.Hell hath no fury.. [Penny]

I got into the car not saying a word to Kyouya. I bow my head, looking at my purse in my lap. "Take me to Penny," is all I say. I feel myself on the verge of breaking down. I can't be alone and I can't show this kind of weakness in front of Kyouya. More than likely my assassitant would try to go and shoot Jyn in the face for hurting me this deeply. It hurts. So much. I can put on a brave front, but deep down I'm sobbing in agony. Kyouya doesn't say anything and he just drives as I have requested. My hands are shaking and I want to be sick and bring my breakfast back up to try and ease the way my stomach is knotting itself up.

I don't know how long the drive is because I'm too busy trying to keep myself together. I have to be strong in front of Kyouya. A Kyro must never show weakness in front of those so close to them in the company. Grandmother taught me that. He gets out and walks around, opening my door for me. I move out of the car and don't look at him. "I'll call if I need you," I whisper, my voice already beginning to break. I can see his hand raising to reach out for me but I pull away. "Just go.." I add, my voice hollow. His hand clenches into a fist and I know he has an idea of what happened. I turn from him and walk into the building that houses my second penthouse.

I don't look at the doorman or the person at the front desk. They know who I am. My face is beginning to be in the news as I begin learning how to take over in my grandmother's place. I move to the elevator and hit the buttom for the twenty-first floor. I lean against the wall looking blankly ahead. Why did I come here? Because I'm afraid of being alone with this sorrow. I'm afraid I'll do something to myself. The elevator stops and I step off. I move to the only door on this floor and fish the spare set of keys out of my purse. It takes me a moment to open it aand I step within. I shut the door behind me and wander in, the mask I'm holding beginning to break as the tears begin to slide down my face.

-413

I don't move far into the penthouse. Everything is so much. My mind is whirling with pain. How could Jyn do that to me? Do I mean so little to him? My heart is broken. Grandmother always warned me I had too soft a heart. But how can I stop that. I'm like my mother in many ways. She was sweet and kind even though my father was so cold with her. She was a trophy wife for him. A beautiful woman with the voice of an angel. I wish she was here. I wish I had a mother who I could run and cry to. But she's been dead since I was little. Its not fair.

A light flickers on and I look up at Pennywise, knowing I must look like a stupid woman. But then his lips covered my own and I can't even pull away from his warmth. I do not respond. I can't. This wound on my heart is too fresh for me to think of another man. More tears falland he pulls away. He tastes his lips and then does something so unexpected. He tells me to go sit while he puts on tea. "White tea.." I say softly. "Blueberry," I add gently and I lean down and scoop Mittens up, holding her close. I need Ghost also. The huge tom cat changed in the past. He's much more than a normal cat. He can even fight now, though Kyouya doesn't like how intelligent the eyes of my house pet have become. I move to the couch and sit down. I look forward, petting Mittens almost in a robotic manner. More tears and then I hold her close as a sob escapes me. It hurts so much. I just want to die. To be swallowed up by this void that has been created within me.

Its not fair. Why do I always have to be so strong? Why can't I just live a normal life? Maybe then I could have stayed with Jyn. I could have been the woman he held every night. But now.. I'm nothing it seems. His cold voice repeats in my mind and I feel so ill. I want to disappear. But can I really do that when so many people are depending on me now? I don't know what to do..

-804

I've never felt like this. It feels like Jyn has stolen a piece of my very soul and I don't know how I am to get it back. Mittens seems to be enjoying my attentions. I look at her. She is a part of Penny. They even share the same eye color. I must look so pathetic. Especially to an oni. I have taken Pennywise under my wing, so to speak. But there is nothing to stop him from killing me right now. I don't think I could stop him. My soul is out of harmony again. The souls of my blades are quiet, none of them daring to speak. Even Kyrojin knows I am not stable enough for his teases. Because if I die... So do they. Our souls are so entwined that I would take them with me. And I would find a way to destroy my soul entirely so I cannot come back as a kami or an oni. I don't want to live as a being that seems to be so revialed by society. I think I am one of the few who tries to understand the spirits.

