Love in A Time of War

[KIYOMI]

The guards may have been her best chance at freedom, but Kiyomi knew better than to put their jobs at stake. There was nothing that could save her from this mess she was in at the moment. 

Granted, she would fix her name and get back her reputation as the good neurosurgeon that she was, but then with her name out there in the world the wonky thing that mattered right now, was for her to survive. 

She needed to make sense of everything that was happening to her and no matter how the world worked she was screwed through and through.

"They deleted the footage for the entire day. Even this is not recorded. I don't know what they are playing at, but I hope Dr Kiyomi has the universe on her side. She is wanted by the Russian mob for killing their master," the first guard said.

The two guards sighed together before they went on to talk about the mess that had taken place in the hospital. It was nothing that anyone normally would want to be caught up in, but with the chaos around them now, Kiyomi didn't stand a chance.

Learning about the deleted footage killed Kiyomi's soul and at the same time, it proved that she was being set up and that the hospital administration knew about it from the onset. However, it didn't explain the whys. 

There was no reason for the hospital to set up its best neurosurgeon, a skillset that was rare in the country. If anything, there were only two of the best in the entire nation, so this is just as messed up. 

Odanera Hospital knew Kiyomi's value and yet they had managed to throw her under the bus? For what though? What catch was there that could be worth making life a little harder for everyone in the entire city and even the country? 

The city of Odanera didn't deserve this type of chaos. So defeatedly, Kiyomi went to the male resident's rooms and hid there. It was the only place she could sleep and wait this out until the sun went down and everyone got tired of looking for her. 

When night came she could find a way out, and hopefully, she wouldn't be stuck with the madness, right?

"I got you a transpo. Everyone in the van will be on their own, so if you see a male driver or male anything here, run, Kiki. Don't wait," Elif messages Kiyomi sometime later on the burner phone they shared. 

She knew Kiyomi would have it, and when Kiyomi responded with a 'love you,' she knew they were set. It wasn't what Elif would have wanted, but seeing as the hospital was still hunting Kiyomi, not to mention the mafia was trickling into the hospital, it was just more than she could take.

"Do you know where she is?" one of the officers had asked Elif when the doctor came from the resident rooms. Elif looked sleepy as hell and like she had been sleeping the entire day. 

So, when they questioned her, she just gave the man a state that asked if the soft blanket lines on her face were wet, not enough to tell them that she had been so out of touch with reality for several years now. 

Of course, Kiyomi had told Elif of the deleted footage, and that worked in both their favor as Elif dared to tell them to check the footage. She knew there wouldn't be any backup seeing as this had been a dangerous setup, but damn, she wished her best friend wouldn't be the scapegoat in this mess.

Night did come by so fast and in all that time, there was no communication for Elif. They both knew that if caught Elif would be forced to confess and try to find where Kiyomi was and that was too dangerous for her. There Was no way around this anyway.

"The transpo is here. Goodbye for now, my sweet Elif,' Kiyomi texted before she twisted the burner phone and threw it in the bin, given that it was nighttime and she was still being hunted. 

The hospital was crazed by authorities and the Russian mob who were demanding answers from the administration. Everyone was alert and waiting for the good doctor to show up, and give a statement of defense or anything, but they didn't see her. 

Then again, they were looking for a woman while Kiyomi was dressed as a night-shift male nurse. She even had rounds in the hospital. She attended to patients, conveniently covering herself. 

If she had stayed idle, they would have been focused on finding a doctor who was idle or a woman who seemed to be out of place but no one was looking for a male night shift nurse who had bags under his eyes and was doing rounds right? 

The number of times Kiyomi had walked around the members of the Russian mob in the Odanera hospital was uncountable and she hoped that they did try to kill her. She didn't have night strength to even fight them. 

She was just a girl, after all, right? So when she saw the van pull up for the window of the room she was in, Kiyomi made her way to the back door and patiently waited for them to come closer. This was her chance at a better life. 

She had abandoned the backpack that Elif had packed for her earlier, because that would be too much. She had come to the human lands with nothing but the clothes on her and if she took anything with her, it would all be suspicious.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice," Kiyomi said when the van door opened, only for her to see men in the van. 

They were dressed in all black and covered from head to toe. The transpo that Elif had gotten her was a food truck that was usually coming to the hospital during the night, so Kiyomi knew this wasn't it. 

However, before she could even say a word, she was stuffed into the back of the van and knocked out. 

The only thing she could remember was the fact that they had been Lycans, and with her history, Elif couldn't have gotten her a Lycan transpo. That would have blown her cover in an instant. 

Then again, here she was, with the Lycan queen and her mad warriors, and the worst part of it, she was married to the mad woman without a soul. 

*****

[NOW]

"Let me out of here!!!" Kiyomi cried out to the guards as she banged the door to the room she had been trapped in. It was a beautiful room really and it looked like the kind of room fit for a queen, but Kiyomi didn't want this.

She didn't want to be here, and the sooner the mad queen listened to her, the sooner she would be on her way. But then Kiyomi knew that was just a lonely dream of hers. No one was going to come for her.

"Tell that stupid queen of yours to come get me out of here!!" Kiyomi shouted over and over. She had lost track of time, and fell asleep in between. But then she couldn't get any sleep. Her mind was haunted by the sight of her colleagues dead on the floor.

She had been the reason nothing would ever be the same and maybe the queen killing her would be the perfect way to sort this out, right? So Kiyomi screamed as she called out for the Lycan queen.

She wasn't sure how long she could do this, but she wanted to escape her mind. She needed to do something, anything just to make her feel like she wasn't going insane even though a part of her was certain she had lost her mind more than once. 

But when could she really be blamed for this?

"I've only been gone an entire night and you're already being to see me… you miss me that much, petal?" Queen Sakura smirked when she pushed the door open and Kiyomi fell face-first into her chest.

"Ugh," Kiyomi complained when she hit her head on the queen's chest, before instantly pulling back like she hated it there. Well, she wouldn't exactly be blamed, especially when the queen had murdered some of the people she cared about.

"Is something on my face?" Kiyomi asked when there was a long uncomfortable loud silence between the two of them. 

She had been expecting Queen Sakura to give her a snarky response and even threaten her, but the woman was just standing there staring at Kiyomi's face like this was the first time she was seeing it.

"Hey… Great, she probably thinks I'm insane now," Kiyomi muttered angrily as she went to sit back on the bed. She could stand the sight of Sakura being here with her and yet she couldn't even send the woman away.

But then the silent stare the queen was giving her got Kiyomi curious.