I have something to confess...I've passed every driving test there is and got my licence 3 days ago on Monday which is why I've uploaded this chapter now. I've been too busy driving around everywhere and...well...I'M SORRY!!!
Here is the next chapter anyway! I'm happy that my one-shot was appreciated as well and many want to have a continuation which I am happy to hear. But at the moment I'll focus on this one. It shouldn't be too many chapters left of this one...maybe 3-4 chapters left and then it's finished! Unbelievable! Enjoy!
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Disclaimer: Nothing to own just something to share!
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The wind was blowing in a biker's hair. You could hear it faintly howl but nothing could drown the
rage inside this biker.
(I'm sorry, Shizuru. I had to lie...one last time. But after all this it'll be over...once and for
all.)
Tightening her grip on the handles she roared off to the destination just as instructed. Upon arrival
she noticed that this was not city, it was far from it. With no other buildings in sight and no other
living beings either. Taking in her surroundings since it may come in hand later on for a quick escape
of any sort, it was instincts which made her cautious. The more she knew about her environment the
better it. It was in the middle of nowhere and in front of her was a very much fallow storehouse of
some sort. It had seen better days. She parked her beloved Ducati, which was not the one from college
mind you, near the entrance for better accessibility. She took of her helmet and made a shaking
movement with her head to let her hair fall out better, it was something that was necessarily for her
but for others...it was simply sexy. She left the helmet by the bike, since she doubted there was
anyone here to actually steal it. Slowly approaching and all the time shifting her attention left and
right in case of an ambush, something shiny caught her attention.
(What is that...)
Her thoughts halted. She felt a sharp pain and then nothing.
--
There was a smell of dust, dirt and a bit of moisture in the air. Not a sound could be heard and
almost no light could be seen. A throbbing pain was noticed. A groan was made because of it. The need
of easing the pain was present but the energy was not. Eyelids felt heavier than usual and arms were
numb. Why? Because she was tied up, just that it had taken some time for her to notice. One by one her
senses returned or started functioning again. Last was her memories and she grunted at her own
stupidity.
("Come by yourself and come unarmed." Yeah, right! I did come alone but not unarmed. But then again
neither did she.)
She winced at the pain her head was causing.
(Damn, she got a great strike.)
Now when she had gathered her thoughts and was planning to get a hint of where she could be. She found
nothing. She had a blindfold and it did not let her see much. Natsuki tried several times to shake her
head as violent as possible in hope of the blindfold sliding down a bit making it easier for her to at
least distinguish anything that would help her in some way. But it was no use.
"Ara, you are finally awake Kuga-san."
(That voice! I know it from somewhere...)
Someone slipped the blindfold off and the sudden brightness made her squint to see her captor.
"You!"
-"You haven't forgotten about me already now, have you, Kuga-san?"
-"How could I ever forget that ugly face of yours, Marquerite Tomoe!"
Natsuki was now struggling to free herself from the ropes that had her hands tied together making it
impossible to beat the smirking woman in front of her, making her curse loudly.
-"Still as rude as always and poor choice of words as well. I still do not understand what
Shizuru-sama sees in you."
-"Yeah? Well I know what she sees in you, a freaking psycho!"
A loud "smack" was echoed inside the abandoned warehouse. It stung at the spot Natsuki's cheek where
the slap landed and she could feel the tiny taste of iron in her mouth. She spitted some of the blood
out of her mouth, aiming at a certain someone but missed. It hurt but she would never grant Tomoe the
satisfaction of witnessing it.
-"Watch your language, Kuga-san. It depends entirely on you what sort of method I will utilize in
order to gain your assistance."
-"Then you're wasting your time. I would never help you...in any way!"
-"With your mere presence you have already assisted me in accomplishing plenty. I would never have
succeeded without you."
-"What are you talking about?"
Natsuki was staring at Tomoe with narrowed eyes. She was staring to get worried of what Tomoe was
implying.
-"You will find out soon, Kuga-san, very soon."
(She is sitting there drinking tea as if this is a normal every day thingy!)
Tomoe noticed Natsuki's disturbed expression.
-"Can I offer you some?"
(She knocked me out, tied me up and now she wants to know if we can have a freaking tea party?! She's
seriously disturbed.)
-"Do I look like I'm interested in drinking tea, right now?"
-"Well, one could never know if they never ask, isn't that so?"
(You have got to be kidding with me!)
--
Meanwhile our graceful Shizuru was still trying to dreadfully trying to figure a way to locate her
missed lover. Her phone ringed except she took no notice to it. But still it persistently kept
high-pitched disturbing noise.
