Chapter Thirteen: Turning Heads

Mousse coughed and jerked awake. She blinked dazedly before recalling that the shockwave from whatever had exploded the tower had roared over them and she had felt something hit her in the back of the head before blacking out.

Now, she was somewhere that was almost pitch black, and her head was throbbing. Then she realized she wasn't laying on Kodachi, who had been in her arms, and started feeling around frantically.

There was the sound of a lighter being flicked, and the light suddenly showed that they were in what looked to be a subway tunnel, the roof overhead broken, and cave-ins sealing off both directions. Then she saw the lighter was being held by Raijin, looking a bit rough around the edges without his coat and his gloves. He nodded and pushed his cracked glasses up his nose, before directing Mousse's attention to Kodachi, lying between them unconscious, but with her head resting on the butler's torn coat.

"Calm yourself, please, Mousse-sama. Your mistress is, so far as I can tell, merely unconscious." The lighter clicked off. "You both hit your heads, but we were lucky that the pavement gave way. The building next to us came down on top of us when the shockwave hit. Poor Katana is under the rubble behind you, but I could find no trace of a pulse."

"W—what of the others?"

"Lord Sesshomaru is doubtless fine, and your friends were closer to Beowulf. The falling building cut us off from them, but I believe they are most likely alive."

Mousse could hear the attempt to sound reassuring in the butlers voice, but chose to go along with it. She forced herself upright and turned to rest with her back to the wall. Hopefully, the dizziness would pass soon. At least she knew that the familiar spell would accelerate her recovery. She felt the back of her head and felt some wetness, but she didn't appear to have bled badly. She reached in her sleeve and pulled out a glowstick, breaking it to illuminate the space with a pale green glow. She looked at Kodachi's unconscious face and worriedly checked her throat for a pulse. It was strong, and the motion drew a small sound from her. Reassured, she leaned back against the wall. If she could make noises, maybe she was just deeply asleep and not unconscious. At least she could hope so.

She tried using her earring the way Lo-Shen had instructed, but like it had been since they had teleported inside the barrier, it stayed silent. Nor was her outfit glowing, so she figured whatever had caused the explosion had probably disrupted magic in the area as well. She looked over the enclosed area, noting that at least the air appeared to be circulating and clearing away the dust. Looked like all they could do was wait. As she was looking around, she heard Raijin sigh.

"I already have searched for an exit, but while numerous holes exist, none are big enough to crawl through. I have infiltrated my web as far out as I can. Hopefully one of our companions will encounter a strand and we can request assistance. The fact that Kodachi-sama has not yet awoken worries me, though it might merely be due to her previous injuries exhausting her. My medical expertise in battlefield triage is merely able to deal with external injuries."

Mousse drew a deep breath and counted to ten. Why did he have to try and push that disaffected butler attitude? Now she understood why Shan-Pu had always gotten upset when she had acted like that. That air of imperturbability was far more annoying than comforting. "I suppose I should thank you for making her comfortable, given that you seem to dislike us so," she said after she took a second calming breath.

"You are mistaken if you believe I dislike you Mousse-sama. Or that I hate her. Kodachi-sama is a childhood friend. I have known her since we were three."

Mousse looked to where the butler was sitting with his legs pulled up and propping up his arms as he stared blankly at the wall in front of him. She sighed heavily as she took a similar pose and closed her eyes. "You can hardly expect me to believe that given how you treat her," she said in annoyance.

Raijin sighed. "I know." He lowered his head to rest on his arms. "But it is not Kodachi I hate."

Mousse rolled her eyes. Had she been this irritating to Shan-Pu? "Then why do you treat her that way?" she asked exasperatedly.

There was a long pause before Raijin finally answered. "Because she should hate me. Because her hatred is all I deserve. Because her kindness, and asking me for forgiveness and seeing the guilt in her eyes torments me. Because I can still see that she blames herself, instead of me."

"For what?"

"Makoto."

