Oryouma Halloween

by BlackKittens

Summary:

Thirty-one prompts of Oryou and Ryouma being in love over the Halloween season.

[Contains various levels of smut in chapters 9, 14, 23, 28, and 30, hence the rating. Most chapters are more or less SFW.]

Notes:

Edit: Well, the editing took longer than expected and at this point I'm ready to die like Goetia (get it? Like the "No beta, we die like _" tag? *avoids tomato thrown*) if there's still mistakes, but I'm so happy to be done! I've never finished something like this before, especially in such a limited time (even if I went over), so I'm super proud of myself! :)

Two of my goals with this prompt challenge was to get myself back into writing more than just a few oneshots every so many months, and to prove I could finish something long (partially so I can finish my other projects, too, lol). Plus I got to write some fluffy Oryouma, which was really nice! Now, because of that, my priorities while writing were 1.) Oryouma, 2.) Just get it done, and 3.) Halloween, so some of the prompts are pretty stretched out to make their stories work. I'll admit, some of them probably should have been their own fics... Oh, well.

Happy Halloween!

Chapter 1: Costumes

Notes:

This was inspired by one of the eighth anniversary craft essences.

"Well, how do we look?"

"Like a pair o' weirdos," Izo answered flatly, eyes narrowed at the couple standing in front of him in the hallway. "The hell are you supposed to be again?"

Ryouma smiled awkwardly, choosing to take Izo's criticism in stride. Halloween wasn't a holiday they'd practiced back in the Bakumatsu era, and the party taking place in Chaldea's cafeteria was optional. He was no more surprised by Izo's attitude than he was at the fact his friend wouldn't be attending.

"We're undead rockers," he reminded. Ryouma gestured to the black and white make up on his face, careful not accidentally touch it. His face was painted like a skull, framed by his loose hair, and a decorative hat sat on his head. It matched the rocker style outfit he wore and fake guitar he carried on his shoulders. "Quetzalcoatl helped with the inspiration; apparently, the Day of the Dead is the day after Halloween in Latin American culture. Oryou-san and I really liked the style, so we decided to incorporate it into our costumes."

"I have no idea what that is and don't wanna know," Izo replied dryly. Despite his scorn, he cracked a wry smile. "All I know is if you dyed your hair red, you'd look like Takasugi. Ain't the musician shit his thing?"

Ryouma laughed. "Yeah, I guess it is, isn't it? Maybe that's where we got the idea from."

Beside him, however, Oryou glowered. "Don't you have anywhere else to go, bug? Oryou-san wants to show off her super cool, rockstar costume before the party ends!"

Ryouma patted her arm to calm her down. "The party's just starting, Oryou-san; don't worry, everyone will get to see how great you look in no time."

His wife grunted, still glaring at Izo.

Like him, Oryou had her face painted to resemble a skull, and had chosen a rocker outfit made of her favorite leather material. Her bangs had been swept to the side and hair brushed behind her ear, with a brightly colored flower pin holding it all in place.

Izo huffed, glancing away dismissively. "Yeah, whatever. I'm going ta my room, gettin' drunk, and goin' ta bed. Have fun at your lame party."

"Heh, good night, Izo," Ryouma said as the other man brushed by them, and continued his way down the hall. "It was nice running into you. I'm glad we got to show you our Halloween costumes!"

"Don't let the bedbugs eat you before Oryou-san gets the chance," Oryou spat after him, her eyes widened and dilated in warning.

Izo didn't so much as turn around. He flicked them a rude, western hand sign he'd picked up that Ryouma winced at, and disappeared around a corner.

"Sometimes Oryou-san thinks he tries to ruin her good moods," Oryou muttered hotly. "She spent hours picking these clothes out with Ryouma! They're very fashionable, not weird."

Ryouma patted her arm again in reassurance. "There, there. Izo didn't mean any harm. You know how he is. Besides, it's not like we often celebrate western holidays - remember, this is the first year we've attended one of Chaldea's Halloween parties in all the time we've been here. Izo's never seen us dress up like this before."

Oryou lifted her nose in the air. "Maybe he needs to be dragged into the Halloween spirit then. He's been here just as long as we have. Oryou-san is already brain-storming ideas for her and Ryouma's costumes next year! She's thinking mafia bosses. Maybe Izo can be our little lap cat? You know, like the boss always pets in the movies. We can share him - actually, no, you can keep him, Ryouma. Oryou-san will eventually get annoyed with and drop him."

Ryouma started at the suggestion. He could feel sweat prickling down the back of his neck at the thought of forcing Izo into an embarrassing role like that. But Oryou was grinning next to him, a sign her mood was lifting - and that she was probably just joking - so he chuckled quietly.

"Maybe," he said, and quickly changed the subject. "Mafia bosses, eh? How long have you been thinking about that? We just put on our undead rockers outfits, and you're already planning next year, Oryou-san. That's certainly thinking a long time ahead!"

Oryou's grin widened. She splashed through the air, floating from his side to in front of him. "Oryou-san has lots of ideas for us to wear, probably more than Chaldea will ever have Halloweens! As always, your beautiful secretary is prepared for the future, Ryouma! Next Halloween is already marked in her appointment book."

"That's good to hear," he remarked, closing his eyes. It did sound intriguing. "You'll have to go over them all with me after the party. I can't wait to find out what else you have in mind."

"Yes," Oryou replied excitedly. She surprised Ryouma by taking the sides of his head in her hands, bringing her face close to his. "And she will make sure Ryouma looks handsome in all of her ideas, to match how gorgeous Oryou-san will be."

Beneath his face paint, Ryouma blushed at the public, close proximity. Luckily, no one else was around now that Izo was gone, so he wrapped his own hands around her wrists affectionately.

"I have no doubts about it," he teased. "Oryou-san is always gorgeous in anything she wears."

"Hmph, flirt," she accused. But her eyes were lidded and lips quirked up in a small smile. "Ryouma is always handsome, too. Especially when Oryou-san works her magic on him. Otherwise, he would never stand out."

Ryouma wilted some at the backhanded compliment. But much like he had said of Izo earlier, he knew she meant no ill will with her words; that's just how Oryou was, too. "Right... So, off to the cafeteria, then?"

Oryou let go of his head and floated upwards happily. "Oryou-san wants to show off all of our hard work!"

Ryouma nodded, mirroring her enthusiasm. He stepped forward to walk on ahead. "Let's go, then."

As soon as he walked past her and she was out of his view, Oryou suddenly spoke up once more. "Ah, Ryouma."

He paused and looked over his shoulder curiously. "What is it?"

Oryou was frowning now. She tilted her head. "You really do look handsome."

He raised an eyebrow. Ryouma honestly hadn't been hurt by her comment before. He knew she truly hadn't meant any harm. Not to mention, after one hundred and fifty years of marriage, as well as an all but renewal of their wedding vows during the Saitama singularity, Ryouma was pretty confident in his wife's attraction to him. He wasn't sure what was going on here.

"Uh," he struggled to figure this one out, "thank you?"

Oryou continued to frown at him.

Ryouma scratched the back of his head. He couldn't help the nerves rising within him. "Is everything okay?"

Oryou didn't answer at first.

Then she broke out in her biggest, toothiest smile yet.

"Yes, Oryou-san really does know how to accentuate Ryouma's natural handsomeness."

Ryouma blinked. "Oh. Is that al- ? Ull!"

He stumbled and quickly worked to rebalance himself as Oryou roughly grabbed the opening of his coat and pulled him into a kiss.

Oryou let go as soon as she was satisfied. She popped her lips. "Don't worry, Oryou-san was certain our make up was all dry before she kissed you. No need to wring your hands over any smearing."

Ryouma inhaled sharply, more caught off guard than anything. "O-oh? If you say so."

He blinked rapidly, trying his best to get his bearings together.

That was...pretty spontaneous of her. Usually he and Oryou were only intimate behind closed doors.

Maybe it was because they were technically alone, but something in Ryouma told him he actually didn't mind that.

What do you know, you learn something new every day.

Oryou nodded affirmatively, pleased with herself. She swiftly floated on ahead of Ryouma.

"Let's not be late to the Halloween party!" she called over her shoulder. "Oryou-san has to show off her costume skills!"

Ryouma snapped himself out of it. He followed after her, very aware of how red he was underneath his make up. Yet he was equally as amused.

He had no idea what he would do without Oryou. If nothing else, she kept him on his toes.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."

And now that he thinking about it, watching Oryou glide through the air from behind...she really was beautiful herself. Especially in that outfit and with her hair done up like that...

Ryouma shook his head, breaking away from those thoughts, and continued after her towards the cafeteria entrance. Such things could wait until later.

For now, they had a party to get to.

Chapter 2: Decoration

Oryou burst open the door to Chaldea's Sakamoto Detective Agency/Oryou Store, and eagerly swooped across the room, where her husband was doing inventory for the shop.

"Ryouma!" she called, coming to a close stop at his side. "Look what Oryou-san found!"

She watched her husband jolt at her sudden closeness and raise his head at her in bewilderment. He quickly regained his composure, however, and looked down at the object carefully held in her palms.

Ryouma cracked a smile. "Ah, a frog in a pumpkin. How cute."

Oryou beamed in pride at her find.

She did indeed have a small, ceramic frog sitting in a ceramic pumpkin in her hands. And not just any pumpkin; a jack-o-lantern! The stem of the pumpkin lay crookedly on the frog's head as it peeked out the hole at the top, looking out at the world with its painted black eyes. Its face was bright and happy, a contrast to the spooky grin the jack-o-lantern below had.

All in all, she agreed that it was the cutest frog ever. After all her other frog decor of course.

"Where did you get this?" Ryouma asked. He put down his clipboard and pen, and brushed a finger on the frog's pumpkin stem hat. "Oh, I see; it's Halloween again, isn't it?"

Oryou nodded. "The puny humans and a bunch of puny others are decorating the cafeteria again. Oryou-san was asking the red cook if he could add frogs to her and Ryouma's lunches when she saw this being pulled out of a box. Fujimaru said Oryou-san could have it."

"That was nice of Master," Ryouma remarked. He tilted his head back and forth. "By the way, where are our lunches?"

All of Oryou's pride swept away as she stiffened. Oh, right, their lunches - the whole reason she had left their workplace to begin with. She and Ryouma were going to have a private, little luncheon together while they caught up on inventory and restocking the Oryou Store. Those lunches...

Her stomach growled.

To her disappointment, Ryouma seemed to get the message pretty fast. A sweat drop appeared on his temple, but he chuckled lightheartedly.

"It's okay, I can see why you got distracted," he reassured her. "I was just finishing up the inventory, so let's head to the cafeteria together. We can restock after lunch. Besides, I'd like to see how they're decorating this year. The cafeteria always looks so festive during the holidays."

Oryou brightened. "Oryou-san can be your unofficial tour guide! She'll show you where they put the skeletons, monsters, and witches decorations, and the orange, purple, and black streamers, and the pumpkin stickers on the food line counters! Plus whatever else they've put up since Oryou-san left."

"That sounds fun. Thank you, Oryou-san," Ryouma smiled. He picked up his clipboard and pen, and started making his way towards his desk on the other side of the room. "Just let me put this away. Once I have it filed, we'll go, okay?"

"Okay," she replied blithely.

Oryou watched Ryouma reach his desk before shifting her attention to the pumpkin frog in her hands. She floated aimlessly towards the ceiling, not thinking about it too hard, and picked the frog up between her finger and thumb.

"Hey, hey, Ryouma," she said. "Who do you think would be cuter in a pumpkin: this frog, or Oryou-san?"

The sound of wood whistling filled her ears as a drawer was drawn open.

"Um, you, I guess?" she heard Ryouma answer. "That's a strange question, haha. Are you planning on hiding in a pumpkin any time soon?"

"That's a stranger question to ask," Oryou admonished lightly. She turned the pumpkin frog over in her hands, admiring the specific shade of green paint used on it. The color almost resembled a real frog's skin. "Oryou-san only thinks she would make a cute decoration if she slithered out of a pumpkin. Don't you agree, Ryouma?"

"Uh," papers rustled between his words, "you're always cute, Oryou-san. Hey, what exactly are they serving for lunch today? Did you happen to see the menu?"

Oryou's stomach growled a second time. She burst out of her frog enthused bubble.

"Oh," she blinked, processing his words deeply. "Chicken and vegetables, Oryou-san thinks. She tried to ask the red cook to puts frogs in our meals, but he was being difficult."

Then she had noticed all the little knick-knacks Fujimaru and the other puny humans and servants were taking out of a box, and her eyes had landed on one in particular.

Oryou's eyes fixated on the pumpkin frog in her grasp once more.

Its chipper, little smile and the jack-o-lantern's grin peered back up at her.

"Is that so..." Ryouma hummed from out of her view. She heard the drawer whistle shut. "Chicken and vegetables sounds pretty good right about now. We should get going. Ah, do you want pick a spot in here to put your decoration? ...Oryou-san? Oryou-san!"

Now it Oryou's turn to jolt. She jerked her neck to the side, and saw Ryouma staring up at her.

He gave an amused smile. "There you are. Haha, for a second I thought you forgot I was here."

Oryou flew to his side at once with a gasp. "Oryou-san could never forget you! Oryou-san loves you too much to forget about you, Ryouma. She was just distracted by the cute frog in its pumpkin. Doesn't it look so lifelike?"

To emphasize her point, she all but shoved the decoration in his face, pressing it against his cheekbone.

Ryouma leaned back and rubbed his cheek. "It's all right, I love you, too, Oryou-san. Sure, I suppose it looks kind of real. In a certain light."

Oryou held it up close to her face now, right under her nose, and looked at it intently. "Oryou-san knew it. Whatever sculptor made this is very talented. We should hire them to make our Christmas card this year. Oryou-san and Ryouma's picture will surely look photo-realistic!"

"We're doing a Christmas card this year? Okay," he agreed casually. "I'm not so sure the sculptor makes that kind of thing, too, though. Being one type of artist doesn't necessarily make you good at other types of art."

"Hmm, good point," she acknowledged. She turned the pumpkin frog between her fingers again. Her eyes widened confidently. "The Christmas card can wait until Christmas. For now, it's Halloween!"

Ryouma nodded at her proclamation. "Right. So, do you want to put your frog somewhere on display before we go to lunch? Maybe next to the frogs on my desk, or over by the Oryou Store sign? That way everyone who stops by can see it."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Oryou replied. She planted the pumpkin frog on his desk, next to the other, much larger, cartoony frogs. "Now the Sakamoto Detective Agency and Oryou Store are prepped for Halloween!"

Ryouma laughed. "So we are! We'll have to find a few other decorations to put up so we can really get in the spirit. Maybe Fujimaru will have some ideas for us."

"Yeah, maybe," Oryou agreed.

Her stomach growled a third time.

"Heh," Ryouma chuckled quietly, "let's get going to the cafeteria then, shall we?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Oryou saw him move towards the door.

"Yes, let's do that," she said.

Yet she remained transfixed on the pumpkin frog now sitting happily on Ryouma's desk. Oryou decided to admire it a moment longer, to appreciate its realistic cuteness. A frog peeking out of a tiny jack-o-lantern; humans could be so smart and creative sometimes. And this decoration was so well made.

She smiled down at it cheerfully.

Then, on a whim, opened her mouth, dove down with predatory precision, and gobbled it up.

Pleased with herself, Oryou turned around and floated towards the door.

Ryouma watched her come over, smile straining awkwardly. "Well, I guess we can also ask if Fujimaru has another frog in a pumpkin knick-knack laying around..."

Oryou grabbed his hand in hers. "Eh, Oryou-san doubts it. Come on, Ryouma, let's go before the cafeteria runs out of food, or Fujimaru finishes decorating and leaves."

She shot down the hall, dragging her husband along.

Ryouma yiped. "O-Oryou-san! Slow down! Or else my arm will rip out of its socket!"

Chapter 3: Autumn

"Well, this is a nice end to the singularity," Ryouma said, as he and Oryou slipped further and further behind Fujimaru and the rest of the group on the trail. "We don't always have missions as easy as this one. And the scenery is beautiful."

"Hm-mm," Oryou hummed. Once Fujimaru and the others vanished from view down the hill, she slid her arms down Ryouma's shoulders and clasped her hands together over his stomach. "It's been a while since we've seen autumn."

Ryouma slowed to a halt. "Yeah, it has, hasn't it?"

It was the end of the day. The setting sun shone gold down on the trail they were walking, illuminating the already bright yellow, red, and orange leaves that hung on the pale, off-white trees on either side of it. Every now and then a light breeze drifted through, nipping at Ryouma's nose and chasing the end of Oryou's scarf. Little chirps and rustling in the grass could be heard, signs of the local wild life preparing for the season's change.

Ryouma curled a hand over one of Oryou's arms.

She cocked her head over his shoulder.

"It is a nice day, huh?" Oryou commented. "Surely we can stay a little while longer."

"I'm sure Fujimaru will wait for us to catch up," Ryouma nodded.

He smiled, and leaned back against her with closed eyes.

Oryou smiled fondly, squeezing him to her in return.

They enjoyed having little moments like this to themselves every once in a while. If only for a bit, everything else in the world was forgotten. And it was just the two of them together.

Chapter 4: Leaves

The fall season was well in motion as October came to stay. The days were getting shorter, the temperature was getting colder, and the leaves were changing color and falling from the trees. It was truly an end to the dog days of summer, and it wouldn't be long until the freezing cold of winter began. But Ryouma thought the fall was always nice, too.

Which lead him to where he was now. Raking leaves outside his and Oryou's home wasn't his favorite chore, but it provided a nice change of pace from the usual; sitting around in his home office going over reports, interviewing clients at the Sakamoto Agency, running around the city with Oryou on a job, or overlooking the Oryou Store, which he ran alongside her when the agency was slow. All that hustle and bustle. Here, though, Ryouma could just rake all the crunching leaves into a pile, whistle a tune, and relax. It was hardly the most demanding activity, after all.

So that's what he did.

Ryouma had half the front yard cleared into a few, more or less neat piles of leaves. Later, after a break for a drink (tea sounded nice), he would bag them up to go to the compost tomorrow. And once he was through with that, he would have the rest of his day off to enjoy inside, curled up on the couch with his wife. But for now, he pushed and pulled the rake back and forth towards him, clearing up the other side of the yard, and whistling quietly to himself.

It was such a peaceful day...

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"

...Until it wasn't anymore.

Ryouma stood up straight. He tugged the rake upright and looked back at his house in surprise.

Not a second too soon, Izo came bursting out of the front door like a bat out of hell.

Ryouma didn't have time to so much as think before his best friend went scrambling through one of his leaf piles and tripped over himself. Izo crashed to the ground hard, a colorful flurry of broken leaves floating up around him.

His shoulders slumped. All that hard work gone. He'd have to rake all those leaves back together all over again.

Ahh, well; it wasn't like one pile was that much. At least Izo hadn't sent all the leaves flying across the yard or anything like that. It would only take two minutes tops to clean up.

Speaking of Izo - before Ryouma could ask what had his friend running so scared, the disgruntled man lifted his head from the leaves with a scowl.

"Ryouma," he growled, his neck slowly craning towards him, "your wife is a bitch!"

Ryouma raised his eyebrows. "Language, Izo. Remember, I'm the reason she hasn't kicked you out of our basement yet. Now, what did Oryou-san do this time?"

Izo stumbled to bring himself on all fours. The leaves crinkled loudly beneath him, a few sticking to his dark grey sweatshirt and sweatpants. He threw himself around on his butt and pointed accusingly at the house. "See for yourself!"

Ryouma turned back to the front door, shifting the rake between his hands.

He saw Oryou standing in the threshold, dressed in a pink blouse, dark pants, and flowery pink socks. She must not have been planning to follow Izo outside, since she lacked shoes and one of her many, usual coats and scarves. But most importantly, on her face she wore a disconcertingly realistic dragon mask, with long, black hair strands and practically glowing red eyes.

She pulled the mask off at once and, despite her lack of outer wear, glided out the door. She tossed the mask back inside behind her.

"You big baby," Oryou tutted at Izo. She strode across the yard and took a detour to Ryouma's side. "Oryou-san didn't even pick a scary mask. She expected you to jump, but not run screaming out of the house. What, did you think Oryou-san was about to eat you?"

A breeze picked up. Invisible goosebumps pricked up on Ryouma's cheeks. He let go of the rake, letting it fall to the ground, and took off his own white jacket. He placed it around Oryou's shoulders and adjusted it around her. He was all right in his normal blue, long-sleeve button-up, but her blouse was short-sleeved. He didn't want her getting cold.

Oryou grabbed the sides of the coat and pulled them close over her front, snuggling up inside. She smiled smugly. "Ahh, your coat is so warm, Ryouma. Thank you for the body heat."

"Eh, sure?" Ryouma didn't think so much of the act, but even after all these years, her peculiar choice of words still caught him off guard sometimes. "You can take that back inside with you if you want. So, what happened with Izo?"

Izo glared up at the couple. "Stupid lovebirds. I should have known you wouldn't take my side, Ryouma!"

He threw up his hands in peace. "Woah, woah! I haven't taken any sides yet. If one of you would please tell me what's going on..."

Oryou scoffed. "This idiot slept all day until four o'clock and came trudging up the basement stairs, and what does he do? Goes to the fridge for a beer! So Oryou-san grabbed an old mask of hers out of the closet and stood behind the fridge door to scare him. Seriously, who sleeps in until four and immediately goes for a beer!?"

"Me!" Izo waved his arms angrily. "I do that! You've known this for years!"

Oryou sneered. "This is why you don't have a job and live in our basement. Get a job! Move out! Then Oryou-san can't frighten you with her super cool yet barely scary mask anymore!"

Ryouma shouldered his way in front of her to block her and Izo away from each other. He smiled uneasily, an attempt to defuse the situation.

"Okay, okay," he said lightly. "Oryou-san, that was mean of you and you know it. Izo, why don't you go back inside and eat something with your beer? You and I can look over job applications tonight while we're at it."

"Don't treat me like I'm some bum!" Izo heaved himself to his feet. "I do work! I just had a job last week!"

"Yeah, that was temporarily and under the table," Oryou huffed. "That's all you ever get, and it doesn't even make anything because you gamble all your pay away!"

Ryouma shot her a mild look, and turned back to Izo. "I mean a full-time job, Izo. Something to keep you afloat on your own and maybe a little extra for your, uh, habits. Although, honestly, you could let us help you quit gambling as well."

Izo snorted and flicked his wrists. "Forget it. I knew you'd take her side. Ah, whatever, I'm headin' back in. If ya need me, I'll be in my room downstairs. Don't need me, all right?"

He stomped off towards the front door, tracking leaves after him as he went.

Ryouma whistled low. "Oh, boy. I'm going to have a time with that tonight. In the meanwhile, Oryou-san?"

He spun around to face his wife.

She pursed her lips. "What? Oryou-san might have done a little wrong, but she did nothing wrong-wrong. Besides, it's almost Halloween. Scaring others with spooky masks is in season. She'll scare Ryouma next!"

"Will you?" he inquired.

Oryou faltered. She averted her eyes. "Mm, maybe. Oryou-san doesn't know, she hasn't planned it yet."

"Uh-huh," Ryouma nodded. He bent down to pick up the discarded rake. "Want to help me clean up Izo's mess? He ruined one of my piles thanks to you. It's the least you can do."

Oryou steeled her gaze. She glanced at the mussed up piles of leaves Izo had tripped over. "Yeah, yeah. Sure, why not? Oryou-san will get the other rake, and the trash bags."

"I wasn't going to bag them until later," he told her. "You don't have to do that. I've got it; I'll take them to the compost tomorrow."

She clucked her tongue. "Don't be stupid, Ryouma; the wind will blow all the leaves away if you don't bag them up soon. Oryou-san will pick them up. You just rake the rest of the yard."

He smiled in appreciation. "If you say so. Thank you, Oryou-san."

"You're welcome," she smiled back proudly. Then it suddenly turned wicked. "Oh, Ryouma, by the way - "

Ryouma's face fell. His gut twisted instinctively. Oh no. "What?"

Without answering, Oryou swiped the rake out of his hands, and shoved him hard.

Ryouma flailed. He tried his best to catch himself, but next thing he knew, his back smacked on the ground, the leaves in the other pile behind him springing up and floating back down on his clothes. Despite the cushioned landing, he still groaned at the impact.

That was nothing, however, to Oryou jumping on him. She landed square on his body, chest to chest and her legs between his. Ryouma squeezed his eyes shut with another pained groan.

When he opened his eyes, Oryou was grinning down at him, her hair curtaining either side of their faces.

"Oryou-san saw this in a movie once," she explained, and planted her lips on his.

In spite of himself, Ryouma kissed her back.

But when she pulled away, he said, "That hurt, Oryou-san."

She furrowed her brow, clearly not having expected that. "Ah, the movie sucked, then."

"You shouldn't believe whatever you see on TV," Ryouma sighed. "My back's gonna feel this tomorrow."

"Oryou-san is sorry," she apologized. She took his head in her hands. "Here, let her kiss it better. This, she knows from real life."

She started kissing all over his face.

Ryouma sputtered.

He grabbed her arms wildly, but made little attempt to actually stop her. "H-Hey, hey! Oryou-san! That's not - ! I said my back, not my face!"

"Oryou-san will kiss your back in bed tomorrow," she said, between kissing his chin and nose, before going for his cheek. "She's not doing that in public."

Ryouma didn't even know what to say to that. So he just laughed, letting her arms go and his fall flat in the leaves while she kept kissing him.

A window could be heard slamming open in the distance. Izo's voice sprang across the yard, scandalized. "ARE YOU TWO FUCKIN' IN THE LEAVES!?"

Oryou ripped her head away. She glowered at the house.

Ryouma jerked his chin up, digging his head further into the pile, his face beet red.

"Yes, that's obviously what we're doing," he muttered to himself.

"Moment ruined," Oryou huffed. She climbed off Ryouma and hauled him up by the hand. "Can we kick him out? Oryou-san's seen some very nice bridges in the city he can sleep under."

Ryouma sighed again. "Nooo... He needs time to get back on his feet. You know how hard he's had it since Takechi laid him off."

"You mean fired," she grunted. Oryou kicked up his rake and caught it in her hand. She moved for the first destroyed leaf pile. "Oryou-san will deal with these two and get the bags. You go get the spare rake."

Ryouma looked at her.

He watched Oryou carefully; regardless of what she'd just done to him, he knew she was particular about being touched herself. Not a good idea to grab her when she was in a bad mood. Which, thanks to Izo, she now was.

Still, as soon as he judged her calm enough, he looped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. Oryou stopped raking long enough to turn to him with a curious half-scowl, but that melted away when he kissed her cheek.

"I saw that in a movie, too," he joked.

"Tease," she joked back. She smiled widely at him.

Ryouma returned it with a toothy smile of his own. Mission accomplished.

He spun on his heel to go get the other rake in her stead.

He enjoyed working with his wife during the work week. It was part of why they both ran a detective agency and store together. So he was sure it would be just as fun raking the leaves together with her. It really wasn't that bad of a chore.

Times like these were why he liked the fall so much.

Chapter 5: Dark, Stormy Night

It was a dark, stormy night outside the newly establisted Sakamoto Detective Agency.

The rain fell heavily behind the window pane. Droplets crashed silently against the glass, beating their brethren in long streaks as more droplets slammed into them. The thunder raged so loud that it drummed through the ceiling. High winds roared quietly behind the walls, apparently so dangerous that the local weather station had put out an advisory for them earlier.

The bedroom was a dark shade of gray, the only light pouring in from the rainy window. Sometimes the thunder got so loud the bedframe vibrated the slightest bit. When the wind got particularly rough, the branches of the tall tree outside the agency would scrape against the building and reverberate within the room.

And it was so cold out. October had brought the fall season into full swing. While there was no signs of snow yet, the air had gotten chillier and chiller over the past week, and this storm had brought the temperature down even further.

But the bedroom was warm, and the bed warmer.

Ryouma and Oryou lay in the middle underneath the thick, wool blankets, curled into each other. Ryouma was pressed against Oryou's back, his arms wrapped securely around her waist, and nose was buried in her hair. Oryou was pressed against his front, her hands clasped over his arms at her waist, and legs tangled between his. Both were fast asleep after a hard day's work investigating another world ending catastrophe. Just the two of them together.

And no storm was strong enough to shake either of them out of it.

Chapter 6: Horror Movie

Oryou stared blankly at the television screen in Chaldea's rec room, her head in one of her favorite positions: on a pillow in Ryouma's lap. (Well, against his thigh, but it counted.) Above her, Ryouma sat on the rec room couch, limbs sprawled out casually, and eyebrows raised at the movie they were watching.

It was Halloween again. Fujimaru was off on some adventure or another for the holiday, as was a reoccurring theme for these events. Ryouma's master just couldn't seem to keep out of trouble for long, especially when it came to that ear-grating, dragon-kouhai girl Oryou couldn't remember the name of. It was practically a tradition at this point. But the to rest of the servants and staff at Chaldea, life was more - to use a phrase Oryou had recently learned - go with the flow.

Meaning, the servants and staff that enjoyed Halloween were celebrating it while those who didn't went on as usual, like nothing was happening. All in all, compared to whatever Fujimaru was doing with the dragon-kouhai, it was a normal day.

Oryou and Ryouma didn't normally observe Halloween, but they were growing more fond of it as their time at Chaldea went on. Hence their agreement to watch a horror movie one of the staff had wrangled from home that was apparently one of their favorites.

That staff member had since been called away to help work on the singularity Fujimaru and the dragon-kouhai were investigating, leaving the couple alone to watch it.

Well, them and anyone who could see or hear the tv from the other sides of the rec room. But they were the only ones actually sitting down to watch it.

So far, Oryou wasn't that impressed with the movie. The name had something to do with elm trees, yet so far, the movie had nothing to do with nature. In fact, it appeared to take place in a little, urban town. The main character was a dream demon or something, but opted to tying blades to his fingers instead of growing real claws. And she could not keep track of all the wishy-washy humans getting killed in their sleep with her own habit of drifting off.

None of that compared, however, to how lame she found the current scene to be.

"He can turn into a snake and burst through the floor," she deadpanned to Ryouma, "but he can't eat the tiny girl in one bite? Weak. Oryou-san would have had her swallowed lickity-split."

Ryouma puffed out a laugh. He rubbed Oryou's shoulder. "I know you would have. I think this is supposed to be based on how some snakes take longer to eat their prey, though. Oh, look, that other girl is falling asleep and going into the first's dream. Let's see what happens, okay?"

Oryou scoffed.

She watched the screen with Ryouma, though, frowning at what she saw.

"He's barely up to the thighs?" she judged. Her eyes glowed. "He doesn't even look like he's going slow to scare her! He just doesn't know how to eat people. If this is what weaker snakes are like, Oryou-san should give lessons."

Ryouma's chuckle was a lot more anxious now. He squeezed her shoulder. "How about we don't do that? Oh, she's free! The other character was able to free her - Ooh, I missed his eye getting stabbed. That's, uh, gruesome."

Oryou knitted her brow together. "Oryou-san can appreciate special effects, but it was that easy to pull the girl out of his mouth? Just because another puny human stabbed him in the eye with a glass shard!? Forget weaker snakes, Oryou-san should give the film makers a special lesson. Would Ryouma like to head the class with Oryou-san? She'll make you her assistant!"

She craned her head up to see his reaction.

Ryouma smiled tightly. "I doubt any of the film makers are still making films in the first place. This movie is pretty old, Oryou-san. Ah, they woke up! Ooo, she has blood on her hand. Is that from holding the glass shard in the dream? Fascinating."

Oryou rolled back over to face the tv with a grunt. "Oryou-san would make a waaaay cooler horror movie villain. And the heroine. And the super rad badass that comes in at the at the end to save the day! Oryou-san could be a versatile film star, Ryouma!"

He stroked his fingers through her hair. "Hm-mm! That would certainly make an interesting movie. I'd watch it."

Oryou preened under his hand. "Oryou-san would take Ryouma on the red carpet with her. He would look handsome on her arm. All the other actors will be so jealous of Oryou-san's talent, stardom, and her husband. She clearly has it all, they'll think to themselves in awe and anger!"

Ryouma blushed. He tugged at his collar. "Heh. Should I pause the movie? We're going to miss it if we keep talking."

Oryou sat up and leaned on his shoulder, laying her head on him and wrapping her arms around his arm. "Oryou-san doesn't care. No offense to What's-'er-Name, but this guy is boring. Hey, hey, you know what else?"

Ryouma tilted his head. "What?"

Oryou grinned, showing off all her teeth. "Since Oryou-san and Ryouma are connected, she bets she could enter your dreams like that one bland girl to fight a boring monster like Kugel."

His eyes widened. "Can you really do that, Oryou-san?"

She shrugged. "Oryou-san's never tried, so she doesn't know. But if someone like Kugel ever attacked Ryouma in his dreams, she bet she could, and she'd eat him like a proper orochi would, all up in one bite! Rowr!"

She snapped her jaw for emphasis, fangs jutting out of her lips.

Ryouma flinched. He closed his eyes and smiled, wiggling his arm free to wrap around her shoulders. "I absolutely believe you. Trust me, I do. Good thing this guy isn't real, or else you'd give him the worst night ever."

Oryou giggled. She pressed herself against him lovingly, and sighed into the crook of his neck. "You always know how to sweet talk Oryou-san, Ryouma."

He moved his arm down to her waist. "Heh."

With that, they continued the dumb movie in peace, Oryou utterly content and satisfied.

Notes:

Elizabeth = dragon-kouhai because Oryou-san is the great dragon of Takachiho and Lizzie is a younger, smaller dragon, which obviously makes her Oryou's junior.

Or so I imagine Oryou would view her if they interacted lol.

The movie they're watching is one of the Nightmare on Elm Street films.

Chapter 7: Candy

"So these are the molds you used for Valentine's Day," Ryouma noted, picking up one of the empty molding trays.

Oryou nodded at her husband from the other side of the counter, holding the bowl of chocolate batter carefully to her side. She spooned the batter into the frog shaped molds one after another. "Oryou-san is happy to use them again. The chocolates frogs turned out very delicious before. She bets the children of Chaldea will really like them, too!"

Ryouma smiled, setting the tray back down. "I'm sure they will. Try not to eat them all before the big day gets here, all right? Heh, I have to admit, I can't wait to try one myself."

Oryou returned his smile and words with a grin. "Don't worry, Oryou-san has been practicing her self-restraint! And Ryouma will get the first taste once these are baked. That's her treat to you this Halloween."

"Oho, is that so?" he joked. Oryou knew he was joking by the amused twinkle in his side. "Thank you, Oryou-san. But does that mean I get a trick on Halloween itself?"

Oryou thought long and hard for a moment. Her grin widened. "No, it means Oryou-san gets a treat from Ryouma on Halloween. She's seen some of the costumes the others wear at the party; she'll take Ryouma wearing a sexy devil costume for her in our room. Naturally, Oryou-san will also wear a halo. We'll role-play for the night. Are you ready to get devilishly naughty and seduce your heavenly wife, Ryouma?"

It was awfully funny to watch Ryouma blush all the way down his face and neck, and choke on his breath. She didn't often get the chance to see him like this; completely embarrassed to his core. In a light-hearted situation like this (and like this alone), it was pretty amusing.

Finally, he sputtered out, "Wh-where did you l-learn - !? Am I wha - !? D-d-do you - you really want that!?"

Oryou plopped another spoonful of batter into the molds. "No, you silly man. That was Oryou-san's trick. Got you, Ryouma, hahaha."

Her silly husband let out a large exhale. He put a hand to his chest and hunched over, chuckling nervously. "Geesh, Oryou-san. You really did have me for a second there. I still get my treat, right?"

Oryou hummed, floating on to the next molding trays. "Of course. And since you entertained Oryou-san so much with your reaction to her trick, you can have two chocolate frogs first thing from the oven. Never say she isn't a doting wife."

His laugh was more relieved this time. Ryouma wiped a finger across his eye. "I would never say such a thi- ...ng. Um, Oryou-san? Can I ask you a question?"

Oryou paused her work. She raised her head curiously.

Ryouma had suddenly froze, all the laughter and relief in his frame replaced by scared eyes and a stiff posture. He stared down at her previous tray, aghast.

She frowned, unsure what was wrong. "What?"

Ryouma slowly pointed a finger at one of the molds. "...What's that?"

Oryou leaned closer to get a better look.

A tiny eyeball had emerged from the surface of the chocolate batter, and stared lopsidedly at the ceiling.

Her brow flattened in a line. "Oh, that. That's a frog eye."

"A candy frog eye?" Ryouma dared to sound hopeful.

"They are candy frogs," she admitted with a shrug.

Apparently, that answer didn't satiate him.

Ryouma looked up at her, dead in the eyes. "Oryou-san, did you put real frogs in the chocolate batter?"

Despite her confusion at his tone, Oryou couldn't help getting excited at the question. "Yes! Oryou-san thought of a new recipe for her chocolate frogs to try out for Halloween! Disembodied body parts are a favorite for the holiday, and frogs are the best food in the world, so Oryou-san crushed a bunch of frogs and threw them in the mix! She knows the children and Ryouma will love them!"

Ryouma blinked slowly.

After a moment, his shoulders relaxed. He picked up the empty tray he'd held before with a half-hearted smile. "You know what? Let's keep these ones for ourselves, and make a fresh, wholly chocolate batch for the kids. Some things, er, like real, dead animal parts might be too scary for young children, you know?"

Oryou furrowed her brow. "These kids fight monsters, ghosts, and servants twice their size and ten times their ages. One wants to stab every grown woman she meets to death and crawl inside their uteruses. How are dead frog parts any worse than that?"

Ryouma opened his mouth and closed it. He shut his eyes and struggled to keep his smile straight. Eventually, he spun around and moved for the kitchen pantry, tray gripped in hand.

"I'm going to make an alternative anyway," he told her as he went, refusing to face her. "Just in case."

Oryou huffed impatiently, and went back to filling her trays with her chocolate frog/real frog mix. Yes, her husband was such a silly man. She loved him more than the whole world, though, so she would indulge him this one time. However:

"Okay, but Oryou-san still wants your opinion on her recipe when we're done!" she called out.

A webbed foot broke the surface of her next mold as she splattered the spoonful of batter down.

Ryouma's voice was distant from the other side of the pantry door. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there..."

Chapter 8: Worst Nightmare (Come True)

The person inhabiting this body was now less Sakamoto Ryouma and more Ama-no-Sakagami.

Ryouma had a strong will. Yes, even he had negative thoughts and feelings, no matter how small they might be, but he had not just let the demonic spirit take him over in the last five years. Even if his actions were ultimately Ama-no-Sakagami's, actions Ryouma would have never committed himself, there was always some level of the real him in them. With every step and every word, the real Ryouma was there. It was not merely Ama-no-Sakagami's lie each time he said, "I really am Sakamoto Ryouma."

He was still alive. Always losing more and more of himself to the demon's control, but still conscious and alive. Above all, regardless of how much it weakened over time, his will remained.

Until she died.

Until she died by his hand.

She hadn't been his target, but she had died by his hand.

His beloved wife, Oryou.

Of course he knew it wasn't really his wife. This Oryou was the wife of the other Ryouma, the Rider class heroic spirit who had shown up alongside her. It wasn't hard to deduce that they were from another timeline than him. Besides, he hadn't forgotten that he wasn't the actual Ryouma from his timeline either, just a copy made by the Throne of Heroes and tossed into the Lancer class; in reality, this version of Ryouma, despite his memories, had never really been married to Oryou.

But he knew Oryou. He remembered her. He loved her with all of his heart. This woman was exactly the same as his Oryou-san, inside and out. For all intents and purposes, even if she technically wasn't, this was his precious wife.

And now she was gone, erased from existence forever. By his hand. His hand, holding the very spear that he had freed her from, that had trapped her for millenia before he was born. That had caused her so, so much pain. Ryouma had killed his wife with it.

Ama-no-Sakagami had enough control that his body had no visible reaction to her erasure, none more than the usual. It was the other Ryouma who froze in shock, and started sobbing in grief.

But whereas he ignored his master's calls to move and had to be dragged away, this Ryouma, here in this body, whose will had fought so long at the demon's commands...

He just gave up.

Oryou-san was dead. She was dead by his hand. She was dead by his hand in the worst way.

This was Ryouma's worst nightmare come true, one so horrifying he could have never conceived it before.

He wished it had never happened. That he could have been stronger, that he could have stopped himself, that he had never gone on this path to begin with.

He had never wanted to hurt Oryou-san. Much less erase her from existence entirely. He couldn't live in a world where he had...

And thus, the last of his will faded away.

---

"Incidentally, I noticed you're sounding less and less like me."

"Oh, that? You see, this man has lost much of his sense of self. Still, I commend him. Most people I inhabit wither and die in under six months. I've never found one who lasted as many years as this man."

"I guess I've always been strong-willed."

Notes:

Technically, we don't know anything about this Lancer Ryouma. Ours *speculates* this one's from a different timeline where he survived his assassination and never became a counter-guardian, but that's it. It's not even clear if he has the same relationship with Oryou or not.

Nevertheless, I've always found it interesting how much of Ama-no-Sakagami's act falls through and he admits much of Ryouma's sense of self is gone AFTER he kills Oryou...

Anyway, I'm not totally sure this fits with Halloween per se, but I think something that could qualify as one's worst nightmare come true definitely fits with the themes of the holiday.

Chapter 9: Power Outage

"All right, bad news," Ryouma announced, shutting the backdoor behind him, but not before the wind kicked a few dead leaves in after him. He shrugged himself out of his coat. "I just checked the backup generator; it looks like it's on the fritz. I can't call a repair man until at least tomorrow, so there's a very real possibly the power will go out tonight."

Hanging his coat on the mantle by the door, he raised his gaze to see his wife and housemate's reactions.

Oryou's expression was stern from the oven, where her hand was paused mid-stir above the frying pan. At the dinner table, Izo glared and shoved his chin against his palm.

"That's just great," he grumbled at Ryouma. "You couldn't bother ta check that thing before a huge ass storm is reported ta be comin'!? The furnace is gonna go out, and it'll be fucking freezing in the basement all night!"

Oryou flicked off the stove and rounded on Izo, pointing her wooden stirer at him threateningly. "Ryouma and Oryou-san are out of the house running two businesses every day! You know how much time either of us have to check on the backup generator, something we don't even use most of the time? Oh, but guess who is home all day? Doing nothing but drinking and sleeping? YOU. Why don't you check the generator while we're out? You don't do anything else around here. Ryouma even insists you don't pay Oryou-san rent!"

Izo snorted. "It's not my damn house! Besides, when I break the damn thing by accident, you'll just bitch at me more!"

Oryou's eyes flared. She raised the stirer in the air.

Ryouma rushed over and caught her by the shoulders before someone could get hurt. He held her close to him, and was relieved when she lowered her arm and relaxed against him. Still, he didn't miss how she continued to glare Izo down.

Izo sneered.

"A-Anyway," Ryouma hurried to regain control of the conversation, "it's not a guarantee the power will go out. If it does, Izo, you can sleep on the couch in the living room. I'll grab some spare blankets from the linen closet after dinner just in case, yeah? Then you can just come up here if the basement gets too cold."

Oryou's glare softened into a frown. "The temperature's supposed to get close to the freezing point tonight. Maybe we should light the fireplace as well? It runs on gas, doesn't it?"

Ryouma deflated a little. "That's a good idea, but it turns on via electricity. Ah, kinda wish we had one of those old fashioned ones now. We could have run to the store for some firewood..."

Izo grunted. "Eh, I'll be fine with blankets. Heh, and my booze! That'll keep me warm all night, hahaha!"

"Don't get alcohol on Oryou-san's carpet," Oryou scolded in warning. She tore herself from Ryouma's grasp and sidestepped him to return to the stove. "Oh, but if Ryouma wants to run to the store after dinner, you can pick up one of those toilet seat comforters. If Oryou-san has to pee in the night, she doesn't want to sit on an ice-cold seat."

Ryouma smiled awkwardly. "Yeah, yeah. That might be a good idea. Oh, maybe I can get a couple, little space heaters on top of that? One for our room, and one for Izo. That should help with the cold. And if the power stays on, we can save them for next time."

Oryou nodded absently, piling the stir-fried vegetables and meat she'd made onto three plates on the counter. "Oryou-san likes being warm. She doesn't do well in the cold. Make sure to save some of the blankets in the linen closet for us. We could always use some extra."

"I'll make a list," he told her. He reached for two of the plates. "Here, let me set the table for you."

Oryou smiled at him.

Izo put his arm down on the table. He eyed the plates Ryouma set down in front of him and one of the empty chairs, and then the last that Ryouma sat down with for himself. Once Oryou joined them at the table, he asked, "Hey, what time was that storm supposed to start?"

"Between six and midnight," Oryou answered, picking up her fork.

"What time is now?" he pressed.

Ryouma looked at the microwave clock. "Five-fifty-eight."

As if on cue, the sound of rain pounding on the roof began.