The clink of china makes me lift my face from Mittens' fur. I watch Penny make himself a cup of tea as he speaks to me in a calm voice. Its so odd. But his voice is soothing right now. The madness of the drums is gone and I'm seeing a man I never thought possible that was laying beneath it all. He sits next to me and I simply look at him as the tears continue to fall. He speaks his observations and I finally nod. He looks at me and I see an intellectual man who is actually trying in his own way to comfort me. I move closer and I lay my head on his shoulder, needing the contact of another body. I look forward, my hands gently petting Mittens.

"Jyn.." I say softly, my voice pained. "He and I... We dated for quite some time.. Broke it off. He is now in the arms of another woman.. Tells me he loves me.. But in the end he chose her.." Not the whole story, but as much as I can share without falling apart. "He was.. So cold with me.. Never seen him like that.. Its over now. I'lll never get him back.. And knowing that.. Its killing me inside.." I add, voice beginning to crack as I try not to break down.

-1222

He lets me lay there. He's warm again. I feel oddly comforted being with him. I'm not alone here. And while I do feel empty.. I'm not by myself in this emptiness. He will stop me from doing something stupid. I want to curse and rage. I need someone to blame. WHy is it I hae to deal with this? Why is it that I can't find someone to stay by my side no matter what? Am I doomed to become like my father. A cold marriage with a man who is just there for show. When Penny finally speaks I flinch, my body jarring as if it was struck. They are the truth as he sees it. And when someone speaks the truth.. Many times you don't want to hear it.

He continues and his truth, while it hurts, gives me something to anchor myself on. I never thought he would have such a deep opinion on the matter of love and such. Its surprise how well he is voice things that deep down I don't want to believe. But he's right about one thing. If Jyn had loved me.. He would not have kissed me like that and then so cruelly dismissed me. Who did that to someone they loved when they knew that person would shatter?

His arm comes around me and I lean my head on his chest. My cheek meets warm flesh, but I need this connection. An anchor. He has become that for me. He is keeping me grounded here in reality. I let go of Mitten and press against him more, practically clinging to him. I close my eyes and the tears slip beneath my eye lids, my lashes stuck together from those tears. I cry silently against his chest. "I... I'm so tired.. Of being left alone.. Always made.. TO pick up the pieces.." I choke out. "I have to always.. Be strong... Be a Kyro.. I just want one moment.. Where even I can have.. A human moment.." I gasp out as I begin to sob, breaking down in front of him. I need this. I need this chance to finally grieve and not be alone as I do.

-1590

I feel like a child again. Crying because she is alone again. I never recovered from mother's death. I was left to the wolves that I have to call family. Be strong or be snapped up in their jaws and devoured. I chose to be strong. I refused to be erased. The 'Little Butterfly' as my mother called me, had to make her wings out of something that could not be shattered or torn away. I couldn't drown. I swam and I pulled myself out of the torrents. But now.. I stand on the cusp of the cliff, the water raging below to once more drag me down and steal the breath from my lungs and crush my wings that had only just begun to open to try and catch the sun and dry so that I may fly above them all. I'm teetering. Yet something is holding me from tipping over the edge to the churning depth below me. A shadow is overlapping mine and making me curious to turn toward it.

He lets me cry and I feel his hand stroking my hair just like my mother would do when I cried in her arms. I am slowly calming. Crying takes so much out of me. He says I can just be myself with him. its so odd to hear that. Who am I really? Beneath all the walls I have built. The chains that keep my wings from being able to help me take flight. I peek up at him, my hand wiping at the tears as they finally stop. He speaks of me not leaving him and I wonder why it matters. But he continues and slowly my eyes widen. Why.. Why would he stay to protect and watch over me. Sure I was giving him a job in Kyro Corporation. Simple guard duty if I was out and about in places that were not Metro. But this has a deeper meaning. This was more than just protecting me. It was like he would be my watchful shadow, ready to strike the moment I needed. And your shadow was always there. It never left you. I look into his eyes and see he is not lieing to me.

