Blood. That was all he could see. It was all over his hands, it had soaked into his hair and been smeared all over his face. His mouth tasted of copper and fear. He didn't remember draining the girl but there she was lying next to him lifeless on his bed. He jumped out of bed as though afraid she would wake up and lash out at him for murdering her. There was blood caked beneath her nails. It was his blood from her fighting him off. The smell of blood turned his stomach yet oddly enough he was ravenous. His fangs ached with the familiar need to rip open someone's neck.
"You're sick!" He yelled at himself. Trembling fingers raked through his hair ripping it out in blood matted clumps. His fangs throbbed urging him to lick up the blood on the sheets. It wasn't like she needed it anymore. It was such a waste. "No."
Very well if not the remainder of her blood, then what about one of the servants? They were all going about their morning duties. He could hear their heartbeats as they dusted and swept. There were some in the kitchen preparing a meal he would never eat. His lips parted and for a moment he imagined ripping the chef's head off and eating his arteries.
"Sick, fuck!" He yelled at himself. His hands slid down the side of his face carving thin red lines with his nails.
"What are you doing?" His heart stopped as her voice echoed in the room. "Stop." Her hands took his pulling them away from his face and she frowned at the sight of his blood. "You shouldn't hurt yourself."
His eyes flicked behind her to the corpse on the bed. Had she seen it?
"Tsuruga-san, what's wrong?" She asked. Slowly she leaned down giving him a chance to shove her away. When he made no move, she licked the blood off his face. Her frown deepened as she tasted the dried blood mixed with his fresh blood. Some of it wasn't his.
"You shouldn't be here. Go back to your own dream." He said realizing what was happening. This was not a memory but a dream. Rather it was a nightmare of one of his most hellish memories. Kyoko had dreamed walked into his dream.
"What are you staring at?" She asked turning to look behind herself.
Ren caught her head and forced her to look at him. She hadn't seen what he'd done yet, and he wasn't about to let her.
"You need to go back to you own dream now." He said too forcefully as he gripped her hair.
Instead of protesting or fighting his grip on her she looked down sadly. Her eyes flicked up at him through her lashes unknowingly causing his heart to jolt with the temptation to kiss her.
"I had a nightmare." She said biting her lip. "Couldn't I stay with you in your dreams for a while?"
"No." He said harshly. "You are perfectly safe with Prince in your room. Kotonami-san is in the bed beside yours and Honami-san and Yuka-san are in the room next door to you. A nightmare is no excuse to leave your body," He stopped to think for a moment flexing his fingers in her hair.
She was too corporeal. He could feel her hair glide between his fingers as he started massaging the back of her head. She moaned leaning her head back against his hand. He sighed shaking his head.
"Are you in my bed again?" He asked and he heard her heartbeat speed up.
"I'm sorry. I know I'm being a bother to you but I really just feel like it's safest for me to be near you."
With another sigh he said, "I gave you Prince so that you would feel safe enough to remain in your own bed. No one can get you here I promise." He rested his forehead against hers.
She shook her head. "The nightmare wasn't about me." She said, "It was about you."
"About me?" he asked his eyes flicking back to the corpse on the bed. He needed to get her out before she had a chance to see.
"Yes." She nodded attempting to follow his gaze again. His hands were still in her hair though preventing her from turning.
"What happened to me in the dream?" he asked both to distract her and out of genuine curiosity. She had been dreaming of him.
"You were in pain and alone. I heard you crying. You said over and over that you were sorry and that you hadn't meant to do it. No one would listen though. There were all these people who were yelling at you and calling you wicked and cruel and accusing you of all sorts of things. I couldn't stand it. Not only were they not listening to their king, but they were lying too. Because though you can be a bully and annoying sometimes, I don't think you're wicked or cruel. Then this shadowy figure showed up and since you haven't eaten in a while you were weak and… and…" she spoke quickly her anxiety rising as she remembered the anguished look on his face.
"I am perfectly fine Kyoko-chan." He said pressing his thumbs down her forehead to smooth out the worry lines that had formed. He released a heavy breath and glanced back at the corpse.
