Ryo ran into the house, desperately searching for something - anything - that he thought would help Kia. He eventually sprinted back down to the front door, holding in his arms a coat, a warm pack, and some Advil. But before he could bolt outside, Raya stopped him.
"Ryo, where are you going with all that stuff?"
He turned around, meeting eyes with Raya who stood behind him, giving him strange looks from the family room doorway, "These are for Kia. She's is acting really weird... like she's not mentally conscious or something. I think she is just in a small state of shock," Ryo replied quickly, then pausing to steal a glance at Rowen and Natsuki who both came walking into the family room behind Raya.
"What happened?" Rowen asked, slowly and cautiously.
Ryo tried to give him a friendly smile, but it only came out as a worried grin, "Kia is just... well," He stopped and threw everything that was in his arms to the floor. Slowly making eye contact with Rowen, he continued, "Ro, Natsuki, you guys have to make up. Kia is just crying and I wouldn't be surprised if she really did go into a state of shock. And Sage... well, he will barely talk to me. I'm surprised I got as much out of him as I did." Ryo sighed, rubbing the back of his head.
Natsuki stood up, a somewhat irritated expression on her face, "Where are they? Are they still outside?" she looked out the window that was in front of here, commenting that it was snowing.
Ryo nodded his head, "Yeah. They are out in the front yard."
Natsuki turned her head down to Rowen, "Well... do you want to go out to them? Tell them what happened?"
Keeping his eyes focused on the ground, Rowen nodded slightly.
Raya moved to the stairwell, "I think I'm going to check on Cye. But you three go ahead and go outside. I'll be down in a moment." Without talking another breath, she quickly fluttered up the stairs.
Ryo turned on his heel to the door, pausing in the doorway, "Are you two coming or what?"
"C'mon, Ro," Natsuki whispered.
They all walked outside and immediately set their eyes on Sage and Kia, who were both now standing in the middle of the yard, letting the snow fall heavily around them. Sage had both his arms wrapped around Kia's waist and his head rested on top of hers, eyes closed peacefully. Kia's arms were dangling from Sage's shoulders and her face couldn't be seen by the way she had it buried in his chest. The two never moved, like statues molded together in that state of possibly loneliness, guilt or complete happiness. Sage and Kia didn't have the slightest clue to what it was, but they both knew that whatever it was, it was slowly consuming their insides.
Natsuki stopped dead in her tracks and gaped at her husband. It was such a shock to her that even Rowen had to nudge her in the side to get her to stop staring.
When Rowen thought he got her attention, he spoke, "Natsuki, maybe we should-"
But Natsuki was paying the slightest attention, "Sage!? Is that... this what you want?!"she cried, almost forcing herself to speak as her eyes blazed hatred.
Sage blinked his eyes open and turned his head to the side, him and Kia realizing that the rest of the group was outside. "Huh?"
"Is that... that thing what you really want?!" she screamed, pointing to Kia.
Kia inhaled a sharp breath, "What?" her eyes went wide with shock.
"Oh, Sage! I'm so sorry!" Natsuki burst out into a sprint, running to Sage. She violently ripped Kia away and shoved her to the side so that she could hug him.
When Kia caught her ground, she turned to look for Rowen. But as she met eyes with him, he just quickly looked away.
"Sage, Sage, what did she do to you?! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Natsuki cried into Sage.
Kia's eyes went back to Sage, eyeing him in distress. Not getting a reply that she wanted, Kia closed her eyes and dragged her feet back towards the house.
"Sage and Natsuki! Can we talk about this inside? It's snowing and I'm cold!" Ryo yelled, grabbing his arms and turning around to follow Kia back into the house. Rowen followed him, keeping his eyes glued to the ground and not even trying to look at his wife that had so badly betrayed him.
"Okay already, Suki! Just calm down." Sage had to practically pry Natsuki's arms off of him, the way she was hugging him so tightly. "C'mon, let's go inside."
