#admin writes

He feared he would bumble and bluster his way through parenthood, and would come home someday to a son who hated him. What would he do then, other than accept that these hands were good for nothing other than destruction? A son would not wipe clean the blood from under his fingernails. He would surely smell the reek of it on his father and reject him eventually, as all others did.

Grail is only five, his more rational thoughts soothe, you still have time. For now, we must do our best with what we have.

Eight exhales, his lingering anxieties dissipating as he searches for something to entertain Grail with. To his relief, he spots a gaggle of similarly small children congregating under the tree next to the swing, and steers him around to face their direction.

Grail stops fidgeting, looking over with wide, curious eyes at where Eight is pointing.

"Go play with the others," He nudges him forward, and Grail takes a few confident steps towards the group, only to turn around and run straight back into Eight's arms. Eight blinks, surprised, his expression turning wistful. His hand comes to rest atop Grail's head as he buries his face in the folds of his clothing. "Grail…"

"Looks like you've got a little barnacle there," loudly calls an unfamiliar voice, and Eight glances up from his charge as a troop of assorted spouses traipse into view, having just returned from the town in the valley below. Among their number, he spots his own hidden demurely in the middle of the pack, toting a basket of bread and looking none too worse for wear. Arcann meets his eyes for a fleeting second and smiles, and Eight quickly ducks his head as to not reveal the blush that threatens to overtake his cheeks.

"We're back from our tour of the town," The leader, a Nautolan woman named Uryl, lifts her hand in greeting. She jabs a thumb backwards at Arcann. "Hope we didn't steal him from you for too long. The ladies just love him—it was like throwing him to the Firaxan sharks!"

Eight turns to Arcann, one brow raised.

Arcann coughs into his fist. "They were all very…nice." He says, too modest for Eight to believe.

"See? Total sweetheart," Pipes up another, and the group murmurs their agreement, much to Arcann's collective embarrassment. "It's hard to believe you two are mercenaries."

"Absolutely."

"Totally."

"Anyways, why don't we let you two catch up? We can take your little one off your hands, and he can play with the kids." Uryl interrupts the gossip, crouching down to toddler height. She opens her arms expectantly to receive Grail from Eight, who attempts to burrow his way through Eight's chest to get away from this stranger.

Eight smiles weakly from where he sits. "Sorry. He's a little shy. He's not usually like this."

"That's alright. Nena! Come here!"At her mother's barked request, a purple Nautolan child holding a ball comes running to Uryl's side. "Can you make Grail feel welcome? He's new here, and doesn't have any friends yet."

"Sure!" The child happily chirps, and tugs on the back of Grail's shirt. "Come join, we're playing huttball!"

Grail's attention is immediately caught by the magic word, and he turns from the safety of Eight's chest to face Nena, who jumps up and down enticingly. He looks at Eight uncertainly, unsure of what to do.

Eight looks down at him warmly, mouthing 'go on'.

After some deliberation, Grail finally extricates himself from Eight and is tugged away by Nena, who excitedly yaps all the way to the tree where the rest of the children await them.

"Thank you," He says to Uryl, who simply winks at him as she moves to join the children across the park.

"Don't mention it. We're a community. We look out for our own," She answers over her shoulder, and Eight watches as she and the other spouses become smaller and smaller in the distance, leaving him and Arcann alone. A moment passes, and they admire the view together as their son plays in the foreground.

"Did anyone recognize you?" Eight asks cautiously, breaking the silence.

Arcann shakes his head, removing the pair of spectacles he had donned as part of his "disguise", the rest of it being a change to civilian clothes and a repainting of his prosthetic. He takes a seat next to Eight in the grass. "One of them said I looked familiar, but all of them accepted me with open arms." His eyes flash with remorse. "This planet is removed from the war. I am glad it remained out of reach of Zakuul after all this time."

Eight says nothing to this, merely laying his head on Arcann's shoulder as Arcann's other arm winds around his waist.

With luck, they would make a home here, and Grail would grow up far and away from the bloodied vestiges of their respective legacies. Should anything happen to either of them, Grail would still have this planet's denizens to take him in, and neither of them would have to worry about leaving their son alone if the past caught up to them. But for now…

Eight smiles contentedly as cheers arise in the distance, with Grail having scored a goal against the other team. Spotting his fathers, Grail's tiny form waves at them.

Emotional Support Werewolf! Shouta Aizawa x Reader You were staring at your list, trying to remember where the last item you needed was, something you needed since it helped with your food sensitivity. You were out of the item at home, and you needed more as you used the item every day. You were there with Shouta, your emotional support boyfriend, who was a werewolf hybrid that you had been with for five years. He stood still long enough for you to grab onto the handle on the back of his vest he was wearing, as he looked around the area, keeping an eye out for any threats or things that would stress you out. He kept looking back at you as you were muttering to yourself about what needed to happen throughout the rest of the day. He stopped walking, took your hands in his before looking you in the eyes, and cupped your face.

“Y/n, I’m picking up that you’re beginning to stress out. Is it because of your safe food? Let’s just find the item and see if they have it in stock. If not, we will find out where it's in stock or order it online.” Shouta told you as he walked with you through the aisles to where your safe food item was. The aisle is mostly empty, except for a woman who was wearing a short, angled bob dyed a tacky blonde, and a leopard print shirt. She had an oversized purse, and you saw a few containers of your safe food in the shallower basket of her cart, along with her oversized purse. You inhaled sharply and Shouta had you grip onto handles that were on the sides of his vest, gently guiding you behind him as he pushed the car.

“That woman seems like the kind to be a nuisance and an entitled customer,” Shouta spoke quietly to you as he pushed the car slowly on the other side of the aisle and stopped just in front of where the item you needed would be stocked. You glanced up and saw that the shelf was empty. Your eyes widened, looking to the other woman’s cart as she was typing on her phone with her excessively long nails that clacked on the glass screen, making you clamp your headphones tighter over your ears, whimpering slightly. Shouta felt you move away from him, and he turned to face you, blocking the woman from being able to look at you. “Hey, hey. Shh. It’s okay. We will find your food online or in another store.” Shouta spoke, putting his hands on your arms, trying to get you to look him in the eyes. You finally locked your gaze with his, and he guided you through some calming breaths until he was tapped on the shoulder. He turned to see who it was, and the woman was looking at him with a mixed look of annoyance and concern.

“Are they okay? What’s wrong with them?” The woman asked, folding her arms and huffing annoyedly. Shouta’s eyes narrowed, and he got you to hold on to the handle of the cart, working through some grounding exercises before using his body to make a barrier between you and this other woman. “They’re experiencing a panic attack right now and are going through a calming exercise. It’s best that you don’t interfere right now, as you could make their panic attack worse.” Shouta spoke. The woman scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“What are they panicking over? Not being able to get some of this delicious Almond milk? Too bad. I’m on a vegan, liquid-only, high-protein, low-fat fat, and it requires this milk for my smoothies. My dietitian recommended this diet so I can have the perfect summer body.” She spoke in an overly sarcastic tone that made Shouta’s nerves grate against each other, and a low growl emitted from his chest that caught both you and the woman off guard.

“I’d advise you to leave before things get worse, ma’am. I will get security if you push this further. It’s not nice to hog something that someone with an actual medical condition needs in their daily routine.” He spoke, tapping on the Service Hybrid Association badge on his tactical grade vest he was wearing. “Oh, so you’re one of those support mutts these snowflake millennials are getting for panic attacks? They should learn to toughen up when something is out of stock.” The woman spoke. Shouta’s eyes narrowed, and he turned back to you as you were now fixated on counting the multiples of cans in the soup pallets. He put his hand on the small of your back as the woman was huffing impatiently as Shouta guided you away from the aggravating woman.

“C’mon, Y/n. Let's get you out of here. We will see if they have any in the back so you can get some and we can go home.” He spoke as he guided you out of the aisle and turned you to face him. “I need to tell the security guards about that rude woman. Can you come with m,e or do we need to check out and get you to your safe spot to wait first?” Shouta asked, watching as your eyes darted around, looking at all the options on the shelves before looking at him, and taking a moment to make your choice. “We can go to the guards first. I like pushing the cart.” You spoke as you kept one hand on the cart, pushing it back and forth a little in a stimming motion.

