• CHAPTER 17 - THE BEAST AND THE HARLOT

    Stuck in life, torn between the two. Which one will you choose? The one you love, or the one that loves you?

    Another two months had gone by already since I found out Kira was in love with me and I had officially been living with the new family for around 6 months. Things changed for a little bit, but went back to normal quickly, except for Kai and I. Our relationship wasn't the same as it had been. We treated each other more like friends now, I still did my duties as a Blood Bride, though. I don't know if he felt threatened from Kira, or if he really meant what he said, no matter how else he felt. He thinks I'd be better off with Kira than him. But being around Kira never felt right. He would always try to do something.

    Matsuda finally enrolled me back into school after a few months' absence. I was so relieved I didn't have to make up every scrap of homework I missed. Matsuda gave them the excuse that I moved away to try life somewhere anew but then moved back. Of course they believed him right away, seeing as he's perfect in any way, suave enough to persuade any woman, although I'm sure he didn't try it on purpose. Kai helped me with homework a lot, but usually every time we're alone, it feels awkward. I can feel this pull towards him every time I see him, of course, it felt the same way from when we were in a relationship. There was one thing I was confused about; did Kai dump me, or were we never boyfriend and girlfriend to start with? He never asked me out...

    "Matsuda, I'm home," I groaned as I slouched while entering the front door.

    I slid off my shoes without much effort and dropped my backpack and textbooks onto the floor. Kai entered the house behind me and sighed.

    "Don't leave your stuff there," he still had his cocky attitude, that much was true.

    He crouched down and picked up my textbooks and my bag all with one hand. I nearly broke my back carrying all of those supplies, but him? No, he's a different story. He could lift an elephant with on hand and hold back a starved lion with the other, I'm sure.

    "Whatever, Kai. I'm too tired to carry everything." I stumbled into the living room and lounged on the couch.

    Kai placed himself on the couch across from me and leaned back and I sighed. The atmosphere was getting awkward again. Nothing felt the same around Kai much anymore, except for my feelings for him. I heard Kai sigh subtly and I tried to keep it out of my head of what he could be thinking of.

    "Hey, Kai?" I asked lazily and he turned his head towards me, "Can you help me with my homework today?"

    "Yeah, sure," he sounded a little surprised for some reason.

    I rose up from the couch and opened my bag to drag out my dreaded Algebra and Chemistry homework. I paused for a short second after piling my homework on the couch, "I'm going to change out of my uniform," the shirt was making me itch and the skirt was too breezy in the cold weather.

    I climbed up the stairs, which had been replaced and the walls have been repainted since the Werewolf attack, and made my way into the bedroom. The blood-stained carpet had been replaced and the smudge of my blood on the wall where Kai first attacked me was finally painted over. I quickly changed into something loose and comfortable, but still a little chic. I took my time down the stairs; I wasn't in so much of a hurry anymore. When I had arrived at the bottom of the stairs, Kai was already concentrating on my open algebra book and checking over my answers. I flushed and sprung at him and removed my answers from his grip.

    "No, don't check the answers!" I was embarrassed at having someone as smart as him check my algebra-illiterate skills.

    "You wanted me to help, right?" he raised one eyebrow in irritation.

    "I wanted you to help, not check my answers,"

    "You want to pass, right? Then you need the right answers." he sighed, still irritated.

    He snagged my notebook and pencil from me and immediately marked all over my paper. I turned a deep red at my stupidity as the silence trailed on. His hand glided up and down and side to side on the pencil, correcting any errors I may have made. His movements were as graceful as his walk. After another 15 seconds, Kai was finally done and handed me back my homework. I had hoped he erased my work and fixed them all for me, but instead, he left circles and x's on every inch of paper. I frowned.

    "I thought you would do all my answers," I groaned.

    "Then you won't learn anything. Go over what I circled and try to figure them out."

    I started on my homework again, calculating all the symbols of pi and the square root and exponents, only having Kai correct me over and over again. After a few minutes, my hand already started to cramp up and I dropped my pencil onto the couch.

    "You're a horrible tutor," I scoffed.

    "Hey, Arisa?" Kira's voice flowed throughout the room with the air.

    I froze and I felt Kai stiffen next to me. I peeked up at Kira through my bangs, "Y-yeah?"

    Without answering, Kira lightly grabbed my arm with his ice hand and rolled my sleeve up. I held my breath as Kira revealed the bandages on my arm from a deep cut that ran about six inches up my bicep. Kai stared at me.

    "How is your arm doing?"

