Chapter 5: Fire

Akito's House-
Kureno-

Kureno knew, the minute that the panicked light flashed into Akito's eyes that he should have followed his first instinct and kept his mouth closed. Akito's eyebrows drew together, showing his confusion, and his mouth tightened into a narrow line. It wasn't a good sign that he backed away from Kureno to sit on the bed. Slowly, Akito seemed to fold up on himself, pulling his arms and legs in tight to his body and lowering his head until it almost seemed that he had no neck.

"You want to keep Uotoni-san?" The words came from Akito as if he were forcing them out. "Honda-san's friend? Why?"

"I like her smile. She's warm." There was more to it than that - sex, for one. Kureno wasn't stupid, he knew what risks Arisa had taken when she'd deliberately seduced him in her bedroom. She must have worried terribly about pregnancy, disease, and even the pain of her first time. Not only had it been her first time, but, shockingly, his first, also. He'd enjoyed it a great deal and wanted there to be more of it. He'd liked watching her sleep most of all. That she trusted him enough to sleep while he was in the room was amazing.

Akito started to shake, as he often did when he was taken by fever or fury, and looked piercingly at Kureno. "You want to marry her?"

Marry? When did that come into the conversation?

Kureno understood what it was to marry. It was a formal commitment to another human being, a religious and legal means of joining two people together. It seemed silly.

"Well?" Akito kept his voice carefully controlled. "Are you asking me if you can marry her?"

"No." Kureno honestly didn't see the point in such ceremony. He didn't need that kind of thing. Surely, he and Arisa had made enough of a commitment to each other with the sex. He had chosen her. There was just something about her that appealed to him and he was more than willing to take her as his partner. She seemed sharp and had a pretty voice. There was really nothing objectionable about her.

Akito opened his mouth to say something, then a look of deep concentration made him frown. "Go to bed."

"Yes, sir." Kureno was used to obeying, whether he liked the orders or not. So he did exactly as Akito told him and started crawling into Akito's bed, but the head of the family stopped him with an unhappy fluttering of his hands.

"No! No! In the Rooster's house. Go to the Rooster's house and go to bed. I need to think."

It hurt. Kureno had never been dismissed from Akito's house before. He stood and bowed, then left the house. He did not, however, go to the Rooster's house. Instead, Kureno simply stayed outside Akito's house. It would do no good to go to bed, he wasn't at all tired as he'd slept several pleasant hours next to Arisa. He took time walking around the house and watching the guards patrol the estate, wondering how long it would be before Hatori ordered them to stand down. Probably, in the morning Hatori would make a general announcement that Ren had been killed while trying to murder Akito and then he would allow things to go back to normal.

The walk around Akito's house gave Kureno time to think of other matters he'd left too long. The children he'd taken from the Pit. That matter would have to be settled as quickly as possible. Surely, the owners wouldn't allow the children to simply be taken away. It was a subject that Kureno would rather bring to Shigure's attention than Hatori's. Akito wouldn't understand the situation and Hatori was simply too gentle to take the necessary actions or give the proper orders. Neither of them would think to order Kureno to kill or to hunt down the enemy before an attack could be made and Kureno was still too bound by his childhood training to take action on his own. Who was he to even make suggestions to Akito? Always before, if such matters troubled Kureno, he would seek out Shigure and wait for the dog to tell him what to do. In all honesty, Kureno didn't even know where the children were being kept at the moment.

When he was halfway around Akito's house and right outside the window of Akito's audience room, he heard Akito speaking.

"Don't say that." A pause, then Akito continued, "I know. I know, already! I won't let him be hurt. He's mine, I know what I'm doing! Who? I can't talk to Hatori." Akito sounded as if he might cry, then. "I hurt him. If I ask Hatori he'll just be sad, again. Where's Shigure? If he'd just come home I could ask him. He always knows what to do. Where is he? He promised he'd always come if I needed him. I remember. He promised."

Kureno risked a look in the window and saw Akito pacing very quickly up and down the length of the room. It seemed that Count D's 'healing' wouldn't have such a sudden effect than Kureno had thought. All at once, Akito stopped pacing and he dashed to the telephone.

"Of course! That's what Shigure would do!" He paused with his finger hovering over the buttons of the phone, then shouted, "Kureno!"

"Yes, sir?"

Akito jumped at Kureno's voice, almost right behind him. "Why are you listening at windows? Never mind. Dial for me. Come in here, I want to call Ayame's shop."

