Disclaimer: I do not own Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji (Wolf Girl and Black Prince) or any of the characters
Kyouya ran his hand through his hair to restrain himself from letting his anger become physical. Almost immediately after Takeru burst into the hotel, he collapsed. While Erika tended to his friend, Kyouya was left with worry and questions. How could his father know that he was away from the castle and traveling to gate when he was supposed to still be traveling to collect taxes?
"And of course that idiot risked his life getting here." Kyouya's frustration finally bubbled over when he looked over at his friend lying unconscious on a bed. He kicked a chair out of his path since he couldn't direct his anger at anything else. Takeru was the most dependable man he knew but why would he travel to the gate just to warn someone like the Dark Prince?
"You better get well soon so I can beat some sense into you." Kyouya ordered as he righted the chair so he could sit next to Takeru. Seeing the light glow around Erika's hands shine over Takeru reassured Kyouya and he forced himself to suppress his anger. It wouldn't do anyone any good if he lost his control of his emotions.
Erika watched him try to ice over his emotions but he couldn't hide the concern in his eyes. The genuine concern in his eyes told her how important of a friend Takeru was. She didn't know if it was right for her to offer him comfort when she didn't know if he would accept it let alone wanted it. He placed his forehead against fist and his bangs fell over his eyes. "Why would you this, idiot?"
"You're his friend and he wanted to help you." Erika couldn't stop herself from comforting him when she saw him so consumed by guilt. She moved to his side and placed her hand over his fist. He looked at her then, his eyes searching for something in hers, and she gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I'm going to heal him. I won't let anything happen to your friend. That's what a Cerberus would do."
"You really are strange. I said you needed to pretend to be my Cerberus, not to be one." Kyouya found himself laughing despite the situation. He ruffled her hair to tease her but he found himself letting his hand linger in her hair. Her large eyes stared up at him and once again he felt something strange so he let his hand fall to his side again. "Stop staring and focus on healing Takeru."
Erika nodded and turned back to Takeru to tend to his wound. She leaned over Takeru and placed her hand over his heart. He didn't seem to be hurt significantly but she couldn't see how he could have so many scratches over his body. The journey might've not been easy but she never felt that she was in danger. Could it be because Kyouya was always there with her?
Sneaking a glance at Kyouya, she tried to read his mind. It was a comfort to her that he wasn't as tense as before but he continued to stare at the ground without focusing on it. They both fell silent but it didn't feel awkward. She felt that the silence was what they both needed to collect their thoughts.
"Did Takeru wake up yet?" The door opened and Sanda walked into the room. Sanda was shocked when Takeru said that the Demon King was heading towards the gate so immediately went to secure the hotel. She looked concerned and tired so Erika was quick to tell her that he was merely resting. She sat next to Erika but refused to face Kyouya.
"I don't know if my curse magic is strong enough to keep this place hidden from you father but it should buy us some time to think of what to do. What I want to know is why you and your father are going to the gate?" Sanda demanded to know and he wondered what she been through to make her brave enough to stand against royalty.
While Erika didn't seem to be weary of him, it was due to her innocence while he knew Sanda's defiance came from anger and hatred. How could someone like her be friends with someone like Takeru to the point that she trusted him to keep the hotel a secret? "Takeru wouldn't betray me to my father so I'm sure he wouldn't leave anything for him to follow."
"That's right!" Erika tried to ease the tension she felt in the air. She spoke with Sanda so knew that she wasn't as cold as she was portraying herself now. Currently, the only thing they could agree on was the fact that they both cared for Takeru. "We shouldn't panic until Takeru wake up and tell us why your father is coming. Maybe he still doesn't know about Kyouya or this hotel!"
"Best case scenario, you're right." Kyouya nodded and she thought she was able to dissolve the situation until Kyouya continued bleakly. "Or it could be the worst case scenario and he's here because he knows I'm going to the gate and he's trying to stop me. Waiting here won't help so I'll take Takeru somewhere safe when he wakes up."
"I need to warn Kyouya and San-chan!" They all jumped when Takeru suddenly sat up. He was still a little disorientated and it took a moment for him to gather his thoughts. When he remembered the danger coming towards them, he stared to ramble and Erika couldn't understand his explanation.
"Slow down, idiot." Kyouya snapped when he knew he wouldn't get any reliable information from him since he was frantic. "We can't understand what you're saying when you're saying it so quickly. What's this about my father?"
