Chapter TEN: What One Mustn't Touch
Battousai's ki flared as the shoji that separated him from the room and outside slammed open from the amount of power that he was emitting, his anger easily known to all the occupants in the building as his arms tightened around the unconscious woman in his arms.
Narrowing his eyes, he watched as his own blood dripped from the corner of her mouth, the acid from the poison trickling to the floor and causing the wood to melt away from the toxins that were leaving her body.
Closing the door behind him using his ki, the Dark Lord placed the girl on the black futon and forced her to wake up before she chocked on the blood.
Watching with amber slits as the girl moved her head to the side of the futon, he stood up and closed his eyes as Kaoru coughed up the rest of the poison that she had placed in her cup using her own magic. The venom within the drink caused the hardwood floor of the room to sizzle and melt away into the ground. However, the poison was unable to damage her body from the inside due to all of the magic and dark ki that was inside of her. If she were any normal person, she would have died the moment the poison went inside of her.
"You're a pathetic fool! You knew that my blood would clear the poison out of your body, so why then did you poison yourself? Were you hoping to rid yourself of my blood? You know that your heart isn't beating your own blood anymore," hissed Battousai as he watched her body grow limp and her face pale.
"Whoever said...that I was trying...to clear my entire body of your blood?" asked Kaoru as she looked up at Battousai with a triumphant grin, her lips coated in blood as she revealed red stained teeth that seemed more like fangs from her dark stare.
Battousai knelt down to her level and held her neck tightly in one hand, leaving only enough room for the girl to breathe through rigid breaths, which resulted in the sorceress trying to desperately gasp for air.
"Then what were your intentions?" asked the vampire through gritted teeth, his patience growing thin.
"To get rid of most of your blood..." answered Kaoru faintly from her lack of oxygen and the after affects of the poison that were slowly catching up to her.
"So you go and poison yourself, thinking that if you do it enough you'll get rid of all my blood? Well, then you're more of a fool than I thought," said the dark figure as he threw her to the futon, the girl's hair covering her face from the rough throw.
"If it means lessening my chances of becoming a monster like you, then I'll be willing to poison myself again," said Kaoru as her blue eyes met molten amber ones.
Battousai narrowed his eyes as he finally realized her real intentions. The girl knew that she couldn't get rid of all his blood, but if she managed to get rid of most of it then she'd be able to control herself on her own standards.
An amused look crossed his features as he looked at the girl before him, she was more intelligent than he suspected and also a lot braver than most of the powerful vampires that he had known. She was willing to risk her life to make sure that she didn't fall into the darkness and become like him. Battousai grinned then. She was going to be entertaining to break and tame.
"Before you decide to do that again, let me tell you something," said Battousai as his masculine body suddenly appeared before her and brought Kaoru to her legs with his powerful hands around her waist.
Kaoru tried to pull away from the vampire, but before she could do anything her breath was knocked out of her lithe body as she felt her limbs being crushed to the creature before her, forcing her to move her head up so that her icy blue eyes met flaming gold ones.
"I'm not going to allow anyone but me to take blood out of your body, not even yourself," whispered Battousai into her ear, the words echoing through her body.
Despite the heat emitting from the vampire's desired filled eyes, Kaoru felt herself shiver from his words. She shuddered as a clawed-hand moved to push lavender locks away from her face in a mock-gentle way.
Feeling something smooth under her chin, Kaoru opened her eyes, which had unconsciously drooped close. She gasped when she was met by steel blue eyes instead of golden ones. Her mind went blank as the vampire before her slowly began to shift to the image of another, the one that she had never forgotten, the one she had engraved into her heart. She could feel herself going unconscious as her mind flooded with the images of the one that had saved her a year before, the vision of the vampire that she still loved. She wanted so badly for him to be with her that she found herself becomingly willingly blind from the truth. To her, there was no Battousai, only Shinta, who had finally returned to her to make up for the promise that he had broken.
"Kaoru..." began Battousai as he saw the glazed look in her eyes.
"Shinta..." whispered Kaoru as she moved closer to him so that their noses touched, making the unsuspecting creature back away in confusion. She was calling him by that name again.
