Riku drove his car cautiously into the inconspicuous parking lot of the warehouse of Tai Ushida. From where they sat Katsuya and Sakura eyed the place with slight frowns on their faces.
"This is it?" Sakura asked.
"Yea" Riku nodded somberly, "Now remember, when we arrive back to your parts."
"Don't worry" she smiled, "We'll play our parts and be very convincing."
"Not too convincing Sakura" Kaye protested, "Don't overdo it."
"Don't worry I won't" she smiled even more crossing her arms satisfactorily.
Riku smiled at her enthusiasm. He had to admit to himself that he was quite amazed by the twins vocabulary and expertise of thinking at such a young age. He parked the car near the front entrance and noticed the other men who had come out to assist him. The moment they were pulled out of the car Sakura began to act up and tried to kick and hit the two guys who had taken her arms. Katsuya watched all this with a roll of his eyes as Riku gently took his arm since he wasn't struggling in the slightest, after all it wasn't like his sister in his nature to do so.
The twins were taken into the large warehouse and Riku led the way to a hallway that had completely grey walls. On the end of the hallway was a very heavily made door, from what the two of them could tell would be hard to even attempt to escape from. The two men took Sakura in first and threw her in. After talking to the men briefly, Riku said that he would handle things from that point and ordered them to go back to their post. Once they had disappeared he entered the room with Katsuya and closed the door behind him.
"Nicely done" he replied with a smile to the two of them.
"Thank you" Sakura beamed with her hands behind her back.
"Yea but I think you really did overdo it Sakura" Kaye said crossing his arms.
"I had to make it look convincing didn't I? Besides I didn't kick them for real which was what I had planned on doing in the first place?"
"Yea. Yea. So what happens now?" he asked turning to Riku.
"I have to leave you guys for awhile" Riku said softly, "I'll be back in a about an hour with your meal and instructions on how to get out of here."
"What about our mama?" Kaye asked, "Where's she going to be?"
"I don't really know right now. But I will let you know when I come back. Until then."
"Lay low" Sakura winked and held up her thumb, "Right."
"Good" he replied smiling and opening the door, "I'll see you two in an hour" he walked out and closed the heavy door behind him.
The two of them looked at each other and looked around at their new surroundings with much curiousity and wariness.
"I hope Uncle Yuki gets here in time" Kaye whispered.
"Don't worry he will" Sakura said patting her brother's back in reassurance, "He promised. Besides daddy will be with him and daddy won't let anything happen."
"Yea" Kaye nodded still unsure.
(Next Scene)
At that moment Hatsuharu and Yuki were still on the road heading for Kyoto. Haru was frowning as he drove.
"Damn it!" he shouted agitated, "There is too much traffic on the road today! How are we ever going to get to Kyo on time?"
"Calm down Haru" Yuki said in as calm of a voice ashe could muster, "I'll call Kyo and give him a heads up" he picked up his cell phone and dialed.
At the Sohma dojo, it was Kunimitsu who answered and was quite surprised to hear Yuki's voice on the other end.
"Hang on" he replied into the receiver, "He's right here. Master Kyo" he said as Kyo passed by on his way to his next class.
"Hmm?"
"Telephone for you sir."
"Oh thank you" Kyo took the phone, "Hello. Damn rat? What do you want? What!" he suddenly shouted, "What do you mean Tohru and my kids have been kidnapped?"
"Look I'll explain everything when we get there Kyo" Yuki said a bit irritated back, "Just be ready to jump into the car when we arrive."
"But" Kyo started to say but Yuki hung up on the other end, "Hello? Hello? Yuki? Damn" he slammed down the phone.
"Is everything okay Master Kyo?" Kunimitsu asked with concern in his voice.
"No. Kunimitsu I need you to do something for me."
"What is it?"
"Will you take over my classes for today? I have a family emergency" he replied quickly as he dashed out the dojo and headed for his house.
"Of course sir!" Kunimitsu shouted back, "Don't worry about a thing!" he said which Kyo acknowledged by waving his hand back.
Hatsuharu continued to frown aseven more people cut him off on the road.