"Ayame is at Hatori's house."

"Did I ask? Call Ayame's shop."

Dutifully, Kureno did as he was told and when a woman answered the phone he handed it to Akito.

"I want to speak to Honda-san." Akito said into the receiver. "No, I won't call later. Go wake her up. I'm Souma Akito." He paused while apparently waiting then spoke. "Honda-san, come to the estate now. I wish to speak to you." He hung up without seeming to wait for her answer and gave himself a satisfied smirk. The smirk faded off his face and he looked at the phone, then at Kureno somewhat guiltily. "I should have said 'please', shouldn't I? Hatori always says 'please'."

"I wouldn't know, sir." Manners had never been his strong point.

Akito didn't sent Kureno away again, though he didn't speak to him, either. Instead, Akito paced the room and muttered to himself quietly enough that Kureno couldn't quite hear him. It wasn't the first time something like this had happened, but always before it was Shigure that Akito waited for.

Not too long after the phone call, a soft knock drew their attention to the front door and Akito waved his hand, motioning for Kureno to get it. There was a young woman, not one of the Zodiac, and therefore of no real importance, with a look of irritated distrust on her face. "Kureno-san, there's a girl here who says Akito-sama called for her." The look on her face clearly said that she expected Kureno to prove the girl wrong. She was shocked when he nodded.

Behind the guard, Kureno saw the girl standing awkwardly, looking as if she'd dressed in a hurry. She was Arisa's friend. "That it's Honda-san you've met. Send her in."

The guard still looked disapproving, but did as she was told and motioned behind her. Honda-san's hair was slightly mussed and her clothes wrinkled and dirty. "Kureno-san?" She bowed and looked up with tired eyes. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get here, but I was asleep and I had to get dressed." She kept on talking like that while he led her into the halls of Akito's house.

At Akito's door, he knelt on the floor and rapped softly with his knuckles. "Sir, Honda-san is here."

"Come in." Akito was still pacing frantically and whipped his head around when Honda-san stepped into the room. She wisely sank down to the floor, kneeling as Kureno still did outside the door. "Go." Akito told Kureno. "This is about you so I don't want you to hear."

Again, Kureno disobeyed and positioned himself outside the door and was able to hear every word.

Akito-

He still thought she was ugly. She was even uglier at two in the morning. "I wanted to ask Shigure." He started, unable to control the nervousness he felt. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been alone with anyone outside the inner circle. 'It was with that man who looks like a grown-up Momiji. Ayame's American friend. I like him, even if he is rude.'

Honda-san blinked clueless, as always. "Ah…I haven't seen Shigure-san since we all left Count D's petshop. I'm sorry."

"Of course you haven't!" Akito snapped. "No one's seen him! Why would I have YOU here if anyone knew where he was!" Who was she to think so much of herself? But Honda-san didn't look taken aback or frightened. She smiled at him with her hands folded on his lap and seemed to be waiting for him to continue. "He hasn't come home. Always…always he does this. Sometimes, I think he's just selfish. He never thinks of me."

"Shigure thinks of everyone."

"But I'm most important. He should think of me most." Akito crossed his arms petulantly and slumped down into his chair. "It's not Shigure I wanted to talk about, anyway. Your friend, that rude, bossy thing who took Kureno away when we left Count D's petshop."

Honda-san blinked and looked confused. "Rude? Bossy? Do you mean Uo-chan?"

"Kureno called her Uotoni. I don't like her."

"Her name's Uotoni Arisa and she's really very nice. What did you want to know about her?"

That was the hard part. Akito really didn't know what he should ask. He wasn't in the habit of talking to people outside his family, especially not to ask them for help. Thieving Honda-san was the last person he'd ever wanted to ask for help or advice. "Tell me about her."

It seemed that Honda-san wouldn't answer, she was so surprised by the question, but quickly brightened. "She's a great friend! Uo-chan's very strong and smart. She's always looking out for us. Ummm…what exactly do you want to know?"

"Everything. Just tell me about her. Is she a good person?"

"Very. May I ask why you're so concerned about her, Akito-san?"

It wasn't wise to tell people too much, but Yuki liked her and Shigure had always been a good judge of character. "I'm a good person, now." He told Honda-san. "I'm not sick, anymore. So I don't want to hurt anyone. I will if I have to. If your friend's going to hurt my Kureno I'll have to hurt her."

