Notes: Oooh, "Master" used to be such a respective title, and now it's tainted for me

Notes: Oooh, "Master" used to be such a respective title, and now it's tainted for me. ^^;; Just remember that when the title "Master" is used, it's not in a kinky way. ::sweatdrop::

Disclaimer: I own the dragon and Miyako's outfit! Or I wish I did. ^^;; But nothing else! And I like it that way, so nya! ^_^;

Bewitching the Dragon
Part One -- Chapter Four
By: Hanae Michiko
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A slight breeze blew through the humid night air, ruffling Daisuke's hair and his dragon companion's mane as Daisuke chattered about his life, his family, and his home.

"I live with my older sister Jun and my parents, but they aren't home often. I didn't even have to tell them I was leaving, because they're out on business. But it's okay, because Jun takes care of me. As much as she pretends to hate me, I know how she really feels."

Ken listened intently, making various grunts and nodding every one in a while to show he was paying attention and wanted Daisuke to go on. Ken liked listening to the redhead talk. He had a lot of interesting stories to tell, and a nice voice to boot. Ken only wished he could speak back to him, let him know what he really thought. Though at the moment, Ken was too engrossed in the feeling of Daisuke riding on his back and Daisuke's breath against his neck, and thought that if he had a voice, it would have certainly failed him.

"Sora's a real nice person. She treats me as a friend, but she doesn't tell me much. I have to infer a lot about her…like how she's courting her advisor Mimi. But Sora would never tell anyone that. The relationships of the town's leaders do not need to be shared with the public."

Ken felt Daisuke's arms tighten around his neck and had to resist the urge to collapse from the overwhelming feeling of butterflies in his stomach. The knight's lips were on his neck now, and he could feel them moving as Daisuke continued to talk. The dragon felt as if he were going to melt.

"Man, I'm tired. I only slept in a proper bed once! All I want to do right now is find your home, steal your bed, and get some shut-eye!"

Daisuke laughed, and Ken felt the reverberations of the laugh on his back. It made him shiver. Daisuke only kept talking in an effort to keep himself awake.

"Jun's totally in love with this," Daisuke yawned, "…this blonde guy from back where I live."

Daisuke laughed again at the memory of his sister, and continued.

"I didn't even care enough to learn his name. She's always 'falling in love' with these guys from town."

As Daisuke removed his hands from around Ken's neck to form quotes with his fingers, he nearly slipped. Ken started and turned, ready to catch Daisuke by the waist of his pants if the boy were to fall. Daisuke clasped his arms around the dragon's neck again just before he toppled over completely, and hung about a foot from the ground. He threw his head back and laughed at himself, trying to get around to Ken's back again. Ken brought his head under Daisuke's body and nudged the boy's bottom with his snout, the scales on his face heating up. He would have been blushing if he could.

"Thanks, buddy!" Daisuke exclaimed, resuming an even tighter hold around the dragon's neck. Ken nodded, grunted, and kept walking.

"So, as I was saying, Jun thinks I should find myself a lady to court. She says it's about time I fall in love and find a nice girl to spend the rest of my life with."

Daisuke took a deep breath and sighed, hesitating before going on.

"The thing is, I don't really like…"

Daisuke trailed off as Ken stopped in front of a large palace. Mouth hanging agape, Daisuke brought his gaze from the base of the palace to the very top, slowly and in awe.

"This is your home?"

Ken nodded and set Daisuke on the ground in front of the door.

"Should I just…knock?"

Ken nodded again, and Daisuke brought a hesitant fist to the door. Slowly but firmly, he knocked three times and waited for someone to notice. When no one came, he knocked again, a little louder and with slightly more confidence than the first time. After a few moments, the door opened just enough for a blonde head to pop through the opening.

"May I help you?" the boy on the other side of the door asked.

"Yeah," Daisuke started. "I've got something that belongs to you."

The knight gestured behind him to the dragon standing ambiguously and nervously a few feet back.

