I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands.
I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving.
Rated 'M'
A/N: This is the sequel to 'Growing Pains' and if you have not read it yet, please do so in order to understand some of the things in this story. It is rated 'M' because there is going to be some highly suggestive material in this story. I will give forewarnings, so please use your discretion if you know you are underaged.
***Please read the other material on K available, aside from the anime, including the novels, the Dramas and the manga as this story will have spoilers for all of them.
-The tumblrs of trashbunny, zeheart and marchen v friedhof have translations of the novels.
-The tumblr of chilly-territory has the translations of the side stories.
-Check out the Youtube account of YUXX13SaTin for most of the Dramas.
-Almost any manga site for K Memory of Red (such as mangafox, mangahere, mangareader) which is scanned and translated by Aqua Scans.
Thank you to all of these people for all the effort they put into bringing out those translations.
GROWING PAINS Part 2
by chickypeg
Chapter 1: The Barmaid
Yata was a well-known World Class skateboarder who had earned several titles over the past few years. However, the respect he earned as a sportsman did not mean that he got away from Izumo Kusanagi if he happened to harm the bartender's precious, precious bar or his stock of liquor in any kind of way.
Yata hadn't meant to spill that bottle of expensive, high quality sake that Izumo had travelled to the top of some mountain to get.
But being sorry didn't matter to the bartender either.
Yata had to pay for his unintentional crime.
And no, money would not cover the cost of the blood, sweat and tears Izumo Kusanagi had gone through to acquire that special sake.
So, unless Yata came up with another bottle of that fine quality rice wine, he was going to do menial work around the bar for the next six months as repayment.
And so, that was how the great Yatagarasu, World Class skateboarder had wound up spending the last couple of weeks sweeping up, dusting off and washing the dishes at Bar Homra, and he would continue to serve his time until the six months were completed.
Yata's eyes were currently welling up with tears as he gazed at the screen of the television set in the bar. He gripped the dirty cloth he had been wiping down the counter with tightly and brought it to his mouth as he watched the couple on the TV Set argue.
He bit the dust coated cloth as his mood changed until he became angry. Then his expression became horrified and the threw the cloth aside.
His eyes widened as he waited for the next moment but suddenly, the channel changed to one showing music videos.
"Wha-?! Hey, why did you do that, Kusanagi-san?!" he demanded. Then, more anxiously, he added, "how long have you been standing there?"
Izumo sighed wearily as he placed the remote control on a high shelf to ensure that the short young man could not get it.
"It's Friday evening and my patrons should be coming in soon for an after work drink. They're not coming in to watch a ridiculous Korean Drama,"
"It isn't a Korean Drama!" Yata denied.
A soft feminine voice corrected behind him, "'Fated to Love You' is a Taiwanese Drama."
Yata was about to retort something but he stopped at the sight of Anna Kushina, his clan's beloved princess.
His mouth dropped open in shock.
As did Izumo's.
They were both absolutely horrified at how beautiful the sixteen year old girl looked.
But truthfully, 'beautiful' just wasn't enough to describe her.
They would never voice it for their minds couldn't contain it, but the appropriate word to use to apply to the image of the clan's princess was 'sexy'.
She was wearing on a german barmaid's outfit; the skirt was red and short while around her middle was a black corset that held her just under the bustline.
It enhanced the flair of her hips and seemed to push out the shape of her full breasts which were covered by a white material with a frilly edge that seemed too flimsy for their liking. Her legs seemed too long and too shapely and were covered with thigh-high white stockings with black ribbons at the top while her feet were clad in black shoes.
Anna's hair was combed out to fall in long, white waves down her back and to her gently rounded backside. She seemed to wear no make up on and yet her eyelashes seemed too thick and long while her mouth seemed a little too pink.
Anna was holding a tray in one arm as she picked up an empty beer mug that was beside Yata. It had come from a customer who had just left after becoming overly emotional by the drama.
"What...what are you wearing?" Yata demanded.
Anna looked at him and blinked. "My boss at the maid cafe specially ordered these outfits for us. When they came and we tried them on, Sayuri-san decided that they were not conservative enough for the cafe. They were non-refundable so she let us keep them,"
Izumo frowned. "You look very lovely Anna, but why do you have it on now?"
Anna blinked at him and tilted her head to the side. "I am helping Izumo today. I thought this outfit might be suitable,"
Izumo slapped a hand to his forehead. "Anna, you are not helping out at the bar dressed like that. Do you want me to be arrested?! You're underage to even be working here!"
"You let me work here before," she pointed out. Besides that, the police were too afraid of the men of Homra anyway.
"You were more decently dressed!"
"You worked here when you were underaged too," she added and Izumo fell silent.
Yata looked from Izumo to Anna then said, "Anna, maybe you should go upstairs and watch out the rest of the Drama-"
"I don't watch them. Sayuri-san does and that's why I know about it," She looked pointedly at Yata. "I didn't know Misaki liked them."
"I don't like them!" he fiercely denied.
"Then why were you looking at them?"
"Emi likes them and forces me to watch them!"
The truth was that Emi was obsessed with the Drama and refused to go anywhere without seeing it. Since Yata loved his girlfriend so much and just liked being with her, he would stay with her as she watched the show. It turned out that he ended up becoming more obsessed with it than she was and would watch reruns of it constantly instead of actually going out with the girl.
Izumo spoke then, "So you got caught up in it? Ah well, that's expected. But that's not the problem. Anna, I don't want you-"
Before he could continue, a group of people entered. "Kusanagi-san! A round of apple martinis please!"
Followed closely was two other people and then three all of who threw orders at him.
He definitely needed help today.
Anna looked at her guardian with a look reminiscent of those wide eyes she used to give him when she was younger- the ones that made him give into anything she wanted.
Izumo knew he had to be smart about this otherwise Mikoto would have him by the neck.
As such, he washed his hands of her actions: "Do what you want, Anna but I'm not taking responsibility."
And that was how Anna became the barmaid that evening. The normal customers, particularly men, stayed in longer than usual because the beautiful doll-like barmaid had entranced them.
Beer flowed freely, cocktails went around randomly, and soon the bar was filled with the hazy, smoky atmosphere, mixed with the liveliness of the afterwork crowd on this Friday evening.
Along with the patrons came in other members of the Red Clan. Izumo deliberately stationed them at various corners of the bar to ensure that no perverts tried anything on her.
"Kusanagi-san, aren't you afraid of Mikoto?" Yata questioned as he watched the lovely girl give beers to the group of blushing men.
Izumo was wiping a cocktail spill off his counter when he answered, "Anna will be the one to explain to Mikoto, not I,"
Yata didn't say anything to that.