"He suddenly came back to the castle and I thought that it was strange since he never comes back this early! So I listened in on his meeting with some of the knights and he told them that he was heading to the gate. I needed to warn you but I didn't have a way until I remembered Sanda's spell that guided people to her hotel. Then I tried to get here as fast as possible to tell you about your father."
Kyouya sighed since Takeru continued to smile widely despite the scratches and bruises on his face. The man might be strong but it was most likely his determination that allowed him travel so quickly. He had so many questions he wanted to ask his friend but Kyouya caught him flinching a moment and clutching his side. Kyouya placed his hand on his shoulder and forced him to lie down. "Rest."
"But your father's going to be here any moment now and you'll need my help to fight. He doesn't know about this hotel but someone like him will be able to find us. When I was listening to their conversation, he heard him saying something about going after you and this light." Erika stiffened at Takeru's words. Seeing her fear, Takeru was about to comfort her but Kyouya was first. He placed his hand over leg.
"I'm not going to let anything happen to you and I'm not going to let my father stop me from kicking down that damn gate. Even if you left before my father did, it's only a matter of time before my father comes here and it won't take him long to see through the curse you have hiding this place." Kyouya stood and looked out the window for a sign of his father.
"Erika, I want to talk to Takeru alone. Can you leave us alone?" Kyouya knew that there were things he couldn't discuss in front of Erika or Sanda. She looked conflicted for a moment but she seemed to understand so she nodded. Sanda looked much more conflicted to leave even though Erika was trying to pull her out of the room.
Sanda's brows furrowed as she looked between the three and tried to think of the best way to protect the demons in her hotel. They were wrongly prosecuted and she knew they would face their cruel sentences if the king found them. She needed to think of a way to protect them. It frustrated her that someone she trusted brought the prince to her hotel.
"We're just going to talk. You can trust Kyouya." Takeru told her before Kyouya could address her. "I won't break my promise to you, San-chan."
She bit her lower lip but left the room. The way she slammed the door told Kyouya that she was still reluctant to trust them alone and he couldn't blame her. But he was glad that she seem to trust Takeru enough to leave them be for the moment. He made sure that she wasn't listening near the door before sitting next to his friend. "Erika healed you but are you feeling any pain."
"What kind of man would I be if I couldn't handle a journey like that?" Takeru laughed and Kyouya simple gestured to the gauze binding his wound. They had been friends for years so there was little they could hide from each other. "Anyway, I had the curse San-chan showed me that allowed me to see the path to the hotel. The only really tricky thing was climbing out of that cavern."
"Of course would use brute strength when trying to get pass that curse." Kyouya chuckled to himself. He became serious when he reminded himself that they needed to decide what to do when his father arrived. "How many men did my father take? He doesn't have the obstacle of the curses so it's only a matter of time before he finds us."
"What are you planning? You always have something planned. Whatever you want me to do to help, I'll do it!" Takeru told him and Kyouya wondered how he could have faith in him having a plan.
"I'm going to the gate to open it. You are going to ride Midnight and go somewhere safe. My father probably doesn't know that you're here so you don't have to involve yourself any more than you already have. I'll protect Erika." Kyouya said but he didn't know what he would do if his father found him and Erika before or after he reached the gate.
"What about San-chan and the demons in this hotel?" Takeru asked.
"What about this hotel you kept a secret from me?" Kyouya bit at the words. "From the amount of demons gathered here, I know you've been keeping this from me for a long time. You would be prosecuted if my father finds out! How did that woman convince you to do something so risky? Why didn't you discuss this with me before you got yourself into this mess?"
"I found her crying in that cell all alone." Takeru knew that Kyouya was angry but had to defend Sanda. "She was going to hang for stealing even though she didn't. What kind of man would I be if I let an innocent person die? She was scared so I promised to help her escape. I didn't know where she went but I thought I would never meet her again."
"But you did, obviously." Kyouya noted and Takeru nodded.
"She heard that another demon was the situation she was and she wanted to save him. She asked me for help and I couldn't say no. I wanted to tell you since I knew you aren't like your father but she didn't trust anyone in the royal family so she made me promise not to. You're my best friend and it was hard to keep a secret from you. What are you going to do with this hotel now?"
