A/N Forgot that I couldn't link things here. My username on Deviantart is Crimsn-Wolf; so just search that and you'll find my account. I'll be posting art of my 'fic there in the 'Broken Pieces' folder, as I mentioned before. Also, remember that when an entire passage is bolded, it means they are speaking in English.
Hey guys, sorry this took me so long to get out. I lost my motivation to write for awhile there, and then when I was about to start up again, my mother gave me ten days to get all of my stuff out of the house. She gave no reason, other than that I was a horrible selfish person and it was my fault that the bones she broke weren't healing as quickly as she would like. I am doing better now, because she is an extremely emotionally abusive person. I am currently living with my boyfriend at his parent's house until I can save up enough money to rent a place myself.
DISCLAIMER; I do not own Kaichou wa Maid-Sama! I only own my own original characters and the writing in this story.
Chapter 24; ...
Having been expecting him, Maki bows deeply to his master, "Hello, Igarashi-sama."
Tora dips his head in greeting, and walks through the door held open for him. "My plan is in motion. Gabriel Fortin will pay for hurting my princess." He glances up to see Maki smiling knowingly at him, and he gives a slight growl. "Oh, don't give me that look Kanade. Fine, I'll admit it out loud. I have fallen in love with the graceful heiress to the Royal Family. Now stop giving me that knowing smile, the truth has been outed. Are you happy now."
Maki covers his mouth with a hand as he laughs, "It is just nice to see you happy, Tora-sama. Now, shall we begin?"
Tora lets out a grumble, before sitting behind his desk and pulling a file out, "Yes, we shall."
/~;~\
Kaon studies Kailey from her seat across from her in the limousine. She notices the beginning of dark circles forming under the other girl's eyes, and a far-away look as she stares out the window. Kaon continues to study her for a few minutes longer, growing worried about what was going on. She pushes her troubled thoughts away and tries for Kailey's attention. "So, what do you think of Igarashi-san?"
Kailey looks at her with a startled expression, quickly covering it up with a serene smile, "What do you mean, Kaon-san. I find him to be a respectable person, and I admire the way he goes about his duties."
Kaon raises an eyebrow at her, giving a mischievous smirk, "Now, now, Kailey-chan. You should know by now that you don't have to pretend around me. I remember how you were when we first met, you can't fool me with the Game. How do you really feel about him? Just between us, it won't go beyond here."
Kailey studies her, searching her eyes and finding the shocking honesty held in their depths. She sighs, leaning back in her seat as she smiles ruefully. "Heh, that's an interesting question. What do I think of the little tiger? Well, I find him to be unbearably annoying at times, as well as rather pushy and perverse. He is good at what he does, but he plays around with people too much." Her voice grows quieter as she continues, "However, he seems to be changing as of late. He seems...kinder. More considerate towards people."
Kaon continues to stare at her, "That's all well and good, but how do you feel about him? Honestly?"
Kailey looks away from her, looking sad, "Heh, what I feel for him?" She looks up and makes eye contact with Kaon, "If you're asking me that, then you already have a suspicion about the answer. Is that correct?"
Kaon blushes slightly at being called out, "Uhh...Wow, Kailey-chan, you are one of the only people to catch on so quickly. You really are something. Yes, I suspect that I know the answer from watching you."
Kailey raises a dainty eyebrow expectantly, "And what is it you suspect?"
Kaon looks out the window with a small, genuine smile, "I suspect that you love him. No matter how much you fight against it, you know it's true. Correct?" She glances at her with a smirk.
Kailey sighs, smiling softly again, "Correct, unfortunately."
Kaon laughs slightly, "Unfortunately, you say? Why would you find it unfortunate? Regardless of what he likes people to believe, he really is a good person. I don't think you should find your love to be unfortunate."
Kailey shakes her head, looking down slightly, "Mmm..." She turns to look out the window again, not responding to her questions.
Kaon watches the girl, shaking her head slightly to herself, 'Jeeze, these two are hopeless.' For the rest of the ride to the mall, the girls sit in silence.
/~;~\
Kailey gets out of the limousine and stretches, waiting for Kaon to join her as the driver pulls away. Kaon makes her way over to her and the two head into the large cluster of buildings together.
