Ren assembled them in the training center at LME. Kanae stood far away from the other two girls, arms crossed and leery of them. She had heard that the king was benevolent, but she had never imagined that he would take in a complete stranger who had attacked his future bride. She also hadn't imagined that his future bride would behave so strangely. Upon his arrival the young girl had torn herself away from the child who was fretting over her and thrown herself down at his feet screeching apologies and begging to be spanked. Kanae struggled not to blush wondering if they always had their fetishes on full display.

"I'm so sorry! Please punish me. Tie me down and whip me! Drain my blood! Lock me in your dungeon! I'm sorry!"

Holding his hands up Ren looked to the other girls for help, but Kanae refused to look at them and Maria was busy worrying about Kyoko's wounds opening.

"Calm down I can barely understand a word you're saying." Ren said extending his hands to her wanting her to stand up. "Come on get off the ground and speak to me properly."

Her ears perked up at the softness in his voice. She had been certain that he was mad at her. That was why he had scared her when she'd first woken up. It was a punishment for having taken his blood twice. He was showing her how scary it was to have a blood deprived vampire coming at you with hunger in their eyes.

"Please get up." Ren said a little irritated that he couldn't command her. Even Lory obeyed his commands, mostly just to humor him but still. How was this girl powerful enough to not just disobey him but to ignore his commands altogether?

"I'm sorry I never should have dared to bite you. If I hadn't then you would have had the strength to fight Kijima-san." She continued with her apologies. "I promise to accept any other punishment you have for me. Even if that punishment is for you to drain my blood in order to fully regain your strength."

There was a part of him that purred at the thought of drinking her blood. He shoved that part away. It would be dangerous to dwell on his hunger.

"I'm sure that Kijima-san would thank you for that. If I had been at full strength, he might be dead." Ren tried to reason with her.

"That's true." Maria agreed wanting Kyoko to get off the ground. A future queen shouldn't be so undignified. Maria saw that there was much for her to teach her big sister. "It's also probably more Ren-sama's fault than it is yours. Because he never eats."

Ren winced at her words not wanting anyone to know his weakness. Though if he were honest his lack of an appetite was not exactly a secret. Still to hear it out loud was embarrassing.

"Never eats?" Kyoko asked perking her head up.

"The point is I'm not going to punish you. Please stand up so I can speak with you three before we meet with the covens." He said taking her arms to pull her up.

"Then was scaring me when we woke up my only punishment?" she asked confusing him.

"No, I," He began but shook his head not knowing how to explain himself. Had she really not noticed that he had been deranged in that moment? Or was she purposely rewriting what had happened to make it less scary?

"Mo, stand up already." The tall ravened haired strigoi said crossing her arms.

Kyoko stiffened briefly but jumped to her feet. She hadn't known Kanae for very long, but she was intimidated by the gorgeous vampire. Ren sighed relieved that she finally got up and he turned to address them all.

"Right. To start off with I would like us to properly introduce ourselves. I am your king Tsuruga Ren. It's fine to call me Ren but I've been lectured about honorifics enough to know that you won't. That being said I will not tolerate being called Heika or Denka." He said holding up a hand to keep Kyoko from protesting.

"Kotonami Kanae." The strigoi greeted in return bowing to him.

"Takarada Maria." Maria said with a curtsy.

"Um… Kyoko…" Kyoko said looking down at her feet before speaking the lie. "T…Takarada."

"Good. Sawara-san, Matsuhima's-san, and Nakazawa-san will be busy cleaning up the mess from the attack. The four of us will be training together. Once Kijima-san is up to it he may want to join us. The heirs to the other covens will also be staying at LME to train. I must warn you not to trust the other covens." He said eyes holding both Kyoko's and then Kanae's gaze momentarily. "Our main objective will be to train Kotonami-san on her shapeshifting abilities and for Kyoko-san to discover and hone her abilities. Particularly your powerful command inducement. Not even I can command vampires out of being possessed. No one can."

He scrutinized her for a moment. There was no way she wasn't from an Upyr coven. Some long-lost love child of Morizumi perhaps. Maybe Lory was right and there was only one way to keep her safe from the other covens.

