Author's Note: I find that I'm really being swept into the Sailor Moon category recently. I have a thirst for Haruka x Michiru after finishing the anime and now going on the manga. Also I'm beta-reading now so that took up a bit of my time. So here it is, some Strawberry Panic love, chapter 9! Read, Review, Rejoice!

Chapter 9:
Breaking Out

Pain couldn't describe the brutal agony each day brought. This internal suffering that could only reside within her heart and mind as her nerves died and withered to numbness. Her state of being and very identity was rocked down to its core. Though she could don a fake smile and spout empty formalities, deep down she was being tormented by the gut-wrenching memory of that day that unfortunately was stuck on loop in her mind. It replayed in her head over and over, as vivid and lucid as when she experienced it. Her hands remained icy cold just as they were as she held Kaori's hand in her last moments. Her gaze remained unbreakable, for she couldn't separate it from Kaori at that time. Her mind unresponsive because in that room, there was no one but Kaori and her. Just them. And there was no sound to be heard. Nothing but her cries that fell on deaf, far gone ears.

Kaori.

How long has it been since she muttered that name? When she met her cheerful, bright cherry head, things made for an uncomfortable change. It was like Nagisa's radiance slowly overpowered the film of the memory, forcing it to fade. Though it was a painful one, it was one Shizuma truly didn't want to forget. With no sense of closure, it felt like everyone else forgot about Kaori. It was like Kaori was completely disappearing from this world, kept alive only in one memory. But now, she's with Nagisa. And Kaori? She's there too, watching over them for sure.

Is the memory gone?

No.

But now, it seems like the ending of a book, and her new story now begins with Nagisa. Her hands were warmed by the radiant touch of the sun. Her gaze was finally broken away and she was finally able to see the world around her. The world with Nagisa. Her mind was filled with beautiful, wonderful thoughts and flights of fancy. Warm. It was a feeling she had long since abandoned, maybe even lost, but Nagisa brought it back to her. She was able to create another world from scratch and it was all thanks to Nagisa.

But now, even that world seems to be crumbling before her eyes. Why can't she build a stable foundation? Why can't she function like everyone else? Everyday her heart aches just thinking of these things.

So now, a stranger accuses her of not knowing pain? If all she experienced wasn't pain, what was it? If it still isn't pain, then what the hell do you call it? What do you call it when you hurt as badly as I do? If this isn't 'true pain', then its something worse.

Hex looked at her and shook his head. As he got up to take his leave Shizuma grabbed his arm but didn't bother to look at him. "What do you call it when everything that means anything to you is ripped right out of your hands? Especially when you realize you can't do a damn thing about it. What do you call it when life seems like an endless script that you can't escape from; when you're forced to relive the fake expressions, rehearsed formalities, and ennui of daily living despite the hellish inner turmoil?"

Shizuma leaned in closer to her kidnapper, turning the tables with a simple, repeated question. "Tell me Mr. Hex. Do you know 'true pain'?"

Answering a question with a question, he responded. "Have you ever wanted to take your own life?"

"Not a day goes by when I don't wonder what the hell kept stopping me."

Hex grinned before taking his seat for what seemed to him to be the hundredth time that day. This girl, she was definitely something. He noticed that from when he first saw her, but, he never really realized it until he actually started talking to her.

Hex crossed his legs, leaning back slightly in his chair. "You know, if you ask certain people, they may tell you I'm a mind-reader." He chuckled to himself and leaned in closer to Shizuma. "I may not know the details, but you lost someone special, a loved one." He watched Shizuma's expression change with curiosity. He continued, "That red-head you were with, she's the one that saved you from all that stuff you talked about earlier. Am I right?"

Shizuma nodded her head, sobbing silently.

"You know, believe it or not, when I saw you in that store, you seemed familiar to me. I couldn't figure out why, but it was like I knew you years ago. But now that I've talked to you, I know." He paused for a second and tilted his head slightly. "You're expression. I used to have that same expression when I was younger. You and I went through a lot of the same things."