Raya walked down the stairs just as Sage and Natsuki trailed their way into the family room. Kia was sitting way off in one corner of the room, her gaze stuck to the window. Rowen sat in one of the couches beside Ryo, looking at Sage and Natsuki as they made their way to a seat directly across from Kia; only a coffee table separating the three.
"So where do you guys stand as of now?" Raya demanded as she came into the room and sat down in an empty chair.
The room was quiet for awhile, until Natsuki decided to speak, "Do you want to start, Rowen?" her voice was low and quiet, hinting that she really didn't want to talk.
Rowen didn't respond, only keeping his drawn out face in Kia's direction.
Natsuki sighed deeply, "All right... I guess I - we - have an apology to make."
Sage cocked his eyebrows, "For what?" he asked, nervously.
"Well... me and Rowen sort of... umm... also-"
"So you're pregnant now?!" Sage cried, jolting up in his chair and staring hard into Natsuki's eyes.
"No, it didn't go that far, Sage," Rowen suddenly spoke, his glare fixed on Sage.
Ryo heaved a huge sigh, "What?! So all four of you cheated?!"
"But I'm not pregnant!" Natsuki shouted. "She is!" Natsuki stopped to glare at Kia and point a finger at her.
Kia opened her mouth to say something, but instead, just glared harshly at Natsuki.
Raya heaved herself back into the chair, "So now that this is sort of cleaned up-"
"What are you talking about, Ray?! Kia is still pregnant. We can't change that..." Natsuki paused, making her glare heavier as she looked to Kia, "can you?"
Kia bit her bottom lip, finally speaking, "This can go either way. I won't know if I'm really pregnant for sure until later."
"How can it go the other way if you are pregnant? Are you going to get an abortion?" Natsuki still stared at Kia, wishing for anything in the world to be able to strangle her with her eyes.
Kia looked across the room to Sage, who now leaned against the same wall that Natsuki's couch was against, "... I'm not getting an abortion."
"But-"
"If Kia is pregnant...we're keeping the baby whether you like it or not, Natsuki," Sage spoke up roughly, crossing his arms in front of his chest and gazing at Kia.
The whole room went silent. Kia bit her lip, desperately trying to hold back the tremendous smile that was forcing itself onto her lips.
"You are?" Rowen slowly turned to his wife, who shrugged and nodded at the same time in return.
"That is-"
"Stupid! Why are you keeping it! It's my husband!" Natsuki screamed, standing up so abruptly that the couch was jammed into the wall behind it.
"Natsuki, please, calm down!" Raya warned, standing up herself.
"No! This... this is totally wrong!" Natsuki clenched her fists so hard that her hands turned white. She continued to glare threateningly at Kia, "I don't want you to have it! I won't let you!" She cried. Before anyone could stop her, she jumped over the coffee table and ran straight for Kia. Kia had no choice but to back up into the wall behind her - she had no where else to go. Once she was there, Natsuki put both hands on either sides of her shoulders and stared dead in her eyes.
"You just can't have Sage's child! I will not let that happen!" Natsuki's words dripped venom as she clawed her nails into the wall.
Kia stood still and calm, her eyes clearly focused on Natsuki's with fear as she stared her down. But Kia was pressing her back so hard into the wall that it was killing her shoulder blades.
Rowen tried speaking to her, "Natsuki-"
"Don't talk to me! I don't want to hear it! What I want to hear is your opinion, Kia-dear." She paused to show a twisted smile. "Do you really want Sage!? Do you want him more than even Rowen!? Do you want him so bad that you can taste him!?"
Kia's breathing got quicker by the second, "Wha-"
"I want an answer, Kia! I already know that you were the one who forced Sage to screw you! It's as plain as the slap on your face, you stupid whore!"
"Stop it, Natsuki! Stop it now!" Sage yelled.
