Written by Miyu, Vampire Princess

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This is for Merrow's challenge! *ties headband tighter* Following events from the manga, Chapter 75, I present here, a Kureno X Uo story. This part is told from Kureno's POV. LEMON/LIME WARNING.

Part Seven - Treason

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

I slapped the snooze button with a force that a lumberjack might be proud of. What was that now? The second time? What time was it anyway?

A short glance at the alarm says 6:19AM.

Why so early? I usually don't get up until about seven....

Realization comes very slowly to me. The first thing I realize is that I'm not at home. The second is that I'm not in my bed. The sheets are blue not green and their much softer, smell much nicer. Like plum and lavender.

Like Arisa.

Arisa!

I sit up in bed, suddenly aware that I am alone. Where would she have gone? Well, not very far, I have to remind myself. This is her place. Wait. Is that water I hear?

BEEP BEEP! BEEP BEEP!

I turn back to the alarm clock, only to realize that the noise is different. Muted and distant. Once again slow on the uptake, I realize that it's my cell phone beeping.

I have a new voice message!

Grabbing a throw blanket from the foot of the bed, I wrap it around my waist and head into the living room. My pants are lying by the futon, my cell phone just an inch or two away. It must've fallen out of my pocket when I tossed them aside.

My display says one missed call. With the press of a button I know that it's Hatori. Suddenly I'm unsure if I want to take the message. He knew I left last night. Did he know that I had not returned yet? Was he still with Akito? Did something happen?!

"Kureno, it's Hatori. I wanted you to know that Akito was awake an hour ago and wanted to see you. I told him you were busy with business." A pause. "Look, I don't know where you are, but I would suggest trying to get home as soon as possible. He's doing better but...I won't be able to hold Akito back if he starts asking too many questions." A sigh. "If you need a ride, call me."

That was around 2:30 this morning.

Sighing, I stare at my phone. What now? Should I call Hatori? Leave Arisa's place without saying good-bye. Maybe if I left a note....

"Ohayo."

My body tenses at the sound of her voice. Of course, other things are happening too. I force a small smile to my face, which quickly becomes genuine when I catch sight of her.

"O-ohayo."

Arisa's wearing little else but a towel around her body. Slipper grace her feet. She looks a little concerned, tilting her head to one side, mindful of the towel on her head.

"I didn't wake you did I? I was trying to be quiet, but I'm not always successful."

"No, no. I just...." I held up my phone and smiled sheepishly. "I heard my phone beeping and I was checking my voicemail. Oh, but you're alarm clock wasn't turned off."

She frowns. "I'm sorry. I though I turned that off."

"It's all right," I answer, smiling appreciatively now as my eyes take in the sight of her. Memories from the night before come flooding back and part of me wants nothing more than to rip the towel from her body and take her on the floor. Of course, that just wouldn't be polite. "You're up early though, aren't you? Even for a Monday?"

"My class is taking a trip this week," she informs me as she walks into teh kitchen. I hear her fiddling around with some equipment, a canister opening and a switch being flipped before she started back towards me and the living room. She pauses in the doorway. "Oh Kami, I forgot to tell you last night!"

"It's all right, really," I tell her, walking over to her and assuring her the best way I can: with a light kiss. My hands rub her upper arms gently. "We were...ah...kind of preoccupied last night. I can see where it might have...umm...slipped your mind."

She relaxes a little, smiling apologetically. "Think you can survive a week without me?"

"Hmm." I place another light kiss on her lips, then a quick one on the tip of her nose. She wrinkles it quite cutely. "Maybe if I have something to remember you by...."

What happens after that is practically a blur. I pull her as close as I dare and our lips meet in a fiery, branding kiss. I'm surprised that my body has already anticipated this and has reacted with some degree of fervor. I take a step forward, she a step back. We continue this until we reach the first solid object in the kitchen.

A Western style kitchen table.

Sex isn't exactly new to me. I've done it once with one of the servant girls at the main house. She was fired the next day but it mattered little to me then. It was an experiment in control for me. To see if I could control my transformation around the opposite sex. Strangely there were no other opportunities to test my skill.

Actually, I'm surprised I didn't change last night. I was quite exhausted after the...what was it...fifth or sixth time and we finally drifted to sleep.

But this...this is nothing like that time. This is the real thing. Love. Real love. Something I thought I'd never have. Okay, perhaps two things I never thought I'd have. The other being a beautiful woman who cares for me.

"Kureno, onegai."

Correction: a beautiful, NAKED woman who cares for me.

Can a man ask for anything else?

Arisa attempts to sit on the table, the towel on her head falling off and onto the floor. I help her, keeping her legs spread so that I can stand between them. My hands rest on her breasts, lightly squeezing and kneading the soft flesh. I moan, leaning down for another kiss as I feel her nipples harden under my touch. The blanket around my waist is taken care of as well, tossed aside on the table for easy access later.

