Readers do not worry; the mysterious BEAST shall reveal her name soon…
Chapter 5
The Chopper ride back to the Den was the same like all the other times after the mission was completed. The only difference now was instead of hanging near the Chopper door looking out at the desolate wasteland I'm stuck watching my recently acquired baggage.
She was a handful retrieving and carrying back to the Chopper. Due to my bright idea of tying her up I had to carry her bridal style. I would have carried her like a sack of potatoes but Sakuya disapproved, saying that it would be too uncomfortable for her and she'd wake up sore. She lives in a forest I'm sure she would've been fine. And I could have been saved from Sakuya's and Lindow's idiotic teasing of me being such a 'prince charming.'
For someone who put up one hell of a fight she was rather light and soft. Warmth radiated off her and her heartbeat was calming, usually I'd be mad at my damn super senses but I was too distracted by her face leaning on my chest. Although her mask was on, blocking her cheeks' contact with my body, her warm breath still blew on my chest at the speed of peaceful slumber. The mask irritated me; I wanted it off and gone. Don't get me wrong, I don't give a damn about seeing her face, I just wanted to make sure she's asleep and not just faking it with those lively green eyes actually open right now.
God knows how awkward things got when I removed her weapons and asked Sakuya to check to see if she had any other weapons on her body. Watching Sakuya feel around her body made me start to heat up, suddenly making me wish it was my hands instead of hers. I shot that thought down the moment it surfaced. But my thoughts got right back up and out of control when Sakuya past her chest for a second. It made me think of the moment my face was in her chests. It was warm, soft, and a little squishy. I wanted to return to that valley. God, what was wrong with me, I'm not some dog in heat. I was grateful when Sakuya's search was over and my tortures with it. I'm not a religious person, but I thanked whatever God there was out there that Sakuya or Lindow didn't notice, mostly Lindow, everybody knows he wouldn't let that go.
She was leaning on the wall beside me sleeping through the whole flight back to the Den, to my relief. Near the end of the trip she started to wake, letting out a moan that made us tense. But there would be no trouble from her. The tranquilizer still had an effect on her. Her movement was minimal and slouchy, not as lethal as she was before, she seemed to be half asleep. When the Chopper landed me and Lindow grabbed her arms and dragged her into the Den, Lindow being gentler than me. But I didn't give a damn, I was having a bad day as it is. She seemed drained and put up no fight as she tried to walk with us.
We caused quite a commotion in the Den as we came in looking like hell with a nearly unconscious tied up wild girl. It didn't help either that the Director came down to meet us.
"So this is her," he said giving us a look over. "Good work, it seems she gave you some trouble."
"She has a mean right hook, sir." Lindow replied with a grin while scratching the back of his head.
Then the Director brought his attention back to her. "I see. She's more of a wild power than I imagined, true to her name." Then he stepped closer. "But I wonder, is there a beast behind the mask?"
The Director removed her mask. Her eyes were half-lid, but suddenly came to life. Her eyes shot open, letting out a roar of rage as she broke through her ropes. She shook off Lindow and when she couldn't shake me she elbowed me in the stomach. With the breath knocked out of me for a second, she used the moment's opening to leap at the Director. The whole Den took action ready to defend the Director, but she didn't attack. Her target was her mask. As soon as she grabbed her mask from him, she dashed to the wall. She faced us in a crouched battle stance growling at us with the fire revived in her eyes as she held her mask protectively to her chest.
This is ridiculous; she treated that mask as if it was her child, a valued treasure, something precious. But now that it was completely off I noticed that the ornaments of three locks wrapped in a cloth with fangs attached at the end, one tooth bigger than the others, were apart of her hair not the mask. They hung over her left shoulder, in an order that contrasted with her wild platinum hair. Come to think of it, her Vajratails had one tooth ornament in their long fur too.
The Director looked at his hand then turned back to her. "I see, like a wounded beast cornered. My apologies, if I had known you'd react this way I would have left your mask alone." She didn't move. "My name is Johannes von Schicksal, Director of Fenrir's Far East Branch. I had you brought here to ask you to join us in the fight against the Aragami. You are a possible candidate of being a New-Type Gods Eater. With you in our ranks humanity has more of a chance of survival, so will you join our cause?"
But she didn't move, not a single reaction. "Do you even understand what I'm saying?"
"Of course she doesn't. She's lived outside the Anti-Aragami Wall with no contact with humans. There was no possibility for her to learn the human language," answered Dr. Sakaki as he exited the elevator.
"Doctor, I'm surprised to see you out of your lab," replied the Director with a grin.
"How could I stay still when such a prize specimen is so close." With his usual big smile and closed eyes he approached her, invading her personal space by getting in her face. She backed up as much as she could, with surprise and confusion written on her face. It appears she didn't see him as a threat, but seemed to have no idea how to react to his shenanigans. "She lived outside the Anti-Aragami Wall for almost all her life in a dog-eat-dog world and thrived.
"Just think, if we taught her our language, what kind of things she could tell us. What did she eat? How did she gather her materials? What is the meaning behind her coexistence with certain Aragami? What is this cloth her clothes are made of? The possibilities are limitless." When he opened his eye-lids I could have sworn I saw a twinkle in his eyes.
Dr. Sakaki then turned to the Director. "Give me a month with her to teach her the language and get her familiar with human contact. Then she's all yours… well except for my time with her for Aragami lectures and question time. Oh, I mean therapy time."
The Director tilted his head and grinned. "Hm, do as you must. This works out better for me anyway. Can't have her not understanding orders. Just don't get carried away with your experiments, Paylor." With that the Director left for his office.
Dr. Sakaki then turned to her, giving her more space than last time. Stretching out his hand to her and speaking more gently and with less excitement. "Don't worry, I mean you no harm. I just want to be your friend."
She looked at his hand, then him, and back to his hand. She hesitated at first, but in the end reached out and took his hand.