Enjoy.
Chapter 6:
Ikuto's POV:
"How have you been, brother?" Said the long haired blonde, her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face. Her hair had been pulled up into two tall pigtails, and her hair brushed her hips with every movement she made.
Ikuto sighed heavily and glanced at her before shrugging. "I could be better, honestly."
"You're always oh, so depressing." Utau said complained, and although he could hear the disappointment in his voice, the expression on her face didn't show an ounce of emotion; he doubted that she was the least bit interested in his complaining. "You know, no one likes a sad boy," she tacked on.
He looked away from her with a sharp eyeroll before during his attention to the woman in the grass in front of him. The human he was with had crawled towards him once again and when he made eye contact with her, he could see just how dishearteningly maddened she looked. Her brown, originally pin-straight hair had become straggled and curly. Her face glistened with sweat and dirt from being on the ground and she murmured incoherent words to herself that even he couldn't pinpoint. Only Utau's scoff pulled him out of his focus and he turned his attention back to her.
"Looks like you have a lot going on here." She commented, her eyes pinned on the girl in front of them. She laughed when the girl reached out to him, her hands resting on his thigh. The woman had taken the clothing there and bunched it up into her fists before she tried her hardest to pull him free from it. He wrenched his leg away from her and ignored her whimpering when he took a few steps backward.
"Since when do I not?" He sighed, raking a hand through his hair.
Utau brightened as she usually did when it came to Ikuto's irritation. "Well, dear Brother, your task is way easier than mine. I was just destined to be Winter Fae." She was now gloating, her eyes closed as she brought her hands in a clasp to her chest, "I bring the animals and the greenery-"
"Into slumber. Yeah, I've heard it all before. Constantly. I get it." Ikuto interrupted, taking pleasure in watching her frown. "But I tire of doing the same things over and over again."
Utau raised an eyebrow again, a doubtful expression covering her face. "Tired of sex? Like a human who needs to eat being tired of food?"
Utau paused upon noticing Ikuto's distress with the human in front of him, who had crawled her way back to him and entangled her hands back into his clothing. Now fully focused on ripping free from her grasp, his voice came out in a rasp, "Is it necessary to remind me?"
"Just let her die, Ikuto. You always do this. If you don't want her, leave her." Utau scolded.
Utau had always been his voice of reason. What should I care that a human would die with such lack of dignity? They were just humans. They were expendable and he would go about his day to pick up another just as easily as the last regardless. Still, he'd struggled with finishing them off each and every time.
He pulled the human up from the ground, trying to keep her balanced on her feet as he pinned her arms to her sides. He turned her so that she faced away from him, and pressed her back to his chest to keep her still.
"You know that I can't just let her die," He spoke, trying to raise his voice over the woman's antics. "You know how long it takes me to build the resolve, at least."
"If I do remember correctly, this girl was the one you were angry with? Seriously Ikuto, it's not as if this is your first time; nor would it be your last." Utau reminded with a smile, stepping closer to the two of them. Cool air rushed from her mouth, and the air chilled considerably around him. The whimpering girl shivered in his arms.
He'd watched this girl torment another in a store parking lot. He'd watched the victim cry and beg her to allow her to go home and receives a punch to the gut instead. A 'bully' is what humans would label the woman in his arms and as it did most people, he'd assumed, he didn't hesitate in his resolve to give her karma.
"True.." Ikuto mumbled finally, hating to be put in this embarrassing position.
Utau groaned and held out her arms to the girl. "I'll take this one off your hands too, Ikuto. But I have to say that my closet is getting to be too crowded."
Ikuto visibly winced. The joke was repetitive at this point and he hated hearing it but he passed the woman off to Utau with a quickness.
Utau gave the writhing girl a focused look, making a point to lock her eyes with hers. "What's your name, dear?"
"Nghh..." The girl groaned, turning her head to look back at Ikuto.
When it was clear that Ikuto was not going to make a move to take the woman back, she turned back around and bowed her head. "Amya..." She mumbled, distress clear in her voice.
"Amya... What a beautiful name~" Utau cried girlishly. Utau had the aura of a trusting older sister; a blanket of warmth and acceptance. If only humans could see past this façade. She was sweet and pretty, but only he had seen her when she was at her worst and it was anything but.
"Ikuto!" Amya cried desperately, "how could you cheat on me like this?!"
Ikuto stared at her, dumbfounded. His brows pulled together and he glanced between his sister and her. "Excuse me?"
"Especially with this dingy blonde!" She added, glaring at Utau. "I can bet that that isn't even natural."
Utau's eyes darkened with disgust and although Ikuto moved to take Amya back from his sister, her pale fingers immediately clamped down onto the girl's arms. He made eye contact with Utau and silently shook his head to deescalate the possible meltdown, "Utau..." He murmured with warning.
She frowned at him before turning her gaze back to the brunette. She flashed Amya a forced smile before speaking, and he could hear the strain in her voice. "Amya, Ikuto is my brother. And we are not at all interested in each other. Hardly even as brother and sister."
"Of course you would deny it. But Ikuto wouldn't, he would never lie to me." Amya replied, turning and straining to look back at him. "Ikuto, tell me the truth!"
