That scream and the image of that man being burnt to ash stayed in Koyuki's mind. It was something that would not leave no matter how hard she tried to forget it. Right after it happened, Mikoto walked upstairs to his room and Koyuki didn't know where to go. There was nowhere to go. She did not realize that this is what happens in the clan when newcomers aren't worthy enough to wield the Red Aura. It gave her nightmares thinking that's what could have happened to her when Mikoto first gave her the aura. She could have combusted as fast as this last guy did.
Eventually, Mikoto came downstairs after cooling down and returned to the clan like nothing had happened but it wasn't so easy for Koyuki to shift into that frame of mind. Every time she witnessed Mikoto's power she developed a new reason to fear him but never let that fear get to her. This time seemed different. Maybe this time it was different because Mikoto was in control of himself and a person died anyways. Maybe because Koyuki was so close to this death and the ashes blew across the room sticking to her clothing and irritating her skin. She tried to wipe it off of her skin but the invisible ticklish sensations of the ashes were still there. This guy had done nothing wrong but he died regardless.
Mikoto could sense Koyuki's unease from miles away. He gave her space after the event to work things out in her head before he even tried talking to her again. The look in that mans eyes as he demanded to receive the Red Aura instantly notified Mikoto that his intentions were wrong despite warning him, he had to try and fail anyways. The truth is that Mikoto was actually scared to make contact with Koyuki. He feared that she feared him after the way things turned out. It was at times like these where he truly despised the Red Aura and Red King title. It seemed to bring out tension and awkwardness between him and Koyuki whenever he was put in a situation where he needed to use it. He almost wished that he had never received this power in the first place.
That night in bed Koyuki couldn't sleep. She would be the first one to go up to bed and Mikoto would go up a while later when he thought that she would be sleeping. Koyuki would face away from him with her spot being the closest one to the window. Mikoto would climb under the covers and face the door so that their backs were towards each other. This was the first night since moving in together that they didn't cuddle.
Mikoto's breath deepened after a while indicating to her that he was asleep. Nausea washed over Koyuki and she placed her hands on her stomach to put pressure there. She had almost forgot that she was pregnant, not something that a woman could easily forget. This was the man she loved and would do anything for and the man that gave her the gift of child. He still didn't know. Koyuki decided that she should focus more on how she was going to tell him rather on what has already happened. Sooner or later he will see her growing. Koyuki turned over to face him and looked at his strong back. It tempted her so much so that she rolled around to face him and snaked her arms underneath his placing her hands on his firm chest so that she was pressing herself against his back. Mikoto's eyes barely opened upon feeling the contact looking down at her hands that were resting on him. He smiled taking one of her hands in his and bringing it up to him for a kiss.
Each and every morning Koyuki's sleep would be interrupted by the rude awakening of nausea whirling around in her stomach and on top of that sometimes Mikoto would pull her into a cuddle in the mornings when her stomach was at its weakest. Normally Koyuki would love this kind of morning but certain parts of her body ached to the touch when Mikoto sleepily grazed across them. She was starting to hate this whole pregnancy thing. Koyuki was the first one out of the bed this morning and calmly made her way to the bathroom across the hall turning on both faucets in the room to hide the sound of her vomiting her guts out. After pulling away from the toilet bowl she wiped the water that had come to her eyes.
"Dammit Mikoto, look at what you did to me?" Koyuki spoke to herself. After flushing the toilets and turning all of the taps off, Koyuki opened the washroom door to find Anna standing right in front of her. Koyuki's face flushed red. "Oh, Anna. What are you doing here?"
"I live here." She said in her usual soft spoken voice.
"Right." Koyuki nervously scratched her head after realizing that Anna was still in her red plush PJ's . "Did you need to use the washroom?" Anna shook her head. As Koyuki feared she was here for her. Koyuki sighed. "Alright, I know why you're here. I can't hide it from you now let me hear it." Anna just looked at her and blinked her eyes as the only hint that she was confused as to what Koyuki meant. "Is there something you needed?"
