[Mature warning for this chapter. Skipping to the next is recommended if you're not comfortable with mature themes.]

Enjoy.


Chapter 9

Time had passed slow and painful for Amu. Not a word was heard from Ikuto, not a sound was heard from his violin and he was no where to be found in the park she had now come to visit every single night. Time passed by slowly and Amu had also just as slowly begun to grow wary of him ever returning to their park.

*~Three and a Half Months Later~*

Ikuto's POV:

"Yoru..." Ikuto huffed, pain straining his voice. He felt incredibly full, as if he'd eaten too much. His body had slowly begun to wear itself out and his stamina started to die. This had never once happened to him before when he'd fed off of humans on his own, and he wasn't sure that he could handle it for much longer.

"Continue, Ikuto." A low, authoritative voice came from the side of him. It was strange. Yoru was heads shorter than he, yet the way he carried himself intimidated him all the same. He had similar colored hair; a cobalt blue that was short on the sides while the middle was pushed back from his forehead. He wore nothing but a small, black cloth that covered his loin. Not well, he thought. He was lean, and the flickering light accentuated the sinewy muscle of his arms and legs.

Ikuto's punishment has been long; lasting for nearly four months. He laid on an unusually warm tiled floor in a dark, plain room while equally warm air surrounded him. A naked, panting human laid beneath him, begging for more of his touch. Yoru sat at a desk across the room, the light from his oil lamp being the only source that had been provided to the room. He was completing some paper work, Ikuto guessed. Taking care of whatever business the court deemed necessary all whilst overseeing his consequence for associating with a human. It was almost ironic, but he knew what the point of this was for. Killing human after human would drive home the point of how frail and obsolete their kind were.

"More, I-Ikuto! More!" The human bucked her hips into the air, crashing them recklessly against his. He brought his attention back to her and watched as she bit into her lip, whimpering and writhing beneath him. They are always so over the top.. Ikuto tried hard to disguise his disgust as he leaned into her, crashing his lips onto hers to keep her quiet. He forced his mind to be elsewhere, instead of the stringy dirty blonde hair, he desperately wished it was the shockingly bright pink of Amu's. He wished that he could see her again and would virtually give anything to make that happen. Even if it meant doing this. He hesitated at the thought, brief fear filling him when he thought of how unruly his thoughts have become towards her. How...human of him to be thinking this way.

"Tsukiyomi Ikuto." Yoru demanded from behind the desk, as if sensing his thoughts. "This stalling will only force me to believe you're not done yet."

Ikuto closed his eyes and brought his left hand to entangle his fingers in the matting of her hair. He gave a gentle tug while cupping one of her soft, supple breasts with his right hand. And as if he hadn't have done this motion plenty of times before, the woman beneath him moaned in great volume. Ikuto found himself once again pulling away from reality, a heavy sigh escaping him as he positioned himself to push into her. The warmth that enveloped him was not welcoming, nor were the cries of pleasure that permeated the air. He wanted this to be over already, and as he pulled out and felt the collection of sweat bead onto his brows, he found and summoned the energy within to thrust back into her.

Tomorrow would be his day of release; and although he knew that Yoru could very well be stretching the truth, he knew that he was only able to make it through his punishment for this long with that horizon of freedom in mind. All he had to do was get this woman to orgasm for what he could feel would be for the final time. She'd came and expended more than the healthy amount of energy that she should have and he knew that she was not only over-stimulated but she had to have been exhausted to the point of delirium. But Ikuto couldn't stop; especially not with Yoru helicoptering over him. The familiar feelings of empathy and guilt built within him and he'd felt bad for her in the way he always did when he wasn't able to show a woman mercy. The only difference was that Utau was not here to give him a hand and it was then that he wondered if it were truly the human being granted with kindness, or if he the one being given the mercy. Was he selfish? What advice would Amu give him?

