Chapter Eleven: Sniffing out the Culprit

Sakura ran into Katsuya's room breathless as Reiji moved to the side. She walked over to the bed and took his hand gently. "Kaye? Kaye can you hear me?"

He squinted his eyes and they fluttered open slowly. She smiled down slightly refusing to let her tears to fall.

"Sakura" he said slowly.

"I'll go tell Uncle Kyo and Aunt Tohru that he's awake" Reiji suggested, "Come on Takara" he said pulling onto her sleeve.

"Okay" she nodded and the two of them departed.

Sakura returned her gaze back to her brother who was trying to get his eyes to come into focus.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Where am I?"

"You're at the main house in one of the hospital rooms where Hatori has been keeping an eye on you. Reiji and I found you at Daigoji temple unconscious."

"Temple?" he frowned and then suddenly rose up briskly, "Stephanie!" he called out.

"No!" Sakura pushed him back down into his pillow, "Kaye. Lie back down. You don't have the strength to sit up yet."

He sighed.

"Where is she?"

"We don't know," she said sadly with a shake of her head.

"You don't know?" he replied in disbelief the pain apparent on his face.

"We think she was taken by someone. Right now the mayor has the police out searching for her. Stephen even came back from America" he closed his eyes in pain once more, "Kaye. I'm sorry to ask you this, but maybe, if it's possible, can you remember anything? What happened last night?"

"I" he said slowly, "I remember a truck."

"A truck?"

"Yea. I can't remember exactly what color it was but I remember it came towards us and I pulled her out of the way. And the next thing I knew we were surrounded by some kind of gas I think. Because we both started coughing."

"Is that all?"

"Um" he leaned his head back on the pillow trying to recall the events ofthe night before, "I remember her being pulled from me by someone and she screamed. But when I went to go after her I felt someone hit me in the stomach and then my head. And then everything went black."

Before Sakura could ask any more questions Hatori appeared along with their parents and they rushed to their son's side. She took this opportunity to leave the room to find Reiji who was waiting in the hallway for her.

"Well how is he?" he asked in concern uncrossing his arms since they had been crossed previously.

"He's very weak at the moment" Sakura replied back sadly.

"Could he tell you anything?"

"Only as much as we assumed. He didn't see who did it."

"Damn. Well what are we gonna do now?" Reiji asked with a sigh.

"I don't know" Sakura shook her head, "But one things for certain. I'm gonna find out who did this to Kaye. You can bet on that," she added firmly as Reiji nodded in agreement.

(Next Scene)

Stephanie stared somberly at the view on the balcony that was connected to the room that she had been imprisoned in since the night before. In the room on the floor were many pieces of paper torn to shreds since her last encounter with Seitarou. She frowned slightly to herself as she heard the door from the room open behind her but focused her eyes on the scene in front of her as he stared angrily at the pieces of paper on his floor and begrudgingly picked them up.

"You know you're wasting a lot of trees by doing this" he replied sarcastically loud enough for her to hear.

"Then stop printing it out" she responded as she entered the room and crossed her arms as he tossed the pieces of paper in the trash can, "The way I see it, you're the one who is wasting it because I am not going to fill it out."

"Hmm" he grinned slightly as he inserted another set of papers into the clipboard and threw it down on the table, "You are a tough nut to crack, that's for sure. However" he sat down in his chair, "I'm a lot tougher than you are and it has only been a day. It's gonna take at least three before he can even rise out of bed."

"What?"

"Your love. My brother didn't rough him up as much as hewould normally."

"Your brother?" she said astonished.

"That's right. Souichirou. Named after my father in a way. See normally he'd beat a guy until he was practically dead. He only roughed him up enoughso he'll recover in a matter of days. Three in fact."

"And why is that? Wouldn't you want him incapacitated?"

"Only for the time being."

"I don't understand. You want him to come after you?"

Seitarou chuckled as he grinned.

"I suppose I do."

"Well that won't be a problem, once he's all healed. Reiji knows where you live. They'll figure out that it was you and then he will lead him here and then."

"And then what? He can come and rescue you?" he stood from his chair, "I hate to disappoint you my dear but he's gonna have quite a few obstacles to overcome before he accomplishes that goal."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, since last you saw it, I've been making some improvements on my household" her eyes became wide as he extended his hand, "See for yourself" he pointed to the outside.

She ran out onto the balcony and looked down below her gasping at the sight. He walked out and stood next to her.

"As you can see, it isn't so easy. That's quite a security system down there. Designed by yours truly" he added as he stared at her directly and she looked back with slight fear in her eyes, "Not to mention a maze. Any man who goes through it, might never come out of it alive. However I do believe that your knight in shining armor will make it through. Truth be told, I'm counting on the fact that he will" he chuckled as he moved away from the balcony and she held back the tears as she stared down below her completely helpless.

