Disclaimer: I do not own KWMS or P&P... all rights reserved to the owners...
Dedicated once again to my dear friend Kurokami Zero and orbunion55
Warning: "Drama" ahead. Just trying to... well...
and now... I brought you...
Chapter 30
'Wait for me, Ayuzawa...'
Usui rode on and on, and after an hour, he arrived at Elmswood. He then stopped by the restaurant where Misaki was working, for he knew that her shift was not yet over, but met Satsuki instead.
"Misaki? She went home early this evening," she answered to Usui's inquiry of Misaki's whereabouts.
Usui thanked her, left, and then he rode towards Misaki's home.
-0-
Finally, Usui had arrived at the Ayuzawa residence. He wondered why the house wasn't lit, though Satsuki insisted that Misaki went home a few moments ago. He dismount on his horse, ran towards the door and opened it.
"Ayuzawa!" he screamed into the darkness, but no one answered. 'Perhaps,' he thought, 'Misaki has not yet arrived.' He almost turned back when a thought occurred, 'But why is the door unlocked?'
'Could it be that Misaki is in danger?' He was so worried about Misaki that blood rushed to his head.
'Calm down, Takumi, it would be your downfall,' He told himself, then speculated, 'If I remember, Misaki told me that she will give the house keys to Ms. Satsuki if ever she goes out of town and Suzuna has the spare ones if she goes back here; Inspector Norris might have another spare since this house belongs to him, but I doubt that he will barge in on his own property, moreover gamble his honor.' He bent down by the door and inspected the keyhole. 'No sign of forcing to unlock the door...'
He paused. He could feel another entity was right behind him and was preparing for an attack, and as quick as a blink of an eye, he pulled the man's arm and pushed him against the door and held the person's arms tightly, trapping him. But he soon realized that the man was a she.
He quickly let go of her, and she was caressing her wrists, "You could have killed me there, idiot Usui," she whispered.
"Misaki! What are you-," Usui said, and then was interrupted by Misaki, who suddenly pushed him out of the doorway, slamming the door shut. "Get out of here!" Misaki said in a raised voice.
"Eh? What's going on, Ayuzawa?" he asked in a childlike tone, "How terrible of you to leave me outside in this rain..."
"Just leave this place!" Misaki said slightly louder than before.
Misaki was leaning against the door, listening if Usui was still outside. When no sound came, she concluded that he left, but suddenly, she heard a series of knocking from outside.
Annoyed, she opened the door quickly grabbed Usui into the house and shut the door.
"Ayuzawa isn't as heartless as I thought," Usui teased.
"Shut up. This isn't the time for jokes," Misaki whispered, and then in a very serious tone, "Someone tried to kill me."
'As I thought, she's in danger,' Usui thought, then he said, "Then, why did you leave the front door unlock? You know you're in danger, Ayuzawa, though I know you have the tendency to be this reckless."
"On the contrary, Usui, he's inside the house," Misaki said in an annoyed tone, "I almost caught him, all of a sudden a certain someone screamed my name. Without the street lamps I would have thought of you as his subordinate."
"Ah, so you were playing Cat-and-Mouse?" Usui asked.
"You could think of it that way."
"Then, who's who?"
"He thinks that I am the mouse in this game, but I will turn the tables and lure him to a trap," Misaki said.
"Then, can I join in?" Usui asked.
"If I say no?"
"I have my ways of convincing you," he replied cunningly.
Misaki sighed, "We'll have it your way then."
"So, what's your plan?" asked Usui.
"Since, you destroyed my previous plan, I am thinking of revising it," Misaki replied.
"You know, I am starting to think you don't have a plan at all," he answered, "And are we going to stay here? You cannot catch him this way, moreover with this kind of visibility..."
"Yes, we're staying here until it is time to go, and right we cannot catch him here and since it is raining outside and there's no moon, there almost no chance of seeing him," Misaki said.
"But you can't catch him this way."
"Oh, it's not-"
Then they heard sounds of a crash and then a thud in the room right next to where they stood. Without a moment to lose, Misaki and Usui dashed off to the assailant's location, they also heard footsteps, as if they were running. They were about to chase him, since they thought that he was running away from them, but to their surprise, the felon ran towards them, pushed them aside and dashed towards the front door and outside to his freedom.
Usui quickly rose and helped Misaki up, then exclaimed, "That person's getting away!"