"This would've been easier if you told me earlier and I could've force the court to release them but it's impressive that someone like you could save so many. We can't have my father finding this hotel and making your effort useless so I'll do what I can for them." Kyouya assured him. "Rest cause I'm not going to leave my horse with an injured man that can barely fight."
"I might be a little beat up but I can still fight." Takeru gestured and Kyouya laughed in return.
"They've been in there while. I should go and check up to them to make sure that the prince hasn't hurt Takeru." Sanda started to leave but Erika stopped her by placing her hand on her arm. What confused her was the fact that Erika appeared to be completely calm and was laughing slightly. She was truly worried yet this woman didn't seem to feel the same.
"I doubt that Kyouya could be angry enough at Takeru to actually hurt him. He knows that they're best friends and wouldn't do anything to hurt each other on purpose." Erika told her. "Takeru must be important to you if you're so worried about him but there's nothing to be worried about. Both Takeru and I trust Kyouya so you can too."
"How can you trust the Dark Prince so easily? He's known to lie and take advantage of people and he can be doing that at this moment. How do you know that he wasn't the one that led his father here to find this hotel?" Sanda demanded.
"Because he looked truly hurt that his friend hid this from him." Erika looked beyond the door and could still see the sad expression on Kyouya's face. Seeing that simple emotion on his face reminded her that Kyouya wasn't as cold as she thought. "Kyouya won't risk everything he has been working for or put his friend in danger by bringing his father here."
"I wish I could be as ignorant as you." Sanda spoke softly.
"How can you say that I am ignorant of who Kyouya is when I have travelled so far with him while you had only heard stories about Kyouya? I heard those stories and I believed in them too but Kyouya isn't like that. Sure he isn't a saint but he's kind and honest even when he tried to hide it." Erika stopped when she realized that she was raising her voice and blushed.
"Erika, do you love the Dark Prince?" Sanda started but stopped. Erika didn't know how to respond to her for a moment. She had never been in love before and didn't know more about the emotion than what her mother told her in fairy tales. Her journey with Kyouya was far from a fairy tale but when she placed her hand over her heart, she found that it was racing.
Did she love Kyouya? When she thought of Takeru and other men she considered her friends, her heart didn't react to them as it did with Kyouya. She trusted him to protect her but did she trust him enough to love him. Erika shook herself but she couldn't stop thinking about Kyouya when Sanda placed that question in her mind. "Kyouya and I are just friends!"
Erika tried to stress the words but it didn't sound right to her. Did he consider her a friend or something else? He tried to use her to open the gate when they first met but now she trusted that he wouldn't hurt her. Whenever she envisioned him in her mind, she didn't see the Dark Prince but Kyouya with his smirk. That smirk should've irritated her but it made her heart beat faster instead.
"We're friends like you and Takeru are!" Erika quickly tried to redirect the topic to Sanda to take her mind off Kyouya and the feelings she felt towards him. A part of her didn't know if she wanted to stay ignorant to what she felt towards him or not. "We want to help each other even if the way we met was… we're not enemies at least."
"The next time you speak to Kyouya, place your hand over your heart and just imagine where you want to be ten years from now." Sanda told her and Erika asked her why, she answered simple. "You'll know if you love him."
Erika stood outside the room, debating with herself. Should she go in and check on Kyouya when she was still conflicted over how she felt towards him? She stood motionless until the door opened and jumped back into awareness. Kyouya stood in the doorframe, looking down at her with his brow raised. He closed the door behind him and waited for her to speak.
Her heart started to race again and she remembered Sanda's advice. Even though she didn't know how her advice would tell her if she loved him, she placed her hand over her heart and tried to envision where she wanted to be in ten years. At the same time, he chuckled and placed his hand on her head. "What are you doing staring into space? You look like a lost puppy."
The hand he placed on her head answered her rather than her hand over her heart. It was easy for her to imagine being with him with his strong hand comforting her. His promise to protect her and offering her family refuge in his castle could be a lie but she realized that she wanted deeply for it to be true. Not only would it protect her family but she wanted to stay by his side.
She loved him.
"Get your head out of the clouds." He pinched her cheeks and stretched them. It always amused him that her face was so expressive but it worried him that she looked so confused when she was staring up at him. He told himself that he didn't have time to worry what she thought of him since there were other matters he needed to address. "I need you to focus."
