Like a Cloud in the Wind

By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl

Chapter 13 – The Waking, The Living, and The Dead

– Kyoya –

As I had suspected, Koharu was waiting for me when I arrived. Though, she still looked mad. I was reserved to being mad as long as she was. I wouldn't be the first one to break. "Well?" she asked after I was silent for a while, "Going to announce that my cousin's dead?" Her tongue was set stubbornly in her cheek. I shook my head and looked away from her. I should have just left without her. "Kyoya, you gave up." Still, I ignored her. "If you're just going to ignore me I'm going home." She stood, making way to leave, but I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, sitting her down. She glared at me.

"Would I ever bring you to an airport if we weren't going somewhere?" I asked bitingly, crossing my arms over my chest as I stared out the window. She huffed and rolled her eyes.

Several minutes of impatient waiting and watch-checking later, I stood and took hold of her elbow, pulling her with me toward the boarding dock. A small 2-passenger plane was waiting for us on the runway to take off. She scoffed lightly when I helped her climb into the small airplane, seeing as she almost tripped though it was a good thing I had.

She settled herself, starting to ignore me all together once more. That was fine with me. Let her be mad. As soon as she realized that Kaydence might just be saved and that I hadn't given up, she'd be perfectly fine again.

–

We were minutes away from landing when Koharu finally spoke civilly to me. "Kyoya," she murmured. I, thinking she was going to insult me again, ignored her. She sighed softly. "Kyoya, look at me."

"Why?" I muttered stubbornly, childishly even.

She huffed in exasperation. "Kyoya, I'm sorry." She tried to take my hand but I pulled my hand out of her reach, forever staring out the port hole that was positioned nicely next to me. "I'm sorry," she repeated. "Honestly, will you talk to me? Please?"

"What do you want me to say?" I asked her softly, starting to slip in the resolve that I'd built up against her.

"Anything," she murmured, "I just don't want to be mad anymore. And I don't want you to be mad at me, either."

I sighed and turned to face her. "I'm not mad. Insulted maybe, but not mad," I said quietly. She smiled and took my hand. I hesitated for a moment. "When we get there, I want you to stay in the car," I stated carefully.

Her smile instantly turned to a frown. "I still don't even have a clue where we're going. And why should I stay in the car?" She sounded slightly annoyed.

Again, I hesitated. "After you stormed out, Arisa stopped by," I mumbled. Her grip on my hand tightened considerably. "I know where Kaydence is, Koharu. And I don't want you to get hurt by Tate on accident. So, please, stay in the car." She pursed her lips into a fine line. "It's not that I don't think you can defend yourself," I corrected myself quickly, "It's that... I... care about you. If you got hurt, I'd blame myself."

She was silent, staring off into space for a while. And then she sighed in consent. "I understand," she whispered. I smiled softly and brought her fingers to my lips.

– Koharu –

"There's something else," Kyoya said after he lowered my hand once more. I gave him a quizzical look, incredibly happy that he wasn't mad, yet, slightly resenting his request that I stay in the car. "No matter what happens to me in that warehouse, no matter what you hear, stay in the car." His eyes were solemn when they met mine. I felt my face pale. No. He wasn't seriously implying that he was going in there and that something might happen to him.

"Kyoya?" I whispered, voice shaking. He looked down. "You aren't seriously going in there are you?" He nodded, refusing to meet my eye. I shook my head furiously. "You can't. He'll kill you."

"I know what I'm doing, Koharu," he stated evenly. I knew I wouldn't win this argument. It was already over in his mind and it wouldn't be changed. He was way too determined. Way too stubborn. I was suddenly fearful for him.

"We're about to land. Seatbelts please," the pilot shouted back to us. I sighed and held back my protests, tugging my seatbelt over my shoulder. We descended, Kyoya's hand squeezing mine lightly in silent reassurance that he'd be fine.

I didn't believe it.

Someone was going to get hurt. He couldn't even try to tell me no one would. And there was a one out three chance that it would be him. Two out three that it would be someone I cared about.

