Karen opened her eyes to the bright sun the next morning as she squinted to awaken from her sleep. Instantly, she stretched her legs and arms out as she made a low noise. The birds made their chirping songs outside as the sun's rays shone through the window and all throughout the room. She shifted her body around a bit and still felt somewhat drained from the activity of the night that just passed. She brought her hands up to her head slowly as she ran her fingers through her messy morning hair.
That's when she saw it. Something caught her eye that wasn't normally seen as she paused and brought her hands before her face, palms in view. On the palm of her left hand where the Sapphire Promise abided was embedded the strange marking. It was as if it had been carved onto her hand, yet it protruded a bit from her hand as a shape. Karen stared at it as she ran the fingers of her right hand over it, feeling how it emerged slightly from the surface of her skin. "Leoko..." she called rather loudly. She wanted to know what this peculiar shape on her hand was.
A toilet flushing sound echoed through the room as Leoko came out of the bathroom not long after, stretching with his arms behind his head as he walked toward the bed. He had on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. "What is it Karen?" he asked, bringing his arms down and giving her his attention. Karen held out her hand as she asked, "What is this?" Leoko's eyes seemed enlightened by the sight as he smiled. "It's the mark of mates, the mark of my tribe." Karen looked up at him questioningly. "Mark of mates?" "Yeah..." he halted his sentence as he sat by her and blushed. "Last night... when I was able to show you how I felt for you... I marked you as my mate." He had a bashful smile as he looked at her, surprised himself that he had gone so far with her. Karen looked at him with a look of astonishment. "Mates? You and I are... mates?" Leoko nodded. "Yeah... Well technically you are marked as mine, but..." He shrugged and smiled as if that detail didn't matter.
Karen however seemed confused at this as she tilted her head. "What do you mean I'm marked as yours?" Leoko heard something different in the question of her voice. "Oh, well... in my tribe, when a couple decides to mate, during a meaningful point of the intimacy, the male and the female mark each other simultaneously on the palms of their hands. The woman's on her left and the male's on his right. The ring is only the first step of the bond, like a wedding ring for an engagement. When the time is right, the bond is complete with the one they want to share their life with." A smile was on his face, a sweet and happy smile as he said this. He was proud to have Karen in his life.
"But you are not marked as mine?" she asked. Apparently she didn't think the same about the matter. She sat up in bed and awaited his answer, wrapping the blanket around her chest. Leoko shook his head. "Well technically, no. Since you're not a demon or even a half demon like I am, you didn't have the ability to mark me back. But still, that doesn't matter to me as long as I have you." He smiled lovingly at her, but she didn't return this smile. She actually didn't appear too happy. "Oh, so I'm just your property now?" Leoko was surprised at her reaction. "No. It's not like that. I didn't mean for it to be that way." "So you'd prefer me to be a demon or a half demon like you?" Her stare was stern and demanding. Leoko didn't like this. He knew she was taking this wrong, and he tried his best with reasoning.
"No Karen. You don't understand..." "Oh I understand all right. You just couldn't wait until I was legal. Now that I'm an adult, you rushed right into this and now I'm your trophy." Leoko shook his head. "Karen, would you just listen to me...?" "No I've heard enough," she replied as she got up and started putting her shirt on. Leoko gave a sigh. "Look, you're taking this all wrong Karen. That is not why this happened and you know it." He tried his best not to raise his voice with her, but this woman just wouldn't listen to him. "Now I'm just the little whore my father always expected of me." She was hurriedly pulling her shirt down in an agitated manner as she stood by the bed.
Leoko gave a light fed-up glare as he got up. "Listen here! If you want to think this way, fine! But you know I love you!" He stopped once he had her attention fully and he stopped raising his voice. "I wouldn't have made the promise if I didn't love you Karen. The Sapphire Promise isn't just for anyone. It's for that special someone. You are my special someone Karen. If you don't know that by now, then I don't know what to think." He then walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Karen frowned as she reached her hand out to the door, wanting to follow him but deciding not to. "Leoko..." she stated in whisper.
