Rei says:
This chapter was too easy.
Well, sort of.
When I put up the last one, I immediately went to work on this one, and finished. But then I thought that what I had was completely stupid, so then the next day I erased the last five pages and started again. It was a lot better, and it turned out really awesome. Youko makes his debut two-second appearance! I know a bunch of you will be happy about that. ) Aaand, I introduced (yet another) new character. He's adorable, and I'm attached to him already. Unlike Isuzu and Shiko, there really IS a real reason he's in this story. …So, all in all it took me two days to finish this one as well. I only waited because I'm evil and I wanted to make you people hang on the edge a little. Not that the last chapter ended on a cliffhanger, so to speak…but…Ah, damn, I don't know what I'm saying. My editor-man Mike pointed this out to me, and I realized it was really true: the last chapter really could have been the last chapter. It had that ending sort of feel to it. Don't worry, I don't this story will end for a while.
The only thing I'm unsure of now is how to make Youko act. He's a total arrogant bastard-sort of person, and I'm not sure I can portray it correctly. If anyone has any ideas of how Youko and Deimus should interact with each other for the next chapter, please, email me. I would really appreciate it because I'm kind of stuck here.
A random question: does anyone know where I can find Gravitation songs for download? By Gravitation songs, I mean the ones not featured in the anime, like the ones in the "vocal collections" or whatever. I want to put them on my iPod. I mean songs like Wish Matrix, or Sweet Sweet Samba…I've been searching for days now, and it's getting me annoyed. I posted a request for them on this one website, but so far no one's filled it. So I thought I'd ask you guys, because you guys all have magical powers like that. If you know, email me. You will be loved forever and ever. ;)
Rei is looking for more reviews because she is a greedy child. Grant her wish.
-cough- Anyways. The next chapter, I'll do that mention-y things I did way back in chapter thirteen. I promise.
THANK YOU TO:
xxDream Theaterxx, 14thShrineMaiden, RyokoOfTheDarknessRising, zetsumei, Koji Jaganshi, Hanariko (your review made me feel so loved! Thank you!) Konane Shadow Wolf, MikoHatome, and Mike for reviewing! I love you guys.
(I have to find a way to get myself to shut up in this part. I talk and ramble on too much. I apologize if it bothers you).
AND NOW ONTO ZEE CHAPTER!
Chapter 16
"Kana, where are you?" her aunt's screechy voice reached her room, where Kana was sitting on her bed, reading.
"I'm up here!" She called back, and waited for an answer.
"Take out the trash, will ya?"
Figures. "Fine!" She called back, slamming her book shut and placing it on the nightstand. She hopped off her bed, pulling her hair back into a loose ponytail before bounding down the stairs.
She had already been here for two weeks, and she still hadn't gotten used to her aunt's attitude. She was probably the perkiest person she'd ever met. And she wasn't just on caffeine high. Just picture Isuzu, the way she was two weeks ago when she and Shiko had came to her apartment. All the fast-talking, the conversations that just led from one thing to another, it was all just crazy. The scary thing was that she was getting used to it. Her uncle was harder to figure out. He worked at home, meaning that he was home all day working. He was quiet as a mouse; Kana hardly realized her was in the house until he dinner or lunch time came around. But there was something really weird about him. The way he acted, so reclusive, he seemed the total opposite of her aunt. It was a strange pairing, she had to admit. The girl Kana had seen at the funeral was their daughter, Ayamu, who was three years older than her, Aki's age. She didn't see her much; she was usually locked up in her room. When she did see her, though, she barely talked, nor did she make any eye contact. She had gotten a few phone calls from Isuzu and Shiko, (how they found her phone number she'll never know) but because of her aunt they couldn't talk for very long (something about long-distance charges). However, she did not hear from Yusuke, Kuwabara, or Kurama. It made her a little sad.
She stopped at the end of the stairs, looking at her aunt, who was looking at her with the weirdest expression. "What?" she asked, looking down at herself. Was there a stain on her shirt or something?
Her aunt blinked, snapping out of her strange trance-like state. "Sorry," she mumbled. "Your eyes," she said, stepping closer to view them better. "They're just like your mother's, you know."