"Oh!" Honda-san shook her head frantically. "Uo-chan's not that kind of person! She'd never deliberately hurt anyone. Well…not without a very good reason." Honda-san paused, then looked over her shoulder at the closed door. "I don't really know Kureno-san. Can you tell me about him? Is he a good person?"

The question took Akito by surprise and found himself insulted. "OF COURSE!" He exploded, slamming his fist down on the arm of his chair. "He's a Souma! Of course he's a good person! What a question. Are you stupid?"

"I don't think so." But she flushed and looked down at her lap. "But Uo-chan's my friend and I don't want her to be hurt anymore than you want Kureno-san to be hurt. What kind of person is he?"

"Loyal. Obedient. He's always here to keep me company. He kills when I ask him to. Why are you looking at me like that? He does! He killed Ren for me. She was awful, so he killed her for me."

Tohru-

Killed? Kureno-san had killed?

Tohru felt herself pale and started chewing on her lip. She couldn't imagine anything being worse, but she'd seen how Uo-chan had looked at Kureno-san. She knew Uo-chan was in love. "K-killed? Why?" How could anyone be so bad that they would deserve to be killed?

"She hurt me. When I was little, she hurt me and made me sad. I don't want anyone else to be hurt."

From his voice and the words he used and even the way his narrow shoulders hunched uncomfortably, Tohru could almost have sworn that she was talking to a child instead of a young man. "But killing…I really don't know that Kureno-san is worthy of Uo-chan."

Akito's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. "He's not worthy of her? My family is worth more than any other creature on the planet!" Then he slumped back down and pouted. "Well…what do you think?"

"Think? About what?"

"You really are stupid. I don't know why my family likes you so much. Why do they? What's so special about you?"

"There's nothing special about me. I'm just…average."

Akito made an unhappy noise, then looked at her, expectantly. "You know what happened to Hatori's eye. I did it. I didn't mean it, don't think I wanted to hurt him! But…I did do it. He cried when Kana went away and I don't want Kureno to cry. He's never cried and I want to keep it like that. I don't like your friend. She's rude."

"I think she was worried for me. She's gets terribly upset if I don't tell her what's going on and then there's Kureno. She looked surprised to see him. Surprises never sit well with her."

Akito-san's face looked troubled, but he held his temper and tapped his fingers on the arms of his chair. "I want my family to be happy. I think letting Kureno have Uotoni-san will make him happy." He paused and looked at Tohru intently. "Tell her to come tomorrow. I want to meet her properly."

"If she'll come…"

"She WILL come! At six. Yes, six in the evening."

Torhu sighed and bowed her head. She knew there wasn't any arguing with Akito-san. "I'll do my best."

Akito-

'That went well,' Akito thought as he watched Honda-san leave. She walked with Kureno towards the main gate of the estate. Now he'd have to meet with Uotoni-san and find out for himself if she was good enough for Kureno.

'Maybe Honda-san isn't as bad as I thought she was.' For the rest of the night, his thoughts didn't stray too far from Honda-san and by the time morning dawned he'd made a decision. 'I love Yuki and I want him to be happy. Honda-san makes him smile. He's like Hatori so if I make Honda-san stay away Yuki will cry. And she is kind. She was good to Kyou and didn't leave when she saw him transform into the monster. She knew I was afraid to die.' Akito smiled when one of his little birds - a descendant of the bird Shigure had given him as long ago birthday present - flew into the room and landed on his hand.

The bird looked quizzically at Akito and began to sing sweetly.

"I think she may be a princess." Akito said, stroking the bird's back. "I heard Ayame call her a princess, once. Better, she's a bird. A nightingale is better than a princess. She isn't human so she's sort of like us. She looks human, but isn't. Doesn't that make her like family? She's closer to being family than she is to being human. I think she'll do, so long as she keeps Yuki happy. Even if she is ugly."

Akito's reflection appeared and put his hand out to pet the bird, too. "Now all we have to do is find out if that crude Uotoni girl is good enough for our family."

Earlier-
Hanajima-

After making sure that Tohru arrived safely at the shop where she said she knew the freckled girl who answered the door, Saki started for home feeling strangely divided. She was, of course, pleased that Tohru was safe and seemed unharmed, but her mind wouldn't stop nagging at her.