Battousai's eyes narrowed into slits, wondering why the hell she was calling him by another name. But there was something about that name that was familiar, but he couldn't quite put his fang on it. No matter how hard he tried to penetrate her mental barriers and get to her memory involving that name, he couldn't. It was as if his own mind refused to go that far into her personal life. There was some type of barrier around her memory and it confused him as to why it was just that one memory he couldn't reach.
Holding onto Kaoru's shoulder as she stepped closer to him, Battousai had to try his best not to slap her awake when he realized that she was in a dazed form. She was obviously hallucinating, which often occurred after one has just recovered from a poisoning, especially from a poison that is powerful enough to kill a normal creature with just half a cup in their system.
"Don't leave me," pleaded Kaoru, her voice trembling as her body grew lifeless and fell into the vampire's arms. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she rested her head on his shoulder, pressing her body closer to his.
Unsure of how to react to her actions, the Dark Lord was just about to throw her on the ground when soft lips touched his neck, his sensitive ears allowing him to hear the mumbled words that the girl was saying.
"Please don't break your promise," said the sorceress as she moved her forehead to his own and looked into his now golden, moonlight-like eyes, her mind still not realizing that the man's eyes weren't the same as the one she was referring to.
The vampire only looked at her in irritation. She wasn't thinking about him, she was thinking about another, and he wasn't going to just stand around and allow her to think of him as a worthless being instead of the powerful lord that he really was.
He was about to shake her awake with a shock of his ki when his eyes slightly widened as bloody lips met his own. The taste of blood heightened his senses as his instincts took over and calloused hands moved behind her head and pulled her in for a deeper kiss, his tongue searching her mouth for the remaining blood that was there, the poison vanishing from the blood as his dark ki cleansed it.
Pulling away when he realized that the sorceress needed air, the Prince of all vampires moved his head into her lavender locks as the intoxicating smell of roses and nature filled his nostrils, sending all logic out of his mind as lustful instincts took over and demanded that he claimed the being before him.
Groaning when Kaoru's body molded into his own perfectly, he clenched his fists as he tried to contain himself.
"Battousai..." the word soaring through his mind as he looked down at her, questioning if she had actually said his name, but doubted that his hearing was playing with him.
Shutting his eyes tightly as his mind replayed the sound that she made when she called out for him, he tried to control his thoughts, but the body that fit perfectly within his was making it difficult.
Eyes shining red with lust and yearning for the blood and woman before him, he felt his body heat up as his ki whirled around the room, causing the walls to pulse with his power as his ki grew darker.
Suddenly, the weapons at his sides began to pulse as they dropped to the floor, the four dark diamond weapons crying out as the sorceress slowly fell to unconsciousness. The ringing of the weapons died as the sorceress fell asleep in his hands due to the poison's after affects on her body. His own ki dropped to its normal state as he closed his own eyes and took back his control, his eyes settled to a calm blue hue when he reopened them.
As his control return, he placed the girl on the futon and covered her before calmly stepping toward the door and opening it as a group of lycans and a half breed made their way toward his room. His eyes flickered back to red before becoming gold again.
"What do you want?" asked Battousai, his voice just as deadly as the poison that had been in the tea.
"We only wanted to see if Lady Kamiya was alright," said Omasu as they all bowed to the man. They all knew that the man wasn't in a good mood if his ki had been strong enough to be felt by most of the creatures in the city of Kyoto.
"She's resting, what else did you come here for? I know that you all didn't come here just to ask for the sorceress's well being," said Battousai as he closed the door behind him, leaving Kaoru with the four weapons in the room, knowing full well that the weapons were going to protect Kaoru, though he wasn't exactly sure how he knew that since they were created to kill her. But he did know that he was their new Master and they weren't going to defy him, just like everyone else that came before him.
"My Lord, the toxins in the tea were..." began the half breed in her white kimono, her ebony locks let loose as she stepped up toward the vampire seriously.
"If you thought that I didn't know how that drink got poisoned, then you've underestimated me, and those who underestimate me don't live long," said Battousai darkly as his eyes narrowed at the woman who he was beginning to seriously dislike.
