The next 3 months flew by at an amazing rate. Rina was a fast learner with Sessho Maru as her teacher. Efficient, Sessho Maru brought out powers in Rina that she didn't even think was possible. And as she got better in practice, they frequently went out on demon hunts to further her skills. After all, experience is the best teacher.
By the time that the one-year anniversary of their meeting arrived, Rina could wield power bolts, forming them into whatever weapon she wished, though she usually preferred either a sword or a whip. Her reflexes became honed to the point where it was almost like she could see even the most surprising attack minutes before it happened. If she thought herself fast before, then her speed now was blinding. She had mental powers of telepathy and telekinesis. And she could transform. She hadn't completely mastered transforming, but she knew that it could be done. And, per caution from Sessho Maru, she didn't try to very much. He warned her that transforming was exhausting, especially when one wasn't very experienced with it, and could sap much-needed energy needed for a battle.
"Only transform if you absolutely have to."
Rina still went back to her time frequently to perform with Kuri and the others and Sessho Maru loved going to watch. He often sat in on their practice sessions, listening to new music take life into raw, heart-pounding rhythms. The people in the band seemed to like him. They often joked around with him, sometimes at his expense. Rina assured him that they only did that with people they liked.
"They love to give people hell," she explained. "And when they poke fun at you, the completely expect you to give them shit right back."
So, by and by, Sessho Maru relaxed around them and now his sharp wit with them could leave lesser people raw and bleeding. But they always laughed hysterically when he joined them in their barbing sessions. Both Sessho Maru and Rina were quite pleased at the caustic sense of humor that neither knew that he had.
And every night that they performed, he always sat at the table that he'd sat at the first night that he'd watched them perform. His pride in Rina grew daily as well as the warming fact that she belonged to him. She loved him, and that was something that he would never get used to. Never take for granted.
And gods, her voice. After long days of training and hunting, never-ending worry of how it would go when they faced Hinkotsu, her voice could melt away an entire week of cares. Her voice always filled him with joy and longing for her.
Under Shadows had just finished practice. Kuri and the others were heading off for the night since Rina had offered to tidy up their practice space. Rina listened to the door close and the cars start and drive away while she began the process of tidying up. Yet it was all she could do to keep her hands from shaking.
Her body had been humming for him the entire evening. And it didn't help that he chose tonight to start playing around with their mental connection. Though he had been sitting well away from her towards the back of the room, Rina kept feeling sensations that felt as though he were right there, right behind her, mischievously reaching his hand down the front of her pants to caress her lovingly between her legs. It had all Rina could do to keep from moaning in pleasure. But, though she managed to hide it well from the rest of the band, she knew that Sessho Maru could see and sense her response.
Rina hadn't been about to let him get away with that without some form of retribution, so she began doing it back to him. She'd create vivid mental images of the both of them in her mind and project them and the sensations to Sessho Maru. She knew that she had really gotten him when, while practicing a cover of Celine Dion's "If Walls Could Talk", she projected to him an image of him tied to her bed, blindfolded. Teasing and torturing him until he was driven out of his mind with need before impaling herself on him. Even as she imagined this, she could feel him as though it were actually happening. She could feel him inside her as she, in her mind, rode him slow and easy until he begged her to fuck his brains out. Glancing at him at the back of the room, she saw him squirming with the discomfort of the arousal she gave him. She already knew that she was soaking her own drawers in the process. And when his eyes had met hers, his golden gaze had heated up to the point of nearly spitting sparks.
She had giggled inwardly. Oh, I am in such big trouble, she thought evilly.
And indeed she was, for now, as she was in the middle of innocently straightening up the practice room, she caught a glance of the tortured Sessho Maru out of the corner of her eye. And he was stalking up to her quite purposefully.
She gasped when he grabbed her to him roughly, picking her up so that she was at eye-level with him before dragging her head to his so that he could seize her mouth in a kiss that was positively starving. He slammed her violently into the nearest wall, nearly knocking the breath out of her lungs, all the while devouring her. Pinning her there with the strength of his body, he grabbed one of her hands and put it on the bulge in his pants.
Sessho Maru moaned at the feel of her fist gripping his erection while he probed the center of her body through her jeans.
"That is what you have done to me," he said in a voice that was hoarse with desperation. He had to have her. Now. It couldn't possibly wait until they got home.
Rina's eyes glinted mischievously. "You started it, m'lord," she teased.
He growled as he kissed her on the lips. "And you effectively have finished me. You have shredded every ounce of self restraint that I've ever been gifted with."
Rina crowed inwardly to see her mate so desperate to take her. She laughed as he practically shredded her jeans from her body, even as she scolded him. "Hey, that's one of my favorite pairs!"
"I'll fix them later," he swore raggedly. Drawing down his own jeans just enough, he pinned her back up against the wall and plunged into her, eliciting a cry of ecstatic delight from Rina.
Hooking her legs over the crook of his arms to support her weight, he pounded himself into her at a furious speed that left the both of them breathless and gasping. Rina cried out as she felt her climax building. She wasn't ready to come. Not yet.
