Chapter 2

Groaning, Rin rolled onto her side as she tried to ignore the protests of her aching body. Her cheek scraped against something rough and crumbly. With some effort, she pried her eyes open and blearily took in the room around her. She was lying on a broken concrete floor, surrounded by rubble. Not that the walls were in any better condition. God, it looked like Berserker had a field day in here.

She grimaced as she forced herself to take stock. Not great, she had to admit. Her head ached, her limbs ached. There was a dull hot pain concentrated in her left breast and echoed throughout the length of her exhausted body. Not to mention her magic circuits felt oddly muted. Almost disconnected. She inevitably suffered when she pushed her circuits too far. Running low on mana always gave her a hollow feeling, as if her essence had been forcibly sucked out through some monstrous straw. Today felt particularly bad though. She lied back for a moment, trying to remember what had brought her to this devastated space.

It came to her all too readily. Luvia, of course. Another win for her, then. Rin groaned. The smug bitch was going to be absolutely insufferable for the next month, at the very least.

She found her mind straying back to their recent spar. To the fierce, almost predatory look in Luvia's eyes. She always looked like a huntress poised to strike, but she had seemed particularly hungry this time around. It was intimidating… and more arousing than Rin cared to admit.

Why did her ancestral enemy have to look so damn good in that outfit of hers? Rin always had the hardest time preventing her eyes from travelling down that toned body, that perfect skin and generous curves. It was another insult to her dignity as the Tohsaka heir. Just like that stupid kiss. The blonde devil was always full of dirty combat tricks, but this was the lowest one yet. Especially since it had felt so good.

She briefly touched her fingers to her lips as memories of her recent defeat flooded in. Getting pinned once again, heated muscles sliding over each other as she struggled to get free. Fierce amber eyes, that arrogant smirk. Then the sapphire in Luvia's hand. Then pain, so much pain.

Fuck, that had been totally uncalled for. Was that what Edelfelt rules entailed? Her hand instinctively strayed down to her chest, to touch where it still hurt. She started when her fingers, trailing along her skin, unexpectedly encountered something hot.

She looked down at her ruined top and her exposed breast. Blue-green lines ran across the surface, glowing dimly even under the fluorescent lights of the dueling room. She immediately recognized the stylized wolf, the pointed star. The crest of the Edelfelt family.

"Oh, that bitch!" she exploded. She yanked the tattered cloth aside, staring at the brand as if she could make it disappear through the sheer force of her glare. But there it was, the wolf' sharp eye glaring back at her. She angrily rubbed at it, even though she had little hope that would be enough to remove it. Sure enough, the lines stayed in place. Just as stubborn as their creator.

"So much for the dignity of the Edelfelt family," growled Rin. For what else could this be but the magus equivalent of using a Sharpie marker to write all over your rival's face? And Luvia had almost certainly taken photos, the better to shove them under Rin's face in the future. The better to force Rin to pay whatever sadistic forfeit the blonde had in mine.

God, she really was going to have to wear the maid outfit. And the absolute worst part, the most humiliating part of this whole disaster, was that part of her kind of didn't mind the idea. Was looking forward to it, even.

"Stop it," she scolded herself as she forced herself to her feet, staggering a bit over the uneven ground. She would not enjoy being at Luvia's beck and call. Now if it was the other way around, that would be a different story. She could admit she found her rival attractive, in some ways. And if she sometimes – okay, often – found herself fantasizing about the blonde that way, who could blame her? How could she not, with those cow tits bouncing around, just begging to be – ahem.

The point was that Rin was always the top in those scenarios. The blonde devil was on her knees begging for forgiveness. Not towering over her, gazing down at her with that triumphant smirk that always set her heart racing.

She shook her head. These thoughts were neither controlled nor elegant, and thus had no place for a Tohsaka. She would stuff them back in their cage so she could go on pretending they had never crossed her mind. And that meant dealing with reality, as unpleasant as it was right now. She'd take whatever Luvia dished out with as much dignity as she could salvage – probably very little, she thought with gritted teeth, the harpy bitch just pressed all of Rin's buttons – and save up ammunition for her later revenge.