"Tatara is here and wanted to see you." Anna simply said. Now Koyuki was confused. She was sure that Anna was going to scold her on keeping the biggest secret from Mikoto. She felt like the worst person in the world for withholding information like this but she was terrified of what Mikoto's reaction might be. They had never even talked about having kids before. They haven't even talked about marriage. Regardless with Anna not having to say anything she was right, she really did need to tell Mikoto.
Anna turned around and walked back downstairs and Koyuki walked into her room to change into her clothes. Upon seeing Mikoto still lying down in his bed Koyuki stopped in her tracks as it finally hit her. Mikoto is sure to notice her stomach growing if she were to change in front of him. Anytime he sees her naked he could possibly figure out that she is gaining weight and conclude that she is pregnant. All she had to do was make sure that she never wore any tight clothes and that he wouldn't see her naked. That sounds easy enough, except for the fact that Mikoto likes to cuddle and that means that he would occasionally pull something perverted and try to grope her where he can. That's it, no hugging, no kissing, and no cuddling because they can all lead to one thing (at least until she builds enough so that she can tell him). Koyuki grabbed her clothes from the dresser and turned around to head back to the washroom.
"Where are you going?" Mikoto asked in a tone suggesting that he was horny. Koyuki hesitated to look over to him. He was lying on his side with his head propped up against his hand wearing no shirt and had sheets draped over his lower half. Koyuki inwardly squealed. Damn he looks so hot like that she thought.
"Uh Tatara wanted to see me so I was going down to him." She spoke quickly.
"With your clothes?" He asked raising an eyebrow. Koyuki froze.
"I was uh going to go change in the washroom so that I don't disturb your sleep.
"You're the farthest thing from a disturbance in the morning." Mikoto smirked. Koyuki took a step backwards then dashed out the door apologizing.
"Ah, Koyuki, there you are." Tatara said turning around as Koyuki came down the steps. Him and Anna were the only ones in the bar area downstairs. Oddly enough Kusanagi was not around. "I was wondering if you can show me how to make one of your famous dishes for tonight. I was going to bring it over to a friend of mine and his buddies over at the Scepter 4 headquarters. I was thinking of making your red bean firecracker dish."
"I'd love to help you with that." Koyuki smiled.
This dish of hers required a lot of time and effort which it was why they needed to start it in the morning. The meat needed to marinate for a few hours and the vegetables needed to be cut and sautéed in a very precise way. Occasionally Anna poked her head around the corner to watch the two work away together at a meal that she would not be consuming. The heavenly aroma made its way upstairs and down the hallway into Mikoto's room tickling his nose which was enough reason for him to get up and follow the trail. After throwing his shirt and pants on he made his way to the source of the smell and his eyes began to glow at the sight of food.
"Oh good morning king." Tatara greeted. "Koyuki and I were just in the middle of preparing dinner. It's her red bean firecracker dish, a dish so fine that it takes most of the day to finish." Mikoto closed in on the food and hovered above the marinating meat. Koyuki could sense the hunger that he was feeling standing in a room surrounded by cooking food.
"Do you want me to make you some breakfast Mikoto?" Koyuki offered. "We're finished for now until the rice needs to be started." Mikoto would never say no to the offer so Tatara and Koyuki began on that project while they were waiting and by the time they were finished they needed to resume the dinner. Tatara continued to man the kitchen while Koyuki brought out Mikoto's food for him. Anna was still watching Tatara work in the kitchen so Koyuki and Mikoto were alone in the bar. Again his eyes widened at the sight of the food that was placed right in front of him.
"There you go a breakfast fit for a king." Koyuki sang. She was about to turn around and head back into the kitchen to help Tatara but Mikoto reached out and grabbed her wrist preventing her from going any further. She looked back at him.
"You know a king should never dine alone." He suggested. Koyuki was flattered but at the same time a lump formed in her throat that she tried to swallow away. She took a seat beside her king at the counter and watched him eat feeling awkward since neither of them said anything until Mikoto was half way through his meal.
"Why do you want me here?" Koyuki questioned.
"We haven't really had any time to be alone since moving in here. I thought that we should take advantage of it while we can." He smiled. Koyuki knew what he was thinking. It had been a while since they had sex and Mikoto drive kept on escalading. He knew that she couldn't resist him when he gave her a side glance with a smirk, his voice alone was enough to send her over the top but throw in that irresistible smile and it was game over for Koyuki. Mikoto caught her off guard when he placed his hand on her thigh and glided up to her rear and squeezed her butt. Koyuki abruptly stood up. No touching, there's supposed to be no touching she thought. He chuckled at her reaction and returned to his breakfast.