"My mother had blue eyes," Kana said, looking at her weirdly. Her aunt blinked again, rubbing the back of her head.
"Of course she did," she said distantly. Kana raised her eyebrows quizzically. "Take out the trash," her aunt repeated. "I've got some work to do." She shot Kana a brilliant white happy smile, placed her hands on her hips, and turned away, making her way into the kitchen.
Kana rolled her eyes when she was sure her aunt wasn't looking and grabbed the two black garbage bags waiting for her by the doorway. She hoisted them over her shoulder like Santa Claus would with his sack of toys and opened the door and headed down to the garbage dump.
There was something about this town that they lived in that bothered her. It was a really nice town, really expensive to live in, but something about it unnerved her. All the houses looked the same. It looked like there were rows upon rows of the same gray and white houses, with the same birch tree out front and the same driveway and walkway up to the same front door, a bright white one with a peephole. Not to mention it was an hour away from where she had previously lived, in that apartment, an hour away from the friends she had made. She sighed angrily, shifting a bag onto her other shoulder. This town sucked.
She opened the gate to the garbage dump, going to set the two bags down.
"What's a fair maiden like you doing taking out the stinky old garbage?"
Kana looked up, hearing a strange voice, but seeing no one. "Who's there?" she called, looking around for the source of the noise.
"Hey, chill out, I mean no harm." A boy appeared on the top of the wall that bordered the dump. Kana peered closer, trying to get a better look.
He looked young. His skin was lightly tanned and he had bright blue eyes. But his hair…
"Why's your hair silver?"
The boy jumped down, grinning. "I was born with it. Cool, huh?" His hair really was silver. It went down to right below his ears and fell into his eyes a little. It was lightly ruffled from the soft wind.
Kana grabbed a strand, tugging on it as if making sure it was real. "Whoa," she said, continuing to tug on it. The boy stepped back, laughing.
"Don't yank out my hair, now," he said, putting his arms up in surrender. "Although, I bet you could make a fortune on eBay if you decided to sell a strand."
"Who are you? And what's with the weird outfit?"
The boy looked down at his clothing. He wore leather gloves and clunky lace-up boots with pants that cut off at the knee. He wore a shirt with a smiley face that looked like a kindergartener had drawn it on, and a black cross dangled around his neck on a chain. He looked like some crazed cosplayer or something. "You don't like it?" he pouted.
"It's…different."
"I like it." He said, twirling around and peering down at himself. Suddenly his eyebrows rose. "Oh! How silly of me. I forgot to introduce myself." He puffed out his chest, putting his hands on his waist, trying to make himself look like a superhero. "The name's Kuga," he said proudly. "What is yours, fair maiden?"
"Okay, for one, I am not a 'fair maiden'." Kana scoffed. "I'm Kana."
Kuga tapped his chin with a finger, as if pondering the name. "Kana, hmm…" he paused, then looked at her, his face brightening. "I like it. Kana. Kana." He grabbed a hold of the name and started repeating it over and over. "KanaKanaKana--,"
"Okay, you can stop now," she laughed.
"That is a nice name," he mused. "So what is the fair maiden Kana doing taking out the trash?" Kuga asked, cocking his head to one side.
"My aunt told me to," she said lamely. She rolled her eyes.
"Your aunt?"
"I'm living with my aunt," she explained. "I'm not going into the gory details." She squinted at him. "How old are you?"
"Sixteen!"
Her eyes widened. "Really?" He didn't even look sixteen. If anything, he looked a lot younger. "You're older than me," she said.
"Ha-ha, really? Cool," he said, flashing the thumbs-up sign, revealing a bracelet that had previously been hidden by one of his leather gloves. Kana had the strangest feeling that she had seen it before.
"Hey, can I see that?" She asked, motioning to the bracelet on his wrist. He looked down, then back at her, somewhat confused.
"I think I have to go," he said, looking guilty. "Farewell, fair maiden!"
"Hey, wait--," Kana started, but he had already hopped over the wall and bounded out of sight. That was weird. Really weird.
