Disclaimer: Author owns nothing. Mai-Hime belongs to Sunrise.

CHAPTER 31

Despite her efforts to focus her attention on the huge screen in front of her, Shizuru's mind seemed to wander elsewhere. With her phone in hand, she was torn between making a call to someone who did not fulfill her promise and to just let it slide for now. "What reasons could she probably have for not showing herself? She promised, did she not?"

"Viola, can you at least keep your phone away. It's disrupting me." Suzushiro, who was seated to her right, spoke with mild irritation in her voice.

"Shizuru-san, it will not be long before the film will end. Please endure it for a while. We can leave as soon as this is over." Kikukawa added, glancing at her ward who was seated between her and Haruka.

"My apologies."Shizuru simply stated before turning her attention back to the huge screen in front of them. For some reasons, her excitement vanished the moment she knew that a certain woman could not make it to the premier night.

On the other hand, Director Zhang was waiting for her phone's screen to light up. "It's been ages! Why the hell Mai is not updating me. Damn. Where the hell are you Kruger?" She thought, looking at Shizuru whose focus was on the movie."You better not be fucking around or else God knows what this woman will do."

General Kruger was inhaling cigarettes after cigarettes while waiting for his five-men troop to gather around. The ashtray in front of him could tell just how many packs he had consumed already. Putting off his last cigarette, he stood up firmly. "Alright, soldiers! While we are still waiting for the suspect to make a move, let me reiterate a few important matters. Number one. This is an unauthorized mission. Number two. We are in a foreign land which we do not have any jurisdiction at all. Number three. This mission is voluntary and must be kept with utmost confidentiality. Number four. Any casualty that might be incurred must be addressed in the same level of confidentiality. Number five. If you get caught, you are not in any manner related to our country's arm forces. Lastly, subject must be retrieved at all cost. Dead or alive. Understood, soldiers?" He stopped his pacing, awaiting response from his soldiers.

"Yes, Sir!" Everyone answered in unison.

"We will rescue the subject alive, Sir!" Captain Masashi added with conviction.

"Thank you, Captain." General Kruger said, gripping Masashi's broad shoulder.

"Now we should wait. It won't be long before the suspect will make its move." General Kruger said, looking at the glass wall which gave him the city's magnificent night view.

Shizuru was too exhausted to attend the premier night's after party so, she decided to just go home and rest her tired body and mind. It was past ten o'clock in the evening and she was about to ascend their mansion's stairway when she noticed a little figure at the bottom of it.

"Shi-chan, why are you still awake?" Shizuru approached the little girl who was clad in her baby blue pajama and was hugging a puppy stuffed toy.

"I was waiting for you. I have surprises for you." Shizuki said before hiding the stuffed animal behind her.

"And what could be my Shi-chan's surprises for me be?" Shizuru played along with the little girl. Pretending like she did not notice her hiding the stuffed toy behind her.

"Taaadaaa!"Shizuki showed the toy to Shizuru which earned her a genuine smile from the woman.

"Ara, is Shi-chan giving me this cute puppy?" Shizuru said as she reached for the object of their conversation.

"Nope." Shizuki said, retrieving the stuffed toy and hugging it. "Nat-chan gave this to me. It arrived this morning."

"Ara?" Shizuru spoke after a pregnant pause. "Did you thank her, Shi-chan?"

"Not yet. I will thank her personally. She said she will be here today. I thought she was coming with you." Shizuki said with a pout.

"Is that why you are still awake, Shi-chan? Natsuki can't come today." Shizuru said, patting the little girl's tawny locks.

"Then, I will thank her tomorrow." Shizuki said with positivity.

"Shi-chan, we don't know when Natsuki will show up." Shizuru said, smiling at the little girl.

"Then, the day after. And the day after that day. I'm sure I will see her again. Right, onee-sama?"Shizuki said, emphasizing the last word.

"Did you just?" Shizuru said, surprised by her sister's last word.