The simple phase 'I need you' made her blush but hearing him finish the simple statement reminded her that she still didn't know how he felt towards her. He gently tapped her forehead again and went on. "Takeru's in no condition to fight but he's determined to keep this place safe. I'm not going to let him put himself in danger for a bunch of criminals so we need to find a way get everyone to safety."
"Can't you just say that you want to help your best friend?" Erika's question was spoken with a tinge of laughter because she was reminded of the kind of person she fell with. She might not know how he felt towards her but she wanted to stay with him until he rejected her. Gently, she took his hand. "I'll do anything I can to help you and these people!"
"I already knew you would say that. Seriously, you're too kind for your own good." The hallway wasn't the best place to speak so he led her away to the end of the hallway that looked deserted. "Look, even if you want to help them, I want you to think of your own safety. I need you to be strong when we go and open the gate."
Erika gave him a soft spoken acknowledgement since she could barely get the words past a lump that was forming in her throat. Was he only using her to open the gate? Even if he was, she wanted to stay by his side on the chance that he did care for her. "You don't need to worry about me! As long as I have this locket, I have the power to do anything. What do you have planned?"
"I'm going to be relying on you." Kyouya told her and briefly explained the plan.
"If you want to leave, this is your opportunity to do so." Kyouya told her as he saddled Midnight and prepared to leave. They both knew that they shoulder the most consequences if his plan failed. "You can just give me your locket and I'll open the gate with that before your light fades and my offer to protect your family once this is over still stands."
He didn't know if he should be surprised that she shook her head in response. Weather it was because of her good nature or because she didn't trust him to keep his word, he was glad that she wasn't going to leave him. Anyone else in her position would've done so long before now but she gave him that genuine smile. "You need me to make this plan work."
He couldn't understand why she stayed by his side when he only continued to put her in danger. Slowly over their journey, he felt as if something had changed but he didn't know if it was her, him or the strange relationship they had. Kyouya told himself that it was better not to concern himself with her and return his focus to Midnight.
He took the reins and handed them to Takeru. "You do anything to my horse and I won't forgive you. So I expect both of you to be safe when I get back to the safe house."
"Thank you for doing this for me and helping these demons." Takeru knew not to be provoked by Kyouya's attitude and took the reins instead. No matter if Kyouya was pretending to be a kind prince or a cruel one, Takeru knew who he truly was. "And I expect you to come back safe too."
"You actually giving me orders?" Kyouya chuckled to himself and Sanda watched the pair's exchange in confusion. It seemed so natural for them to speak such despite the danger approaching them. She hadn't expected the Dark Prince to speak so familiarly to a mere knight. "You better get going before my father arrives. Just follow the plan and hopefully everyone stays alive."
"Everyone will stay alive." Erika corrected him. Kyouya watched his friend leave until he was left alone with Erika. He hoped that the path Sanda created with her curse would allow them to escape his father's detection. He didn't want his friend's life to depend solely on someone else's power so went to set his own plan into motion.
He placed his arm around Erika's shoulder and pulled her closer to him so he could protect her from his curse. He didn't know where his father was but he knew that he would be able to sense a powerful curse. Summoning his power, he focused it on the hotel and the curse that kept it hidden. Kyouya tighten his hold on Erika before he released his power, shattering the curse protecting it.
Erika felt the forest shake around them and the trees trembled in reaction to his power. Even though his curse was powerful, the fact that it was being cast by someone she trusted stopped her from being afraid. The trees blocking the main path fell away and black flames engulfed the hotel.
There wasn't a chance his father wouldn't investigate such a powerful curse and it would divert his father attention from find Takeru. The powerful spell made Kyouya stagger since it drained him of most of his power. He started to fall to his knees but Erika caught him. "I've got you!"
"Hurry, before my father finds us." Kyouya urged her and she nodded. She wrapped her arms around Kyouya and spread her wings. She didn't know if she would be able carry Kyouya but she was determined to keep him safe. They both knew that he was too weak to fight and she had to put as much distance between them and the hotel as possible.
With a powerful flap, she took to the sky. Her feet barely left the ground before she saw a shadow appear in front of her and a force knocked her to the ground. Kyouya turned in the air and protected her from the fall. He swore when he looked up and faced his father.
"I thought I told you never to come back here, son."
I can't believe this is almost finished. But then again these chapters are taking a long time to make because of all the schoolwork I have pilling up.