Daisuke saw the blonde's eyes widen and he gasped.

"Master Ken!"

Daisuke raised an eyebrow and quickly turned on his heel to face the dragon.

"Master Ken?"

Ken looked downward as if ashamed, and Daisuke turned red. The way he had acted around Ken was nothing like the way one should act around nobility. He had been too informal! Daisuke immediately got down on one knee and bowed his head before Ken. Dragon or no dragon, he was still superiority.

Ken gazed at Daisuke a moment and felt a smile tugging at his mouth. The outward result looked awkward, seeing as how dragons didn't have lips, but he was smiling nonetheless. Something he hadn't done in ages. He couldn't simply tell Daisuke that kneeling before him was unnecessary, so he leaned forward and nudged the redhead with his snout. Daisuke stood, and Ken shook his head. Grinning broadly, Daisuke nodded his understanding and turned back to the blonde at the door.

"Hey, wait a second," Daisuke thought aloud. Blonde hair, blue eyes, a fisherman's hat clutched tightly in one fist… "Are you Takeru?"

The blonde tore his gaze from his master to raise an eyebrow at Daisuke.

"Yes, I am."

"Great! I have a note for you from a kid named Iori. He gave it to me to--"

Before Daisuke could finish, Takeru had swung the door open and jumped outside, grabbing at the piece of paper the redhead had just pulled from his pocket.

"Excellent! Thank you so much!"

Takeru was about to tear the letter open to read it, but then remembered the task at hand. He sheepishly put the paper in his back pocket and turned pink.

"So, Ken told me there was someone here who knows what happened to him. Would that person happen to be you?" Daisuke asked, trying to get back on topic.

Takeru's gaze immediately fell to the floor sadly.

"Yes."

"Could you help us out?"

"Well," Takeru rubbed at his neck nervously as he looked back up at Daisuke. "See, there's a witch in Tamachi named Miyako, and she's in love with Ken."

Daisuke felt a pang of something in his chest, but ignored it and listened intently to Takeru's story.

"However, Ken doesn't…um well, he prefers…well, you see, he…"

The dragon made a noise from the back of his throat that sounded vaguely like a cough, and Takeru laughed sheepishly.

"He couldn't fall in love with Miyako," he finished hastily. Daisuke raised a curious eyebrow, but Takeru shook his head and continued. "Miyako thought Ken wouldn't love her because she was a witch, so, angry, she turned him into a dragon to get revenge."

Daisuke bit his lip and slowly absorbed the information Takeru had just given him.

"Okay," the redhead finally said. "This is going to take some thought. But first…do you have any food?"

Takeru laughed, and Daisuke thought he heard a chuckle-related noise come from Ken, as well. It made him smile happily and blush embarrassedly at the same time.

"Of course, of course! Where are my manners? First off, hello, I'm Takaishi Takeru, Ken's right-hand-man. Sort of."

Takeru smiled crookedly, and Daisuke laughed gently.

"Hi, I'm Motomiya Daisuke, sent here from Tokyo to slay the dragon, having failed miserably."

Takeru shook his head in amusement.

"Come on in and…actually, I'll bring the food out to you," Takeru amended as he took another glance at Ken. He disappeared behind the closed door.

Daisuke turned back to Ken and smiled shyly.

"So you're in charge here, huh?"

Ken nodded.

"That's, um… That's pretty cool."

Ken made a shrugging motion with his head.

After an awkward pause, Daisuke grinned.

"Don't worry, we'll get that Miyako chick! You'll be human again in no time!"

The redhead found himself wondering what Ken looked like as a human and hoping he would have the same stunning violet gaze that had been burned into his retina and his memory forever. The sound of a door opening startled Daisuke out of his daydream, and he jumped, turning to face Takeru.

"Here you go," Takeru said, placing a humungous tray of food on the doorstep. "I don't know what dragons eat, so I got a bit of everything."