    I peeked at Kai through the corner of my eye and he was...glaring at me. I looked away and tried to hide my face, "It's fine,"

    "Arisa, what happened?" Kai tried to sound calm, but I could feel the anger lurking in his voice.

    "I was attacked...a couple of days ago,"

    "Was it...a Vampire?" his eyebrows burrowed together.

    "No. A man tried to steal my money...and he had a knife." and apparently I had said enough. Kai stood up right away and glared at Kira.

    "Calm down, Kai. It was my fault. I wasn't there on time."

    "You're goddamn right it was your fault!"

    Kira gently released my arm and glided out of the room. Kai didn't bother to go after him, he looked back down at me instead. I avoided eye contact, "Don't look at me,"

    I rolled down my sleeve and Kai gently grabbed my arm and pulled me up off the couch. My journal dropped to the ground and Kai stared at me in the eyes as I gave him a puzzled expression.

    "Get your shoes and coat on. We're going." he demanded.

    I scrambled into my shoes and coat quickly, not wanting to make Kai impatient or angrier, and we hurried out the door with Kai holding my arm firmly. He stopped and scooped me up off the ground and into his arms.

    "Close your eyes,"

    "Why should I--?"

    In a flash, my vision was blurred beyond belief. I couldn't make anything out and it felt as though I were spinning in circles an uncountable amount of times per second. My limbs felt as though they were being pulled in every direction, but it didn't hurt. My breath was being forced out, as though it were being pulled out gradually by a string and it continued, delaying my inhaling. I couldn't feel Kai so I moved my arms around, searching for him and gripped whatever I could grab on to. I tried to close my eyes, but they wouldn't. In another flash, the movement stopped and everything was still, but I still couldn't make out anything. I could feel my eyes moving back and fourth as though I had been spinning in circles for an hour straight.

    "Kai?"

    My vision was very slowly becoming normal and I could hear Kai chuckle. I tried to ask what happened, but my words slurred at my dizziness.

    "We just teleported. I told you to close your eyes."

    Teleported? That's what it was? I swallowed hard and took in a huge breath, realizing I was able to inhale again, "P-put me down. I'm getting sick."

    He did as I said and lay me on my back. I closed my eyes and covered my mouth, embarrassed to get sick around Kai. That was teleporting. How could he think that was fun? It was awful. After several minutes, I finally opened my eyes and my vision was back to normal. I sat up and was struck by a massive headache, only to dissipate the instant Kai's hand touched my forehead. I focused in on his face and he looked concerned and pained at the same time.

    "Are you okay?"

    "You could have given me more time to close my eyes,"

    "I'm sorry. I just wanted to leave."

    I focused on his face more and burrowed my eyebrows together, "Why do you look so disturbed?"

    "When did that cut on your arm happen?"

    I was iffy of whether or not I should give him more information, but he had every right to know; I was still his Blood Bride, "Two days ago,"

    "After school, I assume?"

    "After work,"

    Kai clenched his jaw shut and in a fraction of a second, I was trapped in his iron arms and pressed against his steel torso. It was only then that I realized he wasn't wearing a coat, despite that it was on the verge of snowing. He held me incredibly close and I could hear him breathing deeply, calming himself down.

    "Kai?"

    "I can't...I can't stand it anymore,"

    "Can't stand what?"

    "I'm sick and tired of having to put a barrier around you to keep me away from you. I'm tired of not being to protect you as I used to."

    "What are you talking about?" He was acting completely strange and it was making me worry.

    "I'm not going to stay away from you anymore. I'm not going to pretend there's a wall between us anymore. Nothing else matters right now."

    I paused and barely had any time to prepare for what would hit me next.

    "For the first time in the 176 years I've been around, you're the first human I've fallen in love with,"

    He sounded confident and right when he said it, my reflexes kicked in and tears poured out like a broken dam. I wasn't prepared to cry, I wasn't prepared for him to throw that in my face. I wasn't even prepared to feel as joyous and relieved as I did.

    "What?"

    He kissed the angle of my jaw, and then my lips urgently. I could help but kiss him back just as urgently, my tears still overflowing. The whole two months we spent not being able to connect like this was torture, pure Hell. I was joyous beyond belief to finally be in his arms again. We pulled away after what felt like an hour, but was only several short seconds. Kai entangled his fingers in my hair and held my face right up to his.

    "It's completely forbidden," he smirked, "But it feels so right."

    I could help but let out a short laugh; I had to agree with him. Vampires and humans are supposed to live separate lives, in separate worlds. But you can't get anybody more passionate than a Vampire whose been around for so many years. You can't stop your own decisions once they've been made. Kai smiled again.

