Morg: Heyo! I hope that you're all ready to keep going.
Ikuto: Sure.
Amu: Not really.
Morg: Wow. I'm really glad that my readers are more enthusiastic than the two of you.
Ikuto: Whatever.
Amu: Why should we be? You don't own us. Nothing in this story matters.
Morg: Harsh.
~Indebted~
Ikuto allowed Kairi to open the door for him once more. He stepped out of his car with the girl still in his arms, though he did have to take a second to make sure he wasn't about to drop her before they could continue.
He couldn't help but be glad that they were back in his building. They wouldn't be safe until they reached the penthouse, but at least they were in familiar territory. "Where did Midori set up her equipment?"
"I thought the best place for the girl to rest would be in the master bedroom. The guestroom is smaller. The bed is too close to the walls for Midori to set up."
"Good thinking. She'll be comfortable there."
Kairi dipped his head as he hit the button to open the elevator. He stepped aside to allow Ikuto to enter first once he saw that it was empty. Kairi pressed the button for the penthouse before stepping forward while removing his glasses to allow for the scanner to read his eye. Once the light turned green and the doors slid shut, he stepped back and replaced his glasses. "Once Midori has checked her over she will make a list of foods and drinks that the girl can have. Who do you want me to send to pick it up?"
Ikuto shifted his weight while paying attention to the sleeping girl in his arms. Her breath shifted but she didn't wake. "Rima. Send her and Nagi if she requests help. She's the one I trust the most besides you."
"I'll let her know immediately."
Ikuto nodded his head to Kairi without looking up from the girl he carried. He'd been so worried when she'd disappeared from her usual spot. It wasn't like she was there every day, but she'd never missed more than two days in a row before. He hadn't been able to shake his bad feeling so he'd sent Kukai and Kairi to find her.
Ikuto tightened his hold for only a second before loosening it once more. She was safe now. He was going to make sure she stayed that way.
The elevator doors slid open to reveal a middle-aged woman standing in the hall on the other side. "How is she?"
Ikuto swept past his personal doctor to make for the master bedroom. "She's burning up. She was completely out of it when they brought her to me and passed out before we were able to administer the antidote. Kairi gave her exactly the amount you said to."
"Good," Midori said as she kept pace with Ikuto. "We're going to have to monitor her constantly until she wakes up. Do you want the first watch or the second?"
Ikuto turned to enter his room without jostling the pinkette in his arms too much. "I'll take the first watch. Do what you need to do and then go try to get some sleep. I'm too keyed up right now to even try."
Midori nodded as she helped Ikuto lay the girl out on the bed. The pinkette really was quite beautiful. It was too bad she'd gotten caught up in the underground like she had. "I'm going to hook her up to monitor her vitals. The machine is set to not make a noise unless something drastically changes. It's set to my phone, too, so I'll get the alert that way and be here immediately if something happens."
Ikuto stepped back from the bed to watch as Midori did her work. She put an IV in the girl's arm before placing monitors on her. "Do you expect something to happen?"
"No, but it's better to be safe than sorry. I would like to put her in better clothing than whatever this is supposed to be, but she's too hot for that right now. We need her fever to break before we dress her."
"What do you want me to do if she wakes during my watch?"
Midori stepped back after brushing the girl's hair off her sweaty forehead. "Get her to drink some water. Try not to touch her too much. The drugs in her system might not be as potent since you gave her the antidote but they're still going to be bad. You can try to answer any questions she has and keep her calm, but I doubt she's going to remember much when she wakes up from all this tomorrow."
Ikuto moved a chair that he had in the corner of his room to next to his bed. Kairi had been right to put the girl in his room. "Do you think she's going to need an icepack or a wet cloth?"
"No," Midori said as she shook her head. "I think the temperature in the room is low enough that she'll be fine coming out of it just like this. I don't want to overwhelm her body more than it already is. I'm going to go make a list for Kairi for foods and drinks. She's going to need a lot of good nutrients over the next few days."
Ikuto clenched his hands against his thighs as he turned his head to look at Midori instead of the girl passed out on his bed. "We don't know the last time she's eaten."
"I'll make sure to start her off easy, Ikuto. She looks pretty good all things considered. I think she's going to be fine."
Ikuto nodded but didn't look away from Midori. "When she wakes, I would like you to give her a full exam if she consents."
"You think they did something to her?"
"You said she won't have much of a memory of what happened, right?"
Midori nodded her head.
Ikuto sighed as he turned his head back to the girl he was taking care of. "Then I want to make sure that nothing happened. It might make her feel better to have a doctor say that her body shows no signs of anything being done to her rather than just taking a stranger's word for it."
Midori nodded again. "That sounds like a great idea. Remember, Ikuto, try not to touch her."
Nodding, Ikuto rested his elbows on his knees before leaning forward to place his chin on one of his hands. He needed to figure out what he was going to do once she did wake up. "Send Kairi in here after you give him the list."
Midori bowed before leaving the room. She followed the long hall down to the kitchen. Kairi stood next to the counter with a glass of water in one of his hands. "She's settled."
"Is she going to be okay?"
Midori hummed as she moved to one of her bags she'd left at the table earlier in the night. "I'm to give you a list of foods and drinks for her. We'll need to make sure she doesn't have anything too high in bad sugars or fats for a few days."
"I'll see to it that Rima is aware of that."
"Good. She's going to be here for a while to recover. Ikuto said you weren't sure when she last had a real meal."
Kairi shook his head as he placed his cup on the counter. "We don't know when she was taken. Hopefully, she'll remember at least that much when she wakes up."