“Okay, just follow me. Once we tell the guards about that lady, I’ll help you check out, then I believe you deserve a treat for doing so well with this whole situation, and we can either ask if they have more of the almond milk in the back, or we can come back another day. It’s up to you, Y/n.” Shouta told you as he walked on your right side, keeping his arm around your waist as he guided you through the store to where the security guards were. “Hello, Officer, I’d like to report an entitled customer for hogging a large amount of almond milk and being an overall nuisance to my partner and I.” He spoke to the officer. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, sir. Here, fill this out while we assist you and your partner.” The guard said, giving Shouta a clipboard before he guided you to a nearby empty picnic table that was outside the deli area where you could watch the workers make food through a window while he filled out the form and kept you engaged by asking you what you wanted to get for a treat. He would glance up from time to time, watching you stare intently at the workers inside, making some soft serve sundaes in a cup, either with strawberries or with chocolate syrup. He noticed how you were counting the amount of each flavor that was made on your hands. He smiled and finished the form, telling you to stay seated while he turned the form into the complaints department. When he returned, you looked back at him as he sat next to you, putting his arm around your shoulders, pulling you close to him as you watched someone assemble pizzas.

“The workers made 18 strawberry sundaes and 15 chocolate ones while I was sitting here.” You told him, and he smiled, kissing your head just behind where your headphones were to help drown out the noise of the store. “I’ll get you a treat. Do you want strawberry or chocolate?” He asked as he looked you in the eyes.

“Chocolate, please.” You asked, and he got up, letting you cling to him, holding onto two of the handles on his vest, one on his right side, and another on his back as he guided you through the crowd to stand in line. You were still fixated on the workers doing their job, bringing up the orders to the counter, and calling out orders when they were ready. Shouta guided you to the counter when it was your turn to order.

“Do you want to tell the nice person what you’d like, or should I tell them?” Shouta asked, rubbing your back as he did so. You fidgeted with your hands and looked the worker in the eyes before speaking. “I’d like a chocolate sundae, please.” You asked, and Shouta smiled, praising you and rubbing your back, paying the worker for both your sundaes before he guided you off to the side where you could watch the workers make food for the different orders. Shouta let you hold the receipt, which had the number of your order on it, so you could watch and listen for your order to come to the counter when it was ready. When the worker placed both your sundaes on the counter, a chocolate one for you and a strawberry one for Shouta, you about burst forward to retrieve the treat, but Shouta had to hold you back until the worker called the number out. You darted forward and thanked the person before taking the two cups of soft serve and handing the strawberry one to Shouta, immediately stirring the chocolate sauce into your ice cream as the two of you walked to the exit with your cart of food. You felt Shouta use his capture weapon to wrap around your waist and tether you to him so he wouldn’t lose you in the crowd as the two of you headed to the exit.

“You did so good, Y/n. I’ll get you home to put the food away, and I’ll see if the corner store has a carton or two that can hold you over until they have some more in stock.” Shouta spoke as you were happily taking bites of your ice cream and walking out to the car. You put your ice cream in the front seat before helping load the car by handing Shouta items in the cart as he loaded up the trunk. Once the car was full, the two of you got in the car and went home. The End.

Naga! Hizashi Yamada x Reader

“Hizashi! I think my headphones finally kicked the bucket!” You called from the bedroom of your shared apartment. A few moments later, his head peeked in and he walked over to you to help you asses what was wrong with your headphones. “What’s wrong with them?” He asked as he took your headphones from you so he could assess them. He popped the earmuffs out and looked at the technology on the over-the-ear parts. “The battery isn’t lasting as long as it should anymore. They barely last a full shift at the station anymore, and I have to charge them on our lunch break.” You told him.

“This isn’t good. They should be lasting longer. Like upwards of 36 hours, right? How long have you had these headphones, anyway? You were using them when we first met.” Hizashi spoke as he set the headphones down on the table and looked at you.

“I don’t know. I’m still gonna call the store where I got them from and see if I can get them exchanged or refurbished.” You spoke as you pulled your phone out to call the store where you purchased the headphones to see what they could do to help with the battery not lasting as it once did.

Hizashi listened to your call and helped you troubleshoot with the person on the line, as he knew you didn’t like phone calls. After the call had ended, Hizashi set your phone down and put his hand on your back in a comforting way. “Looks like we just go into the return section and tell them what’s going on. They will refund us and put the money on a card as store credit, and we can use that money to buy you a new pair of headphones, okay?” Hizashi told you, rubbing your back and coiling the tip of his tail around your ankle, slowly sliding it up your calf to give you a soothing compression feeling.

“You did so well with the phone call. We will go get the headphones tomorrow, okay?” He spoke as he coiled around you, using his tail as a compression weight to help you relax from being distressed at the loss of your headphones you had for the past six years. ~~~

A couple of days later, Hizashi guided you through the store, and the bright lights and overlapping chatter of the store were overwhelming to you. Hizashi walked with you to the returns counter with a hand on your back, helping you talk to the person who came up to help you. “How can I help you today?” The person asked as they looked up from their computer.

“We called in a few days ago about Y/n’s headphones. She was saying that the battery in the headphones wasn’t lasting the full twenty-four to thirty-six hours that they normally would, and only lasting maybe twelve hours.” Hizashi spoke, reading into your anxiety about giving up the headphones that you had sentimental value i, as you had taken the headphones with you everywhere for the past six years. The employee helping the two of you was kind and patient with you, helping you every step of the way through the refund and transfer of the headphones.

You took your old headphones off, giving them to another employee who was examining them. They even let you keep the new earmuffs that Hizashi recently purchased for you, since the old pair had deteriorated enough that the audio quality wasn’t the best, and outside noises would leak in more often. You were fixated on small items in the refund area, like a calendar that had been decorated in brightly colored dry erase markers and noted the different days marked with events like the employee’s birthdays and different holidays happening that month. There were also small items decorating the register, like a small, All Might-themed duck, and an All Might-themed stress ball next to a pen holder with a similar theme. You did your best to make eye contact with Hizashi as he finished the transaction and accepted the store card that had the money on it.

He rubbed your back as he chatted with the clerk a bit more before the two of you thanked her and left the returns area. You made a beeline for the technology department, where you knew the headphone claim cards were, stopping for a moment to pick out which claim card you wanted before Hizashi reminded you to look at the price before looking at the other options to see if you wanted another style or brand. You insisted on similar headphones to your old ones by the same brand, picked up the cardboard claim card that you wanted, and walked with Hizashi to the register. Hizashi held you from behind and whispered positive affirmations into your ear about how well you were doing with the whole interaction. You were staring at the large posters displaying the food in the deli section of the store, deciding on what you wanted for lunch since you were getting hungry.

“Deciding what you want, princess?” He asked, noticing your gaze on the food adverts. You nodded and looked up at him. “Want the chicken bake, please.” You spoke, and Hizashi kissed your head, walking with you as your turn came up to purchase the headphones, keeping his arms around your waist to keep you grounded as he could tell that the beeping of the registers was beginning to stress you out. He tightened his grip slightly around your waist as a subtle compression hug to keep you grounded. He talked to you about the things going on in front of you as you were still choosing what you wanted to drink from the deli. “We’re up next, darling.” He spoke as he guided you to his left side, anchoring on the handle attached to his support vest that he wore under his letterman jacket to walk you through the line and help you through the purchase. He kept his hand on your back as you handed the claim card to the cashier and watched as he called over a supervisor to run into the back where they kept the headphones as Hizashi helped you with the purchase.

“Do you wanna insert the card or should I?” Hizashi asked when he turned to you and held the card out for you to take. You took the card and proceeded to pay for the headphones with the store card first before reaching for your card to pay for the leftover amount when Hizashi handed you his. “On me, baby. You deserve it.” He spoke. You took his card and inserted it, letting him type in the PIN. You watched as the manager came back with the new headphones in the box, which you happily took and thanked them for the headphones. Hizashi guided you to the deli area and sat you down, telling you to wait there while he went to get the receipt checked and get the food that you wanted for lunch. You waited for him to return with the receipt before you broke into the box.

Waiting for Hizashi to return was almost like torture. You were aware of everything: the beeping of the line of registers, the rustling of paper and plastic bags, and the pressure of the overlapping chatter of the customers in the store. You craved the noise-cancelling feature of your old headphones but you remembered the tactic you used when noises got to be too much for you in public; pushing the tragus of your outer ear over your ear canal which helped drown out some of the noises, shutting your eyes too to lessen as much stimuli as possible to give you some temporary relief while you waited for Hizashi to return. You felt someone tap you on the shoulder, and you heard a muffled voice asking if you were okay. You opened one eye to see a person looking at you with concern on their face.

