WOOT 50,000 words. Yeah!

Direct follow on from the previous chapter


Recovered Pair

"I wonder where we are going?" Souji asked no one as he leaned back against the very comfortable seats of the saloon car they were in. They've been driving for what seemed about 45 minutes and in that time while Naoto had said nothing but she hadn't let go of his hand. Souji tried to look out the window but the tinted windows plus the darkened sky made it hard to see where they were going. All he knew was that there were cars both in front and behind them as they left the city and started to drive towards more mountain areas.

"I'm only following the GPS Sir. Where it will lead us even I don't know." Even though the logic made sense Souji couldn't help but sigh but it caused his chest to seize up in pain, making him wheeze.

Naoto said nothing but squeezed his hand.

"They did call it a safe house." A swift nod came from the driver.

"Indeed. I'll be more careful on the driving because I know you're ribs aren't in the best condition."

"Very much appreciated."

The drive continued for another hour before the finally started to go down some more remote, slower roads. Only after that the convoy they were in stopped in front of a medium sized house quite seemingly in the middle of nowhere. In the obscuring darkness Souji could barely make it out until the door was opened for the pair. The cool air hit him unexpectedly but was refreshing given the smell of burnt wood and gunfire smoke he became way to accustomed to just a short while ago. He looked on before feebly accepting the invitation to leave the car with Naoto in hand. They looked on at the impressive house, the pair had a feeling it hadn't been used in a while. Even in the dark it could easily be seen as someone's holiday home.

"Man that's impressive." Souji looked in awe as all Naoto did was hum in agreement. The two guards at the door stepped aside as the climbed the short stairs to the front door.

"It's currently unlocked Shirogane-sama." Souji looked down at Naoto and she only peered back up at him. While she kept her expression blank, her eyes and the squeeze of the hand expressed that he do the honours. With a small smile he pushed the door open to a warm and well fitted house with quite the large living room. Inside were large blue and white sofas and love seat with a pre-life fireplace being the centre piece of the room.

"I see that you finally made it." An old yet familiar voice spoke up, standing out of one of the seats that were facing away from them. Instantly Naoto's eyes lit up as she broke away from Souji and enveloped the man in a hug. He reciprocated in kind to the best of his ability.

"Grandpa!" She cried. He couldn't help but laugh as he pattered her on the back mid-hug. Souji grinned at seeing the smile come back even if it's momentarily as he walked over to the pair. Within reach he went to bow…

"Shirogan- Oomph…" He was forced to stop mid action as his ribs refused to cooperate. Naoto stopped her hug to attend to him.

"Souji-kun please." She pleaded as she wrapped her good arm around his torso to keep him steady.

"Please, this absolutely not needed after everything you've been through." He told the former leader as he waved off his formality. "You are injured young man; formalities are the last thing I want from you. Now could you two take a seat, I have some urgent information to disclose."

The two nodded as they sat down on the large sofa adjacent to the Master of the Estate.

"Once again I must apologise for not getting in touch sooner. I had to dig into how this situation happened in the first place." He looked down, seemingly frustrated at the recent events. "I have a feeling if the Estate would have been tighter in its protocols with the police departments we might not be in this situation."

Naoto raised her hand to interject but his eyes said he wasn't done.

"This put you two in grave danger and until we find out exactly who was behind that attack and have them reprimanded I need the both of you to stay here."

The pair nodded, knowing it was pointless to argue with his reasoning. "Has there been anything from local authorities?" Naoto asked.

Matsuda shook his head disappointedly. "Unfortunately no. We have our suspicions but that's not enough to go on at the moment. Luckily we have the assailants in custody currently with local police thanks to the both of you. We'll be working with them at arm's length to find out as much information as we can. Due to the nature of it however we have to be vigilant of everyone."

Souji looked down in thought. "Makes sense"

"Either way it doesn't change that you two were almost assassinated as a result of upholding justice due to the Estate family work." The patriarch bowed his head in shame.

Souji reeled back in his seat while Naoto gasped. In all the time she's known her grandpa, this is the first time she's ever seen him bow to someone else. It took her a second to get her brain on track as it searched for a reply.

"Ah it's not necessary really." Souji found his words first. "It's not something I would like to do again voluntarily but you know…"

Naoto shook her head. "Grandpa please…" He looked back up at them. "You do the best you can and you've always done the best for me."

"It's not that my dear Naoto-chan. Work has directly put you and your significant other in danger. I vowed not to have this situation happen ever since the passing of your parents-"

The day's memories instantly flooded Naoto's mind as she replayed the moment in her head where one of the thugs almost executed Souji in her apartment's living room. Her eyes widened as the thoughts of losing Souji bubbled in her mind.

"Naoto!" The voice of her partner snapped her out of mind causing her to blankly stare at him for a moment before her brain caught up. "You scared me there. What was wrong?"

"I…" She turned away trying to sort her words out. "I almost lost you…" She spoke quietly.

