Chapter Twenty-eight
Nagihiko drapped his arm over my shoulder, head dropping just enough to whisper against my ear as the others started a debate on what they think was happening.
"Are you alright, I mean really okay?" The question made my stomach churn. There was nothing about me at this moment that was okay.
How could I answer that when my head was so scattered and clouded I couldn't even remember my parents phone number?
"I know you're worried, Amu, but I promise we will punish whoever is behind this."
Slowly I nodded, giving recognition that I was listening; I just wasn't in the mood for speaking.
"I done a little snooping when the nurses left their station earlier. Some checking the files and guess what I found?"
Turning my head, I gazed up to meet those large amber-hued pools, a bit more interested in what he had to say now.
"Another man was admitted to this hospital just moments after Ikuto for the same symptoms; and I'll give you one hint on where he was staying."
I could feel the lump form in my throat, the sudden realization as my eyes grew wider when it suddenly hit me. As if he could read my exact thoughts, his head dipped lower as he whispered .
"Yup, you got it... the hotel. That scream we heard, it must have been his wife freaking out when it happened."
"We need to get back to the hotel and do some investigating!"
My voice cracked, the pitch change making my throat feel raw. After crying so much, yelling was not the smartest thing to do but I couldn't control my outburst. I was going to bring Ikuto back to me, and nothing will stand in my way!
Everyone stopped what they were doing, even some passing nurses paused to stare before shaking their heads and continuing on down the hallway chatting to one another. I jerked around to look at the prince, eyes pleading.
"We need to get back to the hotel. Where is Hinari?"
I could tell by his confused expression that I had lost him. He rubbed the back of his head before giving a shrug, taking a few glances at Nagihiko then back to me before he checked his cell.
"I asked if she was coming but she hasn't texted back yet. She stayed behind to see if Asuka was okay," his eyes flicked back up to me from his phone showing that he was ready to listen to our theory.
Nagi done the explaining as we all piled back up in the limo, Tadase's brain searching for answers as he let all this settle in. I looked down to Dia, Ran, Su and Miki who were resting on my lap looking exhausted and beyond worried. Miki kept her gaze down at her hands, most likely thinking about Yoru who remained behind to keep a watch over Ikuto in case he woke up.
Kiseki sat upon Tadase's shoulder, hand cupping his chin as he too, ran over all information in his head. I'm glad my friends were here, because I couldn't think straight even if my life depended on it. I couldn't stop thinking about Ikuto.
Once we arrived back at the hotel, the prince tried once more to reach Hinari while we made our way to the elevator, but I could hear the faint sound of her voicemail pick up on the first ring. Odd, why would she have her cell turned off?
The elevator seemed to take forever, as I stood there impatiently tapping my foot against the marble floors I glared at the mirrored reflection of myself in the shiny doors. Man, these rich people really like to take everything to the next level don't they?
Once the doors started to open, without thinking I took off into the small corridor, bumping against someone who stumbled back while I hit the floor from the impact.
"Ouch! Gah, s-sorry," I grumbled out, taking Tadase's hand as when he offered to help me up.
"Don't worry about it." Hinari stood there blinking, waving a dismissive hand to my apology. Her attention floated over to Tadase then, rubbing the back of her head.
"You're back already? So uh, what happened?"
The fake worry in her voice made my blood boil, just because she wasn't worried about Ikuto didn't mean the rest of us weren't. She was most likely putting on the pity show since Tadase considered him an older brother, but still...
"He's still unconscious. We're trying to see if something here at the hotel might have caused this since another guy was admitted just moments after Nii-san. Tell me, is there anything your family has tested such as new ingredients for food or maybe an unknown chemical might have leaked into the laundry detergent?"
Her face contorted into a scowl, fists clenched tightly at her sides before her body whipped around to stomp off right by Tadase.
"How dare you insult my family!"
"H-Hinari, I didn't mean it like," making sure her right shoulder roughly bumped against his, she cut him off mid-sentence. Ignoring any reasoning he tried to give her.
The hurtful look in his eyes made him look like someone had just shot his heart with a canon, and I couldn't help but to feel his pain. I hated to see him hurting like that.
"Wait, Hinari!"
He took off running after her, leaving the group standing there to watch in silence.
"Well that was rude," Yaya said under her breath with puffed out cheeks; KusuKusu snickering to her funny face moments later.
"Should we go after them?" I blinked twice, watching the prince's form vanish around the corner before turning to face my friends.
"Nah, he's a big boy. I'm sure he can handle it." Nagi nodded to his words, giving me a reassuring wink.
"Don't you find it a little odd how she got defensive so quickly," Rima added in her soft voice, taking a glance in my direction when Nagi shifted to scratch his cheek.
"Come to think of it, while we were in our room, Ikuto didn't eat anything so it couldn't be the food. What was the other thing Tadase said, the laundry?"
I was lost on where Nagi was heading with this. What are we supposed to do, storm the basement and demand to see their fabric softer? Now wait a minute, that's not a bad idea! Well, minus the demanding part but taking a look at what they're using for the bedding and towels might be helpful. Maybe he had an allergic reaction to something.
"Nagi you're a genius!"
I could tell I startled him, because he nearly jumped out of his skin when I spoke up, the look on his face showing confusion and slight pride from my compliment.
"We need to investigate the basement and see if they're hiding anything."