“Are you okay?” They asked. You forced a pleasant smile and reassured them that you were okay, just like you and Hizashi had practiced in case a stranger came up and began to over-push your boundaries. “Are you sure? You looked distressed. Can I help you in any way?” The stranger pushed, making you uncomfortable. You began panicking and began to search the crowd of people for Hizashi’s bright yellow hair peeking over the sea of people which began to make you feel claustrophobic. You spotted him walking back to the deli area, stuck in the sea of people heading to the exit. You wanted help as this person was persistent and trying to reach out and comfort you but you kept pulling away, making sure to grab the headphones with you and walking over to Hizashi for comfort and ask him to help you with this bothersome person since you no longer had spoons to deal with anyone else today.

You reach him and immediately grab for the woven handles attached to the sides of his vest, well hidden under the black letterman jacket with neon cyan, yellow, and magenta details that promoted his Friday night radio show. You rested your head on his chest, and he wrapped his arms around you, rubbing your back soothingly and looking around to see what was giving you such distress before his eyes landed on the bothersome person. He shifted his arms around you in a protective manner as the person approached.

“She’s fine. I’m her husband, and I got her now. Thank you for trying to help.” Hizashi spoke in a firm, dismissive tone, showing his support unit vest a little to the person. The person looked surprised, and they left immediately, realizing their mistake.  You were happy to see the person walking away. Once the person was out of sight, Hizashi guided you over to another table and looked down at you, trying to get you to look at him. “You okay, sweetheart? You looked a bit drained. Let’s get the headphones set up and on your head before we go shopping, okay? IIt'sjust a few things on the list that we need at home.” Hizashi spoke, showing you the list, scrawled out on a piece of paper that you glanced over before working on finishing the setup of your headphones, syncing them with your phone, and finally placing them on your head, feeling relief when the noise-cancelling took effect.

You rested your head on Hizashi’s shoulder for a moment, taking deep breaths as you felt peace. No more beeping or overlapping chatter of the store. Hizashi rubbed your back and rocked you slightly as you recharged with the headphones for a few minutes until you were ready to go grocery shopping with him. You stuck by him, keeping one hand on the cart or one of the handles of his support vest as the two of you gathered the items on the list. When the two of you arrived at the register again, Hizashi handed you some money from his wallet.

“I’d like the chicken bake with the mocha freeze. You can get yourself whatever you want to eat and something to drink, too, okay, princess? We’re both tired and hungry. I know you just wanna get home and be compressed, right?” Hizashi said as you took the money from him. Your eyes lit up at the idea of his tail being used as a weighted compression blanket when the two of you got home and put the groceries away. You darted off to get the food and wait for him to get through the checkout and meet you back by the deli area. You walked over with two chicken bakes and two mocha freezes in your hand, along with the change. You handed him the change first before setting the food and drinks into the cart and helping him push the cart out of the store. You held onto one of the reinforced handles up on the middle of his vest and followed him out to where he had parked the car.

“You did amazing in there, Y/n. You did such a good job with the refund. I’m proud of you.” He reassured you while he searched the sea of different cars in the parking lot for his blue sports car with white racing stripes down the middle of the car. You spotted the car before he did, and you tugged him in the direction of the car. “You have sharp eyesight, baby girl. You wanna help me load up the car or just wait in the passenger seat?” Hizashi asked as he pushed the cart to the trunk of his vehicle. “I can help a little.” You told him as he unlocked his car and opened the trunk. He lifted the heavier items into the trunk, letting you hand him the lighter items until there were only one or two items left in the cart.

“Okay, sweetie, take our drinks and food into the front of the ca,r and I’ll be there in a moment so we can eat together,” Hizashi spoke, placing the last couple of items into the trunk of his car, shutting the trunk, and pushing the cart to the nearest cart return after you had grabbed the chicken bakes and drinks, and sat in the passenger seat in the car. You sipped on your coffee while you waited for Hizashi to return, watching in the rear-view mirror as he walked back to the car and sat in the driver’s seat. The two of you ate in silence before Hizashi started the car up and drove home. Once the two of you were home, you helped carry food into the house, and while Hizashi went to take his vest off, you sat down and sorted the food into different bags that would go to either the pantry in the kitchen, the fridge, or the backup storage in the laundry room. Hizashi came down in one of his peachy colored shirts that also promoted his radio station and a black sarong with lighter grey palm leaves along the hem. His legs were now fused in the long, black naga tail with a bright yellow heartbeat pattern on the wall of his tail that you’d trace gently. He knew that you loved being compressed with his coils, and knew that you’d need a weighted compression session after putting the food away. He paused in the doorway when he saw you on the floor sorting canned food into a bag.

“Which bag goes where, sweetheart?” He asked, knowing you’ve done this before with previous shopping trips. “This bag has the fridge and freezer food, this one has the kitchen pantry, and this one has the backup pantry food.” You told him, pointing to each of the bags. He picked up the backup pantry bag and hefted it over his shoulder. “I’ll put this one away while you work on the kitchen pantry. Then we can do the fridge and freeze together, okay?” He said, and you agreed to that plan, anticipating being coiled up and sandwiched between his chest and his tail later. You dragged the bag of food for the kitchen pantry over to where the pantry was and opened the door, beginning to put the food away in their neat rows, rotating the old cans to the front while putting the new ones in the back. You were putting the last box of mac and cheese away when you felt Hizashi’s strong arms wrap around your waist, and he placed his chin on your shoulder.

“Need help? You’re stretching a bit far there, and I don’t want you to get hurt, Y/n.” He spoke, noticing how you were up on your tiptoes trying to get to the shelf where the mac and cheese belonged. You were just out of reach to get to the shelf where your safe food belonged, so you handed the boxes to Hizashi, and he placed them on the top shelf. “No fair that you’re so tall that you can reach.” You spoke with a pout.

“I know, sweetheart. It just gives me more opportunities to help you out like that.” He spoke, slithering over to you and pulling you close. “How about compression time now?” He suggested. Your head snapped up at the idea of compression time, and you nodded your head enthusiastically, which made Hizashi chuckle. You led him to the couch where the two of you would cuddle often.

“How do you want me this time?” He asked. You had him lie down on the couch on his back so you could lie on his chest after he had coiled around you. He started by anchoring the tip of his tail around your leg and moved his way around you until you were completely wrapped up in his tail, as he laid on the couch, pulling you on top of him. You let out a groan of relief as you felt the weight of his tail sink in on your back as it tightened slightly until you told him to stop, so he didn’t hurt you. He wrapped his arms around you in a comforting squeeze to help you relax and regain spoons to finish some smaller tasks in the day. You eventually fell asleep in his arms, and he loosened his squeezing hug on you a little before letting himself sleep too. The end.

Naga! Oboro Shirakumo x Reader

Feeling your heart race a little as your doctor put out an order for you to get some blood drawn for tests, as you left the office, tethered to your support hybrid boyfriend, Oboro Shirakumo, who had noticed your stress and pulled you off to the side once the two of you were outside. You noticed the fresh air slightly scented with flowers and the warmth of the sun sinking through your clothes, giving you a freeing feeling from the sanitary antiseptic smell of the doctor’s office. You heard birds chirping from behind you as Oboro was trying to get you to look at him. “Hey, Y/n. Look at me, sweetheart. I know you don’t like getting your blood drawn, but it’s just a little prick and it will be over before you know it.” Oboro told you as you worked to get your eyes to lock with his sky-blue ones. “There you are, princess.” He spoke as he gazed back into your eyes.

“How about this: I’ll get you your favorite ice cream after the blood draw. I know you’ve been talking about the chocolate and vanilla swirl for a while now.” He spoke with a slight smirk teasing the corner of his mouth. “You’re mean, Oboro. Bribing me with my favorite ice cream is cruel.” You told him, crossing your arms over your chest. He let out a chuckle and nuzzled your cheek. “It's effective, though, baby. C’mon. Let's go get your blood drawn.” He whispered into your ear, then pulled away and led you by the hand as he slithered down the winding wheelchair ramp. You groaned and followed him, keeping an eye on his pale blue tail as he slithered across the campus, following a map on his phone to where the blood draw office was, linking your arm with his so he didn’t lose you or leave you behind. You protested the whole way there, but he kept you moving by keeping his arm wrapped around you and reminding you of the ice cream, adding cuddles when you got back to your apartment, and even watching your favorite show to sweeten the deal.

Once in the waiting area to the blood draw clinic, Oboro stood behind you, his arms around your waist, and the tip of his tail was wrapped around your ankle to keep you calm and grounded. “I can tell you’re getting anxious, darling. Relax and focus on the idea of ice cream afterwards.” He whispered into your ear. “Mama, look! That guy is a snake and his tail is blue!” The two of you heard a little kid call out who was in the clinic with their mom, probably there for the same reason. You looked over to see the kid bouncing up and down with excitement as he stared at Oboro’s tail. You looked back at Oboro, who wanted to interact with the kid but was stuck helping you through the check-in to get your blood drawn.

