Tohma was ecstatic. Shuichi was getting even closer to breaking the curse. It was definitely possible. He couldn't believe how fast things were moving between the boy and Eiri. It might take a little longer for the curse to be broken, as Eiri was stubborn about having feelings for anything, but Tohma's future was looking brighter by the minute.
"Listen, Sakano. We should all make Shuichi feel even more welcome than he already feels. I mean, do exactly what he wants, help him out with random pranks, and such. The curse must be broken." Said Tohma while he and Sakano walked down the hall towards Shuichi's candy room. "For starters, we could clean his candy room."
"I don't know…the master told us not to go in there…" stammered Sakano nervously.
"The master is not our target. Shuichi is. And anyway, I'm under the impression that if we make Shuichi happy, the master will be happy too." Tohma dismissed any more worries from Sakano and sauntered into the candy room. "You get the cleaning supplies. I'll wait here."
With a feeling of impending doom, Sakano hopped out of the room to fetch all of the necessary materials for a large scale clean up.
"I hope Tohma knows what he's doing…"
Back in the candy room, everything was going to hell in a hand basket. Tohma had somehow managed to knock over a very large candelabra and had set three shelves of strawberry candy on fire. And the flames were preparing themselves to take out the chocolate next.
"SHIT! I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead!" screamed Tohma as he imagined the looks on Shuichi and Yuki's faces when they found out. "I'm dead!"
"Nya, Yuki?" said Shuichi quietly as he slid into Yuki's bedroom. "Hey!"
"What, brat?" answered Yuki, quickly sliding his writing back into his makeshift desk.
"Want any chocolate or something? I'm going to get some…"
"No. And don't bother me anymore!"
"Sorry…" apologized Shuichi, shutting the door behind him.
"Shuichi, wait…" started Yuki, but the boy had already left for the candy collection. "Damn…"
Slowly walking down the hall, Shuichi was close to tears. He just couldn't figure the demon out. Yuki was as changing as the color of fire. One second red hot, and then jumping to icy blue. And, sometimes, there was that cool orange. And the passionate gold. Sighing to himself, Shuichi locked these thoughts away and concentrated on what chocolate he wanted. But he couldn't get Yuki out of his head.
"What the hell is your problem? Do you like me or not?" he screamed behind him. "Make up your damn mind!"
"Uhh….Shuichi? Are you alright?" came the quiet question from Sakano.
"Wha? Oh, I'm all right. Just…frustrated." Said Shuichi in an exasperated tone. "Really frustrated."
Sakano nodded and attempted to shuffle down the hallway in the direction of the candy room. He was impeded by the weight and size of the broom, mop, and bucket of other random items.
"What are you doing with all of that stuff? Mika-san does all of the cleaning right?" questioned Shuichi with a raised eyebrow. "Right?"
"I'm, I'm…I'm helping Tohma…" answered the clock in a voice echoing from confused lying to defeated quiet.
"Where is Tohma? Where are you cleaning?" asked Shuichi, starting to walk towards the chocolate room.
"Oh…nowhere important. Nothing you need to know about, definitely nothing for the master to hear about….No, nothing…" said Sakano, purposely getting in Shuichi's way to stop him from finding Tohma.
"Stop lying. I'll help you, and about Yuki, I won't tell him anything…" said Shuichi continuing on down the hallway.
"No…no…no thanks…Tohma and I can manage on our own…" responded Sakano, still trying to stop Shuichi from going any closer to the candy room.
"Fine. I was on my way to get some chocolate or candy or something. See you later." Said the boy happily as he skipped the remaining distance to the chocolate room.
"Wait!" screeched Sakano desperately. But Shuichi had already opened the doors to the chocolate room. He again wore a look of flabbergastation plastered on his face.
Shuichi was speechless. All of his precious chocolate. Burning. His delicious candy morsels. On fire.
"I'm going to KILL YOU TOHMA!" screamed Shuichi as he rushed at Tohma with a mad glint in his eye. "YOU'RE DEAD!"