Climax. The word popped back into his head, and he was once again renewed with a sense of energy at the thought of being just an orgasm away from seeing Amu again. He wanted to ask her everything; how has she been? What has she been doing? Does she still go to the park without him there? He tweaked and flicked his thumb over the woman's nipple, taking the other into his mouth teasing her with his tongue. The woman thrashed beneath him and he pulled away, pinning her hips to the warm tile. She squirmed and Ikuto felt her tighten around him. He could feel her pulse along with a slice of pain that sank into him when she dug her nails into his arms. Her emotions swirled within him; the familiar mix of lust and pleasure was joined with feelings of lethargy, confusion and fear.

"So far, so good Ikuto." Yoru complicated, seemingly appeased.

Ikuto sighed and whilst shaking his head he pushed into her slickened entrance once more, obtaining another moan from her. He felt nothing and rather, paid more attention to his thoughts than anything else. His body worked and moved like a machine. Thrusting in, pulling out. Thrusting in again, and pulling out. In, out. In, out. He felt her inner muscle clamp down onto him and just the same as before, he started to feel power and euphoria but of his own. The pinnacle of the end. He felt as if he accomplished something; he felt life itself reward him for his gift of death. Ikuto slid himself out and shifted his body away from her. He could only hear her struggle to take in her breath and averted his gaze when he felt her pain slide over his skin. It was a tantalizing feeling, but he didn't want her to see him enjoy her hurt.

"Watch. You need to understand what you're capable of and what you must do to survive. You need to understand why humans cannot freely interact with you." Yoru ordered.

Ikuto forced his eyes back to the writhing body and took notice of her skin that had already begun to turn a sickly pale tone. Her eyes lacked in the blue luster that they had before and her once restless form was a eerily still one. He'd forgotten all about this part. He'd forgotten what he'd been forced to steal after pleasuring each of his women. Utau taking them from him made everything feel less permanent and he leaned into that luxury more than he should have.

A human he touched never ate nor would they ever drink again. They lived off of sex; the pleasure that only he could provide for them. The consistent sweat, and lack of drink made them dehydrated and sick. They knew that they wanted food and felt those hunger pains very well, but the body only wanted him. It did not benefit Gancanagh to take care of the humans they touch and the humans were never acceptive of it even if there were an attempt to help.

He watched her as her body shut down, despite every fiber in him wanting to look away. She had been overworked, uncared for and would never be found by those who cared for her. Her skin had become the shade of paper, the sheen that she'd once had in her hair suddenly dull, dry and splayed around her wild and tangled. Her eyes were flattened and he'd even noticed how they slowly yellowed in their color. Her body collapsed in and of itself in a matter of moments and he felt himself do the same, ripping his eyes away from her body and burying his face in the crook of his elbow to allow him the privacy of his breakdown.

Ikuto wept for her. He wept for her, as he wept for all of them. It was always painful to watch, and despite it being something he'd seen many times over, each time was just the same as the first and hurt just as much. To be forced to watch this time around felt heavier; like a weight that pressed against his chest even as he sat upright.

"Come, Ikuto." Yoru's voice was soft, and he had sworn that he could hear a hint of pity within his tone. Yoru had been in this situation as well, no doubt. Ikuto had felt a little bit of respect for him as he knew he'd been through this situation before and felt a sense of solidarity for him. And yet... He'd force him to go through this... Why?

Of course, he knew that he needed to do this. The court had eyes everywhere and he was lucky to have just one set of eyes to watch him through this punishment; eyes that he was familiar with. Yoru rested a hand on his shoulder before he took hold of his arm and helped him up from the floor. Ikuto's legs wobbled and he raked his fingers through his soaked hair, catching his bearings. There wasn't a punishment in this world that he could compare the pain of watching people die back to back at one's own hand. It had both physically and emotionally exhausted him. Yoru held out a black robe for him to put on and Ikuto took it with a murmur of thanks, hoping to leave before any more bad luck came his way.

"Your time of punishment is up." Yoru said. The relief only mildly displaced the mourning he felt.

Amu's POV:

Amu sat outside on the porch of the petite, blue haired girl that sat beside her. She'd stopped by Miki's place sometimes and they never did much other than chat and go their separate ways, but Amu found comfort in the simple company of Miki. Between Ikuto and her own home life, she'd had enough emotional baggage to filter through and it was always nice to step away and ignore it all. Today though, she'd found herself on the topic she'd tried so hard to avoid thinking about.

