Sorry if this took long...
Katana Ishtari: Thanks so much! Here's the next chap, and thanks for being patient.
He-Yan: I know he's sick...you know how I got the inspiration? I bought this book, entitled The Most Evil Men and Women in History, they weren't subtle weren't they? Anyway, like all the evil people, he'll get what's coming to him, don't you worry...
Schectersona: Yeah, so did I. Poor girl...
'Chibi.x.Love': Here's the next update!
When You Meet Your Match
Chapter Thirteen
"You did what?" snarled Tasuki as he grabbed a fistful of Kouji's clothes and pulled him closer to himself. He had never been really angrconf blood stained knife, alongside with Kouji's conf blood stained knife, alongside with Kouji's confession was sending his blood to its boiling point.
Kouji, who has never seen Tasuki this angry before, was quite hesitant to answer. There was a mad gleam on his eye that looked like he was capable of murder, and he would rather not like be his first victim. "Genrou," he pleaded, "calm down. I said I was sorry."
"Sorry's not going to bring Mayumi back!"
"Killing me won't either!" snapped Kouji back.
Tasuki glared at him for an extra ten seconds before letting him go. Kouji massaged his neck slowly, looking at Tasuki, a slight pleading look still etched in his face.
"WHY THE HELL DID YOU HAVE TO TELL HER TO FOLLOW US?" shouted Tasuki, with every intent to pour out all his anger on his friend.
"And you think she wouldn't have done so?" asked Kouji, his voice rising as well.
"IF YOU HAVEN'T SUGGESTED IT, THEN SHE WOULDN'T HAVE THOUGHT OF THE IDEA!"
"SHE WOULD HAVE, SHE WANTED TO COME WITH US, SHE WOULD HAVE FOLLOWED US EVEN IF I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!"
"BUT YOU JUST HAD TO COAX HER OUT AND LOOK WHERE SHE'S END UP!"
"I DIDN'T LEAD HER ON!"
"YES YOU DID, AND THANKS TO YOU, SHE'S PROBABLY DEAD NOW!"
"WELL YOU'RE NOT DOING A VERY GOOD JOB OF PLAYING THE HERO SHOUTING AT ME INSTEAD OF SAVING HER!"
Tasuki opened his mouth to retaliate, but found himself not being able to retort back on Kouji's comments.
Kouji took a deep, possibly calming, breath. "Look, Genrou," he began, "when I suggested that Mayumi follow us, I didn't mean for this to happen."
"You knew though!" snapped Tasuki, wagging his large fan at him.
Kouji cocked his head to the side. "Knew what?"
"Don't give me that confused look," snorted Tasuki, "Of course you knew!"
"Knew what?" repeated Kouji, becoming more and more confused.
"Knew that people were after her!" Tasuki stamped his foot in frustration.
"I did?"
Tasuki glared at him.
Kouji felt like he was going to laugh. He didn't know why, but he managed to get a grip of himself and once again, reestablish the seriousness of the situation. "I didn't know that she was being followed," he said, calmly enough.
Tasuki blinked once, then twice. "But, but she told me that people were after her, and if she told me then –"
Kouji shook his head.
"She didn't tell you?" asked Tasuki in a whisper.
Kouji shook his head again.
Tasuki knew the seriousness of the situation, and he knew that he has to do something about it, and that he really should get a move on, but another part of his brain, the romantic, irrational, falling-for-Mayumi part of his brain was shouting out another phrase, mostly in jubilation rather than an order.
I know more about Mayumi than Kouji does. Yeah, take that, and that, and that!
"Genrou," said Kouji loudly, waving a hand in front of his face.
"Huh?" said Tasuki, blinking again.
"We have to get a move on," he said, "You know, save the damsel in distress."
Tasuki nodded.
"So," said Kouji, not being able to hide a small smile in his face, "you know everything. Where do we go?"
Mayumi woke up from what felt like five minutes of sleep, and immediately bumped her head on the stone wall. She didn't dare make a sound though, as the sound that woke her up from her uncomfortable sleep was the slam that eminated from the door opening to let the sunlight and a certain man in.
Kito walked regally towards her, in small sliding steps. He walked like he was royalty and although her head was throbbing with pain, she just couldn't mask the disgust that showed in her face.