Karen sat back down on the bed as she looked at the mark and the ring. She remembered how much love he had put into all that he did for her. Had she possibly overreacted about it all? She tried to turn the ring around on her finger as she fiddled with it, but she realized soon enough that it wouldn't budge. This baffled her as she continued to try and make it move. It stayed put. Karen tried to pull it off just to see if it would come off, but it was as if it were a part of her flesh now, or as if it were super glued to her finger. As she continued to try and pull it off, Leoko walked back in as he said, "Hey Karen... look, I'm sorry for raising my voice at..." He stopped as he saw her trying to pull off the ring. "What are you doing?" Karen looked at him as she stopped, seeing the hurt in his eyes. "No... I wasn't trying to..."
"You were trying to take it off..." Karen shook her head. "No I wasn't. I was just..." Leoko looked down at his feet. "I never should have made those advances. I never should have mated you... I'm sorry Karen." She frowned as he ran out of the room. Soon darting after him, she yelled, "Leoko! Wait!" When she got outside her bedroom door, he was no longer there. This hurt her feelings, to know that she had hurt his. She just stood there with a sad look in her eyes as she held her left hand close to her heart. They had both fallen for misunderstandings and now they were in their first true fight as a couple.
Leoko actually wasn't far. He was only outside with Bear by the doghouse as he tried to calm down by petting him and talking to him. Bear wasn't all jumpy as he usually was. Instead, he sat there with Leoko calmly and let him pet him. The dog somehow knew that the half demon needed comfort. Although Leoko was somewhat allergic to the animal, he didn't really care at the moment. He liked the dog and he wasn't going to let a few sniffles separate them. "I don't understand. What did I do wrong?" he asked the pup as he pet his head. Bear just looked calmly into Leoko's eyes as he seemed to be listening to him. Leoko gave a sigh. "I guess I did go for it too soon... but I wanted to be closer to her. I wanted her to be my mate and I just hoped to make us closer as soon as possible because... I love her so much you know?" Bear still just listened intently as he looked at Leoko, still keeping eye contact. Every once in a while as he spoke, Leoko would look aside, but when he looked back at Bear again, the pup would still be looking into Leoko's eyes. It was as if he understood.
"So much?" he heard Karen's voice ask as he turned and saw her standing on the porch. Leoko looked at her as he nodded. "Yeah... so much." He gave a faint smile at her and she smiled back warmly. "I'm glad." Leoko smiled more as he got up and walked over to her, wiping his nose with the back of his hand due to allergy sniffles. Karen just chuckled at him. "What are you doing around Bear if you're allergic to him anyway?" He just gave a shrug. "Why not eh?" Karen giggled at him. "Eh... That's still cute the way you say it." This made him blush as he said, "Thanks... heh." He looked aside a bit nervously, unsure of what to say. Karen then made a more serious note. "Leoko... I made a promise too." She twiddled with the finger that had the ring on it as she ran her finger over the sapphires. "And I would never break it." Leoko looked into her eyes. "I know you wouldn't, and I would never break my promise to you either Karen."
The Sapphire Promise played its true role at that moment as it proved their bond. They both held loving smiles as they embraced each other and held each other there. "Oh and Leo?" "Yeah?" "I love you too... so much." Leoko's smile became brighter. "I'm glad." Karen then let go as she asked curiously, "How come I couldn't take the ring off anyway, not that I was trying to. I just noticed that it wouldn't come off." Leoko smiled and held her hands, stroking the Sapphire Promise with his thumb. "It will only come off with my consent, when we are to forever separate." His smile turned down a little as he said this and so did Karen's. "I knew not to let that happen yet until... I was sure you wanted to get away from me," he finished.
Leoko looked down sadly and Karen didn't know what to say at first. She then faintly smiled and lifted his chin to look at her again. "I don't want to leave you baby." Leoko smiled and placed a hand on her cheek. "Thanks Karen. I'm glad. I don't want to lose you." After a bit more of the sweet moment, Bear barked and snapped them out of it. Karen chuckled as she looked at Leoko, and he laughed a bit as well. "Hey," he chimed in. "You wanna go swimming, like we always do?" His grin widened and so did hers. "Sounds great."