"It's been awhile. I'm not sure where he is, or if I'm ever going to see him again." Amu was explaining to Miki, one of her best friends since elementary school.

"Ever call him?" Miki suggested. Her voice was soft and she'd shrugged her shoulders as if her solution was so obvious.

Amu didn't tell Miki about Ikuto being Fae. As a matter of fact, she hadn't told anyone; not only was it not her secret to tell, she didn't feel like dealing through the 'being labeled insane until proven otherwise' phase. But her friends noticed her depressive mood and she needed to figure out how to explain it with the least amount of fables as she could. She'd given everyone who'd asked a watered down story about how she'd met Ikuto at the park that she went to and that they talked an insane amount. She told them that she found him both interesting, weird, and that she found herself becoming slightly crushing on him.

She slipped the latter half in because she didn't want to share Ikuto with anyone and if anyone were to meet him in his glamoured form, she knew that it would be all drama. Not that she could introduce him to her friends now. Even if she wanted to, he was gone. A familiar pang hit her in the chest with the reminder that her feelings for him would probably never find closure. The idea that he may never return hurt; although not as much as it had in the beginning. He'd been gone for months, not a word nor a letter to explain where he'd been after that night at the park. Maybe he'd moved on to another place, she thought. It would be fair, as she had found herself slowly shifting in a different direction herself.

Amu had met up with yet another long time friend; Hotori Tadase. Amu remembered the insane flame that she held for him all throughout elementary, middle and even the first half of high school. When he transferred to Boston in the middle of their sophomore year, she was crushed for a long time. He returned just a few weeks ago, and they'd immediately hit it off as if he'd never left.

"No, I haven't called him," she replied finally. He didn't have a phone. Or owned anything remotely within the realm of modern technology for that matter.

"Oh." Miki said. And that was it.

What else could she say, Amu thought. He was gone and there was no way to contact him. Realistically, Amu knew that her feelings were quite strong for someone that she hardly knew to begin with. They'd known each other no more than a couple of months before he left. Before Utau took him away...

"I honestly don't know why you're even thinking about him anyway, you and Tadase are a thing, right?" Miki said suddenly, turning to look at her. Her eyes were the color of the sky, crystal clear and inquiring. "He seems like a good guy. Have you been thinking long term?"

"We haven't been dating long enough for me to even humor the idea of long term," Amu replied caustically. "And, I mean... I don't know... I feel like my heart is still in two different places."

"Are you kidding me?" Miki's brows furrowed and she stood up from the porch to face Amu with a face of judgement.

"We..." Amu blinked. "We haven't been dating long enough..." To her, this made sense.

Despite her slender frame, Miki was a force to be reckoned with. She was a head taller than Amu and had always been rather matter of fact. Miki would tell them what she'd thought without any sugarcoating and would expect everyone to take it and run with it. She was admirable, but sometimes over the top.

"I know of some girls who would already be picking out their wedding dress if they had the chance to be with Hotori Tadase." Miki said, squinting at Amu as if not comprehending her frame of mind. "I mean, are you okay?"

"Yes I'm fine." Amu said as she stood up, looking to Miki with a small smile. "With more time maybe I'll start thinking about it but right now it's just casual." She slowly made her way down the porch steps, and before she left any room for Miki to push the matter, she said, "anyway, I've got to get home. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

She had already made it halfway down the street when she heard Miki call after her. "Leave that guy alone! You've already got literally the hottest guy ever falling for you!"

The hottest guy ever? Amu smiled and shook her head. She doesn't even know the half of it.

*PING*

Tadase Hotori

18/03/2023

11:46AM

Subject:

"Hey hun. Wnna go out 4 a walk today? Not working nd I thought it wld be a good idea."

Amu stared at the text for a long moment, keeping aware of where she walked all the while. She didn't want to say no to him, but after hanging out with Miki, she really didn't feel energized to do anything else. She had rejected his attempts to hang out with her a few times this week already though, and she didn't want to give him the wrong idea. Although Amu did like him, it was all Su's idea to get them hooked up together to begin with. Still, since she agreed to it, she should at least try to put forth the effort in dating him. So she replied:

Amu Hinamori

18/03/2023

11:50AM

Subject:

"Where to?"

