Disclaimer: I do not own Shakugan no Shana. I do, however own this story.

Shakugan no Shana: The Crimson

Chapter 12: Overcoming Grief

"What have you done with my mother, Sasaki?" Yuji asked, rage evident on his face.

"Don't worry about it mystes, she's safe. Of course, her safety really depends on how well you're willing to cooperate with me." The brown-haired denizen replied with a wicked smile on her face.

Yuji summoned his Blutsauger and pointed it at Sasaki's neck.

"Go ahead, kill me. But realize this, the moment you kill me your mother dies." Sasaki said with no emotion in her voice.

"Yuji…" Shana said, grabbing his arm.

"Where is she?" Yuji asked, cerulean eyes staring into her emerald.

"Drop your sword and I'll talk, mystes." replied Sasaki. Yuji looked reluctant to do what Sasaki said, but he dropped his sword to the ground landing with a metallic clank. "I'm glad to see that you can follow orders when you're asked to. Continue to do just that and your mother will be unharmed." Sasaki added looking pleased.

"So what do you want me to do?" asked Yuji.

"You should already know the answer to that question." replied Sasaki.

"Reiji Maigo…" said Alastor.

"You want me to surrender the Reiji Maigo." said Yuji.

"That's right, but not here. Things aren't too compromising in this area, I'll need you to meet us in a remote area on the outskirts of the city." replied Sasaki.

"That makes no sense, if you have us in this position why not just take it away now!" Shana shouted with a frustrated look on her face.

"I have my reasons, reasons that you don't need to worry about." Sasaki said as she pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to them. "This will give you the location of where we want to meet up for the exchange. You must arrive no later than 11:30 p.m."

"Let me guess, I'm not allowed to show up, am I?" asked Shana.

"Nonsense, Shana-chan. Both the mystes of the Reiji Maigo and the Flaming-Haired Blazing-Eyed Hunter are allowed to attend this rendezvous. However, if anyone else, like for example the two other flame haze in this city get involved with this, your mother dies. Do you accept these terms?" Sasaki asked.

"You make it sound like I have a choice… I accept." Yuji replied, a grim look on his face.

"Good boy…" Sasaki said as the paper floated over to Yuji who grabbed it. "Remember 11:30, no later." She said before disappearing. Shana blushed as she felt Sasaki grab her from behind. "Until next we meet, my Shana-chan…" she heard Sasaki whisper in her ear before she felt her presence disappear completely.

"Yuji…" Shana said as she looked over at the brown-haired mystes with a look of concern, a distressed look on his face.

"This is a situation that I hoped would never happen. Sakai Yuji, I never wanted your mother to get involved with this…" Alastor said in a sorrowful tone.

"Don't blame yourself, after all the only reason they kidnapped my mother was to get what's inside of me…" Yuji replied before running off.

"Yuji, where are you going?" Shana asked. She got no reply as she heard the front door open and close. Shana was starting to walk out of the kitchen as she stepped on something. Her crimson eyes looked down and saw Yuji's Blutsauger on the ground. "He forgot this…" Shana thought as she picked up the sword and placed it inside of her nightcape before she released the Fuzetsu. "Yuji… what are you going to do now?" she thought as she looked up at the sun starting to set.

- - () - -

Yuji ran through the streets of Misaki, dark brown bangs covering his eyes. "Mother… I never wanted you to enter this world…" he thought as he turned a corner. "But now that they have their hands on you, does this mean that I have failed? Have I failed to save you?" he thought as looked up and noticed that he was on Misaki Bridge. He looked down at his watch. "9:30…" he thought as he looked up at the setting sun.

"I vowed to protect this city using the power that I've obtained. At first it sounded like an admirable thought, I would be protecting everyone. Ike… Fujita… Satou… Tanaka… Ogata… Kazumi… Shana… Mother…" he said as their faces appeared in his mind. "But maybe… I'm not strong enough to protect everyone…"

"That doesn't sound like you at all." He heard someone say.

"Who's there?" he asked, looking around him.

"Well I was hoping to surprise you…" the voice said.

Yuji's eyes widened as he recognized the voice.

- - () - -

Shana went back to her house and told Wilhelmina about the situation. They immediately went over to Satou's house to tell Margery about it and ran into a familiar brown-haired girl running towards them as they got to the doorway.

"Kazumi…" Shana said as the girl stopped in front of her.

"I felt that… there was… something wrong." Kazumi replied, catching her breath as she grabbed the amulet Khamsin gave to her.

"Yeah, come inside with us. We'll tell you about everything." Shana said as Satou opened the door and let everyone in. When they stepped into the living room the first thing that their eyes were drawn to was the purple-clad blond-haired flame haze groaning and holding her head as she fell off the couch.

"We have a situation Marcosias. You're going to have to give her the Flame of Purification." said Satou.

"Well, now that just ruins all of my fun. Alright!" Marcosias said as a purple flame came out of the grimoire and surrounded Margery. Within moments, the blond-haired flame haze was back on her feet. The first thing she noticed was the other flame hazes in the room.

"We have a problem don't we?" Margery asked, immediately picking up on the situation.

"That's right, at the moment the two denizens that we encountered last night have kidnapped Sakai Yuji's mother." Alastor replied, sorrow evident in his voice.

"So they have Sakai's mother?" Satou asked.

"That's right, but they're willing to give her back if we meet up with them tonight." replied Shana.