Our lips caress each other as our hands begin exploring anew. One of my hands continues to knead her breast while the other dives lowers, seeking that familiar wet place between her legs. I waste no time slipping a finger inside of her, testing her, teasing her.

Her fingers wrap around my cock, stroking me in time to my ministrations on her, giving me a bit of my medicine. It feels like torture! Sweet unresistable torture! Kami, I want inside her. I want to feel her pulsing around me.

Arisa seems to be reading my mind. Breaking the kiss, she pulls me closer, positioning the head of my cock at her entrance. I push into her without preamble, her hands pulling on my hips until I'm fully lodged inside of her. We both moan at the wondrous sensation. I stay as still as possible to savor it, but my body wants what it wants. And now it wants to feel that glorious friction, feel her inner walls grasping at me from inside....

I begin thrusting slowly until it's not enough for either of us. I push her back onto the table so that she lies flat on her back. Her head tosses and turns with each thrust and I marvel at how beautiful she really is...a goddess in the throws of passion. I close my eyes, wanting to remember this for the duration that she'll be gone.

Using my hands, I lift her hips off the table. Her legs wrap around my middle for added support and my thrusts move faster, plunging deeper into her, eliciting more moans and few mindless screams as she nears her climax. Her nails dig into the flesh of my arms, scoring and marking me as I feel her close around me, hear her mumble my name as her orgasm washes over her.

It's over almost too quickly, but after last night, I have plenty of wonderful memories to keep with me until she returns from her class trip. Her moans, my name on her lips, throws me over the edge as well. I thrust into her once more, twice, before my seed pours into her welcoming depths. My body shivers with my orgasm. My lips part, as if to gasp, but instead it's her name that escapes my lips.

Gods but that was good. I could wake up every morning like this and be happy for the rest of my life.

Catching myself with my arms on the table, I smile down at Arisa, who's still recovering from her climax. She manages a smile for me, carefully attempting to raise herself on her elbows. She fails the first two times, lying back on the table with a frown. It's almost a pout, but not quite as cute. The third time I grasp her hands, pulling her up as I step away from the table.

"You...expect me...to go on a school trip...after THAT?!"

I raise an eyebrow, winking at her. "Just think of what we could do when you get back."

We both fall into laughter.

"Seriously though," I say as the coffee pot starts to beep. "Is one week really that long?"

"Not really," she replies, pulling two clean cups out of a cupboard. It occurs to neither of us that we're walking around the kitchen completely naked. Or maybe we're just that comfortable that we don't care.

Like I said before, I could get used to this.

But when I hear my phone ring again, reality slaps me in the face. My smile disappears as I look out into the living room and to the couch where my phone lay waiting to be answered.

"You should probably get that," Arisa says, placing a kiss to the back of my left shoulder as she passes me. I watch her walk back towards the bathroom, a towel slung over her arm and her hips swaying most enticingly. "Coffee's on the counter behind you."

"Arigato," I say, a smile playing on my lips despite myself.

I rush into the living room, but my phone has already stopped ringing. I carry it with me into the kitchen, waiting for the voicemail to kick in. The beep comes as I take my first sip of coffee. It's rather good without the cream and sugar in it. I don't normally drink it black.

It's another message from Hatori. Akito was awake and asked to see me. Hatori told him that I was still sleeping. Akito wanted me woken up but Hatori refused, calming him enough to get him to go back to sleep. I had to get back to the Honke. Hatori can't cover for me anymore than he already has.

I make a quick call to Hatori. He answers on the third ring. I tell him that if Akito wakes up and wants to see me that he can call my cell number. I'd be in a meeting until nine.

"I'll be in to see him afterwards," I tell Hatori. He has no idea it's a lie, or he doesn't argue the matter. "There is still some paperwork that he must review and sign."

"I will tell him," Hatori responds. "Thank you for calling."

"No problem."

"Kureno, may I ask--?" He stops short, uncertain if it's all right for him to speak.

"Hai?"

"Where are you right now?"

Taking a deep breath, I wonder whether or not I should tell him the truth. I suppose I owe him as much since he is covering for me. Since I can't decide, I tell him the next best thing.

"I don't want to talk about it right now."

"We'll talk when you return then?"

"Hai."

There are no good-byes as we hang up. I sit down at the table, sipping my coffee as Arisa comes out of the bathroom once again, freshly dressed in her school uniform. I keep wanting to forget that she's a high school girl. Or maybe it's I who wants to be in high school again.

"Business?" she asks, pouring herself a cup of coffee and sitting next to me at the table.

"Hai," I respond with a nod. "I'll have to get going soon. My cousin has been wondering where I am now that he's awake."