    "I've loved you longer than you've loved me, y'know," he whispered coyly. I could see pink flaunter in his cheeks subtly.

    "I doubt that,"

    "I haven't been able to tell you. I didn't want to depress you any more."

    "That contract means nothing," and I meant it.

    He smiled weakly and kissed my ear. I intertwined my fingers in his hair as his fingers were in mine and held him as close as I could possibly manage, only to have him pull me even closer. His cold silk lips kissed my neck repeatedly and he let out a sigh of relief.

    I sighed after he did, "The beast and the harlot,"

    I felt Kai's breath on my neck as he chuckled, "You're not a harlot. I'd say it's more 'beauty and the beast',"

    I chuckled lightly and gave up arguing with him already.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    I sat up still with my knees up to my chin and one arm wrapped around my knees and my other hand holding onto Kai's, who was lying on the ground next to me. He drew invisible circles on my hand with his thumb and kept his eyes closed and mused. There were two things biting me: the cold of the wind and the cold of Kai's hand. They didn't feel like the same coldness and it was hard to explain. I looked down at Kai and stared in awe. He looked even more superior than an angel. I had forgotten how perfect his complexion was. Every inch of him looked as though it were carved out of marble and ice. He looked incredibly relaxed and as though he lifted a huge weight off his shoulders.

    He chuckled at my thoughts, "You're interesting,"

    I beamed, "One thing I don't miss is you being in my head,"

    He opened his eyes, "This is the first time in two months that I've been in your head,"

    I glared at him, "What?"

    "Matsuda told me to stay out of your head and to let you think on your own, so I did,"

    I gaped at what he said. I could have savored those moments like there was no tomorrow if somebody had told me.

    "I kind of wanted to stay out of your head anyways. I didn't want to bear the feelings I would if I heard you thinking about being with Kira."

    I squeezed his hand as hard as I could but I knew he couldn't feel it much, "Don't ever think that, Kai. Just stop it."

    I slowly lowered myself so I was partially lying on his torso and I stared at him, "Don't think that," I repeated myself.

    He closed his eyes and I kissed him a few times slowly. I stopped after several small pecks.

    "Hey, Kai. This is a little random, but can we go and visit Akatsuki?"

    Kai opened his eyes in curiosity, "Akatsuki?"

    "Yeah. We haven't seen him a while. I want to see how he's doing." I provoked.

    Kai frowned and looked up at the overcast sky and a few flurries drafted down, "It's going to be a full moon tonight. I'm sure he's busy right now."

    "I don't care. I'm worried about him."

    Kai sighed in defeat. He sat up and picked me up in his arms and then stood up. He looked down at me with a look of mockery, "Close. Your. Eyes." he articulated all three words.

    "Well, hang on, I need a few minutes to do so," I mocked myself sarcastically.

    He smiled at me and I locked my arms around his neck. I squeezed my eyes shut and buried my face in his neck. He gripped my clothes and I could feel some of the same feelings as before while we were teleporting, only not as bad. My vision didn't go blurry and it felt like we were spinning in slower circles. I could feel Kai this time and I refused to release my grip on him. Everything was calm in an instant and I opened my eyes slowly to see that we were in the parking lot of Akatsuki's apartment. I looked around.

    "How long does teleporting take?"

    "Only a sliver of a second," I stared at him. It felt like it took much longer, "Will you be able to stand?" he said coyly, raising an eyebrow.

    I snorted and lowered myself onto the ground. I backed away from Kai and stood still and in balance, "See? I'm fine."

    I turned around on my heel and right when I took five steps, I tripped on a crack and held out my hands to catch my fall. I looked back and glared at Kai as he belted out a laugh. I stood up immediately and brushed the pebbles off of my hands. I stormed away from Kai and he only caught up easily with my power walk, finishing up his laughter.

    "I'm sorry, but you're such a klutz,"

    I ignored him and walked up the outside stairs and knocked on Akatsuki's door. After a few seconds, a surprised Akatsuki opened the door.

    "Arisa?"

    I shot my hand up and waved, "Hey, hi! What's up?!"

    "Um, not much...?"

    "Is it okay if we come by and say hi? Kai was really wanting to meet you again."

    Kai snorted and Akatsuki frowned at him, "Vampire,"

    "Hunter,"

    I hated it when they addressed each other like that, even though this was my second time meeting Akatsuki. Akatsuki opened his door all the way, allowing our entrance. I smiled in gratitude and walked in and Kai glided in behind me. Akatsuki gestured towards his couch.

