I lean heavily against the wall, trying to keep my eyes open and my brain working. From where I stand I can see into a room I had never seen before. I'm sure there are many rooms in the Heavens that were unfamiliar to my eyes, but most looked somewhat similar to each other. This one was large and with the floor cleared of everything. Just a big empty room.

I could see my lion, but also Zyglavis, and the two were glaring poisonous daggers at one another. I also noticed Scorpio and Karno, but both were quiet and a bit further from the two ministers.

"I see." Zyglavis finally speaks up. "But wouldn't there be a discrepancy with our reports?"

Reports? Didn't sound like this was a fiery argument about me and Leo, like Ichthys had led me to believe.

"It looks like you morons in the Department of Punishments just don't get it." The lion breathes out, shaking his head.

"I thought today would be one of those rare days where you actually act like a Minister, but I see you're as vulgar as ever." With that I agreed with Zyglavis. Don't know what Leo said, but he commonly was vulgar.

"You haven't changed either." Leo snaps back. "It's comforting to see your forehead wrinkle is just as deep as it was last time." Burn. Ziggle did have a pretty intense forehead.

God I was tired.

"It seems, Minister Leon, that you've started to take your work much more seriously since coming into possession of that human girl."

Possession? Girl? Zyglavis sounded like he was more intent on throwing hands with me than my lion.

"Yeah, I figured I could shut up those complaining gods if I at least did my job."

"Is that girl really that precious to you?" I shift against the cool wall, that felt nice on my cheek, my brain waking up a bit more in want to hear kittens answer. "How amusing. Look what's become of the wild lion…"

"Well, well, it looks like the uptight Zyglavis has reached an age where he's interested in love stories." Hah. Like Leon and I were like a love story-

Oh my god.

We were totally one of those rom-com love stories. How had I never realized it before? It was literally Romeo and Juliet. Except he wasn't a hopeless romantic and I wasn't an underage airhead. Also, neither of us died in the end. So, actually, nothing like Romeo and Juliet.

I really was too tired for this.

"If you're that jealous, you should find a goddess to fornicate with." Leo says as I cringe. I hated the word fornicate. It reminded me of the gynocologist.

"Shut your trap, stupid lion." Scorpio snaps from his place by the other vice.

"Is no one here above low-brow vulgarities, Scorpio?" Karno asks with a low voice. "You too, Leo. There's no need to be so confrontational."

It seemed the longer Leon and Zyglavis fought, the more their anger seeped out into the others in the room.

But one thing was clear: this was not a fight about my dumb ass. Ichthys, as I should've guessed, lied to me, tricking me into thinking something was up with kitten. I bet this was some… status report meeting or whatever.

"I hear that your resident lothario has been granting nothing but woman's wishes." Zyglavis taunts. If I remembered correctly what lothario meant, then that had to definitely be Teorus.

"Oh yeah? Well, I heard your problem child has been pulling one bad prank after another in the name of Punishments Department."

Ha! Now they were talking about that asshole Ichthys. Good.

"You really are unbelievable, Leon." Zyglavis growls. "You're a minister, yet you break that law and love a human. Your actions are creating a much bigger controversy in the heavens than Ichthys' pranks. But Minister Wild Lion has been so busy on Earth, being tamed by some human girl, that he probably doesn't even realize what's happening in the heavens."

"Zyglavis." Karno snaps. He actually snaps his words. That was something incredibly new from the all-smiles and kind voiced man.

"Don't worry about him, Karno." Leon mutters. "When it comes to vilifying something you don't understand, gods and humans are the same. Uptight Minister Ponytail has zero experience with love. He doesn't have a clue what he's talking about." That sure seems to shut up the bluenette.

I knew that some of the gods, scratch that, most of the gods hated me and Leon being together. Actually, I think they hated the idea of a human getting the affection from one of them in general. Humans were nothing but goldfish; inferior beings that meant little to nothing. I had learned that much easily from being with the six. I mean, of course, I'm sure my six, now, didn't feel that way.

Zyglavis' eyes suddenly slip around the room.

