Disclaimer: I'm getting sick of these. Iay on'tday ownay Inuay. Appyhay?
Yea, I know I freaked u our last chapter.
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Chapter 9
Kimihiro's head was spinning. His hurt expression was etched permanently into her mind, refusing to erase itself. She wiped her lips, deserting Koji without a second thought, looking through the crowd for any sign of him.
He was outside. She hadn't noticed it, but the rain was falling, pelting into the ground with great force. He didn't have an umbrella, and the water was pelting onto his arms, legs, face…
"Get
away from here, Kimihiro," he whispered, detecting her prescence
without her making a sound. "I don't need to be comforted."
She
didn't speak, but instead advanced towards him, each step
agonizing…
He turned, seeing that she had not left, then went back to staring into the sky.
"Kai…
listen to me…"
He turned to face her.
"I
don't need to be explained as to why you were 'making out' with
my brother in the back of the room."
"I was trying to prove
to him that I wasn't owned! It was stupid… but I couldn't help
it… it was on the spur of the moment, and in my mind I wasn't
kissing him…!"
He
smirked sarcastically, heaving, "you can kiss with your lips, not
with your mind. Who were you kissing in your mind then? Some hunk
from the cover of a magazine?"
"No!" The words were coming
freely. "You! I was thinking of you! And what am I supposed to do,
try to steal you from Yoma? That monster will force me to kill her,
and then what'll be of my reputation? So now, if I can't be with
you, since you are already engaged to monster, you don't want me to
try my luck with someone else?"
the words stung him, suddenly
making him think in a whole new perspective.
"Kimihiro…"
He
met her and the two stopped walking. Lifting a hand, he wiped the
trickling water from her forehead, watching as it mingled with the
tears.
she pulled his hand away slowly.
"I don't want you to be unfaithful to your bride to be."
The water was rushing down on them, drenching her.
"Kimihiro…
she's not my fiancée, she's just a suitor…"
"She
acts like she's a lot more than that…"
He paused, grinning widely at how quickly they had made up.
"Why
can't I stay mad at you?"
He was coming closer, so that their
noses were barely touching, thunder rumbling somewhere in the
distance. Kimihiro jolted softly, shivering from the cold and the
sudden sound. Wrapping his arms around her, he let his lips brush
against hers in something that was barely a kiss; it seemed almost
accidental.
"I
dunno…"
He brushed against them again, backing her slowly into
the tree behind them. His arms were encircling her, her head was
spinning once more as he pulled her wet hair back.
Before she could say another word, she was silenced with his lips, now breaking the chaste act and landing fully on hers, gently massaging the flesh. Everything was going black for her now, his smell and his taste were making her crazy…
And then he stopped. She grunted in disappointment, but too nervous to reach for more. He nudged his nose against hers, capturing her lips again briefly. He too didn't wish to break the moment, but their fairy-tale land could not last forever.
"You
know," she whispered, writing random symbols on his chest, "I
said I'd stay here for two days, then leave."
He was nuzzling
her face now. "No… stay a little longer…"
She
pulled away. "Kai, I don't want you to fall in love with me."
He
stared down at her as though she were out of her mind, then brought
her close to him. She gently pulled away.
"What
do you mean?"
She sighed. "I'm leaving and it's final. If
you do, and I leave, you won't ever forget me. You won't be able
to get on with your personal life easily… and that's important
here at the tribe… so love me all you want now, but don't expect
anything special later."
She tried to strengthen her expression, but it was hopeless. Her face said she was upset.
"Don't say that…" he said, trying to hold her again. She backed into the tree.
"No!" Then she shrieked, and fell forward into his arms.
It seemed as though she were going through a fit. But then he lifted his hands. Blood. It was soaking her shirt along with the rain.
"Kimihiro!
My goodness…"
Then he looked up.
"Yoma.