"Chigusa-san…" Kazumi said before looking around the room. "Where's Sakai-kun?" she asked, noticing the absence of the brown-haired mystes.

Shana looked down as she shook her head. "I'm not sure where he is. After Sasaki left us, Yuji ran off somewhere." replied Shana.

"I can't help but think what thoughts must be going on through his head." Wilhelmina said. A look of concern was on the pink-haired flame haze's face.

"Unfathomable distress." added Tiamat.

"I don't see what the problem is." Satou said. Everyone turned their attention to him as he continued. "The way I see it, they have underestimated us. Its three flame hazes and Sakai against the two of them. They're totally outnumbered!"

"In normal situations, you would be right but not this time." said Alastor.

"What do you mean?" Satou asked, looking confused.

"Unfortunately, when I meant 'we' in my previous statement, I only meant Yuji and myself." Shana replied.

"Are you trying to say that you want to go alone?" Satou asked, frustration starting to build.

"We don't have a choice. 'Copycat' made it specific to point out that if any other Flame Hazes show up other than Shana, Sakai Yuji's mother will be terminated." Alastor replied in a serious tone.

"So we're stuck… I hate feeling like we can't do anything!" A frustrated Satou said before walking into another room.

"So are you going?" Margery asked the black-haired flame haze.

"Of course, they want me to show up, so I'll show up and bring back Chigusa." Shana replied with a determined expression on her face.

"But what about Sakai-kun?" asked Kazumi.

"I wouldn't worry too much about him." Margery said placing her hands on the brunette girl's shoulders. "He'll pull through…" she added.

- - () - -

"Who's there?" Yuji asked, looking around to find the source of the voice.

"Well I was hoping to surprise you…" the voice said.

Yuji's eyes widened as a brown-haired man wearing a blue trench coat and black pants stepped out under the streetlight.

"F-Father…" he replied looking both happy and surprised.

"It sounds like something's troubling you." said Kantaro.

"Yeah…" replied Yuji.

"Well…" Kantaro said as he walked next to Yuji and leaned on the railing overlooking the river. "You know that I'm right here, whenever you need counsel." He said as the night wind blew lightly against both the Sakai's hair.

Yuji looked down at the river. "I… I can't exactly explain it but I've gotten into a situation where I'm starting to doubt myself. No matter what I swore that I would protect mom in your absence but…"

"Is there something wrong with her?" Kantaro asked, interrupting him.

"No… at the moment she's alright, but she's in a situation that she might not be in the end." replied Yuji.

"I wouldn't be too worried about Chigusa-san." Kantaro said. Yuji looked confused as he continued. "As long as I've known her, Chigusa-san has been a strong woman. I'm not sure exactly what this situation is that you're in. but I know that you'll find a way out of it, because I know that just like Chigusa-san, you're strong enough to handle anything that gets in your way."

"Father… I…" Yuji started before he was interrupted by Kantaro putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I believe in you, Yuji." Kantaro said before walking away in the direction of their house.

"Thank you… father." Yuji thought with his eyes closed. He opened his eyes and a steady smile appeared on his face as he walked in the opposite direction. His facial expression brimming with new found determination.

- - () - -

At an unknown location, Chigusa opened her amber eyes and looked at her surroundings. Her eyes took a while to adjust to her surroundings. She was on top of an old looking bed in a dark grey room. She looked down at her hands that were bound with rope. "Where…am…I?" she thought. The room door creaked as it was opening. Chigusa looked over at the door as a brown-haired girl stepped into the room.

"It's time. You need to come with me." Sasaki said as she approached Chigusa and grabbed her arm pulling her up from the bed.

"Who are you and where am I?" Chigusa asked struggling against the brown-haired denizens grip.

"You don't need to know who I am or where we are." Sasaki replied. Sasaki looked down at the woman she was pulling along with her. She noticed that the woman was getting overly emotional. She sighed before pulling Chigusa close to her so that they were face to face. "Listen to me, calm down! Do you not realize that you're pregnant?" Sasaki warned her. Emerald eyes looked at amber as she continued. "When I touched you earlier I was able to find out everything about your condition and with how close you are right now you can't afford to act like this."

"What are you going to do to me?" Chigusa said with a worried expression on her face.

"That all depends on the actions of the mystes. If he does what we tell him to do, you're free to go." replied Sasaki.

"The…mystes…" Chigusa repeated looking confused.

- - () - -

Shana was standing outside an old looking warehouse, dark brown orbs surveying the area.

"Hmm, there's no mistake, they're here." Alastor said.

"Where are you?" Shana looked around, looking for any sign of the mystes. She looked down at her watch, the time reading 11:28. "Time's almost up…" her mind told her. She noticed movement coming from her right and her dark brown eyes looked up, a smile appearing on the black haired flame haze's face as she saw the brown haired mystes running towards her.

"You're late!" Shana said with a playful smile on her face.

"I still have one minute." Yuji replied following her joke. Yuji's facial expression changed to a serious one. "Are you ready, Shana?" he asked her.

Shana nodded as the two of them walked over to the abandoned warehouse door…

Another cliffhanger! I'm sorry, I don't always intend on writing cliffhangers, they kinda just happen.

Anyways, I decided to incorporate Chigusa's pregnancy in this story, which also explains the return of Kantaro.

Thanks for reading and please review. Later!

Shakugan no Shana: The Crimson