"You are referring to Miss Kino, I believe?" She was trying to be patient, she really was. It wasn't working all that well, but she was trying.

"Yes."

"I see." They sat there silently for several moments before Mousse spoke again. "I don't know what happened between the three of you, but I know Kodachi cannot forgive herself for it. She stole your hearts unknowingly, and to make amends, she desires to return them to you both."

"Yes. But she is not to blame for that. She did not know her powers or how they worked. I did. I am to blame for what happened, not her."

"Why do you believe that?" Mousse was beginning to suspect she probably knew, but she was pretty sure the butler was not going to admit to the real reasons.

"Because it is the truth. My blind arrogance and vanity was behind everything. And both Kodachi and Makoto have paid the price that should have been mine to pay."

Mousse gritted her teeth. "So you treating her like shit is somehow going to repay her for the pain you caused her? What kind of fucking sadistic logic are you using?" Mousse glared at him in the dim light. "She's in pain every time she sees you and you're just twisting the knife! How fucking much of a prick can you be? Why do you hate her that much?!"

"I DON'T HATE HER!" Raijin yelled, for the first time showing an actual emotion.

"You sure as shit can't prove it by me!" she yelled back just as angrily.

"I don't." Raijin's voice was barely audible this time. "That's why I need to make her hate me…"

Mousse blinked at him. Then she leaned back against the wall and looked up at the broken ceiling and decided enough was enough. She was just too fed up to keep playing games. "She can't," she said tiredly.

Raijin lifted his head to look at her. "Why?"

Mousse sighed heavily. "Because she still loves you, baka!" she said disgustedly. "All you are doing is tearing her apart and it's pissing me off!" She lashed her sleeve forward in annoyance, a spiked chain shattering a chunk of concrete as Raijin flinched. "Stop being a jerk and just tell her the truth!"

Raijin blinked at her. "I—I…" he turned away. "I don't know what you mean."

Mousse let out an annoyed sigh. "Gods you're being an asshole, Raijin! Stop jerking her around and tell her you still love her just as much as Makoto. That way, once all this fighting is over with, she can haul you both to bed and fuck your brains out."

Raijin looked back at her with narrowed eyes. "Say what?"

Mousse rolled her eyes as she prayed for patience. "She's got to fuck you to give you back your heart. You and Makoto both. Stop being a prick and just admit to her that you still love her, and give her what she needs instead of hurting her."

"But—but aren't you her lover?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Yet you would give her up so casually?" Raijin's eyes were shocked.

Mousse shook her head. "I have no plans to ever 'give her up', Raijin. Her life belongs to me, just as mine belongs to her. I love her more than words can say, because she saved me from myself. She. Is. MINE." She gave him a hard look. "Got that?"

Raijin nodded. "But I fail—"

"I'm not talking about giving her up, Raijin. I'm only talking about sharing her. The heart she took from you is poisoning her slowly. She can't give it back you without sex, because she's half succubus! I understand that she can't be monogamous, even if she thinks she wants to be. She needs more than just me to feed off of, especially since she's so strong. One person just isn't going to be enough to keep her healthy." She pushed herself forwards to look at him earnestly. "If you still love her, then you need to help her, instead of slowly killing her! I don't know what happened and I don't really care, but dammit, you did this to her so you are damn well going to fix it, if I have to seduce you myself!" she poured all her aggravation into her words as she rose to her knees facing him, her wings spreading to touch the walls as she clenched her fists in frustration.

Raijin blushed crimson as he blinked. "Um… please, madam, that—that isn't necessary!"

Mousse lowered her fists and wings and gave him an evil grin. "You sure? Kodachi has taken great care not to break my hymen yet. She's absolutely insane with lust at the idea of watching me 'get it done properly'." She laughed as Raijin shifted uncomfortably. "What's the matter Raijin? You don't need to hide the hardon from me," she cooed in amusement. "It's not like I'm gonna freak out and punch you into next week for getting aroused when I'm offering you a chance to devirginize me." She fluttered her eyelashes as she gave him a sly smile.