Daisuke plopped down onto the ground in front of the tray and winked his thanks. Ken slowly got down on his stomach and elbows, eyelevel with Daisuke for the first time since they'd met. Daisuke's breath caught when he looked over at Ken. Piercing violet met warm brown, and Daisuke found he could not pull away. Takeru's voice startled him back to reality.

"Eat up, and if you need anything else, I'll be right in here."

With that, the blonde left again, closing the door behind him.

"Okay!" Daisuke shouted, hopping to get rid of the butterflies in his stomach with some good old fashion binging. "What do you like? Chicken?"

The redhead held up a fair-sized chicken leg and held it in front of Ken's face. The dragon sniffed at it before bringing his tongue out to taste a sample. Approving, he nibbled at it as well as a dragon could possibly nibble. Daisuke held it for him the whole time. When only the bone was left, Daisuke reached down and pulled out a cluster of grapes. Ken stuck his tongue out for Daisuke, and the boy placed on it a couple grapes. Ken chewed, swallowed, and shuddered, obviously disapproving of the fruit. Daisuke laughed and finished off the cluster himself.

"How about cheese?" Daisuke asked, holding out a triangle of cheddar cheese for the dragon to try. Ken leaned forward, sniffed, and began eating out of Daisuke's hand, enjoying the dairy product almost as much as he enjoyed the poultry. He licked Daisuke's hand to get the last remaining bits of cheese, and Daisuke flushed a deep cherry red.

"Do…do you, um…like bread?"

Daisuke lifted a full loaf, and Ken sniffed it, shaking his head before even tasting the food. Daisuke smiled and tore off bits for himself to eat.

"What about these noodle things?"

Knowing forks would do nothing for Ken, Daisuke reached into the pile of noodles and grabbed a handful, wrinkling his nose and laughing at the way they felt in his palm. Ken licked the noodles from Daisuke's hand and shrugged, showing that he didn't like them as much as the other food. Daisuke smiled and grabbed two more chicken legs, one for Ken and the other for himself.

The two of them eventually finished off the whole platter in front of them, Ken even having licked the crumbs and leftover juices from the plate as Daisuke held it in front of his face, laughing.

Daisuke yawned.

"We've had quite an excursion today, I say we get some sleep before try to think."

Ken nodded in approval, and Daisuke stood up to knock on the door and talk with Takeru about sleeping arrangements. The blonde came to the door, looking very elated and excited. He had obviously read his boyfriend's letter.

"We'd like to get some sleep for now and figure out what do in the morning," Daisuke proposed.

Takeru nodded.

"Of course! I'll prepare you a room and…" he bit his lip as his eyes met Ken's. "I guess Ken will have to sleep out here."

Daisuke got a sinking feeling in his chest and he turned to look at Ken. The dragon shrugged to show he didn't mind, but Daisuke did mind. He turned back to Takeru.

"Could you just bring some blankets and pillows out here? I'd like to stay out and keep Ken company…"

Takeru smiled, a hint of hope shining in his azure eyes.

"Certainly," he said, disappearing for the third time into the corridors of the palace. He returned momentarily with an armful of blankets and pillows. "Here! The most comfortable ones we have," Takeru offered with a proud grin. "Have a nice night!"

"Thank you," Daisuke said, walking back to Ken. "Let's find a nice comfortable spot on your lawn to make a bed out of, all right?"

Ken nodded and got to his feet, and the pair walked around until they found a soft patch of grass. Ken settled onto it first, and Daisuke covered the dragon with all but one of the blankets. The knight then put a few pillows under Ken's head, which Ken accepted gratefully. Daisuke placed another pillow in the crook where the dragon's front haunches connected to the rest of his body and settled against Ken's warm body, pulling the last blanket up around his chin.

"Good night, Ken."

Ken grunted in response, wishing more than anything in the world that he could have told Daisuke "Good night."

* * * * *

The hot sun beating down on everything resting on the earth roused Daisuke to alertness in the morning. Noting vaguely that sleeping against Ken had given him one of the best nights of sleep he'd ever had in his life, Daisuke sat up, removing the blanket from his uncomfortably warm body. The boy began thinking, bringing a hand to his mouth and chewing on his fingernails unconsciously.