"Tsuruga-san?" Again, she tried to turn but he held her head still. He looked frightened and that worried her.
"Tsuruga-san?" A gentle hand shook him, and the dream faded. The walls of his childhood bedroom were replaced with those of his bedroom in his castle. "Tsuruga-san, I'm worried about you." Kyoko whispered. She felt that it was presumptuous for her to be in his bed expressing her concerns. Then again, she was to be his wife, if she couldn't express concern for his life then who could?
"I'm fine."
"Promise?" she asked.
"I promise now go back to sleep and stay in your own dreams please."
"I can't." she insisted.
"Fine you stay awake and watch over me all night. I'm going back to sleep." He said irritated. He could smell her soft skin and it was proving too much of a temptation. He closed his eyes again hoping she would take the hint.
"Tsuruga-san?" she whispered shaking him.
"What?" he asked ready to bite her as punishment for being in his bed this late at night. That would only end badly for her though. He had to think of some way to discourage her from coming to his bed at night.
"Tsuruga-san is in danger." She said. "You are a danger to yourself because you won't eat, and you work too much. You're hungry I can feel it. I saw you in my dream. You were weak and staving and…"
He sat up abruptly causing her to shrink down. She hadn't meant to make him angry.
"I was resting until you came in here, you know. In any case, I am not hungry for blood. I am afraid it is a different kind of hunger you are feeling coming from me." His menacing voice echoed in her ears. He crawled over her and rested his head on hers. Their lips were so close he could taste her breath. "Are you offering to satisfy my hunger? Do you know what it means to sate your mate's hunger for you?"
Trembling she replied, "We're not married yet." She knew she would have to fulfil his carnal desires one day. As queen it would be her duty to produce heirs, but she wasn't ready yet. They had said no vows and he hadn't even given her an engagement ring. Unless he counted the necklace. Was the necklace meant to replace a ring?
"Says who? We're not humans, Kyoko. We do not have a need for wedding ceremonies. We have a council who decided that you are my wife. That means you're mine." His hands traveled down her sides feeling the heat of her skin through the thin fabric of her pajama top. Once he reached the hem of her shirt, he slipped his fingers beneath it. She gasped as the pads of his fingers tickled up her stomach. "There is a mating ritual, however. Is that what you want to do?"
"You don't even like me." She said as her heart hammered against her chest. His hands on her didn't feel unpleasant or wrong. It felt scary but even her fear felt exhilarating.
"I never said I didn't like you." He whispered rubbing his nose against hers. She released a shuttering breath and her leg bent up to rub against his.
"You protested when they said we had to marry." She pointed out as her hand slid up his back and into his hair.
"I just don't think it's fair for you to be stuck with a brute like me for a husband." He said laying a kiss on the corner of her mouth. "If I didn't like you it would be so much easier for me to send you away."
He kissed down her chin and across her jaw. He laid soft kisses over her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. After every kiss he told himself to stop but then he would kiss her again. Her warm skin was soft and addicting.
"You're not a brute." Was the only thing she could think to say as her body melted under his gentle touch.
"I'm not?" he asked as his fingers danced over her ribcage and his lips lingered at the corner of her mouth.
She didn't answer him. Her head was swimming with the feelings his touch was stirring up in her stomach. She could feel his carnal cravings pumping through her veins. Heat pooled in her stomach. The hand in his hair pulled his face forward and she laid a tentative kiss on his lips. It shocked him. He had thought she would push him off and call him out for being a pervert. Giving into his desires he kissed her back. This was not how things were supposed to go. She was supposed to be scared of his lust for her. She should have run back to her room declaring him a monstrous pervert and swearing that she would never marry him. At this rate he would end up doing something stupid and careless. If he continued to allow himself to grow closer to her it would only hurt more in the end.