His eyes widened. Ryouma's head swiveled to the kitchen windows to confirm the noise. Yup; it was pouring buckets on the other side of the glass, and he could see a few leaves zipping by and swirling in the wind.

He heard Oryou swear under her breath. "Stupid weatherman lied."

Izo guffawed. "Yeah, by two minutes! Man, that's shit luck. So much for your trip to the store."

Ryouma glanced at the backdoor warily. "If it just started, I can probably still make it before the power goes out..."

"No." Oryou leaned towards him in her chair, tone firm. "If this storm is bad enough to knock out the power, you are not driving in it. Oryou-san won't let you."

Ryouma twisted back around. "I'm sure it's not that bad - "

Oryou pushed her face close to his, eyes narrowed. She spoke low and slowly. "If Oryou-san gets a call that a tree fell on your car and killed you, she'll follow you to the afterlife to smack you."

Ryouma felt sweat form on his cheeks. "Uh, okay, I'll stay home. But you know this means you're not getting your toilet seat comforter, right?"

Her face contorted in disgust. She reeled back her head and stabbed her fork in her food. "Ryouma is more important than a toilet comforter."

Ryouma didn't have the gall to disagree with that. Besides, it would only get him sent to the couch with Izo if he did.

Izo watched them silently for a moment. Then he laughed again. "Y'know, anyone else might find that really sweet, but that's actually a really funny line! 'Ryouma's more important than a toilet comforter'! That would sound so dumb out of context! Hahaha!"

Oryou yanked the food off her fork and stabbed it into Izo's hand.

Izo jerked his arm to his chest with an pained roar. "YOU BITCH! I WASN'T MAKING FUN OF YOU - I SAID 'OUT OF CONTEXT'! RYOOOUMA!"

Ryouma closed his eyes and hastily started eating. "Sorry, Izo, you're on your own here."

"Say one more word," she warned Izo, eyes wide and daring, "and Oryou-san will ensure you sleep in the rain tonight."

---

Dinner went as eventfully as could be expected.

After it ended, the storm still beating on the roof, the wind howling behind the windows, and the occasional thunder drumming so loud the ground almost seemed to shake, the trio dispersed.

Izo was left behind in the kitchen to grumble while doing the dishes, and fumble in the fridge for a case of beers to take back down to his room with him later. Meanwhile, Oryou went to the living room to sit on the couch and watch the weather channel intently for progress reports on the storm. That left Ryouma on his own to shuffle through the linen closet for all their extra blankets.

He brought all the ones he could find amongst the sheets, pillow cases, and more assorted cloths to the living room, and dropped the pile on the couch cushion next to Oryou to fold up.

"Alright, this should be plenty if the power goes out," he explained, quartering each blanket. "We have four extra. Two of them are thinner and better for summer, the other two thicker and better for winter. Izo can bring up his blanket, and we already have two thick blankets on our bed. Plus, we'll be sharing body heat. So if we leave the two thicker ones in here, that'll make three blankets for Izo. We can take the thinner ones and put them over our comforters. Or would under the comforters be a better idea?"

Oryou didn't answer. Her eyes were glued to the tv. "There's a weather advisory alert for three counties, including ours. They're warning for flash flooding, trees knocking down, and power lines being torn out. Thankfully, we're not in the flooding zone, but Oryou-san wonders if that could change."

Ryouma tossed the next folded blanket on top of the couch. "I wouldn't worry so much. I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Tell the idiot to stay out of the basement for the night," she ordered. "If it does flood, Oryou-san, er, doesn't want to hear him yipe about it! Yeah. If our basement floods, she only doesn't want to hear his annoying voice waking her up. That's all."

Ryouma raised his eyebrows thoughtfully. For as antagonistic as his best friend and wife could be towards each other, they sure had their moments that betrayed how much of a sliver they actually cared for one another. Still, he wondered if Oryou had been reading too many tsundere-type mangas again.

Izo chose that moment to stalk into the living room, a six-pack in hand.

Ryouma turned to him. "Ah, Izo. There's a small chance it could flood tonight, so Oryou-san and I think it would be best if you sleep up here in the first place. Is that okay?"

Izo started. "Shit, there's going to be flooding!? I have to move all my stuff! I can't let it all get ruined by fucking flood waters!"

He set the six-pack on one of the wall tables and made a dash for the basement door.

Oryou sunk in her seat, head lulled back. "Uuugh. Oryou-san has to see all that junk in her living room?"

Ryouma smiled sympathetically. "Maybe he won't bring it all upstairs?"

All the lights suddenly dimmed, and fully brightened again.

Ryouma and Oryou stiffened.

"Oh no," Ryouma said.

Oryou grabbed the remote and switched off the TV. "Turn off some of the lights. Maybe that'll help conserve power?"

Too late. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, all the lights in the house died. The couple were left in a shallow darkness, with only the ever darkening gray skies outside providing any natural light through the windows.

"Damn," Ryouma muttered. "I was hoping if it did go out, we'd at least be getting ready for bed, if not already asleep. It's barely past six-thirty."

Oryou sighed. "Let's hope they get it back up soon. Otherwise, enjoy the heat while we have it, because we won't for long. Man, this sucks."

She got up and moved towards the kitchen.

"Getting the flashlights?" Ryouma inquired.

"Of course. Oryou-san keeps them all in the same drawer."

Ryouma continued folding the blankets. He threw the two thicker blankets on the cushions and tucked the thinner ones under his arm. He quickly ran upstairs to lay them out on their bed, and came marching back down the stairs.

When he got back to the living room, Oryou had moved to one of the lazy chairs, her legs hiked up, and was boredly playing with one of the flashlights on the ceiling. Izo had also returned, and was messing with the pile of things he'd dropped on the coffee table.

Ryouma glanced between both of them. "...Anyone want to play a board game?"

---

"Uuughh, this stinks!" Izo groaned. He cracked open another beer. "I can't take any more of this game! You two are working together to gang up on me and take all the properties! You're not supposed to work together in Monopoly!"

Ryouma laughed. "Sorry, Izo, I guess we're too used to running businesses together."

Oryou gleefully counted her colorful stack of fake money. "If you're tired of losing, Izo, we can go back to Chutes and Ladders. Or Life."

He shook with head wildly. "Neeeh! No, no more board games! It's been two hours! I can't take any more of this boring shit!"

"We could play Shiritori instead," Ryouma offered eagerly.

Oryou perked up and lowered her money. "Ooo, Oryou-san will start! Orochi."

"Chizu," Ryouma followed, leaning on the coffee table.

They both stared at Izo expectantly.

Izo's eye twitched. He threw up his arms. "Nope! Go play your dumb word game somewhere else! I'm finishing my beer and goin' ta sleep. Get outta my new room!"

Oryou scowled. "It's too early for bed. Don't be such a spoilsport."

Whatever argument Izo might have made was cut off before it could begin by the wind screaming outside. The lack of noise in the house amplified the sound, echoing it across the walls. The locked front door caught itself, jerking as the wind tried to blow it open. That, too, was louder than it should have been.

It didn't help that it was now fully dark both inside and out. They were all relying on flashlights now to see what they were doing.

And it was only getting colder as the hours went by. They had all fetched one of their coats to keep warm a while ago.

Nevertheless, it was Oryou who shivered. "Ngggh. Okay, fine, maybe it is time for bed. Ryouma, come cuddle Oryou-san."

Ryouma blushed at her bluntness.

"Ew, gross. Keep it to your bedroom," Izo said. He stood up and flopped down on the couch, pulling the messed up blankets around him.

Ryouma stood up and began putting the board game away.

Oryou watched him do so. Once he was done, she took the boxed up game from him, put it with the others in a pile, and rose to her feet. She went to shove them in the closet where they had gotten them, and moved back to Ryouma's side.

"Well, I guess this is goodnight, Izo," he said. "We'll see you in the morning. Hopefully the power comes back on by then."

"Yeah, goodnight," Izo replied nonchalantly. He reached for his beer can with a burp.

Oryou took Ryouma's hand in both of hers, and lead him towards the stairs. They climbed them together and headed for their bedroom. It wasn't until they were inside abd the door was shut that Oryou released his hand.

She walked over to the closet. Ryouma shone his flashlight so she could see.

"How are you doing, Oryou-san?" he asked lightly. "Are you still cold?"

Oryou opened the closet door. She rummaged through the hangers. "Oryou-san's coat was helping for a while, but it's not anymore. She's going to put on thicker clothes. Do you want to change for bed, Ryouma?"

He tilted his head. "Maybe into my pajamas. Are we really going to bed this early? It's not even nine yet."

Oryou shrugged, not looking at him. She pulled out one of his winter nightshirts and a pair of sweatpants. "What else is there to do? We don't have that many board games, and Shiritori is only fun for so long. The power will probably be back on by the time we wake up. Don't forget to call the repair man for the generator."

"I won't," Ryouma told her. He caught his nightclothes as she threw them to him, and watched her rifle through the closet some more.

His intuition was kicking in; something was wrong.

He chose to give her her space for now. He walked over to the other side of the room where the hamper was, and proceeded to change out his clothes. He felt just as warm in this shirt as his coat, and his sweatpants were warmer.

Once he was dressed, he turned back to Oryou. He could see her gritting her teeth at the selection, and swatting away the clothes she didn't like.

He walked over to her and stood behind her. "Oryou-san."

Thunder crashed outside. Lightning illuminated the bedroom.

Both of them jumped.

Oryou whirled around, alarmed.

Ryouma started. He raised his hands as if to catch her, but didn't quit reach for her. "It's okay. It's over now."

The wind suddenly screamed again, like it was trying to contradict him.

Oryou didn't tense any further, though, thankfully. Instead, she slumped her shoulders.

"...Oryou-san doesn't like this kind of weather," she admitted quietly, averting her eyes. "Storms, she can handle. This..."

Ryouma waited for her to continue in concern. And here he'd thought he'd known everything about his wife. From the good to the little things to the bad and uncomfortable.

Oryou let her arms hang loose at her sides. She still avoided his eyes. "You know how Oryou-san told you how she almost drowned one time as a kid? It's the first thing she remembers in her life. She's decided to take an interest in the ocean since Ryouma loves it so much, but she...doesn't think she enjoys large bodies of water on her own much. And it's supposed to flood in the next county over."

"Ah." Ryouma understood now. "That's why you don't like the storm. And why you were afraid at the flash flood warning."

Oryou picked at her nails. "If the storm is strong enough to knock out the power, and cause flooding elsewhere, and it's so loud outside the house... Oryou-san knows it's an irrational fear. Nothing'll likely happen. It still scares her, though."

Ryouma quietly took her in his arms. She reluctantly wrapped her arms around his neck. He hugged her close.

"It's okay," he reassured. "If anything happens - or it doesn't - I've got you. I won't let you get hurt."

Oryou went boneless in his arms.

"Thank you," she murmured. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Ryouma."

He smiled and ran a hand down her hair. "You're welcome."

They parted.

Oryou smiled at him, but it quickly vanished when she shivered again. "Ah, it's getting so cold. Actually, Oryou-san is stealing one of Ryouma's sweaters. They're big on her."

Ryouma chuckled. "Take whatever you need. I'm going to climb in bed. Here, do you want the flashlight?"

Oryou nodded, and took it from him. She spun around to face the closet once more.

Ryouma turned to get into bed. He pulled all four covers down, hopped in, and pulled them up. Despite the layers, he could feel his toes start to go cold in his socks. Yeah, he could believe the temperature was going to get close to the freezing point tonight. He snuggled deeper into the blankets.

Soon, he heard the closet door shut. He looked at Oryou, who stepped around the bed to climb into her side. She was wearing a dark blue, v-neck sweater that hung lopsided on her shoulders, covered her hands completely (even he had to roll the sleeves on those), and went down mid-thigh. Beneath it, she'd put on her long, gray skirt.

"A skirt?" he questioned.

Oryou dove under the blankets and cuddled up to him. She buried her face in the crook of his neck. "They keep Oryou-san warm."

Ryouma nodded. He wrapped his arms around her and threw a leg over her hip.

For a few minutes, all that could be heard was the storm raging outside. Lightning flashed in the window a couple more times, and the wind screamed once more.

Ryouma tried to keep his eyes closed, he really did. But...

He opened them and smiled awkwardly. "I'm afraid I'm not the least bit tired yet. Are you, Oryou-san?"

She lifted her head. "No, but this is the warmest she's been yet. Except for her toes. Those are getting cold."

"Yours, too, huh?" Ryouma racked his brain for a solution.

They both laid in silence a moment.

Finally, Oryou spoke up. "Let's have sex."

Ryouma did a doubletake. He pulled his head back to gawk at her. "Right now?"

Her normal expression didn't change. "Duh."

He blinked rapidly. "You want to get naked right after we got dressed - for the cold?"

Oryou pursed her lips in a thin line. "We don't have to get fully naked. Sex always warms up Oryou-san and Ryouma. Besides, we'll still be under all these blankets. She wouldn't offer if we had to get out from under them."

Ryouma thought it over. Moving did generate heat, and they would be sharing a lot of body heat. Then again, he'd have to at least lower his pants and underwear, and his socked toes were already protesting.

Oryou poked a finger on his nightshirt and drove it in circles over his chest before drawing a gentle line up his neck. "If you don't want to, say so. We can find another way to distract ourselves until we fall asleep. It's not like we'll freeze to death in the night. But if you do..."

Her hand dipped under the covers to rest of his hip, the one whose leg was thrown over hers. It didn't move, didn't tease, but the implication and invitation were there all the same.

On any other night, Ryouma would have accepted. On this night, his nose was starting to feel pins and needles in it.

He buried his face against the pillow as much he could without turning away from her. "Maybe we could talk about the store, or our latest cases? I was doing the profit reports this afternoon, and we're making more money than we did last month. I was thinking what products we order more of for the Oryou Store to keep that momentum going. What do you think?"

Oryou gave him a flat look.

Ryouma smiled tensely. Wrong answer, it seemed; 'no' would have been better.

"How can someone so sexy be so unsexy," he heard her mumble under her breath. She retracted her hand and readjusted herself so their torsos were the slightest bit pulled apart. She huddled her arms between the two of them, nestled tightly together in her overly long sleeves. In a louder voice, she said, "Okay, what products were you thinking of? Oryou-san presumes - "

THWACK!

Both of them jumped. Oryou rolled over to face the window and Ryouma half propped himself upright.

Whatever that sound had been, it had come from outside.

For a moment, all that could be heard was the ferocity of the storm.

Soon came a series of smaller thuds hitting the ground.

Oryou pulled the covers tighter over her shoulders and up to her chin. Ryouma threw them off of him and rose to go check out the window.

His feet really complained he walked over, but he ignored the cold that seemed to hone in around him, and hunched over to get a good view outside. It was hard to see through the heavy rain and darkness, but...

"What is it?" Oryou questioned sharply. "A car didn't veer off the road and roll over in our sideyard, did it? Or hit the house? Are the roads flooded!? Can you see!?"

Ryouma pulled away from the window. "No, nothing like that. Our garbage cans are rolling around the yard."

"What!?" Oryou sat up and grabbed the covers like she was about to come join him, but seemed to change her mind, and flopped back down with a groan. "Good thing it isn't garbage night. What about that big thwack noise?"

He shook his head. "I have no idea. I can't see. It must have been something that got thrown in the air, though. It might have hit the house. I'll inspect around outside tomorrow."

Oryou groaned again. "If our gutters fell..."

Ryouma tried to smile reassuringly, eyes closed. "I doubt it was that."

Or he hoped so, anyhow.

He opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a shudder run through Oryou's body as she laid there. She tugged the blankets, all four of them, up to her nose. Lightning flashed behind Ryouma, and he saw her eyes veer to the far wall.

His resolve melted. Ryouma let his shoulders slump, and he ignored his toes, nose, and the new pins needling his cheeks as he carefully approached her side of the bed.

Oryou looked up at him in surprise. "What?"

She raised her eyebrows as he gently pulled the covers back and climbed on top of her, pressing his front against her, careful not to crush her with his full weight. He floundered a moment to pull the covers up his back and over them both. Once he got them up and turned to face her, Oryou was staring up at him in even more surprise, even as she snaked her arms over his shoulder blades.

Ryouma cleared his throat nervously. "Is your offer from earlier still on the table?"

Her eyes widened.

Ryouma bent his arms on the pillow, on either side of her head. It was fine if it wasn't; he was more than happy to simply be another layer to keep her warm. But if she still wanted more body heat and an easier distraction from the storm...

Oryou petted the sides of his head, one hand coming to hold one side and the other brushing the bangs over his right eye and down his ear. Her hips rolled underneath him.

"Yes."

That was all Ryouma needed to lean down and press his lips to hers in a kiss. Oryou eagerly kissed him back. Her lips were so soft.

He remaneuvered his arms to rest under her shoulders, pulling his head up slightly to deepen the kiss. Mouths opened and their tongues met, first in his as she pushed her way up, before he dove them both back into hers.

Oryou sighed pleasantly. Her hands moved to the back of his head, prying the ponytail out of his hair and tossing it aside. She spread his hair out over his back and shoulders, brushing her fingers through the thick locks. The strands that fell over his cheeks tickled, and framed her face below his.

Bang! Bang!

Oryou suddenly tensed up.

Ryouma broke the kiss and stroked her bangs. "It's all right. The garbage cans probably hit the house."

Oryou nodded silently, her body rigid. The wind picked up outside, its howls echoing within the room.

He kissed her again, and waited until she relaxed to run his hand down her body, from the side of her breast all the way to her thigh. His other hand reached for her other hip, while the first drew up her skirt in bundles. Once it was hiked high enough, Oryou opened her legs for him, and he slipped his hand under her skirt.

Ryouma pulled his lips away to give her three more kisses at different angles, one after another. He smiled when she got impatient with his teasing, and again grabbed his head to bring him back into a deep, tongue-filled kiss.

He thoroughly enjoyed her kiss for a moment, before returning some of his attention to the hand under her skirt. He quickly found her panties and ran a single finger over the middle, tracing the feel of her lower lips and clit. When Oryou shuddered in a pleased way, he cupped and rubbed his palm over her.

Oryou shuddered again, breaking the kiss with a gasp and slight arch of her back.

Her eyes squeezed shut in pleasure. "And you wanted to talk business."

Ryouma puffed out a laugh at her criticism. "Silly me."

With her neck so exposed, he nipped and kissed at her collar bones, working his way up her skin. He sucked on a special spot on the side of her neck, where he knew she enjoyed hickies. The sound of her next gasp and moan went straight to his cock.

Speaking of which, Oryou wasn't about to let him get away with only pleasing her. She reach down and found the front of his pants, and starting palming the half-formed bulge she found there.

Ryouma groaned. He rutted softly into her hand, grower harder as he did. He switched gears on her underwear, rubbing his thumb in circles over her swelling clit.

"Mmm!" Oryou arched her back desperately.

Their place in the bed was getting significantly warmer.

Ryouma couldn't help noting the way her breasts stuck out from within his sweater. He realized he really like the way it draped over her. Neither of them were bulky in the slightest, but she looked so small in his v-neck. Instinctively, he thrust hard against her hand and pushed his thumb down on her clit.

"Ahh!" Oryou screwed her eyes shut tight, and squeezed his cock.

It was Ryouma's turn to shudder. He breathed, "Oooh."

Oryou pressed her thighs together around his hand and jerked her hips up, trying to increase the pressure as she humped it. She whimpered beneath him.

Ryouma's mind filled with a haze of lust. He briefly wondered why they were bothering with middlemen, and withdrew his hand from her to lead hers off of him.

Oryou whined and opened her eyes. "Ryouma - !"

Ryouma immediately laid on top of her, giving her his full weight, and grinded his sweatpants against her underwear. He kissed her again, groaning and growling softly into her mouth.

Oryou melted into a puddle of goo. She grabbed the back of his head to kiss him harder, her other arm wrapping tightly over his back. She curled her legs around him, meeting his grinds with wanton rolls of her hips.

Ryouma was in heaven.

He could have kissed her forever, but when his lungs began to protest, he pulled away and buried his nose in the side of her head, panting heavily. His hips kept going, never slowing.

Again, he distantly wondered why they were bothering with middlemen.

Oryou must have thought the same. She gave Ryouma's shoulder a swift, loving peck, and shoved his hips away, forcing his lower half to sit up on his knees. She jerked his sweatpants down, then his underwear, her eyes glowing at the sight of his unclothed cock. She shimmied her underwear down her thighs to her knees.

Ryouma picked himself up on all fours. He and Oryou met in a mutual, needy kiss, and he helped tug her underwear all the off. He tossed them somewhere on his side of the bed under the covers. He shuffled his sweatpants and underwear lower to give himself more room to move, and settled himself between her legs at her core.

Oryou was so wet and warm for him. He felt pre-cum dribble out onto her.

"Oryou-san," he sighed her name.

She grinned up at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him down once more. Ryouma smiled into their next kiss.

He lined himself up with her entrance and pushed in.

Oryou threw her head back with a groan.

Ryouma was right there with her, moaning her name under his breath. "Oryou, Oryou."

If she minded the dropped honorific, she didn't say so. She never did when they had sex. Instead, she slipped her hands up his shirt to explore his stomach and chest.

Ryouma took the initiative to thrust inside of her.

Oryou moaned softly.

He kept thrusting, loving the way he pleased her equally as much as she did him when her walls clamped around his cock.

Up his nightshirt, her fingers brushed his nipples.

Ryouma shivered, not at all cold. He thrusted harder, holding onto her hips for purchase.

Oryou arched her back again. She took one of his hands and put it up his sweater, encouraging him to touch her breasts.

Ryouma did so, continuing to thrust in and out of her. He felt up the soft skin of her boobs, ran his fingers through the valley between them, and pinched her nipples. The gasp she gave had him jerking his hips harder and gasping himself.

He hurriedly bunched his sweater up to her collar bones and got a good look at her chest. He grabbed a boob in each palm and bent forward to take one nipple in his mouth.

Oryou thrashed. "Ryouma!"

He sucked and licked her, doing circles around her areola, while he pinched the other one with his finger and thumb. When his mouth was satisfied with this one, he pulled back and gave a teasing lick to the swell of her breast. Then he latched onto her other nipple for the same treatment, pinching the first in the same way.

Oryou shouted something unintelligible and tightened around him. Her heels dug into the small of his back.

Ryouma finished up and laid flat over her, enjoying the feel of her breasts against him, spit smearing between them. He captured her mouth in a final kiss and let Oryou take control from there, her grabbing his head with both hands and furiously shoving her tongue up his throat.

Meanwhile, his hips rocked roughly into hers. Ryouma could tell they were both close. It was only a matter of time now.

Together they let out a series of twin moans.

It wasn't long before Oryou gasped sharply againt his mouth. Her walls clenched around him, and her hips jerked wildly. Her face contorted in seeming frustration, before relaxing in a pleasured expression. She gazed up at him with glazed, loving eyes.

Ryouma couldn't keep up after that. He grabbed her hips one last time and buried his face in her neck. He moaned when Oryou laid her hands on him, gently petting his hair. He gave one more hard thrust, then another, a third, and -

His cock buried itself to the hilt inside her. His hips stuttered to a halt. Ryouma growled into Oryou's shoulder as he released all of his warm cum deep within her.

Oryou twitched. Her breathing suddenly hitched, and Ryouma felt her walls squeeze him once more. It was much smaller, but Oryou was orgasming around him a second time.

A strong shudder crawled its way up his spine, until Ryouma couldn't take it anymore. He tossed his head back. "G-guuuh!"

His cock jerked, spilling the last of himself inside her.

The couple collapsed on the bed, panting heavily.

After a minute of catching their breaths, Ryouma lazily pulled out of Oryou and rolled on his side, cradling her to his chest. Oryou curled up to him easily and sighed happily.

Ryouma smoothed her sweater and skirt back down over her under the covers, to shield her from the freeh breeze of cold air now surrounding them. He had no desire to bother with her underwear right now, so he just left that wherever it was. But the bed was so warm now, he doubted she minded.

Oryou pulled slightly away to look up at him with an adoring expression. "I love you, Ryouma."

Ryouma smiled. Maybe it was an odd thing after this many years of marriage, but from to time, Oryou somehow still managed to give him butterflies. He hugged her close to him. "I love you, too, Oryou."

She pressed against him in a return hug, and settled back.

Ryouma reached under the blankets with one arm to tug his underwear and pants back up, then fixed it back around her.

With that, the pair fell asleep.

---

It was a little past six in the morning when Ryouma woke up to Oryou sitting up in bed and hauling his sweater off of her. He immediately noticed the pale sunshine in the room, and glanced at the window to see the rain had long stopped. Somewhere outside, a bird chirped.

"The heater kicked back on," Oryou explained when she noticed him awake. She balled up the sweater and tossed it basketball-style towards the hamper. "It's too hot now."

Ryouma sat up tiredly. "Want me to lower the thermostat?"

"Nah, Oryou-san just doesn't need to be wearing Ryouma's sweater anymore," she explained.

Oryou climbed out of bed, naked as could be on top, and undid her long skirt at the hamper's side, tossing that in, too. She didn't shiver or shudder, perfectly comfortable standing there with her bare butt facing Ryouma.

For his part, Ryouma looked up and down her naked form absently, scratching the side of his head. What did get him to stiffen and blush, after a split second, was the sudden sight of himself running down her inner thigh. He hadn't caught that at first.

Oryou was not perturbed, though, if she even noticed it. She turned to walk across the room, throwing her long hair back and stretching her arms above her head. She headed straight for the master bathroom attached to their room.

"Ryooouma," she drew out his name, "come join Oryou-san in the shower. She can feel dry sweat on her back, and needs someone to reach it."

Ryouma carefully lowered his hand. He knew very well that any sweat on her back would be washed off by the water, at worst could be scrubbed off herself with a long-handled scrubby.

He scrambled out of bed after her anyway.

---

"Thank you for taking care of Oryou-san last night," his wife said quietly after they were back in their room, getting dressed for the day. She pulled her damp hair out of her blouse. "Ryouma kept her calm from her stupid, irrational fears."

"They weren't dumb," he told her, looping his belt through his slacks. "It was a pretty bad storm."

Ryouma stretched his back out. All in all, they hadn't gone for a round two in the shower, but there had been a lot of grabbing, hugging, and laughing as they had washed each other. His body somehow felt both very relaxed and refreshed, and bone-tired.

Or maybe that was a consequence of now being in his early thirties; he wasn't the youngest man anymore. Although he was sure Oryou would roll her eyes if he joked so aloud.

He tucked his button up shirt in his pants.

"Hmph." Oryou straightened her hair out. She averted her eyes. "Either way, Oryou-san was maybe the tiniest bit frightened. And she was very cold what with the heat shutting off. Ryouma kept her calm, and he kept her warm. Thank you for that."

He blushed, and chuckled a bit in embarrassment. "Don't mention it. I'd do anything for you, Oryou-san."

She lifted her eyes with a small smile.

Ryouma felt his nerves disappear. He held out his hand. "So, ready to go inspect the damages?"

"Yeah, yeah." Oryou clasped it hers, smiling brightly. "As long as Ryouma comes with her."

"Of course. Where else would I go?" he laughed, and let her drag him along.

They left their room and headed towards the stairs.

Three-fourths of the way down, they realized the living room tv was on, and paused. Neither of them had expected to see Izo awake this early, feet propped up on the coffee table and munching on a bowl of cereal, watching early morning sitcoms.

"Eh?" Oryou was stunned. "Oryou-san thought the lazy bum drank himself to sleep last night. The hell are you doing, Izo?"

Izo swiveled his head to the side. He actually waved at the two of them. "Hey, you guys are awake. Mornin'."

Ryouma rubbed his thumb over Oryou's hand, to ease her annoyance at not being answered. "You're in a good mood this morning, Izo. How did you sleep last night?"

"Like a baby once I got drunk enough," he laughed. He spooned another bite of cereal in his mouth. "I woke up, like, twenty minutes ago and couldn't fall back asleep, so I got some breakfast and flipped on the tv. I'll drink myself into my morning nap once I'm done eating."

Oryou put her free hand on her hip in a fist. "Why don't you put on some real clothes and get Oryou-san and Ryouma's garbage cans out of the sideyard? Make yourself useful for once!"

Izo grunted, mood going sour. "Your house, your stuff. Do it yourself!"

Ryouma couldn't help putting on a nervous smile. "Now, now, let's not fight. It's too early for that. So, how about I - "

He stopped himself, eyes going wide. He paled.

"Huh? You do what, Ryouma?" Oryou questioned, looking at him strangely. "Get the garbage cans? Fix breakfast? Inspect the house with Oryou-san like you said? What is - it..."

Oryou turned her head and saw as well.

Ryouma swallowed.

Outside, on the other side of the thankfully undamaged living room window, one of the gutters hung diagonally towards the ground.

Oryou growled under her breath, anger simmering off her.

Ryouma squeezed her hand, smiling tightly.

Izo looked up at the window. "Oh, yeah, that! That fell down pretty early last night. Scared the shit out of me. I was surprised you guys didn't hear it."

Oryou slowly craned her neck to glare at Ryouma.

He smiled just as tightly at her, and squeezed her hand yet again.

Oryou eventually deflated with a sigh. She squeezed Ryouma's hand reassuringly, and let it go to climb down the rest of the stairs and head towards the kitchen. "I'll call the house insurance company."

Ryouma ran an anxious hand though his hair, waiting a moment before quickly following after her. His wife and insurance companies didn't always get along so nicely. "Breakfast actually sounds good before we get into all that. Hey, who wants frog shaped pancakes!? I can make some!"

Izo chortled. "See, this is why free-loadin' is great."

Ryouma came to a stop, and looked at him over the back of the couch with a frown.

He could sense Oryou's aggravated stare from the kitchen, glaring daggers past Ryouma's body at his best friend.

Ryouma figured he could give it to her just this once.

He rapped his knuckles on the back of Izo's head in warning.

It was barely a hard smack, but Izo jumped up as if he'd just been mortally wounded anyway, angrily spinning around with his sloshing cereal in arm. "What the hell, Ryouma!?"

Ryouma just smiled kindly, and turned his back on him to go walk towards Oryou's pleased side.

What a night this had been.

Chapter 10: Pumpkin Patch

Notes:

Sooo, some Gilkidu angst slipped in here, oops.

I'm going to say here that I probably stretched Enkidu's ability to an unreasonable degree that they probably don't have in canon, but I thought was fun.

Chaldea's garden was blooming with bright orange pumpkins of all sizes for Halloween, their long, curly, green stems rooting them to the artificial ground. To Oryou's understanding, most were going to go to the pantry to be made into pumpkin flavored foods over the fall season, but a good chunk were also going to be used as decorations and jack-o-lanterns for the holiday. She and Ryouma were part of the group that had volunteered to harvest them with Fujimaru.

"This one's a big one," Ryouma remarked, patting a particularly large sized pumpkin he'd found. He sat with one knee on the magecraft-grown grass, the sleeves of both his naval suit and button up rolled up to his elbows.

Oryou floated over mischeviously. "Yeah, it's the size of that egotistical, gold king's head over there. Bilbert, or whatever his name is."

She jerked her thumb over at the golden blonde man towering over Fujimaru and one of the busty fox-like servants a ways away, picking their own pumpkins seemingly under his supervision. As if he were the one in charge here, she guessed.

Ryouma jerked his head up in bewilderment. "Bilbert? You mean King Gilgamesh?"

Oryou frowned. "Oryou-san thought she heard the shield girl call him Bil-something before. Oh, well. Look at the super cute, tiny pumpkin Oryou-san found!"

She thrust out her arms, presenting him with her latest pumpkin.

Ryouma inspected the palm-sized pumpkin, more long and wide than tall in Oryou's hands. He smiled in approval. "Very cute. It sort of reminds me of that decoration you ate the other day. If a little flatter."

"Hm? Oh, yeah. That frog tasted great." Oryou swiped Ryouma's hat up and set the pumpkin in his hair, then replaced his hat. She stared down at her husband, deathly serious. "Guard that pumpkin from the puny humans and servants with all your might, Ryouma. It's going on our bedside table for Oryou to admire every morning, until it rots."

Ryouma froze, unwilling to move. He carefully reached for his hat and took the pumpkin out. Once it was safely in his grasp, he relaxed. "Oooor, we could ask Master to let us have this one. I doubt anyone would say no. Here, let me go over to them."

He stood up from his place on his knee, and walked across the garden towards the trio.

Oryou watched him go. At first, she wrinkled her nose in annoyance - her plan to essentially steal it like a spy in one of the movies she'd watched was way cooler than simply asking - but it soon faded and was replaced with fond affection. Ryouma never changed, and she loved every bit about him.

"You really do love him, huh?"

Oryou swiftly flipped over in the air, spinning around to face the voice behind her. She hadn't realized someone else was there.

The dirt doll, En-something-or-other, with the long green hair and usually attached to Bilbert's side, stared at her serenely. A moderately sized pumpkin was cradled in their hands.

Oryou narrowed her eyes. "Who are you again?"

They smiled. It was a kind one, yet lacked any warmth to it. It was as if they were genuinely trying to be polite to her, but ordinarily wouldn't dare so. "My name is Enkidu. You're right, I'm Bilbert's friend - or as I like to call him, and your husband corrected, Gilgamesh."

Oryou cocked her head. She was unsure of what this doll made of dirt wanted. It creeped her out how they seemed to read her thoughts, however, and her guard instantly went up. "State your business with Oryou-san, Enkidu."

Enkidu frowned thoughtfully. "Hm, all you goddesses are pretty demanding, aren't you? I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise."

Oryou furrowed her brow, perplexed. Goddess? Oh, right; she guessed she was one. It was always so easy to forget when she had been cast out of the heavens at birth. She was no human either, and would never claim to be one, but she had essentially lived like one with Ryouma for so long, it was also easy to forget about her long-abandoned plans of revenge and reclaiming her rightful place above all the other gods. She enjoyed the simpler life at her husband's side much better.

Before she could respond, Enkidu's face changed. They actually looked surprised now, and slightly furrowed their brow in guilt.

"My apologies," they said. "I assumed you were like the others. It appears you have less in common than I thought. It was wrong of me to do that, especially when I have had friendlier relationships with gods and goddesses before."

Oryou was starting to get pissed off in her confusion. "Start speaking sense! You're confusing Oryou-san!"

Enkidu's lips quirked up in a faint, almost smile. "My apologies again. You see, my origins in nature give me a special sense to connect with animals. I can basically read their thoughts and feelings. You are an orochi. I couldn't help but overhear you and your husband speaking, and then I couldn't help overhearing your thoughts and feelings. But they made me quite curious, and I suppose my impulsiveness got the better of me again."

Oryou reeled back, disturbed. They could read her thoughts and feelings? "That's creepy."

Enkidu shrugged one shoulder. "I understand. It would be different if you simply had an affinity for orochis, but I am what I am. So, if I may ask, can you please answer my first question?"

Oryou stared at them, mulling it over. What a strange, strange, dirt doll. But she supposed they could read that thought off of her, too. "What was your question?"

Enkidu shifted the pumpkin's weight in their arms. "I asked if you really do love your husband."

Oryou's fingers twitched in anger. She fought the urge to release her claws. Her eyes widened and dilated, glowing pink. "What kind of stupid question is that? You saying you don't feel Oryou-san's love for Ryouma, punk?"

"Not at all," Enkidu replied. They paused. "Er, that came out wrong. What I mean to say is, I do. It's specifically your love for him that I question. In my experience, both in life and at Chaldea, a goddess' love tends to either be fleeting or obsessive, and always volatile. Their human lovers seem better off without them. And not only that, snakes are not known for their capacity to love. In fact, they are incapable of it. So I was wondering how you - "

Oryou wasn't listening anymore. She roared, her body morphing into her black dragon form. She dove for Enkidu claws first.

"Oryou-san!"

Oryou ignored the footsteps racing towards them, as well as the familiar baritone voice. She lunged at Enkidu.

Enkidu flew backwards, literally, their feet lifting off the ground. They dropped their pumpkin, letting it smash below them. Golden glowing chains sprang from their sleeves, wrapping around her and pulling tight.

Oryou lunged again, but found she couldn't move. She couldn't break the chains, or even push at them.

A familiar sensation pricked to life atop her scalp, and visions of the mountainside clouded her view. Panic rose from her lungs up her throat.

She thrashed wildly, desperate to escape.

"Enkidu!" Ryouma barked, a rare, angry and decisive tone from him. "Let Oryou-san go, now!"

The chains loosened, then disappeared. Oryou's vision was still speckled with the mountainside, and she immediately reverted to her humanoid form. Her body fell backwards in the air, and it wasn't until she felt Ryouma's front against her back and his arms around her that Chaldea's garden ceiling started coming back into view instead.

Her head lolled on Ryouma's shoulder, sweating and panting.

Ryouma held her protectively. He placed one hand on her forehead, and pressed his cheek to hers.

Oryou whimpered at the touch.

"What happened!?" she heard Fujimaru exclaim. "Are you guys okay!?"

Oryou lowered her head, Ryouma's hand falling away. She flicked her eyes to Enkidu, who she swore was flanked by two glowing Bilberts, one dressed in blue and one in gold.

Great, now she was hallucinating.

"I'm sorry," Enkidu apologized, having the audacity to look pained. "I had to defend myself. But this was my fault. It's the situation with Mordred all over again, Master."

"Mordred?" one of the Bilberts asked, an eyebrow raised.

Oryou wiggled in Ryouma's grasp, her sweat now dry and breathing under control. Aside from the two Bilberts, she felt better.

He released her with ease, but stuck close behind her. His face was uncharacteristically grim.

Oryou hissed at Enkidu. "You accused Oryou of not loving Ryouma, and him being better off without her!"

Ryouma jolted. He grabbed his hat on reflex. "What!?"

Fujimaru looked at Enkidu, stunned. "Eh!?"

The Bilberts had no visible change in their stern expressions or crossed arms.

Enkidu's face fell blank, unreadably neutral. They looked Oryou right in the face, only at her.

"I'm sorry," they apologized more, "that's not what I meant. It appears I've gotten it wrong again."

"So what did you mean?" Ryouma asked steely.

They didn't take their gaze off Oryou, but something in their expression, something she couldn't identify, cracked. "The love I felt from you towards your husband wasn't anything like what I'd seen or heard other goddesses display. It was a deep and honest one, filled with care and no judgement. And I am well aware you are no ordinary snake. What I tried to ask, before you attacked me, was - "

Enkidu stopped themself short. Their expression morphed back into pain. Their voice went quiet, just above a whisper. "How can you love someone so much when you're not supposed to? When it goes against everything you were made as? Isn't that wrong?"

The group was silent.

"Ooo," a new voice out of view whistled, which sounded like the busty fox servant from earlier. "This is getting heavy. Well, Oryou? What do you have to say to that? What's your answer?"

"Tamamo," Fujimaru warned.

Oryou furrowed her brow in irritation. She snapped, "Who says Oryou-san isn't supposed to love Ryouma!? Who says it goes against what Oryou-san was made to be!? Or is wrong!? What are you talking about!? Oryou-san decides what she is, and Oryou-san alone!"

Enkidu stared at her for what felt like a long time. Their feet lifted off the ground once more.

"I have to go now," they announced abruptly. "I'm sorry, Master, I'll have to help with the pumpkin harvest another time."

They fled toward the entrance of the garden, vanishing into spirit form.

Fujimaru turned pointedly to the Bilberts, who hadn't moved. "You two should go after them. They need you."

"Two?" Oryou blinked. "Oh, good, you see them, too."

Ryouma looked at her. He took off his glove and felt her forehead again.

She wrinkled her nose. "Oryou-san is fine, stop that."

The Bilberts stared at Fujimaru silently, their faces hard. But they soon both turned on their heels, and marched towards the entrance as well, wordless.

Tamamo hopped up and grabbed Fujimaru by the arm. "Come on, let's leave them all alone and, er, finish picking the pumpkins! Yeah! Seriously, let's go, Master."

Fujimaru started. "Um, okay. See you, Sakamoto and Oryou-sa-aann!"

She dragged their master away fast.

Oryou frowned hotly. What a terrible turn in her day.

Ryouma's hand suddenly found it's way in hers. Oryou looked down at it curiously. "Eh? Ryouma, why are shaking?"

She raised her eyes to Ryouma's. The rest of him was still as a statue. His lips were pursed together in a flat line.

"Oryou-san, that's you shaking," he said.

Oryou-san looked at their hands again, and down her wrist. She glanced at her other hand as well, lifting it to her face.

He was right.

"Oh."

Ryouma nudged her closer to him, keeping her shaky hand clasped in his. "Let's go back to our room for a while, all right?"

Oryou slowly lowered her arm. She didn't know how she felt anymore, so she was willing to allow him to take the reigns on this one. "Okay."

---

"But you know Oryou-san loves you the most in the whole, wide world, yeah?"

"Yes, I know," Ryouma repeated for the hundredth time, from where he cuddled Oryou on the sofa. He sat at the arm of it, legs propped up on the cushions, and Oryou laying between them with her arms looped around his waist. One of his hands was on one of her arms, the other nestled in her hair affectionately. "And I love you the most in the whole, wide world. Don't let what Enkidu said get to you so much. They hardly know us."

Oryou grunted, and laid her head in his lap. She closed her eyes petulantly as he stroked her hair. "Now that Oryou-san's gotten away and had time to calm down, she can see the creepy dirt doll was clearly projecting their feelings. But why did they have to project them on her?"

"People make mistakes," Ryouma replied unevenly. His face hardened. "Not that I like it either. I hate that they used those anti-divine chains on you."

Oryou flinched. She rolled over on her back, releasing his waist. "For a second there, Oryou-san thought a certain spear was going to lodge itself in her head. She guesses those chains really do hold the divine the best."

"Hm." Ryouma didn't offer more than that, seemingly losing himself in his own thoughts. He rubbed her arm comfortingly.

Oryou huffed. "Okay, but just to be clear: Ryouma knows Oryou-san loves-loves-loves you to the ends of the Earth - ?"

A knock at their bedroom door interrupted her.

Oryou floated in the air at once.

Ryouma stood. He moved for the door quicker than normal and opened it.

Oryou floated to the side to get a better view of their visitor. She scowled when she saw Enkidu there. "What do you want, Creepy Dirt Doll?"

Ryouma's narrowed. "Can we help you, Enkidu?"

"About that..." they began, trailing off. "May I come in?"

Ryouma pushed the door in an inch, as if he were about to close it, only to stop himself. He turned to Oryou. "It's up to you, Oryou-san."

She thought it over, her expression stern. Just because she got what the doll was about didn't mean she wasn't still upset by what had happened. Yet a part of her was curious what they wanted now.

Oryou floated in a circle. "They can come in, but don't be afraid to release your inner bouncer if they get annoying, Ryouma."

Ryouma did a doubletake, giving her a strange look.

Enkidu chuckled, and stepped inside. "Gil makes a similar expression when I say an odd thing, too."

Oryou sized them up as Ryouma closed the door. "Who's Gil?"

"Gilgamesh," Enkidu answered, their eyes lighting up at the name. When Oryou still looked confused, they amended, "Bilbert."

She perked up. "Oh, him! Why are there two of him?"

"He was summoned in two different classes," Enkidu answered, a little puzzled at the sudden question. "One is the older Wise King, a Caster, the other the younger King of Heroes, an Archer. There's also a child version of him in the same Archer class running around as well."

"That's three too many for Oryou-san to keep track of," she noted plainly. "But, she is glad she wasn't hallucinating after all. She completely missed the other one in the garden; she only saw the one standing with Fujimaru and the fox woman."

"The Gils aren't fond of each other," Enkidu explained. "They have completely different ideals and think the other a fool for his. The child also despises them both, and they find him a nuisance best ignored. But they are not what I'm here about."

"Oh?" Oryou was sarcastic. She couldn't help it. Misunderstanding or not, their not-actually-an-accusation back in the garden had cut her deeply.

Ryouma stalked around them, his fingers pinching the brim of his hat. "So what are you here for, Enkidu?"

"I'm sure you can guess," they replied casually. "I came to apologize. Social cues aren't my strong point, and my impulses often get me in trouble. Today was no different. I shouldn't have spoken to Oryou-san the way I did, and kept my problems to myself. The Gils both scolded me well on that."

She curled her lips in displeasure. "So why did you? You said some hurtful things about goddesses and snakes. Oryou-san doesn't care about other goddesses and snakes, but you insinuated she ought to be like that."

Ryouma silently came around to her side. Oryou pressed her feet down to the floor beside him.

Enkidu shook their head tiredly. "I apologize greatly. As I said earlier, I should not have assumed. Where I'm from, the goddesses I've met, including those I've formed a good relationship with - they're very fickle, and it usually leads to someone getting injured at best and killed at worst. That moon goddess here in Chaldea and the way she acts with her lover sometimes remind me of them without their vessels. So when I sensed your healthier love for Ryouma, I was caught off guard."

Oryou fiddled with the hem of her leather coat. "Oryou-san sees. And your projecting of your own issues onto her? What about that?"

Enkidu stiffened. They didn't seem to have expected being called out like that. Their shoulders slumped.