"It seems there's a rat in our midst." I raise a brow. Could Zyglavis smell rats? Or what if there were rat gods.

"Actually, one goldfish." Oh. No. Leo just referred to me.

Oh. Wait.

OH.

As soon as Zyglavis' eyes snap towards the door I turn and split. I'm pretty sure I go down the hallway I had come from.

Or not. Quickly I realize I must've sprinted down the opposite hall because if it had been right, I would've made it to the godly manor already.

"Fuck!" I curse as I slip around a corner. Why was I even running? I should've let Leon come over to get me just so I could throw Ichthys under the bus. Now it looks like I'd just wandered into heavens just to "have fun". I could get Leon into even more trouble if I'd come here "for fun".

"Are you really that desperate for a punishment?" I jump back, fists raised and body tensed. Yet, I completely melt when I see that it's Leon.

"Kitten," I say. "I totally didn't sneak into the heavens to fuck around while you were busy." It annoys me that, even though I'm telling the truth, I can't even bring myself to believe my words.

"Do you seriously think I am going to believe your excuse." I frown and then shrug, rubbing at one of my eyes.

"It's the truth." I mumble. He shakes his head, but stops just in front of me to run fingers through my hair, simultaneously pushing my head to the side.

"First things first, come." I blink, feeling his hand latch onto mine as he begins to pull me down the hallway.

Before I know it we end up in his room. Except...I'm pretty sure we hadn't returned to the manor.

"This is my room in the heavens." He inserts.

"But...it looks like the one on Earth." I see him narrow his eyes. "Okay, just because it's more glittery doesn't mean it's any different." He shakes his head but the mirth that had lit up his face when he first saw me was slowly ebbing away.

"I suppose I'll ask. Why are you here?"

"Like I said, I didn't come here for shit n' giggles. Ichthys told me you had gotten into a big fight with the other gods over us being together. And he kept messing with me even though I'm so goddamn tired and-" He quiets me with a hand to my cheek. Instinctively I push my face into the warmth, sighing out contently. "I fucked up his face."

Leon shakes with unheard laughter.

"If you maim every god you see you'll be called into a meeting with the King." Leo informs. "Though, I'm sure he's expecting it with my little star." I snort, turning my face into his palm.

"He'll just snap his fingers and fix his face anyway so. It was just a broken nose. I think. He shouldn't have been messing with me so late at night at the godly manor."

"...Why were you at the mansion?" I stutter out a yawn, bringing my hands up to cling to the man's outstretched arm. I wonder if he'll let me sleep in this room?

"To see you." I mumble out. "Stuff happened and-"

"I see," he says, cutting me off before I can start talking about my hellish nightmare. "So, you came to pay me an evening visit, after all." I shrug.

"I mean, I think it's later than evening at this point. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's very early morning…"

"To come to my room this late... And then chase me to the heavens when you saw I wasn't there… And then to trick that problematic fish into helping you… You must be starving for my touch."

My eyes flutter open and I turn my head away from Leon's hand to meet his burning amber eyes. Something cold wells up in my chest and my hands drop heavily down to my side and I quickly take my face away from his touch.

"What?" His smirk tells me he's completely oblivious and suddenly I feel…. Upset. I blame it on my tired state, but I had so little energy I couldn't find any of my anger I had before. I couldn't pump myself and get my rage boiling about this idiot. Instead I just felt...upset. Did he think I only came to fuck him? That I was lying about what Ichthys had done? That everything from less than a week ago meant literally nothing?

"There are gods in the heavens who don't think well of humans."

"Sure." I say slowly.

"Don't think you can just come here whenever you like. You'd fall right into their trap."

"I know that. I said I only came here because Ichthys said-

"It's time for the Department of Wishes and the Department of Punishments to report on whether work is progressing smoothly or not. Which the ministers of each department engage in discussion." The topic changes so quickly my sluggish mind is chugging painfully to keep up.

"I...Didn't know you guys did that. Makes sense?" Makes sense if that's what their fighting was about. That shit didn't seem professional in the slightest, but, honestly, what did I expect from them at this point?