He groaned as his hands caressed higher to cup her pert breasts. Her leg lifted over his hip and her hands gripped his hair holding his lips to hers. He was lost in the feel of her lithe body writhing against his. Kyoko moaned into their kiss and pressed her tongue to his teeth. It wasn't a conscious decision. She didn't know why her blood wanted to be devoured by him so much, but it did. In a swift sweeping motion, she sliced her tongue against his fangs. Her heart skipped in fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of his anger. Fear that he would drink his fill of her and kill her right then and there. The taste of her filled his mouth and he bit down on her tongue. His arms wound around her to crush her body to his as he sucked the blood. It wasn't enough. He needed more of her. He wanted to possess all of her. He had to sink his fangs into her flesh and drink deeply.
The image of that girl dead in his bed shot through his mind and he was sure that she had seen.
"Stop it!" Ren growled shoving her away and jumping out of bed. That wasn't for her to see. As much as he wanted her to fear him for her own good, he didn't want her to see that.
"I know you're hungry." She said rising up on her knees and opening her arms. "It's alright to give in to your need. If you don't it will consume you." She tilted her head to the side offering him her neck. "That's what you said to me when we first met. You told me not to fight it but here you are denying yourself my blood."
"Kyoko when I drink from people, I can't control my hunger. It controls me and I kill people." He said but he took the hands reaching out to him and pulled her closer. There was nothing he wanted more than what she was offering. He pressed his nose to her throat breathing in deeply to savor her. His lips pressed to her skin, and she sighed tilting her head back further. He opened his mouth, and the tip of his tongue touched her pulse. His hunger resonated in her veins, and she brushed her long dark hair to the side. Breathing in a deep calming breath he dropped her wrists and took her face between his hands. A hand slid down to her neck filling her with anticipation as his thumb pressed on her pulse.
"I can't. Not you. Never you. I could never forgive myself if," he couldn't finish the thought. He would rather die than hurt her.
"Is there something wrong with my blood?" She asked feeling inadequate.
"No," he had to laugh. "Did you not see the memory?"
"I saw." She said nodding.
"How can you see that and think that you're the problem?" He asked pulling her head to his chest and kissing her hair. "All I ever wanted was to protect you."
Kyoko closed her eyes pouting. It was him who needed the protection, but he wasn't listening.
After some time, he came up with the only solution that made sense to him. "If it will help you sleep easier then I promise tomorrow I will drink all the blood Yashiro-san brings me."
"You will?" she asked annoyed. Though that was better than nothing she supposed.
"Yes, if it'll make you happy." He replied kissing her head.
It didn't make her happy. They both knew that she wouldn't be happy until he was drinking from her.
"It's part of the mating ritual." Ren reminded himself. It wasn't as if she liked him or anything.
"What is?"
"Desiring the bite of your mate. The need to be claimed by the one you have claimed." He explained as he gently pushed her away. "Now I really must insist that you get some sleep. I could use a few more hours myself."
He motioned his hands towards the pillows, and she reluctantly laid herself down. He covered her in a heavy quilt and kissed her lips with a quick peck.
"Sleep sweet princess. I promise you have nothing to worry about." He said caressing his hand down her cheek. She closed her eyes and he laid next to her hugging her close to himself. "I promise I'm ok. Now think of your favorite place in the whole world and we'll dream about that for a while."
It had never occurred to him that she would think of the lake in the forest clearing. The bed melted into dirt and grass and the scent of the lake filled his nostrils. This could prove to be even more dangerous than the room with the corpse.
"Corn," the sound of his name mispronounced on her lips startled him. He opened his eyes to look up at her leaning over him. "I mean this boy I used to know, his name was Corn, he used to come visit me here. He told me he was a fairy, but I know now that must not have been true."
He shrugged giving her a reassuring smile. "Maybe it is true. The Duris and the Hizuri covens have always claimed to be fairies. They are the only ones of our kind who can fly, and they have healing powers which no other covens have."
"Other vampires can't heal each other?" She asked recalling more than a few times when he had healed her wounds.
"Not without giving their blood. The Hizuri also heal faster than other vampires while the Duris are said to be the most beautiful. The Duris claim that they are the oldest coven. Their ancestor was even older than Jun'ichi, but he was not more powerful." He explained pushing her hair out of her eyes. "Lie down and rest."
