Takashi felt sick to his stomach. He shot the angel... he shot the angel... he nearly died in his fight with one of the wolf demon bandits, only to nearly kill the angel instead.

He stumbled, following moodily behind Hikari. He reviewed it in his mind. The others were running after the wolf demon bandits far too fast. He had not been able to keep up with them. He reached the yard around the abandoned farmhouse, seeing a strangler wolf demon bandit coming at him. He fought with him, but the wolf demon kept getting too close for him to be shot with a bow and arrow. He finally managed to get at a distance from it long enough to shoot him.

Then he heard the sound of footsteps and heavy breathing rushing towards him. He was trained for situations like this. Shoot faster than an enemy can reach you. He hardly thought, hardly aimed, just drew, knocked, and loosed before his conscious could catch up to what his muscle memory was doing.

The angel was there. The angel ran towards him. He shot before he realized it was her. He shouted in terror, watching the arrow race towards her. Out of nowhere, his cousin, Hiei rushed towards the angel, tackling her to the ground. His quick thinking knocked her off course just enough for the arrow to miss her chest and go through her shoulder instead.

She hit the ground hard, but was alive. He felt so ashamed and so relieved. Father was quick to round on him though, yelling at him belittlingly. He even struck him in his fury a time or two. He then knocked him to the ground, hands over his head to protect himself. Aiko tried to jump between them, but was shoved off. The annoying little part demoness, Hikari, jumped between them, yanking him up and away from his father. She pulled him by the sleeve from the area, muttering her own string of curses at him. She was moving quickly, almost too quickly for him.

"Will you slow down!" he shouted at her, tugging his arm sharply to get his sleeve out of her grip.

She rounded on him with surprisingly quickness. She had a hot, red, semi-transparent sword pressed to his neck before he could even draw his next breath. "I would do it," she warned him. "And happily." She pulled the sword back. "Mother wouldn't like that. Maybe she wants it all for herself." She shook her hand, the sword transforming into a short and slim fire dragon that rolled up her arm. She gripped him by the hand, tugging him to follow her once more. "Stupid... vain... boy..."

He followed along behind her, letting her lead him all the way up to and into the castle. As they walked, he wallowed in his emotions. This tiny demoness was the only wife he could ever have, thanks to his foolish father. Her or no one. He hated her, the very idea of her. He thought about some of the other girls at court. He would have preferred the ugly one that were pure elvish any day.

"Hurry up, mope captain," she ordered, leading him into the library of all places.

Mother was there, standing with the elder head librarian, Manabu, and his assistant, Aeka. Manabu was so old that he had trouble seeing, but was still dedicated to his job. Mother insisted he get to stay working until he was ready to retire. Aeka was hired on to be his eyes for him. The three of them were at the angel's desk, looking over a few maps of the world.

"Here would be the best place to start, your grace," Aeka pointed on the map. "But getting there might be rather time consuming."

"The engagement doesn't have a time constraint, so there's a plus," Mother commented. She looked up at them, seeing Takashi and Hikari stand before her. "What's happened?" she asked them loudly.

At sight of Mother, he felt his face redden and flush. He blinked, not wanting to cry in front of the stupid demoness beside him. Mother was quick to get to him, taking him from Hikari and sitting him down at the nearest couch. She sat beside him, pulling him close to her. He let himself cry freely, in spite of his own embarrassment to do so in front of Hikari and the two librarians.

Hikari dismissed the two librarians and came over next to them to stand. She sighed judgmentally and launched into an explanation of what happened. By the time she finished, Takashi was resting his elbows on his knees, head hung low. He swallowed, all the shame burning through him.

"I didn't..." he shook his head, clearing his throat. "I didn't mean to harm her..." he confessed.

"I know, precious," Mother said soothingly. Her hand brushed gently at his face, brushing back the tangle bangs out of his face. She sighed. "Your father... hmm... he should have held off his temper like that." Mother looked up at Hikari. "My lady, can you put him under your protection? It will hold the king's temper at bay. By custom no one can harm him intentionally unless they wish to pick a fight with you."

Hikari grimaced. "No," she answered. "Your grace," she added. "He shot my mother."

Mother rose up, leaving him to sit alone in his misery. She went over to Hikari. "It wasn't his intent, but it was his mistake. I'll decide with the king what his punishment should be. You're mother would be merciful, well, a bit too merciful," she pointed out. "Surely you can show him a little bit of that yourself, hmm?"

Hikari crossed her arms over her chest, a deep scowl etched in her face. "Fine. Vain boy's under my protection while he's here in Alaric," she sassed out.

"Mind your tone when speaking to your queen," Takashi snapped at her.

"Mind your tone when you speak to me," Hikari clapped back at him. The dark look she threw him was extra harsh as it resonated from her crimson eyes.

He promised himself in that moment he would never wed the likes of her.