"We will be meeting with them today. Kyoko-san will sit beside me. Kotonami-san you will stand behind her as her guard." He said narrowing his eyes at the woman. He still didn't trust her, but it would be better to keep her close both as a prisoner and a weapon.

"Sensei?" Kyoko asked raising her hand. Ren cocked his head at her but motioned for her to continue. "Wouldn't it be better for Maria-chan to sit beside you as your heir?"

Maria bit her lip and avoided eye contact as Kyoko looked to her for agreement. Kanae crossed her arms wondering why the king was suddenly casting out the younger Takarada heir for the older one. Ultimately, she didn't want to be in their business. Nobles were all the same, scheming backstabbing users. If you had something they wanted, then you sat at their right hand. The moment you became useless to them, they would cast your entire family into the gutter.

"As the eldest Takarada you are the heir Kyoko-san." Ren stated then proceeded to go over their future lesson plan. "We will gradually work Kotonami-san up to shifting into a wolf starting with basic hair and eye color shifting."

"Wait hold on!" Kyoko interrupted him suddenly over her remorse and marching up to him to yell at him. "You can't just make me the heir out of the blue like that! I don't want to be your heir! I am not qualified to be your heir! I don't want to marry you! I will not marry you!" Every word she spoke was emphasized by a jab to his chest.

Swiftly his hand caught hers and he said, "I am your king. You will do as I say and sit where I tell you to. When you are the reigning monarch, you can give the orders but until then…"

"If I'm to be your heir and consort then I get a say in what happens and I say that I will not be your heir and consort!" she yelled trying to pull her hand free of his grasp.

Kanae rolled her eyes and sneered in disgust. Upyrs were so weird. He was forcing this young girl to marry despite have a hoard of nobles and commoners practically begging to be part of his harem. At least he wasn't engaged to the child anymore. Though Kanae suspected the little girl had been more eager than the older one.

Eyes flaring green the king used the hand he was holding to twist her body around. Before she could react, he grasped her other hand and held both behind her back. She struggled in vain against his ironclad girp.

Seething with annoyance over having to manhandle he rasped into her ear, "You learn how to escape this grip and I'll listen to you. Until you can do that you will obey my commands."

With that he released her, and she stumbled forward.

"Bully!" Kyoko accused rubbing her wrists.

"I am your king!" she closed her eyes against his anger but refused to flinch away. Why did her disobedience unleash his inner beast? He glared at her as though he could discover the secrets even, she didn't know if he stared at her long enough.

"Ahem." Kanae cleared her throat wanting to get on with it. There was a child present and these two were grappling then giving each other passionate longing stares.

"Maria-chan I believe it is time to meet with the covens. Please escort your Onee-sama and her new friend into the counsel room."

"Yes, Ren-sama." The little princess enthused with a curtsy.

Though it pained her heart, she was glad that Ren had seen reason and made Kyoko his heir. There was no way Morizumi would allow Maria to continue being heir. They wouldn't be thrilled about Kyoko taking her place either, but they had no strong argument against Kyoko being Ren's queen.

"Come this way, Hime-sama." Maria said motioning for Kyoko to follow her, "Kotonami-san."

Ren hung back too grumpy to meet with the covens just yet. There had been more he wanted to go over, but Kyoko had disrupted their first class too much and he was out of time. Maria knew how bad Morizumi was and Kanae had an inkling about how rotten the Koenji coven was, but there were others that he had wanted to warn them about.

"Damn fledgling and her inability to obey the simplest commands. Just stand up when I tell you to and accept being the heir for now. It isn't as if I have a choice in that either."

If he were honest there was something in her eyes that made him want her to be queen. A fiery spark of nobility that told him she could hold her own against the likes of Morizumi and Koenji, and maybe even Uesugi. Once he was ready, he walked towards the counsel room, and he could hear shouting halfway down the hall.

"Why is this ugly hyena girl in the consorts chair?" Matsunai Ruriko screamed.

"Her clothes are tattered and filthy!" a man gasped.

"Her nails are unmanicured and she has no makeup!" a second man screeched.

"Forget makeup! Her hair is an obscenely dark color and has no shape to it." A third man bellowed.