"You promise to eat in the morning?" She asked and he sighed.
"Yes, now let me rest peacefully and enjoy nature while I can. I haven't been able to hike in the woods or take a leisurely stroll by a lake in ages." He said resting his arms behind his head and closing his eyes. He hadn't been able to enjoy nature like this since he was crowned king.
She smiled down at him and laid her head on his chest. This startled him but he knew it was her vampire instincts. It was only natural for her to be attached to her source of blood. He placed a hand on her head running his fingers through her hair. He would have to make her stop drinking from him. It would only hurt her more when the inevitable happened and he had to be killed.
She dreamed of Corn. His delicate wings fluttered when she touched them, and he blushed. Her hands had tingled and when she pulled them away her skin sparkled. It was fairy dust, he had explained. It was coveted by witches for its ability to enhance magic spells. His green eyes sparkled with mischief as he told her that he could put her into a deep sleep and steal her away. Then she would be his princess and never have to do another chore. She had protested then but now she wished she had let him take her.
'Kyoko-chan,' Corn called to her, but it wasn't him she saw standing over her as she lay on a bed lifeless. It was the younger Ren she had seen in his memory. The one covered head to toe in blood. She wanted to answer him. To tell him she was alright, but she couldn't move. "No, no, no. Please not her. Kuon you monster! Not her." He cradled her body in his arms and she could feel his warm wet tears splashing onto her face. "Please. Please wake up Kyoko. Please."
Kyoko woke with a start to see Ren beside her in bed reading over documents. Prince was purring loudly as he curled into her other side. She felt surrounded by Ren.
"Are you thirsty?" Ren asked without looking up from his papers.
"Yes," she croaked sitting up. She expected him to set his documents down and tilt his head back so she could get at his neck. Instead, he passed her a cup of room temperature blood.
"I've already had two cups and couldn't possibly drink anymore. Yashiro-san brought me another though, despite my protests." He explained.
"Yashiro-san brought you this?" She asked turning bright red. That would mean that Yashiro-san had seen her in bed with Ren. "That means he saw me in your bed!"
"Yes, and he assumed that I fucked your brains out." Ren said with a wicked grin. "I would have corrected his assumption, but he was giddy and bouncing around. I just couldn't disappoint him."
"Tsuruga-san, you can't just let him think something happened between us. That would be preposterous and indecent. We have to go find him now and set him straight." She said throwing her legs over the side of the bed.
"Go right ahead. Then he'll press you for answers and since you're all about honesty you'll have to admit to that little make out session you initiated. Then you'll have to explain how you once again started a mating ritual. I'm sure he'll love teasing you about that. Then he'll scold me for stopping you." Ren said flipping a page and circling a couple words.
"I did not initiate a make out session or a mating ritual. I don't even know what the second one would entail."
"Our mating ritual starts with both vampires biting their tongues and kissing one another. If it is done on sacred ground the two become bound to one another forever. It just so happens that this castle is sacred to vampires as it was Jun'ichi-heika's castle. Had we done anything last night you would belong to me forever." He couldn't help but to smile at the thought. He could have bitten his own tongue and bound her to him. That wouldn't be fair to her, but the idea was tempting.
"Am I not already yours?" She asked unable to decipher the feeling of her heart twisting.
"That is what your vampire nature is trying to accomplish. You have claimed my blood already and that part of you can't understand why I won't claim yours."
"Why won't you?"
"You know why."
"No, I don't know why. You tell me nothing. Like why your eyes turn green or why you have two long scars down your back." She said glaring down at the cup in her hands.
"My what an observant wife I have." He said jokingly but her words had shaken him.
There should be no way for her to see scars on his back. He knew that she was referring to the long gashes where he had torn his own wings from. Those had healed though. Her hand reached out and traced one long scar and he shuddered.
"You're imagining things. There are no scars anywhere on my body." He said forcing himself to remain composed. "Would you like me to fully undress so you can examine my flawless skin with your own eyes?"
