Reason I Love to Fly
Chapter 11
'Just one look,' he assured himself as he flew to her house at midnight, 'One last glance.' Landing on the balcony without a sound, he peered into the dark room. He saw a figure lying on the bed and not safely tucked under the warm blankets.
'You had so much fun during dinner?' he mused and unconsciously leant on the sliding balcony door, which slid open a little. 'You didn't lock the door!' his mind exclaimed as he silently slid the door together again.
"Who's there?" he heard a painful voice and looked up. The girl on the bed sat up and looked at the balcony. New streams of tears began to trickle down her stained cheeks once again when she saw her angel standing outside. She covered her face with her hands and wept again.
"Shh," a voice said and a pair of warm arms gently encircled her, "I'm here. Don't cry, Yuri-chan."
"It can't be helped," she said, "Yuri's born with this teary face." More tears flowed down her cheeks as Krad gently rocked her back and forth. "It can't be helped," she repeated.
"Then, cry," Krad said, "I'll be here for you to cry on." Hearing that, Yuri cried harder into Krad's chest and he could feel his shattered heart being shattered further into millions of pieces with every tear that escaped Yuri's eyes. He sat there embracing his angel, not saying a word but softly pat her back to soothe her crying.
"Thank you," Yuri's sobs have softened and she was now trying to catch her breath.
"It was nothing," Krad answered her. Yuri sat on her legs beside Krad and rubbed the tears from her face. Krad watched Yuri in amusement as she tried to rub the tears with her hands, the back of her hands and her lower arms.
"What's so funny?" Yuri asked, with slight annoyance in her voice.
"Nothing," he replied.
"Tell Yuri!" Yuri brought her face deadly close to Krad's without realizing it. When Yuri realized that she had made a mistake, Krad had locked her eyes in his golden eyes and she found that she couldn't move. Krad placed his hands on Yuri's cheeks and pressed a kiss to her eye.
"Do not weep," Krad said, "It'll hurt me."
"Eh?" Yuri opened her eyes to look at Krad.
"N-Nothing," Krad stuttered. 'Why did I say that! If she knew, it would only hurt her feelings further,' Krad scolded himself.
Yuri did not know the reason disappointment began to seep into her. "Thank you," she said, "For coming and for calling Yuri, Yuri-chan." She smiled at him, "Krad-san is the first to call Yuri that."
"Does that make you happy?" Krad asked.
"Yes, it does. And Yuri loves the way it sounds," Yuri nodded.
"Then, may I call you by that name?" Krad asked.
"Of course!" Yuri replied with a smile.
"I have to go now," Krad said solemnly as he stood on the balcony, "I don't want you to get caught having a man with you in a locked room."
"Krad-san," Yuri held his hand. "Does Krad-san hate Yuri?" her voice was so soft, "For what Yuri did and made Krad-san loses his job?"
"Not at all," Krad smiled and patted her on her head, "I can never hate you, no matter what you did."
"Thank you," Yuri said and looked up at him as he spread his wings, "Krad-san."
'Yuri didn't tell him about Yuri's engagement,' she sighed inwardly, 'Yuri really want to be free to choose the one Yuri loves.'
XXXXX
"Isn't there a way for me to refuse this marriage?" Yuri asked her mother, who shook her head. "Can't I love freely?" she asked with tears brimming on the edge of her eyes.
"You are my precious daughter, Yuri," her mother embraced her, "I would do anything to make you happy but your father is a stubborn man and so is the Baron. I have no right to deny the Baron what he asked of your father."
"Why is it so?" Yuri cried, "We haven't met. How could the Baron know who I really am?"
"You'll know each other in time," the middle aged woman sighed.
"Mother," the young lady decided to try her luck, "If I say that I have someone I love, can I refuse the marriage?"
"Don't be impulsive!" her mother was shocked, "You have never actually get to know any man in your life! Don't lie to get yourself out of something!"
"Yes, Mother," Yuri sat on the edge of her bed, looking down with dazed eyes as her mother exited the room. 'But it's true,' her mind said, 'Krad-san understands Yuri and Yuri loves him. Without Krad-san by Yuri's side, Yuri feels so very lonely.'
'The only memory left of Krad-san is in Yuri's memory and this,' she opened her drawer and brought out a white box, tied with a silver ribbon, 'Krad-san's gift.'
'Yuri-chan,' Krad smiled as he felt a warm sensation in his body when Yuri held his feather close to her.
"She's not willing?" Kosuke asked his wife. She gave him a nod and sighed.
"You wanted the best of everything for our daughter but this arrangement isn't the best," she began, "How long has it been since you last saw Yuri smile?"
"I can't remember the last time she smiled at me," he said as he combed his hair with his fingers, "I am not a good father."
"You are trying to be one," his wife patted him on the shoulder and continued, "Maybe you just need to spend some time with her."
"Maybe I should tell Varen that this arrangement was done in a hurry and, well, convince him to call it off," he shrugged.
"Yuri will be happy with that," Rikada smiled, "I want her to choose someone for herself too. That man, Krad, Yuri trusts him with her life. Honestly, he is a fine young man."
"He looks dangerous to me with that long pony tail and cold stare," her husband commented, "You never know if he was just earning Yuri's trust and wait for the right moment to kidnap her."
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"Cancel?" the young baron repeated.
"I don't mean that," the businessman Kosuke stuttered, "I meant, why don't you take some time to think about the arrangement you have made?"
"You are just trying to say that I was refused," Varen's voice began to get sterner as the other man kept his silence. "My proposal was refused, wasn't it?" he asked with venom in his voice.
