Author's notes: I just noticed that I like to start chapters from the point of Ayame waking… I dunno why…but it's an easy way to start. And the reason I write Ayame as a non-morning person is that I've never really loved mornings myself…so I know how just how hard it's to function without proper connection to the intelligent part of the brains…

Anyway thanks to all my reviewers! It's been long since my last update … hopefully you enjoy! My beta-reader is currently sick... and I felt bad for making her beta-read, so I posted few chapters on my own... That's why all the errors...hopefully she'll get better soon.

Speaking of which…here is the chapter 10… where we find out that Onikage is ticklish…yes you read right…ticklish

-The Wager-

"I don't give a shit about how much more powerful you are than me, but if you don't stop right now I'll make your life a living hell every way I can think off." The girl whispered in a small voice that didn't lack conviction.

Onikage removed his lips from the third bite mark to look her. No one talked to him like that and stayed alive to see another day.

Tears glimmered in her in her beautiful eyes, but that didn't stop her from glaring him challengingly. She truly was a remarkable creature. The throbbing bundle in the back of his mind told of anger, fear and confusion, but her eyes told that he wasn't the cause of that fear. Somehow this girl reminded him about the half-breed bastard he had seen earlier. Onikage doubted that either of them, the girl or the half-breed, would never acknowledge nor admit defeat despite their tainted heritage.

In the underground tunnels he had tried to track down the half-breed after the invisible chains had released their grip around him, but the fucking bastard had vanished into the darkness without a trace like he had been just a shadow. Creatures with the tainted fleshling blood weren't supposed to be strong. They were the filth that corrupted the world, and half-breeds were even worse than mortals, but both the heir of Mitsuomi and the human girl seemed to defy the limitations of their heirloom.

The fiery gaze of the human's brown eyes bring him back to the present. "How could something as worthless as she have such a vexing eyes and seducing scent?" He wondered, answering to her blazing glare with his own. The human tormented his sanity without even realizing it, and it frustrated him even more. "Who was this pathetic creature to have so much power over him?"

Onikage knew he could take her by force, she wouldn't be a much of a challenge, but he didn't want to force her. Somehow it was her win if he'd use force and admit that he couldn't get her any other way. Onikage realized that he wanted her to beg for his touch.

"She has to submit to me sooner or later." Onikage thought gazing the three marks on the base of her neck. Together they formed a little circle. "I can let her have her fight…" A sly grin appeared on his lips. The girl would never win this fight.

Onikage studied her tearful eyes for a moment longer, before the girl closed them. Apparently he still had some power over her.

"I'm dead serious, you know?" The girl continued in a stronger voice.

"I know." Onikage answered and kissed her closed eyelids. "And I'm going to let you have your way this time…" Onikage said moving next to her on the soft bed. "…but I'm going to sleep in the bed." He announced picking the fallen blanket from the floor.

"I…but you…I mean we can't…" the girl stuttered unintelligibly.

"If you have any objections please let me know in the morning…." Onikage muttered as he snuggled under the blanket. He needed to gather strength; the battle of the half-breed had eaten more of his power that he was comfortable admitting.

Emi was about to call it a night and go to sleep as she heard a desperate knocking from her door. Devil, the black cat who had been calmly sleeping on her lap opened it's bright green eyes and hissed angrily. It reacted like that to only one person.

"What on earth does he want from me in this time of night?" Emi wondered standing up and smoothing the folds of her long, black velvet dress before heading to the door.

Opening the sturdy copper coloured doors she hoped that her unruly red hair would be a bit less unruly. After all he was one of the three persons in this mansion who could someday challenge her with sheer strength.

Tatsumaru stood on the other side of the door, with a worried expression in his usually so stoic face.

"I'm sorry to disturb you so late at night, but my news can't wait to the morning." Tatsumaru said in everything but stoic voice. He wasn't wearing his uniform, but a blue yukata and his black hair fell freely on his shoulders. Everything suggested that he had been awoken from the sleep less than half an hour ago.

Wondering what had shaken him so badly Emi stepped aside letting him to step in to the room.

"What's wrong?" Emi asked as she closed the door behind him. She hadn't even closed the door completely as the words started flow from his lips. He had a tormented look in his eyes and Emi could only wonder what had made this proud man to turn to her in search of assistance.

