A/N: Update time! I'm back with another chapter for you guys.
Enjoy!
A hiss of pain escaped his lips as the medic removed the bandages on his back and they tore off the coagulated blood, making a few of the stitches bleed anew.
But unlike before, the lavender-eyed medic did not apologize for her roughness in dealing with his wounds. He supposed calling that brat 'brain-addled' was a bit too low. But even though Touya felt bad about it, knowing from Sakura that the Gaki was like the way he was due to an accident, his pride wouldn't allow him to apologize.
After all, he was being held prisoner against his will in a ship of fugitives.
A patrol had alerted the hunters to their presence, and since the infamous Yuui had been rumored to be onboard the ship, twenty men had been sent to bring him in. Yuui's crimes had been classified information but it had been clearly stated in his wanted form that he had stolen something of great value from the Reed Empire.
Touya was wondering about the authenticity of the report since even after so many days, he had yet to see this Yuui person. That blond pilot nearly fit the description but he had yellow-colored eyes. Yuui's eyes were blue. So this guy couldn't be him, could he?
The medic applied a balm to the bleeding stitches before neatly taping pads of sterile gauze over them.
"It's not his fault he's the way he is, you know." She said in an irritable tone as she moved away from his bunk, collecting her things and placing them back in the first aid kit.
"I was told." Touya answered quietly.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk about Syaoran like that again, ever." She snapped the lid of the box shut and started walking towards the door.
"I'll try not to bring him up then," he acquiesced with a nod.
"Why do you… Why do you want to see Sakura so badly?" she asked all of a sudden, turning around to look at him with an exasperated frown marring her features.
"Because… she's my little Kaijuu." He mumbled more to himself than to her.
"I'm sorry. What?" she asked.
But before he could answer, a loud boom rang throughout the ship, making the two look towards the roof in alarm since that was where the noise seemed to have originated.
"What the…" the medic slowly set down the medical kit on the floor and inched her way towards the door, cautiously slipping it open. She disappeared in the corridor, leaving Touya alone in the room, shackled to the bed by his hands.
Not three minutes had passed when he heard a gun being shot followed by two simultaneous cries of "Fai!"
"You bastards!" he heard the red-eyed captain of the ship snarl at the same time as he heard Sakura's voice yell profanities in rage.
What was going on out there?
"No!" that was the medic. Everything was silent after that till a man Touya had never seen before emerged at the door. Breaking the chain that connected his manacles to the bed, the man waved his gun at Touya to get up and start walking.
With the gun pointed at his back, Touya was led down the corridor, past the viewing bay and into the cargo hold. As he stepped off the last stair and into the room, all he could think was, What the hell happened to you, Sakura?
-0-
"Cherry," the man laughed jovially, as though he was greeting an old friend, "So good to see you again."
"Wish I could have said the same for you, bastard." She growled venomously, holding one of her throwing knives at his throat.
"Now, now, Cherry," he admonished, "this is no way to treat your clients. I thought Ichihara would have taught you better manners." He seemed unfazed by her display of anger.
"Do not insult my employer, Ryanban," Sakura warned dangerously, despite the fact that Ryanban's personal guard held Tomoyo, Kurogane and that hunter at gunpoint. Fai was lying on the floor in a crumpled heap, with blood oozing out of the bullet wound in his shoulder. His breathing seemed shallow and struggled, and that made her a little worried but she let no emotions except for hatred and anger show on her face.
"You broke the terms of our contract, so as of now, you are no longer a client." Sakura glared at the smaller man's head, her cold green eyes smoldering in rage. "Therefore, I am free to talk to you in any way I like." She sensed one of Ryanban's guards trying to sneak up on her from behind. Carelessly, without even looking, she flicked her free hand in the man's direction and the air was filled with the choking sounds of the soldier's dying breaths. "And it would be best for you if you told your men to let the other passengers of this ship go unharmed."
"What is this?" he laughed loudly, ignoring the knife at his jugular, "the cold-hearted Cherry cares for human lives?"
Sakura's only response was the slight narrowing of her eyes.
"How about we make a new deal, eh?" Ryanban proposed cautiously, his mask beginning to fall as she pressed the blade a little deeper and he felt the skin break.
"One that you will break, no doubt." She hissed spitefully.
"No, I give you my word as the ruler of Koryo I will honor this deal."
"You don't have much of a choice in this matter, Cherry," he pressed when she gave no response. "I hold the lives of those innocent bystanders in my hands. You harm one hair on my head and my men will kill them."
"I have taken more lives than all your personal guard combined." Sakura could see the expression of horrified disbelief on Tomoyo's face out of the corner of her eye. The Ryanban's personal guard was well known to be merciless killers. Each man had killed more than fifty men at least, and there were twelve guards in total. "What makes you think I care for any of their lives?" Next to the medic, Sakura saw Kurogane's jaw tighten in rage.