"I," they took a deep breath, "...I won't go into detail because it's not your burden to bear, but I will say this: Gil is to me what Ryouma is to you, Oryou-san. And I have several complicated feelings on that matter. Regardless, I should not have put them on you."

Oryou and Ryouma exchanged bewildered glances.

She floated up and got in Enkidu's face, their noses almost touching. "This Gil is your Ryouma? You love him like Oryou-san does her husband? If that's so, why would you have complicated feelings? Does he not love you back?"

"Oryou-san!" Ryouma's voice cracked in alarm.

She cocked her head. "No, that can't be it. You said before you weren't made to love him. Oryou-san doesn't understand that. If you love him, you love him. If you didn't, you wouldn't. Who cares if you were made to or not?"

Enkidu's face was blank, but not quite in the same way as before. Almost like they were trying to hide their feelings more than anything else. "Because I'm not supposed to."

She frowned. "You asked Oryou-san in the garden for her advice, right? You wanted her perspective so you could come to your own conclusions on yourself, didn't you?"

Enkidu tilted their head the slightest bit. "Yes, I did," they admitted quietly.

Oryou floated towards the ceiling. "Then here's Oryou-san's advice. To hell with how you were made and what you're supposed to do. Live how you want to, and love who you love. Others don't get a say in that, even if they did make you. Oryou-san was supposed to succeed the old gods, but they called her defective and threw her away. Why should Oryou-san care about what they want or wanted? Besides, Ryouma has done more to make Oryou-san who she is today with his kindness and love for her. But even then, she lives like this because she wants to, not because it's expected of her. Not even Ryouma gets to make that call. Oryou-san is her own person! That's all she has to say to you."

Enkidu gave her a look that was a mix of curiosity and apathy. "Much of what you said has been told to me before. Nevertheless, thank you for granting me this audience. Believe it or not, it has been helpful. Oh, before I go, I wanted to give you this."

They produced Oryou's small pumpkin from their sleeve and held it out.

Oryou straightened up.

Ryouma blinked.

Enkidu smiled pleasantly. "I didn't know how this meeting would go, but I did overhear how you wanted this for your bedside table. I figured giving it to you was the least I could do to make up for my actions."

Oryou grinned and snatched the small pumpkin from them. She floated over and put it on the table next to the bed. Her face lit up at the sight. "It's exactly like Oryou-san imagined! Thank you, Enkidu."

Ryouma smiled at well, dropping his protective guard and closing his eyes. "You have my thanks as well. I completely forgot I dropped that. Lucky it didn't smash like yours did."

"You were trying to help your wife," Enkidu said. "It's understandable. Besides, that pumpkin was going to be made into pie anyway."

"Good, good, good!" Oryou floated back to them. She put her hands on their shoulders, and lead them to the door. "Now, by Oryou-san's order, go find the two adult Bilberts and give each of them a big kiss. Maybe hug the little Bilbert, too; he's probably jealous of his older selves. If you don't, Oryou-san will eat all of you."

Enkidu looked up at her with wide eyes.

Ryouma was quick to jump in. "She's kidding! Oryou-san is not eating anyone. Please keep your chains to yourself."

Enkidu seemed unsure. "I'm choosing to trust you on that, Sakamoto."

Oryou-san opened the door. "Yes, because Enkidu will do as Oryou-san says. Now go, her protégé, and don't forget her and Ryouma's wedding invitation in the mail!"

Enkidu stood there, their lips twitching upwards. "You're a funny one, Oryou-san. I guess that's just who you are, huh?"

Oryou blinked. "Huh? If you find Oryou-san funny, that's on you. She really does expect an invitation to your wedding."

Now it was Enkidu's turn to blink. "I...doubt we'll get that far."

Ryouma hurried over to the door, and held it open for them. "That's all right. What matters is you do things your way, Enkidu, not anybody else's. How you approach your relationship with Gilgamesh is entirely up to you."

"I suppose you're right," they nodded. They gave the couple a sincere smile. "I'll get out of your hair now, as they say in the modern day. Thank you again for your help, and sorry again for the trouble I caused you."

Ryouma smiled.

"Thank you for the pumpkin," Oryou returned enthusiastically. "In her opinion, that alone makes up for it."

Enkidu nodded again, and made their way out the door, turning down the hall.

Ryouma closed the door. He and Oryou stood in silence for a moment, before looking at each other. She could tell they were both thinking the same thing about the Mesopotamian pair.

Oryou took his face gently in her hands. She spoke softly. "Ryouma knows Oryou-san loves you forever and ever?"

He placed a hand over one of hers and leaned into it. "Yeah, I do. You know I love you in the same way?"

She lowered her hands. "I do."

He smiled sweetly. "So...do you want to find a marker and draw a face on your pumpkin? We could give it a spooky face for Halloween."

Oryou jumped eagerly. "Ryouma has the best ideas! Let's do that!"

She dove to search for a marker amongst their things, putting the entire afternoon with Enkidu out of her head. Nevertheless, before it fully left her, she couldn't help appreciating how lucky she was to have Ryouma by her side, no obstacles between them. It would be very lonely otherwise.

"Ah, Ryouma, Oryou-san found one! Let's give the pumpkin a spooky dragon face!"

"Hahaha, we can give it a shot."

Notes:

The name 'Bilbert' is a joke based on the 7th singularity acknowledging Gilgamesh's name originally being 'Bilgamesh,' and mashing that (heh, no pun intended) with 'Gilbert,' whose first syllable is, you know, the same as GILgamesh. I just thought it sounded silly and it made me laugh.

In Fate, Enkidu can talk to and sense the emotions of animals, but I honestly doubt that applies to people like Oryou. It would be kind of creepy if they were that kind of mind reader, though, huh?

Chapter 11: Full Moon

Ryouma fell back on the couch cushions with a sigh, one leg kicked up over the arm and the other hanging to the floor. Over twenty-eight hours of being awake, investigating their current job. Servants didn't typically need sleep, and the Counterforce provided his mana, but that didn't mean he was incapable of exhaustion. He was just glad to be home in their base for the night.

Meanwhile, Oryou shot across the room like a cannonball, slamming all the windows shut.

Ryouma turned his head wearily. "Oryou-san, what are you doing? Aren't you tired?"

"Oryou-san has no time to be tired," she answered gravely. She zipped to Ryouma's side and hovered above his waist. Her eyes were fully dilated. "It's a full moon tonight, Ryouma. We spent so long in the field Oryou-san had no chance to prep the agency and store."

He lifted his head slightly, perplexed. "Prep the agency and store? For what? You didn't say anything about this before we went out."

She couldn't have been talking about their target, or the target's associates. So far, the couple had managed to stay under the organization's radar, and they certainly hadn't revealed themselves yet. No one should have been coming after them, let alone in their own home.

"Hold on," he suddenly perked up, "what does the full moon have to do with this?"

Oryou responded by snatching his gun out of its holster.

Ryouma yiped. "O-Oryou-san! What are you doing with that!?

She popped open the barrel and examined the inside closely. "Hm, these won't do. These bullets aren't pure silver. Oryou-san has no time to buy or grab any, though! It's already dark out! She'll just have to settle for squaring off with them herself."

Ryouma quickly sat up and snatched his gun back, snapping the barrel back into place and double-checking the safety. He looked up at her incredulously. "Who are you squaring off with!? What do we need silver bullets for!?"

Oryou-san's face was solemn. "The werewolves."

Ryouma's whole body sagged. Thus far, their target and associates had all been normal humans. They hadn't encountered any supernatural or magical opponents, allies, or even civilians on the job yet. "Wh-What? What werewolves?"

"Oryou-san heard the neighborhood kids talking about it yesterday," she told him grimly. "They were laughing about it, so she suspects they might have been secret werewolves plotting. They told Oryou-san every full moon like tonight, certain humans will tranform into blood-thirsty wolves and hunt other humans for their prey. Oryou-san isn't afraid of some puny wolfmen, but she will protect Ryouma."

Ryouma blinked at her. He sighed again, wiping his eyes with his sleeves. She was so dedicated to his safety, he almost didn't have the heart to tell her.

"Oryou-san," he began, "It's October. We're in North America. Halloween is around the corner. Those kids were likely joking around and playing with you. There are no werewolves in this city. And if there are, it's doubtful they'd come after us. We would have noticed spontaneous break-ins and murders each month around the same time if there had been any, wouldn't we?"

Oryou stared down at him, long and hard.

Now her shoulders sagged, her arms hanging limp. She pouted. "Maybe they're new to the city. Maybe this is their first time hunting."

Ryouma raised a brow at her disappointment. He couldn't tell if she was simply miffed to have been taken for the fool, or if she'd really wanted to fight some werewolves. Either way, he reached out and squeezed her fingers. "Unlikely, but I guess it's possible. Not sure I'd take a bunch of kids' word for it, though."

Oryou huffed, and floated over to sit on the cushion where Ryouma's head had been laying. She glanced over her shoulder out the window next to it, eyeing the full moon hanging alone in the black sky. "Hmph."

Ryouma watched her a moment, then judged her mood safe enough for him to lie back down. He settled the back of his head in her lap, and when she looked down at him, smiled sweetly.

"If any werewolves do show up," he said, "I know you'll beat them all."

Oryou softened. She placed a hand over his chest and nestled the other in his hair.

In his exhausted state, Ryouma basked at the casual affection from his wife.

"Oryou-san will always protect Ryouma," she reminded him confidently. She stroked his hair, eyes hooding fondly. Her voice lowered.  "She always will."

He nodded in her lap. "I know you will. I trust you."

She smiled.

Ryouma couldn't help a yawn escaping his throat. His eyes were growing heavy. "Are you ready for bed, Oryou-san? Because I could sleep for a week."

"Don't do that," she scolded lightly. "We have too much work to do! But you can go to sleep for the night. Oryou-san will stand the first watch to make sure no werewolves come out, then carry Ryouma to bed. If no werewolves show up, she'll join him under the covers."

He struggled to keep his eyes open. "You sure? You don't have to..."

She leaned down to kiss his bangs. "Oryou-san is sure. Now go to sleep! If the werewolves do come, you'll need your energy."

Ryouma hummed, drifting off too fast to argue. He struggled against his eyelids, quickly losing the battle. He placed a hand over hers on his chest and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles until sleep overtook him.

"Yes, Oryou-san will always keep Ryouma safe," was the last thing he heard his wife murmur as he fell asleep. "She will never lose him again."

With that, and a fresh mix of gratitude and guilt warming his chest, he was out like a light.

Chapter 12: Shadows

Sometimes, Ryouma would wake up in the middle of the night, and think he saw Ama-no-Sakagami in his and Oryou's room.

Of course Ama-no-Sakagami wasn't there. Okuni's ritual had seen to the demonic spirit's destruction. It no longer existed, and had no further attachment to their spear. There was no way it could be here. But that didn't stop Ryouma believing he saw Ama-no-Sakagami lurking in their room.

He chose to think of it like some form of PTSD.

Regardless of the outcome, the Saitama singularity had been brutal. A demon had possessed a version of Ryouma from another timeline, used the Amasakahoko to kidnap and take control of Oryou, whom it verbally abused and treated as nothing more than a weapon of mass destruction, and then killed in her bid to save him the very same fate. Not to mention the existential crisis Ryouma himself had gone through before the demon's reveal. And that wasn't even getting into its plans for the whole world.

The worst of it, though, had to have been Oryou's sacrifice.

Ryouma was glad to learn what had been erased was just a copy, a projection of the actual Oryou's soul so that she could always be with him. She hadn't really died, just gone back to her sleeping body at the bottom of the ocean. Their Counterguardian journey so far had merely been a dream to her, one she thankfully remembered very well.

That didn't change the fact his heart had smashed to pieces upon her 'death.' It didn't change the fact he could have lost her forever. It didn't change the fact that if that had truly been the real her, he would have. The memory of that moment alone was enough to rattle his bones and make his heart race.

He hadn't been able to protect her back then. He'd just stood there, trapped in her grasp as she was used and manipulated, and could only watch as she broke free in time to save him. Oryou was always saving him. And while Ryouma had saved her a number of times in the past, and would again in the best way later, he hadn't been able to when it counted most.

He had never felt so helpless before. Not even all those years ago when he'd been the one who had died, desperately calling Oryou's name so he could tell her how much she meant to him. He had never felt more helpless than he had in that moment - helpless and alone.

So yes, he chose to think of it like some form of PTSD. It fit well enough. And he treated it as such. Ama-no-Sakagami wasn't here at Chaldea, and would never harm anyone ever again. Ryouma knew his sightings weren't real.

But he still saw it, sometimes. Not always, not every time he woke up in the middle of the night, but sometimes he did.

Ryouma would lay in bed, unwillingly rouse from his slumber, and creak his eyes open to the darkness of their room. The only light came through the slight crack of the bedroom door, from the ever present ceiling lights of the hallway. Oryou was either at his side on the other end of the bed, or tucked around him in his arms. Sans their breathing, the room was totally silent.

That's when he would see Ama-no-Sakagami. Or rather, its shadow.

It would stand across the room, just staring at them. Or flit over the wall, or past the crack of light at the door, before disappearing in the darkness. Sometimes it would even hover over them, floating at the bed's side or watching them from the ceiling, so, so, so very close.

It never stayed. If it didn't vanish on its own, Ryouma would blink and it would be gone. There were times he did this on purpose, to get the shadow to leave. Other times it startled him, sent his pulse racing, and the next thing he knew, there was nothing there. He might even turn on the lights just to be sure. It was only ever him and his wife, alone in their room. Ama-no-Sakagami was nowhere to be found.

Because it was dead and not here. It had never been here. And it never would be.

Yet Ryouma could swear he'd seen it in the shadows. The shadows that stood guard across the room, that swept effortlessly over the walls and door, that surrounded the bed like a fortress. He saw Ama-no-Sakagami's faceless shape in them, ready to seek revenge; to kill him inside, and take and hurt Oryou all over again.

He tried not to take these sightings too seriously, even on the nights they caught him off guard and terrified him. They weren't real. They couldn't hurt them. He and, more importantly, Oryou were safe.

Nevertheless, even on the nights he recognized the shadows for what they were, Ryouma would turn back over, and hug Oryou's sleeping form to him. Part of it was merely to go back to sleep. Part of it for the comfort her presence brought him. But part of it was also the need to hold her, to reassure himself that she wasn't going anywhere, and he would protect her this time. He was never going to let any of that happen again. He vowed it.

And so, Ryouma would close his eyes, nestled up with the blissfully unaware, drooling Oryou, and fall back asleep, ever conscious of the shadows still lingering in the darkness around them.

(Let them linger. They couldn't have her.)

Chapter 13: Haunted Corn Maze

Ryouma was going to hold Oryou's hand.

He was going to hold her hand.

He was going to -

His arm stayed rooted to his side, stiff in its socket even as he handed the booth clerk both their tickets and walked in locked step with Oryou inside the haunted corn maze entrance.

Ryouma's heart had already been pounding in anticipation of reaching out to hold her hand, but now it pounded faster at his cowardice. What was so hard about this? The hard part should have been over; he had finally asked out the girl he liked, and she had said yes. So why couldn't he do something as simple as hold her hand?

Maybe it because of how scared he was of the date going wrong. Yeah, that had go be it; it was his anxiety.

It made sense. Ryouma was plenty nervous to go on this date. Hell, he had been nervous ever since he first decided to ask Oryou out. She was so cool and unique, and he was...him.

Or, to put it another way:

Ryouma had been bullied so hard in middle school that he'd had to transfer schools to get away from his bullies. He didn't build up any self-esteem for himself until his sister had forced him to join a sword-fighting program to learn some self-defense. And while he'd found himself excelling in the program, his classroom grades were still pretty miserable, which left a humbling dent in his ego.

Meanwhile, on the first day of high school freshman year, when he had first met Oryou, their homeroom teacher had decided to play an icebreaker game of having everyone introduce themselves and state their goals for after high school. Oryou had confidently stood up, and announced her twin goals of taking over the world, and tracking down her birth parents so she could burn their house down with them inside it. She had promptly been sent to the principal's office. Later at lunch, when several people asked her about it, she enthusiastically confirmed that she hadn't been kidding.

In other words, he was mundane and she was exciting. Why would a girl like her ever go for a guy like him? How on Earth could they fit together? It was like pouring water and oil together. No way she wasn't going to get bored of him eventually, and soon.

Face warming at the thought, Ryouma glanced anxiously at Oryou as they walked through the maze.

Even their outfits didn't match each other.

He was dressed in a boring, dark beige coat over a long-sleeve, white shirt with a blue collar, navy blue slacks, and a pair of his favorite cowboy boots. His long hair was tied up as neat he could get it behind him, his messy bangs falling haphazardly over his eyes. He noticed a corner of his painfully dull wallet hanging out the front of his coat pocket.

On the other hand, Oryou was dressed to the nines in a dark leather jacket over a black sweater, a short, frilly, hot pink skirt that only covered the very top of her thighs, and dark pink stockings that ran down to black sneakers, which were also covered in tiny, pink bows. Around her neck she wore a black choker with another pink bow tied to the front. And that wasn't all; in contrast to all the black and pink, she had put a neon green, frog ear headband in her long, loose black hair, and carried a backpack behind her that was literally a smiling frog face.

She looked like the protagonist of some teen movie. Ryouma looked like a background extra that just happened to stand beside her in this scene.

His anxiety spiked; yeah, oil and water all right. They were pretty different people. How in the world could he expect this date to go well? And for that matter, what had possessed her to agree to it!?

But nothing was more anxiety-inducing than Ryouma realizing Oryou had that look on her face. The one she frequently wore at school, that said she was pissed off at everyone around her. Her expression had been a bit calmer, more neutral, when they had met at the roadside entrance of the haunted corn maze. So why was she mad now!?

Ryouma glanced around. Stalks of corn surrounded them on both sides, and a T-shaped intersection was up ahead. He could see the ticket booth behind them shrinking in the distance. They had barely started the maze, but it had clearly been a hot minute since they'd started.

This was supposed to be a date. So far, Ryouma had only been lost in his own head. Was she upset he hadn't talked to her since they got in line?

Stupid! He should have held her hand! Then she would have looked at him in surprise, he would have laughed nervously, and she would have smiled at him - smiled! Oryou had smiled twice at him in the entire time he'd known her, and that was two times more than she did most people! She could have smiled at him a third time! - and they could have started a real conversation past their initial hellos and his insistence on paying for both their tickets. Instead, he had chickened out, and now they were both quiet, and she was mad at him!

Panic flooded Ryouma. He has to fix this. Force himself to speak. Say something...!

"So," he forced out as they approached the intersection, "left or right?"

Oryou looked up at him, eyebrows narrowed in a scowl.

Ryouma swallowed. The blood rushed in his ears.

He had just hit a growth spurt. Oryou used to go to his nose, but now the top of her head barely reached his shoulder. She liked to vehemently proclaim she had one more growth spurt waiting for her, and would one day be taller than him, a giant dragon to his puny human. He honestly didn't care because he'd find her hot regardess of whether she finished puberty shorter than him, his height, or taller. Her height wasn't the issue. The issue was he could see her in full from this viewpoint, from her frog ears to her sour face to her frilly skirt and her stockings and -

She was so cute!

Ryouma couldn't afford to mess up this date. He had to make her happy somehow.

Hold her hand, a selfish voice in the back of his head told him. It'll make both of you happy.

Oryou pursed her lips, and Ryouma felt dizzy at the sudden thought of kissing them.

"Oryou-san doesn't care," she stated flatly, and in the next breath turned left.

Ryouma hurried to catch up, only slowing his stride once he returned to her side. The heat he felt in his face surely meant he was blushing. God, he was being so uncool in front of her! He rubbed his palms together awkwardly.

"So," Oryou was the one who spoke up this time, "this place is supposed to be scary, right?"

Ryouma nodded, palms sweating. "Yeah. I came here with Izo last year and there was a bunch of jumpscares. I don't know if they've switched it up this year or not, but, um, I'm sure it'll still be scary. Izo and I went during the day, and it's sunset right now, so it should be dark by the time we finish the maze. That'll, uh, make it scarier...I guess."

"Hmm," she tilted her head, eyes accusatory, "then the whole point of Ryouma inviting Oryou-san to this place was so she'd get scared, and fall dramatically into his arms?"

Alarms went off in his head. His intuition told him he couldn't be in danger, but he felt as if a venomous snake had targeted him, preparing to strike.

He should have held her hand. He should have held her fucking hand. Why was he so stupid?

Ryouma had no good answer to her question. The answer was obviously no, because that hadn't been the point - he'd just thought a haunted corn maze would be fun for them - but maybe she wanted a yes? Girls liked romantic stuff like that, right? Oryou could be pretty scary even when she wasn't trying to be, so it wasn't impossible. But if he was wrong, she might punch him in the gut and storm back out the entrance, and never talk to him again.

He'd rather not face that possibility. He chose to avoid it entirely.

Averting his gaze, perhaps a tad too fast, Ryouma changed the subject. "The first jumpscare shouldn't be too far now. But we're probably not going to follow the same exact route Izo and I went, so I don't know. Who knows what we'll face?"

Oryou's face returned to its normal sourness, but he still couldn't help feeling like he was being scrutinized.

Ryouma gulped, and turned frontways rigidly, keeping his eyes locked in front of him.

Coward, coward, coward!

He was never going to impress her at this rate. And to think, their date had just started.

After that, they walked through the corn maze in silence, turning here and there. The gaggle of people who had been in front of and behind them gradually disappeared as they all took different routes, and sooner than anyone could have thought, Ryouma was alone with Oryou. If it weren't for the faint screams and laughter that bubbled through the corn stalks, he would have thought they'd somehow gotten lost.

Tongue tied, and with nothing else to do since it seemed no actors were on this route so far, Ryouma glanced at Oryou's closest arm.

Maybe he could still do it. Maybe that would turn the tables. Maybe she was mad he didn't seem to have shown any interest in her yet? He could hold her hand, and she might smile at him, and he'd be holding her hand!

Oryou was so pretty. So pretty it made his chest tight. He really wanted to hold her hand. And kiss her. And hug her. And touch her boo-

Ryouma stopped himself while he was ahead. He was certain he was blushing enough as it was. If he popped a boner imagining her naked here of all places, next to her, he was going to die on the spot and haunt the maze for the rest of his days. The cornfield would actually have a real ghost. It would be terrible.

On the other hand (heh, pun not intended), if he suddenly took her hand now, she might think he was a total loser who was trying too hard. She might even yank her hand away. Ryouma could see himself dying of embarrassment from that as well.

He really wanted Oryou to like him. He really did.

The problem was, how did he make sure that happened? Sure, she must have liked him back to agree to this date, but he was already messing it up! Opinions change! They could change at the drop of a hat.

He had to say something. Something better than last time. Something that would turn their date back to normal. Quick, before there was a jumpscare!

Ryouma looked at her headband. "You really like frogs, yeah?"

His entire internal structure started melting down as soon as the words left his mouth.

WHY WOULD YOU SAY SOMETHING SO STUPID!? he thought to himself in a state of fight or flight. Of course she likes frogs! That was like, the third thing you learned about her back in freshman year! She gushes about them all the time! Now she's really going to think you're an idiot!

Yet as Oryou's face slowly panned up to him, Ryouma's heart leapt to his throat in a state of shock.

She was SMILING at him! That made three times she had smiled at him now! And one of them was on this date! Yes!

Oryou grinned wide. "Oryou-san loves frogs."

Ryouma's heart pounded in his chest. The corners of his mouth shook as he tried to smile back. Right. Of course. She was always gushing over frogs, so naturally, that was a good conversation topic. Duh.

You're on a good track, so don't fuck this up! he thought anxiously to himself.

He let out a little laugh. "Yeah, they're pretty cute, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," she nodded. "Plus, they're good to eat. Frogs are Oryou-san's favorite animal in the whole world! But Ryouma knew that, right?"

He nodded absently. In his head, he quickly dove through what felt like a script of all the frog conversations he and Oryou had had over the last year, in class, on the phone, and in the halls. Somehow, the script was coming up half-blank.

She was so cute when she talked about frogs. It was like she lit up the room, even when she wasn't smiling, whenever frogs came up. Anyone could tell how enthusiastic she was about them. Oryou was so cute. So, so cute.

Ryouma's palms itched to hold her hand.

Oryou's face gradually fell. Her familiar scowl returned. "Ryouma?"

He just about jumped out of his skin. "What'syourfavoritefrog!?"

Oryou halted in place, which made Ryouma do the same. She raised one eyebrow, and flatly asked, "What?"

He gulped. Change the topic, change the topic!

"I mean," he restarted, pulling at his shirt collar, "um, why do you love frogs so much? Not that there's anything wrong with that! Have I mentioned your headband and backpack look super cute on you!? But, uh, yeah, what made you love frogs so much?"

Ryouma realized he had squeezed his eyes shut. He forced himself to open them.

Oryou stared up at him, scowl gone and cheeks red. She was still frowning, but...

She shrugged her shoulders, and the blush went away. What did that mean?

"They're cute and they taste good," she answered simply.

She turned and continued on the path.

"R-Right." Ryouma hurried to follow her.

He had no idea where he stood with her anymore. Not that he ever had, but especially not now.

Before he could lose himself to his anxious thoughts again, Oryou kept the conversation going. "You're part of that sword-fighting club, aren't you? The one downtown?"

"Eh?" Ryouma blinked. "Er, yeah, though it's not a club. They really do train you on all these traditional, Japanese sword techniques. If I lived back then, haha, I could probably have been a samurai!"

He internally cringed at his own joke. Lame. True, but barely funny.

Oryou, however, raised her gaze in interest. "You never talk about it much at school. Is it fun? Are you good at it?"

His posture relaxed. He scratched the back of his head with a much less nervous chuckle. "Yeah, it is fun. My sister was the one who got me into it. Not to brag, but I guess I'd say I'm pretty good at it. Not as good as Izo is, but I win a lot of matches."

She wrinkled her nose at the mention of Izo. "Oh, yeah, your freshman friend with the big mouth."

Ryouma didn't need much more to tell him to stay away from the topic of Izo. Maybe these two would get along in the future, but he didn't think in the few times they'd met, they liked each other much. Making them friends was a bridge they could cross another day. In the present, he needed to get Oryou to like him enough to be his girlfriend first. Anything Izo-related could wait.

"He's a talker all right," Ryouma drew out the words slowly. Faster, he asked, "Do you want to join the program? Or I could show you how to do some moves outside of school."

Teaching Oryou to hold a sword outside of school. Ryouma's face warmed at the mere thought. He imagined being at her house, alone in a garage or her backyard, or maybe her room, standing behind her, his front so close to her back, his arms on hers...

Okay, he had to stop there. But he wanted that closeness -

"No," Oryou unwittingly destroyed his dreams, "Oryou-san doesn't care about that stuff much."

Ryouma smiled tightly. "Ah. Okay."

"But," Oryou glanced at him, looking him up and down, "she wouldn't mind watching you practice one of these days. That kind of workout must be really good for you, huh? Gives you some muscle."

His face heated right back up.

He hated how his voice squeaked, "Yeah, sure."

Her brow furrowed.

Ryouma cleared his throat, hoping that would fix his voice. It did.

"Hey, what do you think of the ocean?" he inquired. "I know it's too cold to go swimming anymore, but I've always loved going to the beach and just watching the waves. We could, uh, go there sometime and just walk on the shore."

Idiot! his mind cried out. Are you seriously trying to set up a second date in the middle of the first one!? You don't even know if she likes this one yet! What if she says no!?

I'm sorry, he panicked in his head. I really do love doing that, though! And it sounded romantic on the spot!

Oryou hummed, thinking it over. "Don't know... Oryou-san's always had a fear of the ocean since something happened when she was a little girl. Walking sounds nice, though. Hey, hey, would you want to climb a mountain together?"

"Climb a mountain?" he repeated, astonished. "Like hiking?"

"Duh." Oryou stared up with him bright, expecting eyes. They were practically sparkling.

Ryouma's head spun. Gosh, she's pretty.

His fingers twitched, wanting to hold her hand already, now more than ever. How much more could his damn cowardice take!?

"That would be a lot of fun," he answered out loud, the part of him not freaking out genuinely meaning it. "There is this one mountain I've always wanted to climb. Maybe we could go there sometime? Before it gets too cold to go hiking."

To his amazement, Oryou smiled again! That made four times! Two on this date! Ryouma couldn't believe it. He had to be dreaming. He'd never seen her smile so much at anyone before. And it was a big, wide, toothy smile, too.

"Oryou-san thinks she knows the one you're talking about," she added eagerly. "You mean Mount - "

Unfortunately, that was all Ryouma heard before rustling in the cornstalks behind them caught his attention. His body perked up and feet slowed.

They must have finally come across an actor, he thought, moving to crane his head over his shoulder -

BLAM!

Ryouma gasped, the wind knocked out of him. His vision blurred, catching only the flannel and denim of his attacker as he was shoved to the ground.

His heart raced. This was not in the advertisements, nor how it went the last time he was here. The actors were not supposed to touch you.

Oryou screamed.

Ryouma picked himself up on his hands and flipped over on his back.

The person standing over him had a grinning jack-o-lantern mask on their face. That was all he was able to process before they swung a handaxe at his face. Ryouma screwed his eyes shut on instinct.

TACK!

Ryouma opened his eyes. He looked to the side, where the axe, still held by the attacker, was slammed into the ground above his shoulder. The axe, which had a bumpy textured sheen on the blade...

It was made of plastic.

Ryouma looked up at his attacker in awe. Dressed in denim overalls over an oversized flannel shirt and dirty work boots, he would have never recognized them by the outfit. But the dark, curly hair tied up behind the jack-o-lantern mask was all too familiar, and when the guy started laughing wildly, he recognized exactly who it was.

Izo stood up straight and lifted the mask atop his head. "HAHAHAHA! YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN YOUR FACES! I GOT YOU!"

Beside them, Oryou seethed. She clenched both her fists, marched up to Izo, and punched him hard square in the stomach.

Izo's laughter cut off with an abrupt gasp. He folded instantly, bending over to clutch his stomach and stumbling back a few steps.

"You little rat!" Oryou hissed, eyes blazing. "Why would you do that!? You could have hurt Ryouma!"

Izo groaned in pain. "It was...a joke. I just wanted ta scare ya... HAAAH."

Oyou did not seem satisfied with his answer, nor his ragged inhale.

However, Ryouma was more than used to his best friend's antics, and like most things people did, it immediately washed down his back. Completely at ease, he sat up and chuckled. "Hahaha, good one, Izo."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Ryouma suddenly sensed a dark presence. He turned his head to the source, where Oryou was standing, and his eyes widened.

Oh. Oh! He had thought she looked mad when their date had first started? Well, she was definitely mad now, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Oryou stared Ryouma down with such large, threatening eyes that his chest suddenly went very cold. It said, Do something about your friend, or I'm. Going. Home.

He swallowed anxiously. The implication that their very relationship hinged on his next action, and if he fucked it up, would be totally over, was not lost on him. If any of his fears before had simply been nervous paranoia, this was the real deal. His future hung in the balance here.

Ryouma scrambled to his feet. "Hey, Izo, let's talk for a minute!"

Izo groaned again, reluctantly releasing his stomach to slowly stand up straight. Ryouma slung an arm around his shoulders and stepped a pace off to the side. He spun around so their backs were toward Oryou.

"What are you doing?" he whispered between gritted teeth.

Izo threw his arm off him, not bothering to keep his voice low. "What're ya talkin' about!? I told ya, I wanted ta scare you and the creepy chick yer dating! Do you know how many actors I had to get around and redirect so I could pull this off? Why d'you think no one else has scared you yet!?"

Ah, this evening's lack of jumpscares so far made sense now.

Ryouma smiled wryly. "Yeah, dating; but not for long if you mess it up! Do you think I'll get a second date out of Oryou-san if tonight ends badly? Because I don't!"

Izo scoffed and rolled his eyes. "It's Halloween in a couple of weeks. Tricks and scares are normal. And this is a haunted corn maze! What does she expect, flowers and rainbows and sunshine? Oh, sorry - I meant frogs, flowers, rainbows, and sunshine."

Ryouma frowned, brow furrowing in annoyance. He cut to the chase. "Izo, I really like Oryou-san. I do not wanna mess this up. I mean, who knows, if things work out between us, she and I might end up married someday!"

The marriage comment blurted out without his permission. Somewhere in the back of his head, Ryouma could hear his older sisters and brother laughing at him, teasing him about young love and first serious relationships. He did his best to swipe those thoughts away, blushing furiously.

He could marry Oryou someday, he thought, and started to feel woozy at the mental image of her in a wedding dress. Oryou might be his wife in the future.

But not if he didn't get this Izo situation under control.

Izo, for his part, contorted his face in disgust. "Ewww. That's so sappy, I'm gonna hurl! What is it with you and liking all the freaks and weirdos? She tells people she's going to turn into a dragon and eat them!"

Ryouma sighed, and smiled weakly. He chose not to rise to the bait. "Oh, come on, Izo, don't be like that. I'm friends with you, aren't I?"

Izo gawked at him. He scowled, then looked confused, then glowered, turning red in anger.

It took Ryouma all of one second to figure out how his words could be misconstrued. Rather than taking the intended meaning of Ryouma's relationships, including with Oryou, not being comprised of freaks and weirdos, Izo instead thought he was calling him one of those freaks and weirdos, too, so he shouldn't judge.

Uh oh. Ryouma was going to have to clear that one up later.

For the time being, though, Izo growled. He spun on his heel and stomped back in the direction they had come, muttering what was likely profanities under his breath. He roughly brushed past the group of adult customers coming this same way, and disappeared around a corner.

Ryouma stepped back to Oryou's side and waited for the curiously staring group to pass before turning to her sheepishly.

"Sorry about that," he apologized. "Turns put Izo's prank was the reason no one else's scared us yet."

"Yeah, Oryou-san heard," she replied flatly. Her expression had calmed back down to her normal sour look. "He's a loud, sneaky, little bug."

Ryouma scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He really hoped what was left of their date was still salvagable. "Right. Well, uh, are you okay? That had to be pretty frightening, him shoving and coming at me with an axe."

Oryou eyed him skeptically. After a minute, she relaxed. "Yeah, it was."

Ryouma's shoulders sagged in sympathy. "I'm sorry. If I'd known Izo was going to do that, I would have stopped him in his tracks. He knows how excited I was for our date."

There his mouth went again, saying words without his permission. Ryouma froze.

Was that line too cheesy?

But amazingly enough, Oryou looked up at him with an amused smirk. Her pretty, very pretty, eyes twinkled in mischeif.

"Oh?" she teased. "You were excited to go out with Oryou-san, Ryouma?"

His spine went ramrod straight. He tried to force a smile, but wasn't sure how natural it appeared. "O-Of course. I, uh, I was looking forward to it a lot. I really, really do like you, Oryou-san. I don't want anything to mess this up."

She tilted her head sweetly.

Ryouma had never wanted something so much before in his life.

"Oryou-san likes you, too, Ryouma," she smiled wide. "A whole lot. She couldn't wait for this date either."

His heart leaped in his chest.

So I haven't ruined everything yet! Yes!

Ryouma mirrored her wide smile. Confidence renewed, he extended his arm while forcing himself not to think, and took her hand in his.

It was smaller than his, delicate and soft, and so warm in his grasp.

Fireworks set off in his mind and chest alike. He was actually holding Oryou's hand!

She squeezed his hand.

"Oryou-san isn't quite into being scared," she admitted, her cheeks flushing a little, "but she likes walking with Ryouma. She likes being with you. She's willing to finish the maze if you are."

His heart pounded, in a good way this time.

"Really?" Ryouma happily pulled her along. "All right. Let's go, then."

Oryou cheerfully followed.

The rest of the route went about a lot easier. None of the real actors who jumped out at them touched them. Oryou and Ryouma alternated between who screamed and who merely jumped back, sometimes both running forward past the spooky set ups. Every time their hands broke apart, one or the other would grab them again and they'd press on.

By the end of it, both their cheeks were thoroughly red and they walked through the exit trying to catch their breaths.

By that point, the sun had almost fully gone down. The sky was a dark gray, the event's lights illumatinating the exit and nearby parking lot. Several groups that had already exited were scattered around chatting, while those just arriving walked up the path to get to the entrance.

"Well, I had fun," Ryouma professed, coming to a stop a few yards out the gate. He squeezed Oryou's hand and looked at her. "How about you?"

She shrugged, though her face lacked its usual sourness. "Oryou-san's still not fond of scares."

His heart began to sink, along with his smile. "Oh..."

"But she had a good time," she added, smiling slightly. "She was glad to be with Ryouma."

He sighed in relief, and smiled awkwardly at his reaction. "I'm glad. I had a good time with you, too. So, we're definitely doing this again? Dating, I mean."

"Of course," Oryou answered, like it was the most normal thing in the world. "Why wouldn't Oryou-san go on more dates with her boyfriend?"

Ryouma swore he saw stars - and not in the sky.

Her boyfriend. He tested the words in his head, just to be certain. He was Oryou's boyfriend!

Which meant Oryou was his girlfriend.

God, what an evening.

Oryou glanced over her shoulder. "Hey, Ryouma, is there anything in those woods over there? Like, any more Halloween events, or a farmhouse, or something?"

He stopped and blinked. He raised his gaze to the treeline not too far away, the beginning of the forest that surrounded the one side of the cornfield.

"Eh? That? No, I don't believe so. It's just land the owner owns," he explained.

Oryou perked up. "Perfect. Come on!"

She grabbed Ryouma's hand in both of hers, dragging him along towards the treeline.

He yiped. "What!? B-But isn't it time for me to take you home!?"

"This early?" she scoffed, grinning. "Oryou-san doesn't think so! Besides, this is way better than the car ride she had planned."

Ryouma didn't understand; she'd never told him about any plans for the car ride home.

They ran past the treeline and kept going through the forest until the lights of the corn maze were twinkles in the distance. That's when Oryou stopped.

Ryouma looked around, apprehensive. It was only getting darker. "Oryou-san, what are we - ? Oof!"

For the second time that night, Ryouma was shoved, this time in the chest. His back hit a tree, and with wobbly knees, he slid down the bark to sit on his butt. He lifted his gaze to the standing Oryou-san, nerves alight with confusion.

"Hm, sitting down, eh?" she remarked, putting her hands on her hips. "That can work. Good idea, Ryouma!"

Ryouma stuttered, puzzled. "W-Wh-Wha- ?"

That was all he got out before Oryou lowered herself in his lap and snaked her arms around his shoulders.

He just about jumped out of his skin.

Don't pop a boner. Don't pop a boner. Don't pop a boner!

"O-Oryou-san!" His voice went up an octive. This was not at all where he'd expected this night to go. "What are you doing!?"

"Um, making out with you?" Oryou answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She smiled flirtatiously. "Oryou-san's been waiting for this chance aaaalll night. Since Ryouma asked her out, really."

His mouth fell open, jaw shaking.

He wouldn't lie and say he hadn't imagined doing this at some point, but he didn't think it would be tonight. And for that matter -

"B-Bu-But - but - " Ryouma stammered, eyes bulging, "we - we haven't even had our first kiss yet!"

"Oh, yeah," she agreed, brushing her fingers on the back of his neck beneath his ponytail, making him shiver. "We can fix that."

She cocked her head and pressed her lips to his.

Ryouma jolted. He pushed his lips forward, praying to whatever was out there he was doing this right. Oryou wasn't his first kiss ever, but damn if he trusted his muscle memory in this situation.

A few moments passed. Oryou drew back.

"See?" she said, voice soft. In the dim light, he could see her eyes hooded fondly. "That was nice, wasn't it?"

Ryouma gulped. He nodded, unable to speak.

Kissing her was the best thing ever.

She grinned. "So now we can make out!"

Oryou tilted her head, mouth slightly open, and grazed her lips against his, waiting.

Ryouma's eyes rolled to the top of his head in disbelief. He had never imagined their first date would end like this, making out in the dark for who knew how long in the woods outside the haunted corn maze attraction.

But damn if he wasn't going to go along with it.

He opened his mouth and kissed her back, jumping slightly when her tongue touched his. He closed his eyes, wrapped his arms around the small of her back, and sighed in contentment.

This was even better than holding her hand.

---

"Oryou-san can't believe she let you talk her into letting that pesky bug move into our house," Oryou grouched, pushing a box towards another stack of boxes. "The basement's going to reek of alcohol in two days flat."

Ryouma set aside his own heavy box, and crouched down to open it. "Izo's just having a tough time, Oryou-san. Don't worry, he'll find a new job soon and get another apartment before you know it. But, you know, if you don't want him stinking up the basement, we can also move him into one of the bedrooms upstairs. One of the three empty bedrooms. We did buy a four bedroom house, after all. Just a little thought."

His wife glared at him. She no longer had the resting bitch face of her youth, but she had never the lost the ability to stare fangs and venom into someone's soul. "Those bedrooms are for Oryou-san and Ryouma's children when they're born. Oryou-san will not let her babies get drunk off years old alcohol fumes or play on dry vomit stains. Ryouma already lost that argument in the compromise, so don't try it again."

He smiled awkwardly. "Of course, dear. But hey, at least this gives us the opportunity to clean out the basement. I forgot how much stuff we had down here."

"Hm, yeah," she grunted, glancing away irritably. "Spring cleaning came early this year."

All right, that was a lost cause. Ryouma decided to give her some space instead of continuing the conversation further.

It was a good opportunity, though, just like he'd claimed. Ryouma shared cleaning duties with Oryou upstairs, but they didn't come down to the basement too often. Not to mention how busy they could get with the Sakamoto Detective Agency and Oryou Store in town. Now, with Izo losing his job and apartment and needing a place to stay, they finally had to the motivation to clean and sort everything out.

It was fun. Ryouma liked tidying up, and what's more, taking a trip down memory lane through their finds. There was so much stuff he'd forgotten they'd had. Their discoveries brought back a lot of cherished memories.

He lifted the lid of his box, listening to Oryou tape another back shut in the background. He dug his hands inside.

"Oh, hey," he said brightly. "This looks like our things from high school! Your old frog headband is in here, Oryou-san. Hmhm, how cute."

"Oh, geez," he heard her say, practically able to hear the roll of her eyes. "Don't remind Oryou-san of her fashion choices back then. Also, don't throw those away - they are very cute."

Ryouma chuckled. "I wouldn't dream of it."

He lifted the old, faded headband, admiring the style. He remembered when his wife, then-girlfriend, finally hit her last growth spurt. She ended up being two inches shorter than him, to her grumpy dismay, and the frog parts of this headband had bridged the gap, 'making' them equal height. It was pretty funny. Ah, but it also wasn't long after that she had stopped wearing them, too. Such a shame.

He dug some more through the old junk, little memories sparking to life here and there with each object.

Eventually, an orange corner of a piece of paper caught Ryouma's eye. He dug it out from underneath the rest of the pile, and held it up to his face curiously. It was a small pamphlet, and it said -

His eyebrows shot to his forehead in remembrance.

Ryouma shook old pamphlet out, and turned to his wife with a big smile. "Hey, Oryou-san, look at this! It's the old, haunted corn maze! Do you remember going there for our first date?"

"You mean the one Izo tried to ruin?"

A sweat drop formed on his temple. "Erm, yes. I forgot about that part. But the rest of the night was great, wasn't it?"

Oryou stood up and dusted her hands off. She looked at the faded orange paper with disinterested, half-lidded eyes. "Oh, yeah, Oryou-san remembers that. Ryouma looked like he was about to cry and pass out the whole time. Besides that, it was fun, yeah."

Ryouma withered, his smile straining. "Was I really that bad?"

Oryou nodded, putting her hands on her hips. She grinned wickedly. "Absolutely. Then when she dragged you in the woods and sat on your lap to make out, you looked like you were about to jizz your pants."

His face broke. "W-What!?"

Oryou leaned down to pick up the box, heading for the staircase. "Honestly, Oryou-san was disappointed when you didn't."

Ryouma started, jaw falling square open. He stood there in solid shock for a moment, before jumping up after her. "W-Wait! You mean the crying and passing out, or the jizzing!? Oryou-san!?"

His wife's laughter was the only answer he could wring out of her during the rest of the basement cleaning.

Ah, well; Ryouma was still left with good memories of that date.

For all its flaws and faults, and how he could now look back and cringe at his sophmore self's actions and internal thinking, he had still come out of that night his biggest crush's boyfriend. And he'd ended up marrying her after all, hadn't he? They'd built a life together, one he enjoyed every aspect of greatly. Ryouma couldn't say he regretted that.

Chapter 14: Monster

Notes:

The setting is intentionally ambiguous in this one. This isn't necessarily supposed to be 1800s Tosa.

They had always said to stay out of the woods near the mountainside.

A monster of unfathomable horror lurked there, they said. The creature slithered up and down the mountain, searching for prey. It made no distinguishment between natural beasts of the wild and human beings, devouring them all equally and in great haste. One could always see the remnants of its travels in those woods, the broken trees, bushes drudged up by the roots, and shallow paths of loosened soil circling around. Ryouma had been warned not to go there since birth.

