Hey guys! Just wanted to let you all know that I probably won't be posting next week because I'm going on a family vacation. Thanks for your patience! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
I took a deep breath, slipping the blue ring and and the black ring off of each of my middle fingers. I placed them in front of me where I was kneeling in the middle of my room. A strong hand rested on my lower back, giving me both emotional and physical support. Ryuji sat behind me and slightly to the right. A second hand joined the first, and they moved to my shoulders, squeezing them tightly in reassurance.
"Relax, love," he murmured, putting his chin on my shoulder as he looked down at the rings. "You're alright," he soothed, hands teasing the knots in my shoulders built up from weeks of tension. I small sigh escaped my lips, and I put my head down, letting my boyfriend work the knots out of my tense muscles.
I was so nervous for this. This would be my first time summoning Katsuro and Kitiara since the migraines started. I was afraid a migraine would break out. The last one had been so violent, actually making me throw up. I had never been in so much pain, not even when I had been stabbed. Nothing compared to the white hot pain of the migraines. It was like hot pokers stabbing into every inch of my head.
"Relax, love," Ryuji repeated, soft lips kissing my neck.
"I'm scared," I admitted quietly, not meeting my boyfriend's eyes. "I'm afraid it's going to happen again. It hurts so bad," I whispered. A hand gently grabbed my chin, making me look up at the deep brown eyes of my boyfriend.
"I know, babe, I know," he whispered, a sad look on his face. "But this could potentially give us answers. We need to get out of this nightmare. I can't stand to see you in so much pain and fear. It breaks my heart," Bon lamented, his thumb stroking my cheek. "I want to protect you from everything bad." I smiled at my boyfriend, my heart swelling with love for the boy in front of me.
My love for him overflowing, I put my hands on his cheeks and pulled him to me. His lips met mine in a tender kiss. Just like every other time I kissed the boy, fireworks exploded in the back of my head. Soft lips covered mine, letting me drink in his sweet taste. Strong, calloused hands were brought to the back of my neck, deepening the kiss. I shivered at his touch, melting into his embrace, wanting to loose myself in him. I wanted to leave all of this nightmare behind me. He was my escape.
My smaller hands threaded through his soft brown hair. Our kiss was deepening by the second, and soon I felt something swipe over my lips. My face erupted into flames. I knew my cheeks would be the color of a tomato. But he was my escape. He made me feel loved beyond belief. He helped through everything I had been struggling with a never let go. I loved this boy so much that I didn't have the words to describe it. I had never loved anyone like I loved Ryuji Suguro.
Though hesitant, I allowed him entrance, kissing him like I never had before. Needing air, I pulled back after a little while. My hands came to a rest on his chest, my chest heaving for air. Ryuji's hands came to rest on my waist as he leaned his forehead on mine. We sat silently for a few minutes, just drinking each other in, relishing in the temporary peace. Ryuji took a deep breath, pulling back from me a little. "You ready?" he asked in a whisper. I nodded hesitantly, but I knew it was time. I needed to do this. I couldn't avoid this. It needed to be done.
"Yeah, I'm ready," I whispered. He nodded firmly and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. Taking a deep breath, I turned and knelt in front of the rings, mentally and physically preparing myself. Ryuji resumed his place behind me, placing his hand on my lower back. I look another deep breath and concentrated hard, envisioning the two demons in front of me.
There was a flash of light, and I opened my eyes to find my two demons sitting in front of me. Katsuro has that ever present glower in his face, and for once, Kitiara looked concerned. For the first time, there was not a smile on her beautiful face. There was a tense silence as I looked over as we stared at each other.
"Well," Katsuro said, crossing his arms over his chest and tapping a finger on his lean bicep. "Where have you been?" he asked. "You haven't called for us in over three weeks, and now you want to call upon us. You know, you're really bipolar when calling on us. For a few weeks it's every other day, and then you disappear with no explanation," Katsuro accused. Kitiara didn't day a word to stop him. She was clearly upset as well.
"There's an emergency," I said. "I'm being monitored by an arch knight, second hand to the Paladin himself," I said, my voice cold. "Even summoning you now is a risk, but I'm willing to take it." Katsuro narrowed his eyes at me, wanting an explanation and clearly wanting it right then. "There's been a second emergency," I explained. Katsuro peered over my shoulder at me. I rolled my eyes as he was obviously making a big deal out of this. I knew where the conversation was heading next.
"I can't disclose any information I might have with someone in the room who is obviously not of Matsuda blood," Katsuro said slowly, very aware of my quick temper.
"He knows everything," I said, preparing myself for the burning ball of rage that was Katsuro.
"He what?" he shouted, his eyes narrowing even further, becoming dark slits. I winced at the volume. "How the hell could you tell him? That is the only thing we forbade you from doing. You weren't allowed to tell anyone of the letters or the secrets. They are Matsuda family secrets that have been held for over five hundred years, (Y/N). You are the first one to spill this secret. It could get you or other people killed, you know that, (Y/N)?" Katsuro raged on. He was now standing. I took a deep breath, trying to find the right words to sooth the raging demon.
