Chapter 62: The Best Laid Schemes

[Scene: The Hen Tie high faculty bathroom. Zoi's confirmed Kunzite still has feelings for him.]

Zoi: I knew it. [secures his arms behind Kunzite's neck and gives Kunzite a sly look] I knew you were just trying to trick Esmeraude Blackmoon into thinking you didn't love me anymore.

Kunzite: I wasn't trying to trick Esmeraude Blackmoon. I was trying to trick you.

Zoi: You're going to have to try a lot harder than that…[kisses him] …So why were you trying to trick me?

Kunzite: I wanted you to break up with me for real.

Zoi: [frowns] You were mad.

Kunzite: Yes.

Zoi: But you—

Kunzite: I wasn't mad at you. Can't you see that Zoisite? Don't you understand?

Zoi: Understand what?

Kunzite: That I'm never angry with you – how can I be? Brave, trusting…warm as you are?

Zoi: Then why?

Kunzite: I infuriate myself. The way I can't seem to keep from putting you in danger. My very existence has put you at risk. Sometimes I truly hate myself. I should have been stronger. I should have been able to—

[Zoi takes his face in his hands]

Zoi: I love you. I will always love you. No matter what happens now.

[He kisses Kunzite with everything he's got. Kunzite can't resist kissing him back]

Kunzite: Damn it, Zoisite, you'll be the death of me, I swear you will.

Zoi: You're indestructible.

Kunzite: I might have believed that, before I met you.

[They go back to kissing but eventually Kunzite staggers back and breaks Zoi's grip easily]

Kunzite: Now let's get out of here before we do something really stupid.

Zoi: I vote we do something really stupid instead.

[Kunzite's face takes on a wicked smile]

[Zoi unbuckles Kunzite's belt. Kunzite pulls him up for another kiss as he yanks the zipper of Zoi's sweatshirt down pulls from his shoulders. He only gets it half way down to his elbows before he freezes with a look of horror on his face and backs away.]

Zoi: What's wrong?

[Kunzite trembles and his face takes on a look of animal rage.]

[Zoi looks down and sees that his upper arms are covered in dark red splotches. Some large, most the size of Demande Blackmoon's fingers. Kunzite pulls the sweatshirt back up.]

Kunzite: You're injured… He hurt you.

Zoi: [giggles dismissively] I did it to myself, really. It's mostly defensive marks from me trying to get away from him.

[Kunzite doesn't seem mollified in the slightest. He looks away]

Zoi: Oh that's nothing. I bruise ridiculously easy.

[Kunzite seems even more upset]

Zoi: Kunzite?

Kunzite: You're leaving tonight! I'm bringing you straight to your mother's. You tell your father you can't stand another minute in Hen Tie so I'm driving you to the airport. Tell him whatever story works. Pack only what you need and then get back in the car. You have fifteen minutes, do you hear me? Fifteen minutes from the time you cross the doorstep.

Zoi: [nods] Don't worry. I've already thought this through.

[Later, in the car]

Kunzite: So what are you going to tell your parents?

Zoi: I'm going to tell my father that I'm leaving because he grounded me for two months. That I called my mother and complained he's too strict, so she booked me a flight and insisted I come straight home.

Kunzite: And what are you going to tell your mother?

Zoi: I'm going to tell my mother that my father threw me out because it's too difficult for him to deal with my attention seeking antics and my constant emotional outbursts.

Kunzite: And when they compare stories?

Zoi: My parents don't talk to each other…This isn't going to be pleasant, but it will work. [Zoi's eyes tear up.] I'm really going to miss it here.

Kunzite: I thought you hated Hen Tie.

Zoi: I do, but I'm going to miss my dad. I'm going to miss my friends. I never had any friends before I came to Hen Tie.

[Kunzite has never had any friends either. He still doesn't see the point of them. But Zoi's sorrow is heartbreaking for him.]

Kunzite: [frowns] There's something else I can try. If it works, you'll be able to return here.

Zoi: [hopeful] What is that?

Kunzite: I'll ask Mother to make you into a Shitennou. Then you'd be safe from the Blackmoons. I still think you're far too young. I would have preferred to wait a decade or so. But in this case, it can't be helped.

Zoi: Yes it can! Your mother hates me, remember? You're not supposed to ask your mother for favors.

Kunzite: This isn't a favor. This is my right as First Among Kings. She can't expect me to stand by and do nothing while a pack of lessor beings whittle away at my pride like this.

Zoi: She won't do it. You've heard her, she thinks I'm another Endymion. Some spoiled little pet that you brought into her house to make trouble for her.

[Zoi remembers the curse Metalia inflicted on Beryl for her audacity]

Zoi: Oh, no! What if your mother decides to punish you for even asking?

Kunzite: Zoisite, don't you dare waste time worrying about me. Your only concern is keeping yourself safe.

Zoi: If something were to happen to you…how could I live with myself if it's my fault?

Kunzite: Zoisite. Stop. You're worried about the wrong things. My mother would not do such a thing. She has only three sons and she needs a fourth. She can't afford to sacrifice her strongest on a jealous whim. My only fear is losing you.

Zoi: Maybe she knows that. Maybe she'll punish you by making it so that we can never be together.

Kunzite: For thousands of years I've been alone. Now I've found you. You can't see the change in me, not like those who have known me for so long. None of them would want me to go back to the way I was before. Mother least of all.

Zoi: I wish I could believe that… But I see the way she looks at me. She might just turn me over to the Blackmoons just to spite the both of us. [shudders] Why did this happen? Why me?

Kunzite: It's my fault. I was a fool to expose you like this.

Zoi: That's not what I meant. I was there at Blackmoon Cove, big deal. I was surrounded by other, more beautiful, people. He didn't bother any of the others. Why did this Demande decide to go after me? He's already got a harem, for godsake. There were people all over the place, why me?

Kunzite: I'm not sure there is anything you could have done to avoid this, once he saw you. It is partly your fault. [Wry] If you didn't look so appallingly luscious, he might not have bothered. But when he discovered his powers don't work on you, that made it a lot worse.

[Kunzite's face takes on a look of disgust]

Kunzite: He's not used to be thwarted, no matter how insignificant the prize. He thinks of himself as a Casanova and nothing else. His existence is consumed with conquest, and a challenge is all he asks out of life. Suddenly he's presented with a beautiful challenge. He meets you. He tries to mesmerize you with his powers of seduction, and you reject him. That's never happened to an Alpha of Nemesis. He's aroused all the more by it. He sees you at the store in a compromising situation. You can't believe how euphoric he becomes. It's his favorite game and you just made it the most exciting game ever. He's not going to stop until he can claim victory.

[Kunzite goes quiet for a while]

Zoi: Then if he does turn up in Phoenix. I'll just have to kill him myself before he can try anything!

[Kunzite gives him a dubious look]

Kunzite: So think you could murder someone in cold blood?

Zoi: No, but I could definitely kill Demande Blackmoon in selfdefense!

Kunzite: Really?

Zoi: [looks down] No…probably not.

Kunzite: Even if you did, the Blackmoons are like hive insects. Their numbers are limited and their primary goal is procreation so they won't take the death of one their own lightly. Especially not an Alpha Breeder. Kill one Blackmoon and the all the others will swarm you until you are dead.

[Slams on the brakes and turns off the headlight. As he looks at Zoi's house with an expression of horror, Kunzite mutters something unintelligible in a low, harsh voice.]

Zoi: What's wrong.

Kunzite: They're here. Inside the house.

Zoi: Who?

Kunzite: Demande Blackmoon and his father, Billy.

[Zoi sees the white Bentley parked in his father's driveway. Right next to his dad's squad car.]