Omg, you people are amazing with all your wonderful and faithful reviews and I feel like epic fail *HEADDESK* Wouldn't you know that just when I make a promise to have this up with 4 days I get the worst case of writer's block I've ever had. Of course. So yeah, that's the last time I make a promise like that... I think it jinxed me XD So I honestly apologize ahead of time, because I really don't think it's up to par. One reason why it's a bit short, about 13 pages this time, is because I just didn't feel I was writing very well but I wanted to give you a chapter!! But I cut it down and didn't put in as much as I had planned for it. So anyways, enough of this, hopefully you'll enjoy it ^_^
Disclaimer: Kubo Tite owns these characters and he is a god to spit out weekly updates O.O
:
:
:
"Sir…I can't."
Ichigo stared up at the giant, "I'm not giving you a choice. Otherwise, I don't know what will happen." He urgently shook the large chains in his hands. "Hurry! The sun will be setting soon!"
Chad swallowed and reluctantly grasped the chains in his large hands, his big heart sinking. "Yes, sir."
The duke stepped back against the stone wall, placing his ankles into iron clasps embedded deep within the hard rock and lifted his arms to entrap his wrists. Chad closed them with four resonating clanks and began running the large chains through the iron circlets. He loosely wrapped the chains all around Ichigo's body, over and around his shoulders, and finally locked the ends together. Picking up two thick iron rods, he jammed them through the chains, forming a metal 'X' across the duke's chest.
Finally Chad stepped back, frowning at his begrudging work and sardonically smiling master. "Well done, Chad. Hopefully this'll hold me." And then his face suddenly twisted with a pained grunt.
Chad said nothing, only watched silently as his master began his agonizing transformation with an inhuman roar. Clothes stretched and ripped, growing muscles pulled the chains taut against alabaster skin, and his head thrashed violently against the stone wall until the beast was fully emerged.
With frustrated roars and angry howls, the beast pulled and yanked at his iron imprisonment. The tall giant stayed and observed for a short while, making sure there was no chance of escape. Finally satisfied, he turned to leave the small room, but as soon as his foot hit the first step, the beast suddenly grew silent and then a booming roar reverberated painfully against the stone walls.
Chad turned to see him heaving, yellow eyes boring into him. "Her. Save…her…mine."
The groomsman nodded before he left, "Yes, my lord."
:
She wondered if he would come to her tonight. Orihime hugged her knees tighter against her chest. Even though she was resorted to a life with Aizen, it didn't do much to lessen the revulsion and the fear. She took a deep breath. He was a good looking man and she should be grateful for that she supposed. And surely he had some redeeming qualities; maybe he just didn't leave a very good first impression on a person.
Sighing again she rested her chin on her knees and looked out her window at the moon. She smiled. The moon would always remind her of him. In fact, she had many things that would remind her of him. The book he gave her, oranges, chocolate, frowns, picnics, kisses…she let her lids fall over her eyes and imagined his face, relived his kisses. With Aizen, maybe she could just pretend…
The clicking of her doorknob interrupted her thoughts. No, she thought instinctively. Not yet! Just one more night alone. One more night of peace. It was so late she had thought maybe Aizen was already sleep. She waited in her dimly moonlit room, hugging her legs, her toes curling under her feet, bracing herself for what was to surely come.
The door slowly, quietly swung upon to reveal a large shadowy form in the dark hallway. She frowned. It was much larger than Aizen. "H-Hello? Who's there?"
"Miss Inoue, its Chad," the familiar deep voice answered.
She slapped her hands across her mouth, muffling the happy squeal before she carefully pulled them down and whispered, "Chad? Is it really you?"
"Mm. Excuse me, Miss Inoue." He stepped in and shut the door behind him. "I'm sorry, but we have to move quickly. Please bring as little as possible with you."
Her eyes widened. "Move? Where are we going?"
"His grace…he wants to help you."
For a moment she only stared. Be still oh my heart. "B-But how?"
Chad shook his head. "Please, Miss Inoue. We have to hurry."
She nodded and hurriedly grabbed a simple light blue dress from her closet and ran into her dressing room, quickly donning it. She grabbed her little suitcase and tossed in a few necessities with her book before quickly clasping it closed. Standing before Chad with her suitcase in hand she straightened her shoulders. "Ready."