Over the last two years or so, Anna had become exceptionally beautiful. They had always known that she would turn out to be pretty...but not this pretty.
Anna herself might seem to be the same way. Most her clansmen probably thought she hadn't changed very much other than physically, but Izumo was a very perceptive man. Years spent as a bartender and listening to other's problems and watching their expressions had taught him how to understand people, even when they didn't say anything.
Now Anna-she could be a tough case to crack.
Izumo used to be able to read her like a book but he noticed that over time she had started to...hide herself from him. Of course that wasn't 'physcially' hiding herself, but somehow she had managed to conceal her feelings from him.
Many times he didn't know what she was thinking. Although he always questioned her, she would always tell him that nothing was wrong; everything was fine-she was doing okay and her job was alright.
But if that was the case, why did he oftentimes feel that the girl he cherished so much had become a bit...distant?
Izumo was not a man who acted rashly as many of his comrades did. He tended to think, watch and observe. That was why he was considered the 'brain' of Homra.
He had been observing Anna for quite some time now for he could feel something wasn't right with her, but he just couldn't place his finger on it. All he could do was suspect that it had something to do with Mikoto: ever since she had started working at that maid cafe at the end of her first year in High School, Anna's relationship with the King had changed.
On the surface, they seemed normal whenever she was home. She wasn't even home much because she often went back to Seneca to work instead of staying most weekends and holidays with them.
When she was here though, Anna would often sit with Mikoto on the couch by the bar. Sometimes they conversed but in small sentences which in itself was not an unusual occurrence. However, it felt like they only spoke because they had to. There were customary affectionate kisses on the cheeks but a lot of the warmth that had been between them seemed to have crumbled away. Everyone, including Anna and Mikoto themselves pretended that nothing was wrong and the pieces of the relationship they had still existed.
But that wasn't so.
It was as if most of the tenderness between them had evaporated.
No, Izumo realized suddenly-that tenderness was being restrained by both Mikoto and Anna.
Izumo was becoming increasingly worried over the pair but because neither of the two would talk much about themselves or their relationship with each other, it was difficult to discern what was really going on.
Thus far, Izumo decided that everyone began to act out and rebel a little at some point in time, even Anna, and this was just how she was doing it.
Despite this, for her to act out and rebel as he believed, it meant something was wrong; where Anna's emotions were probably in a riot behind those large gray eyes and Mikoto probably didn't really know how to handle them.
Anna probably knew that he didn't know how to so she probably kept silent about it.
She was a girl after all.
Men weren't really known for understanding girls-much less Mikoto for that matter who would probably just be glad that she was alive and looked healthy. He had understood Anna's inner mind when she was a child, but now that she had grown older, he probably didn't and because he wasn't one to try to figure out the female mind, he let the matter alone.
Speak of the devil, Izumo thought as the door of the bar opened and Mikoto's brooding presence seemed to absorb the liveliness of the atmosphere of the noisy, smoky bar.
He was simply one man, but something about him gave off a thick, heavy vibe that slowly engulfed the bar's cheerfulness, making everyone aware of his sudden entry.
Anna also noticed as she paused in the middle of serving a customer and looked up when he entered. Mikoto had his normal bored expression on, but upon sight of female, his eyes narrowed slightly. There was a slight gleam in those golden orbs, indicating that he was pleased neither with her new outfit, nor with what she was doing.
Kamamoto hurried to Mikoto's side and whispered something to him.
The King nodded, and his clansman bowed before going to help Izumo at the bar.
Anna quickly gave the last person their drink before straightening up. She remained where she was as her King made his way slowly toward her.
Despite the noise of the bar, Anna could hear every thud of his boots as he walked. He was like a lion who was being very observant of what his pride members were up to and had caught sight of something he did not like. He moved very slowly, but with the intent to intimidate as evident in his lazy golden eyes.
Anna lowered her head as soon as he approached her.
She had grown taller now that she was sixteen. Her current height was about an inch under Mikoto's shoulder.
Mikoto came to a stop in front of her, and she could feel the heat of his body touching hers as her eyes remained on his black boots. Even now, her senses became alive because of him, because of that large body of his that her own reacted to many times. There were even occasions when it came to the point of where she was close to loosing control of herself.
Her cheeks reddened slightly when he placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned down to whisper something in her ear. His hot breath on her skin made her cheeks redden slightly.
To the rest of patrons who observed them, it might have looked like a casual interaction with two people who were familiar with each other.
However, the dangerous looking man had placed a possessive hand on the girl's shoulder and when he leaned down to speak into her ear, his eyes had been fierce as they looked straight on at a pair of men who had been watching her too much.
The girl nodded and the man pressed a soft kiss against her temple. Then she hurried away, much to the patrons' disappointment.
"That's some high class pu-" one man was about to say, but he shut his mouth immediately when the red haired man's eyes blazed on him.
Hurriedly, the customer dropped some cash on the counter and left without finishing his drink.
Mikoto sighed as he eased himself into a chair.
Izumo immediately began preparing a drink for him but Mikoto lifted a hand, indicating that he should stop.
"You should have sent her upstairs," Mikoto stated.
"I did want her to go, but she insisted," Izumo defended himself.
Mikoto tsked in annoyance. He got up again and headed to the kitchen.
"Go to the kitchen," had been Mikoto's quiet order to her earlier.
No one disobeyed Mikoto, ever. Whether or not he wanted it, he was obeyed by everyone, including Anna.
She knew he was probably displeased with her outfit, but she had learned over time that while Mikoto would get annoyed over these things, he did try to keep his temper intact with her.
It wasn't like she had deliberately set out to poke at his nerves, but she really had wanted to wear on her outfit today.
And in truth, she had wanted to see his reaction.
The slight lopsided frown of his mouth his been a disappointment to her.
She silently berated herself for expecting something else from Mikoto's behavior toward her for her choice of clothing today.
Anna was well aware that she was attractive-enough people told her so. She was never vain about it. Even if she had been, Mikoto's reactions would have been perfect for humbling any arrogance she might have harbored about her beauty because he never displayed any real response to her.
Well, except for the occasional spike in his pretty red which she figured occurred when he was displeased.
Although Anna was well-aware of how he would act, sometimes she felt it wouldn't hurt to try to see how he would behave if she were to change her look a little.
She had done things in the past like changing her hairstyle, changing her clothing style and nothing had worked. Today she just revealed a little more flesh and the only reaction she got was basically him telling her to get out of the room.
He had obviously told her to go to the kitchen because Kamamoto had informed him that she hadn't eaten yet and as always, Mikoto did have a problem with her when she didn't eat as she should.
Anna was making a tuna onigiri when the door opened.
