And Yuki is safe in the presence of the Yashida family and Yuki tells them about her ordeal.

Protected by Ikuto

Suko brought Yuki over to the house and Lei was mortified to see that she was bloodied up, beaten and completely torn and that was the hugest ordeal she had to see and Lei said, "Where'd you find her?"

"She found me. I saw her walking this way as I walked around the forest not too long ago. I had thought I heard someone scream for help earlier tonight, but the rest of the members didn't want to deal with what's happening because they were exhausted. So I was the only one to find who needed some assistance and when I found out that it was Yuki just now, I was shocked at how she was." Suko replied.

Lei couldn't imagine someone doing something like this to Yuki and she also couldn't imagine how Ikuto would react if he saw her like this and she whispered, "Ikuto's not gonna like this. I'm glad you came over when you did."

"Just make sure that she's safe." Suko added.

Lei nodded at this and she said, "Thank you. I'm sure that whoever did this to her will receive an earful."

Suko nodded and then bowed to her and leaves the door, leaving both Lei and Yuki in the same place and she looked at Yuki, walks over to her and she immediately brought in some fresh towels to help stop the bleeding and Lei said, "Who did this to you?"

Yuki was terrified about what would happen if she did tell because she'd risk getting beaten up by Kuzan again and it would be 25 times more worse than before and she said, "You don't want to know. I don't want Ikuto to see me like this."

"My son's a protector. He'll do anything to protect the people he cares about." Lei added.

Soon enough, they both heard some footsteps from upstairs and Lei turned around to see Ikuto walking from the stairs and she said, "Son...come down here."

"What's going on?" asked Ikuto, walking down the stairs.

Yuki slowly faced Ikuto as her blood spilled out of her face and then, she noticed Ikuto looking at her and he froze for a second full of shock and horror that she has marks, blood spots, scratches and every ounce of minor and/or major injuries she has gotten and Ikuto gasped in full-on horror and covered his mouth with his paw to see that the beautiful face that he fell in love with was battered and bruised by someone or something.

He slowly walked over to her and couldn't believe what he was seeing and he asked, in a shaky voice, "Who did this to you?"

Yuki's eyes were filled with tears and she said, "It's my fault. If I had left sooner..."

"Yuki, who did this to you?" asked Ikuto.

"I...I can't tell you." Yuki answered.

Ikuto got down on his knee and placed a gentle hand on her arm and once Yuki saw his gesture, she felt a source of peace and calm with a concerned mixture on Ikuto and it shows how much he really cares for her and he said, "Yuki, tell me who did this to you. Whoever did this to you...please tell us."

Yuki was a little fearful of what would happen if she told them, but at the same time...she needs to end the suffering she's been enduring for so long and she's not always one to keep quiet about the whole thing and she looked at Ikuto in the eye and said, "I've been beaten, stalked, harrassed, threatened and harmed by someone who claims that I should be his mate...Kuzan."

That didn't sit well with Ikuto at all and the fact that someone claims to own her got him all steamed up and he said, "How long did he do this?"

"18 months. I never wanted to be in a relationship with him and each time I refused, he'd beat me and threaten to kill me and my family if I didn't leave you for him. But I would never leave you for anyone else." Yuki answered.

"You're a very strong cookie." Lei said, amazed.

"I swear...if I find this guy to hurt you, he'll get what's coming to him. Make no mistake about it." Ikuto said.

Yuki was very glad that he told Ikuto and Lei about this and she went closer to him and hugged him and Ikuto responded by hugging her back, although the grip on her injured arm caused her to wince a little and Yuki said, "Bad arm."

Ikuto suddenly realized that her arm was already bandaged and said, "Sorry about that."

"It's okay." Yuki replied.

"Does your parents know?" asked Lei.

Yuki folded her ears down and she shook her head, stating 'no' and she replied, "If I had told them about it, Kuzan would kill them before he could kill me."

"You have to tell them. They're all really worried about you." Lei stated.

Yuki knew that she would have to tell her parents eventually about this, but still holds the fear of having them get killed by Kuzan first and Ikuto tells her, "If he does try to kill them, he won't have much luck."

"Just tonight, I saw that he had four girls in his cave and I heard them screaming and got beaten, whipped, ripped and taken advantaged of. I could've done something to stop." Yuki added.

Lei was shocked and disgusted to know what sorts of thing this person was doing to them and she said, "What did he do to these poor, innocent girls?"

"I didn't see what he was doing to them, but I know that he did something horrible to them." Yuki replied.

"Wait a minute...I heard from some of Akashi's Crimson members that this crazed, violent criminal had escaped from Chor-Gum Prison to find more victims to stalk, beat, control, manipulate, rape and kill them. Come to think of it, his name was..." Ikuto began, then sunk in the realization that the person Yuki was being beaten and victimized by was that particular criminal.

"Did he say that he can't go back to jail?" asked Lei.

"Yes, he did." Yuki replied.

"Well...looks like we'll have an alternative to that." Ikuto added.

Lei could tell that Ikuto's gonna do all he can to protect Yuki, yet at the same time she knows what alternative he's talking about and she said, "For now...Yuki can stay with us."

"Yuki will be safe with me in my room." Ikuto said.

Yuki found the strength to get herself and stand by Ikuto's side and Lei said to him, "Only if she sleeps on the floor. Goodness knows what would happen if Yuki was on your bed."

"Mom..." Ikuto said, blushing.

"I'm okay with sleeping on the floor." Yuki responded.

Even after a serious ordeal, the awkwardness between Yuki and Ikuto are still the same, but they're deeply in love. Stay tuned to see how this goes.