"What took you so long, dear?" Her aunt said concernedly as Kana shut the door behind her. "You were gone awhile."
"Talking to the neighbors," she said distantly. "Did anyone call?"
Her aunt had already started to head into the laundry room."Not that I know of," she called over her shoulder. "The phone rang once, I think, but Haruhei got it. I guess it was a business call." Kana shook her head, disappointed, starting up the stairs.
At the top of the stairs, she almost bumped into Ayamu. "Hey," Kana said politely. Ayamu barely looked at her. She ignored her and headed down the stairs slowly. Kana sighed, opening the door to her room and shutting it behind her.
She flopped onto her bed, which was bigger and more comfy than she was used to. She clutched a pillow, sighing. Change sucks. She wanted to go back to the old crappy apartment she had lived in only one week ago.
"Why haven't you guys called yet?" She asked to the emptiness of her room.
LIIIIIIIIIIINE
It was a few hours later. "Kana! Come down for dinner!" Her aunt screeched, and Kana winced, hearing her voice. She had been daydreaming, and hearing her voice brought her back into reality, a reality where she lived in a strange new house with three strange new people…each one more different than the rest.
She sighed, running her hands through her hair before launching off the edge of her bed and heading down the stairs.
"It's about time you got here," her aunt said, smiling good-naturedly. She handed her a plate. "We ordered take-out, I hope you don't mind," Kana obediently took a seat next to her uncle and waited as her aunt piled on steamed dumplings and other foods onto her plate. "Here you go, dear," she said finally, handing the plate back to her.
Ayamu was sitting across from her, her eyes cast downwards at her plate as she slowly ate. "Thanks," she mumbled to her mom, who smiled at her.
"So, Kana, who was the neighbor you were talking to?" Her aunt said, trying to start up a conversation. Her uncle turned to her, interested.
"Was it Okizuka? Reiko? Seita? " he said, spewing out random names. Kana shook her head.
"He said his name was Kuga," she said, and at the mention of the name, Ayamu's head snapped up, narrowing her eyes at Kana. "Do you know him?" she asked Ayamu. She saw her aunt and her uncle exchange worried glances. What the hell was going on?
"Not really," Ayamu answered, lifting a spoonful of rice and soy sauce and putting it into her mouth. When she swallowed, she continued, "He's a freak. I remember him from high school."
"Stay away from him," her uncle warned, nodding at her from where he sat. Kana looked at him, confused.
"He didn't seem so dangerous. What's the deal?" Kana asked, looking at them.
"His family is no good," her uncle said, taking a sip of water. "We don't mingle with the likes of people like them."
Kana's mouth fell open. Okay, so the dude was pretty funky, but this? This was just weird. Like everything lately. She shook her head, eating a few more bites of her food.
"Kana, why don't you try making friends with the Jiruna family? Their kids are really nice. Their mother is really nice," her aunt suggested, eating some more.
"It's time you make some normal friends," her uncle intervened.
"What do you mean, 'normal'?" Kana asked, putting down her fork.
Her aunt sighed. "Haru…"
Her uncle shook his head at her, lifting a hand up as if to tell her to stop. "The people I met two weeks ago when we picked you up…"
"What about them?"
"I just think they aren't the kind of people you should be hanging out with," her uncle said dismissively. "From what I saw of them, they didn't seem to have any manners. That one boy with the black hair told your aunt to 'chill out'," and as he said that, he shook his head disgustedly as if it were a curse word.
"But I liked that woman, what was her name, Shirun, or something…" Her aunt said, joining Kana's side. "They were nice people. They came to the funeral," she added, nodding.
"It was Shiori," Kana said, narrowing her eyes. Her uncle didn't know anything about them, so why was she making these inferences about them? It was unfair. "And they aren't bad people."
"I did not say that," her uncle interrupted sharply. Kana sighed, defeated.
"Look, they're really nice people. They may be a little different, but you have no right to tell me that I should stop seeing them!"
"Have they even called you since you got here?"
Kana stopped, looking at her uncle. There was something about the look on his face that she didn't like. He was acting smug. Kana looked down. "No," she mumbled.
