He didn't want to let her go. A lifetime of training in safety and self-discipline was being over-ridden by the need to keep holding her in his arms.

"Morinozuka-sama." The driver's voice came through over the intercom in tinny tones. "I'm sorry, but rules say I can't drive unless you and the young lady are both wearing seat belts."

They were sensible rules. Rules his father had put in place and he supported. Right now he wanted to ignore them. Reluctantly, he lifted Kaori off his lap and set her down in the passenger seat beside him. She fumbled at the strap and he took it out of her hand. The belt secured with a click and he checked the fit before securing himself. The driver pulled the car into traffic.

Kaori's hand clutched her coat around her and she shivered. "Taka… please, I can ex… explain."

He squeezed her hand and mumbled, "Later." They could talk soon, but not now. Not while his soul felt flayed alive, leaving his emotions raw and exposed. Any words right now would burn like fire. Guilt and anger churned his stomach. He had let this happen. Happiness had made him complacent and he'd failed her. Clutching her hand tightly he silently reassured her that it wouldn't happen again.

Kaori grasped his hand like a lifeline. Confusion and guilt warred within her but were overwhelmed by dread. The silence was roiling off him in thick, oppressive waves and his shuttered face was the only clue to his inner tension. She had never seen him so angry. How could she have been so stupid? She'd let that man kiss her. Let him do things to her. Mori would never trust her or look at her the same way again. Selfishly, she clung to his hand, storing up the feel of it for when he'd eventually let it go.

The car pulled into the parking garage for a hi-rise. Mori walked around to open the door for her, but wouldn't let her walk. She buried her face in the crook of his neck as he carried her through the garage, into the elevator, and eventually through the door of an apartment. He didn't set her down until the door closed behind them.

"Where are we?" she asked leaning against the wall of the small entry way.

"A guest apartment the Haninozukas keep for Western businessmen." He slipped off his shoes then knelt and began unzipping her boots. "I thought you might want more privacy than my home provides." His hand vaguely gestured towards her stained dress and disheveled hair that would definitely attract unwanted questions at the Morinozuka estate.

Tears prickled behind her eyes; even when angry at her he was still gentle and considerate. She bent down to try and take off her boots herself but he pushed her hands away.

Mori could feel his hands shaking imperceptibly as he removed her boots. Each small act he performed for her soothed his jagged nerves just a little more. Removing the left boot revealed a ripped hole in her stockings and blood showing on her knee. His tension level ratcheted up. "You're injured." He poked at the knee causing her to wince.

"It's nothing. I fell against the pavement." Now that the alcohol was beginning to wear off both her knee and cheek were starting to hurt.

Mori only responded with a growl from the back of his throat. Setting aside her boots he began unbuckling the bottom three straps of her brace. He politely turned his back and allowed her to finish the job with the upper straps before picking her up and striding down the hall and through an archway on the left side. The large room combined a kitchen, dining, and living room decorated with asain-inspired western furniture.

He placed her on the long, taupe colored sofa and disappeared off into the kitchen area. Kaori heard the sounds of the refrigerator and a cupboard opening followed by running water. When her returned, he held a glass of water in one hand and an ice pack in the other.

"Drink," he commanded, handing her the water. She sipped it down obediently, clenching it tightly to prevent her hands from trembling. He took the glass and handed her the ice pack, motioning for her to place it against her slapped cheek. "I need to clean your knee; I'll go get the first aid kid. You should remove your tights." She wasn't sure, but she thought a faint blush appeared on his cheeks at his last instruction.

After he'd headed back into the hallway, she stripped off her left thigh-high stocking and took a better look at the knee. Part of the skin had been scraped off and she could see bits of dirt around the edges of the wound. It didn't look that bad. Certainly not the life threatening emergency he was acting like it was.

Sitting in silence, the mix of fear, guilt, anxiety, and shame overwhelmed her and threatened to burst out. She needed to talk with him, needed to make sure he understood. Mori returned with a red case in his hand. He pushed aside the coffee table and knelt before her, prodding gently at her knee.

Kaori simply couldn't take his kindness anymore and laid her hand over his. "Ta…Takashi. Pl…Please. It wasn't a da..date. It was just supposed to be fr..friends. I didn't be..be..betra…" Every syllable was coming out in a gasp of air as she chocked back sobs.

"I know," he said softly. He placed his other hand over hers and squeezed gently. "Kaori, I know. Shhh. It's okay."

Nothing he said could reassure her, not while he still couldn't look at her. "But…but you're so… so ang…angry."

He raised his head then and she recoiled at the pain in his eyes. "Not with you."