"The twins of the east have proposed a wager. We hand the thrown to the true heir of Gohda and they'll stop the war. Of curse they demand a public execution to Master Matsunoshin… the crowds demand blood, and they want the answer before dawn." Tatsumaru stopped to take a deep breath.

"But worst of all… The mirror in the Master Mitsuomi's grave is broken. The hidden dungeon is empty. He is free; Onikage the thousand-killer walks the earth again." Tatsumaru shifted his tormented gaze of his yellow eyes from his toes to Emi's now widened eyes. She took a step back and fell to a chair she created from nothing.

"This couldn't be happening… not again." The thought echoed in her mind as her mind played trough the pictures of the time he had been free the last time, the time of the Great War. She had trusted him completely, and he had betrayed her, and she hadn't been able to do anything to stop him. All those dead bodies, would she have to bury so many beloved once again.

Tatsumaru's voice dragged Emi from her memories

"He was Shiunsai's most talented pupil before he switched sides and joined Mei-Oh of the West. I'm not sure if we can win him again. The last time required the lives of 50 highly skilled Azuma ninja's and master Mitsuomi. If Mitsuomi hadn't sacrificed himself, we would all be dead …" Tatsumaru stopped unsure how to continue.

Emi didn't want to believe it, but despite all of Tatsumaru's faults he was no liar. Onikage was free, and knowing him, after Mitsuomi's blood. She needed time to think and time to prepare, time she didn't have.

"Tatsumaru go wake your brother, and bring young Matsunoshin here too… I'll contact Mimi and then Sekiya. We have no time to waste." Emi ordered absentmindedly and didn't even notice that Tatsumaru obeyed her without any protests.

Tonight would change everything… to everyone.

Ayame woke up having trouble breathing. Her sleepy mind refused to work properly and so Ayame tried to move her hands to remove the thing disabling her free breathing just to find that they were already wrapped around to the warm thing. She tried to pull it half heartedly and came to a conclusion that it was too heavy to move. And there was something around her preventing the next best option: pushing away from the warm object.

Ayame let out a sigh. This really meant that she had to open her eyes; she would have preferred to keep them closed and fall back to sweet slumber as quickly as possible. Being awake was greatly overrated in her opinion. It meant good byes to a warm bed and welcome to an old over crowded building, called school, where people tried to force knowledge into her head.

Letting out another deep sigh, she found herself rewarded with a booming noise that she still half-asleep interpreted as a laughing.

"Stop that wench! … it tickles." A deep voice boomed somewhere near by.

Ayame opened her eyes to see something that gradually shifted into a bare, very male upper torso.

"I have someone male in my bed…since when do I have had males in my bed! No I'm asking the wrong questions again. Not when… how and why are much better questions…"

The arm around her waist shifted a bit and started drew circles against her spine trough the thin fabric of her nightgown. Ayame's eyes widened as she remembered the events of last night. She had slept in the same bed with him, the whole night without any troubles of getting sleep.

"What happened to the so-called woman's intuition?" Ayame wondered. Shouldn't she have a little more self-protection instinct in situations like this?

"Go back to sleep wench…the sun isn't even up yet…" The deep voice mumbled and the man pulled her closer burying his face into her neck. Ayame felt shivers running along her spine as his hot breath came in contact with her sensitive skin.

"Please god, let him fall asleep fast and not notice the effect he has on me." Ayame silently prayed as she came more and more aware of the closeness of their bodies. As the man continued to breath in a slow steady rhythm Ayame speculated that he must have fallen back to sleep.

"Why am I so afraid of loosing him? He is just a beast that craves my blood." She mentally reminded herself as a familiar longing filled her chest. "Does he really?" A small voice asked. "It's true that he has bitten you quite a few times, but he hasn't tried to kill you or drink you empty lately, has he?" Unable to counter that Ayame just stayed quiet and let the voice continue.

"And on top of that he has saved you quite a number of times has he? And you haven't said a single word to thank him for his actions." the voice blamed.

Ayame felt so lost. Everything seemed tangled up in a mess and she wasn't sure could she completely trust her sanity anymore. She wanted someone to tell her that everything would be alright in the end, someone to tell her sweet lies so that she could sleep this night without worries.

