Trigger Warning: This chapter contains some mature themes, violence and some suggestions of rape.

Chapter 23:

The Incident

"Ana, you cut your hair!" Sanae exclaimed as Ana walked into the classroom.

She grinned at her friend and ran her fingers through her shoulder length hair. She felt so much lighter. "Do you like it?"

Sanae seemed conflicted. "I do, but you had such long pretty hair."

"Ha, what does it matter if my hair is long or short? This is way easier to take care of?" Ana sat down and stared out the window. The snow was melting, and the trees were budding. It had been over four months since Kaiba had returned to Domino city. Life had returned to normal, though unlike before she didn't have to practice insane hours. When she'd told her family that she'd "broken up" with Amin-chan, she'd received mixed reactions. Hikari had grinned like an idiot, her father and mother's brows furrowed, her sister had smirked, but oddly enough her grandfather had raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more. Thankfully, he hadn't brought up the subject of finding her a new fiancé either. She still hadn't told her family she wanted to be a teacher. When she'd told Sanae that they "broke up" her friend had gotten mad, but quickly decided that if Amin-chan wasn't man enough to admit that his feelings for her were real, then he didn't deserve her. Ana tried multiple times to remind her that their relationship had been contractual to no avail. Sanae was convinced that Kaiba was a cold-hearted jerk who'd broken her heart. I didn't even feel that way about him, so there's no need to get so defensive.

Ana focused on class and when lunchtime came, she felt her phone vibrate. It was Hikari. She went out into the hall to answer it.

"What's up?" Ana asked, curious why he was calling.

"Hey, Ana… I was wondering if you'd like to do something this weekend, just the two of us? It's been a while since we've hung out." Hikari sounded depressed.

Ana sighed. "We see each other every day."

"Yeah, but I haven't gotten to hang out with my little sister in ages! Do you not want to?"

She could almost hear him pouting. "Fine. We can go to that arcade we used to go to?"

"Sounds good." Hikari's voice was chipper. "You won't be able to beat me though. I've gotten better since last time."

"Suuure. We'll see about that." Ana laughed before she hung up and went back to her lunch.

"What was that about?" Sanae asked as she came back in.

Ana shrugged as she took her seat. "Hikari wanted to hang out."

Her friend sighed, seeming to understand. "He's such a doting brother."

Ana couldn't deny this. She finished up her lunch and went to math tutoring. A senior had taken Kaiba's place as her and Arata's tutor. The guy was an ok teacher, but Amin-chan's explanations had been easier to understand. She quietly did her work. The Senior with dark brown eyes and hair, named Genji, kept giving her glances throughout the tutoring. When they finished up, Arata practically ran for freedom.

"S-Sakurai-san, can I talk to you for a moment?" Genji fidgeted nervously.

"What's up?" Ana glanced at the time. She had afternoon practice today and needed to head home soon.

"I," he cleared his throat. "I like you. Would you go out with me?"

Ana's cheeks grew warm at the sudden confession. "I, um…"

Genji seemed to realize she was hesitating. "You don't have to give me an answer now. Think on it and let me know."

He ran away before she could answer. Seriously? She could feel a headache coming on. Genji was nice, but she didn't find him attractive in that way at all. He was pretty gangly, and she liked more muscular shoulders like Amin-chan—no, no, she just didn't think they would get along that well. If he had given her a second to get over the shock, she would have turned him down. Ana finished packing up and headed home. The sun was setting later these day's, but it was still already dark when she got out of tutoring. She shivered and wrapped her scarf around her neck tighter. Stupid cold. Why does winter exist! How am I going to turn Genji down? Tutoring is going to be awkward after I do. Greif, why are relationships so hard—

Something soft clamped over her mouth from behind and a brawny arm wrapped around her waist. NO! She jabbed her elbow into the gut of whoever had grabbed her and heard them go humph. They released her and she ran, or tried to. Her vision spun, and she lost her balance, planting face first into the concrete. She was dizzy, unnaturally so. Glancing up, the rag that had been on her face before descended on her mouth and nose again. She tried to scream, or swing, or do anything, but her limbs wouldn't obey and she lost consciousness.

The first thing she was aware of was the ground, cold and hard underneath her. Where? When she remembered what happened she tried to sit up but her body was still numb. Someone had bound her hands and feet. Trying to get a sense of her surrounding she looked around the dark warehouse filled with boxes. She could hear men's voices in another part of the warehouse.

"Finally awake?"

Ana turned her head and saw Kinoshita Ren sitting on a box picking at his nails. What? This guy abducted me? The panic was hard to hold back, and her heart was beating a mile a minute. "Wh-why are you doing this?"