"Yes, onee-sama! I got it right. I called you onee-sama because you are my onee-sama. I love onee-sama so much. Onee-" Shizuki kept repeating the word but was halted when Shizuru hugged her tightly.

"Onee-sama? You don't like me calling you onee-sama?" Shizuki said in confusion.

"You can call me anything you want, Shi-chan. I won't mind at all." Shizuru said, hugging the only family member she had and the best birthday present that her parents had granted her.

"But Yukino-chan said I should not call you Mama because it's confusing. Onee-sama are you sad? Why are you crying? Did I make you sad? Do you want me to call you Mama instead? I should have not listened to Yukino-chan." The confused little girl rambled on.

"No, Shi-chan. Onee-sama is just happy to have you. Onee-sama loves you dearly, okay?" Shizuru said while hugging her little sister.

"I love Onee-sama, too. Please don't cry." Shizuki said, patting her sister's head. "May I sleep in Onee-sama's room tonight?"

"Yes, of course." Shizuru said, looking at her little sister.

"May I bring Ki-chan, too? She will behave." Shizuki said, showing her stuffed animal to Shizuru and sported her puppy doe eyes.

"As long as she doesn't bark in the middle of the night, Shi-chan."Shizuru said, while gathering her little sister in her arms before carrying her upstairs. She chuckled when Shizuki released a tired yawn before wrapping her little arms around her elder sister's neck.

"What the hell? Why is it too dark in here?" Natsuki tried opening her eyes but miserably failed to see anything due to the blindfold strapped on her head. "Hold on a sec. My hands...Damn." She thought as she tried to wiggle her hands which were tied behind her back. She tried to calm herself and process what was happening. "Did I just hear giggles? Just where the fuck am I?" She tried speaking but something in her mouth was hindering her to do so. "Ah shit! Premier night. Shizuru will kill me. That is if I will come out of here alive." She thought dejectedly. "First things first. I need to get out of here." She said before trying to maneuver her way out of her binds. "Shit! These won't come off easily."

A loud banging of the door was soon heard which caused Natsuki to stop all her movements. The figure approached Natsuki before yanking her blindfold away and settling itself on a sofa.

Natsuki adjusted her eyes to her surroundings. Her emerald orbs bulged when she realized that she was actually seated on a bed and was surrounded by three naked women. Judging from the movements and the engine sound she was hearing, it finally dawned on her. "A yacht huh." She glared in front of her, expecting to see the same person but was surprised when a completely different person was seated opposite her. A camera was installed to the person's right, obviously filming her but not her kidnapper.

"Kanzaki. What the hell do you want?" Natsuki tried to speak but her words came out incomprehensible.

"My an energetic guest we have here, ladies." Kanzaki let out an amused laugh, smiling at the naked women beside Natsuki. "Shall we show her how hospitable and welcoming we are? We do not want out honorable guest to think ill of us after all, do we?"

Just like that the women started draping themselves around Natsuki who was keen on ignoring them.

"Thank me not, Kruger. I made sure to hire the most experienced and professional ones here in Tokyo. Why don't you enjoy yourself?" Kanzaki said, ignoring Natsuki's glare and her obvious discomfort as the women started ravishing her.

"I said stay away from me!" Natsuki yelled through bleeding mouth when she was finally able to break the ball gag in her mouth. How did she do that? Leave it to her rage.

"My my. What strong mouth you have, Kruger. I am quite certain these ladies would be pleased to know what magic you can do with that mouth of yours." Kanzaki said with feigned surprise.

"What the fuck do want, asshole? I can't believe Mai likes a dickhead. What a piece of shit." Natsuki spat which earned her a hearty laugh from the man.

"Tokiha-san? That's hilarious because I was never after her. She is nothing but a good business venture. A good source of information. Ah. Foolish woman." Kanzaki said mockingly. He obviously enjoyed watching the aggravated Natsuki.

"What the hell do you want from me, Kanzaki?" Natsuki glared at the man as blood continued dripping from her mouth.

"My my. I believe that I should at least enlighten you with your situation, Kruger. You see you are making a lot of adversaries without you knowing." Kanzaki leaned back and crossed his legs as if to show his superiority in the situation.