She didn't need to turn around to figure out it was the man whose behaviour she was so disappointed with. She knew his presence well enough.
She heard his footsteps as he came up behind her.
He let out a sigh. He obviously preferred that she ate something heavier than onigiri.
"Would you like one?" she offered in her prim tone.
"No," was his gruff response. She felt the warmth of his body shift as he walked over to the refrigerator.
Anna wrapped her riceball in a seaweed wrapper and turned to observe Mikoto who had shut the refrigerator without taking anything from it.
"Rikio ate the meat you're looking for," she informed him.
Mikoto grunted in annoyance.
Anna bit into her food and deliberately chewed with the left side of her mouth.
Her right side hurt too much.
Mikoto glanced at her and walked over to the sink. He took out a glass and opened the faucet of the sink and began to pour water in it.
Anna observed her King. He hadn't changed at all since had first met him. He looked the same-the same very masculine body with all the muscles in all the right places. His clothing style had also more or less remained the same as he still wore casual t-shirts and jeans with that black fur lined jacket he loved so much.
That jacket was probably the only thing of his he took such good care off.
Anna didn't want the rest of her onigiri and she searched around for a plate to rest it on. She didn't want Mikoto harassing her to finish eating it so she figured she would pretend to get something to drink, and when he left the room, she would throw it out.
She found one and lay it on top the counter just as Mikoto had finished drinking his water and was refilling his glass.
Anna noted that the hand he used was the one with the three silver bracelets and the matching silver rings. He had such a casual sense of style, and yet he never failed to look impressive...or dangerous.
"Are you done?" Mikoto questioned her.
Anna hadn't been counting on him asking her. She didn't really like lying to him.
He looked at her and she couldn't help but nod.
Mikoto didn't say anything. He simply shut off the pipe and motioned for her to sit on the stool. She did so and looked up at him, reminding her of the time when she was actually this short and had to gaze up at that handsome face that used to seem so distant from her own.
Abruptly, Mikoto threw the water on her face, deliberately aiming for her right cheek. Anna gasped and she flew out of her seat.
Mikoto grasped her by the back of her dress. "Where are you going in such a hurry?" he asked in a quiet, deceptive tone.
Anna swallowed. She felt like the prey of a lion who was being casually toyed with before getting killed.
"Bathroom," she replied truthfully as she covered her right cheek.
She struggled, but of course, she couldn't get away. Mikoto was too strong.
Mikoto placed a hand on his hip and looked at her as she watched him over her shoulder with her hand hiding her cheek.
"Oh? And you don't even want to know why I threw water at you?"
Anna was silent as she turned her head away quickly.
Mikoto sighed and pulled at her, forcing her to walk backward until he unceremoniously dumped her onto the stool again.
He caught her wrist in his large hand and pulled it away from her cheek. A large, ugly blue-black bruise was slowly being revealed as the make up she wore on to cover it up melted away from the water he had thrown on her.
"How did Mikoto know?" she questioned.
She sensed a spike in his temper and she could see a slight change in the color of his red. He was getting angry and she knew she was going to have to answer for this bruise.
Mikoto let her go to pick up a cloth which he wet at the sink's faucet.
"You were also chewing with your left side. You always chew on the right side of your mouth," he explained in that deceivingly quiet tone which she knew so well.
He was angry.
"I smelled the make up on you," he continued.
Probably from when he had spoken to her in the bar.
Anna had to come up with a very good reason for this mark.
Mikoto turned to her and held out the dampened cloth to her.
"Clean it off," he ordered her.
She took the cloth tentatively and slowly began to wipe at the make up that hid her bruise. However, she seemed the pace she went at seemed to not be to Mikoto's liking as he became impatient and snatched away the cloth, removing the make up from her cheek himself. She closed her eyes at the slightly rough motions and even tried to pull away, but his free hand caught her shoulder and gripped it tight, forcing her to remain where she was.
"Mikoto," she whimpered, but he ignored her until he was through and as he stepped back, she saw his red flare.
Mikoto tossed aside the cloth into the sink and folded his arms. Anna could see how his biceps bunched under his white t-shirt as he did so.
Her entire right cheek had that ugly bruise on it. Because her skin was so pale, it showed up even more than it would on a normal person.
"Mikoto..."
"What the hell happened?" he demanded in a dead serious voice.
"Someone threw a book," she replied. One of his red eyebrows furrowed slightly. He seemed to find that strange and hard to believe.
"The person was throwing it for someone else and I passed by at the same time. It hit me," she elaborated.
Her leaned forward so that his stern face was very close to hers. She was startled and instinctively drew back.
However, Mikoto caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger. Anna swallowed hard when she felt his thumb shift upward to her lower lip where he slowly, but meaningful caressed the plump flesh.
When he spoke next, his voice remained soft, but she could hear the suspicion and underlying anger in it, "You have martial arts training you have-in both kickboxing and aikido, you also did ballet which would have given you good coordination and yet you couldn't duck an oncoming object?"
Anna looked him dead in the eye as he released her face.
With a completely straight face, she replied, "I was surprised,"
Mikoto gave her an assessing look before he released her and turned to the sink.
It seemed he didn't quite believe her.
"You in an abusive relationship?" he questioned as he proceeded to rinse the wash cloth. That neat freak, Izumo would probably have a cow if he left it like that in the sink and Mikoto figured that he would prefer to not hear Izumo's griping over something so insignificant today.
Anna was startled at his question. She hadn't expected that from him. However, she knew she had to get him to drop the matter so she told him the most random thing (which was also probably true), "The only person I would let bruise me is Mikoto,"
He stiffened at that and threw her a glare over his shoulder. "Don't say things like that," he scolded her. "People will think I have an S&M fetish," he muttered as he set the cloth aside.
"What's S&M?" she asked him innocently.
Mikoto turned to her and pinched her unbruised cheek. She whimpered. He didn't answer her question, but he did lean down and kiss the red mark on her face. This surprised her. She couldn't remember the last time he had actually done something like that to her.
Using his hand again, he caught the left side of her face and tilted it upward so that he could observe the bruise more carefully.
Anna's cheeks reddened slightly under his scrutiny.
Things were no longer how they used to be between them.
Now, when he got too close, she became painfully aware of every aspect of his being which was so strong, so powerful and not just from his physical build, but from that huge existence he hid behind that often lazy expression of his.
As a child, she had simply been accepting of him as how he was.
But now as an older person, with something called 'hormones' and 'libido', it could be quite troubling for her.
Not only that...there seemed to be hardly any of that tenderness between them anymore. Mikoto's eyes used to warm up at the sight of her, and now although she saw a slight change in his brooding red, he remained more or less the same.
