Warning: Characters Deaths, gore, explicit sex, basically evil things not suitable for kids.
This fic offers some pairings, like Kiyoyachi, hints of past Iwaoi and platonic!Oikiyokuro. But mainly, this story as you can guess is about Oikawa Tooru and Shimizu Kiyoko. Oh, and heed the warning. I'm absolutely serious about them.
This Kingdom Bleeds Black
Chapter 1: The Nightmare King
"My Dear, would you honor me and be my queen?"
The hand was outstretched in an open invitation. The voice was gentle, and it held a promise of protection and eternity (but a promise of eternity was a chain to one's soul –this was hypothetical, for she had no such soul). And Shimizu thought that had she been anything but this very same mass of black heart, his offer would be romantic as well.
Except that it was not, and would never be.
She was one of the few creatures allowed to stand and look straight into his eyes when they talked. Most other would only enjoy the position of bowing their heads for the beheading. While she was never as powerful as him, she knew that he knew killing her would come with few wounds on his behalf. The King did not fight useless battle, it seemed.
"Well?" he asked again and the tips of his outstretched fingers twitched in impatience. This was the farthest extent of hospitality he could display. His head was tilted in a comfortable position –propped up by his other lazy hand. The smile on his face remained and the offer still stood.
"You have…" she began; her voice was small but it still echoed in the hollowness of his throne room. "You could have had your Queen."
"Ah," he noted when he saw where the beautiful Witch's gaze laid upon. His outstretched hand was finally drawn back, and it descended to touch the beautiful thing laid awkwardly on his lap (once a princess, once a bride, once alive). The Demon King averted his gaze from the Witch for a moment, only to fondly look at the bloodied body he was supposed to call his queen. "You mean this poor Princess Yui?" he asked as he snaked his arm to the dead princess' back to support her. He gently swiped the bangs of her short, black hair and bent to kiss her neck, and after, lick the blood from the gash that almost severed the body and the head.
The pure princess in white who was supposed to shine light upon the evil king in black. Red blood cynically said hello to redemption.
Still, the Witch thought as she watched how the King embraced and kissed his dead princess, there could only be few picture in hell more beautiful than this.
The King took his final time to kiss the blood off Princess Yui's neck. When he pulled his body up to face the Witch again, there was an ear-to-ear smile on his face.
"I am actually a feminist, you know?" he noted. "I whole-heartedly believe that behind a strong man, is a strong woman. And my dear Princess here…" he gently noted as he tangled his fingers her bangs again. It was almost as if he could be in love with her, but who was he fooling? "…Feisty and interesting, but I need a stronger woman," he declared, and as if to prove his point, he shoved the princess' body off his lap until it fell down the steps off his throne. With the girl off his lap, the King folded his leg and locked eyes with the witch again. "My trusted advisor, Kuroo, has spoken very highly of you. Said that you once overtook a whole kingdom yourself?"
"He speaks too highly of me," Shimizu clarified. True, she, with the natural charm of a succubus, managed to turn men in one small kingdom against each other for her favor. But she hardly believed it was any indication of her strength. Helen of Troy was never to be remembered in history as the hero anyway.
"Nuh, don't undervalue yourself, Dear," the King winked. "Strength did not always take form of wit or muscles or strong magic. You are indeed, the strongest woman as of now. If one day I happen to cross a woman stronger than you…" he chuckled. "I'll keep your dead body intact at least. Dead or alive, you are still a vision to behold."
There was not much deliberation needed. With the Grand Demon King, of course, offer meant order. When one would so much be hung for refusing an offer, an offer stopped being one.
Shimizu walked towards his throne; her high boots made constant resonating sound and he seemed to already be enjoying the way this dominatrix vixen walked to him. His throne was five steps up on stairs made of skulls and she made no hesitant move when her heels walked over the body of the dead princess. Closer to his throne, the King's smile widened. He extended his hand down to help her climb the steps. Those stilettos must have been hard to walk with on these skulls, but he forgot that she was a succubus of power and grace –she could practically dance on the surface of the ocean with ease. Still, she accepted his hand and allowed him to pull her body closer to his grand throne.
"No bowing, no kissing my boots?" he remarked, but it was more playful than threatening. His hand made tantalizing touch on her tight-clad rear and twirled her tail. Her tail was always her sensitive spot; her knees buckled and she nearly fell onto him.
Except that she extended both her palms to hold onto the headboard of his throne instead. With him sitting, she was towering him. The position did not really give her much bargain for domination though, for his fingers were still playing with her tail and she fought hard not to let her next sentence came in a raspy moan.
"Do queens need to bow to the kings as well?"
It seemed like an honest question to him, and he finally released her tail and pinched his own chin instead as if to ponder. "Hmm, I'm not sure. I suppose a queen does have her own prerogative. Perhaps. I never really have a queen before."
He almost looked like a kid when he did so, and for so long that preference mattered, Shimizu always had soft spots for kids. It nearly made her pity him. It nearly made her want to protect him. It nearly made her want to warn him.
