Since that horrible yet blessed day, Koyuki and Mikoto had fully moved into the bar and began their life together as a married couple, except, they weren't married. They began their life living together. Kusanagi didn't show any problem with it in front of Koyuki, but he and Mikoto had an understanding about the place the only problem is that there was nowhere for the two to escape to. There was almost always somebody else there other than the early morning or late evening. It was something that they would have to get used to until they can find their own place though they had not yet talked that thought over.

Koyuki had been to the doctor for a checkup just to make sure that the baby was alright. The doctor confirmed that she was pregnant and was currently at what appeared to be week six of development. The doctor told her all the dos and don'ts and what to stay away from for the next eight plus months. It all seemed so scary and there were so many limitations if she wanted the baby to be healthy. Morning sickness, (though it usually lasted all day) was still all too real for her but she knew what was causing it at least and it has been starting to get more under control.

After losing everything in her apartment, Koyuki had very few clothes and could feel the clothes that she did have starting to feel a little bit tight on her mostly around her stomach. She knew that it would only get worse. After the doctors, she decided to go shopping and bought a few outfits that were looser to hide the fact that she was pregnant until she was ready to tell everyone. She didn't want to overdo it since she would only get bigger. Mikoto wouldn't let her go anywhere by herself anymore. He always had to be there with her. It actually felt like he was crowding her at times but she knew that he was doing it because he didn't want anything to happen to her. Tatara convinced that he would go shopping with Koyuki and keep an eye out for her, which Mikoto agreed to, but she was silently irritated that she couldn't get any time for herself.

Tatara was actually quite fun to shop with. He wasn't like the typical guy that waited outside of a store or rushed her rather he helped her chose out items and carried her bags for her with his friendly smile. Shopping was enjoyable to Tatara. Most guys want to get in and out as fast as they can in any store, but Tatara took his time.

"Are you alright Koyuki?" Tatara asked taking the shopping bags from her arms. "You look quite tired." It's true she was feeling tired, but she didn't want Tatara to know why. If he were to find out, then he would blab to everyone at HOMRA and Mikoto has to be the first one to find out.

"I'm alright. I don't think that I'm 100% better yet. That may take a while." Koyuki tried to convince. "Is there any place you want to look at all? I'm close to being done."

"Actually there is one place. It's not too far from here and it's on the way back to the bar." Tatara said starting to lead the way. Maybe going shopping after visiting the doctors wasn't such a good idea. Koyuki felt like she was nearly completely drained of energy and almost regret asking if Tatara had a place he wanted to visit but she fought with herself to keep on moving along. They entered a music store that had a variety of acoustic guitars on display in the windows. "Just a second, I'll be right back." Tatara informed. Koyuki nodded her head and waited around in the sheet music area and began mindlessly browsing through the titles as she walked along the isle. She knew that Tatara played guitar but she had never heard him. The thought had crossed her mind if she should pick up playing an instrument but laughed at picturing herself trying to even hold a guitar. Probably would be best to stay away from that hobby and leave it for Tatara. Koyuki stopped as soon as her eyes caught a title and her heart almost melted as she reached out and grazed it. "Sorry about the wait." Koyuki lifted her head.

"Oh, I didn't know you brought your guitar in here."

"Yeah, it needed a tune up and a couple new pieces. I left it here and they called me to let me know that it was ready for pickup." He answered holding the guitar which was inside a black fabric case that he had thrown around his shoulder. "Now shall we?" Koyuki looked down at the sheet music before responding. Tatara followed her gaze down to the paper. "Do you like that song?" Tatara asked interrupting her thoughts. She nodded.

"It's one of my favorites. It means a lot to me and it makes me think of Mikoto in a way." Tatara looked more closely at the title after Koyuki mentioned this.

"You know I may just have this one. It's either back at the bar or at home. When I find it I'll play it for ya."

"That would be great." She smiled. The two of them left the music store and Koyuki looked over to Tatara who was carrying all of the bags plus his guitar. "Do you want me to carry anything for you? You've got a lot of stuff there in your hands."

"It's alright, I got it." He answered adjusting the guitar strap. All of a sudden, Koyuki got an awkward feeling. Something told her that Tatara was going to ask about their relationship now that they were living together but she couldn't blame them. The guys told her that Mikoto had never been this serious before and never really shown any interest. This was as much of a shock to them as it was for Koyuki. It always seems to be the subject that the guys talked about. Maybe if there was another girl around or Anna was a little bit older then they wouldn't be such… boys.

Anna…

"Hey Tatara? How old was Anna when she started hanging around with everybody at HOMRA?"

