It was about ten o'clock or so when Yuri left the dining room. Her legs were shaky and she felt like crying for whatever reason. She could barely stand as her body quivered down the hallway, nearly tripping on her heels once or twice. Maybe it was the things they said, or the things they did, whatever the case, it greatly upset Yuri. Perhaps it was their remarks of her demeanor or her body, maybe even her social status. It certainly didn't feel that way; what Laito and Kanato had said about her, their desire to lay a finger on her, troubles Yuri deeply.

"T-this isn't all what I had in my mind," Yuri choked, her body beginning to tremble as she walked. "A-all I wanted was a sense of normalcy in my life!"

The house was dark, and Yuri began allowing her emotions to break free of their restraints, turning her into a complete horror show in the hallway. Her tears flowed down her cheeks, blurring her vision as she stepped reluctantly through the house. The hall in which she arrived was dimly lit, and it reminded her of that night not so long ago. The wallpaper was abstractly decorated in a Edwardian era of design, one that triggered a spontaneous outbreak of memories to flood through her mind. She didn't realize she had gotten lost until her mind became of frenzy of thoughts.

"M-mama, don't you understand this? W-why would you send me here? Why not with you..? You stupid, s-stupid woman!" She cried, and a loud cry of thunder began to sing in response to her. Perhaps it was her mother, or the wrath of God.

"What the hell are you crying about?"

Yuri recognized that voice; it was the same voice from earlier, the one belonging to the man who attacked her on the steps. Ayato Sakamaki was his name, and she found him to be quite an egoistic young man. His eyes were as sinister as a feline, piercing into soul with their emerald tint. He was short in comparison to his brothers yet still large enough that he petrified her. Yuri would find him to be a self-absorbed young man of seventeen very soon.

"I-I'm sorry...I've gotten lost is all," her voice muttered as her eyes locked their way into the ground. "...I'm looking for Reiji...perhaps he could take me back upstairs to my room..."

"Lost? Hah, bullshit. Get over here so we can finish what we started before you had to go and make a drama out of it,"

Ayato approached her promptly, and Yuri backed herself away into one of the many corners of the hallway. She realized at that moment how careless she had been, and began to have memories of that place again. Her heart sank as Ayato began cornering her, and she grew completely frozen in fear. Yuzuru began coming back into her mind.

"G-get away!" She screeched, shoving him by the shoulders. Ayato gritted his teeth and returned the favor, propelling Yuri into the wall with a loud scream.

"You damn bitch!" His voice hollered and it shrunk Yuri into complete dread. Ayato's grip was strong and substantial, and she was immediately taken aback by how authoritative it was. Yuri felt as though he'd broken her shoulders by his strength. "Next time you address me you say 'Yours Truly' you got that? Fucking wench!" He growled.

"Y-you have no power over me now get off! R-Reiji help! H-help me!" She screamed in a violent manner. After all, Ayato was a man, a young man who certainly was far stronger than she. He reminisced of the things Yuzuru did to her that day many months ago and Yuri was petrified of being assaulted that way again.

Ayato's fingers began piercing into the sides of her sweater and tearing through the yarn. "Cheap slut, that's why you're here? Isn't it? To give us a good time!" Ayato loosened his grip on a resilient Yuri to yank her head back by her hair, but she was quick to react, yanking her shoe off her foot. Before Ayato had his next chance to sink himself against her, Yuri jabbed the heel deep into his arm.

He let out a screech from the searing pain swelling in his bicep, and it was horrendously loud and that of a dragon's roar. Yuri wasted no time pushing him away and scurrying away from the corner and down the hall. Her adrenaline was pumping, and Ayato aggressively tore the heel from his flesh, blood beginning to escape his skin. Of course, Yuri saw none of this, as she tried desperately to see through the tears swelling in her eyes and the firmness in her chest. What was happening to her..?

"You fucking wanker! Get your ass back here you damn bitch!" Yuri could hear him shouting from one of the many corridors, his voice contoured by thunder and laced by lightning. The weather outside had gone berserk in fury, but as she slipped her way down a flight of stairs, screaming in pain at the sensation of her legs beginning to bruise, there was a single wooden door at the end.

A wailing mess of tears, Yuri struggled to pull herself upwards; she'd fallen like a rag-doll from her childhood, the same way it'd fall of the front porch. As her fingers clung to the knob, pleadingly praying for it to open, she began to remember that time.

