A RK: Cinderella Story
by: nyllemnev
Disclaimer: They are not mine… blah, blah, blah…
Chapter 17: RunawayKaoru was awoken by the sound of something moving on her door. She frowned and said in a whisper, "Something out there?"
She carefully crawled towards the door, "Who's there?"
"Kaoru!" Yahiko's voice answered from the other side of the door and Kaoru gasped.
"Yahiko! Wha-?"
"Shh… Just… pack all your things or whatever. You have to get out of here now!" his voice sounded urgent and Kaoru frowned.
"What are you-?"
"Shut up!" Yahiko replied, sounding annoyed. "I'm trying to pick the lock! Darn it! Just do what I said and leave your questions later!"
"But I can't-"
"Do it!"
Kaoru frowned in confusion but she did as she was told to. She opened an old brown chest and picked a small wooden box – her mother's old jewelry box. She placed it inside a small bag. She picked a few more clothes and her parent's picture and placed it in the bag before crawling towards the door again.
"It's ready." she said to Yahiko.
"Okay… I think I got it… I—gotcha!" the door opened revealing a very worried-looking Yahiko. Kaoru opened her mouth to say something but her friend shook his head.
"We have to get out of here." he grabbed her wrist. "Come on."
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"I don't know." Yahiko said as they took the dark stairway – trying not to make the tiniest sound, afraid that it might woke Kaoru's stepmother and sisters.
"You don't know?" Kaoru whispered. "But—"
"Shh…" Yahiko glared at her. Kaoru glared back at him but she remained silent.
Yahiko and Kaoru reached the end of the stairway around ten minutes later. Yahiko opened the door as quietly as possible and together they walked through the long hallway of the mansion after closing the door behind them.
They successfully walked past the three witches' (as Yahiko would love to call them) rooms without raising any suspicious alarms. But it was when they finally stepped out of the house that the two felt the end of their lives. Standing by the balcony was Megumi staring at something far away.
"What could she be doing there?" Kaoru heard Yahiko whisper beside her as he pushed her towards the bushes rather roughly.
XXX
'Soon my dreams would be come true…' Megumi smiled as she stared at nowhere. 'I can get that rubbish brat out of this place, one of my daughters will marry the prince, the other one will marry a rich merchant or something… I'll be rich and powerful. I'll own everything…' she laughed at the thought, the wind carrying her laughter all over the still quiet place.
'Everything will be mine…' she smiled as her eyes fell on the Palace shining like a star in the middle of the dark. 'Everything…'
A small movement below made her frown. She turned sharply to look at her late husband's garden – her garden – but she saw nothing. "Must be the wind." she shook her head before turning to go back to her room.
XXX
Yahiko stood up from the bushes. "Wicked!" he breathed as he watched Megumi go back to her room.
"Yes." Kaoru said, several leaves and dirt on her hair. "Mind telling me where we're heading now?"
"I haven't thought about that yet…" Yahiko said, scratching the back of his head. Kaoru glared at him. "But I can explain… I promise!" he added quickly.
XXX
Tsubame woke up at the sound of something – or rather someone banging loudly at her door. She rubbed her eyes and grabbed a robe before stepping out of her room.
'Who could that be?' she thought in annoyance. 'At this time of the night too?' she frowned as she opened her front doors and when she did…
"KAORU-CHAN! YAHIKO-KUN!" she gasped in shock, her sleepiness already gone in an instant. She opened the door wider to let them in. "What in the world-!"
"We'll explain later." Yahiko said, gulping for air. "Give me—"
"Sit down." Tsubame said. "Water?"
"Please…" Kaoru nodded and Tsubame left to get two glasses of water.
"Mind telling me what happened now?" she asked after giving Yahiko and Kaoru some time to breath.
"Can Kaoru stay here?" Yahiko said. "She really needs to hide."
"From who?" Tsubame frowned.
"Megumi… that horrible witch!" Yahiko exclaimed. "She's going to marry Kaoru off that stupid white-haired freak!"
"She what-!" Kaoru gasped. "But…"
"I heard them!" Yahiko turned sharply to Kaoru. "They're really going to do it now! I knew it!"
"But why here?" Tsubame asked.