"You're not afraid of me?"
He blinked, as if it was the first time anyonehad asked him that question. He was borderline offended, but more than that, curious.
"Why must I be afraid of you?"
"I don't know," she answered honestly. "They said I'm a Witch who only brings curses upon men."
He smirked upon hearing that. With a sudden strong jerk of her tail, she could no longer suppress her moan. Her knees gave up and she stumbled onto his chest. But he took a grip of her neck and stretched it wide from her shoulder. His hand trailed down the bare skin of her collarbone as he nuzzled on her neck and made his point.
"To men? Maybe. To a King? Never."
The Demon King's real name was Oikawa Tooru, and he had (so generously, he persisted) told her it was acceptable for her to call him that because she was his queen.
Oikawa gave her a large room of her own –an arrangement that Shimizu was sure he made because he did not allow anyone, not even his queen, to enter his bedroom. When he was in the mood to fuck her, he was the one going to her room. But such nights were not constant, because as much as he wanted to, he knew the consequence of having sex with a succubus. Succubus lived off the energy of the men they devoured sexually –mortal men would die in one take. Oikawa might have been a Demon King with enormous power, and while even continuous sex with her would not kill him, each would still temporarily deplete his energy substantially.
But consuming her was amazing, and Oikawa thought it was worth the nausea that came after the rounds. So he learned to play the balance. He would let weeks pass without touching her, but on the scheduled night where he knew it was safe, he would use her to the fullest –to the point where he was not the only one depleted of energy.
He would hover over her on her bed; sometimes tie all her limbs to the bedposts and let her strained tight and sprawled naked on the bed. Tying her was more of a necessary measure than a fetish (though he believed he might slowly grow a new kink), because when orgasm hit her the hardest, her nails would naturally excrete poison onto his skin. But once he learned how to use her to the wisely, taking her in whole was what he did.
Shimizu was far from the only woman he had fucked. But Oikawa tended to be generous with her, because she was the queen and not some slaves Maki brought from the auction. With the others, he would not give much of damn to pleasure them, but with Shimizu, Oikawa would go as far as kneeling down to suck her clitoris and lap the wetness that flowed out of her folds (always shaven clean as per his request). And to be honest, it was not entirely to please her either, because unlike normal women, succubus' nectar tasted sweet as hell and he must hold himself sometimes not to suck her toodry.
And Shimizu could be really cute and honest when she reached her orgasm as well. All the more reasons why his long finger always itched to reach deeper inside her just so she could cry out.
"O-Oikawa…" she rasped when her hips bucked against his face.
He knew he had allowed her to call him by his real name. But he was a King with many rules, and Shimizu seemed to forget that there was an exception to calling him during the consummation period.
"My Queen," he whispered hotly in front of her opening, and his airy breath made her jolt more. "Remember what you should refer me as when I do good things to you?"
"M-my…" she jerked again when he rubbed her clit. "My King…"
"Correct," he giddily grinned before he pulled himself up and tore the ropes around her ankles (kept the ones around her wrists). He pressed his palms on both sides of her inner thighs and spread her wide before he completely entered her.
He had never fucked a succubus aside from Shimizu, so he did not particularly know whether the hot and tightness of her walls were natural traits for her kind or were they hers only. All that he knew, was that she almost always felt like a virgin when he entered, and it only made him arch his back whenever the friction was made. For succubus herself, there were only few, if not none, who could last long enough during the process. He nearly smiled fondly at her when he saw her drag her own heels so that her butt cheeks were rested on them. Then, she arched herself a bit higher to engulf him more.
It was always great, but at nights where it was plainly amazing, Oikawa felt that his soul and energy were sucked at a much faster rate. He was at least thankful he could still have enough energy to last when the orgasm came and she squeezed and he jerked. When the orgasm was particularly mind blowing, even the muscles of his arms could not hold the weight of his own body and he would fall onto her –catching his own breath just as she was doing the same.
He would usually wait until one or two hours before he gained enough energy to stand up, cut the ropes around her wrists, and then proceeded back to his room.
"Kiyoko-san, I don't like that man! Please let's escape from this place!"
"We can take off when that man is off for the battle next full moon! He wouldn't notice!"
Shimizu was always used to her noisy and overprotective loyal companions (no, lower than companions, Kiyoko-san! We are humble servants to you only, Kiyoko-san!). The two had followed her to this castle and Oikawa had even given both of them a chamber. Despite so, it had not been the first time Tanaka and Nishinoya brought the notion of escaping the castle.
"The King wouldn't like it," Shimizu noted pensively as she gazed at the silver moon outside her window.
"Well, we don't like the King either and we know neither do you, Kiyoko-san!" Tanaka fiery debated.
"If we escape, he might be furious."
"That's what we are here for, Kiyoko-san!" Nishinoya assured in high spirit. "We will not allow that bastard hurt you and we will protect you with all we've got!"
