CHAPTER 10:

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

So yeah, here's the tenth chapter. I know this sounds absurd but I just wanted to ask you guys to trust me. The description of this story didn't change to Amuhiko did it? Think about it. Trust me on this, okay? :)

Enjoy!

Capturing without taking its place...

I woke up with a jolt.

"Is she awake?" a raspy voice asked.

What the hell happened?

I died.

Bright light filled my vision. Wasn't I supposed be sent to hell? Is this heaven?

I breathed in. It smelled nice and clean. And the sheets under me were so soft. The pillow was soft, too. Wait, did people have pillows in heaven?

"Hinamori-san," a voice called.

That was when everything came rushing back to me.

The explosion.

The fire.

The kid.

But it wasn't a kid.

It was a doll.

I got tricked. Somebody was after me.

I forced myself to get up but for some unknown reason, my strength seemed to be absent at the time being. A warm hand gently pushed on my shoulder, urging me to lie back down.

"Where am I?" I asked.

A man in a white lab coat entered my line of sight. He had dark brown hair and blue eyes. A woman in a white uniform was peering over his shoulder thoughtfully, her circle-rimmed glasses strictly pushed back on the bridge of her nose. She was clutching a metallic clipboard against her chest.

"You're safe now, Hinamori-san. You lost consciousness because of extreme smoke inhalation. Thank God your friend found you in time,"

The lighting gave the man a strange glint in his eyes, like he wasn't quite sure if me being alive was a good thing.

I gave him a stern glare. "You haven't answered my question, old man. WHERE AM I?"

Golden hair flashed in my sight. A hand brushed my shoulder. "You're in the hospital, Hinamori-san,"

I glared at him. Tss. Hotori Tadase.

He smiled at me. Wait. I was in a hospital. HOSPITAL?!

I quickly glanced around, ignoring the worried looks that came from the people around me. The door was only three meters away. My hand reached up to swipe a sweaty hair off my forehead when I saw a dextrose attached to my hand.

Without thinking, I snatched the dextrose off and grabbed Tadase's collar, my blood staining his white shirt.

"Which hospital exactly?"

Tadase raised his hands high, putting on a whatever-you're-mad-about-I-had-nothing-to-do-with-it look.

"You're in Amulet Hospital,"

The new King's collar slid off my hand. Sweat suddenly broke across my forehead again. I was trembling. For the first time in my life, I trembled with fear for myself, not for my family. I focused my sight to the door. The doctor was saying something about the dextrose but all noise expect my breathing was declined by my ears.

Of all possible hospitals...

Amulet Hospital.

He has got to be shitting me.

I risked one last glance at the doctor before I ran across the room and out of my cage. My naked feet made flip-flop sounds as I ran desperately away from everybody. The only focus I had was at finding the exit - the escape from this wretched place.

This hospital was owned by my father's sworn enemy. It was another mafia that owned this institution. And I'd be as good as dead if I stayed here another second.

I pulled my hair out of frustration. Had I been careful about that bomb, those stupid Guardians wouldn't have to take me here in the first place. But I really couldn't blame the King. Nobody here knew about my real identity.

At last I found an elevator. Without thinking, I slid inside and hit the basement button. I leaned on the cold, metal wall of my little escape box and slid down on the floor. The door closed just in time a fast, slender figure slid in.

I abruptly stood up and took a tentative step back. Could this person possibly be here to finish me off?

"Why are you out here?" the man beside me suddenly asked, his voice eerily familiar.

My eyes shot up to meet his. What was this guy doing here?

"You don't understand. I cannot stay-"

He cut me off with a swipe of his hand, his midnight hair swaying with him as he faced me. I took another step back whilst looking directly into his dark, hooded eyes.

"I know. You have to get out of here fast," he silently said.

I looked at him incredulously and waited for the punchline that never came. He was supposed to ask me what I meant 'I cannot stay', not agree with me and tell me he knows cause he doesn't.

My skin prickled, the gears of my brain started reeling. Did this person have something to do with the mafia?

What did he say he knew?

"What do you mean, Ikuto? What do you mean 'you know'?" It took all my might not to just flip him down and interrogate him.

His dark eyes left mine as if it pained him to look at me. But then he lifted them up and bore them down on mine. There was a tightness on his skin that I somehow failed to notice up to now.

"Somebody was sent here to finish you off," he said, almost a whisper.

Hairs on my arms and neck stood up. Not only did his voice become completely scary, but also the words he'd spoken shook me down. I wasn't sure what to feel, what to think. Somebody was already sent to hunt me down. Someone out there could possibly be my very own Executioner. The thought had me shivering. I had always known being the daughter of a notorious mafia lord would probably cause me my life but I still couldn't wrap my head around the thought of me dying just yet. Somehow it felt wrong, like something was missing.