"Well then, it's obvious they want nothing to do with you anymore," he concluded, shrugging his shoulders like it was no big deal. The words struck Kana like a blow.
"Haru! That's enough!" Her aunt said, her mouth dropping open at his harsh words.
"That's not true!" Kana shouted, pushing her chair back. She stood up. "You don't know anything," she said, and ran up the stairs to her room.
Kurama set the phone down again, sighing. Every time he tried to call her, her uncle picked up and said she wasn't there. So where could she be? What was she doing? She didn't even try to call here, and he made sure he gave her his number.
He ran his hands through his fiery red locks, sitting down on the edge of his bed. Shiori had said it was no big deal - she would end up calling sooner or later. She knew now of what he felt for her.
But what did he feel?
He couldn't even answer that. It was confusing. It was also something he'd rather not dwell on for too long.
He stood up, pacing his room. The best answer would be to just go over there and visit her. That was normal, right? There's nothing wrong with that. In his mind he ran over their goodbye, the embrace they shared. A smile came to his lips and he sighed.
Yusuke and Kuwabara had said that every time they tried to call her uncle had said she wasn't home either. Was there a pattern here?
No. That was ridiculous. Her uncle had seemed like a nice person. Although he didn't speak much when he met him at the funeral, he didn't seem like that kind of person. There was no reason to, anyways. He sat down on his bed, falling over on his back and placing his hands behind his head, thinking.
It had already been two weeks. But it was two weeks where nothing happened. Ever since she left, it seemed like nothing eventful happened. Life went on, as always. School went by without anything out of the ordinary. Of course. That was expected. But still…it was different. She had only been here for two months, really, and she had changed things so much. Now that she was gone, the normalcy was unnerving. Boring. Stupid. Pointless. And he knew he wasn't the only who felt that way. Yusuke and Kuwabara had been going around quieter than usual, and it was strange, even for them.
He closed his eyes. She had changed things so much. Did she even realize?
Kana clutched a pillow to her face, trying to stop herself from crying. It was stupid…what her uncle said wasn't true, but still, it bothered her so much that she couldn't help but think it was true after all. "It's not true," she mumbled to herself, trying to convince herself. But the look on her uncle's face…he looked so sure of himself, she couldn't help but think that something was up, that he knew something she didn't.
Kurama…
Not even he tried to call. Not Yusuke, not Kuwabara, no one. Even Isuzu and Shiko hadn't called since the day after she got here. It was all strange, all different.
She should never have come here. Now everything sucked. Everything changed. And you know what? Change sucks. She should have put her foot down to those damn policemen, stood up and spoke out against authority for a change.
She growled to herself, wiping her eyes furiously. She never used to cry so much. Years upon years living with Aki and her father made her cold to tears. After crying so much early on, they just seemed to dry up, you know? Like there were no more tears left for the future. That was wrong as hell now, though. Suddenly all this crap of demons and moving away and complications and friendships made her tear really easily now.
A knock on her door interfered with her thoughts. "Go away," she mumbled, flipping over on her side. The door creaked open, and Kana growled with impatience. "I said go away," she repeated.
"Chill out." By the sound of the voice, Kana knew it was Ayamu. She sat up, surprised, wiping her eyes. "It's me."
"Ayamu?"
"Yeah," she said, pushing a strand of her muddy-red colored hair out of her eyes. "You know, you really got to them. Mom's downstairs yelling at dad now for what he said to you. Kudos."
"I didn't mean to start a fight, it's just--,"
"What dad said about your friends really got to ya, right?" She waited for Kana to nod slowly, then she crossed her arms. "I knew it."
Kana looked down, exasperated. "It really got to me, because he didn't know them like I did, you know?" she looked up at Ayamu. "But then that whole comment about them not calling…"
"That was bad, even for him," Ayamu agreed. She sat down at the edge of Kana's bed. "I don't know what's going on with him. Ever since you got here, he's been more quiet than usual. It's really starting to bug me."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's strange." Ayamu said, shaking her head. "I don't get it myself. I've been trying to figure it out what it is exactly."