Shimizu pulled her gaze away from the night scenery to the fist-clenching and highly-spirited two little demons. Ah, she had no doubt that Tanaka and Nishinoya would do that. These two were not weak demons themselves, but in front of the Grand King? Shimizu knew that they stood not even a miniscule chance. And if there were two of very few beings she came to have soft spot on, these two would be it.
She gave a small smile that she reserved at the very rarest time to them (both little demons froze immediately) and shook her head.
"And besides, where can we go?" Shimizu asked.
No, the question was a bit off. Tanaka and Nishinoya originally belonged to the Land of the Demon –this macabric yet enormous land Oikawa ruled. They had homes to go to. Shimizu? All her life she had only flown from one place to another, never having a hometown, never having a place to return to.
Where is this home for her?
Nishinoya quieted down as he gazed at Shimizu's ever unchanging expression. But the spiky-haired demon understood his master well.
"But this place is not your home, Kiyoko-san."
Shimizu agreed, but as she returned her face to gaze at the moon again, she also remarked.
"Still. Probably the closest thing to it that I'll ever have."
When Oikawa came with the offer to make Shimizu his queen, she had few ideas of what she was actually expected to do. The Queen was more of a status than a duty, but Oikawa made use of things to the fullest. Shimizu knew one day, he would expect something from her in return.
Oikawa was a tyrant, always. But he was not a tyrant that knew nothing of his job. Especially in times like this, where the little skirmishes for rebellion were breaking here and there like beansprouts. Everyone feared Oikawa, but many would go to the extent of facing their fears to overthrow him.
When Shimizu first heard of Oikawa, she thought he was a king who just liked to laze around in his grand castle –his biggest concern would probably be what different method was there to torture his prisoner or which cloak he would wear that day. But for the weeks and months living in the castle with him, Shimizu found out that he was much busier than she originally thought. On the days where he was not out for battles, Oikawa would busy himself in the castle –strategizing and holding meetings on how he could expand his land more or how to effectively suppress the rebels.
Oikawa who had much time in his hand was already scary, but Oikawa who was preoccupied with something was always much scarier. Shimizu knew better than not to be in his vicinity during such period.
But Kuroo returned back from the battle that day, and for centuries, he had been quite an old friend to Shimizu. The dark-haired general came to visit Shimizu who was reading in the library, and Shimizu actually put down her book to talk to him. At least until Oikawa entered the library and requested an emergency meeting with him.
So with Kuroo occupied and with the table now filled with large map, pieces of pawns, quills, inks and notes, Shimizu pushed herself to the chair by the window of the library. She was only ten pages away from finishing her papier-mâché book and neither Oikawa nor Kuroo seemed to even notice her presence.
"We managed to push back the battalion on the west. We burned their fortress. Supposed there won't be any real hazard for the next four months at minimum. But there is a growing concern from the little group from the southern riverbank," Kuroo reported.
Oikawa shook his head. "Small militias are never our priority. Just leave it to Maki. He can handle that one. Let's just focus on our expansion plan to Shiratorizawa region."
"This militia group is led by Daichi Sawamura. He is the son of the Great General Sawamura…whom you executed."
Oikawa shrugged. "Whom I executed so you can take over his position, Kuroo," he reminded.
Kuroo smirked to that. Still, he felt the need to warn… and provoke the king further. "Right. I suppose the fact that the militia group also has Kageyama Tobio is also none of importance?"
The corner of Oikawa's eyes twitched. The General just knew his King too well.
"Ah. Little Tobio-chan."
"Growing more and more excellent as days passed, I heard."
"Hmm," Oikawa pondered as he drew his fingers to his chin. "That militia sure needs to be squished as fast as we can. But a majority of our troops are already in the Eastern Mountain heading to the Shiratorizawa region. That region is experiencing blizzard, and our troop is used to that. There is no better time to attack them than now."
"Right. So you want to deploy Maki for the militias? Not sure it'll not be a suicide, though. At Maki's current level, he might not be able to handle Daichi and his group."
"Order Lev to join him."
"Lev is too much of a wild card. He can only work best with Yaku, but Yaku is on the Shiratorizawa attack group."
"The others?"
"Posted on their respective stations. Need at least two weeks to reach Daichi's position."
"Any other option then? You are to join the Shiratorizawa attack group in two days. And I can't concentrate on Shiratorizawa if Tobio-chan is still alive and around. Must I really go to battle myself?"
"Tell just a couple of your Shiratorizawa expansion troop to take the old tunnel in the Southern Mountain," Shimizu noted as she closed her book and got up from the chair. "Crossing that tunnel will only take one and a half day, and it will lead to the Karasuno Valley where the militias kept their supplies. You don't need to attack the militas. Just burn their supplies and logistics. That will at least distract that militia's attention."
Oikawa and Kuroo both turned to look at Shimizu –who all but gave them the attention as she walked back to the book shelves. When she stopped herself, it was only to add a warning. "Oh, but that tunnel is filled with some poisonous plants. Assign only your men who have sufficient knowledge of poisons and antidotes."
