lostmoonchild: Ugh, this week went by too fast. My only comfort is having chapters for the next three or four months done ahead of time. Anyway, here's chapter twenty four for you guys so I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own KKM so don't sue me please.
Chapter Twenty Four
Shori knew that his sister hated wearing dresses and was almost surprised to find himself hating the idea of his sister in a dress since he was noticing whenever somebody was clearly undressing his sister with their eyes. From how she would move to hide behind somebody it was clear that she knew the looks and that there were less than pleasant memories associated with those looks. "You do look beautiful tonight, Nie-chan." Murata said with a grin. "I almost don't recognize you."
"Just don't tell anybody or else Lady Celi's going to tie me down and throw my butt in a dress." Nieve responded before taking a drink of water.
"I think everybody got a good look when you came running out of your room wearing that one dress." Yuri chuckled.
"I don't think that you should poke at your own sister when she was merely afraid for your well being."
Yuri resisted the urge to call her a liar, knowing that she was telling the truth. "What'd you see that made you so nervous, Nie-chan?" Shoma asked softly.
Nieve shrugged a little before answering as she poked at her food, "Just a couple of creepers talking. We caught one of them but he's being stubborn about spilling more information and Yuri won't let me be near him for a couple of minutes."
"A couple of minutes is all you need to drive somebody insane."
"You're so full of it."
"Just remember to keep your eyes closed, Nie-chan." Jennifer reminded her daughter. "Yu-chan, don't fight with your sister."
"We're not fighting." Yuri protested.
"Yet." Nieve added simply.
Shori's attention diverted for a moment when he saw a man staring quietly, his eyes wandering up and down Nieve's body. His eyes widened slightly when he saw that he had been caught and immediately his attention diverted back to whom Shori assumed was his wife. From the grateful look that had appeared on her face, the woman had been fully aware that her husband had been looking. "You shouldn't gawk at someone's wife, Sho-nii-san." Nieve commented lightly as she poked at her food. "Even if their marriage would be better off ending with divorce."
"Nieve!" Shoma warned his daughter.
"I'm just saying. He was staring at me then looked away when Sho-nii-san caught him and his wife gave Sho-nii-san a grateful look. Clearly the husband's a cheater."
From how neither Shori nor Yuri looked to be overly upset at their sister's words, Murata assumed that it was normal for Nieve to comment about someone. "So, Ken-chan, how have you been doing lately?" Jennifer said with a bright smile.
And from how the three siblings visibly relaxed it was clear to him that there had been quite a few dinners that had ended badly.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
In the darkness he could see the crimson glowing softly and turned on the kitchen light to better look at the young woman. Her legs were crossed in front of her as she stared at the television screen as if fascinated by the horror movie that was on. "You always did like the horror movies." Shori commented as he got a glass out of the cabinet.
"Life's a horror movie." Nieve responded softly. "Plus a drama."
"Yeah, I heard something like that once." Shori sat down next to her. "Want to talk about it?"
"Basically one biological brother's dead, another wants to kill me, and my father murdered my brother and my mother and also wants to destroy everybody at the castle." Nieve stated simply.
"How about whoever it is that you're seeing?"
"Dead brother's boyfriend that I started up a romance with."
"So he's interested in both genders."
Nieve nodded slightly, her eyes focused on the screen. "I'm not naming him." Nieve told her oldest brother. "I don't care how high up you decide to go, his name is confidential."
Shori put an arm around his sister before answering, "You're my little sister. I want to make sure that you're not going to get hurt."
Why was it that older brothers seemed to be so concerned with protecting their younger siblings? Nieve stared at her brother for a moment before answering, "You can't keep me from getting hurt forever."
"I can try."
She shook her head slightly and rested her head on her brother's shoulder. Neither one spoke as they watched the movie in complete and comfortable silence. Soon Shori's eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep listening to the soft breaths that escaped his sister's lips.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
"Get to the cell!"
Curses left Gwendal's lips as he stared at the body that lay on the floor, the sheet tied tightly around his neck. Another traitor dead and only two remained. If one of the remaining two would open their mouths and talk then they could better determine how to keep them alive without stripping them of bedding and whatnot. "Another one?" Conrart questioned as he viewed the scene before them.
"Obviously. How he managed to strangle himself like that is beyond me." Gwendal responded with a frown. "Get him out of here. When Yuri-Heika returns we'll need to give him an update on the current number of prisoners."
Of course that was assuming that the remaining two didn't die before Yuri and everybody else got back. Then again there was a good chance that there would be no remaining prisoners if they didn't stop finding ways to kill themselves.
A groan left his lips as he remembered the first death, how the man had repeatedly run into the walls before his neck broke. With this death it was a wonder how exactly he had managed to strangle himself although he wasn't the least bit curious enough to start having somebody test it.
Blue eyes focused on the blonde that stood near one of the cell doors and saw that he was thinking the same thing as his two older brothers. "He's got to know something." Wolfram said finally.
"That's assuming he'll tell us." Conrart stated simply.
"Well, he claims he's in love with your girlfriend so why don't you just start telling him things that's going to make him mad." Gwendal muttered.
