𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙎𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝘾𝙖𝙣 𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧?

Chapter 11

My throat grows dryer and dryer without water. Thankfully, the wounds that were open have scabbed over. But my lips have dried and are bleeding. And it doesn't help that in my bored state of mind, I've picked at the skin.

I cough, but it's not violent anymore. My body is so weak it can't even seem to cough properly. I wonder if I'll die hear. If it was even worth me going and seeing Akito. If I'll just die in this place. Maybe she'll get put in jail for murder, then nah, what am I thinking, if I die here she'll get away with it. And I will probably, be erased from existence. 

I burry my face in my hands, and try to hold back the tears. Gosh, I'm so pathetic. I'm going to die here, at twenty-one, doing nothing worth wild. Never achieving my dream of setting Hatori free. 

Stop crying, Natsu. You need to save water. I tell myself. But I can't. I'm so upset, thinking about the fact, that I won't even get to apologize for how selfish I've been. I won't get to see him be happy. 

Hatori's POV:

"Oh my gosh. That's one of our cars." Kureno points out, as get out of the car. My stomach does a backflip. 

"So she might be near?" I don't even try to hide my excitement. 

"Maybe. But, how did the car even get here?" 

"Akito.... can't drive... can she?" I ask.

"She can.... just... not very well. And, I didn't see her at all around the time the servants said they heard her and Natsu arguing...."

"But why would she take her here? And not just, somewhere on the Main Estate?" I ask, as Kureno opens the car up.

"Check the trunk, Hatori." Kureno doesn't respond to my question. He knows something. I pop the trunk, and find shreds of clothes and her phone. The seahorse charm that had been attached to it, is gone now, it looks like it got ripped off. 

"Her phone's here." I turn it on. All of the texts people have sent her covering her home screen. Missed calls from everyone who loves her, everyone, but me. 

"Gosh, she is here." Kureno looks like he wants to sprint, screaming her name, just expecting her to just waltz out of one these horrible houses.

Kureno's phone begins to ring, much to both of our surprise. "Hello?"

"Kureno, Akito just told me, that she is in the Urusai Village." Shigure groans over the phone.

I wonder what happened for her to change her mind, and tell the truth. "Where in the village is she?"

Kureno's dull voice drills on as he speaks with him. My heart races, I can't keep standing here. She could be dead in one of the houses for all I know. I start walking, looking in the houses. So empty, so lifeless, what a horrible place. I wish Akito would just have it torn down. I hate it even more than I hate the cat's cell on the Main Estate. 

"Hatori... it's this one." Kureno shouts to me from across the road. I turn to face him, and see a house that looks significantly worse than the rest. The front door is closed with storm shutters. 

"You don't happen to have the keys, do you?" I ask.

"Storm shutters, lock only from the inside. We'll have to find the back door." He says, walking around the house to the back.

"Are we sure there's a back?" I ask.

"How else would Akito have gotten her in here." He rolls his eyes.

"I knew that." I shrug.

"Hey, uh, how long can a person survive without water?" He asks, as he unlocks a back gate that leads into a small little garden. 

"Three to ten days, depending the person's...." I stop myself. She could be dead. She really could. Oh my goodness, she's probably dead.

Kureno doesn't say anything, he just quickly unlocks the back door, and pushes it open. "Spread out, and find her."

I head in the opposite direction that he's heading, wondering what I'll do if I reach a locked door. Does Kureno, like Natsu? I think, as I survey one of the rooms, looking for her. Surely not. Surely I'm just being weird. He likes Akito, and why would I even think that. It's not like I care. 

I move to go into the next room, but my eyes catch on an open black paint can. That has to be new. Did Akito bring it here? Surely not. I look around the room at the walls and sliding doors. All over the walls, is long lines of black paint. I follow them with my eyes, and then I see it.

A body. But, it doesn't look human. It looks like an animal. A dead animal. I move closer to it, praying it's Natsu. Praying that she's alive. 

I stop a few feet away, staring in horror. It is her. But... what happened to her? Her body looks so small, so frail. There are large wounds all over her body. And all around her head, is vomit. Her body is shaking. She heaving, trying to still breathe. Her large, leaf green eyes find me. She really does look like an animal, like an animal about to shut it's eyes forever, and die. She looks just like a deer. Like her zodiac, but she isn't one. She's human, fully human. 

Natsu's POV:

It's him. He's here. But... but why? How? 

I want to call his name. I want him to know it's me. That I am here. But, I'm so weak, so in pain. I feel like closing my eyes. Closing them and just resting.

His mouth moves, but I hear no noise. If this is it, if this is the end, then at least I got to see him one last time.

I blink, and I find myself in an all to familiar room. The darkness is closing in on me. The smell of paint reaches into my nostrils. And the pressure of Hatori's hatred for me, makes me sick. I want to vomit. But I can't. I have to stay strong.

Hatori continues to yell at me. His anger, bubbling over. I've never seen him angry like this, and I've never seen Akito have so much delight in a situation. 

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" I screech at him. I'm not even mad at him. I'm just... I can't even express the emotion I'm feeling. I'm sad, that the guy I wanted to be friends with so deeply, will never like me. He will never trust me. I'm disappointed, that someone so kind, like him, would take his anger out, on someone who didn't even have control of the situation. And I'm also relieved, for some reason, I feel relieved. And I hate it.

I blink, and I'm in a car. 

I try to hold back the vomit that is making it's way up my throat. But I can't hold it. I vomit all over the backseat of the car. 

My eyes, the only thing in my body that seems to be able to move, trail over to him. He's taking care of the large wounds I have on my legs. He doesn't even look over at me. He just keeps working.

My whole body is in so much pain. But the thing that hurts the most, is my heart. I kinda wish I could have died. Because, he here is, once again, having to deal with me. Put up with me. I wish I could free him from having to put up with me. This was the whole reason I wanted to break the curse.

I try to say his name. I want to apologize to him for everything. But I can't. I'm so weak. I'm so... pathetic.