"Why did you hide it?" he asked her, still observing her bruise.
"I didn't want to cause a fuss," she answered.
Mikoto sighed and let her go.
"Go upstairs and get changed," he ordered her and she nodded.
He drew back, taking his beautiful warmth with him and she hurried away.
Mikoto stared after her and sighed again.
So bothersome, he thought to himself, thinking that Anna looked too damned grown up in that dress of hers.
To cling to the fringe of his jacket as they walked made her feel safe to know that she was so close to his heat, that if anything happened, she could just hold onto him.
He was her warmth, her safety, her protection against everything.
It would look strange for a girl her age who looked like she was eighteen to cling to Mikoto's jacket like that. However, she did manage to grasp hold of his elbow as they strode through the cold streets this December day.
Mikoto had his hands shoved into his pockets as he walked, along with a cigarette stuck between his lips.
Anna had chosen to wear on a red sleeveless lolita dress with a lacy edges and a ribboned up bodice. It was not appropriate to wear out in this weather so she wore on a white long sleeved shirt underneath it along with white stockings and red mary jane shoes.
She looked very much like a crafted doll that girls would cry over just to comb its hair and change its clothing for Anna was very beautiful.
At least Mikoto didn't seem to mind how she looked now that she changed her outfit.
Mikoto took an abrupt turn into a corner shop.
Anna glanced up at the sign. She tilted her head and blinked.
It was a Yakiniku-a barbeque place.
She let out a soft sigh.
Somehow she wasn't surprised. Mikoto did love meat and he probably figured that she would need some iron from the meat for her anemia.
She couldn't disagree with that.
As soon as they entered, the waiter smiled a little nervously at the sight of Mikoto.
"We don't have any tables for two...we have a circular booth that can fit six...if that's alright with you,"
Mikoto shrugged and Anna nodded.
They were actually being given good treatment by being given a larger space but that was because the people were probably afraid of Mikoto.
He was well known in Shizume City for being a dangerous man.
Everyone just assumed that he was a yakuza leader. 'Ordinary people' didn't know that he was actually a King.
They were led to the round booth. In the middle was a rectangular yakiniku table. As they were seated, almost immediately they were served with a large white plate with a wide assortment of meats along with smaller wares containing vegetables and sauces that they might want.
Anna and Mikoto moved to sit into the booth from opposite sides, but because it was circular, they ended up sitting side by side, about only a foot apart from each other.
Silence had been between the pair since they had left Homra after she had changed her clothing. Mikoto was already grilling his meat. He tended to prefer his proteins half cooked so he ate at a faster pace than Anna.
Anna reached for a slice of cucumber to grill with her chopsticks, but Mikoto who had been reaching for the meat, knocked her hand away with his, forcing her to draw back slightly. She looked at him with slightly widened eyes.
"Mikoto?"
He didn't look at her as he moved to pick up his meat.
"Eat the meat or I will make you eat it," he threatened quite calmly.
Anna suppressed a shudder.
She had had a bad experience with Mikoto and his idea of delicious half cooked meat at a yakiniku when she had first come into Homra.
It was Anna's first time at a Yakiniku. Her clansmen had decided to go out for dinner one Sunday evening because no one had felt like cooking.
Izumo walked to Mikoto's left and Anna clung to his clothing on the right while Tatara held her free hand to her other side.
Behind them, Chitose winked at a pretty girl who passed them. She blushed and giggled while Dewa sighed wearily. Yata was quarreling with Kamamoto for something insignificant and Fushimi was rolling his eyes in annoyance at the pair. At that time, Eric, Shouhei, Fujishima and Bando hadn't joined quite yet.
Upon entering the yakiniku, they were given a large booth to eat in as it was quite a few of them. Food was ordered all around.
"Is this Anna's first time to a yakiniku?" Tatara questioned.
Anna nodded. She was seated between him and Mikoto. She was happy to be placed here-beside the person she felt warmest next to, and beside the person who showed so much kindness, gentleness and love to her.
"As you can see, there's a grill in the middle of the table so any of the meat or vegetables you want can be cooked by you to your own liking,"
Kamamoto and Mikoto were already grilling their meat.
"Show her how to do it," Izumo instructed and Tatara nodded.
He used his chopsticks to pick up a slice of raw meat that was on the large platter given to them.
"Does Anna like her meat well done?" Tatara asked.
The small child nodded and observed as he grilled both sides to perfection before placing it on her plate.
"Would you like any vegetables?"
"Yes,"
"Which ones?"
She pointed out some slices of cucumber and carrots.
"You should take a lesson from her, Misaki," Fushimi commented as he picked at a piece of meat.
"You aren't any better, veggie-hater," Yata shot back.
Fushimi tsked and deliberately dropped some vegetables onto the short fellow's plate, horrifying him while the others laughed.
Anna smiled softly and began to eat the meat and vegetables.
She tended to consume her food slowly and Tatara had already begun grilling his own while Mikoto had probably demolished half the plate of meat by himself.
"Such a bad example you set," Izumo admonised Mikoto as he placed a piece of meat into his mouth.
Mikoto glanced at him.
"What are you saying?"
"Anna's with you so much and all you eat is meat with little or no vegetables,"
Mikoto narrowed his eyes.
"Isn't that why you insist on everyone else feeding her except me?"
Tatara chuckled then. "Sometimes she feeds you. Like the other day when we made dumplings together. It was so cute to see a tiny child holding up a dumpling to you to eat,"
Mikoto sighed ignored them. He never really cared much to eat and talk (because talking got in the way of eating).
And he had allowed Anna to feed him the dumpling. It had tasted pretty nice.
"Ah, King, that's the last piece and Anna has mostly eaten vegetables. Don't you want to give it to her?"
Mikoto glanced at the little girl who had automatically returned his look. She blinked up at him.
Mikoto shrugged and held out the piece of meat between his chopsticks to her.
She opened her mouth and took it between her lips.
She began to slowly chew using the right side of her mouth.
As Izumo called for the check, Kamamoto happened to point out, "But doesn't Mikoto-san eat half cooked meat. Anna, are you alright with that?"
Anna's expression hadn't changed when she had been eating, but everyone did suddenly realize that as a child, she may not be fond of meat that was still a bit raw.
She remained silent to Kamamoto's question.
However, she turned to Tatara and gripped the cuffs of his long sleeved shirt. Tatara turned to her.
"Anna?"
In reply, she buried her face against his stomach and his slender arms went around her.
"She looks a little green," Fushimi stated with a frown.
"Anna, do you need to throw up?" Tatara questioned in alarm.
She shook her head and Izumo was already questioning a nearby waitress for some antacids to help settle her stomach.