"Erika-sama you must leave this room at once, lest you be contaminated." All three men said in unison.

"I think she's adorable." Amamiya Chiori said.

"Tsuruga-sama must have his reasons. I'm sure she wouldn't place herself there without his permission." Morizumi Kimiko stage whispered to her uncle.

Ren strode in with his head held high and took in the sight of Kanae with her hands clamped down on Kyoko's shoulders and Maria smiling triumphantly in the chair beside her. He didn't even have to ask to know that they had bickered all the way over about where she would sit. It was obvious that Kanae had forced Kyoko into the chair beside the one designated for him at the head of the table. If she didn't behave, he would make her sit in his chair while he stood.

"Tsuruga-heika," Morizumi Jouji began but quickly corrected himself when Ren threw him a look. "I mean Tsuruga-sama, may the Morizumi coven inquire about the young lady occupying the chair to the right of yours? I was under the understanding that part of the reason for this meeting was to decide on your new heir and consort."

"The entire reason for this meeting is to introduce all of you to the new Takarada heir." Ren said pulling out his chair and taking a seat.

He tapped Kanae on the arm and told her to relinquish her hold on Kyoko. He placed his hand over Kyoko's and squeezed it before she could react in a troublesome manner.
"Meet Takarada Kyoko. She is of an age to inherit and has proven to me that she has the necessary powers to rule should anything happen to me." Ren said giving each of the coven leaders a pointed look.

"What powers exactly." Uesugi Ryotaro questioned as he observed Kyoko.

To him she looked to be a timid little mouse. A cute one which he couldn't begrudge the king for wanting. A pretty figure and admirable face did not equate to a good ruler, however. His coven would not bow to someone weak and cowardly. They would not accept her even if she were a true Takarada, which he and his father were skeptical about. Kouki had never mentioned having a sister.

"That question brings us to the other reason for this meeting." Ren said motioning to Kanae. "This is the young strigoi vampire who attacked the Takarada palace."

"Impossible!" Erika sneered. "She's a Kotonami, they have no powers. None of them could ever do the kind of damage we saw on our way here."

"And yet she was the one who caused all of that devastation. Kijima-san caused the damage in shopping center." Ren said in a tone that told Erika she needed to be quiet.

"Why is she here then? And why is she not in chains?" Katagiri Ken'ichi asked. His eyes had not left Kyoko since she had entered the room. She squirmed under his gaze unsure of where she knew him from.

"I second that question. Why has she not been punished for her crimes?" Jouji asked.

"She was possessed." Maria suppled.

"Nonsense." Jouji said.

"If she were possessed, she would be screaming in agony. No vampire could withstand being under someone else's control for so long." Ryotaro said.

Ren motioned to Kyoko, "She broke Kotonami-san of the possession. Kijima-san was ready to rip my head off, but Takarada-sama here commanded him out of his possession as well."

"Impossible." Ken'ichi breathed more in awe than disbelief. "What else can she do?"

"Isn't that enough?" Ren asked. "No one here could do. No vampire in our history has ever been powerful enough to do that."

"Bruxa." Chiori said darkly. "Bruxa can do that."

Kyoko stiffened even more than she already was. Panic gripped her and she wanted to jump up and run but Ren held on to her hand. Now he would really have to lock her in a dungeon, she thought. The other covens would demand it.

"Yes, there were some Bruxa who were rumored to have such a power." Ken'ichi said, "But for those who have never seen a Bruxa I can tell you that this child is not one. I have worked closely with several and they are all much taller with harsher features."

Kyoko looked up at the scary man and she was surprised to see warmth in his eyes. Ren glared at him recalling that he was Fuwa's uncle. There could be some information that that Ken'ichi had that could tell Kyoko about her past. Ren would need to find a discreet way to speak with Ken'ichi. If it became known that the king was having a private meeting with one of the coven leaders the other covens would gossip. That gossip would range from Ken'ichi trying to curry favor to Ken'ichi threatening the king, or worse one of the covens could link Ken'ichi to Fuwa and Fuwa to Kyoko.

"She is an Upyr." Ren said with finality. "A very powerful Upyr from the royal Takarada line."