"Koyuki I think I need your help." Tatara called out to Koyuki who was tremendously relieved at the impeccable timing.
Later on that same day after Koyuki and Tatara finished cooking and cleaning up but there was evidence of the day all over Koyuki's clothes, skin and hair so after Tatara had left she went upstairs and jumped in the shower. Yata and Kamamoto came into the bar along with Shouhei and Bandou during the whole scene of madness and hung around hoping that there would be some extra's that couldn't fit into the container as Tatara packed up the meal but the boys were only left disappointed. They hung around afterwards while Koyuki was cleaning the mess off of herself in the shower. Finally a little peace and quiet. When she was finished, Koyuki turned off the faucet and opened the shower curtain.
"GAAAAAHHH!" She screamed before reaching for her towel to cover herself up. Mikoto stood there smirking with nothing on him but a towel. "How did you get in here?!" Koyuki's voice resembled that of a young teenage girl getting accidentally walked in on and if they weren't already together then she would have diced him. When she looked past him she noticed that the door knob was melted. "Why aren't you with the others?" Koyuki asked calming down.
"They went home and took Anna to Kusanagi's for the night." She could just see it now. He probably chased everyone out of the bar so that he could get at her. That was so like him. "You've gotten bigger." What? Koyuki blushed. He noticed? If he hadn't walked in on me then he probably wouldn't have come to this conclusion. What am I going to do now? How am I going to tell him? "If you keep on getting bigger, then your breasts will be spilling out of my hands when I grab on to them." Wait, what? He's talking about my breasts? "Why don't you turn around and get back in the shower so that we can have some fun while we're alone.
"Mikoto what if somebody comes through the door downstairs and hears us?" Koyuki asked taking a step backwards.
"I already locked the doors. Nobody's going to disturb us." Mikoto suggested as he backed her up against the tub nearly knocking her over. This was it. Game over. As Mikoto leaned into her, the sound of a PDA could be heard ringing in the background. The ringtone indicated that it was Koyuki's. Mikoto looked as if he wasn't going to let her get around him to go answer it. "You're not going anywhere." He playfully taunted.
"Mikoto, please. What if it's Yuzu? I want to know if she's doing better." His face grew irritated and each passing moment of the day he grew more agitated. He let out a sigh that gave her permission to go get it.
Once again Koyuki dodged a bullet. She ran out of the washroom with her towel wrapped around her but just missed the last ring. The number was unrecognizable. As she awaited a possible message she used this time to put on a shirt and her pajama bottoms seems how there probably won't be anyone coming by the bar at this time. She checked her PDA. Nothing, no message. Must have been a wrong number. At least she was able to get out of that situation. In a way she sort of enjoyed denying Mikoto but at the same time he could get tired of waiting and may look elsewhere to satisfy his needs. If it ever came to that, Koyuki would be kicking herself for the rest of her life. As Koyuki looked at her PDA, Mikoto walked into the room completely dressed with his hair dry. He must not have had a shower. He couldn't be that fast even if he used his aura to dry himself.
"Alright what's going on?" Mikoto asked coming through the door. Koyuki nervously averted his gaze. He looked at her with his typical Mikoto stare that others found so frightening with his piercing yellow eyes taking a toll on anyone who looked at them. "You've been avoiding me all day. What's on your mind?" Koyuki could feel the aura that was stirring inside of him that was threatening to come out. She couldn't talk to him like this. Mikoto awaited an answer but Koyuki only stood up from the bed and walked over to him to place her hand in the middle of his chest.
"Before I do that, though, you need to calm down." She soothed. A sigh rose from within him as he closed his eyes dismissing any thoughts or feelings within him to diminish his aura. When he finished he opened his eyes and looked at her. "Good." Koyuki smiled with a nod. "Will you keep your mind open?" Mikoto grunted in response but that wasn't good enough for her. "Mikoto." She said his name sternly.
