Consciousness returned to Leona, and she slowly opened her eyes to stare out at an unfamiliar wall. With a soft groan, she rolled over onto her back and sat up, realization finally dawning on her that she was still in Iori's apartment, in his bed, a blanket pulled up over her naked body. Grabbing onto the blanket, she pulled it further up her chest, various images coming to mind as she remembered what exactly had happened. She and Iori had slept together. No, that wasn't the proper way to describe it... They hadn't exactly slept together, hadn't exactly had sex... they had--
A furiously bright blush came to her face as she finally thought of the best way to describe last night: they had acted like animals acting on instinct, mindlessly screwing each other in the desperate need to mate. Raising a hand to the left side of her neck, Leona just sat in his bed, the blush quickly fading as she realized she -wasn't- embarrassed, nor did she feel guilty. What had happened hours ago had been so.. natural, that there couldn't be anything -wrong- with the whole thing. In fact, she actually felt as though a burden had been lifted off her shoulders, as though she were weightless and free.
The bathroom door opened, and her blue eyes darted over to stare as Iori walked out, apparently having taken a shower as his hair was still damp. He stopped in the doorway, meeting her gaze and staring back at her. A bubble of pride began to swell in her chest as she watched him, on some level realizing that he had branded her as his mate. She couldn't explain it, but she was downright happy and even smug, as though she were the Alpha female of a pride of lions. Any male that came near her would be swiftly beat down by Iori, and if any woman dared touch her mate in turn, Leona would make them pay.
While on some level, the train of thought was disturbing and it scared her, on another, Leona realized it was the pure and utter truth. Because of her blood, because of her curse, she was different from other people, just like Iori was. He, however, had shown her the blissful happiness and ecstasy she could feel, and she was thankful for it, finally seeing her life in a new light, one where she wasn't always depressed. Besides, the Riot had shown them both what they really were at the core of it all: animals.
"How long have you been up?" he finally asked, crossing the room to dig through his closet for a shirt.
"Not long," she shook her head, sitting up a bit and curling her legs underneath her, loosening her hold on the blanket, although it still covered her body. Her eyes traveled to the clock near the TV and noted the time: four in the morning. It was way past the time she would normally have left and returned to the barracks, but for some reason, she didn't seem to care; there was no current mission for her, and if one suddenly sprang up, she had her cellphone.
Grabbing one of his long white shirts from the closet, Iori tossed it towards her before speaking up: "Water's still hot, so feel free to take a shower if you want."
At that moment, a shower sounded like the most heavenly thing on earth. With a nod, Leona held onto the shirt and slipped out of bed, oddly enough, not feeling the slightest bit embarrassed that she was pretty much naked in front of him. She made her way towards the bathroom, but was stopped when he snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her back towards him, leaning down and immediately kissing the side of her neck where he had bitten her. A soft groan passed her lips when she felt his teeth bite down into her skin, as though trying to darken the mark, to remind her of last night. When he let her go again, she glanced at him over her shoulder before disappearing into the bathroom.
For a while, Leona stood in the shower underneath the hot water, just letting it soothe and relax her aching muscles. She hadn't realized it at first, but she was totally and thoroughly achy, as though she had bruises all over her body. It wasn't enough pain that she would whine and groan over it, because even if it -were- she'd never let anyone know, but it was enough to make her conscious of how much movement and flexibility she had shown only hours ago, having moved in ways she had never moved before. Once the aches and pains had faded to a dull throbbing, she quickly washed and dried off, pulling Iori's shirt over her smaller body. The article of clothing was large enough to be a night shirt as it ended at her knees. The first thing she noticed about it, however, was his scent - the smell of his body plus his cologne mixed with whatever scented detergent he used. Although he had certainly washed the shirt, she could still smell -him- on it, and just the simple thought of that caused a spark of warmth to flood through her body. Leona had never really noticed how keen her sense of smell was, or, perhaps it was only so sensitive for Iori's scent.
Shrugging the thought aside, she slipped out of the bathroom, the sound of a sizzling pan greeting her ears, the smell of frying vegetables and chicken hitting her nose. She moved towards the kitchen and paused near the counter to watch Iori mix the contents of a wok, the one she had been learning to cook in last night.
"Hungry?" he asked, glancing towards her. She nodded. "It won't be as crisp or fresh since it's been sitting in the sauce for hours, but it's better than waiting for me to cook something."
Leona didn't know why she said it, why she suggested it, but she opened her mouth the moment it came to her mind: "We could just go out to eat."
Iori turned to stare at her, an eyebrow raised. Apparently, he was just as surprised by the suggestion as she was, because despite last night, she was still Leona, the most quiet and anti-social fighter in the Tournaments. She just shrugged at him, still quite uncertain as to why the idea ever came to her. The point was, however, that she didn't -mind- going out to eat. She did it with Ralf and Clark nearly every day, so why not with Iori?
In answer, he flicked the stove off. "Better get changed then," he turned to face her.