He knew not to go there, for every generation there was always someone or some group who, not believing the stories, ventured into the woods, only to never to be seen again. A group of teenagers had done just that when he was a very young boy. That was enough to convince him of the warnings' weight.

But Ryouma was a curious ten year old boy, and although he didn't disbelieve the rumors, he did have a persistent urge to see the infamous monster himself.

"You should come with me," he had told his best friend, Izo, the week before. "We'll keep our distance so it don't eat us. That way if we do get spotted, we'll be so far away we can just run! Come on, don't'cha wanna see it for yerself?"

Izo was known for being a tough, somewhat bratty kid, but apparently even he had his limits. His nine years of age, which suddenly felt so much younger than Ryouma's big, double digit age of ten, had never felt so apparent than when he averted his eyes and rubbed his shaking hands together, even as he stubbornly pouted and put on a harsh tone. "I don't wanna go there. It's dumb idea ta! We'll get eat'n anyway, stupid."

So Ryouma had decided to go alone.

"If I'm not back by dinner," he instructed Izo the day he finally went, "you can tell everyone what happened. But I'm pretty sure I'll be home, so don't worry 'bout it too much, okay? I'll tell you all 'bout the monster when I get back!"

Izo had just gawked at him, mouth hanging open wordlessly.

Ryouma didn't think much of it, and left him there to head towards the woods on the mountainside.

Now he kind of wished he didn't.

Because the monster was real, like really real. And despite hiding behind a fallen log that must have been at least a dozen kilometers away, it saw him.

The monster was an orochi. It was a giant snake the size of which Ryouma had never seen before, sleek and black as night, and staring him with piercing red eyes. It drew itself tall amongst the trees, forked tongue jutting out of its mouth dangerously.

"You think you can hide from me?" the orochi hissed in a menacing voice, freezing Ryouma still. "Foolish human."

He realized all too late how naive his simple plan of running away had been.

The orochi lowered its head, its entire upper body, back to the ground. Its eyes narrowed, locked on the target that was Ryouma. He watched its mouth open wide, jaw unhinging to a height that was surely more than enough to swallow him whole.

Ryouma didn't run. He couldn't move at all. His skin prickled with goosebumps, and scalp and palms with sweat. Even his eyes trembled in terrror.

Yet even as fear froze his entire body, his mind couldn't tear itself from the satisfaction of having his curiosity met. Despite everything out, exhilaration burst through his veins. This was really it. The monster of the woods near the mountain! He had actually gotten to see it with his own eyes. Ryouma couldn't believe this in the best possible way. Here it was!

The orochi shot forward at top speed.

That was the last thing Ryouma saw as he felt a large hand grasp his collar and pull hard. He was yanked sideways in the other direction, and all but carried on his feet through the trees. His father's back was the only thing he could see in front of him now.

The sun was still high in the sky above the treetops, the sign of midday.

Izo must have told early.

Behind them, Ryouma heard the shattering of the log as the orochi crashed into it mouth first.

After that, his memory must have blacked out, because next thing he knew, they were somehow safely back in the village. His father was all but collapsed on their doorstep, heaving a huge sigh of relief. The side of Ryouma's head ached like he'd just been smacked, and suddenly Izo, all of both their siblings, and many of the neighborhood kids and their parents were crowding around the pair.

Ryouma, and apparently his father, had just survived the woods near the mountainside and come back home. That was a first in as long as their town could remember. Everyone wanted to know how.

That night he was forced to promise never to do anything that reckless ever again.

---

The full memory of that day never came back to Ryouma, but as the subsequent weeks went on, one little bit did return to him. Just one.

As he and his father had somehow reached the edge of the woods, red faced and breathing heavily, the orochi's voice had rung out, sharp and clear as day.

"You won't escape me forever!"

It was obvious by now that they had, yet something about those words stuck with him anyway. They made the hairs on Ryouma's neck stand up in fearful anticipation. He couldn't help but wonder if the orochi hadn't just meant during the chase.

But it clearly hadn't followed them out of the woods, let alone into town. So that must have been wrong. There was nothing to worry about.

Either way, Ryouma also couldn't shake the feeling of satisfaction from himself. He had seen the monster. He had seen it and lived to tell the tale. How many others could say the same?

And he realized that even though he had almost been eaten by the orochi, a creature that was known for eating any human that crossed its way, he didn't resent or hate the creature. At best, he felt nothing for it, and at worst, a strange sense of admiration.

He distantly wondered if that kind of thinking was kind of monstrous of himself.

---

It was a few more weeks later that Ryouma, while messing around in the normal woods opposing the mountains by himself (Izo had slept in that day and was forced to do all his chores now), suddenly heard a child's scream.

Without thinking about it, he raced for the source of the noise. Soon enough he came to the local river, which rushed from the mountain out to the sea, and saw a little girl flailing in the center. She was splashing, screaming, and crying out for help.

The girl was drowning.

Ryouma moved on instinct. He threw off his clothes and dove into the river.

The little girl kicked, hissed, and sputtered out water as he waded towards and attempted to grab her. He tried not to mind it too much because anyone in her situation would be panicking, but it made it hard to hold onto her and swim at the same time. He really didn't want to sink to the bottom of the river and wash out to sea, and wanted her to even less. They had to go.

Eventually, getting one arm wrapped tight around her torso, his nails digging deep into her ribs, Ryouma managed to drag the little girl back onto shore. They both collapsed on the riverbed, struggling to catch their breaths. Ryouma's whole body was exhausted.

By the time he regained enough strength to sit up, he realized the little girl:

1.) Had already done the same,

2.) Was staring at him intently,

3.) And was naked.

Ryouma shivered under the the cool air. He reached for his clothes tiredly.

"Where did you leave your clothes?" he asked her. He figured she must have made a stupid mistake like he had in the mountainside woods, and almost ended up paying for it with her life. Just like he had. He didn't think much else of her posture. "Did ya leave take them off before trying ta swim?"

The little girl just stared at him, eyes hard. Her...pink eyes.

"You're a very stupid human," she informed him darkly, not answering his question. "If you wanted to live, you should have let me drown."

Ryouma stared at her, dumbstruck.

Her voice -

"You think you can hide from me?"

"Foolish human."

"You won't escape me forever!"

It was the orochi's.

He glanced over her shoulder. In the far away distance, almost too far to really see, Ryouma noticed knocked over trees, turned up bushes, and a bunch of pushed up dirt that trailed into the riverbank.

He looked back at the little girl. Her pink eyes were glowing red.

Ryouma's heart pounded in his chest. This was the orochi. She had left the woods on the mountainside after all. He had no idea how or why she'd gotten in the river - she had kicked and flailed too much for him to think that was part of her plan - but he'd just handed himself to her on a silver platter. His father wasn't going to be able to save him this time.

Nevertheless, in his head Ryouma felt oddly calm. Scared to death, but not freaking out. He clutched his clothes in both hands. Well, he wasn't going to need them for long. Might as well use them.

The little orochi girl's face dropped in surprise as he draped his clothes over her back. The water on her skin unfortunately soaked into the fabric, but Ryouma was just happy to see her wearing something dry.

"You don't want ta get sick," he said to her, as if all of this was a normal conversation. "You'll get pneumonia and die anyway. Or hypothermia. Or something like that. I would be sad if after all this, you got sick and died."

It was the truth. Despite his own recklessness, Ryouma didn't like when people died. Just because he was about to be killed didn't mean he wanted her to die, too. Especially of something stupid, like the cold.

She just gawked at him in bewilderment.

Ryouma adjusted his clothes on her to cover her front better. He felt like his mother, or one of his older sisters helping dress him as a little kid, but this was important, so he tried his best. Sadly, his clothes were kind of big on the little girl; while he didn't know her real age, the orochi's human form couldn't have been more than five years old.

"Okay," he said when he was done, leaning back. "I guess you're going ta eat me now."

His fear was real and desire to die nonexistent. But Ryouma figured there was no point in fighting it. She was going to get him no matter what. There would be no escaping a second time for him.

Yet the little orochi girl continued to stare at him, baffled.

She did so for a long, long time.

---

"Ya know what yer problem is, Ryouma?" Izo spat, wobbling as he walked and clinging to Ryouma's shoulder for support. "Yer too nice!"

Ryouma hummed, slightly tipsy himself.

He had tried not to get too drunk while out with Izo, since his wife had said she had a surprise for him when he got home tonight. He couldn't imagine what it was she wanted to give him this late at night, but he imagined it must have be something important. She had been acting too on edge on all day. He'd almost declined going with with Izo just to stay with her, but she'd insisted he go and all but pushed him out the door.

So now here he was, acting as a crutch so Izo could get home safely, before walking home himself.

"You shoulda told those damn tourists off when they laughed at ya," Izo slurred. "They're gonna get eaten if they go into those woods. Just 'cause you and yer ol' man survived once don't mean nothin'. Some travellers died three years later. Then there were those mountain climbers; said they'd come back through once they came back down, but their bloody, tattered backpacks were found at the entrance of the woods 'nstead. And that guy last year! Don't know where he came from, but his watch was pretty fancy, wasn't it? They don't make that kind 'round these parts, yet it was on the ground outside the woods with bite marks in the glass. Musta flown off his arm when the monster got him. So anyway, you shoulda smacked those tourists when they laughed at ya for warnin' them! They're gonna wind up dead huntin' for that thing."

Ryouma hummed again, not impressed with Izo's suggestion. "I get where you're coming from Izo, but if they didn't believe me the first time, they weren't going to believe me if I double downed or got physical. The best I could do was warn them to stay out of those woods at all."

At that, Izo threw his head back with a laugh. He kicked his leg too high in the air to compensate his weight, and stumbled to keep from falling over. "OOOR, get this, ya could have kept yer mouth shut. Those clowns'll be dead tomorrow, but they think you're an idiot now. You coulda either not been nice and let 'em die on their own, or defended yourself when they called you a super- super- superstickus- called you a dumb, drunk hick who believes in fairy tales. Instead, you warned them and let 'em push ya around. Yer too nice and that's..."

Izo struggled to remember the word.

"'Stupid'?' Ryouma offered, smiling crookedly. "I suppose I do get in lot of trouble because I don't think the same way others do. Guess it makes me an easy doormat to step on. But it's better to be kind and try to help others when you can than not, isn't it? I wasn't built to be cruel."

Izo huffed. "Doormat sounds about right. Yer wife sure walks all over you."

"Hey," Ryouma began, "leave Oryou-san out of this. She keeps me on the straight and narrow as much as I keep her on it. I'd probably have tripped over my own sword and impaled myself by now if not for her."

Izo laughed again as they approached his house. "Yup, that, too! Guess I can thank her for that. God knows all the idiotic ways you'd have gotten yourself killed if luck wasn't on your side. Like when you survived the monster yerself."

Ryouma guided him to his front door with a smile. "Yeah. I'm a lucky guy, all right."

"Maybe it's because yer so stupidly nice," Izo suggested, yawning. "Karma's rewarding you or something. How does that work again?"

"I don't know, Izo," Ryouma replied, chuckling. "But it's a good theory. Anyway, you have a good night. Try not to pass out before you get to bed again. It's supposed to be cold tonight."

Izo flippantly waved him off. "Yeah, whatever. Good night."

Ryouma waited until his door slammed shut to start on home.

---

"Ryouma!" Oryou cried happily when he carefully stepped through the doorway, so as not to trip. She threw her arms around his neck in a hug and kissed his cheek. "How was the tavern?"

Ryouma was surprised by the sudden burst of affection. Oryou could be very affectionate when she wanted to be, but this was new. Right as he got home late at night? He wondered if it was related to her surprise.

He hugged her back, taking note of the way she perked up in his arms and beamed when he pulled away.

"It was good," he answered her question. He walked obediently as she pulled him to the nearest seat in the kitchen. "Drinking with Izo was fun."

"Good, good," Oryou sat him down and stood behind him, her hands rooted to his shoulders. "Anything interesting happen?"

Ryouma's head lolled against her chest. He closed his eyes tiredly. "These tourists are going to the woods near the mountainside tomorrow. I couldn't talk them out of it, so now they want to catch you as some sort of joke. Please don't eat them while you're out marking your territory, Oryou-san. They're just people."

He purposely left out how they had mocked him for his warning, well aware of what kind of reaction that would draw from her. It would be counter-productive to his plea.

Oryou huffed nonchalantly, her fingers kneading his shoulders. "Oryou-san will try, but if they provoke her or she just forgets, they're going to end up her lunch. But she will try, for Ryouma's sake."

Ryouma couldn't help sinking into her touch, pleased at the way his muscles relaxed. "Thank you, Oryou-san. I'd prefer if the list of survivors from those woods grew past my father and I someday. It's not like you need to eat humans to survive."

"Humans are tasty," she replied, running her hands down his front and clasping them together. He felt her press the side of her face to his ear. "But she already promised Ryouma not to eat the townspeople, and she's kept to that very well. She won't eat those tourists if she can help it. Actually, if she feels as sick as she did today, she might not go out to the woods or mountainside in the first place."

Ryouma snapped his eyes open. He sat up and craned his neck over his shoulder. "You were sick today? I could see you were acting off, but I didn't know you were sick! You should have told me. I would have stayed home and taken care of you all day."

Oryou pressed a sweet kiss to top of his head. "That's the kind Ryouma Oryou-san fell in love with. But no, Oryou-san hid her sickness for a reason. She wanted to be sure she felt better before she told Ryouma, and she knows she feels better later in the night."

"Later in the night?" He frowned, worried. "You've been sick for a while, haven't you? I'm so sorry I didn't notice. You should have told me - "

Oryou stuck a finger to his lips. She grunted, and took his hands to guide him back to his feet. Ryouma obeyed her again, and let her draw him to her. She hugged his middle and smiled up at him adoringly. Her eyes were bright.

"Oryou-san is pregnant," she announced. "We're going to have a baby, Ryouma."

Ryouma's breath hitched.

He was in his early thirties now. He and Oryou had been married for many years, and were already fooling around for a few before they wed. Pregnancy had never happened, no matter how much sex they had or when, so at some point, they had just quietly figured it was never going to happen. Whether that was because of infertility on one or both their sides, or incompatibility of their species, neither could guess, but one was certainly the case.

Or so they'd thought.

Ryouma slipped a hand between their bodies and slid it across her abdomen from side to side. It was easy to miss from a visual standpoint, but he swore he felt a slight bump on her stomach.

"Oryou-san," he breathed. He looped his arms around her waist, pulling her tight against him. He kissed her firmly, a big smile on his lips.

She giggled against his lips and moved her hands to the back of his head and side of his jaw to deepen the kiss.

Ryouma was breathless when it broke. "How long have you known?"

Oryou flushed. "She suspected when frogs of all things started hurting her stomach. Or she thought they were. Then she realized mating season had come and gone again, and started wondering. What made it clear, though, was the slithering she felt in her belly."

Ryouma stiffened. "Slithering?"

"Nothing slithers inside Oryou-san normally," she explained, cheerful. "Humans may feel other things when they're pregnant, but Oryou-san feels slithering. She is an orochi, remember, so our baby might be born one as well. She knew what it was as soon she felt it. Then her belly got a bit bigger."

"Are you sure?" he had to ask. It would be painful if they both got their hopes up, only to be disappointed. "Are you sure you're really pregnant?"

Her brow furrowed; she was getting irritated.

"You're thinking about this too much, Ryouma," Oryou said definitively. "Yes, Oryou-san is pregnant."

He decided to take her word for it.

Ryouma laughed awkwardly, hugging her closer until their shoulders were pressed together. "I'm sorry."

Oryou smiled lightly and kissed him again, putting one hand on his chest and leaning back. "It's okay. Oryou-san understands your anxiety, but trust her on this; she knows her body."

Ryouma nodded.

"I will." Then he shook his head in wonder. "Gosh, we're having a baby. I - I don't even know where to start with that! We'll have to come up with a plan to hide its true form from the townspeople if it is born an orochi, but we can discuss all that another time. Tonight's for celebrating. Oryou-san, I - I don't know what else to say. We're finally going to have a family!"

She gave him a toothy grin. Her hands slid up to either side of his face and gently brought it down to hers until their lips were millimeters apart.

"Yes, we are," she replied in a low, quiet voice. "Oryou-san is having Ryouma's baby. She's so happy. And she's so glad Ryouma is happy. She never thought she would have this when she lived all alone on the mountainside. Thank you for giving everything that you have to her, Ryouma. It would be so lonely without you."

His eyes hooded. His voice went just low and quiet. "Oryou-san."

Her breath was warm on his face, her eyes glistening in the light.

"I'm glad I went in the woods that day," he told her softly, "and found you. My life would have never been the same otherwise - not without you in it. They always said there was a monster in the woods, but instead it was the most loving person I've ever met. Thank you for being a part of my life. For giving me everything that you have. For loving me. Being with you is more than I could have ever dreamed."

Oryou choked on a small cry in her throat. "I'm so glad I didn't eat you."

She all but jumped on him, snaking him into a new, somehow tighter hug, and kissed him fiercely. Ryouma kissed her back, arms secured around her.

It wasn't long before heat pooled in his abdomen. Oryou rolled her hips against him. The air in the kitchen changed, and their kiss suddenly opened, their tongues meeting and twisting together.

Somehow, Oryou's back hit the kitchen wall. She pulled Ryouma to her, undulating and gasping for air between kisses until she had him pinning her to it. She kept his face firmly in his hands.

Ryouma groaned into her mouth. He didn't think too much, just hiked her leg up and pressed his groin to hers. It wasn't going to take much to get him hard at this rate.

He jerked his hips once. Ryouma was instantly rewarded with Oryou's head tilting back, face scrunching in a frustrated groan. She wrapped both legs around his waist and grinded on him, mewling softly, eyes pleading.

Ryouma put his face in her neck and growled. With one hand supporting her, he fumbled to get their clothes undone just enough to slip inside of her. She was already so wet. Practically soaked down there. He slipped in with ease and groaned again, louder this time.

Oryou brought his face back up one more time, but it was Ryouma who kissed her now, thrusting quick and hard. She whimpered over and over, lost in the pleasure he was giving her.

Ryouma would give anything to her. Within reason maybe, but anything she wanted. It was hers. His love, his cock, a baby - it was all hers. All she had to do was ask, and he'd do his best to provide. Oryou deserved everything.

Some might have said that was unwise of him. This was an orochi, a great one, an unfathomable horror that ate and ate without discrimination for its prey. Those people might wonder when she would next turn on him, no matter how 'loving' she seemed. After all, she had never stopped eating people who trespassed on her territory.

Of course he knew she wouldn't do that. Oryou had changed many of her ways and views of the world since meeting him. Her eating of strangers might have been a work in progress, but they were getting there. And even if she never fully stopped, Ryouma couldn't see himself ever not loving her for who she was. And as long as he did that, she would always love him too much to eat him.

Still, with her slightly bulging abdomen pressed against his as he rolled his hips into her, pushing her closer and closer to orgasm, and causing her to cry into his mouth more than she had in a long time, one couldn't forget the new offspring they were making.

Nobody could guess how they would turn out. Not just this one, but any siblings it would have as well. Ryouma would raise them with love and care and teach them to be kind alongside Oryou, but who knew what they would grow up to be. Would they be more human? Or orochi? Or equally both? Would they care for those lessons? Or would they eat people without issue just like their mother had? Their births could result in an untold number of deaths.

Some might even argue the orochis were the lesser evil here. Oryou wasn't human, nor would her children completely be. Certain aspects of their beings might be best attributed to their nature, not something they were actively doing to be harmful, and thus could never be fully overcome. Ryouma was the real monster here, understanding all the risks, and choosing to take them anyway. It was so selfish.

If he had just stayed home from the woods that day, and never tempted the monster away from the moutainside...

If he had just let the little orochi girl drown in the river, so she could never eat anyone again...

If he hadn't gotten the orochi pregnant and didn't plan on doing so again as many times as their bodies would hopefully allow, bringing more of her kind into the world to eat...

It was the epitome of selfishness. Ryouma might die one day with his hands covered thick in the blood of countless people, entirely of his own volition.

Or at least, that's what some might say.

But Ryouma didn't care much about any of that, as he snapped his hips forward, chasing his own orgasm inside his beautiful, loving, orgasming wife. He wasn't so stupid to be blind to all the terrors in the world, and the endless misfortune even just one person could bring to numerous others. He would only be stupid if he thought that was the end all, be all.

Plenty of perfectly decent humans brought evil into the world through their children. Plenty of children grew up to be heartless regardless of their parents' efforts. And plenty of people, good and awful, brought new kindness into the world, children who grew up bringing positive change no matter what their upbringing. Nature and nurture both had their influences, sure, but it was ultimately a choice how one wanted to behave, what kind of affect they would like to have on this world.

Ryouma had made his choices. He might not have been the most cautious person, but he actively chose to be kind whenever he could. He could live with that. So could Oryou, who had actively changed her mindset from when she was young to the present day, and was still trying to improve. She could live with her choices, too. Their children would make their own decisions someday.

So if that made him the real monster, Ryouma really didn't care. He loved his wife. He loved their baby, though it wasn't here yet, and would love any more children they had. He would keep warning people to stay away from the orochi, and working with Oryou to control her urges when they didn't listen. Maybe he really did think too differently from others, but he just couldn't bring himself to mind. Everyone's life was their own, including his.

So as he came with a strangled shout, shooting his warm release inside his soaked, shuddering wife, who clung to him like he was the only man in the world, he slumped forward, and kissed her until he couldn't anymore.

He had no regrets following his own way.

Chapter 15: Halloween Party

Notes:

A return to Halloween costumes! This one is based on a ninth anniversary craft essence.

"I gotta say, you guys knocked it out of the park with the costumes again," Ryouma's master complimented, still a little breathless from returning from the latest Halloween singularity. It had just ended, and everyone who had gone to it had only just recently been able to join the annual Halloween party in Chaldea's cafeteria. Fujimaru smiled at the Sakamotos politely. "Seriously. Sakamoto, you actually look like a cool, intimidating mafia boss. And Oryou-san, I can't tell if you're the scary right hand that makes sure all the underlings follow Ryouma's orders, or the real mafia boss behind him."

"Well, of course," Oryou beamed with pride, tipping her neon pink glasses down her nose. "You aren't supposed to know. Now, offer your respects and eternal loyalty to Boss Ryouma, or you'll find a headless frog on your bed tomorrow. Then Oryou-san will eat you!"

Although her tone was cheerful and clearly joking, Ryouma, as always, laughed awkwardly and went out of his way to make sure Fujimaru understood that. "She's kidding, by the way. I'm afraid Oryou-san watched too many mafia movies as research for our outfits. So, you really think I look intimidating? Oryou-san is a given, but me, eh..."

The puny master nodded enthusiastically, sitting down in a chair at a close by table. "You guys both look amazing."

Oryou-san was thrilled to see Ryouma perk up at the praise. He had easily pulled off the confident mobster expressions and postures since she first pushed the pinstripe and fur-lined clothes in his arms, but of course her anxious, little husband didn't really believe he could pull it off. Silly man. As if he wasn't cool as a cucumber on pretty much all of their detective cases and, however rightly or wrongly, infamous for his shady tactics behind the scenes. So she was glad to see Fujimaru reaffirm what she had already told him and actually get him to believe it.

Ryouma closed his eyes with a boyish smile, scratching the back of his head. "Thank you, Fujimaru. I'm happy to hear that. Oryou-san's been saying the same thing for the last three days, but I couldn't help thinking her a little biased."

She scoffed at that. "Is it really biased for a wife to think her husband looks great in a costume she personally picked out?"

"Yes, actually," Ryouma chuckled. "That's exactly what it means, on both accounts."

Oryou glared. She pushed her glasses back up and pointed her nose in the air. "Then Oryou-san would like to remind Ryouma that she has wonderful fashion sense, and would never put him in something terrible. If he doesn't trust her judgement, then he doesn't trust her as his right hand-slash-secret boss of their mafia organization. Oryou-san is going on a leave of absence until she is appreciated!"

She floated upwards and turned away with a swift swish of her body.

"Oh, dear," she heard Ryouma say in the background as she floated through the crowd of costumed servants. "I better go fix things with her. Please enjoy the party, Master!"

Oryou-san was too far away to hear Fujimaru's reply.

"Oryou-san, wait!" Ryouma's voice was suddenly a lot closer.

Oryou merely turned on her heels mid-air, and flew a bit faster towards a less populated corner of the cafeteria. Once there, she floated back down to the ground and crossed her arms, waiting for Ryouma with a pout. She wasn't really that mad, but she still expected some form of apology for doubting her.

Ryouma didn't take long to catch up. He squeezed his way out of the crowd, and quickly walked up to Oryou-san.

His apology was prompt, a guilty smile on his face. "I'm sorry, Oryou-san; I didn't mean to insult your fashion skills. You did a great job planning our costumes, and I love how they turned out. I just didn't feel very confident in the acting department."

"Silly Ryouma, Chaldea doesn't have an acting department to audition for. Somebody lied to you," she chastised him lightly. "Oryou-san figured as much, though."

She watched a drop of sweat form on his temple. He tugged at his collar. "Hahaha, right. But I really do appreciate everything you do, Oryou-san. Please come back as my right hand and/or secret boss? I can't enjoy the party properly without my partner in crime."

Oryou put a finger to her chin and thought about it briefly. "Hm... All right, Boss Ryouma is forgiven."

She could never stay mad at him anyway, even when he deserved it. A petty thing like this was never going to bother her for long.

He whistled in relief and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Hooo. Glad to hear it. So, you wanna head to the snack table and grab some - "

An idea suddenly striking her as he spoke, Oryou grinned wildly. She abruptly cut him off. "Nuh-uh! Boss Ryouma may be forgiven, but Right Hand-Secret Boss Oryou-san has not agreed to cancel her leave of absence! She is, however, willing to negotiate."

Ryouma's smile dropped. His expression turned quizzical. "Negotiate? Negotiate what? Did I really upset you that much? I'm sorry for hurting you, Oryou-san; how can I make it up to you?"

He sounded so remorseful and earnest, Oryou was forced to break character before she even began.

"No, no, you silly man." She grabbed his hands in hers and tugged him towards the actual corner of the cafeteria, where no servants were standing, weren't paying attention to, and wouldn't hear them in. She again planted her feet on the floor, her back to the vertice itself, and curled Ryouma's fingers sweetly between hers. "Oryou-san was being truthful that she forgives you, wholly and completely. She's role-playing now. Play along with her."

Ryouma blinked rapidly. "Role-playing? Where did you learn - ? Never mind. What do you want to play exactly?"

She beamed, letting his hands go and jumping on her heels. "Negotiations! You be Boss Ryouma, and Oryou-san will be Right Hand-Secret Boss Oryou-san! You need your partner in crime after all, like you said. Negotiate with her to return to your side!"

The edges of his mouth pulled slightly. "I don't know, Oryou-san. I get that you lead us away, but right here, in front of everyone? I don't really know how to act-act the part of a mafia boss..."

Oryou's eyes widened and dilated in warning.

"Ryouma," she spoke slowly, "do you want to know a new phrase Oryou-san recently learned from a staff member, when he was telling someone else about home?"

Ryouma paused, and leaned back slightly. "Sure?"

Oryou grabbed the openings of his coat and jerked him to her.

"'Happy wife,'" she quoted sternly, "'happy life.'"

He stared down at her, mouth partially agape.

Oryou kept her own stare pinpointed on him, hoping he would get the message of what she meant. Sleeping on the couch in their room, no more sharing frogs with her at mealtimes, and making him do the laundry all on his own for a week! Actually, she would probably give up on the punishment after a single day, but he didn't need to know that. He just needed to believe her enough to play with her.

Ryouma closed his mouth shut. He carefully wiggled out of her grasp and stood up straight, placing his hands back in his pockets. He actually had the gall to chuckle, not the slightest bit nervous for once.

"All right, Oryou-san," he agreed merrily, looking her up and down fondly. "You start us off."

She nodded eagerly, then frowned as she thought carefully about her next words. Soon enough, she folded her arms and raised her chin high. "Oryou-san does a lot of work for this organization. She puts her blood, sweat, and other people's tears into everything she does, from administration to eating people. She deserves more appreciation and acknowledgement for all her efforts. She deserves a raise!"

"Done." Ryouma leaned back on his heals with a smug smile. "You're right, you do put 110% into our work. Without you, our entire operation would fall apart. I think a raise is the least we can do to repay you."

Oryou's posture fell. She floated up in the air. "Already? Ryouma, you're supposed to haggle in negotiations!"

His smug smile wiped away. He slumped back forward, cheeks sprinkled red. "Uh, no you aren't? The whole point is to reach a reasonable solution for all parties. Well, unless we're deliberately being manipulative and trying to strong-arm the other side into a specific decision. We've done that before. But we're not role-playing that kind of thing, are we? Because there's no way you'd role-play a slouch that I need to manipulate, Oryou-san."

She glowered down at him. "...Damn. You have a point. See, Ryouma, you are good at negotiating! Oryou-san knew you had it in you!"

He blinked, confused. "Thank you?"

Oryou leaned back on the adjoining walls of the corner and kicked her feet on the ground once more. "Hm, let Oryou-san think... Ooo, Oryou-san knows!"

She picked her feet off the ground in excitement with a big grin, before landing and positioning herself back into character. She folded her arms behind her back and stood tall, professional.

"That's not all Oryou-san wants," she said, resolute. "The raise was only the start of her demands!"

Ryouma stiffened. He straightened his back and coughed, eyes moving to the side uncomfortably. When they shifted back to her, they were clear. "Oh? So what else would you like to, er, keep running this organization by my side?"

"She wants more power."

He raised an eyebrow. "More power? Explain."

A quick thrill burst through Oryou as the game finally seem to get underway. She did her best to remain calm, but couldn't help her grin.

"Oryou-san is Ryouma's right hand-secret boss," she touted, haughty, "yet Ryouma is the one who exerts the most authority in public. She doesn't seek to change that arrangement, but she needs more direct influence among the lower ranks. They don't respect her enough, for one, and and for two, it can be a pain having to make a show of going to Ryouma for approval first. She wants it known she can execute things on her own!"

Ryouma opened his mouth and closed it. Oryou could see the gears in his head slowly processing her words. His expression hardened, aiming for neutral.

"I see. Well, if that's what you need, you've got -" he stopped himself, eyes going blank. He started again, eyes narrowed, " - it. But, surely, there must be more at play here for you to ask, given how such a thing might upset our public balance of power. What would you be willing to do in exchange for that kind of power? Otherwise, we can keep things as they are, and I can just wait for your leave of absence to end."

Oryou was bubbling with excitement at the threat. Now they were negotiating!

"Do for it?" she repeated slyly, leaning forward. "More than Oryou-san already does for the organization? Hmm, Oryou-san doesn't believe she's being the greedy one here. Are you accusing her of something?"

"I - " Ryouma's facade cracked. He cocked his head and bent his pocketed arms out apologetically. "I'm sorry, Oryou-san, but this is confusing. Are you my right hand and my secret boss, or just one? Because if you're my boss, even if only behind closed doors, can't you just tell me what to do yourself? What's the point of negotiating then? Aren't you the real head of our mafia?"

Oryou looked at him flatly, her immersion once more ruined.

"You're over thinking it, Ryouma," she told him, voice firm. She gave a heavy sigh. "Fine, we're co-heads of the mafia in that case. You're the only known boss of the organization, but while Oryou-san is your equal in private, she acts as merely your right hand in public. We both need each other's approval to make a change. Is that clear enough?"

"Peachy," he replied awkwardly, eyes shut. "I'm sorry."

She huffed. "Any more questions, or are you ready to make things up as we go along?"

"Sure, sure, I've got it now," he waved off. He cleared his throat, opened his eyes, and got back into character. "I'm not accusing you of anything. It's only that such a request would, uh, have a deep impact on our internal structure. It would effectively give you the power to make decisions without me, would it not? There are likely other ways to make you feel appreciated enough to come back."

"On the contrary!" Oryou gleefully countered. "It would actually make production smoother. Oryou-san isn't asking to completely upend our internal structure, but rather, streamline it. She would never make the most crucial decisions without you - that part won't change. It's the every day, on the floor decisions that she wants more power over. Having to run to you all the time slows production, and makes the grunts think she is a pushover who can be ignored in favor of you when it counts. That makes them less likely to listen to Oryou-san."

"Is that so?" Ryouma frowned. "Well, we certainly can't have that. Ah, but how do we ensure the lower ranking members don't start to think you're amassing too much power? I already favor you the most. What if they start to suspect your true role in the organization? Or begin to undermine mine?"

She perked up curiously. "Undermind your role? How so?"

A spark lit in Ryouma's eyes, like lightning just struck him. He was getting into this now. "A power block."

Oryou frowned, jerking her head back. "What? What do you mean, 'a power block'?"

Ryouma smirked. "I mean, how do I know this isn't a sneaky way to amass power all for yourself? Maybe you're tired of having to share with me. Ah, but you'd lose a lot of trust from the lower ranks if you suddenly outed yourself as my partner, and you'd have trouble establishing yourself as the sole, new head if you just got rid of me. This way, you can start a loyal following around you and plan a coup right under my nose!"

Oryou did a double take. It was her turn to blink. She was about to scold him for ever suggesting she'd do anything like that, even in a role-playing game, only to stop herself. This wasn't bad.

She pushed up her pink glasses with a scoff. "As if Oryou-san would ever. She needs Ryouma's cover since he's better with humans than she is. You're overestimating the exact amount of public power she's asking for!"

He chuckled, cocky. "Am I? Well, then I guess establishing a little trust is in order, isn't it? So I'll ask again: What are you willing to do in exchange for this new power over the ranks?"

Electricity shot up Oryou's spine as the tables were turned on her. This had gone from her making demands to being forced to offer something up herself. That was exciting. But she was totally determined to win in the end.

Another idea hit her.

Oryou glanced around Ryouma on both sides to survey the Halloween party. Servants galore in a variety of costumes walked around, chatted, and ate. Ryouma's master was up and about, having a handsy conversation with the trio of girls and oni woman that routinely stalked the human. The giant, blonde Elizabeth was scowling at the smirking, pickle-loving Berserker. The sisters from that one island singularity held hands as the green haired one spoke with the redheaded rider who worked in the kitchen and the blue haired one glared. In other words, no one was paying attention to the Sakamotos over here.

Oryou looked up at Ryouma. She smiled, eyes hooded, and ran a finger down his orange tie. She bent forward somewhat, letting her own matching tie hang down her breasts. She kept her voice low and sultry. "Hm, Oryou-san might be willing to do many things..."

Ryouma caught on fast. His eyes widened, face flushing dark pink. He grabbed her hand and held it in front his chest, stepping closer in the corner with a panicked expression.

"Oryou-san!" he hissed in a frantic whisper. "We're at a party!"

She grinned from ear to ear, pleased by how flustered he was. She whispered back, "Oryou-san knows! She's not going to do anything drastic. Besides, no one's watching or listening to us."

He remained unconvinced. "Let's save it for later. After we get back to our room."

Oryou pouted, her good mood fading. "This isn't about sex."

"You're literally trying to seduce me," Ryouma argued, smiling nervously. He let her hand go. "If that's not about sex, I don't know what is."

Oryou jerked her arm to her body, offended. "Obviously not. Oryou-san is not trying to seduce Ryouma! Right Hand-Secret Boss Oryou is trying to seduce Boss Ryouma into giving her more power. It's totally different!"

He sighed. "That's not - never mind."

She puffed out her lower lip, agitation growing.

Ryouma closed his eyes. A beat passed, then he opened them sharply.

"Although..." he drawled, glancing above her head, "maybe there is something my beloved partner in crime could do for me, in exchange for more power and authority over the lower ranks."

Oryou perked up in interest, good mood renewed. So they were still role-playing? Good! She was happy about that.

Nevertheless, she couldn't help continuing to tease. She kept the sultry voice, and shifted her stance to emphasize her chest. "Oh? And what is that? Because Oryou-san really wants it, Boss Ryouma."

Her antics didn't have the desired effect of flustering Ryouma. Instead, he stepped closer to her, until their fronts were only milimeters apart, and tilted his head in front of her face. "How about...your hand in marriage?"

Oryou started. She couldn't stop the giggles that burst from her lips. "W-What?"

Ryouma smiled pleasantly. "I want your hand in marriage, Co-Head Oryou-san. I've been in love with you for years, and would do anything to make you mine. Marry me, and you can have as much open power as you want."

Oryou couldn't stop giggling. She clapped her palm over her mouth and eyed her silly husband up and down. This had definitely taken a turn. Frustratingly enough, she couldn't bring herself to be mad about it either. It was too funny.

"That sounds like blackmail, Boss Ryouma," she finally said, letting her arm fall to her side. "Is this what you really need in order to trust Oryou-san? Because it sounds like more an incentive to start that coup and head the organization by herself."

"I don't care," he replied confidently. Ryouma stepped back to look at her in full. "I've wanted you for a long time. Even if I can only have you for a day before you overthrow me, it'll make my whole life worth it."

Oryou choked on her own laughter. Her face burned. "Th-That is so cheesy, Ryouma! - I mean, Boss Ryouma!"

He shrugged, nonchalant. "Hey, since you're feeling so unappreciated you're threatening to leave for a while, I figure this is the perfect time to let you know how I really feel about you. So, Oryou-san, my right hand and secret co-boss of the Sakamoto mafia family: What do you say? Will you marry me?"

She wiped her mouth with her sleeve, doing her best to suppress her laughter. Gosh, it wasn't working at all. "Hm, normally Oryou-san would have to think it over...but yes, she will! But only on one more condition."

Ryouma rolled his eyes affectionately. "Which is?"

She stood up straight. Her laughter finally ceased. "It's the last condition Oryou-san needs to feel truly appreciated."

"And that is...?"

Oryou tugged him back to her by the fur and threw her arms around his neck. She was glad to see the flusteredness make a return to his face.

"Kiss me," she said, making a rare use of first person. "Don't neglect your fiancée, Boss Ryouma. She wants to know this is real."

Ryouma blushed as pink as her hair in their final Lancer ascension, from hairline to chin. He shot a panicked glance at the rest of the party, who still weren't paying them any mind.

Next thing Oryou knew, his lips were on hers. Delighted, she tightened her arms and kissed him back.

She won.

Ryouma pulled away first and let her go. "There. Are we done with the role-playing now?"

Oryou gave a toothy smile. "Yeah, we are. Ryouma sucks at it."

Despite himself, Ryouma visibly relaxed and laughed. "I told you I'm not good at acting the mafia boss part."

"Yeah, you did," she agreed, looping her arm through his and turning them both back towards the party. "Don't worry, though, we'll work on that later in bed, when we consummate our wedding night. Now come on, Ryouma, Oryou-san is hungry for snacks!"

Ryouma's eyes went wide as saucers. "Wait, we're going to what - ?  - Oryou-san, hold on a sec! Don't pull my arm so hard!"

Oryou only laughed.

Chapter 16: Fall Cold

"Oryou-san has returned with the chicken noodle soup!" Oryou announced loudly, swinging open the bedroom door with her hip. Her stockings slid smoothly on the carpet. "She also knows Ryouma is not asleep, because this only took, like, five minutes to cook."

Over on the bed, she observed as she strode into the room, Ryouma wearily lifted his head from the middle of the pillows. His upper half was closer to the center of the bed while his legs were curled up on his side. Despite it being afternoon, he was still dressed in his pajamas (fresh pajamas, at Oryou's insistence; she had already thrown his clothes from last night in the washer and dryer this morning). His hair was undone, hanging over his shoulders, nose red, and leaky eyes tired. A box of tissues surrounded by more than a dozen used tissues sat on the bedside table behind him.

Her husband smiled weakly. His voice was shot, quiet and gravelly. "Actually, Oryou-san, I think I was starting to fall asleep. Sorry, I know you just left to make that."

Oryou halted for a split second. She continued towards the bed, averting her eyes apologetically. "No, Oryou-san is sorry, Ryouma. It was a dumb joke. You need aaall the rest you can get to feel better, so feel free to go back to sleep."

Ryouma laid back down, but shook his head against the pillow. "It's all right. I need to eat, too."

With that, as Oryou reached her side of the bed and set the tray she was carrying down on her bedside table, he struggled to sit up. Oryou bent over to adjust the pillows behind him. He laid back on them with a rough sigh.

"Thank you, sweetie," he said blithely.

Oryou gave him a small smile. While Ryouma fixed the covers over his lap, she picked the tray back up and settled it over his legs. "Oryou-san brought chicken noodle soup, a roll of crackers, and her super special tea with her secret ingredient for sickness for Ryouma's lunch! Eat and drink up, or else you'll never get rid of your cold. Then what will happen to the Sakamoto Agency and Oryou Store?"

"I guess you'll have to run them without me," he joked, and slowly lifted his fork from the bowl. "Your names are on both businesses."

"Hmph," she grunted in reply, pursing her lips.

She swiftly strode around the bed to collect the used tissues and toss them in the trash. The little trash can had come from the master bathroom, and was already filled to the brim with used tissues and another empty box of them. She pushed the tissues down with her hand, tied the bag closed, and hauled it out of the can.

Ryouma winced. His polite tone and words failed to hide his disgust. "You really don't have to do that, Oryou-san. I can clean those up and switch out the trash myself. The last thing I want is you getting sick because of me."

"Nonsense; if Oryou-san is gonna get sick, then it's because she was already exposed to whatever got Ryouma sick," she retorted, holding the bag at arm's length. She headed for the door. "Besides, she's been standing, sitting, touching, sleeping, kissing, and having sex with Ryouma since before you started showing symptoms. She might already be doomed. Handling some gross, gross tissues aren't going to change that."

She stopped at the door to look at Ryouma for his reaction.

He cringed at her response.

"Right..." he drawled, and coughed into his hand. It quickly became a coughing fit, and just as quickly ended. He held his chest and inhaled deeply. "I'm sorry."

"What's there to be sorry for?" she asked, confused. "Now, Oryou-san is going to get rid of this, wash her hands, and get a new bag. By the time she gets back, you better have eaten a good amount of that soup and drank all of your tea! Breakfast today was pitiful."

With more force than she intended, Oryou slammed the door shut behind her with her clean(er) hand.

"Yes, Ma'am," she heard Ryouma's muffled voice through the door.

She nodded affirmatively and made her way downstairs.

Oryou narrowed her eyes as she reached the bottom.

In the living room, she saw that Izo had gotten up early for once (because twelve-thirty in the afternoon was early for him), and had come upstairs to lounge on the couch and watch TV. If that were all, or he was even eating real food, she might have let him go; that was progress, after all. As it was, she didn't care for the bottle of booze between his legs that he swigged to his mouth.

If Izo wanted to be a drunk, let him. It wasn't like Ryouma wasn't fond of alcohol either, or Oryou never had a drink. But his addiction was what had moved him into her house and was keeping him from getting the hell out. And since he refused to accept any real help, drinking or getting a job-wise, she was loooooong past the point of being fed up with him.

Izo suddenly swiveled his head around.

"Oh, hey," he greeted casually. "How's Sicky doing? That cold go away yet?"

"Nope." Oryou furrowed her brow in annoyance at the dumb nickname for Ryouma. She stalked over and threw the trash bag at Izo's head, before gliding into the kitchen. "Get rid of that for Oryou-san, will you? Ryouma's going through tissues like crazy. She thinks he was using some of those twice so he wouldn't run out as fast again. My poor baby."

Izo screamed from the living room. The sound of the trash bag crinkling and flying through the air were music to her ears. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!? I DON'T WANNA GET SICK, TOO!"

She turned on the sink and began thoroughly washing her hands. "Hm, I don't know! Maybe that in his condition, Ryouma will believe you finally found an apartment and agreed to move out? Even if he learns it was a lie later, Oryou-san would still get some peace and quiet for a few days, while Izo searches for a nice park to sleep in. Or, you know, that you can get off your butt and help out more!"

Incomprehensible grumbling likely mixed with a few dozen swears filled the ground floor as Oryou listened to Izo stomp around, and the bag hit the main trash can in the kitchen.

"There!" he spat at her back, and stomped away. "Don't say I didn't do nothing 'round here! What a fucking snake woman..."

Oryou rolled her eyes. "I prefer 'dragon woman,' Izo!"

If he heard her joke over his own grumbling, he didn't say.

Oryou finished scrubbing her hands clean, shut off the sink, and dried them. She grabbed a fresh, small bag from the roll in the cabinet, and quickly made her way back upstairs, mutually ignoring Izo on the couch.

Once she got back up there and through the bedroom door, she did a once-over on Ryouma as she went to refill the trash.

He was eating, she noted. The crackers had been cracked open and several were missing, and he was putting a fork full of noodles in his mouth. When she finished with the trash can and stood up, he was drinking her tea, too.

Oryou smiled big. "Good boy, Ryouma! That's much better than breakfast. You'll be on your feet in no time."

Ryouma set his mug down with another hard cough. "You think so? Well, I haven't sneezed or needed to blow my nose in a while. Everything's congested up there, but that's a good sign, right?"