– Kyoya –

My phone started vibrating in my pocket right after Koharu and I were out of the plane, causing me to reach in to grab it.

I figured it was Layne again. He'd been calling me repeatedly, trying to get more information on Kaydence. I sighed, figuring it was better if I answered him now. "Layne, shut up and let me work," I muttered with annoyance, "I'm not about to give up on her again." I took Koharu's hand and pulled her with me toward the terminal. She rolled her eyes at the mention of her uncle.

It wasn't Layne. "Is that so, Ohtori?" Shireston's voice growled angrily. This probably meant that he knew Kaydence had called me. That wasn't good. I wanted to snap his neck suddenly. Or strangle him. Any form of his neck being in my hands would suffice.

"Shireston, I'm sending you to rot in jail," I bit out in a low voice. Hell, if I ever got my hands on him I'd do more than throw him in jail. Koharu stiffened at the mention of his name. She stared me in the eye, I stared right back with a frown set on my face.

"Better hurry. A little birdy just told me that Kaydence's death date just got moved forward 12 hours," he spat. I could practically hear the rage in his voice. Kaydence wouldn't last long against him if he was in that angry state. He hung up on me after saying that.

"Kaydence is in trouble," I muttered, slipping my phone back in my pocket. Koharu ran a hand through her hair, exhaling slowly. She looked like she was thinking about something pretty damn hard. She leaned against me slightly, biting her lip, as we swept through security with amazing speed. We found a car waiting for us with slight amazement. I'd half-expected that I'd have to flag down a taxi. "Retired saw mill. Step on it," I directed to my driver. He nodded and stepped carefully on the gas.

We were on our way.

– Koharu –

I bit my lip worriedly, as I'd been doing frequently over the last few weeks. Kyoya was really going into that warehouse. And when he did, he might never come out. I felt as if a huge weight had suddenly been pushed on me, suffocating me, pressuring my ribcage to collapse. It was fear. A terrible fear that he and Kaydence – two of the people I cared about the most – wouldn't make it out. That I'd find them as corpses drowning in their own blood instead of living humans, drinking in the life that they'd been given like parched mammals by a river.

I wasn't worried about myself. Not in the least.

A small sigh directed my attention from the urban landscape that was passing by. I turned to look at Kyoya, once again feeling fright grip my heart as I looked into his onyx eyes. "I don't want you to go," I whispered, unable to keep my mouth shut any longer.

"I'll be fine," he murmured in reply, "Trust me. I'll come back to you, Yoshiiva Koharu" Hearing the full name he knew for me made me realize that he didn't really know who I was. He didn't know that I was Koharu Veddette, oldest daughter of the Veddette family. Though, Koharu Yoshiiva was a name I could use, my mother's, it wasn't really the right one.

He was running into danger and he might never know the truth. "You should know something," I mumbled, lowering my gaze to my hands. "Just– Just in case."

"And what would that be?" he replied, revealing his signature smirk.

I swallowed briefly before closing my eyes and opening my mouth. "Koharu Veddette." I opened my eyes and looked into his.

"What?" he asked, confusion flitting briefly in his eyes before a spark of realization took hold in replacement.

"My name... is Koharu Veddette. I'm the oldest daughter of Yamato Veddette and Kyoko Yoshiiva. I registered under my mother's name so people would befriend me because who I was and not what my name was," I said quietly. He was looking at me oddly, something between amusement and relief in his eyes. "I wanted you to know. Just in case you..." I trailed off. I couldn't finish that statement as I turned my eyes back to my hands.

Kyoya plus death equals? Error! Error! Does not compute!

A soft laugh escaped his lips and grew louder until I finally looked up to find him wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "Koharu," he said, still trying to stifle his insane laughter, "I'm glad you finally told me, but, it doesn't matter to me what your name is."

I stared at him a moment before realizing, he was right. My original goal for registering under Mom's name had succeeded. He liked me, for me. Not because I was part of the family that owned one of the largest transportation manufacturing companies. I felt myself sigh with relief and start laughing with him as we came in view of a towering saw mill.

