Ch 6. Feeling Mischievous

There were numerous times he held a girl in his arms. They were all attractive. They were all yielding. But they were just a way to pass his time. This one had started out the same

"You aren't sitting in the king's throne yet."

He laid the blond woman down on the sand. Girl. Woman. He couldn't decide which she was. As he looked at her sleeping soundly, face tinged with the tawny light of fire, feelings of resentment welled up inside him. This person made him remember things he wanted to forget. She seemed to awaken the inert desires inside him.

"Don't lie about not having ambition. You don't seem like the dull type."

He wanted to crush.

He wanted to kill.

He wanted to destroy.

Afterwards, he would make a new kingdom. Thus he would step over however many dead bodies it took to get to the throne. He would pave a new way from there. That was truly his nature, his logic, his purpose.

"You call them trash, but you aren't acting any different from them."

He never truly let go of the anger of having grown up without a mother. He never forgave the kind of people who pushed her to her death. For awhile he just made himself forget about them. When he passed by those noble snobs in the hallways, he forced a smile. He forced it so much that it had become natural, it had eventually become real. That was no more. The surface has already begun to crack and there was no way of mending it.

It was all because of her. This person he barely knew.

The flames caught his eye. They burned more rapidly and crackled loudly, beckoning for fuel. He tossed in another log and the fire consumed it immediately, sending out sparks. They fluttered into the air like amber fireflies.

Anna awoke with a start. She jerked her body into an upright position and scanned her surroundings. Full sobriety had yet to set in. "W-what the…? You're still here?" She mumbled softly and rubbed her hands against her forehead. "Why are you being so moody all the sudden?" she asked when he didn't say anything.

Anna tried to get up and walk but her vision was dimming and the world spun. She plummeted back to the ground.

"Che. Did you forget your words already? 'I'm confident I can beat a delicate pretty boy anytime.'"

"Shut up." She had apparently thrown all "form" out the window, first of all, by getting drunk. There was no use holding back now.

"All talk, eh Anna?"

A bottle flew past his head, missing him by a large margin. It crashed against a boulder and shattered into several pieces.

"You're too noisy."

"That's quite embarrassing. Your aim is awful."

"I said you're being too noisy."

Hao responded with a smile. It grew wicked as he approached her. He leaned down to her face, his hair creating a tent around them. Anna glowered at him when he cupped her chin in his hand. He tilted it up forcefully and commanded in a dangerous tone, "You don't tell me what to do. No one does."

Never mind who he was and who she was. Anna did the only thing she could. She spit in his face.

Hao was taken back by her actions for a small fraction of time, before the color returned to his eyes and they burned feverishly, his smile growing more insane. He wiped his face grudgingly. "You're a filthy little girl, aren't you? I guess I'll have to teach you a lesson." Anna felt his hands grab at her waist, and before she could do anything, she was being flung over Hao's shoulders.

"Put me down, baka!"

"As I said, you don't tell me what to do."

He originally thought of taking her home but changed his mind when Anna clawed at his back and tugged clumsily at his hair.

He dunked her into the cold ocean instead, making a huge splash in the process.

"How's the water? Refreshing? Salty?" He crouched down on his feet and propped his elbows on his knees. He laughed at her.

The cold saltwater slapped against her face, slamming sobriety through her senses immediately. Now that she was fully awake, she was angry. Every ounce of her was pulsating with fury, especially with Hao's mocking. No one had ever humiliated her like this before...and they certainly wouldn't live through it if they did, she determined.

"You bastard!" She stood up straight, water beading off her face. Hao watched her approach with fascination. The silver moon hung low behind her back, throwing a gentle light on her frame, illuminating all her fine features. Each step she made created a soft 'plish' sound. Anna's attire clung to her body, heavy with water, permitting him to admire her figure. It revealed the curve of her hip, something that wouldn't have been apparent without her clothing being damp. Her full bosom rose and fell as she heaved for air. Was the coldness making it hard to breathe, he wondered, as her breaths left foggy traces in the air.

Cheeks bitten red by the chill, Anna pierced Hao with her glare. A quick hand came up to slap Hao on his left cheek. He caught her right hand and did the same when her left hand attacked his other side of the face.

"You should show your superiors some manners."

She flailed like a mad women within his clutches. When all attempts failed, she just hung her head low to the ground, both wrists still held by his taunt grip. A whisper came out of her, and he leaned in to decipher the muffled words. "I can't hear you, Anna."

"I said…I'LL SHOW YOU SOME MANNERS!" Never had Hao ever been slapped by woman, and this certainly wasn't any exception.

However.

The knee to his crotch was still a first. He doubled over in pain to the ground.

"Ha! Who's laughing now?" she taunted.

"You're not going anywhere." Hao wouldn't permit the girl to step past him. His legs swung out to trip her, and she collapsed onto the sand, next to him. Taking advantage, he brought his body on top of hers and pinned her arms to the ground.

"Get off of me!"

"I'll let you entertain me for just a little longer." The gleam in his eyes only proved she should worry.

AN: AN: Sorry for the confusion as I failed to make clear that all these events (starting from ch 2) are flashbacks. They should lead up to the first chapter and then continue on.

If they seem ooc at first, let me tell you that their attitudes will get more serious later on. Hao should become more Hao-like, similar to the first chapter. And Anna could only get colder, right?

July 30, 2005---