"He needed to know," I said. "And he knows the risks, and he's willing to stand against them," I explained, ignoring the dark skinned demon's anger. I turned back to looked Ryuji. His eyes were hard and cold as he stared at Katsuro, his have not wavering. His eyes softened though when he looked down at me. He gave me a small, obviously forced smile, but I smiled back nonetheless. "Ryuji," I began, turning back to the demons, "This is Katsuro and Kitiara," I introduced. "Katsuro, Kitiara, this is my boyfriend, Ryuji Suguro." Katsuro has his arms crossed over his chest, tapping his foot angrily as he stared Ryuji down. I took Ryuji's hand on my own, holding it in my lap. "He needed to know," I repeated. "I couldn't leave him out of this. It was causing too much issues between the two of us. I had to tell him."
The two demons shared a look, seemingly sharing an unspoken conversation. They only looked at each other for a few moment before hey turned back. "You don't know that this is the one. It was a serious risk sharing the information," Kitiara reminded me.
"I know," I whispered. I felt Ryuji squeeze my hand in reassurance.
"I'm willing to stand her through this," Ryuji said firmly. "I'll put my life on the line for her if I must." Katsuro nodded slightly before walking over to Bon. The demon started a through examination of my boyfriend, tiling his head from side to side, poking his arms and back. Ryuji let out an indignant shout, but Katsuro paid to mind to him.
"What are you doing to him?" I hissed. "Hands off," I snapped as he lifted his arms up. Ryuji looked disgruntled, confused, and maybe a little bit uncomfortable. I could see in his eyes that he didn't want to face the demon, not sure of what he was fully capable of. He had seen his power in action and knew he was a force to be reckoned with. Seeing that Bon wasn't going to do anything, I slapped Katsuro away from my boyfriend, shooing him back to his spot next to Kitiara. The female demon had her head titled to the side, seemingly conducting her own investigation. I opened my mouth to speaking, wanting to know what the hell was going on, but Katsuro cut me off before I could speak.
"I like him," he said bluntly, his face passive. "He's physically strong, mentally strong, and even better, he has a strong heart and soul. He's real to himself, he doesn't lie to himself. He has the makings of a great exorcist in him," Katsuro commented. That was a lot of praise coming from the demon.
"Yes, I agree," Kitiara commented, nodding. She looked up at the other demon. "He and (Y/N) are a perfect match," she commented, causing me to blush profusely. "There hearts and souls are very much to tune with each other." My eyebrows furrowed not underrating what she was saying. How does she know all that? Katsuro nodded.
"Yes, they will create a perfect heir. Their bloodline shall be strong," he said seriously. My face immediately burned up. I couldn't bring myself to look at either demon and most certainly not my boyfriend.
"I-It's not like t-that," I spluttered, trying to get myself under control. The act was in vain. There was no recovering from that amount of embarrassment. I didn't think I would ever be able to look Ryuji in the eyes again. I looked up to see Katsuro smirking. He looked over to Kitiara and they shared a look.
"Keep telling yourself that, kid," the male demon said through a laugh. "You still have a lot to learn." I wasn't about to ask him what he meant. "Anyway," he said as he sat down next to Kitiara and leaned back against the wall behind him. "Now that I've deemed it's okay that he's in here, not that I have a choice," he added darkly, "so I guess we can get this conversation underway. What is this 'emergency' is you're talking about."
"Yes, (Y/N). What has been going on?" Kitiara asked, moving to sit on her knees. Quickly, I explained the migraines as well as the vision I had during the last episode. Somewhere during my explanation, Katsuro had stood and began pacing. I was afraid he was going to wear a hole in my carpet. Even when I was done speaking, he didn't stop his movements.
"We need to train more now," Katsuro said. I opened my mouth to argue, but he cut me off before I could say a word. "Yes, I know about the arch knight. I know that this could potentially be dangerous. I know they could take us away from you, but at this point, it's a risk I'm willing to take." I knew this was serious of Katsuro was risking everything. He knew something I didn't. I could tell. My eyes narrowed at the demon.
"You're not tell me something. You're keeping something from me," I said, trying to break down the walls of secrets. "This entire thing has been full of lies, and I've had it. I want answers. I want every piece of information that you have that I don't," I demanded. Ryuji's hand traced up and down my spine, trying to calm me.
"We do have a brother, a lesser known demon, though do not estimate this power," Kitiara said when Katsuro hesitated. That worried me a little. "We felt a loss of connection to him hundreds of years ago. We thought he might have been killed or his vessel destroyed. As we are contained in the rings, he is contained in a crescent moon pendant. Our brother, Kaage, is extremely powerful, even more than Katsuro and I." It was now Katsuro's turn to speak.
"I have reason to believe that he has created a mental connection to you," the dark skinned demon said. "You have created a very strong and powerful connection with us, and he is tapped into that. He his connected to us..." he trailed off.
"Which means he's connected to me," I said slowly. "And there's also reason to believe that he's working with Ishida as he was in the vision along with Kaage." Katsuro nodded.
"Yes, I am afraid that is what we are facing." Katsuro clasped his hand behind his back, rocking back and forth on his bare feet. "So this is what I propose," he began. "I suggest that we train in as much secret as we can. I know all of this is very taxing on you both physically and mentally, but we need to build a wall against Kaage. We need to make you stronger." He took a deep breath and looked over at Kitiara. She nodded. It was unnerving how they could communicate with even using their words. "We need to train you so that you can fully channel all of Kitiara's energy."