"No." She snapped feeling like he was toying with her again. And they had had such a pleasant night.
"Good then sign here." He said holding a paper out to her.
"What?"
"Yashiro-san says I have to have you sign some document too. So, it looks like we're sharing the work." He said handing her the pen. "They're just reports from various ghoul attacks. Most o them are dull."
"Oh," she said signing the line he pointed to.
"And this one, then here." He pointed out each line and she signed it without a second thought. "Good, now you can head to training with Kotonami-san."
"You're not joining me?" She wondered if her nightly visits were starting to get on his nerves. It was unusual for him not to insist on training her himself.
"…No." He said eyeing the blood she had yet to drink. He knew that her vampire nature demanded that she drink his blood. She was too attached to him, and he had to put an end to that attachment. "Drink your blood before it gets cold."
"Kotonami-san doesn't like me," she said hugging her knees to her chest. "And Kijima-san is always making flirtatious comments and innuendos about us. Honami-san and Yuka-san are spies for Amamiya-san."
"You are observant." He said surprised. Here he was convinced that she didn't notice any of the things Kijima said.
"I'm not an idiot. Well, Ruto-san all but told me Honami-san and Yuka-san are spies. Chiori-san told me they were her spies, but she doesn't know that. It was a thought she had in her head that I didn't even realize I had heard until later."
"And Kotonami-san, why is it you think she doesn't like you? Did you read her mind too?" He asked.
She shook her head, "It isn't as if I can read minds on purpose. I can't get in her head."
"So, you've tried?" He asked with a wicked grin.
"No!" she lied looking mortified.
"No? Not even once?"
Tearing up she flung herself into a dogeza on the bed. "Yes, I have. I try all the time to read everyone's mind. Ever since that first time I got into yours I've been trying to see what everyone is thinking. I'm sorry! I know I shouldn't be so nosy and invade people's privacy, but I wanted to try to use my powers. I am a terrible person and I know that Kotonami-san would hate it if I got into her head like that, but I just couldn't help myself…"
The sound of his laughter silenced her. She rose out of her bow to pout at him.
"Bully!"
"It's a good thing that you couldn't get into people's heads." He said soberly. "For one it is very rude to invade someone's headspace without permission. Two you could get hurt. Going forward do not dream walk into anyone else's dreams and stay out of their minds."
"How could I get hurt?" she asked wondering if there was a way she could hurt Shotaro for invading her mind.
"You could get lost in a dream that isn't yours. Enter the wrong dream or nightmare and the monsters that exist in someone else's mind could harm you." He explained.
"And what if I read someone's mind? How could I get hurt?"
"You might not like what you hear." He suggested. "Enter the wrong person's mind and they could trap you."
"Could I hurt someone who gets into my mind?" she asked.
He narrowed his eyes and said, "It is not usual for a vampire who has not had your blood or you theirs to be able to enter your mind. You form a bond with your blood source. That is why mates will typically only drink from each other and Upyr children only drink from their parents. Even then you normally need their consent to enter someone's mind."
That must have been how Shotaro got into her head. He had been draining her for years. She cocked her head wondering how the rogue vampire had gotten into her head. Kijima and Kanae too had been possessed.
"How does someone get into a human mind then?"
"Human minds are less guarded than vampires." That was his way of saying that they were weaker. "It is easy for us to manipulate them even without possession. Is there some reason you need to know all this?"
"I'm supposed to be learning about my powers." She replied with a shrug then as if just noticing she gasped in horror at the blood she had spilled on his bed. Prince was purring as he lapped up the red liquid pouring from the cup she had dropped when she fell into her frantic bow. "I'm so sorry. Please punish me for this mess. You could lock me in your dungeon or…"
"Knock it off." Ren said in annoyance. "See if you can get the blood back into the cup instead of begging for punishments."
"How, how would I do that?" She asked raising her head from another bow.