With that, Tohma started screaming prayers to Buddha and running around the room in circles, Shuichi grabbed the mop and swung it over his head screaming bloody murder all the while chasing Tohma in a crazed frenzy. Sakano, meanwhile, had put out the flames, one of his chemical bottles being filled with water.
Tohma eventually slowed to catch his breath, and Shuichi saw his opportunity to take him out. With a bloodthirsty war cry, he threw himself at Tohma. They both went down with a dull thump, rolling across the scorched marble floor. Tohma tried to escape, but Shuichi was much larger than the small candelabra. During the scuffle, Shuichi managed to grab Tohma's boa. He stood up, holding the boa above his head. His face read victorious.
Within five minutes, Shuichi had found some live coals and was roasting Tohma's boa over the fire, cackling like a drunken hag. Tohma was three paces away, pleading for the life of his boa. Shuichi just continued his insane cackle.
"Haven't I told you all enough times to be QUIET?" yelled Yuki as he slammed the doors to the chocolate room open. "Wha-" Yuki paused mid-sentence, shocked at what he saw.
The scene spread out before the demon was indeed shocking, due to the image of the boa bursting into rampant flame.
"Victory is mine!" shouted Shuichi, thrusting a V-sign into the year, all the while smiling like a maniac. "Tee hee."
"You…you…my…boa…." Stammered Tohma at the sight of his precious boa going on to boa heaven. "I…you…no…"
"What the hell do you think you're doing, moron? That's my job, baka." Said Yuki, not bothering to hide the contemptuous anger in his voice. "Give me that."
Yuki snatched the boa away from Shuichi and dunked it in the bucket of water Sakano had brought to quell any rebellious flame. The boa made a hissing noise, the water appeared to be steaming.
"There." Said Yuki, pulling the boa out of the water and handing it over to Tohma. "Leave."
The chaos, for the moment, being over, Yuki took a second to close his eyes and rub his temple. Upon opening his eyes, however, he took into account his surroundings. Charcoaled wood lay everywhere, melted chocolate was oozing past puddles of liquefied candies of all sorts, the immaculate marble floor was covered in ash, and Shuichi was still looking quite murderous, although put down by Yuki's harsh words.
"WHAT IN ALL OF THAT WHICH IS SACRED IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!" roared the demon as he picked up the discarded mop and threw it at Shuichi, who jumped out of the way with a loud yelp. "WHY! WHY! WHY ME? YOU IDIOTS!"
"But I didn't do any-" prompted Shuichi quietly, but was quickly silenced by the now very noticeable twitch evolving in Yuki's left eye. "Gulp…"
"TOHMA! GET YOUR ASS IN HERE! NOW!" screamed the demon, his voice trying to crack. "NOW!"
"Yes…master?" squeaked Tohma, clutching his boa to his heart. "I swear I didn't…"
"I told you to stay out of this room. Why don't you ever LISTEN TO ME?" Yuki screamed, his composure leaving him completely. "I can't TAKE THIS ANYMORE, DAMMIT!"
"If I might…Master, we were just trying to help…only trying to make Shuichi happy…" muttered Tohma to the raging beast before him.
"We?" whispered Yuki softly, his voice dripping with malice, eyes contorted with rage. "WHAT WE!"
Following Yuki's last bellow, all hell broke loose. The demon charged at Tohma, changed directions at went after Sakano. Shuichi was still shell shocked and quite angry at being scorned by Yuki.
"STOP!" shouted Shuichi at his loudest, which was pretty loud. A chunk of ceiling plaster then plummeted and clonked Sakano right in the head, succeeding in knocking him out cold.
Yuki stopped chasing Tohma, Tohma slid in some water into the nearest wall, Sakano started drooling, and Shuichi stood in a rage, frothing at the mouth.
"I CAN'T TAKE THIS! YOU'RE SUCH A JERK! I'M NOT AN IDIOT!" shouted Shuichi, still at full volume, to Yuki. "YOU'RE SO MEAN TO ME!"
"DON'T SHOUT AT ME! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I CARE?" bellowed the demon back at Shuichi.
"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I DON'T?"
"SHUT UP!"
