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They were getting ahead, Yuki was certain of it. The scent of the stranger was melting away not long after they had reached the nearest boundary between their village and the dark forest, the adrenaline of both he and his sister aiding them in their speed. He looked back, expecting to see Nekomata not far behind, but he wasn't there. "s**t!" He swore loudly, releasing his grip on Hitsu as he skidded to a halt.

She stopped as well, and as they both took a seconds' pause to look at the direction they'd come from, as though Neko would emerge now that they were waiting for him. He didn't, and Yuki gently placed his hands on Hitsu's shoulders. "I want you to keep going."

"I'm not going to leave without you!" She protested, her voice revealing that she was on the brink of tears. Likely from the fear of being chased, but certainly not helped by the thought of being alone.

"Do as I say, Hitsuzen!" Yuki demanded sternly, though his expression softened thereafter. "We'll catch up. I promise." Then, he dashed off toward the village once more, leaving Hitsu to stand where he'd left her, where she did little more than rub the first of her tears from her eyes. She didn't move onward.

He stopped.

He watched her panic and skid to a halt. He looked on as they gained some distance; it was as though his thoughts were attempting to catch up to the adrenaline coursing like fire through his body. He could run them, no doubt, until they were tired. However, that wouldn’t leave him in any better state; he needed as much energy as possible. Then again, he could run them into his arms. Well, preferably run the girl into his arms and the other young man into his knife if need be.

He took off down a side street; weaving through alleyways he had familiarized himself with not too long ago. He kept his ears open. His eyes were fastened on the sky.

He leapt over barrels and garbage, sped past those who meandered in the dark alleys. Some crates were stacked against the wall as if awaiting his steps, and he leapt onto them as agilely as a cat would. He climbed his way to the roof and jumped, catching one hand against the edge and throwing himself up. He rolled and climbed to his feet.

He saw them when he went to the edge, looked down on them from his perch. The girl was faster than he had thought. Had cursing been part of his repertoire, he would have. Instead, he cleared the roof to the ground, startling some late-night walkers, and took off down a street in order to cut them off.

He was so close, and he knew it.

Pacing herself seemed to be the farthest thing from Mitsu’s mind as she started to focus on running, moving faster and faster as she moved through the streets. Thinking to take an alleyway, Mitsu turned sharply, slightly faltering when she heard a noise from above. Only encouraged to speed up the pace she started to lean forward to gain momentum but was suddenly headed off as a dark figure blocked her path. Trying to stop, she threw her feet out in front of herself but only managed to make herself stumble forward and right to Yuval.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Neko hollered as Mitsu took a sharp turn down an alleyway. Small closed off areas were a bad idea, horrible idea, but against his better judgment he followed. And not even two seconds into the alleyway was his intuition confirmed as Mitsu basically stumbled into Yuval’s arms. “Damnit, you foolish girl!” Preparing himself, knowing Hitsu would never forgive him otherwise, he took a stance ready to fight to get Mitsu back.

All he had to do was wait and keep his arms open.

He really should have laughed when she all but pin wheeled towards him, crashing into his arms. He kept his feet planted firmly upon the ground, jerking back as she was captured. To onlookers, it really was like the yarn he had woven: lost uncle finding lost niece. His arms clasped tightly around her, pinning her own arms to her side in case she fought.

He smiled grimly over her head at Neko. His fight was over – he had gotten what he had wanted. He was flattered by the younger man’s notion of heroism. However, he had no idea that such flights of whimsy would cost him dearly, especially if he was going to fight for her.

“Are you sure you are not a canine? You herded her right into my arms!”

In an unwanted embrace, Mitsu stiffened as she looked up at Yuval with wide frightened eyes. At this close range she could see the sinister look the scars at the sides of his mouth gave his features. The thought of a smile like that only caused her to shake uncontrollably as she continued to stare up at his face. “P..please. Let me go.” She tugged a little as if testing his hold on her but found herself tightly bond to him with his arms and with her own arms tightly secured to her sides she didn’t know what to do. Looking to his eyes her mouth crept open as she whispered another plea to be let go.

To the comment, Neko only growled. In fact, he started to weigh his options as to whether it was really worth it or not. Hitsu would get over him letting the mutt go, wouldn’t she? No, probably not. All the same he hated himself for being brought to the point of having to save a lowly canine. “I’m certainly not a canine, and that would be to your disadvantage.” Not having to many options Neko held his hands in front of himself just at his torso and got ready to summon up a spell. Mid way through, however, his focus of trying to think of a spell that wouldn’t blow the entire alley away was interrupted as he spotted Yuki coming up from behind, but acted as if he saw nothing.

[You have no idea how tempted I was to have Yuki get sick all over him. XD; And since Inu is using Yuval's name in her posts, I hope it's alright for me to do the same. If not, I'll be happy to change it.]

He was victorious! For about half a second. Just as soon as he'd knocked Yuval off of his feet, something other than the expected jolt as they hit the ground resulted. Yuki had no way of knowing of, or reacting to, the knee that was so perfectly placed for his gut to crash into. Once it did the wind was knocked from him, the pain was immense, and the fact that his stomach was full only managed to make it worse. Yuki failed to land as he would have liked, and his body slid to one side. It was a miracle he didn't vomit. He gasped, choking on air as he laid halfway atop of Yuval.

-----

Were was he? Was it supposed to take this long? Had he found Nekomata? Had that evil man found any of them first? Hitsu whimpered into the darkness, wandering to a fallen tree only a few feet from where she stood. She seated herself upon the trunk, staring off in the direction of the village. Should she go back? No. He'd come back this way. Her brother knew she'd take this path. For a moment, she looked in the opposite direction, into the darkness that looked so lonely and unwelcoming. Sure, she enjoyed exploring the forest, but typically that was something she did when it was still daylight, and never when she was fearful of Yuki's safety.