Author's Note

Here's chapter 5. This thing is nearly twice as long as any previous chapter, so please do enjoy!

And an inhuman roar sounded from behind him.

An intense heat fills the clearing, creating a small amount of steam as some of the rain evaporates. Before my assaulter could turn, he was howling in agony as he was engulfed in what appeared to be a black flame. He fell to his knees and raised that clawed hand again before something grabbed him from behind, holding him up by the back of his neck. When he continued to reach for me it seems whatever held him lost its patience and a snap resounded in the clearing as his body went limp. His burning corpse was unceremoniously tossed aside. It sailed out of the clearing before slamming into a tree and falling to the ground with a thump.

Lightning flashed once more. I could now see my rescuer and I wasn't sure if this was better or worse.

He was looking straight at me, and I knew it was a "he" because I'd be very surprised if a girl could have a chiseled chest and torso like that, for he wasn't wearing a shirt.

Black was dancing on the edges of my vision as I looked up at what I suppose could be described as a demon. Then he spoke.

"Are you alright?" his voice was doubled toned, almost as if a second person was speaking with him.

I start a bit at his voice. My tongue feels heavy, so I nod my affirmation that I am unharmed to him. The black was encroaching further into my vision as I struggled to remain conscious, but it was a lost battle. As the darkness swallowed me, the last thing I saw was the monster who rescued me moving forward towards my tilting figure.

I could hear it, the rain pounding down on the roof over my prison. It was ruining my good mood from her visit.

I hate the rain. Whenever my world took a turn for the worse, it rained. I'm not sure if it's the universe's way of saying "screw you" or just coincidence, but it sure feels a lot like the former rather than the later. I don't hate it quite so much as I used to, oh who am I kidding, I still hate it with a burning passion, but she likes it, so I guess I'll tolerate it and try to hate the rain a little less.

In my attempt to better tolerate the rain, I decided to stay up and listen to it pound against the roof. It sounds like a hell of a storm out there, I wouldn't be surprised if I hear some thunder soon.

Then I feel it. Her presence bursts into my prison area and it is filled with fear and desperation. Close on her heels comes the presence of a yokai filled with pain, anger, and killing intent. I have never wanted so badly to be free of this damned prison then that moment when I realized that she was going to die right in front of me. If she truly died on this night, my heart would likely fall apart again and I'm not sure if it would be possible to fix it any more. And I'd have another bastard on my Things to Kill list, something I really need to complete. It's too bad that I can only get back to working on it once someone lets me out of the damned box.

Suddenly, the whole box is shaking. And then, there's a crack. There's a crack in the box and the seals are almost non-existent. I don't hesitate, I barely think, and I charge that crack and force my way out of that damnable prison.

I quickly work on assuming a physical form, but it's taking longer than I want. She's in danger and I'll be damned if I don't save her because I've been nothing more than a ball of flame for the past however the hell long and have trouble getting a proper form. As I finish the transformation, noting in the back of my mind that it's that form, I turn to the bastard that would kill her, ready to take him down.

A roar of challenge and rage rips its way free of my throat. I can see him flinch. I can sense, I can smell his fear at my challenge and it stirs a sadistic pleasure in me that he is scared. Before the bastard can do anything, I set him ablaze. My rage fuels the flames, the rain has no hope of extinguishing them. I won't let him die a peaceful death, he will writhe and burn before he can even consider the cool embrace of death. But that stubborn bastard reaches for her in an attempt to land that damned attack on her. I won't let him touch her, so I grab him by the back of the neck, only checking my grip enough to make sure his neck isn't snapped. A growl, barely audible to human ears, but I know that this thing in my grip can hear it, slips up my throat. It's his final warning, if he doesn't stop, I will end him, right now. He reaches again and that little control I have slips as my rage climbs one more. The snap of his neck from my tightened grip is music to my enraged mind.

I have no use for this burning corpse, so I toss it outside the garden of this shrine, I can actually call it that now that I'm not trapped in the damn thing. She's worked too hard on growing these flowers for them to be wrecked by the thing that tried to kill her.

My rage lessens to a simmer with the threat to her safety removed and I realize that I have yet to see her. I'm not sure if I want to see her now. What if she's not as beautiful as I think she must be? What if she doesn't really care about me? What if she's scared of me? What if she's hurt? The questions keep running through my head, but the one that eats at me is 'What if she hates me?' I'm not sure I could deal with that realization, not when I've spent the last three months with only her company and grown so attached to her.

I can handle her not being beautiful, I like her as a person, her appearance hardly matters to me. I can handle her not caring for me, I can just care for her and work on getting her to like me. I can handle her fear, being made of fire, I can pick a form that isn't terrifying. I could try being a bunny, she thinks those are cute, even if they are useless in a fight. I can maybe handle her being hurt. I'll probably freak out a bit and get angry about not making that bastard suffer longer, but I'll take care of her. If she's bleeding too much I can cauterize the wound, if she can't move I can take her to safety, I can take care of her.

But if she hates me, I don't know what to do. When I hate something, I do my best to destroy it so it can't bother me again, at least when it's not a force of nature, stupid rain. I couldn't hurt her, it just wasn't a possibility for me, so if she attacked me, tried to end me, I could only run. I won't, I can't fight her. I'm a monster, but I could never hurt her, even if she hates me.

Even with this inner turmoil, that desire to see her lays underneath it all. So I steel my nerves and turn towards her.

