Escape [Fruits Basket OC]

Chapter 23

Audrina knew what he was talking about finally. The interaction with Akito. But there was no reason alone to force Hatori to do such a thing. Audrina shook her head.

"Nothing happened. She waited by his car like a maniac and belittled me in front of him.", she crossed her arms.

"What happened after....", that questioned caused her to tense up. He was digging beyond. And she knew that he knew so if there was anyone she was going to tell , it'd be him.

Audrina sighed and leaned back against the counter, she didn't look at him as she confessed, "I told him about Amrin. We went out to eat and that's it.", she sighed.

"I see", he nodded.

Hatori was the only one who as yet to meet Kieran outside of Kureno directly. And he didn't have to. He saw there was something different about her tone when mentioning him. And the conversation that stirred early that morning replayed. And Akito's words were clear.

I don't care how you do it, but that thing is already falling into her trap. I want him gone.

"Wait your not actually going to do it right?", she folded her arms at his silence.

Hatori sighed giving her answer enough, "Audrina...."

"Dont Audrina me.... You can't do that. He doesn't even know about the Zodiac. Kieran hasn't done anything to deserve that."

Hatori pinched the bridged of his nose. Of course he didn't want to do it. Now especially that Audrina was not giving up, like she did before. Something within her was pushing her to object and understanding that Kieran was the reason behind it pushed him to reject the idea more.

"Ok.... I won't do it, but you have to come to the estate on New Years. She'd see something is up if you don't."

"Thank you", she sighed. But she only processed what he said a second later, her eyes went wide, "Wait what?"

"For New Years...."

"Yea that's what I thought you said....", she stood and went to turn off the whistling kettle, "I can't I have plans."

"With who?"

Audrina kept silent, they both knew who with. So there was no point in bothering to utter his name. And she debated it. But she wanted to go.

"Audrina you know the consequences."

"Yes I know the consequences", she snapped turning around, "Everytime I'm around him, it's like guilt consumes me. But then there's the simple fact that I can't deny him. I can't.", she strained.

Audri accepted her feelings the previous night. And since then everytime she even thought of Kieran, the ghost of Amrin haunted her mind. What happened. And Hatori telling her that Akito wants his memories erased ironically brought up her own terrible past situations.

Hatori inclined his head, seeing a sense of confusion in her eyes. He knew that she would never want to put anyone in danger. It was clear she was holding back. But then again, he knew Audrina better than that. He was willing to look past the thick wall she's built up. And there was more to her reluctancy.

"What else is going on?"

Audrina knew then that he had a clue. She was unraveling before his eyes. With Rin living with her, Audrina was limited to her choices. Not sure how she'd be able to fly out to America. Tristan was willing to negotiate with how much time she had to choose. He made it clear that she was an exception. But he could only be generous for so long. She had a time crunch and the more time passed, the closer it got for her to make a decision. Just the thought of saying no made her sick. And it was then that she noticed that her mask was slowly fading. Her eyes were fixed on the counter that she leaned on top of.