Creeping slowly through the vent, Ami could hear herself breathing. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her ragged breathing seemed to echo through the metal vent. Trying to control her breathing, she feared that someone would somehow hear her. She couldn't help but to be afraid that she would get caught. She knew it would be only a matter of time when that man would return to her room, and find her gone. Did he say how long he would be gone? Ami couldn't remember. But she knew that any minute she would hear them hollering and screaming, desperate to find her. She was their bargaining chip after all. Without her, they couldn't properly threaten her father. And Ami knew that she would never allow them to use her to do something like that to her father.
She hesitated briefly when the vent began to creak underneath her, the old material groaning at the new pressure it was experiencing. When she heard no response, she continued in her path. She wondered where the end of the vent would lead to. There had to be some sort of system that led it to the outdoor one right? There had to be. Most office buildings, especially the older ones that had these kinds of systems, had a large outdoor unit that connected it all. She mentally crossed her fingers, hoping that she was right.
It was awfully dark, and it took Ami a little bit to adjust her eyes to the darkness. The only light that poured in came from the individual compartments above each room. She made special care to avoid those areas, as they could easily give way to her, and she'd fall straight down. As she made her way above one of the rooms, she could hear the sound of voices coming from below. She looked down through the compartment door and saw a couple of guys sitting around a table, playing what looked like some sort of card game. She figured they were some of the other guys that had brought her here, and she crept steadily across the compartment. She could hear them talking and laughing about something, and paused long enough to hear what they were talking about.
She could see the man who had threatened her earlier, sitting there with his legs propped up on the table. "Nah, I don't think the boss man would mind it too much if I had a little fun with princess in there if she doesn't cooperate." Ami sat back. Boss man? He wasn't the boss? Well if he wasn't, who was and where was he?
"She looks like she'd be fun to have around. I wouldn't mind spending a few minutes alone with her myself." One of the men responded, and Ami swallowed thickly. She decided she no longer wanted to hear what they had to say, and continued in her journey.
The moment she'd dreaded finally came a few moments later, as she rounded a bend in the vent. Further down, from where she'd come from, she could hear the man's voice screaming, his voice echoing through the metal compartment. He hollered at his men for not knowing she'd gone missing, and ordered them to find her. She crawled a little more hurriedly, as she heard him shout to his men that she had to have escaped through the ventilation system. She turned to look over her shoulder as she heard the first shot, piercing the vent a couple of rooms away from where she was. Her eyes widened. They were going to shoot her down.
Not paying attention, she crawled forward, afraid that they would soon reach her, and crawled right over one of the compartments. The little door groaned and gave way under her body. She didn't have time to scream as she fell down to the ground below. Her body slammed down onto the desk below, and she rolled down onto the floor. Pain slammed into her as she grabbed her ribs, where she'd landed on the desk. She bit into her lip as she used the desk to pull herself up, trying to silence her cry's. The pain proved too much, and she slid back to the floor. She was determined that if she couldn't run out of here, she would at least try to hide, so they would at least have a harder time finding her.
Using her legs to push her, she scooted back against desk that she'd fallen on earlier, and scooted down into the leg space underneath it. Biting her tongue again as she reached forward and grabbed a nearby chair, and pulled it in front of her. She knew it wasn't that great of a hiding place, but it was all she had. The room she'd found herself in was much smaller than the other's she'd seen, likely a small private office for someone, and provided little coverage aside from the desk. She pulled her knees up to her chin, and held her ribs with one hand, and her knees with the other.
She could hear them scream at one another, and could hear the occasional gun shot from the person checking the ventilation system. The shots echoed down the hallway, and Ami could practically count down the rooms until they reached hers. She closed her eyes and rested her head on the tops of her knees, trying to steady her breathing as much as she could.
