"Hello?" Momiji answered his house phone.
"Call all your contacts and go to Akito's old house in the middle of the forest."
"But I don't know where it is and…" Momiji stopped. "Is this you, Hatori?"
"Argh, just get Shigure and Ayame with you and GO!" he hung up.
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"Mama?" he turned to look at the woman next to him. Both of them were locked up in the basement.
"No, I'm not your mother." A young woman's voice replied. "Sorry, were you here that long?"
"What are you doing here?" Yuki stared at the woman in front of him. She was wearing a nightdress and shackles on her wrists. "Are you a criminal?"
"No… well I always think I'm not." She shook her head. "How about you? Were you tortured?" she pointed at the visible bruises on Yuki's arms.
"He prefers to call it 'disciplinary act' rather than 'torture'." Yuki replied frankly.
"Oh…that sounds degrading." she nodded. "What have you done then?"
"I disobeyed him." He answered. "He believed that peasants should be punished. I was the first one to hear his plans and I was also the first ones who were against it. It is not right to kill people."
"You are one smart lad." The woman smiled happily but beyond that smile was suffering and depression.
"I hope mama will come and save me…" Yuki replied. "I hope he would understand why I ran away."
"Who's he?"
"Hatori-san." Yuki replied frankly once more. "He was the one who kept on protecting me from Akito-san. But I don't understand why he would agree with such an order." He stared at her. "I heard it all. It was so frightening. I want to warn everybody by running away but… I was taken by Akito's stupid weirdos."
"SO… you know about the order?"
"Hai, I was the first one the answer the most important phonecall in Hatori-san's life." Yuki smiled. "It was the matter of life and death of Kana-san."
The woman's smiled slowly disappeared. "The phonecall?… so that must mean.. you are Akito's son… the next heir, Yuki Sohma?"
"Hai?" Yuki asked.
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Yuki's eyes fluttered open. He was lying at his side on the floor in one of the rooms of the house. His hands were tightly tied back and his mouth was covered by thin white cloth. He searched the room for his teacher. He was all alone.
As he tried to break free from the knots, his mind was recalling the dream he had.
It didn't look like a dream… it's like an erased memory at the back of my head. He thought. That's right. After that phone call, and an additional explanation from Shigure, I told Hatori that I was against that order. But he didn't listen.
And then… I ran away, trying to look for sensei because he can be the only one who can help me. Then Akito's guards grabbed me… offered me a drug… and dragged me to the basement… and he himself tortured me…
And a woman was there after… she was also his prisoner… his possession… his thing…
And that woman was…
He at last broke free from the ropes and quickly stood up. "Kana…" he breathed out. Finally, everything started to come out. "I need to find sensei."
He went outside the room and continued into a deep dark hallway. The only illuminating light was from the moon. Have I slept that long?
He found the door at the end of the hall slightly ajar and followed his instinct to open it. Once he entered, he locked the door behind him for safety. He searched the room and found an occupied bed at the corner of the room. The windows were open and the curtains were following the movement of the wind from outside.
There was a person lying motionlessly on the bed. Yuki slowly went towards it and the person reassembled somebody he knew.
"Tohru?"
The body slowly moved to one side and its eyes fluttered open. The moonlight pushed through the windowsill and illuminated the face of a woman. Her eyes were half-open and her lips formed a weak smile. Her arm stretched out to Yuki.
"Yuki…kun…" she faintly called him.
Without any further moment, he quickly held her hand, knelt at the side of the bed and reached out to kiss her on the cheek then on the lips. She felt so cold but her touch brought him warmth and comfort.
Finally, he found Tohru.
"Yuki…" she whispered for him to look at her. She was slightly crying and her grip in his hand loosened.
"Tohru, I won't leave you again. I swear." He whispered and kissed her hand. He held it against his chest, where she can feel his quickened heartbeat. "Tohru, I'm glad you're safe. Did he do anything to you? Did he hurt you in anyway?"