"That…" Oikawa pondered. "…can actually work. No big effort but worth the try."
Shimizu shrugged. "Oh, Oikawa-san?"
"Yes?"
"Do you know the continuation of this papier-mâché book? It says there's an advance edition for this, but I can't find it here."
"…Probably in the east wing library. All advanced and second series books are there."
"Noted," Shimizu said with a nod before she exited the west library.
Kuroo only chuckled when he saw Oikawa's eyes were still transfixed on the now closed door that Shimizu just passed.
"See? I told you. You'd like that Witch."
"You must consider yourself special, Kiyoko-chan! I don't always bring people here, really!" the King chirped almost too happily as he held her by the shoulder and dragged her in.
When Oikawa was not out to personally lead the battle or work the governmental affairs in his office, he would usually come and nag his succubus queen. Nine out of ten, it would only involve sex in the end, and Shimizu knew he just liked to change the place lately.
Even after nearly a year living in his grand castle, there were still too many territories Shimizu was not aware of. His castle was enormous, and that had not even taken the secret passages into consideration. The hall that the King was inviting herself into was placed in the south tower, and like most of the general design, it was dark and majestic –the more reason for Shimizu to be comfortable at the place.
But this hall, unlike any other room or chamber she had been in the castle, was certainly too special.
"Allow me to show you…" he paused dramatically with an accompanying dramatic swish of his cloak. "My most precious collection!"
Oikawa's most precious collection, Shimizu learned that day, was never gold or ancient artifacts. Nor were they weapon memoirs or historical spell books.
Heads.
Oikawa's most precious collection were carefully embalmed heads of those he locked in glass display boxes.
"Now, let me show you! This one," he pointed to the glass box containing the beheaded head of a man with short silver hair. "This one was the King of Date Kou. You must have known him. His iron-walled country… it took two summers, but eventually I made it!"
Oikawa showed each display as if he was a kid in a local candy shop. As if the heads were toys instead of the remnants of important people the Demon King had slaughtered.
"This is General Sawamura, the senior. My late father's most trusted advisor. Would have used him as my advisor too had he not, ah, doubted me so much," he introduced briefly with a smirk. His attention never lingered in one box too long though. "And ah, see, see, here! Remember Princess Yui?" he grinned. "Pretty, right? Not as gorgeous as you of course, my Queen, don't frown like that. Ah, yes, you always frown like that, I forgot."
Shimizu did not give a single comment but she followed Oikawa as the latter jumped from one display box to the other. There was one display box at the farthest end, in the middle of the room. While it was placed higher on several steps above the other, it was empty.
"That one," Oikawa muttered from Shimizu's behind as he nuzzled on her neck. "is reserved one day for my most precious head collection. For now, I'm plotting it for Ushijima's head. But who knows? It can also be the Queen's one day," he smirked with the promise of damnation –and as if to emphasize his point, he dragged his long nail slowly across the pale skin on Shimizu's neck.
The moment Shimizu accepted Oikawa's offer to be his queen, Shimizu knew that she had not only given her freedom, but also her soul and life to him. It mattered less. It was just a matter of time, and it was not as if she had lived a short life.
"Always so calm. What does it take to make horror crosses your eyes, My Queen?" Oikawa chuckled as he pushed her against the wall. Shimizu knew what the King wanted, so she spread her hands and flattened them on his tense shoulders. Oikawa throatily groaned when Shimizu's fingers slowly made the calculated trail across his pelvis and rubbed the building eagerness there.
Oikawa was in the middle of unbuckling his pants when something behind him caught Shimizu's eyes. With hands still placed to burn his skin in passion, the Queen tilted her head and nudged at one glass box –the design was nowhere as intricate as the other glass boxes and was nearly invisible in one glance.
The first comment she made on his collection was to that display box.
"What about that one?" Shimizu asked as her nails pointed at the certain box some feet away behind Oikawa.
Oikawa looked pass his shoulder to see the box that Shimizu was particularly interested in.
Ah. How sharp, my Queen.
"Hmn?" Oikawa mumbled as he tore his gaze away from the display box and proceeded to bite Shimizu's earlobe. His next whisper was probably the gentlest sentiment Shimizu had ever heard passing the Grand Demon King's lips.
"That…was my best friend, the love of my life, Iwa-chan."
And Oikawa fucked Shimizu hard against the wall –harder than he had ever been.
Shimizu screamed as Oikawa entered her raw and deep, no stimulation prior; Iwa-chan's closed eyes continued to haunt not only the Queen, but the King as well.
There were times when he remained on her bed after he satiated himself with her. It even went beyond the hours after he finished restoring his energy back –which usually only took two hours at maximum. But in these few times, he still refused to leave her bed even when his energy was back.