You felt his conflict as he wanted to go play with the kid, letting them explore their interest in snakes. But he couldn’t since he was working with you and his main concern was to help keep you calm through the blood draw. “I know you’d want to go play with the kid, but you’re working right now, Oboro.” You told him as the two of you inched forward to the sign-in desk. Oboro nodded and placed his chin on your head while the person standing in front of you was checked in for their appointment. Oboro wrapped his arms around your waist and helped you up to the check-in counter, where the kind lady behind the computer greeted you with a smile.

“Hello there, what’s your name, and what brings you in today? She asked. You told her your name and that you were there to get some blood drawn for your doctor. You also informed them of your fear of needles and that the man with you was your service hybrid companion, Oboro Shirakumo, and that he would be accompanying you to the blood draw. Oboro grinned and showed the nurse his vest with the logo for the Service Hybrid Association embroidered on the back. The nurse smiled sweetly and made a note of this on your chart and told the two of you that you could take a seat and wait until your name was called. Oboro held you by your waist and guided you to two chairs near the small TV showing a program from the local food channel. Oboro helped you sit in one of the chairs as you fixated on the cooking show. Oboro sat in the seat to your right and put one arm around your shoulder and rested his head against yours, watching the show with you. He wrapped the end of his tail around your ankle when he noticed that you were bouncing your leg: the first sign of your anxiety and your thoughts wandering. Oboro pulled you close and kissed your head, whispering into your ear even though you were staring off at a fixated point: another sign of your anxiety was dissociation, and he squeezed your shoulder to get your attention. You looked at him and he smiled.

“There you are. You seemed to zone out there. Here, focus on this.” Oboro spoke, picking up a length of his tail, and placed it on your lap, the weight distracting yo u and the texture of his tail a calming sensation to your fingers. You ran your hands back and forth on his tail, knowing it was a section that wasn’t as sensitive. Oboro looked up at the TV to watch the show as you played with the scales on his tail. His head turned when the door opened, watching a nurse come out and call your name. Your head whipped around when you heard your name called, and you bent down to grab your purse as Oboro pulled his tail off your lap, waiting for you to follow him back to where the nurse was waiting with a clipboard in hand. The Nurse took one look at Oboro and raised an eyebrow as they flipped through the papers on the clipboard, seeing the section on the sheet where the Service Hybrid Assisting box was checked. You gripped one of the handles on Oboro’s vest, knowing this person would make a fuss as some people did, saying how Nagas weren’t real Service animals and that Service animals were either dog hybrids or cat hybrids. The nurse did notice Oboro’s vest with the official Service Hybrid Association logo stitched on the front and the back.

“Who is this with you, Miss Y/n?” The nurse asked in a calm, congenial tone. You gulped, and Oboro wrapped his arm around you, pulling you close in a protective manner. “This is my service partner, Oboro. He’s a Naga. His job is to help me stay calm in stressful situations. Getting my blood drawn is stressful for me, so he came along to help me stay distracted from the procedure by usually putting his tail on my lap or wrapping the end around my lower leg.” You explained. The nurse looked surprised and led the two of you through the door and to a room where you’d get your blood drawn.

You sat down on the chair, holding Oboro’s hand with the opposite arm that the phlebotomists would be drawing from, getting strapped in, and rolling your sleeve up so the other nurses could tie a rubber band around your bicep to get your veins to show. You held Oboro’s hand with your free hand and watched as he slid his tail over your legs, letting the coils grip on your legs as the phlebotomist and their assistant watched in amazement, asking you about what it was like living with a Naga and quizzing you on your knowledge of snakes. As you were talking with the nurses, you felt more of Oboro’s tail climb up your legs, weighing you down so you couldn’t try to run from the procedure, you narrowed your eyes at him as you knew what he was doing, making him chuckle as he stuck close to your right side.

“You know the weighted feeling helps you stay calm in situations like this,” Oboro said as he pressed his forehead to yours. “Yes, I know it does. I still don’t like that you did this, but it’s necessary so I don’t have a panic attack with the needle.” You spoke, glancing over at the assistant who was pulling the capped needle and appropriate vial out of a drawer. You tilted your head to the different cap colors of the vials that stood up in the tray that were yet to be filled, and asked the nurses what the different cap colors meant. They told you that each cap color corresponded to a specific additive or anticoagulant that was present in the tube, helping preserve the integrity of the sample and prevent the blood from clotting and becoming unusable. You gripped Oboro’s hand as the assistant handed the capped needle to the phlebotomist, who took the cap off and prepped three vials to fill with your blood. “Eyes on me, Y/n.Don’t think about what’s going on. Just focus on me and think about the ice cream we’re going to get later.” Oboro spoke, rubbing his thumb over the back of your hand. You turned to look in his bright blue eyes, gripping Oboro’s hand tighter when you felt the sting of the alcohol swab before the prick of the needle and inhaling sharply as you felt the needle under your skin and the flow of blood going into the needle.

“That’s it. Just breathe and keep looking at me, sweetheart.” Oboro spoke, using his other hand to cup your face so you’d still look at him and not at the needle sticking out of your arm. You locked eyes with him, and he guided you through some breathing exercises. Before you knew it, the blood was drawn, and the needle was out of your arm. The nurse put a cotton swab on the area where they had poked you and offered a band-aid you which you accepted.

“It’s all over, Y/n. You did great. Let’s get out of here and get that ice cream like I promised, okay?” Oboro spoke, pulling his tail off your legs so you could get up, turning to the nurses, and thanking them before he led you out of the office. Once outside, he stretched as the skies were clear and the sun was shining. “The sun feels good, huh?” He asked as he followed you out to your car. He climbed into the passenger seat of your car. Once both of you were buckled, you began driving down to the closest ice cream store to get your treat for staying calm through the blood draw. You parked in front of the store and got out, with Oboro waiting for you. He linked his arm with yours, walking with you, and opened the door for you before going inside and looking at the menu.

Oboro stood behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist as you looked at the menu.

“You want the chocolate and vanilla swirl, right?” Oboro asked as he looked at you while looking at your options. “Yes, please. What are you going to get?” You asked, looking up at your partner. “I was thinking the cotton candy with mixed berries. It sounds good.” He spoke, holding your hand as the two of you walked up to the counter.

“What size do you want?” He asked as he pulled out his wallet. “Medium is okay.” You told him, and he knew better, getting you the large so you could have some now and more later when he knew you’d be craving some later. “Cone or cup? Or that special cup with the cone in it? And do you want plain or the chocolate-dipped one?” Oboro asked as he pointed to the options in the display case.

“The chocolate-dipped one with the crushed almonds on the rim, please.” You requested. When your turn came up to order, you walked up to the counter and told the food worker what you wanted, and listened to Oboro order after you. You fumbled for some cash to pay for your ice cream, but Oboro stopped you. “Nuh uh. Put your money away. This is on me, Princess.” He spoke, and you put your money away, watching Oboro pay for the treat, and watching the workers as they began to make your orders. Once the two of you received your ice cream, you went outside, ate the ice cream together on one of the tables, watching the sunset. “You did so well in the doctor’s office, Y/n. What do you want to do when we get home?” He asked as he licked a drip of his ice cream that was running down the cone.

“I want to change my clothes and hide in your coils. Maybe some slight weighted blanket with your tail.” You spoke as you ate your ice cream, breaking off bits of your waffle cone and dipping the pieces in your ice cream. “That sounds like a wonderful plan. Do you want quiet when we get home or some kind of background noise?” He asked as he took another bite of his ice cream. “Quiet to begin with… then I want to pick a show and put it on later when we make dinner.” You spoke, savoring the chocolate of your ice cream.

“Understood. What were you thinking of eating for dinner tonight?” Oboro asked as he watched you enjoy your ice cream. “How about something simple like fried rice and chicken karaage?” He asked as he finished up his ice cream, waiting for your response. “That sounds perfect. I’m guessing we’re going to pick it up on the way home?” You asked as you finished your ice cream. Oboro took your garbage, placed it in the can nearby, and went back to where you were sitting. He helped you to your feet before walking with you to your car, letting you drive to a nearby takeout place to get dinner and go home. You stayed in the car while Oboro went into the restaurant, coming out a few minutes later with a plastic bag that held what looked to be two takeout containers and a third takeout container, which you raised your eyebrow to as he approached the car and entered the passenger side of the car, placing the food in his lap as he sat down and looked to you. “What’s all this food?” You asked.