My laughter died down immediately, being filled with absolute fear once more.

– Kyoya –

Police cars surrounded the mill and the two warehouses that were close to it. Koharu's eyes grew troubled and worried as soon as she saw it. I knew very well that I might lose my life trying to save Kaydence. I was prepared for it, even. As we rolled up the road that would put us in front of the warehouse, I pulled her to me, pressing my lips to her temple. "I'll be fine," I breathed. She nodded as I squeezed her tightly. "Did I ever tell you why Kaydence ran out?" I added suddenly, surprising myself even.

"No."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. We were coming up on the mill fast, so I either had to tell her quickly or tell her later. Either way, she deserved to know. "Kaydence... kissed me. And she didn't want to explain or she couldn't at the time. So, she walked home. I let her. That's why your uncle blames me for this."

She was silent, bobbing her head in thought. I squeezed her again. Her lips twitched gently upward before tugging themselves back down into that solemn blank look she'd been holding since the plane ride.

The car came to a stop. I pulled her out of the car with me. When I said, 'stay in the car,' I'd really meant, 'stay outside,' as she probably knew already. I could barely contain my hate for Shireston at that moment as I pursed my lips grimly. I was going to take him down if it killed me, and it might.

I was stopped in my stride toward the yellow tape that surrounded the entire area by an officer. Civilians crowded around the edges of the roped off area, whispering about what might be happening. No one really knew. Layne had specifically kept this story out of the news the best that he could, though now, I could see news cameras among those in the crowds. "Sir, we found the Smires guy in warehouse one, but the rest of it seems to be barren."

I felt my jaw clench, both in anger and annoyance. Smires. Just hearing that damn name made my blood boil. It reminded me who had originally kidnapped Kaydence, even if they hadn't been the ones behind the entire plan.

Then, I caught sight of him being lead to a car in handcuffs. I ran over with fire burning in my eyes, stopping his two escorts in their tracks when I pinned him against the car. "Where is she, Smires?" I growled. I was vaguely reminded of my dream, a slight fear fluttering in my stomach before I put a damper on it.

"Who? Your girlfriend? I haven't a clue," he sneered in response.

I glared at him and proceeded to pull the gun out of it's holster on a nearby officer's belt. The officer jumped, glancing at me with a surprised look. "I'll ask you again, where is she?" I asked venomously, holding the barrel to his chin, much like I had in my dream. "Where are Kaydence and Shireston, Smires?"

He merely cackled, "You'll never find her. You'll be too late." I felt my blood pressure rise in the slightest. Two hands found their way around the gun and pried it from my grasp before I could retort. I turned to look at Koharu, annoyance clearly set on my face.

"Kohar–."

"I won't have you becoming a murderer," she whispered fiercely, interrupting my comment. "I won't have it, dammit. I know he knows where Kaydence is, but I won't have you turned into a murderer just to get it out of him!" She gave me this searing look. I could, in all reality, manipulate the information out of him much like I had with Alrod.

The thing was, I didn't have that much time. Kaydence was in trouble now.

"Where is she?" I asked again, forcing my voice to stay steady and calm. "I'm honestly prepared to make sure you don't get the death sentence if you tell me."

Again, he laughed. "That in love with her, eh? So bloody in love with her that you'll let a murderer who was supposed to be executed years ago hide from death again?" I glared, curling my hands into fists and then releasing them repeatedly. Koharu looked away from us.

"Don't play games with me, Smires," I spat, "Where are they?" This time, it was an officer who held the gun to his side.

"If you're smart, you'll answer him," Chief Takamura muttered in his ear. I smirked. The right Chief of Police had been chosen for the Ohtori Secret Police. I stared at Arthur hard, pressuring him with my gaze to tell us.

"You don't have to be a murderer, Smires. But if you don't tell us where they are, you'll be just as much of a murderer as Shireston. You'll feel the guilt of her death twice as much as you felt your wife's." I spat the last word, making the biggest impact I could on him. I thought it worked. His gaze shot to mine.

