Southern Love

Chapter 2: Friendship to Love

[one year later]

(Kenmaru's POV)
Damn, I can't believe it's already been a year since I first met the fiery, red-headed girl that now dominates my world. As I drive to school on the clear, sunny morning of the first day of senior year, I can't help but think about how fast the last year flew by. Even though she doesn't know it, ever since the day I first met her, Kaiti Shealy has had my heart. From the very moment I first smelled her sweet scent and gazed upon her beautiful face, she had me. The girl is the love of my life, and hopefully my future mate. I am determined that this year, I will tell Kaiti how I feel about her. Luckily her best friend and adopted sister, the neko hanyou known as Marrissa, finally trusts me and is very willing to help. Sure, me and Rissa didn't get along well at first, but when she realized how I felt about Kaiti, she became a really good friend and ally. Damn, if it wasn't for Rissa that mangy wolf youkai Blaze, the son of the infamous Kouga, would have already tried to claim Kaiti for his own mate and exposed her to the youkai and hanyou world. Thankfully though, Kaiti is still blissfully ignorant about the existence of youkai and hanyou. Damn, she doesn't even realize that most of her friends are all some form of youkai or hanyou. Instead, she lives a normal human life. And the irony of that is that Kaiti tells us all the time that she wished that the story from her favorite anime, Inuyasha (the story of my own parents' journey in feudal Japan), was actually real.

At the thought of my father, I feel my ears droop slightly. It was only a few days earlier that my dad didn't come home from work. When we went to go find him, all that we found was his car with a note taped to it. The note was addressed to my mom. "We have your precious mate, Miko," it read, "Don't try to find us, or else you will die along with him. If you do as you're told, your mate shall live." Ever since, my mom has been really depressed. Her only comfort besides me has been her mate mark, which connects her to Dad. Through it, she knows that he is still alive and has not been harmed yet. I sigh as I get out of my car. I have to get my emotions under control, or else I'll worry Kaiti. Damn, I hate it when I worry her. I shove all thoughts of my dad into the back of my head for the time being and then head to my first class. I smile when I walk in the door. Already sitting at a front row lab table is Kaiti. She smiles and waves me over, indicating the saved seat next to her. I smile and sit down next to her. Thanks to her, I can tell that my day is going to be great. Damn, I love her.

(Kaiti's POV)
Damn, today was wonderful. The first day of senior year, and I already know that this year is going to be amazing. Something big is going to happen this year, I know it. Once again, just like last year, Kenmaru and I have every single class together. His presence comforts me and distracts me at the same time. Every heart melting smile that he throws my way makes me want to go weak at the knees and melt into a puddle of goo. Rissa tells me that I've been bitten bad by the love bug, and I can't help but agree with her. Ever since the day we met exactly one year ago, I just knew that Kenmaru was the boy for me. It amazed me at first that Kenmaru chose to be friends with me rather than hang around all of the popular kids, and it still does slightly. But now, I can't help but love feeling the looks of jealousy directed my way. All of those girls that teased me for years now want what I have, what they never had even thought that I would have. Sure, it's not official that Kenmaru and I are dating, but I hope that this year, all of that will change.

By the end of the school day, Kenmaru has never left my side once today. He even walked me to my car after school. His protectiveness tells me that he cares, and I can't help but love him more. Then, right before I got into my car, he gave me a good bye hug and told me that he'd text me later. I smile as I remember the feeling of his arms around me. It was wonderful. As I step out of my car and into the Crooked Creek Park parking lot, I continue to smile. Today has been so perfect so far. And, since my brother had football practice after school, I have some time to myself. Crooked Creek Park is the ultimate rec center in Chapin. It has some of the most beautiful walking trails, both paved and wooded. I lock the car and then head down the nearest trail, not even aware that someone was following me until I heard his evil laugh behind me. Someone had just followed me deep into the woods of the park, onto one of the more wooded trails in the area.

