Comfort
The auburn-haired girl shifted her leg when a gnawing, warm ache began to irk at her ankles, flinching as it continued to travel up and the pain increased to a burning sensation. She twisted her lower body away from what felt like flames licking at her skin, but restraints bounded her movement and prevented her escape.
All the while, low mocking laughter drifted by her ears, and she silently condemned whomever was enjoying the torture session that she was being forced to endure. The teenager cried out, begging for relief of the person in the same vicinity as herself, but received no help, and had to suffer alone, with wicked snickering taunting her hearing senses.
Oh, please… If I'm gonna die, make it quick, stop dragging it out… she pleaded in her mind, biting her lip instinctively until she felt the coppery taste of blood staining her tongue.
A shadowy presence appeared before her face, and fanned sour, heated breath on her smooth skin as the Kenpo student wearily looked up. "You deserve this… There is no one to blame… but yourself."
That's not true…! She denied inwardly, starting to struggle and bent her legs as close to her chest as she could, trying to dodge the fire trickling down over her body.
"Your fault… your fault… your fault…"
The words danced around in her subconscious-ness as the flames suddenly disappeared, the tight pressure of binds encircling her wrists and ankles were gone, and instead she felt herself being slammed to the ground. She winced when her back landed, acknowledged tears prickling at her eyes, and could barely conceal her squeal of fear when pressure pressed against her throat. Hard, lean length covered her form, and warmth immediately flickered at her nerves, bringing the girl a strange feeling of security and comfort, even though she knew her life was in the hands of a killer. She wanted the consolation from her friend, so she placed trust in his actions, but her suspicious side screamed at her to knock him away, and escape before he proved how good of an assassin he was.
Quickly becoming short of breath, Uriko felt her head spin dazedly as her eyes rolled around listlessly, and her hands reached out to grope at the air, but her arms were pinned down. Pale light shone in her line of sight, making her blink at the blinding sensation, and wondered in the back of her mind if this was her purgatory before she died. Her heart pounded frantically as it struggled to receive oxygen to continue its job in her body, and a sliver of her consciousness knew that the pace was beating so fast partially because of her affections for the ninja. This was her chance to redeem herself before it was too late, and she parted her lips to emit the words that would admit her feelings, but only a shrill squeak came out.
Just then, as if her guardian angel had heard her pleas to live, whatever that had been squeezing her throat down lifted itself from her, and air rushed into her starving lungs. She gasped at the pain that came with the precious oxygen that suddenly was granted to her, and with a quick moment's recovery, slowly crawled to her knees. Shaking her head as things came into focus, Uriko blinked and rubbed her eyes with the back of one hand, then glanced at the crouched figure sitting a short distance away from her position. The aura that invoked the mysterious person's surroundings made her recoil in fear, but her curiosity melded with her courage to proceed over to the bystander's side.
He will be the death of you. A voice abruptly informed the girl, cold and to the point with its icy, merciless tone, and yet it sounded very much like her own. Your life will end by his hands, and he'll enjoy killing you. You're going to die because of him, idiot. Her head swam dizzily at the persuasive words, but she managed to grit her teeth persistently and keep going, despite the threats that continued noising. You first met him, and he was a skilled assassin! He still is a killer now, what makes you think he would make an exception for you?! Get away before it's too late to save yourself!
As she plopped down on her bottom, hesitation shook her composure, and her hands went up to clasp together, resting between her bosom, and her head dipped down in suit as a sign of resignation. She paused to run the possibilities through her mind, and in the end; her strong emotions for him won over the cowardly part of her that strove to convince her to run away. Pushing it back, the feline drew closer to her friend, and timidly placed a shaking hand on his shoulder, feeling slightly relieved when he moved out of her reach. But determination surged in her veins, pushing her to persist the issue, and almost reluctantly, the girl followed each scoot of his retraction.
He finally stopped increasing the space separating the two, seeing as the Kenpo student would not let him get away, and spoke harsh words, all the while growling at her. Familiarity pricked her senses and she listened to him speaking, reciting the same phrases he had said earlier when they shared the conversation at the palace. This time, however, warmth settled in her heart as she paid close attention to the passionate tone in his voice, and heard the truth that the assassin was sublimely expressing. She believed that Kenji really did care about her, but she was not sure to what extent and if he could ever gather up the courage to tell her his feelings.