"YOU FIRST, JACKASS!"
Grabbing a broom from Sakano's abandoned cleaning heap, Shuichi ran across the room towards Yuki. In response, Yuki spread his wings and jumped, soaring ten feet into the air.
"GET DOWN HERE AND FACE ME, COWARD!"
"What? You too short to reach me?"
"I HATE YOU!"
"No you don't."
"YES I DO!"
"No, you don't." argued Yuki, smiling slightly at the boy's obvious agony. "Don't."
"DO!"
"Don't."
"Do!"
"DON'T DAMMIT!"
"DO!"
Before Yuki could retort, the doors again were slammed open. A shadow fell into view, and suddenly everything grew cold. Sakano awoke and ran to hide. Tohma stopped trying to hide his boa. Yuki stopped hovering over Shuichi. Shuichi, on the other hand, took this as a sign of surrender and whacked Yuki in the head with the broom.
Mika was mad. Her shadow showed her rage, and an impending feeling of doom was mixed within her cold aura. Summoning up her best glare, she marched into the room and chop blocked Shuichi in the back of his knees. He went down with another yelp and crumpled into a heap. Yuki just stared at Mika, hoping he wasn't next. Sensing that her work was completed, Mika gave one last glare at everyone in the room and left, the cold and doom trailing behind her.
"Shuichi?"
"Oww…my knees…" moaned the boy from the floor. "Oww…"
"Hold still." Ordered the demon as he cautiously approached Shuichi. "Don't move."
"Stay away from me. I'm still mad at you…Oww!" said Shuichi as he tried to pull himself into a standing position.
"I said hold still!" said Yuki as he closed the distance between himself and the boy.
Still monitoring Yuki's movements, Shuichi sat back down on the floor and allowed the demon to come closer. Yuki reached the boy and stared at him for a moment before grabbing his arm and hoisting him to his feet, three seconds later lifting him into the air and scooping his free arm under the boy's injured knees.
"Better?"
"Yeah…I suppose." Answered Shuichi with resentment.
"You know you don't hate me."
"You hate me." Said Shuichi quietly. His remark was followed by a long silence as Yuki left the candy room, still holding Shuichi.
"I don't hate you, Shuichi." Replied Yuki quietly, his voice hiding pain.
"Yuki…"
"What now?"
"Where are we going?"
"To your room." Answered the demon, glad to put the uncomfortable silence behind them.
"Alright. Hey Yuki?"
"What?"
"Are you sure you don't hate me? Because you're awfully mea-". Shuichi tried to ask, but was silenced by a quick kiss from Yuki.
"I'm sure." Answered the demon in a low tone. He then set the boy down next to the East Wing doors, and kissed him again. "Don't bother me tonight."
Leaving Shuichi behind and heading for the West Wing, Yuki had a plan. This was the perfect way to secure his goal; getting Shuichi to fulfill his end of the deal, all while with consent. He had to admit though; there was more than lust in his mind. He felt something for Shuichi, but would never let that slip out to anyone. As far as he was concerned, Shuichi's only purpose here would be to hold up his end of the deal until he was tired of him.
"This should work. By the end of the night, all of his annoying qualities will have redeemed themselves." Said Yuki in a devilish tone, thinking only of the impending hours of the night. "Now to get Judy in on it…"
Walking quietly through the blinding afternoon sun blasting through the castle windows, the guilt started to set in. Yuki pondered this as he continued toward the kitchens. He had already decided within his personal counsel that he would not fall for Shuichi. He was just a mistress, for lack of a better word. Not someone to get attached to. Someone to sleep with. And that was it.
Even though Yuki was forcing himself to believe these thoughts, he still couldn't displace a more refined feeling than lust towards Shuichi. There was more, an emotion refusing to let go of his heart, but remaining elusive. Not wanting to be seen, to be removed, or to be recognized. No matter how hard he concentrated on the task at hand, Yuki still couldn't shake this emotion, and instead decided to ignore it and continue with his plan.
Having reached the kitchens, he opened the door and walked inside to find Judy, greatly in need of her assistance if everything were to work out.
