Danger Prone

Chapter 24 Part 2

Hara gasped at the sight and fell back in shock. In reality, she also fell backwards. Mikoto quickly grabbed her before she hit the floor and saw her eyes were wide and she was sweating. He didn't know what she saw, but he knew it had to have been scary for her. Immediately defensive of his queen, Mikoto turned on Hoshiko.

"What the hell?! What did you do to her?!" Hoshiko stood calmly as Hara regained her footing and gently rubbed his biceps to sooth him.

"Calm down, I saw just taken by surprise." Mikoto continued to glare at the older queen and Hara stomped on his foot. He sucked in his breath then turned to look at her. "I said. Calm. Down." Mikoto's eyes widened slightly at her tone and softened his eyes in response. "It wasn't her fault. I was just surprised is all. Don't get mad at her." Continuing to rub his upper arms, he began to relax under her touch. He sighed in defeat and stepped back.

"What did you see, Hara-sama?" Hara thought for a moment.

"It was shocking, a land of just fire and lava as far as I could see. It was hot, but I could bear it surprisingly. Every where I looked, it was shades of red and pink and even gold. It was... Pretty actually." Hoshiko nodded in her direction.

"Good, what you saw was Suoh-sama's power source. Suoh-sama I know you saw something as well, so tell me what you saw." Mikoto sighed and grumbled at her.

"I saw a bright room and the floor had rolling waves of red and pink and other colors. It was warm and I don't know, nice I guess." Hara smiled and blushed. It was Mikoto's way of saying he liked what he saw a db felt and probably didn't want to leave either. Hoshiko eyed him uncertainly.

"I'll take it as you liked it there. That's good. What you saw was Hara-sama's own power as well as her feelings for you. The warmth is her love." Hara became more red by the moment and began to shake her hands wildly and stuttered. Mikoto looked at her with an amused smile and shrugged. Giving up, she looked down and fiddled with her fingers.

"The more you like it there the better. For if the time comes that you feel you are losing control, go to that place and it will quell your powers. How do you feel right now?" Mikoto looked down at his hand and furrowed his brow. Hara watched him curiously until a small smile graced his lips.

"For the first time since becoming a king, not like I want to just let loose and destroy every thing. I feel... Calm." Hoshiko smiled softly.

"Good, then we're done here." Hara opened her mouth to protest to which the older woman raised her hand. "This is all you need to know. Whenever he feels like he wants to go wild, he can go to this place and be calmed again. If you do it enough it can become second nature for you both, but it will be different on the battle field. I've heard of your latest... Shenanigans and I implore you to be very careful. If in the event he goes wild during a fight, it will be even more difficult to calm him."

Hara nodded and looped her arm with Mikoto who looked wholly unsatisfied. Leaning her head on his arm, Mikoto continued to watch the woman in front of them.

"That's it? Nothing else?" Hoshiko nodded. "Just have me go into her 'feelings' and things are okay?" At her nod he furrowed his brows. "Nothing else? Really?" Hara had had enough.

"She said there is nothing else! Geez!" Mikoto looked at her mildly surprised before shrugging. Hara sighed and bowed low to the other woman. "Thank you for every thing, Hoshiko-sama." The older woman was surprised by the honorific and returned the bow.

"There is no need to refer to me as such, I am no longer a queen after all." Hara shook her head.

"Once a queen always a queen I think." Hoshiko smiled softly and bowed again.

"I suppose so. It was good to meet you both. I'm glad you came by today." Hara smiled and bowed again as Mikoto only huffed and nodded at her. "I hope we can meet again. At that Mikoto looked baffled.

"Eh, not a chance." Grabbing Hara by the arm, Mikoto quickly made his escape with Hara stumbling to keep up.

Back in the car Hara looked mad. Mikoto stayed silent as he gazed out the window trying to ignore the glare of the angry female beside him. Izumo glanced at them through the rear-view mirror with unease. Suddenly Hara lashed out and landed a right hook on Mikoto's left arm. He jumped surprise before the two fell into a wrestling match in the back seat of the vehicle.

Izumo sighed as the two continued to fight until Hara cried out. Mikoto immediately drew back and began to check her over. Seeing as she was okay he sat back and allowed her to sit back up, having pinned her down moments before. Izumo sighed again as he saw them glaring at each other. He had no idea why they were acting like a pair of children. He wasn't sure he even wanted to know.

"So," the teens looked at their older friend in response. "What has cause this little dispute?" Mikoto looked out the window sulking as Hara crossed her arms.

"Mikoto is the rudest person on the face of the planet. You were so mean to her and she didn't deserve it! Why would you do that, hm?" Mikoto just ignored her and Hara fell into silence beside him. "Brat," she said before relaying the events of the meeting to Izumo. Through the entire thing, he sat quietly listening with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Fine, when we get back I'll look into every thing you just said. I'll investigate the incident with the Blue and Red Kings and take a look at the Blue Queen." Hara nodded in understanding. She was hoping Izumo would take up charge of looking into it all and reporting back to her. Gosh, she really felt like she was giving people orders now. Feeling a bit tired from the day's events, Hara laid her head on Mikoto's shoulder and closed her eyes.