"I've got it!" he exclaimed, waking Ken from his sleep.

Daisuke turned around, noticing Ken had awoken, and explained his plan.

"We have to go see Miyako!"

Okay, so it wasn't exactly a master plan, but why not go for the easy way out?

Ken recoiled immediately, obviously not too happy with the idea of going to see Miyako.

"Ken, if we go see her, I'm sure I could persuade her to turn you back. I'm excellent at persuasive speaking," Daisuke assured the dragon, beaming a little too proudly.

Ken shook his head. He didn't care how well Daisuke could speak, he wasn't going to go see the witch who had done this to him.

"Ken, please. I have a gut feeling that it will work! You have to trust me! I…I'd never let anything bad happen to you…" the knight told Ken honestly, blushing a light pink.

Ken thought, mentally biting his lip and sighing. He rolled his eyes before finally agreeing to Daisuke's plan.

"Great! Okay, we'll let Takeru know what's going on, and then we'll trek on over to Miyako's place."

Having said that, Daisuke made his way around to the palace's front door and knocked on it heavily. Takeru appeared at the door seconds later.

"Would you like some breakfast?" was the first thing the blonde asked.

At the mention of food, Daisuke felt his stomach grumble. 'Well, can't persuade on an empty stomach!' he concluded.

"Sure! And after we eat, we're going to go to Miyako's home and have a talk with her."

Takeru stiffened noticeably.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" the boy asked warily.

Daisuke grinned confidently.

"Well, it's not a bad one."

Takeru frowned but nodded.

"I…I trust you to bring Ken back."

Daisuke smiled.

"Thanks, that means a lot to me."

Takeru nodded.

"Okay, I'll bring out your food and then tell you where Miyako's home is. I wish you two the best of luck, and try not to get into too much trouble."

After bringing out breakfast for Ken and Daisuke, giving Daisuke brief direction's to Miyako's house, and wishing the two of them luck again, Takeru headed into the castle to write a letter to Iori letting him know what was going on in Tamachi.

Daisuke and Ken ate quickly, Daisuke too excited about his plan to savor his meal, Ken being forced to eat at the speed Daisuke fed him. Once finished, they got to their feet, and Ken bent his head down to let Daisuke climb onto his back.

"No, that's okay, I feel like walking today," Daisuke said with a wide smile. He still kept an arm on the dragon's shoulder the whole way. Staying in contact with Ken made him comfortable and relaxed, for whatever reason.

"Okay, Takeru said it's not very far, but still at least an hour's walk away."

Ken nodded, very familiar with the distance between his palace and Miyako's home.

"Do you hate Miyako?"

Ken shrugged.

"The reason you couldn't love her wasn't because she was a witch, was it?"

Ken shook his head.

"What was it, then?"

Ken shrugged again. Daisuke bit his lip, a little peeved at the fact that Ken couldn't speak to him. He wondered what his voice was like.

"Was she just not your type?"

Ken made a gesture that seemed to say, "You could say that."

"What is your type?" Daisuke asked. It had seemed like an innocent enough question, but as soon as it left his mouth, Daisuke found himself hoping that Ken's type was…something he could fit the description of.

Ken only shrugged again, looking as if he was growing increasingly uncomfortable with the situation. Daisuke sighed.

"Jun always tries to hook me up with girls from the town, mostly her friends, but none of them are my type, either. She keeps asking me what I want in a woman, but I can't really tell her because…well, truth be told…I don't want a woman…"

Daisuke looked down, slightly embarrassed at his confession. His attraction to other males was something only he knew about, but it felt necessary to share with Ken.

Ken felt his heart leap in his chest and begin palpitating at twice its normal speed. He didn't know why he felt this way…after all, he was a dragon. But that hadn't seemed to bother Daisuke. The boy treated him as if he was already in his human form.