-"Fujino Shizuru speaking."
-"Ah, you're voice still remains as beautiful as you, my princess."
-"My, what a surprise Marquerite-san!"
Have you not yet died a horrible death?
Not very kind thoughts she had but her face remained as polite as ever, save for her slight change of
eyes who seemed to glow a bit more fierce. Chie mouthed a "Is it really her?" and Shizuru responded
with a nod.
-"How are you, Shizuru-sama?"
I have been better.
-"Very busy I am afraid. I have an essential meeting to attend so if you will excuse me-"
-"There is no need to be rude."
-"I consider it offensive when you address me with my first-name when I have yet to give
permission."
-"From my point of view, I think we are indeed very familiar with each other enough to do so."
-"It was a onetime mistake I will never make again. You are of no interest for me so if you will
excuse me, not that it really matters, I have to end this phone call."
-"Oh, but I happen to have something "in your interest" so to speak. Care to know?"
Shizuru's eyes widened. This was a scenario she had not foreseen and certainly the worst one possible.
Her grip tightened around her cell phone making her knuckles turn ghostly colorless. Her heart seemed
to be pounding in her ears and she was struggling to maintain control.
-"Where is she? Answer me! Is she unharmed?"
-"Oh, yes. In fact we're having some tea and we are both waiting for you to join us. As for her
safety, it all depends on you now, my princess. See I cannot keep an eye on her all the time. We do
not wish for any accidents now, do we?"
-"What are your conditions?"
-"Ah, you are finally grasping the situation, hm? A very wise decision indeed, not that I expect any
less from you that is."
-"I want you..."
This is exactly like the previous time...am I condemned to fail yet again, the very same way?
-"...to come alone and meet me in the abandoned warehouse outside of Fuuka."
-"Can you tell a more specific location?"
-"Now I cannot help you with the whole lot. You will have to figure out some of it on your own. Do
take your time. But don't delay too much; you have until tomorrow's sunrise. Will it rise without
your dear lover? Your choice and a good afternoon to you!"
A soft click could be heard. Shizuru had the sudden urge to hurl it outside of the window, which would
seem more like something only Natsuki would do. At the time it was tempting.
Natsuki...
The thought of Natsuki at the mercy of Tomoe brought a bitter taste to Shizuru. She was deep in
thoughts and had temporarily forgotten about the two other present in the very same room. Chie was
observing the clearly upset women in front of her and Aoi was anxious of what would happen next.
"Fujino-"
-"Shizuru"
-"Eh, Shizuru...-san. Care to enlighten us about the present situation?"
Shizuru made a deep sigh, which was a rare occurrence.
-"It would seem that somehow Natsuki is currently with Marquerite...and she demands to see me
unaccompanied, in a manner of speaking."
-"I see."
Shizuru was waiting for further response from the gossip-queen but none came. She furrowed her brows.
-"You are not going to question any further?"
-"No."
-"The reason being?"
-"There are...certain rules when you work here, Shizuru-san. You get yourself in trouble then you
will have to get yourself out of them as well. That is the deal here."
-"Are you implying that you are simply going to leave her out there?"
Shizuru was starting to get impatient. She thought she could expect some kind of aid from Natsuki's
considered friends but it seems it was wrong. Nonetheless it made her heated when her lover was simply
discarded as "another employee".
-"How can you even say such a thing? This is somebody's life we are discussing! I cannot believe you
will not even lift a hand to solve this matter! Especially since you see her as a friend of yours! Yet
why do you hesitate when she is in need of your help?"
-"If I were to help her then every other individual that has needed it before will feel themselves
unjust treated. I can't risk my company's reputation. I am truly sorry; there is nothing I can do."
Shizuru quickly rose from her seat while all along piercing Chie with her ruby colored eyes.
-"Then I shall go alone."
-"Wait! You can't go alone...you don't have any safety precaution!"
"-I do not care! I could care less about my safety when at this very moment is not me who is at risk!
If I have to put myself in danger for you to assist me then so be it! One way or another I will have
you helping me."
-"Is it really worth it?"
Without hesitation and much thought Shizuru replied.
-"Yes."
-"Are you saying that if I don't help you then you will use yourself to force me into helping you?"
-"That is precisely what I am saying indeed."
Both watched the other with intense stares. None seemed to flinch or in any way give up, until
suddenly our collector started laughing. Shizuru was significantly perplexed.
-"Haha, now we're talking! I was waiting for that. What took you so long?"
-"Pardon?"
