Mikau: It feels soooo good to be updating everyday again! I'm soooo happy! I did nothing today but write this chapter, email friends, listen to music, and play Minesweeper. Yeah, I've been soooooo lazy today, so sue me. I'm happy with this chapter. I was really happy about finally getting to write it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King.
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In Love With a Demon
"You're acting really weird lately sis." Thorn looked back at me somberly as she left my room.
'Just because I might be sending you off to your death. I really can't guarantee your safety little sis.' The reality of what I was doing was finally sinking in. I took the hair tie off my wrist and looked at it. "Please don't let me down. My heart can't take being broken again."
I waited for a good ten or fifteen minutes before reaching for the cordless phone on my nightstand. I quickly dialed Hana's number.
"Moshi moshi. Usui Ivory wa desu." The person who answered obviously wasn't Hana.
"Hello Ivory—"
"Oh hello Hoshi!" Ivory cut me off with her shrill greetings.
"Isn't this Hana's phone?" I tried to get her to hand the phone over to my cousin.
"Yeah, this is his cell phone." No such luck. It looked like I would have to directly ask for Hana.
"Well, were is he? Can I talk to him? It's sort of urgent."
"Yeah, he's driving. I'll put him on." There was a moment of rustling and before I knew it, Hana was on the phone.
"Hey Hosh. What's up? Thorn said you weren't feeling well; are you okay?" His concern was sweet, but I wasn't really sick.
"I feel fine. I had to stay home in order for this plan to work."
"Oh. I see. Anything I can do?"
"Yes. In about an hour I'm going to call Thorn and ask her to come home for some reason or another. I need you to make sure that initially she walks home by herself, but then Akira goes home about ten minutes after her. Do you think you can handle this for me? Everything needs to be precise." 'Or else my sister might actually…' I pushed the thoughts from my mind and concentrated on Hana's voice.
"Done. Whatever you say Hoshi. Anything else?" He was so trusting. I hadn't told him what I was planning, and he didn't ask, yet he was eager to follow my instructions blindly and to the letter.
"No. That should be all. Thank you Hana."
"No problem. I'll see ya later."
"See ya." I clicked the 'end call' button and sighed.
"This is going to take years off my life. Too much stress." I watched the minutes tick off on the clock on the bedside table. 'You could always back out now.' I shook the thoughts away. It was too late. At around 7:20 I picked up the phone again and held my breath as I dialed Thorn's cell phone.
"Moshi moshi. Asakura Thorn wa desu." Her voice chirped brightly.
"Thorn, it's Hoshi. I need you to come home right now. It's urgent, so get home as fast as you can." I clicked the 'end call' button before I could back out and tell her not to come. I let out yet another agonized sigh and put the phone back in its cradle. Tears built in the corners of my eyes. 'You're setting your own sister up to get raped. You are so going to Hell.'
"Please Lucifer…don't betray me. God, I hope Hana remembers to send Akira after her…So many things could go wrong…" I blinked back more tears and waited. It was all I could do.
Almost twenty minutes later the front door burst open and in came the whole gang in utter panic. My parents were freaking out, my aunt and uncle tried to be as helpful as possible, and the Fausts examined Thorn. Ivory cried and was in an utter hysteria. Makoto comforted her some, but the girl seemed to be all water works. I rushed down the stairs and demanded someone tell me everything that happened.
Hana looked at me like I was some sort of murder. He also had a look of guilt on his face for his involvement in the matter. I knew he wouldn't tell anyone what I had done, but the way he looked at me; I felt guilty enough already. I didn't need him to add to my already self-induced guilt trip.
Akira filled me in on the details: Thorn had started walking home by herself, some guy had jumped her and was about to rape her when Akira caught up to them and saved my sister. Everything had gone according to plan. It was going to be okay. Everything was fine. Only a slight minor set back: Thorn had bumped her head on the sidewalk, but Dr. Faust assured me that it wasn't anything serious.
My dangerous scheme had worked. I felt so relieved. But then I saw Thorn lying in her bed hanging in semi-consciousness. Guilt overtook me. My sister sat up in bed and smiled at me. The veil of drowsiness was slowly lifting from her. "I'm so sorry Thorn." I wiped a tear from my eye and hugged her. I broke away and ran to my bedroom before she could say a word. I didn't want to hear 'It's not your fault.' It was my fault. I had orchestrated the whole affair.