"Don't you dare talk to my mate like that, Battousai! I don't care if you are an immortal or the eldest of the Elders, no one is going to threaten my mate," said the Okashira of the Oniwanbanshuu as he stepped before the girl boldly.
"You obviously don't value your life, do you?" asked Battousai mockingly as his ki grew dangerously.
"My Lord, Aoshi is only acting this way through pure instinct. You know how younger couples are," said the older lycan as he bowed toward the vampire, glaring back at Aoshi and Tomoe as he stood up straight.
"Well, your instincts are going to get you killed," said Battousai. He wasn't really happy about the fact that they ruined his moment with the creature within his room.
"We apologize, Lord Battousai, but do you wish for one of us to consult you when the other Elders come?" asked Hannya as the others tried to make up for the rudeness of their Leader. No one wanted to get into a fight with Battousai and die before they were suppose to. It seemed as if their Leader had been acting out of character ever since he announced his betrothed.
"I'll know when they have arrived. Just set up the room. Don't bother me for the rest of the night and I don't want a soul down this hall," said Battousai. It sounded more like an order than a request.
"Yes, Sire," said the other lycans as they all bowed to the man.
"Do you need anything else?" asked Okina before they left.
"Yes, I need you to leave me alone!" snarled Battousai.
Not needing to be told twice, the werewolves all bowed and quickly left the area in a flash before the eldest vampire decided that he wanted their heads on a silver platter.
The Prince of all vampires narrowed his eyes after them before deciding that he really needed to feed before he got tempted to drain the one inside the room dry.
xXoXx
"Well, at least I can tell you for sure that Battousai has gotten here before us, all right," said a figure in clothed in the old fashion of a blue male kimono with a white obi and hakama, the figure to his left was dressed a traditional violet kimono.
"His ki has sure increased rapidly and it seems almost possessively too," noted the female, her shoulder-length hair swaying as the wind danced with her dark locks that blended in with the night.
"That's Battousai for you. He's unpredictable," said a happy voice as the two looked at the doors that separated them from the restaurant and quarters of the Oniwanbanshuu.
"Is it me or is it every time I'm awakened we happen to go here for some type of crisis?" asked the vampire sarcastically as her mate moved to walk into the quarters for one of the most well known lycan groups in all of Japan.
Laughing nervously, the male vampire slid open the shoji doors of the famous Aoiya.
"Welcome, Lord Soujiro. Oh, Lady Shura, we weren't expecting you to show up. Welcome! We had thought you weren't going to arrive. Please, take my apology. I had heard that you had decided to be placed into your sleeping state for a few more centuries," said the warm voice of Okon as she showed up in front of them with a new set of futon in her arms, a polite smile on her face.
"It's quite all right, I myself wasn't expecting to be awakened so early either," said Shura as she looked at her husband through narrowed eyes.
"Is Battousai here?" asked Soujiro, ignoring his mate's deadly looks and closing the two shoji doors behind him.
"I'm sorry, Lord Soujiro, but Lord Battousai has just left...for a meal I believe... But Sorceress Kamiya is within their room," said Okon with a weak smile as she remembered the condition that the woman was in.
"Sorceress? Their room?" questioned Shura confused once Okon turned around and lead them down a hall opposite of the other vampire lord, just as she was told to do when the other Elders arrived.
"Lady Kamiya is a sorceress, the last of her kind," explained Okon as she slid a shoji open and laid a freshly cleaned futon in the center of the small room for them.
"When will the meeting be?" asked Soujiro before his mate could question the werewolf any further.
"Most likely when the other Lords arrive and Lady Kamiya has awakened," said Okon as she stepped out of the room and faced the couple that had walked within.
"Why would her presence there be important? Females aren't allowed in the meetings with the Elders," said Shura as she looked at the lycan perplexed. It had been that way for centuries and more.
"Lord Battousai has said that she would never leave his side while they're here. The only reason why he left was because the room that Lady Kamiya is sleeping in is well guarded with dark ki and magic," said Okon as she quickly bowed to them and went back to furnishing the rest of the rooms for the other Lords that would be arriving soon.