"Yeah, I will." He agreed halfheartedly, regardless Koyuki knew that it was time. In this time, she did not touch him. She kept a small distance in between them enough so that they were close together yet keeping her distance at the same time. Koyuki brought her hands up and placed them over top of her stomach and smiled at him lovingly.
"I'm pregnant."
Eventually, Mikoto came downstairs after cooling down and returned to the clan like nothing had happened but it wasn't so easy for Koyuki to shift into that frame of mind. Every time she witnessed Mikoto's power she developed a new reason to fear him but never let that fear get to her. This time seemed different. Maybe this time it was different because Mikoto was in control of himself and a person died anyways. Maybe because Koyuki was so close to this death and the ashes blew across the room sticking to her clothing and irritating her skin. She tried to wipe it off of her skin but the invisible ticklish sensations of the ashes were still there. This guy had done nothing wrong but he died regardless.
Mikoto could sense Koyuki's unease from miles away. He gave her space after the event to work things out in her head before he even tried talking to her again. The look in that mans eyes as he demanded to receive the Red Aura instantly notified Mikoto that his intentions were wrong despite warning him, he had to try and fail anyways. The truth is that Mikoto was actually scared to make contact with Koyuki. He feared that she feared him after the way things turned out. It was at times like these where he truly despised the Red Aura and Red King title. It seemed to bring out tension and awkwardness between him and Koyuki whenever he was put in a situation where he needed to use it. He almost wished that he had never received this power in the first place.
That night in bed Koyuki couldn't sleep. She would be the first one to go up to bed and Mikoto would go up a while later when he thought that she would be sleeping. Koyuki would face away from him with her spot being the closest one to the window. Mikoto would climb under the covers and face the door so that their backs were towards each other. This was the first night since moving in together that they didn't cuddle.
Mikoto's breath deepened after a while indicating to her that he was asleep. Nausea washed over Koyuki and she placed her hands on her stomach to put pressure there. She had almost forgot that she was pregnant, not something that a woman could easily forget. This was the man she loved and would do anything for and the man that gave her the gift of child. He still didn't know. Koyuki decided that she should focus more on how she was going to tell him rather on what has already happened. Sooner or later he will see her growing. Koyuki turned over to face him and looked at his strong back. It tempted her so much so that she rolled around to face him and snaked her arms underneath his placing her hands on his firm chest so that she was pressing herself against his back. Mikoto's eyes barely opened upon feeling the contact looking down at her hands that were resting on him. He smiled taking one of her hands in his and bringing it up to him for a kiss.
Each and every morning Koyuki's sleep would be interrupted by the rude awakening of nausea whirling around in her stomach and on top of that sometimes Mikoto would pull her into a cuddle in the mornings when her stomach was at its weakest. Normally Koyuki would love this kind of morning but certain parts of her body ached to the touch when Mikoto sleepily grazed across them. She was starting to hate this whole pregnancy thing. Koyuki was the first one out of the bed this morning and calmly made her way to the bathroom across the hall turning on both faucets in the room to hide the sound of her vomiting her guts out. After pulling away from the toilet bowl she wiped the water that had come to her eyes.
"Dammit Mikoto, look at what you did to me?" Koyuki spoke to herself. After flushing the toilets and turning all of the taps off, Koyuki opened the washroom door to find Anna standing right in front of her. Koyuki's face flushed red. "Oh, Anna. What are you doing here?"
"I live here." She said in her usual soft spoken voice.
"Right." Koyuki nervously scratched her head after realizing that Anna was still in her red plush PJ's . "Did you need to use the washroom?" Anna shook her head. As Koyuki feared she was here for her. Koyuki sighed. "Alright, I know why you're here. I can't hide it from you now let me hear it." Anna just looked at her and blinked her eyes as the only hint that she was confused as to what Koyuki meant. "Is there something you needed?"
"Tatara is here and wanted to see you." Anna simply said. Now Koyuki was confused. She was sure that Anna was going to scold her on keeping the biggest secret from Mikoto. She felt like the worst person in the world for withholding information like this but she was terrified of what Mikoto's reaction might be. They had never even talked about having kids before. They haven't even talked about marriage. Regardless with Anna not having to say anything she was right, she really did need to tell Mikoto.