I turned around slowly to face my stalker. An ugly man that looks to be in his mid-thirties stands there looking at me with a savage grin. "What do you want sir," I ask him as calmly as I can, "I'm kind of in the middle of my afternoon walk here. And I'm about to go meet up with a friend." "Don't lie to me wench," Mr. Ugly sneers at me, "I can smell your lies. Now why don't you be a good wench and stay here with me. I'd like to have some fun playing with you." "Get away from me," I threaten, "Or I'll kick your ass you ugly perv." "That's something I'd love to see you try wench," Mr. Ugly says with a laugh, "Now come here." "No," I shout and turn to run. I know that I have to get away from him and get some help. Then I feel a hand grab my arm and tug hard. I cry out and whirl around, kicking the sick bastard in the balls. Jerking my arm away from him as he hisses in pain, I turn to run again and begin shouting for help. That's when I hear the roar. Looking over my shoulder, I see that Mr. Ugly had just gotten even uglier. Instead of a man standing behind me, now there was a feral looking bear demon. "Oh shit," I whisper when I realize that there is an actual flesh and blood demon behind me, "This isn't good."

The bear demon lets out a snarling laugh. "Get back here wench," it yells at me, "I'm not done with you yet." It begins coming towards me, an evil snarl on its face. I begin to run again, only to get tripped by a pesky tree root I hadn't seen in my way. I feel my ankle twist and scream. The bear demon laughs and says, "Oh I do love the sound of a wench in pain. You're going to make one lovely meal." All I can do is think, "Oh shit," and scream out, "Help! Someone help me please!" "No one can hear you wench," the demon growls, "Or at least, no one that cares anyway." Then suddenly, I hear a different growl coming from above me. "Get away from her you bastard," a familiar voice orders angrily, "Or I'll tear you limb from limb."

I look up above me in shock and see Kenmaru perched on a tree branch. "Kenmaru," I whisper in shock, "What are you doing here?" Kenmaru jumps down from the branch and lands in front of me. "Protecting you of course," he replies as he scowls at the bear demon. "Now get behind me and hold this," he orders as he pulls his necklace from around his neck and tosses it to me. "So," the bear demon growls, "you're the inu hanyou I smelt on her. Get out of my way you pathetic mutt, or I'll have to kill you too." I gasp at the bear demon's words and stare at Kenmaru in shock. When his hair suddenly turns pure silver with only a few jet black streaks remaining, I gasp again. After his hair changes, his fingernails lengthen into claws and two black dog ears appear on top of his head. I hear a low growl coming from Kenmaru's throat and I suddenly feel very safe. I know Kenmaru, and I know that he'll do anything to protect me. Kenmaru turns his head to look at me and smiles. "Don't worry Kaiti," he assures me, "I won't let this bastard touch you." I can only smile at him and nod as he turns back to the bear demon and launches his attack.

(Kenmaru's POV)
When I see that my Kaiti is in danger, I can't help but growl instinctually. "Get away from her you bastard," I growl at the bear youkai, "Or I'll tear you limb from limb." I can tell that Kaiti is definitely surprised at my actions. I can also tell that she's very worried about me. Figures, since she still hasn't seen my hanyou form yet. When she asks me what I'm doing here I scowl at the bear youkai and say, "Protecting you of course. Now get behind me and hold this." I then take a hold of my cloaking charm necklace and pull it from around my neck and toss it to her. I hear her gasp when the baka youkai call me an inu hanyou, and then I hear her gasp again as I feel my normal claws, fangs, and ears return to me. I let out a low growl to reassure her that everything will be ok. When I feel her begin to calm, I turn my head to look at her and smile. "Don't worry Kaiti," I tell her, "I won't let this bastard touch you." I see her smile and nod before I turn back around to face the offending youkai in front of me. No one tries to hurt my Kaiti and gets away with it. Growling angrily, I attack.