"I.. Don't want to be alone anymore.." I finally admit to him. "And.. I want to be strong. I want to fly above them all.. Will you stay with me and help.. Be by my side no matter what?" I didn't want to be abandoned anymore.

-2008

Something is changing. Like a path is being revealed. Whispers are returning. But not bad ones. They are soft and soothing. Like when I mother would sing to me. Its a good evolution. I'm once again a butterfly forming within its chrysalis and waiting for the right moment to emerge and dry my wings before I can take flight. I have revert, but not in a bad way. Its like... This time my wings are forming correctly. I don't completely understand it, but I'm not afraid. His eyes are the guiding point now and he speaks of staying with me and doing much more than just protecting me.

I blink as he speaks of the fact he has changed. He gets up and I sit there on the couch, eyes following him. He stands beside Mittens and continues speaking as if choosing his words carefully so that he explaining himself properly. He is surprising me. He took steps to protecting me? But.. Why? No one has ever done such a thing so selflessly for me. No. Always motives when people are in my life. Even Kyouya has his motives in life. I am simply the one he is too serve because he was told this. His hand lifts and I watch his power gather there. Its an amazing sight to watch as shadows swirl and blacken his flesh and mist around it.

His next words pull my gaze from his forearm and I lock gazes with him, shocked by what he has done. And it was with me in mind. To become someone who can deter the other demons from seeking my blood.

Flutter.. Flutter.. Wings to fly.. Its time to fly Little Butterfly.. A whispering song and it stirs something within. That door from when the drums once sounded is returning. But it has changed and my soul is so at peace. As if it was waiting for the true door to appear this whole time.

It would be faint. A flicker of something. The air in the room would warm pleasantly and as Shiori sat there.. A flash of wings would appear behind her before they would vanish as if they had never been.

-2374

He lets his power fade and I cannot take my eyes off of him. I don't understand why he is doing this. How am I worth all he is doing? I feel.. Happy in a way. He is doing things on his own to find a way to keep me safe. I never asked him. Suddenly the void is not so bad. I have him with me now. I won't be alone here. I find myself smiling as he curses the spirit net that surrounds Metro. I had explained it to him during the weekend. Geez.. This has been quite a monday. I nod a bit and go about making myself a cup of tea finally. I've calmed down. I was allowed to get out my tears without being stopped. I feel hollow, but its a bit more tolerable.

He sits back down and I move closer to him with my cup of tea in hand. It looks a bit like the color of my coffee. I sip. Its more of a creamy blueberry drink. I lean against him, needing contact with him. "I've been turning it over in my head. I can't see a way to bring it down. But I've been toying with the idea of perhaps finding a way to mask your spiritual presence so that it cannot sense you are an oni. I need to sketch it out a bit more. But I have a couple of trusted people in our research labs I can present it too," I tell him softly and sip my tea again.

"But maybe.. We can go somewhere to train ourselves. We can go to a place where the drums ended for me.." I tell him gently. "Maybe we can find a clue there to help us. There has got to be a way to by pass those sensors.." I mutter against the rim of my tea cup and sip.

-2693

My mind needed to pull away from Jyn. I had things that could distract. Yes. Things. Many things I had to do. Training. THinking of ways to get Penny into Metro so that he can always be at my side. The whispers aren't that bad. Kind of quiet now. But now I can feel excitement from my blades. Training meant we would be getting stronger. I no longer had to keep a face for Jyn. I had been willing to settle down for him. But if he wants another woman.. He can have her and watch as I make a name for myself in this world. THat's the spirit Shiori. Fuck him and try to move on with life. You don't have too romanitically. But there is so much more I can do.

