Chapter 2: The Fall.

Ichiyo opened her eyes with difficulty; she felt her eyelids were very heavy as if they weighed pounds. Her head was pounding and her mind was confused, it took a long time for her to remember what had happened to her.

She gasped at the memory of being drugged by the red-haired woman. When she finally looked at her surroundings, she noticed that she was surrounded by a dozen girls in the same alarmed state as her, some were crying and others were shaking. They were all locked in an unfurnished room and in a state of ruin.

Ichiyo's eyes examined everything, she had to find a way to escape, she had to do it or else who is going to take care of Natsu or who will save her because she left her in the motel where the bitch who put her in this state works.

Her concern for her sister was much stronger than for herself, she failed to protect her from their father and now, she brought her to an unknown city, exposing her to greater danger. If anything happened to Natsu, she would never forgive herself, that's why, she wasn't going to give up and she was going to do everything to get away from there.

After a thorough analysis of her surroundings, Ichiyo noticed two important things, the first was that the door was locked and watched on the other side because the blonde could see a shadow through the large crack under the door. Her second discovery was the emergency exit which was the balcony, the door was open and there were no bars. Deep down she knew that the kidnappers had neglected to secure it because the apartment was probably on an upper floor, but it was a great neglect, one of the girls could jump, preferring to end her life.

"Jump." The word repeated in her mind like a distant echo.

The chances of surviving a fall are minimal, but it depends on the height of the jump, it was an interesting idea, which is why she decided to go study it in the balcony. When she stood up from her seat, the other girls looked at her strangely as if she had done something forbidden, maybe she missed the explanation of the rules while she was sleeping, anyway, she didn't care.

As she walked out slowly to the balcony, Ichiyo internally prayed that she was not on a floor too high, otherwise she will have to forget the option of jumping as the fall will surely be fatal, without forgetting also that her captors will not let her flee easily. She shook her head frantically to clear any negativity from her mind and concentrated on counting the floors. She was on the third floor and it was the top floor of the building. Now that she thought about it, she was no longer in the apartment complex where she was supposed to visit an apartment.

Ichiyo looked back to the room where the majority of the girls were still staring at her, she thought it was selfish to try to run away alone, ignoring the plight of these girls who were surely going to be used in a pervert domain, but it was not pure selfishness because she was thinking of her sister not of herself.

She turned her eyes again, looking down for something that could cushion her fall, there was a hedge running along the sidewalk, but it was not very wide and in order to fall on it, she will have to bump into the two balconies below, which will surely be painful.

Going down from floor to floor was not an option because the distance between each balcony is large, Ichiyo was short in stature and had no knowledge of climbing or sports.

It was still dark according to the color of the sky, so she still had a chance to go find her sister where she left her, unless she slept for more than 24 hours which was unlikely.

Her heart pounded as she placed her hands on the railing, beginning to climb over it to begin her descent into hell. It was crazy, even crazier. Now that she was about to throw herself into the void, the fear of dying overwhelmed her, it is true that she had added this probability to her calculations, but she had not prepared herself psychologically to face death, which was encouraging was that she was not afraid of losing her life but if that happens, there will be no one to take care of Natsu.

A little courage swelled in her and it was enough for her to jump into the void. The fall was quick, so quick that Ichiyo didn't even have time to feel remorse or to guide herself, one thing is certain, it was that she did not fall gracefully, she bumped into the two balconies below before ending up on the sidewalk, not the hedge as she had expected. She tried to use the small amount of energy she had to move, but instead a current of pain ran through her whole body. She could feel the heat in her pounding head and her conscience was about to let go.

To say that she was in pain was too little to express what she was feeling, she felt that her whole being was being torn apart from within and that she was on the verge of passing out because she couldn't take the pain anymore. How was she going to be able to save her sister in this pathetic state? She was sure to die because she was too stupid to believe that a fall from three floors wasn't fatal.

Despite the deafening sound of her ears hissing, Ichiyo could hear someone talking, she couldn't make out the person's voice or what they were saying, but she forced her hazy eyes to look up, she managed to hardly make out the figure dressed all in black who looked at her intently.

"It's the devil." She whispered before passing out.


Waking up has never been so difficult for Ichiyo nor breathing anyway, her body was completely devastated with pain and her heart was overcome with fear, she couldn't move because her entire body was numb. Her tired eyes gazed at her surroundings with difficulty, and when her mind was functional, she found that she was in a hospital room, strapped to many devices.

"Natsu." Her sister invaded her current thoughts, which made her sad because she was unable to get close to her.

