It was late. Ryoma was tired and decided to go to sleep.
"Let's go to sleep, Karupin," Ryoma said.
"Meooooooow!" Karupin agreed.
When she reached her room, there was a room service boy standing in front of her door. He looked to the right, then to the left. Seeing no one, he was going to open Ryoma's door when Ryoma walked up to him.
"Hey, do you need something?" Ryoma asked.
"Ah!" the man got caught by surprise. He turned around to see Ryoma standing next to him. Ryoma look at him suspiciously.
"Ah… Sorry, I was just delivering the costume for you. I finished ironing it," the man stuttered. Ryoma looked at the tuxedo he held in his arms.
"This is my room and I'm female. I don't have a tuxedo," Ryoma told him.
"Ah… I'm sorry, miss. I must have gotten the wrong room. My apologies." He bowed to her and scampered away. Ryoma looked at him, frowning.
'Strange,' she thought. She shrugged her shoulders. 'Bah! Not my business!' And she entered her room.
Karupin went ahead of her and jumped on her bed. He sat down next to a pair of pajamas which Aoko put on her bed for her. It was also a white silk one, like the one she had.
"Why did they take the pain to get rid of my pajamas and give me an exactly same one? Just keeping my own is fine!" Ryoma said. "Nee, Karupin?"
"Meoow!" Karupin answered.
But what Ryoma didn't know was that this new set pajamas of her was made from the finest silk in Japan. And she certainly didn't know the price of it. She took a shower and changed into the pajamas. Ryoma was going to slip into her bed, when she heard people speaking… from inside her wardrobe!
Inside the wardrobe.
"Onii-san, I'm hungry," a little girl said, hugging her stuffed toy doll against her.
"Me too, but we have nothing to eat," her brother said. "Let's wait for a moment. When everybody is asleep, I will try to find food for us."
The little girl nodded.
Outside the wardrobe.
Ryoma stood in front of the wardrobe, listening. She gulped.
'I'm not dreaming. There are people inside the wardrobe…' Karupin jumped down from her bed and walked to the wardrobe. Slowly, Ryoma stepped up to the wardrobe. One, two, three… OPEN!!!
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" the children yelled.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Ryoma yelled.
"Meoooooooooooooow!" Karupin yowled too. The children clung to eachother as Ryoma fell on her bottom and Karupin hissed.
'Huh? Children. They are only children.'
The children were young. The girl looked to be around five or six years old, and the boy maybe six or seven. They had chestnut hair and ash grey eyes. The boy's hair was straight while the girl had shoulder lenght wavy hair. And they wore very fine clothes.
'They must be from a wealthy family,' Ryoma concluded. 'But what are children from rich family are doing in a wardrobe?'
"Who are you? And what are you doing in a wardrobe?" Ryoma asked.
"Pl… pl… pl…" the boy stuttered, but he was so scared that he couldn't answer. He tightened his arms around his little sister's shoulders. The little girl buried her face into her brother's chest. Both of them were shaking madly. "Pl-pl-please… Do-do-don't hurt my little sister… I-I-I will do everything you want… J-just don't hurt her, please!" the boy plead. He and the little girl were ready to burst into tears at any moment.
'They are terrified…' Ryoma thought. Ryoma kneeled down on the floor and sat on her legs. She crossed her hands on her laps and didn't move, showing them that they have nothing to worry about her.
After a couple of minutes, she talked again.
"Don't be scared. I won't hurt you," Ryoma said calmy.
"R-R-Really…?" the boy asked in a trembling voice.
"Hmn…" Ryoma slowly nodded, but didn't break eye contact with them, showing them that they can trust her. To prove them that his mistress wasn't lying, Karupin went and sat on Ryoma's laps, right on her hands. That way, Ryoma could not do anything without the children seeing. The boy examined Ryoma.
'She is sitting on her legs and her hands are crossed on her laps. And her cat is on her hands too.' He looked at Ryoma's face.
'She is not hiding her eyes.' He looked deeply into Ryoma's eyes. For a long long time, the two of them didn't break eyes contact, not blinking once. After a few minutes, the boy finally reached his decision.
'She doesn't seem to be dangerous. I guess I can trust her…' the boy thought. He relaxed his shoulders and his tight hold around his little sister's shoulders loosened. Feeling her brother's arms loosening, the little girl felt more secure, less scared. She looked at the lady sat in front of them, her fluffy white and brown cat sat on her. She looked at the lady's face. She looked at the lady's eyes.