Oikawa slept by her side, but Shimizu knew the King was never truly rested. In the midst of the dreams he might have had, the King was never one to truly be at ease. Sometimes she watched him sleep, nearly unguarded, to the point that she fell asleep herself. Then she opened her eyes and she saw his eyes were no longer red, but deep brown, and they stared at her.
"Aw, don't wake up yet, My Queen," he pouted. "I love seeing you asleep."
She thought it was funny, because she loved seeing him asleep as well. Not that she would ever tell him that though.
His finger came to touch her black hair and twirled it around his fingers. In turn, she placed her palm against his chest and felt the calm heartbeats beneath his ribcage. Lazing around on bed like this, it was almost like a thing lovers would do. It was almost like he was not a Demon King who had shed blood of any men who opposed him. It was almost like she was not an evil Siren who was indifferent to each corpse falling behind her tails. It was almost like whatever heartless things they committed outside this door never happened.
"I had nightmares," he confessed.
"About?" she asked back.
"Many," he replied. "Many things haunt me. That's the price one has to pay for becoming a King."
"Isn't that a low price to pay for what you have done?"
He chuckled. His Queen really did not have the slightest fear of angering him, it seemed. "It is," he agreed in the end.
"What are your nightmares?" she asked; unusually curious. When a succubus made sexual contacts with men, she could see their thoughts and memories. But Oikawa was always a different case. Maybe because he overpowered her, or maybe because Oikawa just had too many layers to him, Shimizu could never really read what he was actually thinking.
"Hm," he pondered, as if he was debating which one he should disclose first. "Iwa-chan's eyes right before I beheaded him? My father's laugh when he thought his sword could kill me?" he shrugged and tried to recollect more. "Ushijima's victory over my port towns last year?" he thought harder. "Tobio-chan's innocent smile when he beat me in archery? Yes, that last one is petty, I know."
The edges of Shimizu's lips were slightly tugged upward at the last one. Oikawa must have been mesmerized for a moment because he found himself asking back.
"Do succubus dream?" he asked; his fingers remained intertwined between her hair.
"We can't," Shimizu answered.
"Why not?"
"Dreams come to those who are deeply attached towards something. By default, succubus are not created for that. We don't really feel or have particular sentiment towards anything."
"Not even to me? When I'm this irresistible?"
She gave him a deadpanned stare.
He chuckled. "It would be nice if you can dream about me someday, Kiyoko-chan."
He fell asleep and sometimes she wondered, whether he dreamed of her once in a while.
It was during one celebratory dinner that the two little mice were caught.
"Come on, Oikawa. They're just kids," Kuroo noted as Oikawa pointed his sword to the pair of a young boy and a young girl trembling on the floor –caught after stealing some food from the gala dinner.
"We're not kids! We're already 16 years old!" the boy, one with bright orange hair, shouted as he kept his arms around the blonde-haired girl. The boy was afraid, Shimizu could tell. But fear did not always make you back away from menace.
Oikawa laughed. "What is 16 years when compared to my demon's lifespan, kiddo? What's your name?" he asked in friendly tone, though the sword was not lowered.
"Hinata Shoyo! And one day I'm going to be –"
"And the girl?" Oikawa interrupted.
"H-Hitoka Yachi!" the girl muttered in shiver as she bowed her head. "Please forgive us, Grand King! We were just too hungry and if we can just work here to pay for the food we stole –"
"Yachi! I'm not working for the Demon King! I won't –"
"Alright, alright, kids, don't shout too loud in my throne room. My Queen likes it quiet, right, my Queen?" Oikawa looked at his left, where Shimizu was sitting in her naturally graceful manner.
"No, it's fine. They look like energetic kids. I don't mind them," Shimizu replied with a tint of motherly smile on her face.
Kuroo laughed and Oikawa pouted. "You two are never really on my side, are you?" the King scowled. Returning his gaze to the two short pair, Oikawa smiled, though his next word was anything but kind. "We have too many staffs here, so no extra manpower is needed. But I do run out of kids' skulls collection, so –"
"I do need more servants, actually, Oikawa," Shimizu interrupted –ignoring the loud choir by her existing two followers ("But you have us already, Kiyoko-san!"). Glancing at Hinata and Yachi, Shimizu noted, "The boy can work to groom your horse. You always complain that their manes are never shiny enough. And I do need a chambermaid, so the girl can be that."
Oikawa narrowed his eyes towards his Queen –who maintained her chin high. He knew it was stupid of him for thinking this, but he just had an inkling. "I don't know, my Queen. My gut's telling me that this kid is going to be troublesome one day."
Kuroo easily rested his arm on Oikawa's shoulder –only the General and the Queen could so much do that kind of defiance towards the Grand King. "This boy looks like he can be our secret weapon. Lend him for me to train in my spare time, Oikawa. I want him too. You don't mind, right, Shimizu?"
"Of course."
Oikawa sighed. When these two were ganging up against him, he really did not have much to say.
"Fine."
