Here is the new chapter and seems like I had time to write it for today's update.
Her mouth was dry. She pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth, trying to wet her tongue, and the bitter taste startled her and made her wrinkle her nose. She needed water. She wanted to drink. She tried to move, but somehow her body was too weak, slow, heavy, as if bound down.
She groaned, as she tried to shift. Her vision was dull and blurry. Colors were mixed into each other, and she couldn't differentiate between different shapes and hues, as they were melting into one another, forming endless bright strings. She blinked and felt tears escape her eyes. The wetness on her cheeks felt uncomfortable.
There was a steady throbbing pain in the side of her head. It was slow and mild, but slight movement made it bolt in her brain and shook her body with stinging pain. She whimpered and pressed her teeth tightly into each other.
Where was she?
She blinked again. The distortion in her vision started to clear. More tears prickled her face, as they streamed from the side of her eyes. She rubbed her tongue against her teeth, as if to rid herself from the bitter, strange taste in her mouth and nose.
What was it? Some kind of medication?
Her wrists felt sore and feet wouldn't move. The blurry spots gradually cleared out, and she gazed around confused. She was in a dimly lit large room. Strange strangled noise was coming from the neighboring room. Someone was yelling there. She couldn't figure out the words. Her head was clouded. The room around her, though, slowly gained a clear shape.
How did she get here? What had happened to her?
She looked down at her bound legs and arms, and panicked for a short moment, until memories flashed back in her head. Someone had grabbed her in the elevator when she was leaving the Ootori group. They had used a medically prescribed anesthetic, that had such a strong dosage, that knocked her out completely. She couldn't remember the person's face.
Who had taken her? What were they trying to do?
She shook her arms, trying to unbound the knots, keeping her down. The way she was tied up was unimpressive. It was sloppy and unprofessional, but the drug they have used wasn't something a common thug from the street could get their hands on. When she had smelled the pungent smell of the anesthetic against her nose, she expected worse. Who were these people and why did they drag her here?
She took a deep breath. Her head still ached, and she was slightly dazed. She needed to take a moment to clear her mind and collect her thoughts. Panicking wouldn't help, it would only cloud her judgement, and she would make mistakes.
Haruhi was not an active field agent or some sort of superhero. She was a lawyer and spend 90% of her work-time in her office analyzing complex data. She still had to take physical fitness exams, but her work didn't involve anything active. She was working with counter-intelligence material and had to use her brain and not muscles. But even so, she had been actively training in martial arts, not only because she thought it would be best to be prepared, but also because her mother was skilled in it.
She moved her arms in slow motion, trying to lose the knots without getting her wrists sore. Strong, sudden movements wouldn't do anything, but hurt her skin. She concentrated on shifting her wrists up and down, until the space between the rope and her flesh became wider.
She stopped when the noises from outside stopped, and then someone screamed. Who were these people? She thought for a moment, it could have been some way of frightening her after her argument with Watanabe, but the idiot didn't have the guts to pull something like that, and if that were the case, she wouldn't be left alone like this.
No! Whoever abducted her had no idea about her work or skills. She held her breath and concentrated her hearing.
"I have told you we should have asked for more money," a grumpy voice complained. "We are taking a big risk. Besides, if boss finds out that we took such a deal and didn't tell him, he will have our heads."
The knots were getting lose, but she also was becoming impatient. She tilted her arms upwards and circled her wrists. The rope opened up, and Haruhi used the free hand to undo the knots of the other one. It took her less than a second to untie the wrappings around her feet. Just as she was about to get up and move, she heard loud shuffling from outside―someone was opening the door.
She froze in place. She didn't know who these people were and what they wanted. She also didn't know how many of them there were and how armed they were. It was better to act safe, until she knew what she was up against. She quickly wrapped the ropes around her and sat straight in the chair, tilting her head sideways, pretending to be unconscious.
The metallic door creaked as it opened, and the bright light from outside almost made Haruhi flinch away. She controlled herself quickly and stayed still in her place. The light from outside also meant that she was in a room closer to the exit. The light was too bright to be coming from a lamp.
"She is still out?" she heard a man's voice. "I have told you that drug was too strong. What if she never wakes up? How are we going to transfer her? We will never get the money if she doesn't wake up. You think Ootoris are going to pay for her corpse."
Haruhi's heartbeat slowed down and calmed. This was a good news. She was expecting the worst. But these people abducted her just for ransom.