I shut the door behind me and locked it. I jumped when someone groaned. I spun around and spotted the motionless form on my bed. "Lucifer." I let out a soft sigh of relief. I took a few steps toward him. "What are you—Oh my…God…" My brain froze over, unable to properly comprehend what my eyes were seeing. Bullet holes. Twelve of them. Spilling liquid flames.
He looked up at me weakly and smiled. "Hey Hoshi…" It was obvious he was having a great deal of trouble breathing.
"Oh my God…" I repeated, unable to think of anything else to do. "What...? I…Lucifer…"
He struggled to speak, "Akira had a gun."
'This is my fault.' I rushed to his side and removed his shirt to get a better look at the wounds.
He opened his mouth to make some sort of innuendo filled remark, but instead of words, his blood flowed out of the side of his mouth. He coughed up more of the flaming liquid.
"The bullets are in there deep." I swallowed the words, getting them out barely above a whisper.
"It's not that serious. It looks worse than it actually is. As long as the bullets are in there they are preventing me from healing. If you could just get the bullets out and wrap the wounds they'd be healed by morning." He coughed again and more blood came up.
I fought back tears, but they were winning over my free will. "This is all my fault."
"Aw quit it. You didn't know he had a gun. It's not like I'm gonna die or anything. I'm just temporarily in a lot of discomfort. It's worth it if your plan worked." He smiled again at me and my heart was ready to break.
I sat down on the bed next to him and ran my fingers over his lips. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt…I'm sorry…"
"I know. Now, can we get the lead out of me?"
I blinked. I had almost forgotten. "Right." I ran to get some medical supplies. I sterilized a pair of metal tongs and got a bowl to put the bullets in. I cleaned the wounds and wiped the blood from his lips. "This might hurt." I warned before inserting the tongs.
He winced as I pulled. His teeth clenched and he sharply took a breath. The bullet was in there deep and it was stuck. He whimpered softly in pain, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. I gripped his hand and kissed his knuckles lightly as I pulled the first bullet out of his stomach.
"One down, eleven to go." I informed him gravely. I was about to start on the second, but he stopped me.
"Don't you have any morphine or something? A little laughing gas? I'd really rather be drugged out of it than have to go through eleven more rounds of that." He pleaded.
"I'm sorry. That's all locked up down in the lab. I would go get you some, but I can't. Wait. I've got an idea." I closed my eyes and concentrated hard. A facemask and a small vial of laughing gas appeared in my hand. "This should be enough to last us half an hour. Don't you want it?"
He eagerly nodded. "Definitely. Anything is better than feeling this."
I fitted the mask over his mouth and nose. "All right, but I'm not responsible for anything you say while you're under this stuff."
He looked worried at my words. "Then maybe I—"
"Too late." I flicked the switch and the small mask gave him a dose of the gas. "Breath in slowly." I instructed.
He nodded and did as he was told. "Hey Hosh, whatever I say…Um…ignore me completely."
"What? You got something to hide?" I teased him lightly as his eyes glazed over.
"More than you'd guess. I feel funny…" His words slurred slightly as the gas took effect. "Hey, you didn't yell at me for calling you Hosh." He was still coherent enough to make that observation.
'He's right. I didn't.' "I suppose it might be okay if you called me that every once in awhile." I pushed a loose bang out of his eyes. His dark, coal black eyes were so beautiful. I could stare into them forever.
"You have really pretty eyes." His words echoed my thoughts.
I blinked. 'He thinks that my eyes are…' But then I remembered the laughing gas. "Okay, I think you're out of it enough. You're acting delusional." I took the mask off and turn off the gas. I would be able to get the bullets out without hurting him as much. I prepared to take a second bullet out of his chest.
He only grunted slightly as I yanked it out. "They remind me of when I was in Heaven, your eyes. The sky was that same color blue and the stars burned that color when they were born. It was beautiful. I used to sit up on the clouds with my mom when I was little and we would watch the stars."
He paused as I removed a piece of lead from his side.
"I think that's what I miss the most. Watching the stars with my mother. There are no stars underground. I miss Heaven; it was a little boring, but it was a lot better than Hell. It's cleaner, and the people are nicer. That's sort of obvious though."
I pulled a bullet from his chest, where his heart should have been. My curiosity got the better of me and I halted what I was doing for a minute to ask, "What are the angles like?" I had only met Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel, so I didn't have a very well rounded experience with angels.