Please tell me you didn't do this to her…"
The girl was no
longer wearing a T-shirt, but a sphagetti top and shorts. She flipped
her hair, walking behind the thin tree and pulling out a bloodied
knife, leaving a hole.
"I
can't say that, Kai. That would be a lie."
Kimihiro groaned in
anguish before turning to face her.
"you
jealous little…"
she reached for the contour again, but felt
her fingers go numb, and for the third time, she lost conciousness.
'Kai' released her as soon as he saw that she was out, then looked up at Yoma, who was smirking.
"It
worked. I suppose I underestimated you, mortal… but I'm going to
feel filthy for the next couple days, kissing another female…"
'His'
face was now slowly distorting into a woman's, a figure developing.
In a moment, 'he' was a 'she.'
Her white hair was short, and her eyes a deep, dark red that could penetrate through a person's skull. Her clothes were limited, an armor like top that covered only her bosom, a tie-up skirt with skulls at the ends for buckles, and a pair of strange looking shoes, where, attached, was a sword on each leg, rising up to her knees.
"It'll
be worth it, though. If you manage to get the boy for me, I'll get
you Kanna's mirror, Curacova, but you're just going to have to be
patient."
"Patient! Hah! As soon as I have that mirror, I'll
be able to do what these stupid, useless detachments of mine could
never attempt! I should just be able to disguise myself as this girl,
and then steal it, shouldn't I?"
Yoma laughed.
"But you'd
still be a youkai, and where it is located, the Elder has put a charm
that repels creatures such as yourself."
"Fine.
But what to do with the girl."
Yoma held up a rope and smirked.
"This tree won't be able to hold her. Go somewhere, tie her up,
and make it look like an accident. She's klutzy enough to
accidentally get caught in a hunter's trap isn't she?"
"By
the neck?"
"No. That'd be too obvious. Try the
waist."
Nodding, Curacova slung her over her shoulder, heaved,
and started for the forest.
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The actual Kai was walking through the forest, shoulders down, watching his feet. His body was aching as though it were on fire, the ground was spitting out his emotions in such a strong wave that every time her name came into his mind, a tree would fall over. Who could blame him?
The rain drops were covering up the few tears that managed to escape his eyes, and though he fought them, he knew the only thing that would make him feel better was to cry out, yell for the Earth to swallow him up and take him away from this horror. He was angry, he was sad, he was all sorts of things.
At Koji, of course… because he had known that Kai had had a thing for Kimihiro, but he kissed her anyway.
At Kimihiro, because she kissed him.
At himself, for getting so worked up about the whole thing.
He punched the closest tree, leaving a slight indentation, but scraping his knuckles to the point that they started bleeding.
But then he felt his sword-spear grow cold inside his pocket. Strange.
He had let some of Kimihiro's blood drip on it right after she had blacked out, and the blade was supposed to grow warm if she was spilling blood, and cold if hers was being spilled. He would now whether she was squashing a bug or if some wacko was trying to kill her. Now the only feeling in him for her was betrayal. The sword-spear could only track one person, so he had waited years after he had received it as a gift to use it for the person who seemed right. And she had seemed right. But if the weapon was correct, he needn't put his own emotions before anyone's life.
Looking at the blade to make sure it wasn't defected, he looked up.
There was a loud coo, and he saw Serafin scaling the sky, northbound. She screeched again, obviously in a frenzy.
"Serafin! HEY! SERAFIN!"
She couldn't hear him, and even if she could, she wouldn't have minded him. Her master was in danger.
Kai found himself running in the direction she was, found himself going faster, until eventually he froze.
Hanging off of a tree limb was a very dead-looking Kimihiro, her blood flowing down the rope and dripping to the ground with a nasty sound.
