Chapter 8

There was a strange feeling in the center of his chest, that he noticed suddenly as he walked through the halls of LME. It wasn't a pain, an itch or an unpleasant feeling. Just a little strange. Something he had only felt once before at full force, when he was very young and still what he considered, pure. Back then it had been caused by a little girl his parents had introduced him to, and he had given her his betrothal stone. They had told him that she was his life mate.

At the time he didn't understand the magnitude of something like that, but now... He shook his head grimly when he remembered her disappearance. Now, that part of his life was over. He was responsible for what happened to Rick. He deserved to have no life mate. He should be alone, so where did this feeling come from? Why was it exactly like it was then, and why was she causing it? Of course he had helped train her for her level 10 exams, but the thought of who she was and the depth of their connection, hadn't fully sunk in yet. He and she both, were still suffering from the cruelty of others; although lately, the pain had been easing for both, without their knowledge. They were starting to be drawn to each other more often.

As he moved through the halls of LME to find the cause of his "disturbance", he finally came to a familiar doorway, the LoveME Section. He knocked and a familiar voice granted him entry. What he had found, shocked him to silence. There was a familiar face, but the hair was past the small of her back and as white as snow. She was now sporting several runes that hadn't been there before on her arms, her hands, her neck and up the left side of her face. He had never seen anything like it or anything more beautiful. Her delicious scent was overpowering, and her aura was breathtakingly gold to match her eyes.

"Wow..." He breathed out absentmindedly.

"Good Morning, Tsuruga-san." She blushed at his comment. "Is there something I can help you with?"

He shook it off. "Um... No, Mogami-san. I just stopped by to say hi and wondered if you need a ride to the Dark Moon interview this evening." He told her as he recovered quickly.

"Umm... I suppose... I-If it's not too much trouble." She told him as she stared at her feet and worried her lip.

He smiled brightly. "Good, then I will meet you here at four." He smiled, bade her goodbye, and turned to leave.

"T-Thank you Tsuruga-san." She squeaked out as he left.

Lory smirked as he watched the video footage of her "training". He beamed when he noticed how she had placed the betrothal stone in the center of the breastplate of her armor. He noticed the changes in her appearance and how her wings had filled out from the last time he had seen them. He could hardly wait to present her, when the time came. The only problem was, she was still incomplete. She still needed more love and then she would be whole. As it stood, the couple she was staying with, were treating her as a daughter. Maria saw her as a sister and Kotonami-san was finally, doing well in the friendship department. Even Yukihito and Ren were helping out as friends, but he wanted more for her. For Kuon. He knew that they would be able to heal each other's wounds and complete each other. The problem was, getting the pair to accept their obvious destinies and his nephew was still doing nothing, but observing her from a distance. It was infuriating.

He had seen her being dragged into Fuwa's dressing room after her interview. He didn't want to get too close to her, because he had actually kind of freaked her out by calling her a goddess. Okay, maybe he was a little over-the-top, but that was Reino. He just couldn't help himself and he really didn't spend much time with women that were on the plane of the living. His blood froze at what he had seen and heard next.

~xoxo~

A hand reached from a doorway and pulled her in by her long white braid. "Who the hell do you think you are? Trash like you belongs in the gutter! Go back to Kyoto and be a good little slave." He hissed at her.

Oh yes, he new exactly who she was now. There was no mistaking those golden eyes filled with malice towards him and he most certainly didn't feel an ounce of the fear he should have for grabbing her like that. She had contained her power and temper very well at the orders of Uesugi-dono and Takarada-sama. It would do her no good to annihilate the idiot.

"I am not yours or anyone else's slave and I will not go back to Kyoto! I will stay here and live my life as I choose! Now get your hands off of me you slobbering, blood-sucking, parasite!" She snarled at him and Reino heard a slap come from the room as he approached to doorway.

"Shit!" He cursed as he rushed in and pulled her behind him, stunning her. His violet eyes glinted with something that worried Shoko Aki. "Fuwa, I absolutely guarantee you will regret that." He turned to Kyoko. "Princess..." He addressed the wide eyed female and caressed the cut on her cheek. "Don't do anything you will regret. He will pay for his disrespect soon enough." He told her softly and took her hand. "Let's get you out of here and get that looked at. You don't want to get a disease from that vermin." He glanced at Shoko and Fuwa, and pulled Kyoko quickly out of the room with him.

Shoko turned to look at Sho in shock. "Sho, I think you just made a huge mistake."

Sho scoffed. "I seriously doubt either could touch me."

"Do you even know who that was?" She hissed at him.

"Pfft... Do I even care? It was that idiot vocalist from Vie Ghoul." He laughed.

She nodded. "Yes... Among other things... Like the son of the Romanian Duke... and he just referred to her as "Princess"... Use your brain Sho. I know it's still in there." She huffed. "You better hope that this goes no further than this room or you could very well be looking at some serious trouble heading your way." She warned.

He glanced at her irritably. "Don't you mean us?"

Shoko's eyes narrowed at him. "When it comes to things like this? You will be finding yourself a new manager. I don't want to be anywhere near you. You may want to try and find a way to make amends, because he would not be throwing that title around as a term of affection."

"Come on, Shoko... There's no way she's royalty. She's a slave and an orphan. I've known her since she was six. She just a freak that got a little lucky." He brushed off the warning.

She shook her head. "What was she before you met her? Do you know who her parents are? You've seen how she can do so many different things that she shouldn't be able to do. She's not of your kind, she's not a shape-shifter, they don't do magic. She's not an elf, they can't do shadow magic and they don't have wings that they can conceal. She's not like anyone I've ever met. Can you explain it? How do you even know what she's capable of? You'd never even seen half of the stuff she did that night and I'm sure she's been hiding more from you."

He felt the bile rise in his throat at what he was going to say next. "Fine... I'll go... apologize to her. Will that make you happy?" He bit out.

Shoko sighed in exasperation. "It really doesn't matter what makes me happy. What matters is that you better hope that they don't tell anyone about what you did today."