Ren said nothing but he pointed at her mess, and she took it as a hint that he wanted her to figure it out by herself. Ren returned to his documents as Kyoko waved her hands over the blood seeping into the sheets. Nothing happened. She glared at the liquid and her stomach rumbled. If she had less dignity her head would be next to the cat's licking the blood up. Annoyed with her inability to do it she started mumbling nonsense incantations.
"Abracadabra, hocus pocus…" Ren chuckled as she spouted her nonsense. "Move dammit." She looked at him pouting and accidentally spoke into his mind, I'm hungry.
"I told you to stay out of people's heads without permission." He said wondering how she kept getting past his barriers.
"Sorry, I don't mean to do it." She said her eyes round and large as she pouted up at him.
How was it that she could be convinced he didn't want her and yet she was so good at seducing him? He had meant to get her off his blood and put some distance between them. Somehow though he couldn't muster the strength to break the bond that had formed between them. Even if it enabled her to get into his head so easily.
Come here. He whispered across her mind to see how she liked it. To his dismay and utter delight, she crawled over to him. His hands took hold of her waist, and she straddled his lap.
"Honestly, you two." Yashiro grouched as he entered the room with a tray of food. "Put an enchantment on the door to keep people out next time."
"We weren't doing anything Yashiro-san. I knew you were coming with food for your queen." Ren said. He smirked as Kyoko's frown deepened. "Good timing too. She's starving."
Kyoko eyed the tray Yashiro set down on a small table. Tamagoyaki and miso soup with a side of rice and fish cooked just the way she liked. Most importantly and annoyingly there was a fresh cup of reheated blood.
"Are those the inheritance documents?" Yashiro asked and Ren nodded.
"Yes, all edited and signed." Ren said handing the documents over to Yashiro.
"Inheritance documents?" Kyoko asked at the same time that Yashiro asked, "What did you edit?"
"I took out the bit about her needing to produce an heir before she could inherit the throne. There was also a stipulation about having to perform the mating ritual in front of witnesses. That is old fashioned and quite frankly I prefer not to have an audience." Not that he was going to allow there to be a mating ritual. Though he had to admit that Kyoko made it hard for him to keep that from happening.
"The counsel placed those stipulations to protect you." Yashiro said shaking his head.
"From whom? Do they think Kyoko is going to kill me for power?" Ren asked in disbelief.
Kyoko tried to snatch the documents from Yashiro so she could read what Ren had tricked her into signing. Yashiro was too quick and moved the documents out of her reach.
"I also added some things that I needed her to agree to." Ren said smirking.
"Like what?" Kyoko and Yashiro asked.
"Like she will accept her choice of weapon from my collection as a wedding gift from me. And also, she will not dream walk into anyone else's dreams." Ren said reveling in the dark aura emanating from her.
"Oh, well that seems reasonable." Yashiro said dismissively. "It would be good for her to choose a favored weapon and hone her skill with it. As for the dream walking, well that's just common sense. It's rude to invade people's dreams."
"You said those were hunting reports." Kyoko grumbled jabbing Ren in the chest.
"Yes, and you were gullible enough to believe me."
"You tricked me." She accused jabbing him some more.
"Will the two of you be leaving your bedroom at some point today?" Yashiro asked. He was pretty sure they had already done the mating ritual. It would be prudent of him and the counsel to prepare for a royal baby.
"We didn't do anything Yashiro-san." Ren said and Kyoko looked between the two. Had Ren had Yashiro's blood? Had Yashiro had his? Her nails dug into Ren's shoulders. That was unacceptable.
"Young lady," Yashiro started as he saw the blood dripping down Ren's chest.
"It's alright Yashiro-san." Ren said taking her head in his hands gently.
"You were the one who said you wanted to ween her off your blood. Which I might point out I tried to do before. I don't see any point in it now that the two of you have already bound yourselves together." Yashiro said.
"We did not perform the mating ritual." Ren insisted.
"Sure, I believe you." Yashiro said sarcastically on the outside but inside he was giggling at the annoyance written all over Ren's face.
"Believe what you want." Ren said before turning back to Kyoko whose nails were long claws in his flesh. "I told you that you need permission to enter someone's mind. That is the most important thing. I have never had any of Yashiro's blood nor he mine."