"Magic?" questioned Shura as she looked at Soujiro, who for once had on a very serious face and seemed to be in deep thought.
"We'll just have to wait for the meeting to get some answers," said Soujiro. "Do you wish to come with me to see, Aoshi? Or do you wish to explore the place on your own? I'm sure that you remember the place from our last visit here." He smiled as he moved to leave their new room.
"You're the one that'll get answers, I'll just be left in the dark again. And no, I'd rather not see Lord Aoshi with you, milord. I'm going to try and get to know his new mate instead," said Shura as she walked out of the room, leaving a bewildered vampire behind.
Shaking his head, Soujiro followed his mate out of the room and silently closed the paper sliding doors behind him.
xXoXx
The burning liquid slid down his throat, but it wasn't as quenching as the blood that he yearned to drink until he was full.
Licking his katana of the blood that had stained its blade, the oldest vampire alive looked down at the young maiden's body with golden orbs that shown brighter than the harvest moon and seemed as if they had absorbed the very light out of the sun, creating the night around them.
Roaming the teenager's body with his eyes, he closed his eyelids as her once sapphire orbs reminded him of the woman that lay safely in his protected room. He could feel her lips pressed against his own again as her warm breath feathered his neck, her slender body fitting perfectly into his own.
Feeling his own ki grow with anticipation to claim the sorceress, the vampire lord snapped his deadly crimson eyes open.
"Kaoru..." whispered the Elder as he leisurely closed his eyes, the name sliding off his tongue like fine sake as he tasted the name for the first time.
He didn't know why, but the girl's name seemed familiar to him, he had heard it somewhere before he had met her. The forest that night had seemed to call him in for a reason, but he had never known the reason why. Was it really destiny that he should meet and capture the sorceress or was it merely a coincidence?
"There's no point in hiding in the shadows, you know that I can sense you, Okina," said Battousai calmly as he sheathed his katana and heard the bushes brush slightly as the old lycan appeared before him and bowed.
"I apologize for interrupting your meal, milord," said the other Elder as he looked at the girl on the ground.
"I've already finished, what do you want, lycan?" demanded the vampire, his voice commanding and not at all tolerant.
"I have a request," said Okina as he bowed deeper to the redheaded vampire lord.
Battousai raised a brow to the lycan, allowing his enemy species to continue on with his proposal.
"The request is very small, but of great importance. All that I ask is for you to finish off the half breed," said Okina grimly as he watched the vampire's expression change from interest to amusement.
"You're one of the most loyal of Shinomori's clan members, yet now you wish to defy his choice of a mate and have her killed?" questioned Battousai almost sarcastically.
"I respect my lord, Your Majesty, but I do not respect his choice for a mate. If Lord Aoshi goes through with this marriage, then it would cause his reign of power to go unbalance and the loyalty of his men will waver. My people will then shun him and the rest of us from his decision. Most are already trying to kill him and the half blooded creature anyways and all that I ask you is to finish her off early to avoid such mayhem," said Okina as he looked into Battousai's golden, moonlit eyes seriously.
"You only wish for the best of the Oniwanbanshuu, do you not?" asked Battousai as he turned his back to the old lycan.
"Yes," answered Okina truthfully.
"We'll discuss this once the other Lords arrive. You must be patient if you wish to do something correctly. What would you give to me in return if I am to do this for you?"
"Something that you desire," said Okina with a grin.
"Like?" asked Battousai interested as he turned back to werewolf.
"The twin kodachi that are part of the Seven Dark Diamond Weapons. I know that you're looking for them and I know where those two are," said Okina as he moved his hands behind his back, he was sure that he got the immortal's attention now.
"Consider Yukishiro Tomoe as good as dead. It'll be done before the full moon," said Battousai as he grinned at Okina.
"The wedding was supposed to be in a few days, but because of the coming of the Elders, it was postponed. I suggest that her death comes while the Lords are still here," said Okina as his features hardened.
"The girl's death will come soon enough, but I won't promise you that I'll keep to this deal if I get the weapons before hand," said Battousai as he stared at the mortal who nodded in understanding.
Okina knew that Battousai saying that he'd think about helping someone else was good enough.
"Thank you, milord," said Okina.