He felt his body being pumped with adrenaline, and he immediately began climbing, until, within a minute, he got to the top. Taking out the sword-spear, he cut the rope from the top and caught her around the waist before her body hit the ground. Quickly jumping down, he began to undo the bounds around her waist, the blood from the rope staining his fingers. Quickly turning her around to find the blood source, he lifted the back of her shirt and touched the wound softly. She didn't make a sound to complain, but stayed limp, her skin drained of color as her life's liquid flowed easily out of her, the rain stopping the blood from clotting. Almost literally tearing open her backpack to find something to help dress the laceration, he felt the tears almost fly out as he found nothing useful—the bandages she had were meant for minor injuries only, but this cut was deep, as though with a knife.
Finally, finding that he had failed, he cried out, not in words exactly, but in a sad, mournful moan…
And the Seraphim Pet dive-bombed them quickly, immediately hissing over the cut to make it close and nuzzling her shirt so that she could get to the gashes made by the rough bindings. She hissed over those too, and the skin seemed to melt back in place, the bleeding stopped but the blood still covering her. Without a word, Serafin shot off in the opposite direction.
Kai began to shake her. Surely since her blood had clotted she would wake up. But all Serafin could do was close the wound, not bring the blood back to it. He fisted his right hand into a ball and directed it into the ground. A huge indentation of his fist was left.
"Don't
die, Kimihiro… don't die on my hands… I promise I'll get back
whoever did this to you…Just, please, don't die…"
Flashes
of memories erupted in his mind of screams, his own mother's, of
his father's harsh shout as he told her to make sure the kids were
safely hidden. Of his mother's attempts to knock the beast that was
devouring everyone senseless with spiritual powers. But no, instead,
it had chosen to go their way…
There was a scream as it picked her up, about to swallow her and have her join the other villagers… but then his father had chosen to cling onto her as they went up, lashing the monster with the very sword-spear Kai had with him.
And right before it fell and died, it bored a hole through them with its teeth, and the weapon came flying down, the shocked sons who had witnessed the entire thing through the house's window running out to catch it.
And he had caught it.
But the awful memory was etched into his mind, as clear as it was the day it had happened.
He fought back the tears, pressing his head to her heart, listening for a beat, just one would satisfy him…
He heard them. They were weak, but still existent, and he nearly gave out a shout of joy.
"You're alive… Don't die…Stay alive… live…"
He pulled her up to a sitting position, waiting for her to open her eyes.
"Live…"
She
was shaking now, and tears were struggling down her cheeks. He
stopped breathing for a second, as she repeated his words, her voice
as though she were going through great pain to do so.
"Live…"
He
smiled. "Yes, live…"
"Live…and love…"
He froze. What was
happening here? Her eyes were not open, but the tears were pouring
now, he could see them against the light drizzle the torrent rain had
become. His voice choked, he replied, "Yes…live and love."
She
slowly opened her eyes, revealing to him shining blue orbs, the blood
washed away by the rain. "I'm—sorry…Kai, I didn't want—I
was being stu-pid…really stupid…I'm so sorry…Forgive me?"
He smiled, "Yea… but don't waste your energy apologizing, hime, it's all right. I'm sure Koji will take good care of y---"
She
suddenly shivered. "No, not Koji…" her eyes were leaking again,
and her cheeks flushing pink. "You…you… live…and love…"
He
was almost crying now himself. This was just like the sort of thing
that happened on soap operas, the guy holding some near-death girl
just as she confesses her feelings. Apparently Kimihiro couldn't
remember a thing, the last she did was of Koji, and then, after that
the pain… the hurt… it was something she had never imagined, like
her whole body was on fire, her life's liquid was melting away…
"I—don't wanna hurt anymore…" she whispered.
"I won't let you 'hurt anymore.'"
His smile showed that he was joking, but he was dead serious. It felt like it was his fault. If he had been there, maybe, just maybe, this never would've happened. She'd probably gone out to look for him.
Their noses were touching, his hand holding up her head. He waited for it, patiently nearing her lips when…
"I
disappear for ten seconds and you two decide to stop playing hooky
and have a make-out session or two. Geesh."