Kimiko nodded and rose from her seat. It was Ren's turn to stiffen wary of what the manipulative vampire would do. To his dismay she bowed and introduced herself to Kyoko. He was pretty sure that he would now have to have a long talk with Kyoko about how manipulative Kimiko really is. Maybe he could convince Yashiro to talk to her. Then he wouldn't have to spend so much time with the odd girl. Better yet he could do the girl a favor and have Kanae explain how manipulative and fake coven heirs could be.

Erika was next to jump up and bow. Then the silent statuesque Kusanoki Kana stood up and gave a deep bow. The other coven heirs followed suit and Ren could only imagine that Kyoko was being taken in by all of the pretty women seeming to give her their blessing. Not that he knew her well but somehow, he had a feeling that she was easily taken in by beauty. A peek to his side revealed that he wasn't wrong. She was practically swooning over all the gorgeous vampires.

"Since that is out of the way then, we should turn our attentions to the strigoi in the room." Ren said and Kanae nervously stepped forward. "There is a vampire out there…"

"Ano, forgive me for interrupting my king but is it necessary for us heirs to be in here for this." Kimiko asked in a demure voice.

"No, you may go to your room." Ren said glad to be rid of her.

"Ano…" Kimiko continued before Ren could proceed with the meeting. "Shouldn't Kyoko-sama come with us? As a consort she isn't needed for a meeting of this nature either. Her job is to marry you and sire an heir."

"As we established earlier, she is a powerful vampire and as such is needed in the imminent battle against the vampire who has been possessing other vampires. You haven't any particularly useful special abilities so you may go." Ken'ichi said dismissively. "Take Koeji-san with you, and Ruriko-san too."

Kimiko huffed sitting back down as her ploy to get Kyoko alone had failed. Irritably Kanae made a note not to leave Kyoko alone with any of the heirs. She just knew she would hate being the air head future queen's bodyguard.

"What do we know about the vampire initiating these attacks?" Jouji asked.

"We know whomever it is likes dark hair and prefers females. We know they are powerful enough to possess a powerful dhampir like Kijima." Ren said.

"Is there nothing else?" Ken'ichi asked.

"Nothing." Ren said grimly. "They attack at random times. No demands have been made. No one has seen anybody suspicious nearby before or after the attacks. Currently my council members are out searching for clues at both sights of the most recent attacks."

"So, then this meeting was pointless." Uesugi Kotetsu finally spoke up. "You merely called us here to show us your new Takarada prize." He had never approved of this algul that had been elected to be king. "Once again you have proven yourself to be inadequate boy. You could have sent a missive detailing the events but instead you dragged us all here to meet you precious little one. No doubt to gloat and puff yourself up like the other useless brats who call themselves heirs."

"I did not call anyone here. If you recall the entire lot of you descended upon us to demand that I displace the Takarada line in favor of one of yours." Ren said nearly failing to keep his pleasant demeanor.

"We came to judge your misguided handling of the kingdom that Takarada handed to you on a silver platter." Kotetsu said cooly. "We came boy because we had heard rumors that the child to your right had nearly killed you. Then you were nearly done in by one of your own counsel members and one of our few precious upyr children was almost lost to the other vampire you have stationed behind your own new consort. The Uesugi coven came to demand that you be forcibly removed for your incompetence and weakness."

"And instead, you'll be the ones forced to leave after relinquishing your heir to LME custody." Ren declared. "All of you will in fact."

"What?!" Kotetsu shouted suddenly on his feet and towering over his young grandson who had been sitting through the meeting silent and bored. "What for?

"For training." Ren explained. "We have become complacent and permitted the heirs too much leniency. All heirs will report to Sawara-san tomorrow at nightfall. Peak training hours for vampires. No excuses. No exceptions. I will personally be training the two Takarada heirs and their new bodyguard Kotonami Kanae."

The coven leaders sputtered but had nothing much to say in protest. Ren had given them a command and they were compelled to obey. They all knew the true reason he was keeping their heirs. Someone powerful had been behind the attacks. Perhaps someone of noble blood who wanted to cause trouble and force him to either concede the throne or form an alliance with them.