"Yakushiji told me about what happened. I've delayed the need for your report for two weeks to give your mind time to recover." He sighed. "Currently we still have a lot to sort out. We have a medical team on site to help treat the both of you through the upcoming week. Luckily we have machines to conduct the tests needed on Souji-san here so you don't have to leave the complex. I was told by recommendation that he needed an X-Ray soon so we should do that soon. Clothes and extra supplies are on their way and should be here shortly."

"That's good." Souji said. "It feels like one hundred things have happened in such a short space of time."

"I agree. If anything I think now is the perfect time to freshen up and get used to your new surroundings. Unfortunately you two will be situated here for a while. There is one huge problem at the moment however…"

The pair looked on, expressions telling him to continue.

"Unfortunately it caused so much chaos that we were not able to put down a media blackout on the situation in time so it's been covered by local news outlet. Luckily your names haven't been disclosed but what has come about is the address…"

He turned to Souji. "I think I'll have some explaining to do to Dojima-san and your parents over the phone. I'm sure you'll have a ton of questions from friends and family at the moment but I'll make sure the Shirogane Estate sorts it out. We'll open communications to your friends and family once we've verified the network can't be traced. It should be done in a couple days but bare with me until then."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Matsuda shook his head.

"Oh no, this is the least I can do. You've had your life upended; we'll do whatever it can for you to get it back." He looked at the pair. "Really I should let you two clean up."

His small smile pointed out the pair was still a mess and still looked worse for wear from their earlier battle.

"You didn't have to come down. It was a long-"

"Naoto. You are the only family I have left. If I could I would cover you in bubble wrap and never have you do anything in the anti-crime industry ever again. But you must be your own woman and I am proud of that. It never means I'll not be here in your time of need."

"Yes Grandpa."

"Good…" He lifted himself out of the comfortable seat and bowed his head. "I'll keep in touch to give you an update but I'll have the people working here brief you every morning in between that. I'm sure there will be many of them."

Naoto went to hug her only known relative. "Thanks for coming Grandpa."

"It is no trouble off this old man's back." He turned to the former leader. "Thanks again for being there for my Granddaughter; it's an excellent habit of yours."

Souji scratched his head sheepishly. "It's nothing. I'm happy she's ok Shirogane-san."

"It's Matsuda. We were on first terms before but now it would be more insulting if we weren't." Souji blushed.

"Alright please take care getting back to the Estate." Naoto said as she broke away from him. The old mad nodded a small smile on his lips.

"Don't worry I will, I'll contact you both tomorrow." With that he took his leave, walking towards the door. The couple watched him until he finished descending the small stairs of the patio until he went into the waiting car.

"I really didn't expect to see him today." Naoto shook her head.

"It makes perfect sense." Souji turned to her.

"Hmm?"

"It's something that he would do. If he could be at the apartment today to help with clean up he would. But this is the next best thing so I can see why. Doesn't make me any less happy to see him though."

Souji nodded. "Yeah you're right about that one."

Naoto looked at her boyfriend; she shuffled towards him then gently wrapped her arms around him. "I was so scared I was going to lose you."

Wrapping his own arms around her, he kissed her forehead. "I could say the same thing for you. I owe you my life though; you are the only thing I saw when I saw my life flash before my eyes there."

"Please don't mention it."

It was a moment of silence when the pair basked in, finally happy to have a moment with each other in privacy.

They heard the door creek open as one of the other Shirogane estate operatives peered through the door from the side room, her face questioning whether it's ok to interrupt them. The couple slowly broke apart but Naoto kept a tight grip on Souji's hand, making sure to not let go.

"What is it?" Naoto asked. Even though her work voice was being used Souji could tell she was tired enough that she was struggling to keep it up.

"We are planning to do an X-Ray on Seta-san but I think its best he take a shower and get cleaned up first since we'll need to re-bandage him after." Naoto nodded then looked up at her beloved. "There are separate showers if you need time to yourselves upstairs. New clothes should be here by the time you are done."

"Shall we?" Souji suggested. All Naoto did was squeeze his hand again response. They headed to the stairs taking them up to the upper floor.

Souji let the hot water hit his face as he felt the refreshing feeling wash away the dirt and sweat from everything that had happened this evening. He had to be careful as he stretched to make sure that he didn't strain his chest. He was about to grab the supplied shower gel when he heard the door open. He tensed due to the thick steam clouding his vision so he couldn't make out who it was.

"Ah who's that?"

"It's me." His shoulders slacked in relaxation as Naoto's low voice came from the other side of the shower glass

"Oh I thought you was gonna shower in the other room?" Naoto didn't answer as she opened the slider doors and pressed herself against his back and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I didn't want to be apart from you." Souji let out a breath as her placed his hands on hers.

"I'm not going anywhere." He turned to her, running his hand through her quickly dampening hair. "I promise."