"I didn't mean... To kill her," he muttered, looking slightly ashamed even though his eyes were hard as ice. He didn't say anything after that.

"Dammit! Where are they?" More anger rised in my chest. Koharu closed her eyes out of the corner of my eyes. I didn't want to go in there and blindly search. That would just increase my chances of getting killed by Shireston. Smires smirked and kept his mouth shut smugly.

"Kyoya," Koharu said, pain panging in every word she spoke, "Go. Find her." I gazed at her for a moment and nodded. "And for God's sake, come back safely," she added, handing over the pistol she'd previously taken from my hands.

"I will," I murmured, easily sliding my hand around the weapon's grip. I turned to the Chief, "Make sure this bastard gets the death penalty," I growled in a low voice. He nodded.

"Will do, Boss!" I heard him call out as I ducked under the tape and ran toward the building.

–

It was quiet in the warehouse. Surprisingly, so. A few boxes and crates were scattered all over the place, leftovers from what the mill had been. There wasn't a scrap of rat droppings anywhere that I could, much to my surprise. Light coats of saw dust were flickered all over the place, again, reminders of what the place had once been.

I strode in cautiously, carefully holding the gun aloft and aimed toward the ground, finger off the trigger. There wasn't even the sound of light voices. I could feel my heart beating rapidly in anticipation. I was just waiting for Shireston to pop out. Waiting for him to jump out from behind a crate and shoot at me.

But nothing happened. There were no doors besides the one that I'd just come through. No doors to other rooms. No other exits. There were large loading docks, but those were hardly easy to lift. There wasn't even a damn door that led to a basement or something.

Was it at all possible that she'd already been moved? I scanned the room more carefully, taking in everything that was there, even pushing aside a few boxes. I frowned. Something wasn't right here. This room... It seemed a bit too small. I ran along the walls, searching for some clue of a secret door, heart still racing.

Ah ha! My jacket caught on a seam in the wall, invisible to the naked eye. I examined it closely and found that it was a small notch for a secret door. Carefully, I slid my fingers into it and pulled at it. It easily gave way, opening up to a hallway which, after flicking a light switch planted in the wall, I saw that it gave way to a flight of stairs. I crept toward them, holding up the pistol with two hands.

Voices were coming from down there. A male and a female. The voices echoed off the walls, making it hard to pinpoint where exactly they were.

I started running with light footfalls. "...do this. You don't need to enact revenge for them," the girl's voice floated up as I reached the bottom. Kaydence.

It was another hallway. There were four doors, two of which were open. I marched toward the first one, keeping as quiet as possible as I listened to the conversation Kaydence and Shireston were having. "Shut up!" Shireston's voice screamed as I flew around the corner of the first open door. My heart sped up slightly but there was nothing. "I am going to kill you because you betrayed me by calling Ohtori. You betrayed my trust, Malronda! Your entire family has betrayed me! You deserve to die just for that fact!"

The scream, had come from the second open door, then, I decided quickly. "Any last words?" Shit! I heard a muffled sob. Kaydence! The image I'd had of her lying in a pool of her blood with a bullet in her head from my dream shot back into my mind. I froze right outside the open door. I peeked around the edge.

Kaydence was on her knees in front of Shireston, tears streaming down her face, looking like she was ready to die. Her face turned away from him, from me. She was giving up. She didn't think anyone would be able to save her. His gun was pointed straight between her eyes.

I crept around the door, fully revealing myself to anyone who was facing the door, which Shireston was not. I aimed at the back of his head. There was a chance I'd miss. I'd only ever used a gun once before, of course.

"I expected more from you. Kaydence," Shireston's voice breathed out.

I didn't even think about what I was doing. For once in my life, I acted on instinct instead of logic. On my heart instead of mind. And what is it that I did in that one second that Shireston whispered those words while holding a gun to my friend's head?

I pulled the trigger.

– Koharu –

It was silent as I stared at the warehouse. Completely, utterly silent. I clutched the front of my jacket in worry. Tachibana was gripping my arm, probably under Kyoya's orders, to keep me from running in after him even though my heart wished to.