"Dispose of the body and I'll see you at the meeting. The others are already arriving," noted Battousai as he looked into the sky, the familiar ki of the other Lords getting stronger and stronger as they got closer.
"Yes, Sire," said Okina with a bow, not surprised when the older vampire vanished when he looked up.
'I just hope that the other Elders don't wish to go after the Okashira before Lord Battousai finishes the half breed off.' Thought Okina as he looked into the sky, before looking at the dead corpse on the ground and lifting it up, deciding to dispose of it on his way back.
xXoXx
The Okashira's room was the largest room in the entire building, except for the conference hall, which had been built especially for the times when the Elders decided that it was time for another meeting. The last one had been nearly five centuries ago.
Along the walls were white candles, paintings of deceased werewolves, and a large black star was painted on the ceiling. It was a symbol of darkness and power.
Stepping in the room, you could see the futon on the right side and a table in the center with a tea pot and four cups ready. It was tradition to always have tea ready in your room in case you have unsuspecting company. To the left was a rack that held a set of twin kodachi that seemed to darken the room even further.
"What are you doing here, Elder, shouldn't you be waiting for the meeting?" asked the cold voice of Aoshi as he walked into the room, Soujiro heading right behind him with his smile in tact.
"I thought that I'd catch up with an old friend, it's been decades since we've last met," said Soujiro politely as he slid the shoji door shut behind him.
"Our species have hated each other since the beginning of dawn's first light," said Aoshi icily as he walked into his room and sat down on one of the four tatami mats that were placed before the table.
"True, but I don't consider the Elders enemies, because they've worked together since then to make sure that our species hate each other. It's strange that our kinds should loathe each other so much when we've been together for so many centuries," said Soujiro with a smile.
"That's not the point, Soujiro, once you all leave, it'll be back to old feuds again," said Aoshi darkly as his guest sat down before him. His eyes' following the vampire's every move.
"You're right again, Shinomori, so now can you answer me why you've decided to wed a half breed? You've always followed the Old Code. The last time I checked you lived by it and now you've gone and went against it? You of all people should know the unbalance that will occur if you go through with this," warned the vampire lord seriously as he looked at his old friend.
"I know what I'm doing. I hope that you didn't come all this way just to tell me what I've already heard," growled Aoshi angrily. He had enough of others getting into his business when they had their own problems to deal with.
Soujiro only sighed as he looked into icy blue orbs before taking a cup and pouring hot steaming tea into it.
"If that were the only reason then I wouldn't have a life, would I? Don't answer that, we're both practically dead anyways. What I meant to say was, that no, that wasn't the only excuse that brought me here," answered Soujiro as he blew on his tea and swirled it in his left hand with age-defined perfection.
"Then why?" asked Aoshi as he watched the vampire sip his tea.
"It's the same reason why Battousai is here and why the other Elders are gathering. You know full well that Lord Shishio, Saitou, Okubo, and Katsu would never go in the same building together. And those are only the vampire lords. Lord Yamagata, Amakusa, Jineh, and Enishi aren't exactly the most... friendly lycans either," stated Soujiro.
"You mean that they're all going to come here? I thought it was just the ones in the area," said Aoshi as he thought about it.
"So, you've yet to know the real reason for their appearance?" asked Soujiro, gaining a raised brow from the werewolf.
The vampire only chuckled as he finished the rest of his drink in one swig.
"Well, the purpose for this meeting is that we need to stop the demons from returning and trying to take over our power again," said Soujiro seriously.
"We've defeated them before without Battousai's or any of the other Elders' help," said Aoshi, not understanding how such weak creatures could pose a threat to them.
"This time, they're stronger and their numbers are greater. That's also the reason why no one wants you to marry the half breed, because that would only prove that we're not even strong enough to make one of our own kind follow the rules.
"The birth of the half vampire and half lycan has already caused many to think twice about disobeying us. Once both of our kinds are in chaos and don't know who to trust or what to do because of this waver in power, the demons will attack, and once that happens we could lose our position in this world forever," said Soujiro with a grim expression, his eyes hardening into a dark blue as he looked at the werewolf's enraged face.