Chapter Thirteen: Unveiledby HelloKat
January 12, 2005
(Previously…)
Yuki opened the first door he came to. Realizing that he no longer was being chased, he picked up his phone and began to dial for help. Though the lack of cellular reception quickly put an end to that. Kyo put on more speed and decided that hiding would possibly be a good idea. He stopped and reversed directions, trying to shake his pursuer or pursuers and hoped the door at the end of the hall was open.
He would ask Yun Yun to wear that pink barrette to school again. Manabe decided happily, Yun Yun really was too pretty for his own good.
And the Prince Yuki fan club members would owe him one. How would he collect?
"I'll kill him". Haru stated as he realized that he had lost sight of his target. Calming down, he slowed down and made his way inside a room.
It would suffice to say that the 4 boys were surprised to find themselves facing each other in the large meeting room.
"Haru?"
"Yuki…"
"Yun Yun!"
"Kakeru!"
"Kuso Nezumi!"
"Kyo?"
"Yuki…"
"Yun Yun's cousins?"
"Welcome." A new voice joined in. "I'm so glad you all finally made it."
(Presently…)
As the foursome stared at their new member, many thoughts raced through their minds.
Dammit! Why the hell do I always end up in a mess?! Kuso nezumi, IT'S HIS FAULT!'
BASTARD! He's still ogling Yuki—DAMN HIM STRAIGHT TO HELL!!!'
Yun-Yun, never fret! I'm your knight in shining armor! These hooligans won't take us alive, & we'll die a wonderful death fitting for any Romeo & Juliet fan!!!'
Ah, hell,' thought Yuki miserably as he glanced back to the new member. Clearing his throat & presenting his more charming smile to the fullest, he replied serenely, "Saori-san. What a pleasant surprise. I was not aware that you worked at this hour. (That was soo lame.')"
Arching an eyebrow not so elegantly, she curtly replied, "Young men should not be roaming parts of this facility without an escort. And YOU shouldn't even be here. Good thing our security caught sight of you foursome before any real damage could be done"
Where did her sunny personality flew off to?' wondered Yuki as he tried to compose his thoughts.
"Look you qwack, I'm didn't get dragged here to be lectured by you because of that brainless idiot there," pointed Kyo angrily at Yuki. "I am just trying to get the hell out of this joint. Just
point to the exit, & I'm outta here."
"No, we're staying," seethed Black Haru through his teeth. Glaring at Kakeru, he icily remarked, "That BASTARD is in for a world of getting the snot kicked out of him!"
Kakeru wasn't too used to this side of Haru & was struck dumb on the spot. Inching ever so slowly to Yuki, he whispered to his comrade, "Yun-Yun, hold me."
Yuki rolled his eyes in exasperation as Black Haru was about to lunge to Kakeru. Thankfully, Kyo stopped Haru & held him down.
"Dammit you fool!! Are you trying to get us ARRESTED?!!!"
Yuki quickly remarked to Saori, "Gomen, but please allow us to leave. I was just taking a tour of the facility to familiarize myself with it overall in case there's an emergency. I just got lost & my friends & cousins were only trying to help. Gomen nasai."
'This is my chance!' thought Saori triumphantly. Her ingratiating tone returning to her voice, she replied, "Why certainly they may leave. However, since you're already here, why don't I get you familiarized with a different part of the facility? It'll only take a short while. With all the ruckus your companions have caused, they'll have to wait outside."
"Fine by me. I'm gone," remarked Kyo as he turned away.
"I'm not leaving Yuki alone here," retorted Black Haru heatedly.
"Fine then, wait for him outside. I'm going home," replied Kyo irritably.
"No, you're not."
"YES, I AM."
"NO."
"YES!!!!"
(Punch!)
"Damn you stupid cow! I am seriously going to wipe this floor with your butt!" exclaimed Kyo in a rage as he lunged to Haru. It was then that Yuki made his presence known between his cousins as he blocked each of the two's moves they were about to make. Taken by surprise, Kyo & Haru stared at Yuki dumbfounded.