It was painstakingly quiet for 10 minutes. Ten retched minutes of waiting in a silence that was threatening to steal away my voice with it. So that I might join the silence.

Then, just as I was about to breath a sigh of relief that everyone was fine, I heard a loud BANG!

I heart stopped and my eyes widened. "Kyoya," I whispered, fear seizing my heart once more and making me almost hysterical. "Kaydence."

Before Tachibana could even think to react I broke free from his grasp and ducked under the tape, running straight toward the warehouse with no weapon and no concern for my own safety whatsoever. "YOSHIIVA-SAN!" Tachibana yelled from behind me.

I ignored him and kept running.

– Kyoya –

I could have sworn that I heard a double shot. That, perhaps, Shireston had shot Kaydence at the same time that I had shot him. Shireston fell forward at the same time she dropped backward, his body falling on top of hers and his handgun slipping from his grasp toward the floor. My heart stopped, seeing them.

I knew Shireston was dead. I'd shot him at the base of the neck. But, Kaydence. Kaydence was still. Way too still. Way too eerily still.

And there was too much blood for me to decipher whether it was all Shireston's or if she was hurt as well.

She was just laying there, still and seemingly lifeless. My nightmare came rushing back as I strode farther into the room. Toward her. "Kaydence?" I called softly, pulling Shireston's feet to drag his lifeless body, eyes still wide open, out of the way so I could get her.

"Kaydence!"

– Kaydence –

It was a soft voice that jerked me out of my mindless, floating state. A voice that told me I wasn't, in fact, dead. That I hadn't been shot through the head like the previous situation had insinuated. "Kaydence?" There was a heavy weight on me but I dared not open my eyes to see what it was. Soon, it was removed. "Kaydence!" I knew this voice but all I knew in my muddled state was that it was the prince. He had finally arrived to save the damsel in distress.

I released the breath that I hadn't known that I'd been holding, cautiously opening my eyes to stare up into the worried onyx orbs looking down on me.

Surprisingly, he hadn't fallen to his knees yet. There was something warm on my face and I carefully, as though I hadn't moved my arm in such a long time that I didn't know how to, reached up to touch it. When I pulled my fingers away to look at it I let out a choking sob.

Blood. It was blood. Certainly not mine. But it was someone's.

He fell to his knees at last as I sat up and looked around me wildly, trying to take in all that was around me and all the information that it presented.

A body in the corner, a hole in its head, blood soaked straight into the fabric of its jacket. A river of red from where said body had been dragged across the floor. Red speckled white t-shirt on my own body. To the teenage boy kneeling in front of me, his knees in a shallow pool of blood.

That's when I recognized the body as I stared at it. Tate Shireston. My friend, my brother, my haven, dead. His, once beautiful blue eyes, staring at nothing. Tears stung at the corners of my eyes as the teenager called my name again. "Kaydence!" I looked up at him, salty bitter tears falling down my cheeks. My body converting to hysterics as it had before.

"Kyoya," I breathed, clutching his arms and pulling myself toward him. He helped, pulling me closer, both our arms shaking slightly. "You came," I mumbled, sobbing softly into his jacket, "I-I told him you'd come."

"Of course I did," he murmured in reply as I clutched the back of his coat as if I was clinging onto life itself. I was safe in his embrace. I was safe and no one could hurt me. "Couldn't let you get slaughtered by that insane bastard, could I?" I giggled a little through my tears and pulled away, wiping my eyes in the process. As I looked at him, I was struck by a sudden realization. I'd lied to him back at the ball. All this time, all I'd thought about was him and everything that had widened our friendship over the last year. Just him.

"Kyoya, I... I lied to you," I stammered, staring at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked gently, soothing my traumatized mind in a way only a doctor's son could. He pushed my hair behind my ear. I felt warm in the face and hoped that I wasn't red.

