The following morning was a cold one with weather reports predicting snow and freezing temperatures. There was already snow on the ground so what's a few more inches going to do? Apparently enough for Kiyoni. Due to the weather, she stabilized Shuuichi's energy and got comfortable on the couch of the dormitory. Well, the couch was comfortable on paper…

Fuck, I couldn't sleep at all on this thing. I should've stayed in Suu'chi's room.

Speaking of, when Kiyoni found him in bed, Shuuichi was as peaceful as he could be which meant it was the perfect time to get away. With the coast clear in the hallway, Kiyoni attempted to do just that. However, Shuuichi had other plans.

"Wait."

Kiyoni gasped. Just how did Shuuichi know?

"Wait," he groggily requested.

"Shuuichi, I have to. We'd each be in quite a bit of trouble if seen together."

"But…I haven't expressed my gratitude."

"It's fine. It was…the least I could do."

"Could you close the door, please?"

"I have to go."

"No you don't."

"And why not?"

"With all that anger inside your heart, you won't. I can smell it from here."

"Shuuichi…you know why. I thought you were asleep."

"It's too soon. Besides…I'm fine. Thanks to your magic touch, I've never felt better. Could you…stay and help me put the pieces of last night together?"

Reluctantly, Kiyoni stepped inside the room and closed the door. If he wants to know about last night, he'll get to know about last night.

As she stepped away from the door, Kiyoni wondered about Shuuichi's condition. How was he able to bounce back so quickly? Space secured, she joined Shuuichi with his study chair next to his bed.

"Alright, Suu'chi…" Kiyoni questioned, "I'm staying. What's up?"

Shuuichi sat up and against the wall near his bed. He had only removed his coat and sweater from the night before, leaving a crispy white T-shirt underneath.

"Honestly, thank you for relieving my headache. Other than that, I still feel out of it. As if...there's a gap between last night and now. Kiyoni, what happened?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Kiyoni…"

Kiyoni sighed knowing what's about to come out of her mouth will be the truth covered in bullshit. She said a quick prayer of peace, kept her voice low, and told the story.

"Okay. So, from what I understood, Aiko had set you up. She got everyone involved but Juri and I. I don't know what or how she set you up but what I do know is that Aiko drugged you somehow so she can sleep with you in order to win the bet or so she thought. I caught her in a nun costume with you on top of her on the floor of one of the club's private rooms. You were...god, you were out of it. I don't know how drugged up you were or even how drunk you were but...you were not yourself. Wait a minute, the doctor told me you had GHB and opium in your system so there's that. What was messed up about the shit was that when I caught Aiko...she must've taken a page out of Kurama's playbook because she looked like me. She used my look to lure you into sleeping with her. I was told incubi and succubi can glamourize themselves to be whatever their clients desire kinda like what the entity did during initiation. I've never done it so don't ask me how."

"I was drugged? Wait, did I…?"

"Did you…?"

"Did I...you know…with Aiko…?"

"Oh! Oh...no. The both of you were fully clothed when I found you. Praise Ra. But, yeah. So...after Juri and I picked you up off the floor, we brought you to my room where Juri called for an ambulance. You were taken to the hospital, got your stomach pumped, waited a couple of hours, then I brought you here for the night."

Shuuichi rubbed a hand over his stomach, hoping to never have it pumped ever again, "I remember...some of what you said. I did see you. I saw...two of you?"

"Yeah. The real me found you with the fake me. The fake me was Aiko. I can't tell you how pissed I was seeing the two of you like that. I'm pissed just thinking about it."

"How? How did she lure me in? That part is fuzzy."

Kiyoni grabbed her phone and pulled up her messages, "Aiko told me. Remember this? This is where Aiko texted you using my phone. She's right. I do need to up my security."

"Hold on," Shuuichi grabbed his phone as well.

The messages sent from Kiyoni's phone checked out.

Shuuichi then showed Kiyoni his side of things, "Then where did these come from? I have this number saved for you as well."

