A/N: Hello everyone and sorry for the late update. So here's the fourth chapter. It is bit lengthy but please bear with it. And thanks a lot to everyone who took their time review it. It really helped and motivated me a lot. Please make sure to review this one too. Enjoy reading! :)

4. You Are Not Alone

"Ryo" whispered Kaori before closing her eyes.

Soon a whole bunch of crowd was surrounding her. Everyone was whispering about the incident and some began asking to call the ambulance. The pain in Kaori's arm was bad but not worse. Years of her kidnapping and her training with Ryo has made her tolerable to that much pain in the least. She was breathing with her eyes closed in order to regain her consciousness. Her master had taught her, a long time ago, when she was only 16 years old, that one can strengthen his life force by ignoring the pain and concentrating on the right points of the body. Right now what Kaori was doing, was a quick of session of concentration in order to regain her life force and to get back on her own legs. She already was not able to hide her presence anymore and thus was doing everything she had in her hands to get away from the situation. She saw Ryo coming towards the scene and hence wanted to get away from there, before he could see through her disguise.

As soon as Ryo heard the sound of bullet leaving the gun, he turned to look at the target of the bullet. Seeing that "Miss Delinquent" was still standing there with a calm expression on her face, infuriated him. One thing that Ryo learned through his experiences was that the life of each and every person was important. One should not throw it away like that. The death of his best friend, Maki, was enough to teach him the lesson that death brings only sorrow and pain to the ones left behind. They are the ones who suffer the most and for the sake of their loved ones, one should treasure his life very well. On seeing the girl standing there, with a slight shift in her position, in the midst of crowd, a sudden realization hit him that she wasn't preparing herself to die instead was protecting the innocent people standing behind her. "So like Sugar Boy," thought Ryo. But this did not prevent him from going further ahead to protect her. But on the way he faced more and more resistance from the crowd and that's when the bullet hit her. Though it only grazed her, but he knew perfectly how much it would hurt. Suddenly he felt a tight knot in his stomach. He saw the girl closing her eyes from afar and read her lips. He stopped dead in his path as he perfectly understood that word. "Kaori..." escaped from the mouth of Ryo.

Kaori saw the shocked and horrified expression on Ryo's face and immediately came to the conclusion that her identity was revealed. She quickly got up from her place and mixed into the crowd. Her arm was severely paining and hence she decided to go to the Doc. She knew she could trust that perverted doctor with her life as well as her other secrets. She increased her pace in order to prevent herself from getting caught by Ryo. And when she saw that no one following her, she took the taxi and went to the Doc's home.

At Doc's house…

"Hey Doc… are you there?" asked Kaori. A long silence was followed until she felt a man's hand on her butt.

"Where do you think you are touching old man..." said Kaori angrily and was ready to throw him away when suddenly the man said in a serious tone,

"What happened to your arm Kaori?"

"Nothing much… A bullet grazed my arm..." finished Kaori in a small voice.

"Does Ryo know about this?"

"No… And you will not tell him anything… Promise me Doc that you will just not tell him anything… I want to resolve this matter on my own…"

"But Kaori..."

"Please Doc don't ask me any questions… Just ignore this for one last time…"

"We will talk about that later. First let me just treat your wound… It has already bled so much!" said Doc taking Kaori by her hand. But Kaori broke free from his grasp and said,

"No Doc, I will not move an inch from here until you agree to what have asked…" said Kaori firmly.

Resigning to that hot headed and stubborn girl Doc said, "Fine Kaori, I will not say anything to Ryo. Now can we go inside to treat your wound?"

"Of course that's exactly what I am here for!" said Kaori grinning like a child.

Doc soon treated her arm successfully and gave her some medicines. He was surprised to see the depth of her wound and thought that how could their fragile Kaori tolerate such a pain. Her injury was no joke. A lot of blood was lost which could have damage her arm permanently, but thankfully she was safe. He has given her strict instructions to not put any kind of strain on her arm for at least a week. After she was gone, all he could think of, was how Ryo would torture the person who dared to hurt Kaori. "But something good might come out of this," thought Doc.