It was Megumi who noticed that Saki hadn't slept. It wasn't just that night, but ever since Tohru had gone missing that Saki hadn't been able to sleep. While it was still dark, Megumi crept into Saki's bedroom and sat next to her on the bed. "If you can't sleep, you should come talk to me."

"Sorry. Was I keeping you awake, again?" Megumi, like Saki, was immensely sensitive to the emotions of other people. In fact, he and Saki had always been able to tell what the other was feeling. Saki was under no illusions about the power of their relationship. While she was fully aware that she had vast power in her denpa waves, it was Megumi who was the powerhouse of the two of them. Even as a child, Megumi could have nearly anything he wanted with his talent for curses.

"You're thinking of Honda-san, aren't you?"

"Yes." Saki turned her head and looked out the window. The dreadful feeling of helplessness just couldn't be dismissed. Two weeks, two painfully slow weeks had dragged by and not a word of Tohru. It just wasn't like her. Tohru would have tried to call or she would have left a message at the school. "The home she was living in, that writer's house, was empty. Uotoni-kun and I went to search it, but there was no sign on anyone. Blood everywhere. It wasn't Tohru's blood, but still…"

"But you were still frightened." Megumi finished on her behalf. He was, Saki admitted, a sweet boy. He didn't look at her as he sat there, but stared out at the night sky. "Did it make you feel better to see Honda-san earlier? She was whole and healthy, you said."

"Yes. She was safe, but the family she was with weren't all that happy. I believe they were…concerned."

"About what?"

"I'm not sure." At last, Saki sat up and looked at the clock. Two AM. Hardly the time she'd wanted to get up. "But they were worried. Tohru was very closed-mouthed while we walked but that may have been because of I'll speak with Tohru today." But it still bothered her that Tohru hadn't called. When she had walked with Tohru to the apartment that belonged to one of the Souma's Tohru knew, Tohru hadn't seemed at all upset about the missing two weeks. It occurred to Saki that perhaps Tohru hadn't wanted to talk because of the boys who walked with them. She knew them, though they weren't in her class. Like everyone who seemed to surround Tohru lately, they were Souma's. "Will you think badly of me if I tell you I'm still jealous of that family?"

"I know you are. But she's happy, so you'll say nothing. Right?"

"Right. I don't think I'll sleep tonight, Megumi. Would you like an early breakfast?"

"Thank you, but no. I'm tired. I thought if I could help settle your mind, maybe I could sleep. I don't think it's worked very well." He stood up and started to make his way back to his room before he stopped at Saki's unvoiced panic and turned to look at her. "Did you want to talk?"

Offered a willing ear and a friendly face, Saki gave in. She patted the bed beside her and let Megumi sit beside her. Neither of them considered turning the light on. There was no point. The moonlight through the window was enough to see Megumi's face. He sat quietly, leaning against Saki comfortably. "I hurt." It seemed like a foolish thing to say, childish. "When I walked with her, Tohru acted as if nothing had happened. Two weeks gone and she didn't think it was important. I was so worried. I thought something terrible had happened." Saki looked at her lap and wanted to cry. "I really don't think she cared that I worried."

"Did you tell her?"

Saki shook her head and choked. "I think it's not me whom she wants to worry for her. I'm her friend and nothing more. She's always been kind to me and I do appreciate it. Without Tohru, I don't think…" She let her voice trail away but seized Megumi's hand tightly. She wouldn't have been alive without Tohru. Without a friend, she was sure she'd have killed herself years ago. The misery of knowing she was unworthy of friendship had driven Saki to near suicide many times before. "I don't think I'd have been happy without her."

"Tell me the truth." Megumi disliked deception.

"I may have killed myself. I was so unhappy before Tohru. To think that she didn't care enough to tell me where she was… it hurt. It hurt very badly."

"Are you going to school today?"

"I suppose so." After all, that shop Tohru was staying at was on the way to school and, if Saki knew Tohru at all, Tohru would be certain to be at school and fussing that she had so much work to do. "You can go to bed." Fondly, Saki put her hand on her little brother's head. No matter what she told anyone else, she did, in fact, know the strange resemblance between the two of them. Even counting Tohru and Uotoni, Megumi was the person who understood Saki best in the world. "I think I'll go for a walk."

"So late?" Megumi reached up and took Saki's hand, moving it down so he could hold it. "You'll be alright?"

"Who would be fool enough to try hurting me?"

