Chapter 23—Kidnapping
The month that was left until Summer break went slow. Hika and Kuronue were pushed together as they were the only ones that seemed to notice Charlie's disappearance and death. A newspaper article came out that he had been killed in a hit and run, thanks to Koenma and while the school did mourn, it wasn't a true mourning. Not like Kuronue and Hika went through. They sat together and didn't even speak for days at a time when they had nothing to do. But all the while their presence next to each other comforted them.
Hika stopped crying at night when no one was around. Kuronue stopped pacing his room for hours on end as he tried to think of some way to get his demonic powers back and go after the two people that had destroyed his friends.
Sometimes the two of them would simple sit and discuss ways to make Edmund pay for the death of Charlie and the pain that Inane went through before her memories were erased. But they never actually chose a decent way. They'd laps into silent and then get up from where they sat and start practicing against each other.
For Hika, it was the only way for her to get her extra energy and not think for a time. For Kuronue it gave him a chance to hone his energy and practice against a demon with little limits.
They found they didn't care who looked at them funny after a time. They did what they wanted with little talking. They didn't have to talk. They became so in tune with one another that even before one showed up the other had the book or the pencil that the other had forgotten up and ready for them to take. This made for sparing tournaments that could go on for an hour or so before the two of them sat back, or lay depending on where they were, and relax.
It was on a day about two weeks after the end of the school that Hika found herself home alone for the first time. Her parents and Ryota had gone off on their latest clue to find Edmund, swearing to bring him back alive or summon her to them when they did find him. After they had left she had gone on a jog because she knew that Kuronue would not show up until noon to begin their ritual of sparing again for that day.
Her feet hit the ground in a rhythmic set. Finally she jumped over a wall and landed just inside the garden. A small smile graced her lips before she turned and walked upstairs before freezing. So used to silence these days she was that her ears quickly picked up the sound of creaking wood. She jumped back and out of the way just as Edmund jumped out and made a grab for her. Up and over his head she floated so that she landed behind him. Her eyes, when she registered the man's shape, grew to be as dark as an oncoming storm's cloud.
"You bastard," she snarled and launched forward without thinking. She should have known better. He was older and smarter than her. She did make some headway. She made a good three, or four punches before he had her pushed up against a wall with her arm bent unmercifully up behind her back.
"Oh, aye, I'm a bastard, but you are a bitch that remembers everything you've ever done to me and I'll make you pay for every second of it, but first, I should take you before they find you," he whispered before making a tsk tsk sound. He reached up and without ceremony or hesitation yanked the ear rings that would keep Hika protected from mental control out of her ears.
Her screams could be heard all the way out on the street as the earrings clattered one at time to the ground next to her.
"Can't have you spoiling Bleathe's fun with those earrings of yours, now can we?" the man asked in a sadistic sneer before his fingers pushed into a pressure point at the back of her neck.
She was able to get one last scream out before blackness pooled around her and she fell limply to her peril.
Note from the author: I know it's short. I know you are probably cursing me for such a cliff hanger. :3 And I love you all, I hope you know that. But I wanted to tell you all that the next couple of chapters (24 to 29) will be much fuller of details. In fact, I'd like to start the countdown actually. We are in the last 6 chapters plus an epilogue, of the story. :O ROSEY