Karen and Leoko walked along the sandy way to the beach together, walking by the stands arm-in-arm as they always did and talking about randomness as always. "Last night I had a retarded dream," Karen started. Leoko looked at her as he replied, "Oh boy. Here we go." "What?" she asked curiously. Leoko chuckled at her. "Well... your dreams make no sense, love... but go." "Okay, well it started out that I was swimming under the sea and I could breathe. I dream that a lot." "Uh-huh..." "Well I saw this deep place and I thought that I should venture to it, so I swam toward it, but something didn't want me to go that way. I tried to turn back, but it was kind of drawing me into it. I finally swam back and looked back at it. It was so odd." Leoko nodded as he listened, thinking, 'Maybe this one has a meaning after all...' Karen then continued, "Well then I saw this lion under the water in front of this palace..." "There it is," Leoko said with a sigh. "The one thing that knocked it off from the sense-meter."
Karen chuckled and shoved him playfully. "Stop that! Let me finish! Anyways, he bound me in chains and I had to beg him with kindness to let me go, and he did because I'm cute like that. So when he let me go, we went to a pool party under the water and I huggled the lion. When I hugged him, he turned into a shampoo bottle and I put him in an innertube and swam away." Leoko's reaction was that of utter confusion as he looked at her in amazement and bewilderment, shaking his head lightly. "What?" she asked, "It really happened..." She then giggled as she said, "I woke up laughing because it was so random at the end."
As she was talking to him, she ran into a guy in a trenchcoat as she stumbled. "Oh sorry," she said, looking at him. The man's eyes were hidden by his black bangs as his eyes flashed through the strands a bit. His gaze kind of creeped Karen out as she froze and watched him walk off. "Karen? You coming?" Leoko asked as he looked back at her. He was a short ways ahead of her. Karen glanced at Leoko, then looked to where the man was standing. He was no longer there, as if he had vanished. Karen shrugged as she ran and caught up with Leoko, only to trip halfway to her distance and fall on her face in the sand. "MY FACE!" she shouted, coughing up sand. The half demon chuckled as he went and helped her up. "You okay Karen?" "Yeah," she said as she got up, looking back at the spot where she had run into the man in the trenchcoat. "I'm fine..." Leoko held her hand as he said, "Come on. Let's go have some fun. Nothing like that will happen again." He laughed lightly after that. Karen chuckled too. "Yeah you're right."
Later when they returned home, Karen pushed some wet hair out of her face with a sigh and Leoko followed her in. "Sorry sweetie... I didn't know you'd choke so much on all that water." Karen flopped down on the couch wrapped up in her towel as she said, "It's okay... it wasn't your fault. I just forgot not to breathe... which sounds odd." Leoko thought about that and blinked. "Yeah... it does." He took a seat by her as he put an arm around her and smiled. "It's okay. Just a little accident, a little bad luck. No problem. All will be better tomorrow." Karen smiled and leaned on him. "Yeah... you're right. Well... I'm going to go take a shower now. I'll be out in a minute." "Okay," he smiled as he let her go and watched her walk into the bathroom. A bit later, once the water was heard turning on, he heard, "HOT!" followed by something falling and a shout of, "OW!" He smiled as he shook his head, talking lowly to himself, "That's my Karen."
The next morning arrived and Karen was lying on her back comfortably, sleeping peacefully with her arms folded at her chest. She felt a wet tongue on her cheek as she giggled. "Bear... stop that..." She reached up to pet what she figured was her dog, but felt a stranger head of hair instead. She knew it wasn't Bear's. She knew it wasn't Leoko's... Karen's eyes flew open to see a different man beside her bed, looking down at her. Karen screamed loudly as she sat up and backed away. The man yelled as well, standing straight and backing away a bit. He looked somewhat like Leoko with the bluish hair and age closeness in looks, though his hair was longer and past his ears, somewhat thinner. Karen also sensed a greater demonic aura in him. She looked at him wide eyed, and he at her as they remained silent. Karen then busted out yelling, "Can't I ever wake up to a normal morning in this house!"