“Well, the food in the bag is our fried rice and chicken karaage, and this is some gyoza and egg rolls with some sweet chili dipping sauce. I know you like them when you’re tired. They’re one of your safe foods, right?” Oboro asked as he looked at you to confirm his speculation. “Yes, gyoza and egg rolls are one of my safe foods. They’re  a comfort food too.” You reassured him and he smiled, putting the extra take-out container in the bag as he held it on his lap. You drove home, getting inside your house with Oboro behind you. You beelined for the bedroom so you could get out of your uncomfortable clothing as he portioned out the food.  You pulled on a pair of his sweatpants that he rarely wore and one of his shirts that was super baggy on you, but it was comfy. You heard Oboro come into the room, working at the various snaps and buckles of his service vest, pulling it over his head and hanging it on its rack. He had a blue shirt on under his vest that was wrinkled and compressed against his body.

Chiyo looked out the big window of the manor. The sickle of the moon big, white and glowing against the night sky. How long has it been that she has last seen the sun? She couldn’t quite remember. Even then, seeing it from behind the window was completely different than being outside and enjoying it on her skin. Most of the time she was not even allowed to do that; the curtains remained closed the whole day.

She pulled her legs up on the large windowsill that she sat on and sighed. She didn’t even hear her captor enter the room.

“Why do you keep staring out the window all the time?”

The sudden question made her jump.

“Shuu…” she said.

Over time she decided to drop the honorifics. Using polite tone with someone who kidnapped you seemed very strange. Although it also seemed strange to her to just casually say his name like that too. She only hoped it grated him that she wouldn’t show him respect. Respect he demanded from her, him being a vampire, seeing himself above her.

She didn’t like how he leaned so nonchalantly against the window wall. Too close to her; way too close. He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her answer.

“I am looking at the moon, is that not allowed?”

Shuu huffed and pushed himself away from the wall, standing right in front of her now. Clearly he didn’t like the way she still talked back to him, but she couldn’t do anything about it, she still had her pride, even as a woman. And she didn’t exactly want to become friends with him anyway. If she was going to rot away in some monster’s scary mansion she could at least rot away defying it until her last breath.

“You’re always talking back to me, refusing to obey, do you have a death wish?”

Chiyo refused to look at him. “You might have imprisoned me here, but I am not your puppet on a string. I still have my free will.”

Shuu leaned his hand against the wall. Chiyo pointedly looked away.

“You talk of free will… what power do you have to oppose me, you’re just a weak human,” he said.

“Half-human…” Chiyo corrected quietly, eyes trained on her feet.

“Is that so?” he asked.

Chiyo pressed her lips into a thin line and kept staring at her feet. Maybe if she ignored him long enough, he’d leave her alone. It only seemed to increasingly annoy the man next to her as he forcefully grabbed her chin and made her look at him.

“Answer me when I ask you something,” he said.

She glared at him. How many times did she have to repeat herself? She had mentioned it before already, but Shuu had never seemed convinced. It wasn’t her fault for being brought up in the human world and leading a mostly human life. All she knew was that her father was a vampire, she didn’t know much else about him as he rarely showed himself to her. Her mother seemed absolutely in love with that man, but she wasn’t sure how much to trust her in that regard. If you fell in love with a monster there simply was no way for your sanity to be completely intact. Nevertheless, she hated being looked down upon by him. Being half human and half vampire at least gave her the illusion of being able to talk to him on the same level, as equals.

Shuu let go of her chin, pushing her away roughly.

“Human or not, you sure are as stupid as one.”

She watched him walk around the room and make his way to the piano to pick up some music sheets.

“I hope you at least prepared for today, the guests will be here soon,” he said.

“Yes…” she said, still not looking in his direction.

Soon after she found herself in this vampire mansion, she found out that the reason she was abducted in the first place, had been nothing else than her piano skill. Had she been a man, maybe she would have been allowed to become a real musician, this way, the highest she could achieve was convincing her mother and her fiancé to let her play in front of their guests at huge gatherings. Who could have known this would inevitably lead to her demise. Maybe she should have had just accepted her place as a woman, quietly living alongside a husband that would have made all decisions for her, caged like a little songbird.

Only that songbirds were not denied their voice.

She wasn’t sure how Shuu had found out or had heard her play, but it didn’t really matter, as it wouldn’t change the outcome in any way. Sometimes Shuu would make her sit in front of the piano and play for hours on end, even whole nights. Every time she’d mess up, he'll punish her in one way or another, mostly hitting her fingers or sucking blood from them, which in turn would cause her to mess up more frequently from the pain she felt.

Shuu eventually left to prepare a few more things for this night’s soirée, leaving the girl alone with her thoughts. It has been many weeks since she had been brought here, surely her family was worried sick. She imagined her mother crying, wondering where her daughter disappeared to. Did her fiancé look for her? Ruki has never been very affectionate towards her, the whole marriage had been arranged for them. His father was an influential aristocrat, but Ruki had a reputation for being quite cruel, especially to his servants. He usually was critical towards her, and they butted heads more than once because of this. Chiyo disliked it when people made decisions for her; a bad characteristic to have in a world where being a woman was treated more like a medical condition than anything. Still she had always been hopeful that they would eventually warm up to each other, she’d hate to live in a loveless marriage for the rest of her life.

She took a look at the music sheets Shuu provided her a few days ago. He really wanted her to play La Campanella in front of a full room of people. She didn’t dislike the piece, but she found it hard to play so many fast paced tunes, and knowing Shuu, he expected her to deliver it flawlessly. Or was he setting her up for failure? She wasn’t sure but hoped it wasn’t the latter; surely he didn’t want to cause a scene at his own event. Although she couldn’t help but wonder why he would host them in the first place. He didn’t exactly seem like a sociable person, so maybe Reiji, his younger, but a lot better organized brother, made him do it?

Chiyo didn’t have any more time to think about Shuu’s true intentions, because Reiji came into the study to fetch her. Apparently the guests were arriving at this moment and her piano performance was to start while they waited for dinner to be served. She rarely interacted with Shuu’s younger brother, mainly because Shuu explicitly forbade her talking to him unless it was completely necessary. In general, she was not allowed to talk to anybody. It made for a rather boring day to day life, given that all she could occupy herself with were some old books and the piano she’d come to hate more than love lately.

Reiji seemed stricter than Shuu, but also more reasonable. She wondered if she could persuade him to let her go from this mansion, although it was probably unlikely.

The big room she was led into was already bustling with people. She heard the faint clink of glass on glass, as the guests started to drink their champagne and wine.

“I trust that you are aware of the proper etiquette for events like these, but just to be sure: do not do anything reckless. You are to entertain the guests with your music, do not initiate any conversations on your own,” Reiji said before he let her enter the room.

Chiyo pressed her lips into a thin line, everywhere the same thing.

Don’t make a sound.

Smile.

Look pretty.

“I know.”

She could feel the eyes on her as she entered the room and made her way to the piano. Most of the glances she got were curious, most likely brought by the fact that she was a new face.  She caught Shuu looking at her. His eyes traveled slowly from her head to her toes, practically drinking in her figure. She had worn a simple dress for this occasion, the only interesting thing about it being the delicately embroidered flowers at the hem. Even though the dress was modest, she felt exposed the way he kept his eyes on her, not sure if her shortness of breath came from her nervousness or the tightly laced corset.

Quickly she tried to focus on the task at hand: she was supposed to play music. Once Reiji announced her briefly, she did a short curtsy and got her music sheets ready.

Playing music was one of the things that always helped the girl relax and get her mind off things. Even while the room was full of strangers, once she started playing, it was as it was only her and the smooth keys of the instrument. She managed to get through the hard part that she was dreading before almost flawlessly. Shuu most likely caught her slight slip-up but didn’t say anything for the time being. The guests clapped once she finished the first song and Chiyo let out a shaky breath.

She provided background music until the last guests left the party. The whole night she could feel Shuu’s piercing gaze on her, it was as if he was staring daggers into her back, and she wasn’t sure why. Did he hate her performance that much? She tried to ignore it and pretended to be deeply fascinated by a speck of dust landing leisurely on the dark lacquer surface of the piano.

The fall board slammed shut suddenly and Shuu was standing right next to her, looking down on her.

“Are you going to keep sitting here forever?” he asked.

She was lucky her fingers weren’t resting on the keys, or she could have kissed them goodbye. It was hard for her to mask her shock at this man’s willingness to hurt her so deliberately.

“What, am I not allowed to do that anymore either?”

She tried to mask a bit of her fear with annoyance.