For now, she would go home and get this stupid mark off. She didn't want to look at it any more than she had to. It was already annoying enough that her body still ached and her magic circuits still felt strange.

She peered into the hallway, which thankfully looked clear. She folded her arms protectively over her chest and took a deep breath, then quickly walked towards the locker room. With every step, she was sure she would run into another student. Or worse, one of her instructors.

She sighed with relief when she reached the locker room. She pulled on her sweater, thankfully covering up the glowing brand under thick red cloth. And not a moment too soon, from the sound of approaching footsteps. It figured the devil would take the earliest opportunity to gloat.

She snapped her head around, ready to deliver her best sneer, when she found herself instead looking at one of her classmates. Long brown hair, rather mousy features and a disposition to match – Aumont, she finally remembered. She was from one of the younger families, and had already learned to tread carefully around the arrogant nobility of the Clocktower. Exactly the sort of deference that Luvia and her ilk seemed to expect from everyone around her. Well, if she expected the same from Rin, she was sorely mistaken, brand be damned.

Why was Aumont frowning at her? It was all she could do not to glance down and make sure the brand wasn't showing through her sweater. Instead, Rin clicked her tongue impatiently.

"Something wrong?" she said.

"So you lost to her again," murmured Aumont before looking nervously over her shoulder. "Edelfelt's not on her way here, is she? I can clear out."

"I won't lose to her," snapped Rin. "She may have won a battle, but I'll have the war." She closed her locker with vehemence. "She's probably long gone. And even if she's not, I don't care and neither should you." The lines pulsing on her breast made that a lie, but no one needed to know that.

"Oh," said Aumont. "You guys don't even get cleaned up first? I guess it makes sense to do it while you still have the high from the fight..." She wilted in the face of Rin's sudden glare. "Sorry, sorry. It's none of my business."

"You're right," said Rin with cold anger. "It's not. But just in case there's any doubt, there is zero chance I'd ever do that with her. Zero. Chance." She shook her head. "Why would you even think that?"

"It's just what everyone says," said the girl defensively, "Look, I'll just go now, okay?"

Rin watched in irritable silence as the girl finished her business and left. Great, her entire class thought that she was having some kind of sordid affair with the blonde devil. This was Luvia's fault, as always. Why did she have to be so ... so damned provocative all the time? No wonder everyone got the wrong idea.

The fact that Rin wasn't quite sure it was the wrong idea only served to put her in an even fouler mood.

At the very least, she could get rid of the brand. She'd meant to leave it until tonight, to give her circuits the chance to regenerate some od before the attempt. But after Aumont's stupid comments, having it there a second longer seemed unbearable.

She reached into her bag and pulled out a shining topaz. She couldn't afford to be careless with her gems, but right now she needed the rapid influx of stored mana. And the added element of air, with its dynamic qualities, should be ideal for ridding herself of unwanted energies.

Igniting her magic circuits was so common for Rin that she barely had to think about it. Even with their levels drained, a quick pull would be enough to activate the gem. As always, she visualized the conceptual trigger for her circuits – an ornate shining knife, striking her straight and true in the heart.

Only to find that knife caught in a web of shining ice.

She almost staggered from the shock. That wasn't possible. She had never had the least trouble activating her circuits. There had to be some mistake.

She took several deep calming breaths, then closed her eyes and tried again.

Again, the knife appeared in her mind ensnared in freezing tendrils. They shone blue-green in her mind, as if mocking her with their cold beauty. And most importantly, they held the knife completely firm. Try as she might, she could not move it an inch.

She could not ignite her circuits.

Panic almost swallowed her before she managed to force it down. Still, her heart hammered and her limbs felt weak, far weaker than after the fight. This explained the strange disconnection, the way her nerves didn't hurt as much as they usually did. She had ascribed it to exhaustion after sparring, but this made a horrible sort of sense.

She felt ... she couldn't even put words on how she felt. She'd had her circuits opened at five years old, and they had been a constant companion in her life. Painful, yes, and difficult as well. They had made her a magus, with all the open doors and gaping pits associated with that reality. They were a key part – no, the key – to her identity. What was a magus without magic circuits for God's sake.

A fresh burst of terror, barely kept in check through years of self-discipline. It would not help her now. She needed to figure out what had happened, so she could solve it.