As I race towards the bear youkai, I pull my now visible sword from its sheath. My dad had named it Kouensha, or Protector. Like his Tetsusaiga, my sword is a fang. But instead of it being forged from my grandfather's fang, it was forged from my dad's own fang. Leaping high into the air, I raise Kouensha above my head and slash down as I get closer to the bear youkai. "Sacred Blade," I growl as I slash at the bear, and a bright light gleams on the sword's blade. When my sword meets the youkai's skin, a burning smell feels the air before the youkai vanishes in a bright light. Nothing but a piles of ashes remains. I put Kouensha back in its sheath and turn back towards the girl I love. Kaiti smiles and I hear her whisper, "Thank goodness." I begin to walk back towards her. I know that I have a lot of explaining to do.

Seeing me coming towards her, Kaiti tries to stand, but winces at the pain in her ankle. Before she can fall back to the ground, I am by her side and catching her in my arms. "Hey take it easy," I order her gently, "We don't want you hurting that ankle even more." She smiles at me and whispers, "Thanks Kenmaru." Then a look of concern fills her eyes. "You're not hurt are you," she asks me worriedly. "Don't worry," I reassure her, "That bastard didn't even touch me." Kaiti sighs in relief and then looks at me and says, "You've got a lot of explaining to do Kenmaru." "I know," I say with a sigh, "Come on, let's go someplace where we can talk." "Ok," she says and then looks at me sheepishly, "But you might have to carry me. My ankle hurts like hell." "Don't worry," I tell her with a grin, "I got you covered. Just hold on to my necklace for me." "Ok," she says and then yelps when I suddenly begin running through the trees.

Finally I reach my private spot and jump up onto my favorite tree branch. I place Kaiti in my lap, careful of her hurt ankle. Kaiti opens her mouth to speak, but I silence her with a look. "Let me explain some things first," I says softly, "Then you can ask as many questions as you want." "Alright," she says with a sigh, "Go ahead." So I tell her. I tell her that youkai and hanyou are real and that the story of her favorite anime is completely true. I tell her who my parents are, which surprises her quite a bit. I even tell her about Rissa, Blaze and some of our other youkai and hanyou friends. When I finish, Kaiti just looks at me and says, "Somehow I always knew that youkai and hanyou existed. And you know how much I wanted to believe that the story about your parents was real, so I'm not surprised by that either." Then, she gets a classic Kaiti look on her face and I know that there is a but in there somewhere. "But," she says finally, "You didn't explain why you were there when the youkai attacked me."

Damn, I knew there was a but. I sigh and look into her eyes. In their beautiful blue depths, I see a small spark of hope. I also see her complete trust in me and also how much she cares about me, just in that one look. I wrap my arms around her and sigh again before speaking. "I followed you," I admitted to her softly, "Because I wanted to keep you safe. Ever since the day we first met, I knew that I had to protect you. I couldn't let anything ever harm you." "Why," she asks me softly. Taking a deep breath I ask, "Do you believe in love at first sight? Because I do." Kaiti gasps and looks at me, love shining in her eyes. "Of course I do," she whispers, "Ever since I met you, it's kinda hard not to believe in." I lean my head down and bring my lips close to hers. "Good," I whisper softly, "Because I love you." "I love you too," she whispers before I press my lips softly to hers. Sighing into our kiss, Kaiti wraps her arms around my neck. Softly, I reach up and cup her cheek with one hand, while the other hand stays wrapped around her waist. I run my tongue lightly against her lower lip, asking for permission to deepen the kiss. Sighing, she opens up to me, and my tongue slips in to taste. I want to taste every inch of her beautiful mouth. I want to memorize her tender lips, her sweet taste. Kissing her, I'm in heaven. Finally, we have to pull apart for air. I lean down and nuzzle her neck lovingly and inhale her sweet scent. She rests her head against my shoulder and sighs happily. Damn, I love this woman.