She slowly sat up with Yuki's support. "I'm fine…" she whispered before she gripped tightly on Yuki's arms. "But… I feel very week… I don't know, I think I'm sick…"
Yuki felt her forehead. It was icy cold. "He must have left the window open for you to die in cold. That damn…" he cursed him angrily. "What else did he do? Did he tell you anything?"
"No… but… that tea…" she pointed at the side table. That was the tea offered by Kazuma hours ago."
Yuki again stared at the tea… which he again recalled something…
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"What's that?" he asked.
"It a drug." One of Akito's bodyguard replied as he mixed some of it in a cup of tea. "It's his orders. Go serve it to the girl."
"I think Akito-san wouldn't want me to hold these delicate Chinaware in a tray." Yuki pointed out. "He knows that I'm clumsy."
"You would become more clumsy if you were not disciplined." The tall man pushed Yuki brutally to a corner and battered him with a thin bamboo stick. "Stupid kid." He ceased and delivered the tray to the room where the woman was sleeping…
Where Tohru was sleeping right now…
And he served the tea… in the same chinaware…
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"This is not right." Yuki shook his head.
"What…?"
"You were drugged." He whispered. The same drug that he used at Kana. "Tohru, I need you to walk. I can't carry you." She nodded at his request.
She slowly stood up with Yuki's support and he led her to the door but stopped as he heard someone outside.
"Hey, why is this door locked?" somebody called.
"They're here." Yuki slowly backed out from the door and went towards the open window.
"Yuki…"
"Tohru, do you remember the first time we met?" he asked. "And you wondered why a weak person like me can jump from incredible heights like these?" Both of them looked down and Tohru nodded weakly.
"Well now, you're here to find out." He held her hand tightly. "Close your eyes when you're scared ok?" Then, before Akito's men opened the door, both of them jumped from the window.
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"Thank you…" she whispered before she fell down and panted heavily.
"Kana-san, please…" Yuki tried to pull her up. "Akito-san will be coming. He'll find out that we're here."
"Yuki, thank you for letting me escape but…" she smiled weakly. "I don't think my body can go any further… and that drug that you told me has already weakened me fully---"
"With the help of your husband." There was a click from a gun and Akito appeared behind the bushes. He was also carrying a thin bamboo stick on his hand.
"Yuki, you disobeyed me again. After all those tutors that I hired, after all the lessons, you have never obeyed me! Why?! Was I that wrong to be your father?"
"You are never my father!!!" Yuki yelled back. He grabbed a thick branch and swayed it in front of Akito. The clan head dodged and ducked until Yuki ran out of energy to even lift his weapon.
"Now, my turn…" He started to beat Yuki continuously until he was bleeding hard.
"Stop it!" Kana yelled.
Yuki tried to move away from his foster father, but he caught up to him and beat him again. Both of them reached the side of the cliff where a waterfall resides below. Yuki tried to back out but he realized that he was on a high ground and it was too risky to jump from his place. Akito laughed evily.
"What? Do you even think to jump? How can you? It's much better to give up rather than to take the risk the waters can save you! Ha! It can even drown you, you little twit!"
Kana started to beat Akito from behind but the clan head shoved her to the ground hard.
"I had enough of you." Akito aimed the gun at Kana.
A tear fell from her eye. "I'm sorry, Hatori-san…"
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Yuki woke up again. But he was not in his usual form.
I transformed? He thought. He felt that he was in a pocket. He climbed out and looked up to see Tohru's face. She was sitting still, crying and biting her lower lip to prevent her from screaming.
Yuki wanted to ask why but his head twitched as he found a man pointing a gun at Tohru. He was wearing an old kimono and was holding a thin bamboo stick on his hand. The man grinned at her and stared at her evily.
"I had enough of you." Akito aimed the gun at Tohru.
She quickly held her pocket, where Yuki resides. She's trying to protect me.
"I'm sorry." She whispered.
"NO!!!!" Yuki yelled.
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Hatori got out from his car and stared at the house where Akito was hiding. He felt the chills and the shock when he heard the gunshot… and Yuki's voice.
