The Dream Shifter

Chapter 41

The man pulled the vines back from the window looking out from the hole watching her disappear into the street. There seemed to be a satisfied and uncaring noise coming out of him as he turned away and walked to the door to the main warehouse.

"And I ran until I heard the train and got on it taking it back here. I was trying to get to your house, Yuki. I needed to tell you what had happened."

Saki leaned back against the couch becoming a little tired from her story. The memories of what happened to her still were fresh and familiar. Her body still was singing from the attack by that man.

Hiroshi coughed to himself and stood up stretching his legs out.

"Well, that was quite the tale. All little weird, but it sounds like a serial kidnapper to me."

"Oh, dear…"

Ayumi said leaning in on Saki with tearing up eyes as though she was able to feel the pain that she was feeling.

"You're so strong, Saki… I don't know if I could have been so brave."

Saki and Yuki stared at Ayumi sweating in embarrassment before snapping back to normal when Ayumi looked back confused at them.

"You should get some rest, Saki," Yuki said.

Saki looked down at Yuki catching his handballing up into a fist.

'He's going to go…'

She tried to put on a simple smile for everyone.

Yuki stood up from the front of the couch looking around the living room for something. He stepped around everyone leaving them a little puzzled as his mind turned. A pad of paper on the shelf on the wall disappeared into his hand and he returned to Saki's side.

"Do you remember where the warehouse is?"

"Yuki?!"

Hiroshi said in shock thinking what the others were soon thinking as well.

"You can't be thinking that you-"

"No…"

Yuki said with a narrowed face stopping Hiroshi in mid-sentence. He fought against his hand from breaking the pencil that he was holding. Yuki smoothed out his face and looked back to Hiroshi with a smile.

"You think I'm going to go try to get that guy that kidnapped and hurt Saki, right? I wouldn't stand a chance against a criminal like that. I'm too weak to do anything directly. But I can still call the police and give them directions. It's the least that I can do. Right, Saki?"

Yuki looked down at her keeping his gentle smile.

She had seen that smile before and it would have calmed her. However, she could see past it in the shaking of his hands.

'He's fighting it. He's going to go. It's another assassin after him.'

Saki smiled back at him nodding in agreement.

"Right, Yuki. Hitomi's still there. She needs to be rescued along with all of those other people."

Yuki nodded back to her and took down what Saki could remember the location of the warehouse. It was not exact, but it would be enough. He put the pencil on the table and stood up.

"Thanks. I got it. I'll give the police a call now."

Yuki walked away from the center of the room but stopped turning back to everyone.

"Hiroshi?"

"Yes?"

"We don't have enough in the first aid kit to treat all of the injuries that Saki has. Could you run down to the store and get some more supplies? Ayumi, can you watch Saki?"

Hiroshi stared at Yuki for a moment in silence and then nodded back to him.

"Alright. I'll be back as fast as I can!"

Ayumi agreed to Yuki's request allowing Yuki to go into the kitchen. Hiroshi rushed to the front door and left the house running down the store. Once Saki had lain back down, Ayumi walked into the kitchen catching Yuki tearing the paper out of the pad and shoving it in his pocket.

"You coming?" Yuki said to Ayumi as though he was expecting her.

"Yeah. I'm not going to let you face an assassin alone in your state."

"Figured you say something like that."

He smiled back to her feeling the burning in his hands growing stronger. Yuki walked back into the living room staring at Saki sleeping on the couch. He burned the image into his mind to keep as a reminder.

'I'll make him pay for doing this to her.'

Yuki walked to the front door where he was greeted by Jun along with Ken at the top of the stairs. Jun clung on to Yuki's school uniform with a concerned expression plainly planted on his face.

"Don't worry, Jun. I'm just going out to the store to get things for Saki. Can you keep an eye on her for me?"

Jun narrowed his eyes as though he did not agree with what Yuki was doing. His small hands pulled tighter on Yuki's clothes wrinkling them.

Yuki knelt down looking Jun in the eyes directly.

"Hey, …it's alright. You don't need to worry."

He could see that Jun was still not willing to let him go. Jun was speaking to him and Yuki knew he was against him leaving the house.

"Jun, please. I need you to watch Saki for me. This is important to me. Do you understand? I need you to do this for me, okay?"

Jun was fighting the conflict that was beset in his mind and voice. However, Jun let go of Yuki looking down at the floor.

"Thank you, Jun. I'll be going now. Watch Saki for me."

Jun nodded to Yuki not keeping eye contact with him. Yuki stood up as Ayumi opened the door for them. He waved to his brothers and walked outside closing the door behind him.

Saki laid on the couch with her eyes closed with a cross frown on her face hearing Yuki leaving.

"Yuki you i***t…" she said softly.

Ayumi waited for Yuki in the street. When he met her she turned to look down to the city that was visible from the hill of the road in the neighborhood.

"Ready?"

"Yeah… I'll make him suffer for hurting Saki! This is supposed to be between him and me. He's dragging in innocent people that have nothing to do with this. I can't forgive him for that."

The directions that Saki gave him were fairly vague, but he could not fault her since she had been trying to escape from the place. They had been able to figure it out between the two of them bringing them within sight of the warehouse where all of the people that had been kidnapped were being held. The entire area was quite lacking much life at all with most of the buildings being abandoned or only used for storage. It made a perfect location for them to use their powers without being seen by the public. However, it could also be a perfect setup for a trap, a matter that Ayumi was attending to now.

Yuki watched from a distance and half distracted as Ayumi searched the area in advance. His mind was weighing heavily on Saki and what she had to go through from this assassin because of him.

'I said I would make him pay, but that's said so easily. Can I actually do it?'

They worry that he held was pulling and nagging at him filling his self-doubt. It had been a slow slope down for him once he left his house for the assassin, but the effect was piling up on him now that he faced the matter before him. He was no longer certain of his chances against the enemy. The anger in his heart was still strong, but it was no longer driving him forward like before.

Ayumi walked back to Yuki having completed her task.

"Everything is clear now. There were a few traps, but they were poorly done. Let's go."

"Right..."

Yuki pulled at his leg dragging it forward to follow up by Ayumi's side as she marched onward. He could still feel the aching thump in his heart spreading through him like a spider laying a web.

'…Saki…'

Hiroshi returned back to Yuki's house knocking on the door expecting to see Yuki. However, when the door opened for him it was Jun standing vacant and distant as he usually did.

"Hey, Jun! I've got some bandages and ointments for Saki's injuries."

He lifted up his bag of supplies to show Jun. Jun stepped out of the threshold to the side of the door nearly hiding behind it. Hiroshi walked through into the living room hearing the door shut behind him. When he searched the room there was no sign of Yuki or Ayumi anywhere in sight. He looked back at Jun seeing him walk around to him Saki's side.

"Hey… Where's your brother Yuki?"

Jun turned to look at Hiroshi and paused for a moment long enough to get a few words out and then turned back remaining silent the entire time.

He turned his head slightly away sweating a little not certain what the look was supposed to mean.

'What's with Yuki's little brother. I don't think I've heard him say a single word the entire time I've been here.'