"Why not!" Nagisa cried.

"What can we possibly do? Honey, there are some things we just can't help." Her mother responded as consolingly as she could muster. "We have to let the police do their job and simply hope for the best."

After the incident, Nagisa and her father decided to cancel the holiday and contact Mrs. Aoi as soon as possible. She rushed home when she heard Nagisa crying on the phone, though she didn't know the details. All she knew was that her one and only child was crying and needed her home immediately.

As she sped down the streets, skillfully evading every car in her path, she cursed Shizuma's name, convinced that she was the cause of her daughter's sorrow. But when she was filled in on the details, she didn't know how to feel. Quite frankly, she couldn't care less what happened to the silver-haired wolf that tried to gobble up her child. But, she had never seen Nagisa so upset. It was the first time she had seen her daughter cry like that.

"Mom please, I'll never ask for anything else ever again, but please this one time. Please, we have to find Shizuma." Nagisa pleaded.

That name again. "To be honest I don't see the big deal." Mrs. Aoi finally admitted. "You can always find someone else, it's not the end of the world."

Nagisa stepped back staggering a bit. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Someone else?"

"Yes, there are plenty of men that-"

"I don't want anyone else! I only want Shizuma!" Nagisa yelled. She threw her hands over her mouth. She didn't mean to raise her voice like that, but someone else? She couldn't even imagine it.

"What's so great about her!" the elder cherry head argued.

"So many things that you'll never understand." Nagisa rebutted softly. She ran upstairs, furiously wiping at the tears in her eyes.

After the echo of a slamming door, Mr. Aoi, who remained silent throughout the argument, decided to speak to his wife. "We talked about this."

"That's not going to change my mind."

"You need to at least try to accept her-"

"No!" Yumiko bellowed. "I refuse to accept the likes of her for Nagisa."

"Yumiko-"

"You can't convince me. Nothing you can say will ever change my mind."

Mr. Aoi sighed. "You're hurting Nagisa."

"Excuse me. I've done nothing but care for her. If anything, I'm protecting her from getting hurt." she spoke confidently.

"Protecting her from what? Shizuma has done absolutely nothing for you to hate her so much. All she has done since she came here was try to please us and Nagisa."

Mrs. Aoi turned away from her husband, wiping away silently emerging tears. "All she did was take my child away from me."

Mr. Aoi moved in and cradled his wife from behind.

"How can you just sit back and let this happen? Yuujirou, how can you watch our baby get taken away from us?"

"She's right here. Our child is right upstairs, crying. She'll always be our Nagisa, but now she's in love. I can't stop it from happening, I can't stop her from getting hurt. But, I can make sure she ends up with someone who cares about her as much as we do. Shizuma does."

"How can you believe that? We don't know her."

Yuujirou turned his wife lovingly and looked into her auburn colored eyes. "I know because she looks at Nagisa the same way I looked at you when we first met."

"When I was in high-school, I fell in love with a girl. She was a year above me, but I went out of my way to see her, even if it was always from a distance. One time she caught me, and we started talking. As time went by, we started dating. A few days before she was meant to graduate, I asked her to meet me in a park near the school. I bought her a necklace, so she wouldn't forget about me, even after she graduated. I ran late that day, but all that was on my mind was her." Hex stopped, as if he was having trouble telling the story.

"What happened?" Shizuma urged on.

"She wasn't there." Hex finally continued. "I looked all over, I even called her phone, but she was nowhere to be found and she wouldn't pick up. I hadn't heard from her for days since then, she didn't even come to school. Finally I found out that… she…"

"She?"

Hex swallowed. "The police said that it was a bullet shot execution-style. There wasn't any motive, just a random victim who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. 'It's my fault she was there.' I kept telling myself that. 'If I was just on time, or maybe even a few minutes earlier, then maybe she would've made it to graduation.' I blamed myself for two years."

"It wasn't your fault, you couldn't have predicted something like that."