Sighing in frustration, he remarked tiredly, "Would you two stop it?! Everyone should just stay outside & leave or wait, whatever. I won't be long." He wasn't looking forward to spending anymore time in this building, but if it can get his cousins & friend out of there, so be it.
"Yun-Yun, as your partner, I can't let you sacrifice yourself over me. Please Ms. Whatever-your-name-is, take me instead into your clutches of doom…" blabbered Kakeru.
(BONK!)
"Baka," replied Yuki irritably. "Just go with Haru & Kyo. I won't take too much time."
"Then it's settled. Guards, come escort these gentlemen to the exit. Yuki Sohma, why don't you follow me? That's a good boy," she remarked with smiles oozing out of her mouth as she turned to an indiscreet door at one end of the room.
Kyo was more than thrilled to be out of there, but his instincts yelled at him to stay. He ignored them as always, but he did compromise with them & stayed outside with Haru & Kakeru. All three were silent as they regarded the building with mixed feelings, but all with the same thought.
Be careful.'
Wondering where she was leading him to, Yuki stared at his surroundings. It was certainly a different part of the facility. It had row upon row of locked & code-encoded doors, all of which he's never seen before. Not wanting to squeak at a time like this, he breathed in & out in a steady pattern, all in a vain hope of calming himself down. He can't afford to have any type of breathing problems this deep in the building with an outsider' no less.
"Here we are," she replied in triumph. "This room was especially set up just for you. Courtesy of a benefactor'."
Not knowing what else to do as she swung the door open, he merely bowed in respect. "Arigatou, Saori-san. Y-you're too kind."
Hiroga-san said the same thing just before…' thought Saori sadly. Shaking her head, she smiled in return. "Come now, let's see what light can be shed in here."
As the room was lit up, Yuki could only stare wide-eyed at the pictures hung over the walls. No windows were found in this room… just walls of pictures. Pictures of the same thing over & over again. Pictures drawn, colored, painted…it made no sense.
Yuki gasped slightly as he remembered a rather unusual detail that he read in Hiroga-san's file. He was a licensed psychotherapist. Could this be a room for one of his patients? Come to think of it, why did they stick Hiroga-san down in a basement? Why hire a psychotherapist to do clerical work?
What the hell is this place?!' thought Yuki incredulously as he tried to back away to the only exit in the room.
"You're certainly as he describes you," remarked Saori tiredly as she lit a cigarette & inhaled deeply, letting out a steady stream of smoke that Yuki couldn't help but cough.
"Beautiful, intelligent, self-sacrificing…a girl's dreamboat," she added with a sly grin. "Still, somehow you managed to piss off some really nasty people by coming to work here. That or something worse...they wanted you here to finish Hiroga-san's job."
Not understanding what's going on, Yuki looked to her with wide-eyes. Deciding that the best way to get answers is to just ask point blank, he asked, "What's going on Saori-san? Does this have something to do with Hiroga-san's death?"
"That & more I'm afraid," she replied as she leaned against the doorframe. "Listen, kid, I'm only doing what I'm told to do. It's not exactly what you would call a multiple-choice type of job."
"Who do you report to?" asked Yuki uncertainly as he slowly inched his way out of the room.
"You probably know better than I do. Hell, its just words on a monitor to me. So tell me, what do you see in these pages that might help my boss?" asked Saori as she stood stock still at the doorway, preventing Yuki's escape effectively.
Swallowing back a shiver, he turned back around to gaze at the pictures once more. He really just wanted to leave & never EVER return to this place. Wrapping his arms around himself for support, he looked to her & quietly remarked, "Death."
Smiling sinisterly, she coolly remarked, "Good. Keep going."