"True." Megumi leaned forward and put his arms around Saki. "Come home quickly. Mother worries when you go walking at night." It was unnecessary for him to add that he would be monitoring her, just as she would have done for him. In reality, they had no privacy between them.

Saki nodded and waited until Megumi was back in his own room before she left. She could feel him, like a butterfly against the back of her neck, as he monitored her. She left the house silently and locked the door behind her, least anyone dare to hurt her family while she was away. Even Megumi wouldn't be able to defend the family unless the intruder was polite enough to give their name in which case Megumi would easily be able to curse them.

She did not wander, nor did she go for a simple walk. In all likelihood Megumi hadn't really thought that was what she'd been intending. She walked across the city, passed the high school and passed the humble lane that lead to that writer's house out in the forest. Saki paused at the lane, then turned and started up it, heading up into the darkness, away from even the dim light of the street lights.

As it had been many days ago when Saki and Uotoni had gone looking for Tohru, the house was dark and silent. It was strange to see it so. True, Saki had only ever visited the house twice, but it seemed to her that the house should have been lit with noise and activity, even at night. 'No denpa waves.' No human ones, at any rate.

Standing where she was outside the house, Saki could see the tiny denpa waves of small animals and in the forest around her, she could feel bigger animals - wolves, most likely. But there were no humans around. In fact, everything felt cold. Just as she and Uotoni had guessed on their previous visit, the house was abandoned.

Saki went into the house, the unlocked front door opening easily for her, and went inside. Her psychic ability made the experience just as draining as it had the first time around and this time she didn't have Uotoni to rely on. The Souma's had always puzzled her and their empty house was no better. Why she should feel such power from a family, Saki had no idea. She had thought, when she'd first begun meeting them, that perhaps they had power like she and Megumi had.

It was upstairs that bothered Saki the most. The first time she and Uotoni had gone through the house on their search for Tohru, Saki had nearly vomited when she'd entered the room where, they believed, Souma Kyou lived. Dried blood was everywhere and the window had been shattered.

Flashback-

"Shit." Uotoni had taken the sight better than Saki had, but perhaps it was understandable, given her background. "Carrot-top…what the Hell happened here?"

Fearing the worst, Saki knelt next to Uotoni and slipped her glove off. Putting her fingers on the cracking blood, she concentrated, then delivered her judgment. "It is his blood. This is all his blood." Surely, the excitable boy had to be dead. If someone had managed to get into the house and managed to kill Kyou who was so infamous for his explosive temper and inhuman strength, then what could they have done to the rest of the family? The writer was an unknown factor, but Souma Yuki was fast, if not as strong as his cousin. Some insane maniac could have caught him unawares, though. Tohru…Tohru would never have survived anything like this.

Uotoni had slammed her fist into the wall, denting it without seeming to notice. Her lips were peeled back away from her teeth in a savage snarl and her eyes blazed. "Carrot-top didn't deserve this! Where the Hell is everyone!" She was trembling all over with rage and stepped into the room. Her eyes scanned around and came to rest on the broken window. "It's broken in. Someone broke in, not out." She snarled another swear then stalked out of the room.

There was something about the room that made Saki stay instead of following Uotoni. Something that wasn't expected. Not unnatural, because whatever it was that Saki was feeling was completely natural. She'd moved to stand by the window and felt something other than Uotoni's recent presence. Something bigger than anything she'd ever felt before had stood in that spot not long ago. It was such a powerful feeling that it didn't feel at all faded, even after two weeks. Stepping just to the right, Saki felt another, similar presence. It didn't feel as powerful as the first, but still it was wholly unlike anything Saki had ever felt before.

When she had gone downstairs to find Uotoni, she'd found the other girl staring at the phone. It was on the floor and the wire had been pulled out of the wall. "I told the cops…" She'd said without looking at Saki. "They were all fired up until I said the name, Souma. They hung up. 'We don't deal with that family.' What kind of thing is that for the cops to say? What's up with that family?" Uotoni put her arms around herself and suddenly didn't look like the strong girl everyone knew she was. "Something terrible happened here."

"And we will find dear Tohru." Saki reassured her. Uotoni was one of the few people Saki would willingly touch, so she put her arms around Uotoni to comfort her. They'd left after that and gone to the renowned Souma estate. Everyone k new the Souma estate, even if they'd never set foot in it.