She considered for a moment. "No, not really. You'll probably be runny again soon."

His shoulders sagged. "Oh, well... This is what happens with the changing of the seasons, I suppose."

"That's why Oryou-san wears heavy coats and scarves in public," she told him, sitting down on the bed. She put her hand on his forehead to check his temperature, then caressed her knuckles over his cheek softly. "Well, besides being cold all the time. But it helps keep her from getting sick, too."

Ryouma closed his eyes. "Except when your careless husband gets sick and ends up infecting you. I'm sorry, Oryou-san, I always forget how terrible colds are when I don't have them. It's only when I come down sick that I remember how awful it is. I wouldn't wish this on anyone."

"Quit worrying about getting Oryou-san sick," she scolded. She brushed his bangs back. "Besides, you're a good patient, so she doesn't mind. She likes taking care of you."

Ryouma laughed at that. His chest heaved with the mucus in his lungs. "There's gotta be a thousand other ways you'd rather take care of me than clean up my dirty tissues."

"Hm, yeah, but this is fine," she pulled her arm away. "Oryou-san is going to make your favorite for dinner, since it also has chicken in it. She figures that will help regain your strength two-fold."

She was delighted at how Ryouma lit up immediately. "You are? That's the best news you could'a given me all day! I - "

He descended into yet another coughing fit, wrenching forward.

Oryou grabbed the tray to keep it still so nothing would dump.

Ryouma quickly grabbed a tissue and spit up in it. The gooey phlegm left a string trail to his mouth. He grimaced, and wiped his face with a dry corner. "Eww."

"It's okay," Oryou-san gestured for him to throw it out. "The more it comes up, the more you get out, and the better you get! By the way, how's your throat feeling? Is it still sore?"

"A little," he admitted, tossing the tissue and rubbing his throat. "The swelling's gone down. I don't feel like there's a frog sitting in there anymore, at least."

Oryou's eyes glazed over, imagining a literal visual of that. "A frog... If it really was a frog, all you'd have to do is swallow it... Oryou-san is getting hungry herself..."

Ryouma patted her shoulder urgently. "Oryou-san? Oryou-san! I can't swallow frogs whole!"

She jolted, snapping out of it. "Eh? Oh, right. Oryou-san thinks she's going to make herself frogs for dinner tonight, but she'll still make you your favorite, Ryouma."

He gingerly lifted the tray from his lap and set it on the bedside table. "Thank you, I appreciate it. But for the moment, I think I'm done with lunch. I can't eat that much right now."

"Huh? You've seen Oryou-san eat frogs plenty of times," she blinked, confused. "You've eaten them with her. What's the problem?"

He shook his head. "I think it was the thought of swallowing a frog whole...ah, but that's okay. It's probably because I was already feeling full, that's all."

Oryou nodded. She shoved the mug of tea back into his hands. "At least finish Oryou-san's super special tea with her secret ingredient for sickness! It will help. Hey, hey, she should get that patented, huh?"

Ryouma accepted the drink with a small smile. "You might have to reveal the secret ingredient, then, dear."

Oryou watched him raise the mug to his lips. "Hm, yeah, might not want to do that. Okay, it'll stay a family recipe between Ryouma and Oryou-san then!"

He lowered the mug with a chuckle. "Got it."

Oryou took the mug from him and replaced it on the tray. She tucked the covers higher on his waist. "Is there anything else you need Oryou-san to do for you? She'll do anything you want to make you feel better, Ryouma."

Ryouma yawned. "No, that's okay."

Oryou leaned close to him. "Are you certain? Because Oryou-san means it. Just ask and she will give it to you."

He shook his head again. "I think I just want to go to sleep."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Ryouma looked at her, his tired eyes fond. "Thank you for everything you've done for me, Oryou-san. I'm sure I'd be a lot worse off without all of your help. You're too good to me."

Her heart warmed. Oryou took the back of his head in hand and pressed a light kiss to his lips. "Oryou-san can never be too good to Ryouma. Like she said, she'll do anything for you. She loves you."

"Hmm." His eyes hooded. "I love you, too."

He leaned forward to give her another kiss. Oryou smiled into it, putting her hands on his shoulders.

When they parted, Ryouma's eyes widened. He quickly pushed her back and covered his mouth with his arm, coughing violently into his sleeve.

Oryou petted his thigh through the covers comfortingly. "You go to sleep. Oryou-san won't wake you this time."

She moved to stand.

Ryouma caught her wrist. "A-Actually, would you mind staying with me? You don't have to nap with me if you don't want to, but, uh, I wouldn't mind..."

She tilted her head. Her lips spread in a teasing grin. "Ryouma wants to cuddle with Oryou-san?"

He retracted his arm. Gripping the covers with both hands, he smiled sheepishly. "Yes, I do. If that's all right with you."

Oryou clicked her tongue. "Silly Ryouma, you know how much Oryou-san loves her beauty sleep. Of course she'll stay with you."

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Thank you, honey."

Oryou crawled up her side of the bed and pushed herself towards the middle. Ryouma scooted down under the covers, pulling the pillows back down with him. Oryou followed him. After they were both settled in, they turned to each other.

Oryou held open her arms. Ryouma snuggled up on top of her, pressing his face in her neck. He let out a long, warm sigh, wrapped his arms around her, and buried his face in the crook of her neck. She looped her arms around him and stroked his hair, smiling gently.

She meant it when she said she would do anything for Ryouma. Not just because he was sick. This man had changed her whole outlook on life with his kindness, and that had changed her entirely trajectory. Oryou loved him with her entire heart and soul. Anything he ever wanted, she would do her best to give him, if he only asked for it. She'd move mountains and dig new oceans just to see him happy.

Ryouma coughed again. It wasn't as hard this time, but he groaned as though it had been twice as worse as before. He removed his arms and rolled over on his side, burrowing further into the blankets. His eyes clenched shut, and he shivered.

Oryou guided him back to her, laying his head to rest on her breasts. She hugged him tighter in effort to keep him warm, and kissed the top of his head.

Ryouma relaxed against her. His body soon went limp, and she could both hear and feel the even steady of his breathing. He had finally fallen asleep.

Oryou ran her knuckles down the side of his head, watching him sleep with eyes full of love.

Yes, she would do anything for this man. She loved him so, so much. And nothing would ever change that.

Chapter 17: Blood

The Orochi had decided not to taste his blood. She would not eat this man after all, not even in death. She just couldn't.

Oryou licking her husband's injuries was a different matter. Ryouma, whether he was alive or a heroic spirit, had a tendency to get hurt, and those injuries needed to be healed. If they weren't, they would get worse, and using her healing saliva was quicker and more efficient than letting them heal on their own and risk a possible infection.

It was also an act of love. Oryou didn't heal just anyone, and even then, all others had been at Ryouma's behest. She healed him - and listened to him - because she cared for him. Because she wanted him to be healthy. Because she needed to save him him to be okay.

She knew he didn't always like it, especially in front of others. But Ryouma was a good boy who also listened to his wife, and let her care for him. He knew what she did was for the best, and trusted her judgement.

So when Oryou, the Orochi, licked Ryouma's blood from his wounds, it was not tasting nor eating him. It was taking care of him. Keeping him safe. Loving him. And that distinction was very important.

Chapter 18: Boo

"Boo!" Ryouma giggled and snorted one night after an evening out drinking with Izo and Takasugi.

It was a rare time he, as a servant, let alcohol affect him to the point of getting drunk. They had no known upcoming jobs or missions within Chaldea, so Oryou had encouraged him to have fun while hanging out with the guys. As long as he didn't come back smelling like Izo or as a lab rat of Takasugi's latest invention, of course. She had wanted him to cut loose and relax for once.

Unfortunately for her, Ryouma had returned to their room seemingly only able to say one word, which he inexplicably found the most hilarious thing in the world for the time being.

"Boo!" Ryouma shouted, throwing his arms out, and collapsed on the couch in a fit of laughter. "Hahahahaha!"

Oryou just flitted past him, not so much as glancing his way. She set the tall glass of water in her grasp on their bedside table, next to some aspirin she had gone and cajoled the infirmary into giving her once Ryouma had left for the night. Once she was done, she spun around in the air to finally face him, and put her hands on her hips.

"Where did Ryouma learn that word?" she demanded. Then paused, looking away in deep thought. "And why does Oryou-san's phrasing sound so familiar?"

Ryouma chuckled, sprawled out on the couch. "Fu-Fujimaru! Heeheheheh. Halloween is coming up. Master taught Izo and Takasugi and I - hahahaha! - what some modern termin- termin- words mean."

She dropped her arms, brow furrowed. "Oryou-san sees. She knows she's heard that word before. What does it mean, Ryouma?"

Her husband covered his mouth in an attempt to keep his laughter in. It failed. His hand flew away as he threw his head back. "Boo! It's what ghosts say when they scare you! And I'm a ghost - liner? Walker? - Guardian? But I don't say boo or scare anyone! Hahaha! I guess I'm not a proper ghost but, heeheehee, that's funny. Boo! Hahahaha!"

Oryou was thoroughly unimpressed. In fact, the reminder Ryouma was, in a way, a ghost put her in a sour mood.

"Yeah, yeah," she said dismissively, floating towards the couch. "Time for Oryou-san to haul your butt to bed. Keep your arms fastened around her neck at all times, and don't fall off the ride."

Ryouma snickered and giggled. "BOO! Who would have thought I should have been saying that all this time? How ridiculous. I don't like scaring people. Heeeheeeheee!"

Oryou floated in place in front of him horizontally, arms hanging before her and legs bent behind her. Her expression and voice were both deadpan. "Ryouma."

Ryouma suddenly jumped like he'd been spooked out of his seat. He gawked at Oryou with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.

"Oryou-san!" After a split second he calmed down, and remorse flooded his features. "I'm sorry, Oryou-san, did I scare you with my 'boo'?"

Oryou looked at him flatly. "No."

If anything, he became all the more remorseful. "Oh, honey."

Her brow knitted in annoyance when Ryouma, in a clear lapse of drunken judgement, gently reached for Oryou's arms, bringing her forward and turning her vertically to sit in his lap.

Oryou bared her teeth in warning (she wouldn't bite him because it was him and he was drunk, but the message had to be sent), but lost her drive when he pressed his forehead against hers and moaned.

"I'm sorry, Oryou-san," he apologized, as if he'd somehow deeply hurt her. "I won't say 'boo' again."

Oryou resisted the urge to roll her eyes to the ceiling. "Fine, whatever. Just let Oryou-san put you to bed. She'll lightly scold you in the morning if she feels like it."

Ryouma just shook his head against hers. "No more 'boo's."

She took that as an opportunity to whisk herself off his lap and unceremoniously swipe him up into her arms. Oryou swiftly flew across the room, and carefully deposited him under the covers.

Ryouma stared up at her in awe as she fluffed the pillow behind his head and drew the covers up to his chest. "You actually forgive me, Oryou-san?"

"Forgive you for what?" she asked tonelessly. "Oh, that; yeah, sure."

She shed her clothes in a burst of light, transforming into a nightgown. She threw up the covers on her side and tucked herself in, rolling over to face Ryouma.

He was still staring at her in awe. He actually sniffled. "I can't believe it. I have the best wife in the universe! I love you, Oryou-san!"

"Ryouma," she ordered, monotone, "go to sleep."

Oryou reached up briefly to turn out the bedside lamp, coating the room in darkness.

As she laid back down, though, she couldn't help a smug smirk at his compliment. Completely misplaced or not, it was true; she was the best wife in the universe.

"I love you, too, Ryouma," she told him in a lighter voice, and accepted his embrace when he scooted closer to hold her. She smoothed the hair on the back of his head softly. "Oryou-san loves you very much."

Chapter 19: Trick

He screamed, racing through the dark factory and throwing open the emergency exit. Even now, here, several rooms away from the scene of the massacre, he could still hear the screams and cries of his men, and the roaring and crunching of the dragon's mouth.

He didn't have any time to waste. He'd barely been able to slip away in the chaos. It was instinct; fight or flight. He hadn't meant to abandon his men to die, but he couldn't stay there either. This was less the act of a leader, and more the act of a human being: he had to get away to save his own life.

The moon was full in the sky, lighting up the harvested cornfield next door. The factory he and his men had been using as a base to produce their drugs was along abandoned, an old steel mill now surrounded by sprawling farmland. So sprawling that the neighboring farmers would have never noticed them sneaking in and out. He dove into the field, the crip, autumn air of an October night clawing at his exposed skin.

But that was nothing compared to the dragon's claws.

He almost wished there were stalks of corn surrounding him, instead of open field. Sure, his running would make noise, but at least he'd have cover from the dragon. In its haste to look for him -whenever it got done eating his men and came outside to hunt him down - it might get confused on his exact location, and give him a few, precious extra seconds to get ahead. He needed to get out of there.

The cornfield soon came to an end, and he ran across another harvested field of who knew what. There was a fork in the distance; one way that lead to hills and hills of more harvested plots of land, and the other way into the forest that blanketed the countryside between farms.

He made a quick decision, turning on his heel. When the fork came up to him, he booked it for the treeline.

Sweat dripped down his face and back as he ran. As much as the thought of seeking shelter and help plagued his mind, he couldn't help thinking about how'd he could have possibly gotten into this mess.

Who would have thought that dragons were real? And why the hell had one shown up in the factory!?

They were supposed to be having a meeting, him and the whole organization. They were supposed to be distributing the drugs soon - the ones that looked like ordinary substances, like crack and cocaine, but instead contained a deadly, contagious pathogen. Then they were going to sell the cure, which required a rare, specific substance only his underground connections could provide, on the black market. The pathogen would ideally pass from the addicts to their clean friends and families, and if they wanted to survive, they'd pay big bucks for the cure.

Governments would have pay big bucks for the cure, once it spread far enough and a few hundred million or so people died.

And tonight was supposed to have been the start of that. By Halloween alone, they would have been rolling in dough.

Except then a dragon of all things had appeared!? A long, scaly, dragon with long, black strands for hair and a head the size of a car had blown open the doors and slithered inside. Its body had blocked the exit - that one exit closest to his men - as it roared and began to devour them all.

He still couldn't believe it. Nonsensical things like that didn't just happen out of thin air! This was the real world! Dragons weren't real! He had to be dreaming.

Well, if he was, the nightmare wasn't ending any time soon. He wasn't waking up. He just kept running.

Finally, the bare branches, roots, and discolored leaves came to an end at a roadside. The full moon illuminated the street, but it was just that, street, for miles on either side. He didn't even see any farm houses to run to for help anymore.

Grasping his head in his hands, he hunched over and screamed through clenched teeth. He had no idea where to go from here!

Light flashed through his eyelids. The sound of an engine churned in the distance. He forced himself to open his eyes.

A car was coming this way.

He threw up his arms, and shouted, "HEEEEY! I NEED HEEELP!"

The car continued towards him. He jumped to the side of the road, waving his arms frantically. As it got closer, to his heart's delight, it slowed. Soon enough, it came to a stop. The driver opened the door and stepped out.

His heart leapt in excitement at who it turned out to be. "Sakamoto! I can't believe you're here!"

Sakamoto smiled rigidly. "I could say the same to you, Boss. What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere? The factory is about ten miles back."

Ten miles? Jesus, had he really run that far?

Nevermind. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that Sakamoto was here, and he had a car.

Sakamoto was one of his newest suppliers, having met him almost a year ago. The guy was pretty crafty and shady; he had no idea how he got his hands on some of the more mundane but necessary components their operation had needed to pull off their heist in such bulk. But he got the job done, and at such a cheap price, too; that made the boss man so happy, he didn't question it much.

He glanced at the car. Sakamoto had brought the Mrs. with him in the front seat, too, he saw.

He remembered learning the stone cold beauty in the schoolgirl outfit, whom Sakamoto had originally introduced as merely his partner and secretary, was his wife. It was back when he'd asked Sakamoto if he was fucking her - and if not, then he would absolutely take her off his hands for a night. Sakamoto had given him such a dark glare, he'd almost thought the guy was going to kill him on the spot with that gun of his. He'd been told he was lucky Oryou-san hadn't heard that. And that she was Sakamoto's wife.

She never did like him anyway, though, seemingly only preferring the company of her husband. Even now, she was glowering at him through the windshield.

He looked back at Sakamoto. He held his arms out wildly. "You won't believe this! A - A dragon attacked the factory! It just came out of nowhere and started eating people! We have to get out of here before it finds us. Y-You gotta believe me!"

"A dragon?" Sakamoto stepped up to him slowly, taken aback. "You sound like you've been taking one of your hallucinogens. Is that wise on a night like this?"

He shook his head fiercely. "No! I haven't! It was real, I tell you! Real! We have to go, now!"

He spun on his heel to go open one of the backdoors and throw himself inside, only for Oryou-san to open hers and step out. She pushed the door shut.

"Ryouma," she drawled her husband's name, "Oryou-san is getting impatient. No one's around. Can she eat this guy yet?"

He froze in place. What?

What had he just heard her say!?

Sakamoto chuckled humorlessly, tugging his hat forward. "Yeah, you're right. There's no point keeping the charade up out here."

"W-What!?" Sweat twinkled down the back of his neck. His voice heightened. "What did you just say, Sakamoto!?"

Oryou-san's smiled wide, showing off long fangs. Her eyes glowed a deep pink that soon turned red.

"Sorry to have tricked you, Boss," Sakamoto apologized, nothing in his voice actually apologetic. He might as well have been apologizing that a shipment was late due to forces out of his control. "But I guess this is the season for tricks, am I right?"

His heart pounded in his chest. "B-But why!?"

Sakamoto turned deadly seriously. He looked down at the street and pulled his hat over his eyes. "Do you seriously think humanity would have survived your disease-ridden drug? We researched it; your connections don't even have the means to produce as nearly as many cures as you would get people sick. Eventually, the pathogen would spread to the point that you couldn't keep up with demand, and that's just the underground alone. Everyone on this planet would die. That's why while Oryou-san was eating you lot, I personally destroyed your product. It's all gone."

"Yes," Oryou-san's fangs gleamed in the light, "and she's very sorry to have let one rat slip away from her belly."

His eyes widened. This wasn't good. Millions of dollars down the drain, and for what!?

He held out his hand. "W-Wait. If it's all gone, and the whole organization, why eat me? I can't replicate all that on my own! Who do you think I am!? Some kind of s-superhuman or s-something!?"

Sakamoto raised his gaze solemnly. "The last person to know how to bio-engineer the pathogen. That's who we know you are. You could rebuild with time, and destroy all of humanity. We can't take that risk."

The blood rushed in his ears. No, no! He couldn't die here. Not now, not ever! Not like this!

Anger flooded his core. He clenched his fists and opened his mouth wide. "WHO EVEN ARE YOU PEOP- !?"

But Oryou-san had already turned into a dragon and descended on him.

---

"How's your stomach feel? Not aching from so many humans at once, I hope," Ryouma said, sitting on the hood of the car.

Oryou scoffed. She sat down next to him and took his bicep in her hands. "Oryou-san used to eat so many more before the spear pinned her to the mountain all those years ago. She'll be okay. How are you, Ryouma? You seemed upset back there."

He shook his head. "No more upset than usual. Being a Counterguardian is...rough sometimes. That's all. We've talked about it before."

"Hmm." Oryou didn't appear satisfied with that response. Regardless, she leaned her head on Ryouma's shoulder. "Oryou-san will always be here if you want to talk about it more."

He smiled, closing his eyes and pressing his cheek over the top of her head. "Thank you."

Golden sparks began misting out of his body. The two pulled away.

Ryouma tipped his hat. "'Til next time?"

Oryou nodded. "'Til next time."

She took his shoulders in hand and drew him in for a last kiss. He returned it cheerfully.

Then they were both gone, leaving behind a quiet countryside night, an abandoned car with the headlights still on, and a factory and roadside filled with blood.

The next day, the authorities couldn't figure any of it out.

Chapter 20: Scary

Notes:

Time for some role reversal!

The Orochi had been pinned to the mountaintop for many, many uncountable years by the divine spear in his head. He had been in an awkward state ever since, unable to move from this place he had climbed on a pleasant whim, and that left him pretty, perpetually, embarrassed. He didn't even know why he'd been pinned in the first place.

Maybe it had something to do with his birth. He had been cast out of the heavens into the sea when he was born, to roaring chants of, "Wash it away! Wash it away!" The Orochi had a funny feeling his family didn't like him. His best hypothesis was that this spear had been supposed to kill him for good. Oh well.

Regardless, laying here the last who knew how long was misery compared to his previous freedom. He remembered washing ashore after he was cast out, nearly drowning until his body hit sand, and roaming just about everywhere across this new land, eating whatever crossed his path. It had been fun. Now he could only lay here, and eat whatever was unfortunate enough to crawl close to his mouth.

Yeah, overall it was pretty embarrassing.

Therefore, it was both a curious and humiliating thing when a young human woman suddenly ventured up the mountain, and did a surprised doubletake at the sight of him.

The Orochi closed his eyes a moment, brow flat in his embarrassment.

"...Well, this was unexpected," the human eventually spoke up, head cocked and eyes slightly narrowed. "I came for a spear and found an Orochi. My life never ceases to be interesting, does it?"

He looked up at her as much as being pinned would allow. He could sense an off-putting aura about this woman. She radiated business. Despite her puny size and his disbelief she could ever pose a true threat to him, his instincts were telling him this person was a dangerous predator. Like a mongoose! Whatever that was; he'd thought he'd heard of such a thing somewhere. But yeah, he could tell this woman was somehow scary. Plus, she had apparently wanted the spear in his head, without knowing the Orochi was trapped under it. If she wanted anything to do with this thing, it had to be for a serious cause.

Yet the Orochi was not scared of her. Her inability to truly threaten him aside, just her being here and wanting the spear made him quite curious about her.

"I wouldn't know, human," he replied to her statement, though he was also pretty sure she had been talking to herself. "Would you mind sharing how else your life is interesting?"

The human eyed him suspiciously. It wasn't long before her stare hardened. "Why is the spear of heaven stuck in your head?"

"Oh, that," he answered languidly, sliding smoothly over the fact she had ignored his question. "The heavens tried to kill me. I think."

Her eyes narrowed further. "You think?"

The predatory vibes increased tenfold.

"Yeah, yeah," the Orochi agreed cheerfully. "No one ever said anything to me, so I can't be sure - but what would you call stabbing a spear through someone's skull?"

A small smirk graced the human's lips. "Trying to kill you."

If the Orochi wasn't so strong, he might have shivered. Or not. Although he wasn't intimidated by her, he had to admire her predatory intimidation skills. She could be a killer. He bet she could catch many frogs that way.

Frogs. He hadn't eaten one in so long. The thought made him hungry. If this human did catch any frogs, he wanted to steal them from her. He wondered if he could possibly trick her into getting him some.

But the Orochi digressed. This human was fascinating. He wanted to learn more.

"Yes, that's right," he said. "I can't come to any other conclusion. So then, tell me, puny human: why do you desire the divine spear meant to kill a great Orochi? Especially when you didn't know it pinned said great Orochi to the mountaintop."

The human silently considered his words. Her fists clenched at her sides and unclenched. She took a dep breath, and raised her head, eyes clear and - to the Orochi's astonishment - filled with a determination that somehow wasn't predatory.

"I need it to get my sister back," she informed him resolutely. "Both my younger sisters were kidnapped by a horrible man. He sold the one to a brothel and the other to a Shimabara. I chased after him to where the brothel was, and attacked him. I had brought a dagger with me and threatened to use it on him. He threatened to kill me, so I dared him to do it. I figured I would die trying to get my sisters back, and I was absolutely willing to. But instead, he got her back from the brothel and gave her to me."

The Orochi perked up in awe. Or at least, as much he could pinned to the ground. "You scared him into submission?"

Her lips quirked up in another smirk. "Heh. That's one way of putting it."

He was intrigued. More than intrigued, actually.

"What happened next?" he inquired eagerly. "What about your other sister?"

"She was always safer at the Shimabara, so I've left her there for now." The human's fists tightened once more. "But the damn place won't give her up. So, I figured I'd need something better than a dagger to make my point."

The Orochi almost laughed aloud in astonishment. Instead, he screwed his eyes shut and let his belly rumble silently.

This was not a person he would want mad at him. Less for the non-existent threat she could pose to a being like him, and more because of her strength.

And boy, what strength she had. The Orochi didn't know his family too well, having been cast to the sea at birth and all, but he struggled to imagine himself in the same place as this human and making all the same decisions. He might have cracked, compared to her. She was certainly something else.

The Orochi had to say, he was falling in love.

"Okay," he said bluntly. "You can take the spear."

Yet the human instantly went back on guard, narrowing her eyes even further. The scrutiny in them alone was frightening enough to kill a human man.

Good thing the Orochi was an Orochi.

"What about you?" she demanded briskly. "What will you do if I free you? Eat me?"

At that, he had no choice than to laugh. "No. You're too interesting of a human. All the other ones I ate in the past never told me their life stories - although that was probably because I didn't give them time to. No, if it's what you desire, I shall go away, far away, and you may save your other sister alone."

Her brow furrowed. "'Alone'?"

"I do have one request." His words glided off his tongue like the water on the shore he'd washed up on. "If you'll allow it, I'd like to come with you, and help you get your sister back."

The human's eyebrows shot up beneath her bangs.

Her very cute bangs, the Orochi thought. They and the long locks at the sides framed her face nicely. Her very pretty, pretty face. He had never particularly noticed a human's appearance before, but he liked this one's.

Soon, her look of surprise morphed into the same interest he felt.

"Will you now?" The human spoke quietly. She frowned, thoughtful. "How can I trust you not go eat me?"

"You can't," the Orochi told her flatly. Unfortunately, that was the truth. He had nothing to offer her in exchange for her trust. "In order to take the spear, you have to pull it from my head. Once I've been released, I'll be free to do as I please. You only have my word that I won't hurt you. I'm sorry about that."

The look she gave him was intense curiosity. She stared at him a moment, and he waited patiently for her answer.

Except the human didn't give a verbal answer. Rather, she stepped forward, and yanked the spear out of his head.

For the first time in ages, the Orochi was able to lift its head high. He stood up, towering over the puny human.

He squinted at the spear, wary of it. He wasn't a fool. At the very least, if this human did indeed allow him to travel with her, she had to know she would have the spear for protection. If nothing else, she could at least pin him somewhere for eternity again.

He hoped she wouldn't do that. She gave him the impression that if he so much as spooked her, she wouldn't hesitate to pose a true threat to his freedom.

Regardless, whether it was now or later, he would have to make a clean break from her -

The human casually tossed the spear to the side. It fell to the ground lazily, rolling over on its side.

The Orochi's eyes widened. He stared at the human, then the spear, and back to her. "Why did you do that?"

She grinned big, teeth gleaming. A predatory light shined in her eyes, yet somehow, the Orochi could find no real malice in them. "What do I need a stupid spear for when I have a great Orochi next to me? You'll scare the socks off their stupid feet. And if they still refuse to give my sister back, you can just eat them all."

The Orochi wasn't totally sure about that last part. Now that he had met her, he was very curious about humans. But he also couldn't say he was against a meal if the situation ended up proving fruitless.

Besides, he wanted to see this human happy. She made his heart thump in an unusual way. He found he liked that.

"So I may come with you?" he wanted to make certain.

The human nodded confidently. "Absolutely! And anywhere else I go after, if you please."

The Orochi started.

He had definitely fallen in love.

In an instant, he changed his shape to a human man. He could not and didn't care to replicate human clothing, so he stood naked before her, blue eyes shining sharply, tinted red in the sunlight. He smiled wide at her.

"All right," he said happily. "Show me the way."

The human jerked in bafflement. She looked him up and down and frowned. "You're coming like that!? Eh, I guess you will have to go in disguise so no one else freaks out about a giant Orochi attacking the city. Okay, this is fine; we'll just have to get you some clothes."

The Orochi didn't mind that either way. But a thought did occur to him.

"What's your name?" he asked.

The human blinked. "Oh. I'm Narasaki Ryou. Or Oryou, if you will."

"Oryou," he repeated, testing the name on his tongue. He smiled again. "I think I will. I'm the great Orochi."

Oryou tilted her head. "Just 'the great Orochi'? No, that won't do. I have to call you something. Besides, you need to blend in with the other humans. Hm, what should everyone call you?"

The Orochi shrugged. "I'll accept any name that you give, as long as it's not embarrassing. And it's from you."

She paused, gawking at him. She coughed, and stood up straight. "Well, I'll think of something. In the meantime, it's a long way down the mountain. We better get going."

"I'll take care of that," he offered. He transformed back into an Orochi and stretched out before her. "Climb on my head. You can ride on me."

Oryou did another doubletake. "Woah. Okay."

She hesitantly climbed on top of him, settling herself carefully on his skin.

"I can turn into a dragon, too," he added. "I am the great Orochi. You'll probably have more room to sit."

He morphed into his dragon form. Scales lined his body, a snout grew on his face, and fluffy fur not unlike his human hair floated in the air above his neck.

Oryou popped up out of the fluff. He could feel her hands gripping chunks of it for purchase. "I'm good now! Hey, do you know the way to any city? Including far away ones?"

"No," he replied cheerfully, "but I'm sure you could point me in the right direction."

She laid down on her belly atop him, smiling with half-lidded eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I can do that. Hey, I think I just thought of a name for you, great Orochi."

The Orochi perked up in excitement. "What? What?"

"Ryouma."

He tilted his head. "'Dragon horse'?"

She laughed softly. It was the sweetest sound in the world. His heart thudded faster.

"It's a real name," Oryou insisted. She petted his fur. "I picked it because you're a great, fearsome dragon, and my trusty steed, aren't you?"

Yes, Ryouma was. If he could in this form, he would have blushed.

He coiled his head around to face her, earnest. "Oryou, will you marry me?"

Her face dropped. Her eyes widened and cheeks went pink.

How cute, Ryouma thought blithely.

"Why?" she asked simply.

"Because Ryouma wants to be your husband," he explained just as simply.

She gawked again at him. Her cheeks burned a dark red. She craned her own neck around quickly, and muttered, "Ask my mother."

"Okay." Ryouma lifted off the ground, and felt Oryou grasp onto him tight. They flew down the mountain. "Then Ryouma and Oryou can get married."

"Hm, w-we'll s-see."

He could sense her heart thudding faster, too.

Ryouma couldn't wait to marry Oryou and follow her wherever she wanted to go. She was a scary woman, but he could plainly see the kind heart within her. A very strong, kind heart. He wanted to get to know it more.

And if that involved him getting a little scary from time to time...well, so be it.

As long as he had Oryou at his side, this was looking to be a bright new chapter of the Orochi Ryouma's life.

Notes:

I lifted parts of the real Narasaki Ryou's life for this. Her sisters really did get kidnapped and sold off, and she really did attack the kidnapper to get the one back. Ryouma actually helped her to get the other one back, too. It's a fascinating story, and we know about it because of Ryouma's letters to his older sister! I also remember reading somewhere that Ryouma asked her mom for Oryou's hand in marriage (her father had passed away by this point) and I thought that was too cute to not reference.

Chapter 21: Fear

The ocean was dark and cold. It was hard to move in, her body thrashing and swaying against the hard pulls of the current. Water flooded into her open mouth, roaring both in rage and desperately for help, and poured down her throat.

"Wash it away! Wash it away!"

She had been thrown into the ocean, discarded by those who should have cared for her. Now she was drowning. She was drowning. She was going to drown.

Somehow, she violently washed on shore. She flailed in the sand, and immediately set about eating anything she could in the vicinity.

The great Orochi hated the ocean.

It was the first place she ever feared.

---

Ryouma loved the ocean.

"I used to sit out late just staring at it as a boy," he admitted sheepishly, as if that were a tad embarrassing, but the nostalgic smile and light in his eyes said otherwise. He remembered it fondly. "I think it would be fun to explore the world on my own ship someday."

Oryou only stared at him thoughtfully, on guard.

Ryouma ended up owning a sort of ship company, which turned into his own, personal navy. It was there Oryou saw him light up at the sea.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he said in awe. "I'd like to go out there myself someday."

Oryou just turned away slightly. She helped him run his business-turned navy, but she had no desire to get into, or on, or close to the water itself.

It still frightened her.

Ryouma had a plan for this country.

"I'm going to wash it clean," he explained to her, confident in the vision that only he seemed to see in the vacant air of their room. Oryou watched him stare up at seemingly nothing, a strange love mixed with the determination in his eyes. "I want everyone to be happy when I'm done. Maybe that's not entirely possible, but I have to try. I'll wash this country clean. I'll wash it all away."

Oryou looked at him in surprise. She had heard a similar phrase before.

But that phrase's meaning had been entirely different. Ryouma was a kind man with a kind goal, which he was willing to chase after. It was not the same.

Washing Japan clean didn't mean the same as when the gods had discarded her. He wasn't abandoning it for being flawed. He cared for everyone to the point of taking responsibility for even those who weren't his.

Her husband was a different sort than her parents had been.

---

Oryou walked, not floated, across the sand with heavy legs and an even heavier heart.

Ryouma was dead.

She walked towards the shore, where the sand grew wet on her soles.

It was her fault. She wasn't there to save him this time. She had come back too late.

The wet waves lapped at her bare toes.

Her husband was dead. She would never see him again. See, hear, touch, or feel. She desperately, desperately wanted those things again.

The sand beneath the water was soft and pliant beneath her feet. The water licked at her kimono and ankles.

Ryouma had loved the ocean.

It was just as cold as she remembered.

Oryou had been meant to be washed away by the ocean. Now she would be.

Under the surface was just as dark as she remembered.

She gasped for breath, and the water entered and poured down her throat just as it had before. Her adrenaline rushed, and she flailed.

Yet she didn't seek to be saved this time. She was too exhausted for rage. One way or the other, the ocean was where she belonged. She had finally come back to it.

Oryou wanted to die. She wanted to fall asleep and never wake up again.

Her vision blurred in the darkness. Her limbs went limp, buoyant in the deep currents. As her body began to sink, she felt it begin to morph back into an Orochi.

Her fears could take her. She had already lost everything anyway.

---

Ryouma woke her back up.

Oryou had dreamt of him, many times. In reality, that had been her projecting her soul to be with him as a Counterguardian. She had wanted to be with him so badly that she had sensed and gone to him every time he was summoned, no matter where he was.

She had been asleep at the bottom of the ocean for a long time.

It turned out that Oryou really did belong to the ocean, but not in the way she'd thought.

---

"Do you really only like the ocean because of me?" Ryouma asked one night, soon after Saitama had been resolved, and they were laying in bed in their room at Chaldea.

"Eh?" Oryou lifted her head from his chest to look at him. "What kind of question is that? Weren't you thankful when we were talking to Fujimaru earlier?"

He looked at her thoughtfully. "I am thankful. It's just, thinking about it, I don't want you hurting yourself for me. If the ocean really scares you that much..."

She shook her head. "Oryou-san wouldn't hurt herself for Ryouma. Well, not like that anyway. She meant it when she said she can like it for Ryouma. Because of Ryouma."

He cocked his head. "Yeah? Why is that?"

She slid her hand up his chest, the tips of her fingers brushing his opposing collar bone. "Because you made it different."

He frowned. "I did? How?"

"By being you."

Oryou could see that he didn't understand. Nevertheless, he seemed to let that part go.

"But you're not forcing yourself?" he repeated warily.

"No."

"You still don't like it on your own, though?"

She shrugged. "Not really."

Ryouma's eyes were soft. "Are you still scared of the ocean?"

Oryou was silent for a minute, thinking. She came to her conclusion. "Not enough for it to matter. She likes our new Noble Phantasm. And the beach sounds fun for the first time in Oryou-san's life. And being a ship captain, and riding on a boat with Ryouma! Basically, as long as Ryouma's there, Oryou-san has nothing to fear. Because he changed it for her."

"...I see," he finally said. Ryouma lifted his hand to lay over hers, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. His tone was more solemn than earlier in the day. "Thank you, Oryou-san."

Oryou laid her head back on his chest. Under his hand, she rubbed her hand in an affectionate circle over his chest, listening to the even rhythem of his breathing and steady sound of his heart beating.

"I suppose it's a similar situation with the spear?" he added. "The Ama-no-Sakahoko scared you at first in Saitama, but we wield it together now."

She nodded against him. "Yes."

Ryouma was silent a moment. "I'm glad these things don't scare you like they used to. I'd hate to see you in pain because of me."

"Silly." She curled her fingers into the fabric of his clothes. "Oryou could never be scared of you."

"That's not what I meant."

She looked up at him once more, unblinking.

"Oryou-san isn't scared if it's Ryouma," she told him unwavering. "Not you, Ryouma. You make things not scary anymore. You don't hurt, you help. You don't cause pain, you strive for happiness. Oryou-san trusts you because of that. She has no reason to fear those things anymore, not like she used to."

He stared at her, and then gave a genuine smile. "Thank you, Oryou-san. I'm glad to hear it."

She mirrored his smile.

Oryou laid back down on his chest one last time and closed her eyes, feeling more at peace than she had in a long, long time.

Chapter 22: Lost

"Are we lost?" Oryou deadpanned, floating in place at Ryouma's side.

Ryouma's eyes searched the map. He scratched his head awkwardly. "Maybe? There's supposed to be a fork in the road here. Or maybe it's up ahead? We might just have to walk a little further."

Oryou glanced first up at the sky, then between the trees lining the road. "It's getting dark, Ryouma. The nocturnal predators that live in this forest are going to wake up soon. Hey, hey, can Oryou-san eat them?"

He smiled tightly. "Let's be mindful of if we're even being attacked first, all right? Now let me see...we passed the bend by the ravens' pond...and the clearing by the old, abandoned inn...and that wilting meadow..."

Oryou frowned, craning her neck up to the sky. "It's only getting darker. The sun is setting pretty fast, yeah?"

"Yeah, yeah," Ryouma agreed absently. He cupped his chin between his finger and thumb. "The fork in the road should be next. So why isn't it? Maybe we do just need to keep walking forward? The end of the forest should only be five kilometers down the right path..."

Her brow knitted together impatiently. "You won't be able to see in the dark, Ryouma. There's no moon tonight. Let Oryou-san carry you over the forest instead."

Her husband was so lost in the map, he didn't respond to her.

Oryou scowled and grunted.

In a heart beat's time, she swooped up Ryouma by the legs and back, lifting him bridal style, and began her ascent into the sky.

Ryouma finally snapped out of his thoughts. He looked at Oryou, looked down below as the tops of the trees underneath them, and blushed heavily. He put his arms around her neck, laughing nervously.

"This works, too," he acknowledged lightly. "Thank you, Oryou-san."

She lifted her head in pride. "Oryou-san will always carry you when you need it, Ryouma. Even if you're being too stupid to notice you need carried."

A sweat drop formed on his forehead. "Thanks again, dear... Can I ride on your back?"

"No," she said blithely. Oryou hefted him up slightly and grinned. "Maybe when her arms get tired, but Oryou-san likes carrying you like this for now."

Ryouma blushed harder. He buried his face in her neck with an awkward chuckle.

They swiftly found their way out of the forest and to their much less creepy destination.

Chapter 23: From the Deep

"Captain Sakamoto!" one of Ryouma's crewmen burst open the door to the captain's cabin. "There's trouble on the deck! Mermaids!"

Ryouma jumped in place where he stood, dashing away from the table-sized map he was examining to the door. "What!?"

He raced past the crewman, who followed him out to the main deck.

Already, Ryouma could see them in the ocean. There had be more than a dozen - no, two dozen dark haired faces and pale shoulders floating in the sea, their seductive smiles lined with sharp teeth. He clenched his jaw.

They were barely to the threshold between Japanese territory and international waters. His trading company had run exports and imports between Japan and its partner countries for years now, but he had never encountered any mermaids before. He'd seen enough empty ships bring themselves back to port to believe in them, but he'd never seen one before. And certainly not on a regular route of theirs, especially on a part so close to home.

And already, he could see several of his crew dashing for the railings and throwing themselves overboard.

"Everyone!" Ryouma called out. "Go inside! Get below deck!"

None of the men appeared to listen to him. Ryouma looked around frantically. They all either stood in a captivated daze, or were throwing themselves under. Even the crewman who had alerted him to the crisis was standing behind him in a trance, gazing out into the sea like it mystified him.

Ryouma took a deep breath, desperately trying to think of what to do. These mermaids weren't quite the kind of old legend, not here in Japan or in other parts of the world. Their bodies didn't give immortality, nor did they need to sing to lure their victims in. These mermaids could hypnotize their targets at will, one human at a time.

If it was only one mermaid out there it would still be bad, but manageable. She would only be able to entice one member of the crew at a time, and they could simply haul the sorry son of a gun below deck before he got the chance to dive. Meanwhile, they all could get below deck. Mermaid hypnotism had a much weaker effect the more distance and barriers were blocking the target.

But this? This was just enough for his entire crew -

Ryouma heard doors slam and boots running from behind.

He whirled around, eyes wide.

The rest of the crew had come racing outside.

He threw out a hand to stop them. "Wait, go back inside - !"

It was too late. They all froze, their eyes locked on one of the fiends in the water. Some stood ramrod still, while others gradually approached the railings.

From behind his back, Ryouma heard another loud splash.

"Damn it!" he cursed, turning around and jetting for the part of the rail the noise had come from.

By the time he got there, running into the side guardrail and gripping it tight with both hands, the crewman was already in the mermaid's arms. She tickled the beard on his chin, giggling and chuckling with the man, her eyes hooded. Then, with her arms around his back, she vaulted beneath the surface with yet another splash, leaving only bubbles in their wake.

Ryouma reached a useless arm over the rail, brow furrowed. "No!"

He knew all of his crewmates well. That man had a family at home. He was utterly faithful to his wife, and even scorned the handful of cheating husbands on board who liked to chase foreign prostitutes when they landed in other countries. He had been a hard worker and good friend in the three years he had worked with Ryouma. If even he could fall so quickly and wholeheartedly under that mermaid's spell, then the rest of them were doomed.

They needed to get below deck.

Using the guardrail as a balance, Ryouma pushed up and twisted his torso around, eyes darting from man to man left on board. Another splash, followed by another, sounded. One jumped over the rail on the other side of the ship. Splash! Half the crew had to be gone by now.

Ryouma clenched his fists, steeling himself. He was going to have to start grabbing people one by one and hauling them inside himself. He had no other choice. It wouldn't save everyone left, but he could at least save some.

He ripped one hand from the rail and pushed forward, ready to release his other hand when -

The world went rosy.

Not in terms of color. Ryouma's vision was fine, the same as usual. Not in terms of smell either; obviously, there were no flowers here. More like in feeling. His whole body relaxed, and strangely enough, it didn't feel against his will. Not sure what exactly he was doing, Ryouma turned back towards the sea, and put his other hand back on the rail.

There.

She was maybe ten meters away from the ship. His eyes locked on this sole mermaid. Her pale skin was flecked with water droplets. Her soaked hair stuck to her face and shoulders, the rest floating in a messy semi-circle around her. Her eyes were a gorgeous pink in uniquely shaped irises. A cute, sharp nose sat in the middle of her face. Two fangs jutted from her upper gums, pearly white and gleaming in the sun. The mermaid wiped a stray lock out of her face, water dripping from her hand, and smiled widely at him.

She was the most beautiful woman Ryouma had ever seen.

The mermaid swam a bit closer. Ryouma could see her fellow mermaids in his field of view, but they were out of the way and his eyes were only for her.

"Hello," she called up to him coyly, tilting her head up.

Ryouma vaguely wondered if she was really speaking to him. Her mouth had moved, but he'd heard no other mermaid voices as the others had thrown themselves in. Maybe this was part of the hypnotism.

Nevertheless, he couldn't help himself.

"Hello," he replied, voice cracking like he was still a teenager.

His heart pounded in his chest.

Ryouma was pretty certain he had just fallen in love.

This woman was the love of his life, and he'd finally found her.

But a part of him was still wary of the mermaid.

She giggled up at him, tucking the lock of hair behind her ear. "What's your name?"

"Ryouma," he answered slowly. "What's yours?"

Her eyes narrowed in haughty pride, as if she was playing hard to get. She leaned back in the water, exposing the slightest bit of her chest. One of her hands curled over it. "Oryou-san."

San. The honorific wasn't lost on him. Did mermaids even have those in their culture, or was she trying to appeal to him by copying his?

Whatever the case, Oryou straightened up.

"Ryouma," she whined his name with a pleasant grin, and he found himself hyperfixated on the pull of her light pink lips. "Come down to Oryou-san. She wants you."

She gasped the word 'wants,' as if they were already in bed together and riled up.

Ryouma's pants went unfathomable tight. He didn't know he could get that hard that fast. His lower region was aching to be released from his clothes.

He wanted to hold Oryou close against him and feel her skin on his. He wanted inside her. He wanted to kiss her and make her his wife.

Everything in his body, most of all his hands and legs, told him to leap overboard and go to her.

But if he did that, the other part of him reminded, she would drown and eat him, and he would die. She would never be his wife.