She looks at me with wide eyes over her coffee cup. "You won't get in trouble will you?"

I shake my head quickly. "No, no. Nothing like that. And I do have some business to take care of this morning which is just as well. He'll understand when I talk to him later."

Arisa offers me a towel and shower. I'd like for her to join me -- REALLY like for her to join me -- but she needs to finish packing for her trip. I'm in and out of the bathroom in ten minutes flat. A new record, even for me.

Donning a new shirt -- Arisa told me to pick something out of the back of her closet, and I found a number of shirts styled for men -- and the same old pants and shoes, we left her apartment, kissing each other good-bye at her door before parting on the sidewalk. A week wouldn't really be so long.

It will be too freakin' long and a half!

After a few stops and a business meeting of sorts -- I guess the donut store owner, Quinzy, qualifies as a business meeting since he does work for the family company -- I head home to the Honke. There are a few signs of life as I see Kisa and Hiro hurrying off for school behind Momiji and Hatsuharu. Hatori is sitting outside his office, smoking as per usual. I don't look at any of them directly, as I notice that Akito is walking about his room.

And that's where my feet take me first.

I should go back to my room, change my clothes and then head to the office for some papers, but instead I find myself standing in front of Akito's door. I raise my hand to knock but the door opens automatically. I'm stunned for a moment before I realize that it is only a maid. I offer her a small smile in apology, stepping out of the way so she may leave.

"Ohayo, Kureno."

"Ohayo, Akito-san."

"Come in. Come in and sit down by me. Hatori has said that we have business to discuss."

"We do," I reply. "But the papers are still in the office. If you will allow me a moment, I will--"

"Nonsense." He waves a hand in the air, dismissing my idea. "You can explain everything to me and bring me the papers to sign after lunch. Come sit and have a drink with me."

I do as instructed, not wanting to arouse his anger or his curiosity. Although I can already tell that he is curious. Does he wonder where I've been? Does he know I've been lying to him...or rather that I've had Hatori lie to him? Is one really any better than the other?

We sit and drink tea as I explain the current situation with the merger. He eyes me curiously as I explain, leaning towards me before moving to sit directly beside me. I do my best to ignore his actions, but when he leans over and clearly smells me, taking a deep breath, I look at him somewhat incredulously.

"Is something the matter?"

He replies with a question of his own. "You smell different today. A new shower gel?"

"Hai," I answer as calmly as my now anxious nerves will let me. "I bought it yesterday. I thought it was time for a change."

He smiles at me, sniffing at me again. He moves behind me, both hands on my shoulders. "Lavender and lilies...not exactly a manly fragrance. But it does smell good on you." I can hear his smile grow wider in his next response. "Tell me, does it smell as good on you're woman?"

My eyes widen and I turn around to meet his eyes. He's clearly amused, only meaning to play with me, but I'm certain that I cannot hide the truth from my eyes. When his eyes narrow and my response is not forthcoming, his smile fades. His joke no longer a jest.

"No."

"Akito, I was merely surprised by your jest." And I was, no lie about that. My voice is still surprisingly calm in the face of my quickening heartbeat and jumpy nerves. "Please do not read to much into it."

"Is that where you've been all night? Have you found yourself a little whore who likes playing with little birds?" I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. He takes my silence as a queue to continue. "Tell me, was she worth the price you paid? Did you need to pay her at all?"

His words sink in and this time sound actually leaves my lips when I open them.

"How dare you imply--!" That Arisa is a whore, I mean to add, but it's best left unsaid. Akito is angry now as he swats a hand in my direction.

"Do not take that tone with me!"

My patience is at an end. "I merely want to explain--!"

SMACK!

"I am your master!"

SMACK!

"Do not speak to me in such a disgraceful manner!"

SMACK!

Kami!

He hit me. The son of a bitch actually hit me!

He's never touched me before.

Without another word I simply stand and run from the room. I half expect Akito to come after me, but he does not. I stop, just feet from the office door down the hall, listening to him ranting in his room.

"TREASON! Of all the people! *crash* Why? WHY YOU?! *whap, thud* Come back here! *crash* Come back here and face you...you... *crack, crash* TREASONOUS SCUM!"

With a sigh I open the office door and take refuge inside. I will have to go back out there, back to Akito and face his wrath for my running away. It was stupid of me. I ment to hide my guilt and I could have. But those words. What he was implying about Arisa. They stung. They hurt. None of that was true.

What I've done is not treason.

But I may not be able to make Akito see it any other way.

What...what will happen then? To me? To her?

To us?

Kami help me, I don't want to let her go. Not now that I've just found her again. I'm not ready!

"TREACHEROUS BEAST!"

But will I have any other choice?

~TO BE CONTINUED~