"S-Shimizu-sama, thank you so much for earlier! I owe you my life! If there is anything I can do for you, please do not ever hesitate to ask!" Yachi Hitoka exclaimed once Shimizu took her away from the throne room (the orange-haired boy was in Kuroo's custody).
"Don't mention it," Shimizu waved it off as she walked Yachi to a small maid room located not far from her own. "Oikawa needs to be hold back sometimes. It is my duty to do so," she added before she put the key into the room and unlocked it. When she turned back to gaze at the blonde-haired girl, Shimizu noted her tense shoulders. Relaxing her face to form a smile, she asked, "Do I scare you?"
"N-no! Not at all! Y-you're just so beautiful and so kindhearted, I-I…I really don't deserve any of this! I am forever indebted to you, Shimizu-sama!"
Shimizu smiled softly. She wondered what Yachi would think of her if she told her the amount of men who died because of her –the number of which Shimizu could barely count herself. "Don't worry. I usually can manage myself, so you don't really need to work here. Just make sure not to cross path with Oikawa when you're not with me. I can't always guarantee your safety."
Yachi was still staring at her, and this time her stare had nothing to do with admiration or nervousness. Shimizu patiently waited until Yachi braced herself to ask the question.
"The Grand King… he is your husband, right?"
There was never any wedding or even a nation-wide announcement of it. But that day two years ago, it just started to become a known-fact to everyone: that the Grand Demon King now had his queen, the very own infamous last succubus who was rumored to be behind his continuing greatness. The explanation was better made brief, so Shimizu only replied, "Yes."
"How can you love someone like that, Shimizu-sama?" Yachi slowly asked, and by the look of it, it was almost like she did not even realize she was asking the question out loud. "That man is…evil."
"Well," Shimizu murmured as she gave a pensive gaze towards the window. "Maybe because rotten souls only deserve each other?"
Maybe Shimizu loved Oikawa. Maybe she hated him. Maybe she wanted to run away from this castle. Maybe she wanted to be trapped in it. She did not know. At the end of the day, she supposed Oikawa Tooru, the cruelest Grand Demon King in history, had just become an existence she was getting too used to.
Shimizu was used to his childishness. Him being petty when Shimizu just happened to pour more wine to Kuroo's glass than to Oikawa's. Him needing an hour to choose the right robe for the day (Shimizu always rolled her eyes. "They're both black, Oikawa." To which he would reply "But no, Kiyoko-chan! This one is actually ashy black, and this one is metallic black! They're different! And why won't you call me Tooru already?!"). Him grinning proudly when he managed to beat Nishinoya in the Who-Can-Praise-Shimizu-Kiyoko-more.
And at the same time, Shimizu was used to his cruel self. The Demon King who lived up to his name and his ancestors –if not more. The King who would spend sleepless nights so that he could finalize the battle strategy to fully claim Shiratorizawa (now a third region thereof was Oikawa's). The King who would have a twisted smile when he fucked her like a dog on the floor. The King who had not a single pity in his eyes when he ordered for the execution of his troops who were too scared for the battle.
If, and she stressed it out, if… if she was even somehow in love with the Grand Demon King, Shimizu did not even know which part of him that made her love him. She was not as unnecessarily evil as him, but she was not a saint either. Maybe a bigger part of her leaned more to loving him when he was one sadistic King.
So sadistic, that even the King would order her to do this.
"The Holy Priest of Karasuno," Oikawa announced the title of the gray-haired young man who was captured, tied, and forced to kneel before his throne. "Sugawara, is it? I believe you are the strategist of the Karasuno militias? You must know a lot of things that will be of use to me."
Sugawara lifted his head to look up towards the throne. There was nothing but calmness in his eyes. "You may torture or even kill me, Demon King. But I will never say anything that will harm my friends."
Oikawa smirked to that. His captain of the first platoon, Matsukawa, who managed to capture the Priest, requested the permission to speak. "With your permission, my King," he began. "I believe you don't have to go through the trouble of interrogating him. Let me and my men bring him to the torture chamber and –"
Waving his hand to silence his captain, Oikawa then gave his mandate, "No. This one is important. I'd like to interrogate him myself. You may all leave."
"But My King –"
"He's a Priest," Oikawa smiled. "No offense. But at most, what harm can he inflict me? Preach me to turn ways?" he chuckled. "Leave me and let me handle him alone."
Matsukawa and his men bowed and took their leave. Shimizu took a deep breath and was about to get up from her chair as well when Oikawa called her.
"No, not you, My Queen. You are to stay here," the King ordered and even lightly tapped the place on his thigh. Shimizu knew what Oikawa wanted so she obliged: she approached her King and sat on his lap. Oikawa's smirk widened as he bravely trailed his hand down to her chest and gave a light squeeze on her right breast.
Sugawara tore his gaze away. Oikawa widened his grin. Shimizu hissed. The King's way of intimately handling her was nothing new, but he never went as far as doing this in the presence of a third party.