With a nod, Leona turned back out of the kitchen and rummaged around on the floor for her clothing, well aware that Iori's eyes were on her the entire time. For some reason, she wanted nothing more than to please him, and so while getting changed, she took her time, slowly taking off his shirt before putting each article of clothing on at a time. When she bent down to tie up her sneakers, she heard the floor creak ever so slightly and felt him move up behind her, an arm snaking around her waist and pulling her back up and into him as he leaned down to kiss and nibble the side of her neck. Her heart beat out of rhythm for a while, jumping every time his tongue moved over her jugular, over the mark on her skin. With a soft sigh, she just leaned into him, her eyes closed, her heart beating fast. He owned her, totally and completely, and Leona didn't mind it one bit.
"Come on," he growled into her ear, kissing her neck once more before moving away from her.
Leona quickly tied her sneakers before turning around and following him out of his hotel room. They walked beside each other, wordlessly, as Iori led the way through the various streets and alleyways towards some establishment that was still open at five in the morning. The two were ravenous, ordering enough food for four people, and ate silently in the corner, Leona's back to the door, Iori facing it and glancing up every time someone walked in. Although the atmosphere wasn't as jovial and bright as it would be with Ralf and Clark, it was still quite comfortable, eating in silence and enjoying Iori being so close by, his scent lingering around him like a cloak.
As usual, Iori finished eating before Leona, but waited until she was done to head to the bathroom. After getting rid of their garbage, Leona slipped outside to wait for him. The cool morning air hit her face, and she inhaled deeply, enjoying the fresh scent of the wind, despite being in one of the more run down areas of Southtown. It was still early, and the sun wasn't due to rise for another hour or so, leaving the area about the restaurant dark with the exception of the fluorescent street lamps. Her soldier mind going into overdrive, Leona glanced around herself taking note of everything she saw and heard.
The sound of chuckling reached her ears, followed by the sound of footfalls. Two people, probably both men by the way they walked, the way the sounds their shoes echoed in the night. The closer the two men came towards her, the more she recognized their voices. She had, after all, on more than one occasion, been sent on a mission to capture them. Straightening her back, Leona watched as K' and Maxima rounded a corner and passed beneath a streetlamp, both of them freezing the moment they saw her.
"Gonna' try catching us again?" K' smirked, eyeing Leona up and down, quickly noticing a lack of two other people. "Won't be able to do much without your commando buddies."
Maxima simply rolled his eyes, muttering something about K's lack of tact under his breath.
"I only came here to eat," Leona simply replied.
K's attempt at picking a fight seemed to backfire before it even got started. Muttering something or other under his breath, he promptly looked away from Leona in an attempt to ignore her.
"Sorry, K's always been a little rude," Maxima grinned.
Shaking her head, Leona quickly changed the subject. "Where's Whip?" It had been years since she had heard from her fellow Ikari Warrior, but the last time Leona had seen her, she had been in the company of K' and Maxma.
"What do you care about my sister?" K' spat, turning back to look at Leona, apparently annoyed that she would mention Whip.
"K'.." Maxima muttered with a sigh and shake of his head. "We don't know, honestly. The last time you saw us was the last time we saw her. She's doing fine, though. If she's in trouble, she knows how to contact us," he motioned to himself and K'.
"You didn't answer my question," K' continued to stare at the blue-haired woman.
Leona followed K's previous lead and ignored him, turning her attention completely to Maxima. "If you see her, let her know that my team mates and I would like to hear from her. We miss her."
While Maxima nodded, K', as hot blooded as ever, let a low growl escape his lips, the tips of his gloved fingers sparking with fire. Raising an eyebrow, Leona watched him cautiously, wondering if he were stupid enough to actually start a fight with her.
"K'!" Maxima yelled, but the younger man ignored him.
"Is there any real reason for you to try and start a fight?" Leona muttered, already finding herself tired of K' despite having only been in his presence for a few scant minutes.
"There is if you continue to avoid my question," he growled, leaning back on his right foot, gloved fist raising, now completely engulfed in flame.
"If you had paid attention, you would have noticed I already did," Leona shrugged with a blink. It was easy for her to tell that K' was too hot headed for his own good, and eventually, it would get him into quite a bit of trouble. In fact, if he kept it up and Iori walked out of the restaurant to join her, she was pretty certain he would would make K' sorry.
"Don't talk down to me like I'm some idiot!"
Had she...? Leona was suddenly confused. She hadn't, intentionally, spoken in such a way, but apparently, K' took it that way. She was beginning to realize that perhaps he was still sore over their fight in the train... Either way, she had nothing to apologize for. Figuring she might as well end things before they actually started, she shook her head. "I didn't speak to you in such a way that you should take offense. I'll wait inside since my presence upsets you so much." After a nod to Maxima, she turned to go back inside to wait for Iori.
"Don't you turn your back to me!" K' yelled, and without another word, dashed forward, closing the distance between himself and Leona, quickly bringing his knee up towards the middle of her back.