Kiyoni read the messages, "That bitch. These were sent from Aiko's phone. See? She even said that I changed my number. I never changed my number."

"So these weren't from you?"

"No. As a matter of fact, I never checked my phone unless I was texting Juri. She and I were out getting our hair done since we had the night off. Our return to the club was when we found out about everything. Aiko kept us out of the loop. Even you to a point."

Shuuichi finally noticed Kiyoni's new do, "That explains the buns."

"You like them?"

"They're cute, yes."

"Thank you. So...yeah. That's what happened. Suu'chi, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You did nothing wrong. It's Aiko that will have to make amends."

"Oh, she will. Once I put my foot to her ass, she will."

"Violence is never the answer, Kiyoni. Turn the other cheek."

"Bull-shit! No. No way. This is not one of those times to be a Christian, Shuuichi. Hell no. Aiko has had it out for me for the longest time and now that she brought you into her game, I'm done. That...crossed so many lines. I am done with her. She is going to get one hell of an ass whooping from me with the strength of Ra, Seth, Ausar, and whatever other war or fighting god I'm not thinking of. Fuck that."

"Kiyoni…"

"Stop it, Shuuichi. I'm not going to argue with you about this. This is a hill, a mountain, that I'm going to stand, literally fight, and die on. I'm not going to sit there and let bitches like Aiko take advantage of the people I care about. That's how you lose the people you care about. That's how I lost my brother."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Hm?"

"Your brother. Care to talk about it," Shuuichi was genuinely curious at this point.

Triggered, Kiyoni grabbed her things and headed towards the door, "I don't think so."

Shuuichi chased after her, "Kiyoni…"

"Suu'chi, stop it. I'm not going to do that."

"Kiyoni, eventually you'll have to come to terms with it. That means talking about it, talking to someone about it. It's how you heal."

"I'm over it. I've come to terms with it, as you say. I just don't want to talk about it."

"That's not true and you know it. Because if it was, you wouldn't be as reactive as you are now."

"Reactive? What do you mean reactive?"

"Kiyoni, look and listen to yourself. You're becoming a nervous wreck. Moving at an awkwardly fast pace, I can see the sweat building on your forehead, you're defensive…"

"Shuuichi, will you please let it go? I'm not talking."

"Remember what I said about the difference in environment when it comes to a storm? I can smell your anxiety. It's not the gentle rain. It's that of a strong thunderstorm. The same smell you had the night you met Kurama, face-to-face."

Kiyoni had a firm grip on the doorknob by the time Shuuichi said those words. A couple of people could be heard in the hallway which meant Thursday morning activity was about to take place. There was no way Kiyoni was going to leave the campus on normal terms like she had originally planned. She should've just walked out of the door as soon as she woke up.

"Kiyoni," Shuuichi called, "Talk to me. It's okay. I won't judge you. I'm only extending a comforting hand and ear. Consider it my way of giving thanks for last night."

Kiyoni had minimalized her past trauma for far too long at this point and she knew it. For as long as she could, she thought that if she could put her experience on the back burner, then it wouldn't be as important to express her feelings about it even though her physical expressions said otherwise. She could've done the same thing and show aggression towards Shuuichi the same way she has with others who talked about her brother, but Shuuichi was different. He actually wanted to hear what Kiyoni had to say. Not only that but the whole tit-for-tat thing was on the table. If Shuuichi trusted Kiyoni to take care of him during his time of need, could Kiyoni do the same with him?

Ra, Ma'at, Sekhmet, please give me strength.

The question was answered when Kiyoni mumbled, "...It was nearly three years ago…"

"What?"

Kiyoni turned towards Shuuichi, eyes full of tears, "It was nearly three years ago. The night that I lost my brother."

Immediately concerned and interested, Shuuichi locked his door, grabbed Kiyoni, and guided her back to his chair, "Easy, now. You're safe here. Go right ahead."

