I swallowed, but put on a nervous smile nonetheless. "N-nice to meet you too." It was all I could say.

The man chuckled to himself, hollow and menacing. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. I simply wanted to meet the young lady that I've heard so much about." He plastered a gentle smile on his face while his eyes remained flat and empty.

"Oh?" I was curious. Is he related to Kyo? I forced myself to relax, but I couldn't help the annoying clawing in the back of my mind and I subconsciously started fiddling with my bracelet. He reminded me like one of those porcelain dolls my Grandma kept in her house.

His smiled deepened, "Of course! I've heard so much about you from Hatori. How's your hand? I heard it got quite the nasty bite."

"O-oh," I looked down at my still bandaged hand. "It's fine, a little sore."

Akito hummed to himself, "Yes, it must be. Come, let's walk and talk shall we? It's nearly nightfall and there could be a lot of shady characters hiding about."

I nodded in agreement as I forced myself to ignore my paranoia and follow the cheerful young man while dried leaves crunched beneath my heavy footsteps.

"So, Jayme, shall we talk a little bit about you?" Akito chirpily asked as he stared straight ahead. "How did you find out about my family's secret that we've been able to keep completely hidden for generations until now?"

The question caught me off guard. "Uh…" My breath hitch in my throat, I felt like I'm being interrogated. "Well, I-I fell into...him." I mumbled, embarrassed. My eyes not daring to meet his.

"I see," Akito responded flatly.

A silence fell onto the two of us. The only thing I heard was the sound of the dead leaves crunching beneath our shoes. It stayed like that for a while, for exactly how long, I'm not sure. The sunset had long gone down and the moon hasn't yet peaked over the trees. I took a quick peek at my phone to check the time.

"Am I bothering you?" Akito asked dryly.

I jolted and shoved my phone back into my pocket. "Oh! N-no, I'm sorry. I was just trying to check th-the time."

"Oh, so I'm wasting your time."

"W-what?" I was getting flustered. I didn't know why I felt so ashamed. Checking the time when it's dark out is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I don't even remember the time. "No, of course not!"

He stopped all of a sudden and I was met with his piercing gaze. "I understand that you are from America and I know that in your culture, it's acceptable to not pay attention to those above you and to treat everyone as if they are your friends. However, you are in Japan now. We value respect more than you carefree Americans. Do not treat everyone as your friends. Do not treat me as some expendable degenerate. You will treat me as if your life depends on it because if you want to keep living how you are currently living, it is I who allowed it. I am the head of the Sohma family. I am the only one who can let you keep your memories of my family and I am the only one who can give the order to take them away. You will respect me and do whatever I say without defiance. I will not repeat myself."

I was shocked into silence.

"Do I make myself clear?"

I blinked and nodded dumbly. Fear raced through my body and it was no longer mine to control. By the sharp demand in his voice, it was made apparent that I had to obey.

"Good." He grinned, cold and sinister. He clasped his hands behind his back and continued walking. "Follow."

I did as I was told and followed him through the darkness.

"You will not speak about this to anyone. If you do, you are no longer allowed to live on any family premise nor allowed to be in contact in any way, shape, or form to anyone relating to the Sohma family. Your memories will be erased and you will be shipped off and dumped back where you came from. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yes."

I noticed his back straighten and his hands clench.

"Y-yes, sir." I corrected shakily.

He nodded and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I walked behind him for some time. It must be past midnight by this point. The phone in my pocket had vibrated throughout the walk, but I was ordered to ignore it. I knew I must be worrying Shigure. I should've been home by now.

"Stop." Akito ordered.

I stopped.

In front of us was a hole illuminated by the crescent moon, a little wider than a horse and about six feet deep.

I'm gonna die.

"Get in."

I froze. He's gonna kill me. Do I have anything to fight back? What if I run? I can run…but my legs…they're shaking…

"I won't kill you." He sighed, almost as if he was bored. "I just want to teach you a lesson."

I gulped. I have my phone. I have my phone. I still have my phone. I can call someone. I slowly stepped to the edge of the hole and shakily started to climb down. The walls were unstable, however, and gave way. I tumbled down and landed hard on my back, knocking all the air out of my lungs. A hacking cough followed, brought upon by all the dust that flew into the surrounding space when I fell. By the time I had managed to catch my breath again, tears streaming down my face, I could hear the light, satisfied chuckling of Akito as his eyes peered down on me.

"I must say, that was slightly amusing." Akito hummed. "Oh, you still have your phone on you, don't you?"

My heart pounded in my chest. "Y-yes, sir."

"Then I shall take my leave." He nodded before turning away. "I will call you when I need you." His faint voice sang out from the darkness.

Silence once again. Once I was sure he was gone, I pulled out my phone and quickly dialed Shigure. Nothing happened. I glanced at my phone and noticed I was out of range. I was stuck. There was nothing I could do. The walls were too unstable to climb out. The phone couldn't get any reception. No one knew where I was except for Akito, but I knew he wasn't going to come back for me. I was alone. I curled up into a ball and began to weep. My emotions all flooded me at the same time and I was overwhelmed. I seriously began thinking of simply going back home to my family, to the familiar. I don't even know why I was still here anymore. I wanted to go back home.

Author's Note: Hey guys, um, I know I've been gone a very long time due to life happening, but it seems like everything is stable now so, I should 'theoretically' be updating more frequently. No promises though.

(Read if you want, not important to the story's content): Um, well, you guys don't have to read any of this if you don't want to or if you don't want to feel bummed, but I'm just letting you guys know a little about what happened in the last...oh my...two years... Wow... Okay... Uh...anyways...I'll be blunt, I guess... I was involved in a car crash (I'm fine, nothing serious just some bruising that's gone away by now), one of my immediate family members was diagnosed with cancer (they're in remission right now, that's all I'll say), two of my good friends are getting married next year (Yes, I'm that old for all of you still in grade school), and I've simply been busy with schoolwork among other things that usually happen in life. So, yeah. Those are not excuses. I didn't tell you guys that to get more views or likes or whatever. Believe me or don't, the choice is up to you. Any who, hopefully I haven't lost your love and trust from being away so long. I'll try to update more. I've been gone so long that, when I came back on here, I read all those reviews again...and you know what? I started crying...I forgot how much you guys cared about my story. I don't want to disappoint you all again...

(Relevant): I know I left this a little...oddly, but it'll make sense later, I promise. I still haven't forgotten about any of my big plans for this story! I do plan on using everyone from the manga in here, however, I feel like I have to put the disclaimer that I have yet to actually read it. I don't want to be influenced by what happened in the manga, but I feel like I won't do all the characters justice when I haven't seen their development throughout the original series... I'll try to find a way around it, maybe on Wiki, but, I'll keep you guys updated about the information I learn and if whether or not I end up reading the manga before this fanfic is finished.

Until the next update! I look forward to reading your comments! Like always, please REVIEW! ^W^