He looked up at me and smiled. "Angels? They're gorgeous creatures. The men are all good looking, and the women are more beautiful than super models down here on Earth. They have vividly colored eyes and their hair is in perfect condition. Most of them have these delicate, frail shapes, but there are a few more tough looking ones with some muscle on them. They're all heavenly looking; I think you're prettier though."
My heart jumped. 'It's the laughing gas talking. He's completely drugged.' I returned to work removing bullets. I tried to tune him out, but his words spilled right into my ears through the mental block I had set up.
"Most of those women have soft, birdlike personalities. They're just begging you to shelter and protect them, but you're different. Sure you still need a man to protect you on some level, but you'd be fine on your own. You don't absolutely need a man. Well that's the way you act anyway. You're tough on the outside, but on the inside you're just as frail and delicate as those angels."
I blushed feverishly and my breathing sped up. 'This was not a good idea. Concentrate on the bullets Hoshi.' I took out the fifth bullet.
"Ivy was the same way. She still is. That's what made me fall in love with her. I've pretty much given up on making Ivy love me though. She loves Hao. There's no changing that, so why bother trying?" His tone turned dark.
The sixth bullet came out of his chest. "We're halfway done."
He continued his depressing monologue. "I made myself fall in love with Thorn so that I could forget about Ivy, and it worked for a little while. I gave her that necklace that she's wearing. I forced her to make out with me and then I erased her memory of it. She still remembers that I'm the one who gave the choker to her though. I feel really bad about it now. I didn't really love her and I made her think she was in love with me. I erased her memories of falling in love with a man named Lucifer tonight, so she just thinks we're friends."
Bullet number seven came out easily. I hadn't known that he had been involved with my sister. I wasn't angry at him for forcing Thorn to fall in love with him, but I was jealous. I was jealous that he chose my sister instead of me. What was wrong with me that he didn't choose me?
"Can I pay you to sleep with me?" My hand jerked at his question and he winced in pain.
"Sorry. What did you say? I must have heard you wrong." My throat was dry and my stomach queasy.
"I asked if I could pay you to sleep with me. You know like be a customer of yours? I figure no woman in her right mind would love me any other way, so why not do what my brother does? It seems to be working for him." I yanked the eighth bullet out extra roughly. He winced.
"You don't know what you're talking about. You're under the influence of laughing gas, and you don't know what you're talking about." I got ready to rid his body of the ninth bullet. "Don't waste yourself buying a woman you don't love. Prostitutes aren't the answer."
"My brother warned me not to fall for that kind of women, but I didn't listen to him. I suppose you don't pick who you fall in love with though." He gritted his teeth more than usual as I pulled out the ninth bullet.
I didn't understand what he meant by that, so I shook it off as the laughing gas making him act goofy. He looked almost ready to fall asleep.
"How much would I have to pay you to love me?"
Again, his question shocked me and my hand unexpectedly jerked. I mutter a quick 'sorry' as he bit back the pain. Bullet number ten was stuck pretty badly in his stomach. I had a very hard time getting it out.
"I don't want to buy your love though." He mumbled quietly to himself. I had to strain my ears to hear him as he drifted off to sleep. "I control free will, so I could force you to sleep with me, but I can't control love, so I can't make you love me. Damien was right." His breathing slowed as he slept and I quickly finished pulling out the bullets while he still couldn't feel anything.
His eyes slowly cracked open as I removed the last bullet from his thigh. He screamed silently in pain, gripping the edge of the bed, and I felt bad since there was nothing I could do. The bullet came out roughly.
"I think the gas has worn off." His voice was completely steady and contained no slurs. His eyes weren't glassy either. I nodded in agreement. "What'd I say?" He asked cautiously.
I blushed and turned away to hide it. I pretended to be putting away medical equipment 'You told me my eyes looked like the stars and sky in heaven and that I was more beautiful than the angels. Then you asked if I'd sleep with you.' "You didn't say anything of importance. Just some madness brought about by chemical reactions with the laughing gas."
"Oh. Good." There was silence for a while as I got out the gauze and oils to dress his wounds. "Because from the way you're blushing I thought I might have hit on you."
My face broke out in bright patches of fuchsia, but I still managed to keep a straight face. "I've been ill. My fever is making my face flush."
"Oh." He watched with minimal interest and tired eyes as I wrapped up the wound in his collarbone. "Hey Hosh?"