"O-Oikawa," Shimizu moaned when Oikawa's hand slipped into her tight leather bustier and fondled her breast directly. He sensually rolled her nipple between his fingers and Shimizu quickly grabbed his hand and tried to pry it off her body. "M-my King," she rasped. "Not here. Not now."
The King only leered and even went to lift her right thigh and easily shifted her body so she completely sat on top of him. And while he verbally ignored Shimizu, his hand only trailed down to touch the middle of her core and frolicked her there in front of the Holy Priest.
"My Queen," Oikawa introduced as he continued to hump Shimizu from behind and shot his words straight to Sugawara. "Beautiful creature, isn't she? Am I not an extremely lucky man to be able to do this to her whenever I want it?" he noted as he licked Shimizu's neck slowly. "Sweetest thing I've ever tasted in my life, to be honest."
"…You really are a disgrace," Sugawara mouthed –eyes still pried away from the indecent sight at the throne.
"And lucky you, my friend," Oikawa grinned. "I'll allow you to have a taste of her too!"
Oikawa's exclaim was one too cheerful that both Sugawara and Shimizu froze upon the words.
"Oikawa, what do you mean?" Shimizu asked, but was soon quieted down when his finger pushed deep into her.
Still not addressing any of his Queen's concern, the King only spoke to the Priest. "I'm sure you know what race my Queen is from, right, Priest? Succubus have long been extinct and she is the only one of her kind now. And you know what succubus does, Priest?"
Sugawara paled and Shimizu only closed her eyes because she knew what was to come.
"She can suck a life force, basically kill, any man she fucks. But not only that!" Oikawa claimed as if he was about to give a grand prize to an awardee. "When a succubus sucks a man's life force, she can also see all memories and knowledge of such man."
Sugawara shook his head in dread. "Y-you don't –"
"Now, my Queen," Oikawa muttered as he turned Shimizu's body to face him. "Please do me a favor and get as many information as you can, alright?"
"No!" Sugawara shrieked. "No! Don't do this! Please! Not this!" he screamed as he tried to stand up and run, but the shackles chained him down to the floor.
Shimizu sighed. Beads of sweat were rolling off her skin because Oikawa could make her come with his fingers much faster lately. "…Do I really have to?" she asked.
Oikawa swept Shimizu's bangs tenderly. She felt something in her ribcage actually cracked when the sadistic King even pulled her close to kiss her on the lips. He had never kissed her this way. Not this gentle, not this protective, not this loving. And she thought that what a twist of irony of all these to happen now? Now, when her heart wanted to melt into him and harden herself to be a sword that would pierce him.
The King pulled his lips away but never too far. Against her lips was his warm breath, and he murmured, "Please, Kiyoko. I can only count you for this. It's not that I want to give you to any man, but… the information would be substantial to fully perish the Karasuno militia. I can't conquer Shiratorizawa for so long I still worry about the rebels."
Shimizu looked at him, and his eyes were those dark brown instead of red. His red eyes always made it an ultimatum, but she knew she was particularly weak for his brown ones instead.
And besides, in the end, it came to the fact that the day she accepted his offer to be his Queen was the day she agreed to be his pawn. To be used, manipulated, discarded one day.
With a sigh, Shimizu lifted herself off Oikawa's lap. "Very well, My King," she said and she quickly averted her face before the King could lay his palm on her cheek. With a composed gaze, she turned her back and stepped down his throne to approach the poor priest who was now staring at her in dread.
Oikawa flicked his fingers and the shackles around Sugawara's wrists and ankles came off. But before the Priest could make the dash of his life, Shimizu closed her eyes and allowed her power to submerge. Black leather whips sprang from the floor and bound the Priest eagle-spread on the floor instead.
"No, please…" Sugawara pled. "Don't do this. Don't do this to yourself. You don't deserve this," he stuttered. Shimizu would have sympathized and believed the Priest more had she not seen the bulge on his lower region.
She mentally scoffed. In the end, men were just the same. She must have spent too much time with the Demon King to even forget how mortals react to her.
Kneeling and bending herself down on top of the priest, Shimizu only did what she was born to do the best.
Giving a man his most beautiful death.
"I promise it won't hurt," she cooed as she pulled the Priest's tunic off and wrapped her hands around his shaft.
And as Sugawara cried out, Shimizu found the crack in her heart widened. It came not from this poor Priest's cry, but rather, from the big laugh coming from above the throne –such a big, sad, pathetic laugh the King made as he jerked himself upon the sight of his own wife fucking another man.
"That was a really useful information. You did an excellent job," Oikawa complimented after Shimizu told him the memories and knowledge of the Priest –now laying dead on the ground.
Shimizu did not say anything else. Slowly, she kneeled down to roll her leather suit back up. Oikawa stared as her for a few second, before he decided to walk past her. The information from the Priest' memory required several follow-up actions. Urgent preparation, emergency meeting –the Demon King would be busy.
She thought he had left, and he probably had, but then, a thick, warm cloak was dropped over her bare shoulders.
"Please don't hate me for that," Oikawa said, almost honest, almost with a trace of an apologetic smile.