Raijin cleared his throat. "You—you are certainly rather direct for a girl."

Mousse shrugged and set back on her heels as she pushed her long hair back over her shoulders. "Yeah, well, I'm a girl because Kodachi wants me to be one. She likes me much better as Mousse than Mu-Si."

"Mu-Si?"

"Yeah. Mu-Si, the idiot. The stupid boy who tried so hard to make the girl he loved love him back that he made her hate him instead." She sighed as she gave him a dirty look. "Baka. Never try to make a girl hate you. You might actually succeed."

"You—you are a boy?"

Mousse shook her head. "Not anymore. Mu-Si is a ghost who will remain in my memories, but he's gone. He's lying splattered back there on the pavement under where Tokyo Tower used to be, instead of Kodachi." One wing gestured off in a direction that could have been where Tokyo Tower had stood. "I'm Mousse now, and forever more. She denies it, but every time I turn male, I can see the sadness in her eyes. She prefers her pretty angel to the boy who was thrown away." She shrugged. "I can't blame her for that either. Mu-Si was obsessed with Shan-Pu and it killed him." She inhaled as she lifted her arms to tangle in her hair and puffed out her chest as she displayed herself. "This is the way Kodachi first met me, crucified in her garden, and this is who she thinks of me as. So I don't change back anymore if I can avoid it."

"You aren't bothered by that? I mean… um…" His eyes couldn't stop roving over her curves.

Mousse laughed. She reached up to the top of her bustier and pulled the cups down. "See these? I have them now, instead of chasing after them. Might as well enjoy them." She jiggled her bare breasts as Raijin blushed even harder. "Seriously. I don't give a damn." She pointed down at Kodachi. "She'll enjoy watching you fuck me any way you want, oral, anal, pussy, whatever. If it gets you to stop being a prick to her, I'll do anything you desire," she promised. She pulled her cups back up, but only just enough to support her breasts but not cover them as Raijin couldn't stop staring at her erect nipples. "Hell, you can even fuck me when I'm a boy if you get the urge. That will really get her worked up, you know," she said with a throaty purr.

"But—but…" Raijin swallowed hard. Mousse leaned forwards to cup his chin.

"Whatever I used to be, Raijin, I'm a girl now," she said softly, her voice husky. "In every sense of the word. And I am not going to let you think any different, ever. So get used to the idea of having a little harem, because once Makoto gets back, I'm going to make sure you're going to have a trio of girls to keep satisfied and happy."

He pushed his glasses back up his nose. "And what if I refuse?" he said, trying to put on his butler persona again defensively.

Mousse laughed. "You can't," she said with assurance.

"Why not? It—It's completely improper!" He was trying to sound outraged, and failing badly.

"Yup." Mousse agreed with a smoldering gaze. "And your dick is so hard it's about to explode at the thought." Mousse laughed. "Face it, Raijin. You fucked up with this whole business of being an ass to Kodachi. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you probably misplayed it back then too, and set Kodachi and Makoto against one another when what you really wanted was to have them both. And now you've tried to convince yourself that you needed to make Kodachi hate you so you could try and make up with Makoto because you found out Kodachi was with me, and you opted for the whole stupid noble sacrifice bullshit routine instead of being honest."

Raijin was white as a ghost. Mousse gave him a grim smile. "Yeah, Raijin. I can read you like a book. Because you're just like Mu-Si was. You might look cooler doing it, but you're just as much of an idiot." She leaned forwards to her hands and knees across Kodachi's still sleeping form and put her face right in front of Raijin's. "And this whole fucking night has exhausted my patience with you. So I'm done playing games and I'm done letting you screw things up. We're doing things my way now. I don't give a damn about your Japanese ideas of morality or proper behavior. I'm an Amazon, and Dachi-chan is going to get her own harem." She grabbed his bow tie with one hand and pulled him towards her. "Am I making myself perfectly clear?" she purred dangerously as she flexed her wings.