Kana growled to herself, pushing her hair back. "He seemed really okay at the funeral. But now, it's like…"
"…you don't think you guessed his personality or something correctly."
Kana furrowed her brows, thinking, then sighed. "I'm so confused." She wailed, flopping backwards on the bed. She cracked open one eye and looked at Ayamu. "You know, this is the most I've ever heard you say ever since I got here."
Ayamu grinned. "I'm a girl of few words, most of the time. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable. It's not your fault or anything. And I wasn't ignoring you."
Kana sighed, as if that were something that had been bothering her. "That's good to know," she answered. "For a while, I thought you were mad about something."
"Nah," she said, waving it off. "I just don't like to communicate much, I suppose. Mom's always bugged me about that too."
"I see," Kana see, rolling her head to one side so she could see her better.
"Hey, didn't you have a brother?"
Kana stiffened. "Yeah," she answered guardedly. "He's not coming here."
"Too bad," Ayamu said, cracking her fingers. "If he's anything like you, I'd have loved to have met him."
At this Kana smiled. "You're not as bad as I thought," she said to Ayamu. "Not that I thought you were bad or anything, but…yeah."
Ayamu grinned back, patting Kana's leg. "Come on. Stop crying and whining. I'll take you to my room if you want. Ever read yaoi before?"
"Is this what you do all day?" Kana asked, motioning to the book she was holding. Yaoi, she called it. She had to admit, she never read anything like it before. It was…hardcore.
"Not really." Ayamu said, swinging around in the chair she sat in to look at her. "It's something, though. Haven't you ever read yaoi?"
"Nope," Kana said, flipping through the book. She raised her eyebrows at one particular, erotic-looking scene, then quickly flipped back to the front of the book, handing it back to her, her eyes wide, as if she had seen something that maybe she really shouldn't have.
"Your face is priceless right now," Ayamu chuckled. "Not one for yaoi, eh?" she placed the book back onto the shelf. "That's all right. You will someday."
"Riiight," Kana said, looking around at the room. "Your room is nice," she mused absently. Ayamu turned slightly to look at her.
"I guess," she said, shrugging one shoulder. She stifled a yawn, suddenly feeling tired. What time was it, anyways?
"Eight," Ayamu said, as if reading her mind. She swung back around in the chair to face her. "It's eight o' clock, exactly."
"Ah…" Kana flopped backwards onto Ayamu's bed. Somehow, the actions of today had drained her, although they didn't seem that way. She closed her eyes, stretching her arms. "All right," she concluded to herself, getting up from the bed, "I'm going to bed."
Ayamu raised her eyebrows. "This early? But The Office is on tonight; don't you want to watch it with me?" She faked the puppy-dog-eye expression, her lower lip sticking out in a fake pout. Kana smiled, shaking her head.
"I'm tired," she said. Ayamu sighed, agreeing.
"Okay, fine, but next time you're watching it with me," she said, and said 'goodnight' to Kana as she left her bedroom.
Kana yawned, successfully changed into her pajamas, and fell onto her bed, suddenly exhausted. She never used to go to bed this early. But there was no reason to stay awake, no Yusuke to come barging in with board games to keep her up anyhow, and she was tired.
She brought the covers up over her head and curled up, feeling her eyelids get heavier and heavier until she finally drifted off into sleep.
Kana's eyes snapped open, brought out of her nice sleep suddenly. There was a sound, but she couldn't quite make it out. It woke her up. She looked around the room slowly, her mind still hazy from sleep, still tucked nicely in her bed. Nothing, as far as she could see. But the sound grew louder. Abruptly, she sat up in bed, on high alert. Her heart beat erratically in her chest, eyes wide. She knew that sound. Just as quickly as it had come, it was gone, but it scared her.
It was a scream.
It was soft, a low voice, but it grew and grew until it was this loud, haunting, torturous sound, ringing in her ears, stopping suddenly. She knew why it scared her so much. She knew that voice; she knew who it was that was screaming.
Kurama.