Lightning flashes and I get a clear view of her. She's more beautiful than anything I could have imagined, though I suppose that's not saying much considering I'm not very imaginative and it's been a long time since I've seen anyone, or even anything. She is so soaked by the rain that her hair and all her clothes are stuck to her. She sits upon the ground with her legs curled before her. Her clothing is strange, she wears pants, but they are not hakama or gi, and her top is not a kimono or yukata, but rather something very form fitting, leaving no guesses about how generous her bust is. In fact, her figure in general seems to fit what I have heard many men describe as ideal: long legs, smooth skin, and curves galore. I quickly track my eyes up because I'm a monster, not a pervert. She has long hair, the color is hard to guess with the lighting, but if asked to guess, I would say some shade of brown. Her face is an oval and smooth without blemish. Plush lips and a button nose decorate her face.

Now for my moment of truth, to look into her eyes and see what she thinks of me. My eyes flick up and I internally wince. Fear. It is written clearly in her eyes and I resign myself to the potential fate of bunnydom, but I'll try assuring her I mean no harm first. Besides I need this question answered.

"Are you alright?"

Shit. I see her twitch at the sound of my voice. Dammit, how could I forget I was in that form and how it doesn't sound human when I talk? But then she breaks me from those thoughts by nodding her head. Relief washes through me, I was able to help her in time. Then the fear returns as she begins to topple over sideways. I rush forward and catch her before she hits the ground. I gently cradle her and shake her shoulders to see if I can get her to wake up. She won't wake.

I let lose a small sigh before lifting her into my arms and cradling her against my chest. I've decided I'll return her to her rooms in the temple. It shouldn't be too hard since she once described the place to me and I should be able to smell which one is hers once we're out of the rain. I quietly set off down the small trail that leads away from this place, careful not to jostle her. I can't help but treat her like glass, she feels so fragile in my arms.

As I tread the paths to the building she has told me she has recently been moved into, I notice that she seems to be getting cold, so I raise my body temperature to help keep her warm. I look up and notice an open door to the outside deck. Her scent just barely wafting out of the room. I climb on to the deck and out of the rain. We're both soaked to the bone and I know without a proper heat source she'll get sick if left to dry on her own. Letting lose another sigh, I heat the air around us causing steam to lift from our figures as the water evaporates off of us. Once I'm satisfied that she is properly dried and warmed, I place her in the futon on the floor and tuck her in.

I look around to see that her room is sparsely decorated, just a dresser, desk, and small table are in the room. There is a line of dolls, all shaped like animals, on a shelf. I notice a picture on the table and quietly move over to look at it. It is a smiling young man with shoulder length hair and the beginnings of some western style top visible. I guess this must be her brother as she told me she kept a picture of him in her room. Next to the frame are the two hair pins that were a gift from her brother. I gently brush my fingers against them, placing a small spark in each so that if she's ever put in danger I can use those sparks to sense it and race to her side to help. They should work well since she wears them every day.

As I withdraw my hand, I freeze. I'm looking around a girl's room uninvited and she's unconscious in the room with me. Shit, shit, shit! The implications and possible accusations race through my mind as that thought sinks in. Dammit! I sprint for the door and slam it shut behind me, my breath comes in quick pants as my cheeks heat up and I focus on not doing the same to the general area. I'm absolutely flooded with mortification at what could have happened.

Once I calm down a bit, I pick myself up from where I had slumped against the door. I don't really have anywhere to go and I'm still weak from being sealed for so damn long. It certainly doesn't help that some of the seals drained my power from me. Staying in the temple is a definite no, they're in charge of keeping me sealed and convincing them not to reseal me is just a mess I'm in no condition to properly deal with. I need shelter from the rain and the only other one I can think of is my old prison. Guess I don't have a choice.

I hop off the veranda and head back the way I came. Soon enough I'm back at that clearing. As I look upon it, I can actually appreciate the flowers she's gown around it. I also notice the disarray of the talismans, tags, and ropes from the crash that freed me. I move forward and carefully arrange them back to the way they were, then step back to admire my handiwork. I gotta admit, I got lucky, the crack in the box is positioned right behind one of the larger tags, so unless someone is doing a thorough check of the seals here, they won't notice I'm free. Satisfied that the patch job will fool the casual observer, I turn back to flame and tuck myself away into the box to rest and regain my strength.

I'll protect her and rain fire down upon any moron who would try to hurt her. I'm a monster, but I've promised myself to be her monster.

Geez, that stupid kid almost gave me a heart attack. I knew he'd been sealed, but I can't believe I forgot where, I must be losing my touch. I suppose I should put in some training hours sometime soon.

He took down the lycanthrope, which is good, and kindly took the girl back to her room without a scratch on her, which is better. It's good to see that his imprisonment has at least gotten him to cool down a little. I know we've talked about breaking him out before, but that temper has always been the debated factor as to whether or not that's a good idea.

Guess I'm done here, time to head home, get dried off, and curl up and enjoy some nice milk. I'll have to tell him that the kid's out, we'll probably have to help him get settled into the world and readjusted to all the changes that have occurred while he's been out. On the bright side, I'm sure he'll be just as fun to tease as he used to be and he's always been a good sparring doll.

I'll drop by tomorrow to observe them both, make sure they're okay.

And with that decision made, I padded off into the night, headed for home.

Please review/comment and tell me how I did.