"I'd like to punish you right now for taking it upon yourself to show up here, but, unfortunately, I'm busy."

"Shucks." I apathetically muse. "Meeting still going on?

"I have one more senseless task to take care of." He says this while looking of to one of the large windows. It's in a sort of way that reminds me of a tv drama Hiyori showed me recently. However, the air of melancholy coming from him was definitely not fake.

"Senseless task?" I question.

"Damn it." He curses loudly under a sigh. "They think up the most ridiculous events…" My brows furrow. Had I fallen asleep for a second and missed some kind of important slip of info? He then turns towards me, eyes soft. "Be a good girl and wait here. You know what'll happen if you leave this room, right?" I open my mouth immediately for a quip, but my mind refuses to make one and I just give a heavy nod.

"Leon-"

"You may use my bed." I feel a dreamy smile split my lips, glad he at least noticed how tired I was. He leans down, kisses my forehead, and then quickly leaves the room.

I just about leapt into his silky bed. I throw the covers up and dive under them, curling in on myself as I shut my droopy eyelids in less than a second.

However, though my body screamed for sleep, my mind suddenly woke up.

My heart was aching and I was feeling even more upset than I did when I broke down over the phone with Hiyori less than an hour ago. If I had my phone now, I would've called her up in a heartbeat.

One second, Leon could see the hesitance in my eyes and body language and he'd let up, the other he would be oblivious to my uneasiness. I knew he was lewd and flirty and always went a little too far. I figured that out when we first met. But now he...He was almost worse than when he first crashed into my room! And he literally tried to rape me then. It was probably bothering me more now, because I had an emotional connection with him, but I wasn't crazy. He had gotten worse, right? Before he'd easily let up whenever I made some edgy comment. But now he kept pushing it.

Couldn't he tell how uncomfortable I was?

It seemed now a days that half the time Leon was my other half. We'd continue each other's sentences, because we knew exactly what the other one was thinking. We'd silently accommodate each other if one of us were in a stink or the other gods were pissing one of us off. Leon would pull me to the side and silently tell me "more than the universe" with that quiet, emotion filled voice, and I'd reply "more than the stars in the heavens" in the same tone. I'd force him to take a break from work so he could just lay his head on my lap for a quiet moment, eyes closed, and my fingers running through his wild locks.

Other days, it was as if Leon, the egotistic god from the first day I met everyone, had replaced my kitten. When I briefly mentioned it to Teorus and Huedhaut, the both of them reminded me that Leon had only ever believed in the sexual sides of "relationships". In fact, he didn't even believe in relationships at all until he met me. So I shouldn't be surprised when he asks for more.

I know I shouldn't be. I'm not. It just…

I guess I had never really thought of having sex before. It had never breached my mind until now. Maybe all of Leon's coming ons were seemingly crazy because I was so freaked out by them. Maybe they were normal?

Was I actually against being with Leon in that kind of way, or was I just burying myself in my insecurities again? If I was with Leon that way he'd see...everything. And I didn't like my everything.

My everything wasn't like a goddesses lithe body. I had meat on my bones.

My everything wasn't fair, perfect, or soft. I had a roughness from living life. I had blemishes, cellulite, and scars littering my skin.

I knew Leon could care less about my appearance - that or he generally liked my sub-par looks - but I was very different than other goddesses and I guess...I guess a part of me worried that he'd compare me...

My eyes burned from staring too long at the wall.

The door clicks open and I feel myself tense.

"Did you forget something-"

"You." The new voice has me sitting up and throwing dangerous eyes to the doorway. "I knew it."

"Zyglavis." I say, keeping my voice void of emotion. Slowly I slip out from under the covers and get up to my feet. My body was slow to respond, but my mind was definitely much more awake than when I had been wandering around in the hallways.

"Come with me." I frown.

"Zyglavis-"

"Do you really think you have the right to refuse a god?" I roll my eyes. "I'm not planning to kill you or anything." I snort. I wasn't thinking that before but now it just sounded like I was going to get punished. Actually, I'm sure that's exactly how this was going to go down. "Unlike that wild lion, I have absolutely no interest in humans."