I smile as mentions my idea could work and it only grows as he agrees to go training. His arms is around me and I nestle close to him, sip my tea and using him as a heater. Things won't be so bad. I finish the tea and lean forward and away from him just to set it on the coffee table. I return back to him and cuddle him a bit, my eyes sliding shut. I'm content here. Safe here. I know people who would call me a fool for trusting an oni. Jyn being the top of that list. But Pennywise has never harmed me. He could have killed me by now and hasn't. I yawn in a kittenish manner, refusing to move away from him. Another person I will need to seek out is that Izuya fellow. Maybe I'll hire him if he is truly an informant. Could use that on my side as I build toward becoming President of Kyro Corp. I yawn again. Things are settling now.

"We'll leave... Tomorrow.. Today.. You need more clothes and such before we can leave. I need a nap first though.. Too much crying.."

-3021

A nap had been needed. Dreamless. Silent. I was at peace for a moment. Safe in the arms of an Oni, a being I use to hunt. But not out of malice. No. I had hunted to protect those who could not protect themselves from the spirits. But the silence changes to something pleasant. A song. A woman lovely voice. I feel warm. Safely cocooned by the melody. The song... I think I know it. Okaa-san use to sing it o me when I was scared during a storm. The lyrics have always been a bit hazy. But now I hear them... They are so vivid. Like I might be able to reach out and grasp them.

The butterfly flutters... Upon a flower... Such a gentle touch... A silence settles... Sweet butterfly flys to the sun..

Mother? I hear her. But no. She died a long time ago. But hearing her voice.. For some reason fills me with hope. Like... Maybe things won't be so bad. I have to find the good things in my life and grasp onto them. The dream is fading and I let my eyes flutter open. I yawn and stretch almost looking like a human verision of my cat Ghost when he wakes from a good nap. Warm.. I turn my head and see Penny. I smile. He held me and watched over me. Yes. Maybe he will open a new path in my life. It hurts to think of Jyn, but my lie isn't over. I will always love him. But right now I need to look ahead and not allow him to drag me down.

I sit up and turn my head to look back into the kitchen and see the huge stylish clock on the wall. I note the time. Hmmm... Only five o'clock. We have plenty of time to go shopping. I nudge Penny gently. "I'll call Kyouya to come get us and bring you some clothes so we can go shopping," I say to him. IKm a bit more cheerful. As if the largr weight of my sadness had been lifted when I was allowed to cry out my sorrow. I get to my feet and stretch again. I walk to where I must have dropped my purse when I came in. I pick it up and pluck out my cell phone. I put it to my ear after pressing Kyouya's speed dial.

"Are you well now?" Is how he answers. It makes me smile.

"Yes, Kyouya. I'm much better. I need you to bring some clothes for Penny to wear. I want to take him shopping. Also... Kyouya. Since I'm ahead in my work. I'm taking a small vacation," I say to him and I know he just froze while walking. "I won't be gone long. A week. I just need tim to think of what direction I wish to take with the company," I say to him, lieing just a touch. He sighs and I can picture him rubbing his temple.

"I'll be there in ten minutes..." he finally says and hangs up. I feel kind of bad. I tend to put Kyouya through alot.

I walk back over to the couch and smile gently at the question from him. I nod and hop over the couch and sit down next to him. "It was a refreshing sleep. I needed it," I reply and lean against him as if this is how it should be. I smile as he teases about watching him dress. But his prior question has the wheels turning in my head. I tilt my head a bit and peer at him, my eyes filled with curiosity about what I did want him to do. He had to have more of a purpose. Right? Yes. That's right. "For now... Just be here with me and keep me safe..." I pause and frown. "That spirit net is such a bother. Yet I guess I understand why they have it..." I grumble and relax again against him.