“I’ll bring you back to your room,” he said, completely ignoring her question. She looked up at him in distaste and sighed. A scene wasn’t something she wanted to make right now, maybe she would get to retreat to her room peacefully like this. She stood up and followed Shuu towards her chambers. Soon, she’d get back to her room, the door locked behind her, so she wouldn’t be able to leave, and she’d cry herself to sleep, as always. It has been a while, but the tears still wouldn’t stop every time she laid in bed.

Shuu stayed silent the whole way and she wondered whether he was angry with her for some reason.

As soon as they arrived, Chiyo made her way to the desk in the corner of the room, to put away the musical sheets. She’d been careless while doing so, because the edges of the paper slid against her fingertips and left a shallow but stinging cut in the delicate flesh.

She hissed and put her left hand towards her lips to alleviate the pain a little. Cuts like these were the worst kind, unassuming but incredibly painful.

“Show me that,” Shuu demanded.

Chiyo shook her head. “It’s nothing, I was careless and cut my finger, that’s all…”

Shuu clicked his tongue in annoyance and came closer, grabbing her wrist and yanking her towards him.

“Why do you have to keep making things complicated and be so stubborn all the time?” he asked as he examined the cut on her finger. She tried yanking her hand back, but his grip was too strong for her.

“Let go of me!” she cried.

“Stop being annoying and—”

Shuu’s attention shifted to the ring on her finger, and he frowned. Chiyo followed his gaze and gasped. She has been successful so far in hiding her engagement ring from him, either taking it off in time or not showing her left hand to him. This evening she decided to wear it to calm her nerves, it made her feel hopeful that Ruki would come for her after all.

As if he was able to read her thoughts Shuu then said:

“What? You still think that guy will come and save you? Pathetic.”

“You don’t know anything about him! I’m sure he’s trying to find out where I have gone!” she cried and frowned at him. Shuu let out a short breathy laugh at that.

“You think he cares enough about such a rebellious woman like you? I bet he’s currently out and about fucking someone else,” he said and looked at her with cold and menacing eyes.

Tears pricked her eyes and threatened to flow down her cheeks. She tried to hold them back, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her in her most vulnerable state.

“Liar…” she said quietly. Truth be told she wasn’t convinced by her own words either. Maybe Ruki did not want to get her back.

“Am I now?” he asked while putting her hand to his mouth and running his cold tongue along the side of her injured finger. Chiyo winced at the sensation; it felt so strange but mostly appalling, having her fingers licked by a man she disliked. Having her fingers licked by anybody would have felt weird, but she really didn’t want him close to her right now, if ever.

Her pulse quickened when his tongue went down from her wounded finger, along the palm of her hand and traced the artery on her wrist. She felt heat rise to her face and she gasped.

“Are you also going to call me a liar when I say that you’re enjoying this?” he asked without waiting for a response before he sank his sharp fangs into her wrist.

The girl cried out in pain. He had sucked her blood before, but not like this; she wasn’t sure how to feel about it. This was… different.

“Who… in their right mind… would enjoy that?” she said between shallow breaths and gritted teeth. His dark laugh sent vibrations through her whole arm as he kept sucking her blood. He held her firmly in place and lapped up what little blood had spilled down her forearm.

“A pervert like you, I am guessing,” he said with a dirty grin on his face. She frowned at him but cursed herself for blushing at his comment.

“That was punishment for your little mistake earlier,” he said, “now for this thing…”

He turned his attention back to her engagement ring and her eyes widened in fear. She thought he had forgotten about it by now.

“Time for you to take this worthless piece of junk off your finger finally.”

Despite her protests, Shuu slid the ring off her finger with ease and put it into his pocket. Surely he was going to throw it away somewhere Chiyo would never be able to find it again. It made her feel even more hopeless, having the only thing she had left, that still held some memories of home, taken from her. It filled her with despair seeing it gone.

Shuu took her left ring finger into his mouth and forcefully bit the place where her engagement ring sat on previously, making Chiyo hiss in pain. Once he was done he proudly looked at the result. A ring of teeth marks now adorning the finger.

“This should be enough for now to remind you who you belong to,” he said.

Chiyo couldn’t say anything in return, all fight had left her for tonight.

“You better rest up now, I want to listen to you play the piano again tomorrow. Don’t make mistakes next time.”

With that he left the room and locked it as always. Chiyo slumped down onto the floor, a huge sob running through her whole body. That sob was the catalyst for a dozen smaller ones as she cried her soul out. How, just how did it ever come to this? She never asked for anything like this to happen. The tears ran down her cheeks so violently as if she had never shed a single one of it in her life. She shook uncontrollably as she cried and cried pathetically on the cold floor until her body grew increasingly heavy and tired. Her eyes hurt and she had to close them eventually. She didn’t even notice when she drifted to sleep.

She jumped once she woke up. Looking around the room she soon realized that she must have fallen asleep on the floor. She stood up and looked outside. It seemed like she only slept for a few hours at best, as it was light outside; the early morning most likely. Back then it used to be her favorite hour of the day. Back when her life wasn’t… this. The air would always be fresh at this time, and she had enjoyed taking walks while most of the household was still asleep. The moment she looked at the garden outside, she made her mind up: She had to leave this place!

Should she just jump out the window? No, it was way too high up for her to safely land without hurting herself. Besides, the windows wouldn’t budge when she tried to open them. She sighed. The door was locked as well, so she wasn’t able to use it as an exit.

Unless she could pick the lock somehow.

She tried searching for a brooch or hairpin that she could use for her escape. Reiji had provided her with a wardrobe full of dresses that were the latest fashion trend, as well as a vanity full of the prettiest jewelry she has ever seen. She rarely made use of it though, feeling out of place and like this stuff was not hers; it wasn’t after all.

Digging through the jewelry box, she finally found a piece with a big enough needle and got to work. It wasn’t the easiest task, as she has never had to pick a lock before, but she needed to persevere. This was the only plan she had. Her only chance for freedom.

After what felt like an eternity she heard the lock click. She gasped and tried opening the door slowly. It had worked! It had really worked! Shuu and his brother were probably asleep right now, so her only worry were the servants that might be walking the hallways. Cautiously she stepped out, the brooch clutched tightly in her hand. It was so quiet she was scared to breathe, so scared was she of alerting anybody of her presence. Steadily she willed her feet forward, hoping that she would reach the entrance soon.

The hallway was long, and she was on a higher floor than the main entrance. Since she wasn’t allowed to walk around freely she also didn’t know the mansion well, so she wasn’t entirely sure which stairs led where and which she had to take to actually arrive where she wanted to arrive. Her shoes clanked uncomfortably against the hard stone stairs, no matter how softly she tried to set her feet down. Once she finally reached a carpeted area she let out a sigh of relief. She didn’t encounter any servants, or familiars as the vampires used to call them, so far and she wasn’t sure if that was a suspicious thing or not. She didn’t know much about their schedules either, only that one of them would bring her meals at set times.

Finally she saw the biggest pair of stairs of the mansion, the exit almost in her reach. As she began climbing down, she noticed how the walls were full of paintings. A particularly huge one caught her attention – it portrayed a beautiful woman, blue eyes and wonderful blond hair. This woman oozed elegance even when it was only an oil painting. The closer she looked the more she noticed how her features looked similar to Shuu’s. Was this his mother?

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Chiyo gasped and turned around in surprise; she got caught. At the top of the stairs was standing none other than Shuu. She had to act quickly; the door was only a few flights away after all.

Turning around again she dashed down the remaining stairs towards the door. She could hear him groan in the background as he went after her, but she wouldn’t waste this chance, not when she made it this far already.

She crashed against the door, frantically trying to turn the knob, but it wouldn’t budge.

Locked.

Desperately she looked at the massive piece of wood in front of her. Why wouldn’t it open?!

Before she could try anything else, her body was turned around and shoved roughly against the door. With both of Shuu’s hands on either side of her, she was trapped with no place to run now.

“Did you think you could just waltz out the door like that? And then what? Would you run back home and tell everyone how a big bad vampire violated you? Good luck getting that fiancé back with that,” he said.

Chiyo glared at him.

“That’s not even true—”

Before she managed to finish her protest he smashed his lips onto hers. Chiyo’s eyes widened in shock, no way this was happening. She tried her best to push him off her, but he didn’t budge.

“Sto—”

Her protest was in vain, and her opening her mouth only let him slide his own tongue in. Him sucking on her tongue like that felt shameful and embarrassing; she wanted to cry again. The chances of anybody taking her back when another man already had his way with her diminishing by the second.