But more importantly, how did this guy get his hands on this kind of information?

I searched Ikuto's eyes. All I was thinking were the people outside this metallic box, what if the one after me was already inside with me?

The elevator suddenly opened up in the basement. And without saying as much as anything, Ikuto grabbed my hand and led me through the weaves of cars parked. He fished out something from his pocket and pushed a button. The door of the Porsche Cayman unlocked. He opened the passenger's side for me and gently but quickly pushed me down.

I haven't even had the chance to protest when he already slid across the hood of the car and settled himself on the driver's seat. The engine purred to life and he drove us away from Amulet Hospital.

We rode in silence as I didn't know exactly what to say and I was still contemplating whether he was my Executioner or not. He suspiciously knew too much even if that too much only consisted of him knowing my eventual killer was in the same building as I was.

He could possibly be the Executioner himself. But all Executioners I knew were all eager to kill. They'd kill their target as soon as they laid eyes on them. However, he could be possibly just delaying my death so that I'd trust him and that's when he'd strike.

The ringing of his cellphone broke me away from my internal reverie. I glanced at his side to see him pick up his phone and raise it to his ear.

"Yeah?" he said casually.

I must've been staring because he glanced at me for a sec and put his eyes on the road again.

"She's with me,"

"Yes, she's fine,"

"We're going back to Charanari High,"

"Whatever," his thumb punched the end call button.

I was pretty sure it was me they were talking about whoever that person on the other line was. But I didn't ask, my pride forbade me to do so. Besides, it was pretty obvious it was me. There's no need making him see I purposely was being dense.

"Why are you taking me back to Charanari?"

He gave me a glance for a split-second. "It's easier to protect you there,"

I scoffed incredulously. His role in this scenario was still out of my grasp but one thing was clear to me, he's definitely involved - one way or another - in the mafia.

Silence dominated the entire car again. It was minutes later that he spoke again.

"I was offered the task to look after Hinamori Tsumugu's daughter," he surprised me by saying my father's name out loud.

"I was told his daughter was hard-headed and proud so it would be hard guarding her. Aside from that, many enemies of her father wanted her out of the picture, too. But I took the task, anyway. I didn't know why I did. Even now I still don't understand why the heck I let myself be sandwiched in all the bull. The task was a fucking suicide mission,"

Cold sweat broke across my forehead. I was already freaked out that someone at the hospital was after me. Now, Ikuto's sudden spilling of information didn't help at all.

And I didn't know why, but my chest suddenly constricted at the thought of him regretting keeping me safe.

"Still, I'm at loss for reasons why I'm still up for protecting her," he sighed.

I looked up the tall gates of our school as it slowly screeched open. The rusty hinges almost made the scene look like a billion-dollar, Hollywood-made, horror film.

The school was crawling with cop cars, fire trucks, and ambulances. A part of the men's dormitory was burned down from four floors to two. Almost half of it was gone. The green grasses before were now scorched black; broken shards of glass dotted the ground; ashes were still falling everywhere; the air reeked of smoke; and the huge apple tree that rested near the entrance before was burned down to the ground.

I couldn't help but gape. All these efforts and what? Just to end my life. I shook my head. Ikuto drove around the school building and parked behind it. Much to my surprise, he slid across the hood again, making me catch a hint of lean body as he slid, and opened the car door for me.

"I can do that on my own," I said.

He ignored my bitchy-ness and guided me to the ladies' dormitory. With a fast flick of his wrist he draped a huge jacket around me and covered my head with the hood. I still didn't trust him but feeling another person care for me (even if unsure) was overwhelming. I had to give him some credit.

Within minutes, we were in front of my dorm room. He fished a card out of his pocket and slid it in the door hinge. He pulled down and the door swung open magically. Ikuto gently pushed me inside and locked the door behind him.

I shook the jacket off and slammed my fists on my hips. My honey-colored eyes drilled into him with a penetrating glare. I silently hoped that the threat was clear in my eyes.

"Okay... Start talking, Ikuto,"

AUTHOR'S NOTE (AGAIN):

Amuto moment right there! Hohoho! I thought maybe the girls missed smexy Ikuto that's why they haven't reviewed. Haha! So there you go, I'm bringing you back your Ikuto :)

Anyhow, what do you think of the story so far? I'm planning on continuing this just for 25 chapters plus the epilogue. That means we're almost half-way done with the story! Hohoho! I can't wait what happens next XD Please review! Arigatou gozaimasu! :)

With all the love for writing,

Lace Ashdown

P.S. My other fanfic I told you about is still up for grabs dear readers :) Please message me if thou art interested. Hohoho!