"I've always…well, for the longest time, I've been the prince, the hero, the knight in shining armor, and I've always wished that for once I could be the one finding his prince, and not the other way around."

Ken continued to walk calmly, but was nearly having a heart attack. 'I'll be your prince!' his mind screamed, and Ken ached with the need to speak to Daisuke. 'I'll be your knight in shining armor who will rescue you and woo you and love you! I can be that prince!'

Ken clenched his jaw tightly, cursing Miyako and thanking her all at once. If it weren't for the fact that she had changed him into a dragon, he never would have met Daisuke. But because he was a dragon, he couldn't speak to Daisuke and tell him all that his heart screamed to tell him.

Dammit.

"Is that it?"

Ken looked up at the hut in front of them and nodded.

Daisuke tilted his head to one side. It looked friendly and humble enough. Shrugging, Daisuke approached the front door and knocked. After a few moments, a lavender-haired young woman who looked as if she had lazily draped herself in black satin came to the door. She quirked an eyebrow at Daisuke and, after looking him up and down, smiled approvingly. However, she didn't speak.

"Are you Miyako?"

"Yes, and who are you?"

"My name's Motomiya Daisuke, and I've come to request something from you."

The witch laughed icily.

"I don't do requests."

Daisuke felt his cheek twitch, but he remained hospitable.

"I believe you've made a mistake."

"Mistake?!" she screeched. "What the hell do you want?"

"I want you to turn Ken back into a human," Daisuke bit out.

Miyako growled upon remembering Ken.

"That was no mistake."

"No, it was. You thought Ken didn't love you because you were a witch, but you were wrong."

Miyako snarled, her upper lip curling upwards slightly.

"Then why didn't he love me?"

"Well, seeing as how he's a dragon, he couldn't exactly tell me that, now could he?" Daisuke responded cockily.

"I don't believe you. I don't believe you! All of you, you're filthy liars!"

Daisuke tilted his head to one side. All…?

"No, it's the truth! Really. And besides, what does it matter now? You've had your revenge, Ken's miserable! He hates being a dragon."

"Good! That was the point. He's not supposed to enjoy it."

"Are you suffering still from Ken's rejection? Are you that pathetic that you can't move on?!"

Miyako opened her mouth to respond, but closed it again, thinking.

"You come here treating me like this and expect me to grant your request? What kind of a person are you?"

Daisuke didn't know how to answer that question without falling into a trap, so he avoided it.

"Please…please, just change him back."

Miyako smirked. The boy has resorted to begging…how interesting.

"Why should I? What am I going to get out of changing him back?" the witch asked incredulously, glaring daggers at Daisuke.

"Gratification that you know you did something right?"

Miyako scoffed.

"What use have I for gratification?"

Daisuke thought again, biting his lip.

"Our undying gratitude?"

Miyako laughed, but the sound was more closely related to the screech of a hawk before it dove on its prey.

"What use have I for undying gratitude?!"

Daisuke took a deep breath, clenched his jaw, closed his eyes tightly, and thought. What would she get out of it? What could she get out of it? So far, Operation: Talk to Miyako wasn't working out as planned.

"Anything."

Daisuke opened his eyes to see Miyako eyeing him interestedly.

"What?" she asked, leaning against her doorframe.

"You can have anything you wish to have, anything at all, if you change Ken back."

Miyako licked her lips in thought and grinned.

"Anything at all?"

Daisuke considered the question. What was the worst that could happen?

"Anything at all."

"Okay, I'll return Ken to his true form," Miyako finally agreed.

Daisuke turned around to face Ken and whooped.

"Yes! I told you I could do it, Ken! I told you that you could trust me!"

"If…" Miyako interjected quietly.

Daisuke plastered a neutral expression on his face and turned to face Miyako again.

"If?" he asked, still mentally celebrating. He'd already broken out the wine and was dancing with a human Ken in his mind.

"If…you marry me."

 
~End Chapter Four~