Part Five

"There, that should staved off the hunger, but the longer you stay here the stronger the urge will become. Tonight is the blood moon night," Yukino-sensei said after she emptied a syringe full of fresh blood into my arm.

"Ara, thank you but you know how much I enjoy being here, more so now that she's by my side again. I was… getting lonely…" I trailed off suggesting that on more than one occasions I caught myself wanting to find an innocent girl and take her to bed with me.

"I've told her to stay clear from you tonight, so try and control yourself. I'm summoned by His Lordship," Yukino-sensei said and packed up her medical bag and headed out, stopping short to say something to Mikoto before actually leaving.

"We need to talk," Mikoto said as soon as she locked the door of our small but comfortable apartment.

"Ara, you should get some rest," I said keeping my words to Yukino-sensei.

"I'm fine," she said dismissively. "Look, your father was the reason behind Wolfgang Yuri's attempt in kidnapping you," she added and I had to pretend to be shocked at the news.

"Ara… I… I don't know what to think… or say…" I said though I'm more worried about the moon slowly raising outside our windows, even though the shot took the edge off slightly the hunger is still there and it's growing stronger as the moon outside slowly turned into a shade of red like the color of my eyes.

"Tell me the truth, tell me who you really are…" she said holding my chin so that I couldn't avert my gaze from her, truly she's very sharp for someone like her.

"Do you love me?" I asked, there's no time for me to be elegant or sensual, time isn't on my side tonight.

"What?" she sounded shock and her eyes are as wide as possible.

"Do you love me?" I repeated my question feeling the burning sensation rising rapidly within me.

"I… do…" she answered but she didn't look at me, instead I think she found the coffee table to be more interesting as she let her hand clasped together on her lap.

"Will you still love me regardless of my appearance?" I pushed as I fought to hold onto what little self control I have left.

"…yeah…" there was slight hesitant in her voice, confusion because of my question and I have to wondered if she truly understand the affect of her answer on me.

~o~

Something cool touched me, pulling me out of my inner thoughts. I was shocked and would've screamed like a girl if I was that kind of person, under the artificial lights a reptile body coiled itself around me with scales large and shiny in the honey-wheat color. I took in a deep breath and looked up the body leading to a human torso and the lovely face that belonged to the woman with the bewitching smile. So, this is what she meant by regardless of her appearance, I've seen many strange things but this was most surprising. Then again, it was probably my fault, as I didn't really heed Dr. Yukino's warning about staying clear from her.

"…fuck… can't breathe…" I cursed feeling myself getting dizzy suddenly.

"I'm sorry…" she quickly apologized and let go of me by slithering away from me.

I had to catch my breath and chased after her, leaping over the table and nearly tripping over the damn carpet to get in front of her. "Where do you think… you're going?"

"I…" she couldn't meet my gaze.

"For the longest time, I was never at home even with my family. When I met you, you stirred something within me. I am happy when I'm with you, yet I'm confused and it made my chest hurt. Then I realized that I'm whole, I'm complete and I'm falling for the woman with a bewitching smile: you." I explained as best as I could, after all I was no poet and I leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

"I'm so happy…" she whispered before deepen the kiss, and when we parted she was back to normal.

I pulled the ring on my right hand out, and took her left hand slipping the ring onto her ring finger and got down on one knee. "Marry me."

Fumi had taught me that a woman liked to be asked for her hand in marriage, and it should be asked before taking a woman to bed. Though taking Shizuru to bed isn't a priority to me, I felt as though that I should claim her as mine before it is too late. It's one of those guts feeling that I couldn't explain, but I know that I don't deserve her when I spent much of my life walking on corpses.

I yelped when she picked me up like I was a blushing bride and said to me, "Ara, then I shall stake my claim of you now that you've finally popped the question."

~o~

Perhaps she's just what I needed in my life, but I was glad that she finally thought about marriage. I placed her down on the bed and straddled her, and she looked up at me with curious eyes with a hint of trepidation. Tonight will be the first time I will fully consummate myself with a mortal woman under the blood moon, in the past I've never slept with a woman during such a night. But Mikoto isn't like other women, her hands tainted with the scent of blood yet she managed to stay innocent even though her childhood had been robbed from her the moment she learned how to walk.

I made love to her, and I must say she's a fast learner. She got me seeing stars; this girl really could satisfy my sexual hunger. In the heat of the moment, I broke her skin and tasted her blood. It tasted like sweet honey, so warm and sweet that I had to remind myself that it would be wise for me not to take more than I need from her. She didn't seem to mind though, and doesn't seem to mind that my body changes as we continued with our debauchery activities. I knew I was changing, and soon I must return to my home to accept my duty now that I'm fully matured into my true self: Death. She will be coming with me, as I wore the ring she gave to me and we will be wed and she will be my bride though I do not mind if she wore the pants because it's all the more fun for me to remove it later on.

"Mm… what are you thinking about?" I asked feeling her hand caressing my bare shoulder as she spooned me and her breathe tickling my neck.

"Why hadn't I met you sooner," she replied thoughtfully before kissing my skin lightly.

"You would be underage," I purred my reply as I felt her hand slipped around my waist pulled me closer to her.

I was in the shower when I heard a crashing sound in the living room, and I quickly turned off the water and grabbed the towel sensing something might be wrong with Mikoto. When I came out to the living room, I found her collapsing near our bedroom with a pair of marvelous black leathery wings. It was shocking for me because from what I know, my mortal lover and soon to-be bride shouldn't be able to transform like I am. Yet here lay my unconscious fiancé, still looking like herself with the exception of the pair of leathery wings on her back.

~o~

Whether he liked it or not, Fujino Kinta has finally located his daughter via Haruka, one of his best lieutenant. He knew his daughter enjoyed playing with the humans, though he was shocked when he found out that his daughter had decided to consummate with a human on the night of the blood moon that will bind them together for all eternity. Now, Kinta grudgingly allowed the wedding to took place, though he planned to punish the young demon for helping his daughter hiding from him until Haruka asked him to pardon her and so did his daughter. It wasn't until he finally met his new daughter-in-law that he noticed that girl is part demon, and by sleeping with his daughter, whatever small amount of demon blood in her was unlocked.

Kinta's wife: Fujino Shizuka on the other hand was pleased with the outcome, the wife of the Lord of the Underworld is happy that their only child found happiness and finally reaching maturity. Finally, she could start training her daughter to become the next Shinigami and her daughter-in-law will be there as the girl's support and pillar. She never had anyone to share her burden with, but her daughter will have someone there for her and perhaps help her in reaping souls.

The wedding was of a simple ceremony, an exchange of blood between them, which is something Mikoto found to be really weird. She adapted well, and her right hand healed though she will spend much of her times with Shizuru in the Underworld from now on. Her ability to cope with the fact that she's part demon and married to none other than the new Grim Reaper, who happened to be the daughter of the previous Shinigami and the ruler of Hell. However, that didn't stop Shizuru from talking her wife into going into the mortal world and visiting Nao and her mother every now and then. Shizuru generally handles the natural deaths or less violent ones while Mikoto handles the very violent deaths. When it comes to reaping souls, Mikoto is even more ruthless than when she was the Enforcer.