Chapter 12

Insanity, Incompetence and Importance

"What do you mean he's gone insane?" I asked. "How'd it happen? Did someone try to kill him or something?"

"You guys tell her. I don't want to talk about it." Ron began to run and then he was out of sight.

"Is it that bad?" I asked.

"Shou believed that because Mew went into labor during the attack, he killed her so he drove himself insane knowing that fact. Ron's the one that takes care of him now. We keep him locked up because he's too unstable to be free in our village. Shou nearly killed three of our people a few years after he returned to our village. It's for his well being as well as ours. I suggest you leave him be. If he knows your Gakupo's fiancé, he'll do anything to get to the wedding."

I nodded. "Alright. I'll take your word for it…but can't we just cage him up and bring him to the wedding? I'd like Gakupo's whole family to be there."

"To dangerous." Kai said. "The last time we did that, he almost escaped his cell and he killed the guard's man that was helping to move him."

I thought for a second. "Could we film it and then let him watch live. At least he'd get to see it. Beside's, I really want her to at least see my wedding on film. She'd never be able to com here. It'd be too suspicious."

"To bad you're on the run." Taito said.

"We could have a much bigger wedding." Zeito added.

"Yeah well it's either this or I'm being married off to Mikuo and I refuse to marry that jerk with his stupid blue hair and smart ass comments." I grumbled.

"So that's the whole story." Rai said.

"Yeah. It's either run or marry Mikuo. I'll take my chances with the running. At least I can put off that wedding for a good amount of time. I'd rather strangle myself then marry that douche bag. No one tells me who to marry." I looked at Rai. "Do you think I made the right decision? I'm endangering Gakupo."

"He can handle it." Everyone agreed.

"Just like that?" I asked. "You don't even have to give it some thought?"

"Nope." Everyone answered.

I sighed. "You guys are no help."

"We know Gakupo. He can handle just about anything." Kai said.

"Gakupo's a strong man. Father knows that and that's why he's forcing you to perform this ceremony." Ron said.

"He's making sure your worthy to marry his son. Gakupo is an honored man here. You shouldn't be shocked how much attention you'll receive from all the other werewolves around the world if you ever come in contact with them. They'll protect you to their dying breath." Rai said.

"What did Gakupo do that's so amazing? Gakupo doesn't tell me anything about his past. I was lucky I managed to squeeze out Miko's name from him." I asked curiously.

"Gakupo use to be the biggest warrior in our town. You'd be shocked to know that Aizo isn't as strong as Gakupo is. Gakupo fought in many wars for years and defeated the leader every time." Taito explained. "And he was our town's hero for decades."

"But one event really made him a true hero." Zeito said.

"Really? What'd he do?" I asked.

"He saved our beloved Queen, Midorine." Zeito answered.

"Midorine?" I tapped my chin. "I think I recognize that name. Isn't she on the Council?" I nodded. "Yeah, Haku told me about her. She said that Midorine was the representative for the Werewolves. Is that right?"

"She's not a representative!" They all yelled at me.

"Sorry." I smiled. "But I have a lot to thank her for. She voted for Gakupo and I to stay together and for that I will be forever in her debt."

"Queen Midorine voted in your favor for Gakupo not you." Kai pointed out.

"I know. Haku explained to me that Queen Midorine hates women." I said. Wait a second, aren't all the female werewolves dead? "Wait, if Queen Midorine's a werewolf then you all lied to me when you said the female werewolves are dead."

"Queen Midorine's not a werewolf. She's the last remaining Pure Breed." Youe said. "She's no Werewolf, she's a large dog. Were canines, she's of a whole different level."

"I see…so she's a Queen because she's a pure breed." I nodded. "Do you guys have a king?"

Ron chuckled. "Gakupo was asked to be king a few days after Miko died. Actually that was the last time Gakupo ever came back to our village. You see Queen Midorine lives here but she rarely comes home. She uses to come home a lot more when Gakupo lived her. Queen Midorine loves Gakupo so she requested him to become our king."

I blinked. "She really asked Gakupo? Why didn't he accept?"

"Because he didn't love her like that. To become king he had to marry her and Gakupo couldn't do it. I would have. Queen Midorine is beautiful." Ron said.

"So Gakupo left after that?"

"Yeah, I think he said something about some Siren and a baby." Rai said.

I blinked. "How long ago was that?" I asked.

"I don't know. Maybe three decades ago."

My eyes widened. "That means…my mom was pregnant for a decade."

"Your mom's a Siren!" Everyone yelled.

I laughed. "I thought Gakupo told you guys. My mom's name is Kiku Juon and she's a Siren. My father was a vampire and my mother ate him. Isn't that a strange thing?"