So many things to do. To plan. Surprised my brain hasn't imploded with all the stuff swirling in it. But I'm use to this. Having mountains of things piled on top of me and having to figure out how not to be crush all by myself. I lay against him and flick my eyes up to the ceiling as he expresses an iea that we might find something where we are going. Hmmm... Never thought of that. Maybe there will be something there we can use. Or just something that will spark me with an idea of how to go about getting him through the net that surrounds Metro. I want him beside me even there. I need him to ground me.

I blink as I hear the door open. I turn my head and peer over the back of the couch and smile as Kyouya walks in, a set of his own clothing and even a jacket in his arms. He walks toward us then around the couch. He holds out the clothes to Penny. "You are a touch taller than myself, Wiseman. But these will do for now while Shiori-sama drags you out shopping," he says and I can hear that he is not as cold as before to Penny. I look between them. Did they like.. become allies or something.

"I won't be dragging him, Kyou," I huff. Kyouya doesn't like shopping with me. Says I take far longer than is nessacary to find an item. He arches a brow at me then looks at Penny.

"You might be experiencing something akin to hell," he finally says and I pout. "Shopping with a woman... I almost pity you. But then I have to attend also. So.. May the kamis save our souls.." he finishes and I gape at him.

"Oh sweet Kami... Kyouya just joked around." I look at Penny with wide eyes. "The world must be ending..." I whisper and Kyouya scoffs, tugging a smile onto my lips.

Mid Thread Update:
Total Word Count reverts to 0

He had nearly undressed in front of me and I had seen Kyouya give him a bit of a cross look. But Penny realized that humans were a bit more modest and went to the kitchen to change. I had turned when Kyouya had actually joked to look at Penny. After I spoke though I went quiet, eyes widening as I look at him. The slacks were slightly high water, but showed that he would look nice in casual slacks. The button up polo fit much better and I'm surprise at how human he looks.

"You look... Good. Actually," I finally say, clothing ideas beginning to flicker in my mind. Kyouya sighs and walks over to Penny and holds out some nice slippers.

"I'm afraid I didn't have shoes. But these will do till then," he says and I smile. Kyouya is making an effort. He is giving Pennywise a chance to prove he is here to protect me and not kill me. I hop to my feet and pluck up the tray with the finished tea. I gather the cups and hum softly as I head intot he kitchen and place it all in the sink. I'll do the dishes when we get back. I think I'll treat Penny to dinner while we are out. I smile as I stand in the kitchen. Its like.. He's has given me someone to care for again, even though he is suppose to protect me. This is what I missed. Having someone to fuss over. I return and look at them both then use a bit of my magic to summon a little wolf to fetch my purse. I pluck it up and the dark creature vanishes.

"Well boys. Let's go. Lots to buy," I chirp, excitement lighting up my eyes. Kyouya looks at Penny and smirks slightly.

"I think a couple of shots will sustain us both for a couple of hours," he says and I playfully glare at them both.

"I'm not that bad."

"Whatever you say, Shiori-sama."

-4361

The house wife comment makes me stiffen. Too close to home. That remark nearly chokes me. Kyouya glares at Penny but I shake my head. I'm okay. I'll be okay. I won't let this ruin my life. I feel his presence behind me and my shoulder warms as he rests his chin there. I can see Kyouya's fists clench. Too close. This had to be professional. RIght? I don't know any more. Penny moves away before I can decide. I shake away the dark cloud and turn to see him open the door. I smile.

"So I'm Boss Lady now, huh?" I say in an amused voice and walk to the door. I look at him and give him a once over and nod. A smile is on my lips. "I know just the look we can get you," I chirp then saunter out the door.

Kyouya moves to follow and stops beside Penny. He looks at the other. "Almost pity you for this trip. But also.." he looks into his eyes. "She is delicate right now. Watch where your teasing goes. Don't mention house wife or anything of that nature. Because I saw how she was when she lived with that man. That's what she had become for him and he used her as if she were a toy. He's lucky I can't get into Div12 or I would have shot him for using her," he says and the goes to follow Shiori.


-4546

sent to uyb