"Diddo."

"Allow me to show you where Leon is." Zyglavis' sneer would, with anyone us, send blood to curdle. However, with me, I just sighed. I knew that whatever shitty "event" Leo had mentioned earlier was probably something he didn't find the need for me to see. But… The look Leon had showed me just before he left…

Maybe it'd explain why his personality was all over the place.

"Lead the way, Ziggle."

"I said I did not plan to kill you. Do not make me change my mind, Hitomi Wakahisa." I snickered, but followed him out of the room. It was funny hearing him use my full name every time he spoke to me.

The atmosphere in the place Zyglavis brings me is formal.

There are gods and goddesses in fancy clothes dancing around beautiful tables. There was also live classical music and… Well. Damn me I guess this was some kind of godly ball. Zyglavis and I stand far away from the others, out of sight. Obviously no one would want a "goldfish" crashing the event; especially me.

"Leon is over there." I follow Zyglavis's arms as he raises it close to my face. His fingers land on my lion, who sits in the center of the ballroom on something that looks like a throne. A line of goddesses in masks wait to greet Leon.

It was…

A bad taste develops in my mouth.

"Ohhh, is this your first time?" Zyglavis asks. He's faking an innocent tone. Probably finding morbid fascination in my reaction to seeing Leo surrounded by women that we both knew were better looking than me. "This is how these balls always go. All of the goddesses are attracted to the strength of Leon's power. They would have to be. Leon isn't usually very sociable, so when he does show himself… goddesses come out of the woodwork for a chance to see him."

It was disgusting. I hated it. Not because I was bothered by him being surrounded by the women that were unearthly beautiful and stunning, but because he was set up on a pedestal like a fucking trophy. I remember him telling me that he felt ostracized from his fellow gods because of his power; that because he was admired, no one had the balls to talk to him.

Leon looks so heartbreakingly lonely.

"I still can't believe it." Zyglavis comments but I barely register it. How come no one else saw how uncomfortable kitten was?

"Believe what?" I ask without looking.

"This idea of a human and god having feelings for each other, much less trusting each other… It's unbelievable."

"That's love." I blurt. I blink, breaking my stare to finally look to Zyglavis. "The idea of people having feelings for each other, much less trusting each other... that stuff doesn't even sound realistic to me when it's between humans." I relent slowly. "So, it should sound even crazier and unrealistic when it's between a god and a human and- well, it does. But if you fill it in and say it's between Leon and me...it's not that crazy anymore." My lips slowly turn into a confident smirk. "I died for my lion, which is as much as me, a human, can do. And he literally tried to restart the entire universe for me, which is as much as he, the second most powerful god, can do. If you know that, then me and him trusting and having feelings for each other isn't so crazy sounding, right?"

Zyglavis doesn't lose his apathetic mask. However, something in his eyes flicker and I know, I just know, that a part of him grasped what I was saying.

When I look to Leon I watch him rake a hand through his hair and my heart pulls. That's what he did was he was going over those annoying and draining documents. He then scrunches up his face in the same way he does when he sees something he doesn't like. To people who don't know him, no one would notice the upset behind his devilish smirk.

But to me, it was obvious.

"I'm going to go back the room and sleep now, 'kay?" I meet Zyglavis' eyes. "I'll wait for him there." Then, I smile. "Because I trust and love Leon, you know?" I give a small wave before I retreat back the way we'd walked.

As soon as I pass through the exit someone bumps into me. Hard. Surprisingly, it's so hard we both stumble back and fall onto our behinds. Which is crazy, because I never lose my footing. It's definitely blamed on the years of boxing, but my stance was golden, even mid step. I could bump into the gods at the manor and even then they'd be the ones to stumble, not me.

"Oops. I'm sorry!" I give big eyes to the man before me, too dumbfounded to find my words. No offence, but he didn't look any bulkier or broader than my lion. If anything he was around Huedhaut's build, so how on earth - or how in the heavens - had he knocked me over?