She was nowhere near forgiving him for his actions, but he was comfortable to sleep on. Thinking about the exercise she had performed with Mikoto made Hara curious. She wanted to see it again and touch it. She wanted to explore it and learn more about it, but it felt a bit like she was intruding. Maybe she'd ask him if she could tomorrow. She just hoped he wouldn't mind.

Mikoto continued to gaze out the window, but as he felt Hara lean on him he spared her a glance. She looked so peaceful as she relaxed against him. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but kept his hand still. Mikoto had never understood what it was about this woman that had intrigued him so much. But as he continued to gaze at her face, he felt like he was beginning to understand. She was different, beautiful in her own way.

He smiled lightly to himself as he saw her begin to doze off. Mikoto continued to watch her, not knowing that Izumo was looking at him watch the girl. A few strands of her hair fell on his arm and he reached out and grabbed it gently. Feeling the soft strands and smelling her shampoo suddenly made him warm in his chest. He didn't know what it was and he didn't know why it happened, but he liked it. He liked how he felt and he smiled a little more.

Once at the bar, Mikoto lifted Hara into his arms and carried her as gently as possible inside. Upon entering, he saw Tatara at the bar with a chubby boy with blonde hair. He was a couple years younger than themselves and was clearly in middle school. Most likely a first year. When the two at the bar saw the three entering they stood, Tatara happily greeting the older boys.

Mikoto looked at the two boys and nodded in greeting. Moving to the stairs he stopped short as Hara began to shift in his arms. At the same moment, Mikoto noticed the blonde kid was staring at Hara. Hara opened her eyes and smiled at Mikoto while stretching out before he gently placed her on her feet. Looking around, she yawned until she noticed the new boy in the room. Looking him up and down Hara approached him with her hand to her chin.

He looked at her with wide eyes and a slight blush, which proved to anger Mikoto as he stood between them. The blonde stepped back feeling the pressure of Mikoto's presence suddenly and began to shake. Mikoto seemed to tower over the portly boy when his knees gave out from under him. Hara could see his face had paled significantly and his teeth were slightly chattering. Not being able to with stand the practical torture Mikoto was putting the poor boy through she reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Mikoto, be nice to him. He's just curious." Mikoto continued to glare at the boy below before finally huffing and moving back from him. Hara moved to his side and helped him to his feet. "I'm sorry about him, he's very possessive and very protective. He is also the guy in charge, unfortunately. I'm Michitaru Hara, feel free to call me Hara." The boy gazed at her with wide eyes and looked back at Mikoto with fear. "It's okay, I'll keep him from hurting you."

The boy swallowed hard and stood as tall as he could before Mikoto's lithe frame. Hara couldn't help but compare the two. While one was tall and muscular, the other was average height and portly. It was kind of cute how he tried to look unafraid in front of Mikoto even though he was clearly shaking. Mikoto looked over the boy and gave a humph in his direction.

"What's your name and why are ya' here, brat?" The blonde swallowed again and lifted his chin.

"I'm Kamamoto Rikio, sir. And I'd like to join HOMRA." Mikoto looked him over again.

"I'm not very impressed. Why do you want to join?"

"I heard about you guys from Totsuka-san at school. I thought you goin' around and beatin' up the bad guys was pretty cool, but the powers he said you had were what really got me. I was curious mostly, but I really want to help clean up this city. I'm a foster kid, to be honest, and a lot of my friends ended up on the streets and killed in the end. Mostly gang related, but sometimes it was things like the mafia and stuff too. I just want to be able to go out at night without having to look behind me every other step cause you never know when someone might be creepin' on ya' with a knife."

Hara felt bad for the boy and looked at Mikoto with pitying eyes. He caught her stare and sighed. They needed people after all and even though this guy didn't look like much, Hara could feel he had potential. Smiling she touched the younger boys shoulder and gave a squeeze. He smiled back with a light blush coating his cheeks. Mikoto slumped slightly and Hara knew she had won. Stepping back, she let Mikoto commence the entrance 'test'.

Holding out his hand he lit it with his flaming aura with a small smile. The boy looked unsure and turned to Hara with uncertainty. When she nodded at him to go ahead he turned to Tatara at the bar with Izumo who both nodded as well. Looking back at the flaming hand before him, Kamamoto hesitantly reached out and grasped his hand. Within moments the fire had consumed Kamamoto's arm before extinguishing.

"Welcome to HOMRA," Mikoto stated simply as Hara looped her arm through his. Kamamoto looked baffled at his unhurt arm and flexed his hand experimentally. A grin slowly spread across his face until he was gazing at Mikoto and Hara with a toothy smile and light in his eyes. Hara laughed and nodded in greeting. The boy whooped and threw his arms in the air in triumph. Welcome to HOMRA indeed.

A/N: Kama-kun has joined the party! Others will follow shortly! Review/Follow/Favorite!