He nodded and turned, carefully opening her door and looking around before motioning to her to follow him. Chad's large boots were surprisingly quiet on the hard floors and Orihime crept quietly behind on her soft leather shoes.
She held her breath, eyes jerking at the slightest creak, muscles tense. Finally they were out the door and not until she was sitting in the black coach and they were rolling away did she let herself breathe. Let herself think.
Was he really saving her? But why would he go to such measures? And how was he going to do it? Her eyes grew huge in thoughtfulness. Was he going to take her to the Americas?! …No…he wouldn't do that…he loves Clermont too much. Maybe he was just sending her there…
She glanced up at Chad. She would wait, she decided, and she would trust in the duke.
Two hours later the coach rolled to a stop and Chad stepped out, turning and offering his hand to her as she stepped down. She peered into the darkness, but all she saw was a gravel driveway ending at nothing but tree shapes and a vast clearing. "Where are we?" she finally asked.
Keigo bounded down from his high seat and bowed low to Orihime. "Hey Orihime! Good to see ya!" She could make out his huge grin and smiled back.
"Keigo! It's so good to see you too!" She surprised him with a quick embrace before looking up at Chad again, turning her back to a salivating coachman. Chad placed a hand on her back and led her into the grass. Without warning he stopped them and leaned down to pull at an iron ring, opening a large wooden trap door. A loud roar came from below.
"My lord!" she cried. Before either man could stop her, she was clamoring down the steep steps towards the tortured sounds. She didn't stop to think that it might be dangerous; all that filled her mind was the agony in his voice.
Suddenly the stairs led her into the light shed by torches hung on stone walls and the roars stopped. She looked up and gasped in horror. He was chained like some kind of wild animal. The sight tore at her heart and she flew to his side.
The beast let out a low whimper as she touched his cheek. She tugged at the rods, but they wouldn't budge. She jiggled the large lock. Tears were rolling down her face by the time Keigo and Chad entered the room.
"Please! Unchain him!" she pleaded with the men.
They looked at each and then Chad shook his head at her regretfully. "I'm sorry, Miss Inoue, but the duke ordered that he not be unchained for anything."
"What?!" She turned to look up into yellow eyes. "Why?" she whispered to him.
Chad answered her, "He said that he didn't want to risk his beast being unleashed so close to Paris."
She bit her lip and brushed away her tears. That was reasonable, but she still didn't like it. To seem him chained up like this…
"There's a cot in the other room so you can get a few hours of sleep," Chad took a step forward to lead her away and a long, low growl sounded from the beast. She violently shook her head.
"No, thank you. I'll just stay here. You two go ahead and get some rest."
The men frowned, but wisely surrendered and left up the stairs to care for the horses. When they finished and walked back through the room to get to their own cots, Orihime was sitting on the cold floor at his feet, her sleeping head leaning against his chained leg. The beast was silent.
:
Morning came and Orihime sat by, painfully watching as he changed. As soon as his mask burst into tiny shards she raced forward and pulled at the rods in the loose chains with all her strength, a barely conscious duke unaware of her actions. She pulled one free and it clanged to the floor. Just then Chad came in and he completely freed Ichigo.
Still breathing heavy, Ichigo rubbed at his wrists but stopped when a soft voice called to him. "A-Are you all right, my lord?"
He stopped and looked up at her worry-filled face. "Come. Let's go outside."
She quietly followed him out into the morning and they walked in silence. She wished he would say something, it was very difficult to not stare at him when he was silent and…shirtless. When it didn't seem as if he would be initiating the conversation, she spoke up, "U-Um, excuse me, my lord, but…do you mind me asking where we are?"
He glanced at her with a cocked eyebrow. Leave it to her to ask the last question he expected, but at least it stalled him for time. "The former Kurosaki castle, Aquitagne."
She gazed at him in shock, "But…"
"There's nothing here," he finished for her. "Centuries ago a siege brought it to the ground, leaving nothing but rubble and the lower dungeons we were just in. My father fashioned the miniature castle in the center of the maze from sketches in his ancestor's journals."
Her eyes widened as she turned to look back at the tree line and felt grief for the beautiful castle that had been destroyed.
Ichigo scowled. What was he doing running off at the mouth to her about his family history? "But no matter, I suppose you're wondering more what you're doing here?" He watched her head nod and took a deep breath though God in heaven knew why on earth he was nervous. Granted he didn't hate her, couldn't hate her, but indifference was certainly expected! He shook himself and continued. "I'm giving you a choice. I'll leave it for you to decide which is the lesser of two evils."
