I really wish this manga would have been longer. Alas, I am left to my day dreams.

Disclaimer: I do not own Beast Master.

Chapter Two

Some questions are better unanswered.

How Yuiko had gotten such a strange, large, and unconscious man into her bathroom without her father noticing was beyond her. Of course, it helped that only minutes before she'd come up to the house, scoping out the situation before she took the animalistic man out of her secret hiding place, her father's drinking buddies were pulling up. Under the guise of "poker", they would get sufficiently drunk and stay out of the way for at least four hours.

At minimum.

But that didn't make it any easier for her to get him into the room. In the house, she was given the entire upper floor as an apartment, which was how it had been built to begin with, and the veterinarian rarely made the trip up the stairs. At least, he hadn't since her mother had run off.

Of course, he wouldn't mind very much if she had come home with a man; she was twenty-three, had graduated from college with a degree in Veterinarian Studies. The only reason she continued to live in his house was to learn her future career and make sure that her father ate something other than bar peanuts. Once in awhile, he would actually ask her why there wasn't a special man in her life that was constantly dropping by, trying to sneak into her bedroom.

She'd answer him that she wanted to focus on the course of her life before she thought about settling down with any man. Her father had said, "Why just one? Try out a bunch!"

She didn't think that he'd meant a man covered head to toe in blood.

Luckily, all that blood had dried on him, so there wasn't anything dripping on the floors that she would have to worry about. The moment she'd put him into the tub, he'd moaned, but his eyes hadn't opened. Gently, she set about washing him off by gently dabbing where the blood was dried with a soft sponge. As she did so, she couldn't help noticing that he really wasn't as scary as she had originally thought.

His face was soft, though there was a strange softness to it even in sleep. If he was older than her, it wasn't by much. There were no wrinkles or lines marring the skin around his mouth or eyes, though there was a small furrow in his brow. Moving slowly down his neck, she made it to his collarbone, surprised by the sharp, jagged scars there. If she hadn't known better, she'd think that he'd been attacked by some animal. But how would he have beat an animal large enough to do that? Besides they were all over him; it must have been a violent accident, maybe a car or airplane crash.

Moving down one arm, she was shocked at how...muscular he was. Obviously, he did something very dangerous, but also very physical. Maybe he was a professional fighter. That would even explain why he had such an animal-like demeanor, especially if it wasn't normal boxing. The rest of him was the same. Solid and hard, she started wondering how someone could get like that. It was almost as if he used every muscle every day, and vigorously.

Cleaning him up passed slowly but surely, taking even more time when she paused to wonder if she dared to undress him anymore than he already was. When she would have started to, she pulled herself back. No. No, no, no. You don't know what he's capable of in the span of time it would take Dad and his friends to get up here after you scream.

After taking care of the rest of him that was visible, she decided that to wash his hair was only fair. She could see where the blood had tinted it red against pure black. As quietly and gently as possible, she turned on the faucet, ducking his head under the stream of water. First, she did the tips of his hair, since they were the worst. Freshly wet blood flowed down the drain, staining the white, acrylic surface of the tub.

Carefully, she moved his head fully under the stream of water, careful to keep the water from getting on his face. She worked in a little shampoo, just to get it that little bit cleaner.

Black eyes flew open with no warning, his two strong hands going to the side of the bath to fling himself out. Before she knew what was happening, he was standing just behind her, a newly-clean forearm wrapped around her throat. "Where am I?" he asked, his voice raspy from not being used. "Who brought me here?"

It was then that he must have noticed that there was no more blood on him; even his hair was shining brightly once again, though it dripped onto the floor. His arm around her loosened so he could turn her towards him, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air. "There are others here," he said simply, narrowing his eyes on her.

"Yeah, my dad and his friends. You passed out on me and I couldn't leave you covered in blood in the middle of the park. I decided to take you back here, clean you up, and let you rest. You have a really deep cut on your arm; you're just lucky that it's already clotting." Was she really going to try to teach a man that was sniffing her bathroom how to take care of himself? God, she had to be crazy! He was definitely on-edge and she wasn't sure that she could keep him calm. Just like a jungle cat.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I guess I should thank you. I'll be leaving now." He turned away from her, striding towards the door. When he opened it, filling the doorway, he stopped and stood completely still. Glancing over his shoulder, he snarled, "What did you do?"

She blinked at him. "What? What do you mean? I haven't done anything but get rid of all that blood for you!"

With a snarl, he slammed the door closed and stomped towards her. "What perfume are you wearing? Did you infuse it with cat pheromones or something? Who told you to do it?"

Cat...pheromones? He can't stop sniffing me because he thinks I spray myself with cat pheromones.

When he grabbed her arm in a too tight grip, she barely kept herself from crying out. "Stop it!" she ordered, trying to yank her arm away. "I don't know what you're talking about or why you think that I would spray myself with something that gets cats horny! I'm a human if you hadn't noticed; cats aren't my thing. Besides, weren't you just leaving?" Grabbing his wounded arm around the wrist with both hands—he had made the mistake of holding her with his weakest appendage—she twisted herself, breaking his hold and forcing him to his knees.

She knew it was only surprise that got him to stay down; he was too much stronger than her for otherwise. But she still took advantage of the moment. Making sure to keep a firm hold on him, she hissed, "You've worn out your welcome. Now you may leave. If you don't this time, I'll call the cops." She shoved him away from her, but he didn't stumble away. Instead, with a graceful movement, he caught her wrist once again, turning to face her. Narrowing her eyes, she snarled, "I mean it—"

He smirked at her; it was anything but pleasant. She felt as if he were playing with his food—which was her. "Either you're a really good liar or you are what you say. As a Breed, I should be able to sniff out deceit. All you smell like"—he took another whiff of her, his pupils dilating—"life." Involuntarily, he brought her closer so they were chest to chest, though he was much taller than her.