"Just get to the point." Natsuki hissed.

"How impatient. The night is still young, Kruger. Let us not be in a haste. For after hearing what I am about to say, you shall bid your farewell to this lovely mundane not be mistaken, Kruger. I hold no grudge against you personally. But business is business and you are in the way of my plans. You see, Shizuru-san..." Kanzaki paused when Natsuki abruptly stood up.

"What did you do to Shizuru?!" Natsuki demanded and was about to charged in but the women sprang into action and held her in place.

"I was not exaggerating when I said I hired professionals, Kruger. These ladies could send you to heaven or hell at my command. You should try calming down." Kanzaki shot her a warning look.

"Bastard."Natsuki mumbled before stopping to struggle.

"I shall continue, then. Shizuru-san was in the perfect situation where I wanted her to be. She was in that state of vulnerability. No parents and not much closed relatives who understand her post-traumatic behavior. Just the perfect timing for me, her fiancé, to get in the picture. I will be her knight in shining armor. I was what she needed. Nobody will think much if we will finally tie the knot. I am her childhood friend after all. We were bound to marry each other the moment we were born. Ah! Old men's tradition you see. It turned out to be completely in my favor. You have no idea just how powerful Shizuru-san's family is. She is a good business. Being her husband would mean taking over Japan's business world. Just the perfect means to achieve my dreams." Kanzaki said dreamily before his expression turned hard and glared at Natsuki. "But then you came. The unwanted character in my perfect plan. She loathed your existence at first so, I ignored you. But oh, how the table had turned in your favor. She started to change for the better. I dislike that. She was already in the perfect place where I wanted her to be. Any deviation from the status quo will ruin my plan. So, I thought might as well pull out the weed while it is not yet deeply rooted. But of course, I do not want to stain my hands. Directly at least. I am sure you had the chance to get acquainted with Tomoe-chan. Ah! That woman is quite a work of art. I myself could not believe the extent of her fascination with Shizuru-san to put it lightly. I am sure you can still remember the incidents in Alyssa-san's house and the little misfortune in India. I am also quite certain that you are acquainted with a certain Smith. I was not kidding when I said you have more enemies than you are aware of, Kruger. With all honesty, I cannot fathom how Tomoe-chan can come up with those ideas and how foolish you are for falling right into her hands every single time." He said before standing up and approaching the young director who was emitting a not-so-friendly aura. He leaned directly in Natsuki's face before slowly snaking his right hand behind her and unstrapping the watch from her wrist. "Sentiments." He said before withdrawing himself and walking away from Natsuki. "You are still a woman despite your rough exterior, Kruger. You always carry this watch with you wherever you go. Why? Is it because of what that old woman told you? Or is it because it was Shizuru-san who somehow gave this to you? Right before your eyes is one of Fujino Technologies' creations, Kruger." Kanzaki said before pressing a button and the watch's glass popped opened. "Equipped with a GPS locator and micro mic that is barely noticeable. A device that can be used to store terabytes of data and at the same data can be accessed by outside server. The rests of its features are confidential, though. One of Japan's prides that not even America can replicate. Did Shizuru-san know when she gave it to you? I will leave that to your imagination." He held the device and smirked before speaking to the watch. "Fumi, I believe you can have this device back."

Right then the door opened and revealed the same woman whom Natsuki encountered in the Antique House.

"You worked for him?" Natsuki glared at the woman who paid her no mind at all.

"As you wish Kanzaki-sama." The woman bowed before retrieving the object and finding her way out.

"You see Kruger, I know you more than you know yourself. I must say that your medical records are quite interesting to say the least. Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, huh? Imagine if Shizuru-san will find out about it. My my my that would be too troublesome for me, wouldn't it?" Kanzaki said, flashing his perfectly white teeth towards Natsuki.

"What do you want Kanzaki?" Natsuki spat venomously.

Suddenly the door flapped opened and revealed a very distraught and angry Tomoe.