He stepped around in order to face her, and ran his hand through her wild hair, ignoring the resistance from the knotting. His fingers eventually gave up and he instead moved his fingers along the warmth of her skin; caressing her neck and the curves of her collarbone. "Amya..."
She stared at him the entire time, her eyes softening into yearning. Lust boiled deep within her eyes and he knew that he had distracted her enough to keep her calm. "Ikuto, I love you."
So many times he'd heard that. Girl after girl. It never failed, truly. Never. The powers of lust. Even now, it stunned him. He watched as Utau took his women and blew ice over their bodies a multitude of times, and this time was no different. Freezing each of the girls he didn't have the heart to actually kill himself. So many times he'd seen them stare at him while being frozen with lust in there eyes. Never love. Lust. Amya would forever stare with yearning until she deteriorated into nothingness. Do they ever feel their death? Is being frozen an easier demise than the alternative?
"Whelp! Now that that's out of the way..!" Utau called, ripping him out of his thoughts. She hefted Amya's statue over her shoulder, and grinned at him. "Don't start thinking that I'll be doing this every time you start getting irrationally mushy at heart."
Ikuto scoffed, folding his arms over one another. He stared at the cold, stiff form in her arms as he spoke, "you say that every single time, but you always come through in the end."
Utau smiled, and her eyes softened despite his teasing. "Take care, Ikuto."
He nodded. "Likewise."
And with a wave, she disappeared leaving him in the grass on his own. The warmth disappeared, and he could feel the chill she left behind. Finding women to bewitch had been as easy as breathing. He couldn't deny that he loved watching them become something inhuman and writhing. But he also couldn't bare to rip their lives away from them himself although Utau would say their lives were gone the minute he touched them.
Ikuto stiffened when he heard a rustling noise behind him and turned around to find a pretty pinkette poke her head out from the pine. "...Amu?"
Amu's POV:
Amu pushed through the pine using her book to shield her face. Her arms definitely didn't make it through the trees without a few needles poking and scratching at them. As she walked out she stopped and used her book to briefly brush off her arms and legs. She was definitely regretting the choice to not grab her jacket but figured that if she didn't allow herself to think about being cold, she wouldn't feel cold.
It took a little bit of processing to realize that Ikuto was not only standing right in front of her, but that he had spoken to her as well. When it registered, she looked up at him and gave him a small wave. "Do you usually stand here and wait for me to show up every night?"
Ikuto looked relieved despite her jab at him, and that expression was masked by one of amusement soon after. He smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "Actually no, I don't. But I figured since I haven't seen you this weekend that you wouldn't be able to resist coming back today..." He teased.
He moved to a flattened area in the grass and sat down, crossing his legs and folding his hands together to rest in his lap. Ikuto looked up to her and motioned for her to join him and she was dumbfounded with the speed in which she complied, popping a squat right across from him before folding her legs to sit under her thighs.
"So, I did that research you sent me to do," she started.
She watched him stiffen, and drop his gaze to the grass. She paused and tilted her head, trying to pick up eye contact with him. His voice sounded uncertain when he spoke. "So soon?"
She nodded and fidgeted with the book that she'd moved to her lap. "Well, I waited a day.." she lied, "I wasn't in a rush to read fables. But I was curious of what you were talking about."
Ikuto still had his gaze averted and for a moment, the only response was the nodding of his head.
The silence was starting to become tangible and Amu cleared her throat to fill it with something. He seemed to have taken the hint because he perked up and met her gaze. His expression just seemed to have been... turned off.
Finally, he said, "curiosity kills."
What did that mean? Amu shrugged off the strangeness as it had become the theme of their meetings. She joked that if she were in a horror movie, she would have definitely been the first to die as she had absolutely no self-preservation. "I guess. But I think I want to hear the fable from you yourself. What you claim to be; a Gancan...?"
Ikuto lifted his gaze from the grass that he had been so intensely interested in, and stared at her. "A Gancanagh."
"Which I gather is a succubus of sorts. I'm not going to lie to you Ikuto, if you wanted to have sex with me I think saying you're a frat boy would've also done the trick." She smiled, and motioned with her hands as she added, "excluding the supernatural part."
He winced and the joking mood she had been in faltered. She wasn't sure why she suddenly felt guilty over something so unbelievable. Whether she believed his story or not, it was certain that he believed in it. And whether he was insane or not, she knew it was time to quit poking holes into his truth.
Amu frowned, and dropped her hands. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright." He muttered in return. It didn't seem genuine however, and Amu couldn't help but push forward.
"Are you sure?" She prodded. "I didn't mean to, like... Offend you, or whatever..." She stammered over the words, the book in her hands once again becoming the victim of mishandled nervousness.
He laughed suddenly and that laugh breathed life into her being. His grin was small, but was enough to make the butterflies in her stomach begin fluttering.
"My dear," He started, and his smile widened when she grimaced at the pleasantry. "You can't possibly offend me. I know full well what I am, what I am capable of and I know that you struggle with learning that there is more to life than humankind. Regardless," He shrugged. "Whatever you think you learned, just know that it isn't the full of it."