She remained silent, gaze forward.
"You can choose to be Aizen's mistress and I'll take you back this morning." He heard a sharp intake of breath below him, but refused to look. "Or you can marry me." After a few silent seconds he realized the space next to him was empty and he turned to see her stopped in her tracks a few paces behind him, staring at him with those big grey eyes.
"Wh-What did you say?" she asked, rooted to her spot.
"I gave you the choice of marrying me. I can think of no other way to get you out of this mess, but I don't need to remind you that you'll be marrying a monster."
"Why?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Why are you doing this? Why are you asking me to marry you?"
He sighed and made a motion to shove his hands in his pockets only to hit loose fabric, finally remembering he was barely clothed. He shrugged it off and began rattling off the reasons that he had been chanting to himself over and over in his head as he stepped closer to her. "Your friend told me the truth behind your…brother's raid against my family and I find myself more sympathetic. I don't like your parent's methods of practically selling you. Also I don't care for my uncle getting what he wants, and he begot it this time by me allowing him into my home and indirectly subjecting you to his schemes. I am doing this on principle, Miss Inoue. I had decided to never marry, but I might as well do it now for a good cause."
Finally he looked at her face and found it to be unreadable. "I see, my lord." He stepped closer to try to read her reactions, justifying he was only curious to see the reaction of the first woman he'd ever proposed marriage to.
"Miss Inoue, I'm sorry to push you on such a grave decision, but there's not much time. Aizen will be on our trail and we must marry before he catches us."
"But he will cut off your income."
He blinked at her, why was she thinking of that of all things? He shook his head and explained to her, "He probably will, more out of revenge that anything, but not having to pay your parents' debts leaves me with enough money to stay more than afloat for a few years and still be able to make some new investments with the advice of friends in town. In addition, I have a few sources of income on my own that my uncle doesn't know about. So don't worry about that, you'll have plenty of money for all your pretty things." He got no reaction from that last dig but it was more out of disgust at himself for admiring her in the morning light than to purposefully hurt her.
He waited impatiently as she stared silently into the sunrise. She looked like she might say no, and he didn't like how much that bothered him. Suddenly she turned to him with a bright smile that made a mockery out of the sun and it filled his chest with warmth. How long had it been since he'd seen her smile like that? When he thought about it, it really hadn't been that long…but it felt like an eternity.
He scowled at himself for being so involved with her damned smiling that he missed what she said. "What was that?"
Her smile faltered only a little. "I said, yes, thank you very much, my lord." She curtsied low to him. "Thank you," she repeated.
He coughed nervously, pushing down whatever preposterous feelings were rising within him. "Yes well, anyways we had better get on our way in that case. There's a small church not an hour from here and the documents are all prepared and waiting."
She lifted startled eyes to his face, "An hour?"
"Yes, and…uh," he hesitated. "In order to legalize the marriage and prevent your parents from annulling it, we must…uh…we must consummate it." It never ceased to amaze him how big her eyes could really become.
"C-C-Consummate, my lord?" He closed his eyes. Please tell him that he wouldn't have to explain to her what it meant. "I-I understand." Thank God for that.
"I'm sorry, the only way we could avoid it is if…well…if you were…that is to say if you had…I mean if before you…" Dammit! What was it about her that made him feel like he was a nervous schoolboy again? He swallowed. "What I mean is…you're parents will have a physician confirm if you…uh…so if you…before…"
Finally she caught his meaning and waved her hands violently back and forth. "Oh! No, no, no! I haven't…I mean…I'm not…I mean I am a…well…"
Her nervous blushing confirmed her maidenhood. "Yes, fine, I understand," he quickly ended her stumbling words. Looking at her extreme uneasiness made him want to comfort her a little. "Well, anyhow, it won't be all that bad. I don't deny that we have certain…chemistry between us." That made her blush even deeper. "What I mean is…I'll be…kind to you."
This made her lift her lashes to look him in the eyes confidently and with soft conviction. "I know."
He swallowed again. Damn her. "Yes, well. Now that you've made your choice we'd better get going."
"Um…one more thing, my lord, if you please…what…what happened to your face?"
He suppressed a groan. If they weren't so good at what they did he'd fire all three of 'em. "It's nothing…I…uh…I fell."