"Judy! A word, if you please." Called Yuki as he continued into the linen storage area of the monstrous kitchen. "Judy!"
"Yes, sir? What can I do for you?" asked Judy in an exasperated voice as she backed out of a nearby closet, three towels balancing on her head. "I'm a little busy…"
"I don't care. Get Tohma to take over for you. I need a favor."
"Anything, sir. And I'm sure Tohma will be absolutely delighted to take over in here…" replied Judy, ending her answer with sarcasm.
"I'll use the proper leverage to get him in here. Now about that favor…" said the demon, leading Judy back into the kitchens, and changing his voice into a low whisper.
"Can you do that?" he said later, after filling Judy in on his request. "I'll get Sakano to deliver it to the proper location."
"Of course, sir. No problem at all. I'll have it whipped up in a jiffy." Answered Judy with a swift nod of her head and a smile. "Dishes!"
Feeling quite satisfied, Yuki exited the kitchens and went off to find Tohma, and the required leverage.
Shuichi couldn't have been happier. In his mind, he was making progress with the demon, and his personal feelings had evolved way past simply 'like'. He wasn't in love, but he was getting pretty close. Yuki was everything. Looks. Intelligence. A little lacking in niceties such as personality and violence, but Shuichi was willing to overlook the little things.
Yuki has also apparently forgotten or changed his mind about the deal Shuichi had made with him. Shuichi felt largely relieved about this, not wanting to have to sleep with Yuki just because of a deal. He wouldn't mind sleeping with Yuki if that's what the demon wanted. But not because of some stupid trade.
"I'm glad he's not collected on it…" Shuichi murmured to his ceiling. "I suppose he must have forgotten."
Rolling over to take a late afternoon nap after his eventful morning, Shuichi smiled to himself, thinking only of Yuki.
Two hours later, he was awakened by loud knocking on his door.
"Shuichi? Wake up and open the door!" shouted Yuki through the thick wooden door. "Are you even in there?"
"Coming, coming…" replied Shuichi sleepily, rolling out of bed and stifling a yawn as Yuki got the door open and came into the room. "Hey!"
"What?" said Yuki, staring at Shuichi, who was wearing nothing but shorts. "What's your problem?"
"Stop staring at me!" screeched Shuichi, diving back into the bed.
"I'm giving you until the count of five to grow up. 1….2….3….4…" said Yuki, watching the lump of covers that was Shuichi. "5."
Having reached five, Yuki walked over to the bed and pulled back the covers. Stopping to watch Shuichi next action, the demon stood at the side of the bed. When Shuichi didn't get up, get grabbed his arm and hoisted him out of the bed forcefully. They stood like that for a few moments, Shuichi up against Yuki with the demon still holding his arm, before Shuichi pulled away to find his clothes.
Yuki almost couldn't contain himself. If his master plan failed, he was going to collect on the trade, one way or another. He couldn't last much longer, never doing more than like the dining room, never past second base. He needed more. And soon.
"Ready?" asked Yuki after Shuichi had gotten dressed.
"Ready for what?" came the slightly nervous reply.
"You'll see. Just follow me." Said Yuki, his voice switching into a low tone.
"Ok…" said the teen, still apprehensive.
After five minutes of traveling through the castle, the two finally emerged onto a place never before visited. The roof.
"Yuki…what are we doing here?" asked Shuichi tentatively, fearing that the demon might through him off like any old prisoner. He instinctively stepped back towards the door.
"Come here. I'm not going to throw you off."
"Promise?"
"Get over here, brat."
"Fine…" said Shuichi, walking over to where Yuki was waiting for him.
Wrapping his arms around Shuichi's waist and kissing his neck, Yuki spread out his wings silently. Then he jumped up a few feet and remained hovering. Sensing the wind, Yuki glided over the castle wall and towards the woods surrounding it. Shuichi just screamed.
"PUT ME DOWN!" howled the scared teenager. "NOW!"
"If that's what you want…" said Yuki, allowing the boy to slip a few inches.
"AHHH! PICK ME UP, PICK ME UP!"
