A/N: Sorry if the update took so long ;;
His eyes followed the lovely figure of a woman walking gracefully on the wooden floor of the small house. Her long, lustrous hair was tied low down her waist with a white scarf, and she was dressed in what he thought was her favorite robe – the pale silk kimono with peach blossoms.
His feet started to shuffle behind the woman. He wanted to touch her. He wanted to be held close.
Longing.
His hands reached out towards her, trembling.
Uncertainty, maybe even fear.
He could not explain why this woman could make him ache so longingly and scare him at the same time. All he knew was he couldn't stay away from her.
Then he felt his mouth open. Words formed; recognition dawned.
"Okaasan…"
Hao opened his eyes when he felt his shoulders getting wet. He opened his eyes, and his vision was met by foggy darkness and raindrops. Apparently, the rain was not yet through with its activity.
He shut his eyes, deciding whether sleep was still within his reach. It wasn't, so he wearily opened his eyes.
I wonder when will morning come…His gaze fell upon Jeanne, who was still sound asleep. He felt himself smile tenderly at the slumbering lady.
Yes, a lady. Perpetually a lady, that was what Jeanne was.
Delicate. Graceful. Refined.
Too polished a stone for a miner such as him to hold.
He remembered not without fondness their small quarrels, and how she did her best to counter his every statement. Yet she kept her emotions reined, her composure insurmountable.
It was with her that he decided that women look best when passionately furious, for it was all he could do not to touch her.
She moved slightly, trembling. His forehead creased.
She hugged herself tighter, and it was then that he realized that she was cold.
Fragile little thing, he thought wryly as he moved in front of the cave opening to block the raindrops and the chilly wind from reaching the girl.
She moaned lowly, a satisfied smile on her face. He chuckled.
It was then that he realized déjà vu was filling him again. This wasn't the first time that he smiled involuntarily because of a woman, but it had been ages since that first time.
He forced the thought out of his mind. There was no need for him to go back to those moments anymore. They were best buried underneath and lay forgotten.
His life was now dedicated on getting rid of weaklings like human beings. To make the world a better place for creatures better than weaklings. Because weakness displeased him.
Something within him laughed mockingly.
It wasn't just that.
It's about her. HER.
She was the REAL reason why he was doing this. Why he wanted to annihilate mankind, especially the Asakura clan.
The people that took his beloved Keiko Asakura away from him.
The only woman he loved so much.
The only mortal who elicited from him so much venerating and caring emotions that in his past life, he had tried to erase in his system.
He turned his face outwards, not wanting to look at the nun anymore. Now he understood why he grew so fascinated about the nun. Her poise, her composure, her wittiness, her kindness, her strength…those were the same things he wanted so much about his mother.
She shivered again, and instinctively, he turned to see if she was alright.
It then hit him that he also wanted one thing about the nun that he didn't see in his mother.
His eyes softened as he moved slightly to cover entirely the opening of the cave.
He wanted her weakness as well, for it could educe from him this warm feeling of protectiveness and concern.
And that feeling was foreign. He felt compassion for nature and the living creature it envelops.
But what he felt for this nun was something much more than that.
He wanted her totality, all of her lines and contours and delightful French terms.
He wanted her badly.
Funny, an akuma wanting a tenshi.
It was a thought so absurd, so outrageous that he decided at once that he was sick. Really. This was not something Hao Asakura should think of anyway.
His back was drenched already, and he could feel his back starting to ache. The man scratched his cheek, sighing.
"And I thought I was invincible." He turned his attention to the pouring rain outside, determined not to dwell on his feelings about his hostage anymore.
Jeanne woke up, feeling a bit cold. But aside from that, she felt much more relaxed and rested than yesterday. She sat up, yawned daintily, and unbraided her hair.
The surroundings smelt and felt like rain. And it was still dark, even though she could feel that it was already morning.
It was then that her gaze fell upon the figure seated on the opening of the cave.
"Hao…? Monsieur Hao?" she called. She silently wondered if he had slept there all night.
He opened his eyes slowly. "Aah…ohayou." He smiled at the same pace. "We had an air-conditioned night, and it's for free."
She frowned. "I-Is something wrong, Monsieur Hao?"
He blinked. "Ah, are you…trying to voice out your concern for me? You're doing a very good job of convincing me that."
She felt her face redden. "R-Really now, Monsieur! Must we bicker this early in the morning?"
"I'm not bickering with you, Jeanne. It's actually the other way around, if you have not noticed yet." He grinned half-heartedly. "I'm alright."
"You didn't look like you got any sleep at all," she said, and despite of herself, out of sympathy.
"I didn't," he admitted. "Anyway, what do you want for breakfast?"
"W-What were you doing, up all night?" she asked curiously.
He laughed. "I stared."
"Stared? At what?"
"Your face," he drawled languidly. "Really…mesmerizing."
She choked.
His grin widened. "Honest!" He turned serious. "I thought that we should go back to Patch Village as soon as possible. You're not exactly fit for outdoors, Sister Jeanne."
This made her frown. "Yesterday, you said we would stay longer here—"
He chuckled. "You like it here? I don't know that the caveman lifestyle excites you."
"Of course not. What I'm trying to say is that you don't sound your normal self." She gazed at him intently. "Are you alright?"
He nodded.
She looked at him for a few seconds, then sighed. "Why do I have this feeling that I don't want to believe you? Your eyes are saying something else."