"…You had better hope he has enough control to keep me in check, because next time, I will kill you." Just remembering his words made her shiver at the thought, and she wrapped her arms around herself in pseudo-comfort, closing her eyes when iciness bit at her senses. "I promise that. You are his number one priority, the person who influences and persuades his decisions the most, and that is why you must be eliminated first." And then the devilish counterpart shrunk back into her friend's body, letting him regain control for the time being, lying beneath the clouded surface, waiting for the right moment to strike again.
His sworn words sunk into her mind, shocking her into the realization of how deeply the assassin meant what he said, and she shivered at the chill that settled over her senses. She tried to fight back the images that darted into her head, but was helpless to do otherwise and just watched horrifying scenarios unfold that her own fear created by itself. Shots of her friend in mole form violently slashing away at her throat and face made her quiver frightfully, and she could almost feel his deadly claws drawing blood from her as they sunk into her neck. Her courage was slowly diminishing, leaving Uriko with only dread and dismay, and her hands shot up, fingers going to clutch at her temples in effort to force the gruesome pictures out.
"Uhh… no…!" She bit her lip as tears stung her eyes, and a few dribbled down her cheeks. H-he wouldn't do that to me… Kenji… Kenji is my friend; he'd never hurt me intentionally… But even her protests sounded weak to her ears, and the young female moaned and began to thrash her body about wildly, resisting the urge to succumb to the taunts inside her head. A falling sensation startled her into tipping her head up to glance at her surroundings, and she could only see intense darkness, shadowy shapes extending out, reaching for her. She shrieked when a firm presence caught a hold of both her shoulders, and the girl instantly twisted to get away from the new imprisonment, flinging her arms around with her hands poised stiffly and nails ready to scratch and claw.
Whoever had her in possession shook her hard, making her head bob forward and back, while a hissed voice insistently, "Uriko, wake up!" She groaned softly and feebly attacked, reveling in the sound of a howl when she felt skin break underneath the sharpened tips of her penetrating fingers. "Leave me alone…" the girl mumbled in refusal when she was being shaken again.
"Uriko! It's me, Kenji! Come on… wake up! Please…"
Kenji? Her drowsy mind inquired, her feral attitude softening, and then a dreamy smile curved her lips at the mention of her dear friend. Well, okay, if it's for Kenji… She slowly slid her eyelids up, blinking sleepily at the shadow-cloaked person before her, and instinctively raised her hand to touch and make sure she was not hallucinating. The second that her palm grazed against the rough surface of a cheek, Uriko was immediately lifted into a sitting position as strong arms wrapped around her upper body. A shrill squeak elicited from her throat in surprise at the abrupt action, and it took a while for her to acknowledge that a voice was murmuring hushed whispers into her ear.
"Uriko…" Warm breath heated her bare lobe, making her tingle. "Sweet kitten… you scared me out of my mind. I don't know what kind of nightmare you were having, but I'll bring hell to whoever caused you to suffer through it…"
"K-Kenji…" she adjusted the position of her hands to clutch at her friend's waist, gripping his shirt tightly, seeking comfort in his embrace. "Stay with me… please. Don't go; I don't want to fall asleep alone…"
"I'm not leaving you." The ninja assured her firmly, spreading his hands out over her back and starting to gently rub her tensed muscles, sighing remorsefully when she began to cry. Her slender figure quivered with each sob that shook her shoulders, and he released a barely audible growl, damning the nightmare that tore at her consciousness and attacked her usually strong resolve. Kenji shifted to press his cheek to hers, feeling the thin strands of her long brown hair etching into his skin, and the ends of her bangs tickle his chin. He held her tighter, and faintly felt the pulsating, frantic beat of her heart pounding against his chest, silently expressing her currently distressed state, and need for comfort.
"I-I was scared… I sh-shouldn't have been, but I was, a lot…!" Uriko wept bitterly, sounding disgusted at herself for feeling such a way toward her friend, who she should have trusted without a doubt. "I-I…"
"What… what were you scared about?" the dark-haired teenager asked her quietly, not wanting to prod her and make her think that he was rudely nosing into her private business.
"Ah-…" she choked on her words, realizing that she could not tell him her fears, and panicked as she wondered what to say instead, wailing melancholically, "C-Cronos killed our baby…!"
He immediately stiffened after she emitted the sentence, and slowly pulled back, keeping his hands on her shoulders, and gazed intensely into her chocolate brown eyes as he questioned hoarsely, "Uriko… what do you mean…?"