"So, I think the two of us should go get our nails done and just have a spa day. Sound good to you, Kailey-Chan?" Kaon chirps, smiling up at Kailey with her sly signature smirk.
Kailey laughs, pushing thoughts of what she had to do out of her mind and drawing herself back to the present. "That sounds lovely, Kaon-san. We could also look at gowns and jewelry, seeing as the Igarashi Ball is quickly approaching."
"Oooh~! That's right, it's later this year since the Igarashi's wanted to make sure you were able to attend. It's at the end of this month, if I recall. We definitely need to look at gowns, then!" The small girl links her arm through Kailey's and starts pulling her through the mall.
The two make their way through multiple stores, trying on multitudes of different dresses and other clothes. Before long, they both had multiple bags and Kaon called her butler to come get the bags before they continued on.
Kaon's phone buzzes and she pulls it out, checking the screen and furrowing her brow slightly. "Hmm...Let's go to the spa now. It's getting later into the evening and I want to make the most of our time together."
Kailey gives her a look but just nods, "Okay, let's go, then. What colours do you want to get your nails done in?" They slowly make their way towards the luxurious spa shop in the mall.
"Hm...I was thinking of getting light blue. How about you?" She smiles up at the graceful heiress, expectantly waiting.
"I'm not sure. I've only really ever done clear coats. What colour do you suggest?" Kailey glances down at her, questioningly.
"Mmm, how about I choose the colour and it will be a surprise for you?" Kaon had a mischievous smile as she stared up at Kailey.
"Err, o-okay. That works, I suppose.." She stared at the girl with suspicion as they walked into the spa building.
/~;~\
Tora leans back in his chair, sighing violently. "Dammit all! I'm not finding anything useful here. It's like his records have been scrubbed clean of anything that could be used or viewed as even slightly inconvenient. For someone from such a low-tier family, he certainly seems to have high connections. I wonder who it is that is backing him...I doubt it is Kailey's father, for it is highly unlikely for a father to knowingly let his daughter be near a foul creature such as himself. Maki, what information did you find on those men who were following Kailey awhile ago? Before she was attacked by those worthless thugs?"
"I apologize, sir. We couldn't find any information on them. Once we got close, they disappeared. We haven't seen them since the attack." Maki bows in dismay, being unable to provide any helpful information.
"Dammit all!" Tora curses again, standing and throwing the papers off of his desk in one fluid motion. "I guess I'm going to have to confront this bastard more forwardly." He grabs his jacket from the back of his chair and yanks it on forcefully. "I am going home, Maki. See to it that things with the school are taken care of." he growls, storming to the door of the student council room and slamming it open.
Maki bows again, "Of course, Tora-sama."
/~;~\
Kailey sighs, content as the man massaged her sore shoulders. "This was a magnificent idea, Kaon-san. It's nice to just relax for awhile."
She laughs, "See, what did I tell you? This is the best spa in Japan! They are very efficient, too."
As the girls were getting massaged, the manicurists were doing their nails. Kaon had chosen the colours for both of them, seeming very happy with the freedom Kailey had given her to choose for her. Kailey didn't even know what the colour that had been chosen for her was, and she was starting to think that she should be worried.
The two of them lapse into silence again, just enjoying the sensations of the spa. Kailey begins to think to herself again, focusing her attention back on the problems at hand. She sighs inwardly, 'What am I going to do? Things with Tora...that stupid tiger. If he finds out that he finally won...' She sighs inwardly again. 'But what if...No, it is just an act. It's only ever an act. People only ever get close to you if they have something to gain or to get something from you. They take and take and take, until there is nothing left. So no, my feelings can never came to his attention. I can't take that betrayal again. It would just be safer to stay to myself. His actions are purely to trick me into thinking he actually cares about me. It can't be anything but that...Right?' She winces slightly as her shoulders tense up, causing the massage to become slightly uncomfortable. She tries to relax her muscles again, still lost in thought. 'How can you know when the feelings someone is showing you are true? It's easy enough to put on a face to get what you want or need. I should know, I've been doing it for my whole life. If you can't pretend, you can't survive in my world. Heh, when did I gain such a bleak outlook on the world? Have I always been like this? No...Not always. Mom...That's what really changed everything, isn't it?'
