=S H I K I=

Natsuno looked at the unconscious girl who was lying on the bed. He had carried her inside after she had blacked out, deciding that it would be hard to explain if any of the neighbours were to come outside and see them.

She had changed since he had last seen her four years ago.

And he liked the changes. A lot.

He almost hadn't recognised her when he had seen her last week in a small café where she worked after school. He had watched as she smiled at the customers as she took their orders. The smile didn't reach her eyes though, and it troubled him a bit. It didn't surprise him though.

In her place he would a complete wreck of a person.

Instead he was a living corpse.

In the end he wasn't sure which was better.

Natsuno knew that Akira had seen him earlier. It hadn't been a part of his plans, and if someone hadn't bumped into him then he would have still been in hiding.

Well, until now that is.

He had been watching the siblings for two weeks now, ever since he had lost sight of Tatsumi. When he had found out that the dynamite hadn't killed them he had attempted to stop the blue haired werewolf from leaving Sotoba, but the idiot was still too strong for him.

And it pissed him off.

Not that he would admit it to anyone.

When Kaori stirred, slowly regaining her senses, he turned his attention to her again, waiting for her to wake up completely.

Kaori woke up slowly, blinking several times until her vision cleared and her eyes adjusted to the darkness in her bedroom.

'What a strange dream…' She thought, sitting up on her bed. 'I thought that…'

Then her eyes landed on the dark shadow in her room. Her heart skipped a beat in fear before she remembered who it was.

"Yuuki-san. So it wasn't a dream after all…" She whispered to herself, looking up at him when he came closer to the bed.

He had changed. Not so much that she couldn't recognise him, but he had changed nonetheless. Still as tall as he always had been his face seemed to have gained maturity and wisdom. Kaori figured that death could do that to a person.

Suddenly she stiffened. She had to remind herself that he wasn't human. Still, when she looked at him she was filled with the same sense of security that she had felt in Sotoba when they had fought together against the shiki.

But could she really trust him now?

It was true that he hadn't done anything to her after taking her away from her house and the dead body of the monster that her father had become, but did that mean that she could trust him now? After all, it had been years since then, and people changed.

Natsuno could see the slight change in her attitude, the sudden stiffness of her shoulders and her slightly narrowed eyes. He sighed inwardly, knowing that it wasn't going to be easy.

Then he made what could have been a fatal mistake.

He really shouldn't have moved closer to her without warning.

Before he knew it there was a wooden stake pressed against his chest over his heart.

Kaori looked at him with her dark eyes, eyes that were filled with determination. Her brother was sleeping peacefully in the next room and she knew that she was going to protect him no matter what it took.

"Don't move or I'll hammer it in." She warned, her voice shaking slightly.

"You sleep with this?" Natsuno asked incredulously, holding his hands up in submission for her to see.

In order to protect her he would have to gain her trust once more.

Kaori could feel her cheeks heat up, tinting her face red.

"I-I… prefer to have it near me… just in case." She explained, holding the stake against his chest, hammer ready in her other hand.

Natsuno shook his head. The idea of the girl sleeping with a stake and hammer was just, well, strange. Still, it wasn't all that surprising, knowing what she had gone through in the past. What they had all gone through.

Even if she didn't look it, she was strong.

The pressure on his chest pulled him out of his thoughts.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice calm and stable this time.

"If you put that down then I'll tell you everything." He said, pointing at the stake with one finger.

His only answer was an increase in pressure.

He sighed out loud this time.

"Look, if I wanted to kill you I have had plenty of opportunities over the last two weeks…"

Uh oh.

Her eyes widened before narrowing dangerously, tightening her hold on the hammer.

"You… were stalking me?" She asked nervously.

Natsuno was surprised that she hadn't noticed.

"It was only to see if you were alright." He answered quickly, looking straight into her eyes. "Kaori, please. I know you don't like the idea of me following you, but it should at least prove to you that I've had more than enough chances to kill you and Akira if that was what I came here intending to do. There are more important things to be afraid of right now."

"What do you mean?" She asked, still in the same position.

Stubborn woman.

"Remember Tatsumi, the guy with blue hair?" He asked, continuing when she nodded. "He is still alive. So are Sunako Kirishiki and Seishin Muroi. But I think you already know that." The look in her eyes showed him that he was right. "Now to something that you probably don't know. From the people who managed to escape Sotoba several of them were found dead recently. What do you think was the cause of their deaths?" He questioned, still gazing straight into her eyes.

Kaori's face paled.

No… Please no.

No, it couldn't be true. Surely there was some other reason…

"They were declared to have strange cases of anaemia caused by an insect bite." He answered for her, making her worst nightmare come to life. Again. "It looks like Kirishiki and Muroi are taking their revenge on the hunters."

Natsuno watched as her face continued to pale and he felt guilty as he wondered if she would faint again. Thankfully she managed to stay conscious.

"How do you know about it?" She asked, her voice shaking again.

"I have my ways." He shrugged, not really wanting to tell her everything. The less she knew the safer she would be.

He had forgotten about the stake and hammer, but he was quickly reminded of them.

"I have a… friend. He found out about it and informed me." He said, hoping that it was enough. "I came here to inform you about it. You and Akira should leave this town for the time being."

"Why?" She asked, even though she had a feeling she already knew the answer. Still, she needed to hear it.

"Because they found the two of you."

Kaori felt the oxygen leave her lungs as fear sank in. She closed her eyes, her grip on the stake and hammer loosening. Natsuno took it as a good sign, she was starting to trust him. He watched as the hand holding the wooden stake slowly moved away from his chest before she rested it on her knees. He decided to give her a moment to let it sink in.

She hoped that she would wake up soon. It was all too much for her. She still hadn't gotten over what had happened four years ago and now it was starting all over again. Damn it! She had been doing everything she could to keep herself and Akira safe, checking the news constantly for news of sudden disappearances. She had almost been convinced that it was finally over.

But she was wrong.

She hadn't even been able to tell that someone had been following her for a whole two weeks. How the hell did she expect to protect her brother?

"Kaori." When she heard his voice she looked up at him, eyes glazed over slightly. "You have to remain strong for now, stay strong for Akira. I'm going to help you remain safe. They haven't made it here yet, which means that something has stopped them. We have to get you away from here as soon as possible. I know a place where we can go. Is there anyone you want to tell first?" He asked, unsure of whether the siblings had any family in the area.

Kaori began to shake her head before an idea hit her.

"Ozaki-sensei." She said suddenly. "He's in Korea at the moment, but he needs to know about this."

Natsuno nodded his head. So the siblings had been able to stay in contact with the doctor. That was good. He liked the older man, he was sensible, or at least that's what NAtsuno thought of him. He would even be able to help them.

"Call him." He told her and she nodded. "If you don't mind I will go and inform your brother about all this."

He watched her, waiting for her reaction.

At first she seemed hesitant. So she didn't really trust him after all. He would have to fix that in the future.

Then, to his surprise, she nodded her head.

edited: Dark Akuma Hunter