He glanced at her and she looked like she didn't believe him. Please don't ask me about it. It's not that he cared about them, it's just…well…a tiny woman did most of the damage and he wasn't about to brag about it. To his relief she simply nodded in resignation.
As he began walking back towards the carriage he heard a small voice behind him. "Thank you, my lord. A-And…you're not a monster."
He kept walking and smiled to himself, she sure was a stubborn woman.
:
The carriage ride was filled with quiet tension. Chad sat in the seat across from the newly engaged couple and both were grateful for his calming presence. Despite the uneasiness, Orihime was feeling so happy she might burst yet at the same time she felt her head was spinning so fast she feared it might pop right off.
Soon she would be at Clermont and she'd see Tatsuki and Rukia and Renji and everyone else again. And she would be spending the rest of her life with the duke…the rest of her life…with the duke. That's where her head started spinning out of control, unable to get a firm grip on that sentence. She was marrying the duke and would be spending the rest of her life with him…she shook her head lightly. It didn't seem real. Maybe this was just another daydream. She reached over to pinch herself but the coach suddenly lurched to a stop and sent her to her knees on the floor.
"Orihime!" the duke cried, reaching down to pick her up. "Are you okay?" She nodded at him smilingly. "Dammit, Keigo and his crazy driving…"
She frantically waved her hands at him. "Oh no! It's fine really! I was just off daydreaming and wasn't paying attention it's all my fault really!"
He scowled deeper and gave her one more look over. "Well alright. Are you okay to go inside now?"
The church. They were at the church. "Y-Yeah. Fantastically okay!" she beamed.
He nodded and stepped out of the coach to help her down. Chad followed. The church was a small red brick building with a simple white steeple atop it. She looked around and saw a few farms in the distance. A young reverend stood at the doorway to greet them, dressed in all black and grinning from ear to ear. "Welcome, welcome!" He bent over slightly, his blond bob swinging in front of his eyes.
"Father, thank you for accommodating our short notice and unusual circumstances," Ichigo said stiffly. So what if he was a man of God, he didn't like him, for whatever reason. Maybe it was that smile. It reminded him of that crooked butcher. Where the hell did Grimmjow know this guy from anyway? He grimaced as he remembered what he had had to go through when he went to ask Grimmjow about a discreet minister and getting papers done up overnight. Was the hour worth of jokes and teasing really necessary? And his wife hadn't been much better…
"Good God, man. What did you do to your face?"
Ichigo clenched and unclenched his fists as he bored holes into the reverend's head. "A fall."
"Oh I see, I see," he replied cheerfully. "Anyways it was my pleasure to be sure. And please, call me Shinji!" He grinned wider.
"Nice to meet you, Rev. Shinji!" Orihime beamed back at him and curtsied.
"Such a lovely girl, but just plain Shinji is fine." He motioned with his hands. "Come in, come in. I'm sure you two lovebirds are eager to get on with the festivities!"
The couple barely heard a word he said as he continued to babble. Stepping into the quiet church sent a rush of reality through both of them. They were getting married. She was marrying the love of her life whose reasons for marrying her were far from love. He was marrying the one woman who'd opened his heart and the one woman he should never love.
Suddenly they found themselves in front of the altar. "Now where's that…OW! Ow, ow, ow! H-Hiyori! What did I do now?!" the reverend whined.
The couple gazed in shock at the short blonde girl that had suddenly appeared, kicking the man of the cloth in the shins. "Because you were about to call me something derogatory, weren't you?!"
"N-No I wasn't!" He cried, hiding behind the pulpit. "I-I was simply wondering where my…ah…book with all the vows and such was hiding!" he finished with a grin.
Hiyori's eye twitched. "So you weren't even wondering where I was? You don't even care about me?!"
Shinji's eyes widened in panic. "No! I'm always concerned for your well-being!" He waited for the onslaught, but she suddenly became more preoccupied with their visitors.
"Who are you?" she glared.
"Now, now Hiyori. These fine people are getting married today!"
"Ch. Married?! She's marryin' him for his money and he's marryin' her for her big breasts and silky hair!" Hiyori scoffed rudely, arms folded and scowling at Shinji when she suddenly found her small head grasped by a large hand and was picked up off the floor. "H-Hey! Wha-" She then found herself staring into blazing amber eyes.
"Talk about her that way again and I'll pinch your head off, midget," Ichigo growled.