The strong arms held her in a gentle but firm grip, and Ayame felt tempted to melt into this warm embrace, and worry about the consequences tomorrow. It would be so easy to lean on that unbelievable strength and hope that everything would somehow fix it self when she was asleep.

But she needed to get a hold of the situation before studying her mixed feelings towards the pale stranger that had invaded half of her bed.

"I don't even know his name", Ayame though as she ran her finger along the muscles of his arm, and turned around to face him. He wasn't nearly as intimidating in sleep as he was when he was awake. His handsome features were softened into a peaceful expression, and his glowing red eyes were hidden under the eyelids. He was actually quite attracting when he was sleeping those soft lips a bit apart.

"Why did it come to this again?" Ayame asked from herself pushing an unruly black lock from his face behind his ear. "I don't want to fall in love…not here and most definitely not to you."

"What are you doing wench?" The low voice was still slow from the sleep. "You are tickling me again…" He growled narrowing another one of his blood red eyes open.

His voice got Ayame off-balance. "How could some one as strong as him been so ticklish? … isn't it some kind of weakness…?" Ayame wondered silently, smiling a bit.

"I don't like if I'm being awakened without a reason." The man grumbled. "…Or did you wake me to play a little?" He asked with an unreadable emotion in his voice. Shifting closer, he slide his hand down to Ayame's hip. She didn't like the look in his eye; it was filled with an inhuman hunger that seemed to be fixed towards her.

"Ah…I just needed to go to the bathroom…" Ayame answered with the first excuse that came into her mind.

"Why didn't you say so right a way…?" The man mumbled releasing his grip around her and nuzzling deeper under the blankets.

Ayame stood up and her bare feet tapped rhythmically against the cold stone floor as she walked to the bathroom to change her clothes. She needed to get some answers and she needed them right away. There were only two persons in this whole mansion that could explain it all to her, Master Gohda and Emi. And the master of the house didn't seem like a good option in this time of night. She would go to Emi's rooms; the green eyed head of the maids could surely explain everything to her.

As Matsunoshin Gohda finally gained his consciousness the first thing he came aware off was the hard, icy cold object pressing against the right side of his face. He opened his eyes to study his surroundings. He lay sprawled in a narrow stone covered hallway where he had collapsed as the after effect of the spell had hit him.

Wondering how long he had lain in the dark hallway unconscious, Gohda pushed himself to his knees and gasped sharply as the pain pierced his chest. His hands instinctively moved to protect the injury, and he was surprised to that the rough fabric of his haori felt warm and sticky under his fingers. Forgetting momentarily his pain Gohda studied his stained hands that were alarmingly pale compared to the warm red substance, which covered them.

"Blood…" The single word escaped his lips before he could stop it.

The old scars must have opened, because he couldn't remember suffering any serious damage in the fight with the pale stranger. He would soon bleed to death if he wouldn't get them treated.

"I need to go to Rikimaru." the thought formed to his head before he remembered that Rikimaru knew nothing of his power or the weakness that came along with it. The thoughts familiarity was striking. How many years had he known the one eyed shadow. 12 years…or was it 13? More than half of his life the silver haired ninja had stood behind him, ready to catch him in case he'd fall.

"I have come to rely on him too much, haven't I?" Gohda thought as he leaned to the cold stone wall for support. "I always run to him like a little child whenever I face problems… and he always saves me without questioning my actions… well, at least not in public." Several memories of Rikimaru's famous irresponsibility lectures came to his mind. Making his lips curl into a little smile. The one-eyed man could be down-right offensive with his choice of words every now and then, but he always meant good.

His attachment to the older man was utterly wrong in every possible way he could think of, and yet he couldn't deny his feelings. He could hide them and he could ignore them, but he couldn't pretend that they weren't true. Matsunoshin knew that he shouldn't cherish those feelings for Rikimaru. The disciplined ninja would despise him for that unholy affection. He had truly fallen for forsaken.

"Well…. if the cards don't lie I don't have enough time to ruin our friendship, with something like that." Gohda mused and proceeded to stand up. He leaned heavily to the wall as he took his first shaky steps, panting like he had just ran 20 miles, but he was moving forward. And that was all that mattered.

Every step forward led him closer to his destination. All he needed to do was to keep moving forward.

-End of chapter ten -

Even shorter chapter this time…I just could make it any longer….sadly