-"I can't help Natsuki just like that since it would make people believe that I gave her
preferential treatment. But now that the great Fujino Shizuru is determined to ask for my help then
not many would dare to question my assistance and defy your wishes. You have great influence so I
cannot be hold responsible. You have my assistance."
Chie stood up and bowed. She then looked up and winked.
-"Besides...I can't say no to pretty girls anyway."
-"Chie!"
-"What? I'm sorry, Aoi. Bad habits tend to stay."
The two rumored lovebirds kept bickering but Shizuru took no notice. She was trying to understand what
had transpired in the last few minutes. The thought of finally being able to bring Natsuki back,
hopefully safe, made her almost cry with joy. She mentally slapped herself.
That is enough, Shizuru! Concentrate! The difficult battle begins now. Wait for me Natsuki...
--
When the staff of SK found out about the situation there were many people who were gladly to help.
Some out of admiration and others because in some way Natsuki had helped them, she looked tough but
most knew that somewhere she had a soft spot, it just did not show very often. One of the volunteers
included the famous spy, Yuuki Nao, giving her ability to pursue and excellent ability of personality
switching. She may be the one that surprised everyone when she volunteered since they were known as
bitter rivals but then again life were full of surprises. With Nao's many connections to the
"underground" people and Yukino's database over the "surface" people they had a made a pretty
good pair. If you do wonder then yes Shizuru did destroy one big organization, still you cannot stop
crime entirely so there are still some shady characters out there. The clock was showing 4 PM which
meant that they had approximately 12 hours until sunrise and it would be better if they managed before
since calculating exactly then the sun will rise can be risky, which Shizuru was not willing to take.
There were about 100 unexploited warehouses but then again they did not know if this one was in use or
not. That made the number increase to 500 instead which made a big problem. How were they supposed to
check every single one within 12 hours? They could try to pinpoint the exact one using pure logic but
Shizuru did not like the thought if they managed to get it wrong, they were not granted that many
lives to endanger. The time was ticking away making everyone frustrated and stressed. The atmosphere
was tense and people were almost afraid of breathing. Seeing their superiors in such a distressed
state brought the morale down even further, Shizuru was trying hard not to let any emotions show while
maintain her smile but it seemed to almost impossible at the moment. Her thoughts just seemed to drift
back to her navy lover and what she may be suffering at this very moment. To think it was because of
her yet again forced her to bite herself in the lip to prevent her from the sobs that threatened to
come forth. Nao sensed the sudden depression and approached the famous Fujino Shizuru.
-"Hey, don't make that sad face! She's not dead and if I know her it's gonna be hard to kill her
anyway."
-"This is all because of me and yet I am powerless to help."
-"Nobody's blaming you, you know. She went on her free will. Sure, she can be stubborn sometimes but
I don't think she blames you either."
-"I appreciate your effort to cheer me up, Yuuki-san."
-"You know my name?"
-"Yes, Natsuki used to mention you constantly."
Nao made a grumping sound.
-"She probably never said any good about me."
-"The quite opposite really. She mentioned you as a rival which would mean she acknowledged your
abilities to be at her level. She rarely sees people as an equal."
-"Uh...yeah. Dammit Kuga! Don't you dare die on me!"
The last was said with a hiss. Nao quickly stomped away barking orders.
I thought I saw some glistening tears, could it have been my imagination?
Shizuru smiled at the friendship between them. It was more of a love-hate relationship even so it was
as genuine as any other.
Yuuki-san is right; it's too early to lose hope...not yet.
--
(Too tired to move...too tired to even think. It hurts everywhere...can't feel my hands.)
3 hours were left until sunrise. She had suffered the last 9 hours that had passed. Tomoe was getting
impatient about waiting and needed to occupy herself to make time past faster. What better than to
have some fun? She started small with tiny needles and finding new spots to stick them into Natsuki's
skin. Which place hurt the most? It was painful but perfect and clean. The holes were so petite there
was no blood however it still hurt. Natsuki's lack of response further angered her captor and she
delivered a couple of punches. She kept on like this and if Natsuki happened to faint she would just
pour some water in her face to wake her up and continue the torture. Her creativity made her
constantly come up with new ideas. The most excruciating one had to be the stun gun she brought with
her. With electricity cursing through her entire body for several seconds and then stop, half a
minutes rest and she got stunned again. It was exhausting to her body and in her mind she still cursed
the crazy woman. The problem was...would she even last until the crack of dawn?
--
-"I've got it!"