Kiyoni stared at her hands as they sat on her lap. They were getting cold and clammy due to nervousness and were visibly sweaty by the time she told her story.

It was nearly three summers ago when that tragic night happened. Kiyoni, her brother, Tai, Shishi, Aiko, Juri, and other incubi and succubi were gathered together by a bonfire out in the countryside celebrating something similar to an engagement party. It was deep into the night where they were. The closest cities and residents were miles away and the area was so open that the stars that were seen were in the millions. Dancing, laughing, and drinking all surrounded a lively campfire. It was a good time to be alive.

"Cheers to the bride and…bride," Tai shouted to the laughter of others.

The guests of honor were two succubi engaged in an open relationship. Tai was new to the incubi game at the time much like his succubus sister but had been around working at Aphrodisia long enough to know what things were about.

He definitely had model-type looks. Mid-twenties. Athletically-built similar to that of a basketball player or a running back for football. Golden honey skin with a boy-next-door smile and a faded hairstyle with short, sausage link dreadlocks on top. His purple eyes and charismatic charm drew in women from all over and was well liked within the red light community. Even Aiko had a crush on him at one point. There he stood over the crowd in a Kobe Bryant jersey with black jeans and black air force ones with a red cup in hand toasting to the happy couple.

"Kanpai," said the crowd.

"So, wait," Kiyoni questioned, "We're allowed to get married?"

"Sis, anyone can get married nowadays," Tai answered, "They're just doing it so their parents can shut up."

"But do their parents know they're lesbians?"

"No."

"They'll find out later," said one of the soon-to-be brides, "Not like we give a shit anyway."

This succubus had strawberry blonde hair in a pixie cut, blue contact eyes, and had the body of a professional swimmer. An ankle tattoo of a rose and the sign for Virgo on the underside of her right wrist matched her biker babe attitude.

"Okay," Kiyoni replied, "But what about my previous question? If we're all about lust, can we not fall in love? Like, how does that work? I thought marriage works on love."

The bride stood before the rookie and pulled her under her wing, "You're new so I'm gonna explain it to you like this. We succubi and incubi can fuck whomever we want, whenever we want, however we want, and wherever we want. That's the fun part and that's how we live. Love...love is...a taboo thing. You see, I'm not going through with this whole marriage thing because I love my bride. I love her pussy, not her. I love all pussy no matter who it belongs to. I love your pussy even though I haven't fucked with it yet. That's the thing. I'm going through with this shit because...well, shit, why not? Not only that but my bride comes from money and is a master of the French kiss. Hello?! At the end of the day, we're still going to fuck, fuck, and fuck until we can no longer fuck. You get it?"

"So...there's like...no romance involved or anything?"

"Well, romance can be a part of it to an extent if it'll get us what we need, which is that carnal energy. From my experience, once all that mushy shit dies down, that's when the bullshit happens. That's when you gotta deal with all that toxic, petty shit like fighting over the toilet seat and like who's going to wash the dishes and like 'HoW cOmE yOu DoN't LoVe Me AnYmOrE' and shit like that. You know, the whole 'wining and dining' shit fading away. And don't even get me started when it comes to raising a family and the lack of sex that comes with it. Ugh! No. Baby succubus, welcome to the club. Considering how young you are, you joined at a good time. Never fall in love with a client. Just never. It'll kill ya."

"What happens if I do fall in love?"

"Did you not hear me? It'll kill you. Literally. All that shit that the entity gave you is pure lust. The opposite of lust is love and chastity, right? Yeah. Don't do it. Same thing goes for you, big boy."

Tai raised his cup again, "Noted."

"So, eh…" the bride teased with a finger tracing over the lettering of Tai's jersey, "doing anything later tonight?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, I don't know. You, me, my...wife…"

"I think we can work something out."

"Sure. We can get your sister in on it too. I know I haven't seen her pussy yet. Mm, same goes for your...package."

Tai got rock hard the second the bride grabbed his junk, "Mm…! Again. I think something can be worked out. Kiyoni, you in?"

