Authors note: *This chapter takes place five days after the last chapter.* ^_^

I woke up in the arms of my love. I slowly sat up in my bed to admire him. I watched his chest rise and fall at an even pace. His curly hair was plastered across his face, and his mouth hung partly open. He grunted a little in his sleep before rolling over on his right side.

I laughed silently to myself as I headed in the kitchen to take my final dose of medicine. I inspected the label on the bottle to make sure I had grabbed the right one before popping the pill in my mouth. The pill started to dissolve in my mouth as I quickly swallowed it and let out a sound of disgust.

My phone on the counter started to vibrate causing the counter to shake a little. I snatched it off the counter hoping it didn’t wake Taka. A text message popped up on my phone.

Meet me at the bridge in twenty minutes. Come alone.

A wave of fear swept over me. I didn’t recognize the number on my phone, but I decided it couldn’t hurt to see what this mystery person wanted. At least the place was a public area so this person couldn’t try anything without getting caught.

I slipped back into my room and grabbed my jacket. I took one last look at Taka sleeping before I headed out to face the unknown.

~~~

I stood on the bridge looking down at the water. A few ducks were swimming around, and splashing each other. I took a look at the clock on my phone. Whoever wanted to meet me here was now running five minutes late.

“Toru.” A feminine voice behind me said.

I turned around to find Yuka standing in front of me. She looked like she hadn’t slept in weeks and her body looked frail. Her long golden hair had now been replaced with a mousy brown pixie cut. Her once smiling eyes were now glassy looking. She wore a grey tattered dress and a pair of worn out sneakers.

“Yuka. What…happened to you?” I asked in shock.

“I got involved with the wrong people.” She said.

Her voice cracked when she spoke. The flirty and giggly girl that I once knew was now replaced with an empty and hollow version of herself. I reached out for her hand and she hesitantly grabbed it. I could feel her hand shaking in mine as she inched closer to me.

“Yuka, what happened?” I whispered.

“Remember that guy I hooked up with at that party you saw me at?”

I nodded in response, trying to shake off the horrid visions of that day.

“Well it turns out that he is the leader of an underground gang and he forced me to join them. He said that if I didn’t join then he would kill everyone that I know and love. So I ended up joining him and they did things to me..” Yuka said, a tear sliding down her cheek.

“What kind of things did they do to you, Yuka?” I calmly asked.

“They…..they beat me and they r- me. They all took turns like it was some kind of game, and they said that they would kill me if I didn’t do everything they said.” Yuka said, her tears falling down her face.

I grabbed her and pulled her into my embrace. She clutched my shirt and started sobbing into it. I let her cry until she couldn’t cry anymore. As much as I didn’t like what she did to Hiro I felt sorry for her. No matter what she did she didn’t deserve to go through that.

“I found your number in Rin’s phone. I thought that you could help me since you’re the only one that cares about everyone. I have nobody else but you.” Yuka said, looking up at me.

“What do you need help with?” I asked.

“I ran away from them. All of them. I recently found out that…………I’m pregnant, Toru.” She said as a look of fear washed over her.

I stood there in shock not knowing what to say. What could I say? What could I do?

I looked down at her and smiled a little, “of course I’ll help you. What do you need me to do?”

Yuka smiled at me and gave me a brief hug, “I just need you to make sure my sister doesn’t find out the truth about me. They’ll come after all of you so the less you know, the better.”

“I won’t abandon you. Do you have a place to stay?” I asked curiously.

She shook her head, “no but I’m sure I can find somewhere.”

I bit my lip, “I might have a place you can stay.”

“Oh no. I couldn’t ask that of you. Thank you but no.” She said, staring at the ground.

I chuckled a little, “it’s no problem at all. You can stay with me for as long as you like.”

Yuka’s eyes lit up, and a familiar smile crept up on her lips. I hoped I wouldn’t regret this decision.

“Really? You really mean it? Oh, thank you Toru! I promise I won’t be a bother. You won’t even know I’m there. I’ll make myself scarce. Thank you!” she said as she leaped into my arms.

I smiled after her. A frown quickly replaced my smile as my thoughts consumed me. How could I explain this to Taka? Would he understand? Would he forgive her?

My mind and body froze in place as I felt a small bump press against my stomach. I lightly pressed my hand up against Yuka’s stomach and smiled in wonder. There was life growing. A new chance, and a new beginning.

Yuka deserved a second chance, and a fresh start. Maybe bringing new life into this world was what she needed. Maybe this is what we all needed, a chance to start over again, and make things better than they were before.

I looked at Yuka who was smiling at me. For the first time in a long time I could tell that she was genuinely happy.

                                                To Be Continued….

Authors note: *I'm going to start adding the other characters POV so you can get a better idea of what's going on with them. Baby steps you guys. I love the support you guys are showing for this. Please leave comments to let me know how I'm doing, and subscribe to this story if ya want. Thank you all for the support. I really appreciate it loves.* ^_^