"I'm sorry," he told her, and was surprised by how sincere his own words were. "I can't do that."

Ryouma knew she was lying to him. Yet his whole heart believed she really did love and want him. It was odd how unperturbed he was by that contradiction.

Oryou frowned. She glanced around, suddenly uncertain. No one had ever probably turned her down before. She didn't know how to respond to that.

Finally, she smiled sweetly, and raised herself further out of the water.

Ryouma blushed dark red.

Her breasts were in total view. They were round and full, tipped off by stiff, pale pink nipples, with a narrow valley between them. He imagined touching them, squeezing them gently and hearing her gasp in pleasure. He could pinch those nipples, put them in his mouth, and feel her pet his hair as she sighed. His cock could fit perfectly in that valley, and he could see himself pushing her breasts up on either side of it, while she smiled at him, before sticking her tongue out to lick the head.

His hips gave an involuntary jerk towards the guardrail.

Ryouma covered his mouth in shock.

His heart beat faster. This wasn't like him. He enjoyed women and sex as much as the next man, but he wasn't a perverted individual. He didn't eye a woman just because she happened to be in his view, nor was sex - especially the graphic details! - the first thing to come to mind when he was confronted with nudity. This had to be the mermaid's hypnotism.

Oryou smiled in delight, traces of a smirk given away by the slight downward curve of her brow. "Ryoooomaaaa. Oryou-san needs you to come to her. Please touch her. She loves you."

Another gasp on the word, like he was already rocking inside her and hitting the right place.

Ryouma lowered his head and groaned, both at the thought of thrusting into her and making her gasp like that, and hearing that she loved him.

How could this ever be a trick?

Only it was, it really was.

He uncovered his mouth and shook his head, raising his gaze to her apologetically. "No. I really can't."

It was Oryou's turn to blush now, but not for the same reason. She glared at him in anger, bolting forward.  Her breasts sank beneath the lapping waves, leaving just her cleavage in sight.

Ryouma's cock strained in his pants. If he didn't act soon, he was going to cum in them.

Go to her, everything in him told him. Go to her!

It's a trap. Don't, the voice in his head reminded him.

"WHY!?" Oryou howled. Her eyes widened and glowed. "Why are you resisting!? Why don't you come to Oryou-san!?"

"I'm sorry," he repeated, swallowing hard. "I don't want to die."

Oryou jerked her head back in surprise. She looked him up and down analytically, expression offended.

Suddenly, the laughter of the other mermaids cut in.

Oryou turned her head sharply, cheeks pink.

Ryouma followed her stare. Most of the other mermaids were gone, he saw, but a handful remained above the surface, empty-handed. He saw one lick blood off her sharp teeth, pleased. The rest smirked and giggled at Oryou's expense.

"What's wrong, Oryou?" one asked. "Is your spell not strong enough?"

"Are you going easy on him?" a second playfully accused.

"Or is your power weakening?" a third laughed.

Oryou's face burned from top to bottom. She glowered darkly, whirling on Ryouma in a rage. But then her face somewhat relaxed, and she smiled cruelly.

"Ryouma," she sighed, her soft, sultry voice a contrast to her expression. She pushed her breasts up above the surface once more, touched her collarbones, and swam closer to the ship. "You're breaking Oryou-san's heart. She loves you, wants you, needs you! You're so handsome with that slicked back hair and open naval uniform. Oryou-san can't contain herself! And your nature - it made her fall for you so hard. She can't live without you. Don't make her live without you! Ryouma, Ryouma, how can you be so harsh and uncaring? Does Oryou-san mean nothing to you!?"

The rosiness of the air was heavier now, intoxicating - suffocating.

Ryouma's hands struggled to keep a grip on the rail. He had to fight himself to keep from going over it.

I don't know you at all, he thought through grit teeth.

Yet his heart said otherwise. He was desperate to throw himself in the sea and soothe her broken heart. He was mad at himself for making her think he didn't care about her; he wanted to rectify that right away. He wanted to show her just how much he loved and cared for her.

Oryou was the love of his life. She was the only one for him. Ryouma wanted to marry her, live out the rest of his days with her, and crawl between her legs - on her tail? - every night.

He could have her in all ways, in every way, right now. He just needed to apologize and go to her.

Go to her.

Ryouma steeled his eyes shut. He fought against himself, until one side finally won. He opened his eyes.

Oryou was the first and only one he saw. She might as well have been inches from his face for all he cared about the rest of the world right now. She was so beautiful, and she loved him, and her breasts and his cock would go so well together -

Ryouma choked on his words. "I'm so sorry, Oryou-san. But I know you'll just drown me and eat my corpse at the bottom of the ocean. I can't come to you."

Oryou's face dropped into a pained grimace. The sounds of the other mermaids' laughter rang through the air. Oryou's face went scarlet. Her bottom lip trembled and eyes filled with tears.

Ryouma looked at her in sympathy. Whether it was a lie or not, this was the love of his life being made to cry by bullies. Besides, he knew how rough that could be for any person, but he could not stand that for her.

"Hey!" he barked at the other mermaids, who gazed up at him in surprise. "Don't you dare mock her. She's not the weak one here, it's me; I've always had an unusually strong will. If it were any of you trying to enchant me, you'd get the same results! So leave her alone!"

The group gave him silent, wide-eyed stares.

He turned back to Oryou. She was just as silent and wide eyed as she blinked back her tears.

Ryouma lowered his chin to his chest. He took a deep breath. Steadily, he unclenched the rail from his fists, shoving himself backwards. He stumbled, caught himself, and looked around the deck.

There was no one else here.

Everybody else was gone.

The windy air was somehow stiff on the equally silent boat.

Ryouma slowly paced himself towards the doors, intent on reaching the command room. He made a point to keep his eyes off the ocean on all sides.

The rosiness in the air only increased as he stepped further. All he could think about was Oryou-san, Oryou-san, Oryou-san. How he was making a mistake by leaving her, how she was going to cry more because of him, how he loved her most in the entire world and needed to go to her - !

Ryouma grasped at the door, fingers fidgeting to get it open. He bolted inside and slammed it behind him, leaning his back on the metal.

The rosiness decreased now. He was still under the mermaid's spell, but it was no longer at its peak.

Ryouma forced himself onward for the command room, his legs and desire to see Oryou dragging him down as he walked.

Once he got there, he gradually set to the task of turning the ship around. He had no crew; he had to reach the nearest land, which was home, by himself. Manning a ship all by himself was not easy, especially under the spell, but he had no choice than to do it.

The ship soon set sail for Japan. Ryouma waited for something, anything to happen in the form of the mermaids' retaliation, but nothing ever did. Instead, the rosiness in his head faded the farther the ship sailed, until it at last snapped out of head.

Ryouma blinked, utterly confused. He didn't love the mermaid. He didn't want sex with the mermaid. And the fact she had been hypnotizing him in order to eat him was suddenly such an indisputable fact, he had to wonder how he could have ever believed the mermaid was at all in love with or attracted to him. It was such a ludicrous idea.

His erection was definitely gone. How embarrassing that he'd ever had one on deck to begin with.

But what was more daunting was the fact just like that, all of his crew was dead. Ryouma was the only one left alive on the ship. As soon as that reality hit home, he vomited on the floor.

He couldn't understand why he had survived, though. All the survivors from the stories he'd heard had lived because of the distance and barriers between them and the mermaids. Ryouma had been outside with the rest of his men, and Oryou had clearly been trying hard to get him to jump.

The only explanation he could think of was the same he'd defended Oryou with; he really did have a strong will.

But it was still so unbelievable.

The only thing Ryouma didn't regret or need to reason through was defending Oryou from the other mermaids. Whatever else, he could hardly hate a species for hunting and eating one of their natural prey; he might as well hate humans for eating plants and animals, if he were to truly condemn the mermaids. So when he had seen her being bullied and brought to tears, well, he couldn't just let that stand. Besides, he'd been bullied as a child, so he knew first hand what that was like.

Other than that, though, Ryouma only knew one thing for sure -

He was dreading informing his crew's families' of their losses.

---

"Hey, you! Sea scum!"

Ryouma pried his eyes away from his ship, whose contents had just been stripped to be sent to another ship for transport. He couldn't exactly deliver them himself with no crew. He looked over his shoulder over the edge of the dock, and froze.

Oryou glared daggers up at him from the water.

Ryouma spun around, heart beating fast. He took a thoughtless step closer to the edge, and looked down at her in equal parts fear and bewilderment. The fact that she was floating more than a meter below him failed to calm him.

He glanced around. Most of the ships meant to depart had already left for the day, and there were no currently incoming ships to port. His ship was already indefinitely docked and bare of its goods. The closest people were all the way down the wooden dock, standing on actual land. None of them were looking his way, and were too far away to hear either of them speak. That didn't mean they were safe, though.

Mermaids had never been spotted or found hunting this close to land. That was a godsend. Why it was, Ryouma had never really thought about, but now that Oryou was here, the hair on the back of his neck stood up.

If she used her hypnotism here - If the rest of her mermaid colony showed up as well - If the port didn't evacuate right now - !

"Hey, scum, look at Oryou-san right now before she makes you."

The world wasn't rosy to Ryouma, at least not yet. Oryou, however, sounded like she meant business. There was no awkward gasping in her emphasis either. It was a much less embarrassing, pure threat.

Ryouma reluctantly looked back down at her.

Oryou glared amongst the waves. She appeared exactly as she had before, and Ryouma had to admit, she was a highly beautiful woman. Regardless, without the hypnotism, he didn't find himself attracted to her. She looked stunningly normal, if absolutely aggravated, to him.

"You humiliated Oryou-san yesterday!" she accused viciously. "Why didn't you fall for her spell and get eaten!? Give Oryou-san an explanation, or she'll eat someone off the harbor!"

Ryouma gulped. Best to keep her attention then, he figured, than to let her carry out that threat. Now if he could just think of a way to alert everybody else to evacuate without letting Oryou know...

"It's like I told the others," he explained unevenly. He averted his eyes. "I have an unusually strong will. I can say for certain - ! I, uh, I did fall in love with you. And, um...lusted you. Unfortunately, my will to live was stronger than my will to go to you. I'm sorry."

Oryou gave him a flat expression that essentially said he was an idiot.

She sneered. "Don't act like you aren't glad Oryou-san couldn't eat you, worthless scum."

Sweat pickled on Ryouma's forehead. He smiled anxiously, unsure of what to say next.

He needed to alert the others. From this distance, he couldn't simply yell to them without Oryou reacting, so how was he supposed to get their attention?

Against his better judgement, Ryouma stepped up to the edge of the dock and crouched down. Maybe if someone happened to glance over and see him visibly talking to the water, they would put two and two together.

It wasn't a great plan, but it was the best he could do for the moment.

Oryou scowled up at him.

"Okay, I won't," Ryouma agreed. He dropped the smile. "I'm happy I'm not dead. But that doesn't change the fact you and your colony ate my crew. I spent my entire evening last night informing grieving families that their loved ones were never coming home. Do you know how much that hurts?"

Oryou rolled her eyes hard. She slipped a lock of dripping hair out from behind her ear - the opposite one of yesterday - and flicked it in front of her shoulder. A few droplets actually made it as high as the toes of Ryouma's boots.

"A colony? Is that what you call us?" she scoffed. "Oryou-san means, it's not like she doesn't know all of those girls; but we aren't a 'colony.' Mermaids are very individualistic, you know. We only congregate like that when it's either time for mating or there's food around. Guess what case you were."

Ryouma frowned. As interesting as that new information was, she had completely avoided his question.

Ah, well. As he thought before, he couldn't hold much of a grudge against a species hunting another species of prey, lest he condemn his own diet. Would an elderly hen be upset to find out her grown daughter had been eaten by humans? Maybe, maybe not; he still loved chicken in his favorite dishes. Even if he did care about that mother hen's reaction, he wasn't going to give eating chicken either.

His point here wasn't to dissuade Oryou from eating people. She was going to do that regardless of what he said. All he cared about was making sure she didn't eat anyone here and now.

"So what do you want from me?" Ryouma cut to the chase. "You clearly followed me home. Mermaids don't usually approach land. Why did you? Surely, you don't believe your spell will work on me a second time."

Shr huffed. "Just because we don't doesn't mean we can't. The water here isn't as shallow as on a beach. Much easier to swim and move around. But all the noise and hubbub is annoying. We like our peace and quiet, you know?"

Ryouma nodded slowly. It was a decent explanation. "I see. And me?"

Oryou looked at him curtly.

All of a sudden, the world went rosy.

Oh no, Ryouma thought, as his body relaxed and heart swelled. There's my answer, at least.

"Oryou-san," he sighed, eyes roaming from her pretty face, down her pale neck, to her collarbones. He wanted to cover them all in kisses and hickeys. "Whatever you do, I'm not jumping in the water. It didn't work yesterday, so why would it work now?"

She put on a doll-like smile, tilting her head and curling the lock of hair around her finger. She lifted herself up much like yesterday, showing off her breasts.

Ryouma's pants tightened. He really hated this part of the spell. He was a few years short of thirty, not thirteen years old. And it had to keep happening in public, too...

"Ryoumaaaa," Oryou dragged out his name. She giggled cutely. "Ooo, Oryou-san just noticed your hair! It was all slicked back before, but now it's in a simple ponytail? She likes this look on you, too. It's very sexy."

Ryouma doubted that so much.

Nevertheless, under her hypnotic spell, he blushed and laughed quietly at her compliment. "Is that really the best you got?"

"You don't want to touch Oryou-san?" she asked in a pouty voice, pursing her lips. "You don't want to feel her breasts, or put your cock in her? You don't want to let Oryou-san make you feel good?"

She threw herself on her back, letting her tail rise to the surface. It was long, inky black, and smooth, with gray, transparent fins swaying in the water on the sides, and a pointed end slithering back and forth on the surface. It wasn't at all what one typically imagined a mermaid tail to look like.

A sea serpent? Ryouma guessed, raising a brow. I suppose mermaids don't all look like the same species of fish on their lower half. A serpent, though? Well, as long it's of the sea, I guess that's fine...?

Oryou placed her hands right below the junction where her human torso met the serpent's tail. Ryouma locked his gaze between them, and realized there was a slit there. She pulled on the rubbery skin, revealing what was inside.

Ryouma's eyes widened to an impossible point. If it weren't for her spell, if any human woman had tried to pull this on him, he would have burned scarlet from head to toe in embarrassment, not the slightest bit of arousal, and briskly run in the other direction. In what world was showing off one's genitalia like that attractive!?

But Oryou wasn't a human and he was under her hypnotic spell, so as Ryouma stared, his pants grew impossibly tight.

At least she resembled a human woman, so the area was nothing he hadn't seen before. The skin was dark pink, there was a clit, labia, and vaginal hole, and everything was shaped just about right. Water droplets ran down from Oryou's fingers onto the area, giving it the slight appearance of being wet (which, technically it was now, he supposed, but not what he'd meant).

Ryouma gulped. Despite the terrible display, he really did want to touch her. There, on her breasts, everywhere. He wanted to hold her, feel her around him, and kiss her breathless. He wanted to take her home, marry her, and do it all over again on their wedding night. Stupid spell.

To his hypnotized regret, she let the area slide closed. Oryou sat up, tail disappearing below the water. She swam up to the dock, reaching a hand up to him. It wasn't long enough to touch the wood, but it did give Ryouma an excellent view of her breasts from above.

"Ryouma," she sighed, "come to Oryou-san. She needs you."

He stared down at her in awe.

Everything inside him demanded he take her hand, let her pull him under. Half his mind imagined them having sex right there, her gasping into his mouth for real as he entered her. The other imagined what would really happen, and it involved his skinned bones sinking to the seabed.

Ryouma tilted his head, smiling sadly.

He'd have loved to take her home as his wife and spend an entire honeymoon in bed together, but her lack of legs aside, he knew there was no chance in hell that was ever happening. Oryou didn't actually love or want him like that. She definitely didn't need him either.

It was still weird he wasn't heartbroken about this.

"I'm sorry," he said, watching her face transform back into a scowl. "I have no desire to die today."

Oryou growled in frustration.

Then she smiled pleasantly. Her fingers waggled, and she gave a small push to try to reach the board under his foot. It wasn't long enough.

"Ryouma," she warned sweetly, "if you don't get in the water with Oryou-san, she'll eat someone else here."

He lifted his chin wearily.

Despite himself, Ryouma couldn't help but be impressed by her cleverness. Her spell was only so strong against his will, so she was trying to blackmail him into sacrificing himself instead. And all without releasing him, so he was still deeply in love and lust with her. What better way to get him to jump in after her than to appeal to all his bases?

This mermaid was a smart one.

Oryou turned her head towards the rest of the port. He followed her gaze, eyeing up the people standing and walking around, chatting or carrying crates and barrels.

Yet it was quite a ways away. Distance and barriers weakened a mermaids hypnotism. Even if Oryou were to let him go and switch to someone over there, her spell wouldn't be very strong. Not to mention, his legs could probably run at least as fast as she could swim, and his voice could travel even faster. Ryouma could alert the others to run and evacuate before she got close enough to land to get a real grip on anybody.

But did that make it worth the risk? What if her spell remained strong enough that someone did willingly walk down the dock, or worse, jumped into the bay from all the way over there? If there was prey in her watery grasp, Ryouma didn't think he could outrun Oryou to save them. And that was without taking into account the water was a full meter below the dock. If he tried to save someone, Oryou may well get two meals in one.

He had to be careful with this.

Oryou batted her eyelashes, giggling cutely.

Ryouma gave a strained smile. "Do you really want to eat me that badly, Oryou-san?"

She sank back into the water until only her shoulders up were visible and swam to the side, flicking her hair. She smiled so lovingly. "Yes. You humiliated Oryou-san when you didn't let her eat you. Even without those girls' laughter, Oryou-san was ready to cry. How could you hurt her like that, Ryouma? Please make it up to her. Come down here and show her how sorry you are, how much you truly love her!"

Now his heart broke. Ryouma had to seriously fight the urge to obey. He hated to hurt Oryou-san. She was the love of his life, the only woman in the world he wanted to make his wife, his soulmate, his everything. If he had hurt her, then he owed it to her to apologize and do everything in his power to make it up to her. Whatever she wanted from him, she should get.

Damn, this spell was strong. Ryouma wondered if she was turning the power up a few notches from yesterday's peak. It sure seemed like it.

His body leaned over the edge. He caught the dock in a tight grip to keep fron leaning too much.

"Oryou-san," he said, his throat choking up, "I never want to hurt you."

The words felt so true on his tongue.

Oryou curled her pointer finger, enticing him to her. "Ryouma. Jump in the water and show Oryou-san so. Tell her to her face how much you love her. Do it, or she'll eat someone else."

Sweat formed on Ryouma's temple. He swallowed.

Then he heard the wood quaking under someone's boots.

His eyes widened in alarm.

"Hey, Ryouma! How long ya gonna check out the - " his best friend Izo's voice called out. The boots came to an abrupt halt. "Holy shit, a mermaid! Are you - !? Get the hell away from there!"

The boots ran.

Ryouma suddenly felt himself being hauled up. Izo yanked him backwards towards the middle of the dock, away from the edge. He kept his arms locked over Ryouma's armpits and shoulders, holding him back from attempting to throw himself off.

Ryouma blinked. He has kept the supposed truth of his survival a secret when he has arrived in port yesterday, and spent the evening informing his crew's families of their demise. Izo had no reason to know he wasn't actually going to jump.

Then again, maybe there were ways Oryou could convince him to. He really didn't know.

Oryou swam back, looking between the two of them frantically. Ryouma could practically read her panicked thoughts. She couldn't eat Ryouma if Izo dragged him to land, but she couldn't hypnotize them both at once. However, if she switched to Izo, Ryouma would be free of her spell, and therefore could drag them both to safety as well. Unlike yesterday, she didn't have any allies to back her up here.

Izo pulled him hard towards the port. "Come on, time to go!"

Oryou started, her face frightened. Her fingers pressed on her lips while her other hand reached out uselessly.

The rosiness of Ryouma's world vanished. He snapped back to reality, and with it, all of his attraction to the mermaid disappeared. He was back to normal.

Izo's arms loosened. They fell out from Ryouma's arms completely, hanging loosely at his own sides.

Ryouma turned his neck towards Izo. He swore under his breath.

Oryou had actually switched the spell over to him. Izo stared at her in the water with a gaping mouth, his eyes wide in awe.

"Woah," he breathed. "I never thought I'd meet the love of my life out here. I should'a taken that ship job after all!"

Ryouma was shocked to see Oryou recoil below the dock. She winced, screwing her eyes and jerking back, holding one arm in front of her as if to block him away.

Izo didn't seem to notice. He quickly darted forward.

Ryouma bolted after him. He grabbed Izo around the waist just as one boot kicked off the dock, throwing all off his weight backwards to haul Izo back.

"What are ya doin'!?" Izo demanded angrily. He struggled in Ryouma's arms, kicking and flailing. "Let me go! Mah future wife's down there!"

Ryouma pulled his arms tighter.

Oryou, however, reeled back like she'd been burned. Her face contorted in disgust, mouth falling partially open as if she'd just eaten something rotten.

Okay, Ryouma thought tiredly, now I know her spell DOES work on other men. I really am the exception for some reason. But why does she look so grossed out by Izo? The other mermaids weren't by their targets.

"Lemme go, Ryouma!" Izo shouted, pushing his shoulders and chin forward, kicking at Ryouma's shins. "She's mine, ya hear!?"

Ryouma grimaced. His fingers slipped across Izo's coat, losing their traction.

Oryou shook her head wildly, sending water droplets flying everywhere. "No! Oryou-san can't do it! She can't! She can't!"

She raced toward the end of the dock and disappeared under it.

Izo suddenly stiffened in Ryouma's arms. He slowly craned his head around to face Ryouma, scared shitless.

Meanwhile, Ryouma's world went rosy once more, though it wasn't as heavy a sensation as a minute ago.

He let Izo go.

Izo stumbled. "Fuck, what was that!? I was about to drown myself and become fish food! Why the hell was she even here!? Mermaids don't come near land!"

Ryouma stared at Izo solemnly. "Go tell everyone to evacuate the dock. We can't let anyone else be hypnotized, or else it'll be a massacre."

Izo nodded fast. He spun around on his heel, running as quick as his legs could carry him back to land. "HEEEY! MERMAID AT THE DOCKS! THERE'S A MERMAID BY THE DOCKS!"

Ryouma waited until Izo's feet hit cement to turn towards the end of the dock. He walked over to the edge, squatted down, and peered underneath.

Oryou clung to the giant, wooden pole holding up the side. She shuddered violently, wrenching into the water. She groaned, and planted her forehead against the wood.

Ryouma frowned in sympathy. He wanted to help her, to make her feel better. Wasn't it a husband's duty to attend to his ill wife? If he just went down there, he could hold her from behind...

He closed his eyes. He wasn't her husband, Ryouma reminded himself. But gosh, did it feel like he was.

He reopened them.

"Oryou-san can't," he watched her whimper into the pole. "He reeks of alcohol! Oryou-san could smell it from there. She hates eating drunken sailors! They make her feel so woozy and out of place afterwards. A shark'll eat her like that..."

Ryouma pressed his lips together in a thin line. As much as he hated to kick his dear, lovely, beautiful (not-)wife when she was already down -

"I love alcohol," he said, exaggerating only a little. More like he simply liked and enjoyed it. "Does this mean you won't share a bottle of sake with me on our honeymoon?"

- he needed to get rid of her.

Oryou's head shot up with a snarl. Her fingers dug so deep in the wood it fractured underneath them.

Ryouma froze.

"Don't believe for one second Oryou-san is through with you," she growled. "She panicked a minute ago, putting her spell on that man instead, but it was only because she didn't want him to take you away. If he hadn't been so vile smelling, she would have devoured him whole."

Ryouma eyed her. He didn't make out a single hint of a lie in her body language. If he hadn't realized how deadly this mermaid was before, he was certain of it now. "I believe you."

Oryou eyed him back. Soon enough, her body relaxed, though she continued hugging the pole.

Ryouma gave a faint smile at that. She looked so cute, almost like a stubborn, lost, little girl who didn't trust the man who had found her. At this angle, it was almost hard to believe she was a grown woman who put him under a hypnotizing spell.

"You're a terrible man," she chastised him.

His face fell. His heart ached at the insult.

"You've left Oryou-san in her time of need," she scolded in her pouty voice. Her one hand hesitantly reached for him, her lower lip puffing out pathetically. Now this was a lie. "How could you do that to her? Don't you care about her? Don't you love her?"

"I do," Ryouma answered honestly, without thinking. "I love you, Oryou-san. I care about you more than anything in this world."

She smiled small, relieved. She raised her trembling hand a little higher. "So, you'll help Oryou-san?"

Ryouma looked at her hand. It was slimmer and far more delicate than his hands. He would love to hold it, to kiss its knuckles, and leap down from the edge to kiss her. His body practically ordered him to move.

Show you're a good husband. Prove you're worthy of her. Don't abandon her. She doesn't deserve that. She deserves all the love, care, and everything good in this world.

Give it to her.

Ryouma smiled shyly, clasping his hands together between his knees. "I will, when you come on land."

Oryou gawked at him, slack-jawed.

Ryouma laughed, more than a little anxious. "I'm sorry, but that's my one condition. I won't give myself to you unless you come on land. Nothing could stop you from taking me if you did that, right?"

Besides houses, walls, and an unfathomable amount of distance into the countryside, of course. That would almost certainly stop her. Assuming a mermaid could even make it on land, of course. And even if she could, with that tail out of water, she'd lose out on most of her mobility. As long as Ryouma didn't get too close, there would be almost nothing she could do to him.

"DON'T YOU LOVE ME!?" she roared, wide eyes glowing red and fangs jutting out on prominent display. Her fingers dug harder into the woods, deepening the imprints and fractures.

Ryouma's world was still rosy, so he didn't lie when be said, "Yes. Unfortunately for you, I think we both know how unusually strong my will really is now. There's no point in you chasing after me any further. The dock is about to be evacuated, so you don't have any blackmail to use against me either. I'm not jumping in the water with you. So I think it's best you go now."

Oryou seethed. Her fingers dug so hard into the wood, it collapsed her hands inside with a sickening, twin crack! that made Ryouma worry the whole pole would collapse, sinking the dock.

Thankfully, it didn't. And Oryou didn't seen to notice her opportunity.

"Oryou-san will eat you, puny human!" she exclaimed angrily. "In fact, she won't eat another human until she's swallowed every last bit of you! Live in fear, human, or move to the middle of your island country, because Oryou-san will always find you near or in the ocean. You haven't seen the last of her!"

"Hm." Ryouma took special note of the part of her pledge that contrasted her previous threat. He smiled brightly. "Is that a promise?"

Oryou howled. She did a flip backwards, splashing into the sea, and disappeared from sight. There were no bubbles this time.

The rosiness vanished. Ryouma could think clearly again.

He frowned, glancing at his ship.

He hoped she held true to her pledge, that she wouldn't eat anyone else until she had devoured him. He couldn't sail without a crew, and it would be such a shame if he could truly never sail the ocean again.

---

It didn't take Ryouma terribly long to assemble a new crew. There were no shortages of men searching for work, and everyone knew the risks of mermaids appearing. Ryouma had also let them know about his special mermaid in particular. They had been wary, but accepted their jobs anyway.

Oryou kept her word. She inevitably appeared on his next voyage, less than a week after their last meeting on the dock, once they were out on the open water.

Ryouma was in the middle of helping one of his new men on deck when his world suddenly went rosy again. He swiftly finished up and, whilst everyone else was busy with their tasks, headed over for a secluded section of the guardrail.

Oryou waited for him below with a kind smile.

"Ryoooumaaaaa," she drew out his name, playful.

In spite of himself, Ryouma smiled back. "Yes, Oryou-san? Because I'm not jumping down there."

She twirled a wet strand of hair around her finger. How familiar a trick. "Oh? Well, then let Oryou-san tell you all the things she wants you to do to her, and we'll see about that. Heehee!"

Never mind.

Ryouma stood in both absolute shock and hypnotized-induced arousal as Oryou-san devolved into terribly graphic detail of the many, many ways she supposedly wanted him to fuck her.

By the end of it, he was the darkest shade of red he'd ever been, his glove probably permanently damaged with his teeth marks, and pants uncomfortably wet over his softened penis.

Oryou-san tilted her head teasingly, giggling. "Well, what do you say now?"

Ryouma didn't say anything. He couldn't. He was fairly certain his voice box had died out completely during her spiel.

So instead, he spun on his heel, and raced indoors.

"HEY!" he heard her shout in a rage.

Ryouma changed his pants and hoped to whatever was out there and back none of his crew had seen him.

He stayed below deck for the rest of the voyage. He didn't come out until they were safely docked at home and everyone else had already cleaned up and left, and then hurried back to his house without so much as glancing at the water.

But none of the other men had ever been hypnotized, let alone eaten. They claimed to have not even seen Oryou on their trip.

She really had kept her word.

---

There was a beach farther down the coast line, away from the view of the port, that Ryouma liked to visit from time to time between jobs. It was small and tucked out of the way, and therefore saw few other visitors. Ryouma preferred it that way.

He had grown up by the sea, and used to frequent a similar beach in his hometown. He would spend hours just staring at the ocean, mesmerized by it, until night fell and his family came to scold him for staying out past dark.

It seemed no matter his profession, he just couldn't stay away for long. He loved it too much. The peace, the quiet, and most of all the sight, smell, and sounds of the vast ocean before him enthralled Ryouma like no other.

Speaking of mesmerizing and enthralling, however, he should have known Oryou would find him there sooner or later.

Ryouma first saw her as a black dot in the horizon, popping out of the waves. He knew in his gut it was her. As the dot grew larger and more defined, he confirmed it. Oryou swam swiftly towards the shore.

When she approached what he knew was the drop off, she stopped, hesitating.

Ryouma raised his brows.

She began again, however, sweeping her arms in front of her. As the sandy slope gradually steeped higher, she slowed to watch the water below her. Oryou kept going, though, only halting when her tail must have hit sand.

There, she floundered looking left and right, down, then up. She raised her arms to chest, one curled hand under her chin. Oryou wavered, apparently unsure how to proceed. Ryouma saw her shoulders hunch inwards, her face lowering until her bangs hit her eyes.

Then she jumped up, swept forward, and dragged herself across the sand. It didn't take long before the water grew too shallow to swim, and she had to press her hands into the underwater sand to move onwards. Once the water was shallow enough that it only came up to wrists, Oryou stopped, and raised her head with piercing eyes.

Ryouma had to admire her grit. It had been one thing at the port, where the water was still deeper than a person was tall by the docks; but here, she had to come all the way to shore to meet him. Not to mention, she seemed to be taking his condition seriously. He had to admire her determination as well, even if it all just to eat him.

That wasn't going to stop him from feeling sweat drip on his temple, though, nor from taking a step ba-

The world went rosy. Forget it.

Ryouma put his foot back in place, smiling kindly. "Hello, Oryou-san."

She threw her head back, hair flying to the side. Droplets sprinkled everywhere, shining in the daylight sun. She gave a toothy smile. "Ryoooumaaa. Come help Oryou-san onto the beach."

Ryouma hummed, pleased with the idea. He could pull Oryou onto the beach, and they could just sit there together, admiring the waves side by side. He could put his arm around her, drawing her close, and when she lifted her face to look up at him with those radiant, pink eyes -

He had never felt so in love in his life.

This truly was the woman for him, he thought. He really should pull her up the rest of the way. His arms were certainly itching to do so.

"No," he replied simply instead. He crossed his arms over his haori. "I've told you at least three times now, I'm not keen on dying."

Oryou clenched her teeth on one side of her face, the other twisting in fury. "You are the most stubborn human Oryou-san has ever met!"

Ryouma frowned, her spell saddening him. It hurt to hear his love so angry with him. He wanted to make her happy, but...

He was ripped out his thoughts. Like clockwork, Oryou switched gears. She pushed her arms to her sides, pressed her breasts together until the valley between them disappeared into squished cleavage. Her pleasant smile returned.

"Don't you want to touch Oryou-san's boobs?" She asked in a cutesy voice. "Sheee'll leeet yooouuu..."

Ryouma hated how his cock stirred at such a cringy display. He swore her spell turned him back into a fourteen year old boy or something.

He closed his eyes and pinched his nose in annoyance. "Okay, I have to ask: Why do you keep doing this? Sexually provoking me isn't working, and it's - it's just weird, okay!? I like sex, I like women, and maybe if you weren't a mermaid and we had met in different circumstances, some of your tactics would work, but - the rest are just embarrassing! Is this really how mermaids flirt with each other!?"

At the beginning of his rant, Oryou's expression had dropped into a peeved one, but as he went on, it relaxed and she rolled her eyes. In fact, Ryouma would even say she looked bored by the end of it.

"Wow, you're a dumb man," she remarked casually. She straightened her neck up, eyes harsh. "No, mermaids don't flirt with each other like this, stupid. You humans are the weird ones; our guys don't act like you do, even when they're ready to hump anything during mating season."

Ryouma gawked at her, speechless.

Oryou flipped her hair back into place. It was just as pretty as the first time, but as evidenced by her blank stare, she wasn't trying to put on a show anymore. "We only do what you idiotic human men like to get you in the ocean. That's when we grab you."

She smiled predatorily now, flashing her fangs.

Ryouma swallowed uneasily. Although his world remained rosy, this was the closest moment he'd had of being afraid of being eaten by her.

Horribly enough, his cock hardened in his hakama.

"But I don't like this!" he burst out. His threw his hands to his collar bones, digging the tips of his fingers in. "I don't like getting an erection in public, even if no one's around! I don't imagine having sex with a naked woman I just met! For goodness' sake, you showed me your crotch at the port - if you were any other species, I would have run away and never spoken to you again! I wouldn't even be able to make eye contact with you! What's erotic about that!?"

Incredibly, Oryou snorted. "Hey, it worked when that one girl did it to the captain of that pirate ship once. He dove overboard with a loud, 'Yahoo!' And Oryou-san never saw him again. Except for some black hairs in the girl's teeth. But that's why Oryou-san isn't too fond of eating beards. Some men are too hairy."

Ryouma's arms flopped down in disbelief.

So this wasn't some mind-reading thing based on what he personally liked, huh? Everything she did was based on her own learned behavior. He suddenly imagined a large group of mermaids gathering together to share what was essentially notes of what every man they had ever eaten liked, so they could catch more men that way. Great. That was just great.

Yet his brow furrowed in confusion.

He stood up straight. "Wait, I have a couple of questions. First, isn't your hypnosis enough to lure men into the ocean? Why do you need to tempt them at all?"

Oryou's eyes hooded in a way that told Ryouma exactly what she thought of his intelligence. "I don't know. Why do humans use boats and rods to fish, when their hands and a spear would do the same trick?"

Ryouma frowned. "It's more efficient."

Oryou actually smiled at his answer.

His heart skipped a beat and raced faster. Ryouma put a hand on his blushing neck.

"Exactly," she nodded affirmatively. "Think of it this way: you'll always come to us in the end, but we want you in the water as soon as possible. Some men take a little convincing to drop everything and dive in at the first chance."

He lowered his arm. "Except me."

She scowled. "You're a first, Oryou-san will tell you that! None of the other mermaids have ever encountered or heard of one like you. You should have never stayed on that ship, or walked away from Oryou-san. That's how you humiliated her the most. The others were just teasing before, but now they'll never let her live it down until she eats you once and for all!"

Ryouma looked at her sadly. This part of him was telling the truth, no hypnosis necessary. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to humiliate you."

Oryou stared at him hard. Eventually, she turned her head away, looking at the water with a half-hearted glare. Quietly, she asked, "Why did you yell at those girls for Oryou-san? She didn't make you do that. She can only make you fall in love and want sex with her."

He blushed. Awkwardly, he scratched one cheek with his finger. "Would you believe me if I said it was so you wouldn't be humiliated? I can't stand to see others mocked or beaten down, especially for something they failed at. I, uh, kinda know what that's like. It's doesn't feel good."

Oryou picked her head up, thoughtful.

Silence captured the shoreline between them.

Ryouma averted his eyes nervously. He cleared his throat to force to the words out. "My second question: Is it possible the reason your spell doesn't work on me is because I don't like what you're doing? I sort of doubt it myself, but I want to know for sure. Could that be acting as a repellent, in a strange way?"

Oryou lifted her chin, still thoughtful. "You said under different circumstances, you might have fallen for some of Oryou-san's tactics, right?"

Ryouma bit his cheek, tilting his head away. He imagined such scenarios, to his embarrassment. They had a strong affect on his dick that felt like a cherry on top of the hypnotism cake; a separate object from the cake, sure, but it had the same, tasty affect in his mouth. "Yeah, I did."

"Then no." Her voice was firm. "Oryou-san can't actually make-make you fall in love or want sex with her. She can only make you think you do. Oryou-san likes listening to humans sometimes. She once overheard a man who had a woman at home, and he was adamant he wanted nobody else. Oryou-san ate him. She overheard another man who expressed only liking other men. She ate him, too. There was a third who swore he didn't like or want anyone, ever in his life. He swam right to her. All of them fell for Oryou-san's spell and got eaten. We mermaids can't change what you're like inside. We can only make you think you desire us. The rest is just adding an incentive to get in the damn water already, born from our own impatience. What you really want in real life doesn't matter. If you were right, human, then you should have jumped in when she said or did something you would have liked in another circumstance; but you didn't jump at anything."

Ryouma rolled that over in his mind.

"All right," he finally concluded. "Last question for you. Why did you pick me? You could have had any man on the ship, on my crew. I mean, it's not based on attraction on your end either, right?"

Her scowl returned. "No. Oryou-san just happened to pick you from the humans that were left. Why would she pick someone she's attracted to to eat, and who literally eats someone they love or want to mate? Frankly, you're bland looking, and the more you talk, the dumber Oryou-san realizes you are."

Wow. Ryouma could physically feel the blow his ego took to that. Okay, fair enough if the mermaid thought the ignorant human was dumb, as much as that hurt, but to call him bland looking? Yeesh. He'd have liked to think from previous experiences that he was at least a little handsome. He would have been less offended if she just flat out called him ugly at this point.

He put his hands on his hips. "Okay, that was all I had to ask. But since we're on the subject of questions, you know I have to ask one more thing; are we done yet? I don't think there's anything in this world that could get me to join you in the water, AND we both know you'll only get so far on land. Can you let me go, please?"

Her gaze sharpened. "No. Oryou-san will not let you go! She refuses to go down in history as the first mermaid to lose prey that wasn't stolen away from her or too far away to fall under her spell properly. She will eat you, Ryouma. That's what you called a promise before."

Heat made its way up his collar and throat, stopping at his cheeks. Ryouma gulped, yet couldn't say he was fully afraid. He guessed that was the spell's  doing.

"Oryou-san will form another plan," she informed him curtly, turning her body away. She crawled back down the sand slope, her tail flapping in the shallow waves behind her. Her pink eyes glowed red over her shoulder menacingly. "Then, she will eat you."

Ryouma shuddered.

He watched Oryou swim back into the ocean, until she reached the drop off and disappeared. The rosiness faded with her.

A cold breeze hit his face, tickling his cheeks with pin-sized goosebumps.

A pit of dread formed in his stomach. She really wasn't going to let him go. Not until he was dead and gone.

Nevertheless, Ryouma wondered why his cheeks still felt warm.

---

Oryou kept coming after him on his voyages. She followed him to other countries, swimming alongside his ship and beckoning him to her. She kept her eyes honed on him at the various docks around the world, trying to entice him to his watery death. Whenever he visited his special beach, she was somehow already there.

Sometimes she was sexual with him. Goodness knew her spell did things to his body. But her tricks were limited in number from afar, and he was relieved that at least she wasn't showing him her genitals or making him cum in his pants anymore. The erections, unfortunately, stayed.

Other times, she relied on romantic love.  That she was his lovely wife, or lovely future wife, the love of his life, his one and only, the only one for him, and all that jazz. She would try to play the 'Oryou-san misses you' or 'You're making me so sad by staying away!' cards, similar to what she had done before. Unfortunately for her, much as they broke his heart, Ryouma never threw himself to her.

He wanted to, though. Man, did he really want to. Her spell was really something else; so strong.

She was so strong, to keep trying so hard like this. Oryou didn't give up. No matter how many days, weeks, and even months passed, she continued to pursue him.

That had to say something about her.

---

With the way things were going and how they evidently weren't going to work in Oryou's favor, Ryouma supposed he could have started ignoring her presence. Of course, Oryou's hypnotic spell would have never truly let him forget she was there, but he knew he had the will power to just turn around and not even speak to her. It would infuriate her, no doubt, but he could.

But that seemed unnecessarily mean. Besides, that wasn't Ryouma's personality either.

"So if we're going to keep seeing each me this," he said one day, sitting just far enough from the shoreline that Oryou wouldn't dare reach, the summer sun high in the sky, "I think we should get to know each other better."

Oryou gave him a judgemental look from where she lay on her belly in the shallow water. Her tail flicked lazily behind her. "Get to know each other better? What's there to 'get to know?' We already know everything we need to know about each other: that you're my lunch."

He laughed a little. "Right, right. But since you haven't caught me yet, and the flirting gets old, I think we need something else to fill the time. So I was wondering; what's it like living in the ocean?"

Oryou looked at him flatly.

Ryouma scratched his ear awkwardly, but he still smiled at her.

She gave an overdramatic sigh, and tossed a hand up flippantly. "It's the ocean. There's not much else to say. It's big, it's deep, and it's filled with fish. There's underwater caves, caverns, and crevices to explore, and they sometimes have prey or predators inside them. But they're mostly just neat hide aways. Other than that, you swim in the great, open water with or against the currents. Oh, and it gets darker and harder to breathe the closer you get to the bottom."

Oryou seemed so bored saying it, but Ryouma was utterly fascinated by each word.

"That sounds amazing," he said, a little breathless. His eyes shined. "I would love to be able to see it myself."

Oryou was a silent a moment. She smirked.

"Want to?" she cooed. She extended her arm out. "Oryou-san will give you the grand tour."

Ryouma leaned forward in interest, then jerked himself back. His disappointment was real as he replied, "No."

Oryou laughed. It was the sweetest one he'd heard yet. "Yeah, didn't think so. But that was the closest she's gotten yet, huh?"

Ryouma couldn't help smiling fondly. He joked, "Yeah. Who knew you didn't need to seduce me, just tell me all about life in the ocean. You could have had me swimming that first day, I bet."

"If only," she rolled her eyes, and smiled back.

Long after Oryou was gone for the day, and Ryouma finally stood from watching the waves to venture on home, he realized Oryou's spell had stopped a while ago.

So why was his heart still so happy and light?

---

"Tell Oryou-san about the life on land," she demanded another day, floating weightlessly on her back on the water's surface at the edge of the dock.

Ryouma absently filled out his checklist as he prepared to load his ship for his next voyage. "It's a lot dryer, for one."

"Don't sass Oryou-san," she tutted, utterly relaxed.

Ryouma's shoulders shook as he chuckled. He paused his pen and twisted around. "Let's see... Everyone works together in a community. People aren't always fair to each other or equal, but the world is hopefully changing. There's lots of animals and plant life. Oh, and fresh water. It's not salty like the sea is, and we drink it. You can even swim in it."

Oryou tilted her head curiously. "Where do you find fresh water?"

"Rivers," he answered, "ponds, lakes. It's even underground. We get to those by wells."

"Huh," Oryou sounded somewhat invested. "Do fish live in them?"

"A lot of the time, yeah."

Her eyes widened in interest. She sat up in the water. "Can you show Oryou-san some time? Bring one to her!"

Ryouma frowned. "Freshwater and oceanic life don't do well in each other's environments. Even if I brought you a bucket of living fish, they'd die quickly from the saltwater."

"Oryou-san doesn't care," she huffed, grinning. "She's never seen land fish. She'll be the first in the entire ocean to say she held and ate one!"

"Um...?" He wasn't sure how to respond to that.

But her excitement sure was cute. How could Ryouma say no?

---

Ryouma brought a special surprise to the beach for Oryou in the week after his voyage. It wasn't a fish like she'd asked for, but he was so pleased with his catch anyway, confident she would get a kick out it.

Oryou blinked steadily at the dead creature in his hands. "What...is that?"

Ryouma beamed in pride. "It's a frog! Technically not a fish - actually, there's no 'technically' about it, it's not - but they do hang around streams and ponds. Now you can brag you really saw something new to your friends."

Oryou stared at the frog like she was the one in a trance for once. "Hey. Toss that to Oryou-san. She wants to hold it."

Ryouma shrugged. It was already dead. He did as he was told and tossed it over the shoreline.

Oryou jumped up and caught it in her mouth.

Ryouma did a doubletake. (Also, why was he blushing at that of all things? Haha, he thought nervously, her spell worked in strange ways.)

Oryou plopped the frog out of her mouth into her waiting palms. She carefully inspected it, turning it over in her hands and rubbing its slippery skin. She cocked her head at its eyes, and opened it's mouth to survey the inside. By the end, she hummed.