Down the other side of the hall, Ami could hear more men shouting, but they sounded different from the other men. She thought she recognized some of the voices, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Before she could question it though, she heard more gun shots popping off from both ends of the hallway. More screaming came from both sides, and Ami quickly brought her hands up to cover her ears. She had no idea what was going on. It sounded like a battle zone just outside the room she was in, and she didn't dare move a muscle.
The door to her room slammed open, and Ami held her breath as a man quickly rushed in. Gun shots continued to fire in the hallway, and the man stood briefly at the door frame, looking down the opposite side of the hallway. Who was it that had come in? It sounded like an all out war outside, and Ami highly doubted that they would fire on one another. But as she continued to question what in the world was going on, she heard a voice. A voice that brought tears to her eyes and a tidal wave of relief to her.
"Ami! Where are you?" She heard Kaiji's voice screaming from down the hall. He'd come! He'd come for her after all! She was so happy that she let out a little laugh, so happy that he was there now. The man by the door spun around upon hearing her, and made his way towards the desk. She slapped her hand over her mouth as he stormed over, and Ami knew that he knew she was there. The man came forward and yanked the chair away, practically throwing it across the room.
"Boss! I found her!" He shouted. He bent down and grabbed her ankle, pulling her out from the cover of her little shelter. She began screaming and slapping at him as he pulled her fully from underneath the desk. He came around and grabbed her by her hair, pulling her towards the door. Anger hit her as he pulled and yanked at her hair, and she swung her arm around, landing a punch firmly against his crotch. Served him right.
The man groaned in pain and crumbled to the floor, grabbing his crotch. Ami quickly gathered herself and went to stand up, but the pain in her ribs returned, and her eyes hazed over as she too crumbled to the floor not too far from him. She winced as she turned over, holding her side instinctively. The man recovered quicker than she would have expected, and threw himself on top of her, pinning her to the ground. She scratched and clawed at him to the best of her ability, but the pain in her side proved too much. The man smiled triumphantly down at her as he pinned her arms to the ground. But his head did something strange a second later. It disappeared.
The man flew off of her and crashed to the ground next to her, and as Ami quickly looked over, she understood why. Kaiji had come running through the door, and had thrown himself at the man, knocking him off of her. The two rolled about on the floor, fighting one another, as Ami looked on, stunned. She felt a quick breeze at her side, and Subaru quickly ran past her, running to help Kaiji. And it didn't take very long for the two to subdue the man, and Subaru handcuff him. Sora quickly followed into the room, and ran to Ami.
"Ami! Are you alright?" He asked worriedly.
She laughed weakly. "Boy am I glad to see you boys."
He gently touched the rope burn that was now quite visible on her wrists. "Glad we got here in time."
Sora smiled at her as she looked up to see Subaru leading the handcuffed man past her, and out the door. Kaiji quickly ran over and joined her and Sora on the ground. Without hesitation, he grabbed her and pulled her into his chest, crushing her against him.
"Oh thank god. Thank god you're alright." He whispered. His warm arms around her made her feel safe again, like she was home, and she hugged him tightly with one arm. She could have sworn she felt him trembling for a moment, but when he realized how he was holding her, he quickly cleared his throat, pushing back gently from her.
He smiled sheepishly at her and went to help her up, but when she squeaked at the pain in her side, he stopped. "Ami, what's wrong?"
"Oh it's nothing I'm sure. I hit my ribs on the desk when I fell through the vent."
"You fell through a vent?" Kaiji asked.
Sora laughed. "You were taken hostage, freed yourself, and went through the vent to escape? How freaking cool are you?! Man Ami, you've got some balls!"
"We need to take you to the hospital." Kaiji said, picking her up and carrying her out the door.
"You don't have to carry me, I can walk." She said sheepishly, embarrassed slightly.
Kaiji held her more firmly as they made their way down the hall, through the police that had apparently come in with them earlier. "I'm carrying you so deal with it." Ami smiled slightly at the stubborn sounding tone in his voice, and leaned her head and pressed it into his chest, relieved that it was all over with. For now at least.