Eyes widening, she looked for anyway to stop him. Swallowing as she discovered the only way she was going to be able to do that, Yuiko looked him right in the eye, noting that his face was getting much too close for comfort to hers. She took a deep breath, then dug her finger into the gash on his arm, knowing it was going to be enough to distract him.

And she was right. With a hiss of pain, he let go of her, giving her the time to run to the door and fling it open. She made it to the top step before his arm wrapped around her waist, dragging her back against him. His other hand covered her mouth, cutting off all sound. "Shh," he murmured directly into her ear. "I know one of the men downstairs; I'd remember the scent anywhere. He'll tear this house—and your family—apart if he finds out one of my kind were here."

Yuiko didn't believe him, but she had to act at surrender if she wanted to get away from him. Softening against him, she let him lead her into the only bedroom on the top floor—hers. He closed the door almost noiselessly behind them.

That's when she went crazy.

Biting into his hand, she locked her jaw as tightly as she possible could, tasting the blood on her tongue. But he was still holding onto her, ignoring the pain spreading through his arm from the points that her teeth were digging into his hand. She squirmed relentlessly against him, but that didn't stop this strange man from moving them towards the bed.

When she hit it, he quickly turned her around before dropping both of them to the mattress. "You need to be quiet," he growled. "If that guy comes up here and finds a Breed here, he's going to kill everyone else here. I'd know that scent anywhere."

She continued glaring at him, noting that his cut had already healed beneath her teeth. There was not even the smallest amount of blood dripping into her mouth anymore. How had he healed so fast?

"I'm going to let go of your mouth," he said calmly, "and I'm going to explain some things to you. You're going to lie there and be a good girl. You're going to need to know all this in the future." A flash of possessiveness came to his eyes as he looked his fill of her. Then those black eyes caught hers once again. "Can you do that for me?"

Not knowing what else she would be able to do, she nodded, planning to bolt at the next available opportunity.

Hesitantly, he lifted his hand from her, watching for any sign that she might scream. After several moments of nothing, he sighed, careful to keep his full weight off of her. "I saw how you were with that cat earlier; you can't act like that when you see my kind. They'll do a lot more than give you a couple scratches." The question of what he meant by "his kind" was written all over her face.

"About fifty years ago, government scientists finally created what they thought of as the perfect solider. They had been working on gene splicing for many years and now they had something to show for it." He paused, looking at her as if he expected her to know exactly what he was talking about. "They created abominations, things that God would never have put on this earth. They'd mixed animal genes with human to create human children that would grow to have the power of their animal brethren."

Her eyes widened, too large for her face. There was no way...that had to be impossible...didn't it?

He continued on, gauging her reaction. "We were treated like monsters. Once you were able to walk and talk, you were put into the ring to fight the others, sometimes even your litter mates. You would fight until they told you to stop; sometimes that meant that you had to kill the others.

"The women were attacked daily by the guards. They were tranquilized, tied down, and raped. The males were almost constantly training, which was a fancy word for torture. They wanted us to have no weakness physically, mentally, emotionally, or sexually. We were disposable. Then, almost five years ago, a lab broke free. They helped others. There are still more, but we follow one leader and attack like the animals we are. We trust few humans and tell no one about the Breeds."

Her breath caught. Told no one. "Then why tell me?" she croaked, too shocked to care about how she sounded. "Why tell me about what you are, what was done to you?"

"Because I'm taking you with me."

Her eyes widened, but before she could think to do anything, she was flung over his shoulder. He moved towards the window and she started flailing wildly, careful to keep quiet. "You can't just take me! I have a life here; besides, I don't even know you! Put me down and leave me alone!" He said nothing, just held her as still as possible as he opened the window. "No!"

With a well-placed knee, she knocked the breath out of him. As he sank to his knees, she rolled off his back and up onto her feet. She moved out of his reach, hissing, "You can't just take me away from my life when I don't even know so much as your name! Go back to where you came from and leave me alone!" She kept her voice just above a whisper, but conveyed all her anger just the same.

He rose slowly to his feet, turning towards her. "Others will be here the second they catch the scent of my blood. Especially with his scent wafting around this place. I'm protecting you from my...friends who would slaughter anyone in their search for me." He smiled widely, showing all those pearly white teeth. "Besides, I've decided I want you to be with me. And I don't give up easily."

Quick as a cat, he was at her side, pulling her into him once again. Though she hit him, it wasn't very effective. That didn't mean she didn't give up, though. If hitting his arm had worked once, it would again. Bringing her hands up to grip his biceps, she squeezed with all her might, feeling the cringe that went through him.

"Yuiko? Yuiko, are you all right?"

Both paused as the voice slid under the door and into the room. It was her father, coming to check on her. If she wasn't mistaken, he was at the top of the stairs. He would knock once then fling the door wide open.

Eyes narrowed, the man forced himself away from her. Holding himself on the perch of the window, he said, "I'll be back for you, Yuiko. If anyone comes here and acts like I do, tell them Leo Aoi said this house is off limits."

With that, he disappeared into their yard, just in time for her father to burst in.

Short chapter, I know. But it's been awhile since I updated, so I felt like I should do so. :P