Then she opened her mouth, and down the hatch it went.

Ryouma watched her chew the frog like a starving beast.

He gulped, imagining himself in the same place if she were to ever get him. He really was lucky to have such a strong will, huh...

Oryou swallowed, and looked up at Ryouma in amazement.

"Ryouma," she ordered, eyes sparkling, "get Oryou-san more of those!"

Gosh, her eyes were beautiful.

"Really?" he asked. "Are you sure? I can probably hunt you some every now and then, but I can't guarantee you one every day."

Oryou-san swam back and forth in delight. "That was the best thing she's ever tasted. Oryou-san loves frogs! Be a good human and get her more! If you do, she'll kill you quickly when she gets you instead of ripping you shreds or letting you drown first, teehee!"

Ryouma sweat-dropped. "That's not exactly what I'd call a convincing argument. But sure, when I have the time, I'll try to bring you more."

Oryou sent him such an enthusiastic smile that Ryouma's heart skipped a beat.

He quickly turned away in embarrassment, cheeks heating up.

"Eh? Ryouma, where are you going?" he heard her ask from behind. "Oryou-san hasn't even had time to tempt you yet."

His eyes suddenly widened.

Oh, that's right. The world had never gone rosy.

It just strangely felt like it.

"Here, let Oryou-san do her spell!"

The world went familiarly rosy.

Oh. So that was the difference.

Ryouma's heart beat faster. He didn't believe it was the spell doing that, even as the regular hypnotic thoughts and physicalities began.

Oh. At some point, he had started falling for Oryou-san for real.

Ryouma had no idea what to with that information.

So with no thoughts in his head whatsoever, he booked it and ran.

"HEY!" shrieked Oryou in shocked outrage. "Where are you - !? Ryouma!"

The spell had broken by the time he reached town. Ryouma wasn't sure he was attracted enough to Oryou to call her the love of his life for real yet, but he was attracted to her enough that all he could think about now was how much he must have hurt her by running away without an explanation. This was the opposite of how he'd felt on his ship that first day.

Guilt consuming him, Ryouma turned around, and ran back to the beach.

Oryou was already gone, though, and didn't appear at any of his calls.

Something cold inside him told him he'd messed up.

---

Oryou didn't reappear until two days later. She glowered at Ryouma, in a bitter, sulky mood.

"Idiot," she snapped at him, "why did you run from Oryou-san!? She didn't hurt or threaten you!"

"I'm sorry," he apologized sadly, no rosiness about in the air. Ryouma fished in his pocket and unwrapped the contents. "I brought you another frog. Found it this morning."

He tossed it to her.

Oryou caught it pointedly in her hand, still glowering. She eyed the frog in suspicion a moment, then turned around and devoured it whole. When she turned back around, her lips were pursed.

"Okay," she began. "Oryou-san is satisfied enough to forgive you if you explain yourself, human."

Ryouma tried to smile, but his lips only got so far. "I wish I had a good one. The only thing I can really say is...I panicked."

Oryou perked up, her whole demeanor changing. "Panicked? Panicked at what?"

Ryouma's eyes fell to his feet. He didn't answer.

What use was there is telling a mermaid that wanted to eat him that he was developing real feelings for her? She would just laugh at him at best, or try to persuade him more to swim to his death at worst. It wasn't like their relationship would go anywhere.

All of this was going to end at some point. He didn't know how - with his death, or her boredom, or something else entirely - but he wouldn't be making a life with her. Whatever their relationship was, it was surely going to end before it even got the chance.

After all, Oryou didn't actually like him like that. She just wanted to eat him.

Oryou's stance softened. "...Don't do that again, and keep bringing Oryou-san frogs. She'll see you tomorrow, Ryouma."

Ryouma quickly lifted his head sharply. He had just enough time to see her turn away, cheeks dusted pink, and fling herself into deeper waters. He watched her quickly swim away until the black shadow of her tail vanished.

He didn't fully understand why she did that, but it made him smile nonetheless.

---

Ryouma couldn't bring Oryou frogs every time they met, especially when he had a trip coming up, but he got them for her as often as he could. She delighted in his catches each time, gobbling the frogs up as fast as she could, and playfully swimming away like she was going to leave when he didn't have one. She never left, though.

They continued talking to each other, getting to know all about each other. Ryouma told her all about his family, his friends, and the various lands he got to see thanks to his work. In return, Oryou told him all about the ocean and the places within it, the sea creatures she'd seen, eaten, or both, and a little of how mermaids in particular lived. If Ryouma was on a voyage, this was harder to do, but he always found time to spend with her by the guardrail, even if it was only a few minutes a day.

Others were noticing. Ryouma's new crew primarily wrote him off as the poor captain being hopelessly mind-controlled by the mermaid, but his friends especially caught him looking forward to seeing Oryou.

"Is that really wise?" Takechi asked in a low voice once.

"Yer gonna get eaten!" Izo shrieked another night.

Takasugi nearly got a black eye (by accident, of course; they'd been drinking, so naturally that was the almost-cause of it) and laughed it off when he inquired, "If we use you as bait, can we capture her and put her in a tank for research purposes?"

What really got Ryouma going, however, was the fact that some days, Oryou seemed to completely forget to hypnotize him. She still did, of course, but it was like for every two days she spellbound him, there were three days she didn't. He honestly couldn't tell if she was really forgetting or not, but either way it warmed his heart. It meant on those days alone, if nothing else, she was genuinely enjoying his company.

He found himself falling more and more for her as the summer months went on. Maybe calling her 'the love of his life' or 'his one and only' were too over the top at this point, but Ryouma was starting to seriously imagine Oryou as his wife in his head.

They were only stupid, unrealistic daydreams, but he honestly couldn't help himself.

Ryouma had no idea how that would work. She couldn't exactly grow legs and live on land with him, nor could he grow a tail to swim the oceans with her (ah, but wouldn't either, or even both, of those be beautiful?). As a mermaid and human, they couldn't exactly register their marriage either. And they would only be able to see each other by the sea.

But it was so sweet to imagine it all.

Oryou in his arms every night, her head on his shoulder, hair tickling his neck. Being able to kiss her, to hold her hand, and see her next to him every morning when he woke up. Cooking with her, eating with her, and going out on the town to meet his friends with her. Or swimming together, hand in hand, beneath the ocean waves and exploring the world together, experiencing so many new things at each other's sides.

And through it all, Oryou would smile at him, loving him back just as much as he loved her.

Ah, but it wasn't just romantic love he was feeling either. Ryouma would never admit it in public, but he was beginning to desire her as well. Oryou was a highly beautiful woman after all. He had started thinking of her in, well, other ways at home at night, before he went to sleep. Not to mention, to his embarrassment - well, see -

Ryouma really wasn't one to react lewdly to public nudity. He wasn't into it. Back when all this started, he truly hadn't cared about Oryou's breasts. All he had felt, outside her spell's hypnotism, was mortification at how she kept presenting them to him.

Now she had caught him outright staring at them a few times. The things he wanted to do with them., he'd think..

Only then Oryou would laugh, tease him, and start jokingly flirting he could touch them for real if he only came in the water with her. She even did the hooded eyes thing and put on a seductive face, just like when he was hypnotized, even if the world wasn't currently rosy.

Hahaha, right. Ryouma got the joke. Get him in the water so she could eat him. It was funny.

Meanwhile, Ryouma barely held himself back from running away from her again out of pure humiliation.

He knew it would never work between them. Oryou was only interested in him as far as a meal, maybe even a friend. There was no way they could function together beyond what they already had. And it was all going to end, he reminded himself.

But man...Ryouma was falling deeper and deeper in love, and he didn't know how to stop himself. He didn't want to stop himself. As long as Oryou kept coming to see him and giving him those precious smiles, grins, and sparkling eyes of hers, he was happy.

His heart ached for her, truly of its own volition, but he was happy.

So if he was becoming sad about going home alone each night, that was just the breaks. He'd have to learn how to deal with it.

---

"I'm going on a voyage soon," Ryouma informed Oryou one day, towards summer's end.

"Ooo, another one?" Oryou's eyes lit up. She raised her head from where they'd been lying on her arms in the wet sand, the tide sweeping beneath her. "Where to? When? What cargo are you delivering this time? Did you finish balancing the books for the quarter? You know, you should really let Oryou-san double check them for you; she has a good head for numbers."

Ryouma laughed quietly at her excitement. Although, he had to admit, working with Oryou at his business sounded pretty interesting. She already followed his ship from country to country, so why not?

"Let's see," he hummed. "Going in order: America, in two days, it's actually an assortment of things - "

"Wait." Oryou frowned, suddenly serious. "Two days? To that country? No. Oryou-san knows the route you'll take, and you can't. There's a massive storm coming. You'll sail right into it."

Ryouma's face dropped, bewildered. "What? No, there's not. All the forecasts project clear skies."

Oryou sat up on her arms. "Well, they're wrong. Oryou-san knows these things. It'll brew up in the south and make it's way to your route in a matter of days. She's already seen the signs."

Ryouma blinked slowly. "It's not a tsunami, is it?"

"No, but it'll be bad," Oryou warned, pushing herself upright to sit on her tail. She gave Ryouma a grave look. "Don't go on this voyage. Delay it another day. The storm will be too far north by then, and weak, if the winds change."

"I can't do that," he argued. "We already have a contract. Unless there's proof the weather is too dangerous, I have to go."

Fear flitted across Oryou's eyes. Ryouma was caught off guard by it.

"Find a hole in your ship," she commanded. "Or an engine error. Something. Delay your departure as much as you can! Or take another route. Not one a few degrees to the side, but that will take you north enough that your voyage takes an extra day - "

Ryouma stopped her, alarmed. "I can't do that! We'll get in serious trouble. My ship has already passed the recent inspection, so any damage will look deliberate. And if I take a longer route for seemingly no reason, the client will be angry!"

Oryou's brow contorted harshly. "Oryou-san will be angry if you don't listen to her! They won't get their cargo if it's all at the bottom of the ocean!"

Ryouma stared at her, at a loss for words. If there was really a bad storm coming, then that was disconcerting. But without evidence, his hands were tied. No one would believe him that he knew about it before hand. Oryou might have seen legitimate signs, but mermaids weren't famous for predicting the weather. Who would believe him, even if he did point to her as his source?

He tried to smile reassuringly. "Don't worry, I've sailed through some pretty awful conditions in my life. I'm sure this won't be any worse than what I've already been through - "

She shook her head wildly, sending water droplets soaring. "You're not listening to Oryou-san! She's telling you! You're ship won't make it, and you could die!"

Ryouma froze.

Oryou's face cracked. She breathed heavily. Her voice lowered, barely above a whisper. "You'll die if you go. Oryou-san doesn't want that to happen. Don't take the chance, Ryouma. Please, for her."

Ryouma opened and closed his mouth, stunned. For all the times Oryou had pulled the hypnotic crocodile tears to cajole him into the water, he had never seen her beg like this, let alone for his life. He didn't know what to say to that.

So what ended up coming out of his mouth was:

"I don't understand," Ryouma said, slow and even. His brow furrowed. "Wouldn't that make this your best chance to eat me then?"

Oryou recoiled, as if she'd been burned. She blinked rapidly at him, like she couldn't comprehend what he'd just said.

Then she glowered darkly.

"Of course," she all but spat. "It would be Oryou-san's perfect chance. Go on the trip on time, stay on the correct route, and die in the storm, Ryouma. Oryou-san will be waiting to eat your corpse!"

She whirled around and threw herself back into the sea.

Ryouma shot to his feet, extending an arm out. "Wait, Oryou-san, I - !? Don't run away from me either!"

With a last flick of her tail, she disappeared in the deeper waters.

Ryouma lowered his arm, only able to hear the lapping shore and screeching birds in the distance.

She was gone.

---

Oryou was right.

Ryouma hadn't seen her at all since she swam off on him two days ago. He'd searched for her at the beach, waited for her at the dock, and spent the whole first day of his voyage triple checking the guardrails to see if she was floating beside the ship. Nothing.

He'd double checked the weather before the voyage. He referenced everything and everyone he could, but none of his sources predicted a storm during his trip. Hell, all throughout the first day, it was clear, blue skies, warm sunshine, and maybe a white cloud over the port as they'd sailed away. Even the wind had been normal for a fair journey.

It wasn't until night had fallen and most of the crew was getting ready for bed that the storm hit.

Oryou was right. It was bad. Ryouma had faced some pretty severe storms in the past, but nothing that had rocked his ship so close to a ninety degree angle before.

All hands were on deck. Ryouma shouted orders where he needed to, but it was almost impossible to hear over the wind. The waves crashed high over the rails, flooding the deck. Men slipped and fell, and the cargo threatened to come untied.

Finally, when a wave hit the left side of the ship so hard it turned on its side completely, and started going down, Ryouma realized it for a third time: Oryou was right.

Ryouma and several of the crew clung to waterever the could to keep from falling. The rest screamed and slid their ways into the sea. Ryouma watched them with bated breath.

There was an emergency life boat on the side of the ship still above water. He wasn't too far away. The ship wasn't quite fully upright yet. Using the soaked cargo for purchase, he pushed himself and stumbled for the boat, shouting against the wind for everyone to follow.

They somehow managed to get the life boat cut free. The men were divided between those attempting to lower it and those already scrambling to get in it. Ryouma did his best to yell over them to keep order, but it was useless. He didn't even know if they could hear him.

Then another huge wave hit the ship hard, from the opposite side. It washed over the entire deck, before sweeping back.

Ryouma felt the wave all around him. His hands slipped from the ropes he was holding. The dark world of the storm went pure black under the ocean waters. The currents pulled him back, suctioning him into the sea. His ears roared, before they went as deaf as his eyes blind. His lung burned. He thrashed to grab hold of something, anything, but they found nothing.

There was nothing down here.

Nothing at all.

Ryouma had always loved the ocean. He would have loved to explore underneath it as much he did above it. But that didn't mean he wanted to drown.

Oryou was right, he thought for the last time, his head fuzzy as his limbs gave up, letting the currents drag him further away. I should have waited.

Now I'll never see her again.

He blinked heavy eyelids. I think that's what I regret the most.

Ryouma's eyes closed.

Then, somehow, he could see through his eyelids, the world went rosy.

If Ryouma's mind and body were already resigned to his fate, then suddenly, he felt a whole lot more peaceful about that forced decision. He felt lithe arms snake under his armpits, drawing him close to a firm body behind him. Stray hairs brushed across his face.

Ryouma smiled, despite everything. He had no way of knowing if it was Oryou hypnotizing him or another mermaid, but he hoped it was Oryou. He didn't believe he could tell the difference enough between his own thoughts and the spell to differentiate his feelings anymore, but if he had to go out in someone's arms, then he hoped it was hers.

At the very least, he was glad she could finally get what she'd wanted all this time.

And if Ryouma imagined somehow breaking the surface and seeing her face, pink eyes lighting up the storm-filled sky, and Oryou grabbing his ears to kiss him on the mouth, well; that was a nice image for him to die on.

---

"Stupid human lungs! Why don't you - !? Oh, forget it! Hyyyyaaa!"

Something hard slammed into Ryouma's sternum. If he'd barely been awake enough to hear his surroundings before, he was definitely awake now. His body jolted, both his upper and lower halves shooting upright. His legs quickly fell back to the sand while he practically vomited what felt like an entire bucket of water.

"GUH!" he heaved once it was all out, panting heavily. He repeated the noise several times, until his burning chest relaxed enough that he regained control of his throat. Ryouma wrapped his hand around his neck, steadying himself.

When he was calmed, he slowly turned his head to the person he sensed beside him.

Sitting fully on the beach under a sea of twinkling stars, Oryou regarded him carefully, searching his body for any averse signs.

"Oryou-san," Ryouma croaked, in disbelief. He coughed. "Did you...did you save me?"

Her face hardened, then softened. She looked away a moment, and turned back to him, chin lowered.

"Oryou-san followed you," she admitted quietly. "She was mad at you, so she stayed under the water the whole time, but she couldn't let you go alone. She was watching you try to control the ship on the deck, but the storm was too much. She told you so. But I couldn't let you die, Ryouma. I decided against that...well, I don't know when, but way before the storm brewed."

Ryouma stared at her incredulously.

He noted the sudden switch to first person. He couldn't remember if she had ever done that before.

"Oryou..." he breathed.

She picked her head up, still avoiding his gaze. "The rest of your crew...Oryou-san doesn't know if they all lived, but a bunch of them were in that lifeboat the last time she saw them. Oryou-san doesn't know if you realized this, but the currents knocked you way off course during the storm. There's a bunch of islands around here, so they'll probably make it to one soon if they haven't already. Oryou-san isn't very familiar with these lands, but she brought you to the closest one. Your ship sank, though. She's sorry, she knows how much you loved it."

Ryouma couldn't take his eyes off her.

Slowly, he reached up and cupped her chin in hand, gently turning her to face him. Oryou glanced at him, but quickly reddened and turned back away.

He let his arm fall.

"I did love my ship, you're right, but I can buy another one. What I'm more interested in is why you saved me instead of eating me. Wasn't that always your goal?" Ryouma started. "And - ! Did I imagine it, or did you kiss me out there!?"

A big part of him desperately hoped he hadn't imagined it after all, but what her motivations for doing so would be eluded him.

Oryou finally looked at him, startled. She blushed harder. "Oh, that? Oryou-san was trying to keep you calm and awake. She put her spell on you so wouldn't accidentally fight her, and she kissed you so she could suck the water out of you. That second part didn't work; Oryou-san doesn't know CPR very well. That's also why she hit you in the chest. Easier than whatever a compression is."

That explained his aching sternum.

Ryouma chuckled, ignoring the pain it caused in his chest. He couldn't help feeling disappointed she hadn't actually kissed-kissed him, but her explanation made much more sense. Nevertheless, one thing bugged him.

"So why did you change your mind about eating me?" he asked, letting his expression fall. "You still haven't told me that part. I thought you were so determined to because I'd humiliated you."

Oryou pushed a lock of hair behind her ear uncomfortably. Somehow, her blush got even darker. She pouted, then scowled, then looked away yet again in embarrassment.

"Oryou-san...may have gotten over that..." she mumbled so low Ryouma had to stretch close to hear, "when you kept talking to her...and made her like you enough to spare your life. She also might have...been developing feelings...before that. Like when you stood up for her...in front of the others eventhoughOryou-sandidn'tmakeyoudothat."

Ryouma jerked, trying to make sense of that last sentence in his head. When he got it, he blushed, mouth opening in awe.

Oryou turned her head back around. She jumped when she saw how close he was.

Ryouma did as well, when in response to her jump, he realized their faces were only centimeters apart.

His heart raced. If I leaned forward only a little, he thought, mesmerized, I could kiss her.

Neither of them moved, though. It was as if they both had frozen in place.

Until Oryou hesitantly reached up her hand to touch his shoulder. It was just the tips of her fingers on his soaked jacket, but Ryouma jolted like he'd been electrified.

Suddenly, he wasn't frozen anymore. Barely thinking about it, eyes focused solely on her, he wrapped her fingers between his own and squeezed lightly.

"Feelings," he repeated quietly. "What kind of feelings?"

Oryou pursed her lips in mild annoyance. "Does Oryou-san have to spell it out!?"

Ryouma grinned. He squeezed her fingers tighter. "No, I think I get it. But why didn't you say anything before? At least about not eating me."

"Oryou-san told you before, she doesn't know when exactly she decided that," she reminded him. Her eyes fell to the sand between them. "But she also may have...wanted to keep seeing Ryouma, and needed an...excuse to. Plus, he may have stopped meeting her if he thought he was safe, and...lost interest in Oryou-san."

Ryouma frowned. "I see."

He tilted his head, pressing the slightest bit forward.

Oryou's pupils dilated. He saw her throat bob.

"I wouldn't have done that," he told her quietly, bringing her hand to his chest. "I don't blame you for thinking it, but I wouldn't have."

Her eyes widened. "Ryouma..."

"I might have - " Ryouma broke off in a nervous chuckle. He restarted, "I enjoyed our chats. I liked looking down the ship and seeing you there. I liked greeting you at the docks. I couldn't wait to meet you at the beach. The truth is, I think I've fallen in love with you for real, Oryou-san."

Oryou made a high pitched noise in her throat.

Ryouma waited a moment, watching her closely for any signs of discomfort. When there were none, he pushed forward.

Oryou's lips felt really nice against his own.

She pressed them back against his almost immediately, throwing her arms around him.

As soon as they parted and looked at each other, both their eyes lidded, they kissed again with such force Ryouma fell on his back. Or maybe that was Oryou pushing him down herself. His mind was a little too distracted by her lips to pay much attention to himself.

Oryou laid half way over his torso, kissing him breathless. Ryouma gave a pleased moan, closing his eyes.

Oryou lifted up at once.

Ryouma opened his eyes in disappointed surprise.

But Oryou wasn't pulling away. Her eyes were full of desire, he saw, and she was wiping away a thin of spit he realized must have broken from their kiss. His eyes wandered down on their own, without his permission, to her soft breasts.

He swallowed hard. His cock stirred in his pants.

The world wasn't a hypnotic rosy. But it sure felt rosy on its own.

Oryou's eyes honed in on Ryouma. She sat up as straight as she could on her tail. Her fingers toyed with the edges of his coat.

"Ryouma should get out of these soaked clothes," she said, as if she herself was under a trance. "He doesn't want to get sick."

Ryouma looked her up and down. She was just as soaked as his clothes were, but he couldn't bring himself to care. His cock certainly didn't.

"Yeah!" he agreed, hands clammering to undo his collar. "Yeah. I don't want hypothermia."

Oryou licked her lips, helping him yank off his coat. "Oryou-san will warm you up."

Staying in wet clothes was a bad idea no matter what. This probably wasn't the greatest idea, though. But Ryouma knew he was likely going to need medical care after this anyway, so he really didn't care. He just wanted her.

They both scrambled to get him undressed. Ryouma found himself kissing and being kissed by her between garments coming off.

Once his arms and head were through the last of his upper wear, he wrapped his hands over her hips and kissed her neck. Oryou shivered. She paused while he littered kiss after kiss from her jawline to her collar bones, hands frozen at the hem of his pants. Ryouma folded his arms around her waist, bringing her closer until they were chest to chest. He groaned at the feel of her breasts on his skin, and returned his lips to her mouth.

Oryou's hands resumed, frantically undoing and ripping off his pants and underwear. As soon as they were off, her fingers wrapped around his cock and started stroking. Her cheeks were red as could be, but her eyes were filled with lust.

Ryouma thrusted against her palm without thinking. He squeezed his eyes shut, a low moan escaping him.

"D-Don't forget Oryou-san," Oryou stammered, her voice a high-pitched squeak. "She w-wants to be touched, t-too!"

Ryouma snapped opened his eyes. Down below her waist, Oryou's slit had opened up of his own accord, revealing her genitalia. She didn't need to hold the sides apart this time. He could plainly see how wet she was, and not from the water dripping down her body.

He reached out to brush her clit with his finger. Oryou flinched, and moaned.

Ryouma realized something. "Oryou-san, have you ever done this before? H-Had sex, I mean. And not just with a human; I mean at all."

She tossed her head to the side, giving a pleased sigh as he rubbed circles around her clit. "N-No. She was - was waiting. She didn't, uh...want to have a baby for a few years...so she skipped mating season until now. She was gonna try it this year, but uh...then she started falling for Ryouma."

Ryouma flushed down his neck.

He pressed her clit in, then slid his finger over her lower lips. Oryou shuddered and mewed.

He watched her throat bob, and she looked at him through glazed, lidded eyes.

"Mating season's not for a while," she told him. "She won't get pregnant 'til it s-starts. Probably mid-f-fall."

So they were safe until then.

Ryouma didn't know about having kids of his own yet, but a rare, jealous streak shot through him. Any baby Oryou ever had, he wanted it to be his. Not somebody else's. He knew it was selfish, but he wanted her all to himself - in every way.

(As his wife. The mother of his children. His one and only - )

Ryouma kissed Oryou hard, his other hand cradling the back of her head. Oryou made a surprised noise, but quickly returned the kiss with the same ferocity, twisting her tongue against his.

His first hand was more gentle, stroking her folds until his fingers were nice and wet with her slick. Oryou moaned all the while, grabbing the sides of his head with both hands and trying to dive her tongue as deep in his mouth as she could get. He rubbed her clit one more time, before prodding a finger at her entrance.

Oryou stiffened. Ryouma halted his movement, but as soon as she bucked against him with a frustrated grunt between their lips, he pressed it in. Oryou's face scrunched against his, only to then relax with a sigh.

"More," she pleaded, breaking the kiss only briefly.

Ryouma groaned into her mouth. He thrusted his finger in and out a few times to make sure she was okay with the intrusion, then pushed a second finger in next to it.

Oryou hissed, making him pause halfway in. Yet she soon bucked against him again, impatient, and so he pushed the rest of the way in. Oryou bucked again, sighing.

She didn't ask for more fingers, so Ryouma didn't force a third in. Instead he focused on these two, pushing them in and out, and curling them on the spot he knew would make her cry out in pleasure.

"Ryouma!" she cried out when it did. She threw her arms around his back and lay her head on his shoulder, panting into his neck.

He groaned, throwing his head back. His neglected cock, fully hard, twitched and stirred. He bit his lip, trying his best to ignore it a little more for her sake.

It wasn't until Oryou's panting grew labored, and her walls tightened around his fingers, telling him that she was getting close, that Ryouma stopped and gingerly removed them.

Oryou began to lift her head in questioning. Ryouma quickly lay her on her back, however, giving her a reassuring smile in answer.

She grinned in reply.

His cock jumped.

Although her tail made the position a little awkward, Ryouma settled over her, and directed his cock to her entrance. He slowly pushed inside, giving her time to adjust, until his pelvis met skin and scales. He waited a moment, his mind lost in how good she felt around him. Then he looked to her, to make sure she was all right.

Oryou's expression was pure bliss.

She caught his eyes on her, smiled sweetly, and nodded slightly.

Ryouma was so mesmerized by her, his hips jerked of their own will. He swiftly regained control, and started thrusting firmly.

The air was soon filled with twin sighs, moans, and grasps.

Oryou clung to him, her face buried in his collar bones. Ryouma held close, his eyes screwing shut as the pleasure washed over.

"Oryou-san." Her name slipped out of his mouth. It tasted wonderful on his tongue. "Oryou!"

"Ryouma," she breathed, her fingers digging into his shoulder blades. "Oh, Ryouma."

The way she said his name was even better.

A warm coil was building up in Ryouma's belly far too soon. Either time was no longer synced to his brain, or he hadn't been this turned on in forever. He didn't want it to end so soon. He wanted to stay inside her, keep feeling her, let her keep feeling him and -

Oryou's walls clamped on him. She jolted, her back arching suddenly. Her eyes squeezed shut, her teeth gritting together until they ripped apart with a cry. She spasmed around him, her nails biting his skin and walls restricting to the point it was hard to continue thrusting. A fresh wave of slick flooded over his cock.

Ryouma's eyes rolled to the top of his head. He jerked one last time, his cock hardening to an impossible point, and released deep inside her. "Oryou!"

When it was over, he collapsed on top of her. Oryou moaned under his weight, and stroked his back. As his senses returned to him, Ryouma chuckled lightly and kissed her hair.

He pulled out and rolled onto the sand beside her. He breathed in and out, placing a hand on his chest. A sheepish smile spread on his face.

He guessed almost dying really did do things to a person.

Yet one thing stuck in his mind.

Ryouma turned his head to Oryou. She blinked tiredly at the night sky, bonelessly relaxed. She caught him staring out of the corner of her eye, and twisted her torso on its side, keeping her tail flat.

"Ryouma," she whispered lovingly, laying her head on her arms. She seemed content there, with nothing more to add next to his name. She was just happy to simply be with him.

If anything, that only spurred him on more.

"Oryou-san," Ryouma said, every fiber of his being serious, "will you marry me?"

Oryou's eyes widened. Her smile vanished. "You mean - be your wife, like a human? You want Oryou-san as your mate?"

He laughed, unable to help himself. "Yes, exactly that."

He knew they couldn't have a ceremony, or go to a registry, and everyone who didn't know of her would think he was single, and everyone who did would think he was crazy, but Ryouma didn't care. He only wanted Oryou. He wanted her as his wife, the mother of his children, and the one and only person he loved for the rest of his life.

If he ever died on another voyage, or got sick on land, or something of the like happened to him, taking him away for good, he wanted to go with the knowledge that Oryou knew he how much loved her.

He could no longer see the point in holding back.

Oryou gawked at him, stunned.

But it wasn't long until she broke out in a wide, happy grin. She threw herself over him with an excited squeal. "Yes! Then Oryou-san will!"

Ryouma yelped for his poor sternum, which suddenly decided to remind him it was hurting, but hugged her back just as happily.

They both raised their heads, smiling with hooded eyes. Ryouma tilted his head up and met Oryou in one more kiss. She giggled against his lips.

This was their moment.

So naturally, once they broke apart, it was only fitting Ryouma heard in the distance, "Captain Sakamoto! Where are you!? Can you hear us!?"

Ryouma sighed in relief. At least some of his crew had survived after all. And they were here.

Oryou put a hand behind his neck and ran her other thumb over his cheek. "Go check in with them. Get dry and don't get sick; she knows there's towns on these lands that will help you. Oryou-san will see her husband again soon."

Ryouma reluctantly sat up. "We're going home together, right?"

"Of course! Oryou-san will be right by your next ship's side, as always," she told him, like it was obvious.

Which, to be fair, it was. He'd just wanted to make sure.

He smiled gratefully. "Good."

As long as Oryou was by Ryouma's side, he couldn't wish for anything more.

The world never again had a hypnotic rosiness to it, but Ryouma's world sure was rosy in a real way for the rest of his days.

He enjoyed it that way.

Chapter 24: Crow

It all started when the elderly neighbor woman next door knocked on the Sakamoto Agency's, and begged Ryouma and Oryou to please feed the neighborhood crows while she was visiting her daughter across the country.

"I started feeding them when I first moved in ten years ago," the little old woman said, crouched over her cane. "I haven't missed a day of feeding yet. They'll be so lonely and frightened if I'm not there to feed them every day for two whole weeks..."

The Sakamotos didn't readily agree. Especially with their job assigned by the Counterforce in mind, they might not always have time to feed her crows. Even if they'd wanted to, it just wasn't plausible.

But when Oryou had bluntly suggested the old woman cancel her trip and just stay home, and she got all teary eyed for some reason, the good boy within Ryouma decided to take over.

Now Oryou had to watch her husband throw birdseed over the fence of their apartment's backyard every day, in the face of a score of loud, annoying crows staring him down from the trees.

"It really isn't so bad," Ryouma said after the first three days. "Once you get over the scariness of a murder of crows watching your every move, it's actually kind of neat? All they do is eat, caw, and fly away. They're actually pretty cute."

Oryou, a literal Orochi whom Ryouma had married, swallowed the frog laying halfway in her mouth whole, and looked at him plainly. "That's pretty weird, Ryouma."

"Eh? Is it...?"

But what was really aggravating was when one of the crows in particular started showing up at his office window and leaving shiny objects for him. That caught Oryou's attention right away.

The first time, Ryouma opened the window and gave the bottle cap between his fingers an odd look. "I wonder what this means?"

After the following days of receiving a dirty coin and silver toe ring - "Hm? These are strange, little gifts, aren't they, Oryou-san? Hahaha, I think that crow is really friendly!" - Oryou was fairly certain she knew what was going on.

Yes. It was obvious now. One day might have been all right, but every day afterwards? It surely meant something. And Oryou knew exactly what. That stupid crow was trying to steal Ryouma away from her!

Which was why she decided it was in her best interests to compete for Ryouma's affections. Someone had to show that pesky crow who the real person in his life was. Gifts from her would totally outdo any from a dumb bird! She would show it.

"Here, Ryouma," she said sweetly later in the day, after the toe ring was dropped off, spinning in circles as she floated over to him at their white board. "Oryou-san got you this. It's a token of her appreciation for you."

Ryouma paused his marker on the white board. He looked at her, puzzled as he was snapped out of his thoughts on their case, and accepted the object in her hand. He cocked his head at it.

"Uh...is this a screw?" he inquired. He curled his lips in a semi-smile. "You're not about to joke I can tighten this in my head so you don't have to babysit me anymore, are you?"

"No, not this time," she answered gleefully. "Besides, Oryou-san would need a lot more screws for that."

Ryouma's expression was bewildered.

Still, Oryou considered the operation a success when she got cuddles in bed that night.

Yet the next morning, Ryouma accepted the stupid crow's next gift.

He eyed the paperclip with a confused smile. "I guess we can use this for our files."

Oryou scowled in annoyance.

"Ryouma! Oryou-san got you this!" she announced proudly after dinner the same day.

Ryouma frowned in confusion, holding out his hand to receive the silver button she dropped in his palm. "Oh...? Where did you find this, Oryou-san?"

"Oryou-san searched the whole house for something like this," she told him eagerly. "She finally found it under the couch!"

Ryouma stared at her, at a loss.

Oryou got very loving sex that night, though, so she considered it a win.

Except in the morning, Ryouma still accepted the dumb bird's gift!

"Ah, a tiny buckle," he chuckled. "How neat."

Oryou's patience was starting to wear thin.

"This is for Ryouma!" she harshly thrust her newest gift against his chest early the next morning. "Oryou-san wants a candlelit dinner in return for this."

Ryouma grunted, and took the silver bracelet in hand. His raised it to his eyes. "And this came from...?"

"Someone left it on the sidewalk outside," she snapped. "Dress nicely for our dinner. You're cooking."

"Ah, so it fell off someone's wrist then," he said, gingerly setting it aside. He looked up at Oryou directly, eyes unwavering. "Oryou-san, are you jealous of the crow who leaves me gifts for feeding him?"

Oryou jerked back as if burned. She sputtered. "N-No! Why would Oryou-san be jealous!? She just doesn't want that awful crow to steal Ryouma to go watch football or something? Yeah, like that. All the while Oryou-san is eating frogs alone in their room, all sad in her new, sexy lingerie that she bought just for him..."

Ryouma did a doubletake. "Steal me - ? Football - !? Sexy lingerie - !? Oryou-san, what are you talking about!?"

Her patience broke. Oryou's hair flew sharply around her. "Oryou-san will not let another take Ryouma away from her!"

Ryouma slowly blinked at her. "It's...a crow. Not a sapient crow, not the god of crows, but an ordinary crow. How is it going to take me away from you?"

She pouted, crossing her arms tightly. She didn't answer.

He shook his head lightly. Ryouma stepped up to her, drawing Oryou, who loosened her arms at first contact, into his embrace.

"No one can ever steal me from you," he said, smiling bright. "I'm sorry it made you jealous, Oryou-san, but I promise you the crow doesn't want me like that."

Her face softened. Still, she pursed her lips. "You'll never leave Oryou-san, or neglect her for someone more interesting?"

"Nope," he replied easily. He stepped back and ran his hands up and down her arms, straightening them out, and held her biceps. "Besides, I can't think of anyone more interesting than you, Oryou-san."

She beamed. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yup. You keep me on my toes and make sure my life is never boring. I enjoy every minute spent with you, Oryou-san. You're wonderful."

He pressed a chaste kiss to her lips.

Oryou-san burst with happiness. She threw her arms around his neck, lifting him the air, and kissed him back harder.

"Heheh, Oryou-san - !" Ryouma started, laughing breathlessly.

Scratch, scratch.

Oryou and Ryouma both looked at the window.

The crow made direct eye contact. It flapped off the window sill and disappeared.

Oryou frowned.

Ryouma nudged her lightly. "Hey. It's only a bird. I love you, Oryou-san."

"Oryou-san loves you, too." She put him down and floated to the window in determination. "So, she will get Ryouma's gift from the weird bird today for him!"

"I - ? Okay, whatever you say."

She propped open the window sternly. Her eyes fell downward, ready to see today's gift.

Oryou's whole demeanor fell away.

She snatched it up and darted back to Ryouma's side. "Look, look!"

Ryouma did.

"Oh, a little, silver frog charm!" he exclaimed in delight. "How adorable. Oryou-san, you keep that. I bet it was for you."

"For Oryou-san?" She blinked. She stared at the tiny, compact, silver frog. "But she didn't do anything for the crow."

"Maybe it wants to be friends with you, too," he chuckled.

Oryou smiled, darting off to find a place for her new frog charm. "Ryouma, give the crow Oryou-san's thanks and acceptance of its friendship tomorrow at breakfast! Also, she should have known a bird could never have stolen Ryouma from her. He's the scalie kind of furry, after all!"

Out of her field of vision, Ryouma's face once again dropped in confusion. "I'm a...what...? Oryou-san, where do you pick up these things!?"

Chapter 25: Witch

Oryou finished recasting the spell, and snapped her spellbook shut. She watched the blood red wisps of magic float in the air above the tombstone, dancing merrily in a chaotic rhythm, before quickly descending down into the grassy grave.

That was it. The spell was complete. Now all there was to do was dig up the casket and open it. Oryou threw aside the book and picked up her shovel.

Despite the chilly wind ripping through her clothes, and night air so cold that she could see her breath, a hot sweat formed on her skin as she kicked the shovel into the ground, breaking the semi-frozen dirt. If she had messed this up, Oryou was going to be wracked with guilt. So, so much guilt for getting it wrong. She wouldn't be able to bear it.

She would throw herself into the sea if this plan failed, just so she could truly see him again. If she could not have Ryouma returned to her in life, then she would join him in death. She just couldn't live without him. One way or the other, they had to be reunited.

Oryou dug. The ground was tough beneath her feet, but her resolve kept her going. She threw the chunks of dirt off to the side, over her shoulder, wherever she felt like throwing it. All that mattered was that she reach the casket.

She had lived an incredibly long life, most of it atop the mountain. She had derived her youth by tricking weary travellers into spending the night in her abode, or kidnapping the townspeople of the neighboring villages at the bottom of the mountain.

In the latter case, her spell that made everyone in a certain vicinity forget a specific person ever existed worked wonderfully. Centuries had passed, yet there wasn't so much as a rumor about her abductions, let alone legends, or public fear of being next.

Oryou would then use their corpses to make her youth potions. Drain their blood, crush their bones, and stir it together with a slice of muscle. Throw it in the cauldron bubbling with the more magical ingredients, and drink a single cup. It was enough to rejuvenate her for a single year.

Such a shame that for much as the recipe required of the human body, she couldn't save the rest of the batch for the following years. It would have saved herself much time needing to kidnap people and erase the memories of them. It would have also saved lives. Ah well.

But then a new, weary traveller came climbing up the mountain, and begged to stay the night. Oryou had just rejuvenated herself a few months before. She never opened her door to travellers outside her rejuvenation period. But this stupid man had kept begging, and when she slammed the door in his face, he knocked again just to beg more. She almost killed him right then and there.

Except she didn't. She let him in and...he was actually good company.

The man was from one of the villages. He loved finding new trails to climb up the mountain, and thus, had found her house. But he had underestimated the weather, and hadn't packed for a potential storm. The dark gray clouds had pushed him to her house.

He left the next morning, leaving Oryou in a strangely good mood. She saw him again the next day, descending the mountain, and despite the nice weather this time, invited him to stay another night.

It took her months to realize it was because she had a crush on him. She hadn't had a crush since she left human society altogether centuries ago. A perk or con of being alone with minimal contact for so long. Even her normal guests didn't get a chance to chat that much before she killed them.

Ryouma climbed the mountain again three more times that season, staying with her for the night each time. When the weather got colder, she expected him to stop visiting completely, at least until spring. The idiot instead trecked high enough to see her, and stayed a whole day and night before going home.

As winter set in, a day and night turned to a week in her house. Spring came, and he was climbing the mountain once a week to spend the night again. One thing led to another, and the rest of the story was easily predictable: Oryou and Ryouma fell in love.

Oryou had never been so happy in her life.

Ryouma found out she was a witch when he decided to be a spontaneous flirt, and visit outside his normal schedule.

It was during her rejuvenation period.

Oryou had believed the relationship over when she saw the bouquet of flowers drop from his hand as he caught her slicing the meat from a severed arm.

Thankfully, it wasn't.

"Why do you need to stay young?" he asked her later, once everything was calmed. He brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, his head tilted sadly. "You're already so beautiful. Do you really think you'll lose this in a year or two?"

Oryou scoffed, though inside she wished he would keep his hand there, so she could lean her face into his palm. "If Oryou-san didn't do this, she would have been dirt thirty feet in the ground before you were so much as an egg cell in your grandmother's womb."

Ryouma was taken aback. "My...grandmother's...womb?"

Although he condemned her murderous work, he didn't condemn her.

In fact, he had a different proposal in mind.

"I know it's barely been a year since we met," he told her, blushing deeply, "but I already imagine us growing old together. From the sounds of it, I'm the first person you've really let in in hundreds of years. I'd be upset if I died, and you went back to being alone for hundreds of years to come."

Oryou had eyed him warily. "Growing old together? What, are you asking Oryou-san to marry you?"

He shrugged. "If you'll have me. I don't care if we get married now, or in ten years. I know this is all kind of fast, and I should probably be more freaked out, but all I care about is being able to be with you."

Butterflies filled Oryou's stomach.

She grudgingly agreed to give up her potion of youth in exchange for a wedding date. Ryouma eagerly gave her one.

"Oryou-san wouldn't agree to face death in five or eight decades for just anyone, you know," she had to warn him, though, eyes narrowed. "If you break her heart, or give her reason to renege on our deal, she won't. She'll go back to drinking people and spend the rest of her eternal life alone. Do you really want that on your conscience if our marriage ever ends?"

To her surprise, he only shrugged a second time. "If that happens, at least I'll have saved a few people. Otherwise, you'd have killed every year anyway."

It was an odd answer. But Ryouma was an odd man, and she loved everything about him.

A handful of years went by. Within those years, Ryouma had convinced her to visit his village for real, as opposed to using a spell to lure victims. She met his family, shopped at the market, and beat up one of his annoying friends once. He kept making her come down and form relationships with other people. They got married. He moved in with her up the mountain. He took her up to the peak a few times to enjoy the beautiful sight at each other's sides. She continued to practice the rest of her magic, the non-lethal kind, and he was utterly amazed by it. They had a good life.

Oryou had taken to heart Ryouma's words from when they had first gotten engaged. She no longer wanted to live in a world without him. It was better to grow old and die together with the person she loved most than to live millennia without him. She was ready to leave her potion in the past, that immortal chapter of her life over. Life was far more worth living this way - with him beside her.

Which was why when Ryouma was suddenly murdered by unknown assailants while they were visiting in town, Oryou didn't think about restarting her rejuvenation period again.

For her, it was either bring him back to life, or go join him in death.

She chose the former first. The latter was plan b.

Because, see, the potion had a twin in her spell book. One side of the page described how to keep the living alive. The other described how to bring the dead back to life.

She would essentially be returning his soul to his body. His ghost would be chained back to it. The flip side was that he'd have to live with any decay his body had suffered upon his death, and he would gradually be unchained from it once more over the next fifty years or so, unless another resurrection spell was cast.

That was all right with Oryou. His funeral had only been two weeks ago. The casket and cold should have helped preserve his corpse. Even if Ryouma was discolored or bloated, she would still love him for the man inside. It just had to work. And five decades was more than enough time for her to grow old enough to die with him. There would be no need to cast the spell twice.

Oryou's shovel hit a solid. Here was the casket, at last. She threw her shovel up out of the hole and quickly cleared the remaining dirt away with her hands.

Oryou hurriedly opened the lid. "Ryouma!"

Ryouma's eyes were already open. He really was discolored, bloated in some places, and blotchy in others, but it was him. He was alive. Oryou could see it in his eyes.

Her husband sat up of his own accord. His lips trembled, eyes filling with tears.

There was no doubt the resurrection spell had worked.

Oryou, in her excitement, climbed into the casket to sit on his lap. Her eyes were also filling with tears.

Ryouma immediately hugged her tight, sobbing into her shoulder.

"Oryou-san, Oryou-san!" he cried, rubbing his face against her clothes. "I watched you. I watched you the whole time. I watched you grieve, work, and perform the spell. I could see how much you were hurting. I'm sorry I left you so early. I didn't  - I couldn't - You were my last thoughts!"

Oryou kissed the top of his head, rubbing his back. She couldn't contain her own sobs. "I'm so happy you're back."

Ryouma actually laughed against her shoulder. "I guess this what I get for marrying a witch?"

He hugged her tighter.

Oryou laughed, too. Her entire being was filled to the brim with euphoria. "I guess so. You're  - We're both lucky Oryou-san had that spell in her book. If she hadn't..."

She no longer wanted to think about that. Ryouma was here, and that was all that mattered.

But Ryouma pulled off her shoulder. He looked at her with fresh tears.

"I know about that, too," he told her. "Oryou-san: Never kill yourself for me. I couldn't bear it."

"Huh?" Her face dropped in concern. "Ryouma...?"