/~;~\
Tora walks into the mansion, eyes searching for the orange-haired bastard he was seeking. He notices his mother walk out of the side room and make her way towards him, her expression impassive. "Tora-san, it is unusual to see you here without Kailey-san. Where is she?" There was an edge to his mothers' voice belying her worry.
Tora gives her a slight smile, "She is currently spending time with Kaon-san. They are having something of a 'girl's day', from what I heard of the planning. I plan on retrieving her soon and taking her to have dinner with me." He gave her a look that spoke his true meaning. He was going to get her to keep her away from the mansion as long as he possibly could. He knew his mother was suspicious of Gabriel already, but he wasn't going to go into details unless he had to. Unfortunately, the snake had to bite before his mother could really do anything about it. Without proof, making accusations would destroy a family name if one was not careful.
"Ah, but of course. Fortin-san is currently in his room, doing research for his father. I have business to attend to, as does your father. We will be..out..for awhile." Mineko gave her son a pointed look, before bowing to him and leaving the mansion. His father had already been waiting outside in one of their limousines for his wife to join him.
Tora stretches his muscles after his mother has left, making his way for the stairs. "Lovely."
/~;~\
Tora pounds on the door to Gabriel's room, waiting for the man to answer so he could confront him. He wanted to get him to leave before going to get Kailey. There wasn't a delicate way to get rid of the parasite, so Tora was out of any other options. The ginger man opens the door and Tora pushes his way into the room with a harsh glare turned on the other male. "Stay away from her." His face has taken on an impassive and cold expression, and he puts as much malice as he can into his words.
Gabriel smirks at him, "What's wrong, tiger boy? I am merely in Japan to scout out a building site for my father's firm. What is it you are wanting from me?"
Tora narrows his eyes as he glares at the man, "Finish your business here and leave." He turns his back to the man and leaves the room, catching Gabriel's last words as the door shuts behind him.
"Oh don't worry, I plan on taking what I came for very soon..."
/~;~\
Kaon stands, waiting for Kailey to finish getting dressed again. When the tall blonde walks out of the changing room, the small girl smirks up at her. "Okay, now you can look at your nails~!"
Kailey sighs before looking down at her nails, before snapping her mouth closed as she looks at the colour. Kaon had chosen a deep amber colour that seemed to change shades when she moved her hands in the light. "Kaon..."
The other girl laughs slightly, seeming very pleased with herself. "I thought you might like the colour~ It goes well with your new dress and heels." She gestures to what Kailey was now wearing. They had decided to change into some of the new clothes they had bought.
Kailey sniffs, "I suppose it does go...What next?" Kailey was dressed in an elegant dress made of black silk and a pair of amber heels and earrings to go with it. With the colour of her nails, it really drew the entire ensemble together. "I still don't understand why you wanted me to change into this, specifically."
The other girl was dressed in a baby blue party gown with strappy silver heels to go with it. She had ended up getting her nails painted silver instead of blue, so it would better match her dress. She just laughs, taking Kailey by the arm and guiding her towards the door.
As they exit, Kailey turns slightly pink, her eyes widening a fraction as she sees Tora standing in front of the store, dressed in a nicer suit than usual. As Kaon releases her arm, she smirks at Kailey. "I had fun today, Kailey-chan. Let's do this again sometime. Bye!" And just like that, the girl ran off into the mall.
Kailey turns to look at Tora, "Uhh..H-hello again, Tora-kun. I wasn't expecting to see you here."
Tora noticed that she was avoiding eye contact with him, and he smiles slightly. He was still trying to settle his anger after the conversation with Gabriel. It hadn't gone how he expected at all, but he realized at the last minute that he couldn't resort to violence. At least not yet. "Hello, my princess. I decided to pick you up myself. I figured the two of us could have dinner together somewhere, if that is alright with you?"
She nods, smiling slightly at him as she finally met his eyes. "That sounds lovely, Tora-kun. Did you have a particular place in mind?"