"It's mine." She said in a voice that she thought sounded too harsh to be hers.
"Yes, I know." Ren soothed petting her head.
"She's had too much of your blood for you to stop giving it to her now." Yashiro said. "I told you that would happen. She is your precious one now though so it should be fine."
"Yes, I know." Ren said dully to his assistant. "It's alright," he said to Kyoko lifting her head. "I don't mind you drinking."
This wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to push her away and get her to stop drinking from him. She needed to be less attached to him. What would she do after he died? What would she eat? He let out a pleased groan as her fangs sank into his skin.
"You spoiled her." Yashiro said with a smirk as he brought the reheated blood over to Ren. "It's good that you've had so much to drink today."
"It is." Ren agreed as he pet her hair. "We will get out of bed today. I have some meetings and my precious little one has to pick out her weapon. Then she will meet with Maria-chan. I believe they have a ball to plan."
A ball? Kyoko asked in his mind. She had thought that he said Prince wasn't a spy, but it seemed he had told Ren all sorts of things.
I said he can choose not to tell me things. If you wish to hide things, then tell him not to share it with me. Ren said back with a chuckle.
Kyoko pulled away from his neck licking the blood that spilled out.
"And who will be watching over you?" Kyoko asked, "I'll have Prince and Kotonami-san plus my servants. Will Yashiro-san be with you all day?"
"I will check on the king throughout the day." Yashiro said amused.
"But no one will stay by his side all day?" Kyoko asked.
"I don't need a babysitter. As you well know I am a very capable hunter. I have full control of a wide range of powers." He said and their training sessions flashed through her mind from his point of view. She saw herself being thrown down on the ground. She saw him pinning her down and overpowering her every chance he got.
"That may be true, but you still need a bodyguard."
"I don't."
"You do." She insisted.
"I don't." He said again using his thumb to wipe away a trail of blood on her chin.
Kyoko crossed her arms sulking as she saw his neck was already healed. Her eyes trailed to Prince cleaning his paws of the blood he had licked up. Ren saw where she was looking and thought she was lamenting over the spoiled sheets. He motioned his hand over the stain, and it began to seep out of the fabric. She watched in awe as the cup floated to the nightstand and filled up with the remaining blood. The cat went to the cup and happily stuck his head in. Kyoko cocked her head at the cat wondering how Ren might have made him. She contemplated for a moment then reached up to her head and plucked a few strands of hair. Ren and Yashiro watched her curiously as she dropped the hairs and a golden light emitted from her hand. Slowly the hairs grew and multiplied.
"How are you doing that?" Ren asked as a small cat with sleek black fur formed out of her hair. It was an ability that he had practiced for at least ten years before he managed to create something that resembled an animal. Even that it was only a small bird. It was not a specific type of bird, and its feathers were multi-colored and unkempt. It had managed to live for barely a day before it molted into nothing. Kyoko's cat was a perfect replica of the real thing. She stretched her long thin body and let out a tiny meow. Her warm golden eyes were full of intelligence and curiosity as she looked up at him.
"There now you'll have a protector too. A piece of me to always watch over you." Kyoko said happily but then suddenly she grew shy and tapped her fingers together looking down. "I know it is conceited of me to think you'd want to have a reminder of me around all the time."
"She's for me?" He asked in disbelief. His heart warmed at the thought of her making something for him. A piece of her to keep with him throughout the day.
She nodded with embarrassment. Prince leapt off the nightstand and sniffed the new cat. She shrunk away from the bigger cat afraid he might attack her.
"Timid little thing, isn't she?" Ren asked flicking Kyoko's nose.
Prince purred and laid down letting the smaller cat know that she had nothing to fear. She took a timid step towards him and sniffed.
"I suppose her name will have to be Princess." Ren said as the two cats rubbed their heads together. "Well then my queen should we rise from bed and get on with our duties?"
Kyoko nodded satisfied that Ren would have someone with him and that he would eat throughout the day.