Embarrassment 52: Hero


There seemed to be a very unsettling silence as Kanon followed the servant down the dark hallway deeper into the mansion. She would have been so amazed by how huge the mansion was if she cared. However, at this moment, all she could think about was what she had said to Keitaro. Even though she was only telling him to leave to help her family, it just felt wrong. Deeply she hoped Keitaro understood the situation she was in.

Somewhere near the back of the mansion was a staircase that lead down into a dungeon like room. The room was only lit by a few torches on the wall and had a very medieval feel to it, making Kanon wonder how old the house actually was. She couldn't help but feel nervous. The dungeon was filled with large jail-like cages along the stone walls. In the center of the room were various torture devices that thankfully looked like they hadn't been used in many years. Kanon couldn't bear to think of Tohru being tortured at her expense.

Then she saw him. At the far end of the room, in one of the various cages, Tohru was chained up to the wall with large locks around both his legs and arms. He looked as if he had been through hell and back. His usual nice suit was torn and stained with blood. His hair was matted down with sweat and his eyes looked sunken. It wasn't long before he realized she was there. As soon as they saw each other his eyes widen with fear.

"K- Kanon," he said in a hoarse voice.

Immediately Kanon's eyes went watery. Pushing past the servant she ran up to the cage and dropped to her knees, tears streaming out of her eyes.

"Tohru…" she sobbed, trying to open the locked door, "I'm so sorry."

"Kanon, what are you doing here?" Tohru said, sounding extremely worried.

"It's okay," Kanon said through the tears, trying her best to reassure him. "Everything is going to be fine, Tohru. I promise."

"Why?" he wondered, "Kanon… What did you do?"

Kanon just shook her head. "I did what I had to do."

Just then, Takeshi entered the room from the staircase with the same smirk plastered on his face. "Just coming to see how you were doing, Tohru," he said cheerfully.

"Takeshi, I swear…" Tohru barked pulling at the chains that were holding him. "If you dare hurt her…"

"There you go again," he said walking to the cage, "thinking that I would even think of harming my dear Kanon."

Tohru pulled at the chains as much as he could. All he could think about was busting down the doors of the cell and ripping Takeshi apart. But he was far too weak at this point and the chains were thick enough to hold him at bay. However, Kanon looked to Takeshi with a pleading look.

"I did what you wanted, Takeshi," she said. "Please let Tohru go."

"No," Takeshi said firmly.

"But you said…"

"I said if you promised to be mine I would let him go," he said firmly. "But until the marriage contract is signed, nothing is set in stone."

"Kanon are you crazy?" Tohru asked. "You can't marry him. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

However, Kanon didn't look to him. In all honesty she couldn't look him in the eyes. All she knew was that family came first. "Takeshi, I'll do whatever you want…"

"Kanon… NO!"

Still she ignored him.

"But you have to let him go now," she said, still blurry eyed from the tears.

Takeshi simply walked up to her and patted her gently on the head. "In due time, my dear princess." He turned to the servant who was still in the room with them. "Once she has had her time with our guest, take her to her room and make sure she is treated with respect. She is our guest, so we shall make her feel at home."

"Yes, Master," the servant said, bowing elegantly.

He gave one last glance at Kanon and Tohru and disappeared into thin air, leaving the two of them alone with the servant. As soon as he was gone Tohru blew up in Kanon's face.

"Kanon, what the hell do you think you are doing?" he demanded. "Don't listen to anything he says."

Kanon still didn't look him in the face. "Don't worry Tohru. I promise everything will work out."

"How is it going to work out?"

"You have to trust me," she said, before getting to her feet and walking to the servant. "I'm ready to go to my room."

"Yes, My lady."

"Kanon!" Tohru said, trying his best to stop her. "Don't do this!"

But Kanon refused to say anything else. She knew what she was doing. She wished she could have said more to Tohru but this was all the advice she could give. Tohru just had to trust her on this one. She was willing to do anything to protect her family.

Meanwhile, just outside the mansion, Takeshi was pacing back forth outside the mansion, waiting for a phone call. As soon as his cell phone rang he smiled. It was one of his many servants calling him with a status update. However, the information was less than Takeshi wanted to hear.

"Sir, the hunter is nowhere to be found," the servant said through the phone.

"What do you mean; he's nowhere to be found?" Takeshi wondered. "He only left the mansion a bit ago. He can't have gone far."

"I'm sorry, Master. We have searched the entire grounds and cannot find Mr. Cross anywhere. There are also no tracks in the snow."

"He didn't just vanish into thin air," Takeshi barked into the phone. "You had better find him. If that vampire hunter returns to the Maaka clan before I get the Pushuke to sign the marriage contract, I will have all of you killed. He could not have gotten too far. He must have known you were following him and gave you the slip. Now find him and kill him."

"Yes, Master."

Takeshi hung up and starred darkly into the surroundings. Keitaro wouldn't be able to hide forever. He was going to make sure Keitaro would never disturb them again.

As soon as Kanon signs the marriage contract, he thought to himself, Even the Maaka clan will not be able to interfere.