Kaori then went to do some grocery shopping and purchased some normal clothes and a jacket which would completely hide her injury. Then headed towards Cat's Eye to meet Miki. She was doing all this to prepare her day's schedule for when she will head home, she was sure that a bunch of questions will be waiting for her. She didn't want to lie to Ryo, but telling the truth was completely out of option. Around six in the evening she went to her home and found that it was empty. Ryo and Sayuri were still out, so she went ahead to prepare dinner for them. She was careful for the whole day to act normally and her flawless acting even deceived the careful eyes of Miki. And now she was sure that she could easily deceive Ryo too.

When she was finished preparing the dinner, and was finally relaxing herself on the couch, the door bell rang. As soon as they both entered, Sayuri quickly hugged her sister and whispered in her ear, "He was a gentleman for the whole day… You picked up the right one!" Kaori felt a little in pain but controlled her expressions and then became flushed on hearing the last sentence. Her pain and blush did not escaped the eyes of our sweeper who felt the feeling of both happiness and sadness. Sure Kaori was the only one who could make his head spin with only her expressions. She was his strength as well as his weakness. His thoughts were interrupted by Sayuri's voice.

"So guys… I am going upstairs in my room... I will take a quick bath and then we all can have our dinner together. Fine with you two?" asked Sayuri, who got a nod from both of them as their approval. She turned her back to Kaori, and facing Ryo mouthed, "I will take a long time upstairs" and winked at Ryo. He only smiled in return and Sayuri thought that his genuine smile was enough to kill a mob of girls. Smiling to herself she left the two of them to have their time.

"Kaori…" said Ryo, moving closer towards her.

"Ryo..." said Kaori, while backing away from him.

"What were you doing today?" asked Ryo seriously.

"Nothing much… some shopping, coffee with Miki, cleaning our house… that's all" said Kaori, who was having great trouble keeping her calm while Ryo was moving so close to her.

"Are you sure?" asked Ryo.

"Of course..." said Kaori. By now her back was struck against the wall and Ryo's face was more and more closer to her.

"It seems that you are hiding something..." said Ryo. He was now looking straight in the eyes of Kaori. He could clearly see that she was hiding something and he knew what. It had took all of his self control from not pursuing Kaori when he saw that she was running away from her (after all he has promised Kaori that protecting Sayuri will be his first priority. Sayuri could have been in grave danger if he would have not been there with her). He was still not sure whether that girl was Kaori or not. It was his intuition that, that girl was Kaori and his intuition was never wrong. The only way to know whether Kaori was there or not, was to check her arm for an injury. He came very close to her and deliberately inhaled her scent, in order to distract her. Kaori immediately turned into a deeper shade of red. He then gently touched the nape of her neck with his fingertips and Kaori shivered under his touch. Ryo was enjoying the torture and wanted to do more than that to her, but controlled himself.

"I have to first confirm this," thought Ryo. He then gently slipped his hands inside the collar of her jacket. His touch made Kaori close her eyes. She was now lost to those new found sensations and let all her guards down. Ryo then slipped the jacket, off her shoulder and let it fall on the ground. Then with his fingers touched the bandaged portion of her arm. Kaori grimaced in pain and soon realized what exactly has happened to her. Ryo was giving her a questioning look. She felt ashamed on her inability to keep even such a small thing as a secret from Ryo. And above of it all, she felt betrayed and hurt. She thought that Ryo only did all those things to her in order to reach to the truth. Tears were now flowing through her eyes and Ryo could exactly trace her thoughts. With all her guards down, Ryo could see through everything going inside his Sugar Boy's mind. He could stand anything, any amount of pain in this world but not her tears. After finally admitting his love for her, there was no way that he would make her cry. So he cupped her face in his hands and forced her to look into his eyes.

