Chapter 12: The Need To Retrieve
This is a much lighter chapter by me. (Come on...you gotta leave me some more reviews. I get motivated. Reviews make me want to type more. It lets me know that people do read it.)
Tohru and Haru leave the area within seconds, leaving Yuki to get a short start after them. The three of them walk slowly down the road-like path in the Sohma Estate so that they don't draw any unwanted attention to themselves. If they were even going to so much as make an attempt at releasing Kyo, they were going to have to be as stealthy as possible about it. Without that main attribute –that they carefully place upon their conscious- this mission was hopeless. It's like walking through a well-secured house without any sort of plan to keep you from getting caught.
They kept their pace and made their way down the street. Some eyes wander over to them but gradually look away to re-place their attention upon the funeral. How they wish they were able to attend that ceremony. But, other things were showing their strong importance in their direction. Their minds were made up. Even Yuki's intent was to free Kyo despite their raging hatred for each other, no matter what Mayu said at graduation, those two were still rivals in many things. Forever and always, they will continue to let their anger control their minds at the sight of each other.
The small housing facility that Kyo was locked in was in their sight and it grew nearer and nearer by the second; their tolerance was growing thin with each step they took. Their eyes were gradually taking notice of the details of the poorly built building. Clearly though, it was strong enough for someone like Kyo to stay in it without so much as a valid attempt. Haru was as quiet as ever and Tohru just follows his example plainly, her expression sharp. Yuki continues to walk just behind the two of them like a guard; he was keeping watch for any suspicious people. If he were to see any their objective wasn't going to be complete and they would be forced to split up to try and avoid capture. Though splitting up seemed like a better idea in the first place, they unanimously decided against it saying they'd be stringing together even though there would be a better chance of freeing Kyo if they were split.
Yuki opens his mouth to speak quietly, "If we can't free Kyo now, its useless. To make another effort after this one would be foolish. If something goes wrong we'll have to leave it up to Kyo to set himself free." He made sure to talk quietly so that no passerby's could understand the name he was speaking.
The moment after Yuki finishes speaking, Tohru opens her mouth, and with an equally quiet voice, she says, "We wont stop trying to free Kyo-kun. I…. I miss him too much to give up on him." A few minutes pass and she speaks once again, "If I am captured trying to let him loose…then I have a chance at being locked up with him, right?" She asks curiously.
Haru looks at her, fully understanding what she means and how she is feeling. Apparently, Yuki wasn't able to comprehend her thoughts. Sighing, Haru quietly explains what she means, "If she were to get locked up, she's hoping it'd bring her closer to Kyo instead of farther." Clearly, Yuki didn't want this to happen and continues to act as if he didn't understand what was going on. Haru clarifies what he said only seconds ago in an attempt to let him know what was happening.
They reach the house, stopping at least forty feet from the doorway. To cancel out any suspicious on lookers, Yuki walks to the door instead of Haru or Tohru. By doing this, it made people assume that he was merely going there to taunt Kyo, not free him of the hellhole he was trapped in. His hand slips to the cold, icy doorknob and he turns it to the left and realizes that it is locked from the inside. Things had changed. The door used to be locked on the outside but this time it didn't even have a keyhole. It was a very peculiar thing to do, having the locks on the inner side of the door. Because of that, it allows Kyo an easier way to just plainly escape. Is it possible that Kyo hasn't even taken any notice of this? Is the door being gradually altered in his sleep so that he doesn't even realize it?
The doorknob began to twist in the opposite direction that Yuki was turning it in. Due to pure shock, he lets go of the knob and watches it twitch back and forth as if a strong force was tugging at it. A small grin crosses Yuki's face and he places both hands firmly on the knob. Almost silently, he says, "Kyo…at the same time now…pull back…" A sound a scuffling feet is heard from the inside letting Yuki know that was his quiet way of replying. "1… 2… 3… pull," Yuki grunts quietly and yanks at the door. His pulling is almost canceled out by Kyo's but he pulls harder and within a second, the doorknob snaps in two. He falls backwards and hits the dirt floor that was in front of the door, holding the brass knob in his hand tightly.
Kyo makes a loud thump as he, too, falls to the ground hard. He groans in pain as he lands on the broken floorboards that his fist went through earlier. His shirt, as if it weren't torn enough, rips even more, leaving even more cuts on his back. The blood slowly drips onto the floor and stains the wood. His shirt soaks up some of the blood to itself as the bleeding slows. Staggering to his feet at a slow velocity, Kyo dusts off his pants and tosses the doorknob back, listening to it ring against the bars across the window. He bows a little to look through the hole where the knob would normally be. Through that very hole, he saw Yuki and caught a glimpse of Tohru. After seeing her, he ran toward the door, exerting all his energy.
