Chapter 13: Believe Me

Saeko stopped the black van in the garage of Harukas hideout before he sent one of the men who had accompanied him during the rescue over to the medical ward to get a stretcher for the blonde Yakuza boss. As soon as the man had left, Saeko turned in the driver's seat to look at Haruka, who laid in the loading space of the van unconscious. Next to her, Michiru sat, her wrists tied behind her back, staring down at the blonde with horror in her eyes. "What's with the look?" Saeko spoke, his voice cold and unfriendly. "You must have known what would happen to her as soon as David gets his hands on her." Michiru looked at him, unshed tears shimmering in her eyes. "I had nothing to do with David finding her hideout." The aqua haired girl replied, her voice shaking. Saeko just snorted and looked away again, ignoring the soft sobs of Michiru that could be heard from the back of the van. Finally, the Yakuza Saeko had sent to get the stretcher returned with the wanted item, and together the two men placed their lifeless boss on it. They hurried off into the medical ward, while another one of the Yakuza grabbed Michiru and brought her into the cell she had been locked up during the first few days. When the door closed and left her behind in darkness, she broke down crying.

Haruka awoke to a stinging pain that seemed to rage through her entire body; there wasn't  single spot that didn't hurt. Groaning, the blonde slowly opened her eyes, only to be greeted by Tetsuya's warm voice. "Good to see that you're finally awake." The doctor softly spoke, sitting on a chair next to her bed. Haruka looked at her for a few seconds dumbfounded until realization dawned in her eyes. "They…got me out?" she whispered, her throat hurting when she spoke. Tetsuya nodded and smiled, before she checked on the IV drip Haruka was connected to, as well as on the blood transfusion the blonde received. Haruka groaned once more in pain and closed her eyes again. "I'll get you some pain killers." Tetsuya offered, receiving a weak nod in return. Seconds later, Haruka felt how a syringe was gently pushed into the crook of her arm, and already a few minutes later, the pain vanished, only to leave a numb feeling behind. Within a short amount of time, the blonde had drifted off into dreamland, sleeping soundly.

During the next days, Haruka recovered from her wounds surprisingly fast. Much to her luck, none of her bones had been broken during the torture; most of her wounds were abrasions or cuts, most of them very deep, but none of them life threatening.  As soon as the blonde felt that she was fit enough to stand up, she got out of bed – ignoring the protests of Tetsuya who kept telling her that she still needed her rest – and made her way over to the cell Michiru was kept in ever since Saeko had taken her with them during rescuing Haruka. She slowly unlocked the door, David's words echoing through her mind while it swung open. Michiru blinked into the light that fell on her, her eyes red and swollen from crying a lot during the last days. "Haruka…" she softly spoke, her voice shaking with a mixture of fear and hope. Fear that Haruka only had come here to kill her; and hope that she would believe her when she told her that David had lied. Haruka turned the light on and closed the door, leaning against the wall and looking at the aqua haired girl. "Was he right?" she finally softly asked, her eyes never leaving Michirus. "Did you let yourself get captured so he can find out where my HQ is?" Michiru shook her head, her eyes filling with tears once more. "No…Haruka, I…" her voice cracked, and she let out a strangled sob. "I swear…I had nothing to do with it…I didn't betray you…" "He said that you hate me." Haruka now added, her voice shaking all of a sudden. "I trusted you, and now he tells me that you hate me…I started to you like you…" "Haruka, I swear, I had nothing to do with any of this…and I never could hate you!" Michiru cried out before another sob shook her body. Haruka closed her eyes for a moment before looking at the aqua haired girl again. "I don't know what to believe." She finally stated, her heart filling with a sadness so great that it almost pained her physically. "I want to believe you, Michiru, just to keep my heart from being torn apart…but what David said made sense…he never was able to find out where my hideout is, until you were brought here! How do you explain that?" The last five words were not spoken in normal volume anymore, but shouted out loud enough to make Michiru flinch. "I don't know." The aqua haired girl stammered out, letting out a small scared whimper when Haruka suddenly stood next to her with two huge steps, grabbed her collar and pulled her up until they were eye to eye. For a few moments, Haruka simply stared at her, then finally she let go of her prisoner again, causing her to hit the floor with a loud thud. Not bothering to say any more, the blonde turned around and left the room, slamming the door close and locking it behind her. Michiru struggled to sit up again and leaned her back against the wall, sobbing softly until there were no tears left to cry.