Serafin stood on her
hind legs, abruptly morphing into her humanoid form again, flipping
her pale brown hair quickly.
"C'mon,
Kimihiro. You said two days. We're going home."
Kai hadn't
even looked at Serafin, his eyes focused on the true angel beneath
him.
"N-no…Serafin…just a couple…hours," Kimihiro choked out.
The
Seraphim's Pet Rebel frowned at them.
"I'm leaving then.
You dare try anything while she's weak, boy, and there will not be
another Kawaichi Chosen for hundred years. Got it?"
He nodded,
and she sped off.
"Kai—"
"Hm…?"
"…Like
you…"
"Me too…"
"Go—out with me…?"
"…Yea…"
Their
lips brushed briefly, and he tensed up. When it came to kissing, he
was definitely an amateur. He had no idea what to do, this was his
first true kiss, and definitely not hers.
"S'okay…Loosen up…" she choked knowingly. He did, diving for her paled lips now.
She smiled on his lips as she gently allowed him in, until he softly probed at her tongue. Shivering, she let her arms gently wrap around his neck as he released her, nipping gently at her lips still.
He smiled back, slowly crawling off of her.
"You need to get on my back, Kimihiro. C'mon."
She tried to get up, but was unsuccessful, and she groaned in pain. Gently lifting her up bridal-style, he brushed his lips against hers again, heading slowly for the village.
'She might just be the one…'o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
She fell asleep in his arms halfway to the village clinic, her breathing becoming slow and varied. Walking through the streets, he saw people swarming to their windows, eyes wide open as they saw the Kawaichi Chosen carrying a bloody girl through the rain, stopping at the clinic. Looking around for Kayoko, the woman who had always been his nurse when he had gotten sick, he carefully opened the door, leaving a soppy mess of mud, blood, and water at the entrance. The nurse rushed to them, immediately taking Kimihiro off of his hands.
"Are you okay, Kai-sama? And what about the shojo (girl)?"
He
closed his eyes and smiled grimly. "Her wounds have been closed by
her Seraphim Pet. But she has lost a lot of blood, so I expect you to
take good care of her, won't you, Kayoko-san?"
She nodded.
"Hai, I will."
"I
want you to be her personal nurse."
"Hai."
"And
when she wakes up, just tell her that I brought her there and that
she should rest. She is a Hinoshiba, and quite restless at that, so
keep her weapon with her or she will become cross, and if a
six-winged angel or a light blue Seraphim's Pet comes to the door,
then just let her in with no hesitation, as she is rather
short-tempered when her Mistress is in danger. I have been
understood?"
Kayoko squinted. These were the strangest set of
instructions she had ever received from anyone.
"Hai.
But… what happened to her?"
"That," he said, his green
eyes glowering down at the nurse with his suddenly superior nature,
"I don't know. But she was hanging off of a tree by her waist.
Someone must have attempted to end her."
The nurse nodded
vigorously before walking over to the bed that Kimihiro was lying in.
Kai stopped her. "Wait."
Digging into the pockets of his jeans, he pulled out a bundle of bills.
"Here.
100,000 yen should cover her care."
Kayoko felt the money being
pressed into her hands.
"Oh, Kai-sama, I cannot take this…"
"Then
give it to charity, for all I care, but make sure the girl is taken
care of. Sayonara."
And with that, he left the building, the
glass door slamming shut.
Kayoko
stared down at the little girl left in her care. Yes, he was right,
she was a Hinoshiba. Apparently no one had noticed, or cared to,
because she clearly had their weapon strapped around her arm and
their features. Pretty, but not with a stunning figure, slim,
flexible, with dark hair and light, airy, eyes. The personaility
differed, of course, to each person his own, but the last one that
had visited the village had been quiet, but very spunky. What about
this one?
After the thoughts, she began to feel increasingly
guilty. Kai had told her how he felt being goggled at like a
two-headed gorilla at a zoo, and there she was doing it to the poor
girl. She laughed at herself as she checked her pulse and began
checking whether the blood left in her would be sufficient.