"There shouldn't be anything wrong with her memory before she was drugged," Midori said as she tore out a page from one of her notebooks and began to write specific foods and drinks down. "I doubt they did anything to her that would cause her to have blanks in her memories."
"Besides the drugs?"
"Yes, besides those."
Kairi pressed his glasses back into place as he nodded again. "I'm going to step out to call Rima to come and get your list. You can speak to her more fully when she gets here to make certain that she gets what you want."
"That sounds great. Ikuto would like to see you when you're done."
Kairi bowed as he left the kitchen. He stepped into the hallway as he pulled out his cellphone and selected Rima's contact. The call only rang once before it was answered. "We got her."
"Is she okay?"
"She will be. We need you to come over here. Midori has a list of foods and drinks that we need to get and Ikuto doesn't trust anyone else but you to not screw it up. He said to take Nagihiko with you if you think you'll need help."
"I'll be there in twenty minutes."
Kairi ended the call without responding. He pressed his glasses back into place once more before he put his phone away and headed for the master bedroom. "You wanted to see me?"
Ikuto didn't move from where he sat beside the bed. "I want to know what you think our next step should be."
"Sir?"
"We can't let her leave tomorrow."
"No, sir. The organization was quite clear. They'll have their people watching for any of the girls to reappear on the streets. She won't be safe if she leaves here."
Ikuto nodded at that before sitting up in his chair once more. He ran a hand through his hair before he looked up at where Kairi stood near the door. "I'll make sure she understands the situation that she's in when she wakes. I want to know who did this to her."
"When she wakes up and gives us her name then Kukai and I will do my best to find that out."
"If she agrees to it then I want you both to go to her house. See what you can find there."
"Then for now there is nothing that we can do until she wakes."
Ikuto nodded as he turned his gaze back to the sleeping girl on his bed. She seemed too still to him. He was glad that he could watch as her chest rose and fell, even if he didn't like that she wasn't wearing much for clothing. "See that Rima gets everything we need here before you go."
Kairi bowed before turning toward the door. "I will stay in one of the suites downstairs so that I can be readily available to you."
"I don't know why you and Yaya haven't just moved into the building already."
"She doesn't want to live where we work."
Ikuto snorted a bit but said nothing else as he allowed Kairi to leave the room. He settled back in his chair and prepared himself for a long night.
XXX
She felt like she was on fire. Everything was so hot. Amu felt her mouth fall open to allow her to pant as she struggled to be able to open her eyes. She heard herself moan as she tried to lift one of her hands.
"Are you okay? Are you awake?"
Amu forced her eyes to open only to have them immediately fall shut once more. Everything felt wrong. "What's happening to me?"
"You were kidnapped and drugged. Can you open your eyes for me again?"
Forcing herself to try and follow the man's commands, Amu tried to get her eyes to open for him again. "Everything's so hot."
"I know. That's the drugs. You're doing great. They'll be out of your system in the morning."
"So hot," Amu slurred. She felt herself shifting but didn't realize right away that she was rubbing her thighs together. "I feel so empty. Need. I need something."
"I know you feel funny. I know, sweetheart, but you're going to be fine. I'm going to hold a straw to your lips. Try to drink some water."
Amu moaned as she felt something rub against her bottom lip. She parted them instinctively but did nothing when the straw was placed in her mouth.
"Be a good girl and take a drink. Come on, you need some water."
Moaning again, Amu did as she was asked and managed a few sips of water before she felt the heat in her gut intensify again. "Please. Please, just do something."
"I can't."
Groaning at that Amu, tried to move her arms more to do something herself since the man wouldn't. "I'm too hot."
"I know it feels bad. You're going to be okay. You can make it through this."
Amu let out a whine as she found she couldn't move her arms well enough to help herself. "What is this? What's happening? Who're you?"
"My name is Ikuto. Some bad men took you and gave you some drugs. I got you out of there."
Amu heard his words but couldn't get them to stick in her mind long enough to really do anything about them. "Please, help me."
"Can you tell me your name, sweetheart? I don't know what to call you."
Amu moaned again as she felt her mind starting to slow down once more. The man, Ikuto, sounded like he was talking to her from far away. "I'm so tired."
"You can sleep, sweetheart. I promise to leave you alone, but first, tell me your name."
Amu felt her brain wake up just enough to have her opening her eyes a little to see Ikuto leaning against the edge of the bed she was on. She was so hot but she wanted him closer. She wanted him touching her. "Amu."
"Amu, what a good girl you are, telling me your name. Sleep some more, Amu. I'll be here in the morning."
Huffing, Amu let her eyes fall closed once more. She didn't fight it this time as her brain went foggy.
XXX
Ikuto sat next to her bed for several more hours until Midori came in to switch places with him. "She woke around three. I got her to drink a little water but she mostly just complained about being hot."
"Did you touch her?"
"Of course not."
"Did she say anything else?"
"Her name is Amu. She asked me for help and I promised her that we'd take care of her."
Midori smiled at that before placing her hand on Ikuto's shoulder. "I'll watch over her now. You go get some sleep so that you can do just that."
Ikuto stood as he nodded. He paused in the doorway to his room to look back at the sleeping girl in his bed one last time before going to find some sleep for himself. "I promise, Amu."
.
Morg: So there's that.
Ikuto: You were right. This is a lot different from the first version.
Amu: I would prefer if you didn't write anymore at all, but I suppose this one isn't so bad.
Morg: I'll let the readers decide what they think.