"Kaoru can't stay in our place – that's pretty obvious! That hag knew that I'm friends with Kaoru. She can't stay in Sekihara-san's place too. They knew that Sekihara-san's is a friend of the Kamiya family. That's obvious too.." Yahiko said in a matter-of-factly tone. "But they don't know that Kaoru's friends with you."
"I see." Tsubame nodded. "Sure… you can stay here, Kao-chan." she smiled at Kaoru.
"Thank you." Kaoru smiled gratefully at her friends.
"But… what are we going to do?" Tsubame asked, turning to Yahiko.
"I don't know." Yahiko said. "It was all happening so fast… I haven't thought about it yet. But…" he turned to Kaoru, "…please stay hidden. If she found you…"
"I know." Kaoru looked down. "I know."
Yahiko stood up and went to the door. Tsubame followed him, "Where are you going?" she asked.
"I need to go back home." he said. "It would look pretty suspicious if they found that Kaoru's was gone and I'm nowhere to be seen too."
"Oh…" Tsubame looked down as Yahiko opened the door. "Yahiko-kun…"
"Just…" Yahiko turned to her. "You take care of Kaoru, please."
"Of course." Tsubame nodded. "She's my friend too."
"Thanks." Yahiko smiled at her. "I better be going."
"Be careful, Yahiko-kun…" Tsubame sighed as she watched him go.
XXX
"AAAHHHHHHH!"
A loud feminine scream echoed throughout the Kamiya mansion. Yahiko felt a small grin forming as he pretended to clean the yards while waiting for the next reaction from the three ugly witches.
"Mother! Mother!" Kamatari rushed to the tearoom, her face was paled. "Mother!" she rushed to her mother's side, crying.
"What?" Megumi raised an eyebrow as she patted her youngest daughter's head.
"It's Kaoru!" Kamatari said, crying aloud.
"She's locked up in her room, pig." Tomoe rolled her eyes as she turned back to her book.
"No." Kamatari glared at her sister, standing up, "She's not there, old woman!"
"Don't be silly." Tomoe glared back at her sister. "Where could she be, silly?"
"Yes… where can she be?" Megumi frowned.
"I tell you, she's gone!" Kamatari said, turning back to her mother. "She's not there! I knocked on her door –"
"Moron… you knocked on her door when it's locked from the outside!" Tomoe snorted. Kamatari gave her another glare.
"You go see for yourself, clever!" Kamatari said hotly. "See for yourself, you old woman!"
"Don't call me 'old woman', you ugly pig!" Tomoe replied angrily.
"Fine, fine…" Megumi stood up. "Let's all see." she went out of the room towards the attic – to Kaoru's 'room' – her daughters on her tails. When they reached the room, Megumi frowned at the opened door.
"Was it already opened when you get here?" she asked pointedly to Kamatari.
"Yes, mother." Kamatari nodded.
Three, two, one…"YAHIKO!"
The boy in question smirked as he placed the broomstick back on its place. He went inside the mansion to find a very enraged Megumi, a crying Kamatari and a very shocked Tomoe walking through the hallway. "Something wrong?" he asked, trying to look as innocent as possible.
"Where's the girl?" Megumi growled as she stood in front of Yahiko, her cold eyes boring on him.
"What 'girl'?" Yahiko frowned.
"Kaoru, you idiot!" Tomoe asked angrily.
"Huh? She's in her room, isn't she?"
"She's not!" Kamatari said.
"But you said she's locked up in her room, isn't it?" Yahiko asked, putting his hands on his pockets.
"But she's not!"
"How can that happen?" Yahiko raised an eyebrow. "She couldn't have disappeared there out of thin air or something, can she?"
Kamatari suddenly turned to her mother. "Maybe she's a witch! I knew it!"
"Shut it, moron!" Tomoe said. Kamatari glared daggers at her.
"Prepare the carriage!" Megumi said, her eyes narrowed. "We're going to look for her." she turned to go to her room.
"Mother!" Tomoe and Kamatari followed suit, leaving a smirking Yahiko.
Now… Am I a good or very good? To be continued…A/N: Sorry for the long, VERY LONG (did I say long?) wait… but here it is – the next chapter (sorry if it's kind of short)! Really sorry… I wish you liked this chapter (don't forget the reviews… it always makes me happy :) ). 'Til next chapter… ja!