He links her arm with his and the two begin to walk out of the mall and to his waiting limousine. "I thought we might go to Jtu-von-zte. I hear it has an excellent selection of Kombucha and steak."
Kailey smiles at him, laughing slightly, "I see. Well, that sounds like a wonderful idea."
The two of them sit in the limousine and talk about meaningless things as they are taken to the restaurant, just wanting to talk to each other. Tora watches Kailey, happy to see some of the colour has returned to her skin. She was still obviously exhausted, and Kaon had told him that she had been unable to get the heiress to eat anything. Tora hoped the prospect of well-cooked steak would appeal to her.
The finally arrive at the restaurant and Tora opens Kailey's door for her, taking her hand and helping her out. When they are both standing, he raises her hand to his face and brushes his lips across the top of her hand. "I must say, that is a very nice colour you got put on your nails." He noticed that the colour was like that of his eyes, and he smiles softly.
Kailey brushes brightly, as Tora guides her into the restaurant and they are taken to their seats, "Yes, well, thank you. Kaon chose it. I-it is a very pretty colour. I also seem to find myself getting caught up in the depths of it." After realizing what she said, she turns crimson as she stares into his amber eyes.
He laughs softly, holding her gaze, "I can understand. That is how I feel about such a deep green colour. It's entrancing." He makes his meaning clear as he stares into her eyes, and she finally looks away with a clearing of her throat.
"R-right! Well, we have to choose what we are going to have for dinner." She flusteredly opens her menu and starts looking through it.
Tora chuckles softly to himself, pulling his own menu out and looking through it. They both order and spend the next two hours together in the restaurant, with him teasing her relentlessly as he tries to lift her spirits some. She eats a little bit of the meal over the two hours, but still not enough to make him worry any less. After awhile, the two of them pack their things up and head back to the mansion. The closer they get, the quieter and more somber they both become.
Tora helps Kailey out of the limousine and together the two of them make their way into the mansion slowly, quietly. Much to their surprise, Gabriel isn't lying in wait for their return. 'Hm...' Tora thinks to himself, 'What is that bastard up to? Is he finally giving up and going back to England?' Wearily, Tora leads Kailey up to her room. "Would you like me to come in with you and we could study our lines together?"
Kailey smiles tiredly at him, looking drowsy, "If it's alright with you, I would like to go to sleep. Thank you, though, for tonight. I enjoyed having dinner with you. I will see you in the morning, for school?"
She smiles at him, and his heart speeds up slightly, "Of course, my love. Have a good rest, I will see you in the morning." He brushes his lips across her forehead, leading her into her room, making sure to look around casually to make sure Gabriel wasn't hiding somewhere. After he was confident she was okay, Tora smiled at her one more time and turned to leave for his own room. Much to his surprise, he feels her arms wrap around him and draw him into a hug.
'Even if he doesn't return my feelings, I am still happy to spend what time I can with him. Even if it was fake, I'll cherish the moments I had with him. Tora, I'm sorry...' she thinks to herself, wrapping her arms around him from behind and hugging him tightly, nuzzling her head in between his shoulder blades before letting go and backing away. He turns and looks at her, surprise and what almost looked like fondness in the depths of his eyes. "Good night, my little tiger." She smiles brightly, before stepping forward onto her tiptoes and kissing him on the cheek. Before he has a chance to respond, she pushes him out of the door and shuts it behind him. Sighing, she heads into her bathroom to change into more movable clothing.
'She kissed me...That's new. Is she finally coming to terms with her feelings?' He thinks to himself as he stumbles to his room in a daze, hand on the spot that she had kissed. 'Maybe I am close to winning her over. I will do anything I can to protect her...' He gets undressed and crawls into bed, falling asleep with thoughts of Kailey on his mind.
/~;~\
Hours after every else has gone to bed, Kailey gets up and goes over to the mirror to look herself over. She was wearing a set of black clothing that was form-fitting, but not constricting. She sighs and quietly makes her way out of her room, clicking the door silently closed behind her. She makes her way down the hall towards Gabriel's room, muscles tensed and ready for action. 'It's time to suck it up and get over my fear. He will not control me anymore.' Steeling her nerves, she lightly raps her knuckles on the door. Within a moment, Gabriel opens the door with a smirk and gestures into his room. Watching him closely, she walks into the room and turns to face him quickly so her back is not to him.
