NO ONE'S POV

When the flummoxed Kiri finally came out of her induced unconsciousness, the first thing she noticed was the bite of the coarse ropes binding her wrists and ankles; she could the feel the warm stickiness of her blood, and also the blood that had dried earlier on the fibers and her skin. Sitting up, she was hit with a wave of giddiness, and leaned heavily on the wall.

"So you're finally up?" Kiri blinked in surprise at Ying Sun's voice, coming from the shadows of the darkened room.

"Ying Sun…?" Kiri said drowsily. Walking across the room, Ying Sun slapped Kiri with enough force to knock her back to her side. Kiri tasted the metallic twang of blood in her mouth where her lip had split, and she tried to shake back her hair that was sticking to it to better see her adversary.

"Don't address me with such amity…" she hissed between closed teeth, "you little demon. You may refer to me as Miss Hitachiin; not that you'll be talking much."

Kiri glared up at the girl, insurgence written plainly in her bright blue eyes. This earned a sharp kick to her stomach from Ying Sun, forcing Kiri to curl up.

"Say it, say, 'Please forgive me, Miss…no, Mistress Hitachiin.' Say it, you little vagabond!"

When Kiri refused to comply, not giving the girl the satisfaction of hearing her refer to Ying Sun as her superior, the fuming Ying Sun lashed out at Kiri, sending power-packed kicks to her throat and lungs with pointy-toed shoes. The restrained young woman coughed, spots of blood flying from her mouth.

"That should teach you for now, you little beastly excuse for a female." With that debasing declaration, Ying Sun walked briskly to the door, and when she shut it behind her, Kiri was left lying in the darkness, tears trickling down her cheek as she whispered through her pain, "Kaoru…someone…help me…please." The last word was pitifully beseeching and tinged with the desperation of one who knows her life is growing short.

MEANWHILE

Kaoru stretched his long, lean body across his bed, yawning widely. He smiled to himself when he thought of his date with Kiri, and was already impatient for the next day to come so he could see her again. Her warm grin was still etched behind his eyes when he closed them, and her bubbling laughter still filled his ears like the finest of music.

Reaching towards his nightstand, he withdrew a small black box tied up in a blue ribbon, her favorite color. Opening the lid, he looked once again at the locket he had bought for her birthday the next day, and grinned when he imagined her reaction to the surprise party he was planning for her. The locket was in the shape of a silver heart, embedded with sapphires on the front in the shape of two intertwined K's; for Kiri and Kaoru. On the back, he had had a message etched into the smooth metal: "My dearest love, I hope this small present can even come close to showing you how much I care for you. Yours always, KH."

Hikaru had laughed at the message, saying it was overly sappy. He had told Kaoru to buy her something "to suit her commoner taste." But Kaoru thought she would like the locket, which was empty inside for her to put two pictures into.

The surprise party was as much Kaoru's idea as it was Haruhi's; much to everyone's surprise, Haruhi had been very involved in the planning of the party. She and Kiri had grown close since they had met, both sharing a love of reading and cooking…and eating. That's why Mrs. Hitachiin had scheduled such an early photo shoot, to give everyone a chance to finish setting up for the party at school.

He clicked his light off, and fell asleep, a smile still on his lips. However, his dreams were more nightmares, haunting his sleep with tormenting images that made him break out in a cold sweat. Even in his harrowing sleep, his mind was consumed with thoughts of Kiri. He saw her, lying still on the floor. She didn't even appear to be breathing, panicked, he reached for her, crying out her name at the top of his lungs, but the further he reached and the faster he ran, the farther away she seemed to be. Her voice called pleadingly to him, "Kaoru…Kaoru…please, Kaoru," she paused, coughing as though choking on liquid, "help me Kaoru…help me." She screamed in pain, and Kaoru shot up straight in bed, realizing he too had been screaming. He leaned forward, resting his head in his hands. Startled, he touched his eyes, and realized he had been crying in his sleep for sheer desperation.

"Kaoru…?" Hikaru's voice came sleepily from the doorway that connected their rooms. "What's wrong? You were screaming so loud it woke me up."

"Sorry…Hikaru," Kaoru said, gasping for air, "it was just a nightmare."

"Mm. Then if you don't mind…I'm going back to bed. G'night Kaoru."

"Night, Hikaru," Kaoru mumbled, more to himself. He laid back down, but there would be no peaceful sleep for him that night.

MEANWHILE, AT THE ZYONG HOUSE

Miri's eyes snapped open, and she sat up, agitated. She could've sworn she had heard Kiri in her sleep, begging for help. She moved to a more comfortable sitting position and her cat Hiyoko mewed in protest, incited at her indecorous awakening.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong with her twin at that moment. Incapable of sleeping anymore, she stayed up; a silent vigil kept by girl and cat until the first rays of dawn kissed the horizon.

KIRI'S POV

My breath came in ragged gasps. I had long since abandoned my tears, as they would not do me any good and would only make me dehydrated further if they continued. My tongue felt like it was made of sand, a result of the sedative I had been drugged with. I would've kicked myself for my stupidity if I had been able to move and it wouldn't have hurt me further. To be so unobservant of my surroundings that I was kidnapped…it was asinine of me.

Slowly, breathing in sharply when I felt the full force of the bruises and injuries on my torso, I rose to knees. Casting about for anything to release myself with, my gaze alighted upon a discarded razor, which I inched towards slowly. Judging from the walls, I was in what used to be a factory. Careful not to slice my wrists, or cut them in any further manner, I began to saw at my bindings with the dull blade.

After a good 7 or 8 minutes, my hands were at last freed and I felt sharp prickles of pain as the blood flowed freely back through my veins. I rubbed my wrists, wincing at the torn skin, before beginning on my ankles. I tried to stand back up, but hissed between my teeth when my ankle gave out beneath me. Crap. It felt like I had pulled a muscle loose from the bone. So typically my luck…

Looking around in utter desperation, I saw a wooden pole, which although scarred from age, looked like it would make a suitable crutch. I crawled on my hands and knees, and found to my relief that it fit in the crook beneath my shoulder perfectly. Hobbling over to the door that Ying Sun had left through, I jiggled the doorknob, even though I doubted that it would open. The razor had been a fluke, a stroke of luck for me, as had the wooden pole. I couldn't expect much more convenient help. I began pounding on the door, which only split the skin of my hands, and embedded splinters into them. Sighing, I drooped against the wall, fatigue from little sleep, and exhaustion from my injuries setting in. Think, Kiri…think. I was a generally rational person…well, most of the time.

Oddly enough, my head was calm in my situation; an after-effect from my tears. Instead of now feeling despaired, my mind was calculating, pondering the most expedient way of escape. So absorbed in my thoughts, I didn't notice when Ying Sun came back in. Too late, I remembered to pretend I was tied up.

"So, you little beast…I see you've escaped. So suiting that a rat escapes from her trap…"

"You won't get away with this, Ying Sun."

Her smile, when she turned to me, was chilling: a maniacal grin of one who's lost her mind to insanity, who no longer realizes the complications of her actions.

"Who said anything about getting away with this, Zyong Kirimay? There will be no problem…for soon…" her smile grew even broader. "Soon…you will die."