"The fact that you flew at me the minute my men shot that blond," he smirked as Sakura's well-crafted mask of indifference cracked. "And your demand to have them released shortly after that is proof enough. Now how about you remove this knife from my throat and we discuss this in a more relaxed set up, hmm?"
Bristling with anger, Sakura found herself complying. That bastard was right. She did care about the people on this ship. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if something were to happen to them because of her.
"The pilot needs medical attention," she said through clenched teeth as a couple of men moved towards her the minute she stepped away from the beady-eyed ruler. One of them held out his hand for her to deposit her knife but she only clenched at it harder.
"Oh, non-sense," Ryanban laughed as he walked over to a crate and leaned against it casually, somehow succeeding in making this action seem very uncool. "The bullet only grazed his skin."
"Let them go, you bastard," she hissed, silently shaking in rage but the man did not seem to even notice.
"Now then, about that information," he spoke as though picking up the conversation from where he had left off at an earlier time. "You have all your research work covered, am I correct?"
"You have three days to get me what I want," Ryanban said, narrowing his eyes to put emphasis on his next words. "If you're not back by then, you will have the blood of four innocents on your hands, as well as a whole lot of hunters coming after you. You know," he added casually, "I'm almost inclined to telling them about you right now. After all, the price on your head is the highest this galaxy has seen, next only to two others."
"I understand." she growled menacingly, "Now get the hell off of this ship. You'll have your damned files the day after tomorrow."
"Very well then," he nodded, a pleased smile spreading across his lips, making him appear even more unpleasant to look at than he already was. "The captain shall board Kishimu and stay there as an honored guest till your return."
"Like hell I will." Kurogane snarled.
"Would you rather your lovely companion comes with me instead?" Ryanban leered at Tomoyo and Sakura let a low rumble form in her throat.
"See you in two days, Cherry." The beady-eyed man grinned vilely before trotting back towards his own ship, half his personal guard following with Kurogane in tow, while the remaining men stayed onboard Little Dragon to keep watch over the other prisoners.
Sakura glared at his receding back before whirling around and swiftly moving towards the cockpit of a smaller ship near the rear end of the cargo hold. It was meant to transport two people at most and was supposed to be used to approach places where the freighter itself could not go.
"You lied about killing those men, right?" the hunter asked her the minute the hull of the Little Dragon closed.
"No," was her short reply as she pressed her palm against the side of the ship. The glass covering the cockpit opened with a hiss and began to raise itself to allow the pilot to climb inside. "I didn't."
"How many?" that was Tomoyo.
"More than a few hundred," she replied quietly, not daring to meet the medic's lavender-eyed gaze as she jumped and caught the edge of the opening with both hands.
"And what is the price on your head?" she asked.
"High enough to let you buy three Kishimu-sized ships and still leave a noticeable amount in your account." Sakura replied, carelessly this time, trying to appear indifferent as she pulled her body upwards, climbing into the cockpit. "But don't try to alert the hunters about me." She warned. "Or you will be responsible of the consequences."
"You work for Ichihara?" the hunter asked, his voice void of all emotions. "Is that why that fatty hasn't alerted the hunters about you till now?"
"Yes." Was all she said as she pressed another button to let the glass covering slide back in place. From the viewing screen, she saw the remaining guards lead Tomoyo and the hunter back towards the living quarters, dragging an unconscious Fai behind them as the launch panel activated in the cargo hold and cut it off from the rest of the ship. Powering up the smaller ship, Sakura set her face in a determined frown as she shot off in space, leaving the two docked ships far behind with her mind set on the task at hand.
A/N: Everybody is being held hostage and Sakura is being forced to retrieve some top secret info. Fai is shot and Kuro-popcorn is no longer onboard Little Dragon. Tomoyo just found out that Sakura is not as innocent as she had led them all to believe and Touya is still trying to puzzle out what happened to Sakura to make her the person she is today. That leaves only one person unaccounted for.
I wonder where our little wolf went. Don't you? ;)
Stay tuned for the next installment.
Here's a little sneak peak at the upcoming chapter.
'You lied about killing those men, right?' The hunter's voice echoed inside her head.
"I don't have time for this," she mumbled in annoyance, walking purposefully towards the back of the vessel.
'How many?' Tomoyo sounded so disappointed in her when she had asked her that question.
'See you in two days, Cherry'. She stopped walking, her hands clenching into fists by her sides.
Ryanban… that slimy little bastard. She'd get back at him for black mailing her like this.
No one, no one messed with Cherry.
She'd make sure to make an example out of him for the rest of her clients.
And that's it for this time.
Adios!