Yuki charges at the door at the same time as Kyo and a loud cracking sound is heard when they impact the wood. On Kyo's side of the door, though, it was practically covered in metal so he lets out a loud yelp. He stumbles backwards, holding his left arm weakly and staring at the door. He sees Yuki back up and the door wavers for a moment before dropping into the room with the loudest bang they ever-set ears on.
He grins with a sense of happiness and runs as much as he can out the door, whispering a quick, "Thank you," to Yuki. After passing Yuki he runs up to Tohru and grabs her, pulling her into a hug, resting his head against her's. One hand immediately slides around her and the other behind her head, slipping through her hair slightly. She flings her arms around him, crying into his shoulder. Kyo ignores the pain in his body, even though Tohru's fingers were practically digging into his raw flesh.
She speaks his name softly, with great precision; "Kyo-kun…" tears began dripping more quickly from her eyes, "Kyo-kun! I'm so happy, so… so…so happy." With her last sentence he was able to hear her more clearly since she wasn't completely whispering anymore.
A soft smile crosses both of their face and Kyo pulls out of the hug in slight pain, but nothing he couldn't continue to ignore. Looking at Yuki then to Haru he grunts and looks down, shoving his hands in whatever was left of his torn pockets. "I didn't need your help, you damn rat. I could have pulled that knob off when I wanted to. I…I just wanted to give Akito a little time to forget about me…" his voice trails off, wondering if that excuse will even work.
Haru couldn't help but cover his smirk. "You really are stupid aren't you, Kyo?" Yuki asks curiously, walking towards him from the doorway. "Akito wasn't going to forget about you. Nor was she going to let you leave any time soon." Yuki sighs and rubs his forehead, stopping just a couple feet away from them. Dropping his arms to his side, he places his left hand at his hip a little and glares at Kyo, "A stupid cat like you couldn't escape from their even if they wanted to…" he shot quietly, trying to say it under his breath, but intentionally making it so that he does hear.
With a silent grunt of annoyance, Kyo turns his back on Yuki completely, standing sideways to Tohru now. "Can we please leave this dump… now." He says impatiently. His temper was beginning to grow thin as he began to capture the eyes of passing people. At the sight of the door being on the ground, the few people scatter in fright of Kyo's possible rage.
Nodding quietly, Haru looks at Kyo. In the same instant, they both mouth the words; "Thank you…" but dare not say it with too many people around. It had to be only them if they were to ever say it aloud. No one else was to be in the same room if that were to ever happen.
Going down the path, Tohru walks beside Kyo. Everything was silent, just like many times previous when they were all together. But this time was different. There was no huge quarrel between any of them. This time, it was because they were in need of escape. They retrieved the person they were trying to obtain and their mission was complete. Now all that was left is getting out of the Estate without being caught. If they were to be caught now, it would have all been for nothing. If they didn't leave soon, no doubt they would all be locked up in due time.
They approach the gate. Two men stand in front of it, keeping guard. One was a stout man, with a chunky face and probably multiple chins. His red hair made him stand up like a sore thumb. The other man though, was practically emaciated. He was like a tooth pick amongst grass. His body had no other distinct features other then his thin-ness.
He can probably pass as a bar on the gate, Kyo thought with a soft laugh under his breath. Haru and Yuki look at him curiously after seeing him snicker and then laugh slightly as well realizing he was thinking the same thing as them.
Maybe he doesn't eat much? Poor guard-san. That has to be considered malnutrition. Akito-san should feed them something; Tohru contemplates to herself, knowing that the others are no doubtedly making fun of the poor man. She shakes her head a little and they finally come to a stop in front of the guards.
"Ahem…where do you think the four of you are going? We have strict orders from Lord Akito to not let anyone leave this compound." The chubby guard says sternly, giving the four of them a quick, suspicious stare.
Haru sighs and rubs the back of his neck a little. Abruptly he shoves Tohru behind Kyo so that she wont be seen in all her shaking glory. "We have special orders from 'Lord' Akito…" he says to the guard quietly. The moment he says 'Lord', Kyo begins to cough repeatedly.
Yuki elbows Kyo in the chest and he gasps a little. They get into a quiet argument within seconds. "I was coughing! You think there was an air freshener in that rat hole! I could hardly ever breath in that crap house." He says angrily under his breath, but loud enough for Yuki to comprehend.
The two guards huddle together for a short second and then split up to stand side by side. "Sure…go through." The skinny man says proudly as if he was happy to hear that he can let someone leave the Sohma Estate. "But…be careful and tell the guards near the end of the line of bushes that you were given specific instructions by the front gate and you were allowed through." He says waving a lengthy index finger in Haru's face.
With a nearly invisible nod, Haru smiles. They walk past the two men in a cluster to keep Kyo from being sighted by them. Their final objective: Get out of the area before word of four people leaving the Estate reaches Akito's ears.
There is chapter 12. See...Happier chapter! This chapter took me a long time with me having cold and what not. If there are more mistakes then usual, I'm very sorry ;. I hope you all enjoyed it nonetheless!