Her magic circuits shut down, just after she had a certain brand inflicted on her. Rin didn't need to think about the culprit's identity. Not when she had almost literally signed her name to it.

"That BITCH!"

By her usual schedule, Luvia should have returned to her manor hours ago. She had many responsibilities as the designated heir to the Edelfelt clan, responsibilities that could not be ignored for long. Still she found herself lingering in the Department's reading room, imagining Rin's face when she realized the full nature of the collar now locked around her neck.

Delighted laughter threatened to spill out. It made it difficult to maintain her public mask. And if putting on a facade was hard enough, real concentration was beyond her means. Even now, comfortably seated in the Department's reading room, she found her eyes skimming over the same paragraph for the third page, without coming any closer to absorbing it. She was too distracted by the urge to continuously glance towards the door.

Her questionable patience was rewarded when Rin finally deigned to make her appearance. She scowled when she spotted the blonde, but nevertheless marched towards her. She might have seemed collected enough to the casual observer, but Luvia had watched the girl long enough, and with enough possessive desire, to recognize all her tells. The slight trembling in her limbs, the way her fists occasionally clenched at her sides, the threat flashing in her eyes. Rin was very, very angry.

There were plenty of students watching them, which was probably the only reason the Japanese magus had not already lunged forward to strangle Luvia. Instead, she forced herself to an akward halt in front of the blonde's desk and glared down at her.

"Can we talk for a moment?" forced Rin through gritted teeth.

"I am rather occupied at the moment," said Luvia with a wave at her gathered books. "I am afraid that I have no time to spare you."

Rin inhaled sharply, but managed to force down her temper. "Please," she said softly, and Luvia could tell that making such a request to her rival hurt her more than fifty suplexes. She almost felt pity for the girl, knowing what Luvia would require her to say soon enough. But that pity was vastly outweighed by her enjoyment at watching the arrogant girl squirm under her gaze.

She placed a finger delicately under her chin, pretending to think about it. Rin's agony at holding her tongue was clearly written all over her face. Finally Luvia nodded her head, and allowed herself to be led to an empty classroom.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind him, Rin lunged to grab her by the dress collar. "Take it off!" she snarled.

"I am afraid you will need to be more specific, Rin," said Luvia with exaggerated innocence.

She firmly pulled Rin's hand off, trapping it in her own. The other girl looked like she wanted to yank it free, but she knew she didn't stand a chance. Not when Luvia had all the strength of Reinforcement magic, and her own circuits had barely a drop of prana running through them.

So instead Rin content herself with glaring daggers at Luvia. Poisonous daggers. "You know exactly what, you bimbo!" She pulled down her shirt collar, revealing the soft glow of the brand above her heart. Still in its place, and Luvia couldn't help but take in the elegant emblem with renewed admiration for her own handiwork.

"Your little joke is not the least bit funny," said Rin. "Not only is it unbearably ugly, it's sucking out all my mana. Take it off. Now."

"Violent pawing is hardly the way to ask for a favour, Tohsaka Rin," said Luvia. "Besides, bearing my mark suits you."

"You – you utter bitch!" yelled Rin in outrage, too caught up in her fury to care about being overheard. "You had no right to put it – to brand me- !"

Luvia put aside her amusement. As much as it was enjoyable to watch Rin flail, the girl was right. The joke had run long enough, and now it was time for long-needed discipline. There was ice in her gaze and voice now. "Watch your tongue, Rin. Now that you are my property, I will no longer tolerate your disrespect."

"P-Property? You can't be serious -!"

"I have never been more serious. You are mine by right of conquest. Did you not agree to the ancient rules of the Edelfelt House?" She watched in satisfaction as Rin's eyes widened with horror. "My family are hunters without peer, and a hunter knows to take everything of value. And we have ways of bending our spoils to our will. The brand is seen as a little passe nowadays, but ..."

She reached out to stroke the glowing crest. Rin tried to recoil, but Luvia's grip on her hand held her firmly in place. "For you, I happily made an exception," said the blonde with a wicked smile.