"I was not playing with you Kaori… There's no way I could!" said Ryo, emphasizing his last sentence. Kaori was giving him a confused look.

"Don't torture me with that look Kaori… It's already quite difficult standing so close to you..." said Ryo with a slight laugh.

Not understanding a bit, she looked down and saw that Ryo's mokkori was functioning very properly. She immediately turned deep red in colour and looked away. Ryo laughed heartedly and said,

"You know that I love you so much Kaori and care deeply for you… All these years I kept denying my feeling because I thought that you will never be safe beside me. But look, even without me, you still managed to get yourself in problematic situations. Instead of letting you face all those situations alone, isn't it better to face them together… So now tell me Kaori who was it and why did this happen to you?"

Those three words, "I love you," were ringing in her ears continuously. She didn't even heard him say rest of the things. Those words, for which she has waited for eternity, were finally set free from the mouth of Ryo. He himself did not realized the words that had left his mouth at that time. All he wanted at that time, was to comfort Kaori and make her believe in his love, which he successfully did. Those words made Kaori weak in her knees. She was about to slip down when she suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, ignoring the pain. Ryo slowly and hesitantly wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her back, but gently. They were savouring the moment in each other's arms when Kaori whispered, "I love you too Ryo."

"Kaori..." said Ryo, with a glint in his eyes. His eyes and heart were both burning with passion. He brought his face close to hers till their breaths mingled. Unable to further controlled himself he placed his on her soft ones and hurriedly kissed her. There was an urgency in their kiss and Kaori felt like Ryo desperately needed her. For the first time in her life, Kaori felt at the complete mercy of her partner. She was so immersed in her thoughts that when Ryo broke their kiss, she felt like her life support system was snatched away from her. She looked in the eyes of Ryo who in turn looked at her, with both of their eyes clouded with carnal desire. They were about to continue when Sayuri suddenly started screaming. Ryo immediately darted towards her room and found frightened Sayuri at the corner of her room. She was waving her hand furiously and was asking something go away. Kaori also came running and halted behind Ryo, careful enough to hide her wound from Sayuri. Ryo asked Sayuri in a concerned voice,

"What happened Sayuri? Why were you screaming?"

"Ask that thing to go away first?" said Sayuri pointing towards the wall.

Ryo looked in that direction and found a lizard on the wall. He first giggled and then started laughing loudly. Even Kaori couldn't control herself and joined Ryo in his laughter. Sayuri made a sullen expression and asked Ryo not to make fun of her.

"Instead of laughing, you can make that thing go away Ryo!" said Sayuri.

"Of course, of course!" said Ryo shooing away the lizard.

Sayuri then relaxed and noticed the expression on Kaori's face. She was flushed, "but that could not come just from laughing..." thought Sayuri. Then her eyes rested on Kaori's slightly swollen lips and she immediately understood the whole story. She was elated beyond comparison and said in a mischievous voice,

"I am so sorry that I ruined your passionate moment!"

As soon those words left Sayuri's mouth, a deep blush developed on Kaori's face. Even Ryo felt a little awkward. Sayuri, getting the idea of the development between the new couple, left the two of them alone. While going away, she whispered in Kaori's ear, "Your lips look much better now." She playfully jerked Kaori a bit and left her. Loosing her balance, she collided with the wall, right on her wounded arm. She gulped her pain and withered in pain on the floor. Ryo who was looking in other direction, as soon as heard the 'thud' sound and saw Kaori on the floor, rushed to help her. He gently took her in his arms in princess style and took her into his room (carefully avoiding the eyes of Sayuri). He laid her on his bed and started to unwrap her bandages. Her wound was reopened and blood was oozing out of it, due to the collision. Seeing Kaori in so much pain, wrenched his heart. He quickened his process of bandaging her arm and took a sigh of relief only when he was finished. With a grim expression he asked Kaori,

"How did this happened to you? Or rather who did this to you?" There was a long silence in the room. "Kaori care to tell me, who did this?" asked Ryo again, now visibly angry. He was angry not on Kaori but on himself because he was not able to protect her. This thing was continuously going on his mind and was making him feel more and more exasperated. Again not getting an answer from Kaori, whose head was hung low, he tried a soft approach and gently lifted her face with his fingers and asked,

"Please Kaori… Tell me everything..."

