Fluffy's Futures: Cara Ch. 06

The full moon found me on the roof of Samu's house in the country. Well, relative country by Japanese standards. He lived up in the mountains near Fussa in the midst of old trees and curving mountain roads.

The house was a reformed shrine of sorts, complete with zaori arches and a Zen garden. Samu had told me it had all been rebuilt during the 60's after WWII.

I breathed in the air, fresh and crisp at this altitude. My hanyu ears twitched, listening for Samu. He was coming up the ladder to the roof.

I spun around, my feet silent on the rooftop in their leather dance-like shoes. I was garbed from head to toe in black from my stretchy jeans to my sleeveless t-shirt, the only accents a deep blue along the collar and hems to match my eyes. I looked like a cross between a ninja and an royal assassin between the outfit and the blue detailing along the oriental collar. The top of the outfit was held shut with six blue buttons. My hair flowed freely, parted by my ears, brushing them in a silvery curtain. The silver hoop earrings I wore glittered in the starlight. A large cabochon cut onyx was visible on my forehead through my bangs, held in place by a headband that kept my hair out of my face. My bracers, full size now, covered my forearms. Around my waist, two straps crisscrossed, lighter then usual. I'd left my guns and their holsters at home along with kitana and my throwing knives were tucked into a hidden compartment in my duffle bag. I didn't want to scare Samu, or give him an idea of why I was here but I wasn't going around unarmed. Saying, "Hey I want to kill your boss and best friend," wouldn't get me many brownie points.

A set of blue knee pads, snuggly laced into place and a spiked right shoulder guard, completed my garb. I looked deadly and pretty, though I've never been sure which was more prominent. The straps, knee guards and shoulder guard had appeared via a magical triggering effect after I fell into my full Yukoi form at the moon's calling. I could no more deny the moon's call then I could stop breathing. Many hanyu are tied to the new moon for their transformations, but they spend most of their lives in hanyu or full yukoi forms, rarely, if ever, becoming human by choice. This means their human blood has to have a night to enact itself. I'm the opposite- spend too much time in human form so my yukoi blood asserts itself.

Samu didn't know what hit him when I stepped out from behind him and tapped him on the shoulder, darting to his other side before he saw me, taking full advantage of the roof's shadows.

I ended up perched on top of the chimney, smiling down at him. He cheated and pulled out a flashlight, blinding me for a moment in the beam before my eyes adjusted.

"That's cheap," I said, my voice laughing.

He turned the light away from me. "So is darting around in the shadows."

"That's neither here nor there," I said, hopping down to stand on a rise in the roof about two feet above Samu. "Its so pretty up here, the stars are so bright. I'd forgotten how beautiful they are."

He looked up at the sky overhead. "Yeah they are. You going to come with me to that dance I told you about?"

"Sure," I said, secretly grinning. The local area mob bosses were having a Black and White ball and Samu wanted to take me as his date. Would give me a great chance to meet other mob bosses. Why would I want to do this? Simple- someone to take the fall for the murder of Danny after I did it. Leave a few tell-tale signs at the scene, a calling card of another rival boss and no one would look my way. The upper brass in Danny's organization, who were paying for the hit, would make sure of it.

"Wonderful," Samu said cheerfully. "You do have a white or black formal right?"

"Aw, I can't go as I am now," I teased.

"Sexy as that is, no." Samu laughed and held up his arms to me. I hopped down to stand before him, almost falling into his arms. He closed the gap between us, bringing his lips to mine.

I allowed the kiss, returning it in full measure. We were still new enough to one another that every kiss was a rush, every touch something special. I ran my hands over his back, careful of the claws I could not retract. Wouldn't do to destroy Samu's shirt, especially since most Japanese men would have never made a move on me sober like he was.

The full of the moon forces me into my hanyu form, makes it impossible for me to appear human. I am my true self in the light of the moon, the creature I was born as. Samu embraced all that I was. He'd asked questions, both of me and of Meele, about hanyu in general, yukoi, and anything else he could think of that might give him an insight into me. He hadn't asked me why I was working at a camera store selling toys yet or my real age. I was hesitant to tell him I was chronologically older then he and certainly didn't want to tell him I was a killer for hire. Something told me that it would take the sparkle out of relationship to say the least.

We stood there in the dark, on top of a shrine older then both of us by far, kissing in the starlight. I pulled away from the kiss with a gentle smile.

"We best be careful or I'm not going to want to stop," I told Samu honestly. We still hadn't "done the deed" as Meele would have said in his modern slang. "I'm more dangerous in this form, more likely to scratch you or bite."

"And that's a problem how," Samu asked, his voice serious. "Cara, I accept you for what you are- human, demon, mononoke, hanyu, whatever. This is the real you. This silver hair," he ran his hand through my hair, "this darker skin, these startling eyes. This is you as you were born and I love you."

My breath caught in my throat at his words of acceptance. "You accept me, knowing I've killed before, knowing that I'm a monster."

"You've killed in self-defense, nothing wrong with that."