"Good morning, Mayumi," greeted his uncle softly. He smiled at her. If she hadn't known any better, she would have thought that it was a sincere smile of an uncle who cared very much for his niece, but she did know better, and she wasn't fooled for one second. "Did you sleep well?"
For an answer, she spat on his face.
Kito didn't waste any time punishing her for this particular offense. The smile was quickly wiped off his face. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and then banged her head once on the wall.
Mayumi stifled her cry of pain. She couldn't possibly know what she looked like right now, but she knew she wouldn't look good. She could feel dried blood, her own, all over her face and she saw it on her arms (now that there was light to see). Her clothes were heavy and wet, and her hair was sticky and heavy.
She didn't cry out because she has learned, just from one night of torture, that the harder she cried out, the harder the whip would lash on her. Her torturer, whoever he was, was masked, and he whispered everything that he was going to do with her. She cried out in the beginning, but after a few hours of the whip, she managed to feel numb enough to hold her silence, until she finally was knocked unconscious from the blood loss. She thought that she would have been better off dead, but one thought, through all those hours, kept her will to survive.
Tasuki will come and save me.
The thought came out of the blue, and even more surprisingly, it first made its appearance during the torturing. She was still shouting out her cries at that time, then the thought came. It calmed her, kept her from panicking and losing her sanity and stopped her from begging to be killed then and there. As the sentence rang onto her head over and over, her cries became less and less until she finally managed to stay silent.
Silently, as the whip lashed all over her body, she would chant the sentence over and over. Her eyes were blank, and her words weren't heard over the lashes, until she was finally drifted into unconsciousness.
Tasuki will come and save me.
"So, Mayumi," said Kito, looking into her eyes, and she was glaring steadily back, though her eyes were blank and unreadable, "you survived. My men thought that you died last night."
Mayumi didn't answer back. She merely continued to glare with her blank eyes. It unnerved Kito. Mayumi was a woman of many words, he had learned that of having to deal with the little bitch ever since she and that idiot brother of hers were little. Though he was a little uneasy, he didn't show it, and he merely sneered, and pinched her cheeks together. "Too weak to talk my dear?"
"Not on your life." Mayumi's voice came out hoarse, but it still possessed the strength needed to make the line work.
"So you are alive," said Kito softly. "I would have expected as much."
"Why? So you can kill me yourself."
"Ha, if you're lucky!" cried Kito. "No, I think I'll have one of the guards kill you."
"You already have the blood of my parents and brother in your hands, why not have the complete set?" asked Mayumi, though her voice was unsteady, the mocking tone was not lost to Kito and it wasn't to his liking at all.
Kito smiled at her. "I already have everything that I want," he said, "this is mine now, as it rightfully belongs to me –"
"Yeah, right."
"YOU WILL NOT INTERRUPT ME!" Kito screamed and slammed her head once again to the wall.
Mayumi didn't cry out, but she did feelfresh blood coming out from her head.
Tasuki will come and save me.
Kito still has a fistful of her hair, and he pulled her close to himself. "You have no right to speak to me disrespectfully," he said menacingly, "I am the master of this house, and if I say so, I can have you killed, your body cut up and thrown into the forest for the wolves to eat."
"So why don't you?" asked Mayumi with a shaky leer.
Kito grinned evilly. "I will," he said, "eventually. But right now, I want you to suffer."
With that, he slammed her back to the wall, the chains holding her wrists clanging, and left the room.
Another man entered. Big, burly and ugly. The evil gleam in his eyes set Mayumi to what she expected to be another round of whip lashing and the horrifying experience on being slammed onto the wall.
Like the man before him, he leaned in and whispered everything that he was going to do to her.
"N-n-no…" she whispered, trying to back away, but there was no room.
Tasuki will come and save me…The man began to rip off her bloodstained clothes.
Tasuki will come and save me…"TASUKI!"
Fivemiles away, Tasuki came to a grounding halt.
Kouji stopped, too, and turned back to his friend. The rest of the bandits were following behind them quickly, and they were nearing the foot of the mountain. "Genrou what is it?"
Tasuki didn't answer, looked at Kouji once, and sprinted the rest of the way down.
I'm coming, Mayumi, hang on, I'm coming…