Blossom or Wilt? ~ A Soul Eater Fanfiction

31. Reassurance?

As Patti screamed and yelled a few doors down, the five remaining tried, in vain, to calm her.

"It's alright, Patti. You're okay, everyone's okay," Liz cooed, and other voices drifted in, consoling her.

When the girl was quiet, Ox announced that it had taken her fifteen minutes to arise from her stupor, and that another week had passed. Time moved slowly in... well, wherever they were. It, again, felt like a Tuesday.

The goons arrived like he predicted, dragging the samurai between them. Mifune was surprised, though, when the shoved him into a room different than the one he was used to. This one still had the similar metal chair, but instead of a barren wall, a screen was mounted onto the surface. He was strapped down, and then they began to play a video.

It cut to a large image of Mariko's face, only she wasn't moving. Her mouth was parted, her face paler than it had ever been.

Was she dead?

Then Kid's voice cut in, staticky, and Mifune relaxed. He didn't sound worried.

"Where are they?" Kid asked.

The next voice was beyond recognizable.

"At home. I called in Asher."

Saki.

She was alive.

"Oh," Kid said, and the camera panned out to him, as he sat beside the younger witch. He grabbed her small hand in his two larger ones, and murmured, "She's ice cold."

Saki came into view, her hair tied back and her lip red and raw from a new cut. She was fidgeting with her ring and muttering under her breath about it being a miracle.

She took a seat beside Kid and felt the girl's cheek.

"She is. Should I get a warm rag or something?"

"Already got it," Kid answered, lying it onto her forehead.

"What happened to her? How'd she get here?" Saki asked, not breaking eye contact with the unresponsive girl.

"I... I don't know. She was just here, at my doorstep. She wasn't moving, and... and I panicked. It took me a moment to find her pulse, but it was there. I called my father, and he was here immediately, assuring me that she was alright, although he didn't know how. No one does."

Saki nodded, a far off look in her eyes. She placed her hand on Kid's arm and squeezed.

"You're lucky," she whispered, "at least you know she's alright. Some of us don't get that pleasure."

Mifune wanted so much to tell her that he was alright, to reassure her. But, of course, she couldn't hear him. He was the only one receiving the reassurance, and it made him sick. He wanted nothing more than to see her one last time, in person, but, he knew it was only wishful thinking.

Kid looked shocked, and he opened his mouth, probably to apologize. "Don't," Saki interrupted, "that was selfish of me. I'm sorry. It's just... it's hard, with the..." Her voice cut out, but then it was back, only skipping a few of the words he pocketed as gold. "...I keep hoping he'll just... appear... one day, at my doorstep, good as new," she paused, running her fingers through her hair, the way she so often did. "Angela keeps coming into my room at night, telling me she's had another nightmare. It's become a daily thing, and she'll always be there. I'm glad, though, I am. At least I've had her through this, and the..." The video cut off, entirely, the screen going blank.

One of the men--the balding, tattooed, pudgy one--demanded, "You know how she escaped?"

"No," he answered, short and sweet. It wasn't technically untrue. He knew she planned to leave, he just didn't know how.

"What about the girl? The brunette? You know her?" Goon #2 asked.

Mifune bit his lip to keep back a retort, but then shrugged. Thank God he was a good liar. "I don't know. She must be a friend of the man's, or maybe Mariko's."

Both goons smiled, pulling out a large vial of black blood. "Nice try, but we actually knew the answer to the second question. She's your fiance, isn't she?"

Mifune kept his mouth shut as they shoved the syringe into his neck. He held back a shout as they dove the plunger down, and the blood slipped into his veins like lead. The images of Saki, bloody and bruised, followed by Angela, flashed through his mind as he forced them down. He wouldn't let them control him. Goon #1's voice echoed in his brain before he blacked out.

"Sorry to say fella, but no one wants to marry someone as damaged as you."

And he was probably right.