"You – I – you tricked me!" said Rin. "I never agreed to -"

"You are a magus, Rin, even if your education was sorely lacking. You know better than to think ignorance of the rules frees you from them. Besides, anyone foolish enough to agree to rules without researching them first - " she smirked as she watched Rin's face flush red with angered embarrassment, "gets what they deserve."

Rin clenched her fists in helpless rage. "You didn't have to go this far! You - "

Luvia leaned right into Rin's personal space, cutting off her whining. The Japanese girl stepped back involuntarily, until her back was pressed up against the wall.

"You should be thankful, Rin," said Luvia. "You are a rooster parading on its fence, oblivious to the wolves and foxes at your back. With that temper and that pride, it is a wonder you have yet to be devoured." She leaned in closer, her lips running along the black silk of Rin's hair to ghost beside her ear. "But now you won't get the chance to make such a mistake. I will see to it. Because you're mine now."

Rin jerked her head back, ignoring the way it hit the brick as she stared at the blonde with anger. Anger, with just a twist of fear. "There's no way, you psychopath -"

"I would sugegst you reconsider your words," said Luvia mildly. "You do want to pass your courses, don't you? I am afraid that I am not inclined to restore the circuits of a mongrel that has done little else but insult her mistress."

Rin's mouth snapped shut, her eyes growing distant for a moment. Luvia could guess at the war raging inside the girl. While Rin had considerable pride invested in her rivalry with the Edelfelt heir, it did not hold a candle to her pride as a magus. How hard had Rin had to scramble for her place at the Clocktower? How much of her identity was tied up in it. Enough for Luvia to wield it against her.

It was a close thing, but ambition won out. Rin glowered at Luvia, but managed to choke out her humiliation. "Take off the brand, Luvia. Please."

How sweet it sounded. Mere weeks ago, Luvia would have held this victory to her breast and considered herself satisfied. But seeing her mark of ownership on Rin's breast had made her hungry for so much more. She wanted real submission, not some glossed surface-level compliance that would fade the moment that Luvia relinquished her control. And that was precisely what would happen if Luvia removed the brand now. Rin would just consider the whole thing an embarrassing but temporary defeat. She would retreat back into her pride, to lick her wounds and plot revenge. Nothing would have changed, not the way Luvia needed it to.

So Luvia tilted her head at her haughtiest angle and said, "You want your circuits restored? Then ask your mistress properly."

"What is that supposed to mean?" said Rin with a frown.

"Come now, Rin, you know exactly what it means." She grinned even as she reached to caress the underside of the girl's chin, a tender motion at odd with the harshness of her words. "Beg."

Rin just stared at her for a moment, as if taken aback by her sheer audacity. Then she exploded. She slapped away Luvia's hand with vengeful precision. "Never, you bitch!. You watch, I'll get your brand off. Then I'll make you sorry you were ever born, you Finnish cow."

She forced herself out where Luvia had pinned her, stalked off and slammed the door behind her. Luvia hummed to herself, feeling more pleased than ever at how her trap was working out. Admittedly, much as she did enjoy the fiery spirit underlying Rin's sharp tongue, she would still need to punish the girl later. But, thought Luvia as she felt a smile grace her lips yet again that day, it was punishment she thought she was going to enjoy administering.

Now, let's see just how stubborn Rin would be, with their practical midterms just around the corner. The girl could save herself a lot of trouble by submitting now. But of course Rin wouldn't, not until that insufferable pride had been taken down a few notches.

Luvia paused momentarily as a stray thought occurred to her. Was Rin stubborn enough to consider something truly inadvisable if she got desperate enough to remove the brand? Perhaps, it unlikely The girl was reluctant to bend to anyone. And if she was ever forced to it, she would kneel to Luvia long before she would to anyone else. Because underneath it all, Rin wanted this as much as Luvia did.

Good humour practically radiated as Luvia resumed her seat in the reading room, her dignified countenance back in place. She sensed someone approach, and looked up to see one of their mutual classmates looking anxiously down at her.

"Tohsaka was really mad when she left just now. What on earth did you say to her?"

Luvia smiled. "I am schooling her, and she is having some difficultly accepting her lessons. But for all her flaws Rin is a fast study. I am sure we will be coming to an understanding soon enough."