After she said that, Leoko walked into the bedroom. "Hey Karen. You like waffles?" Karen stared at him flatly and shook her head as she finally said, "That's it. I'm going back to bed." She lay down again and threw her covers over her head. Leoko blinked and looked at the other man. "Kyouso... you didn't scare her did you?" Kyouso sweatdropped. "Maybe..." Leoko sighed and slapped his own forehead. "Karen... this is my cousin Kyouso. Kyouso... my mate Karen." Kyouso smiled at Leoko as he said, "I know. She tastes good." Karen sat up as she glared at Kyouso, but Leoko just laughed. She raised an eyebrow at Leoko as she rushed up and got in his face. "You're just going to let him get away with that?" she yelled in question. Leoko sweatdropped at her snappy morning attitude. "Yeah... because I know he doesn't mean it that way." The sleepy woman stared at Leoko for a bit, her eyes opening and closing a few times before she got out of her brief pause and said, "So... where's my waffles?"
Once she was actually awake and sitting at the dining table with Leoko and his cousin, she ate her waffles while questioning them. "So Kyouso, you're a full demon, am I correct?" Kyouso looked at her as he seemed a bit surprised. "Yeah. How'd you know that?" Leoko smirked at this. "Karen is no ordinary human." "Well apparently not. She chose you of all people," Kyouso replied, making the half demon give him a flat, stern stare. Kyouso hurried and finished with, "Shutting up," as he proceeded to eat his waffles, snickering under his breath. Karen was even more curious now as she had to ask, "Why are you here Kyouso?" The demon looked up from his plate as he tried to talk in a mouthful, but it only came out muffled and sloppy as he spit out some of the waffle. Leoko sighed and shook his head, and Karen's eyes widened as she said, "What did you say about my hair?"
"I said your hair is full of luster..." "Oh..." "And I'm here because I wanted to see my brother," he said as he ate another bite of waffles. Leoko rolled his eyes. "You are not. You're here to ask for my sword, and you know it." Their conversation seemed to take a serious turn as Kyouso replied, "Well Leoko, you do know that I am of full demon blood. My power and skills would be better suited for the use of the sword. Plus your dad would have rather passed it on to me if I had been there at that time." Leoko looked at Kyouso and raised an eyebrow. "He's not your father." "So? He's still family. Now give me the sword," Kyouso demanded. "Eh, I didn't want it in the first place," Leoko casually replied. Kyouso shook his head, not paying full attention to Leoko's words as he stood. "Now don't try and put up a fight or I'll have to take it from you."
It then hit him, what Leoko had said. He looked at his cousin curiously as he said, "You don't want it?" Leoko shook his head. "No I didn't want it..." "Good then hand it over." "I can't do that." Kyouso was confused now. "WHY NOT?" "Because I am meant to change its reputation. I already promised to protect Karen with it." Kyouso looked at Karen as he pointed her out. "So? You can still protect her. You don't need the sword." "Let it go, Kyouso. I can't give it to you." Karen saw Kyouso's glare and she stared a bit before she stood up. "Well this is obviously a family matter, so I'll let you two talk this over." She left the room and went outside to see her dog, Bear.
Kyouso and Leoko stood facing each other, staring each other down. Leoko's eyes seemed more serious now as he looked into his cousin's eyes. He then smirked and said, "So what are you gonna do? Take it from me?" Kyouso returned the smirk. "That's exactly what I plan to do." The demon used waterpowers as a water rope extended from his hand and he grabbed the sword's hilt with it. He pulled it to him as he caught it in his hand, slowly studying it and unsheathing it. "Nice. You know, I've always thought of you as a brother." Leoko glared a bit. "Give it back." "Nah, I don't think I will. Besides, I want to show you a new trick. Kon Suicchi!" He slashed toward Leoko with the sword as a green hued light was emitted from the sword. The light went into Leoko and his soul emerged from his body. Leoko's soul flew to Bear's canine body and Bear's soul went into Leoko's body in exchange.
Kyouso held a sneaky grin. "What do you think cuz? Neat enough for ya?" Bear, now inside Leoko's body, looked at Kyouso as he said this and barked with Leoko's vocals. "ARF!" Kyouso blinked at this reaction and shrugged. "Okay, if you say so." He then smiled triumphantly with the sword in hand as he held it. "Thanks Leoko. You're too kind." Bear looked down at the body he was in and started nibbling on the human hand upon him. He then felt his teeth with his tongue and felt the difference. Needless to say, he was confused. Kyouso held a smirk. "How does it feel mutt?" Bear looked at Kyouso and growled, then barked with Leoko's voice as he started towards Kyouso - on all fours. The pup may have had a human body, but he still had his instincts for not trusting this guy. Kyouso stared wide eyed at how odd it was as he took a couple steps back. "Uhh... weird much?"