Without another word, they each nodded once in unison then followed me into the elevator. There, I hit the button for the lowest floor and we waited for the long ride to come to an end. Checking if the coast was clear, Rima motioned for us to follow her as she ran down the corridor with Nagi right on her heels; Yaya not long after.
I kept up with Yaya, staying behind her until something caught the corner of my vision and caused my pace to slow almost to a halt. Backing up, I peeked into the room where I could have sworn I seen two people in suits talking to one another; but before I had the chance to walk in something hit the back of my head...
...and everything drifted to black.
O.O.O.O
The sound of people talking brought everything back into focus. Blurry, and fading in and out, my eyes tried to glance around the room, the bump on my head throbbing in agony when I forgot and leaned it too far back hitting whatever I was against.
Wrist bound and tied above my head, I finally caught sight of Hinari who was arguing with some man dressed in a suit much like the one I seen earlier before I was knocked out.
"I'm tired of waiting. It will happen tonight!"
"Is this even the girl," the man glared in my direction, his snarl giving the clear sign that he was not pleased with my presence at all.
"Yeah, that's her."
He smirked then, not the type of cocky and quite attractive smirk that Ikuto always gave, but one that meant his mind was filling with unspeakable thoughts. Sinister, and evil ideas as his body turned to walk towards me.
I couldn't speak, all I could manage were muffled groans since my mouth was gagged. By the time he reached my body, his fist pushed into the wall beside my face, staring hatefully into my eyes.
"Hmph. So you're the key."
Key? What the heck is this guy even talking about?!
I squirmed, the tight ropes on my wrist cutting my skin which made me flinch from the sting. He leaned in closer, whispering coarsely with malice clinging to his every word.
"Just think, your precious little Romeo will never open his eyes again."
A ton of bricks hit my chest, the air from my lungs being stolen by his statement. What did he mean by that? No! No, I'm not going to accept that. I will save Ikuto!
Tears started to form, the image of his smiling face flashing in my mind when Hinari's laugh broke the train of thought. She held up something in her hands, something that was shining and, oh no, the Humpty Key and Dumpty Lock?!
Her eyes flicked up to my face right as she joined the two. How though, how did she get the key and lock to work when even Ikuto and I still don't know how we got it to work that one time? The man seeming to grow bored with me turned and headed for the door when another figure entered in one swift motion.
"Boo, you started without me," Asuka teased walking into the room right when a blinding light filled everything from the lock and key's connection. Looking away, I had to clench my eyes shut just to keep my head from hurting.
When the light vanished, I quickly looked back to see Hinari drop the set into a large cauldron of sorts. As soon as the key and lock hit the liquid inside, a deafening boom erupted, echoing off the walls so loud that I thought my eardrums were going to burst! I tried to tell her no, but again my gagged mouth served no purpose; I was helpless here.
Maybe if I character change I can... wait, where are my Guardian Characters?!
Su, Ran, Dia and Miki, I hope you're all okay!
"Awe, you look absolutely terrified. Would you like me to explain what's happening, since you're going to die anyways?" Asuka patted my cheek like she was talking to a child, a Guardian Character I've never seen before sitting on her shoulder sneering without mercy.
"We've been looking for these stupid items for quite some time now. Though after gathering enough souls, even that wasn't sufficient in power. We later learned about the hidden force within the Humpty Key and Dumpty Lock so our quest to find them begun and lead us to you. Hinari enrolled in that horrible school, won over your ex-boyfriend without even the slightest difficulty, and waited for you to finally give in to their doing."
She flipped her hair, the Guardian Character on her shoulder floating over to join Hinari in mixing something from jars before Asuka grabbed my attention once more.
"The Key and Lock are essential to unleashing our Lord; Master Xionai. But no, just gathering the lock and key wasn't enough... we had to wait until their owner's hearts were completely awakened." She paused, rolling her eyes to the befuddled look on my face before continuing. "Jeez, you really are blunt. I don't see what he sees in you... ugh, true love you dimwit."
"I'll admit, Asuka almost ruined everything by trying to make that stupid guy her new play toy but I'll give her credit, after getting pissed off by his rejection and stealing his soul, it worked out nicely in getting you to finally open the rest of your heart," Hinari stated half distracted.
Asuka jerked the gag from my mouth then, smirking before taking a step back to eye me down from my imprisonment.
"Any last words?"
"How did you even know I would open up to Ikuto?! Tadase never even told you about him!"
"I'm astonished. You have the key and lock yet know nothing about them? Apparently they choose their owners based on the heart's wish and some mumbo-jumbo about the strong power within their heart or whatever. Encoded in your soul, from the moment you're born is a type of beacon that draws you to your true love and you have to go through life searching for your other half, or some sappy shit like that. I don't know, I didn't read too much about that during the research; I could care less about true love and all that pointless crap."
A beacon? Is that why I always felt pulled towards Ikuto but couldn't explain it? The Lock and Key drawn us together somehow knowing we were soul mates; how does that even make sense at all!?
"And Ikuto, what did you do to him?!"
"Already told you, stole his soul for our master's rebirth. It's a shame really, he was cute. That other loser was just added bonus, a miscalculation really."
Will Ikuto get his soul back?
Will Tadase learn his girlfriend is a backstabbing little liar?
Will Amu get out alive?
Will that dog in the corner ever catch his tail?
And will I stop asking these questions; stay tuned to find out!
Until next time my lovelies, I'm out.