Raijin swallowed hard, his eyes slightly wild as he nodded.

"Good. Because for the record, my dear little butler, you might be some hotshot devil hunter, but I am the uncontested Joketsuzoku Master of Hidden Weapons, and if you ever try to pull this bullshit or hurt Dachi-chan again, I will kill you."

Then she yanked him forwards and kissed him violently until she felt every last shred of resistance melt…


The first thing Ai woke to was Kyoko crying. She remembered the shock wave hitting, but not what had happened following it. She opened her eyes only to see a blue blur as something soft and familiar jiggled against her face. Given that the sound of Kyoko's crying was coming from above her, she had to be face first in the fox girl's breasts.

"Kyoko dear, whats wrong?" she asked gently "Are you hurt?"

"Oh Ai!" Kyoko wailed. "You're deaaaaaaaadddd!" She sobbed "Your head came offfffffffffffff!"

Ai closed her eyes and sighed. She'd really wanted to keep this secret until later. "Kyoko… honey… I promise you, I'm not dead."

"But you arrrrre! You're all impaled on a pole and your head came offffffffffffffffffffffff!"

She closed her eyes and focused on her body, realizing she was dangling about six feet off the ground with a broken sign through her. She tried to wiggle off, but appeared to be stuck.

"Kyoko. Please, my little fox. Listen to me. I need you to stop crying and listen, okay?"

Kyoko tried hard to obey her, and ended up hiccupping. While it was nice feeling the kitsune's tits jiggle against her face, it wasn't getting them any closer to getting her unstuck.

"Please honey. Can you stop smushing my face into your breasts? I need you to look at me. Please?"

She felt her head roll backwards to see Kyoko's teary eyed face. "A—a—a—a—Ai?"

"Yes sweetie. I know this looks bad, but I'm really not dead. I just kinda have a detachable head now."

Kyoko blinked… repeatedly… her mouth gaping open and closed as she struggled to find words. Ai gave her a sheepish grin.

"Um, I know. It's a shock. I had a little accident involving that girl, Scythe. I… um… got cursed." She gave Kyoko a lopsided grin. "So, I'm kinda some youkai called a Dullahan now because of it. I'm really not dead… just sorta… undeadish?"

Kyoko sniffed, then sniffed again before hugging Ai's head back into her chest and crying again. "Then you did diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeee!"

"Only about as much as Ayeka!" Ai called out over Kyoko's sobs. "Really! I'm fine! Please hun, I need help getting off this damn pole!"

Kyoko pulled her head back out to blink sadly at her. "You're really not dead?"

"I swear, cupcake. I am not dead. As far as I know, I can live forever so long as my head is intact. My body can't be killed anymore. But I am stuck, hun. And this pole hurts. So please, help me get off of it?"

"W—w—w—what do I need to do?"

"Can you cut through this pole with your batons? If not, do you see Scythe's scythe? It should be able to cut it."

There was a sound of rubble shifting, then the Scythe shoved aside the concrete it had been covered by to slap into Ai's hand. Ai blinked. "Oh. I didn't know it would do that!"

She refocused on her body and chopped the pole free, then reached behind her to pull it out. She gave it a disgusted look then tossed it aside. She waved to Kyoko. "See dear? The hole is already healed."

Kyoko looked between her body and her head as she opened her eyes again. "Now, if you just take me over to my body, I can put my head back on and we can find everyone else, okay?"

Kyoko nodded, still sobbing, but she hesitantly moved forward to put Ai's head in her outstretched hands. Ai plopped it on her neck and stretched, hearing her vertebra pop. "Ah, much better." She took Kyoko in her arms and hugged her. "I'm so sorry you found out this way, my little fox. I was going to tell everyone as soon as I could. I just didn't have time."

"I thought you were deeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaadddd!"