Meanwhile outside, Leoko himself was greatly confused as he opened his eyes to find that Karen was hugging him tightly. "Who's a good puppy? Who's my Bear-Bear?" she pet talked to him as she huggled him and pet him. Leoko made a confused noise and remained frozen still in his spot, unsure of whether to move or not. Karen let him go as she smiled at him and pet his head. "You're gonna be a big doggie. Yes you are." Leoko looked at Karen and only saw her in a black and white perspective. 'I'm in Bear's body?' he thought to himself. He looked down the short distance to the ground as he saw the big pup paws. 'Oh boy.' Karen grabbed each side of Bear/Leoko's face and said, "Today's your special day Bear-Bear. I'm going to take you to the vet to get you neutered!" She said this in an excited tone as she held a big grin, thinking that it was just a 'dense pup' that wouldn't understand her words. Leoko's eyes widened as he heard this, then he started running in a circle and yelping, at least until he tripped on his chain.
Karen stared in confusion at this as she stood up. "Wow... it's almost like you understood me." She then gave a shrug as she walked toward the house. "Well I'm gonna go tell Leoko and we'll get ready to go." Before she got to the porch, she tripped on a small pothole as she landed on her face. "MY FACE!" She got up slowly and shook her head as she walked inside. "That seems to happen a lot lately." Leoko watched her walk inside, his heart now in fear. 'Neutered? Why me?' he thought as he whimpered. He took a run for it as he tried to break the chain. It didn't budge, but only choked him as he yelped and fell. 'Damn. When that box said Heavy Duty Chain, it wasn't lying.'
Karen walked in as she saw 'Leoko' rummaging through the refrigerator. "Leoko, are you hungry hun?" she asked a bit cautiously as she saw the food flying out of the refrigerator. Bear got his head out of the refrigerator as he heard Karen. When he saw her, he became excited as he ran for her and tackled her onto the couch. Karen chuckled as he licked her cheek. "Leoko... honey why are you...? Okay okay, stop that," she laughed as she tried to get him to stop licking her face repeatedly. Bear panted with Leoko's tongue, giving Karen a weird impression as she blinked at him. "Leoko, why are you acting like a dog?" Bear made a bark as he licked her again. Karen pushed him off as she chuckled. "Okay, whatever floats your boat. Listen, I have to take Bear to the vet, so you can stay here if you want or you can go with me." Bear heard the words 'go with me' as he started running around excitedly. Karen blinked. "Okay... well get ready and let's go then." She looked around a bit as she inquired, "Where'd your cousin get to anyway?"
Kyouso walked out back and smirked while carrying the sword. He was barked at by 'Bear' as his heart jumped and he stepped back. "Phew... it's just a filthy mutt." Leoko growled as he stared Kyouso down, and that's when the demon grinned. "Ah, well if it isn't my cuz. Are you enjoying yourself you fleabitten slobberbox?" 'Why you little...' was in Leoko's thoughts as he barked wildly and growled at Kyouso, wishing he could speak his thoughts on his cousin for doing this to him. Kyouso found this amusing as he just walked off. "Stay away from me. You'll make me sneeze." Leoko was persistent on tugging and trying to break through the chain as he barked at Kyouso, who soon left out of sight as he laughed almost evilly.
"Bear-Bear!" Karen called from inside the house. She was about to come outside and he knew it as he gulped. He had to think of something fast. As Karen walked outside, she exclaimed, "Come on boy! Let's go to the vet and get you... Bear?" She was confused when she didn't see him. She saw that his chain led inside the dog house as she looked inside it. "Bear?" She didn't see him at first, but she saw the chain leading to the ceiling of the doghouse as she looked up and under. There he was, clinging upside down on the ceiling with his claws. "Bear! How did you get up there?" She pulled him off, practically ripped him down as she pulled him out of the doghouse. "That was just plain weird. Now come on."
