I know that usually I'd have lyrics up here, but as the song ended last chapter...well, you get me up here from now on. :D I hope you all are enjoying my story so far, and stick with me to the end...and beyond~

Pain. That's all I could feel as those words struck me worse than a physical blow. My eyes watched the goddess in front of me as she smirked behind that stupid fan of hers, clearly pleased with herself for causing my body to lock up, unable to even flinch back when Takeru's hand tightened on my wrist.

"Kushinada!" he shouted, his voice a mix between anger and shame. "How did you get here?!"

"I came through your portal, of course. It's the only one for miles, after all." She stood their casually, playing off the fact that she had quite literally broken me with a few simple words.

Takeru's teeth ground audibly behind me. "Go back," he ordered her, his voice low and threatening.

"Fine, I just wanted to see what had kept you so long. We do have to set up plans before summer's end." With that final jab, she turned and gracefully walked over the sand, disappearing into the cave.

I remained where I was, staring after her. To be wed? He was engaged to another? My mind refused to accept these facts, and I turned my head, expression horrified.

The sea god refused to meet my gaze, instead grimacing as he looked out to the sea. "Damn that woman!" he shouted, letting go of my wrist so he could clench his fists without hurting me. I mearly stared at him, waiting for him to explain things as I'd lost my voice.

He ran a hand through his hair in frustration before sighing and turning back to me, those amber eyes I loved so much anguished. "I'm so sorry, pearl, but it's true...she and I are engaged, and will be married by summer's end."

"Why...?" My voice was barely a whisper, but Takeru heard it anyway and cringed.

"She requested the arrangement, and the Emerpor agreed to it. There's nothing I can do."

"Nothing you can do?" I echoed, my shock slowly fading away, being replaced by a burning anger. "Nothing you can do?! You're a god! There has to be something you can do!"

"I've already tried!" he shouted. "That's the first thing I did was try to disolve this blasted engagement. But even I dare not go against the Emperor!"

"Why won't you?!" I demanded, my fists clenched and shaking in rage. "I don't care if he's the all powerful being, no one should have the power to make you do what you don't want to do! And why?" I added on, barely stopping for a breath. "Why didn't you tell me taht any of this was going on?!"

"Because I knew you'd act like this!" The god glared at me, his own anger flickering to life. "Do you think I wanted us to just stop being together? I tried to stop it!"

"You didn't try hard enough!" A part of me told me to stop, to shut up before either of us said something that we couldn't take back, but I just couldn't bring myself to care. I was too angry, too hurt that because of his lack of a will to fight, I would loose him to another woman.

"I did everything in my power!" he countered, those eyes flashing from amber to gold in an instant.

"Then you should have gone beyond your power! I'm not going to let yourself just give up and be taken away from me!" I sobbed, desperatly trying to convince him.

"I'm not the all powerful being you think I am, Yukino," he hissed, clearly holding himself back. "I'm a lower caste god, shunned by most for my rashness and lack of ettiquite. Who was I supposed to go to?"

"Well if you had saved that goddess from falling off the cliff, maybe you'd have someone!"

My eyes widened in horror as soon as the words left my lips, and I slammed my hands over my mouth as I saw him go stock still, his golden eyes blazing in fury...and pain. I had crossed the line.

A bright flash of light, and he was suddenly in his god form, his transformation proof of just how angered he'd become. I took a step back, feeling fear for the first time in his presence as that rage was directed at me.

"T-takeru, I'm s-"

"Shut up."

His tight voice cut me off, and I shrank into myself in shame as he stalked forward. I thought he would stop in front of me to keep arguing, but instead, he passed me without even a glance. A horrified chill ran down my spine at the cold dismissal he'd just given me, and I whirled around to grab his wrist, trying to stop him.

I regretted the decision as her turned and gave me the coldest look I'd seen in my life. My grip instantly released, and I stared up at him in abject terror.

"I'm going back to my world. You're not to follow me, or call to me ever again. I won't respond if you do, either, so you might as well not even try." His voice was colder than winter ice, pushing me away like a frosty blast. "Goodbye, human."

With that, he walked away, not looking back as I fell to my knees in the sand, tears finally sliding down my cheeks as the Rampaging God disappeared into the cave and out of my life.

"How dare he!"

I slammed the door of my apartment, stamping inside and flicking the light on viciously. I didn't even bother to take my shoes off, instead choosing to go to my room, grab a pillow and flop onto the futon. I buried my face into it, trying to stop the sobs racking my body.

Why? I found myself thinking, feeling the tears spill over into the fabric of the pillow. I lifted my head and stared at the wall in a mix of anger, pain and guilt. Why did he hide that from me?

On the way home after our fight, my sadness had become mixed with rage, not just directed at him, but at myself. How could I have been stupid enough to use his past against him? The death of the goddess that had taken care of Takeru when he was young was a very painful point for him still, and I'd just slammed a spike directly into it.

How dare he? More like how dare I...

My hand drifted up to where the pearl still rested on my throat, feeling the sharp chill coming from it. More tears threatened to come, and I gripped my pillow more tightly to try and stop them.