Natsuki eyed Sage out of the corner in her eyes. Smiling manically, she continued, "Isn't that what she is, Sage!?" Natsuki glared back down to Kia, "A woman who fucks her husband's best friend!? Huh!? Tell me what you are, Kia!" Natsuki shouted, her nails making gouges in the wall.
"Natsuki, just stop it!" Sage roared back, taking a step forward towards Natsuki.
Kia inhaled so sharply that she felt like she had sucked all the life out of her face and forced it into her lungs. She looked down at the ground, not aware of what she was putting herself in.
"Oh, so now you can't even look at me!? Well, I could have figured that. Lessers aren't supposed to look their superiors in the eye... and a fucking whore is the lowest you can go!" Natsuki watching with pleasure as Kia focused her hatred filled eyes back on her.
Kia exhaled, not believing what she was hearing, "How can you just blurt that out like that!? You did the exact same thing!" she cried back, her anger filling past her limit break.
Natsuki laughed, "I can say anything that you very well deserve! And you know what?! I never liked you! You've always tried to steal him away from me! Always!" Natsuki stopped to push herself away from the wall.
Kia inhaled in five short and quick intakes, filling her lungs with something close to relieved fear. She gently slid her back away from wall that she was pressed against and moved her eyes to glance at Sage. He just eyed her back in hurt shock.
"Did I say that I was done with you?" Natsuki spoke up, noticing Kia's gaze towards Sage.
"Natsuki-"
"What do you think you are doing? You are never going to look at Sage again! And do you want to know why?"
Kia only had a second to look at Natsuki before she pulled her hand behind her shoulder and backslapped her across the same cheek that Rowen had hit her before. When Natsuki's hand swept away from Kia's face, the rings on her middle and fore fingers slid off, flying through the air and landing on the floor across the room. Kia fell to her knees, grabbing the side of her face with both her hands and screaming in pain.
"Oh my gods, Kia!"
"Natsuki!"
Sage and Rowen fled to help the two. Rowen grabbed tightly onto Natsuki's arms, holding her back while she struggled and screamed to be let go. She even started cursing at Sage when he bent down to help Kia.
"Natsuki! Stop now!" Rowen yelled, pulling her backward away from the other two.
Raya finally decided to get up and help Rowen. She ran to her cousin and when Natsuki set eyes on her, she whipped away from Rowen and fled into Raya's arms, crying and sobbing into her shoulder. Raya hugged her tightly, "Natsuki, its going to be all right... please calm down."
Sage tried to help Kia off the floor, but with no success. She just held the side of her face, wailing quietly and thrashing away from Sage's touch.
Ryo sighed heavily, dropping his eyes down to the floor. His vision caught something that laid near his feet and when he bent over to pick it up, he soon realized what it really was. "Holy- Sage! Look at Kia's face, now!" Ryo cried in harsh demand. In his palm, he held one of Natsuki's rings, the tip of if coated in a small amount of blood and a tiny piece of pink skin wedged into the ring frame.
Sage took one look at the ring that Ryo was holding up and immediately grabbed Kia's wrists, forcing her hands away. Kia desperately tried to get away from Sage, pulling against the hold he had on her and trying to stand up.
"Kia, stop! Let me see what happened!" Sage pulled hard on Kia's arms, bringing her to a fall on top of Sage's folded lap. She fell into his chest and Sage let go of Kia's wrists but only grabbed onto her shoulders, keeping her in place on him.
She groaned softly and placed her head on his shoulder, accepting defeat. Rolling her head to the side and closing her eyes, everyone finally saw her face. Her right cheek was dripping in dark crimson blood and some of her long black hairs stuck to the side of her face like glue. Black tears ran down her skin, stinging the two long slashes with their salty kisses.
Sage could only gawk in disbelief at what Natsuki had done to her. He tried to get the hair out the way, but even before he had even touched Kia, she cried in agony and begged him not to touch it.
Natsuki must of have been pleased by her action, for when she got her look at Kia, she stopped crying and pulled away from Raya, a devilish smile stretched from ear to ear.
