Vampire Princess Miyu Fan Fiction ❯ Conquest ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Conquest

Chapter 4

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As the conversation reached a pause, Himiko panned her chestnut gaze to the window to notice that night had fallen swiftly in the time that she had been listening to Lemures talk. His eyes followed hers to shift into an expression of brief surprise. With all the talking he'd done, he completely lost track of time.

"Wow. Amazing how time flies when you're not listening to college lectures. I should get my ass up and start some dinner," he said as he rose from his seat.

"Would you mind if I did the cooking?" Himiko asked as she rose as well. She still wasn't totally comfortable with him so she decided she'd feel a little better if she handled the food.

"Not at all, if it helps you feel any better. Let me show you where everything is real quick, then I'll get out of your way," Brad said as he walked with her into the kitchen. After showing her where everything in the kitchen was located, he walked back across the great room to sit back down on the couch and let her be. He watched her a moment or two as she set to work on making some stir fry out of the stuff in his fridge, then he frowned and picked back up that repulsive text book.

Himiko kept an eye on him out of the corner of her eye as she added some oil to the wok she'd heated on the stove. She tossed the oil around so as it would coat the wok, then threw in the bits of stew meat. Letting that cook, she moved to the counter and cut up some veggies.

"Holy shit!" came a sudden exclamation from behind her. Himiko spun to look at Brad. He had a shocked expression.

"You know, it really would be helpful if I listened to my own words sometimes!" he growled to himself. Then he looked up at Himiko, "I know what's happened to Larva. Well, sorta."

"What?"

"Obviously, the only way to pry him from Miyu's side would to take him by force like I did. He had to have been taken by someone. Taking Larva from Miyu is a simple way to expose a weak point in the Guardian. Someone's taken Larva in an attempt to weaken Miyu. Unlike the time I pulled that stunt, this person's succeeded in hitting her hard where it counts," Lemures explained.

"That would make sense. Whoever's responsible must also be pretty powerful. Taking Larva has to have been the second blow they struck her," Himiko replied as she added the veggies to the wok before everything burnt.

"The second?!" Lemures blinked.

"Yes. The Shinma orchestrating all of this has to be someone who knows Miyu well enough to know each of her weak points. The two attacks against her have hit her in the two places where it would hurt her most," Himiko told him, while leaving out the details of the attack on Miyu's parents and home.

"A Japanese Shinma? What Japanese Shinma would be that close to her?"

"Let me think a minute. She might have told me something at some point that may help us," Himiko answered as she tossed the food in the wok. Brad, in the mean time, set aside his book and got up to come set the tiny four seat-er table. Himiko brooded deeply as she took the wok off the stove and shut off the burner. She poured the food into a large bowl he had ready then stuck the wok into the sink, running cold water into it to cool it down.

Himiko turned back towards the table then stood in place staring into space as she filed through the things Miyu had told her. Her mind eventually took her back to that house. Her brows furrowed at the chilling memory, yet she endured it ever hopeful. Then it came to her. There was one Shinma her parents had been connected to.

"Oh no," Himiko said as the horror of that possibility settled upon her.

" 'Oh no' what?" Brad looked at her warily. "Spill the beans, babe. And while you're at it, have a seat. The food's getting cold."

"There's one Shinma I can think of that's known her longer than Larva," Himiko said as she sat down at the table.

"Who's that?" the ex-Shinma prodded, half afraid to know.

"I don't know his name, but he's the one that imposed the job of Guardian upon. He's the leader of the Japanese Shinma," she replied as she piled food onto her plate.

"WHAT?!" Lemures nearly jolted out of his skin. He took a few breaths to calm down then spoke again, "What the hell would her boss want with trying to destroy her like this?"

"I don't know. That's what we've got to find out," Himiko said grimly.

"Oh boy, if it is the leader of the Japanese Shinma that's after her, then I'm thinking we've got ourselves a mondo big problem," Lemures said before stuffing food into his mouth.

"I second you on that thought," Himiko nodded.

"Wow, this is really good," Brad commented as he tasted the food.

"Thank you."

"Do you clean bathrooms too?" he grinned then instantly shied back as Himiko rewarded him with a glare.

"Very funny. Do you wish me to remain here or not?" the woman said coolly.

"Ummm.. yes. And actually, I would prefer if you did. I think it would be a lot safer if we stuck together. Especially with where you hypothesize that this is going," Brad said, hitting her remark on both legs. Himiko blinked and stared at him.

"Sure. I'll take the couch, and you can stay in the bedroom with Miyu. There's nothing to worry about as far as catching anything from her. Her illness is chronic, not germ-induced, so she's not contagious or anything. Plus, it'd be a good idea if one of us stayed near her, and, obviously, she trusts you," Brad reasoned.

"As much as I hate to admit it, again, you have a point. It looks like I really don't have much of a choice in the matter," Himiko answered dryly.

"I know, you have a lot of reasons to resent me. Please believe me when I say how truly sorry I am for all the trouble I caused you the last time we met. I was an idiot who wasn't man enough to accept the fact that my best friend had found a soul mate. I tend to do a lot of stupid things when I get pissed off. I sincerely apologize and hope that, some how, I can earn your trust before whatever this is that's going on really gets out of hand," Brad said as he pushed his food around with his chopsticks.

"Your apology is accepted. However, on the part of trusting you, we'll just have to wait and see," Himiko told him. Brad could only nod his head dully and stuff his mouth with another bite of his dinner.