Kana clutched the edge of her blanket, feeling chilled. It wasn't real. She was only imagining it, she knew that. It was a fragment left over from her dream…or something. It was definitely not real. Kurama wasn't in any danger. He wouldn't be screaming. He never seemed like the screaming type anyways.
The red blinking numbers on the clock flashed midnight. She groaned, falling back onto her pillow. She couldn't get back to sleep now. That scream, that sound, it scared her. And it was going to keep her awake.
A thump from somewhere downstairs sent shooting up in her bed, watching the bedroom door as if it were something dangerous, something tricky and sneaky that might pull something on her. What was that? What caused the thump?
"I feel so stupid," she mumbled to herself, bringing the covers over her shoulder as she closed her eyes, trying to sleep. Forget it. Just, forget everything she heard. It was all her imagination. Her twisted, freaky imagination. She shut her eyes hard, willing herself to sleep.
"Stupid? Not quite," said a melodic male voice. Oh shit. She knew that voice. She was dreaming this, too. She opened her eyes slowly, her yellow eyes meeting amethyst. She gasped, pulling away. No. This wasn't a dream…
She tumbled off the other side of the bed, bringing herself to her feet. She held out one arm, as if to keep him away. He chuckled, not moving.
"Hello dear. Did you miss me?" He asked, smiling, revealing his fangs. They glittered dangerously in the light of the moon that poured through the window. Kana was in full-panic mode. How the hell did he get here? How did he know where she was? Okay. Deep breaths. She was dreaming. She was still sleeping. Kana bit her lip, pinching her arm.
"It's not a dream," Deimus crooned, coming closer. Kana opened her eyes, looking around frantically for some way to escape. "Come on now, love, do you really mean to run away from me?"
"Yes," she said, glaring at him. Her heart was pounding crazily in her chest, but she brought herself to look him in the eye.
"Aw," he said, faking sadness. "You were always so headstrong," he said, looking distant all of a sudden. Kana furrowed her brows. What the hell was this nutcase talking about? He stopped, his gaze turning cold. "You know you can't go anywhere," he whispered. "Your little friends aren't here to protect you." Kana felt a sinking desperation in her stomach. He was right. He was right, and he knew that. She even knew that. "So make this easier on you, dear, and just come with me willingly."
"No," she answered, trying to find something she could use to get out of here. Her eyes fell on a curtain rod, propped up against the wall. They had meant to put up the curtains for the window in her room, but they hadn't done so yet. If she could somehow get over there…
"It's been a long time since I've seen you," Deimus said, cocking his head to one side, watching her. "So tell me, how did you get yourself over here?" He grinned, as if he knew something. He started walking slowly, and Kana went the opposite direction. They were now walking dangerous circles around each other, one eyeing the other warily.
Kana didn't answer. Deimus suddenly closed the gap between them in no time at all. She smelled his heavy scent of blood and lavenders, backing up against the wall. She bit her lip, holding her breath. He leaned in closer; his face was now underneath her neck, inhaling her scent. He grinned, and Kana felt the cool metal of the curtain rod in her grip. She couldn't stop her heart from beating so quickly. She closed her eyes, as if that would make him go away.
"Dear…" he whispered enticingly. "Come with me. You will receive more than anything these people could ever give you. Be my queen. Become one with me."
"Deimus."
This word, his name, seemed to have cast a spell on him. His head snapped up, watching her with widened eyes. Kana took this and gained courage from it, nodding and grinning with satisfaction.
"That's your name, isn't it? Deimus." Right now she was playing with fire, dangerous fire, and she was definitely going to get burned if she didn't play her cards right. Deimus was watching her now, intently, as if suddenly seeing her in a whole new light. "You think you know me, right? You think you 'love' me?" Kana gripped the rod, biting the insides of her cheek so hard she tasted blood in her mouth. "If you really did, you know I would never go with you," she said savagely, bringing the rod down over his head with all her strength, making a satisfying cracking noise. He snarled, drawing away from her, both hands on his head. She held the rod in her hands, watching Deimus in disbelief. She had really done it. "Find a different queen. This one's not interested."