She waited awhile, deciding to stick her earbuds in and listen to her music while she continued her walk. It took some time for her to receive a response, and when she did, she had already laid the first few steps on her own porch. She was back home.

*PING*

Tadase Hotori

18/03/2023

12:08PM

Subject:

"Around the park?"

Her park? No.

The sudden stab of defense that she felt surprised her. The audacity of him! He can't hang out with her there, that was her and Ikuto's park and she'd be damned if she shared those memories with someone else.

Amu Hinamori

18/03/2023

12:10PM

Subject:

"Oh no, that's okay. The park's a little too crowded at this time of day. How about we hang at that Fox in the Snow coffee shop down the street from there though?"

A lie. The park was quietest at this time; actually, it was quiet all of the time. But there was no way she was going to tell him that. She didn't want to take him to the café, either but she wasn't going to bite off more than she could chew. She would live with this. He was, after all, her boyfriend. The thought made her cringe. And she wondered if she was truly ready to be in a relationship with anyone.

*PING*

Tadase Hotori

18/03/2023

12:13PM

Subject:

"Alright, sounds gud to me! :) Be ya there in 30. Luv ya."

They've only been dating for a month and she knew she wasn't in love with him. She liked him, liked his looks and he was a very sweet guy. But she wasn't in love with him. Amu stared down at her phone, trying to comprehend her feelings about him, as well as guys as a general whole. She made her way up the stairs and down the hall to her room. She haphazardly tossed her bag on a random spot on her floor, ripped off her socks and threw herself into her bed. She lifted her phone to stare at the text once again before responding.

Amu Hinamori

18/03/2023

12:20PM

Subject:

"See you then."

It was 1pm and Amu sat in one of the multiple sectioned off rooms that were in the café. Her favorite room being the bright pink one; the walls were the color of bubblegum and the floor was the color of honey. The coffee she'd already ordered wasn't bad either; and she didn't find herself much of a coffee drinker to begin with.

She stared down at her coffee mug before taking another sip from it. No, not bad at all. She reached to the side of the table she sat at and picked up a bright yellow paper that had been stuffed between the salt and pepper shakers; a flyer, it seemed. She didn't actually read it. Instead she fiddled with it; folding and unfolding it while she waited.

"Ma'am? Need another cup?"

Amu looked up and gave a smile to the brown haired, green eyed boy who was at least two heads taller than her. He had both of his ears pierced, and sported earrings she didn't think she could even pull off. He wore the standard barista uniform, black with a red apron tied around his waist. He's actually pretty handsome. She fiddled with the handle of her mug, clearing her throat to reply.

"Um... Yeah." She nodded and before he was able to turn to get the coffee pot, she shot out a hand to keep his attention. "Wait!" She blushed when he gave her a strange look. "Well..." She was beginning to stammer, rethinking her choices; she didn't know him at the end of the day and maybe her question would be considered as prying but she felt the need to get to know him.

He reached over and gave her a gentle tap on the shoulder, smiling down at her. "Spit it out, woman."

She gathered her courage and nodded, doing just that. "Well, I was curious because I've never seen you before; are you a new hire? "

He nodded, dropping his hand. "Actually, yeah!" Before she could say anything more, he shook his head. "I mean, I've been here for at least a month at this point. I'm really only working this job to help pay for my soccer fund. Once I get the money to join a soccer team, I'd be done with this place."

"That bad, huh?" She joked, moving to gently elbow him in the side. Was she flirting?

He laughed and leaned down to murmur in her ear, feigning disgust. "You don't even know the half of it."

He definitely is, she thought. Amu laughed and held out a hand. "Hinamori Amu."

He took her hand and shook it with unnecessary strength. "Souma Kukai."

After Amu got her hand back, she flexed it and stared up at him. "Souma Kukai. You have a nice name."

He blinked and gave her that strange look again. "You're interesting, Hinamori Amu."

She smiled up to him, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. She was just curious about everything having to do with him. Ever since Ikuto had left, her lack of interest in any guys turned into a 'collect them all' type of situation and she found herself creating relationships with practically any guy she'd met. Although nothing came far from these interactions, even her friends had noticed a slight shift in her behavior.