It
was, but she knew that the girl would remain anemic for a few days.
But with a couple medical treatments and a few medicines, she would
be up and ready.
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Koji sat comfortably in the sofa, thinking over all that had just happened. It was obvious that she had just done that to prove to him that she wasn't attached to anyone, but still.
It was amazing.
And the look on his little brother's face was to die for.
So when he came back into the house with a grim smile on his face, he jolted up. He was supposed to be sulking, not grinning.
"What's up?" he said casually to Kai as he walked through the kitchen.
"Nothin'." The answer was short, but there was a hint of pride in his voice.
"There's something, I know it."
Kai walked over, draining the glass of water he had just poured for himself.
"Listen. Hands off of Kimihiro, 'kay? She's mine." It had come suddenly, and he knew how much she didn't like to be considered somebody else's possession. But he had to make it clear to his brother that there would be no more touchy-feely on her, no more games being played.
"What do you mean she's yours? She kissed me to make sure that I understood that she wasn't. Kimihiro is a nomad; listen. She probably doesn't like commitment."
"Then why is she thousands of miles away from home, here, in our village, if she isn't committed to her family's task! Listen, Koji, she's different. You can have any chic you want in this place that'll want you back, but not her. If I see you all over her like that again, I promise I will forget all relations and personally kill you."
Koji braced himself, standing up. "You are? Well, let me show you how scared I am, little brother…!" He shoved him- hard. Kai staggered back a couple steps.
"I'm not going to fight you mindlessly like a monkey. I'm just going to warn you."
"Well,
there's no need to warn anyone, 'cuz she apparently likes me
more, judging that she lipped me and not you!"
He grunted. "I'm
sorry, Koji, but Kimihiro is now my girl. There is nothing you
can do about it. So get over it. And I'll warn you again. If you
touch her, I'll kill you."
With that, he turned on one heel
and headed out the door. Koji ran after him, fuming with every step.
That was just great. Finally there the village got hold of some
pretty, spunky girl around their age and he snaps her up within 48
hours. Nothing was fair around there, he realized. But something was
going to be left for him. Quietly stalking after his brother, he took
off.
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I dunno what you could call this chappie, bloody, angsty, straight-up awesome…
I'm very proud of it. Very much so, I am. So help me well up in enough pride to update again and review, okay? It's just an itty-bitty favor I'm asking from you, cuz I don't see how some of those sucky stories (I won't give examples lest I be flamed some more) get hundreds of reviews and I don't. I'm envious, and I'll admit it.
Ah, well. Mom always said be happy with whatcha got.
Oh,
by the way, Riakel or whatever the hay your name is?
I didn't
ask for flames, 'kay? Sorry if you are a Kanna fan, but if that's
the only part of the story you read it's not my problem. But it is
my story and I'm not going to change it because of a minor detail
that was mentioned in the earlier chapters. I don't hate Kanna, but
I luv Kagura and she was the first other detachment that came to
mind. And you haven't even found out what happens to her at the end
of her life in my fic. Maybe if you did, you wouldn't be showering
me, a poor writer who's trying to use every ounce of her friggin'
creativity to create this fic, with fire.
Flame me again, and I'll get gruesome.
Off the sour note now (I hate being flamed, it makes me want to strangle something), thanx again to all my reviewers…. Yada yada yada…
And I'm glad DEB thinks that Koji sounds delicious. So what is he, the main course or appetizer? Ha, ha, bad pun, awful pun, but at least I think it's funny.
I'm gonna be posting a San/Mir one-shot in a while, so if you're interested, just look me up and search for it. I haven't exactly named it yet. Suggestions for an modern fic… a name is what I need.
Ah, sadly, I didn't get my 12 reviews, but I'm updating anyways, I guess I'm too nice for my own good.
Arigauto,
Tetsuna.