I had lost him, the one man I had truely come to love, cherish, and most importantly, trust. I had lost all of it, and the despair that threatened to drag me down to the pits of hell made me swear to myself a very serious promise that I was sure to never break.

"I'll never trust anyone again..."

"Damn it!"

Takeru punched the tree in front of him, breathing heavily as he tried to vent out all the rage, frustration and pain he was feeling after coming back through the pool. His eyes clenched shut, trying to banish the look of pain and fear on Yukino's face from his mind's eyes, but it just kept returning, kept making his heart ache...

"God damn it!"

Another punch, another dent in the tree. He felt the skin on his knuckles split, but he couldn't bring himself to care at all. The pain he had caused her today far exceeded his own, and he knew it. The sea god leaned his forehead against the bark of the tree, teeth clenching as he tried to hold his emotions in.

That one remark she had made had hurt him deeply, so deeply that for a few seconds, his mind shut down in rage. A feeling of shame crept upon him as he recalled wanting to hurt her for hurting him, something he had pushed away at once, but he'd still thought it. Even if she pissed him off to no end, Takeru refused to hurt her physically.

So that makes the emotional damage delt okay? his mind asked coldly.

He slammed his forehead against the biting bark on the tree, feeling a few scrapes appear. He didn't want to think, to feel. All he wanted was to get away, as far away as he could before he snapped.

"Takeru."

The sea god's head whipped around, his golden eyes meeting that of his brothers. He paused at the clear concern at his distress, but Takeru didn't want to talk yet. The pain was still there, much too fresh. He faced the tree again, hand digging into the sharp bark.

"Go away, brother. I don't want to hurt you."

"I saw Kushinada-hime come from your home. I was worried something had happened."

"Something did happen!" Takeru shouted, punching the tree. A sharp cracking sound was heard from within, and both gods knew that a few more hits like that and it would fall. "I was going to tell her, I wanted to make it easy on her, but that bitch...that damn bitch..."

His voice broke finally, and he had to turn his head to keep the tears from falling down. He was a god, he shouldn't be crying over a fight with a human...over the girl whose heart felt the same his did at that moment. He could vaguely sense her pain beneath his own, and for the first time ever he cursed the link the pearl gave them.

A light touch on his shoulder had him looking back to his brother, his face twisted in anguish. A similar expression lay on his brothers, and he felt himself break down.

"I hurt her...I swore to protect her always, but I just ended up abandoning her and hurting her..." The tears finally started to fall, and the sea god was grateful that none were around to see his pitiful state of despair.

"...Come inside, brother." Tsukito tugged the blunette towards his house, knowing that if any bothered the sea god right now or came across him, everything would just end up worse than it already was. Takeru followed his brother silently, thankful that at least he cared for him.

Tsukito had his brother sit on the futon in the guest bedroom before going to look for something. Takeru's hand clenched in his lap as he held back the liquid threatening to spill from his eyes even faster than it already was.

The Moon god returned, handing him a cup of strange smelling liquid. He glanced up to him, not even having to ask aloud.

"It'll help numb the pain for now. Lay down after you take it, it will make you sleep after a few minutes." With that, the elegant god left the room, closing the door behind himself.

Not hesitating, Takeru downed the contents of the cup, making a face at the foul taste that coated his tongue. He lay back on the pillow as his brother had instructed, staring up at the ceiling as his head slowly started to spin as the medicine took effect.

As much pain as he was in now, he couldn't bring himself to regret meeting Yukino. That sharp, dorky girl who loved the sea had claimed his heart without even trying, just as he knew she had fallen for him the same way. Takeru let his eyes slide shut as his thoughts turned fuzzy, slowly sinking into the sweet release of unconciousness.

If only I could have protected her...

Then, he fell into a deep sleep.

Tsukito peeked in on his slumbering brother after a few minutes, sighing in relief as the medicine had done it's job. He shut the shojo and glided to the living room, peering out the window to the moon above.

A figure shifted in the dark nearby, drawing his attention to them. His gold eyes narrowed only slightly before he bowed his head in respect. "He hurts, mi'lord."

"He will get over it," an elderly voice responded. The moon god couldn't help but shake his head in disagreement.

"This kind of pain is not so easily dismissed, I'm afraid. It's a shared one, and as long as one hurts, the other shall as well."

"Is that how deep the bond is already?" The voice was surprised, and Tsukito saw a hand reach up to stroke a long grey beard in thought. "That is troublesome...I thought I had seperated them in time."

"May I ask what you mean, mi'lord?" Tsukito bowed his head politely, though he glanced to the figure in slight suspission.

"They have a bond, one that allows them to feel what the other is thinking, doing, or feeling. When someone with a bond like that falls in love, it's usually too late to sever it without high repricussions." A shake of the head followed. "I was too late to spare them pain."

"What needs to be done now?"

A heavy silence followed that question, and the purple haired god tensed under the stare from wise golden eyes.

The Emperor leaned back and sighed heavily, his hand still stroking his long grey beard. "For now, we wait. If the bond has truely broken, he will be fine. If not...then perhaps I will have to reconsider what I will be doing with him and that human of his."