"I'm sorry!" I finally say, my mind catching up. "I was in a hurry and- are you okay?" I ask, still reeling. I quickly bounce up to my feet and reach a hand out. The man, who had the beauty of a god, if anything more so than that of a normal god, smiled warmly.

"It's fine. I'm fine. Thank you." His voice is as smooth as honey and, I hate to admit it but, it definitely lowered my usual guard. But I was literally a room from Leon and I was in the heavens, it's not like he could do anything if he had double intentions. "But are you okay, Hitomi Wakahisa?"

"Damn it. Am I really that famous?" The fair, pink haired man crackled a small laugh. His eyes were an even softer pink and they turned into crescent moons when he grinned. Actually, the apples of his cheeks made my eyes go to a teardrop beauty mark right under his left eye. I always wanted one of those.

"Very much so. The ex-goddess who tamed the wild lion… You've been reborn as a human, right?" I nod with a shrug.

"Not really clear on the whole rebirth thing, but I'm as human as it gets." He laughs again. Then, it falters and a genuine flash of worry covers his face. It's so abrupt my heart stutters.

"Are you sure you're okay? I worry that you hit the ground too hard…" I laugh it off, waving away his upset look.

"I might be human, pretty boy, but that doesn't mean I can't take a few hits. Plus, you're the one who went down hard. You sure this human didn't damage you?" The taunt is obvious and his lips curl when he hears it.

"I have heard you've...damaged a few of the gods that were sent down to Earth."

"Yeah…" I then give a halfhearted shrug. "I don't know if you're are aware of this or not, but a lot of the gods are assholes." For a split second, he looks surprised at my words, but then he's giggling and smiling. Something about his laughter made me want to hear it more. "Plus, damage sounds kind of extreme. I just...broke a couple of noses."

"A couple?" His twittering grows in volume and I smile.

"Partheno!" The man before me pauses, eyes sliding off of me to look over my shoulder. I follow them to once again find Zyglavis. I give a cocky wave.

"Hey! Well if it isn't Zyglavis! Wait a minute…" His rose tinted orbs fall to me. "She isn't your guest, is she?"

"Apparently, she's her own. It's about time she get back to Earth, though."

"Meh." He shrugs. "There's no need to hurry. We were just in the middle of talking, actually." He reaches a smooth hand out towards me, his long, silky looking locks of pink falling just in the right way to cup his face as he bows slightly. "My dear, I am Partheno, ruler of Virgo. I look forward to getting to know you better." I reach for his hand to shake.

The god named Partheno doesn't take my hand and instead snaps his fingers. My clothes, which I realize after they disappear were my printed pajamas, transform into a gorgeous ball gown. My mouth goes dry as I stare at the red and gold dress.

Oh no.

No.

This was a bottle of nope that I was not going to fucking open.

"Oops, you're going to need a mask, too."

"Partheno-" I begin, finding my voice, but his fingers snaps and the edges of my vision are blacked out. I feel the new lightweight and I can tell it stretches out on either side of my head, to hide the brown roots of my hair - which had been magically done up into an updo.

"There you go." Partheno breathes as I glare.

"Okay, No? I was going to go to sleep. Zyglavis was right, I need to leave, not stick around here. I'm not fucking Cinderella.

"Tonight's dinner party is a masquerade ball." I groan. Partheno was just as bad at listening as the rest of them. I should've known as soon as he introduced himself as a zodiac god. "This mask has the power to hide your identity."

"Great." I muse lowly with an eye roll.

"We may be gods, but that doesn't mean everyone has the same social status." Zyglavis informs instead of getting upset and sending me home. God damn him. "It's very rude for someone with a low status to speak to someone with a high status. That's why everyone's wearing a mask. Without identities hidden, we can enjoy the ball."

"The more I hang around you guys, the more it sound like you all regressed to the human victorian age instead of being progressive and ahead of us all."

I'm ignored.

"The only person recognizable even with a mask on is Leon. His power is too immense for the mask to hide." Partheno says with a grimace, glancing to the balls open doorway.

"I'm afraid this ball isn't very interesting to the wild lion." I nod at Zyglavis' words.