She put her arms over her head defensively, which finally made him leave her lips alone and pull away a little.

“Please! I’m sorry! I’ll stay here and behave and do whatever you want, just please… please don’t do this to me!” She started sobbing uncontrollably, sliding down the door until she was a crying mess on the floor. Then it dawned on him.

“You…” he started and crouched down in front of her, “you've never kissed a man before…”

Chiyo put her arms down and looked at him confused with red eyes, face full of tears. What was he saying? Of course she had never kissed a man before!

Shuu sighed, an expression on his face she’s never seen before. Was that… regret? He stood up suddenly and reached out his hand to her.

“Come on, let’s talk in your room. I don't want you to sit on the floor.”

Moments later she found herself on her bed, leaning against the pillows. Shuu sat at the foot of the bed, not saying anything at all. Once she calmed down enough she decided to break the silence:

“I thought you wanted to talk…”

Shuu sighed.

“Let me ask you something,” he said.

Chiyo fell silent, waiting for him to go on.

“Are you scared of me?” he asked.

She looked down at her hands, starting to fidget. There was no use lying here, it wasn’t as if they were best friends after all.

“I am scared. Scared of this dark house and being all alone in here. Scared of making you angry and scared of you biting me because of stupid reasons. And I am also scared of you kissing me without me wanting it,” she said, still not looking up at him.

“I’m sorry about that,” he said, “I didn’t know you were that inexperienced.”

“But you’re not sorry for keeping me here?”

Shuu shook his head.

“No… because I don’t want to let you go.” He turned his head towards her when he said that. Her breath hitched in her throat at the look he gave her. It looked so sincere and almost… sad.

“I like listening to you playing the piano. It lets me relax and fall asleep. And I also don’t feel like that other guy deserves you, so no, I am not sorry for keeping you here.”

Something in his words made Chiyo’s heart beat faster in her chest and her face get warm. She felt touched at his sincere appreciation of her. For the first time she felt almost seen by someone. A slight grin appeared on Shuu’s face.

“What? I say something nice once and you become a mess? Your face is red,” he said with satisfaction in his voice.

“Don’t tease me, people don’t usually compliment my skills much…”

Shuu leaned back on his hands; his eyes trained on her face. The blush on her face pleased him, she looked adorable like that, but he would never admit that out loud.

“What about that fiancé of yours?” he asked.

She averted her gaze. “I don’t know, he didn’t seem to particularly mind whatever I occupied myself with… but he also didn’t seem to particularly care.”

Shuu seemed in thought, as he played with the chiffon trim of her dress. Then he let out a long breath. “Do you really want to go back? To him?”

Chiyo shrugged and crossed her arms above her knees. Both situations were quite shit for her, no matter how she looked at it. Yes, she would be unhappy in a relationship with Ruki, where she would most likely have to be a docile wife, submitting to her husband. But here she was trapped in a dark house where she was never allowed to see the sun again, much less feel it on her skin. Locked away in this room, with all those dresses and jewelry she never asked for until Shuu would decide to come see her on a whim.

“I don’t like being locked up,” she said, “not figuratively or literally.”

“I feared you’d run away if I gave you too much freedom… so I ended up taking it away from you,” Shuu said. He sounded like he was sorry.

“That’s what made me run away in the first place!” she leaned forward, her hands dipping into the soft mattress.

“I know!”

He grabbed her hand, making her lose her balance. Her other hand landed on his shoulder on instinct. She gasped; their faces were so close now. She never noticed before how long his eyelashes were, how pretty his clear blue eyes looked framed by them. She has never seen the ocean, but she was sure that it would look exactly like what she was seeing in front of her now.

“I know…” he repeated.

Chiyo felt his arm around her waist, holding her in place, giving her balance. It was strange… she didn’t dislike the feeling at all. She let out a shaky breath as her eyes darted to his lips briefly. He pulled her closer, and it felt like her heart would fall out of her chest any moment. She was sure he could hear it hammer, even though he chose not to comment on it. He also didn’t try to kiss her again; even though now she felt like she wanted him to do it? Maybe this time he waited for her to make the first step. To show him what she wanted.

It took all her confidence and willpower to make her body move. She moved her face closer to his and gently pressed her lips against his. A clumsy and timid attempt at a kiss.

Shuu smiled against her lips. “Opening your mouth would make it easier,” he teased, taking advantage of the girl’s surprise, deepening the kiss. His cold tongue ran across her lower lip and traced the fangs of her upper teeth, making her shiver.

“Heh… you are a little vampire after all,” he said and kissed her again. His hands guiding her to straddle him. Her legs landing on either side of him.

Chiyo’s face was burning up from how much she was blushing, a sudden moan escaping her, making her blush harder. She was so embarrassed but was left wanting more. Shuu’s chest vibrated against hers as he chuckled.

“Nice sound… hey, it will feel even better when you stick your tongue out,” he said.

Stick her tongue out?! She wanted to protest, but the way his voice sounded so deep in her ears, she couldn’t help but do as told.

It wasn’t long before she was a moaning and panting mess in Shuu’s arms. She didn’t mind his hands roaming her body, slipping under her dress, grabbing the soft flesh of her thigh, rubbing his knee between her legs. Her head was spinning; she didn’t know what to do with her own hands, so she buried her fists in his shirt. She was sure it would wrinkle terribly afterwards, but she couldn’t bring herself to care enough.

Suddenly, Shuu drew away. She looked at him panicked; did she mess up somehow?

“You look like a deer in headlights,” he said amused.

Then he sighed. “You know that if I keep going you won’t be able to go back anymore, don’t you?”

The fog in her head that was caused by her arousal lifted momentarily and she blinked at him dumbfounded. She looked down, frowning. She had to make up her mind now, stay here with Shuu or hope that she could go back to the life she had to leave behind. As much as she hated the way she was brought here and treated initially, it seemed like Shuu genuinely took an interest in her. His touch was gentle, and she couldn’t deny how good it made her feel. But if she let him continue, her social standing and reputation would be ruined forever, at least amongst the human society.

“I will give you this chance right now. If you say no now, I will bring you back,” he said.

“Y-you mean I can really choose to go back?”

He nodded.

Wasn’t this what she wanted all along? For him to let her go? But then why did her heart feel so heavy at the thought suddenly?

“If I decide to stay… you’ll stop locking me up in my room?” she asked.

He nodded again.

“And I’ll be able to go outside during the day?”

“You’ll be able to go wherever you want at any time you desire,” he said.

His words were sincere, she could feel it. It was almost as if there was another person in front of her than the one she got to know before. Chiyo’s heart fluttered in her chest, a fuzzy feeling spreading inside of her.

“Then set me free…” she said.

Shuu frowned.

“…from the life I’ve led before.”

Set her free from the expectations and bounds of a society that cared nothing for her and her desires. Chiyo was fed up with having to hide parts of herself, of having to hide her passions. To hell with it, to hell with all of it!

She could feel the tension leaving Shuu’s body, as he leaned forward, his nose brushing hers.

“Gladly.”

His kiss was hungry, possessive, different from before. But loving, still so loving. It made her melt in his arms. Soon, she found herself pressed against the pillows again, Shuu placing a thousand wet kisses along her jaw and neck. Her hair, that she had previously put up in a low bun, came loose, pooling around her mostly naked shoulders and neckline.

A loud whine escaped her as soon as Shuu sucked the sensitive spot behind her ear.

“Do you have any idea how sinful you sound right now?” he groaned against her neck.

Not knowing what else to do with her trembling hands she grabbed the linen fabric of his shirt again. Much to Shuu’s amusement.

“Go on,” he whispered in her ear, “undress me. I know you want it.”

She would be lying if she said she didn’t want to do it, but she was still embarrassed; she has never seen a naked man before. As if sensing her hesitation, Shuu kissed her again, giving her the encouragement she needed. Her fingers were still trembling as she tried to unbutton the shirt, earning herself a chuckle from the man above her.

He kept whispering dirty things into her ear, spurring her on. She pulled the fabric over his head, messing up his hair a little in the process. Somehow he looked even more attractive to her this way.

Her eyes ran down Shuu’s naked torso, taking in every detail, running her fingertips along his abdomen, mesmerized by how his muscles flexed under her touch. Hands trailing lower and lower.

“Dirty girl… are you having fun?” he teased, and she snapped out of it. She looked up at him, a sheepish smile and faint blush on her face.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

"Don't be..."