Wolfram looked at his older brothers for a moment before saying, "Nieve's your girl-"
Conrart covered his brother's mouth and gave Gwendal a dirty look. "Not a word to Yuri." Conrart told his little brother. "Nieve's supposed to tell him."
"Isn't it normal for the guy to be with his girlfriend too when they break the news to the family?" Wolfram asked when his mouth was uncovered.
Wolfram knew that he could tell his brothers that Yuri had a theory but he wasn't about to spoil his own entertainment. How many times over the years had his brother somehow manage to embarrass him? This was actually an interesting method of revenge and he didn't have to do anything other than keep the fact that Yuri already knew a secret. "Just don't say anything." Conrart told his brothers. "Please."
They both knew that their brother often sacrificed his own happiness for others and that life hadn't been kind to him. "The minute that your relationship with her threatens Yuri-Heika's safety," Gwendal warned the brunette, "he will know. Now let's see what your girlfriend's stalker has to say."
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
He had known from the shouts outside that another one had been killed. Soon it would be his turn and there'd be no escaping his master's wrath. Was it really worth it? He wondered as he looked around his cell for what he was positive was the thousandth time. As he remembered the smile that would spread across his love's face when something happened that pleased her he decided that, yes, it had been worth it.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at the three men that had entered his cell and glared hatefully at the brunette. "I see you've already decided to hate Lord Weller." Gwendal stated. "I'm Lord von Voltaire and the younger man is Lord von Beilefeld."
"I don't give a damn if you're the king himself!" Derrick snarled. "You're nothing but demons!"
"And the girl you claim to love so much isn't?" Wolfram questioned lightly. "Her father's a demon thus Lord Weller's darling is."
Anger grew within Derrick's being as he hatefully looked at them. "When my master destroys you all, he'll give me a place within his new kingdom and my beloved!" Derrick shouted at them.
"She'll be dead. According to what we were told, your master intends on killing everybody that's loyal to Yuri-Heika and Nieve Shibuya is among those that are loyal to him." Conrart stated simply. "In all honestly she'll be just as dead as we may be."
"You're lying."
"Tell us what we want to know and we'll see to it that you aren't executed. We'll even see to it that you get to see Lady Nieve again as well as the light of day."
They were bluffing. He had gotten a good look at their king and had seen how soft he was. He had even heard that those that should have been killed were given house arrest. No, their king wouldn't let him live without seeing the light of day again and he certainly wouldn't have him killed. "I say you're bluffing." Derrick stated. "You're keeping her away from me because you know she wants to kill me." A smirk spread across his face. "Or maybe, Lord Weller, you're afraid that she'll end up choosing me over you."
Conrart spoke no words as he went over to the younger man and pulled him up so they were face to face. "Conrart…" Gwendal warned.
"I'm not going to hit him." Conrart told his brother, his brown eyes focused on Derrick's face. "If that's the case, Derrick, then why did she cringe whenever you looked at her. It's not you she lets touch and it's not your name that she cries in pleasure or even moans when the right spot is touched."
"You son of a bitch. You've ruined her!"
"It's hard to ruin someone that the world's already claimed not to want." Conrart responded simply. "Every time I've heard your name from her lips, it was always spoken with dislike."
Derrick snarled at him, his eyes growing more and more hateful. "I hope she sees what an asshole you are." Derrick snarled.
As Conrart released him, the brunette smiled wryly. "And someday you'll see that she's not the angel that you appear to believe she is." Conrart responded simply. "However I don't see that happening so there's nothing for me to worry about."
"I want him out of here." Derrick growled at Gwendal.
"Tell us what we want to know and I might be inclined to have Lord Weller leave." Gwendal responded.
Clearly torn between saving his own skin and having the brunette leave the room, Derrick's eyes flickered slightly. "Fine. I'll tell you what I know but some things I only want to tell Nieve." Derrick stated.
"Lady Nieve's gone home with her brother to visit their parents."
Laughter left Derrick's lips as he stared at them, clearly entertained by the idea. "Somehow I doubt that she'd go see the crazy old bastard. He's not there or else my master wouldn't have been able to go through with such a beautiful attack." Derrick laughed. "I even doubt that she and my master would be able to stand being in the same room without attacking each other."
"Oh really?"
"My master and his half breed brother couldn't get along because of their eyes. It's instinct to kill all those that are like them and that can possibly control them. If I were you, I'd watch the wretch carefully. An entire household fell at her hand that I know about that it won't be long before the urge to kill overtakes her again."
"Unfortunately." A cruel smile spread across her lips. "His name is Derrick and I will take great pleasure in torturing him until death works up the nerve to come for him."
"Unfortunately for you," Gwendal said calmly as he pulled Conrart towards the door, "Lady Nieve loves her brother and won't do anything to hurt him. It's also unfortunate for you that she likes us."
Derrick smiled wryly as he shrugged slightly. "One day you'll see the truth. When that day comes there will be no hope for any of you poor bastards."
With his statement made, the young man laid down and turned his back to them as the three brothers left the room, locking the door firmly behind them.
lostmoonchild: Honestly I think this chapter could have gone better but it'll have to do for now. I'll come back some other time and mess with it a bit since I personally think it feels forced but oh well. Read and reivew, flames will be used to make all the standing water here evaporate.