(Next Scene)

It was at least another three hours till Tohru and Kyo departed with Sakura to return home. Katsuya was very tired and Hatori had suggested that they leave him alone to rest for the remainder of the evening. That night however Sakura remained awake as she lay in bed and as the sun began to rise she rose herself and quietly got dressed, snuck out, and walked towards the main house. When she arrived at the gate she saw that Reiji was also awake so the two of them then walked to the main house together.

"Couldn't sleep last night?" he asked.

"Not really, no. How about you?"

"No" he shook his head, "I've been racking my brain all night."

"About what?"

"About who could have done this? One thing is for sure though, if it has to do with us, the police are never gonna find her."

"What do you suggest?"

"I think we should do our own investigation. Some time when the police aren't around the temple."

"Well" she pondered this as they arrived outside her brother's door, "Let's see what Kaye thinks first."

He nodded and the two of them walked into the room while at the corner of the hall Akito watched them with much interest his favorite fantasy novel tucked under his arm.

(Next Scene)

When they arrived at Kaye's side they noticed that he was wide- awake and staring at the sidewall.

"Kaye" she said softly.

"What are you guys doing here so early?" he turned his head to them slowly.

"We came to check on you man" Reiji replied.

"Any news?"

"Mnm" Reiji said, "How are you feeling?" he asked as he sat on the foot of the bed.

"I'm worried" Kaye replied with a frown, "I want to know where she is. If she's all right. I can't stand not knowing. The truth is I want to get out of this bed to find her myself, but I can't."

"Oh Kaye" Sakura stroked her hand through his hair as Reiji's expression suddenly became serious.

"Well maybe you can't. But we can" he said.

"What do you mean?" Katsuya's eyebrows rose a little.

"Well I was thinking if this was something to do with us, there's no way the police are ever gonna find her right?" Kaye nodded, "So if we try to find her by checking out the clues at the temple we might have better luck at it."

"Yea" Kaye nodded again, "You guys could do that. You probably could find something that they overlooked."

"Especially if we took along a real tracker" Sakura added with a smile.

"Huh?" Reiji looked at her quizzically but then understood, "Oh yea. You're right. But do you think Aunt Arisa would allow us to take her along?"

"It's worth a shot" Sakura shrugged, "In any event she would be the best person to find the clues. She's got an excellent nose."

"Yea" Reiji nodded, "You're right about that. Kaye."

"Yea?"

"Sakura and I will do everything we can to get her back for you" he placed his hand on top of his cousin's.

"I know you will" Kaye smiled slightly, "Just please hurry."

"Okay" Sakura agreed, "We'll leave now and be back as soon as we can" she added as Reiji rose from the bed, "You try to get some sleep until then" she kissed his forehead.

"It's not gonna do much good but" he nodded leaning his head back into his pillow, "I'll try."

Reiji and Sakura left the room and closed the door behind then as Kaye slowly closed his eyes and was soon fast asleep because of no sleep the night before.

"First things first" Reiji replied.

"We go talk to Aunt Arisa" Sakura finished as they saw Akito standing in front of them, "Akito? What are you doing here?"

"I'm going with you" he replied with a frown.

"What?" she blinked.

"Wherever you're going, I'm going with you. I want to help."

"Akito" Reiji replied, "Now is really not a good time" he huffed trying to move past but Akito wouldn't budge.

"Yamato is very worried about Katsuya" he paused and then added, "And Miss Kamiya. He told me to help anyway I can. I'm going with you" he insisted.

Reiji sighed and looked at Sakura.

"Well" Sakura said, "We mightneed a pair of extra eyes."

"All right" Reiji conceded with a frown, "He can come. But Sakura and I are in charge of this investigation, so whatever we say goes, got it?"

"Whatever" Akito rolled his eyes but nodded just the same.

"Well let's go get Angel" Sakura replied finally moving past and walking out the door with the two of them right behind her.

(Next Scene)

Meanwhile, once more Stephanie was on the balcony trying to avoid Seitarou since he was doing work on his computer. She only raised her head slightly as she heard the phone ring and he answered it abruptly.

"Yes? Really?" his eyebrows rose as he grinned, "Well thank you. This news is very helpful indeed" he replied as Stephanie curiously came into the room, "No. I will deal with it personally. Goodbye" he hung up the phone and stood from his chair smiling as he saw her, "I have to go out for awhile" he told her, "I trust that by the time I return you would have considered telling me what I want to know?"

"I wouldn't count on that" she replied angrily back as she glanced at the clipboard.

"Very well. Then I suppose you'll have a very productive afternoon of tearing up paper. And if you get any ideas about using the phone, you won't be able to" he closed the door behind him and locked it as she ran over to grab the phone quickly.

But as she did this he walked over to a box on the wall and flicked the phone switch to the off position just as his brother came into the room.

"Souichirou. I'm going out for awhile" he replied, "The phone lines are off so you should have no problem there. Stay out of my room also. You're to guard her but nothing else."

"No problem" Souichirou nodded.

"I mean it" Seitarou added as he departed for the front door and Souichirou shook his head with a knowing grin.

