Mei POV
"Hey, wake up!"
Mei was shaken vigorously by the shoulders. At the moment, she was tied up and couldn't see anything as a bag was put over her head. The last thing she remembered was being pulled into the backseat of a car before darkness overtook her. However, right now she was stuffed in a claustrophobic space, presumably the trunk of the car. They must have drugged her while they grabbed her earlier and moved into a different car while she was unconscious.
Thankfully, she regained her vision of her surroundings when one of her kidnappers pulled the bag off of her making the situation slightly less terrifying, though her mouth was still gagged so she couldn't say anything. She immediately started to look around her. They seemed to be at an abandoned warehouse. The two masked kidnappers started to smoke a cigarette while they left her in the trunk.
'How far away am I from the city? What will they do to me? Are they planning on killing me?', she started to panic inwardly but tried to keep her cool demeanor.
As if he'd read her mind one of the men spoke, "Don't worry, we didn't go through the trouble of kidnapping the granddaughter of a wealthy business man just to murder you", he explained. "However, we won't hesitate to hurt you if you try anything stupid"
The threat made her realize the reality of the situation, 'Don't panic. I'm sure the security cameras at the gates managed to get some footage of these men…'
A few minutes later another car arrived. The two masked men threw their cigarettes on the floor and stomped on them before approaching Mei.
"Alright, off you go with them", the girl was suddenly lifted out of the trunk and transported into the other vehicle.
'Them? There are more of them?', Mei started to feel overwhelmingly anxious, to the point where she felt like she was suffocating. Being stuffed into another tight space was definitely not helping.
"The ones taking you are our employers so this is farewell", they nonchalantly waved goodbye before shutting the trunk, leaving her in complete darkness again.
Yuzu POV
After the call she'd made, it only took a few minutes until a car pulled up in front of her.
"I've already contacted my men", the old man next to her reported as Yuzu sat down on the passenger seat. Aside from being a master of martial arts, he was also in charge of the Hayato's private military.
"Thank you, Miyagi-sensei"
He chuckled lightly, "You don't have to call me 'sensei' anymore, I told you already"
"Old habits die hard", Yuzu smiled, reducing her anxiousness temporarily. Her expression turned grim once more, "Contact my mom as well. Tell her that I'll be back in a few days"
"What about Aihara-san's grandfather? Should we tell him?"
She thought for a minute before reluctantly answering, "...Yes, but no press. Keep this from the public for the moment. This should be resolved in 48 hours"
The trip to the Hayato Estate was quick. When they arrived, the place looked like they'd just stepped into a military base. Soldiers marched around and it seemed like army officials were planning a strategy for the next war.
All heads turned in her direction, like a wave of intimidating authority hit them when she stepped foot into the scene. While she made her way towards the house, the bustling crowd around her seemed to have noticed the blonde's seriousness. Her previous martial arts master following close behind her. After her showdown with him it didn't take long for her to gain their respect and accept her as the inheritor of the Hayato Clan.
Some of them doubted her of course since Yuzu seemed so inexperienced upon first meeting her. They all perceived her as an effervescent and boisterous young girl but her current hard exterior made their lack of faith in her disappear almost instantly. People started scurrying towards her, ready to report the latest from their sources.
"We need you to confirm the appearance of the car", a middle aged woman showed her two photographs of similar but different cars. Yuzu pointed at the picture of the car that she'd engraved into her memory. The woman gave a small nod before scampering off into the moving mass of people.
A man with a hardened expression approached her this time, "The car has been found abandoned near the outskirts of the city, but there is no sign of the hostage".
"Here's the map of the route the car took before they used a different one", another woman, this time with glasses, handed her the map which Yuzu carefully looked over, though she didn't stop moving. She gave a quick nod before finally making it indoors where she was lead by a few familiar faces to the room where most of the planning was happening.
The girl gave the servants a quick thanks before they left, leaving her to discuss the current dilemma with her grandmother/mentor, as well as other people who seemed to specialize in these sorts of situations.
"So, have we found out the reason why they took Mei as a hostage yet?", Yuzu asked calmly.
One of the officials spoke up, "We think that it may be for ransom due to Aihara-san's family background but nothing has been confirmed as they haven't demanded any money yet"
A man suddenly burst into the room, "We've been contacted by the kidnappers", he immediately handed the note to Mrs Hayato.
"We only want Hayato Yuzu. Come alone. If you are accompanied by anyone Aihara Mei will be killed without hesitation", Mrs Hayato finished with reading the address.
The others in the room promptly sought to look for the address the note stated. Meanwhile Yuzu was in deep thought. There were obvious flaws in her stoic expression as the fear in her eyes were visible. "I'll go", she declared stunning the people in the room.