'Pretty eyes…' the little girl thought. Seeing the little girl staring at her, Ryoma smiled a little bit. The little girl smiled widely back at the lady in front of her. The boy was surprised to see his little sister smiling at the lady.
'If Sora is not scared of this person, then she must not be dangerous,' the boy concluded. His little sister rarely trusted anyone at the first sight. Actually, the number of people his little sister trusted could be count on only one hand's fingers. The boy looked back at Ryoma.
'I can trust her then.'
"Ryoma-chan/Ryoma/Echizen-hime-sama, are you all right?!" Fuji, Yuuta, Kaoko and Aoko burst in Ryoma's bedroom, yelling.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah! / Meowwwwww!" the children, Ryoma and Karupin yelled, completely caught by surprise. But the most surprising thing for Ryoma, it was that she found herself on her back, the two children on the top of her, clinging to her. It was a good thing that the floor was covered by a thick carpet or Ryoma would have been knocked out. But something much more surprising happened after that.
"Touga! Sora!" Fuji recognized the kids on Ryoma. The two children, hearing their name, raised their heads to see the people who burst in the room. Next, they ran to Fuji and crushed themselves to his legs.
"Syuu-niichan!!! Woeeeeeeeeee!" they wailed. Fuji bent down at their level and they wrapped their arms around his neck.
"Woeeeeeeeeeee!" they wailed again.
"Touga, Sora…" Fuji said and let them cried into his chest. He put his arms around their shoulders.
"Fuji-senpai, you know them?" Ryoma asked as she stood up front the floor.
"They are our sister's children," Yuuta said. "But what are they doing here ? In your room?"
"I don't know," Ryoma said.
"Woeeeeeeeeeeeee… Hic! Hic! Hic!" the children hiccupped.
"There there, Touga, Sora…" Fuji hushed. "It's all right now… Shhhh…" Little by little, Touga and Sora calmed down.
"What is happening here?" Atobe asked as he appeared with Kabaji. That's when he saw the children. "Touga! Sora! What are you two doing here!"
"Kei-niichan!" Touga recognized his cousin.
They took place in Ryoma's room, sitting wherever there was place to sit on. Ryoma and Sora were on the divan. Touga sat in a sofa, facing Fuji and Atobe, who were in an armchair. Ryoma's door opened again. This time, it was Yukimura, Sanada and Yagyuu who came in. Kirihara, Marui, Niou and Ootori were with them too. Kirihara saw Ryoma with a little girl.
"Ah! Echizen! I didn't know that you already have children!? And to think that you're younger than me!" Kirihara said. Ryoma sighed and rolled her eyes. She had long given up trying to understand how Kirihara's brain works. Yukimura chuckled.
"It's my first time meeting them. I don't know anything about them except that they are named Touga and Sora and that they are Fuji-senpai's and Yuuta's nephew and niece," Ryoma said.
"They are also my cousins," Atobe said.
"They are?" Ryoma looked at Yuuta. "You are related to the Monkey King?" Yuuta snickered while Atobe twitched an eye.
"Nee-san (1) married Mitsuda Kouki, Atobe's cousin," Yuuta explained.
"Anyway, let's get to our business," Atobe said. He looked at Touga and Sora. "Touga, Sora, what are you doing here?" Atobe asked them in a stern voice. Touga trembled.
"We don't know what happen to us," Touga answered. "We were playing outside in the garden when strange people appeared. They knocked Nana out and took Sora. I tried to stop them but they took me too."
"Nana?" Ryoma asked, slightly confused by the term.
"Their nanny," Yuuta answered.
"I don't know what happen after that. When we woke up, we were in a dark room. We were gagged and our legs and arms were tied," Touga continued. "There were some broken beer bottles scattered around. I used a shard to cut the ropes of my hands and free us. After that, we tried to run away but we didn't know where to go. The bad men found out that we escaped and they were searching for us. Since then, we hid in this wardrobe." Touga pointed to the wardrobe where Ryoma found them.
A silent took place in the room.
"You were kidnapped…" Marui said.
Guru…
A strange noise came out from Touga's and Sora's stomachs.
Guru guru…
. . .
GURU ! GURU ! GURU ! GURUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!