"How can you laugh about that?" Kai yelled. "That was your father."

I shrugged. "My mom's a Siren. It's not like she can help it. Beside's, my father was gonna kill her. I can accept his death. Kaito said that my father was an ass so I'm just accepted his death. If he was gonna kill my mom, I would have killed him. Self defense people. I thought that was something you guys would have learned a long time ago."

"Don't you miss not having a dad?" Taito asked.

"No, I had my hands full with my mom. A father would have been a burden. My mom's all the family I needed. And now I'm gonna have a dumb ass of a husband to add to that." I giggled. "I wonder what mom's gonna do to him. I know she's gonna kick his ass."

"And you're happy about that?" Rai asked.

"Sure. If she didn't then kick his ass then he'd never become my husband. That's how my mom judges her men." I shrugged. "Its better then her eating them in my opinion."

"I guess." Rai shrugged.

"Look! Were back!" I shrieked. I jumped off of Rai's back. "I think I can stand now. Thank you for carrying me." I kissed Rai's cheek. "You're the best big brother ever."

Rai blushed as he rubbed his cheek. "No problem."

I smiled. "I'll see you guys tomorrow ok?" I started running towards Rei's house. I hope Gakupo's doing ok. I'm sure his fever's gone down by now. I hate seeing him so sick. I'm just glad that he'll feel better soon.

Just as I got to the front steps of the house, Rei was just leaving. "Oh, your back! How was hunting?"

"Fine thanks." I grabbed his arm. "Is Gakupo feeling better?"

"Yeah, his fever's gone down a little! You should worry less!" Rei ruffled my hair.

"Thanks for looking after him Rei." I hugged him. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem!" Rei said with a smile. "I'm gonna go grab us some fish! Any kind you want?"

"I like all fish. Which ever Gakupo picked is fine with me."

"Alright! I'll be back soon!" Rei walked past me and headed towards the square. I ran inside and into Gakupo's room. He was asleep. He looked better. I bet he wouldn't have a problem moving around like he normally would but I still want him to rest.

I was about to leave when Gakupo said my name and I froze where I stood. He was still asleep so I figured he was just talking in his sleep. I guess he's dreaming about me. Well if that's true then the frustration that began to show on his face didn't make me feel good. Seconds later he bolted up from his slumber with anger on his face. He quickly relaxed as he wiped sweat from his face. "Just a dream." He sighed.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

Gakupo jumped a little. "Gumi!" He quickly calmed down. "I didn't know you were there." He patted the spot next to him. "Come sit."

I sat down next to him. "You said my name."

"What?"

"When you were asleep you said my name. Were you dreaming about me?" I asked.

Gakupo sighed. "I was dreaming about the ceremony." He looked at me seriously. "What if we just run away right now? We have plenty of towns to run to still."

I shook my head. "We should stay here as long as we possibly can. Beside's, I want to stay here. I'm gonna do that ceremony and I'm gonna become part of this village. I'm not leaving this place until I do."

Gakupo groaned. "Why are you so stubborn?"

"Because you like me this way." I said happily.

"Yeah your right." he gave me a quick kiss. "I think I'm gonna be alright to get out of bed tomorrow so I can watch you train."

"Really?" I smiled. "Then maybe you can give me some pointers for fighting your father."

Gakupo's face dropped. "What do you mean?"

"I'm going to fight your father for the third task."

Gakupo's eyes widened. "You can't do that!"

I glared at him. "Why can't I?"

"You're not strong enough." Gakupo grabbed my shoulders. "I know you want to prove a point to my father but even if I train you for years, you can't defeat my father. You're just a human."

My eyed narrowed. "You'll see. I'll defeat your father and then I'll become a member of this village. You'll see." I got up. "I'm gonna go train."

"Gumi wait. It's late. You should rest." Gakupo objected.

"I'm not gonna rest until I can put Rai in a choke hold." I left the room without another word.

Gakupo's Point Of View

I managed to get myself out of bed a few hours after Gumi left. It took forever to find her but finally someone told me that she was down on the field with Rai and the rest of the guys. When I got down to the field, Gumi was circling Taito with anger in her eyes. She began to throw punches and kicks at him. Some even hit Taito and he seemed to be hurt by her too. I was a little amazed. I didn't think she had any power at all. I stand corrected.

"Hey guys." I said joining the rest of them. Gumi didn't seem to notice I had shown up.

"Hey man." Ron said. "Your girls got some man skills. She kicked Kai's ass."

"Shut up." Kai grumbled. He had a few bruises that I could see and by the way he held his ribs, I figured she had at least bruised one of his ribs if not broken one.

"I didn't think she had any fighting ability what's so ever. I'm pretty impressed." I said.

