Author's Notes: I know! I know! I forgot to post! I'm sorry! (insert random excuses about planning for Otakon here) Anyway, in case I managed to forget to mention it, I'm going to the anime convention in Baltimore, Otakon. Much cosplaying and shit will be done. I won't be around from Thursday to Sunday evening. Therefore no posts.

Again, sorry. I'll post another chapter today to make up for it.

11

I dropped my suitcase by the door and looked around the house for a good reason to pretend I was going to find Gojyo for any other than to save his ass. I found two umbrellas in the kitchen and headed for town, not really sure exactly where I was going. Usually Gojyo was easy to follow, there was a certain feel in the air where he had been, but it was masked by the youkai who had taken him.

I still managed to track the building down, determined that this time, no youkai was going to take someone from me again. No point in allowing that, not when I was more powerful than any of the thugs in this town. Gojyo was mine, he wasn't allowed to die for assholes like Banri.

I snuck along the outside of the building, listening for his voice, and held still when I heard it, laughing. I knew that sort of laugh, he was looking for a fight, looking to piss someone off, his suicide laugh. I suppose he had a right to believe that no one was coming for him, and I held back a moment longer, savoring that thought, the thought that he did still want me around, if only to get him out of that situation.

He didn't really want to die, he just wanted to live like everyone else.

It was a good moment to move in when I heard a gun click, and I kicked at the door until it crashed open, knocking two youkai guards, down the stairs. I looked around, assessing how many were there, escape routes, whether or not Gojyo was badly beaten. They had a gun to his head, and my gut twisted in a moment of terror.

"Ah. Sorry." He looked surprised to see me, and it made me smile. "I thought I'd bring him an umbrella."

"H-hey. What are you doing here?" he sputtered. I sighed as if in disappointment.

"Really, I was always aware of the stupidity. But not that it could go this far."

The poor man was insulted; he wasn't as badly wounded as he looked.

"I mean mine, of course. And the fact that I'm getting involved with this." It was stupid. This organization could be spread far and wide, I was asking for trouble saving Gojyo. This might happen again and again until we were all dead. I found I didn't care; I just wanted Gojyo back.

"Look. I said it at the house – this's got nothing to do with you!" How sweet of him, trying to protect me.

"You also said that people don't change easily." I had to tell him I forgave him. He'd been a right prick the past two weeks, but I forgave him whether or not he wanted. "I'm a jack of all trades and a master of none."

He stared at me, then smiled and set his head back, letting himself be forgiven. It seemed to exhaust him. "Just like me."

The others in the room, who had been so politely quiet during our exchange spoke up, presented themselves like ducks in a row for shooting. There was no way I could beat them up with a couple of umbrellas, not as a human.

"I suppose I have no choice. Careful, though. It'll be hard for me not to kill you."

I reached for my limiters and picked them off, one after the other, dropping them aside. The change from human to youkai was faster than I expected, my skin thrummed with power, my hair brushed long against my cheeks. It felt nice, skimming razor-sharp nails across my own face, baring pointed teeth at the cowering masses. Gojyo looked a little more than terrified and was trying to loose himself from the chair he was tied to.

Flesh tore easily under the barest ministration, and blood was warm when it hit my face, but the noise was immense. I didn't stop killing until they stopped screaming, lusting only for silence now.

Fin Chapter 11

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To My Readers:

Rori Barton: (smiles) I'm glad you still like it. And yes, Minekura gives us great hope, usually by dangling it right under our noses…

fullmetalguitar: Because love makes you stupid. Really stupid. You have no idea how stupid. Think of stupid to the tenth power and it isn't even close.

x-aiden-x: But they make life more interesting…