Understanding dawned and she threw herself forward, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. "Takashi, this wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known." His hands caressed up and down her back, soothing her breathing back to normal. "Even you can't protect me from everything" she whispered against his neck.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and breathed in the comforting scent of vanilla, letting her forgiveness ease a bit of his pain. She was wrong. It was his duty to make sure she was protected. That was what he'd promised Honey, her father, and her entire family the minute he'd stepped into the ring. From now on, he'd make sure she was. After indulging himself for a few minutes, he unclasped her waist and returned to his task.

His hands were tender as they prodded her wound. The alcohol wipe he used to wash it stung and he blew on it gently to ease the pain. Once clean, Kaori could see that it was little more than a scrape but Mori still wrapped it up with a wide bandage that made it look much worse than it was.

He repacked the kit with clean, efficient movements then took a seat next to her and removed the ice pack to check on her cheek. "Better," he declared, "the swelling has gone down a bit." The grim line of his mouth and anguished eyes tied her heart up in knots.

"You...you should be angry with me." She twisted her hands in her lap as she forced out her confession. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have drunk anything, shouldn't have let him take me away, shouldn't have let him ki…kiss…"

Mori covered her hands with his. He refused to allow her to mentally go down this path. He reached out, cradling the back of her head in his hand and brushed his lips across her forehead. "You didn't."

That stopped her litany of guilt cold. "What?"

"Let him. You didn't let him do anything. It wasn't your fault." Her forehead drooped against his chest and he felt her nod an acceptance of his words. Too many women had started coming to one of hi families dojos after similar trauma for him to believe it would be this easy. But, he was willing to keep repeating these words until she truly believed them.

His fingers stroked the back of her head until she settled down. Finally he asked the question he'd been dreading an answer to. "Did he hurt you?"

Kaori emphatically shook her against his chest to reassure him. "No." She shied away from remembering what had happened. Whenever she did all she could it brought back the taste of him on her mouth and the feel of his hands. If she didn't think about it or talk about it then she could allow the warmth of Mori's presence to drive the rest away.

His silence was once again a peaceful stillness that wrapped her in comfort. She knew he was waiting for her to continue. "He ki… kissed me. And he put his hands…" The words wouldn't come out. Not just yet. "But that was all. He freaked out when he touched my brace." She drew back from him and shrugged, giving a bitter laugh that was devoid of humor. "I guess there is one good thing about it, it makes me too ugly to rape."

She felt every muscle in his body tense at her words as he unleashed another deep growl. In the blink of an eye he was back kneeling before her, fingers reaching just up under her skirt to pull at the stocking on her right leg. Kaori flinched and put her hands over his. "Please don't. Even I don't like looking at it." Scars and skin grafts from multiple surgeries had left it looking like a patchwork worthy of Frankenstein. She'd become accustomed to averting her eyes away from it when she pulled on clothes or looked in the mirror.

"Trust me." It was more command than plea and his gunmetal grey eyes were gentle but insistent.

Kaori squeezed her eyelids closed and bit her lip as she nodded. Her hands flew up to cover her eyes so she wouldn't have to see the look of disgust in his. Cool air brushed against her leg when her stocking was removed but he made no sound or further movement. Eventually, curiosity won out over shame and she peeked at him through her fingers.

He was studying her calf with his head tilted to the side and a rapt look on his face. Slowly, her hands moved down and towards her lap. Mori looked up at her and smiled. As if that was the signal he'd been waiting for, his fingers reached out and lightly traced along the scars around her knee and down over her shin. "So much strength." His hushed tone was reverent and she could almost believe the words herself.

He lifted up and cradled her calf in one hand while lightly tracing patterns around her ankle. A half-smile quirked the edge of his lips and the gaze he turned on her pieced-together leg was at once proud, possessive, and very, very male. "So incredibly beautiful," he declared.

At his words, the dam holding back Kaori's torrent of emotions broke and she collapsed into uncontrollable sobs. Mori immediately picked her up and cradled her on his lap, letting her weep noisily against his shirt. Her head barely reached his chin and he stroked her back and whispered soothing nonsense sounds into her hair until the tears finished releasing her tension and fatigue set in.

Mori knew she'd be more comfortable sleeping in the bed. Moving her there would be the right thing to do on a number of levels. But none of that mattered because he couldn't make himself release her. It was only when he held her, touched her, that he could believe she was safe. Instead, he grabbed an afghan off the back of the sofa and tucked it around her as she burrowed sleepily into his chest. He enveloped her in his arms and they both slept like that until morning.

A/N: A lot went on for such a short chapter and I hope I managed to do justice to the subject matter. The arc isn't over, but I felt this was the best place to cut it. Next chapter Honey shows up and the real fallout will occur.

Thanks to all the new followers and fave's – I hope you enjoy the rest of this as it winds down.

Thanks to Jessi DarkFox and new reviewer kpacademygirl. I've always liked Satoshi so was glad to give him a little more attention. I just don't think I could write him for more than a chapter.