While Karen was busy coaxing 'Bear' into the car, 'Leoko' was sniffing around outside as he found a tree. He smelled of it for a bit and hiked his leg up at it, not even pulling down his pants. He was confused when his urine didn't go on the tree, and even more confused when he felt the warmth traveling down his leg and lingering on the fabric. Karen pulled on the chain and got 'Bear' into the car as she shut the door. She turned and saw what 'Leoko' had done as she stared. "Leoko, what did you do?" Bear looked down at the wet pants and then up at Karen, baffled. Karen walked over as she pushed him back towards the house. "Look, you just stay here okay...? And change your pants." She got 'Leoko' inside and closed the door, then went back to the car as she got in. Leoko was trying to get out of the car by opening the car door's handle. 'Damn, not having thumbs sucks!' Karen looked back at him in the backseat. "Bear! No! Sit!" she scolded. This got Leoko's attention as he stopped as commanded and whimpered. "Hmmm... I like the way you listen," Karen said as she smiled and started the car. Leoko just sat back in the seat and sulked.
Bear was now home alone as he looked around the house in confusion. He grinned as he took off the clothing on his newly acquired Leoko body, finally feeling free as he roamed the house in the nude. He saw no shame in it. It was his nature. He looked down as he saw his 'nature' and winced. It was different than what his dog body had. He shrugged it off and went to look around the house for stuff to tear up and explore. He roamed until he found the bathroom, seeing the toilet. That's when the dog instincts kicked in and he stuck his face into the toilet as he drank. Since he had no tail to wag, he just wiggled his butt.
The sound of the doorbell rang through the house as Bear heard it. He got his head out of the toilet bowl and looked up as if alert, then ran to the door as he scratched at it with the fingernails. He stopped after a bit and looked at the doorknob, then at his human fingers. He had thumbs now. Bear reached out and opened the door as he saw a mailwoman standing there. "Excuse me, is there a..." The woman's eyes widened as she saw a naked and wet half demon standing there looking at her, exposed fully. "I'LL ASK YOU LATER!" she yelled as she ran off fearfully. Bear just blinked, then barked as he shut the door.
Meanwhile in the backseat, headed for the place that would make him lose his manhood as a dog, Leoko was thinking to himself, 'How can I get her to see that it's me?' He leaned up through the space between the seats as he nudged her shoulder, whimpering softly. Karen smiled as she still kept her eyes on the road. "I know Bear-Bear. We'll be there soon so you can get out and you won't have to be cramped up in the car." Leoko only whined more, for he knew what was coming when he had to get out of the car. He looked at her finger and saw the Sapphire Promise as he put his paw on her hand. Karen just chuckled and said, "Now Bear. Sit back and be patient. We'll be there soon, okay?" Leoko gave an internal sigh. He thought, or rather hoped that it would show her that he knew what it was.
He started to panic now. He didn't want to lose his manhood. Even if it wasn't his to begin with, he still didn't want to feel it. Leoko was desperate now as he tried to open the car door with his paws. No thumbs. 'Damn,' he thought, growling lowly. "Bear, don't claw on my door." Leoko heeded her words, but then he had another idea as he took his pointer claw to the seat fabric. "And don't rip up my seats either," she added. He had almost gotten a letter I carved into the seat. He didn't stop yet as he disobeyed her just this once and tried to carve words. The letters were sloppy and undeterminable as he slashed them into the seat, which made him quite disappointed. She'd never be able to read that. The first word looked like the word I'm in a way. "Bear, what did I tell you? Stop it," she demanded. "Besides, look where we are." Leoko looked up and saw it. The nightmare of his life: The veterinary office. He clung to the seat in fear, afraid to go in there. He failed to get his point across to her. Now he was in trouble.
Kyouso had wandered off and taken the sword back with him as he went into the waters with it. A transparent bubble of an aura surrounded him as he walked under the waters. Fish zoomed by him, knowing that his presence was there. Still he kept walking, a neutral stare in his eyes ahead of him. He found a secret lair under there as he went inside a sealing flap door. The aura around him dissipated and he stood in the underwater lair with the sword. "I got it from him. I got Kyoutzai." A set of bright royal blue eyes flashed from a dark corner as Kyouso held the sword there, presenting it to the one in the shadows.