8:30pm Floor Twenty-Seven
The meeting with Argo and Klein went smooth, Beast didn't speak. It was just to show Mai was alive and well, all the guys were marveling at her rapid rise in level.
Now they walked down the road calmly talking. Beast was not sure if she realized that they were patrolling for muggers but her relaxed yet attentive stance showed she was not stupid.
"So how did you end up here?" he asked.
"Well, my mother died when I was nineteen. I had no father that I knew of, so to make money I started hooking the streets," she started.
"Wasn't too bad I enjoy sex, so I figured why not get paid. I actually got to enjoy the BDSM life style, I found it fun and different." here she smiled.
"Naturally things went downhill and I had to find something else. So about a year before this started I switched, I found me a permanent master."
Beast did notice how she glanced over 'how things went downhill' but choose not to speak.
"He was twenty, a real computer nerd, but he was rich and self-sustained. He could afford to take care of me and he always treated me right, even in that life style. It could have been way worse. "Well he was a big gamer too, and loved his fantasy role-playing so he joined SAO and brought me along."
"What happened to him?" Beast asked as he looked around.
"The Death Game started," she replied. "We leveled up through floor ten but it got too much for him, for a well-educated guy, who did live rather shelter. I guess that's why he had trouble with women and ended up finding me." She gave a small chuckle, and then her face went somber. "He cracked and did a swan dive off the suicide bridge."
Beast waited as she reflected.
"Well you don't live as long as I had on the streets of Osaka and not grow a little steel in your spine; I tried gaming but decided to return to my old job. It was safer here, I did not have to worry about being beat or raped anymore…well I did not have to worry about that most of the time. I bounced from floor to floor, worked the front lines as a…'camp follower' I think is the term," she smiled again.
"Then about a week before you showed up, Madam Makuna came to me and offered me a clean room, three meals a day at no charge. I had gotten soft being here and let her sweet talk me with false promises."
Here Mai growled, Beast thought it sounded sexy.
"I learned that she had gotten an under-aged girl and was selling her, I stood up from my chair in the break room and ran to the room I had heard the girl was put in…only to find this big, mean, cruel and downright sexy as hell…animal." Here she gave Beast a flirty smile. "Getting ready to ram some wicked looking blades down the pedo's throat, This was hot as hell by the way."
She actually wrapped her arms around his as they walked.
"We went to the court and had the trial; I watched you kill her and decided to find out who you were. You re-awoke that submissive side of me. I had a met up with Argo, and she told me where to find you and how to get there."
Beast stopped but did not look at her, his eyes were on a clump of bushes, During the day Mai had trained her finding skill and she smiled as she noticed the five man team hiding.
"Ok you two," a voice from the bush spoke as the five men walked out. "Money, jewels, weapons, the girl, hand them over," he spoke with an arrogant tone of voice.
A sixth person came up behind them and wrapped their arms around Mai. This was a woman.
"This one is mine tonight," The woman in a sickly pleased voice as she nuzzled Mai's left ear.
Beast smirked, the look on Mai's face was not fear, revulsion, or concern…it was boredom.
"Mai? Show me how things 'went downhill'," Beast spoke simply.
Mai elbowed the woman in the gut, and then spun around 360 degrees. Slamming the woman with the steel ball in her braid, before dropping to a knee and pulling her sword.
She sprang up and spun around faster then anyone besides Beast could see. When Mai reach the apex of her leap, the bandits were all stunned as the woman thief's body fell backwards and her head fell forwards before derezzing.
"Bitch!" a big man screamed as he charged. He was the only one with plate armor and wielded a massive two-handed spiked mace. He lifted his mace to attack as he rushed her.
Beast stepped up and caught the Mace with his left hand. As the man struggled to free his weapon Beast just lifted his right hand, the spikes of his gloves were a scary sight, but the claws were just terrifying.
"Where are the Devil Dogs?" he asked.
"Who?" the big man asked confused.
Beast did not reply he just slammed his fist into the man's chest, piercing the armor and draining his life points in about a blink of an eye. Beast did not use an instant kill; the guy was just really weak.
The other four were stunned and fell to their knees. Beast didn't even smile as he walked over to them. Mai just cleaned her blade and scratched the heads of Pup as the dog trotted up.
"Ok children," Beast started. "You three head to floor thirty-five and turn your selves in. If I don't get messages in the next hour saying you arrived and confessed all your crimes and I mean all of them."
Beast glared at the four and they seemed to whimper.
"Then I will find you and cut you into little pieces, I have even learned how to keep the meat so I'll fry you up into steaks and enjoy my meal."
Mai just gave a big smile and made an 'mmm…' sound.
Once again Beast was sure if the action would have been possible in the game, all four of them would have pissed there pants. One guy actually fainted.
"Well…what are you waiting for?" he smiled again. "Shoo," and waved at them to leave.
After they were gone Mai broke down in a joyful laugh as she looked at the man she now followed.
"Have you really figured out how to eat your kills?" she asked. Part of her thought it was funny, but the other part was worried that he was not bluffing.
"Of course not," he smiled as he replied. "How about you, did that really make you hungry?"
"Nope!" she replied continuing to smile. "I just wanted to add to their fear; I was kind of worried you might not have been bluffing."
Both laughed as they went to search the fallen loot from the two kills, Beast noted that it was all crap. "I could only self this stuff to NPC merchants'," He voiced as he stored the gear just for that reason.
Mai was going through the stuff she got from the woman, most of it was also trash, but she found a few pieces of jewelry that might fetch a col. or two at a dealer.
"No problems taking a human life?" Beast asked pulling Mai from her thoughts.
"No, it was not my first time," she replied and again stood up to face him.
Beast just waited.
"I have had to kill twice, once when I was twenty the second when I was twenty-four," she finally spoke. "The judge agreed they were both self-defense, but he did suggest I find a different line of work after the second time."
"I hope you don't get to use to it," Beast spoke as he waved her and Pup to follow.
"Me ether. I don't feel bad about the men I did kill, but I don't wish to get to use to it and end up killing some one innocent," she nodded.
"That is my fear as well," Beast admitted.
They walked to the next town and stopped to sell their junk. Mai was able to get some extra Col. From a jewelry dealer. She had no problem just handing the money over to Beast, who took it without question.
They walked to the next town and stopped to sell their junk. Mai was able to get some extra Col. From a jewelry dealer. She had no problem just handing the money over to Beast, who took it without question.
The return to the house was uneventful. Beast walked in and watched as Pup led Mai over to her food dish, and Mai happily fed her.
Beast went to his room and stripped before heading into his shower. About five minutes later, Mai came in naked and stood behind him and started washing his back. She never spoke as she worked from his neck down to his ankles before slipping around and starting on his front.
When she finished she wrapped her arms around his neck and looked up into his eyes.
"I am not Ryoko," she told him. "I don't think I could even try to replace her, I can't be the Lady Samurai of feudal Japan like she was."
"And I don't want you to," Beast spoke up cutting her off. "There is no way to replace her; she was one of a kind. However so are you, and you will be a lady. All of my girls are ladies; I do not own cheap or trashy women."
She stared at him confused, finally doubting whether or not she could meet his expectations.
"But we will find the lady that you are. It will not be a mask you put on, it will be who you are. And don't think it is not possible, if you were not up to it I would have sent you away long before now."
Then he finally smiled and kissed her.