"You must be joking." Rai said. "Gumi said she was a black belt in Karate. I'd have thought that you would have known something like that."

I blinked. "No, she never mentioned it."

"You two need to talk more. You guys seem to know nothing about each other. I can't believe you never told Gumi anything about your time here. She was completely clueless when we were talking to her."

"It's not like I was trying to keep it from her. I just didn't really want to talk about it." I mumbled.

"You should start talking more." Ron said. "You can lose her with stupid crap like that. Gumi probably doesn't tell you stuff because you don't tell her stuff. I'm sure if you be a little more open, she'll tell you a lot more about herself."

I shrugged. "We'll see."

Gumi nailed Taito in the chest and Taito collapsed at her feet. "Alright. Can I fight Rai now?" Gumi's eyes widened. "Gakupo! When did you get here?"

"Not to long ago." I smiled at her. "I'm rather impressed with you my dear."

Gumi gave me the angriest look I've ever seen on her face. "Oh sure! Now your impressed you ass!" She ran at us but I could tell she wasn't gonna hurt me. She slammed into me hugging me tight. "I hate you Gakupo!" She hid her face in my shirt and began to cry.

I smiled warmly and smoothed her hair. "I know."

"You jerk!" Gumi yelled.

"I know."

Gumi pushed away wiping at her eyes. "Go away. I'm training and you need to rest. Move your ass before I move it for you."

I chuckled. "I can't watch my beloved Fiancé train?"

Gumi crossed her arms and turned away from me. "Who's that? I don't believe you've proposed to anyone."

"It's not like I had time to go buy you a ring."

"Yeah well until you propose I'm not your Fiancé or anything else for that matter." Gumi sat down on the grass. "Get to it Gakupo. How do we defy the Council if the only thing we've done is enjoy ourselves." Gumi shook her head. "Were seriously behind on this."

Ron looked at me. "When she says enjoy ourselves does she mean…"

Rai punched my arm. "Way to go man."

"Guys are so disgusting." Gumi mumbled.

"You told them that not me." I shrugged.

Gumi rolled her eyes. "First thing I'm gonna do when the Council leaves us alone is getting all of you idiots girlfriends."

"Really?" All the guys yelled.

Gumi shrugged. "If I don't die fighting Aizo."

I sighed. "Are you still insisting on fighting my father?"

"Course I am. I'm gonna win. You just wait." Gumi rose from the grass. "Can I fight Rai now?"

"If you really want to." Rai sighed walking over to her. "But don't cry if you lose."

It only took Gumi three minutes to beat Rai. I'm pretty amazed. I mean I knew Gumi had some muscle but I didn't think that she was that good. Her little muscle mass doesn't even compare to how much power she has. She was able to throw Rai and he's got a good 100 pounds over her.

"What do you think boys?" Gumi asked helping Rai up. "Do you think I can beat Aizo?"

"It's possible but there are no absolute guarantees in a fight. I'm sure who ever trained you taught you that." I said.

"Yeah I know." Gumi mumbled. "That's enough for today. Thank you guys for helping me train all day."

"See you tomorrow Gumi." Youe said with a smile. The guys began to leave but Gumi didn't move.

"Aren't you coming?" I asked.

"No, I'm gonna train a little longer." Gumi started towards the obstacle course.

"Gumi, you need to get some sleep. You need your strength. Please." I grabbed her arm. "I'm not sleeping until you do."

Gumi sighed. "Alright." Gumi let me drag her back to the house. I never thought Gumi would be so serious about something like this. She always acts so easy going and care free but today she seems like she's on edge. I may not have been with her for long (barely a month) but I've never seen her so on edge. Even when we were waiting for the Council's decision, she wasn't this on edge. This must mean a lot to her.

If I didn't feel like shit, I'd try to help her train. I know that if I did, my condition would only get worse. I still need to rest no matter how much I don't want to admit I need to rest. It's nice to see Gumi care so much about me. The only reason this is important to her is because she wants to be accepted by my family.

I wish it wasn't so important to her. My father might kill her in that ring. I know he doesn't care if she lives or dies in this ceremony. He's such a cold old man…even if he accepted Gumi into the family. I know he wouldn't have if it were Rai or Ron in this situation. The only reason he accepted Gumi is because I'm a better warrior then he is. If Gumi beats him, I doubt he'll ever look down on me again…but the likely hood of that happening is smaller then a worm being able to eating an Elephant.

"Gakupo?" Gumi asked as we walked into Rei's house.

"Yes my love." I asked giving her a sweet smile.

"Why didn't you marry Queen Midorine and become King of the Werewolves?"