Despite her worry, she succumbed to sleep once more before waking up again from the commotion that surrounded her, when she opened her eyes again, rage washed over her when she saw the red haired woman who had kidnapped her arguing with a man dressed in black, they were both standing at the foot of her bed.

"You are not allowed to interfere with my work." The redhead screamed, her back turned to Ichiyo, so she couldn't see the expression on her face.

"At the last information, I was the one who cleaned up your shit." The man in black growled indifferently.

"No one asked for your help," The woman replied, apparently she was angrier because she turned up her voice. "My men were able to handle the situation."

"And where were your men when she almost killed herself?" The man's gaze turned to Ichiyo, as soon as he laid his eyes on her, his frown grew deeper, apparently noticing that she was awake.

The redhead did the same and turned to her, looking at her in surprise.

"We haven't finished this discussion, Akutagawa." She hissed before rushing for the exit.

Ichiyo couldn't understand what was going on, she was busy panicking rather than thinking, even after surviving the fatal fall, she had not escaped her captors. Her breathing quickened before she looked away from the man who still looking at her the same way. He scared her.

"You're still alive," He sneered after a long moment of silence, as if he was laughing at her. "You failed in your suicide, I brought you back from the dead."

"I didn't intend to die," Ichiyo answered with difficulty because her throat was very dry but she wanted to clarify her case. "Are you a doctor?" It was a dumb question because the man looked like he was young, besides with his dark look, he didn't seem to save people, but he was the one who apparently saved her.

"Of course not," He growled in an annoyed tone, as if being a doctor was a shame for him. "I'm the one who found you in your miserable condition after you crashed on the sidewalk, you almost fell on me."

Silence reigned once again, Ichiyo didn't know what to say to the man who was apparently one of the kidnappers, so arguing with him was a waste of time, instead, she examined her condition, her right leg was enlisted in a cast as well as her left arm, so it will be difficult for her to move, her head was wrapped in a bandage and a neck brace held her neck.

"If you didn't want to die, then why did you jump up?" He asked, pulling Ichiyo out of her thoughts.

"Because I wanted to run away." She replied, gritting her teeth so as not to insult the man, she was still in his hands, so it wasn't wise to piss him off, especially since he looked nervous by nature.

"It was predictable, don't tell me you thought you were going to be able to escape easily," He looked at her like she was mentally retarded. "Even though you survived the fall, you were unable to crawl a few inches due to the damage your body suffered."

"I had to do it," She said determinedly. "If I didn't..."

She paused, remembering the reason for her unwavering determination.

"Natsu." She whispered as everything fell apart for her, she didn't know what had happened to her sister since she was abducted.

The notion of time was lost to her, how many hours or days had she slept.

"I have to go." She said to herself because she had forgotten she had company.

As soon as she tried to sit up, the excruciating pain in her ribs increased, paralyzing her.

"It is not recommended to make sudden movements in your case, you have multiple rib fractures." The man pointed out, drawing Ichiyo's attention to himself.

"Let me go, I must go, it's urgent." She begged him breathlessly because of the pain that tortured her.

"Even if you are in good health, you will not leave," He declared with a firm tone. "Have you forgotten that you are the property of The Port Mafia?"

"I'm not owned by anyone, I've been kidnapped," She spat in anger. "I have to go save my sister or else she will die without me."

"I was wrong, you are not owned by The Port Mafia," He corrected as he moved closer to her, until he stood up beside her. "Your life is mine because I saved you from death."

The terrifying look he gave her froze her blood, but what she said next was much more terrifying.

"If I didn't save you, you would now be in a barrel in a state of liquid," He added. "You think someone other than me would have picked up a wreck and spent money to fix it."

"Why did you save me?"

"I was curious." He shrugged like it was a trivial thing. "But you didn't fully satisfy my curiosity, you jumped from the third floor because you wanted to run away, not to die, but I don't understand how you could have had this false hope."

"I was determined to join my sister." She cried, no longer able to contain her emotions.

"Determination," He hissed the word as if it were an important discovery. "Even determination does not give you the courage to face death."

"I wouldn't die," She moaned between sobs. "My sister needs me, I don't have the right to die."

"I will find your sister and put her in a safe place until you are healed." He said as he started to walk towards the door.

"Why? How can I trust you?" She asked alarmed.

"I am not a trustworthy man, but I'm a man who keeps his word," He stopped before he said that. "I always keep my promises."

Ichiyo watched the man walk out of the room in surprise, she didn't believe what he had just told her, but she couldn't help the little hope that rose in her, anyway she had no choice, she had to believe in him.