I felt…Amazing! I don't know why, but everything felt good. Maybe a little stiff, but great! Better than I've felt in years, really. I stretched a hand up, ignoring the tightness of muscles, and groped for something to bring me up from my horizontal rest. The cool touch of metal provided my handle and with a soft groan I pulled myself up into a more comfortable, vertical position.
A hand came into view as I blinked the sleep from my eyes. Surprised by the sudden movement, I let out a surprised squeak. My eyes took a moment to focus before I followed the hand up the arm to finally look into a bright pair of amber eyes.
"Good morning sweetheart." Kiss said with a small smile.
"Morning?" I murmured, not exactly sure what was happening. Was it morning? Was I sleeping? What exactly was going on?
"Morning, afternoon, night even. I'm not exactly sure. But at least you're awake. How do you feel?"
"Good. Really good. But what'd I miss? Where are we?" I asked, looking curiously around the room. It was bright with no direct source of light and no windows or doors, except for one that lead to a bathroom, I suspected, from the tub peeking around the edge.
"Where are we?" Kish repeated, helping me climb out of the metal bed. My legs barely supported my weight and it took Kish's arm wrapped around my waist to keep me up. We took several steps, most of which involved me stumbling like a newborn calf, toward a bed set against a wall and I fell down upon it with a grateful sigh of relief. I pulled my legs up toward me and began the long, painful yet fabulous process of stretching.
Kish stared down at me as I pushed myself down into a Butterfly sit and stretched my back. A soft groan escaped my lips as a mixture of pain and relief went through my body. Springing up into a sitting position, I twisted my back sharply first in one direction then the other. I met his eyes with my own before saying, "Yes. That's what I asked. Care to answer?"
"Alone." He said evasively, sitting down next to me on the bed.
I had one leg stretched out and was in the process of trying to get my forehead to touch my knee. "Very good. Now, how about an exact location?"
He was silent for a moment as I spun about and repeated the process on my other leg. "We are specifically nowhere. In a world where there is no here or there other than the one we are in now. Is that vague enough for you?"
"I don't know. It could use a little more manipulation of words with a fresh side of sarcasm. Always makes the dish more unpleasant." I spread my legs in a wide split and slowly brought my elbows down, keeping my back straight. Another moan of painful delight slipped through.
The bed shifted as Kish moved behind me, and before I could ask what he was up to, warm hands gently spread across my lower back and pressed down, pushing me closer to the sheets. A hiss of pain from me stopped the pressure. "No no! Keep going, ignore my body. Feels good."
The pressure returned and inch by inch, tight muscles loosened and I was soon able to rest comfortably on my stomach. Reaching back, I swatted his hands away and pulled myself back up into a crossed-leg sitting position so I was face to face with Kish.
His features were a mask of boredom but his eyes were sharp as I shifted before him. He watched me with an intensity that I only just understood. With wonder, scrutiny…and lust. "What's going on, Kish. I know you're being prude about our location, but why are we here? What have I missed? All I remember was fighting Eclaire, talking to Ryou and then a mix of boiling heat and chilling cold." The images played before my eyes like a slide show: Eclaire's final words, waking to darkness, the struggle up the stairs, ending with my last conscious words with Ryou. But what had happened with Ryou? Why was I here with Kish and not with him?
"You didn't miss much. You have been resting, healing, become a whole creature again. That machine," He pointed toward the metal I had awoken in, "has not only fixed up the fever you developed, but your DNA has also been regulated."
"Regulated?" I interrupted, returning my gaze to Kish.
He reached out and took my hand in his, turning it over and focusing his gaze on it. He fell silent as he traced every line and pad of my hand with his eyes before he touched me palm with a gentle finger tip. His touch tickled so I tried to pull my hand away, but he held fast, continuing to follow the maze of indents that made up my life lines.
The slow pattern he traced, accompanied with the tickling touch of his fingers, lulled me into a soft, tranquil daze.
I looked up into his eyes and saw, not a glowing pair of golden globes, but two liquid pools of blue. With a start, I pulled my hand from his grip and held it against my chest, trying to rub away the lingering feeling of his touch. What was happening?
"So I'm all better? Nothing else I need to worry about?" I asked quickly, braving a glance back into his eyes.