I opened my mouth to speak but a yell from outside stopped me. "KYOYA!" A second later a very familiar female face flew in front of the door. Kyoya spun around, staring at her with a look of annoyance and slight shock in his eyes.

"Koharu," he said quietly as I gasped under my breath in realization. Koharu. My cousin Koharu. "I thought I told you to stay outside, no matter what you heard." Concern wrapped its way into his voice, though he tried to control it.

She gave him this look. "And you honestly expected me to listen when I heard a stupid gunshot that could have been in the direction of either of you two doofuses?" she retorted, casting an uneasy glance at the body that was in the corner. His eyes softened considerably, I noticed with a sinking heart. He still had hold of my arm, as if afraid that if he let go I'd fall to the clutches of death.

I was careful not to look at Tate's body. Bloody hell, I even tried not to think about it. But it was haunting my memory, causing me to shake my head. "And you!" Koharu exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger in my direction. "God, what were you thinking? My first day at Ouran and I find out that you got yourself kidnapped. I was worried sick!"

I smiled. That was the Koharu I remembered. Kyoya chuckled lightly and stood, pulling me with him. My knees were shaky after my recent experience with the grim reaper. Koharu hurried forward to support one side, giving me a warm hug in the process. "I missed you, Kay," she muttered in my ear. I smirked.

"Missed me enough to get yourself wrapped up with this guy?" I asked sarcastically, jabbing my thumb in Kyoya's direction. I cast a forlorn glance at the corner as we left the room, against my resistance. My face twisted with anguish. He'd been my best friend. He'd lived in my house for 3 years. I couldn't wipe away those memories even though he had ended up being the one that tried to destroy me in the end.

Kyoya nudged me forward. "Don't look at him, Kay," he murmured, blocking my view with his body. "It'll only make you breakdown." I nodded and faced forward, drawing a shuddering breath as they helped me along.

By the time we reached the stairs, I'd found my legs again and ran ahead of them, completely ready to be out of this place. To be free.

Glancing back I noticed Kyoya's arm wrap around Koharu. She leaned in and whispered something in his ear which made him smile and reply in the same hushed tone. No matter how much I liked him, as I'd just recently discovered, she had him wrapped around her finger and he had her around his. I didn't have to tell Kyoya the lie that I'd slandered. I could keep it a secret and let it die with me.

I wouldn't interrupt their happiness.

Now I understood why Tate couldn't tell me that he loved me. Even if I hadn't realized at the time that I liked Kyoya, he had understood my odd scathing behavior toward him as affection.

But it didn't matter now, of course. It didn't matter, because now I was free. And I couldn't wait to see my family. Couldn't wait to let go of these bloody depressing memories that flooded my being. Couldn't wait to banish them from my existence.

–

A/N: I lied. One more chapter after this. I realized after I started writing this and it was getting to be 17 pages long, that I should probably split it up to save you guys the brain fart. Last chapter's mainly going to be a little bit of an epilogue and the after-events (such as Tate's funeral since I know some are still in love with him even after what he did).

I think we've reached a new record in the Kudos department! Nine! Cue the flashing lights and weird New Years noise makers!

Kudos to thearistocrat, KageNoNeko, TwilightFever-FutureCullen, Sethrox9730, StoryOfFiction (who also went back to chapter nine and reviewed JUST to urge me to continue), wyssa, an anonymous reviewer by the name of "M," and Kiriyu-chan. And as always my lovely beta reader/editor Koharu Veddette!

Oh... I get it now. If I threaten to cut off the story, I get a giant flow of reviews. Note to self: DO THIS MORE OFTEN.

Nah. Just joking. But seriously. If I can get that many reviews with every chapter, I'd be so estatic that I might even get updates out by the day.

I must be a sadist. Because with every single one of those reviews that I read, I felt the urge to hold this chapter from all of you more. Yet, at the same time, they all made me want to keep writing. My mind works in such odd ways.

I think... That my style did a random change again. The paragraphs suddenly lengthened... and the details increased in number. Fffff. And here I thought that it was done doing that. I blame finishing Song of the Sparrow.

//Ends page long author's notes