Shuu pulled her into an upright position, his hands getting to work behind her back. It was his turn to undress her now, his fingers working swiftly through the hooks of her bodice. He was no beginner and Chiyo could not help but feel somewhat glad that he knew what he was doing. Still, she felt exposed, chest heaving, her top half only clad in undergarments now. He kissed her again, his arms working their way under the lower half of her dress and the petticoat layers, pulling her hips closer to him. Her own arms snaked around his neck, pressing her chest against his, moaning into the kiss when she felt his hand slide up the leg of her undergarments and squeeze the underside of her thigh firmly. Her back arched in pleasure, making her hips brush against his.

She gasped, breaking the kiss.

“You’re hard…” she breathed against his lips.

Shuu hummed in approval. “Hmm, and you’re wet.”

Chiyo let out a drawn out mewl when he traced a finger along her folds, brushing slightly along a bundle of nerves that made her hips buck into his hand involuntarily. How did he sneak his hands down her underwear without her noticing?

“Dirty girl… keep making those beautiful sounds for me,” he said nibbling on her earlobe, moving his fingers up and down gently.

Every inch of her felt hot, her skin flushed, yet whole body was shivering. Her nails dug into his skin, the sensations making her head spin again. Shuu’s voice rang in her ear while he dipped one finger in, then two. They went in easily with how wet she was. When she looked up she could see right into his eyes, watching her intently, his gaze helping her relax a bit. There were so many new sensations she had to get used to, his fingers inside of her feeling foreign but not unwelcome.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes…” her voice came out as a short breath, body jerking when Shuu curled his fingers inside of her. A cry of pleasure escaped her.

“Good, because I’m not stopping.”

He bit her earlobe again and moved his fingers faster inside of her. Chiyo’s hips moved on their own against his hand, she needed more friction. It was as if her body knew what to do on instinct, the way she moved, making him adjust, so the palm of his hand rubbed perfectly against her clit. She thought she’d go crazy if it went on for any longer. A loud cry filling the room.

“S-Shuu, I don’t think… I don’t think I can take it any longer…!” she moaned.

Shuu groaned against her ear, his fingers sliding in and out of her faster and faster.

“That’s okay, just let it out… you can do that for me can’t you?”

Shuu’s voice kept egging her on, the knot in her stomach feeling bigger and bigger. She fisted the skirt of her own dress, arching her body, pressing herself further into his hand until finally she felt a wave rush over her, all muscles in her body relaxing at the same time. Her hands let go of the fabric she was clutching so tightly before, only now noticing the sweat on her forehead and how out of breath she was. The fingers inside of her moved slowly for a while longer, helping her ride out her high before retracting, leaving her feeling empty.

She whined weakly as she watched him put his fingers to his lips, eyes widening when he licked them clean.

“What? Don’t make a face as if what I am doing is so scandalous while you lay in front of me half naked,” he said with a teasing grin on his face. She grumbled, embarrassed by his words. However, her body still ached for his touch, so she really was not one to protest.

“You know…” he said coming closer again and hovering over her, “I’ve been wondering how this part of you looks undressed for a while now.”

Chiyo gasped when he pulled down her chemise, revealing her naked chest and hard nipples. Even though her body still felt sensitive, she still arched her back again when he started playing with them, rolling her nipples between his fingers and relishing in the beautiful sounds this made her do. He grabbed her harder, massaging the soft flesh of one breast and planting kisses on the other side. His tongue traced her other nipple, and she could feel him suck on the flesh above, causing a red mark to form there. The girl’s breath hitched in her throat when she felt him graze his fangs against that very spot.

“Shuu—”

He sunk his fangs into her chest, her protest turning into a desperate mewl. She has never felt like this while having her blood sucked before. Fingers fisting in his blond, messy hair she pulled him closer. She was so dazed she didn’t notice him working his own hands to remove her skirts. He pulled them over her head swiftly, leaving her bare and exposed in front of him. On instinct, the first thing she did was try to cover her body; however Shuu held her arms in place.

“Don’t hide your pretty body from me,” he said.

Pretty? Chiyo could feel her face heat up again. It’s not like she disliked her body or anything, but hearing a man compliment her – having Shuu compliment her, made her burn with want. She reached up to cup his face and kissed him, taking the initiative herself for once. It took Shuu aback and almost made him lose his balance, but he quickly regained composure and kissed her back.

Guiding her hands down his body to the hem of his pants, he whispered in her ear seductively: “Come on, don’t make me wait longer.”

Curiosity taking over her, she couldn’t help but touch him through his clothes, earning herself a deep growl from him. She felt that one in her core. Impatiently and still a bit clumsily she unbuttoned his pants and helped him out of them. She was mesmerized by the way his hard length looked, already leaking from the tip. She swallowed hard, unable to tear her eyes away. Timidly she reached out her hand.

“Can I—”

Shuu was amused that she even felt the need to ask but told her to go ahead. She stroked him slowly and carefully, unsure how much pressure to apply. He closed his own hand over hers, helping her find the right pace and groaning into her ear, giving her a confidence boost. She leaned forward and started kissing his neck. His skin was only a little colder than her own, but she could make out a faint pulse underneath.

Suddenly she was grabbed by the hips and pushed into the mattress, hearing Shuu curse above her head. His breathing was ragged, and he seemed to be getting impatient.

“I’m going to make you mine now,” he said.

Chiyo looked up at him, her hands on his shoulders. She could feel him hard against her wet entrance; the thought of him stretching her out and claiming her caused her to moan.

“You’re that eager for me to make you a woman? Don’t worry, I’ll even be gentle,” he said, placing a kiss in the corner of her lips. He slid the tip up and down along her folds, making her legs tremble when she wrapped them around his waist.

He inserted himself slowly and steadily, but it still wasn’t enough for Chiyo to feel completely comfortable. It turned out a man’s length was much more difficult to take than a finger. Tears pricked in her eyes; she really wanted him to fill her whole, but it still hurt. She tried to focus on Shuu’s deep voice that whispered into her ear.

Good girl.

You’re so wet.

Relax.

You’re doing well.

Take it all like the pervert you are.

He took a moment to let her catch her breath when he was finally fully inside her, waiting for her to give him a sign to move. Once the initial sting subsided, she could feel her muscles twitch around him, how nicely he stretched her insides. She hummed in satisfaction and pressed him closer, tightening her legs around him.

Shuu got a hold of her hands and pinned them above her head, thrusting in and out of her. His pace was steady and slow at first, forcing shivers of breath out of Chiyo. But he wasn't able to keep it like that for too long. His thrusts were deep and hard, getting faster and faster the longer it went on. Soon the girl could feel nothing but pleasure pool in her abdomen.

“Aaaaah! S-Shuu—"

“You’re such a dirty girl, moaning like that and sucking me in on your first time. Go on, cry out my name louder. I want everyone to hear who you belong to.”

Moans kept on coming out of her mouth, out of control, a mix of incoherent pleas and his name on her tongue.

Shuu started thrusting even harder and faster inside her, his forehead resting against hers.

“Tell me you’re mine—” he breathed.

“I’m yours, Shuu. I’m yours!” Her own hips moved up to meet his halfway, feeling a carnal need to have him even deeper inside of her. Soon she would reach another peak, she was sure.

He hit a spot inside her that made her shut her eyes tightly and arch her back. Making her clench down on him so tightly that he cursed. He buried his face in her neck, pressing himself deeper inside, his pelvis rubbing against hers.

“Fuck… the sounds you make— You lewd woman.” He let go of her hands to grab her hips and pound harder into her.

“Aah-Haah! Shuu! If you do this I’m going to—”

“Then come. Come for me and I’ll fill you up nicely.”

Desperation seeped into his voice; he really needed her as badly as she needed him. And so she came. Toes curling and fingers digging into his back, leaving red marks, crying out his name in so much pleasure, it turned into sobs.

His lips found hers. Her pussy gripping him so tightly he simply had no other choice but to reach his limit shortly after. His warm seed filled her as he held her in place by the hips, his grip bruisingly strong. She moaned against his kisses loudly, the unknown sensation overwhelming her yet again.

Shuu looked at her as he tried to catch his breath. He looked the most beautiful to her right now, his hair messy, cheeks slightly flushed and his eyes looking down on her filled with something that she could only describe as love.

She looked up at him, a tired but satisfied smile dancing on her lips, earning herself a comment from Shuu. But she was too tired to talk back, or move, for that matter. Eventually, Shuu pulled out of her and maneuvered them around on the bed, so they were laying properly on the pillows and under a blanket.

Chiyo’s head was resting on Shuu’s chest as she listened to his heartbeat. It felt oddly human, this situation. His breathing was steady, as he was dozing off. She smiled to herself and hugged him tightly.

This big bad vampire was not that bad at all.