    "Have a seat, please," he smiled courteously.

    I smiled back and seated myself on his couch. He pulled over a bar stool from his breakfast bar and sat down at an angle from the couch. He leaned over, rested his elbows on his knees, and folded his hands together. He stared at Kai, irritated.

    "You too, Vampire,"

    "Tch," Kai scoffed and crossed his arms.

    "You two are so annoying. Why can't you get along?"

    They both stared at me as if I should know the obvious. I knew Necromantic Hunters and Vampires were to be sworn enemies, but still.

    Kai, that didn't stop you and I, and his face hardened a little. I sighed. Please, Kai.

    He only ignored me and sat himself on the couch next to me and draped his arm on the back of the couch behind me. Akatsuki eyed him and then turned his attention to me again.

    "So, why are you here?"

    "Do you not want me here?"

    "I didn't say that!" he sounded mistaken, "I'm just wondering."

    "I wanted to say hi. It's been a couple of months."

    "I need to get ready for tonight. It's going to be a full moon."

    I nodded, "I know," I thought back to my first real full moon experience when the Werewolf attacked us, nearly chewing my foot off.

    Kai nudged me, knocking me out of my train of thought. I winced when he nudged me because he nudged right where the cut was. He glared in a different direction, remembering Kira's insecurity.

    "The Werewolves will be restless tonight. I'll be up for days after that." Akatsuki sighed and scratched his head.

    "You're too young to have to go through with this crap," I testified.

    The silence was interrupted by Kai's cell phone going off. He answered it right away, only to be confronted by Matsuda. Kai nodded his head a few times, saying "Yes" and "No" every here and there. I assumed Kai told Matsuda we were at Akatsuki's in his head because he later said, "We won't be here long,"

    "Who all is at your house, Arisa?" Akatsuki asked, changing the subject.

    "Um, Matsuda and Orihime who are Angels and married, Kira who's a half Vampire, Kai who is obviously right here, and Takeuchi who is a Werewolf,"

    Right when I said "Werewolf", Akatsuki shot upright. I waved my hands out in front of me, "No, no! He's a good Werewolf! He hasn't hurt anybody!"

    "Akatsuki," Kai sounded irritated and somewhat surprised as he handed Akatsuki his cell phone, "Matsuda wants to speak with you."

    Akatsuki stared at me and I mouthed out to him to remind him Matsuda was the Angel. Akatsuki removed the cell phone from Kai's hand and held it up to his ear.

    "This is Akatsuki Sangatsu," he informed and I couldn't help but chuckle at his formality.

    I looked next to me and Kai and he didn't chuckle back. He face was rigid and his body was tense. His fists were clenched and he did deep breathing again. I stared at him longer.

    "Kai, what's wrong?"

    "Okay. I can try to make it." my head whipped back to Akatsuki as he said that and he hung up, handing the cell phone to Kai.

    "What's going on?"

    Kai stood up and Akatsuki did as well. Kai gently pulled me up by my arm, "We're going home. We need to get you far away from here."

    "What do you mean? What are you talking about?"

    "I'll explain it all when we get back home,"

    "I'll try to make it over later, Uketomeru," Akatsuki sounded serious, not so childish at the slightest bit as to use Kai's other name as "Vampire".

    Kai held me up in his arms again and gripped me tightly, "We'll only be a few minutes,"

    Akatsuki nodded, "Better get leaving right now. It's almost sundown."

    "Arisa, close your eyes,"

    I locked my arms around Kai's neck again and looked back at Akatsuki, "Are you going to be okay?"

    "I'll be fine. I'll see you in a little bit."

    "Close your eyes," Kai declared again, getting agitated.

    "Tell me what's going on first!"

    Kai and Akatsuki paused and looked at each other and then back at me. I glared at Kai. Kai sighed.

    "The Werewolves are planning. They want to find you and eat you alive for immortality. They're going to attack the house in less than an hour if we don't get there soon. It's going to be worse than that first Werewolf attack."

    I held my breath and gripped the collar of Kai's shirt harder. I was afraid again. The first time I was attacked by a Werewolf, both Kai and I were nearly killed. If this time is going to be worse, who was going to survive?

    "Akatsuki?"

    "I'll be there soon," he smiled reassuringly.

    I nodded and closed my eyes and buried my face in Kai's shoulder and we teleported again. Only this time, I felt no joy or any light feelings from teleporting. Only fear and nausea consumed my body and death images dictated my mind.