I tried not to look at him directly. Because of the area I was wrapping, our faces were extremely close, and I didn't want to risk my poker face shattering if I looked at him. "Mm?"
He smiled deviously, lifting his head a fraction of an inch and connecting our lips. His tongue easily gained entrance into my mouth, but he pulled away from me as fast as he had swooped in and claimed my lips. "You don't have a fever. Your temperature is normal."
I made the mistake of looking at him, and my cool façade was broken. I blushed like a schoolgirl with a crush. I desperately went back to doctoring the wounds. Being a doctor is extremely hard when you're secretly madly in love with your patient.
"Come on Hoshi; what did I say?" He smirked malevolently.
"You said my eyes were pretty. That's all. Now, drop it." I moved down to bandaging his stomach. He had to sit up so I could wrap around him.
"I highly doubt it. I tried to get you in bed didn't I?"" He smirked. I blushed, hating my body for betraying me. "And what did you say? Yes? Or maybe Oh YES?"
"Shut up Lucifer. I told you to go back to hell where you came from." That seemed to shut him up.
He nodded and a drowsy look came back over him. "Don't worry. I won't bother you anymore after I leave tomorrow morning."
"Will I ever see you again?" I said it at risk of sounding clichéd.
"Probably every once in a while, but no not really." He shrugged it off, but I detected a depressed tone in his voice.
"But…I still owe you. Our first deal; remember?" I made any excuse not to say goodbye forever.
"Oh. Yeah, I already have something planned for you. It will be a while before I actually call in that favor. We won't be seeing each other for a few months at least." His words were breaking my heart. I didn't see the hurt look in his eyes.
"Can't you make some excuse to see me?" I held my breath and waited for him to shut me down.
He looked taken aback. "Why would you want to see me?"
'Here goes nothing.' "Lucifer when you were under, you told me that my eyes were gorgeous and that I was even more beautiful than an angel." I looked nervously into his eyes.
His lips formed a small 'Oh', but he didn't say anything.
"I was wondering…I mean…" I stumbled over my words, unable to look at him any longer.
"Hoshi, about that…I—"
I cut him off. I couldn't contain it any longer. "I love you Lucifer. I know I shouldn't, but I do. I love you." Small, pearl-sized tears dropped from my eyes and I couldn't meet his gaze.
He stared at me in shock. Blinking twice he tilted my chin up to look in my eyes. 'She's serious…' I tried to tune out his thoughts, but I was too emotional, and had lost control of my powers. 'She really does love me…The devil…' "Hoshi, I…I love you too." He paused and cleared his throat nervously. "And I might have been lying when I said we wouldn't be seeing each other. I…uh…sort of cast myself as that one gang leader that Rizzo sleeps with. I wasn't going to tell you, but now I really don't see the harm. I wanted to be near you."
"Come here you." I grabbed his shoulders and lay down, forcing him on top of me.
"H-hoshi?" He looked nervously at me, noticing my cat-like grin and the position we were in.
"You've been a virgin far too long." My smile widened.
"Just be careful. I did just get shot 12 times." A slow smile blossomed on his lips as well.
"I make no guarantees." I whispered huskily in his ear.
The next morning I smiled when I woke up with his head resting on my chest. He was so cute when he was asleep. I couldn't resist stroking his soft, disheveled hair. At the base of his neck I spotted a string of hickeys and my smile widened. I was sure I had a few hickeys myself in places I couldn't even see. It was so different making love with someone you actually loved. Everything was different. I decided I might just have to retire early. I wouldn't be going into work that night. Or the night after that. I was through.
Lucifer stirred some in his sleep. 'He's soooooo adorable!' An impish grin returned to my face. 'And God he's hell in bed.'
His eyes slowly opened and he smiled lazily up at me, moving his head onto the pillow next to mine. "Morning." His lips romantically caressed mine.
I sighed with pleasure when he pulled away. "Morning yourself."
"Am I allowed to ask how you slept now?" His devilishly handsome grin made my heart do back flips.
I smiled, remembering one of our pervious morning conversations. "Yes you may ask, and that is the best I've ever slept in my entire life." I giggled softly. "What about you? Did you dream about me?"
"All night long." He kissed the base of my neck gently. "I love you."
"I love you too." 'Oh how I love you.' I suddenly remember that he had gotten shot the night before. "How are your wounds? Are they…?"