The panic in her voice must have been evident because Ren smiled, satisfied. "I wouldn't have had to do this if you'd just played along and been a good little fiancé. But who knew you were conniving enough to fake a relationship with Kaiba Seto, of all people? You played the part so well I almost thought you too were really dating."

Ana's fists tightened in her bindings and she glared at Ren. "That doesn't answer why you're doing this."

"Simple." Ren stood up and looked down at her condescendingly. "I needed the money to pay off my family's debts."

"Then take out a loan like a normal person." Ana knew she shouldn't, but she spit toward his feet. Ren's rage boiled just under the surface.

"Like a pampered princess would know anything about actual hardship. Or what it's like for medical bills to keep piling up just to keep a half dead person alive when there's no chance of them waking up."

"Oh, boo hoo. That's a personal problem for you to deal with, not to drag other people down with you." Ana snapped.

A group of large burly thugs came around the corner. They didn't look the type to just throw insults like Ren was.

"Oh, she's awake." One man with a thick black beard and no hair on his head walked over to her. He grinned down at her and his eyes glinted as he scanned her body. Ana tensed up under his lecherous gaze. "She's not half bad."

Her heart sunk as he reached for her. The possibility of her being kidnapped had always been there. Her grandfather had sat her down when she was young and ingrained into what she would do if she ever felt like her kidnappers were going to have their way with her.

"I-If you violate me then your ransomed will be halved!" Ana shouted in one go.

The man's hand stopped right above her leg and he looked at her as if trying to decide if she was serious or not. He looked up at Ren and raised an eyebrow. Ren too seemed a bit perplexed. Well, it's not like there's a way to prove that I haven't been violated before the ransom makes it to them. She still didn't have full control of her limbs yet. What did these freaks give me?

Ana kept her eyes on the man, but directed this next statement at Ren. "He was going to have me marry you to keep the bloodline going. You really think he'll just calmly pay up when he finds out that my worth has dropped. I figured you'd have at least been smart enough to figure that out about my grandfather. Then again, you stupidly didn't wear a mask. If you lay a hand on me, I'll identify all of you and you'll be hunted down then killed."

Ren's eyes widened as he touched his face. This guy is an idiot. Did he not think of that?

The burly man smirked and replied, "We could just get rid of you after we get the ransom and no one would ever know who did it."

Apparently, he was slightly smarter than Ren, or maybe he had some experience in kidnapping.

"If you kill me, there will be no ransom because my grandfather will know. He'll want proof I'm alive before any tradeoff is allowed." She clenched her fists so tightly she could feel her nails break the skin. Keep glaring, don't let them see your fear.

The man frowned and blinked, confused. Ren growled, but he finally seemed to buy it. "Hands off if you want to get paid. You can keep it in your pants for a day."

The man looked at Ren; he seemed irritated, but backed down. He stood up and walked back to stand with his cohorts. She had to resist letting out a sigh of relief. I guess for once I'm thankful that grandpa has such a reputation for being a stickler and a hard ass.

"However, we can't make it seem that you're having too good of a time," Ren grinned as his eyes sparkled with a sadistic gleam.

Ana's heart nearly stopped. He walked over to her and kicked her in the gut. She'd braced herself, but the pain was still intense and she choked up spit. He kicked her again, and this time she felt something crack. She bit her tongue, refusing to scream even as he stomped on her knee. Blood from her tongue welled up in her mouth. He grabbed a handful of her hair and she flinched. The joy in his eyes was clear. Help, grandpa. Onii-san. She didn't scream, but she couldn't stop the tears. He smacked her hard in the face, and her gaze blurred. He hit her again. The rapid swelling of her eye was closing it up. Help. Kaiba popped into her mind. He was strong. If he was here…He smacked her in the mouth. Her lips broke on her teeth and started bleeding.

"Didn't expect that, did you?" Ren grinned at her. Asshole. He propped her up and set a newspaper in her lap before taking a picture of it and her. When he finished, he shoved her back to the ground and shooed most of the men away. Apparently, he didn't trust them to guard her. Everything hurt. Please, someone help me.

Author Note: This chapter was a bit more brutal than my others, bordering more on a mature rating. I mostly write in the older teen ratings, but some times scenes like these are unavoidable to really put my characters through the grinder. I hope this wasn't off putting for anyone and you keep reading to find out how Ana get's out of her current predicament. Thank you as always for your reviews, favorites, and follows! Stay tuned next week for the next chapter 😊