"Cool. Dandy. But why the hell am I-"

"Well then, farewell. Go get lost, princess." Just as Partheno speaks I see his hand go up. I growl, lunging for him, but he snaps before I can grab his hand.

I appear in the middle of the masquerade ball. I catch myself right before I stumble and make a scene. I suck in a shaky breath, freezing up like a mouse surrounded by cats. Then, realizing no one could tell I was Hitomi Wakahisa, I sigh out in slight relief.

I look down at myself again, frowning heavily at the dress Partheno had chosen. Damn that god. I knew he had seemed weirdly decent. No god was decent. Shit, not even Leon, and I was in love him.

The dresses bottom half was puffy and layered, like elizabethan dresses I'd seen before in history books. Or layered cakes. However the upper half was very...different. It felt like a cage was wrapped about my torso, however it was cracked down the middle, leaving a large open V that stopped all the way down to the top of my belly button. I could see half of each of my breasts poking out. Luckily, the cage was more like a corset so my tits weren't going anywhere. However, I hated showing so much skin. But, I had to admit I felt more comfortable showing more of the top of my body than my lower half. Also, many of the dresses around me were much like my own. Though it was a ball, and sounded old fashioned, the dresses and suits of the gods and goddesses were quite modern. Somehow that makes me feel a bit better.

I cross my arms tightly, wildly looking around to find the exit so I can go strangle both Partheno and Zyglavis.

A yelling fit breaks out behind me and I jump and spin around. For a split second I fear that the commotion is about me appearing. I quickly realize it's just because Leo had stood up. It sounded like a bunch of fangirls, honestly. Well...I guess that's exactly what they are.

"Look, Lord leon stood up." The goddesses in front of kitten are all talking over themselves.

"What in the world happened? Did he notice something?" Another one close to me harshly whispers.

"What if he's like, looking for a dance partner!?" One right next to me annoyingly squeals. I grimace and scowl her way, but she doesn't notice as her eyes are staring at the rust-head.

"Oooh! He should definitely choose me…!" I hear across the room. When that first voice says it, I hear many females begin saying "me" over and over. It reminds me of a flock of seagulls from that american movie "Nemo".

I, while Leon does whatever he's doing, probably going to the refreshment table to drown himself in liquor, chance another look for an exit. When I was with Zyglavis I hadn't gotten the full view of the giant room, so I had no idea where I currently was, or where I had been. All I knew was that I was close to the center. So… I should just head towards one of the walls, right? And then follow it until I find a door.

"Noble goddess." I whip around, wide eyed, coming face to chest. Looking up I'm met with Leon. The mask on him is black and looks like old paint chipping. Was it in that state because it couldn't contain his identity? Or did he think it looked cool?

Oh wait. He was referring to me. His hand was outstretched towards me, but I can't bring myself to unball my hands from the edge of my red dress.

"I'd like you to be my partner for the evening." I blink slowly, glancing around to the many other women who were staring intently at me.

How had he found me? I was had been back in the masses of females, had stayed quiet, and was even wearing the magical mask that was supposed to hide my identity.

A small idea wiggles into my mind and I can't help but smile.

Twenty bucks Leon realized it was me. Obviously he had to of. He had ignored every single girl until I magically poofed in, and then he suddenly wades through the sea of goddesses to get to me? He had to know it was me. He was, to keep my identity secret to the others, acting as if he didn't know, though.

"You can't possibly mean me, Lord Leon." I breathe out in a slightly higher voice. Two could play at this "i don't know you" game.

"I am talking to you." He practically purrs. "Will you do me the honor of taking my hand?" I give a deep curtsy.

I might be the most unfeminine woman on the planet, but I had taken a hand full of dance classes when I was little, surprisingly. Why? Because it helped me get some balance when I was struggling with it during boxing lessons. Dad had offered them when he noticed my footwork was incredibly sloppy. I was more of a punch person than a kick person for a reason.

That was probably why I still had some confidence in me, even though this outfit was scarily out of my comfort zone.

"Shall we?" I ask sweetly, slipping my hand into my lion's.