Maybe... He's Not So Bad?

I wriggled out from underneath him, only for him to pin me back down again, this time with my wrists gripped in one hand. The one he bruised throbbed with a vengeance. With the other hand, he ripped up my shirt to my neck, and I watched, paralyzed as his grin hovered close to my chest.

"I really like you."

And I really would beg for mercy right now if I thought that would help. Unfortunately, the thought of screaming for one of his brothers occurred to me too late as he kissed the top of my breast, and I was forced to brace myself for death again.

I was waiting for him to bite again, but... he didn't. He was sucking the flesh just the same, but he wasn't digging in his sharp teeth. He moved spots two or three times, but still, no biting.

And then, he pulled my shirt back down, got off me and pulled me off the bed before jerking his head at the window.

"Get goin'."

"Eh?"

"Don't 'eh' me, I said get goin'!" So, with a very confused and clumsy though still grateful air, I started struggling down my makeshift rope. Ayato's face peered down at me as I did so. My wrist hurt with every second, and I thought I was going to pass out, but by some miracle, I was able to flop onto the ground of the manor. Maybe that was what the redhead had wanted to see, since he'd jumped down to meet me when I had, laughing to himself. Dick. "You're really hopeless, aren't ya?"

"I'm barely conscious," I mumbled, when, to my immeasurable surprise, Ayato told me to get onto his back.

...what the hell?

"Ayato...sama," I said eventually as the redhead walked with me. "Why are you...?"

"Carryin' ya?"

"...yeah."

"Because if ya stayed in the courtyard bein' all weak, Reiji woulda burned ya with the trash or Kanato woulda taken ya for his collection."

"...well... thanks," I said eventually.

"Ayato-sama," he added, and I sighed as I said it. "I'm not losin' such a nice piece of prey to those freaks. You're mine, ya got it? Those marks I put on ya prove it." Oh, so that's why...

Freaking Karlheinz. What do you want from me, you manipulative bastard?

"I thought you were letting me go," I mumbled.

"Idiot. Ya think I'm gonna let ya go now?"

"Well, you did give me your word, as Your Excellency."

"You've really got a mouth on ya, don'tcha, pretty tits?"

"What the hell is with that nickname?" I grumbled. "It's the blood loss. So Ayato-sama is going against his word."

"Oi, you're pissing me off."

"Hey, be mad at yourself."

"Listen, you..."

Ayato eventually brought me to the city, dropping me off in front of an apartment before he disappeared without a trace, leaving me to fend for myself. Although, that wasn't before he told me that if I ever saw him, I was obligated to offer my blood from then on.

At first, I wasn't sure what to do as I sat against the building, watching people pass by. But then I saw Tougo Sakamaki—Karlheinz—plastered across a building, his smile infuriatingly false as he spoke to an interviewer. I needed to figure out how to get to that man so that I could get back home, to my ordinary life. And, also, so that I could wring his neck.

I retracted that last thought as I took out my phone and checked my bank account for what I had to work with getting a place to stay; I could settle for just punching him in the face.

"Easily bought, aren't you?" I muttered to myself, even as I put my phone away and stood up, glancing around. Well, first of all...

"Ahhh~! This really is the best!" I cried in bliss as I soaked in the bath with a lovely wine in hand, tilting my head back against the tub. It had been two weeks since my run-in with Ayato, and I hadn't seen him since. My wrist had recovered, and lately, I'd been spending most of my time relaxing in the apartment I'd bought.

So far, I'd managed to get Tougo Sakamaki's phone number, but it wasn't like I could get a proper hold of him with it, since there was a barrage of other people I had to get through first when he was famous. And, I didn't really have any good bargaining chips to use against him and make him bring me back to my world. Unfortunately, he was a chess master, and I had been made one of his unwilling pawns. If I wanted to go against him, then I had to find someone valuable. Or, I had to figure out what it was about me that he had made the decision to abduct me. The only hints I had were the bizarre change in my eyes and the fact that he'd said I would be "perfect", whatever that meant.

"Eh?"

"There you are!" Ayato had burst into my bathroom with a wide grin, and I jolted as he made quick strides towards me. "I've been lookin' everywhere for your sorry ass!"

"You... You have?" I said blankly, trying to register the fact that he was looking down at me. "Well... want a drink?" I asked stupidly after glancing at my wineglass.

"Yeah, I want a drink," he replied, taking the glass and setting it down so hard I thought it would shatter before he jumped into my bath, sending water splashing out of the tub. "Nice of ya to make it so accessible for me, pretty tits."