Amu frowned and let the information simmer in her mind. "I got my information off of Wikipedia." She started.
"And who do you think put that information there?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I mean... It's Wikipedia so I think... anyone can?" Amu replied dubiously.
He chuckled and shook his head. "They've definitely added information to the internet, but there are some Fae who like to mess around and spread the truth knowing that most people would automatically write it off as not completely believable. In fact, I'm surprised you are taking it so well yourself."
Amu smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Open minded, I suppose." There was a learning curve, and she hadn't an idea about why she was humoring him the way that she was; but she'd already committed to the bit and planned to stick to it.
"Ah, well... Thank you," He replied, frowning. An unreadable expression flitted across his face but she couldn't pinpoint it until it had been replaced with a smile. "You know, I've never actually sat and talked to a human before." He said suddenly, looking at her.
The way he said human was as if she were a rare, dangerous, and stupid jewel made her eyebrows raise. She almost felt offended by it.
"Really?" Amu asked, disbelieving.
"Well, maybe not. I've been alive for..." He scoffed after a pause, "I told you this already. Anyway, I've been alive for centuries, and humans have a large track record of being stupid, expendable, and cruel. I probably have told humans that could see me in the past, but those opportunities come by very rarely. That is why I was surprised that you could see me at all; while there are a few who can, most cannot."
"Are we not supposed to?" She frowned, and folded her arms across her chest. There was no doubt that he was sitting right in front of her; clear as day.
He nodded and as the silence once again became extensive, she broke it by prodding him for more information. "Okay? And what does that mean?"
He took a breather before beginning. "Humans can't see us Fae unless that Fae wishes to be seen. Like right now. I'm supposed to be invisible to your eyes and everyone else's. Right now, to other people, you'd look like you're talking to yourself."
Amu looked around, and frowned. She wasn't really a fan of looking insane. "Well, hell. If I knew that..."
He chuckled, and stared at her with a mixture of awe and curiosity. The constant silences were beginning to make her uncomfortable and she found herself looking around once again now feeling self-conscious. "Okay, well how do you make yourself visible so I don't look like I belong in an asylum?"
"That involves glamourie. Every one of the Fae can do it, though some with practice know how to make their 'human' form more visually believable than others." He informed her.
She found herself surprisingly interested and even doing more than just humoring him. He spoke with such resolve and confidence that she had troubles doubting him entirely. "Well, show me your 'human' self then."
He looked confused with her, and before she could prod him again he leaned forward to get a closer look at her. "Really?" He said suddenly. "You're not afraid of me? Not in the slightest?"
Amu shrugged, a blush gracing her cheeks with the close proximity in which he was to her. "I'm can't say that I am fully trusting but I am definitely comfortable around you. You can't really do me any harm."
"Oh?" Something sparked in his eyes mischievously. "And why do you think that?"
She swallowed. "Because if what I read is true then I have to willingly want to touch you in order for you to have any.. Uh.. Effect on me."
Ikuto laughed and his eyes shifted from her eyes to her lips. "You have to be willing, yes. But that doesn't mean I'm powerless in making you willing." He was gradually moving closer to her and it wasn't until she was practically one strong wind from pressing their lips together that she shied away.
"Do you do this to every girl you meet?" She wrinkled her nose in distaste, scooting back to reestablish more space between them.
"It's as easy as breathing, yes." He said simply, his voice delectably husky. He looked as though he had debated moving closer to her, but must've decided not to act on it.
"That is kind of gross to think about," she started. She picked at the fabric of her pants before continuing, "I mean if you're not careful, you could pick up something."
He chuckled, and ducked his head before finally sitting back in his original position. He peered at her from under the silky hair that had moved to obstruct his face. "If it were possible to get a disease, I'd probably have 30 different ones."
"Ew!" She yelled and ripped grass from the ground to throw at him. "I think maybe you're being a little too honest."
He laughed and raked a hand through his hair, shrugging, "I know, I don't know why but I feel like I can be open with you." She immediately rolled her eyes, working hard to hide a smile from the compliment. He watched her for a moment, "But just so you know, I'm actually extremely clean."
"Lucky duck." She commented, ignoring the hiding invite that he held in his tone. She perked up a bit, pointing at him with accusation. "You did an amazing job at distracting me, sir. You were going to show me your glamourie, remember?"
Ikuto sighed, as if put out by her persistence in rejection. "I will show you..." He started, gathering himself to stand up. His tunic fell back into perfect place and not a blade of grass or dew was to be found on it. Insane, because she could feel how damp her butt was going to be before she even stood herself. But she followed suit, brushing off the back of her jeans and slipping her book under her arm. She was ready for tangible proof.
"If..." He added. "You take a walk with me."
She should've known that he wouldn't have just done it. That he would want something in return. This was like the second time he's bargained with her. But she wasn't ready to go back home, and she was interested in seeing out the rest of his fable.
"Deal." She muttered with annoyance, smiling only a little when he laughed at her reaction.
What would the outcome be if I took him up on his offer and touched him?
R&R is greatly appreciated. ^^