"Why are you training the Takarada girls?" Ken'ichi asked still staring at Kyoko.

Narrowing his eyes Ren placed his arm around Kyoko. "That was a decision made between Lory and me." He said and Ken'ichi lifted his eyes to meet the kings for the first time.

"I would like to make a suggestion, if I may." Ken'ichi spoke trying to convey some important message to Ren through his eyes.

Ren motioned for him to speak. He would listen to what the elder had to say at the very least. That didn't mean he was obligated to take the suggestion to heart.

"Kotetsu-sama, or rather the entire Uesugi coven has some level of possession immunity. It might be helpful if the only vampire who can break others out of being possessed were resistant to possession herself." Ken'ichi said and Ren hated to admit that it wasn't a bad idea. Ken'ichi definitely knew something, and Ren needed to get him alone to ask.

"Very well, Kyoko and her bodyguard will train with Kotetsu-sama after I have trained them on the basics." Ren said.

"I will not train her. She is not worthy of learning from me." Kotetsu scoffed. There had only been a handful of hunters that he had deemed worthy of training. This girl didn't look like she could measure up to the weakest algul let alone the most powerful Upyr.

"She is your queen." Maria said giving him a scathing look.

"Not yet." Kotetsu said. It would not do him nor anybody any good to argue with a Takarada, however. "Once she is then I will begrudgingly teach her whatever she wants to learn."

Ren internally winced. He hadn't been planning on actually marrying her. There was no way he could marry anyone. Kyoko outwardly cringed. She wanted everyone to stop talking about her as though she weren't in the room. She hated that the king had suddenly decided that she was his and had placed his arm around her. Unconsciously her skin heated up to the point where the smell of burnt wood was coming from her chair, but the king didn't seem to notice or care.

"She is your queen even now. It doesn't take a marriage to make her queen. Takarada is the rightful heir to Mogami." Maria said standing on her chair.

"The Takarada were the rightful heirs." Ryotaro corrected. "Your father abdicated the throne to Misonoi then that little shit Kazushi took off leaving Katagiri-sama in charge."

"And Katagiri-sama's prized adopted heir Todoh vanished as well." Jouji said, "Morizumi is the rightful heir."

"Nobody wants your son nor your niece on the throne." Ken'ichi interjected.

"Exactly, that's how we got saddled with this mess." Ryotaro said waving a disrespectful hand at Ren and Kyoko.

"Did you just refer to your king as a mess?" Kyoko questioned having heard enough from these bickering fools.

She could see now that Ren had not been exaggerating when he said they were all power hungry. They had no intention of accepting her as queen unless she were married to a man, they didn't even want to be king. They were all plotting even now, she could hear them. Not the words in their minds but their intentions. It was all muddled together, but she could tell some were planning to gain her favor only to use and manipulate her. Others were plotting her demise so they could place someone they preferred on the throne. Smoke rose from the chair beneath her as she tried to concentrate on all the hidden intentions. She wanted to decipher them and pick out the one who fully intended to place her on the throne. That one held the face of her mother firmly in their mind. She could see the tall woman with black hair and cold eyes and most importantly a round pregnant belly. Then there she was shoving the baby into a man's arms right before someone else attacked them. They ran. Mogami! The man shouted.

"Would you behave yourself?" Ren tried to command her as he lifted her from the fire engulfed chair and into his lap. With a wave of his hand the chair fell into ashes.

"Put me down." Kyoko said glaring up at him indignantly. How dare he interrupt her before she could figure out who's thoughts held a memory of her mother! How dare he touch her at all and place her in his lap.

"No, I don't think I will." He replied happy that she could not command him and amused that she seemed annoyed by that.

"Put me down now." She seethed in a low tone trying again and failing to burn him.

"Quiet." Ren said feeling particularly mischievous and wanting to see how riled up she could get. She had set the chair on fire because other people were squabbling, what would she do if she were in an argument? By now she ought to know that he was immune to burning. He wanted to see what else she had up her sleeve.

"Don't tell me to quiet. Put me down you big bully." She said as she struggled in vain to break free of his arms. "Let go already."