"In times like that, your brain and heart tend to disagree." He gave a melancholic smile.

Shizuma nodded knowingly. "I don't think I would've lasted two years." Shizuma smiled. "I met Nagisa right in time."

"Actually, you can say that it's what got me in this business. I wanted nothing more than to find and kill whatever bastard killed her. It wouldn't be one clean, execution-style shot, like what she had to go through. I wasn't going to settle for anything less than five shots, then I was going to kill myself." He shook his head at the memory. "Last year I met my salvation, like you met Nagisa, and it was like all that hatred just disappeared. I was stuck in my self-created criminal underworld, but I came all the way back here to meet her again."

"What's her name?"

"I don't know."

"You went looking for a girl and didn't even know her name." Shizuma scolded.

"It never came up. She was just so kind, a little awkward, but in an interesting way. We only met for a short hour or two, but it was something I could never forget. I haven't seen her ever since. But, I'm pretty sure we'll meet soon enough."

There was a short-lived silence broken by the sound of Hex's phone vibrating.

"I have to take this." he said, leaving the room quick paced.

"Tamaki, I hope you haven't forgotten that the business belongs to you now. I've done more than enough for you as far as family favors go." Kaname spoke coldly over the phone.

"Yeah, thanks sis I owe you." he said scratching the back of his head.

"Of course you do." Kaname smirked.

"About that 'other thing'-"

"It depends on how much it's worth to you."

"Anything you want. You know how much this means to me."

"Just had to ascertain. I have this situation in the palm of my hand, it's just a matter of timing."

"I believe you, I know what you're capable of." he laughed.

"By the way, I hear you're still playing Mr. Hex."

"Just tying up loose ends. Deals here, payments there, I'm just about finished though. Sometimes it's difficult when you can't use family money."

"I also hear that you have in your custody a certain silver-haired client of mine."

"Ah, you know her? Shizuma Hanazono?"

"Yes, my biggest silver-spooned asset."

"Listen, I can drop her off to you whenever-"

"Don't go out of your way. I'll send some people over to get her when I'm ready for her."

"She's injured, I thought you should know."

"So long as she's not dead."

"You're incredibly cold Kaname."

"No brother, you've just gotten incredibly nice by this family's standards. Bluntly spoken, it sickens me."

"No, I just changed, and you're going to change the same way I did. It's already starting."

"I won't entertain that thought. I'll end this by saying, the reason I'm where I am and you're where you are, is that I know the name of the game hasn't changed. So I won't either."

With that thought left behind, Kaname hung up. Her succubus laid asleep, slung over her chest, clad in silk bed sheets. Laying a gentle kiss on the top of her head, Kaname somehow woke her girlfriend.

"You're still up?" Momomi spoke in a slight slur. "Don't you get tired?", she asked, dragging her body up to place a kiss on her lover's lips.

"I was just about to go to sleep. I needed to finish up some business first." Kaname said just before returning the kiss.

After a few seconds of kissing, they broke apart before it got to a point of no return. "You mean with your brother?"

"Yeah."

"That's it, 'yeah'? What'd he say?" she asked, sitting up to get more comfortable.

Kaname remained in silent contemplation before deciding to ask. "Am I going soft?"

Momomi could only muster up a laugh in response. "Why would you ask that?"

"My brother has this ridiculous idea that I'm going to change just like he did and that it's already starting."

"You think it's ridiculous right?"

"Of course it is." Kaname argued.

"Then don't worry about it." Momomi put simply. She plopped herself back onto Kaname's chest, her favorite spot to sleep on.

Kaname kissed the top of her head again.

"Go to sleep." Momomi mumbled tiredly.

"I will."

Author's Note: This story has a lot of secrets and plots wrapping around it, some of which I hadn't even planned for. The course of this story has actually changed from the original plan, but I'm not totally lost at where this is going. Between beta-reading and writing this story, I'm not sure whether my update speed would increase or decrease. I hope the latter isn't true…