His footsteps echoed behind her, but Shimizu couldn't help but to ask.
"Would it even matter to you if I do?"
Oikawa stopped his steps for a second, before he resumed them –no affirmation or denial made.
Shimizu realized that it did not, but perhaps the King might have been too polite to say it out loud.
Oikawa was barely around his castle after that. In the scarce moments that he was, he was always too preoccupied with his advisors and military personnel. In the scarcer moments where he was not out in the battle or in the meeting room, he would only lock himself in his Collection Hall. When he was tired and only had one option, Shimizu knew who Oikawa liked to talk to the most –even when the head could no longer say anything back in return.
Shimizu knew that even alive, her value was still lower than that of lifeless head of Iwa-chan that had nothing about him but death.
The days in his castle was mostly passed in silence then. Tanaka and Nishinoya had been ordered by the Grand King to guard the northern border –a feat that was only done when Shimizu said her agreement to it. With no kids to babysit, no King to serve, and basically with everyone else not daring to say a word to her, Yachi was the only one she could converse to. It had been hard at the first few months (the blonde-haired girl always flinched in her vicinity), but over the coarse of time, Yachi talked to the Queen even without being told to.
"So Hinata said that horses dunks really smell the worse out of all animals he knew. He said taking care of the dunks really took up all of his days, he barely had any time to train with Kuroo-sama. He regretted over it, because I think he kind of looked up to him. He thought that Kuroo-sama had given up on him," Yachi recounted.
Shimizu had no obligation to pay attention to the chambermaids and servants' gossips, but with basically nothing much to do, hearing Yachi's story had become more interesting than reading books about baking tartines. She would usually just sit by her window as Yachi cleaned up her room, and the nonchalant mutters out of Yachi's mouth started to be the things Shimizu looked up to for the day.
"Kuroo is highly interested in Hinata too, but he's just too busy," Shimizu commented. "If Hinata wants, I can ask Kuroo's other apprentice, Lev, to join Hinata's training. Lev does need a sparring partner himself."
"Oh no, it's all fine, Shimizu-sama! You don't have to go to that extent!"
Shimizu shrugged. "It's really nothing much. Lev would also be excited. Just ask Hinata and if that is agreeable, I can help arranging them to meet."
Yachi stopped dusting off the table. "…You're too kind."
"It really is nothing much," Shimizu insisted.
"No, not just this," Yachi muttered. "For the Queen of this kingdom to even allow me talk like this… you're just too kind," Yachi said with a smile. "From where I and Hinata are from, it would have been a wonderful day if there was not anyone who would spat or beat us that day."
Shimizu drew a deep breath. She kind of liked Yachi, and it started to bug her when the latter had an overly generous impression on her. "I'm anything but kind, Hitoka-chan," Shimizu clarified. "If you know the things I did and I do, you wouldn't call me kind at all."
"But that's all the Demon King's order –"
"Not necessarily," Shimizu interrupted, more to clarify Yachi's stance rather than to defend her husband. "Even if Oikawa ordered me to kill some, it did not change the fact that I still killed those men. And I've never felt any remorse," Shimizu boldly said as she studied Yachi's reaction. "I don't feel bad doing them. I don't feel anything in particular."
There. There would be two general possibilities: Yachi being scared of her, or Yachi hating her. Shimizu thought it was pity, but it was still better than letting an innocent child like Yachi had a misconception about her.
She expected Yachi to awkwardly resume cleaning. Or to leave the room. Or to even look at her with a silent disgust in her eyes.
But Yachi did neither of those. She dropped her broom though, and she calmly walked towards the window to hold Shimizu's hand.
Shimizu's eyes widened. The hand was small, not big like Oikawa's. But it was so warm that even her cold skin almost yearned for the warmth to linger longer. It puzzled Shimizu how such warmth could come from a girl this petite, this young, and this –
"Don't undervalue yourself, Shimizu-sama," Yachi insisted and Shimizu wondered how ironic this was. The word was spoken by Oikawa once, but Oikawa's had been manipulative while Yachi's was…
…sincere, warm, forgiving –it nearly made Shimizu want to believe about something in her own self that she did not know she might have.
A soul.
"Don't undervalue yourself," Yachi repeated as the grip of her small hand tightened. "Deep down, I know you don't want to do those. Deep down, I know you really are a kind person. You've just… spent such a long time alone believing that you don't deserve any mercy, and I think… that's too sad."
"Sad? Me?" Shimizu asked. She had been called a lot of things: slut, witch, evil, heartless –but not sad. Never sad.
Yachi nodded. "But I believe, you can still change," she said with a beam that was brighter than the sun –it burned Shimizu even more than Oikawa's cruel nails.
Shimizu quickly released her hand off Yachi's grip. At times like this, she had rather Oikawa burned her than Yachi wholeheartedly had this inexplicable belief in her. Shimizu thought that at least she deserved the former (but never the latter).
To be Continued