Before her hand could touch the door, the sound of his feet rushing towards her came to her ears, and Leona spun back around to her left, her right hand snapping out and down to knock his knee away. Firmly planting his foot back on the ground, K' adjusted his weight before kicking out with the opposite foot, a kick aimed at Leona's right shoulder. The warrior, however, quickly brought her right arm back up, elbow bending as she brought her forearm up to greet and parry his kick. Beginning to get annoyed, Leona quickly shook her head before lashing out with her left fist, a spark of blue flames going off as it hit K square in the chest, hitting his solar plexus and causing him to stumble backwards a few feet, his eyes widening in confusion.
"Flames?!"
Before Leona said a word, Iori's deep laugh sounded from behind her, and she turned to look at him.
"See what happens when you try to attack a woman from behind?" the red-head smirked, his eyes on K' as he walked up beside Leona. She smirked inwardly, a twinge of pride hitting her as she realized Iori had seen everything. She turned her attention back to K', who appeared to still be quite confused as he stared at her.
Like Iori, Maxima laughed, loud and heartily, reaching out and slapping K's shoulder, hard enough to cause the smaller man to stumble. "Come on, aibou, don't say you didn't deserve that." Although he had seen Leona's new power as well, he wasn't making a big deal about it like K' was. "Besides, she's a friend of Muchiko's. What do you think your sister would say to you if she had just seen that?"
K' opened his mouth to protest, having turned to Maxima, but closed it with a grunt.
With a nod, Maxima turned back to Leona and Iori, nodding once to them before clapping a hand over K's shoulder and trying to drag him away before he started any more confrontations. But K' stopped and turned back to stare at Leona.
"Better watch it, woman," K' muttered, glancing at Iori before looking back to her. "If Ash finds out about your powers, he might come for them. Who knows what that fucker's thinking." After another moment, he nodded and turned to walk away with his partner.
When the two fighters were out of earshot, Leona muttered to Iori: "Do you think he'd try it?" She knew it was a fairly sensitive subject since his own powers had been stolen, but if K' was right, she might be another target, what with her connections to Orochi.
Iori just shrugged. "Maybe.. you and Yamazaki are the only two Orochi descendants left, and since he doesn't have any outward abilities besides strength.." he trailed off with another shrug, finally tearing his eyes away from the direction K' and Maxima had walked to.
For a few moments, the two stood in silence before Iori took off without a word, back towards his hotel room. Leona followed part of the way, but stopped half way when she realized what time it was. Mentioning it to him, and explaining she should return to the barracks before someone was sent out to search for her, she turned to leave him.
By the time Leona finally made it back to Ikari HQ, it was nearly seven in the morning, and oddly enough, she wasn't very tired. Once making her way to her room, she quickly changed before deciding to head back down towards the training room. Before she could even make it to the training room, she was stopped in the hall by Ralf. Her brows furrowed when he just stared at her, uncertain of exactly what emotions were playing across his face; he seemed angry yet afraid, worried yet upset.
Finally, he spoke up: "Where were you all night, Leona?" His voice was soft, but still, she couldn't discern the emotions behind it.
"I was out," she replied slowly, not wanting to lie to him, but not wanting to tell him the full truth of the matter.
Her reply caused him to frown, his eyes scanning over her entire face as though trying to find some better answer upon her skin. Immediately, his eyes were drawn to her neck, to the brown and blue bite mark, despite her hair being down and pulled over her shoulders. "What the hell happened?" he asked, fully concerned as he pushed her hair back to get a better look at the bite.
"It's nothing," she quickly replied, promptly stepping away from him and turning her head so the other side of her neck was more prominent, trying to hide the mark despite the fact he had seen it and knew it was there. She knew that he knew it wasn't an animal bite.
"What do you mean 'nothing'? Someone -bit- you, Leona, I wouldn't call that--" Ralf stopped talking in the middle of his sentence, his eyes still staring at Leona's, despite the fact she wouldn't meet his gaze.
Although he wasn't saying a word, Leona was pretty certain she knew what he was thinking. At first, he was probably worried because someone bit her, some maniac or the like, but by the way she acted, he was probably finally understanding that it wasn't a bite from some whacko, but a hickey from a man, one whom she let bite and suck on her neck to cause the discolorations and marks. After a few moments of silence, Leona finally looked up to see Ralf staring at her. He wasn't angry, and it thoroughly surprised her to see pain and sadness etched over every single bit of his face and eyes. She was totally and completely confused because she had whole-heartedly expected him to get upset for allowing someone to bite her. Why was he so sad?
"Was it Clark?" he muttered, voice low and twined with a bit of anger.
"No," she replied quietly with a shake of her head. When she saw some of the sadness leave his face, she was even more confused: would a "yes" have changed the way he was acting? Nothing made sense to her, and she had no idea what to say or do. Ralf, however, did. With a curt nod, the soldier peeled his gaze away from Leona's face before silently walking right past her and disappearing down the hall leaving Leona alone and confused. For the first time, Leona wanted to run to her father and ask him what had happened, why Ralf had acted that way. But at the same time, she knew she would have to explain everything, and the mere thought of that made her feel embarrassed. With a sigh, Leona tried to push it all out of her mind and finally continued down the hall towards the training room. Perhaps working out would help clear her mind and help her see things differently.