Anna turned around and walked back downstairs and Koyuki walked into her room to change into her clothes. Upon seeing Mikoto still lying down in his bed Koyuki stopped in her tracks as it finally hit her. Mikoto is sure to notice her stomach growing if she were to change in front of him. Anytime he sees her naked he could possibly figure out that she is gaining weight and conclude that she is pregnant. All she had to do was make sure that she never wore any tight clothes and that he wouldn't see her naked. That sounds easy enough, except for the fact that Mikoto likes to cuddle and that means that he would occasionally pull something perverted and try to grope her where he can. That's it, no hugging, no kissing, and no cuddling because they can all lead to one thing (at least until she builds enough so that she can tell him). Koyuki grabbed her clothes from the dresser and turned around to head back to the washroom.
"Where are you going?" Mikoto asked in a tone suggesting that he was horny. Koyuki hesitated to look over to him. He was lying on his side with his head propped up against his hand wearing no shirt and had sheets draped over his lower half. Koyuki inwardly squealed. Damn he looks so hot like that she thought.
"Uh Tatara wanted to see me so I was going down to him." She spoke quickly.
"With your clothes?" He asked raising an eyebrow. Koyuki froze.
"I was uh going to go change in the washroom so that I don't disturb your sleep.
"You're the farthest thing from a disturbance in the morning." Mikoto smirked. Koyuki took a step backwards then dashed out the door apologizing.
"Ah, Koyuki, there you are." Tatara said turning around as Koyuki came down the steps. Him and Anna were the only ones in the bar area downstairs. Oddly enough Kusanagi was not around. "I was wondering if you can show me how to make one of your famous dishes for tonight. I was going to bring it over to a friend of mine and his buddies over at the Scepter 4 headquarters. I was thinking of making your red bean firecracker dish."
"I'd love to help you with that." Koyuki smiled.
This dish of hers required a lot of time and effort which it was why they needed to start it in the morning. The meat needed to marinate for a few hours and the vegetables needed to be cut and sautéed in a very precise way. Occasionally Anna poked her head around the corner to watch the two work away together at a meal that she would not be consuming. The heavenly aroma made its way upstairs and down the hallway into Mikoto's room tickling his nose which was enough reason for him to get up and follow the trail. After throwing his shirt and pants on he made his way to the source of the smell and his eyes began to glow at the sight of food.
"Oh good morning king." Tatara greeted. "Koyuki and I were just in the middle of preparing dinner. It's her red bean firecracker dish, a dish so fine that it takes most of the day to finish." Mikoto closed in on the food and hovered above the marinating meat. Koyuki could sense the hunger that he was feeling standing in a room surrounded by cooking food.
"Do you want me to make you some breakfast Mikoto?" Koyuki offered. "We're finished for now until the rice needs to be started." Mikoto would never say no to the offer so Tatara and Koyuki began on that project while they were waiting and by the time they were finished they needed to resume the dinner. Tatara continued to man the kitchen while Koyuki brought out Mikoto's food for him. Anna was still watching Tatara work in the kitchen so Koyuki and Mikoto were alone in the bar. Again his eyes widened at the sight of the food that was placed right in front of him.
"There you go a breakfast fit for a king." Koyuki sang. She was about to turn around and head back into the kitchen to help Tatara but Mikoto reached out and grabbed her wrist preventing her from going any further. She looked back at him.
"You know a king should never dine alone." He suggested. Koyuki was flattered but at the same time a lump formed in her throat that she tried to swallow away. She took a seat beside her king at the counter and watched him eat feeling awkward since neither of them said anything until Mikoto was half way through his meal.
"Why do you want me here?" Koyuki questioned.
"We haven't really had any time to be alone since moving in here. I thought that we should take advantage of it while we can." He smiled. Koyuki knew what he was thinking. It had been a while since they had sex and Mikoto drive kept on escalading. He knew that she couldn't resist him when he gave her a side glance with a smirk, his voice alone was enough to send her over the top but throw in that irresistible smile and it was game over for Koyuki. Mikoto caught her off guard when he placed his hand on her thigh and glided up to her rear and squeezed her butt. Koyuki abruptly stood up. No touching, there's supposed to be no touching she thought. He chuckled at her reaction and returned to his breakfast.