My eyes widened. Who told her that? Was it Rai? It was Rai wasn't it? It could have been any of them. I'll kill them. She should have never heard a word about that.

"Who told you about that?" I demanded.

"Does it matter? That doesn't change my question. I'd like an answer." Gumi glared at me. Obviously she wasn't gonna let this go so easily. I guess I'll have to tell her but I really don't want to.

"Well, Queen Midorine is a wonderful women but I had an obligation to something else. I had no time to marry her and I didn't have any interest in being king of anything. I didn't even like being a general." I shrugged. "Queen Midorine isn't a threat to us so don't worry about it."

"Haku told me that she hates me." Gumi said with sadness in her voice.

"Gumi…"

"She really loved you." She left my arms and headed for my room. "You should have married her. If you had, you wouldn't be running for your life from the Council."

"I don't have any regrets about this Gumi. I never wanted to marry Queen Midorine. At the time, your mother was already pregnant. You were more important then her." I walked into my room. Gumi's back was to me.

"You should regret it." she shook her head. "You should have married Queen Midorine. You should have become King of the Werewolves. You chose wrong Gakupo." She dropped to the floor sitting like a proper young lady would sit in front of a Kotatsu. "I've only caused you trouble."

I glared at her. "Are you saying you regret meeting me? That you wish we had never met? That we should have never run? That you would marry that Mikuo bastard?" I yelled.

Gumi glared at me. "I do not regret my actions but you should."

I turned away from her. "What do I have to do to prove to you that I love you more then anything on this Earth? When you were born, you were no longer an obligation to me. You were my everything. You are my everything. I know how much you hate all those cliché sayings but I can't think of anything else." I looked at her over my shoulder. "If you can't see how much I love you by now then I don't know what else I can do to prove it to you."

Gumi rose to her feet. "I know you do and you should regret it."

"How can I? That would be like regretting your existence." I pulled her to me. "Stop telling me what I should feel."

Gumi dropped her head onto my shoulder. "I've caused you so much trouble and pain. You wouldn't be so weak if it weren't for me."

"That may be true but I'd do anything for you. This is nothing. I can handle anything Gumi. I am a Werewolf warrior so you can stop feeling this way about me. I don't care what happens to me Gumi. As long as you're alright I can suffer any kind of pain."

"That's so stupid." Gumi said as she started to cry.

"I know." I chuckled. "But love makes you do such stupid things."

"Like fighting your father to win his acceptance?" Gumi asked through her tears.

"Exactly like that." I laughed.

Gumi tried her best to laugh through her tears. "I just want you to be better and to stop suffering for me."

"I'm not suffering. I'm just weak. If I was suffering I'd have sent you away so you wouldn't see."

"Now that's stupid."

"There's nothing worse then letting your women see you cry in pain."

"There are plenty of worse things."

"Not for me."

Gumi shook her head. "You idiot."

I hugged her against me. "I know."

Gumi laughed as loud as she could manage but it only came out as if she was choking it out. "I love you ok?"

"Alright." I smoothed her hair and it seemed to calm her down.

"I just want all of this to be over. I don't want to run until I'm too old to remember why were running." She clutched my shirt in her fist. The shoulder of my shirt was soaked with her tears and probably her make up but I didn't really care.

"This is only temporary. If the Council's vote sways by just one vote we can go back home. We just have to wait."

"How long will that take?"

"I'm unsure my love but I'm sure Haku's doing all she can for us."

Gumi nodded. "Your right." She looked at me. "How bad do I look?"

"Pretty bad." He make up was smeared around her eyes and some of it was running down her cheeks. I began to unbutton my shirt. "Why don't you go wash your face ok?" She nodded and walked headed towards the bathroom.

I hate seeing her this way. She's so confused and hurt and scared. It's bothering the hell out of me but there isn't anything I can do. It's all in Haku's hands right now but it could take centuries before this vote sways. I hope I never have to tell Gumi that. She'll only feel even more awful then she already does. What am I gonna do?

.

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That's right, Gakupo finally got to speak his mind in this chapter. If you liked reading about what Gakupo thinks, let me know and I'll continue doing some chapters with him telling his side of the story.

So I want to know….

If you want Gumi to kick Aizo's ass or do you want her to lose?

If you want Gumi to fail either of the other two tests?

If you want her to meet Shou?

If you want the Council's guards to raid the town for Gumi and Gakupo at some point very soon?

And finally, what place do you want them to go to next when they leave the werewolf town? When I say place I mean what kind of mythical creature do you want them to live with next basically? Here are the options:

Mermaids

Sprites

Demons

Witches

Banshees

Vampires

Fairies

Spider Goddesses/Gods

Thanks for reading this far. Oh and happy Easter, here's your present. It's a day early but whatever.