Kiyoni had already stepped away looking for others to talk to and found Shishi talking to Aiko, "Hey, guys."

"There's the baby," Aiko joked, "Having a good time?"

"I'm here, am I? Yeah I am."

"Just wait until you start working at Aphrodisia," Shishi hinted, "You're going to love it."

"He's not wrong," Aiko listed, "The money's good. The atmosphere is good. Just wait until you get some clients."

"What are they like," Kiyoni wondered, "What can I expect?"

"Some are typical. You got cheating spouses, introverted wimps, people figuring out their sexuality, people discovering their sexuality. Those are the best ones in my opinion. We can turn them out and make them come back for more. I had a rich man who never got the chance to have some pussy in his life. Too busy making his millions. Anyway, one taste of my cooter and the next day, I was on a flight to Greece with a brand new Rolls Royce waiting for me upon my arrival. Check into my fancy hotel where a dress from Vera Wang was set up for me along with some diamonds from Cartier. Oh, it was a dream come true."

"That sounds like a dream come true," Kiyoni marveled, "I'd like that."

"Just gotta find the right one, Kiyoni. And no matter what, never...ever underestimate the power of your own pussy."

"Got it."

"I guess the same can be said for dick, too. Right, Shishi? ...Shishi?"

Shishi had noticed a caravan of vehicles approaching the party, ones he didn't recognize, "Hey...does anyone know about this?"

Others began to notice as well. A caravan of four vehicles, all SUVs, pull up to the road beside the party. All passengers and drivers exited the motorized chariots and were covered in darkness. Everything was put on pause in favor of these mysterious strangers dressed in black.

The two brides approached the party of the lead car with Tai not far behind. The party was his idea anyway.

"Who the fuck are you," asked bride #1.

"And what the fuck do you want," followed bride #2.

The second bride was a recent immigrant from France who was attending school in Japan on a student Visa. Working at Aphrodisia was her bread and butter. She was a brunette who wore a red, plaid crop top and a pair of light wash jeans and gladiator sandals.

"Good evening," said the leader, "We received word about a disturbance out here."

"A disturbance," Tai challenged, "What disturbance? Look around you, bro. What disturbance? And yeah, who the hell are you guys? You're certainly not the police."

The leader stood stoic yet confident in his plan as if he knew he was going to win this fight. Others that were with him prepared for battle with weapons drawn and stances taken.

"Hey, now," Tai noticed, "What's all this?"

"Fire wielder," the leader summoned, "Do what you can with these two harlots."

The brides repeated, "Harlots?!"

"Leviticus 21:9:

"And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire."

Bride #1 stepped forward ready to fight, "Hold on. I did not come out here just to-"

The fire welder incinerates the feisty succubus to the point where not even her bones were left behind much to the dismay of all the witnesses.

"Did I just see what I think I saw," Aiko affirmed.

"You mean one of our own getting burned to not even a crisp, yes," Shishi answered.

The leader gave another order, "Revelation 21:8:

"But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

"My brothers and sisters in Christ, do what you will to these despicable servants of Satan!"

Tai shouted, "Run!"

It was at that moment, the party ended. In one fell swoop, multiple succubi and incubi were mercilessly slaughtered whether by blade, by fire, or by forceful hands. The partygoers thought that the nightly atmosphere would protect them as they ran further away from the fire but it didn't.

Kiyoni ran with Shishi towards wherever they could go. Due to the dampness of the grass beneath their feet, Kiyoni slipped on said grass, causing her to fall behind Shishi.

"Shishi," she shouted, "Shishi, wait!"

"And where do you think you're going, jezebel," the leader managed to catch up to Kiyoni with a shiny new handgun in position and a readied line from Isaiah 13:11, "Thus I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for its iniquity."

"No. No, please," Kiyoni pleaded.

"Burn in Hell, you disgusting creature."

Like the protector he always was, Tai stopped the leader from taking a shot using some combat moves taught by his military mom with a drop kick to the would-be shooter.