"I am refusing your proposal, Sir Varen," Kosuke spoke confidently as he regained his composure for his daughter's sake. "After taking into consideration of my daughter's reaction to the news, I believe I have made a mistake in accepting your request to marry my daughter."
"But in handing your daughter over to me would result in the rise of your business empire," Varen reasoned, "One life for the richness of the world."
"I do not take my daughter as an object of possession but a human girl," Kosuke began fumed when the young and inexperienced man in front of him treated Yuri like an object.
"My ancestors have long collected the likes of her," Varen said with a wicked smile, "And it's now my turn to possess her."
"Your proposal is refused! And that is the end of it!" the other man stood up from the conference room and left but the malicious voice stopped him.
"Do you know what I see in your daughter's future?" Varen asked and answered, "Death."
XXXXX
'Father told the Baron that Yuri's not going to marry the Baron,' Yuri's mind giggled as she stood on her balcony overlooking the dark sea, 'That's great news!'
Up on the roof, a winged creature looked hungrily at the girl dressed in a simple white dress. It flapped its raven black wings and plummeted down towards her.
"Krad-san?" Yuri turned back as she felt the colliding wind behind her but she saw darkness and then she felt herself being lifted up roughly. "HELP!" she managed to draw some attention to herself before the creature covered her mouth. Yuri struggled in its clammy arms and tried to delay his takeoff as she prayed for someone to hear her, 'Krad-san.'
"Yuri-sama?" Jima opened the door to her room and gasped at the sight. "Call the police!" he shouted into the hallway before dashing to the balcony. "Let go of Yuri-sama!" he grabbed a chair and swung it down onto the creature's head.
The creature shook off the pieces of wood away from him and roared at the driver. Jima stood firmly on his feet and tried to punch it but was thrown back into the room with one swift kick.
"Uncle Jima! Wake up!" Yuri shouted at the unconscious driver. "Uncle Jima! Let Yuri go!" Yuri struggled but the iron grip would not even budge one bit.
"Yuri!" she heard a female voice, "Yuri!"
"Mother! Father!" Yuri looked at her parents, who stood in her room. The creature behind her hissed and cackled a laugh before it knocked all senses from Yuri. Yuri remembered the thing that she saw was her drawer, where she knew a certain person's feather lay safe.
"Yuri-chan?" Krad's head snapped up when he heard someone called.
"Krad?" Dark called from his bed, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," the blonde replied, "I thought I heard her voice."
"You must be dreaming," the purple haired thief said as he snuggled into his blanket, "Good night."
"I think I'll go check on her," Krad said as he got up and flew out of the Niwa's house through the window. 'I have a bad feeling. Why?' he asked himself, 'Yuri, be safe.'
No matter how he rubbed his eyes or how he reasoned in his mind, he couldn't believe the mess he saw at Yuri's room. Broken door, broken furniture and worse of all, Yuri was no where in sight among the people in her room. Krad silently landed on the roof above Yuri's room and listened to the commotion.
"What are we to do?" he heard Rikada's sobbings, "Yuri's been kidnapped!" Krad gasped.
"It must be Varen!" he heard Kosuke's voice boomed, "What is that guy thinking?"
'Varen?' Krad thought, 'That baron Yuri was supposed to marry and that man who took her pendant? Why would he kidnap her? First her pendant, and now her-" he stopped. 'It cannot be! Yuri-chan is the lucky charm?' With that conclusion in his mind, he took off and flew towards the dark and gloomy castle.
Upon reaching the castle, Krad saw that the whole castle was dimmed as it was the last time he came but one large room was brightly lit. As he drew closer to the castle, he saw a rather large mirror placed in the middle of the empty ballroom. Trusting his instincts, he headed for the room. As he walked closer to the mirror, he saw a figure dressed in white lying on the floor on the other side of the mirror.
"Yuri-chan!" Krad called as he knelt in front of her. As he reached for the girl who lay inside, the mirror stopped him. Krad banged his hand on the mirror in front of him and called for his beloved.
"Yuri-chan!" she faintly heard his voice in her unconsciousness.
"Krad-san," she mumbled as she tried to shake off her unconsciousness. Slowly, she moved her limp body and sat up. The first thing she saw was a pair of magnificent golden orbs staring into her hazel ones, full of worry and love.
"Krad-san," Yuri called as her hand reached out only to land on the mirror. A tear rolled down her cheek as Krad placed his hand over hers on the other side of the mirror. Feeling weak but refusing to look away, Yuri leant her forehead on the mirror and Krad did the same.
"We'll go home together," he said, "I'll save you."
"Run," she said weakly, "They'll kill Krad-san."
"How lovely," a voice taunted behind him, "Two unrequited angels."
"Who's there?" Krad turned to the man who stood by the door.
"This time it's Lucky Angel," Varen said, "It's hard for me to get the charm since it doesn't gives its charm to just anyone but I always have a solution to it. Spread your wings, my angel!"
Yuri screamed in pain as white wings sprouted from her back. Though the light from the wings were intense, Krad could make out the outline of six wings on her back. As she flapped her wings, diamond dust were seen spreading from her wings into the air.
"This is the Mirror of Destiny," Varen walked closer to them, "Anyone who is inside is bound to do as I command."
"Krad-san!" she called as she tried to cope with her pain, "Please run! Yuri might let him kill you."
"No," the owner of the mirror commanded, "You will kill him."
"No," Yuri gasped as something in her had awakened, "Yuri'll not do it!" But her body had betrayed her as she felt herself flew out of the mirror into the real world and faced Krad, who looked up at her.