End Flashback-

Much good that did. Nothing had changed in the house since she and Uotoni had first gone through it except that the food which had been left at the table had gone moldy and insects were congregating around it. We weren't even let in at the Souma estate, by orders of Souma Hatori-sensei. I remember him from the cultural festival. Yuki and Kyou hadn't been happy to see him at the time, but he apparently had a good deal of power if he was controlling the estate.

Saki started out of the house, just as confused as when this whole thing had started. She wasn't used to being in the dark and this had just left her with more questions than she'd had in the beginning. By the time she'd gotten home, Saki had thought that she ought to speak with Uotoni, again. She'd gone off with one of those Souma's so perhaps she'd learned something. The phone call was wasted as it was Uotoni's father who answered.

"I would like to speak with Uotoni Arisa."

The slurred voice on the other end of the phone said, "Damned…" Then hung up.

Saki hung up the phone and folded her hands on her lap. Uotoni's father was drunk, again. A quick check told Saki that her friend was safe and fast asleep. In fact, she was feeling remarkably happy. Odd…very odd. But there was nothing else Saki could do unless she wanted to storm the Uotoni apartment and torture Uotoni-san for the information she wanted if she couldn't find her friend. Possibly, Saki knew, she might find that Uotoni was at home, but her drunken father had beaten her.

No. Saki almost laughed at that thought and sat at the kitchen table with her tea. Even sober, he couldn't hope to fight her. Uotoni-kun doesn't like him enough to pull her punches. The likelihood that he's hurt her is very low.

Breakfast was early and eaten alone, as Saki saw no reason to wake her family for her own agitation. Only Megumi was awake in his room upstairs and Saki doubted whether or not he'd been able to sleep at all while she'd been gone.

No, I haven't.

I'm sorry. Telepathy was, as far as Saki could tell, her gift and not Megumi's. She could, on occasion, touch the minds of people she cared about. As Megumi was one of those people and as he had talents of his own, he could talk to her in return, which no one else had ever been able to do. I'm leaving in a few minutes.

School doesn't start for a couple of hours.

I want to speak with Tohru in private. I can't do that when the school opens properly. This way, we can have a nice, leisurely walk to school. Maybe I can get the full story from her.

Getting the full story from Tohru proved to be about as easy as herding cats.

"Well," Tohru looked at her feet while she and Saki strolled together and there was a faint tinge of pink on her cheeks. "It was a family thing for the Souma's and Souma-san…ah, Shigure, that is, he didn't like having anyone at the house alone so they brought me with them." She paused and leaned a little closer to Saki to whisper, "Something funny happened."

From her blush, Tohru didn't really think it was all that funny. Saki said, "Do tell." Even though she was impatient with Tohru dancing around the truth, Saki took the opportunity to lean into Tohru and knew Tohru wouldn't think anything odd about it. Dear Tohru was always warm. When she looked at Tohru's blushing face, she pulled away, just a little, and felt herself grow cold. In Tohru's shining eyes, she saw defeat.

"Yuki-kun called me Tohru for the first time ever." Tohru blissfully said, completely unaware that her happiness had the effect of a bulldozer on a daisy on Saki's heart. "I'm sure he just forgot himself. Normally, he's very proper. It was scary, though. I couldn't even think straight."

"Dear Tohru," Saki kept her voice as even as possible. "You're in love."

Tohru started, and began fidgeting with her hands while she mumbled incoherently.

"You are." Saki felt her eyes start to burn. "I can feel it." In Tohru's words and the warmth of her thoughts. "Souma Yuki…you love him." Perhaps it was time that Tohru gave her heart away. Souma-san was a good boy. He was smart and charming and obviously cared deeply for Tohru. His family had the wealth and position to protect Tohru. She would never again have to work at some slavish medium-wage job. No one would hurt Tohru with Souma-san to take care of her. But I protected before she met that family. I'd have taken care of her.

To change the subject, Tohru latched onto something new. "Have you seen Uo-chan today?"

"Not yet." Better to let Tohru dictate the conversation. Let it take her minds away from other things. If you bombard someone with one-sided love, you become a burden to them. Wasn't that what Megumi had said? "I'm sure we'll see her at school."

"I'm so sorry I didn't call or anything, but it happened so quickly, there just wasn't any time."

She was lying. It didn't really surprise Saki. Tohru lied a great deal, though not everyone would know it and she lied about the strangest things. "Couldn't you have called once you'd gotten to wherever it is that you went?"

