Chapter 26

Flummoxed. By the very definition of the word, meaning: bewildered or perplexed, it described his state, at the moment, perfectly. Honestly? He didn't know what to make of the situation, he was so completely shocked. First, he was ticked off that she'd actually agreed to go out with Kijima again in the future, even if she said it just to shut him up, and get him to stop bothering her. Secondly, and the thing that pissed him off beyond comprehension, was the fact that she'd either given Fuwa her phone number or he'd somehow discovered it on his own, and the complete ass was calling her at all hours of the day and night.

Now, the circumstance that he was completely flummoxed by, was that he was firmly pinned on the bed beneath her, temper completely doused, mind sufficiently flustered, and body absolutely aroused. His mind was a blank slate, and he honestly didn't know how to react.

Not only did she have him completely under her body, she had him wholly under her control. She had shocked him entirely out of his blinding anger, that he'd never really been able to control on his own before. He couldn't help, but think of all of the other times she'd done the same. The most recent being, when he'd over confidently decided to do the car stunt scene. The thought of actually harming an innocent brought back images of when Rick had stepped in and tried to pull him out of his testing, he'd lost his temper that time too. All he had seen, in his mind's eye, was his car plowing into the crowd of bystanders, and causing death and destruction. Which he didn't, he only thought he had. She pulled him from that trance as easily as she was pulling him from his anger now. She was truly an angel from the stories, and myths he'd been told of when he was a child. What did his father call them? Ah yes, Guardian Angels. She was his beautiful Guardian Angel.

He looked up into those familiar eyes, at the beautiful silken hair, the radiant golden aura, and that incredibly sexy smirk. She was definitely not the little girl anymore. She was giving him a feeling that she would take care of him, no matter what, and he really hadn't had that particular sense of security in a very long time, not from Lory, Yukihito or anyone else.

To be perfectly honest, she really wasn't sure of what she was looking for. Kanae and Chiori had told her what was going on, and just as one would expect from a Takarada, Maria exploded with indignation. It just wasn't right that her Onee-sama didn't have a choice in who she would spend the rest of her life with or in who she was allowed to love. She was certain that if her grandfather knew, he would definitely do everything in his power to put a stop to it, and that is exactly what she was going to look into.

There had to be a little missed clause or rule somewhere that would help out her Onee-sama. If it truly existed, she would definitely find it. After all, she did have access to all of those old books and scrolls she was now studying at the palace everyday. She was starting to thank her lucky stars that she had decided to learn all of those dead human languages. She felt they would come in handy one day, and it seemed as though that day was at hand very soon.

"Maria-chan? I wasn't aware that you could read Latin. Are you interested in the Old Laws?" Magus Tanaka asked curiously.

Maria smiled up at the elderly man. "I'm interested in anything I can learn, Sensei. I find ancient history very intriguing." She fibbed a little. If she were to tell the complete truth, she supposed that lately she had been very interested in ancient history, if she counted the spell for Fuwa, and finding the solution to a problem one of her most important people had.

"Everything on the top shelf is from the younger days of our history, if you're interested." Sensei informed her.

Maria looked up at him curiously. "Sensei? What is this tournament that the texts keep referring to?" She asked innocently. Of course she knew what the stupid tournament was. It was something she was trying to find a loophole in, at the moment.

He nodded, and sat next to her at the table where she had scrolls, and books opened and spread about. "Well, it's a contest of sorts for the hand of the future queen of our country. We need strong rulers to lead us, and the tournament sorts the weak from the strong. My great-grandfather told me once, that the contestants had to defeat the Crown Princess before being allowed to wed her. The Royal family has only ever produced daughters. So, the sons of the strongest noble houses compete with each other, and the final two contestants face the future queen." He smirked. "After all, it wouldn't have been a very good idea to have a strong queen that could best her own king in a battle, now would it?" He chuckled.

Maria shook her head. "When did they stop doing that?" She asked curiously.

He looked up in thought. "Hmmm, I would have to say... probably about a thousand years ago. I would have to dig around to find out the exact date though, but that's not what we're here to study, Dear." He chided and placed one of the older grimoire in front of her. "This would be a better way to spend your time."

Maria nodded. "Of course Sensei, I apologize for going off topic." She told him and began reading from the book he'd set before her, to distract him from her original purpose.

"Unbelievably disgusting." Taira Murasame murmured as he watched the pair of unconventional siblings enter, hand-in-hand. What he found distasteful had been the enormous bite mark, mixed with a hickey on the left side of Cain Heel's neck. The way the two siblings behaved, the thought that Setsuka Heel had given it to her brother was not so far fetched.

Not even sibling vampires feed off of each other like that. He thought in disgust. Not that he knew much more about them than what he'd learned in cultural studies class in high school. Besides, his kind didn't associate with those despicable parasites anyway. The thing the male elf found perplexing though, was the fact that they didn't seem to give off the aura or smell for that matter, of a vamp. They seemed a little darker, and far more dangerous, but he just couldn't think of anything more dark and dangerous than one of those things. Except perhaps, those beings that parents told their children about to make them behave. He searched his mind for the old stories his great-grandfather had told him when he was small.

Demons... He chuckled and shook his head at the ludicrous thoughts. Demons and Angels don't exist. Neither do those that associate with the dead. He reprimanded himself, and decided not to think of such silly, childish things. {Poor Murasame, he lives in such a sheltered world.}