On seeing Ryo begging for an answer from her, her eyes began to moisten. She said in a soft and dejected tone, "I cannot Ryo…"

"Kaori!"

"Please Ryo… I beg of you, don't ask me anything… I have promised myself to see through this matter till the end, all by myself. I have to do this Ryo… This is my only chance… I just cannot drag you in between this..." said Kaori between her numerous sobs.

"No Kaori! I will not listen to all this… You have to tell me everything and now!" said Ryo sternly. On hearing this Kaori started crying more loudly and her whole face was basked in tears. Ryo felt more and more helpless and was cursing himself for saying such things to his Sugar Boy. He gently and rhythmically stroked her hair, encouraging her to stop crying and relax in his arms. When she was calmed a bit, he said in a hopeful voice,

"Okay Kaori, I won't pressure you to say anything now… But at least trust me with your safety and give me a little detail of your choice..."

"Please Ryo!" pleaded Kaori.

Getting no answer from Kaori, Ryo decided to depend on his network to get all the information. "Okay Kaori, now you are going to sleep here and I want no arguments on this topic… Is this clear?" said Ryo. That was no question but a statement for there was a great conviction in his voice. Kaori agreed to with a nod. "Do you want to have dinner here or will you go downstairs?" asked Ryo.

"I feel quite full already, so I will skip it."

"Fine... I am going down to check on Sayuri… And you do not move from this place!" Ryo was about to leave when he turned once again and asked, "Did that eccentric Doc gave you some painkillers?"

"But... how did you know?" stammered Kaori.

"Of course I am aware of all those people, whom you trust your life with. Damn that old geezer! Even he knew about your injury… Do you trust him more than me?" asked Ryo with a hurtful expression.

"Of course not Ryo!"

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

A long silence followed his question. They were getting nowhere near the conclusion. Everything was leading to the same question. And Kaori was reluctant to speak anything. "Why?" thought Ryo. He shook his head in order to bring back his sanity. He looked at Kaori who had guilt written all over her face. His face melted in the blink of an eye and he knelt down beside his bed, where Kaori was sitting. He took her palms in his hands and kissed them. "I know that there must be a reason," said Ryo and smiled lovingly at her. Then suddenly swore loudly, "Damn this love, it's making me more and more possessive towards you with each passing moment."

Kaori's face instantly broke into a smile. "I guess you can now somewhat understand my feelings from all these past years," said Kaori with a hint of jealousy. She was sulking a bit and Ryo completely fell in love with that expression. It was a proof of how much she loved him and hated sharing him with others. He chuckled and said, "You were not the only one with that feeling," he paused for a bit in order to let the words sink into her and then continued, "I am going down now and you are not suppose to move even an inch from here. I will quickly come back to you." he finished his last words with a 'Stallion of Shinjuku' smile.

Kaori was now completely left alone in his room. Those last words of Ryo, before leaving the room, made her blush a little. Thinking that now she was on his bed and under the covers made her even more flushed. She slipped further inside the covers and inhaled the scent of Ryo from it, which soothed her immensely. All her worries were forgotten while she fell into the arms of Morpheus.

After finishing the dinner, Ryo called his informants, in order to get the information about the attacks on Sayuri and Kaori. One of his informants also told him the some useful information. He was still not satisfied and asked them to look into the matter more thoroughly and report back to him as soon as possible. "Kazuya Ichinose… You have messed with the wrong person!" said Ryo with a grim expression.

Continued...