"Where are you girlie?"
It was another day where Yuyuko's parents, along with Youki and Youmu had left her alone at the Saigyouji residence, and Yukari and Ran were on their way in little over an hour. But Yuyuko wasn't her normal self, in fact, she was utterly terrified.
"Come out come out wherever you are." a male voice said. The man, currently ransacking his way through the residence in an attempt to look for the young girl, for what reason, it was unknown to her.
Yuyuko was hiding as best as she could, trying to keep her motions slow and light, and her breaths short and quiet in order to keep her location unknown. She was in a panic. "Mother..Father...Youki..anyone..please hurry!" she muttered as quietly as she could. She was hiding in her room against a wall, next to the door so that the door would cover her when it opened.
"Where are you, you little runt?" The male said, walking closer to Yuyuko's room. In his hand, a simple knife, and a large spool of rope around his chest. "I'm not gonna hurt ya...just wanna tie ya up and possible use you to bribe your family for some money is all." He chuckled, flipping the knife around between his fingers.
Yuyuko covered her mouth in an attempt to stop a gasp. Her body was shaking in fear now and she wanted to leave her room to hide in a new location, but when she started, the door flew open, slamming against her. She yelped lightly in pain, quickly covering her mouth again.
The thief's mouth twisted into a grin as he slowly turned around and tried to find the voice. "I know your in this room...now, just come out without a fight and everything will be alright." He said.
The girl was on the verge of tears, constantly trying to gather herself to stay strong. "Why me...why out of all the people he could have picked!" She whispered to herself. She had nothing on hand that she could use for self defense.
"The hard way huh...oh well, you asked for it." The male said, flipping the knife around into a reverse grip, stabbing at the door. "You're back here!" He chuckled, ripping his knife out and stabbing again.
With this, Yuyuko screamed, the knife barely missing her skin, but cutting her kimono. She took a small opening when the knife was stuck and quickly dove out from behind the door and started for a mad dash to the hallway. "Oh no you don't!" the smirking man yelled, ripping his knife free and lunging at the girl, leaving a large gash in the back of her kimono. He hit the ground with a loud thud, quickly scrambling to his feet as he saw Yuyuko bolt from the residence and into the gardens.
"Where do I go?" The panicked Saigyouji kept repeating to herself, trying to think of a safe place. Only one place came to mind, but her Father had specifically warned her not to go to that location ever again. She threw that to the side, quickly running as fast as she could towards the safest spot, in her mind. Her breathing was loud and heavy and she didn't bother trying to be quiet. She knew she had no where to run and hide, so baiting the thief was the most she could to buy herself time until someone came, which no one knew how long it wold take.
"Found ya girlie!" The male yelled out to Yuyuko. The girl turned her head, but kept on running. She didn't like what she saw. The man was catching up to her, faster than she'd like. "I asked nicely and you ran off, so no more Mr. Nice guy!" he yelled, scooping up a rock as he ran. He quickly aimed and hurled it, the jagged objected colliding with the back of Yuyuko's head, sending her face first into the dirt. She pushed herself up slowly, spitting out some small dirt clods. She looked up, the sight of the large, wilted cherry blossom tree in her view. "Please..let that...legend be true..." she muttered.
"Alright, that takes care of you." he said, taking the rope off his chest. He picked up Yuyuko by the collar of her kimono. "Now, you'll make a VERY nice ransom." he chuckled, trying to tie her up, but the girl's struggling made it near impossible. "Hold..still dammit!"
"No! Help! Someone!" She yelled, trying to call for help. She flailed her arms and legs, trying to break free.
"Screw this...: he muttered, tossing the rope aside and grabbing Yuyuko in a bear hug style. He covered her mouth with his hand. "There, now try calling for help! Worthless." He chuckled, still hearing her still scream, though muffled. "You got quiet a mouth on ya, huh?" He chuckled, soon dropping her. "OW! You little bitch!" He growled, looking at blood on his hand from a bite mark.
Yuyuko stumbled away a bit and turned around, backing away and soon hitting the tree, her breathing heavier than before. "Go...go away!" She stammered out.
"You've got to be kidding! Just telling me ain't gonna work." He sneered, walking closer to Yuyuko.
"Go away!" She yelled in a panic, yet to no avail again. "I said...GO AWAY!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. The sound after that, one of pure joy as the thief laughed. He laughed as loud as any man could and as long too, but, it was his last. A pink butterfly, about the size of small green apple, fly around Yuyuko. The location of where the butterfly come from was unknown to her, but it calmed her for some reason. It fluttered about her, soon changing direction and heading for the man. He chuckled, soon seeing it go through him.
"What...what the hell?" He said in shock, turning around to find the butterfly covered in blood and slowly flying away. He looked in shock, soon feeling a burning pain ripple and tear at his body. His yells of pain followed, blood pouring out of his eyes, mouth, and ears. Gashes tore open his skin. He fell to his knees, his screams getting louder before they suddenly stopped, and he fell into a pool of his own blood.
Yuyuko watched in horror, slowly sinking to the ground. "Did...did I..." She said quietly, looking at her hands, as if they had done the deed themselves. "No..it...it couldn't have been...the tree did it..." She said, thinking about and swallowing. "No...I did do it..." She said, her eyes welling with tears. "I..I killed somebody..." she said, breaking down into tears.
"Yuyuko!" A female voice rang out. "I"m here! Ready for..our..." She started, looking around at the residence in shambles. "Ran...find Yuyuko at once." Yukari ordered, the shikigami nodding and quickly running through the house looking for the black haired girl. Yukari, on the other hand, looked around the garden in hopes that she went there. "Yuyuko? Yuyuko?" She called out, hearing the light sobs. Yukari looked over, seeing the girl hunched in front of the tree and the dead body. "Oh my...Yuyuko!" She yelled running over as fast as she could.
Yuyuko slowly looked up, her face red from crying. "Yu...Yukari?" She said, quickly getting up and diving for her friend and source of comfort at this time. She latched onto the youkai as she grew near, burying her face into Yukari's shoulder, crying even more now. "I killed a man Yukari! I...I don't know how!" She said, the only thing that could be clearly heard.
Yukari, shocked, didn't respond really, only gently holding Yuyuko. "You didn't mean to..right? What happened...do you wanna talk about it?"
"I..I don't feel comfortable talking about what just happened Yukarin...another time, please?" Yuyuko said through sobs, her face stilled buried
Yukari blushed lightly at the 'Yukarin', but she brushed it off, thinking that Yuyuko was too strung up to think clearly. "Alright...alright...take all the time you need..."