"You--," he started, his head snapped up to meet her eyes, angry. She didn't wait any longer. She threw open the bedroom door, running down the stairs so fast it seemed like she was flying. She didn't look back. She didn't have to. She knew she had little time before he started the chase. She opened the front door, running out into the night. There was no other way to go.
She ran without any direction, no idea where to go. This place was still alien to her; she had nowhere to run to. Her bare feet pounded against the cool pavement.
"Where are you running?" Deimus's voice reached her, laughing, mocking her. He was catching up. Oh shit…don't let him get me, she pleaded, her hands gripping the curtain rod like a sword. She kept running. "You're making this so hard on yourself, love," he said.
There was no one here. There was no one to help her now. She was all alone in this one, wasn't she? Kana swallowed, feeling fear clutch at her heart, strangling her. Oh God, oh God...her mind was racing, her feet were keeping her running blindly, hardly even thinking about it. Suddenly everything scared her. The houses, as she ran past them, all looked exactly the same, making her feel like she was running in place, not getting anywhere at all, although it was far from the truth. She ran faster than she ever had in her entire life, not daring to look back.
"You're so amusing," he continued, his voice low and rough. It sounded like he was speaking right into her ear. She gasped, turning sharply. She stumbled, but got her bearings before she could fall. She kept on running, her bare feet starting to hurt her now. "I made a good choice in choosing you," he said, sounding closer than ever.
Damn it, damn it, damn it…she couldn't run any more. She was gasping for breath, her feet were killing her, but she wouldn't stop. Her lungs were aching. He was still right behind her, driving her on. Fear made her insane. She couldn't stop, no, not while he was right behind her like this…
She had to keep moving forward.
"You're fast," he said, his voice seeming to come from all sides now. "You're faster than any other I've given chase to, I'll give you that." He licked his lips. "I like that."
She couldn't run anymore. Kana willed herself to keep going, but it was no use. Her legs threatened to give way; she could feel her lungs were burning. Her mind was hazy, she could no longer think straight. She cried out, tripping and falling onto the grass, wet from the dew. She lay there, gasping for breath, Deimus approaching her slowly, like a wild cat advancing on his wounded prey. Tears of frustration filled her eyes as she gripped the curtain rod. She was exhausted, she could barely move anymore. He had her now. There was no one coming, no one was going to save her now.
He came closer, reaching out with a pale hand to touch her chin. He lifted up her face to meet his. "Do this quietly and without any fuss, and I may forget your little trick you pulled back there." His amethyst eyes flashed angrily, holding her suspended, unable to move. "Good girl," he praised. "Now be still, this will take a moment," he said, turning to do something.
Kana whimpered, desperation overcoming her. This was it. This was the end; there was nothing else to it. She was going to go with him, she had no choice now, there was no one coming to save her. She was too far away from her friends, from the people that may have stood a chance against him. He turned back to her, his eyes questioning.
"What is it, love?" he asked, coming closer to her. He traced the outline of her face with a single finger, sending chills down her spine the same way he had done that time he had found her in her own apartment, that day so long ago. Only that day, Kurama had been there to stop him from doing anything to her. Now, there was no one. She was powerless in his hold. "What is it that bothers you? I sense it in your eyes. You saw your brother already, what more could you need?" He smirked, looking at her now for her reaction.
Kana turned away, not looking at him. He chuckled, shaking his head slowly. "Oh, my dear…" he said, smiling at her stubbornness. "Don't be that way, it'll all—,"
He had no chance to finish speaking. Suddenly she heard him curse, snarling, leaping away. She turned back around, seeing a white figure holding a whip of what appeared to be made of thorns. That weapon had made a long incision on Deimus's right arm. He had long silvery-white hair, wearing a white robe-like outfit. His skin looked to be paler than hers. He appeared to glow in the dark; in the moonlight he seemed ghost-like. She had to be dreaming, she knew it. Because on his ears there were two white ears, two white fox ears. He had a tail. A tail! She stared up in disbelief from where she sat; splayed out across the grass, up at the fox-man who had come to her rescue.
"Youko," Deimus said guardedly, licking the blood off of his arm. "The legendary bandit. How nice to finally meet you."