Mikoto scowled. "You mustn't force yourself," he chided her.
"She probably ate it because you made it," Izumo pointed out as he accepted the chewable tablets from the waitress. He popped a few in his hand and held them out to Anna who turned her head slightly, revealing half closed eyes and pinched lips. Izumo felt sorry for her because of the way she looked.
Like a wary little creature, she reached out and snatched the tablets and turned her head against Tatara again and began to quietly consume the medication.
Mikoto sighed and placed a hand on the child's head in an act of comfort. He had felt guilty that day.
Once he removed his hand, Anna turned to him, looking a little better now, and gently patted his hand that had been on her head. Mikoto frowned slightly.
That was her way of saying, 'It's alright, I'm just fine'.
Mikoto's idea of delicious tasting meat that was half cooked was really disgusting to Anna. She could never understand how he could eat raw food other than that he was probably part lion, part man (if that was even possible). It was a part of Japanese culture to have raw food and Anna did well enough with raw seafood...but not with beef.
Or horse meat.
She always remembered how he had thought of that horse she had found as nothing more than a meal as he had named it 'Basashi'. To this day, she could never figure out if that name he had come up with was due to a twisted sense of humor or because he was just hungry.
Maybe it was both.
Anna was startled as a piece of meat was shoved into her mouth. Her automatic response would have been to spit it out, but it was Mikoto whose chopsticks had been unceremoniously pressed between her lips. She had had a habit of never rejecting anything from him and therefore she began to chew it.
Mikoto must have felt that she was taking too long to eat and had decided to carry out his threat.
Her eyes widened in surprise as she tasted the meat.
She had expected something still raw, but it was well done.
She looked at the handsome man beside her who had just placed another slice of meat on the grill.
"You like it that way, don't you?" he stated without looking at her.
Anna made a soft noise of assertion and placed some vegetables and more meat on the grill. Mikoto snorted when she deliberately put some of the cooked carrots, mushrooms and cucumbers on his plate. However, he didn't complain and he grudgingly ate them anyway.
She had once done this before when they had been at the yakiniku another time when she was about nine years old. At that time, going out for barbeque had become more commonplace for the members.
"Anna's like Mikoto's little mommy," Tatara had laughed.
"Shut up," Mikoto had growled, but had eaten the vegetables the child had grilled for him.
Mikoto often took Anna out to eat with him when she came back from Seneca because when they were together, she would actually eat-either because he threatened her, or because she willing did so herself.
"Are you staying this full weekend?" Mikoto questioned.
Anna paused. "No,"
"I see," he murmured and added put a piece of his half cooked meat into a dipping sauce.
"If you ask me to come home for good, I would," she told him quietly.
Mikoto let out a frustrated breath, clearly irritated. "We've talked about this before. You have only a few months again in High School,"
"It was easy for me to finish up this term and come back only to graduate," she pointed out. Seneca did offer that option because she was so bright and she was in her final High School year.
She was clearly getting upset even if her expression remained neutral.
But Mikoto knew her and he knew her habits- like the way her eyes hardened in annoyance.
"Do you want to leave your friends behind?" Mikoto asked her.
"We would have worked something out for me to see them," Anna replied.
They would have; they would have sorted something out.
"You're finishing in June next year. Tough it out," Mikoto ordered.
Anna didn't say anything. The last time they had had a similar discussion, she had wound up leaving Homra earlier than expected and going back to Seneca under the excuse that she been asked to come in and work. Truthfully, she had just become so upset with him and his desire to keep her away from home under different excuses that she got up and left early as a type of revenge. It was childish and she knew that, but even Anna couldn't display adult-like tendencies all the time because even she got frustrated at times-and Mikoto could be a very frustrating man.
Also, Anna had become increasingly insecure about her position in Homra. A part of her knew she shouldn't feel this way, but she couldn't help it.
She wasn't a little girl anymore. She didn't expect to be still be treated as such, but her clansmen were sometimes wary around her, as if they didn't know how to handle a more grown up looking Anna Kushina.
She was still the same and if they took her to the Game Centre, she would shoot zombies with Yata.
If Kamamoto took her to a cake shop, she would eat desert.
If Fujishima brought home more animals, she would play with them.
If they brought her cartoons to watch, she would watch them with her clansmen.
But over time, these activities had become more rare.
They always seemed unsure of what to do and it irritated the hell out of Anna.
What hurt the most was that no one seemed to really mind when she left to go to Seneca earlier than usual, or if she cut her holidays short just to go.
Her cycle was more or less normal now so she could come home more often, but a part of her wondered everyone was just forgetting about her, including Izumo for he often waved her off with a bright smile and Mikoto was forever sleeping whenever she left.
These were the times she found herself missing Tatara. She always believed that if he was still alive, she could ask him anything and he would give her all the answers she needed. He would give her the assurance she so desperately wanted.
It wasn't like she never asked to go to the Game Centre, or a cake shop or to play with the stray cats.
However, her clansmen would look a little uneasy.
"Aren't you a little too old now?" Yata had once asked her uncomfortably.
Hearing that response that had hurt.
Really hurt.
What also hurt was that when she had turned sixteen two weeks ago, Mikoto hadn't even been there. The rest of her clansmen had made the effort to come but they knew, even if she had tried to hide it, that she was unhappy that Mikoto was not there.
He had been gone since that morning and only told Izumo he was going for a walk, then later he called to say he was dealing with some yakuza members.
"Anna, I'm sorry I'm gonna have to leave you," Chitose told her apologetically, but Anna understood why he had to go. His wife was already nine months pregnant and leaving her home alone was a bad idea.
Chitose seemed extra sorry because he knew that Anna was already upset that her beloved King wasn't here.
"Does Maria still beat you up?" Yata asked.
Chitose scowled. "She doesn't beat me up!" he snapped.
"But Chitose-san...ever since we learned that she was pregnant, you've been coming in here with bruises," Kamamoto pointed out.
"Screw you, fatty! My wife doesn't beat me!"
Shohei placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, "Wife beating is a serious crime, Chitose-san. There is no shame in admitting that you are a victim of domestic abuse,"
Chitose shoved him off. "Die in a hole, Shohei! She just gets upset with me sometimes! That's all!"
"Ah, she thinks you flirt with other women," Anna remarked as she bit into some of her birthday cake. She didn't really taste it for her mind was on Mikoto.
Chitose glanced at her, "Did she tell you that?"
"No,"
"Then why do you think so?"
Anna looked at him then and without blinking, she answered, "Women's intuition,"
Everyone was a bit startled by her answer and Shohei started to laugh. Eric smiled while playing with the kitten Fujishima had handed to him.
"Women's intuition, huh? I still don't get it. Sure I was a flirt before, but..."