"I didn't see a phone." She looked up quickly at Saki and bit her lip nervously. "I…I didn't think to ask. Oh! I'm so sorry, Hana-chan! I was just so worried about Kyou-kun and everyone there was so tense and there were such strange things happening…"

"Weird? How?"

"Oh! You should have seen it! Snake people and there was a flower man, but he was really nice and a mountain inside a petshop and…" Tohru stopped talking and looked at Saki wearily. "I don't think I was supposed to tell anyone."

"Dear Tohru," Saki gave her the most reassuring smile she had and slipped an arm over Tohru's shoulders. "If you can't trust me, then you can trust no one." Snake people? Flower man? A petshop that could contain a mountain? It seemed that Saki would have research to do.

Ayame's shop-
Jill-

Jill backed away from the door. She knew what they were and she knew that her luck had probably run out, but she wasn't one to just roll over and die. She tensed, trying to decide what was the best move to make. Running probably wouldn't do much good. They had a straight shot with their guns and, if Jill was right about who they were, they wouldn't give up for anything.

"Black Scorpion?" She asked.

"Where is the information?" The woman had a severe face, but had an earpiece in her left ear and there was the faint sound of music in the otherwise silent room. It somehow insulted Jill that the woman was listening to jazz while killing her.

The young man turned away from her and began working on the computer, typing rapidly with his eyes on the screen as information flashed by at a terrible speed. "Information has been erased." He said, softly. "This computer is clean. All we need from this place is the disks."

"We know you took the disks from the Pit. We saw the surveillance video." The woman stepped threateningly foreword and Jill had no doubt that the woman would kill her. "Give us the disks."

The disks were with Mine. "Bite me." Jill charged and prayed that, one day, Leon would forgive her. This was the end, but so long as she kept her mouth shut they would have a heck of a lot harder time finding anyone Jill cared about. It was an off chance that Jill would be able to get past the woman to where her gun lay in the bedroom, but sometimes dumb luck was helpful.
A shot rang out, but Jill dodged. The second shot, fired just after the first, hit her in the arm and she cried out, but didn't stop her feet from moving. A third shot, but Jill made it into the bedroom and slammed the door behind her. It took her only a second to grab her gun where it was hidden under the bed. The gun was already loaded, Mine unlocked the safety and aimed, steadying the gun on one knee.

When the door opened Jill fired without thinking and hit the person standing in the doorway. It wasn't the woman but the young man who fell to Jill's bullet. He crumpled like a doll.

The woman's reaction was to put a bullet through each of Jill's shoulders before she could do anything more. Her arms went numb after a flash of pain. Impossibly lucky shots, but the woman had made it and to make it worse, she aimed and fired again, this time getting Jill in the left knee. The pain was incredible, like her whole leg had been blown off.

With Jill helpless on her knees the woman went to the dead young man and looked mournfully down at him. Then, suddenly all business again, she turned and strode out of the doorway, leaving Jill alone to look at the body of the young man she'd killed. Jill fought to move, but her only working limb wasn't doing her any good and she flopped around like a fish on dry land.

"Moving will cause more pain." The plain woman spoke softly, reappearing in the doorway. She wasn't all that remarkable, thought Jill though she didn't look exactly Japanese. Korean, perhaps. She stepped closer then abruptly kicked Jill in the face, sending her reeling so badly that she ended up on her back, the pain in her leg only intensifying. "I would have killed you quickly. But Yasha…you shouldn't have hurt him." She drove the heel of her foot down onto Jill's wounded knee and Jill couldn't help but scream in pain. "You shouldn't have hurt him. He was my only…he hasn't finished his book yet!"

She got a hold of herself and shivered once.

"Look," Jill fought for consciousness and tried reasoning with the woman, though she was reasonably certain that it wouldn't work. What did she have to lose? "The gun shots are sure to have been heard. You're going to do a lot of time in prison for murder if you don't give yourself up."

"Where are the subjects?"

"The children. You can't think of putting them back!" Jill choked on her own bile, then couldn't hold it back and vomited. The pain was just too much."They're only babies!"

"They won't be taken back. They'll be terminated."

"Killed? You'd kill those children?"

"They are liabilities. They and anyone who may have been told secret information must be eliminated."

"Cold-hearted… Don't you know what they've done to those children!"