It must've been the spring after her ninth birthday, the week the cherry blossoms were blooming. Yuri sat on the front porch of her house, watching her grandmother hang the laundry. She hummed a waltz beneath her breath as she ran her dolly along the wooden steps. "When will the cherry blossoms bloom? Sometime after winter is gone, but it never seems to come too soon. The mountain village where we live, I feel so terribly blue,"

Her humming caught ahold of her grandmother, who merely chuckled underneath her breath at her granddaughter's singing. "Yurippe?" She called.

"Eh? Mhm, Mami?" She replied, feeling the April sun beaming down on her face.

"Be an angel and fetch me more laundry clips, will you?" She smiled slightly as the girl nodded approvingly.

"Ah! Mami! When I grow up I'm gonna marry a king!" She squealed, running into the house. "We're gonna live in the mountains together!"

These memories left her; Yuri was running through the rain now. It mixed with her tears, so it hid them rather well. Her chest was firming up as her vision struggled to remain awake and attentive to the situation. It felt as though Yuri had merely been running into her own death. This was entirely false, however. But the sounds of the thunder began petrifying her, reminding her of that night all those days ago. She caught her stockings on branches as she fled through the evening's rain, ripping them and running the material.

She hadn't the faintest idea of where she was going; rather, she just ran into the depths of the green ocean behind the Sakamaki house. The trees rustled in the wind and blew their leaves from the branches, sticking to Yuri's cheeks. Her breath carried itself away into the air as she watched quite curiously.

Where was Ayato? Where had he gone? Yuri hadn't known, and subsequently, she continued her way across the rocks and the creek, disappearing with the rain fading off into the distance. By now, Yuri had grown tired in exhaust, collapsing into the shards of stone on the outskirts of the riverbed. The lightning and thunder caught her off guard with their next strike, and so Yuri pulled herself upwards and ran again.

"Run, run, run, until I fall...until I sink...I can't let anyone else touch me like that..I might die.."

There was an airy feeling coming over Yuri after a moment; she must've ran for six minutes or so when her body finally gave way and caved into a series of vines in a darkened dead end. She let allow a cry, knowing that Ayato would most certainly find her like this. She felt helpless as she accelerated through it, yet, remarkably, Yuri pushed forward and stumbled out another end.

"M-my head!" She cried, feeling a stinging sensation raging from the thrust. She collapsed into the grass that had a few drops of rain drizzling down its blades, feeding the grass the bellow. "E-eh? What the..?"

Her eyes lingered about the scene, and, lo and behold, lying before Yuri's eyes, was an entire field full of the loveliest flowers she'd ever seen, only nestled away in the depths of the forest. The treetops covered the flowers from the majority of rain, yet, only merely protected them from the harsh conditions and rain pouring from above. Yuri was completely taken back at the moment as she spectated at these magnificent beauties, rising to her feet and grinning widely at the sight.

The flowers continued to carry her sadness away, for they bloomed amidst her lonesomeness and brought her great joy. Yuri's heart began to melt at the sight of such beauty, and, remarkably enough, they allowed her a moment to forget of Ayato and the wicked things he desired to do to her.

"They're so pretty..." Her voice whispered lowly, brushing her fingers among the petals and feeling their velvety texture with her fingertips. "Lilies...There are so many of them too...I wonder if..." She sighed, her words weren't quintessential to describe the many feelings she swam through at the moment.

The moment her fingers were tempted to pull a lily from the ground, her thoughts began to get away; what was this place her mind had sent her to? There was a feeling in the depths of her heart, one Yuri had never felt before. It was unlike any emotion she had ever acquired, and her eyes began to grow wide.

There was blue, and there was life. Her eyes broadened, for a child began to echo among her life. He had a sense of woe in his face, and for a moment, he met her gaze. Yuri began to shutter at those eyes glaring her way. They reminisced of the sky, and the child's hair was a shade of the sun. She had to stop herself from dropping the flower of death grasped in her hand. Yuri's mind had been sent into frenzy when this child looked at her and began breathlessly mourning, his tears dripping as rain into the flowers.