"My eyes? Must be from lack of beauty sleep."
"Monsieur Hao…" she sighed again. "There IS something wrong." Out of impulse, she touched his forehead, but quickly withdrew it. "Y-You're…feverish!"
"No…it's just my furyoku." He laughed dryly. "But don't make me explain that, lady. I'm not in the mood." He didn't know how he could explain to the nun that his furyoku went berserk because of her presence the whole night—so near and yet so unreachable.
"Furyoku nothing. If you won't explain, then I would consider that as fever," she said stubbornly.
"It's too complicated."
"And I'm not that simple-minded," she countered. "This furyoku…is it related to you and the brother you are looking for?"
He paused, then opened his fist. A flame appeared, startling the nun.
"This is my furyoku's work. I control the power of flame," he explained.
She slowly met his gaze. "B-But…"
"Your fiancé also has his own furyoku. He is a dowser." He made the flame turn blue. "This furyoku is what I'm going to use to dominate the world."
"D-Dominate…" Jeanne's eyes widened. "Y-You weren't kidding!"
He flicked his wrist, and the flame turned white, burning as hot as the silent fury within him. "Dominate and destroy."
"D-Destroy…?" She was stunned.
"And rebuild the world as I want to." The flame in his hand was roaring, hissing in wrath.
Memories flooded his mind. The mocking stare, the cruel hisses, the look of fear, the glares and hatred-filled stares.
To rid the world of evil, sprouting from human beings themselves…When suddenly, Jeanne's delicate white hands covered his flaming palm, ignoring the scorching pain the angry flame was giving her.
"J-Jeanne!" he said, not expecting what she did.
She was wincing, but she still did her best to not show how it hurt. "I…I don't know what kind of fate the people around you made you suffer, but I do know that you're in pain. Great pain, I know." She shook her head vehemently. "B-But I know that I have to stop you. Not only because of the people who will suffer from what you will do, but also for you, Monsieur. Anger will only make the emptiness worse. Happiness that comes out of revenge will not last long, and someone like you…even someone like you deserves much better than that." Her eyes shook. "Stop it before you couldn't anymore."
Her begging ruby eyes made him snap out of his trance. Quickly, he made the fire on his hand disappear. "Jeanne, you shouldn't have—" He examined her burnt hands.
She smilingly shook her head. "I did the right thing. I did what I should have done."
"I'm so sorry," he whispered. He took her hands gently and brought them to his lips.
"M-Mon…Hao!" she gasped. She could feel her skin tingle with the contact as something warm flooded her heart.
He smiled sadly. "I know. I'm taking you home back to Lyserg Diethyl." He got up, pasting a cheerful mask back on his face. "He might be cranky already. We did make him wait. Gentlemen are always punctual, even when using the bathroom."
She got up too, confused. Why did he do that to her?
As if sensing her question, he turned to her. "Jeanne, if I answer your question, I know you will hate me. And I don't think…I don't think I can live with that." He grinned. "You are very special to me."
She froze.
"Have we met in different circumstances, I would have not suffered so much."
The bitterness in his words made tears well up in her eyes. Why did he sound so sad?
"Let's go, Jeanne-sama." He turned his back on her in what seemed like cold finality.
"H-Hao…" Her chest constricted. Why was his pain doing this to her, as if she too was hurting?
"Your groom is waiting."
It was then that her tears fell down unabashedly.
"Jeanne?" he murmured worriedly.
"T-The least you can do after startling me like this," she said quietly as she wiped her tears away, "is to tell me who you really are."
He nodded slowly. "Alright."
On their way back to the hotel (they were riding in a carriage that Opacho was driving—apparently, Opacho was around the vicinity all this time, secretly watching her master), Hao began to narrate to the nun his past.
"I know it's hard to believe that I used to be the most powerful onmyouji in the world in my first lifetime. It hardly shows in my new body." He tapped his face for emphasis.
Jeanne clasped her hands together. "A reincarnation…"
"I had a hard life. I mastered the art of Ying Yang, and yet, I was treated as an outcast. They treated me with contempt and disdain. Perhaps, that led me to desire the total domination of the world. They must have sensed my plan, so they killed me. But through my sheer willpower, I vowed to live again. And once reborn, I would destroy the world."
"I came back to the world hundreds of years later, when the Spirit of Fire – the embodiment of my furyoku – penetrated Keiko Asakura." He smiled at that part of his recollection. "My mother was the only person that I remembered that loved me truly. And I loved her back. So much that you might consider it sinful."
"S-Sinful?" Comprehension dawned on her face. "Oh Hao…"
"I fell in love with her." He laughed sadly. "Naturally, the clan was outraged. They abandoned me in the wilderness, calling me the devil. And so, I never saw Keiko Asakura again."
Jeanne didn't know what to say.
"That was the only time I loved my humanity. And she was the only person I loved. If only for her, I would forget my plans to destroy the world just so she can continue living happily in it. When I learned that Keiko Asakura died recently, my plans were re-fueled. This time, destiny connived with me and presented to me the son of Mikihisa Asakura. He carried the powers of both his father and Keiko, and he would prove as the best support for me in my plans."
"So you're out to destroy mankind," she said slowly as the carriage arrived in front of Patch Village' entrance.
He chuckled desolately. "There was another hitch in my plan, something I didn't foresee."
She paused.
"My plans were all set, but then came you."
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to be continued