to where the hell Tomoe took Natsuki. They had not discussed moving the ebony-haired Otome and obviously Tomoe had not given Natsuki the drug to make her forget the day and then sent her home.

Sakura wondered if Tomoe had double-crossed her somehow. She wondered how she was going to get out of this mess. She wondered if she was as screwed as she felt, especially if the pain in her arm was any indication of how strong Shizuru was. If something happened to Natsuki, she imagined that she was even more screwed than she felt.

Next time: Natsuki spends more time with Tomoe while Shizuru continues her search.