Part 2: Wager

"Sunako…Sunako-chan?"

She groggily opened her eyes, and immediately snapped them shut in utter pain. Four creatures of light, three of the guys and Noi-chan were bowed over her, and she wasn't sure if the light would blind her first, or melt her. She moaned.

"Idiots," Kyohei muttered, leaning up against the far wall. "That's not going to help her any." He came over and shoved his way through to Sunako, and swiftly picked her up, ignoring the spurts of blood coming from her nose. "I'm taking her to the basement, it's dark there." Sunako blinked, and then realized that while she was unconscious, the five had brought her back home. And not deposited her in her room, she mentally added in frustration. Then her senses finally fully came back to her, and she realized that one of the stupid creatures of light was cradling her in his arms. She groaned again.

"Shut up, and keep your eyes closed if the light's bothering you," Kyohei snapped. "I can't stand it in your room, but the basement's dark enough. We need to talk, and you need to be coherent for it."

He reached the door to the basement, kicked it open, stomped through it with Sunako in his arms, and kicked it shut behind him before any of the others could follow. Kyohei thought he could almost hear the sounds of Yuki crying softly at being thwarted, and Noi-chan commenting jealously about how much it looked like he was carrying Sunako-chan over the threshold.

Kyohei set her down, and she carefully re-opened her eyes, breathing a sigh of relief in the darkness. She could already feel her frayed nerves calming. This was where she belonged.

"Feel better?" Kyohei asked gruffly. He sat on the floor, leaning up against the far wall. Once the door was closed completely, it was pitch black in the basement. He couldn't see a thing.

"Yes," Sunako said simply. Then, "You lied to them."

"They needed to hear it," Kyohei responded indifferently. "The hoard of air-headed girls after you needed something to knock them into place. Though I plan to have some words with Ranmaru for getting them all riled up."

"You're only doing it for the rent," Sunako said, and Kyohei quieted. "I don't bother paying attention to the world of light, but I'm not oblivious to it. We both know that's what behind all this. If it weren't for my aunt and the promise of free rent, none of the for of you would even talk to me. And we'd all be happier that way."

"It was the rent at the beginning. It was an offer we couldn't refuse, until we all realized that you didn't like the situation any more than we did." Kyohei snorted. "And by then the school hated you for living with us. I'm not a bleeding heart, but only an idiot would leave you hanging out to dry in that situation." He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. There was no point in having them open in here, anyway. "Besides, you tend to grow on people. Yuki idolizes you, Takenaga has no problem with your room anymore, and even Ranmaru is willing to keep an eye on you." He added in a soft mutter, "Even though that idiot has a stupid way of showing it."

"But if we never met, you wouldn't have needed to bother with making up lies to defend me, or forcing me to be a lady," Sunako said. "We'd all have been much happier if you just left me in the dark."

"Do you really mean that?" Kyohei asked, an odd note in his voice. "That you wish you had never met us at all?"

Sunako looked at him. She had much better vision in the dark than he had, and while it wasn't enough to blind her, she could see a slumped silhouette, leaning against the wall. Did she really mean that? She really... didn't know anymore. Best to ignore the question and plow forward.

"They'll never accept it, you know," she told him. "Us as a couple. They know I could never belong with a creature of light…"

"Will you stop using that term!" Kyohei snapped, sitting up, and Sunako could almost see his eyes glow. "Creatures of light, creatures of dark… it's stupid! How exactly do you go about deciding who's a creature of light and who's one of dark, eh? By looks? I make girls swoon and I'm an official creature of light? If that's all you judge me by, you're no different from anyone else harassing you at school. You're exactly like them."

Sunako frowned. That wasn't true…it wasn't. There was more to it than that. "You're not a creature of dark, either. My room still scares you. I still scare you. I enjoy being in dark places where I don't have to see or be seen, where I can be in peace with Josephine and Hiroshi-kun and Akira-kun, and where no one else would bother me. God created you out of light, and creatures like me out of dark."

"And have you completely forgotten how you started this notion of being a creature of darkness?" Kyohei demanded. "You chose it, remember? It wasn't a role given to you by God. What if He meant for you to be a creature of light? Hey? What if you were really one of us, then one idiot says one thing that wasn't even true, and you run away to your darkness, and embrace that which wasn't even supposed to be yours to begin with--"

" That's not true," Sunako said, standing. Kyohei couldn't see her, but he could as good as feel her presence, radiating anger. Well, maybe provoking her wasn't the best way to go about it.

"That's not true," Sunako repeated coldly. "I have never been as happy as I am in the darkness, even in the days when I was pretending to be a creature of light. The darkness brings me peace. I can be who I am, not try to be beautiful or to have the world tell me what I am!"

"I'm not saying that the darkness is bad," Kyohei said quietly. "Sometimes you're not the only one who hates being in the light. But what if there is a creature of light in you? I don't mean a lady. That's a technicality just to make your aunt happy. What if you do have light in you that's inspired by more than blood and nightmares?"

"I don't," she answered coldly.

"Then prove it," Kyohei stood. His eyes were beginning to adjust, and he stared straight at the dark silhouette he was facing. "You're aunt's coming for a dinner party on Saturday, but anyone can act for a couple of hours, even out of spite." He gave a dry chuckle as he felt the anger radiating out of Sunako. " Especially out of spite. So I don't want an act. I want you to actually try to live in the light, maybe even become one of us in it. For two days."

"Two days!" Sunako choked out, her voice torn between shock and anger.

"Two days," Kyohei said. "Prove me wrong. You have to really try, but see if you can prove me wrong. See if you can live in the light for two whole days without becoming part of the light yourself. And in return, I'll prove to you that I'm not just a creature of light. I'll live in the dark with you. For three days. Fair?"

"No!" Sunako shouted back. "The only reason you're saying this is because you want me to pretend to be a lady and save you rent!"

"No, I'm not," Kyohei growled back. "I'm saying this, because I'm sick of you being so cowardly and hiding in the dark, and harping out the excuse that you're not a creature of light, so you can't come near us!" He reached out and grabbed Sunako by the shoulders, pulling her dark face to within inches of his. "I'll even make it more interesting. If you live in the light, and try to accept it, for two days, and not have changed at all because of it, I'll stop trying to make you a lady. I swear. I can't guarantee Yuki, Oda, or Ranmaru will do the same, but I won't join in with them anymore. And if I can prove to you after three days of living in the dark that I'm not just a 'creature of light,' you have to swear to never use that phrase again. You'd address me by my name, or not at all."

Sunako froze. Normally, Kyohei this close to her would bother her, but in the dark, she couldn't see his light, wasn't blinded. She couldn't get her head around the idea.

"Really?" she asked, uncertain.

"Really," he said. "Just try to live in the light for two days. Everything about you being my girlfriend or a lady we'll deal with when it comes."

She was so torn. Live in the painful, searing light for days? Surrounded by creatures who were sure to blind her, and be unable to run to her safety of darkness? But… to have one less person to fight against in the war to make her a lady, to remove the one person who could get through her better than any other? Be able to hide in her darkness forever after? Was it worth it?

Kyohei dropped his hands from Sunako's shoulders and held one out for a handshake. "Agreed?"

Sunako paused, then firmly grabbed his hand with her own. "Fine."