"That's it. All the pictures have the same conclusion. Death befalls everyone," remarked Yuki as he once again noticed his labored breathing. He needed to get out of this room, this cage…
"Yes, but what else do you see? Come on, my boss is extremely impatient to learn more of these ancient sheets," she remarked in anticipation. Finally, someone can see these damn pages!'
"Ancient?" questioned Yuki dubiously. He stared back at the walls & noted that they did have an older quality to them…but ancient? I really need to leave…'
Just then, the temperature in the room dropped so fast that both individuals were caught off guard. Yuki could clearly see his breath in front of him, & he spoke up with his teeth chattering, "M-m-maybe we sh-sh-should leave n-n-now."
"Nonsense," she remarked, "that's just Hiroga-san trying to interfere again. Go on, tell me more about these pages."
Yuki could notice that his fingers were slowing getting a blue hue, very numb from the cold air. It was all he could do to keep himself standing without huddling into a ball to stay warm. He tucked his hands into his arms & slowly made his way to the exit. Like hell I'm going to stick around here.'
"Stop right there, young man," commanded Saori, fully blocking the exit. "Tell me what else you see or else I'll lock you in here!"
Yuki blanched at this threat & seeing his exit completely blocked by a female, his options were limited. As he was contemplating another way to leave, the air around them seemingly focused in front of Yuki, so much so it was palpable. He could only stare wide-eyed at this as Saori stared at him funny.
"What are you looking at?" whined the woman. "The pages are on the walls, not in dead space."
She doesn't see it?' thought Yuki astonished. Maybe I'm seeing things, too. I'm still cold…'
"ACHOO!" sneezed Yuki loudly. Perfect, I'm not only cold, I'm catching one.'
"Stop standing there like an idiot, SPEAK!" she yelled as she stood at the doorway. I'm not going to let this opportunity slip by. It's my ticket out of here!'
Just as those words left her mouth, the manifestation in front of Yuki swooshed immediately around Saori's form & yanked her away from the doorway, effectively sending her outside into the hallway. As she was slammed into the wall, she fell to the floor with a loud thud.
"Saori-san!" cried out Yuki as he rushed to her side. Now what do I do? I can't even get help…'
"Ugh," groaned Saori. "What the hell is his problem? I just want to get out of here…you! (She points to Yuki) Get back in there & finish telling me what you see!"
And we're back to that,' thought Yuki disdainfully. "Gomen, but I'm never going back in there. Tell me how to get out of here."
"I don't think so," she countered, her strength coming back to her. "Not until…"
Just then one of the locked-encoded doors in the hallway opened wide. No one came through as one would have thought.
"Nani?!" cried out Saori as she struggled to her feet. "Don't even think about it Hiroga-san! This boy can see the pages—don't stop us now while we're so close to getting our answers to finding the lost treasure! You died for this cause, remember?!"
Seeing that Saori had completely gone senile, Yuki quickly went to the open door & tentatively went through it. Breathing a sigh of relief, he noted the next hallway also had it's share of lock-encoded doors, & once again, one of the doors opened up for Yuki to leave. As Yuki went through each of these doors in hopes of putting as much distance as possible between him & that room with the senile lady, he noted that the frigid air was slowly leaving him.
He finally arrived at the exit for the garage level & quickly made his way out to the fresh air. He ran through the now-empty garage & got up to the street level in no time. Out here he breathed in deeply the warm night air. Having done that, he let out one good sneeze again.
Hearing the sneeze, Kyo, Haru, & Kakeru turned to their right & saw Yuki a distance away from them by the garage. They immediately rushed to him, & quickly noted how cold he was to the touch.
"Hey, Yuki, are you okay?" replied Haru worriedly.
"Damn, you look like you were in a freezer," remarked Kyo in amazement as he noted Yuki's blue-hued lips & ice-wet hair.
"Pinky, can you breathe?" asked Kakeru with concern. How could I have allowed my precious damsel in distress to become a frozen Popsicle?'