"No need to chase him," Misaki said, "Shall we head outside?"
Indeed, there was no need for them to chase the villain away. They reached outside the house, stood by the doorway and saw the assaulter raising both his arms up; a number of officers aiming their rifle at him. Everything seemed to be in order, but as the police was about to put him in chains, the man snatched the officer's pistol and pointed it to Misaki.
A gunshot was heard. And then a scream.
"USUI!"
-0-
"... then we will report to Inspector Norris," said the young constable. Then, turning to Usui, who was already treated, asked, "Are you sure you're alright, sir?"
"Yes, it's just a scratch," Usui said while caressing his right shoulder.
"It was rather lucky that it missed your shoulder in an inch," the constable answered, the turned to Misaki and said, "Thank goodness your lover's here to save you."
With the constable's rather innocent remark, Misaki could only look at him with hostility. Usui, on the other hand, looked quite amused.
"Eheh, sorry, I was carried away, ma'am. It's my first assignment, but I don't mean to meddle with your private lives," he said in an apologizing tone. Then, he cleared his throat and, addressing to both of them, said, "Well then, I'll take my leave now."
"Thank you for your hard work, then," Usui said happily.
When the officer left the parlor, Usui turnd to Misaki then asked, "Then, will you explain what happen to you?"
Misaki sipped her tea and she knew that she was now being held by Usui in an interrogation; Misaki lent Usui her father's old clothes to replace Usui's damp ones.
"It's just an entrapment operation..." Misaki replied.
"Just an entrapment operation?! Misaki, were you aware that the Inspector used you as his bait, endangering you... Confound it, Misaki you nearly got yourself killed!" Usui said in a slightly raised voice while faced Misaki with a stern look.
But instead answering him, she sipped her tea and replied in a calmer tone, "Don't be too hard on yourself, remember, you're injured, Usui."
But Usui did not answer her and continued to stare at her.
Finally, Misaki gave in and sighed, "Yes, I was fully aware that he was using me, and I'm sorry for trying to divert you."
"It's just I was so worried about you," Usui whispered.
"What?"
"Nothing. By the way, who was that intruder?" asked Usui.
"Oh, him? He was Barnes' henchman. As what I heard, he narrowly escaped Mr. Norris' men, and then probably took his revenge on me. I was followed by him for days; tonight being the time he attempted to attack me when I arrived at home. The Inspector ordered his men to protect me while tasked another officer to track the felon down, and you know the rest," said Misaki, "Though I heard that they found him, I wondered why they waited this moment before they apprehend him. Most probably the Inspector's order."
"Then why this setup?" asked Usui.
"Actually, even I didn't expect his plan. He attacked me the moment I arrived in the house, which luckily I avoided, but instead of running away from me, he ran inside the house; he probably intended to kill me at all cost, especially with no moon to illuminate the night sky plus this rain. He also intended to attack me in the dark, thinking it would make me defenceless; but I know every room, every nook and cranny of this house even if my eyes are closed. So, I focused more on how to get him out, since the Inspector's men are outside, preparing to arrest him. They will know the man; it's not as if the street lamps weren't lit."
"Then, he knew that the intruder would be here," Usui said angrily, "but why did he order his men to stall the arrest?"
Misaki took a deep breath and then replied, "I do not really know; his men didn't even question the order and were not aware of it, but between the two of us, I guess it is to test me whether I am still capable of doing my job."
Horror struck Usui's face because of Misaki's revelation. "But, wouldn't it..."
"Like you said, he was using me, this time as bait," Misaki interrupted, "It's a gamble, you see, and my life was the bet; if I am no longer fit in this job, I should have died back there, and if I did, our secret would have died with me, and the Inspector would just cover up this incident as another tragedy. Luckily, I survived."
He was silent for a few seconds, then he said, "But, what will he do to those who knew?"
"I don't know," Misaki remarked, as she placed her teacup on the table, "He wouldn't harm you, for sure; Suzuna may not admit it, but she is still in dire need of the Norris' support, and he has no idea who Baron Patel really is. I doubt he would gag his clients to silence them."
Usui could bring himself speak, for he was overcome with sadness; Sadness, because of Misaki's inevitable fate of being enslaved by the Inspector. Unless he...
As if reading his mind, Misaki said cheerily, "I know you may think of Inspector Norris as someone despicable, but he has also helped me in many ways, and my sister and I could not have survived this world without his help." Still, Usui didn't speak.
