Usual Disclaimers Apply

I was starting to feel sorry for Sho, so found him a partner. Beware the shounen-ai (or preferably relish the dark beauty of this pairing).

Reino's Trap

Sho stood still, watching Kyouko walk away with Kuon Hizuri and knew he had lost her forever.

He felt his heart break. The last few years of chasing after her had taught him a lot about himself and he knew that he no longer had the right to stop her leaving, but still, it was not easy to watch.

However, the emptiness he was expecting to feel never came. Anger and frustration burned him from within.

A voice nagged at his thoughts: 'If only your parents had not spoiled you as a child. It is their fault, and Kyouko's fault and your teachers' fault. Blame them. Blame the world. They made you selfish and they never taught you that you would end up hurting yourself. You can't go back and put it right. You will never be able to get anyone to love you. Your life is over.'

When the voice started snickering in his ear, Sho realised that it wasn't his inner thoughts: Reino was standing behind him trying to hide his delight at the turn of events.

Returning to his normal tone of voice, Reino continued talking.

"I can't believe you actually believed me in Karuisawa. As if making her hate you more was going to let you keep her. Don't you know that when little boys bully the girls they like, it never ends well?"

The anger burning inside Sho exploded and he grabbed Reino, holding him against the wall by his throat.

"You bastard! You hurt Kyouko; you made me hurt Kyouko. You stalked her!"

Unusually calm for a person who was afraid of pain and trapped against a wall by an angry man who had previously hospitalised him, Reino held his gaze steady, even though his voice was restricted.

"Hmmm yes. Little Red Riding Hood was fun to play with, but she was never my target."

He raised his hand holding out the two newborn grudge-Sho's that he had captured when Sho lost control.

'Massterrr Saaavvve uss!'

Reino smirked as Sho dropped him.

"What did you do? What are they?!"

"They are my pets. I will take good care of them."

Sho watched horrified as the little spirits which seemed to resemble himself were stroked tenderly, and a chill ran up his spine. One of the spirits changed from reaching for Sho, to wrapping himself around Reino's fingers, as a cat would wind through legs. Younger than Kyouko's grudges were when accosted by Reino's affections, the mini-Sho's were more easily influenced.

Reino smirked, seeing Sho transfixed by the sight. "They are delightful, aren't they? These are part of you: the pieces of your broken heart. I know you can feel it. Your raw emotions. The power behind your anger, hurt and frustration. "

"Y… You" Sho swallowed. Images of Kyouko yelling about Beagles and kidnappings and various ramblings which suddenly started to make a lot more sense interrupted Sho's thoughts and he didn't continue. He just stood there, unable to do anything more than watch as Reino delighted in his increased frustration.

The fact that he could not control his emotions just frustrated him even more and horrified him. He realised that the first little grudge was growing wings - only, they weren't white angel wings: they were dark and jagged and sent terror through his bones.

"Hey! Give them back!" Sho didn't know what Reino was doing, but he knew it had to be stopped.

Reino's silver eyes were unusually soft. He lifted the little black spirit to his lips and kissed it. Then gently blew it off his palm, as one would blow a kiss to a loved one.

Instinctively, Sho caught the little spirit which was so much a part of him that he could not avoid it. Nor could he release it after feeling the power it carried. He stumbled back and clattered uncool-ly to the floor.

"No. Please, no."

Reino smiled. "That's right. All along my target has been you. At first I thought that if I copied you, then you would see me, but you still didn't love me. You loved Little Red Riding Hood. She gave you power just by talking to you. I want that power! Making sure she never went back to you was easy too, although it meant nearly getting eaten by that hungry lion, but it was definitely worth it." He grinned maniacally and blew another demon kiss towards Sho, who flinched as he caught it and then gulped. He felt a pull on his heart. The poor broken pieces of his love had been caught by Reino and had some kind of voodoo put on them.

No, he must resist it. Standing up and trying to ignore his black winged friends, even as he caught a third, he started towards Reino, knowing that he must stop this before it went too far. He grabbed Reino by the neck again, but his three affected demons pulled on his hands, and he was not able to create enough pressure to do more than choke Reino, which left him with his hands free to kiss another few demons.

Sho staggered, but then pushed Reino harder into the wall, but with more demons on Reino's side there was more resistance, and on top of that, he could feel his will wavering.

'No, No, I have to fight this! I have to fight this!' he chanted over and over in his head. The more resistance there was, the harder he pushed, and then something changed. He could feel it in his chest. Although he was pushing against resistance, there was something even more scary pulling him towards the silver eyes which stared calmly at his efforts.

He could feel his muscles straining with the effort, and decided to change tactics. If he could not prevent Reino from … well from whatever the creep was doing, then maybe a tactful retreat would be best until he could work out how to deal with the apparently deranged fan.

He counted down from three in his head and then, instead of pushing to attack, he pushed himself away from Reino and sprinted away.

Or at least that was his plan. What actually happened when he released Reino was that he took a step forwards. Without the distractions of his physical fight, he suddenly realised how many of his grudges Reino had converted, and felt the pull so strongly, the idea no longer repulsed him.

Terrified, he tried to formulate new plans, but those pale lips were starting to look really inviting.

Reino smiled at his prey and held out the last unchanged grudge.

"You are mine. I have been preparing you for this day for years: the day when your heart breaks so deeply that I can piece it back together in a different order. Do you like the feeling? Each spirit is a piece of your soul, and they are young yet, and easily influenced. They adore me."

Sho felt himself take a step forwards to take hold of the last piece of his soul.

His lips brushed against Reino's as the words which completed the spell were spoken.

"I love you, Sho"

Sho closed his eyes, shuddering. He could not win this battle: he had been caught in Reino's trap.

As his hands brought the last black winged demon towards his heart, he felt the last fragments of resistance being won over, and lent towards the lips which had held his attention for what felt like years.

"I love you too."