"Kia! No!" Rowen ran and buckled down to his knees next to Kia. "Kia, I'm going to try to help you, okay?"his voice shook as he spoke, fear grabbing him by the throat.
Kia only squeezed her eyes shut, causing more suffering to herself as more tears ran down her cheeks.
"We need to get your hair out of the way, just hang on," Rowen practically whispered, bringing one of his hands up to her face, right above her ear and started to slide some of the hair strands away.
He didn't even get one out before Kia jerked her head away, screaming in torment, "Please, just stop! Don't touch it!" She pleaded while crying. She rested the other side of her head on Sage's shoulder again biting her lip. More blood dripped off her cheek and fell onto her shirt, making a thumb-sized stain.
"Just let me help you! Please!" Rowen cried. But to him, Kia wasn't even listening anymore. Her eyes hadn't opened since Sage had forced her hands away and her voice seemed heavy, her words slurring. She just held her head on Sage's shoulder, crying and taking in quick breaths.
Sage uneasily looked to Rowen, "What should we do?" his voice was soft and he tried to sound concerned, but was more frightened than anything.
Rowen didn't say anything as he tried to make eye contact with Kia. Failing, he just shook his head in disbelief, "I-"
Natsuki found this a good time to speak up, "You shouldn't do anything. If she can take a pregnancy then she can definitely take a slap!"
"Natsuki, will you just do us all a favor and shut your mouth!" Sage yelled back, trying not to move under Kia's weight.
"It's okay, Sage," Kia whimpered, finally opening her eyes and sniffing to stop her crying. She summoned her strength and attempted to stand up, Sage doing everything he could to help her.
"Kia..." Rowen stood up next to her, eyeing her in nothing but worry and concern, "I'm really sorry-"
"No, wait! AYAME! Come back here!"
Everyone turned their heads to the stairs as Ayame came prancing down them, Cye running down right behind her. But she stopped so suddenly in her tracks when she saw her mother, that Cye nearly tripped over her.
She dropped the doll that was in her hands and her eyes ballooned with shock, "... Mommy?"
Kia winced, "It's all right, Ayame. I'm fine-"
"No! Mommy!" she ran back over to Cye and buried her face in his leg, crying. Cye subconsciously rubbed her head, staring wide-eyed at Kia. He could only imagine what happened, "Are... are you okay, Kia?" his eyes were glued to her.
She softly nodded, "I'm fine."
"Oh... okay then," he bent down to pick up Ayame, who had quieted down. "It's okay Ayame, they are going to get her a band-aid. But we don't want to be in the way, do we?" Cye smiled softly as Ayame shook her head. "Okay, so let's go back upstairs and let the adults help her, all right?" He didn't say another thing as he slowly walked back up the stairs.
"What are you talking about, Kia?" Everyone's eye diverted to Natsuki again. "You are anything but fine. You have a scarred face and your pregnant with my husband's child! You'll never be okay!"
Kia screamed. She ran for Natsuki's neck and she would have gotten there if Sage hadn't fiercely grabbed her by the back of her arms and held her back.
She screamed out in anger, "Did you really cheat on me for that woman, Rowen?" She didn't wait for Rowen to answer before she tore away from Sage, making him let go of her by pinching his arms so hard that he had no choice but to let go and suck in the pain. Kia ran away from that room and she ran back outside, ready to run away again.
"Kia!-"
"No, Sage. Just let her go," Ryo stood in his way, glaring at him softly.
Instead, everyone watched as Rowen fled to follow her.
**
Author's Note: Well, well, well. Any more comments?? Only 10 more chapters... can you live? I hope that you stay with me... it only gets better here on in. Let me pondle your mind a little - What do you think Rowen is going to say to Kia? How would you feel if you were Natsuki (not to be confused with the Japanese name for Mia)? And how many of you agree that Natsuki is just one big bitch?? Heh. Don't worry, Natsuki isn't all she seems to be.......
Until next chapter- DemYn