"She will wake up don't worry. The doc told us it will knock her out, not kill her," the other one said laughing. He seemed to be younger judging from his voice.
"She has been out for an entire day," the man complained. "Are you sure?"
She has been unconscious for that long? What kind of dosage had they used on her? Everyone must have gone crazy by now. Oh, God! Riichi! She hoped her baby was fine.
"Besides, don't you think that the doctor is going to be pissed that we didn't contact him and instead are willing to trade her off?" the man asked, cleaning his throat and spitting with a sound that made Haruhi sick.
"By the time he figures out, we will be loaded with money and out of country," the younger one said cheerfully.
Someone ordered them to abduct her? Haruhi now was curious. She already knew that not everyone could afford the kind of sedative they had used to make her unconscious for so long. They mentioned a doctor. Was that a real doctor or some sort of nickname?
"Well, make sure to do everything correctly," the older man sighed. "Once we get the money, we should flee. Otherwise the boss will kill us for sure."
So there were just the two of them. She could take them out.
She felt an arm on her, someone grabbed her chin and lifted her face up. There was a light slap on her cheek. "Wake up sweetheart," she heard the younger man's voice. "Wake up, or I might want to wake you up with my kisses."
The guy wailed in pain, because Haruhi's sharp stiletto heel made a contact with his privates. She didn't lose time and grabbed the hem of his shirt to pull him down and kicked him on the delicate connecting bones of his knee to get him on floor.
"What the hell?" the other man rushed forward.
Haruhi pulled the gun out of the younger one's belt and shoot the older one in the knee. The guy fell down insistently.
"Good morning guys," she smiled. "Thank you for the sleep. I haven't rested for a long while. It was good, but your services no longer will be needed."
[***]
They both were tied down, and Haruhi even put a little bit of effort to wrap up the guy's wound. It must have hurt horribly, because the bullet was still in the wound.
"So," she said, sitting down on the chair and looking down at the two men, who had abducted her. "I suppose it would be nice if you told me why you decided to kidnap me and bring me into this place."
There was a short silence. Haruhi wasn't amused. This was tiring, and she was hungry, and she wanted to be home with Riichi or in a nice, hot bath.
"If you don't speak, I will just shoot the two of you," she said calmly. "Nobody is going to miss you. Everyone would think, 'what a brave girl! Defended herself against scums who abducted her.'"
"We just wanted the money," the older one who had a wound said.
"Where did you get the drug?" she asked.
"Don't tell her," the younger one complained. Haruhi swatted him on the head.
"If you want to stay alive you better speak," she threatened.
"It was some doctor," the older guy said. "He had given us the drug and told us where to find you. And he also said he would take care of the security, so we can take you."
Haruhi narrowed her eyes. Some kind of doctor who wanted to have her abducted. Who could that be? Her mind started a rigorous search. Someone who had access to Ootori groups' security team and could pull something like that and also knew that she was there. Was it her father-in-law?
But what would he accomplish if he did something like that? Maybe, he just wanted to have her frightened. Or maybe he wanted her dead. He was the one who said death was the only way out of the marriage. Maybe, he wanted Kyoya to marry that Yuki girl, but didn't want a scandal, and her death would be an excellent opening. A cold shiver trembled her body.
Or was it Akito? That creep was after her. It could be also Kyoya's eldest brother, Yuuichi. Although, she couldn't find a reason why he would want to kidnap her other than maybe to make some sort of point at Kyoya.
"What is this doctor's name?" she asked, hoping her voice didn't sound nervous.
She was scared to think that it could be Kyoya. He was an Ootori, and these two idiots could have mixed him up for a doctor. No! No! She didn't want to know.
"Tanaka Ikki," the man said.
Tanaka Ikki? Where did she hear that name? It sounded so familiar. She cleaned her throat, a little relaxed that Ootoris had nothing to do with her kidnapping.
She took the mans phone and called. "Hikaru?"
"Where the hell are you?" the twin yelled. "I have been stuck in your office since morning. Don't tell me you are having some sort of drama with Kyoya."
"I had a circumstance," Haruhi said. "Please, try to find my location and send a team. It's code 127"
"What?" Hikaru screamed. "Are you fine?"
"Yes," she said with a laughter. "But some here not so much."
I hope you like this chapter. Please, leave me your thoughts on it. Next chapter is going to be from Kyoya's perspective.