The Sleuth took a moment to comprehend his words and think of her own. Instead she leaned up and kissed him deeply.

"Let me have this please…" Naoto simply pleaded.

"So Seta-san when was the last time you had an examination like this?" Souji looked up as the nurse prepped him for his scan.

"A couple years ago, not exactly something that happens often." She gave a small chuckle at his reply.

"I bet. Well this is unusual circumstances."

Naoto from the sidelines watched like a hawk with her calculating eyes, making sure nothing was out of place. While she knew that Souji was in good hands it didn't help her feel a little paranoid about the attention he was getting.

"Don't worry Shirogane-sama he's in the best hands." A quick shake of the head.

"I'm never worried about any skill when linked to the Estate. I'm just thinking."

"Of what specifically?" Turning back to the nurse finishing off the last bits needed for the X-Ray, seeing Souji struggle to move like he normally frustrated and annoyed her.

"That it was my fault."

"You should give him more credit you know." It was greeted with a look of confusion, unsure what the male nurse was getting at. "He seems fully aware what situation he's in. He seems unsurprised by the danger. Sure he can be scared but who isn't to be honest."

"I know. I am too but I'm scared of losing him."

"He seems scared of losing you too." The simple comment put Naoto back into thought as she saw Souji lay down as the machine started to whirl, signifying the start of the scanning process. The sheer thought of not having to see him again, not being able to hear his voice of feel is touch made her feel pain in places that she didn't know existed.

"Just hold still Seta-san and we'll be done shortly. Make sure you keep your goggles on."

"Alright." Naoto's expression softens considerably when her brain just ran out of the energy to keep dwelling on such dark thoughts any longer. She just wanted to feel his warmth again.

Seeing the medical office put her glasses on as to make sure she could protect her eyes as the scan was on going. That was the prompt for everyone else in the room to do the same as the machine got to work and did its thing. The rumble played in Naoto's mind as the background music to the first step of Souji being on the up. She knew the damage wasn't considerable but it still plagued her mind that they were in this situation in the first place.

"Right Seta-San I just need you to turn over."

Hearing the groan of his exhaustion only made Naoto frown. Crossing her arms as the pulled whatever was left of her patience to see the end of the examination.

"Good news is Seta-san that it's what we expected it to be. You only have a broken rib and some internal bruising. Nothing too bad could have been worse given the circumstances." The squeeze of the hand from Naoto made the nurse's words ring way too close to home. "On the bright side you should be back to your old self in about three to four weeks give or take. All depends on how much rest you give yourself."

"Understood." The nurse seemed mildly pleased with herself.

"Excellent. I don't really have much but I do advise the both of you to get some rest tonight. From what I've heard it's been a really long evening. I know you have a lot on your minds but getting some sleep is probably the most important thing right now. We'll be on site with 24 hour care to help you anyway we can. This is under instructions of both Shirogane-sama and Yakushiji-san."

She walked up to the pair and gave them both a small pager each.

"With these, just press the alarm button on there for whatever reason and we will support the both of you however we can."

Naoto stared at the device for a moment, taking in just how archaic it was before looking back at the medical officer.

"I'm assuming you two will be on site while we are here." She nodded quickly.

"Yes we have rooms on the side of the building. While it's not normal to have medical staff stay here there have been some occasions where it's been necessary." The Sleuth pondered her words, trying to find something they might have missed.

"I want to say thanks again for the help." A dismissive wave of the hand at the Heir's gratitude.

"No need for thanks, it's my job. Plus it's the least we can do for helping Naoto-sama." Naoto nodded.

"I just wanted to say how grateful I am. Souji-kun wouldn't have gotten the same care elsewhere."

This brought a smile to the medical team knowing how much the young master valued their work. The nurse blushed at the compliment.

"Ahem. Well I suppose the only thing we can do now is get some sleep. We will be on call if anything happens, even something small and we have a perimeter around the safe house so we are all safe here." Looking at the pair, her expression became stern however. "I do know how stubborn you are Naoto-sama so Seta-san if anything is a miss please report it. You two's safety is paramount."

With a clasp of the hands, she signified this conversation was over.

"Now, everyone to bed. It's late and we've been through a lot. Lights out in thirty minutes."

All Naoto could do was sigh. Somehow this reminds her of being at home.

"Are you ok like that?" Her question was due to Souji sitting up against the headboard with large pillows against his back. The call came from the medical team because he couldn't sleep on his back.

"As good as I can be." The soft, velvet feel of her locks made him smiled as she cuddled against his waist. She sighed as his fingers stroked her forehead.

"You don't know how happy I am to see the end of the day with you." It brought out a grin in him that she was all too happy to see.

"Same, I told you we'd make it through."

A content hum told him all he needed to know about her reply.

"I'm more than likely not being able to sleep tonight… I'm scared of the nightmares…" The pause made the air hang. "…Could you humour me…?"

A quick ruffle of the hair. "Certainly Princess. Let's talk..."