"I want her dead right now!" Tomoe screamed, pointing a gun at Natsuki which caused her to freeze. The women started scampering away from her, fully aware of the new arrival's capability.

"Now now, Tomoe-chan. I believe we agreed that you should not be here at all cost, did we not?" Kanzaki said, perfectly hiding his irritation behind his fake smile. "Shouldn't you be enjoying the night with your dear Onee-sama?"

"Shizuru Onee-sama did not show up to the party!" Tomoe yelled back at Kanzaki before firing the gun. The bullet almost hit his left foot.

"Alright then. Have it your way." Kanzaki said calmly, raising his hands as if in surrender.

"Bring that bitch outside. I'm done playing around." Tomoe said through gritted teeth before hurriedly going back to where she came from.

Natsuki found herself being pulled outside the cabin and being brought into the deck. She could smell the salty scent carried by the cold night wind. The city lights were a sight if it wasn't for the situation that she was in. A few more yachts can be seen beside the one she was currently standing on.

There near the deck's edge laid a coffin and a mixture of cement. Three men in dark suits were standing beside it.

"Get in the coffin, bitch!" Tomoe demanded, pointing the gun at Natsuki's head.

"You are fucking insane! Do you think I will willingly get myself killed?" Natsuki glared as she tried to struggle out of the women's grasp.

"Oh you will, Kruger. Trust me." Tomoe said before smirking. "Let go of her." She ordered the three women who immediately let go of Natsuki.

"Stupid." Natsuki muttered before starting to charge in.

"If I were you, I will think twice before doing that." A very familiar voice came from Natsuki's back. "I cannot assure you that my fingers won't slip and buried a bullet in this woman's head, Kruger."

"Alyssa…" Natsuki stood there frozen when she saw a tied up Alyssa who was still in her white coat being dragged by a very familiar man. "Let her go, Smith or I'm gonna kill you!"

"Oh come on, Kruger. We both know that you can't even lay a finger on me given your situation right now." Smith said, laughing at Natsuki.

"Ah. Mrs. Kruger, my apologies for not welcoming you properly. I hope you understand the current situation that we are in right now. You see, your lovely wife here has taken a liking to my fiancée. After seeing you in the flesh, it seemed that my mind ran out of reasons as to why she is being unfaithful to you. You seemed to be the epitome of a perfect wife and yet she still…" Kanzaki said, looking at Natsuki.

"Shut up!" Natsuki snapped, looking at Alyssa who refused to look her in the eyes. "Smith, let her go." She said through gritted teeth. "I'll do whatever you want. Just let her go. She has nothing to do with this." She said, facing Tomoe.

"Then, die already." Tomoe said before firing the gun.

"Natsuki!" Alyssa yelled, trying to get out of Smith's strong hold.

"Aaarrgghh." Natsuki writhed in pain as her left chest was once again shot.

Tomoe approached her and gripped her shirt's collar. "That bastard should have done his job cleanly. In that case, you would no longer need to suffer again."

"Do you really think that by killing me, Shizuru will be yours?" Natsuki laughed. "You're an idiot, Margueritte. You're nothing but Kanzaki's puppet. I bet you also didn't know that he is Shizuru's fiancé, do you? He is just using you to do all his dirty works so that in the end, he will not be held liable at all." She said through pain, trying to buy herself some time. The excruciating pain in her left shoulder was draining all her energy.

"Oh, I know that. That's why I am taking care of it right now." Tomoe said before pointing the gun at Reito's direction and pulling the trigger without even taking a glance at him. Her eyes were boring holes in Natsuki's head.

"Tomo- " Kanzaki started but wasn't able to finish his words because a bullet was buried right in his head.

Natsuki and the rests just stood there dumbfounded as Kanzaki's face fell to the ground. Soon enough, he was bathing in his own blood.

"An impressive shot, isn't it?" Tomoe laughed maniacally before standing up and stepping on Natsuki's bleeding shoulder.

"Oh! dear Lord. Natsuki, no. Please don't." Alyssa said, snapping back to reality. "Please stop! Stop hurting her." She begged.