"This is ridiculous" he snapped, "Of all the days for this to happen. At this rate we'll never get to Tohru and the twins on time."
Yuki sighed and leaned his head slightly on the window, only praying that Haru was wrong in his assumption.
"Tohru" he thought, "I hope you're all right. We're coming."
(Next Scene)
Ichirou Nakagami finally arrived at the warehouse and parked his car. Tohru too climbed out of the car and stared up the place with much fear and dread.
"Come with me Mrs. Sohma" he replied.
Tohru nodded and followed him into the warehouse where he waved off the other men who had come to assist him. They walked down a large hallway till they came to an open area. In front of them was a set of stairs and at the top Tohru could see two large doors. As they stopped briefly so Ichirou could talk to the main guards Tohru spotted a crate and read what it said on the side. She gasped as she saw the familiar name but Ichirou walked over and took her arm a bit roughly.
"Let's go Mrs. Sohma" he pulled her out of her thoughts.
"But I" she stammered but then followed him up the flight of stairs and then through the two doors he opened.
"We're here" Ichirou announced to someone with his back to them as they entered.
"Right on time Ichirou" Tai grinned turning around making Tohru's eyes become even wider than they had been, "I can always count on you. You can go now I will handle things from here."
"Yes sir" he nodded and then closed the doors behind him leaving Tohru all alone with the twisted man.
"Welcome Tohru" he smirked as he stared at her his hands still behind his back.
"Ta, Tai Ushida? You're behind all this?"
"Who else could come up with such an elaborate scheme such as this other than myself" he boasted pompulously.
"What? Then you're the one who has my children. Where are they Tai? Where are Katsuya and Sakura?"
"They're here and they're safe, for now" he added sitting down at his desk that was in the room.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I took a lot of trouble to get them here" he folded his hands neatly together, "And I'm not about to give up now. If you want your children to remain alive you will do everything I tell you to."
Tohru blinked back the tears that had formed in her eyes and then closed them.
"Sakura. Katsuya."
(Next Scene)
"Oh" Sakura sighed leaning her head bored against the wall as she stood her arms crossed, "When's he coming back?"
"He'll be back soon" Katsuya replied as he sat calmly on the floor his arms wrapped around his legs, "Just be patient."
"It's been more than an hour hasn't it?"
"No."
"Well it feels like it has" she huffed.
"That's because we have been stuck in this boring room" Kaye observed, "Just don't worry about it Sakura, he'll come back."
"Okay" she nodded and then lifted her head at once because she heard the door click open.
Riku's head appeared in the next moment making Sakura pull herself away from the wall. He was carrying a tray of food and closed the door behind him. Sakura sat down next to her brother as he brought the food over.
"How are you guys holding up?" he asked as he knelt down and put the tray before them.
"We're so bored" Sakura whined.
"I figured you would be" he grinned, "But don't worry you won't be here much longer. There's a piece of paper underneath your tray. It can show how to get out of this room. Once you're out, follow the directions and I will meet you in the location where the X marks. Okay?"
"Okay" Katsuya nodded, "What about mama?"
"She's in with Tai right now" he lowered his head a little so that his bangs hung in his eyes briefly, "I haven't had a chance to get in there yet, but don't worry about it. I'm sure she is fine. I'm leaving you two now. Wait for about ten minutes and then start looking for it. I'll see you in a bit" he rose back up and headed for the door.
"Don't worry Mr. Riku" Sakura said with a nod and a smile, "We won't let you down or Uncle Yuki."
He smiled back and then departed once more as Katsuya pulled the paper from under the tray. Sakura stood up and then looked at her brother.
"What does it say?" she asked peering down.
"Actually he made it more easier for us to understand" Kaye stood up and showed her, "He drew pictures instead."
"That's good. That'll make it easier to find it."
"Remember what he said we got to wait ten minutes till we start looking" he glanced at watch, which he had done already once to check the time for Sakura.
"Mhm" she nodded, "And hopefully by that time daddy and Uncle Yuki will be here."