"Calm down…I'm not going to drop you, I won't let you fall. You're safe." Said the demon in a reassuring tone of voice. "I promise."
"Ok…but, what are you doing?"
"I know this place…"
"So what is this place, and why are we going there?"
"You talk too much."
"Why are we doing this?" questioned the boy as Yuki started to move faster in the direction of some taller shade trees. "What is this exactly?"
"If you want me to tell you it's a date, I'm not going to."
"But there's no one around this time…not like when we had dinner and Tohma came in and then Mika-"
"Again. You talk too much. Be quiet until we get there."
"All right, Yuki." Answered Shuichi, snuggling into Yuki's chest and placing his hands on Yuki's. In response, Yuki just gave a small smile that no one would ever know about.
After ten minutes of flight, the two reached Yuki's spot. It was a glade next to a beautiful river and waterfall. As they landed, two deer scampered off, heading home for the evening.
"Here we are." Said Yuki, letting go of Shuichi and walking over the river. "Not bad, huh?"
"It's beautiful!" exclaimed Shuichi in awe. "Hey! Free food!"
He ran over to a basket, filled to the brim with steak sandwiches and assorted vegetables.
"Courtesy of Judy." Said Yuki, coming up behind Shuichi and sitting down. "And delivered by Sakano."
"Wow…" said Shuichi, still taking in his surroundings and the food. "This is great."
Grabbing the tablecloth that was in the basket and spreading it on the ground, Yuki couldn't help but stare at Shuichi. He himself looked breathtaking in the setting sun, his ridiculous hair reflecting the sun's last beams, his eyes pools of swimming lavender and violet. Absolutely stunning.
With the tablecloth in place, Yuki grabbed a sandwich and put it in front of him, waiting for Shuichi to follow suit. Shuichi took the hint and pulled some carrots and celery from the basket.
"Meat has protein."
"Carrots are good for your eyes."
"Meat tastes better."
"Celery is good with peanut butter."
"But you don't have any peanut butter."
"Judy always provides." Said Shuichi, pulling out a jar. "Score!"
"You're such an idiot."
"Meanie."
"Brat." Said Yuki putting his sandwich down, and sliding over next to Shuichi. "Am I still so mean?" Having said that, Yuki went in for the kiss, pushing Shuichi down to the ground.
"Hey…what…" mumbled Shuichi when Yuki broke the kiss, only to be silenced by another.
"Meat's better…" whispered the demon in Shuichi's ear as he straightened up and scooted back to his original seat. A mattress was better than hard ground anyway.
"If you say so…" grumbled Shuichi, reluctantly taking a sandwich loaded with steak from the basket.
At the conclusion of the dinner, Yuki shoved all of the remaining food and tablecloth back into the basket for Sakano to fetch in the morning. Shuichi was sitting by the waterfall now, staring into the river.
"Ready to go, Shuichi?" asked Yuki, walking over to Shuichi. "It's getting dark."
"Yeah. I'm ready." Said Shuichi, walking up to Yuki and giving him a quick kiss. "Thanks for everything."
"Don't thank me just yet." Replied Yuki, his thoughts wandering to the possibilities spreading themselves before him.
Again grabbing Shuichi around his waist, Yuki spread his wings and flew back to the castle, this time to the front gate and not the roof.
"I'm going to bed. Care to join me?" said Yuki after they were inside the castle.
"Wha?" said Shuichi, pretending to yawn to hide his surprise. Maybe Yuki hadn't forgotten the deal after all.
"I'll take that as a yes." Said the demon, latching onto Shuichi's wrist and dragging him to the stairs. "Start walking. I'm not carrying you."
Shuichi tried to resist, but Yuki was much stronger than he was, and therefore succeeded in forcing him into the West Wing.
"Yuki…"said Shuichi as the demon locked the door to his bedroom.
"For the third time. You talk too much." Said Yuki as he walked over to Shuichi and pushed him onto the bed, all the while removing Shuichi's shirt. "No talking."
"Fine by me." Replied Shuichi, removing Yuki's shirt and pressing himself upwards and giving Yuki a kiss.