Chapter 14
Adrenaline pumped fiercely through Yui's veins as she sprinted towards the front of the mansion with Subaru's knife in her tight fist. The blood soaked blade pricked her palm but she only held on tighter, for her brain could not function correctly and she was running on a one track mind: get out. She heard a frantic Ayato shrieking from Reiji's room and a following call of "Run little bitch, run!" along with a fit of high pitched giggles. The voices grew farther in the background as Yui ran through what felt to be a mile-long hallway. She nearly tripped over a snoozing Shu, who was sitting in the father chair by the phone with his headphones stuck in each ear, and immediately raised her knife at him. He opened his mouth to speak, even with his eyes still shut, but Yui said in a shaky voice "Stay quiet." It felt odd to speak to Shu in such a manner but her voice dropped and she added, "please," before lowering her knife and hurrying past him to the front door. She heard Shu mumble something as she stumbled down the front steps and the door harshly slammed behind her.
The blonde held her knife in one hand and clutched the bottom trim of her blue lace dress in the other. Her feet were throbbing to the point that she was forced to kick her ballerina flats to the side, losing them in the forest among the Sakamaki property. She was panting. She was tired. She was losing her breath faster than she could gain it. Blood was dripping from her closed hand and she couldn't figure out if it was her own or the boy she had just brutally attacked in a state of pure fear and panic. Once the mansion was out of view, Yui collapsed into a pile of dead leaves and immediately shoved Subaru's knife into the ground. Only the Earth itself could cleanse the blade of all the sins it had just committed.
Time passed slowly and with every minute that went by, the more of a sinking feeling built in the pit of Yui's belly. At least two hours had passed but she was still heaving over in the leaves and spewing clearish liquid into the mud. The front of her powder dress was stained with both blood and vomit. She felt absolutely defeated. "How do I..." Yui whispered to herself through quivering lips, "How.. do I find my way home? Where is home?" She was too exhausted to cry and instead yelled into the dirt. She didn't know where to go and how to get there. Her mind was swirling and finally she came to the conclusion that she had no home. She was alone. But then, it dawned on her. The place to go whenever she felt lonely. If Azusa couldn't be that place, she knew the best next thing.
The sky already grown dark by the time that Yui had found the spot. She pulled back the strong vines that concealed the clearing where the pool of the Earth belonged. The water glittered beneath the small shreds of dying sunlight behind the overhanging branches and Yui couldn't help but run to it. Without thinking, she threw her body into the water and allowed herself to sink to the bottom of the pool. She held her breath tightly in her chest as the water filled her ears and nostrils, her knees tucked into her chest and her arms caressing her body close. The warmth of the water held her until a sudden hand grabbed her by the upper arm and thrusted her out of the protection of the pool. The pitiful girl gasped in a mouth full of water before staring into the eyes of one of the people who scared her most in the world. "Found you," Ruki said.
"Don't make a sound or I'll personally deliver Azusa's head," The blue eyed man said harshly before closing the door to Yui's own personal prison. She was back in the room that she had feared for so long and was already struggling with the fact that she would never see the light of day again. She collapsed down onto the sheeted bed and stared at the door blankly, not taking in her surroundings but instead finding herself lost in morbid thought. For Ruki to speak about Azusa with such hatred was something that Yui didn't even know was possible. They were brothers and were meant to protect each other, not tear each other down like the Sakamaki siblings had always done. But at least she knew he was alive. Ruki must not know that Azusa had become Adam, she thought to herself. Perhaps if he did know, things would turn out differently. But for now, the reality for Eve was an isolated room with isolated thoughts in an isolated Hell.
There was a single knock at the door followed by a large man standing in the doorway with a platter of food in his hands. Yuma clutched onto the tray stiffly and muttered, "Dinner, sow." As he bent down to place the food on the floor, Yui scrambled up from the bed and plopped down on her knees in front of him. She daringly grasped onto his wrists and whispered in a desperate tone, "Please, Yuma-kun. Please tell me if Azusa-kun is okay." Her eyes were wide and pleading, filling with tears as she gazed up at an uncomfortable Yuma. He twitched awkwardly in her grip and shook off her grip, shifting his gaze away from hers and mumbling, "He will be fine. Maybe... well, maybe I'll tell him you've asked." Their eyes met again and Yui wished to say thank you but the words couldn't leave her lips. Yuma knew she was grateful and therefore left her silently with her food and slowly shut the door behind him.
Yui ate endlessly, shoveling the food in her mouth in handfuls and barely allowing herself to take a full breath. Yuma had set a glass of water beside her food and she downed it in one single gulp. Once the tray was empty, the blonde was left panting and clutching onto her own belly. The twitching continued and suddenly erupted into a full fit of sharp pains. After what she had gone through recently, pain didn't bother her at this point; what bothered her was the strange feeling of something stirring inside of her. Yui held her belly and began to weep as she began to realize that perhaps, maybe there was something inside of her. Growing.