He shuts and locks the door behind him and slowly makes his way towards her, "I knew you couldn't resist me, little flower. Coming willingly into my embrace? I must say, that takes a lot of the fun out of it. I suppose your body is worth it, though. I'm sure I can find other ways to make it more fun for me." He starts to take his clothes off, but Kailey fixes him with an icy gaze.
"I am here to end this. You are going to finish your father's business in Japan, and then you are going to leave the Igarashi Mansion, thanking them for their hospitality. I am not your plaything anymore, Gabriel. You will leave me and this family alone, or I will make you pay." Inside, she was utterly terrified, but she was keeping her terror and shakiness under control.
He smirks darkly, suddenly lunging into her and throwing her down on his bed, pinning her roughly beneath him. "Oh-hoh, it seems you have more of a backbone now. That's going to make things so much more fun. Especially since I'm going to send that stuck-up heir detailed descriptions and pictures of everything I do to the one he loves oh-so dearly."
Kailey's face furrows in slight confusion, as she struggles to get out from under him, her terror suppressed for the moment. "W-wait, but he-"
She is cut off as Gabriel shoves his arm down on her throat, choking her. "Oh my, are you really that dense, little flower? Yes, the great and powerful Igarashi heir is madly in love with you, my dear. Can you imagine how much it is going to hurt him to see what I plan on doing to you this time?" He laughs maliciously, savouring her look of horror as she realized what he was saying.
He lifts his arm slightly, as she struggles to speak, "You bastard!" She snarls at him, spitting in his face, she tries to break free from him. She had planned on confronting him and forcing him to leave, fighting him if she had to. She hadn't thought he would be able to so easily disarm her. She didn't expect him to use her against Tora.
He slams his fist against her cheek, jerking her head to the side. As she stops struggling, dazed from the blow, he lifts her up by the collar of her shirt and drives his fist into her stomach. She lets out a whimper as the blow sends her backwards back onto the bed. "You stupid little flower. Did you really think you stood a chance against me? Just because you are a few years older doesn't mean you've suddenly become some all-powerful being. You can't fight against me, and I'll use you up until you can no longer move. You thought you were in the hospital for a long time before? Well, there isn't going to be enough of you left to put in a hospital. Even better, I will get to break that smug little heir as he is forced to watch the love of his life suffer wounds and violations by me." He walks over to his closet and gets rope and a bag out of it as she lays dazed on the bed, before walking back over to her and beginning to tightly bind her. "You know, I would have been easier on you if it hadn't been for your love coming and threatening me earlier tonight. You can thank him to the upgrade to the rest of your life."
Realizing she doesn't have a chance of fighting him off now, she opens her mouth to scream. Before she has a chance to let out more than the first note, Gabriel covers her mouth with his hand as he reaches for a cloth with his other hand. "Ah-ah-ah, little flower. We can't have you bringing the house down on us, now can we?" He replaces his hand with the cloth, and covers her nose and mouth. She tries to struggle away from the cloth, but she rapidly grows drowsy and the world fades to blackness.
/~;~\
Tora blearily opens his eyes, and sits up in his bed. He looks around drowsily, trying to figure out what it is that had woken him up. Suddenly, Tora jolts out of bed. He realized what it was that had woken him. He had heard the start of a scream. Kailey's scream. He rushes out of his room in a hazy fog, throwing open her door and throwing on the light. The room was empty. Jerking around, he races down the hall towards Gabriel room and slams the door open. Looking inside, he freezes.
Having heard his rushing around, Mineko and Suezo run up the stairs towards where Tora stands in front of the open door. Upon reaching his side, Mineko gasps and her hands fly up to her mouth in shock. Suezo stands, a furious expression on his face. The room was in disarray, and on the wall above the bed there was something meticulously written in blood. Tora seethed in rage, as he stared up at the words. The line was short and to the point.
"Do you know where your Princess is?"