"If you think you're gonna shoot my sister, you're deadass wrong, motherfucker!"

After a hard punch to the jaw, the shooter found himself in an impromptu wrestling match with Tai.

"Get...off of me!"

As the two men struggled, Kiyoni found her footing, "Tai!"

Tai commanded, "Kiyoni…! Run! Get away!"

"What about you?!"

"Sis, run!"

"Not without you!"

"Kiyoni…!"

Before anyone knew it, a loud bang echoed throughout the open space.

"Tai!"

Tai had been hit. A direct shot to his abdomen, definitely hitting a vital organ. Realizing the opportunity, the shooter regained control of his weapon and smacked Tai in the head with it, knocking his opponent down.

"This is what happens...when you refuse to follow Christ," he warned.

Shishi finally doubled back and grabbed Kiyoni's arm, "Kiyoni, we have to go. We can't stay here. We have to go now!"

Kiyoni couldn't move. She had just witnessed her only brother get shot and knocked down directly in front of her.

"Kiyoni, let's go," Shishi insisted.

Finally, successfully, he pulled Kiyoni along as they ran away, looking back whenever they could.

The leader, feeling sadistic, gave Kiyoni a parting gift. A shot to the back of Tai's head, ending his life.

"Tai," Kiyoni screamed.

Shishi couldn't believe it either, "Holy shit…"

"Nooooooo! You son-of-a-bitch! You murdered him!"

The leader walked away satisfied, gathering his troops and leaving the campsite. Kiyoni ran back to where her brother was found motionless and bleeding on the cold, open land.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh," she cried, "Taaaaaaaaai!"

She knelt by what was left of her brother, clutching his jersey while sobbing on his shoulder.

Shishi knelt behind her, "Kiyoni… I'm...I'm so sorry."

"He did…nothing wrong. He did nothing wrong," she sobbed.

"Shishi," Aiko called from the skies, "Shishi?"

"Down here," Shishi directed, "Use my voice!"

Aiko finally landed and transformed back from her yokai form to her human form. What she saw brought her to tears as well, "Tai…"

Kiyoni looked up, "Aiko…"

Like an older sister, Aiko pulled Kiyoni in and cried with her, "Oh, Kiyoni...I am so sorry."

Shuuichi listened to the entire story from beginning to end, wiping away tears from his own and Kiyoni's eyes. What happened to her brother was absolutely immoral and extremely unfortunate.

"Tai was…" Kiyoni continued, "he was...my hero. He was my shield. He saved me that night...but he didn't have to die for it. How stupid of me to just…stand there…and do nothing."

"So that's why you take offense whenever someone speaks of your brother. You want to remember him just as he was to you."

"Exactly. I feel like it's my fault that he died. Those righteous jerks. They didn't care who or how many they killed. They just wanted to do it in the name of their god. Fuck God! If God was so high and mighty, then why didn't he stop his believers from killing them? What gave them the right to do that, huh? Tell me that, Shuuichi. You seem to know about that shit. Tell me!"

Shuuichi went into defense mode, shushing and holding Kiyoni back as she understandably got aggressive, "Relax. Just relax for a second. I understand your anger. Believe me, I do. Kiyoni, unfortunately, I can't answer those questions nor do I have the capability. However, what I do know is that neither God nor yourself are to blame for your brother's demise. You were just caught up in a frighteningly dangerous situation. It happens and it's not your fault. In fact, many of the horrors done out of the Christian faith were not out of God's command. I remember you saying something along those lines. That was humanity's fault, not God's. If a situation were to call for divine punishment, it would be of his will, not man. So, no. What happened to your brother and your companions was done out of humanity's will, not God's."

"Then...who do I blame? For a long time I sat and thought that if I had done more, my brother would still be walking today. For a long time, I had developed many…so many ideas and ways to get back at the one who killed him. None of them were good. I want to find that son-of-a-bitch and just…" Kiyoni lowered her head and clenched her fists to contain her anger.