As the night went on, Kanon was treated like a member of the house by the maids in her room. As much as she appreciated the hospitality she was given, she couldn't ever enjoy it. The entire time, Keitaro and Tohru was on her mind. She couldn't believe what she was doing, and still wanted nothing more than to run out the front door and back home. But she had to play Takeshi's games for Tohru's sake.

After a bath in the most elegant tubs she had ever seen in her life, she was surprised to find that one of the maids had laid out three sets of night gowns on her bed for her to wear. Her Kimono had already been washed and hung to dry and one of the maids was waiting for her with a towel while the other was waiting with a platter of food and drink. Kanon felt extremely embarrassed, momentarily forgetting the situation she was in. She was literally dried off by the maid and helped dressed. It was all too much for her.

"You really don't need to help me," she said, trying not to smile.

"Master Takeshi told us to treat you as one of the members of the family," one of the maids said.

Kanon didn't like being treated nicely by the maids and servants of Takeshi's family. She didn't want anything to do with him. She still couldn't believe that he was doing this to her. All she wanted was to be his friend. Why did he have to break her trust and do this to her. Takeshi had seemed so nice.

Kanon requested that the maids leave not long after, saying that she was tired and wanted to sleep. But she couldn't sleep, not in a place like this. Everything was perfect. She was treated like princess by all the servants, the bed was fit for a queen, and she would have her every need fulfilled at a moment's notice. But that wasn't what she wanted. She wanted Keitaro… She wanted to go home… She wanted things to go back to the way they were.

The hours seemed to pass by like minutes, and before long, the morning sun was peaking over the horizon. Takeshi had been pacing in his study for what seemed like an eternity trying to find Keitaro. He was now helping look for the vampire hunter with his own bats. But it was almost as if Keitaro had never even been there. Like he had literally disappeared into thin air. None of it made sense, and Takeshi was getting angrier by the second. Finally, at around 6 in the morning, his phone rang.

"You better have good news," he growled into the phone.

But the person who answered wasn't his servants. Takeshi's eyes flashed when he realized the voice was none other than Keitaro.

"You still haven't found me?" Keitaro said in a dark voice through the phone. "Did you really think I was gone?"

"Well played Keitaro," Takeshi said, smiling. "Next time, I should make sure I come after you personally."

"Why don't you come outside?" Keitaro said. "Then you can play too."

Takeshi laughed, knowing that now that the sun was out, he was stuck inside. Keitaro was safe. "What do you plan to do now, Keitaro? Go home and cry to the other Maaka's?"

"Nah, I thought I'd start by putting a bullet in your brain for kidnapping my girlfriend."

The whole time Takeshi was on the phone, he was having his bats scan frantically outside for any sign of Keitaro or the servants. There was still no sign of him.

"You should give up Keitaro," Takeshi said, still smirking. "Kanon has already agreed to be my wife."

"Yes, tricking her to stay with you by holding Tohru hostage. How manly of you."

Takeshi's eyes went wide. "How'd you…"

"How'd I what?" Keitaro said, cutting him off. "How'd I find out you're a sleazy bastard? That's a good question isn't it? I think the better question would be, do you even know where Tohru is right now?"

As soon as his said that, Takeshi disappeared into thin air, reappearing in the dungeon. But what he saw made his jaw drop. The cell that Tohru had been in was empty and lying outside was one of the servants. Tohru was nowhere to be seen. Takeshi immediately reached for his sword. But before he could even touch it he heard the sound of a gun being cocked just inches from his back.

"Found you," Keitaro said, smiling darkly as he shoved the barrel of a shotgun into Takeshi's spine.

Immediately Takeshi noticed something was different about the air. There was a smell coming off of Keitaro that he had never noticed before. Looking over his shoulder, he was surprised to see that Keitaro's eyes were blood red and he was breathing heavily. Keitaro was on the very edge of snapping if he hadn't already.

"As to be expected from the worlds' greatest vampire hunter," Takeshi said calmly.

"I wouldn't recommend talking right now," Keitaro said darkly, digging the muzzle deeper into his back. "I'm can't believe you actually thought I would be fooled by this act. You did something very stupid tonight, Takeshi."

Takeshi remained calm. "And what are you planning to do now, Keitaro? Shoot me? Doesn't seem like something you would do."

"Don't worry, I may not kill you. But I'm sure the Maaka family will have plans for you."

"Sorry, but I can't let that happen, Keitaro," Takeshi said quickly.

Before Keitaro had any time to react Takeshi spun around, knocking the shotgun to the side. Keitaro barely had time to see before Takeshi's blade came spinning around and making contact with his chest. He tried to fire off a round but Takeshi disappeared into thin air, only to reappear behind Keitaro and throw him across the room into the bars of one of the cages. Keitaro's body slammed hard into the bars and he fell limp at the base in pain. But before he could get back up Takeshi was over him, and kicked him in the ribs.

"You vampire hunters really are pathetic," Takeshi said, sliding the shotgun out of the way before kicking Keitaro in the gut. "You talk way too much."

