Rei was rather surprised to wake up still in the vampire's arms; the rest of day seemed to be rather quiet. Kakuzu didn't say much and left her alone for quite some time, leaving her to browse through the bookshelf to find something to read.
He gave her the ok so that was good, what was really odd was that the miser didn't return until it was time for bed. Rei was ravenous at this point but dared not ask him for food, she just couldn't tell if he was feeling angry or guilty.
His expression and behavior was unreadable, even upon the next morning. Rei wolfed down her plate hungrily as Tobi smirked a bit; he opened his mouth to ask what happened to her but decided not to pry.
It wasn't until midnight that Kakuzu left again, going to his friend's door and knocking on it. Zetsu greeted him with a smile but tilted his head in concern. "May I have a word with you Zetsu?" "Of course Kakuzu."
The miser stepped inside with a curt nod but when he saw the boy sitting on the couch looking at him he murmured, "I rather he didn't listen to our conversation."
"Fair enough, may he join Rei in your room then? She needs some company I would assume." The brute nodded as the boy skipped over happily, eager to see the girl when Zetsu walked him down the hallway and dropped him off before coming back to his friend's need.
The bipolar man politely asked him to sit down before giving him his whole attention, "What's wrong?" Kakuzu muttered with some difficulty, "I need your advice." "Regarding last night with your pet?" A nod said it all and the miser probably did something he regretted.
"I saw how angry you were at her and hate to ask this. What did you do?" "I didn't rape her if that's what you're thinking!" Zetsu held his hands up in defense, "Of course not my friend, I know how you feel about that insidious deed. I'm just curious."
Kakuzu mostly grumbled under his breath the details what happened, "I didn't realize how fragile her body was compared to most humans. I let my anger get in the way and practically beat her as a punishment, not a simple whipping as intended."
His friend rested a hand on his shoulder, "I understand where you're coming from Kakuzu, but considering this is your very first pet I'm not surprised. You've never had to hold back your temper before."
"I know and I tried to console her all the same but she still hates me." Zetsu shook his head, "No she doesn't, the girl is merely frightened of you; even more now than before."
Kakuzu brushed his hair away from his face and glanced at the other vamp, "I want her to fear the consequences of not obeying me, not to be petrified every time I come near her, but I also want her to….."
He couldn't find the words because he himself wasn't sure what he wanted of her. "I think I know what you want. You want her to like and respect you and be your friend like me, with the exception of intimacy."
Grunting in a somewhat agreement he sighed, "How can I interact with her?"
Zetsu chuckled, "Just be kind to her when she's behaving and then she'll open up more to you. I do believe you've been too hard on her so far though."
"I guess so, it's just that I'm so use to troublesome humans but she's not like that." "Why did you choose her anyway Kakuzu? I've been meaning to ask you that."
The miser furrowed his brows and grumbled, "There was something alluring about her scent and I felt pity believe it or not."
"You felt pity for human? That has to be a first but the same happened to me." "Really?"
"Yes, when I first met Tobi and had him cornered in the woods; there was such misery in his eyes. It wasn't because of his situation or me either…..he looked like he wanted to die."
Kakuzu shifted to where he was directly facing his friend and rather shocked for he never knew.
"I felt like it was a personal connection, so instead of draining the boy of his blood I brought him back with me. It turned out to be the best decision of my life."
The miser smirked, "You did seem happier with him around." "I was and still am. Now the question is, you saw her desolation didn't you?"
"Yes, when I inspected her the other day her eyes told me everything. To be quite frank I despise her gloomy attitude but it's not her fault, I do sympathize with being treated as an outcast."
Zetsu frowned, "As do I. Maybe that's the real reason you felt a connection; she's different." Smirking the miser nodded, "Yeah well, we better go check on them. Thank you my friend."
Said man just smiled and stood up, heading out the door to check on the other two.