"Hmnn." Tomoe appeared to be in thought, scratching her head with the gun. "You're too loud, woman. Learn to shut up." She said pointing the gun at Alyssa and started to pull the trigger.

"Don't you dare, bitch!" Natsuki said before using all her remaining strength to use both her feet to kick Tomoe in the shins. Causing the woman to lose her balance and stumble. The bullet completely missed its target.

But Tomoe was able to gain her ground again. She wiped the dripping blood from her mouth in annoyance. "Tch! Fucking bitch." She said before slowly retrieving a foldable steel chair from the deck's side. She slowly walked towards Natsuki who was obviously struggling just to get up.

"Natsuki!" Alyssa yelled but was too late to warn the woman.

All Natsuki felt was the impact of the hard steel making contact with her head. Her vision got blurry before she completely succumbed to darkness.

"What a piece of shit." Tomoe said before grabbing a handful of Natsuki's hair and checking her consciousness. "Put her inside." She harshly released her head after giving it a hard kick.

"Please stop! Natsuki! Natsuki, wake up!" Alyssa yelled, trying to get near Natsuki whose head started bleeding.

"Start filling in the cement. Make sure she sinks in the deepest part of the water." Tomoe ordered the three men who immediately started to carry out the order.

They were halfway done in filling the coffin with cement, with Natsuki in it, when Tomoe yelled at Alyssa. "How many times do I have to tell you to shut the fuck up, woman?!" She said pointing the gun at the said woman. "You really wanna be with her that bad? Well then, wish granted." She said before pulling the trigger.

Series of gun shots were heard and after what seemed to be an endless crossfire, the atmosphere fell into dead silence. The three men in black were on their knees and bathing on their own blood. Smith and Tomoe were on the same state, both hands were shot.

Soon enough, six armed men who were completely covered in black flooded the deck. None of them was making any sound aside from the hand gestures.

Natsuki was immediately taken out of the coffin but she was already covered in cement. Another man freed Alyssa who immediately came to Natsuki's side.

"Oh God, no. Natsuki, please hold on." Alyssa muttered as tears started to fall from her cheeks. "She is unconscious. A serious concussion in her head and it's bleeding profusely. This is bad. She needs immediate medical attention." She said to the two men beside her.

The two men nodded before carrying Natsuki and signaling Alyssa to follow them to the approaching yacht.

"She's in a bad state, Sir but Alyssa is with her. We cannot ascertain whether our medical supplies will be enough to stabilize her or not." Masashi said through signed language to General Kruger.

"You dare messed up with my family, bastard. Let me show you what death looks like." General Kruger said through glaring emerald orbs before completely removing his mask. "See you in hell." He said before firing the gun four times in Smith's forehead leaving him unrecognizable.

Masashi just stared at him expressionlessly. Not averting his gaze from the gore scene in front of him.

Slowly, General Kruger strode towards the writhing Tomoe.

"Murderer! How dare you?! You'll pay for this." Tomoe shoot the General a menacing look which obviously did not affect the latter not even a bit.

"Kids these days." General Kruger said before shooting both her legs, disabling all her limbs. "Let me show you how proper burial should be done, young lady." He said before grabbing the back of her collar and dragging her towards the coffin. "You should always have room for prayers." He effortlessly threw her inside the coffin. "I'm generous enough to give you the chance to save your soul from burning in hell. Now say your little prayers."

"Hell no!" Tomoe yelled through bleeding mouth.

"Very well, then. Tell Satan I won't be visiting him any time soon." General Kruger said before giving her a demonic smile. "Goodnight, young lady." He said before shooting her in between her eyes and kicking the coffin shut.

"Not everyone deserves due process of law. Justice should be a luxury for this kind of people." General Kruger said, turning away from the coffin and looking at the yacht carrying his granddaughter. "Leave no trace, Captain. Burned everything into ashes."

"Yes, Sir." Masashi addressed the general's retreating back.

Author's Notes:

Hello, readers! Hope everyone is doing great. Let me know your thoughts.