Reaching down with one hand he grabbed hold of Keitaro's suit and threw him with, little effort, across the room into another cage. But this time, Keitaro quickly scrambled to his feet and lunged at Takeshi, only to have the vampire disappear again. This time reappearing just a few feet in front of Keitaro with the shotgun in his hand. With one quick swipe, the butt of the shotgun smacked Keitaro in the face, sending him into the ground.

"You stupid hunter," Takeshi said, pointing the gun at Keitaro's face. "You couldn't have just let it go. I told you, before. Kanon Usui is mine. You should have gone home when you had the chance. But since you had to be the hero, you can die for her here."

Suddenly, Keitaro reached in his jacket and pulled out a pistol and fired at Takeshi. Takeshi hadn't expected it and the bullet hit him in the chest, causing him to drop the shotgun. Keitaro fired off two more rounds, both aimed at his head, but this time the vampire disappeared from sight, giving Keitaro a few moments to stagger to his feet. He was bleeding from his nose and had a noticeable limp but none of that seemed to so much as faze him.

When Takeshi reappeared he was no longer smiling. In his right hand he was clutching his sword. The bullet had missed any organs and was already healing fast.

"You are going to regret that, Hunter," he said darkly, before lunging at Keitaro.

Upstairs, Kanon was still wide awake. She had heard gunfire in the house and now was extremely nervous. Something was going on downstairs and she feared that it had something to do with Tohru. She quickly got out of the bed and headed for the door when it suddenly flung open, nearly knocking her off her feet. She was more than surprised to see Tohru at the door. As soon as they saw each other, Kanon ran into his arms smiling.

"Tohru!" she cried happily.

"Kanon," he replied in relief, hugging her tightly. "Thank god you're okay."

Looking over Tohru's shoulder, Kanon noticed bodies in the hall of many of the servants. None of them were dead. Just unconscious. Tohru had taken them out to get to her.

"Where's Keitaro?" Kanon asked immediately.

Tohru was surprised at first that she knew Keitaro was in the house but soon realized she had known all along Keitaro was coming back. She knew that Keitaro was going to figure out what was going on. That was why she had kept telling him everything was going to be alright. But Tohru's glance to the hallway told her that the gunshot came from Keitaro.

"We have to go get him," Kanon said urgently.

However, Tohru stopped her. "Wait, Kanon. Keitaro created a diversion so that you could escape. We have to get you out of here now."

"But Keitaro…"

"Kanon, he's doing this for you," Tohru said strictly. "I obviously can't leave right now with the sun up. You have to get out of here while you have the chance."

Kanon however refused. She was smart enough to know that Keitaro was in no shape to fight right now. She had to go see him.

"I'm sorry, Tohru," Kanon said, pushing past Tohru and running down the hallway. "I have to go help him."

"Kanon wait!" Tohru said, taking off after her.

There was something very wrong with the way Tohru had said Keitaro was creating a diversion. She needed to see him now. The sound of gunfire was ringing through the air followed by crashes. She had to make sure Keitaro was okay. She made it to the dungeon just in time to see Keitaro thrown into the far wall for the umpteenth time. Takeshi appeared over him and held him at blades edge. Takeshi looked extremely winded and slightly damaged, but it was nothing compared to what Keitaro looked like.

"Why won't you stay down?" Takeshi wondered, panting heavily. "You really don't know when to give up."

Keitaro didn't hear a single word he was saying. In fact he had partially blacked out from all the pain he was experiencing. At the back of his head, the voice started to call out to him.

And this is where the mighty Keitaro falls, the voice hissed in his head. You failed Keitaro. You have failed to protect Kanon.

Keitaro didn't even have the mind to argue with it this time.

You know, the voice continued to whisper. If you would have just let me take over, none of this would have happened. Now, you need me. You don't even have the strength to resist me anymore.

Keitaro wanted to scream out but it was like his voice had been shut off. All he could think about was the pain. And for some reason the smell of blood filled his nostrils. Little did he know the smell was coming from Kanon. He couldn't see anything. He was lingering in the darkness.

It's over Keitaro. You had a good fight. Now it's time to finish this.

The whole time, Takeshi was standing over him, watching him. Keitaro's body was twitching madly as if he was having some sort of fit. Even Kanon noticed a wave of rage coming from him. She almost had a bloody nose on the spot. Never in her life had she smelled so much anger. It was so intense that all she could see was Keitaro almost as if he was making his own light, so bright it burned all the other lights out.

Takeshi didn't waste any time. He brought the sword over his head. "Time to finish this. Goodbye Keitaro Cross."

With every last bit of strength in his body, Takeshi plunged the blade down at Keitaro. Behind him, he heard Kanon scream out. However, his blade never made contact with flesh. Suddenly, Keitaro's hand flung out and grabbed hold of the blade in mid air, stopping it just inches away from his body. Takeshi looked down in horror as Keitaro looked up at him with those glowing red eyes. Keitaro… had finally snapped.


Nothing to say but Read and Review. I loved this chapter so much.