(Next Scene)
Yuki and Hatsuharu finally arrived at Kyo's curb and without a moments thought he jumped into the van. As they drove away Yuki began to tell Kyo about the plan and Tai Ushida.
"WHAT!" Kyo suddenly shouted, "You damn rat! You willingly made my wife and kids bait?"
"Only your wife" Yuki retorted, "Your kids know all about this. In fact they're part of the plan. I had no choice Kyo. You know how Tai Ushida is. He would run away if he thought he was losing and then try something else later on."
"But how did he manage it?" Kyo put a hand to his temple in frustration, "How did he find us?"
"I believe he has an informant" Yuki continued.
"Informant?"
"Not only that" Haru added, "Jinto Tikeda is another pawn in Tai's scheme."
"WHAT!" Kyo shouted for the second time that day in the same way, "You mean that asshole was working for Ushida the whole time?"
"Yes Kyo" Yuki nodded and began to tell him the point by point part of Tai's plan, including everything from Kagura to the kidnapping.
"How do you know all this?"
"Tohru's cousin Riku Miyoshi told me."
"Riku?He could have been lying."
"No I don't think so Kyo. He sought me out and besides your son believes him" he looked back at Kyo with serious eyes.
"Katsuya?" Kyo's eyes became softer, "Well he would know. All right so what are we supposed to do?"
"At this moment your twins are trying to escape from their prison. Mr. Miyoshi gave me the directions to the warehouse so we have to hurry."
"Right" Kyo nodded and leaned back, "Tohru" he thought as Haru drove past several cars as fast as he could.
(Next Scene)
It was a few more moments till Tohru found her voice again.
"I don't understand" she replied, "How could you have found us?"
"I had an informant. You know the man who droppedyou off here? You've met him before. About five years ago he gave you a batch of flowers from me and he delivered the box of presents for your precious children as well."
"That was him? But it still doesn't explain what this is all about. Why are you doing this?"
"My plan was two part. I had two objectives in it. One two make sure the Sohma's were still suffering."
"I don't understand" she shook her head.
"It's really quite simple" he stood up from his desk and moved in front of it, leaning on it a little, "I had heard through my informant that the Zodiac curse was no longer in existence. I couldn't let that happen. Too much of my family honor was at stake. But I also knew of a way to bring it back."
"What?" Tohru's eyes became wider as the realization hit her, "Kagura?"
"That's right. I tracked down an actor who went to her college and hired him as an employee of mine. He found her and did what I asked him to."
"You. You hired someone to pretend to love her? To marry her and to make her bare a child? How could you?" Tohru cried.
"It was really easy. And she fell for it like the stupid girl that she was. You see I am not one who takes being tricked so easily. Your little friend Kagura helped to play a nasty little trick on me a long time ago along with Yuki and that husband of yours. I couldn't just simply let her get away with it. The only part of my plot that wasn't planned out, was the fact that she bore the new god of the Zodiac. That in itself was a complete surprise though not an unwelcome one. It gave me new advantages to infiltrating the Sohma's family along with Jinto's help."
"It was all you? You did it all? You're the reason that Kagura suffers?" the tears were flooding in her eyes.
"I don't think it's something you need to worry about anymore Tohru" he shook his head, "It's done. Nothing can change the fact and soon you'll be so far away from the Sohma's anyway."
"What are you talking about?"
"I said I had two objectives in my plan didn't I? The first one of course gave me much pleasure, but ultimately my main objective was You."
Tohru stared at him as he continued.
"I did all this ultimately to take you away from him at any cost."
"What? You did. You're. You're insane."
"Not insane, just don't take rejection very easily. But it doesn't matter anymore like I said. You won't be seeing your husband ever again."
"And what makes you think that?"
"Because I have your children" he grinned menacingly, "Your Achilles heal. I know you would do anything for them. And you will if you want them to live that is. You do want them to live don't you?"
Tohru once more closed her eyes and thought of her children once more.
"Sakura. Katsuya."
(To be continued..)
Authors Note: It ended up being another two parter! But I will finish this rest of this chapter and the last by today! See you all later!