"Don't do it Shigure!" Kyo called out.
"Why shouldn't I?" Shigure asked. Shigure smirked and Akito attacked Yuki and Kyo on cue.
"Now you both can watch your princess die with front row seats." Akito noticed that Ritsu was still free of his grasp and just laughed. "I doubt I even have to worry about you. You're a spineless belly scratcher. You probably couldn't even eat your own food if it wasn't a necessity!" Akito mocked.
As much as Ritsu hated it, he knew that Akito was right.
"Shigure, drop her." Akito commanded.
"No Shigure! What are you doing!" Yuki Shouted.
"Don't do it!" Kyo screamed. Ritsu looked back and forth helplessly, shutting his eyes tight.
"Do it!" Akito demanded. As Akito ordered, Shigure let Tohru slip from his fingers.
"NO! TOHRU!"
"MISS HONDA!" Ritsu closed his eyes tighter than before and with a deep breath he charged at Shigure. Shigure immediately defended himself, causing Ritsu to punch him in the face and then kick him to the side. Without even looking back and immediately jumping off the cliff, he called back, "I'M SORRY!"
"Dammit! I didn't think he would have the courage to go after that bitch." Akito gave it some thought. "Well its just one less person I have to kill."
Ritsu free fell, trying his hardest to catch up with Tohru. 'I can't let her die! Not here, not now. She was the only one that ever made me feel good about myself. I won't let her die!' Ritsu screamed at himself. As if his body was reacting to his thoughts, he started gaining speed, when he was in fingertip range of her; they were seconds away from hitting trees.
'Just a bit more, come on, before we hit!' Ritsu snatched Tohru from the air and cradled her to his chest. Her protected her head and closed his eyes.
'I don't care what happens to me, just don't let her die!' He prayed to God. They hit the trees; the branches weren't kind to the intrusion of their home. Birds squawked, branches cut him up and after falling through a few huge branches they finally hit the ground. Ritsu was bloodied up and had a few deep gashes, but Tohru didn't have one scratch on her. It wasn't until they hit the actual ground that Tohru opened her eyes slowly.
"I feel warm…" She said absent-mindedly. She abruptly looked up noticing that arms wrapped her to another person. When she saw Ritsu's face she jumped from his body. "Oh my gosh! Ritsu!" She cried.
"I'm… alright…" He said slowly.
"What happened? Where are we?" Even more suddenly, she remembered everything that had happened up to when Shigure knocked her out.
"We… are down a cliff… Ha, it was a pretty long fall…" He said trying to sit up and wincing at the pain.
"Don't move! You'll open your injuries even more!" She insisted.
"It doesn't matter if I die now. I always wondered why was I on this Earth… Why was I born when I am just burdening everyone else by breathing." Ritsu took a deep breath and glanced at Tohru. "Then I met you, and you told me something I've wanted to hear for years upon years… I now know why I was put on this Earth." He took a jagged breath as if it hurt to breathe. "The reason I'm here is to protect you at any costs… I'm here to make sure you live… That, is my only purpose in life, and so now… I can die, knowing that I fulfilled my purpose…" Ritsu closed his eyes and breathed jagged breaths.
"Ritsu…" Tohru whispered. She placed a hand on his chest and dropped her head to Ritsu's chest, checking for a heartbeat. She rose up from his body, twirled her finger and then touched her finger to his head. Instantly, his body was healed and looking new. She turned away from him and said, "Thank you Ritsu, I won't forget this, ever." A tear escaped from her eye. She repeatedly tried to blink back the tears but was in the end, defeated. "Ever." She repeated. Tohru pulled her hands towards her chest then spread them out. Wings grew from her back and she lifted off, leaving Ritsu alone in the woods.
"Hm… I really guess that bitch is dead. Of course she wasn't that big of a challenge… It was that other side of hers that I really could have dealt without." He snickered.
"You bastard!" Kyo yelled trying to fight away from Shigure's grasp now. "How could you do that to her Shigure? She lived with us for 2 years dammit, 2 years!" Shigure had a strong hold on Kyo and refused to let go.
"Was she really that big of a threat?" Yuki asked Akito. Akito looked at Yuki confused.
"What are you talking about?" She asked.
"The only reason you get rid of any of your loyal follower's is because they are a threat. You've wanted her dead from the beginning, so was she really that big of a threat?" Akito punched Yuki.
"Don't pretend like you know me! Don't even start to comprehend me!"
"I know that you wouldn't get rid of one of your minions if they were bad or didn't listen to you. They would just be punished in the most severe way you can think of. I think I should know that, it happened to me! She must really be a threat!"
"S-shut-up!"
"Are you afraid that she'll take your place? Replace you and end your life much sooner than it should?"
"Shigure! Kill him as well!" Akito pushed Yuki over towards Shigure.
"NO!"
SLASH
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Akito screamed. Shigure looked at Akito on the ground then looked up.
"Let them both go, now." Tohru demanded. "I didn't want it to come to this Shigure. You're my friend and I don't want to fight you, but if I have to, to stop all this madness, I will."
"Tohru!"
"Miss Honda!"
"You bitch! Where did you come from! That fall should have killed you!" Akito screamed moving away from Tohru. Akito had a gash from one side of her face, across her face to the other side.
"It should have, but I was saved, by a kind friend who protected me all the way down to the ground. I am forever indebted."
It hit Yuki and Kyo that she was talking about Ritsu. There was sort of a sad look in Tohru's eyes, which implied that he didn't make it.
Tohru regained her composure and glared at Shigure. "Let them go Shigure. Don't turn against us. Against me."
"I love Akito."
"And I love you Shigure." Tohru made her sword disappear and slowly moved towards Shigure who was holding both Yuki and Kyo.
"Miss Honda, don't worry about us, we'll be fine."
"No, I won't leave friends. I won't leave any of you." Tohru continued to proceed towards Shigure. "Please Shigure… Let them go… Do you really want to fight me? Has our friendship all been a lie? Everyday we've spent in that house, was it all a lie?" Tohru started tearing up. "I don't want to think it was all fake. That it was all an act. Please Shigure, tell me it's not true." Shigure tensed up, holding Yuki and Kyo closer to him.
"That's enough bitch! Shigure is mine. He is mine and mine alone, I won't allow you to take him away from me!" Akito stepped out in front of her holding up a gun.
"Akito…" Something suddenly hit Tohru. "You brainwashed him didn't you?"
TO BE CONTINUED