"Are you okay..?" Yuri began, the flower in her grasp still. She would hold the grieving boy whether he desired it or not, and her face became especially sympathetic towards him. How she loathed to see others in tears, especially those smaller and frailer than she. Thus, Yuri began moving through the flowers as the spring moved the winter, closer and closer to the hazy child. He looked up at her with a depressed aura about his face. Their eyes met for a moment before she began to reach for the flower.

When she looked up next, he had gone. Thus, she began to look about the field. "Hello? Hello?" She called, beginning to trail off into oblivion, for she could hear Ayato's shouting in the distance. Oh how she longed to keep such a terror away from this new, euphoric utopia. Yuri was adamant to the idea of him thrashing about the flowers as though he were a schoolboy. Thus, Yuri could do nothing more but depart from this place. However, she was sure to mark the entrance with a series of stones patterned out to create a cross of sorts.

It was rather damp as Yuri began to make her way back, she'd lost her since of time as the opening began to fade off into her memories. Was it fate that had brought her to the flowers? Yuri hadn't the faintest idea. Her mind lingered back to the boy with her. He looked exceptionally upset as though he had spent hours there alone, crying by himself. Of course she began to wonder at this; Yuri worried about the child and hoped he had found his way back home as she stepped past the wet rocks and grassy forest.

Yuri wondered if he had been a dream or a figure of her imagination. After all, she was quite lonely, so it would make terrible sense to her if she planted the child there herself. However, his expressions were certainly not one to be faked. They were quite real to say the least, and it made Yuri truly curious to return to that place. Yet, she continued making her way through the trees and the woods, arriving at the foot of the gate in which she had left. There was a slight space between the two openings, one similar to her home in Kyoto. Subsequently she had no problem slipping through almost effortlessly.

Yuri had lost both sets of her shoes and was left with mere stockings soaked full of water as she entered the house through a window. Of course, things were locked up for the night and she began to assume Reiji and the others had gone to bed. Perhaps there was a telephone she could use? Yuri was fearful of Ayato, and she looked about the empty corridor for him.

She began to make her way down the hall; the lights were all off, and the dim light of the moon guided her through all the empty spaces. If only she could remember the way to her bedroom! Yuri had found herself walking in circles it seemed like, yet she was far too scared to call for Reiji. It must've been the seventh time around the hall when Yuri spotted a telephone at the far end of the hallway.

Her heart began to beat hastily; she tip toed about to the table in which it sat, a lump in her stomach beginning to form. Fear began to take over her; she could feel a lingering set of eyes make their way over to her, and Yuri slowly lifted it off the hook.

Quite truthfully, Yuri had only made a select few calls in her lifetime, and reluctantly placed the handset to her ear. A ringing tone echoed on the other end, and after a moment, a voice rang out to her.

"Connecting to our operators, please stand by,"

Yuri's palms were sweaty; she swallowed, utterly parched, as a sensation reminiscent of needles began shooting up her back. The air around her was cold, and, seemingly companionless, she began hastily jabbing buttons.

Then came the footsteps, making their way up and the down the familiar hallways, one by one making their way known. Yuri slammed the phone back into the switch hook, and after a moment, a staggering set of emerald eyes began piercing their way down the hall.

"Well well, you put up a good fight. Running from Yours Truly like that...I ought to tear that pretty face of yours off,"

Ayato grew closer, his footsteps against the tile and slowly, one by one, approaching a very perplexed, senseless Yuri. "Y-you touch me a-and I'll call the police!" She cried, her hand hovering over the phone once again.

"Listen hear, you breastless bitch, you can't call the police if your corpse is decomposing on the side of the road,"

Ayato was swiftly cunning; he caught hold of Yuri's hand and pried her like an animal away from the phone. Yuri let out a loud cry as the boy lifted up his leg and thrusted it deep into her stomach. At this time, Yuri locked her eyes on his face as she released another scream; he too was soaking wet, covered in dirt and mud from their ravage chase in the woods. However, Yuri quickly realized, as Ayato was cornering her once more into the floor, that she was really going to die.

A prayer from her childhood came back; she recalled sitting there with her grandmother in her bed, the candle on her dresser burning bright. She recalled very vividly the woman making a cross over her chest and patting Yuri's head. She tried hard not to remember it, especially since Yakimura had performed an unorthodox exorcism on her only days before. The powder on her face had worn off, and the bruises were exposed. They made it hurt even more. As Ayato began to beat Yuri down as though he were a savage, she thought of it again.