"She probably thinks that because she's pregnant, you find her unattractive," Izumo put in. He added as he handed him a piece of cake to take to his wife, "women are very sensitive about their looks you know."
Chitose accepted the cake. "That's stupid. Does she have any idea how beautiful she is?" He scowled. "Women...I'll never understand them."
He gave Anna a kiss on her cheek before going, figuring that he should assure his wife that she was quite beautiful and he found her extra-attractive in her current state. Hopefully that would save him from having to run from her whenever she tried to scratch his eyes out.
Pregnant or not, Maria was still a powerful strain who was trained as an assassin. Chitose was able to get away with just some scratches and bruises because of some of the skills Chitose learned in Homra.
Meanwhile, Izumo poured Anna some juice to eat with her cake while the others tried to cheer her up. They did stupid things, brawled over nothing and used her birthday as an excuse to drink. The night culminated with a drunk Fujishima singing at the karaoke machine about cats. His voice had been awful enough for any cats listening in to run far, far away.
As Izumo helped him onto the couch, he suggested to Anna, "Perhaps you should go to bed now. You'll have to forgive Mikoto, Anna. He wouldn't deliberately be so thoughtless,"
Anna had nodded but sometimes Mikoto's distant behavior and his lack of tenderness often gave her uncertainty of where she stood with him.
She did do as Izumo had told her to after she bid everyone goodnight. They returned home although Fujishima was too drunk to go anywhere and they were afraid that he might go hunting for strays in the night and end up becoming one himself.
It had happened before and ironically, Eric had been the one to find him sleeping among a pile of stray cats in a dump one morning.
Anna still waited out a bit for Mikoto but by the time the clock struck two, she found herself too upset to stay up anymore for him. He didn't even call and he he didn't even leave a message to show some thoughtfulness toward her.
He used to do that so that he wouldn't worry her. He would at least let Izumo know what he was doing, but currently, no one knew where he had gone off to and it was only because Anna used her marbles around midnight that she realized that he was still dealing with the gangsters. She wondered why he just didn't save it for another day. She wasn't a demanding person but Mikoto knew that even to this day, she was strongly attached to him and it would hurt her a lot if he wasn't here.
When he finally returned sometime the following morning when Izumo decided to yell at him for coming back so late.
Anna had heard Izumo yelling at Mikoto for it, but Mikoto had given no response, simply walked off and went to his bedroom.
Anna had been angry and she didn't even bother to tell him goodbye the following morning before she returned to Seneca where she had promised Akemi, Kei and her boss that she would be there to celebrate her birthday with them as well.
She had only come back to Homra the day before and this was the first day she had seen Mikoto in more than a week.
He probably forgot that he hadn't come home for her birthday.
She sometimes just wondered if she had a place in the clan anymore.
Heck, they rarely ever took her out with them when they went bounty hunting anyway and Anna could never understand why or what were their intentions.
"Why don't you take me with you anymore?" Anna suddenly asked Mikoto. After all, if she never questioned their asked actions, she would never know the answers and she would be left to assume-and always assuming would mean that she would never know the truth.
Mikoto looked at her, a little surprised by her question.
He shrugged. "You're not really around anymore and even when you are, everyone decides that you should probably rest from work and school,"
"That's stupid," she stated, angry now as indicated by the slight narrowing of her eyes.
"It's not," Mikoto retorted in a dismissive manner.
"It is," she insisted and the atmosphere between them grew tense.
That was how her relationship with Mikoto had developed lately-full of tension and underlying strain. Everyone pretended to not notice, even Anna and Mikoto themselves but they were quite aware that things weren't really good between them.
It was like everything that used to be between them suddenly fell apart and they were struggling to hold onto those pieces in hopes that they would come back together.
The pair continued to look at each other with slightly narrowed eyes.
Gray met gold and neither blinked.
The tension was so high that the other patrons in the restaurant began to feel a bit uneasy by the 'yakuza' and his 'girlfriend' who looked like they were going to yell at each other in any minute.
"When will Chitose's child be born?" Anna asked, cutting the strained atmosphere.
Mikoto swallowed the meat in his mouth and shrugged. She shouldn't have been surprised that he wouldn't remember.
Anna suddenly just wanted to go back home. Tomorrow, she was definitely going back to Seneca. She had things to do there.
She forced herself to eat in silence with Mikoto.
When they left, she didn't hold onto him.
The bar was empty when they returned home. It seemed that the patrons had become disappointed at the loss of their beautiful waitress and after drowning their sorrows in a few extra drinks, they left.
Izumo and Yata were already cleaning up when Anna and Mikoto entered. Anna told Mikoto very politely with her hands clasped in front of her as she gave a slight bow, "Thank you for tonight,"
Izumo and Yata turned to see her, surprised at her behavior.
Right away they knew that Anna and Mikoto must have argued in their own 'Annaish-Mikotoish' way where they wouldn't shout or raise their voices but there would be a terse atmosphere about them, indicating that they were both vexed in some way. This time it seemed Anna was the one who was mad and Mikoto was frustrated because of her ire.
Mikoto sighed and watched as she walked away.
"What happened?" Izumo questioned.
"Nothing," was Mikoto's response.
"You didn't tell her why you weren't there for her birthday, did you?" Izumo realized.
"I don't need to explain myself," Mikoto retorted as he shrugged off his black jacket.
Yata and Izumo both looked at him with slight frowns before going back to their work of cleaning up.
Kamamoto came in with some bottles of wine which he proceeded to stack.
"What's with this annoying silence?" Mikoto demanded.
"What are you talking about?" Izumo questioned rather nonchalantly.
Mikoto tsked and walked away. He wasn't going to explain to them either that they had given him the impression that he was a hopeless man when it came to women.
He went upstairs and headed straight to Anna's room.
Normally he would just open the door, but he realized that she might also be changing her clothes so he lifted his fist and didn't exactly knock-it was more like he banged the door twice and said her name, "Anna,"
The door opened slightly and a pair of large gray eyes peeked at him.
"Mikoto?"
"Come here," he ordered.
She opened the door more fully, revealing that she had stripped off her dress and was wearing on a silky robe that fell to just above her knees. It was satin red and Mikoto was quite sure that that was her bra he saw printed out around her chest area.
He didn't really want to think about that.
However, the robe did reveal every contour of her body, indicating that she had a very lovely physical make-up. She had the body men dreamed of having sex with for she held a certain slenderness that made men want to run their hands down her arms, the flair at her waist made them want to grip it and those curves of hers made them long to caress them.