The usually timid Yukino was now jumping in joy and yelling until she noticed the attention she
gained. Immediately she shrunk down in her chair again with her head bowed down and reddened cheeks.
Shizuru seemed to be full of energy and hope was shining in her eyes.
-"Please enlighten us, Yukino-san."
-"I managed to locate the warehouse. Harada-san remembered that Natsuki's cell phone has a GPS
installed which makes it easy for us to trace the exact position if she has it with her that is."
-"She never leaves without it. I am sure it is near her."
Nao then marched inside with a happy face.
-"I just got a call from one of my friends. They've spotted a blue Ducati parked by an abandoned
warehouse southwest from here, about 1 hours driving."
-"Two of our best sources can't be wrong right?"
Just coming back from a meeting Chie heard it all.
-"I have more...it seems that this psycho bought a stun gun, on the black market of course, and a
knife."
-"Why just a knife? Why not a gun?"
-"Because it would draw too much attention and well people are a little bit nervy these days."
-"I still don't like the sound of it. But it will take time until we can call enough people to storm
the place. We don't have enough time."
-"Then I shall stall her enough to grant you the time needed."
-"But Shizuru-san that's too dangerous! We can't gurantee-"
"Iwill go by myself as she requested if I do not return or get in touch with any of you within 3
hours then you can come as support. It is the best solution for now and we do not have the time to
really discuss this matter any further. She will not hurt me."
Everyone had to agree when Shizuru's determined gaze fell upon them nobody had the willpower to resist
her piercing eyes.
-"Very well, I wish everyone good luck. Hopefully we will reassemble tomorrow and then every single
one of us will be present. Goodbye!"
Just a little bit more, Natsuki. I am coming for you.
--
Being the calculating human being Shizuru made sure that she parked the car within sight but still
with a safety distance. Without further thought she marched straight forward. Her cautions mind shut
out when her main objective being the safety of her lover. The door creaked open but other than that
no other sound could be heard.
Did we fail?
-"Welcome, Shizuru-sama. I hope you don't mind the poor state this building is but I could not find
any other suitable at the present time."
The voice came from the left and she turned her head. There stood Marquerite Tomoe with a smirk
plastered on her face and...bloodstains on her clothing?
Please do not let it be...
-"Ah, I apologize for my dirtied attire. Your lovely girlfriend could not hold herself and spewed
blood all over me. I did not foresee this and did not bother to bring another outfit."
-"I came as you demanded. Where is she?"
-"Of course! As promised."
She made a gesture behind her and moved out of the way. Shizuru gasped. Natsuki was tied up to a post
with bruises, scratches and her body was twitching every now and then. She hung lifeless with a
trickle of dried blood from her mouth.
-"You assured me that no harm was to be done to her!"
-"Yes, she is safe and sound as I said...when you would arrive. I haven't even touched her at the
exact moment now, have I?"
You could hear cracking sounds from Shizuru when she was tightening her hands at the anger she felt.
At that moment Natsuki stirred and was coming into consciousness again.
--
(Can't see a thing...everything's blurry. Is that...Shizuru?)
She tried to gain her attention by speaking her name but nothing came out except for a raspy noise.
Her throat was feeling very dry.
(She doesn't look happy. I have to look like shit. I wish I could move.)
She could hear a buzzing sound. Gradually it became clearer and she could differentiate her lover's
voice from the other.
(Shizuru...idiot...run.)
-"Release her."
-"No."
-"Why? I am here just like you wished for. She is irrelevant."
-"I have other plans. You choose her over me which is something I cannot overlook."
-"Then what it is you want more?"
-"I want you to choose again, without delay. You choose her and she dies..."
Tomoe took out a knife and held it against Natsuki's throat.
-"...you pick me, she lives but you are no longer permitted to see her...ever again. Which would it
be? Will you save her yet again? Better pick fast...the clock is ticking and the first rays of the day
will soon rise."
-"N-no...Shizuru...ru-run..."
-"Be quiet! I am starting to lose my patience, Shizuru-sama. Very well, I am adding another
condition. Tell this whimpering fool that you havenever ever loved her. Say it straight to her face
and I'll stop."
The knife was pressed harder against the wounded woman.
-"Now decide."
-"I...I..."
Shizuru looked down her head, it looked like in shame.
(Just like last time...)
A quiet whisper could be heard.
-"I-I'm sorry...Natsuki..."
One sentence was echoing in their minds "No more secrets...and no more lies".
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Yay! Another finished chapter and once more I am stopping at a crucial time where you die of curiosity. Need I to tell you to stay tuned for the next chapter? Nah!But please do review for a faster update!