Snarling like the tigress that she was, she forcefully broke his hold on her and leaped up just enough to where she could rebound and tackle him to the ground. They rolled until she had successfully pinned him to the ground. Sessho Maru strained against her, snarling, but she held her ground until she could lift herself up and impale herself onto him. Just as she had done in her little daydream from earlier in the evening. They both gasped in unison as she took control of their pleasure. Rina rolled her hips into him wildly, the white lights starting to build up behind her closed eyes. Sessho Maru sat up with her still straddling his lap to clamp his arms tightly around her slender, muscular waist, meeting each of her thrusts with his own.
They came together in a brilliant wave. Rina screamed his name as Sessho Maru roared at the height of his pleasure.
They collapsed together onto the cold concrete floor, each breathing heavily in the aftermath.
"Well, Firefly," Sessho Maru spoke at last, breathing heavily between each word, "You've proven me right."
"About what, my love?" Rina asked as she cuddled into his sweat-soaked chest.
"About what ran through my mind the first time I ever saw you. Ever talked to you. In fact, it was something that ran through my mind right after you punched me and walked off."
Rina couldn't keep back a giggle at the memory. "What ran through your mind, love?" she purred.
"Right after you walked off, I found myself thinking that I couldn't think of a single sparring partner more worthy and challenging than you."
Rina grinned. "Yeah?"
"Yes. And not just in the training ring," he growled playfully, already growing hard for her again.
Her eyes flared with playful mischief. "Oh? Where else?"
Sessho Maru rolled back onto her and plunged in, causing her to gasp in the way that always made him melt for her. Nibbling her neck as he began to thrust into her, he whispered into her ear: "Guess."
One night, he was listening to Under Shadows singing "I Must Be Dreaming" by Evanescence when he felt a tremor from Rina and heard her voice falter.
He looked up at her to see where her gaze was directed. He followed her gaze easily to a man across the room. Looking back up at her, he could see the unease in her eyes, feel her sudden longing to just get away. He looked back at the man. He wasn't Japanese, but he was with a few Japanese people that he seemed to know well. He was talking with them and pointing at Rina. Looking back at Rina and then back at this man that she seemed afraid of, all of a sudden Sessho Maru knew who this man was.
His lip curled back in a rabid snarl.
David.
This is the coward who hurt my Rina and he DARES show his face here!
Rina saw Sessho Maru look at her and then at David several times. She was trembling with fear. Both of David and of what Sessho Maru would do if he figured it out. He will, she knew. Sessho Maru isn't stupid.
Sure enough. She saw his lip draw up over his fangs in a rabid, deadly snarl and saw his eyes begin to turn red.
Sessho Maru! Please! Not here! Please! she pleaded to him.
He looked at her, his eyes returning to normal. He seemed confused. She knew that he didn't understand why he couldn't just dust the bastard right here. She relaxed a bit when she saw him stand down.
I don't even know why I'm afraid of him now. I could make David piss his pants just by looking at him cross-eyed, she thought bitterly.
Still, she knew. Just the sight of him was enough to make her relive all over again the night that he raped her. The physical pain. The agony of being so helpless.
The song ended, much to her relief, and she departed the stage with the rest of the band. Luckily, that had been their last song for the night.
Kuri was snarling rabidly. "Was that who I think it was!" she screeched when they all got back to the dressing rooms.
Rina looked positively green. "Yeah. That was David."
"I'm gonna kill that sonofabitch!" Kuri raged. "How dare he come back here and stand where you are thinking that the past is forgotten!"
"Kuri, I've got to go home," Rina said. "Just standing in the same building as him makes me feel filthy all over again."
"Ok. You be careful, hon," Kuri said sympathetically. "We'll see you at band practice in a couple weeks, ok? Enjoy your time off."
"Yeah. See ya," Rina said as she hastily exited the back door. She would meet Sessho Maru out front.
Thumbing through the pages of my fantasies
Pushing all the mercy down, down, down.
She should have known better than to let her stress get to her, allowing it to make her blind rather than on guard, as she should have been. She slammed hard into somebody, a startled cry leaving her lips.
"Hello, Rina," came a sickeningly familiar voice.
Her lips drew back in a snarl. "You!" she cried angrily. "How dare you think that you can even approach me after what you've done!"
Let's see you try to take a swing at me
Come on, gonna put you on the ground, ground, ground
"Oh please, babe," David leered back at her. "You were begging for me the entire time. You think I didn't know it? Considering how you kissed me that night? You enjoyed every minute of it."
Why are you trying to make fun of me!
You think it's funny, what the fuck you think it's doin' to me
You take your turn lashing out at me
I want you crying when you're bloody down in front of me
A strangled cry of rage tore from Rina's throat. "Get away from me! You are vile and the mere sight of you makes me ill!"
"Aw, Rina," he laughed cruelly at her. "I thought that we could catch up. You know, give you what you've been missing since that night."
Rina backed away, snarling loudly and rabidly, her fear and anger and hate filling and overflowing her.
All of my hate cannot be bound
I will not be drowned by your thoughtless scheming
So, you can try to tear me down
Beat me to the ground
I will see you screaming
Suddenly David's eyes widened in fear as he looked at her.