She gave Jill an odd look. "Of course I do." She put a hand to the collar of her shirt and pulled down to reveal the perfect, dreadful scorpion tattoo.

A grown-up Black Scorpion. Jill had never paused to imagine what happened to the Black Scorpion children once they'd grown up. What power the Black Scorpions must have to turn the tortured children into willing soldiers. Horrified and amazed, Jill knew that the woman about to kill her had once been one of those dead-eyed children she and Leon had taken from the Pit. If they hadn't rescued the children, how many of them would have walked in this woman's footsteps?

The woman stared the body of her fallen companion blankly, but Jill could have sworn that she saw the cold killer's hand trembling even as it reached into a pocket. She came out with matchbook. Funny. Didn't most people use lighters? It struck Jill, even as her sight dimmed, that the woman's teeth were white, not stained yellow from nicotine. She wasn't lighting up a cigarette.

"Poor Yasha." The words seemed far away, but the pain did, too, so Jill wasn't all that concerned. "Poor Yasha won't finish his story, now."

Dying. Jill knew she was dying, but nothing hurt. She looked at her hands and saw that blood from her shoulder wound had oozed its way down and dripped off her fingertips onto the floor. She saw her fingers twitch, but couldn't feel them. When she tried to move anything else, though, it was as if her whole body had just been turned off and Jill was pleased. If she had to die, as it seemed she did, at least there was no pain.

'But I didn't want to be alone. Never wanted to be alone, in the end. Christ, Leon's gonna cry…hate that. Those big blue eyes shouldn't cry. Mine…oh…Mine. I wish…' But the apartment was getting dimmer, the shadows deeper and thicker, like a foggy night. Warm and feeling slightly drifty, like the time when she'd had to get her appendix out and the anesthesiologist had turned the gas on, Jill watched helplessly as the woman stuck a match and it blazed to life, a little star of light in the growing darkness.

"He really wanted…" The woman's voice faded even as the star of light appeared to grow brighter. "Poor Yasha."

There was a sound that didn't seem quite real, but when the star of light flew through the air and suddenly burst into life, Jill knew what had happened. The woman had tossed the match and the rug was on fire.

Umi-

The woman was dead and the mission was half completed…with one fatality. Sir would say that it was justified and he would find her a new partner, not that Umi wanted a new one. She'd spent long enough getting used to trusting Yasha. She paused a minute to squat next to Yasha and looked at his face. He was wholly unremarkable. There was nothing outstanding about him at all, but Umi had liked him all the same. When they were alone, in the cool darkness of their basement home, he could make her laugh and Umi knew she'd always treasured that.

Using every ounce of strength she had, Umi hoisted Yasha up onto her shoulder The fire she'd set was starting to roar and smoke choked the air. It occurred to Umi that she could just put Yasha down and die with him in the apartment, but she still had a mission to complete and leaving evidence behind was not allowed.

As quickly as she could, Umi made her way to the back door of the building and escaped the growing inferno. In the distance she heard the wail of sirens. She hadn't thought that the authorities would be alerted so quickly. It was really no matter. A hiding place was easily found in a dumpster behind the shop in which Umi dumped Yasha's body, then climbed in herself and let the lid slam down.

It was dark and the metal of the dumpster was making the heat from the fire worse. Still, Umi didn't make a sound. What matter was her death? The stench from the garbage was nauseating but it was only a smell and could be dealt with. It was utterly dark in the dumpster except for thing beams of light where the lid of the dumpster didn't entirely connect where it was supposed to, letting in just enough light for Umi to see the faint outline of Yasha's still face.

A little cell phone was all Umi needed to contact Sir, but it was Indihar who answered with a crisp, "Your report?"

"Tool compromised." Tool? Yasha was dead. What a sanitary way to say it. "Object was found. First phase of mission completed. Second phase has not yet begun. Instructions?"

Indihar paused, then spoke with something. "Continue mission. Dispose of tool." Then she hung up and Umi was alone, again.

How long she stayed there, Umi didn't know. Long enough that the heat and noise from her fire began to vanish and before long there were the sounds of large truck driving away.

When she was sure that all was quiet, Umi inched the lid of the dumpster up and peered out. The building was nothing but a smoldering ruin. She could hear some voices near the street, but there didn't appear to be any police in the back alley where she was. Cautiously, Umi pulled herself and Yasha's body out of the dumpster and hauled him away.

To be continued…