"Oh, how little you know," I muttered.

"What do you mean," he asked.

"Nothing, its nothing, Samu," I said, laying my head on his shoulder. "I've done some things in the past I'm not proud of, my love. You don't want to hear the details. Sometimes I wish I didn't know the details."

"The devil's in the details," Samu said, the cliché making me laugh.

"More then you know," I said with shake of my head. "Moving along- what did you mean by its not a problem if I hurt you?"

He stalled for a moment, searching for the words that do not come easily to Japanese man. They tend to be quiet about their sexuality unlike Americans who blurt it out for all to hear sometimes. "I mean that its okay if you rake your nails down my back or whatever. I don't mind- besides a little pain at the right moment can heighten everything else."

A man after my own heart! "So you don't mind?"

"Not at all," he said, shaking his head. "Long as you don't mind being bitten a bit."

"Oh, I'd mind if you didn't," I mused aloud. "I am part animal yukoi- we tend to be a passionate, violent lot of creatures."

"Lucky me," Samu whispered against my lips. "Long as I don't need to go to a hospital afterwards, I'm alright with just about anything else."

I shuddered against him as he kissed me again, nipping at my lower lip. I moaned as his hands ran down my sides, pressing my hips closer to his body. I could tell he was happy to have me there. Very happy.

I chuckled as I kissed him deeply, tongue running along his, tasting, exploring. Teeth grazing his lower lip, I bit him back, then kissed my way to his neck. I licked a line to his ear, occasionally biting him, hard enough to make him move, softly enough there would be no mark. I whispered in his ear, "Perhaps we should adjourn to your room. Should be more comfortable then the rooftop."

"As my lady wishes," Samu said with a laugh that only means sex. "Any special requests on the way?"

I thought for a moment before saying, "Protection."

"Covered," Samu said before laughing at his own pun.

I joined him, laughing as he climbed down the ladder, jumping down myself. I landed easily and watched him finish climbing down, admiring the view of his tight butt. Couldn't help it and didn't want to. Some women are all about abs, chest, whatever. Me- I'm a butt kind of gal- if he doesn't have a cute or tight ass it just might be a deal breaker. Luckily, Samu had the tightest and cutest butt I'd seen on a Japanese man, actually on any nationality of male I'd seen in the past few years.

"Like the view," he asked, catching me looking.

"Yup," I said honestly. "Its nice but I imagine there are nicer things to be seen this night."

"I imagine so," Samu agreed, feet hitting the concrete walk that surrounded his house. "Follow me and perhaps you shall see something nicer."

"I believe I shall," I said, falling into step behind him. A small voice in my head asked me what the world I was planning to do. Sleep with a human? Surely not! I hushed the little voice, rolling my eyes at it. It was the part of me that was yukoi, that disliked humans for being weaker. Only reason they were the dominant species on the earth was because they breed easier. And crossbreed fairly easily too, as I was proof of.

I relearned that night how wonderful that ability to breed was though I wouldn't bear a child from it. Now that would have been quite a problem.

I awoke late the next morning to my cell phone ringing angrily from my pile of clothing. I raced across the room and after a quick search, I found it and left the bedroom where Samu still slept.

"Cara here," I said, flipping open the phone.

"I need you back in town," Meele said abruptly.

I sighed, rolling my eyes in the process. "What's so bloody important? This is my first real weekend off in a long time. Not to mention a few other first-time-in-a-while-things."

"The Asia-Pacific Council of Elders wants to meet you and they don't give a damn if it interrupts your sex life," he said as if it were supposed to mean something incredibly important.

"Who?"

"The body that governs yukoi activity here and throughout the Asian side of the Pacific," Meele told me, his voice chastising.

"I'm not a child, I just didn't know their formal name," I said with a growl. "When to they want me?"

"Tonight, at the moon's rising," Meele said. "So you need to come home, get some rest, change and we need to be out the door by five."

"So much for a romantic breakfast," I sighed. "Okay, I'll be home within the hour if traffic cooperates, Meele. Want me to pick anything up?"

"No, I'm good, just get here."

With that he hung up, no good bye. Meele was still working on the whole phone etiquette thing. Shaking my head, I closed my phone and went back into the bedroom. My eyes immediately went to the bed where Samu lay, hugging the pillow I'd just vacated. There was a soft, boyish charm about him in his sleep, I mused as I picked up my duffle bag and headed for the bathroom to shower.

Clean and dressed I came out twenty minuets later to find Samu awake and dressed as well.

"Good morning, Cara," he said with a warm smile. "What's up?"

"Meele needs me," I said, not elaborating. Yukoi politics can be a dangerous thing- the further outside he was the better. "I won't be back tonight- Meele needs me to go with him to some meeting that will probably take forever to get done."

Samu nodded. "Okay, I'll call you tomorrow then to see how you're doing. Did you sleep well last night?"

A blush stained my cheeks at the memory. "Best I've slept in a long time."