"E-Excuse me...? Am I interrupting something?"

The voice behind Kukai was soft, gentle, yet held a type of firmness that demanded respect.

"Hmn..?" Kukai turned around, and a large smile lit up on his face. "Oh hey; it's Tadase!"

The two of them traded an awkward—well, awkward on Tadase's end—handshake, leaving Tadase looking very put off afterward.

"Nice to see you, man!" Kukai continued. "This is Amu and," he had motioned to her and turned to motion to Tadase "and Amu, this is—"

"We know each other." Tadase interrupted and looked over at her, as if noticing Amu for the first time. He nodded, and walked over to sit on the other side of the table. "She's my girl."

A part of her recoiled and wanted to cringe at the thought of being his 'girl'. But soon after she realized this, she chastised herself. Tadase wasn't that bad. He wasn't that bad looking, either. He had short blond hair with a thin ahoge. He had big, mahogany colored eyes and he was only about two inches taller than her which she never minded. He reminded her of a prince and maybe that was why she had such mixed feelings regarding him. She wasn't on his level, and part of her felt like a charity case.

"I see..." Kukai said, his tone flat. He looked over to Amu with curious eyes before switching on a smile so quickly she'd thought she'd gotten a whiplash injury. "I'd better get back to work, call me over when you're ready to order something to eat." In an instant his voice soured and he walked off. She assumed he forgot about her coffee refill and let it go, focusing her energy on the man in front of her.

They sat in silence and she stared at her cup of coffee, zoning out almost immediately.

I wonder where Ikuto is... Is he alright? How is he doing? And most importantly, does he miss me? Like I miss him? No, she blinked. He couldn't possibly. It's not like he could have any intimate feelings for her—they'd only spoke to each other for a small amount of time. They'd merely became friends, that's all. But she felt that he had wiggled his way past her defenses and made home in her very core. It's amazing, the feelings that people experience when they lose someone who filled in a hole that they didn't even realize was there until the hole resurfaced again. Amu hated this feeling, it was all-encompassing and she could hardly function most days. She'd wished time and time again that Utau had never shown up; that he'd never left with her.

"Amu?"

Where is he...?

"Amu-chan?"

She blinked a few times when she noticed a hand waving in front of her face and snapped right back into reality for the umpteenth time. It was really becoming a hassle, socializing this much in a day when she'd really had rather been at home and in bed moping.

"Tadase-kun!" Oh, she'd felt horrible.

"You were miles away, Amu-chan." He tilted his head, and looked at her with curiosity, his eyes searching hers as if he hoped to find the answer for it. "What's on your mind...?"

"Oh, no, no..." She waved a hand into the air, a blush stained her cheeks from the embarrassment. "I was just daydreaming, is all... Really, I don't even remember the details to it. I'm sorry if I've been off lately."

Tadase sat back in his seat and stared at her for a moment, before closing his eyes and sitting back with a small sigh. "Are you happy, Amu-cha?"

"What?" Amu nodded. She was feeling alright. "Yes, I am. Today's a good day..."

"I mean... Are you happy with me?" He looked a little hurt, as if he'd already known the answer.

This conversation already? She didn't want to have this conversation... Not yet. They hadn't even made it passed the honeymoon phase. She couldn't bring herself to lie; yet she couldn't bring herself to speak the truth.

Bowing her head, she bit her lip and sighed. "Tadase-kun, I—"

~Brrring~

Her phone went off in her pocket and she fumbled to grab it, thankful for the interruption. She held up a finger to a now hopeful Tadase and shot him a smile, turning her head away from him as she looked down to the caller ID. It was a restricted call. She never answered restricted calls, but her thumb slid across the screen, answering it without thinking. Maybe she was desperate for the distraction.

Pressing the phone to her ear, she spoke hesitantly. "H...Hello?"

"Amu." A husky, cool voice greeted her from the other end of the line. A zap of electricity immediately shot down her spine, and she felt her breath catch in her throat.

"I...kuto?" She exhaled.


R&R is greatly appreciated. ^^