"Yes, you're all better. And worry? That word doesn't even exist for us anymore." He moved closer on the bed and it took all of my will to stay in place. "We are finally in our own world, where there are no responsibilities, no pain, no worry. You don't have to fight, you don't have to go to remedial school, you don't have to work. Everything you could ever want is literally just a thought away." He held his hand out in front of him, toward me, and for a moment I was scared he wanted to take my hand again but before he could a swirl of tiny color began to appear and from it materialized a black-striped white lily. His grip shifted the flower and with gentle fingers he placed the flower behind my ear.
His fingers lingered on my cheek, tracing my jaw line and cheekbone. I closed my eyes, trying to block out his touch and imagine Ryou. It was the only thing I could do. I needed to get out of here and return to the human world. I couldn't be distracted by this tempting world Kish dangled from a string before me.
Slowly, I lifted my hand and took Kish's hand away from my cheek. I opened my eyes and focused them on his, keeping his gaze steady with mine. "Kish," I said softly, gently. He needed to understand this. "Kish, I can't stay here with you."
His gaze hardened but he switched his grip in my hand so he held mine, not the other way round. "Yes, yes you can! That's why this place exists: so we can peacefully be together. No more interruptions, no more useless fighting, no more second guessing. I can make you the happiest girl in the world, Shokora, and all that I ask for in return in your heart."
"That's the problem Kish," I said in barely more than a whisper, it was the only sound I could get past my heart-logged throat. "I don't have a heart to give. It's already been promised to another."
His eyes went flat when I finished. His voice was chillingly monotone when he said, "You gave it to that human, didn't you?"
I couldn't say anything, just nod.
He didn't say anything either, just looked away. But his grip on my hand was unconsciously tightening at a steady rate. When my hand started to hurt I tried pulling away, but his grip stayed strong and continued to squeeze. My hand was really starting to hurt now so I tried prying his fingers off my hand with my free hand. But his fingers were hard as steel and I couldn't get a grip. "Kish, please let go." I asked, a strain in my voice as the pain started to throb. He didn't respond at all, just stared off to the side. "Kish, Kish please, let go." My voice whined as desperation for him to release my hand took over my mind. My bones creaked from the pressure he applied and I could see my fingertips turning a dull purple. "Kish! Kish, you're Hurting me! Stop It!" I yelled, trying unsuccessfully to pull my hand from his grip.
His eyes locked with mine and I froze. His eyes were brighter than ever against his pale skin with a silent fury burning brighter than any lamp light. He tugged on my hand, pulling me closer to him. I fell forward, the motion edgy and hard. He roughly took my chin into his hand and forced me to look up at his face. "So, you've given away the only thing I have ever desired? Fine, I'll just take the next best thing," He shifted and I fell onto my back as he moved to hover just above me, "I'll be taking your body as my payment instead."
Before his words could fully comprehend in my head, he had both of my wrists firmly gripped in one of his, rapidly cutting off the circulation of my one good hand and turning both numb of feeling. His eyes glowed hard as golden ice but one emotion was discernible through their cold gleam: Lust.
His free hand tugged at the bottom of the loose T-shirt I was wearing. I only had a chance to squeak a sound of protest before the top disappeared in a puff of colorful dust particles that shrunk and faded away at a fast rate.
I only just breathed a sigh of relief that a tank top lay under the shirt before his fingers started to toy with its edge. "Kish, please. Not like this." I pleaded, trying to pull my wrists from his grip. "You know as much as I do that we both will only come to regret this. I'm sorry, but if I could have changed anything-"
"Changed?" He asked coyly, toying with my emotions as he toyed with the skin just under the edge of the undershirt. "You're talking about change now? Honey, the time for change is long past due. Now, now you are all mine." I flinched as the undershirt burst into rainbow particles and the cool air that coursed through the room hit my skin.
I lay under him, exposed in only a white bra and a pair of shorts. His fingers traced a path from my stomach up to the edge of my bra. I tried pulling away from his touch, gooseflesh breaking out all over.
But it just seemed to amuse him as he lowered his head to place a kiss against my collarbone. A shiver dance across my spine and I couldn't stop the whimper of fear that fled my lips. "Kish," I groaned as he traced a line just under my bra. "No more. Stop!" I begged.
"Oh no, Babe," He moaned against my skin. "We've only just begun."