Now that she had trapped herself, there was no escaping the truth; and since he had been the father of their unborn child, he had a right to know what pain the prince had caused the both of them. She hung her head down low, and mumbled very softly, "I… was pregnant…"
The girl felt his fingers shake, and his grip loosened considerably as the pace of his breathing increased and he inquired, "That… that night at the hotel…?"
"Y-yes…" Uriko nodded numbly, shrinking back away from him when he fell silent and his palms slid off from their previous position. He exhaled sharply, and she could feel her outburst sinking into his mind, and a quiet, fiery aura of contained anger toying with the air surrounding his body.
"The drugs that you spoke of earlier, when we were still back at the palace, was that how he… how that bastard took away our child?" Her companion questioned, piercing iciness biting at his tone.
She did not answer verbally, and instead nodded slightly in response, all the while letting wet tears slick down her cheeks, and drip off of her chin to fall into her lap. The intensity of his fury increased, and she could hear his breathing become more harsh as he released a threatening growl that made her raise her eyes and glance at him. A chilling possibility arose in her mind that in his current touchy and vulnerable state, it could allow Bakuryu to re-surface and take over his control to help let out his anger. The sixteen-year-old girl leaned forward, and hesitantly encircled his neck with her arms, cringing at the stiffness of his body pressing against hers. "K-Kenji?"
"I should have killed him." Came his lowly muttered statement that made her flinch, and then she shivered at the threat in his voice. "He needs to pay for what he did to you… to us." He hissed, ire lacing his tone as he continued, "I'm going back to the palace tomorrow, and make sure that he gets what he deserves…"
"No, Kenji," she persuaded him, retracting to peer at him. "I-I think he's already dead… Remember, we saw him earlier this afternoon…? Th-that's why the big chubby guy was so angry at us, be-because we killed his prince…"
"I hope for your sake that is dead, otherwise I would confirm it myself…" he shook his head. "But, if you don't want me to go…"
"I don't. I want you to stay here… with me," Uriko insisted with a quick jerk of her chin as she looked away shyly, avoiding the curious eyes of her companion. "I'm pretty sure the palace's security is gonna be increased a lot; I bet they don't want all that ruckus like what happened earlier today to go on again. But… I wonder what this country will do without its leader…"
"I hardly believe that Prince Cronos was their leader." Kenji voiced dryly, while inwardly, spiteful thoughts were forming. If it were so, then India is in a lot of trouble, placing faith in an obsessive, selfish, psychopathic kidnapper that would torture innocent people like Uriko to get what he wants. All he revealed of his opinions were, "India deserves better."
She released a heavy sigh and sat back, leaning against the couch behind her, propping up her knees against her chest and glancing into empty space absentmindedly. "I can't wait to go home tomorrow…"
"Don't you mean, later today?" The ninja corrected her playfully as he arose from the floor, and took a seat next to his friend, grinning slightly as he informed her, "I think it's after midnight by now."
"Sure doesn't feel like it…" the girl murmured softly, scrunching her neck, then she scooted over closer to Kenji, and tentatively leaned toward him, laying her head on his shoulder. "Must be the time difference…"
"Perhaps." He agreed, and sighed listlessly as he rested his cheek atop her nest of silky brown hair, his arm instinctively raising to stretch out, slipping through the thin slit between her lower back and the couch. His hand found her waist, his palm immediately cupped her side and the rough material of her tan-colored dress - Milyna had given it to her earlier after dinner - tickled his fingers. A contented noise drifted out from his lips when the girl wrapped her arms around his form, and snuggled her face into the curved concave of his neck, the tip of her nose daintily nudging his pulse. He took a deep breath, and inhaled a delicate scent from her long tress, as well as a sweet soapy smell; both had presumably come from the shower she had taken before going to bed.
"Kenji?"
The mole zoanthrope shook his head into focus, and replied, "Yes?"
"When we… when we go back home, do you think we should tell Mother, Yugo, and Alice what happened to us?"
He blinked and stared off blankly for a moment, contemplating her question, and finally answered truthfully, "…I don't know. On one hand, they probably have the right to know the ongoings that occurred, but then again, we may just be putting them through a lot of unnecessary worry. I mean, we were able to handle everything by ourselves, so I don't know if telling our guardians will significantly change the situation. It's not as if they could go back and time and erase it all from existence."