"Six or seven maybe. Her aunt was the one who first brought her here. Since then, we've kinda adopted her. It's funny how King showed complete disinterest in her at first and even called her a brat, but over time he warmed up to her. Mikoto was the only person that Anna showed any interest in at the time but now she's completely come out of her shell." This troubled Koyuki. What does this mean as far as him being a father? He was so much younger at the time. Hopefully when it comes to his own child he will act differently then when he first did with Anna. Though their relationship was not anything like a father daughter but more like a big brother and little sister, having his own child would be different. Tatara noticed the discomfort on Koyuki's face.

Koyuki stayed quiet on the rest of the walk back home. It was funny to think of the bar as home now. The upstairs of the interior was so boring, especially in Mikoto's room. It proved that he didn't need much to survive though Koyuki found the blankness kind of depressing in a way. Overtime, she was sure that she would add her own touches to the place. As soon as Koyuki stepped through the doors to the bar, a cloud of smoke entered her lungs causing her nausea to come right back around. Sure enough Mikoto, Kusanagi and Chitose were all smoking.

"Welcome home." The bartender greeted with a friendly smile. Koyuki began coughing and wheezing and quickly ran back outside into the fresh air. "Has she always been this sensitive to smoke?" Kusanagi asked and Mikoto shook his head. "She must still be sick." Mikoto was the first one to put out his cigarette, regardless that he didn't finish, and motioned for everyone else to do so. He cracked open all the windows before going outside to check up on Koyuki. Tatara made his way through the cloud and brought the shopping bags upstairs and placed his guitar downstairs in the main bar area. "Looks like the man with a thousand hobbies got his guitar back."

Mikoto walked outside with his hands buried in his pockets and looked around for Koyuki finding her a ways away at a bus bench. Smelling all the cigarette smoke triggered her nausea so she sat there clutching her swirling stomach. Smoking would be a no go while she's pregnant that's for sure both to keep her healthy and the baby.

"You alright?" Mikoto called as he neared her. She could smell smoke on his breath as he neared her causing her to wince a bit. He stopped, hiding the confusion that he felt. Panic arose from within her and she didn't know if it was from nausea or the fact that she and Mikoto were alone. This brought back familiar feelings of when she first fell for him. Mikoto sat beside her placing one of his arms along the top of the bench and crossing one leg over the other. Koyuki blushed. Mikoto blinked once before speaking again. "Am I bothering you?" Koyuki shook her head.

"No. I'm just over sensitive of smells now." Mikoto continued to look at her blush as it refused to go away.

"What did the doctor say?" This caught her off guard. Koyuki had practiced what she would tell him mentally but no matter how much she prepared herself, she couldn't bring herself to tell him. She almost cracked under the pressure.

"Oh, nothing much. It's just a virus that will go away. It is nearing that time of year." Koyuki thought she was such a coward. Why was she so afraid? If it kept on going like this, she will gain weight and Mikoto will be questioning why she is getting so heavy all of a sudden. Koyuki reached down and placed her hand on top of his. "By the way, thank you for buying all of those clothes for me."

"I kinda had to. It was sort of my fault that you lost everything." Mikoto replied. He almost couldn't believe what he just said. This really was his fault wasn't it? If it weren't for him, she would still have everything. Mikoto's thoughts grew dark and grim but it wasn't until Koyuki chuckled that brought him back to reality.

"If you really wanted to move in together, you didn't have to burn down the building. All you had to do was ask." Koyuki's smile passed onto Mikoto. He couldn't help but smirk at her strange optimism. It was what kept him going. It was like a refreshing wave on a hot day and he couldn't live without it. Koyuki was smiling and laughing, but they both knew that he did it as a result of him letting himself go and letting his anger consume him even though it was for a rightful cause. That's another crack on his Sword of Damocles. Secretly, Koyuki blamed herself for the decaying.

"And give you the opportunity to say no? I don't think so." Mikoto joined. Koyuki chuckled lightly then squeezed his hand. They were at an impasse. Koyuki blamed herself for all of the damage she caused to his Sword of Damocles because of her weakness as a result she tries so hard to cover up all of her sorrows. Mikoto blamed himself for all of her suffering since hardships seems to follow him everywhere and because of that he was terrified that if something were to happen to her, he wouldn't be able to control his aura and may wipe Koyuki out. He tried to dismiss those thoughts from his head. "Do you want to go back inside? The smoke should be vented by now." Koyuki took a moment before answering to assess her nausea level and determined she was safe.

"Okay."

Entering back into the bar, Koyuki and Mikoto couldn't help but notice that all of the guys were circled around Yata, who was balancing a baseball bat on his forehead, and were cheering like they were watching at the big leagues. Shouhei was holding onto Yata's watch in his hand keeping time. "Go, go, go." They all cheered in unison except for Kusanagi and Eric.

"Fifteen more seconds then we got a new record." Tatara informed from behind Shouhei as he was peering over his shoulder to check the watch.

"What the hell is going on?" Mikoto asked Kusanagi casually taking a seat on one of the barstools facing the circus performer. Koyuki joined the circle and cheered with them.