"Yuzu, it's too dangerous. We simply cannot risk it", Mrs Hayato warned.
"It's not your decision to make"
Just as the old woman was about to protest, Miyagi spoke up, "There's no need. Our informers have found the men responsible for kidnapping Aihara Mei"
For a moment the girl's heart lightened up but it was still too early to celebrate, "Where are they?"
"They were sighted near an abandoned warehouse near the outskirts of the city. Our men are working on seizing them as we speak"
Mei POV
Everytime she opened her eyes it seemed like she was in a different place from when she last saw her surroundings. Because this time she found herself in a small storage space. Her hands and legs were still tied together but at least they removed the gag, making it possible for her to at least speak again.
"We do apologize sincerely, Aihara-san", one of the 'employers' of her kidnappers entered the room shortly after she woke up. "We didn't mean for this to involve you"
Mei gave him a confused look, choosing to remain silent and instead waiting for the man to continue.
"Don't you remember us?", he gestured at himself and his partner.
The girl squinted in an effort to see better. Being cramped up in small, dark spaces has probably affected her vision. She looked at him more closely, spotting a bent nose that didn't heal well. Her eyes widened as the realization finally struck her.
"That's right. We're the bodyguards Mrs Hayato brought on the day she visited Aihara Academy", he bowed mockingly, "I'm Junko". Then he pointed at the man with the crooked nose, "This is my brother, Jiro".
Her face grimaced at the revelation, 'These are the men that beat up Yuzu, or rather Yuzu beat them', she smirked slightly at the memory. 'But still, that doesn't explain why they would hire people to kidnap me'. After a moment of thought she frowned and gave the men a heated look. "So what, you want to get back at her for beating you?"
Junko wove his hands frantically in denial, "Woah, easy there! We don't have anything against her. In fact, I personally felt honoured to spar with such a talented martial artist, though I can't say the same for Jiro…", he explained nonchalantly, his brother behind him annoyed at his last statement.
"But, we do have something against Mrs Hayato", Jiro started to approach her slowly. "You see, after our little 'spar' with Yuzuko-san, Mrs Hayato decided to fire us", he punched the wall to show his frustration. "My brother and I dedicated our entire lives to the Hayato Clan, just as our parents did… and yet they did not hesitate to kick us out after being beaten by that bitch!"
"So, as you can see, our problem is not with Yuzuko-san but rather Mrs Hayato", Junko spoke again.
Mei relaxed at his reassurance, breathing a sigh of relief. But it was short lived as he spoke again, her blood running cold at his next statement.
"However", the atmosphere grew more sinister as his friendly facade started to crumble, "In order to exact our revenge, we must kill Yuzuko-san"
Yuzu POV
It didn't take long before the men responsible for abducting Mei were captured and unmasked. They were immediately brought into a room, leaving them with Mrs Hayato, Miyagi and the blonde girl for interrogation. Luckily, whoever planned on the kidnapping of Mei, wasn't very good at choosing their employees as the men were quite careless in their endeavours. After the men collected their payment for the deed they were stupid enough to return to the car they ditched outside the city.
Yuzu was ready to authorize any necessary interrogation methods to find out where Mei was, "Where is Aihara Mei?", she asked as temperately as she could.
Fortunately, the terrified men were ready to give them any information they had, revealing the location of the abandoned warehouse where they handed the girl over to their employers. A search team was promptly dispatched to track the car that took Mei from the abandoned warehouse on. But that still left a few questions.
"Who are your 'employers'?!", Miyagi asked menacingly.
"W-we don't know! They never gave us their names. We just did what we were told and got paid for it so we never really ask questions"
Yuzu huffed, growing impatient, "Then describe them! Did any one of them have any significant features?"
The man in questioning thought for a minute before hesitantly saying something, "...One of them had a crooked nose… like someone broke it and it never healed properly…?"
The three interrogators' eyes widened immediately upon recognizing the description of one of the men. Without another word Yuzu left the interrogation room and made her way to the conference room again with her grandmother following behind her.
"Put them behind bars", Miyagi ordered before also following the young girl.
"It's those bodyguards you brought when you visited Aihara Academy… I've been wondering where they were but I never got a chance to ask you", Yuzu mumbled quietly. She sighed heavily before continuing, "I don't understand. Why are they doing this? What do they gain from it?"
The old woman was reluctant to answer, "...After I made up my mind about you becoming the next head they planned on assassinating you in order to take control of the clan. They thought that, since they dedicated their lives to this clan and served me through all these years, that I would appoint one of them the new head of the clan", she explained.
"So that's why they want me to come alone", the girl put her hand under her chin in thought, "They want to kill me so that there's no one left to succeed the family"