Engaged to Morinozuka (an Ouran High School Host Club fanfiction)

Serious Threats- Part 5

Mariska's head swam in disorientation as she slowly came to and pounded when she opened her eyes. Within a few minutes, she could remember what had happened, but she didn't recognize where she was. The sunlight from the late afternoon blinded her for well over several minutes, but she could barely make out the shape of a desk in front of her. The more her head cleared, the better her vision became.

Finally, she came to the realization that she was in someone's office, but she wasn't sure who's or where the office was located. When she tried to stretch and rub the rest of the blurriness from her eyes, she found that she couldn't move. She looked down and found that her wrists and ankles were tied to the chair she was sitting in. She let out a muffled groan and realized her mouth was covered as well.

Great... I do hope Takashi was able to get to Father's office and get the evidence to Kyoya. Once Kyoya is able to release the evidence that Hitarus was plotting against Father, they'll be looking for us. As this thought passed her head, the sound of a door opening came from behind her as several sets of footsteps followed. Finally, her father's business partner was standing before her, arms crossed as he stared at her over the rims of his glasses. Her chest heaved as he looked at the men who had entered with him.

"Why is she tied up like a common prisoner? She is a guest here and deserves to be treated as such." She winced as a knife seemingly appeared out of nowhere, cutting the ropes from her wrists. She instinctively removed the gag from her mouth as her ankles were cut free as well. As soon as she was free, she straightened her posture and crossed her ankles, sitting like the proper young lady her father had trained her to be. Hitarus smiled at her. "Sorry about all of that, but we had to ensure you didn't escape again." She kept her mouth clamped shut as she watched him cautiously, and he smiled as he was handed the safety deposit box from her room. "I want to thank you for providing me with this. It saved me the trouble of having to force you to tell me where it was hidden." She dropped her gaze, trying not to betray herself.

"Why are you doing this? Father trusted you..." Hitarus sighed and shook his head at her.

"If he truly trusted me, would he have gone back on his word on having you marry my son?" Mariska, who was really fed up with the unwanted attention she kept getting from her father's choices on her betrothal, fought the urge to roll her eyes as she looked back up at him.

"Is that what this was all about? My betrothal?" He set the safety deposit box down and looked at her.

"It's more than your betrothal. It's all about business. When you were born, your father and I thought that the best way to ensure the business stayed in the family was if we had you marry Kitosha when you were of age. That way, no one was cut from the business. However, as time passed, Onikan started looking for different ways of expanding the business. Eventually, he believed the only way to do so was to have you marry someone who's family was a constant client of ours in order to start monopolizing the business. I strongly disagreed, and we argued for years over it. All this time, I had hoped he would come to his senses and turn back to the agreement we made so long ago, but he didn't." He adjusted his glasses. "Everything I've done, I've done for the good of the business." He glanced at the safety deposit box. "Everything..." He looked back at Mariska. "Of all people, I'm hoping you understand." Mariska stared back at him, truly speechless.

Is this man's sanity really that far gone? The look on his face was the cold, expressionless look of a man who would do anything to get his way. It was the look her father always warned her to be cautious of. She kept her mouth clamped as he turned and picked up the safety deposit box. Pulling the key from his pocket, he opened it and frowned.

"What's this?" He picked up a small stack of documents and shuffled through them, growing increasingly confused by the second. "This isn't the right box..." He glared at the men behind Mariska. "These are all of Mariska's transcripts, not Onikan's documents!" He threw the box across the room as one of the men approached him.

"Take it easy, Father..." The blood drained from Mariska as she stared at the young man, who was a spitting image of a younger Hitarus, whose photo her father kept on his desk back home. The man turned and looked at her. "We don't even have to worry about the documents anymore." He looked back at his father. "Onikan's not likely to wake up from his coma. All we have to do is make the wedding arrangements, and we can have them pull the plug on him." He pulled a paper from his suit jacket and handed it to his father. "It turns out that Onikan never changed the will, so his final wish is that his daughter be happily married to the son of his business partner." Mariska shook her head in disbelief.

No... no...

"No..." Her thoughts suddenly became words on her tongue. "No, I won't do it! I don't care if I lose my family's side of the company... I won't do it!" She tried to get up, tried to leave, but several hands grabbed her and held her down. Kitosha and his father smiled at her as she struggled against the hands that held her in her chair. Tears rushed to her eyes, despite her calm posture from before. Hitarus shook his head.

"I couldn't do that to my old friend... This business wouldn't be the same without some part of him here." Tears rushed down her face, and Kitosha pulled a handkerchief from his suit and dried them as they pured.

"It won't be that bad, Mariska..." He kissed her forehead. "Remember how we used to dream about it as children?" Yes, she could, but these dreams were before the business began to expand more and more, beyond their control, causing the children to drift apart until they were no more similar as a cat is to a dog. And, these differences were not for the better, either. Kitosha had become as insane as his father, and they were going to kill her father.

"This isn't what I want." Kitosha looked pained as he stepped back from her, and his father sighed.

"It isn't about what you want... It's about what's good for the company." He shook his head. "I suppose it'll take you some time to think things over..." He looked at her again. "And come to terms with it all." He smiled a little. "Kitosha will take you to your room." When Kitosha offered her his hand, she never looked him in the eye once.

To her, there was no thinking things over. Not a single thought went through her head as Kitosha lead her through the house until he opened the door to a guest room. He smiled at her as she blankly walked in and sat on the bed. Seeing her vacant gaze, his smile disappeared, and he left, closing and locking the door behind him.