"What no supernatural strength?" Ren teased.

Kimiko, Ruriko, and Erika stared in disbelief as Kyoko fought to get out of a situation any of them would kill to be in. Kana smirked at the scene noting that the two hadn't yet seemed to realize that they were attracted to one another. At the moment it seemed purely physical on Kyoko's part, but Ren was at the very least intrigued by her odd reactions to him. Kotetsu and Ryotaro were not impressed by the childish display, but Jouji concealed a certain endearment for bickering spouses. Ken'ichi watched true heir to the throne closely. She looked just like Seana but he was glad to see that she had not inherited her mothers cold demeaner. Though it seemed that Seana's violent streak was alive and well in the girl he noted as he watched her beat her fists against the king's chest.

"We're going to have to hone your combat skills better. Did Sawara-san not go over hand to hand combat with you?" Ren asked knowing full well that the three trainers had stuck to weapons, etiquette, and history, mostly teaching her how to evade attacks and avoid trouble.

Growling Kyoko gripped his head and brought his nose down to hers. He flinched wide eyed and confused by her sudden want to be closer to him.

Let me go. Whispered across his mind and his hands released her against his will.

"Thank you." she said jumping out of his lap and smoothing her clothes out.

Once she was presentable again Kyoko turned to the covens and once again found herself in a room full of vampires all staring at her with awed and bewildered expressions. All except for Ken'ichi who couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and Ren who was staring down at his own hands stunned.

"Sorry, did I do something I wasn't supposed to again?" she asked looking to Ren.

Ren flexed his fingers to make certain that they were still his. Was that what it felt like to be controlled? He suddenly felt bad for all the times he had used his command inducement on others. No one had ever been able to do that to him, not even Kuu or Lory could command him, and they could command everyone. And he was pretty sure that she had just linked her mind to his without asking permission. Vampires didn't do that to other vampires. Not only was it rude, but every vampire was taught how to block others from doing such things.

"You are all dismissed for now." Ren said rising from his seat.

"What do you mean…" Kimiko started not wanting to miss whatever was about to happen next. Kyoko had just forced herself into the king's mind. None of them had proof but they had all seen the look on his face as his hands seemed to move on their own. They had all experienced that before and could tell when someone else was being commanded. Surely, she would be punished severely for such a crime.

"Get out all of you." Ren commanded calmly. They all obeyed grumbling as they left.

Ren tried to reach out to grab Kyoko's arm before she could escape with them but found that he couldn't touch her. His hands refused.

"Takarada-san, wait." He said but she pretended not to hear and followed Maria out. "You may have extraordinary powers, but I am still your king and I wish to speak with you."

She hesitated for a second but then tried to push past the others to get out quicker.

"I will chase you around this entire building if I have to. Then we can discuss that dungeon you have been so desperate to see." Ren said dryly and he sat back down seeing her stop mid-step and turn on her heel.

He waited for everyone to be gone then beckoned her over. "Come here."

"I'd rather stay over here." She said standing near the door.

"It wasn't a request nor a suggestion but an order from your king. Once you are queen you can ignore all orders given to you but until then I would appreciate it if you could behave yourself." He said in a strained voice. "Now come here."

The shadows him appeared to grow out and reach for her. Fear shot through her nerves but when she tried to back away, she found more shadows at her back pushing her towards him.

"Why don't you try to manipulate the shadows?" he asked not certain if he wanted her to have that particular ability.

The cold shadows touch her skin, and she drew in a shivering breath as she was forced to step forward.

"No?" Ren asked mockingly. The shadows shoved her perhaps a bit too roughly into a chair and he rose up to tower over her. "What else can you do?"

"I don't know." She answered honestly. If she wasn't afraid to make him angrier, she would have done the mind trick again to command him to let her leave. She hadn't even known what she was doing but something inside her told her that she could do it.

"Fine, then link to my mind again." He said unaware that he wanted to feel that connection again. It was something he had never felt before and he didn't entirely hate it. It was only the command part that he hadn't liked but for that brief moment she was in his mind there had been a pleasant warmth.

"No." She said shaking her head. Not only did she not know how but she really didn't want to be in his head again. It had been dark and clouded with fear and regret.