"Koyuki I think I need your help." Tatara called out to Koyuki who was tremendously relieved at the impeccable timing.
Later on that same day after Koyuki and Tatara finished cooking and cleaning up but there was evidence of the day all over Koyuki's clothes, skin and hair so after Tatara had left she went upstairs and jumped in the shower. Yata and Kamamoto came into the bar along with Shouhei and Bandou during the whole scene of madness and hung around hoping that there would be some extra's that couldn't fit into the container as Tatara packed up the meal but the boys were only left disappointed. They hung around afterwards while Koyuki was cleaning the mess off of herself in the shower. Finally a little peace and quiet. When she was finished, Koyuki turned off the faucet and opened the shower curtain.
"GAAAAAHHH!" She screamed before reaching for her towel to cover herself up. Mikoto stood there smirking with nothing on him but a towel. "How did you get in here?!" Koyuki's voice resembled that of a young teenage girl getting accidentally walked in on and if they weren't already together then she would have diced him. When she looked past him she noticed that the door knob was melted. "Why aren't you with the others?" Koyuki asked calming down.
"They went home and took Anna to Kusanagi's for the night." She could just see it now. He probably chased everyone out of the bar so that he could get at her. That was so like him. "You've gotten bigger." What? Koyuki blushed. He noticed? If he hadn't walked in on me then he probably wouldn't have come to this conclusion. What am I going to do now? How am I going to tell him? "If you keep on getting bigger, then your breasts will be spilling out of my hands when I grab on to them." Wait, what? He's talking about my breasts? "Why don't you turn around and get back in the shower so that we can have some fun while we're alone.
"Mikoto what if somebody comes through the door downstairs and hears us?" Koyuki asked taking a step backwards.
"I already locked the doors. Nobody's going to disturb us." Mikoto suggested as he backed her up against the tub nearly knocking her over. This was it. Game over. As Mikoto leaned into her, the sound of a PDA could be heard ringing in the background. The ringtone indicated that it was Koyuki's. Mikoto looked as if he wasn't going to let her get around him to go answer it. "You're not going anywhere." He playfully taunted.
"Mikoto, please. What if it's Yuzu? I want to know if she's doing better." His face grew irritated and each passing moment of the day he grew more agitated. He let out a sigh that gave her permission to go get it.
Once again Koyuki dodged a bullet. She ran out of the washroom with her towel wrapped around her but just missed the last ring. The number was unrecognizable. As she awaited a possible message she used this time to put on a shirt and her pajama bottoms seems how there probably won't be anyone coming by the bar at this time. She checked her PDA. Nothing, no message. Must have been a wrong number. At least she was able to get out of that situation. In a way she sort of enjoyed denying Mikoto but at the same time he could get tired of waiting and may look elsewhere to satisfy his needs. If it ever came to that, Koyuki would be kicking herself for the rest of her life. As Koyuki looked at her PDA, Mikoto walked into the room completely dressed with his hair dry. He must not have had a shower. He couldn't be that fast even if he used his aura to dry himself.
"Alright what's going on?" Mikoto asked coming through the door. Koyuki nervously averted his gaze. He looked at her with his typical Mikoto stare that others found so frightening with his piercing yellow eyes taking a toll on anyone who looked at them. "You've been avoiding me all day. What's on your mind?" Koyuki could feel the aura that was stirring inside of him that was threatening to come out. She couldn't talk to him like this. Mikoto awaited an answer but Koyuki only stood up from the bed and walked over to him to place her hand in the middle of his chest.
"Before I do that, though, you need to calm down." She soothed. A sigh rose from within him as he closed his eyes dismissing any thoughts or feelings within him to diminish his aura. When he finished he opened his eyes and looked at her. "Good." Koyuki smiled with a nod. "Will you keep your mind open?" Mikoto grunted in response but that wasn't good enough for her. "Mikoto." She said his name sternly.
"Yeah, I will." He agreed halfheartedly, regardless Koyuki knew that it was time. In this time, she did not touch him. She kept a small distance in between them enough so that they were close together yet keeping her distance at the same time. Koyuki brought her hands up and placed them over top of her stomach and smiled at him lovingly.
"I'm pregnant."