A/N: Hey guys, so I'm working up to a turning point in their relationship, but I also just started grad school, so please bear with me as I adjust to my new schedule and course load. That said, I should actually have more time now to write than in undergrad, lol. Anyway, enjoy! *laughs evilly*

~Nique

Ch. 06: The Experiment

Tougo Sakamaki's bill was totally reflective of his personality-outwardly benevolent and edifying, but hiding serious potential for his personal gain. And, apparently, for Nakamura Corp's gain, Masumi thought as she rinsed the last of the shampoo out of her hair, letting the hot water just hit her back for a moment. Reiji had not said a word to her on the way back from school, and only ordered her to remove her clothes and bathe when they reached the mansion. She leaned back and let the water just hit her face, let it rush through her clean hair and down her body. She really didn't want to get out of the shower, to face Reiji and his wrath, but if she was going to expose Suki's plot, she would need more information. Information that only Reiji would have.

Sighing, Masumi shut off the water and stepped out of the shower, reaching for her towel blindly. It was closer than she expected. Reiji stood just outside the shower, holding her towel out with his gloved hand, his other hand moving to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Reiji-san! Wha-" she began, wrapped her arms around herself, attempting to cover the most embarrassing bits.

"Despite your impropriety in bathing naked in an unlocked room, I have given you the privilege of a towel with which to cover up. Avail yourself of it," he said, his voice low and threatening, the towel in his hand shaking slightly. Masumi snatched it out of his hand and scowled at him.

"You told me to bathe! How is it my fault that you're a pervert who walks into obviously occupied bathrooms without-" Reiji's bare hand was suddenly wrapped around her throat, and the impact of his acceleration into her body sent her head backwards, banging it against the shower door.

"You have lost the privilege to speak in my presence," he hissed, his face mere inches away from hers. His fingers tightened and Masumi had the passing thought that he was probably trying to leave a hand-shaped bruise on her pale skin. But I'm not... in pain... she thought errantly. Reiji's eyes narrowed, like he knew her focus was not entirely on him.

"You have embarrassed me and this household in such an unspeakable way, that I shall have to be very creative in my punishment." The way he said 'creative' was the way any normal person would say 'cruel,' and Masumi knew that was no coincidence.

"Did... it...for...you... Suki... using you," she managed to choke out from around the vice grip Reiji had. She met and held his gaze, waiting for him to decide how to take that information. There was a long, tense moment where Masumi searched for any hint of curiosity in his glowing red eyes. Only curiosity would save her; Reiji cared very little whether the lack of oxygen would leave her brain damaged, though he couldn't kill her. The edges of her vision started to get fuzzy (All oxygen and energy being diverted to brain, she thought), but she narrowed her focus on Reiji's face, refusing to cower before the heat of his gaze. Abruptly, Reiji's lids lowered, either in suspicion or acquiescence, it didn't matter which, and he released Masumi's throat. She collapsed to the floor, her legs too weak to support her as her body diverted all of its energy to helping her suck air back into her lungs. She sat there, gasping, partially covered by the towel, while Reiji stood above her, his arms crossed.

"Explain yourself."

Masumi looked up at the dark-haired prince and swallowed, then licked her lips before speaking:

"I noticed some unusual behavior in Suki Nakamura today, so I decided further observation might reveal something of use to you. She is obviously aligning herself with you, and I believed this relationship might... benefit you," Masumi half-lied. "But as I watched, it soon became clear to me that her intentions were manipulative and I sought her out in order to extract her plot from her own lips," she finished, rubbing at the skin around her throat, which oddly felt warm, but not raw, or tender as it should. She filed that observation away with the recent others, and refocused on the matter at hand.

Reiji turned his back on Masumi and headed for the door. "We shouldn't talk here. Follow me," he said over his shoulder. He led her out of the bathroom and down the hall to his own room, sitting down in the armchair in his study. Beside him, the fire blazed to life on its own. Masumi stood facing him, standing awkwardly in nothing but her towel. Reiji gestured to one of his dress shirts, which was lying out on the bed.

"Put that on. It is highly inappropriate to conduct conversations while immodestly attired." She strode over to the bed, feeling the sleeve of the button-down shirt. Glancing over her shoulder, she tried to rearrange her towel so it wouldn't slip and reveal her while she dressed. Turning her back fully to Reiji, she slid her arms into the sleeves and buttoned the shirt over her breasts, working her way down. The shirt was large on her slim frame, and it just barely came down to her thighs. As she returned back to her spot in front of Reiji, Masumi blushed, thinking about how she must look: still damp, dressed in a man's white dress shirt, which only covered the necessities, standing before the very wealthy, powerful, dangerous man to whom it belonged. Surprisingly, the implications bore down on her in a way his previous punishments and threats had not. She felt small, weak... owned.

"Now, what evidence do you have to substantiate this conjecture," Reiji asked in a tone that said he was still on the borderline between anger and curiosity. "Miss Nakamura has done nothing untoward or even spoken to me about any sensitive matters," he continued.

"Suki-san has never been as bold in her attention to you as she was today, Reiji-san. She even physically asserted her place at your side, and worked hard to provide for you everything you needed during today's chemistry lesson. In order to produce the tool before you requested it, she would necessarily have to have monitored your movements and process in the past, in order to predict how you would behave and react today. This suggests she has been observing you closely," Masumi began. Reiji folded his hands in front of his face, crossing his legs.