Orihime tugged anxiously at his sleeve, "M-My lord, it's all right, really. No harm done!"
He glanced at her and reluctantly lowered the little dwarf. Hiyori glared and huffed but decided it might be better to leave it at that. "Well? Are ya gonna marry 'em or not?!" she fumed at Shinji.
He stopped gaping and nodded, pulling out a little book. "You're kidding me? You still need to use a book to say all those lines, Shinji? What an idiot…" Shinji frowned at Hiyori and slammed the book back under the pulpit.
He cleared his throat. "Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today to-"
"Excuse me," Ichigo spoke up. "Sorry, but we're kind of in a hurry, could you skip to the vows?"
Shinji slapped his hands on either side of his face, "O-o-oh! Anxious are we my dear boy? Understandable, completely understandable. Let's get to the vows then…uh…let's see, we need the rings. Hiyori?"
She fished around in the pocket of her brown skirt and pulled out two simple gold rings.
Ichigo pointed at them. "Uh, those aren't ours, I-"
Shinji looked confused. "Why, they came with the messenger boy and he said they were yours."
"Oh…right, of course." Ichigo would have to thank Grimmjow later.
"To continue. Take the rings." Nervous fingers reached for the rings in Hiyori's hand. "Now, Ichigo, repeat after me. I, Ichigo Kurosaki, take you, Orihime Inoue, to be my wife…"
The vows were blushingly said and rings nervously slipped on. Ichigo was having a harder and harder time remembering that this was all about principle and…something else and…some other thing he couldn't quite place…
"And now you may kiss the bride!" Shinji proclaimed jubilantly, arms upraised.
The couple stared at him as if he'd suddenly grown the ears of a donkey. "Go on!" he prodded. "Kiss her!"
Ichigo swallowed hard and Orihime started babbling, "Oh…no! That's all right we don't really have to do that because I'm really odd about public-mmph."
The duke pulled back quickly, desperately trying to ignore the magnetic pull of her soft lips. "That was pathetic," Hiyori snorted.
"Yes, I have to agree with Hiyori on this one, that was rather pathetic, your grace," Shinji stated seriously. "I think we need a redo."
"A redo?!" the duke cried, ignoring his beet red bride. "There will not be a redo. We married. We kissed. We're done," he finished, with all the aristocratic authority he could muster.
The reverend waved his hands at the couple, "Fine, fine. If you want to be known all across France as impotent, that's not my problem."
"Why you nasty little-"
"Ah-ah-ah! Man of God." Shinji solemnly placed his hand on his chest and pointed to the ceiling.
Ichigo growled, grabbed Orihime around her waist, and crashed his lips into hers. Impotent indeed. He'd show that squirmy little…he was interrupted as his mind was suddenly filled with nothing but soft lips and curves. He tightened his arms around her waist; she clutched the fabric of his shirt and sighed against him.
His lips moved against hers, forgetting everything and everyone, running his hands up her back and opening his mouth over her lips. A loud cough suddenly broke them apart.
"Well then," Shinji said. "I do believe you are a healthy young man capable of performing the duties of marriage. So…congratulations!" Out of nowhere rice came raining down on top of their heads.
"He-Hey!" Ichigo scowled fiercely and shook the small white pellets out of his hair. "Just give us the documents and we'll be on our way."
"All right, all right. Such a wet dish rag…" Shinji pulled out papers and placed them on the communion table, motioning for them to sign. "And you too big guy," he said, pointing to Chad. "You'll be a witness."
Ichigo felt a sort of perverse surrealism at seeing the names 'Inoue' and 'Kurosaki' together on a document; and not just any document, but a certificate of marriage. Not in his wildest nightmares did he dream of this upside down day. But he did take a certain pleasure in erasing Inoue from her name and replacing it with it his. Orihime Kurosaki. The corners of his mouth tugged. Much better.
Minutes later they were finally out the door and on their way to the coach leaving Shinji waving them goodbye at the door and Hiyori scowling with her arms crossed. "They won't last," she said.
Shinji looked down at her in surprise before patting her head fondly, "Oh, Hiyori. You still have much to learn about love."
:
To say that the carriage was tense would be a grave understatement. Both parties were blushing, one more than the other, and the third party was looking on in quiet amusement.