Rina's eyes had turned completely blood-red and her fangs descended menacingly. Her claws grew and flashed threateningly in the moonlight.
Thumbing through the pages of my fantasies
I'm above you smiling at you drown, drown, drown.
"Wha--what are you?" David cried in a strangled voice. He pulled out a large knife and slashed it defensively in front of him. Rina stepped easily away from it.
"Something that you should never have fucked with," her voice roared, but it hardly sounded like her. She sounded--well--demonic. Her voice was underlined by the fierce yowl of an extremely pissed off cat. A tigress that thirsted for the blood of him who had harmed her and shamed her.
I wanna kill and rape you the way you raped me
I'll pull the trigger and you're down, down, down
David back-pedaled sharply, only to smack into Sessho Maru's hard form. Wheeling about, David got an unobstructed view of Sessho Maru's rising fury. Sessho Maru's eyes were just as red as Rina's, his fangs just as menacing, his claws just as deadly. His claws were practically spitting their venom at David of their own volition, so hot did Sessho Maru's rage emanate from him.
Why are you trying to make fun of me
You think it's funny, what the fuck you think it's doing to me
You take your turn lashing out at me
I want you crying when you're bloody down in front of me
David opened his mouth to scream, but Rina snatched out to cover his mouth. Her claws dug into the flesh of his face as she longed to just squeeze his head to a pulp.
"How many, David?" she growled into his face. "How many have you hurt? I know that I'm not the first that you've violated." She gave him a harsh shake. "Am I!"
All of my hate cannot be bound
I will not be drowned by your thoughtless scheming
So, you can try to tear me down
Beat me to the ground, I will see you screaming!
"No," came David's hoarse answer.
All my friends are gone, they died
They all screamed and cried
Rina's teeth bared at that. "I should have known what you were when I first saw you. I should have recognized the signs."
Gonna take you down!
David whimpered with terror at Rina's wrath. His fear intermingled with the urine and waste that now stained his jeans. "Please don't hurt me!" he bawled hysterically
Gonna take you down!
Sessho Maru snarled in response. "And why should she have mercy on you? Why should I have mercy on you? You are nothing but a coward. A pathetic fool. A living rot on humanity and the face of the entire earth. Only scum like you force themselves on a woman."
Gonna take you down!
"I should kill you for what you did to my mate," Sessho Maru continued. "I should let her kill you for her own gratification and the knowing that there is one less of you to prowl around looking for someone to hurt."
Gonna take you down!
"Please!" David sobbed. "I swear that I won't ever hurt nobody ever again! Please!"
All of my hate cannot be bound
I will not be drowned by your thoughtless scheming
So, you can try to tear me down
Beat me to the ground
I will see you screaming
Rina's eyes began to lighten. Her hate was still visible even as her eyes returned to their normal emerald color. She was shaken at how close she'd come to completely losing control. David was still sobbing like a beaten child in her grasp. Disgustedly, she threw him roughly to the ground.
"Rina?" Sessho Maru asked quietly.
Rina was still shaking from the force of her hatred. "He's not worth it. He is less than the dirt under my feet. He can't hurt me anymore." Kneeling down until her face was even with David's, she whispered threateningly "If ever you hurt anyone else, be it human or animal...if you so much as purposely squash a cockroach, I will know about it and I WILL come after you. I don't care where you are. You ever fuck up again, and nothing will keep you safe from me."
Straightening up, Rina glowered coldly at him. "And don't even THINK of trying to tell anyone what you saw tonight. All that would happen is that you'll get thrown into the loony bin."
Kicking dirt on him, she said "There. Be with your own."
Not looking back, she and Sessho Maru turned and started toward the well.
All of my hate cannot be bound
I will not be drowned by your thoughtless scheming
Sessho Maru heard the click an instant before the attack. But David still wasn't fast enough. Sessho Maru whirled and, with his venomous claws, tore a hole in David's chest.
So, you can try to tear me down
Beat me to the ground
I will see you screaming
The knife didn't even come close to Rina. She watched with fascination as the venom worked quickly through David's dying body, paralyzing him first, then seizing his lungs and keeping him from breathing. It didn't take long for him to shut down.
Sessho Maru calmly gathered Rina into his arms and sailed smoothly into the air, gliding toward the well.
Upon reaching the other side, Sessho Maru set Rina down so that he could hold her. "Are you alright, my love?" he asked gently.
"I'm just so shaken," she whispered. "I never thought I'd have to see him again. And I nearly lost control," her voice shook.
"Ssshhhh, love," Sessho Maru soothed. "You never have to worry about being bothered by that slime ever again."
Rina nodded as she buried her head into her mate's chest. "I knew I didn't have anything to fear from him, but I couldn't help it. Just seeing his face again made me relive everything that he did to me."
He held her quietly as her shocked mind tried to process everything that happened.
That night Rina had repeated nightmares of when she was a helpless 17-year-old being raped by someone that she thought was a friend. And Sessho Maru was there to comfort her through all of it.