Touga's and Sora's stomachs threw a tantrum. They blushed while Ryoma, Yuuta, Kirihara, Marui and Niou sweat dropped. Sora hid her face in Ryoma's arms. Ryoma was surprised. She didn't realize that the little girl was so close to her. In fact, Sora was practically glued to Ryoma.
'When did she move so close to me?' Ryoma wondered. But Ryoma didn't move nor did she push the little girl away from her. Touga put a hand on his stomach.
"We haven't eat anything for a long time…" Touga finished. Atobe sighed.
"Enzou," he called his butler.
"Kashikomarimahsita (2), obocchama," Enzou said, then left to get something for the kids to eat.
"Fuji-sama," Shindou said as he appeared with a telephone on a tray.
"Arigatou Shindou," Fuji said as he picked the phone. He dialed a number and wait. Someone immediately answered.
"We will pay the ransom you want, but don't hurt my children!" Mitsuda Yumiko (maiden name Fuji) cried on the other side of the line.
"Nee-san, it's me," Fuji said, wincing slightly at the deafening volume of his sister's voice.
"Ah! Syuusuke!" Fuji heard his sister cried. "I'm sorry. I thought it was someone else. I'm sorry I can't talk to you now. Can I call you later? Something very important happened here."
"Nee-san, if you are talking about Touga and Sora, they are here with me," Fuji said.
"WHAT!?" This time, it was Yumiko and her husband who yelled in the phone. Fuji pulled the phone as far away from his ear as he could.
"They are!? Are they fine?! Are they hurt?! How come they are there with you? What are they…" Kikou hastily asked.
"Onii-san, calm down," Fuji said. "They are perfectly fine. They are not hurt. Just hungry. But we are taking care of them. Everything is perfectly fine so you don't have to worry about anything anymore."
"Syuusuke, let me talk to them," Yumiko said. Fuji turned to Touga and Sora.
"Touga, Sora, your mother wants to talk to you," Fuji said. Touga took the phone from Fuji and Sora stood next to him.
"Kaa-san," Touga said.
"Oh Touga! Are you all right? Are you hurt? Is Sora all right? Were you very scared?" Yumiko asked, worried and relieved to hear him.
"I'm fine kaa-san. Sora too," Touga answered for them. Fuji left Touga and Sora talked to their mother and returned to his place.
"Ryoma-chan, how did you find them?" Fuji asked.
"I was going to sleep when I heard people talking in the wardrobe," Ryoma answered. "That's how I found them." Fuji became silent momentarily, thinking.
"Who could have kidnapped them…?" Fuji thought aloud, his chin between his fingers. "From what Touga said, the kidnappers must be on this ship…" Hearing his mumbling, Ryoma talked again.
"I remember something," she said. "When I went to my room, there was a room service boy in front of my door. He said it was to bring an ironed tuxedo. When I told him that I don't wear tuxedos, much less own one, he excused himself, saying that he must have mistaken my room with another. Then, he immediately ran away."
"He ran away?" Yukimura said. "That's strange." Ryoma nodded.
"Afterwards, did he try after to find the right room to give the tuxedo?" Ootori asked. Ryoma shook her head.
"That's a strange behavior for a room service boy," Yagyuu said. Ryoma thought a moment.
"Come to think about it… Before he tried to open my door, he was looking right and left, as if he was checking if there was somebody else around. He was going to open my door if I didn't intercept him. And when I turned the knob, the door was already unlocked."
"It sounds like he didn't want people to see him… If he was a normal room service boy, he will knock to see if you're in your room. If he got no answer, he would have left and would return later to try again," Marui said.
"Furthermore, it seems that he has a master key since he unlocked your door," Niou said. "But a simple room service boy should not be in possession of the master key of the rooms."
"He's suspicious," Kirihara said.
"Could it be that he is Touga's and Sora's kidnapper and he was searching for them?" Yuuta hypothesized.
"Probably," Yagyuu said.
"He's indeed suspicious. We should be looking for him. If he's a kidnapper, there is high probability that he will try to kidnap the children again," Sanada said. The guys nodded to Sanada's presumption.
"Echizen, can you describe him or recognize if you see him?" Atobe asked her. Ryoma nodded.
(1) nee-san (or onee-san): big sister ;
(2) kashikomarimashita: I understand, very polite.