"I think Yugo's gonna blow a gasket when he sees the credit card bill…" she couldn't help eliciting her giggles. "I hope that you'll get to them in the mailbox first before he does, hehe."
"I intend to pay him back each and every cent that I spent." Kenji insisted, nudging the girl in her side in teasing retaliation. "It's almost summer; I can start working again soon. My boss called the other day, and asked me when I was getting out of school."
"Aww, you're such a good boy, Kenji." A smile tugged at her lips as she heard him groan warily at the mention. "No, really, you are! Not like it's a bad thing anyway; it sure gets you pretty positive attention from teachers, authoritarian people, other adults… and don't forget the girls at our school."
"Actually, I wouldn't mind doing so," he told her, grimacing at the faint memory of Wendy Kesler toying around with him; even though it had been a few weeks since that incident, he doubted that he would ever forget what she did to him at the prom. "I'm not interested in ditzy girls without a clue about what they want to do with their life, and the farthest they think regarding their futures is where their next date will be."
She shook her head in disagreement. "My friends aren't like that. Hey, you know Erika after all, she's the one who's always dissing other girls who act like sluts because she thinks pre-marital engagements are really immoral. I… I just hope that she wouldn't think any less of me because of… what you and I did." Her voice grew whispery and soft.
"You're not… going to tell her, are you?" His expression turned slightly stricken, and his body stiffened in apprehension at the thought of the intimate details in his private life being exposed.
"Oh please, of course not!" The Kenpo student slugged him on his side gently; feeling a bit appalled that he would ever think she could do such a violating, unthinkable thing to him. "I'm not one of those annoying gossipers - I'd rather stay the heck away from them then join in their stupid conversations. What happened between us, will stay between us, Kenji."
He nodded, and shifted to bend down and brush a feathery kiss against the side of his friend's forehead before he continued speaking, remarking apologetically, "I trust you. I'm sorry, Uriko, I didn't mean to sound like I doubted you; I just hate the thought of my privacy being invaded, you know what I mean? Certain things that I don't express anything publicly means that I want them to stay inside, so that no one else will know about them except for myself."
"It's… okay…" she assured him, stifling a yawn that threatened to escape, and her eyes strove to close shut as her mind pressured the girl to relax and go to sleep in the warm, secure embrace of her comforting companion. Uriko blinked tiredly, and instinctively moved to bury her face into his neck, her cheek coming into contact with his skin several times during her shuffling. The feline felt a purr rumble deep within her throat when she adjusted herself into a soothing, cozy position, and snuggled closer to her friend. He jolted in surprise at her actions, but very soon went along with her, and even boldly lifted his leg to drape it over both of her thighs in a possessive notion.
"K…Kenji?" she mewed softly in question, lifting her chin to glance up at him, adoration and trust lying within the pools of her dark brown eyes. She seemed clearly comfortable with being so close to him, snug in his arms, and did not express any signs of expecting anything inane to come from him. The amount of faith she placed in him gave the ninja an incredible sense of responsibility, yet he felt warmth surging through his body when she gave him a small assuring smile. It was all very encouraging, and her invisible strength transferred over to Kenji, making it easier for him to try something that he had been too frightened and cowardly to attempt in the past.
"Uriko…" he breathed quietly, intoxicated by her very essence as his head swooped down and he clumsily bumped into her nose before finding her lips. She cooed softly and emitted a little sigh of contentment as she timidly responded to his kiss, her hands scouring around his waist to hold onto him a bit tighter. His arms elevated to a higher, more convenient level, and his fingers stole through the thin strands of her long auburn hair, gently threading the silky tress. He knew that his friend was enjoying every bit of his attention, if her dainty purring indicated how the young teenage girl felt about his embraces.
A few feet away from the couple, a dark head poked out briefly to glance at the cause of the low murmuring that had been going on for quite a while, and then disappeared back into the shadows, while a defeated sigh was elicited up into the air. Cloaked in the dim lighting, Milyna pressed her hands against her heart, and rested her back on the wall, lowering her eyes to look down at the ground at the shame slicing through her. She had never considered the possibility of the object of her affections having feelings for another girl; he had claimed to have never dated before, after all. Chuckling softly at her stupidity, the Indian youth straightened her posture, and left her eavesdropping post, starting to pad toward her own room to go to sleep.