Trouble and Truth

Arania was working alone that day. She had given Zen and MusiKai the day off. They were both excellent employees, and MusiKai often did the work of two people. Things had been fairly quiet all day, with customers coming every couple hours. At around six, three hours before closing, she heard the door open and looked up to see four men enter. They didn't look any different than any of the other male customers she had served that day, so she went back to doing her paperwork. "Excuse me." She heard a deep voice say. She looked up to see a man pointing a gun at her head. She thought of the leaf blade sitting in her pocket before looking around and seeing the other men also holding guns. The newly installed blinds were closed, and the door was locked, she could tell from where she stood. She raised her hands and waited to see what these men wanted.

MusiKai was watching the store from the same spot he had been standing in the night MyKai found him. He saw the window blinds close, but didn't think anything of it because they often closed the blinds when they change the clothes on the mannequins. Then he saw a strange man standing in the doorway, smiling evilly. Before he could react, the man had locked the door and closed those blinds as well. He frowned and started to go around the block to get to the back of the store, he knew that this was trouble. He knew of an access door on the roof that no one else knew about, not even Arania herself. He had found it one day while exploring the building, he had the time to do this while she was at the Lexxbar where he knew she was safe. He had noted all the ways in and out of the building that day. He climbed up to the roof and dropped almost silently into the store room below. He went to the door and listened, determining what he was up against.

Arania sat quietly in the armchair as she had been instructed to. One of the men stood at the door with his gun on her still, while the others were emptying the cash register into a bag. Her mind was going a mile a minute trying to think of ways out of this predicament. She heard a soft thump from the storage area. She gave no reaction and from looking at the men she could tell they didn't hear it. She thought it was Meow since she had installed a cat door back there for the feline to come and go as she wanted. Arania's mind returned to her situation.

She had quickly realized the men would probably kill her since they had made no effort to disguise themselves. She could accept that, what frightened her was what they might do before that. She tried thinking of any way to get help, but could come up with nothing. She saw the men were now taking the jewelry and knew they would be done soon. That would leave only her to deal with.

He heard four people moving around in the main part of the store, all of the steps heavy, none sounding like Arania's. He thought she was sitting or standing in one place, the only problem being he did not know where that was. He looked around the storage room, trying to figure out how to get in there without causing harm to her. He spotted the ventilation shaft, but it was way too small for him to fit in. Just then he heard a slight noise behind him. He turned and saw the cat standing there.

"I thought you were not supposed to be here today." She said as she walked over to her food and water dishes. He picked her up and looked her in the face in spite of Meow's protests.

"I wasn't, I was nearby and saw strange men in the store who locked the door and closed the blinds. Arania is in trouble, I need you to use the ventilation shafts to look and see where she is in there. I want to help, but until I know where she is, I can not act without risking hurting her." He opened the grate and boosted the cat through the vent. She nodded and quietly went to see. He waited impatiently.

Arania watched as the men took everything of value in the store. The men turned to her and the one who appeared to be the leader motioned her to stand. She stood, refusing to show them how scared she was, glaring at them. He walked over to her, then ran the barrel of the gun down her cheek. Before he could do anything else, she slapped him. He hit her back, causing her to fall over into the chair, holding her face. He pulled her up by the hair and glared into her face. Just then they all heard a noise from the back, and the storage room door opened.

"MusiKai!" Arania shouted, with relief and fear in her voice. The man let go of her hair to backhand her viciously, and she fell to the floor unconscious.

Though his face did not show it to the thieves and would-be murderers, this act infuriated MusiKai. His brace screeched as it flew out and cut the head off the man standing by the door. Before the others could react he had done the same to the ones standing by the now empty jewelry display. He slowly walked over to the leader of the bunch, the one who had dared to hit her. The man fired the gun, but it had no effect, not even slowing MusiKai down. He was too angry to even feel it. The man looked at his gun in disbelief, then up at MusiKai in sheer terror now. He was blubbering and begging to be let to live. MusiKai responded by grabbing his throat. He slowly raised the man up, choking him. He squeezed tighter and tighter as the man struggled in his hand. As the struggles slowed and finally stopped, MusiKai heard a groaning and a voice from the floor. He threw the body across the room and looked down, afraid of what he might see.

"She's alive, I can hear her heart," Meow said as she stood over Arania, licking her face. She was moaning a little, but not really awake yet. He gently lifted her and set her on the couch. Telling Meow to watch her, he went over and called Zen, explaining everything that happened. He went and unlocked the door, leaving the blinds down, and returned to the sofa and knelt beside it. He looked at her, worried, and brushed her hair back from her face, his touch light for fear of hurting her more. Meow sat perched on the back of the sofa watching them. The cat was also worried for her owner and friend, but said nothing. A few minutes later, she stirred and opened her eyes.

She saw him looking at her with worried eyes and smiled reassuringly. She tried sitting up, but couldn't yet. "Gah my head hurts." She looked around, seeing the bodies of the men who had done this, then looked back to MusiKai with questioning eyes.

"I had to. They hurt you." He turned away, and stood. "I called Zen, I didn't know who else to call. He said he'd help clean up and bring someone who can help with the official stuff." She looked at his back.

"How did you know what was happening, that I needed help?" She slowly sat up. He still did not look at her as he answered.

"I was nearby, and saw when they closed the blinds and locked the store." His voice got softer, and she could barely hear him. "I was still following you."

She had just started to ask why when the door opened, and Zen entered, followed by BarristerKai, MyKai, and dgre. Just as they arrived, the police did also. They questioned both Arania and MusiKai about what happened, then Barrister went to talk to them outside. The coroner took the bodies and left. Zen waited for the forensic people to finish photographing and taking evidence, and when they gave the okay he started cleaning the store. Meow returned home, and the others sat there and waited for Barrister to get done with the police. He came back in and told them the police were going to consider this to be self defense and were not going to press any charges, and on a personal note the detective said the thieves got what they deserved.

Arania told Zen and everyone to go on home, she'd close the store the following day for cleanup. They left after many times asking if she was alright and her insisting she was. MusiKai waited and closed the door behind them, then turned to see her sitting there with her head in her hands.

She was rubbing her temples, and trying to keep the feelings about what happened from overwhelming her. She looked at him and waited for him to finish explaining. When he hadn't answered for a few minutes she stood and walked over to him. "Why were you still following me MusiKai? I am glad you were, given what happened, but why?" She asked softly.

He turned towards her, but could not look her in the eye. He tried to say something, but it wouldn't come out. Whatever it was, she could see he was nervous about saying it. She touched his arm lightly. "Please tell me, why?"

"I did not tell you the whole truth the night we met. I was going to, but I couldn't. I was following you because," He paused and turned away, he was afraid of what her reaction would be, "because I love you, since the first time I saw you at the Christmas concert."

Arania was not sure what to say. She found it so hard to believe that someone who could have any woman in town would willingly choose her. She walked over to the sofa absorbing what he said, trying to figure out what she should say. He turned and saw her walking away from where he stood. His heart dropped, she didn't want him, he knew she wouldn't. She turned back and looked at him, and sighed.

"MusiKai, I really don't know what to say." Being honest with him was the best idea she decided. "I am very flattered, but I don't know you, not very well anyway." His shoulders slumped as she said this. "But I would be willing to get to know you better, all I ask is you give me time to do that."

He realized what she was saying, and looked at her in surprise. He saw she wasn't rejecting him, and since he was given a chance was now determined to win her over. She walked up to him and hugged him. "Thank you for saving me. Ummm, would you like to walk me home?"

He smiled. "Yes...very much."