*Tobi and Rei were playing cards before she told him what happened, trying not to cry again from her trauma. "It's ok Rei-chan, if Kakuzu was gentle with you afterwards and helped put ointment on your injuries so he must felt bad about it. Right?"
"I guess so, but why all that fuss over something like that anyway?" Tobi sighed, "Vampires are lustful beings and they crave sexual things as much as blood when it's time to feast." Rei whimpered in fear, "He's not going to rape me is he!?"
Tobi scooted closer and held the poor girl's hand, "Tobi don't know." He honestly didn't know, it all depended on the vampire whether to not that would happen or not and Kakuzu…..was a mystery.
Trying to get off the rape subject the girl asked, "Um Tobi….how often do vampires drink blood? I haven't seen Kakuzu do it yet so…."
Tobi crossed his arms in deep thought, "Well, it depends on the vampire's age not to mention their personality. Older vamps don't require that much sustenance often, Zetsu for example is once every two weeks."
"What about Kakuzu?" The boy laughed, "Tobi doesn't know everything Rei-chan! He's older than Zetsu I know but why don't you ask him?"
She didn't like the idea but it was a harmless question none the less…..one could only hope. The only thing now was that the boy's hand was caressing her thigh, working its way downward between her legs and fairly close to her private area.
Gulping nervously she murmured, "Could….Could you stop that Tobi?" "Hmm?" He looked down in a daze and blurted out, but not removing it from the spot, "Tobi sorry! He can't control himself sometimes!"
Tilting her head questioningly, she couldn't ask him anything more when a small peck on the door got their attention as Zetsu poked his head in smiling, "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"
Tobi blushed and removed his hand from the girl's thigh, shaking his head frantically, "No Zetsu-sama! Tobi's been a good boy!"
Arching a brow the bipolar man chuckled naughtily, "I'll take your word for it. Come Tobi."
The boy hugged the girl before rushing out with his master, blushing the entire time as Kakuzu eyed him suspiciously before approaching his pet.
He cleared his throat and gestured for her to come to him as he sat on the couch. Warily she did but he just gently placed her upon his lap and asked gruffly, "Did you behave yourself with Tobi?"
"Yes sir." Nodding he sighed, "That's a good girl." Gulping she dared to speak, "May I ask you a question?" "Yes you may." "Um…how often do you drink….blood?"
Furrowing his brows he actually smirked a tad, "It was only a matter of time before someone asked me that but if you must know; I only feast once a month."
Pursing her lips she muttered, "But those other vampires from the other day drank so much! Is it because you're older why you don't?"
Kakuzu was rather amused with her sudden interest with this, maybe that boy helped get over her fear of asking him questions….who knows.
"Not necessarily, I am indeed older than most vampires here and can sustain my thirst accordingly but like every vampire I do need to feed. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of my kind that are gluttonous and just devour humans for the mere taste and thrill. Personally I don't agree with it."
Shifting on his lap she asked, "Why?" "I'm a bit old fashioned you could say. I only take what I need to survive unlike most of the others. Also, too many slaughters could put our kind in danger and be discovered as more than folklore."
Nodding the girl agreed with him, "I..I like how you think." That compliment earned delicate rubs to her back and a few mumbled praises nuzzled against her neck, which she sort of liked, before someone knocked on his door.
Aggravated for his rather tender moment being interrupted he growled before gently placing the girl on the couch, since her behind was still sore and answered the door.
"Pardon the interruption sir, but I have a letter for you."
The miser grunted and took the white envelope off the silver tray and tore it open, shutting the door back and sitting back next to her reading it silently.
Once he was through he groaned but then seemed to perk up, looking at Rei with a lot of intrigue. Biting her lip nervously she tried to shrink down when he pushed back her hair as if in deep observation, "This might be fun."
"Um...what will sir?" He didn't answer when he picked up the receiver to the telephone and talked to some tailor.
When that was done he focused his attention back at his pet, stroking her cheek with a small smirk, "The half-year ball is tomorrow night and I have to make you look presentable for our guests."
TBC: