You want a disclaimer? Go look at the first chapter.
A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 23
He was going to beat the living crap out of him. That was all there was to it.
"Wait Natsume! Don't do anything to him!" Mikan yelled at him while latching tightly to his arm. She started hanging all her weight on it trying to stop him from doing anything to the stranger.
Fuck that. When he was done with this ass there would not be a single square inch of unmarred skin.
"Please Natsume!" Mikan cried out, "We need to find out what he knows!"
The only thing he needed to know about this guy was whether to roast the bastard regular, or extra crispy.
The bastard in question was not really saying much. He was too busy dodging Natsume's fists.
The stranger was probably the most effeminate man Natsume had ever seen. The thing was so slim and had such a pretty face the young red had almost mistaken him for woman. That little misconception lasted for all of two seconds and died instantly when the girly-man dared to touch Mikan. At that point his territorial instincts took over and he grabbed a fistful of the man's shirt and yanked him back so fast it was a wonder the man's neck did not snap.
Natsume charged at him with Mikan still dragging on his arm. Sheesh, she might as well not have bothered. She was quite light, and he had his strength and anger fueling him. As he closed in, he tried shooting a fire ball and briefly forgot that the woman hanging off of him canceled out that option. Fine by him. It would probably be more gratifying to mutilate him bare handed.
He shot a jab to the man's throat but his opponent dodged it smoothly. Natsume snarled at him baring his teeth. The red dragon hated to admit it, but the guy was no amateur at fighting. He may look like a pansy, but his moves were solid and well practiced. The guy probably used that girly face of his to confuse his opponents into thinking he was weak but only a fool would underestimate him. He was good, much better and more dangerous than Natsume wanted to admit. He would have to be careful not to underestimate the guy. But it would be best if he got the dead weight off his arm first.
"Natsume please!" Mikan screeched, with her fingers digging hard into his bicep. "He is the one we have been looking for!"
That gave Natsume pause as he arched a brow at her and gave her a dubious look. She had about five seconds to explain that statement before he went back to his violent rampage.
His sudden pause caught Mikan off guard and she gave him an unsure look as if she was trying to figure out if it was safe to let go of his arm yet or not. He watched a quick debate flit through her eyes. Finally, she nodded and eased up on the death grip she had on his arm before turning to look at the stranger.
Natsume followed her gaze and looked at his victim. Much to his annoyance the ass was still staring at Mikan. Does the idiot even know he is about to become dog food? He wondered. If the stranger had any idea that in minutes he would forever say goodbye to that pretty face of his, he gave no indication of it. Instead, he was looking at Mikan in an almost tragic, sorrowful way. As if her appearance was the saddest thing in the world.
"You are not Yuka." His voice had a lilting, almost musical quality about it even while it sounded sad.
It was not a question, but Mikan answered it anyway by shaking her head slowly. "No. Yuka was my mother." Mikan responded, and the stranger looked even more distressed by the news.
Wait. This Yuka person was her mother? Why the hell didn't she just explain that in the first place? Then he recalled that he did not really give her a chance to say anything because he was caught by the sight of this freak draped over his mate. Just remembering it pissed him off all over again. Forget it; it would not have really mattered if she had said something sooner or not. The guy was going to get beaten into a fine paste anyway. The only difference his knowing this Yuka person made was that now Natsume had to wait until Mikan was not around to pound on him.
The stranger nodded at her in understanding. "You must be Izumi's child then." He said in a somewhat bitter tone that was at odds with its lilting sound. There was something about the way he spoke that prodded something the back of Natsume's mind but the thought was lost before he could catch it.
Mikan nodded at him at the mention of her father's name but before she could say anything the other man spoke up. "Please tell me, where is your mother?"
Without even thinking about it, Natsume put his arm around Mikan offering his silent support. Mikan gave the man a sad look of her own. "She passed away shortly after I was born." She told him quietly.
Raw grief flashed in the other man's eyes before he closed it off from them. It was just a moment, but Natsume could tell the news of this woman's death hurt him considerably. It almost made Natsume feel bad that he was going to beat him to a bloody mess.
The blond man gave his head a tiny shake and then clapped his hands sharply in front of him. "Well this is not a time to be gloomy! The daughter of Yuka being here is cause for celebration! I'm Narumi Anjou. Feel free to call me Narumi or Naru if you like. Come; let me have a better look at you!" He cheerfully ordered, and held his arms open wide as if he was expecting Mikan to leap into them. Natsume took his arm off of Mikan so he could move himself in front of her. He didn't care who this guy was to Mikan's mother, there was no way he was going to let another man touch his mate again.
Narumi blinked and looked at him in surprise as if he had not even noticed Natsume's presence until now. Like had somehow forgotten Natsume attacking him. "I'm sorry I did not see you standing there. And you would be?" he asked nonchalantly.
Natsume began grinding his teeth together in an effort to not set fire to the jerk. "Her protector." He answered rudely back. He could not exactly claim formal mate status since he had yet to give his oath. Still, what he was to Mikan was none of the disgusting freak's business.
At that, Narumi gave him a winning smile and for some strange reason, the red felt his heart rate start to pick up and his cheeks start to heat up. What the hell? Only Mikan should be able to affect him like that. "Really? How wonderful of you to take care of her like that." The man Narumi said in a sugary sweet voice.
Whoa, is that a trick of the sunlight, or did he always have those sparkles around him?
Natsume was on the verge of saying something else rude but the words died in his throat. In fact, the words disappeared altogether. Instead, he found himself standing and gaping at the blond.
Now that he had taken a really good look at him, wondered how he failed to notice how truly attractive this man was. Come to think of it, he did not think he had ever seen such an attractive man. Natsume's preferences did not fall towards men, but this guy was quite beautiful really, more than most women. Those long slender limbs, that gorgeous face, those amazing eyes, they heated his blood almost as well as Mikan did.
Wow… he is just sooo… Natsume could not think of an appropriate word for how luscious this man was.
What a truly amazing week this had been for the red dragon! First he meets Mikan, and then he meets this amazing creature!
Natsume noted with a little bit of petulance, that this incredible Narumi –or Naru hehehe so sounds so cuuute- seemed to be paying more attention to Mikan than him. Humph he pouted, that was not very good. He liked Mikan too. Couldn't they share? After that, his thoughts wandered into forbidden glitter filled daydreams of three people engaged in various forms of exotic love-play where he was the dominant male with his two gorgeous lovers next to him.
Oooohh! That was a fantastic idea! He thought lustfully. He would have to talk Mikan right away. Naru should live with them! It would be perfect! He was ready to suggest just that great idea when Naru turned his beautiful eyes back to Natsume.
"Why don't you head off back to town now? I will take care of her now." He asked in his musical voice.
Wow! What a fantastic idea! He was really amazing! Not only was he gorgeous, he was so smart! He could go back to town and arrange for a hotel room that they all could spend the night in! Natsume was so excited that he could do nothing more than nod his head eagerly. He turned and took one step towards town when Mikan stopped him.
"Wait." She told him. Wait? Why wait? Why was she interfering with his mission? Really, she may be his true mate, but she was really starting to get in the way. It was bad enough that Naru liked her better, did she have to-
"Natsume, what is wrong with you?" she demanded, gripping his arm. Natsume suddenly felt something like a bubble pop inside of him and with a dizzying rush he came back to reality.
"I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!" He screamed. It was probably a good thing Mikan was holding him at that moment because chances are, the young, and now quite humiliated red would have caused devastation similar to that of an atom bomb. As it was, his fire and her nullification flared hard against each other causing a magic backlash. Bright light suddenly blinded all three of them and knocked them all into the dirt.
Fueled by blinding rage, Natsume was the first to recover. Without even a moment's thought he sprang up, but instead of landing on two feet, he transformed and landed on four.
KILL.
MUST KILL!
I'm going to bite off that disgusting head of yours and use it as a football. Then I'll disembowel you and weave your entrails into a net.
The son of a bitch blinked somewhat dazedly and barely registered surprise at the enormous body standing over him. Strange really, considering it was like a tiny Chihuahua dog standing up to a Clydesdale horse. And more importantly, in his dragon form, the freak's little pheromone induced love-spell would not work.
Natsume let out a deafening roar and slapped the ground with his tail hard enough to shake the leaves from the surrounding trees. Birds and woodland creatures started fleeing in a stampede as if he had already set fire to the forest.
In contrast, the only thing the ass could say was "Goodness aren't you big." Urgh, by the time Natsume was finished with him; even the forest scavengers would not want his remains.
Next to him, an annoying little mosquito was jumping about and trying her best to beat or pull on his huge foreclaw to draw his attention. "Natsume dammit, I said stop!" she screamed herself almost hoarse.
Don't even think of stopping me Mikan. This disgusting sack of shit is dead! Dead, dead, dead, dead, DEAD! What he needs is a quick flying lesson. He wondered if his murder victim would bounce first, or just go splat. Natsume was hoping for the splat. But first… He used the foreclaw that Mikan was not trying to beat on to flick the blond man that had been trying to get up. Natsume barely touched him, but the guy made a rather nice crunching sound when he hit a tree and landed in a heap at the base of its trunk.
"Please Natsume!" Mikan screamed again, while running out in front of his target.
Jeeze, Mikan, what is with you always doing the exact opposite of what I want? Can't you see the asshole has to die! I want him gone, down to his last molecule! Why could she not understand that? Why did she always have to get in the way?
He extended his claw and tried to nudge her away, but she shot him a mutinous look before dropping to the ground and draping herself over his prey as a shield. Now to be honest, the sight did not send him into a mindless, jealous rage. Well, no more so than when the bastard first hugged her. Because he still had his bond with her, he could feel she was doing this to protect the man rather than out of affection, so he knew there were no romantic intentions on her part. No, all it did was make him more pissed off in a general sense.
You are pushing it Mikan. He warned her, while baring his sharp teeth and snarling at them. Obviously she could not hear the exact words from his mind, but she could surely feel the intent.
Instead of moving or being obstinate, she did something he was unable to explain.
She quickly turned to the jerk she was trying to protect and somehow did something that caused his already dazed eyes to glaze over and close. What she did to make him pass out like that, he could not say. The only reason he knew she did something was because he saw was a tiny flash of light and he felt the magic flutter against his awareness. Once she was done whatever it was she was doing though, she stood and pulled away from his target, moving closer to him.
Just what is she up to? He would be an idiot to believe she had given up. His mate was way too stubborn for that.
Instead, she gave him a bright smile that made his body react in a way that had nothing to do with anger or rage. "Natsume," she began sweetly, "can you just hold off killing him long enough for me to find out what he knows about my mother?"
Just like it had with that Narumi creep, Natsume's view of Mikan seemed to go all hazy and sparkly. It took him a horrified moment to realize that she had somehow mimicked the bastard's seduction spell. But unlike that creep Narumi, their special bond gave her a pathway to use it while he was in his otherwise magic resistant dragon form. His tail curled and twitched and his eyes locked on to her like she was the only thing in the world.
The magic was imperfect though. Maybe it was because he was in dragon form, or that she was unused to using the magic, maybe it was because his never ending lust for her was natural, so he was somewhat immune. Whatever the cause, he was still somehow able to keep a part of his mind clear during the spell. All it really did was divert his anger to lust, which he always felt around her anyway.
Sensing the changes in him, she switched tactics to give him a sad puppy dog look. "Please Natsume?" Jeeze, she even quivered her bottom lip. Annoyed, he felt the bulk of his anger dissolve away. Rolling his large dragon eyes at her, he transformed back into his human form and snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her up against him.
"You. Owe. Me. Big." He growled at her before stealing a quick hot kiss.
"Thank you Natsume!" she smiled at him winningly which caused his arousal to spike.
"Don't even try to use his seduction trick." He warned darkly. "As it is, you are going to be paying for that little stunt tonight. And when this is all over, I am still going to kill him."
"Seduction?" she asked with a small frown.
"Yes. Seduction. What did you think he was doing?" he asked with a small frown of his own. She tried to imitate a spell without knowing what it was? What kind of idiot does that? She is luck it did not backfire on her.
"I thought it was some type of hypnosis." She answered honestly, causing him to give her an incredulous look. She what?
Her shook his head at her naiveté. "It took me a while to figure it out, but your new best friend is an incubus." He told her, while thinking back. He knew there was something about the way he spoke.
"An incubus?" she repeated in a somewhat distasteful tone. Obviously she had no idea that she was defending a psychic vampire who uses pheromone induced glamour to lure his victims. Heh, not so fond of him now are you? And to think, she would not let him kill the guy. He gave her a hard look that caused her to stamp her foot and pout at him. "Don't look at me like that! How was I supposed to know what he was? Even if I had met one before, their charms would not have worked on me." Well, she had a point there.
"I have never met a male one before. I didn't know there were some that could cross genders like this one." Now that Natsume was looking at the incubus' unconscious form, he was quick to notice how androgynous he looked. It was brilliant really. By neither looking particularly or overly male or female, he can be attractive to both genders and his ability to lure in victims would be at least doubled. Once again Natsume warned himself not to underestimate the guy. He may look and act like an idiot, but there were telltale signs that those were just masks to fool the incredibly stupid.
As a pair, they moved up to the man and Mikan crouched down to try and revive him.
Natsume had not made an issue of how she was able to duplicate the incubus's pheromones, and time and necessity said that now was not the time to discuss such matters, but he had by no means forgotten it. Night was rapidly approaching so the matter would have to sit and wait. She was still hiding things from him and he intended to find them all out.
He did notice that up until now, Mikan had kept her right hand suspiciously closed like she was clutching something tightly. He also noticed that when she went to revive the blond, he could feel the small surge of magic from that same hand. Almost instantly after that, Narumi's eyes opened and he gave them a weak smile.
Just the sight of the man made Natsume's lip curl in disgust. Mikan might be okay with knowing an incubus, but he was not. He did not like anything about the guy and he had to forcibly try not to think about what the … urgh… man did to him. The whole thing made his blood go cold.
Narumi blinked a few times before focusing on them. Mikan gave him a weak smile. "I guess I did not get a chance to introduce myself. I'm Mikan Yukihara and this is Natsume Hyuuga."
Narumi gave her a small smile before a small frown marred his lovely face and he looked at Natsume with a puzzled look. "Hyuuga? Goodness! I did not notice before! Might you be Karou's son?" he asked and the world came to a screeching halt. Natsume felt his insides tighten at the sound of his mother's name. This guy knew his mother as well? And on a first name basis no less.
The guy got up and brushed himself off before clapping his hands and beaming at them. "I don't know how I did not notice it before! You are the spitting image of your mother! Well this is a truly special occasion. Yuka and Izumi's daughter along with Karou's son both here! Together no less! Oh, there are so many people who are going to want to meet you!" The blond was almost bursting with excitement, which contrasted drastically with Natsume's shock.
Ever since he pulled Mikan out of the water, Natsume had felt like his life had been running wild and completely out of his control. He was not sure how many more surprises like this his heart could handle. "You knew my mother?" Natsume asked cautiously, wondering if there was some trick. She never once mentioned knowing an incubus or even being outside the clan.
Naru gave him a delighted smile. "Of course! We all used to be such good friends!"
Okay now he knew the guy was totally full of shit. Well… he was mostly sure… there is no way my mother would have had anything to do with these people right? He asked himself, no longer feeling sure of the answer.
While Natsume stewed on that, Narumi put his fingers to his lips and let out a sharp whistle. "Misaki! Where are you?" he asked but was met with silence which caused Narumi to frown again. "I know you are here Misaki~chan, don't make me come look for you! I will not be hap~py!" He called out a little louder, but his threat was delivered in that same musical sing-song quality.
Natsume looked around trying to see if he sensed someone else`s presence, but the only thing he registered were trees. Still, he got the impression that something was watching them unseen.
After several minutes of waiting, a shape started to break itself away from the largest tree in the area. At first, Natsume could not see anything other than the tree, but then the bark started to move and reform into a man until it finally broke free into a very grouchy looking man.
The newcomer had black hair and almost black eyes. He was glaring at Narumi with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "I told you to never ever to call me that." He said irritably and then he looked at Natsume and Mikan. For a second, the red dragon was sure there was surprise in the tree man`s eyes before it disappeared under his sour attitude. "What do you want?" he snapped.
"I need you to open up a path for these two." Narumi told him cheerfully.
The man Misaki flicked a glance at the two dragons then back at the incubus. "We don't let their kind in." he said bluntly. Natsume was trying not to be offended because he knew that dragons probably did not have the best reputation around Japan, but he could not help but stiffen at the guy's attitude.
Narumi did not even pause at the implied insult. "Come now you know as well as I that these are not just any ordinary visitors. This is Yuka and Karou's children we are talking about! Open the path before I become annoyed."
Misaki looked a little alarmed by the threat and looked at the underbrush behind him. Natsume did not see him do anything, but all of a sudden where there were once impassable brambles and bushes, there was now a clear path. And if he was not mistaken, that looked like the last rays of afternoon sunlight gleaming off water at the end of the path.
"Wow!" Mikan exclaimed excitedly.
Narumi grinned at her reaction. "We usually keep a barrier up to avoid outside intruders." He explained.
So that was why they kept walking in circles.
As a group they began to walk the path and both dragons noticed that as they progressed along the path, the plant life moved back in place behind them. Natsume was mildly impressed, but Mikan was gaping at it like she had never seen magic before. "I wish I could do something like that." She said wistfully.
Misaki's cheeks started to tint pink, but it was Narumi who said something. "Misaki is a sage. You might they are also call them druids. As you can see his magic works mostly around plants. He is quite an asset around here."
"And where is here?" Natsume asked in a barely polite tone. He still did not like the incubus. Unlike Mikan's uncle Tsubasa who he might actually learn to like, he doubted he would ever like this jerk.
Narumi and Misaki looked a little bit uncomfortable about his question. Misaki gave Narumi a warning look, but Narumi answered it anyway. "This is the last haven for any mystical creatures in Japan who do not support the dragon king."
Natsume felt his eyebrows shoot up. He did not think there was anyone left in Japan that did not owe fealty to his grandfather.
"Naru you are saying too much. He may be Karou's son, but he is still that man's grandson." Misaki growled. Natsume did not know what to say to that. He could claim he was different from his grandfather, but there was no way he could prove it. Instead, he chose to stay silent on the matter.
As they moved forward, the trees started to give way to shorter brush, and then even the brush thinned out as they got closer to the water. Next to him, he could feel his mate's excitement as they got closer to the lake. Come to think of it, he should probably get her in the water soon. She had only had a brief chance to take a dip in order to heal some of the marks he had put on her earlier. He took her hand and laced his fingers with hers, broadcasting feelings of affection.
As the last of the trees blocking their vision of the lake disappeared, Natsume was shocked to find dozens of houses surrounding the lakeshore. It was like a smaller version of the clan estate except without the exclusivity and prejudice of a dragon clan. Natsume himself could sense and smell a dozen different species all living together in this community.
How have they all managed to escape the old man's notice? He wondered.
As soon as they were clear of the trees, Naru directed them towards a small old house on the lake edge. "Before we do anything else, we have to meet the old man in charge of the place." He told them then turned to the sage "Misaki-" he began, but was cut off when the sage raised his hand to halt his words.
"Don't bother; I'll go let people know we have guests." He said in his grumpy way before leaving.
They followed Narumi up to the house where he knocked once and went in without waiting for a reply. "Jii-chan?" he called out. "You will never guess who I met today at the barrier." He called moving quickly from room to room while Mikan and Natsume stood awkwardly in the doorway. It was not a very large house and looking through it did not take all that long. Narumi must have found the home empty, because he was moving back towards them.
They were about to leave when they all heard the sound of shuffling steps coming from behind them. Natsume turned to find a very old, very short, very bald, very withered old man wearing nothing but flip-flops and a fundoshi. He briefly closed his eyes for fear the image of a short, wrinkly old man in his underwear would be burned into his retinas. Next to him, Mikan let out a tiny sound before dropping her eyes uncomfortably to the ground.
The old man continued to shuffle closer to Mikan until he was uncomfortably close to her causing her to squirm. Reflexively, Natsume pulled her closer to him and gave the old man a warning look that the geezer ignored.
"Do my old eyes deceive me or is that our Yuka-chan coming back to us?" he asked in a reed-thin voice.
Narumi thankfully took over from there "Jii-chan, this is Yuka and Izumi's daughter, Mikan!" he said in that loud voice you use for old people that are hard of hearing.
"Yuka's girl you say?" he asked and pointed a gnarled finer at Mikan "Girl you look just like your mother did at your age. And who is this strapping young thing next to you?" He asked, giving Natsume a look that had him fighting not to squirm as well. Natsume was about to introduce himself when they heard others approach.
The first was a lovely young woman with silvery-black hair curled cutely into ringlets and silvery eyes. Unless Natsume missed his guess, this was a snow woman, but it was her companion that held his attention.
He was about Natsume's height with messy black hair and maroon colored eyes a shade or two darker than Natsume's own eyes. Natsume stared at him for several seconds trying to assimilate what he was seeing. He recognized the features easily but had never seen the relaxed, friendly look on them. Hell, the man was smiling! He did not know that face could smile! Even the scent of him was somewhat off. Still, he was getting closer to Mikan, so Natsume shoved his mate behind him and dropped into a fighting stance.
"Persona!" he growled darkly, "What are you doing here!"
tbc
AN: Before we go any further, the answer is no, no and yes.
No, you did not just read a typo.
No, Persona does not have a twin brother.
Yes it is an annoying cliffhanger and I will start to explain what is going on next chapter. I can say it is unusual but it is the last of the major surprises I have.
Whew! It has been a busy few weeks for me! The worst part was that I had to write a certification exam. It is for my job. I don't want to get too detailed at explaining what I do because quite frankly it would be a pain. Suffice it to say this, I work in environmental protection and in order to move up in my job, I have to take higher levels of government certification. I'm trying not to stress out about how I did. Some questions I smoked through and others I'm not so sure about.
…
WAHH I failed! I know I failed!
…
Ahem…
Okay I don't really get the results for another few weeks, but you know what is really disturbing? Writing a test you don't feel extremely confident about and then finding you were the first finished. I did just that. I wrote the test and had to wait outside the testing hall for a few co-workers only to find I WAS THE ONLY ONE DONE. Instantly I was like 'Oh no! I must have done something wrong! Did I miss any questions? Why am I done so far before all the others?' It was a very creepy feeling because once you leave the testing hall you cannot go back in.
Oh well, the worst thing that can happen is that I have to re-write the test. WAHH I DON'T WANNA RE-WRITE IT! IT WAS HARD!
Ahem…
I'm calm. I must remain calm. No amount of panicking or whining will change my test score now.
Anyhow I regret that I did not get much time to answer reviews like I normally try to do. I will try next time. I hope to have a few days off soon so maybe I can push ahead in my story a bit faster. That is of course unless they call me to come into work on my days off. Seriously, we have been so busy that almost every day I have off they are calling to ask me to come in. I'm starting to get worn out. I feel like yelling into the phone 'Leave me alone you stalkers!' but I don't think any supervisors would be thrilled to hear that.
Maybe I should just change my number.
Or better yet, shut off my phone.
At least you guys cheer me up!