"Knock it off, baka! He's been through enough!" cried out Kyo. Wait, did I just sound concerned for the baka nezumi…DAMMIT!'
Sudden coughing & sneezing brought Kyo out of his current train of thought. Yuki barely noted that his cousins & Kakeru were asking him questions. He just couldn't stop the shivering & chattering of his teeth…the air around him was warm, but in the inside, he was quite frozen. Sneezing & coughing, Yuki replied through chattering teeth, "Ha-Haru, just take me home."
"Sure, climb on," replied Haru worriedly as he lifted Yuki onto his back. Giving Kyo a don't-mess-with-me-now' look, Haru remarked, "We need to take Yuki home. Now."
Seeing the look & knowing that Haru was warning him that Yuki could transform at any moment, Kyo turned around in the direction of the house. "Fine! It's what I've been saying all night long!"
"Ka-Kakeru, I h-h-hope you don't m-mind walking home a-alone," chattered Yuki, sniffling away as he was being carried off.
"No problem! I completely understand…& don't worry about the council's meeting tomorrow. I'll take care of EVERYTHING," Kakeru assured him with a nod & confident smile.
Somehow that really didn't help Yuki any. Groaning, Yuki turned his face into Haru's back, praying that the council meeting doesn't leave the unholiest of messes behind. Sighing heavily, he coughed & let himself drift off to a light nap as they all made their way back to his home.
Man, those supposedly ancient pages were freaky. Whatever this Hiroga-san was doing, he really didn't want me to tell her where to find that treasure. Just as well, I don't ever want to go back there to look for it,' was Yuki's last thought as he drifted off to complete slumber. He didn't even notice that he had transformed to his mouse form.
Haru heard & sensed that Yuki transformed. He quickly grabbed the mouse before he hit the ground. Sighing, he grabbed Yuki's clothes & proceeded to walk faster…they'll need to call Hatori over to treat Yuki's sudden cold.
"You know what could have happened back there?" asked Kyo trying to break the tension in the air.
"No," commented Haru quietly.
"Then how the hell did you know that Yuki needed our help?" replied Kyo irritably.
"Hm," grunted Haru while shrugging his shoulders. "Don't know…just knew."
Groaning in exasperation, the two made their way down the path in the woods. As they continued on home, another being looked on from the shadows with great interest to the mouse in Haru's hands.
Yes, this one will do very nicely.'
Saori herself was in a bind. How to tell her employer that she let this opportunity go to waste? Well, no time like now…better that this employer hear it from her instead of the many spies that surround her.
Sighing tiredly, she rubbed the coldness from her arms & soothed her aching muscles after being thrown about so much. Hiroga-san seemed to be done for the evening…
Damn. I almost had Yuki where I needed him. Too bad such a beautiful hunk of humanity has to be the one to break the code to find this treasure,' thought Saori in defeat. She stared at all the pages around her in this room with no windows. So many pages everywhere in every shape & form…
So many blank pages…completely blank, like snow on a winter day…
End of Chapter 13
To be Continued
Author's Personal Blurbs (01-12-05):
What to say? Well, it was a whirlwind of late night reading, but I finally pulled through it. I hope I contributed in some way to the storyline & met Rjunkie's challenge. It's terribly short—please
forgive! (Here's H'kat smiling very widely with joy…)
Anyway, moving along, I pray the next author can take on my challenge. Hehehehe, yep, here it is: our dear, precious, delicious Yuki has a bit of a cold (H'kat sniffles, tears). Your job: have him experience the worst of colds in the most un-Princely like manner, & of course, have him recuperate back to his usual perfection. Yep, I'm talking about puffy red nose, nasal-like voice, germs galore! You know, your average kid with the flu (Lysol anyone?). He can poof to a mouse but not too often that we don't get a good idea of how bad he looks like. Hehehehe, I am so bad, but I'd love to see how our very dear nezumi looks at his worst. I am EVIL!
Next author, come on up & continue my madness!