Mikoto always tried to keep such thoughts out of his mind, but he had become all too aware that Anna was not a child anymore-she was very much a woman. Age sixteen for most girls didn't mean that they were 'women'. Anna was a woman in the sense of her maturity. She had always been a little adult and based on the different strain Types, it had been claimed that it was possible to consider strains who were Anna's Type D personality as already adults...although sometimes Mikoto had his doubts about that due to Anna's often strange moodiness.
He attributed it to teenage hormones, but sometimes he felt that there was something else on her mind. But he didn't let it bother him too much.
Like Izumo, he would observe her for now and when the time was right, he would deal with the matter. Like a lion, or a predator, he observed his prey and when he learned enough he would grasp at a weak point at the right time and attack.
Not that he was going to 'attack' Anna, but he would reach out and find out what exactly was going on behind those pretty eyes of hers once he gathered enough information.
"Mikoto?" Anna said his name again, tilting her head to the side.
Mikoto sighed and caught hold of the left side of her small face. He shifted her head to the side to see the piercing on her earlobe.
She had this since she was fifteen.
"I didn't know she was going to a tattoo and piercings place to pierce her ears," Yata whispered loudly as he, Kamamoto and Anna entered the bar.
The pair of men behind the fifteen year old froze at the sight of Mikoto who was lying on the couch with his arms behind his head, simply relaxing. He turned his head to the side and saw his clansmen and his princess nearby.
He lifted an eyebrow at the frightened expression of the two males beside Anna.
He crooked a finger at Anna, beckoning her to him.
Ever the prim, pretty, obedient girl, Anna walked to him.
Once she was close enough, he grasped her wrist and tugged her so that she fell across his chest. She gave a startled gasp but Mikoto just caught hold of her chin when she lifted herself from him, with her hands still pressing against his hard chest.
He used his free hand to brush back her hair.
He narrowed his eyes.
"You pierced your ears," he stated.
She nodded.
"It's our fault, Mikoto-san! We let her go to the shop!" Yata exclaimed and he bowed apologetically while grasping the back of Kamamoto's head, forcing him to bow as well.
Mikoto glanced at them, then at Anna again. He sighed and released her. She sat up and remained sitting at his side as he turned away to face the backrest of the couch. He closed his eyes.
"Mikoto-san, aren't you angry?" Kamamoto questioned.
Mikoto lifted his slightly and watched them from over his shoulder. "Should I be?"
The two males looked at each other and shrugged. They had assumed that any mar to the princess's beautiful skin done without their King's permission was an insult.
Apparently Mikoto didn't seem to mind at all.
Mikoto resumed his position and decided to take a nap. Anna remained at his side for a little longer and he didn't mind. This wasn't something she did often anymore. He had grown so accustomed to this habit of hers that when he started to see less of her doing it, he missed it.
"You never took them out," Mikoto said, observing the tiny earring with the white stones in them. Those were the only earrings Anna had ever worn and they were same earrings used to pierce her ears.
"No, I never did," she answered.
She never really had a reason to.
"I see," Mikoto murmured.
Anna trusted Mikoto fully, despite whatever tension they had between them lately, so she let him reach out and tug at the earring.
It was very hard to remove the stopper because she had never taken them out, and time had just made them more difficult to remove.
Mikoto gave the earring an annoyed look and while still holding Anna's face in his hand, he used his free hand to grasp her shoulder. His red head lowered until its softness tickled the side of her face. Anna's hands instinctively caught Mikoto's broad shoulders and fisted into the material of his t-shirt as she suddenly felt his warm breath on her ear. She was startled when she felt his hot mouth almost touch the tender flesh of her earlobe.
His teeth carefully enveloped the earring as his hand on her shoulder shifted so that he was now holding the earring stopper. He tugged slightly and his soft hair moved against her cheek. When he drew back, she saw her earring between his perfect white teeth.
It wasn't seen often, but Mikoto had sharp canine teeth. They didn't exactly stand out because he didn't smile much, and they didn't look out of place either. They very much suited this lion-like man.
Mikoto removed the earring from his mouth and repeated the procedure for the second earring.
Once he had both out, he took her small hand and opened its palm over his own larger one. She remembered that she used to always ask him if her hand grew. Many times the answer had been 'no' but they could both now see that her pale, slender hand was significantly larger than how tiny it had been when she was little.
But Mikoto's hand was still much larger than hers, and much rougher. Yet, he could still handle her so gently. Such a stark contrast very much resembled Mikoto's personality-he was a rough character-a dangerous man, but he was a lot kinder than he let on.
Mikoto dropped the earrings into her hand, along with their stoppers.
"I would have destroyed them," he explained as his reason for using his teeth and not both his hands to get the earrings out.
Anna looked from her accessories to him.
Mikoto then lifted something up between his fingers to show her. She was surprised to see a silver earring. It was a very familiar earring.
The silver hoop was identical to Tatara's and Anna immediately glanced at Mikoto's ear to see that the earring wasn't there anymore.
"Tatara," Mikoto said as he gently pressed the earring into her ear. Anna tilted her head to the side, revealing some of her long, slender neck in order for him to have easier access to her ear.
Then he took out another one that was just like Tatara's.
"Izumo," Mikoto added as he added this one to her other ear. Finally, he lifted up a silver ring. It looked like the one Mikoto always wore, only instead of there being three rings fused together, there was a single, perfectly round, silver ring. Mikoto held it up to her eyes so that she could see that there was a tiny inscription on it.
It was her name, in English; Anna Kushina and there, to the side was Homra's symbol.
"Me,"
Mikoto took her right hand then and gently slipped the ring onto her middle finger. It was a perfect fit.
"Happy belated birthday," he told her and gently kissed the back of her hand with the ring on it. Anna blushed slightly.
She began to feel really awful for acting the way she had earlier.
"Mikoto...thank you," she whispered as he released her hand. "but why didn't you give it to me earlier?"
Mikoto sighed. "I wanted to give it to you when we were alone. The left earring was Tatara's. Izumo had the one on the right made for you and I had the ring on your finger made," on a more serious note, he added, "Anna, never remove the ring,"
She didn't plan on doing so, but she still questioned, "Why?"
"Homra's symbol will protect you if you get into trouble," he replied.
Anna wasn't too surprised by that. The symbol of Homra did strike fear into men.
Anna was very grateful and pleased with her late birthday gifts. She tiptoed and kissed Mikoto's cheek. In response, he patted her head kindly.
"I'm sorry," she apologized for earlier.
Mikoto shoved his hands in his pockets, somehow looking leaner in his stance. "I did try to come back earlier for your birthday, but those men had kidnapped a family with a young child. I took a long time to find you and didn't see you the next day to explain to you,"
Because she had rashly decided to leave Homra and go to Seneca because she had been too upset with him instead of waiting around to speak to him.