"I know, Kiyoni. I know. To answer your question in this case, you can blame the one responsible but you shouldn't dwell on it. The more you dwell on it, the more power you give to the other party, power that...they're not even asking for and may not need. The more you dwell on it, the more you're going to want to take action and if you do, that wrath and that anger, both of which are deadly sins, are going to eat at you until there's nothing left to consume. And then, what? What happens next? Nothing. The solution isn't resolved, mistakes go unchecked, and justice is never achieved. Who wins from that? You? No.

"Kiyoni, I want you to be the victor in this situation. I want you to...be the person your brother would be proud of. I want you to walk away from this with your head held high and let God handle it from there. Yes, justice will come towards that murderer. However, it cannot nor should not be enacted by you. Romans 12:19:

"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay', says the Lord.

"Doesn't your...divine laws say the same thing or something similar, if you have any?"

Kiyoni sniffled, "There's a few. To not act with violence. To not act unjustly. To not be the aggressor. Do not be angry or wrathful without just cause…"

"See? What about divine intervention?"

"That's Ma'at's job. If I want justice, I leave to her."

"There you go. Leave it to her."

"What do I do in the meantime? I mean, how do I…how do I get rid of this, this pain? I'm tired of it. I don't want to deal with it anymore."

"Well, since you were so kind in talking it out with me, I think the next course of action would be for you to just feel it. Sit with it. Acknowledge the fact that it happened, that it can't be changed, and that you are stronger, if not, going to be stronger once you make it out of this. Totally doable, right? Think of it this way. You're alive today. You made it out of a traumatizing situation and you're still standing. That's exactly what your brother wanted you to do, right?"

Kiyoni nodded, still sniffing, "Yeah."

Shuuichi sat back on the bed with arms wide open, "Come here. Don't be shy. Come here. You want to release that pain? Start here."

Kiyoni entered Shuuichi's space, allowing herself to get comfortable in his arms. Shuuichi held Kiyoni tightly like a parent comforting their crying child.

"Ever heard of the serenity prayer," he hinted.

"The serenity prayer? No. Are you going to preach to me again?"

"No, no. Not that. Just provide some words to put you at ease. Repeat after me. God, grant me the serenity…"

"God, grant me the serenity…"

"To accept the things I cannot change…"

"To accept the things I...cannot change…"

"The courage to change the things that I can…"

"The courage to change the things that I can…"

"And the wisdom to know the difference."

"And the wisdom to...know the difference."

"There. That's all there is to it. Try it for yourself."

"God...grant me the serenity to…" it was at this moment, Kiyoni decided to let it all go again, just as she did the night her brother died, "accept the things I...cannot...change…"

In her heart, were nothing but feelings of loss, fear, grief, shame, hopelessness, loneliness, vengeance, and abandonment. All of those feelings poured themselves out in the form of Kiyoni's tears, cries, and whimpers. Although she felt like she could've done so much more that night, doing nothing ultimately saved her life. Working at Aphrodisia covered those emotions like a large bed sheet over a stack of dusty furniture. Nothing to see, nothing to deal with. However, the second Shuuichi wanted to tug and ultimately pull that sheet off, Kiyoni knew she had some emotional organizing to do starting with addressing the reason why those feelings existed. Crying on Shuuichi's chest was just the start.

Meanwhile, Shuuichi did nothing but hold her close as Kiyoni's heart emptied itself out with tears dampening his chest. He knew she needed this time to herself so he allowed it to happen. He just wanted her to know that she wasn't alone. Another layer had just been removed, one of the deepest ones yet and Shuuichi felt a bit proud of this breakthrough. He knew there was more to Kiyoni than she was letting on and for her to feel secure enough to let herself go with him was liberating and…scary. Could he trust himself now that he knows another one of Kiyoni's deepest secrets? Better yet, could both Kiyoni and Shuuichi trust themselves moving forward now that more has been placed on the table?