He shook his head. "I know you've lived longer than I can imagine. But don't ever do that. When I said we could grow old together, and I didn't want you to be alone without me for hundreds of years, I didn't mean - I didn't mean it like that!"

Oryou was stunned. She didn't understand. Her voice was barely above a whisper, repeating his name questioningly. "Ryouma?"

He squeezed his eyes shut, and buried his face in her shoulder again with a loud hiccup.

She gently stroked his hair, worry written all over her face. She struggled to think of a response. "But, Ryouma - ? It wasn't because of your words she wanted to die. It was because she couldn't live without you anymore. Life wasn't worth living anymore, not for one year or thousands. That's why if this didn't work, she was going to join...you..."

His whole body trembled violently as she spoke, so she stopped.

"It doesn't matter," he croaked out, like one of her frogs before she killed it to eat. "Don't ever do that. P-Please! I don't want to see you die either. Y-You mean too much to me. I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you. So please, live for me instead. If anything else ever happens to me, and you can't bring me back again, grow old before you join me. Find more to value in life, and enjoy it! That's why I didn't want you to be alone. I didn't want you to be miserable. Please, promise me, Oryou-san! Oryou-san!"

Oryou's nerves lit on fire. She couldn't imagine doing that. If Ryouma somehow passed again and couldn't be brought back, she couldn't - how could she possibly live like that? What could else she possibly find value and joy in? This man had changed her whole life in only a few years, something no one or thing had ever done before. Part of her believed she had stayed alive this long just so she could meet him, and only him. How could she ever possibly go on without him?

But this was evidently important to Ryouma. She didn't bring him back to life just to trample all over his heart. If it was for Ryouma, she could try anything.

"O-Okay," she promised, turning her face in his hair. Despite the dirt and rot, he still smelled just like himself. Oryou breathed it in. "Okay, Ryouma. She'll live for you, always."

He sobbed anew.

Tears rolled down her cheeks, her teeth grit together.

At least they were together again. That was all that mattered for now, she told herself. Not many could say they had this second chance. Everything else could wait until later.

For now, Oryou just wanted to take Ryouma home, where they both belonged.

Chapter 26: Fog

"You haven't carried Oryou-san like this since our wedding night."

"Is that right?"

Oryou nodded, waving her good leg up and down while her arms hugged Ryouma's shoulders and neck. "It's giving Oryou-san flashbacks. If she didn't have to go to the stupid hospital, she thinks she'd want to recreate more of it."

Ryouma blushed. He shifted her weight in his arms and continued forward through the fog. "Well, there's always tonight. How's your ankle feel?"

"Tch." She frowned petulantly. "It's achy and swollen, what else? Damn root, getting in Oryou-san's way when she can't see..."

Ryouma smiled tightly. Best to leave that topic alone, he saw.

He and Oryou were on a case way out in the country, which had involved staking out an old, abandoned farmhouse-turned-manor. Their client had sworn her thief of a cousin had stolen her jewels and hid out there, since the place used to belong to their deceased grandfather.

That client was willing to pay absurdly well for such a petty case. In fact, Ryouma was almost certain without seeing the jewels that their pay was about to be worth more than the whole collection. That must have been the price of sentimentality, he supposed.

Ryouma had already texted Izo to lock up the house for them while they were gone. He doubted with this hospital trip, they'd be coming home before midnight. It was already getting pretty late as it was.

And the worst part was, of course, the fog. Ryouma had grown up closer to the countryside, so he knew how foggy a fall night could get. Tonight was particularly bad. So much so on their way back to their car, neither of them could see more than a few inches from their faces. That was how Oryou had tripped over a tree root and hurt her ankle, and why Ryouma was bridal carrying her the rest of the way there.

He was pretty sure it wasn't broken, but he wanted to be safe. She might have fractures or who knew what down there. At the very least, she couldn't walk without limping in pain.

"Think you'll bump legs first into the car and send Oryou-san sliding over the hood?" Oryou asked, deadpan.

Ryouma stumbled. His grip on her back and knees tightened on reflex. "Well, I certainly hope not! Don't make me think of things like that, Oryou-san. My heart jumped enough when you fell."

His wife grinned. "You're going to make a great dad when we have a kid with a skinned knee."

"If that's you're way of telling me you're pregnant, please wait for a better time."

"Nah, Oryou-san's birth control is still working," she said. She paused for dramatic affect. "She thinks."

"Oryou-san," Ryouma groaned. "Don't play tricks on me like this when I can barely see. I really don't want to send you over the hood."

She laughed quietly. "Sorry. She had to. The opportunity was too good to waste."

"Hm." Ryouma focused on stepping carefully to feel for what was in front of him before he hit it. "Apology accepted."

Finally, they found the car.

Ryouma adjusted Oryou's body in his arms to open the back door and set her inside.

Oryou pursed her lips. Her legs and butt lay on the seat, but she didn't let go of his arms and shoulders.

"What are you doing?" she asked, tone plain. "Oryou-san wants to be up front with you."

"Sorry," he replied evenly, gently prying at her tightening arms. "You're leg needs propped up. This is the best we can do for that."

Oryou scowled, but let him buckle her in from the side. When he was done and shut the door, she leaned back against the window, and he saw her cross her arms.

He lightly shrugged.

Feeling his way around the car, Ryouma got in the driver's seat. He turned on the engine, flipped on the headlights, and within a minute or so, slowly started down the road.

"It's probably going to be a while until we get to the hospital," he informed Oryou, glancing at the rear view mirror to check on her. "Do you think you'll be all right?"

Oryou, arms still crossed in annoyance, nodded. "When Oryou-san starts crying in pain, you'll know it's bad."

Ryouma nodded, returning his eyes to the road.

Silence filled the car for a few minutes. The fog didn't let up.

"Hey, hey. Ryouma." Oryou seemed to have calmed down, her voice sounding significantly less irritated than before. "We should take a second honeymoon."

Ryouma couldn't help quirking his lips. "Yeah? You want to give back to the hotsprings and climb the mountain?"

He glanced in the mirror to see her reaction.

Oryou grinned within it. "Yeah, yeah. And we can recreate our wedding night, hahaha."

He blushed again. Teasing, he replied, "Ah, yes. And make our first child, right?"

"Nah," Oryou leaned back, relaxed. "Give that a few more years."

Ryouma chuckled. "Right. It'll just be you and me until then."

She folded her arms behind her head. "That's the way Oryou-san likes it. Though she won't mind a baby or three. Little Oryou Junior, Ryouma Junior, and Ryouryou will be so adorable."

"Weeee'll see about those names."

"Eh? But they're perfect!"

Ryouma could not tell if her grin was joking or not.

"When would you like a second honeymoon?" he asked, changing the subject. "The agency is pretty booked, and the store gets busier during the holidays."

She waved her hand, flippant. "Sometime next year, maybe. Depends on when the springs have an opening. Just remember to forget your underwear when we pack our suitcases, all right?"

Ryouma's eyes rolled to the top of his head in awed shock. This was his dear wife. His beloved bride. The love of his life. Telling him not to pack underwear on their second honeymoon. Her sense of humor knew no bounds.

He knew he loved her for a multitude of reasons.

(Now if she was serious, that was another story.)

Oryou glanced out the window behind her. "Man, this fog is thick. Why does it get so bad at night?"

"You know what?" Ryouma answered. "I never thought about it. I don't know."

"Meh." She turned back around. "As long as no monsters come out of the fog to kill us, she's happy."

He puffed out a laugh. "That's not going to happen."

"Has Ryouma never seen a movie?" she scoffed.

"Movies aren't real."

"You say that now," she warned ominously, "but next thing you know, you'll be laying over the steering wheel, all dizzy and disoriented, listening to Oryou-san call out your name as a sexy monster walks away with her over its shoulder, intending on making her its new bride..."

"Hmm," Ryouma hummed. "I can't help but notice neither of us died in your scenario. Also, why is the monster suddenly sexy?"

She gave a smug smirk. "Sexy monsters exist."

"Sure, dear."

"Oryou-san would make a sexy monster."

He laughed. "I can't argue with that!"

Oryou smiled, her eyes hooded. "Ryouma, Oryou-san loves you."

He glanced behind him at her, mirroring her smile. "I love you, too."

The fog cleared up as the tall buildings of the city at last appeared in the distance.

Chapter 27: Pumpkin Pie

"So this is one of the foods they ended up making from the pumkpins," Ryouma said, setting one of the plates he was holding in front of Oryou at the cafeteria table, before sitting down next to her himself. He poked a fork into his own plate. "It's a desert, pumpkin pie. Look, they even put whipped cream on it! How cute."

Oryou eyed the orange pie in front of her in contemplation, head lowered to the table and eyes narrowed. She perked upright with a grin.

"Oryou-san approves of the look and smell!" she declared, and threw up her usual peace signs. "Yaay!"

Ryouma chuckled. He never got tired to watching his wife enjoy herself. He cut the tip of his pie off and lifted it on his fork. "Since when are you picky about your food, Oryou-san? It's not like you to analyze your meal before eating it."

"Pumpkin pie is new to Oryou-san," she replied. A little drool formed at the corner of her lips. "She wants to savor this. Hey, do you think this pie would go well with a frog topping?"

Ryouma shrugged, placing his fork in his mouth. The pie had an ever so slight spiciness to it. Other than that, it was a new flavor. It wasn't bad. "You could always put a frog on top of the whip cream. Ah, but first, try this. It's good."

He reached over and cut the tip of hers off, too, and held it up to her face. Ryouma smiled pleasantly.

Oryou cocked her head. She opened her mouth wide and practically sucked his entire hand up to his wrist in, closing her lips around his skin.

A drop of sweat formed on his temple, but Ryouma laughed. "Now, why does this feel familiar? Come on, Oryou-san, you don't want to eat my hand."

Oryou released his wrist from her mouth, using her tongue to catch the end of the fork, and flip that and the pie further into her mouth. She chewed with a metallic crunching sound, and quickly swallowed.

Her eyes lit up. "Ooo, Ryouma's right! The pie is good! It only needs a frog to be better, but as it is, this pumpkin pie gets an eight out of ten from Oryou-san!"

Ryouma drew back his damp wrist and looked at his empty hand. "My fork..."

Oryou noticed. "Oh! Sorry, Ryouma. Here, you take Oryou-san's fork, and she'll eat the rest of her pie whole. OH! But Oryou-san wants to feed Ryouma first, too!"

"Ah, really?" he cheered up. "Thank you, Oryou-san. Go right ahead, haha."

Oryou swooped up her fork and scooped a medium sized chunk of Ryouma's pie onto it.

He opened his mouth.

Oryou slowly moved it into his mouth, careful not to go too far and choke him.

Ryouma closed his lips on the fork, letting the pie fall on his tongue as she pulled the utensil out. He chewed and swallowed.

"Thank you," he smiled earnestly.

Oryou smiled. "You're welcome, Ryouma."

They ate the rest of their pies in happy silence, Ryouma picking at his piece by piece, while Oryou threw the whole dish (including the plate) in her mouth at once.

Ryouma chuckled quietly to himself around his food. Although he could get exasperated with her eating habits sometimes, his wife sure was adorable when she was happy with her food. So cute.

Chapter 28: Demon

Oryou moaned softly as Ryouma thrusted inside her. She could feel every inch of him inside her, pushing, pulling, and pulsing, the tip barely brushing her cervix. Her eyes were shut in pleasure, mouth in a permanent, little 'o' shape.

His claws dug into her ribs as he hugged her close to him, her breasts squished against his chest. Ryouma's face was turned away from her over her shoulder, little puffs of air escaping his mouth with every thrust. He groaned, his hips changing angle in a way that repeatedly rolled over her clit.

Oryou gasped, and gave a long moan.

It was dark outside the large window. It was always night in this realm, Ryouma had told her. Only the human world saw the sun. The bedroom was illuminated only by the fire in the hearth, sending harsh, orange light to streak through the shadows on the wall. A torn, white dress and shredded, blue suit lay abandoned on the blood red carpet.

It was their wedding night.

Who could have known how much life would change when a bored woman attempted to summon a demon just because she wanted to? Oryou certainly hadn't. But then she had summoned Ryouma in her basement.

Ryouma turned his head to kiss her deep, groaning hard into her mouth, as he finished inside her and triggered her own orgasm. Oryou kissed him back and held onto him tightly, murmuring I love you's after I love you's.

Because she did love him, more than anything else in the whole universe.

When it was over, Ryouma pulled out and rolled over on the bed. He panted, laying a hand on his chest, and looked over at her with a grin.

Oryou rolled over on her side as well, mirroring his grin. She could feel both of them sticky between her legs, and sweat all over her body. Her ribs ached in a good way, especially where his claws had gripped her.

She reached up to poke at one of his horns playfully. "What are you looking at?"

He laughed. "My beautiful wife. You?"

"Hmm, my handsome husband," she copied. Though he really was handsome. And her husband. Oryou-san was giddy at the thought. She wiggled closer to lay her head on his chest and sighed. "Oryou-san likes this. Being with you forever and forever."

"Yeah?" Ryouma smiled, his pants lessening as he got his breath under control. "Still no regrets about that? Because you'll never be able to return to the human world now, not without being summoned."

"Yes," she said. She picked her head up slightly. "Oryou-san can refuse the summonings?"

He laughed again. "Yes, you can. You don't have to go if you don't want to. The human in question will just think the summoning didn't work."

"Good," Oryou nodded, laying back down. "Her life was so mediocre there, she doesn't want to go back. She wants to stay with Ryouma."

He puffed out another laugh, this one humorless. He wrapped his arm around her waist. "You really have no attachments there, huh?"

She shook her head against his chest. "Nope. Oryou-san told you; she was an outcast as a child, and she didn't grow up to be people-friendly either. She likes it better with you."

"I know," Ryouma replied solemnly. "I saw."

There was a brief pause.

Oryou's eyes struggled to stay open. She was about to drift off, when Ryouma spoke once more.

"Do you think you'll fit in better with all the demons here?" he asked. "You've met plenty by now. I know whatever the answer is, it wasn't enough to make you change your mind; but I want you to be happy here, Oryou-san."

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she answered. "Weirdly enough, they're easier to talk to. And Oryou-san can beat up whoever she wants when she wants, so she's not scared."

Ryouma snorted good-naturedly. "I'd rather you not if you can help it, but yes, you can. That's actually a bit surprising, how well you can hold up to them. No one's been holding back against you just because of me. I was worried I'd have to save you at first."

It was her turn to laugh. "Oryou-san is strong like that. Always has been. She bets she'll get stronger, too, now that she's part of this world."

In the fire's light, she could already see a single, shiny black scale had formed on the back of her hand as it lay on Ryouma's stomach. The results of the consummation of their marriage was already beginning.

"You're certainly stronger than me," Ryouma smiled. "If not in strength, then certainly in character. Sometimes I have a hard time wrangling all the demons up. Even ones like Izo and Takasagi don't like to listen."

"Yeah, Oryou-san noticed," she informed him, as if he didn't already know she knew. "She'll whip them into shape for you."

"Good luck!" he replied merrily, closing his eyes. "You'll need it. But if anyone can, I'm sure it'll be you."

Oryou scoffed, half-heartedly smacking his bicep. "Don't underestimate Oryou-san. She can be very convincing when she wants to. She convinced you bring her here and marry her, after all, didn't she?"

He squirmed a bit. "I was worried you'd get hurt or killed. Even with our wedding, the transformation from human to demon takes time. You're not going to be the dragon you're so excited to be for a little while, you know? But I'm glad I was wrong. It might sound selfish to say this, but I'm happy I get to keep you to myself for all eternity now."

"Aww, Ryouma," she teased, though her cheeks reddened.

"Hush," he chuckled. His face was as red as his sclera. "I know, I'm such a romantic. Must be why you fell for me."

Oryou hummed. "That, too. But it's also because you're kind. Which is funny, because Oryou-san thought demons were supposed to be evil."

"You did meet the others, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I did," she dismissed with a little wave of her hand. She looked up at Ryouma. "Doesn't change how sweet and nice you are. Don't get Oryou-san wrong, she knows you can be underhanded and hold your own if you need to, but you're not evil. If you were, you'd have just eaten her soul instead of helping her out."

He smiled sheepishly. "No wonder I get challenged for my throne on a millennial basis. But you like how soft I am?"

"Yes," she said quietly, starting to doze off for real this time. "She likes it very much. And if anyone wants to take advantage of or overthrow you for that, they're going to have to face their new queen first."

Ryouma chuckled one last time. "Yeah, they will. I love you, too, Oryou-san."

With that, the newly wed demon queen, slowly turning into a demon herself, fell asleep on her surprisingly undemon-like husband.

She was definitely going to like it here.

Chapter 29: Treat

When Ryouma died, Oryou's name had been the last word on his lips. He had called for her twice, succumbing to his injuries on the third try. He'd known she wasn't there, but he'd had to tell her how much she meant to him before he he was gone.

Then he made his deal with the Counterforce. Ryouma remembered the first time he was summoned for a job, and how Oryou was right there with him. He had been far, far too happy to question it deeply, and they had ended up far, far too busy to discuss it in much depth at first. By the time they did the chance to talk, and he'd gotten just enough information to assume she'd died as well, Ryouma had figured it was merely fate that had kept them together after all.

And so, with the amount of time that had passed, and the solid belief they would be together forever, with her as his noble phantasm, Ryouma had to decided to keep all those things he'd wanted to tell Oryou to himself. No time just seemed right to say it all. It was either too awkward, not the right moment anymore, or seemingly pointless given their new statuses. Or at least, that's what he had told himself.

Apparently, Oryou had felt similarly. That, or she'd just wanted to keep her secret. Ryouma guessed he couldn't blame her; now that they were back at Chaldea and life had continued on, he couldn't say for sure what he would, never mind could, have done if he'd known about her being alive at the bottom of the ocean sooner. The Counterforce didn't always keep him in their home timeline, or give jobs like the one at Chaldea, where he had the freedom to move as he pleased between work.

He probably should have considered it more, though. He really should have.

Ryouma remembered how, when they first met Fujimaru in the Imperial Capital grail war, they had come across Izo chasing the poor thing and Okita Alter through the streets. They'd gone back to the agency, and Izo had made it clear how furious he was over a misconception about his own death; that Ryouma had somehow, for some reason, had anything to do with it. Instead of correcting Izo, he had instead given him the chance to take his revenge, because all he could think about was Izo's feelings, and his own misplaced guilt, and -

Ryouma had told Oryou to stay out of it when she'd immediately refused to let it happen. He told her to go against her own vow to never let him die again, not thinking about how much that meant to her, and allow Izo to kill him if that was what he wanted.

Ryouma was surprised she obeyed.

He was less surprised when she panicked at his injury, even though Izo hadn't struck deep enough to kill, and instantly set to work on healing him with her saliva and bandages. Of course she had.

And when she was mad at Ryouma afterwards, while he was still focused on Izo, and told him to worry about her for a change, ostensibly because she'd die if he died, Ryouma had just brushed her off with a thin smile and claim that he always worried about her.

Right. Because he certainly had in that moment. Maybe he should have been more surprised that Oryou actually bought that. Not because he'd been lying at the time, but because looking back, Ryouma realized he really hadn't been worrying about her. Not as much as he should have been.

Maybe there was a good reason Medea had accused him of being a lying husband after the singularity ended. Maybe it hadn't just been her projecting. Perhaps she had actually been able to see something in him that even Ryouma himself couldn't.

He did genuinely worry a bit more when Oryou had tried to leave him in Yamataikoku. She had felt so guilty for falling under a spell that made her forget him, despite showing clear favoritism and affection for his haniwa self. Ryouma recalled nearly losing her many times as he chased her through the forests for days. Her guilt had been so overwhelming that she wouldn't listen to his explanations on how she'd done nothing wrong. In the end Ryouma had been forced to simply accept her deepest, most heartfelt apology in order to get her to return to his side.

That honestly should have been his tip off. But he'd just been glad to have her back, so he'd thought nothing more of it.

His true karma had been in Saitama. When Oryou had been ripped away from him by his possessed doppelganger, turned into the monster Ama-no-Sakagami had wanted her to be, and despite holding him ready for his execution and erasure - Oryou had snapped out of it in time to take the blow for him.

It was so much nobler than what he'd pulled on her in the Imperial Capital.

And it had cost her her life.

She'd actually gone out with a smile, expressing her gratitude in being able to save Ryouma this time. That had been her only wish all these years. She had had no regrets in what she'd done.

Meanwhile, Ryouma's heart shattered to pieces.

Nothing else in the world had mattered anymore. He didn't pay attention to his master, or Izo, or his doppelganger with the dreaded spear. His beloved wife was gone forever, he'd believed.

It wasn't until his in-law, Oryou's unknown parent, had intervened in how own suicidal erasure that Ryouma had found out the truth. That Oryou had been asleep at the bottom of the ocean all this time, and the one who had been with him as a Couterguardian and erased by the spear was merely a projection of the sleeping one's soul. She had wanted to be with Ryouma so badly that she had sent her own soul to be with him in death.

What kind of miserable husband was he, that she had done all this - and so much more - for him, and he didn't even...couldn't even...hadn't...

He wouldn't fail her again.

It was easy to ignore his in-law's denunciation of Oryou as a monster and order to kill her with the spear. Or rather, it would have been easy to get angry on her behalf and denounce the god back. But Oryou was Ryouma's higher priority.

He hadn't known if she could hear him or not, but he had promised to stay with her. Not even the Counterforce could tear him away from her. Only a second death or fading from existence would have pried him from her side. Staying with her down there in the bottom of the ocean, where she had waited for him alone all this time, was the least he could for her now. He would never leave her alone again, so long as he had a say in it.

Strangely enough, Oryou's parent had approved. And had a secret of their own to reveal.

Oryou was still Ryouma's higher priority.

They finally had their long awaited talk. They both said the things they'd always wished to. They ascended to a new form together, eternally bound in a way that they could never truly be parted again. It was a dream come true.

And Oryou still had the better sense of the two, to advise him to make amends with Izo after Saitama disappeared. Truly, his wife's selflessness never ended.

And so they had been ever since.

It would be an understatement to call Oryou a treat in his life. It was far too shallow of a word. She was so, so much more to Ryouma. But given the specific holiday season...

"Eh? What's this?" Oryou floated in place in front of Ryouma, staring down at the box he'd placed in her hands. She cocked her head at the little ribbon at the top. "A gift for Oryou-san? It's not even her birthday!"

Ryouma laughed, his cheeks dusted pink. "I got permission from Cat to make that in the kitchen. Emiya just about threw me out when he caught me cleaning up, but he did help me make one last finishing touch to it, which was nice of him. Open it."

Oryou did, grabbing the lid and tossing it over her shoulder absently. She gasped.

"Ryouma!" she cried out. "How did you get a frog in a cake!? And it's a witch! It's not going to curse Oryou-san if she eat it, is it?"

"No, no," he waved his hands reassuringly. "It's just a hat Emiya conjured up. I had to cut a hole in the pumpkin cupcake I made to fit the frog in, and then I frosted around it to make it look buried to its neck inside. I taste-tested another cupcake to make sure the batter was all right. I hope this one tastes just as good."

Oryou took the cupcake out of the box in awe. She smiled at Ryouma, eyes hooded, and floated close enough to rub their noses together. "You're so sweet, Ryouma."

"Heh," he chuckled. "I figured you deserved a treat is all."

Oryou floated back. She grinned down at the frog cupcake, elated. A little drool seeped out of her mouth.

Ryouma watched her joyfully. He loved Oryou with all of his heart. If there was something he could do to show her that every now and then, why not do it?

Besides, he had learned to relax and be a bit more open with himself and her since that fateful singularity. She may never doubt his feelings for her, but he wanted to make sure she felt his love. He had learned his lesson, and meant to keep it from now on.

"Thank you, Ryouma," Oryou said, wholehearted. "Oryou-san appreciates this very much. She bets it's delicious!"

With that, she scarfed down the cupcake in one bite, throwing the box away as she chewed.

She swallowed and gave a thumbs up. "It is! Yaaay!"

Ryouma laughed again, moving to pick the box and lid up for her. He smiled lovingly. "I'm glad."

Notes:

Maybe this is tmi, but I'm still upset Gudaguda 6's English translation left out the part where Oryou's name was Ryouma's last words.

Also, Medea is totally projecting and doesn't know shit, lol. Nasu, bring her real hubby from Stay/Night to Chaldea as another pseudo servant, please!

Chapter 30: Darkness

It was close to midnight when Oryou and Ryouma finally returned to their room after their latest mission with Fujimaru. The lights were automatically shut off, a product of how late it was. Oryou was fine floating to bed in the dark, sleepy from the day's events, but Ryouma flicked them on anyway.

She hissed at the light. Too bright! "Ryouma, Oryou-san is tired. Turn out the lights!"

"All right, all right," he yawned, flicking them back off, apparently too tired himself to argue. "I can't really see in the dark, but I guess we are just going to bed. Just don't be surprised if I trip."

"Hmph." Oryou floated to where she knew the bed was. She patted the covers. "Come on, Ryouma! Follow the sound of Oryou-san's voice and hand. Don't worry, if you trip and fall, she will drag you to bed by your foot anyway. Now come here!"

"Yeah, yeah," he sighed, carefully making his way over. He yawned a second time. Oryou could see his outline in the dark stopping to hold his shoulder and rotate his arm. "Man, I'm beat. I know the rest of the line up helped, but fighting ninety-nine enemies without our noble phantasm is a lot. Wanna sleep in tomorrow?"

She raised her eyebrow. Sleeping in, huh? Oryou grinned, leaning forward in anticipation. "Can we have breakfast in bed, too?"

Ryouma laughed. "That depends on which of us is willing to get up to get it."

He put his arm down.

Oryou laid back on the bed, folding her hands together over her abdomen. She didn't bother taking off or changing her clothes yet, and was contemplating just sleeping in them for the night. She watched Ryouma shuck off his clothes, however, her eyes adjusting enough to the darkness to vaguely make out his features.

She could see the straight curve of his nose as he looked down, removing his naval suit, then unbuttoning his blue button up, and discarding them both in the hamper. She could see the shape of his abs while he bent over to undo and pull off his pants. She could even see the slight bulge in his underwear as he opened a dresser drawer to reach for his pajamas.

Oryou hummed to herself, a slight stirring in her lower belly piquing her interest. She was still tired, yes, but not so tired as to pass out right away. That was saying something, too, considering how often she fell asleep on the spot during the day. Suddenly, she wouldn't mind staying up a little longer.

"Hey, Ryouma," she called out. "Take off the underwear and come to bed with Oryou-san like that."

Ryouma stumbled on his pajama pants, his leg missing the first hole entirely. He whirled around on her. Although Oryou couldn't see his eyes very well in the dark, she could imagine them wide and visibly caught off guard.

"Seriously!?" he asked. "You're too tired for the lights to be on, but awake enough to have sex?"

She clicked her tongue. "Not Oryou-san's fault you're sexy. And she does want to keep the lights off; they'll hurt her eyes. Besides, this just means we won't have to turn them back off before we go to bed. We can just fall asleep."

"Well, I can't fight an argument like that," Ryouma replied sarcastically.

A moment or two passed, and he climbed into bed on top of her. Oryou grinned as she touched his shoulders, finding them bare, and felt a naked leg slip between hers. She giggled in victory.

Despite his previous attitude, Ryouma chuckled. He gave her a chaste kiss. "Don't get too excited yet. You're still wearing clothes, Oryou-san."

Oryou took his head betwen her hands. His hair was still tied back, she felt; she'd have to fix that in a minute. "What would you prefer, Ryouma? Stripping Oryou-san yourself, or her taking them off herself?"

"Whatever's the fastest, please," he answered. "This doesn't have to be a quickie, but I'm a little too exhausted to draw it out. I'd hate to fall asleep on you in the middle of it."

Oryou responded by vanishing her coat, scarf, and sailor outfit in one fell swoop.

Above her, she was amused to see Ryouma's throat bob. One of his hands found her breast, his thumb rubbing softly, and he finally laid down on top of her, chest to chest. Good boy, she thought.

Oryou brought his head down to kiss her properly. One, two, three kisses, and then his tongue dipped inside her mouth. Oryou moaned, entangling it with her own.

Below, Ryouma pressed his leg against her core. Oryou squirmed, searching for more friction. She slowly started grinding on his leg, and could feel him hardening on her thigh.

She giggled into his mouth.

Her fingers reached to take out his ponytail, but Ryouma stopped her. Their kiss broke. She pouted, watching his outline take it out himself.

Ryouma laughed at her reaction. "Sorry, sorry. Let me make it up to ya."

"Your accent's slipping," Oryou noted, grumpy. She didn't dislike it, though. As much as she did dislike its similarity to Izo's, she really did like hearing him speak the way he had when they first met. She had just wanted to untie and fluff up his hair herself.

"Ah, is it?" he noted, bending down and giving her collar bone a light bite.

Oryou arched her back slightly. Her thighs tightened around his leg. "Ryouma!"

He chuckled, prying his leg out from between hers despite her best efforts to keep him there. He moved down, pushing her legs open, and laid between them.

Oryou relaxed significantly at the realization of what he was about to do. Oh, that was okay. 

She moaned as his tongue ran slowly over her clit. Ryouma lapped at it, then drew over her folds and slit. One of her hands came down to the top of his head, gently keeping him in place. Oryou closed her eyes and furrowed her brow, mouth falling open in a concentrated 'o' as Ryouma kept up the pace.

When he finally pulled away, she sat up, her thighs sticky with slick and spit.

"Your turn on your bed," she ordered with a silly grin. "Oryou-san wants to be the Rider tonight."

Ryouma let out a strangled noise. Oryou couldn't tell if it was a laugh or from choking. She honestly didn't care either.

Whatever the case, Ryouma obeyed, switching places with her and lying back on the bed. Oryou floated above him, and took his hard cock in hand. She lined herself up, and slowly sunk onto him. She sighed and groaned as he hit all the right places on her way down.

For his part, Ryouma moaned. Once she sat completely down, his hands found her hips.

At first he let her set the pace. Oryou slid up and down, gradually gaining more momentum. He moaned more, biting his lip in frustration. He eventually started bucking up into her, meeting each of her descents with hard thrusts.

Oryou cried out quietly. She put her hands on his chest for purchase, bouncing faster.

They kept going like that, the aches building up in both their lower abdomens.

Ryouma came first. He released a choked noise from his throat, shooting his warm cum up inside of her. When he was done he collapsed on the bed, panting.

Oryou bounced harder, chasing her orgasm against his cock before it softened. She grinded against his waist, pushing on her clit for more friction.

She tightened with a louder cry, flooding him with her juices.

When her orgasm subsided, Oryou tiredly lifted herself off of him, eyes drooping. She let herself fall on his chest, a bit of drool already escaping her lips to meet his skin.

Ryouma stroked her hair affectionately. Oryou couldn't see it in the darkness, nor as her eyes finally closed, but she could imagine the fond smile on his face.

"Good night, Oryou-san," she heard him say. She felt him move, and a kiss land on her head. "Sweet dreams."

She curled a hand next to her face on his chest, drifting off. "Good night, Ryouma. I love you."

Oryou didn't see him express surprise at the sudden first person, or hear him return the sentiment. But when she would wake up in the morning, she wouldn't have had to to know he did.

The continued stroking of her hair some part of her could still feel in her sleep was enough to know.

Chapter 31: Halloween

It was half past seven o'clock on Halloween night as the Sakamotos settled into their room for the evening. Ryouma sat sprawled out on the couch, rubbing his neck tiredly, while Oryou floated over to sit at his side and lean on his shoulder, a pink, plastic bowl of frogs in her hands. Ryouma stopped rubbing his neck to put his arm around her shoulders.

"I think I'm starting to feel my age," he joked. "That last battle in the simulator against Siegfried really did a number on me today."

Oryou picked up a dead frog by its leg, holding it up in the air for inspection. "Hm? Your body's not that old, Ryouma. Or do you mean that you're closer to two hundred years old than one hundred now?"

He chuckled and rubbed his neck again in slight embarrassment. "The latter. You know, even with our upgrades, I can't help but feel class disadvantage did us in more than anything else. Or maybe I'm over thinking it, because Siegfried's dragonslayer ability already made him a bad match up for us."

Oryou practically inhaled the frog into her mouth, chewing and swallowing it in one go. "Overthinker. We still kicked his butt in the end."

"Yeah, but just barely," Ryouma reminded, smiling awkwardly at the ceiling.

She poked him in the ribs. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Oh, hey! Oryou just remembered; it's Spooky Night. Ryouma, tell Oryou-san a spooky story."

He started. "Hm? Spooky night - ? Oh! It is Halloween, isn't it? Let's see, a spooky story..."

Ryouma looked at the bowl in his Oryou's hands.

He smiled pleasantly. He slowly reached for the bowl, and swiftly grabbed it from her grasp to hold high on his other side.

"Well," he teased, "there's always the story of the hungry husband who stole and ate allll of his wife's frogs...!"

Oryou's expression was deadpan. She casually extended her arms towards the bowl, only to quickly snatch it back and hug it to her chest protectively. She leaned back on him with a pout. "Hmph, lame story. This is waaay too many frogs for Ryouma to eat by himself, especially after dinner. Ask Oryou for her snacks one at a time."

Ryouma just laughed good-naturedly. He briefly squeezed Oryou to him and rubbed her arm. "I'm sorry, dear, I didn't mean to make it too scary like that."

"The only scary thing is how much you would puke tonight," she huffed, stuffing a second frog in her mouth. Nevertheless, she handed him another one in offering.

Ryouma happily accepted the frog, holding it up to his face and cocking his head to examine it. "Thank you, Oryou-san."

Oryou didn't directly reply, but made a pleased noise and snuggled further on his shoulder.

This was shaping up to be a good start of a peaceful night for just the two of them.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Both of them sat up in surprise. They exchanged confused glances. Who could be visiting them at this hour?

Ryouma stood up, dropping the frog back in the bowl, and headed for the door. Oryou floated behind him, stuffing said frog in her mouth.

He opened the door, Oryou peering curiously over his shoulder.

"Trick-'r-treat!"

Jack, Nursery Rhyme, and Santa Jeanne Alter stood side by side in the hallway, all holding open, off-white pillowcases and looking upwards expectantly. Jack was dressed like a ghost, Nursery Rhyme as a princess, and Janta in a witch's costume.

Ryouma blinked, slowly processing the scene in front of him.

Oryou swallowed the frog, understanding hitting her faster.

"Oh, they want candy," she explained, nonchalant. "Hey, Ryouma, have we got any in here? It's a Halloween tradition to give trick-'r-treating kids candy!"

Ryouma stared a moment longer before he snapped out if it. He smiled, a sweatdrop forming on his forehead. "No, I'm sorry, we don't. Maybe I missed it last time, but have the child servants gone trick-'r-treating around Chaldea before? I don't recall, otherwise I would have made sure we had some..."

"No candy!?" Nursery Rhyme gasped. She frowned sadly, bunching her pillowcase in her small fists. "But you can't have Halloween without candy!"

"Yeah!" Janta exclaimed stubbornly. "That's like Christmas with no presents!"

"Sweets," Jack stated firmly. She held up a knife. "Give us sweets, or we'll trick you instead, Mommy and Mommy."

Ryouma blanched at the threat. Then he did a doubletake. "Wait, Mommy and Mommy!?"

"Oryou-san isn't your mother," Oryou spat. She shoved the bowl of frogs in Ryouma's arms and darted forward to pluck the knife out of Jack's hand. Her eyes glowed menacingly. "Threaten Ryouma again, and she'll eat you alive, little ghost child."

"Hey, that's our knife!" Jack protested.

Oryou turned her nose up, snapping the handle, then the blade, in half and dropping all three pieces in her pillowcase. She took her bowl back. "Then you should have been a good girl."

Jack pursed her lips in a pout.

Ryouma scratched his head. "I'm sorry, we really don't have any candy to give you. Er, well, do you have any ideas, Oryou-san?"

Oryou's eyes rolled to the top of her head in contemplation. She glanced down at her bowl.

He sucked in his cheeks. "Uh, Oryou-san, I don't think - "

But she was already plopping the frogs in their pillowcases one at a time. When she was done, Oryou looked at Ryouma and then the kids.

Ryouma opened his mouth and closed it. He, too, looked at the kids.

Janta wrinkled her nose at her pillowcase, reaching in to grab the frog.

Nursery Rhyme just stared at hers, confused.

Jack's pout didn't change.

Janta squeezed the dead frog's belly curiously. "Ooo, it's squishy!"

Jack's eyes suddenly lit up. "So cool!"

Nursery Rhyme dissolved into giggles. "It's like the Princess and the Frog! Except dead."

Ryouma let out a relieved sigh. He smiled nervously. "I hope that's a good enough treat for you girls! We'll try to remember to have candy next time. Good night, and Happy Halloween!"

The three looked up, and chorused, "Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Sakamoto!"

"You're welcome," Oryou cheerfully replied, and promptly slammed the door. She turned to Ryouma with a peculiar expression. "That was eventful."

He raised an eyebrow, but smiled. "Sure was. I guess we've had the full Halloween experience now, though!"

"Right!" Oryou nodded energetically.

They moved to go back to the couch, ready to continue their peaceful night.

Knockknockknock!

The couple paused, exchanging another look.

Turning around back towards the door, Oryou opened it this time.

"Trick or treat..."

Kid Gil and Setanta stood at the door, both clearly miserable as they presented their colorful pumpkin baskets. Gil was dressed in a teddy bear costume, while Setanta was in a cat suit. Both also wore child leashes around their torsos, which lead to the smirking teenage girl behind them, Caren, who, while not dressed up, was in her devil themed ascension.

Ryouma and Oryou slowly looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Sakamoto," Caren greeted, her smugness dripping through her polite tone. "As you can see, I'm taking my stuffed animals trick-or-treating. So, what will it be? Trick, or treat?"

The pair just stared.

"Isn't the bigger dog man usually with you and the little, golden calf?" Oryou asked.

"Calf!?" Gil cried. His shoulders slumped. "Well, I guess that's not inaccurate..."

"Unfortunately, Cu sped off too fast," Caren explained. "I would have loved to walk him on all fours while Gil went door to door, but luckily, Setanta was nearby! And since he's a bit less puppy-like and more of a kid, I figured I could chaperone them both tonight. We've all been having such a great time since, haven't we, you two?"

Ryouma gave the boys a hesitant glance. "Do...you kids need help?"

Caren frowned. "Oh, whatever does that mean?"

Gil and Setanta lifted their miserable, little faces.

"His dog is out searching for Enkidu," Gil explained hopelessly.

"We're hoping they'll help save us," Setanta added, equally as hopeless.

Caren narrowed her eyes. "I'm not seeing any treats for my beloved stuffed animals. In fact, they seem to be getting a little too mouthy without some..."

Oryou was blunt. "All we have are frogs."

Caren broke out in the biggest smile, eyes shining. "That's actually perfect! Are they dead, or alive?"

"Dead," she replied flatly.

"Even better," Caren smirked.

Ryouma pulled a face.

It wasn't as bad as the faces Gil and Setanta pulled, however, when Oryou dropped one dead frog a piece in their buckets.

"Eww, that's going to rot!" Gil whined.

"This is worse than toothbrushes and apples," Setanta groaned.

Oryou was visibly miffed.

Caren tugged sharply on their child leashes. "Didn't your mothers ever teach you manners? What do we say to Mr. and Mrs. Sakamoto for the icky, dead frogs?"

The boys deflated together. "Thaaank yooouuu..."

Oryou slammed the door harder.

Silence filled their room a moment.

"That was creepy," she announced.

Ryouma shook his head. "Maybe we should help the, er, dog go find Enkidu."

Before Oryou could respond, another knock sounded at the door.

Knock knock!

They both pursed their lips in thin lines.

Ryouma opened the door back up.

Hans, Bunyan, and Asterios of all people were standing there, while Fujimaru and Euryale stood in the back. Those two hadn't put on any costumes, but the three in front had. Hans was a zombie, Bunyan a doctor, and Asterios a sunflower.

Fujimaru waved, a little anxious. "Hi, Sakamoto, hey, Oryou-san. Happy Halloween!"

"Master?" Ryouma asked. He scanned them them up and down with his eyes. "This is quite the group. I'm not sure I've ever seen you all together like this before."

Fujimaru laughed awkwardly. "Would you believe if I said this has to do with a minute singularity?"

Oryou leaned forward in interest. "Eh? Really? Do you need Oryou-san to beat anyone up? And where's the ear numbing dragon girl?"

"No, no, nothing like that. We already cleared the main singularity. This is more like a tiny one that popped up afterwards. We'll meet up with Elizabeth and the others later."

"Oh," Oryou nodded, a tad dejected.

"I see," Ryouma said. "Anything we can do to help, then?"

"Yes," Hans cut in tritely, jerking the bag in his hand up. "By giving us candy. The candy monster in the cafeteria demands all tributes, so cough it up. Some of us want go to back to our damn rooms already."

Oryou's eyes dilated in warning. "Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Ryouma looked at her, startled. "Where did you learn that phrase? Ah, never mind for now. I'm sorry, but we don't have any candy."

"Yeah," Oryou put another frog in her mouth, "just frogs."

"Frogs?" Bunyan asked. "Like frog legs? I've heard of those!"

"No, like frogs, the whole frogs," Oryou informed her. "That kind of frogs."

Fujimaru lifted an arm. "Mash, will frogs work?"

Mash's hologram appeared in the hall. "According to our analysis, anything will work so long as its genuinely given as a Halloween offering to trick-or-treaters. So yes, frogs will work."

"Are you sure you don't need Oryou-san to beat up this candy monster?" Oryou questioned. She grinned wide and toothy. "Heh, it sounds like a real treat to eat."

"Smooth," Hans deadpanned.

Asterios groaned thoughtfully. "Would be...easier."

"Sorry," Fujimaru apologized. "The monster has invulnerability until enough offerings have been made, and it's a type not even servants with pierce invulnerability can get through. On the bright side, Da Vinci says the monster is so low level that we should be able to take it on our own. You guys enjoy your night after this."

"Are you sure about that?" Ryouma asked, alarmed. "If Chaldea is under attack - "

Hans was getting impatient. "We're on a time limit here! If we're not back to the cafeteria by the time Halloween ends at eight o'clock, the monster will become a permanent fixture of Chaldea! Can we get going now!?"

Fujimaru smiled weakly.

"Frogs should not make an acceptable offering to a sugar monster," Euryale remarked, tone dismissive. "But if they work, they work, I guess. Three frogs it is, please."

Ryouma clamped his mouth shut before he do much as thought of asking more questions.

Oryou shrugged absently. She handed out a frog in each of their bags.

"Finally," Hans grunted.

"Thank you!" Bunyan smiled cheerfully.

"Thank...yoouu..." Asterios drew out politely.

"Not a problem," Ryouma smiled tightly. "Good luck with the minute singularity!"

"Yeah, good luck!" Oryou grabbed the door. "Bye."

She slammed it shut her most forceful yet.

Ryouma rubbed the back of his head slowly. "And I thought I was tired before..."

Oryou floated away to set the bowl of frogs down, and flew back to Ryouma's side. She took his face in her hands. "Want to turn out the lights to deter any more trick-'r-treaters, and go cuddle in bed?"

He smiled warmly, placing a hand on hers. "That sounds nice. Besides, Halloween is about to be over anyway."

Oryou nodded, smiling back.

Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!

Her face dropped. "Who is it this time!? At this rate, Oryou-san won't have any frogs left for herself and Ryouma!"

Ryouma slipped out of her hands. "I've got it."

He opened the door for the last time.

Mephistopheles stood alone outside the door. He grinned wildly, eyes manic. He was dressed like one of his infamous toy crab bombs, and in his palms he held a ticking one.

"Tricks ARE treeeeaaaats!" he yelled gleefully.

Ryouma paled, jaw dropping in horror. "Oryou-san!"

"Got it!" Oryou swiftly grabbed the homoculus demon and flung him down the empty side of the hall. "HYYYAAA!"

Ryouma quickly slammed the door shut.

BOOM!

The ground shook. Mephistopheles' faint laughter could be heard all the way from here, but it gradually faded to silence.

Ryouma and Oryou looked at each with mirror expressions.

"Okay," Ryouma breathed heavily, "I think I'm Halloweened out for this year. How about you?"

"Same," she answered.

Ryouma stood up straight, holding his chest as if for dear life, and staggered towards their bed.

Oryou flipped the light switch, filling the room with darkness, and followed him.

Once they were both snug under the covers, cuddled up together with their arms around each other and legs tangled, they both sighed.

Despite it all, Ryouma laughed a little. "Talk about Spooky Night. Think this would make a good spooky story to tell the others next year?"

"Shut up," Oryou rolled her eyes. Yet she smiled as well. "Happy Halloween, Ryouma. Good night."

"Good Night, Oryou-san." He kissed her sweetly. "Happy Halloween. I love you."

She snuggled against him with a bright smile. "I love you, too, Ryouma."

The rest of the night was thankfully peaceful, just the two of them together, as it should be.