She felt even more ashamed now.
Mikoto gently pressed his knuckles to her cheek that was bruised. It was hidden under the make up but Mikoto knew it was there.
"Anna, you would tell me if you were in trouble, wouldn't you?"
His voice was quiet, but very serious with perhaps a bit of suspicion.
Anna nodded. "I would," she answered honestly.
Mikoto gave a frown. He seemed to have expected her to lie but he knew her well enough to know that she was being honest this time.
Anna was about to say something, but there were loud whispers nearby.
"Whoa! Mikoto-san and Anna look like a couple, don't they?!" Kamamoto was saying.
"Mikoto-san is the only person suited for Anna anyway!" Yata responded.
Apparently, neither Anna nor Mikoto realized how suggestive the scene looked for a beautiful girl like Anna to be standing before such a handsome young man in only a short red robe, with his hand softly touching her cheek-which was an act of tenderness they hadn't seen between the pair in a while. They had also seen Mikoto slip his ring on Anna's finger and to the pair of men, this was almost like a marriage proposal, especially with the gentle way Mikoto kissed her hand afterward.
A fitting description for the scenario was that it was watching a King claim a princess's hand in marriage to be his bride.
Perhaps that was an exaggeration, but Yata and Kamamoto would view no other man suitable for Anna other than the King and they could picture their King caring for no other girl except Anna. In addition, for Mikoto to give a ring to anyone...well, that in itself said something.
Suddenly, Kamamoto and Yata realized that Mikoto and Anna were very well aware of them and the two came out of hiding.
"We're sorry! We just wanted to...uh...see if Anna was alright!" Yata told them.
It was true. They had been worried because they knew that she was upset.
Anna's heart softened a little. She even managed a tiny smile for her comrades. "I'm fine. Thank you, Misaki, Rikio,"
The two nodded, bowed to Mikoto and hurried off.
Mikoto returned his attention to Anna whose cheeks were still tinged red. "You're going to Seneca again tomorrow?"
She nodded. She looked up at him. "I'll be back...soon,"
"I see," Mikoto murmured.
He let out a loud breath and turned to go.
He was surprised when he suddenly felt Anna's slim body against his back. Her hands gripped tightly into the material of his clothing.
"Anna?" he voiced her name gently as he turned around and gathered her into his arms. For the first time in a long time, he was embracing her. Even if she hugged him when she came home, he rarely ever hugged her back lately. His hand would just gently pat her head, and he would remove her from him before he moved to sit elsewhere and smoke, seemingly unaware at her bafflement at his behavior.
"Thank you, Mikoto," she told him again.
Mikoto didn't really know what to make of her actions.
Figuring it might be PMS or something, he just let her hold onto him for as long as she wanted to.
She lifted her head and said softly, "Did Mikoto eat any cake?"
Her eyes were that wide gray kind that she had used on Izumo earlier.
Mikoto caught her shoulders in his hands and gently removed her from him. "Do you want me to eat cake with you?"
She nodded.
He huffed and let her go and she followed after him into the kitchen.
Izumo saw when they came in and didn't comment on Anna's choice of wearing only that robe. She was home and there were no other patrons in the bar to sexually harass her. He smiled when he saw that she had on the jewelry given to her by three of the most the most important men in her life, one of who had been dead for a few years now. When they had been deciding on gifts for her, Mikoto had been the one to suggest that they give her Tatara's earring.
"But it's only one earring," Izumo had pointed out.
"Another one could be made,"
Izumo had nodded at that and they had come up with this idea for her. Anna seemed to be really pleased and this was probably the first time in months he had seen her look genuinely happy. She went to the refrigerator and took out the remainder of her pretty birthday cake that had pink and white frosting with red roses at the top.
Mikoto hadn't eaten any quite yet. He probably felt too badly about not being there for her birthday to actually touch the cake.
Anna remained expressionless but the two men in the room with her could sense that she was really joyful right now about her gifts.
Izumo decided to leave the two alone. He had already had some cake and coffee with the princess anyway.
Mikoto's lion-like personality meant that he was the type to go after what he wanted and take it selfishly for himself. Had Anna been anyone else, and not the child he had cared for like a cub, he might have claimed her as his own a long time ago. In his own way, he exercised a possessive attitude toward her and did in his own way stake her as his territory.
But because she was Anna, someone he cared for deeply, a person he would probably give up everything for, Mikoto did not snatch her up for himself and he basically let her do whatever she wanted to. He wouldn't be selfish with her, even if a part of him wanted her totally and completely for himself.
"Mikoto, your Sword of Damocles is slowly deteriorating again! Why don't you just tell Anna to come home more and to stay by your side?" Izumo had snapped at him recently.
Mikoto shook his head. "Let her do what she wants. She should make her own choices-free of any concerns over me,"
That was the closest Mikoto had ever come to admitting that Anna and the tenderness they had once freely shown each other had tamed the beastly power inside of him. With her gone more often, that affection had become more and more restrained, and that warmth had slowly dissipated until his power had started to riot inside of him again.
"You're an idiot, Mikoto," Izumo had growled at him because he knew that Anna would be more than happy to remain at Mikoto's side.
Mikoto didn't care for his friend's words even though they were probably true.
As Anna ate her cake, some of it smudged on her cheek. Mikoto almost smiled as he observed her. He was reminded of the times when she was little and she would eat whenever Tatara gave her a large serving of omurice and little bits would end up on her cheek.
But that robe Anna wore on that revealed the shapeliness of her body was enough to remind him that she wasn't a little girl anymore.
"Mikoto?" she said his name, cutting into his thoughts.
He blinked at her.
"Do you like the cake?"
"Yeah," he answered and took a bite out of it. For a week old cake, it certainly tasted pretty good.
Anna frowned at him but went back to her own piece. This was a shared moment for the two of them. They didn't need each other's words, just each other's presence as a comfort. These were rare occasions and Anna realized that this was the first time in quite a while that she had spent so much time with Mikoto...and since she had received so much affection from him, even if it was in little tidbits.
She would cherish this memory today and tomorrow, she would be in Seneca again.
A/N: So here's the first chapter of the sequel to Growing Pains. It is a more introductory chapter to describe how Anna's relationship with everyone, especially Mikoto is right now. Hope you enjoyed it and look forward to more on it.
An explanation for Anna's bruise will be given in the next chapter.
**By the way, 'Fated To Love You' really is a Taiwanese drama. I read the manga for it and I thought it was really, really overdramatized and awful although I actually became hooked on it. But that's just a matter of opinion because I've also heard that the TV drama is much better. If you've never seen it but want to end up reacting as Yata did, look it up :)
Until next time, God bless :)