Misaki broke the silence and said, "What's wrong? Are you afraid?"
"Aren't you afraid for yourself?" Usui finally remarked.
"Why would I be? I had been in this situation even before you came to my life," Misaki said with great confidence. "Speaking of which, why did you come here? Isn't it your engagement party?"
"Ms. Chevalier broke our engagement," said Usui, "As of now, they're celebrating her engagement to Emile, erm, Baron Patel, but that's not the reason why I came here. I already knew."
"Of what?"
"Your deal of spinsterhood and a lifetime of servitude to the Inspector"
Misaki looked quite shocked for a moment, but laughed at the way Usui said it. "That's a harsh way of saying it," Misaki could only say.
On the other hand, Usui took the matter seriously. "You're way too foolish to accept something like that."
"But Inspector Norris has a good point. Things such as love would only distract me," explained Misaki.
"But what happened back there? When I was shot, I saw that your face was full of worry for me..."
"Someone was hurt. Isn't it something to worry about?" Misaki reasoned out.
"But that kind of concern was something else," replied Usui.
"Of course, it is because you tried to shield me. I don't want to be treated useless by someone," Misaki said in a heightened voice.
"Don't you think that you're useless if someone concerned tries to help you," said Usui, then asked, "Why do you push away those people who want to lend you a hand?"
"I told you before. I do not want to be a burden to them!" exclaimed Misaki.
"You are running away!" Usui declared as he suddenly took hold of Misaki by her shoulders. "You're running away from everything, Misaki, to the point of denying yourself and then using your current state as an excuse! Can't you give yourself a chance?!"
Then the room came to silence, except of the heavy breathing of the two people who were arguing a few minutes ago.
Seeing Misaki was dazed of his remark, Usui calmed down, let go of Misaki. "I'm sorry," he said.
"Usui..."
But he interrupted, "Before I leave, I wanted to say something that I should have said before."
"What is it?" asked Misaki.
Usui smiled and said, "Thank you, for everything that happened. Ever since I was a child, I only thought of how I will be useful to my family, rather, to receive their approval. When I met you, I felt something I never felt before: confusion, fear, jealousy, longing... Never in my life had I imagined a woman, whom I only met, would be capable of messing my life completely. Meeting you is best thing that happened in my life."
Usui rose and headed towards the door. Then he looked back at Misaki, who was still sitting in the couch, but was facing Usui, still with her dazed look. "It's been nice knowing you, Ms. Misaki Ayuzawa," he said happily.
Usui turned back again to the door and reached the doorhandle, held it tightly, but when he was about to leave, Misaki said, "Wait."
Usui turned again to Misaki, this time, her eyes were seemingly teary. "Usui...I..." she began.
Then, in his wonder, he saw her flushed, and then she bowed to cover her face and said,
"I don't want to run away anymore."
_END_
After many months of not updating... I'm back! Hehe
First, I would like to apologize for not updating Blue Rose for so long; reasons would be: 1.) my summer classes are a must so that I can continue my studies smoothly; 2.) my course is very hard, though "critical" is more appropriate (I know, an "easy" course doesn't exist, but that depends on the person; what I really meant in no. 2 is that school is eating my free time; and lastly, 3.) writer's block/no inspiration/laziness. I also would like to apologize if Misaki and Usui are way OOC; I wanted to show their "human side" something like that. And as well as of grammatical mistakes.
Believe me or not, while I was writing this chapter, I can't explain the feeling, but it's somewhat like it's new to me (in my language, "Naninibago akong magsulat.") Maybe because it's been so long since I wrote.
I cannot promise to update very soon, but I do hope you'll look forward for the last chapter. I still have many ideas, or rather, "plots" in my head; I revised the White Rose for the Dark Lord (for S.A.) into "-"(I won't tell the new title for now) and the planned (trilogy) crossover would have to be postponed, and again, I'll tell it in the next chapter.
I thank those people who read, reviewed, added this as their favourite story and followed it and many other things that supported me all the way. For questions, violent reactions, just post them when you review.
Gotta go sleep... my first day of school tomorrow...
See ya around!
Lovelots!
Fan-chan
PS: this chapter was supposed to be a "special chapter" (you know, like Chapter 29.5... I want to try that) but I changed my mind.