"Yes."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to. I don't even know how I did it the first time." She replied wanting to do it just so she could command him to shut up.

"Why can't I touch you?" Ren asked holding his hand between them as it refused to reach out to her.

"I don't know, pervert maybe because I don't want you to." she said eyeing him leerily. Why would he want to touch her?

Ren stared into her eyes for a long moment, and she stared back. He tried breaking through her mind as she had his, but she was successful blocking him. No one had taught her to do that, yet she knew how. It took fledglings years to master their abilities and that was with training every day from birth but here she was using abilities she didn't know she had.

"What else can you do?" he asked again lowering himself to her level and searching her eyes for the answers.

"Tsuruga-sama?" Kyoko started after some time passed with an awkward silence between them.

"What?" he asked gently his shadows fading away. There was no use in scaring her more. He would have to discover her abilities through training.

"Not to alarm you but I'm a little hungry." She said looking away from him. The longer she stared at him the hungrier she became.

"Oh." Ren said cocking his head to the side.

It took him a split second to realize that she wasn't completely immune to him after all. Vampiric supernatural beauty was one of the more useless abilities to possess in his opinion, but it was one he possessed in abundance.

"Here." He said tilting his head back to expose his next for her.

"No, ah…" she tried to protest but her fangs elongated at the sight of his veins pulsing under his skin.

"It's alright I don't mind. You're hungry." He said. Why didn't he mind? Not even he knew. Normally he hated being bitten but it felt good when she did it. "Why fight it?" he asked himself and her.

Kyoko couldn't resist. The beast inside her craved his blood. It growled and clawed at her insides until she hurled herself at him and pierced her fangs into his flesh. He lifted his hands up to wrap around her no longer hindered by her spell. She moaned at the taste of him and gripped his hair to hold him tight to her mouth. The hot thick liquid poured down her throat calming the beast inside.

"Kyoko." Kuon moaned green eyes glowing as his own fangs ached to sink into her skin.

"Seriously! Again, you two!" Yashiro shouted.

"Yukihito!" Ren said closing his eyes and willing the green away.

"I'm sorry." Kyoko screeched tearing herself away and clamping her hands over her mouth.

"You. There." Yashiro pointed towards a far corner and Kyoko complied with his order to Ren's annoyance. "Now you explain yourself mister."

"Me?!" Ren asked aghast. "She's the one who bit me."

"And you let her even after I told you not to. In fact, everyone told you not to. You don't have the strength to let her drink your blood. Why not order so from the kitchen like a normal vampire who is in recovery would?" Yashiro lectured.

"I don't like that blood." Kyoko and Ren said at once. Yashiro smirked at this but plastered his stern face back on quickly.

"You two are on a strict regime from now on. One cup of donated blood every hour until I am satisfied that you're both healed." He insisted walking over to Kyoko, "As for you," he said doing intricate hand motions in the air. "No more biting until further notice."

There was a painful pinch in her fangs then she felt them shrinking flat and useless.

"You can have them back once you're married. Honestly the two of you were ready to perform a vampiric mating ritual right here in the counsel room." He chided.

"What?" Kyoko question as Ren said, "We were not."

Yashiro shook his head and said, "I only came here to report that we have found nothing. The damage will be repaired soon but there are no clues as to who launched the attacks. Tomorrow you'll hopefully come to your senses and train her properly as she is our only hope in finding this rogue vampire."

"Right. So, we've basically got nothing." Ren said enjoying her sneer at his jab.

"No, what we have is a king and queen who apparently can't be left alone together, a building full of noble heirs who can't wait to suck up to both of you, manipulate you, and ultimately take your thrones, and a nameless, faceless menace who could strike again at any moment." Yashiro said with a smile. "I would suggest a good rest and," he conjured up two cups of blood, "a cup of blood every hour."

Grumbling like children they each took a cup.

A/N: Hopefully that wasn't too bad. I debated on who should be in the meeting and what each should say. I would say that Kyoko, Ren, Maria, and Yashiro come easier to me than the rest of the characters and I'm afraid it shows. They'll just more fun to wright but the rest are necessary to move the plot.