"They're healed, thanks to you." He took off the bandages and showed me that there wasn't even a single scratch to show that he had been shot. "But my body is complete stiff, and I'm sore all over." He lay back down lazily on my chest.
"Get use to it newbie." I ruffled his hair playfully, scrunching my nose at him.
"Eventually I will." He rolled his eyes and sat up again, hovering over my lips and smirking. He ran his fingers lightly over my lips.
"Don't tease me." I whined. He pressed his lips to mine and my arms wrapped around his neck. The kissed didn't last long enough.
Lucifer pulled away and smiled sadly. "You have to get ready for school."
"I'll call in sick." I'd give anything to spend more time with him. I forced his lips back to mine.
He separated us once more. "If you don't get down to breakfast soon, someone will come up to get you, and we'll be found out. Then I won't be able to see you anymore."
"All right." I grudgingly got out of bed and went over to my wardrobe. I noticed that he stayed in my bed watching me with interest. I gave him a look.
"What? Am I not allowed to watch you get dressed? It's not like I haven't had my mouth all over every single part of that." He winked suggestively and I threw a bra at him.
"Put some clothes on Lucifer." I pulled out my school uniform and hastily put it on. By the time I turned back around, the bed was made, the clothes I had left on the floor the night before were in the dirty clothes hamper, and Lucifer was sitting on the bed wearing black dress pants and a black tank top. My jaw dropped slightly in surprise. He smirked mysteriously. I shook my head and asked, "So, how do I look?"
"Can I take the clothes off of you now?" I resisted the urge to smack him.
"You're not going to become a sex-crazed maniac now that I've given you a little taste, are you Lucifer?" I rolled my eyes fondly at him.
"I already was a sex-crazed maniac. Now I'm your sex-crazed maniac." His loving smiled teased me.
I kissed him lightly on the lips as he embraced me. "And I'm yours. I'm quitting my job." 'Maybe I'll just work as a stripper for a while. No more prostituting.'
He looked infinitely relieved as I shared my news. "Thank God. I'll see you at rehearsal tonight?"
"Yeah, I'll see you then. Love you." Another quick kiss.
"Love you too." And he left, leaving me to go downstairs and join my family for breakfast.
Hana intercepted me on the way down the stairs with a "Hey, Hoshi!"
"Hmm?" I looked up at him curiously.
"Look, I got this email today and I thought that maybe it might be useful to your plan." He smiled happily as he told me about a 'get to know your friends' email. You wrote all sorts of things like your name, age, grade school, high school, favorite food, and favorite color and then you sent it to your friends. They filled out the same categories and sent it back to you and then to their other friends. "What do you think Hoshi?"
"You know, you better send this to me; it sounds like it could be useable. We'll talk more later okay?" I turned to go downstairs.
"Hoshi? About last night with Thorn almost getting raped…"
I held my breath and waited for him to yell at me about how reckless I had been.
It never came. "I think your plan is working. Akira and Thorn seem on much better terms now. At first I thought you were crazy, but now…I'm sorry I doubted you." He smiled and ran past me down the steps.
I smiled. Things were looking up.
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Mikau: Yea, we end on a happy note! I think we're getting close to the end. (Ha! I said that one chapter in I,SR, and I wrote a grand total of 20 more chapters.) Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to Hoshi and Thorn if I don't get another chapter up before then. I don't know I might post some short chapters, but nothing huge.
Thanks To: HAO-Addictive, KaZuYa MiNeKuRa, Touch of the Wind, Untitled Sorrow, isa18, demon thing, MaiValentinefan, yo wuz up, and kari tao(ren's little sister).
To Touch of the Wind: I can't wait until you get your next chapter up! I love your fic it's so good! Hurry up and update by order of the mighty Mikauzoran! Lololol! Sorry, couldn't resist.
To kari tao(ren's little sister): I'm so happy that your cousin made it home safely. My uncle has to go through Kuwait and some other state's military base before he comes home to Missouri. He left Kuwait a few days ago and is on his way home now. The Scoby side of my family is getting together next week sometime to celebrate Christmas. We're waiting to celebrate so that Steve will be home when we get together, so I get to see him then. By the way, Akira's little sister's name is Jade, and she's 12. Merry Christmas!
PLEASE REVIEW! I'LL CONSIDER IT MY CHRISTMAS PRESENT.