(Next Scene)

As it turned out Arisa had been more then obliging to let Angel go along with the others to track down the kidnapper. Soon the three teenagers along with a small yellow puppy were speeding along in one of the family cars towards Daigoji temple. When they arrived they noticed that there was no one to be seen, strangely enough, so they attached the leash to Angel's collar and began their trek to the spot where they had found Kaye.

"How come there are no police around?" Akito replied staring at the police tape surrounding the area.

"They're probably not going to be here until later" Reiji suggested, "They're more than likely searching Kyoto now. All the more better for us. Let's start. What can you smell Angel?" he asked the puppy who was sniffing the ground intensely.

"There are lots of smells on the ground" she said in her cute little voice, "The tire tracks for instance."

"Well we know that they were made by a truck" Reiji replied squatting down with Sakura.

"Well, it's definitely a truck. A pickup truck. A very expensive one."

"Expensive?" Akito said.

"Mhm" she sniffed, "New, almost."

"A new truck?" Reiji scratched under his chin, "Hmm?"

"Well that indicates that the person who was behind this was a person of wealth" Akito replied.

"Obviously" Reiji stood up once more.

"So the Ushida's could be behind it?" Sakura suggested.

"I don't remember them driving a truck. Let alone a pick up one. Still" he looked around him, "What else can you smell sweetie?" he asked the little yellow puppy.

"Hey, what's this?" she said coming upon a strange object and picking it up in her mouth.

"Canisters?" Akito replied.

"Oh!" Sakura exclaimed as she stood and took the can from Angel, "These must be the canisters that contained the gas that surrounded them that night. Look" she pointed to the writing on the canister.

"Smoke gas" Reiji frowned, "Well now we know what they used. They threw them over there, so they wouldn't be seen, but it wouldn't have covered the whole area. My guess is that they kicked them out of the way before taking off. And also there was definitely two people who pulled this job."

Angel sniffed loudly over by the tire tracks.

"What you got Angel?" Sakura called.

"Footprints!" she said, "Two sets of them.

"Good" Reiji smiled as they came over and squatted down once more, "Now we're getting somewhere. What can you tell us about them Angel?"

"One of them was a pair of boots. A yucky smelling pair of boots" she crinkled her nose, "And the other" she sniffed again, "Was an expensive pair of shoes."

"Expensive again?" Akito replied, "That just leads us to the same conclusion that the Ushida's are behind this"

"Not necessarily" Reiji frowned as he stood up.

"What are you thinking Reiji?" Sakura asked as he began to pace.

"Something that has been going through my mind since the night Kaye was attacked and Stephanie disappeared. We already established that it wasn't an Ushida attack because it was done directly."

"So who did it then?" she said as she stood up along with Akito and an expensive pair of shoes stopped just close to where they were standing, "Who else could be that wealthy and would have the motive to do something like this?"

"There's only one person that I can think of" Reiji replied seething, "It's the person I have suspected all along."

"Who?" Akito asked.

"Seitarou Naoki" he pronounced certainly as the others stared at him stunned.

From behind them they heard clapping and turned to look. Seitarou was standing only ten from them with a smug grin on his face.

"You?" Reiji said angrily stepping forward.

"Well done Reiji Sohma" he replied, "I had my money that you would figure it out first."

Sakura moved slightly forward as Akito whispered to Angel not to make a sound.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I got the tip off that you all were snooping around here so I took the opportunity to come by and assist you."

"What do you mean by that?" Akito asked confused.

"I simply came by to make your job easier by admitting that I was the one who committed the crime."

"I knew it" Reiji spat, "It was you. Where is she Naoki? What did you do with her?"

"I'm sure you of all people can figure that on your own Sohma, after all you're not an idiot. And you also know that I am not going to give her up easily. Until she gives me what I want" he added.

"What you want?" Akito said surprised as Reiji clenched his fist angrily.

"And why?" Sakura replied, "Why would you do such a thing?"

"Hmm" he closed his eyes, "I suppose the simplest of all reasons, I'm being paid for it."

"Paid?" Reiji spat again, "Paid by who?"

"The Ushida family."

"But what do you have to do with the Ushidas?" Akito asked as Sakura and Reiji's eyebrows rose at the new information and Angel growled at him.

Seitarou chuckled and crossed his arms.

"Funny that's the same question that she asked too. I guess I was better than I thought at my alias."

"Alias?" Reiji replied, "You mean Seitarou Naoki is not your name?"

"Seitarou is my first name, but my last name is not Naoki. As a matter of fact, I have no hesitation in telling you that my real name is Seitarou Nakagami" he grinned menacingly as the four of them stared at him stunned.

(Till Next Time)

Authors Note: Hey everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm back this week with five chapters that will finish up Book one of Series two! Hope you enjoyed it and I will see you tomorrow for two more chapters!

Next Chapter: First Confrontation

Now that Kaye knows the truth he sets up a meeting with Nakagami and a challenge is extended. Don't miss a minute!