At one point near the beginning of the journey back to Clermont, Ichigo felt a soft thud against his shoulder and looked down to find his wife sleeping on his shoulder. His wife…he clenched his jaw at the leap in his heart and took a sudden intense interest in the passing scenery. Soon he found himself nodding off till he fell asleep on the top of her head.
Chad, being the softie for all things cute that he was, smiled big at the adorable picture they made and resisted the urge to grab them up and cuddle them in his big arms.
Early that afternoon they rolled to a stop at Clermont and Ichigo instinctively gripped the small shoulder he was holding in his sleep when the coach lurched. The couple was jostled awake and blinked confusedly at their surroundings before realizing how close they were and jolted back from each other, blushing at the floor.
Chad was the first one out and before Orihime's feet touched the ground, the large double doors burst open and servants flooded down the wide stairs, crying out her name and crying tears. Suddenly she found herself hugged and kissed practically to death as the mob moved her inside into the foyer.
She found herself with tears of happiness as she returned their hugs and greetings. She had thought she would never see these faces again, yet here she was. Tatsuki grabbed her and she hugged her back fiercely and whispered in her ear, "Thank you, Tatsuki. I can never express how much I-"
"Oh hush!" Tatsuki smilingly admonished. "One thank you is enough. I'm just happy you're finally home."
Home. That was good to hear. "Oh! Rukia!" She picked up the suitcase Chad had brought in and set on a chair to open it and pulled out her white bunny. She turned and thrust it into Rukia's arms. "It was one of my dearest friends when I was little and I want you to have it, Rukia."
Rukia's eyes grew big and shiny as she hugged the bunny to her chest. "O-Orihime! I don't know what to say except, thank you!"
Orihime smiled in return and watched as her two friends became lost in a world of their own, not noticing the redhead nearby, scowling jealously at the two.
She turned at someone clearing their throat behind her and saw the duke leaning against the doorway. "Oh! Your grace! I'm sorry, I-"
"I have an announcement to make to you all," he interrupted, pushing himself off the woodwork. "Miss I…that is Orihime and I were married today." The duke suddenly wished for a pin just to see if he could indeed hear it when it dropped. Perhaps Ishida would have one…
"Married?!" This was from Tatsuki who was staring at Orihime. "Is this true, Orihime?" She nodded with a small blushing smile at her friend. Suddenly the crowd burst into exuberant congratulations, patting their master on the back and hugging their new mistress. Out of nowhere a pop from champagne was heard.
:
"No! Oh what will we do, what will we do? You won't throw us into debtor's prison will you, Sosuke? I couldn't bear it. This wasn't our fault, you must believe that!"
"Hush, woman!" Aizen glared at the woman he had once found to be so enticing but now found her dull and used. "I won't send you to prison…I don't think." Another wail. "All right I won't!" Or at least he'd let her think that for now.
"What do you think has happened to her?! Where could she have gone?!"
He sent another glare her direction and Jacqueline's lips clamped together. "The only thing that could have happened is that foolish nephew of mine stole her away."
"Stole her away?! Well we can just get her back!"
Aizen shook his head imperceptibly. "He'll have married her by now."
Jacqueline gasped in horror and feigned a fainting spell. "Oh my poor baby, married!?...To a duke?" she added with a trace of hopefulness in her voice.
"Bitch!" Aizen shouted in a rare show of anger. "Ever hint at approving of that marriage and I'll slit your throat from ear to ear!"
She paled and stared at him, stammering in fear, "W-Well what should we do?...Oh! We must simply recapture Orihime and annul the marriage before it is consummated!" she cried, hopeful again.
"No. He would have made sure to have done the deed by now. No…I'll think of another way to get her back…" His lips curved into an easy sadistic smile. "And while I'm at it I'll destroy that nephew of mine and take from him everything that should have been mine from the beginning."
:
:
:
Ugh...that's all I have to say....ugh -__-
And now I'm so exhausted and brain-dead I can't function and I can't...I can't do review replies *weeps* It's painful, but I'm too exhausted. See why I feel like utter fail? Arrrrggghh....those who logged in I'll reply to individually when I'm functional and the anonymous I will respond to both in the next chapter.... And I'm an hour and a half late...well I actually said I'd post within 4 days and I posted the last chapter at 3 am and it's now 1:30 am so I'm still within 4 days :D ...no...I still feel like fail. Don't hesitate to constructively criticize because I'm sure this needs it... *grows mushrooms in a dark corner*