Chapter 43
"How do you plan on doing that?"
Ruki stood with arms crossed in the doorway and peered at Azusa and Yui, who were knelt down to the floor and holding each other. Yui wasn't sure how long he had been standing there but clearly it had been long enough. She said nothing, but Azusa refused to stay quiet. He raised slowly from his knees and looked at Ruki, his violet eyes narrowed. "Why do you care..." he growled. A grimacing smirk played on the corner of Ruki's lips and he ignored Azusa's glare, instead catching eyes with Yui. His deep blue saucers said to her 'to get my baby back', his lips said nothing. Yui gazed back at him coldly. "You have an idea, don't you. Ruki." The grin widened and he nodded his head. A wave of hopefulness washed over the room.
Azusa and Yui sat at one side of the table, with Ruki their opposite. Tension was thick on Azusa's end, while Yui couldn't be bothered by brotherly feuds at such a desperate time. "You're only doing this... to torture me further." Azusa's nostrils flared and he huffed toward Yui, "this... is pointless. Come now-" But as Azusa reached for Yui's hand, she quickly yanked it out of reach. She turned to him with a serious glare and barked, "No! I don't know what to do, you certainly don't! P-please, just let him help for once." Her eyes were dark and pleading, Azusa was swimming in the desperation and sunk back into his seat. Defeated. It was both unsettling and even embarrassing to see her take charge in his eyes. Part of him deep down would have enjoyed it, if Ruki weren't there to spectate it all. "Are you done quarreling?" Ruki sneered. The couple both turned to him, avoiding eye contact, and nodded for him to proceed. Yui always submitted to him out of fear, and Azusa out of habit. "Now," Ruki said matter-of-factly, "I noticed that neither of you dimwitted dunces had the common knowledge to follow the person who abducted 'your' child." He smiled innocently before continuing, "This case is easier solved with common sense. Which luckily, I have enough of. I know where he is." Yui leapt from her seat, followed by Azusa who did only for the sake of staying close, and clawed at the table in front of her. A rush of excitement surged through her veins and she could feel all her hairs stand on end. "Where is he?" She squealed, "You really know, Ruki-kun? Please, don't drag this on." The energy running through her couldn't override the stillness she felt when Ruki gently placed his hand over one of hers, his smile now softening and becoming strangely genuine. She stared for answers in his eyes and received nothing in return. "On one condition," he teased. The blonde and the boy to her right both stiffened. Azusa finally said, "What is it..." But Ruki wasn't talking to Azusa, therefor he didn't answer him. His eyes stuck to Yui's and finally she breathed, "What is it that you want, Ruki-kun." He smiled and replied, "You. Only you and I will go, Azusa stays here."
Yui tried her best to avoid Azusa's sad gaze but to no avail. They were sad and swimming with shame. "You're... considering it..." he sighed. His head hung in his hands, his sleeves slipping down just enough to show off some of the deepest of his recent scars, and he stared down at the floor between his feet. He was sitting on her bed and though it was a sad sight, all Yui could focus on was the empty crib she was standing beside. Her eyes danced across the sheets, a speck of blood dried by where Noah's head had laid a day previous. She didn't know she could miss someone so much, to the point of physical sickness in the pit of her stomach. "I'm not considering it," Yui said. Her voice was strong. "I'm doing it." She finally tore her gaze from the crib to meet Azusa's sad eyes, removing herself from this reality and focusing more on the future with Noah sitting between them. That's all she could think of. "I hope you'll forgive me, Azusa-kun. But I need to leave. For Noah's sake."
The sound of the leaves crunching beneath her flats was painful when surrounded in the need for silence. Ruki was ignoring her but she knew he was annoyed with the small ping of her foot kicking a rock here, and her heel snapping a small twig there. He had sworn her into complete silence and she had agreed, whatever it took to bring her baby home. He had set out a few rules in fact. First was the most obvious which was, of course, Ruki was incharge. Secondly, Yui was not allowed to talk unless spoken to. Do not question Ruki, do not speak to Ruki, do not even breathe in his direction. And the third caught her by surprise. It was to trust him. Trust his decisions, his plan to bring the child back. Yui was just thankful he wasn't teasing her by dangling the words "my baby" in her face like he had before. It had grown from an annoyance to a horrifying reality that he could in fact be Noah's father. But, despite that disturbing thought, Ruki believed that and therefore was acting on it. Protecting Noah, unlike the father that Yui hoped was the biological one. Azusa. He had given up before they had even started. And she wondered after Ruki's small speech, just why Azusa hadn't followed their father. He surely had the skill, the speed, the wit. Maybe he wanted Noah gone. The thought was haunting, and she was left to drown in it during the promised silence.
They walked and walked, and walked, and walked until her feet felt like they were going to bleed. They had traveled paved roads, dirt roads, dirt paths, no paths, the whole lot. Yui began to question where they were going and thought perhaps Ruki had only lured her out here to finish her off himself, stripping her of her skin and yanking out her insides to live inside of her and feed on her blood for the rest of his days. She would scream for mercy and cry, just as she had done in his dungeon, and he would laugh at her pleas. That was the Ruki she had known and he was easily capable of more. But he was surprisingly calm as they walked, never uttering a harsh word or mocking her for clearly slowing down after an hour or so. Her legs were trembling, they were so tired. The new cut across her belly was aching. The first word spoken between them caused Yui to practically jump out of her skin. "Come," Ruki said. He had kneeled down and put his hands to his sides, motioning back to her for her to get on. Without a second thought, Yui had climbed onto his back and collapsed her entire weight onto the strength of his muscles. He adjusted her slightly before rising to his full height and boosting her about halfway up his back, causing the girl to lurch forward and put her chin onto his shoulder. She turned her head to the side and rested it on him, too exhausted to fight her better instincts. She felt the need to say something and it was like he had sensed it, for he simply said, "Stay quiet. We are getting close."
It was a mystery if she had fallen asleep or not, all that Yui knew is when she opened her eyes that she felt equally as exhausted as when they had closed but now the sun was beginning to rise. They had walked all night. Well, Ruki had. She could feel his grip was now loosened around her legs and her body had slipped down the small of his back, barely hanging onto his boney hips. He was clearly tired. "Ruki-kun," Yui whispered. He immediately released her legs and she dropped to the ground, her arms still hooked around his neck for support until she became conscious enough to pull them back to her sides. "Thank you-" she began before he urgently hushed her. She had only then noticed that he was crouching, hiding, behind the foliage and they were in fact in front of the Sakamaki mansion. "What are we doing here?" Yui whispered through the leaves. Ruki nudged her hard in the side, as if to say 'shut up!', before turning to her and mouthing, "Noah." Though her eyes had grown wide with lights of the name, her stomach sunk at the thought of the Sakamaki's. Even more so, Noah being trapped in there. Minutes passed, which felt like hours, and Yui could barely contain herself. She finally sprung to her feet when she felt a hand lay on her shoulder and a familiar voice chuckle lowly and then hiss, "Ah. I knew you'd be back."