"I know, Kyoko-chan. Poor Ayeka is traumatized by it too. But I promise, I'm perfectly okay. It's not really a bad thing that I'm a Dullahan now. It just makes me more youkai like you all." She stroked Kyoko's head as she looked around. "If anything, it means I can actually be with you for life. I won't eventually grow old and die on you."

Kyoko nodded, her face still buried in Ai's chest. Ai stroked her hair with her free hand as she finished taking stock of where they were. The building they had been passing had collapsed in the shockwave, blocking the street behind her, and rubble obscured what was down the side streets. However, before she could decide which direction to head, the broken wall to her left was slashed apart by a glowing orange blade and Ayeka kicked the rubble out of her way, followed by Megumi. "Ai!" She took in Kyoko's crying form. "Oh no, is Kyoko hurt?"

Ai shook her head. "No. She just found out about my accident in entirely the worst way."

"Accident?" Megumi asked, puzzled.

Ai sighed. "Scythe cursed me. I'm fine."

"You are not fine, Ai!" Ayeka protested.

"I'm fine in every way that matters right now, my love. Please, let's deal with it later. We need to find the others and get out of here."

The building ahead of them was shoved aside by a giant canine form. Then Kaede flew out of the dust cloud to pounce on Ai. "Aiiiiiii!"

Ai winced as she closed her eyes just before the succubus tacklehugged her. She heard a pop as her neck detached and her head landed on the pile of rubble behind her, "OW!", then rolled down to the street. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Goddammit, OW!"

Kaede screamed in absolute horror.

"KAEDE! I AM FINE!" Ai yelled over her. "STOP SCREAMING!"

Kaede stopped as she blinked in shock over at Ai's upside down head. Ai almost could hear a squink noise as she double blinked.

Ayeka picked up her head. "Ai! Your head! You're not wounded are you?" she asked worriedly.

Ai sighed. "No Ayeka. I only got a scrape on my cheek and a couple of bumps. Can I please get my head back now?" She reached out and grabbed her head by the hair and popped it back on…. Again.

Then she realized she was feeling a very, very large nose sniffing her. She whirled to look up at Sesshomaru. "Director-sama! Hi! Um, I really am okay!"

Ayeka's father was also standing before her, looking her over and rubbing his chin. "A Dullahan? How did you manage to get that curse? I haven't even seen a Dullahan outside of Europe for a century and a half."

"Ah, Hibishi-sama! I… um… I got cursed by Scythe. She was one too." She lifted the scythe. "It came from this. I kinda won it? Trial by combat sorta thing?"

"You smell like her now, child…" Sesshomaru growled softly.

"Hai, Director-sama. She was me from wherever Blackmoon is from." She looked around. "I—I can tell you more later, sir. Shouldn't we find the others and try to get out of here?"

"Yes." He looked over to where Beowulf was examining the fallen building's debris. "I can smell Katana's blood growing cold, but the scents of the others are fine. They are alive, but buried."

The elder Hibishi nodded as he walked over towards the shattered rubble. He paced back and forth for a moment before coming to a stop. "Here, my lord. About 15 feet forward."

Sesshomaru nodded, and used his massive head to bulldoze the debris away from the road, helped by Beowulf. When they had shoved it sufficiently back, they saw a network of black threads criss-crossing the pavement. The vampire swordsmaster picked one up and pulled it tight as he stuck the end in his mouth. "You awake down there, Raijin-kun?"

There was a muffled sound like an "eep!" followed by "Uh, yes sir!" emanating from the strand. Raijin's voice sounded a little nervous. "Um, Miss Mousse-sama is also awake, but Kodachi-sama is—"

"Oh, I'm awake too." Kodachi's voice sounded amused. "And feeling much better." Then it turned sad. "I am afraid poor Miss Katana is dead. All we can see of her is her hand and a lot of blood."

They heard Raijin quietly demanding "How long have you been awake?" of Kodachi before saying more loudly "Yes sir. There was nothing we could do for her. I barely managed to keep the roof over us intact by bracing it with my web. Kodachi-sama and Mousse-sama were unconscious briefly."