"That's good." His cheeks, I was pleased to note, were also a bit pink. Nice to know I wasn't the only one a smidge embarrassed but more pleased by last night. Of course, his words of "where in the world did you learn that trick" were pretty good indications that he'd had fun too.

"Can't argue with that," I said, pulling on my bike boots. I was wearing simple jeans, a t-shirt declaring I was a butterfly and a scarf to keep my hair in place since I was back in human form.

"I'll walk you out to your bike," Samu said as he picked up my duffle bag. "What do you have in here? An armory?"

"Closer to the truth then you know," I said with a smile. "I may not be able to call you tonight, so don't worry if I don't."

"What are you doing tonight, Cara? And why is Meele taking you to a meeting? I thought he was retired."

"He is, sort of," I said, slipping around the question. "But I think this is a family related meeting. He didn't explain much, just said get home now. Since he doesn't ask for much, I kind of have to- this could be important."

"If you say so," Samu said with a shrug, as if he didn't understand but really didn't mind.

"Thanks for understanding, or at least not arguing," I said as we stepped outside into the sunlight. I ruffled through my bag for a moment before pulling out a leather riding jacket. It was chilly this morning and it wouldn't do to get a cold before facing the majority of the big, bad-ass yukoi in the region. Sneezing is not an effective threatening tool.

I fired up the bike, kick starting it and letting it purr in idle, warming up. "If I don't get home too late, I'll give you a call, but no promises."

"Don't worry about it, Cara," Samu said with a boyish grin. "I'll understand if you're too tired to come out and play."

The look in his eyes implied what left me too tired to come and play and I laughed as I kissed him goodbye and took off, keeping that warm laughter wrapped around me, knowing I'd probably need it tonight.

After waking up from a wonderful night of love making, four that afternoon found me back at my apartment, arguing with Meele over the clothing he'd chosen for me to wear to the shindig tonight. A very skimpy, sleeveless, short black dress that was barely decent for mixed company, crimson belt and an odd cloak in red set with black four petaled flowers plus my boots were all I'd be allowed in addition to my bracers and onyx Sphere of Moon storage. Oh, and the earrings that would allow me to talk with Meele without speaking. Mustn't forget that or the veil I was supposed to wear. He'd said something about protecting my identity in the human world. I thought it looked silly and said as much.

"This is immodest at best, immoral at worst," I said, frowning at Meele over the outfit. "How come you get to wear real clothing and I'm stuck looking like a gypsy geisha girl with dog ears?"

"You look great," Meele said, giving his chest plate a tug to put it in place. He looked like a shogun from Japan's past, deadly and a bit archaic. The fact he had his fighting axes on his back said many things about how he expected tonight to go, none of them good. A long, puffy sleeved shirt and matching pants, both black, his white and red body armor, a deep blue sash, and a cloak that was the opposite of mine, black with red flowers, completed the outfit.

"You look spiffy too," I said. "But that's beside the point. I look like a little slave girl compared to you."

"That's because they think of you as such," Meele said, clipping on his Sphere of Humanity to the ties between his shoulder plates. "As of now, you hold no status with the Counsel of Elders other then my sponsorship. Tonight you may prove you are worthy of entrance into the Yukoi world but till then you're just a weak little hanyu I keep around for fun."

"That's fair," I grumbled at Meele, voice dripping sarcasm.

"Blame your mother," he told me with a sigh. "If she'd admitted to birthing you, your status would be assured because of that and your rather high kill count. She's the head of the Moon Yukoi Clan for all of Japan and on its international leaders counsel. As such, she will be part of tonight's festivities."

"She'll be there?" I could feel myself getting pale, despite having made the change into my hanyu form. "But- Meele, I've never meet my mother... Marika. How will I know her? And why's my kill count important?"

"That's not hard," he told me, pulling me into a hug. "You will know her because her eyes are your eyes, her skin is your skin, her walk is your walk. Inu Cara, you are the daughter of Inu Marika, and though the rest of the world knows it not, she will. In response, Marika will either be easier on you then the rest of the counsel or she'll be your hardest taskmaster tonight.

"As for kill counts- the higher a being's kill count, the higher their social stature in the Yukoi is. It means they're not afraid to cause deadly harm to an opponent, backing up their threat with proof of their seriousness."

"Sounds fun," I said with a sigh, hugging Meele back. "Does she... does she know its her daughter Cara coming tonight? Or am I just some random hanyu you're sponsoring for the evening?"

"I do not believe she knows its you," he said honestly. "She may not even be there tonight, though the chances of that are rare. Marika keeps up with current events- an important factor in leading a clan that boasts the most income and technology of the five Asian Pacific Clans."

I pulled away from Meele. "How come you're allowed to go in there armed and I don't get a single blade?"

"You haven't proven yourself worthy in their eyes of a blade yet," Meele explained. "I know- don't yell at me for it. You're as good as any your age and better then most at that. But they won't see it that way- you're hanyu, not full yukoi. That is a huge mark against you, so they'll underestimate you. I'm hoping to make them regret that."

"You and me both," I said softly. "You and me both."