"They were bored so I gave them a challenge. It's better than them skateboarding in here. Yata's not the problem but when Tatara gets on that board then there's sure to be some kind of damage."

Everyone's heads turned as the bell above the door chimed causing Yata to drop the bat. He swore profoundly at the disturbance that made him miss his time but stopped to look at a lone young man that stood at the door. He had short spiky brown hair shorter then Kamamoto's and looked around the room like he was paranoid. Mikoto's beastly eyes pierced in the stranger's direction.

"Welcome, what can I get for you?" Kusanagi asked in his normal friendly tone that he only used when serving customers. The man took two steps and placed his hands in his baggy hoodie while continuing to look around. Koyuki felt a nervousness begin to swirl around in her stomach since the man came through the door. He brought an eerie silence with him.

"Is this where I can join HOMRA?" He asked. Kusanagi looked at Mikoto before answering. The king just stared.

"I'm sorry but our ranks are all filled up." Kusanagi started.

"Please let me join." He almost shouted. Kusanagi took a moment to assess him. "Please let me talk to the king."

"Why do you want to join kid?" Mikoto spoke up. The guy stopped for a moment almost like he had never thought about it before. All the guys watched from the other side of the room, curious as to how this would turn out. There were only two outcomes and they all had a feeling that they would know what would happen. Koyuki was exceptionally curious since she was the last one that she knew of who received the aura and she wondered if they would get a new member, but she didn't really like the way that this guy carried himself.

"Because I want to be like you guys." Mikoto didn't think that was a good enough answer.

"You won't make it." Mikoto said almost coldly. Koyuki questioned his bluntness.

"What? What do you mean I won't make it? What gives you the right to say that I won't make it? I will do whatever it takes to be one of you guys even if I have to abandon my way of life." He stated. Mikoto did not believe his words. Words can only take a person so far.

"Not just anyone can hang with is. A lot of people get hurt in the process and currently you don't have what it takes. For your own safety, you should probably forget about becoming one of us." Kusanagi responded taking over, but the man didn't have any plans on backing down.

"You don't understand." The man started. Koyuki pondered to herself why Mikoto and Kusanagi were so adamant on refusing him and why he was so adamant on being a part of the clan, but she really questioned why Mikoto thinks that 'he won't make it'. In order for a person to receive the Red King's Aura, they must grip his right hand so that Mikoto can transfer his powers. Were they questioning him because they think that he will turn on them once he receives the aura and use it for his own betterment? "Where's the king?" He asked.

"You're looking at him." Kusanagi answered pointing his thumb in Mikoto's direction. The man's eyes met Mikoto's intimidating gaze and took a hesitant step backwards. Koyuki was not sure of his real intents. The man gulped as if silently begging Mikoto for his aura. The king walked up to the guy so he was a few feet in front of him and as he lifted his head to meet the kid's gaze, Mikoto's aura burst out of him sending everyone in the room staggering on their feet. Everyone questioned what Mikoto was doing and Koyuki wondered if she should stop him.

"You can't handle the power that I have stored inside of me but since there's no way of convincing you, you're just gonna have to learn it the hard way." Mikoto stated. This power of his was so magnificent the way that it exploded from his body. Every time Mikoto released his aura the way that he did, Koyuki couldn't help but be in awe at all of this power coming from a single person. That much power was the reason that Mikoto couldn't always control it. It is not something that can be contained. It fought like a wild beast wanting to break free of his control. Mikoto's power was magnificent, but truly terrifying. "Now if you think you can handle it, grab my hand."

The sight of seeing Mikoto fully engulfed in his red aura caused the visitor to hesitate but soon his eyes focused on the flaming hand extended towards him. The guy tried to take a step towards it but the pressure of the aura pressed against his body trying to send him backwards. Fighting against the force of Mikoto's aura, the newbie extended his own hand fighting against the intense heat that was beginning to melt the skin off of his hand. Koyuki couldn't help but watch with her own body taking a toll from the immense heat as the flames danced around her lover. She wanted Mikoto to stop this, but her voice couldn't be heard over the whip of the flame. Mikoto stood there waiting and watching. He knew that the newcomer wasn't going to make it and only did this to show him in hopes that he would pull away before anything serious happened. The kid kept on coming. He inched closer, slowly making his way to Mikoto's hand, but as soon as he made contact with the searing hot flesh, his arm caught fire. No one had any time to react. His scream sounded like death itself as his entire body engulfed in the flame. In a matter of seconds, his body completely turned to ash. Koyuki's eyes widened with a gasp as she stared at the pile that was once called a man.

The guys all reacted like they have already seen this before in which they had, but Koyuki could not move her trembling legs away from the scene. A death like that was never going to become unseen. Mikoto casually walked past everyone, taking a quick harsh glance at Koyuki and climbed up the stairs. That was the beast that he housed inside of him.