The webbing retracted to form a square spot at the edge of the rubble. "There's an intact section of the subway roof here, with a ramp of rubble we can climb, if you can cut an opening, sir."

Hibishi nodded as he took his nodachi and it ignited into a bright red glow. With a few clean slices, the road fell down and formed an additional ramp, allowing the three below to scrabble up and join them. Kodachi had to lean heavily on Mousse, but it seemed she had indeed improved considerably and could walk again. Then Ai noticed Mousse pulling her cups up as Raijin blushed furiously, and blinked. He looked absolutely flustered, and was not at all acting like his usual self. Moreover, he kept glancing at both Mousse and Kodachi furtively, like he didn't want either girl to notice he was looking at them.

Just what the hell had gone on in that subway?

However, she figured now wasn't the time, as she was still having to stroke Kyoko's hair, and give a sheepish smile to Megumi and Kaede's worried looks while they followed the Director's canine form through the maze of rubble.

Then they broke into a less destroyed area, and could see down a highway to the barrier ships, and back towards the tower. Ai gaped at the scene.

A giant double pyramid had emerged from the portal and driven itself deep into the earth. It had crushed aside buildings and now set centered over where the tower had once stood. It loomed over them, so wide it stretched over their heads like a canopy, at least 10 stories above them. The upper portion also appeared to have split into sections partway up, the four corners extending outwards to form eight separate faces. Each one was now linked by a beam of energy to the dodecahedrons standing over the original gates.

Unfortunately, being out in the open also made it impossible for them to hide, and a group of mecha began heading their way, their heavy footfalls shaking the ground as they approached, weapons coming up. Sesshomaru charged, using his massive size to knock the first two over, then biting off the head of a third. Beowulf lifted his gatling and mowed down the troops with the mecha, then motioned for them all to start running towards the barrier wall.

Then the ground shook, and shook again, like a giant was knocking. The ship directly in front of them along the roadway suddenly fractured, and with a third shudder they could hear a loud boom. Then the fourth boom shattered the crystal ship, and the barrier wall flickered out.

Lo-Shen hovered in the gap, surrounded by a cloud of foxtails as she glowed with massive amounts of foxfire. And with the breach, Ai felt as her outfit began repairing itself, and her tired legs got new energy. Even Kodachi stopped needing Mousse's help to run, and her missing swallowtails regrew as they raced down the roadway towards what was hopefully safety.

Sesshomaru pulled up and growled at them to keep running as he whirled to face their rear and a second group of Mecha gaining on them fast. He leaped forwards to land on the lead mech and ripped it in half before using the pieces to whip a second mech into ruin. Ai couldn't avoid the impression of a dog worrying a knotted rope as she kept putting one foot in front the other as fast as possible.

Then they were past the barrier and being waved towards a helicopter sitting with its open side to them. They piled on board and she turned back to see that Sesshomaru had destroyed the mechs and was loping towards the breach…

Something dropped down from the pyramid above and blocked his path. Ai blinked at the gigantic tiger mecha, almost a third again larger than Sesshomaru's massive form.

"I do hope you hadn't planned on leaving just yet, Lord Sesshomaru, but I've been looking forwards to battling such a legend for far too long to simply let you leave unchallenged."

Sesshomaru eyed the machine warily. "Do you have a name, interloper?"

"But of course, my lord. Forgive my rudeness. I am Prince Sapphir of the Blackmoon. If you would be so kind as to indulge me, I shall be your opponent today…"

(Authors Note: Yes, I am trying to make progress writing, I am also going through the whole book and making minor corrections, revisions, and trying to make punctuation and formatting uniform. All prior chapters to this one were revised recently, and this chapter may be expanded slightly. I've been trying to figure out the confrontation between Mousse and Raijin for awhile. I think it came out well, but we'll see what you all say. Enjoy!)