"Observing me and seeking to please me is not a crime, Masumi-san. It is only natural that the lesser vampires seek to appease their superiors. I am her prince, and she has shown me the proper deference that you refuse to also adopt. As my apprentice, it should have been you who waited on me during our chemistry lesson. The fact that your failure to do so left Miss Nakamura with no choice but to step up reflects poorly only on you," he sniffed. Masumi resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Honestly, narcissism has got to be a family gene around here...

"There have been other days when I was paired with another chemistry student, so why would she step in only now? And then to follow you around all day, complementing you and attempting to get you to discard your formality and speak with her as an equal? That does not strike me as the behavior of a humble inferior, Reiji-sama," Masumi countered, careful to use the more respectful honorific this time. Reiji inclined his head slightly.

"I assume you have a hypothesis as to why Miss Nakamura has behaved such, and that you are not merely wasting my time," he said, his tone warning.

"I believe Suki-san is working to become close to you, maybe even as a potential mate, in order to increase her own family's power. I noticed during chemistry lab that the news station our teacher was watching reported a story about Tougo Sakamaki's newest piece of legislation. As you know, you father-" Reiji's eyes began to glow again and Masumi corrected herself. "Ah, Sakamaki-sama's bill would allow for businesses to make large, private deals with previously government-run corporations. I believe that Suki-san's father owns a business in position to do just that, and therefore increase their wealth and status. However, provisions in the bill require Sakamaki-sama's specific approval of a business before it can align itself with government forces. If you and she were to become close, I theorize that Suki-san believes her father's company will be allowed to forego the long application process, approved by Sakamaki-sama immediately, and rise sharply in status," Masumi finished. She clasped her hands in front of her, silently waiting for Reiji's response.

"I believe I told you I require absolute perfection in all things, Masumi-san," Reiji murmured. "Before you brought this half-finished hypothesis to me, you should have completed several experiments and produced actual results. Now you have forced me to complete this project for you, and for that you will be punished," Reiji said as he stood. Masumi's mouth gaped open.

"But I tried to experiment! That's what happened in the restroom, and why I emerged looking as indecent as I did, so-" she trailed off as Reiji smiled. It was a terrifying thing, his smile. Masumi felt her heartbeat double in pace.

"Did you really believe you had escaped your punishment? That I would accept your theory as proof of lack of wrongdoing?" His hand shot out and gripped Masumi by the wrist, dragging her over to the foot of his bed and fastening one of the handcuffs. Masumi's eyes widened and she instinctively tried to yank her arm away, but she was obviously trapped.

"No. I warned you that if you disobeyed me you would be whipped, and I am a man of my word." Reiji's voice was low. He forced her other wrist into the other cuff, and moved them along the end of the bed frame so she was bent low, her head facing the bed and her backside exposed to Reiji. The cuffs were so tight that they wrenched her shoulders forward, keeping her in that position, and preventing her from turning around at all. Behind her, she heard a cabinet door open, and then the sound of Reiji's glove sliding off. The cabinet shut and Reiji's footsteps stopped behind her.

"I have been waiting to use this on you since the day you arrived. The stripes it leaves will look lovely on your pale skin," Reiji said, his hand stroking what sounded like leather, and Masumi pictured him fondling a tasseled whip. His hand brushed her back, and she could feel the coolness of his skin through the thin shirt. "You should feel honored. To be punished by a prince, with a whip of the finest quality..." He trailed off and the room was suddenly silent. Unable to turn around or look behind her, Masumi's fear ratcheted up another notch. Then, shattering the silence, the crack of the whip on her skin sang through the air.

Masumi's back bowed instinctively, recoiling from the sting of the whip. Except... there was no sting. The leather tassels rubbed softly against the side of her thigh, and then briefly disappeared as the next strike drew angry red lines across her smooth skin. The same treatment to her other thigh, and then her back again, and again. Each hit tore through the white dress shirt, till it hung in tatters across her body. She could feel each strike, like a warm and unpleasant scratch, but the pain Reiji meant to inflict was strangely absent. And this scared Masumi more than any punishment.

Why can I not... feel pain? She had become accustomed to pain. It reminded her she was still alive on those nights when she'd laid in the hospital bed, drowning in self-pity and despair. She was grateful to have been healed, but to be robbed of her ability to feel hurt... it didn't feel right.

Behind her, Masumi suddenly became aware of Reiji's heavy breathing. The blows had ceased, and he simply stood behind her, admiring his handiwork. His hand reached out and Masumi instinctively tried to jerk away from his touch, but she couldn't move very far. His hand gripped her hip and his nails dug into the flesh of her thigh. He opened his mouth with a hissing noise, and pressed his own body along the length of her back, his lips brushing the back of her neck as he whispered,

"The red marks crossing your back, the scratches on your thighs... They are beautiful." He pressed an open-mouthed kiss to the juncture between her neck and her shoulder and Masumi began to sob. How many times had he taken her blood? Tortured her? Experimented on her? Why, after all of that, do I feel fear only now? she wondered, feeling vulnerable and weak.

Reiji's fangs pierced her skin and he drank deeply, marking her neck and shoulders again and again with his stamp. Each time, Masumi cried out, feeling each bite like a pair of knife blades sliding into her skin. His bite was the only thing that could bring her pain. And the worst part of the whole punishment was... she liked it.