Hello! Back after 6 months, not my best but also not the worst. Have you missed me? I'm sure you did. Normal excuses apply to this chapter as well and the reason this didn't take even longer is because my friend wanted to read the end for her birthday present. Fairly unsurprising I didn't succeed in finishing the fic, but I did finish this chapter at least. Therefore this chapter is dedicated to my best friend Daime Guiral, who btw writes dark Malec fics if you're interested. I want to thank you all for leaving such wonderful reviews this time as well, there hasn't been this many since I started years ago. So thank you Fireblaze1807, deaththekid1998, cookieswithmilktea, elfigh, giogiu, Leiya, Absalon95, FidgeyTova, you guys rock! Also thank you to all of you who have followed and favorited, I love you guys too. Response to the reviews are as normal at the end.

Also a big shout-out to my little sister who beta reads this.

Disclaimer: I don't own UraBoku.

Without further delays, please enjoy this new chapter!

Chapter 9.

It was during the state of panic and embarrassment from her last moments, with Hotsuma, that Shuusei accidentally bumped into Izanami. Or more like crashed right into her. Shuusei's awareness of her surroundings had drastically diminished.

Though when she saw Izanami's angry face, Shuusei quickly got her face under control and put up her indifferent mask, thinking passing how easy it was to keep it up around everyone except Hotsuma.

"You bitch! Watch where you're going!" Izanami screeched at her.

"I apologize." Shuusei said simply, knowing it was no point in antagonize her further and started to turn away to leave.

"Not so fast." Izanami stopped her with a strong grip and dug her nails into her skin. "What do you think you were doing with Hotsuma before?"

"He saved me. Nothing more." Shuusei explained and tried to get out of Izanami's grip. She was unfortunately not strong enough.

"I don't believe that for a second. I'm not that stupid, I bet you've seen each other several times." She hissed out.

"And I say we haven't." Shuusei answered.

"You liar."

"Why don't you ask Hotsuma then, I promise you he won't know me. Or do you think Hotsuma is a liar as well?" Shuusei bluffed and put her faith in Hotsuma to be able to lie if Izanami asked.

"I don't, but who knows what sort of lies you've put inside his head." Izanami retorted.

"Aren't you the ones who claim I'm a failure and no one wants to get close to me? So how would I be able to do that?" Shuusei questioned, surprised to feel a hint of anger rising inside of her.

"You might be a failure, but we both know you're not stupid. You would do anything to get away from here." Izanami answered, her voice still hissing.

Shuusei was taken aback of Izanami's perceptiveness, she usually only noted things directly involving her because of her selfishness.

"What, cat's got your tongue?" Izanami taunted.

"No, but your imagination is astonishing. How would talking to Hotsuma help my situation in any way? Sometime I really wonder why you are seen as the favorite, there's hardly anything good about you in my eyes." Shuusei recollected herself.

"You-" Izanami started but was quickly interrupted by Shuusei, who was tired of dealing with her tormentor.

"Now, if you excuse me. I have other things to do." Shuusei said with some of her newly gained confidence from all of Hotsuma's attention and snatched away her arm from Izanami's grip which had loosened with her show of confidence. She turned and left as quickly she could without turning any attention to her.

"This isn't over." Shuusei could hear Izanami hissing again and Shuusei forced down a shudder. Izanami could be pretty vicious when she wanted.

But she had bigger problems; Hotsuma had tried to kiss her! She didn't know whether to be happy, flattered or scared, or a combination of them all. She was happy Hotsuma actually looked at her and the part that liked him rejoiced. Flattered because no boy had ever looked like that at her and though she considered herself ugly, he didn't care. The horror came in three parts, what if she was discovered? There was no telling what would become of her if that happened and Hotsuma wouldn't be able to protect her, because he would leave sooner or later. Which brought her to the other part, if he returned her feelings for him; it would make it even more impossible to survive without him. He could even be dead within a year fighting against the Duras. He would he also gain a partner and she had heard the partners sometimes could become closer than lovers? What if that happened and he lost all interest in her? That might even break her heart even more.

The confusion almost overwhelmed her, her logical part talking about not meeting him anymore, even though she promised him. But that part had become very small and the biggest part of her, the heart, told her to spend all her time with him and follow him wherever he goes. Shuusei couldn't ignore this, not anymore, and practically threw all she knew about caution out of the window.

She had during this chaotic time reached her room and calmed down after a couple of more hours. It had during this time become dark and she decided to sleep on it, there was no way she could decide anything when she was in this mindset.

After watching Shuusei leave, Hotsuma decided to remain seated for a while longer. There wasn't any real need to get back quickly anyway.

He wasn't sure what had possessed him to try to kiss her. Not that he didn't like her, but he knew that he was going to leave her behind. Starting something when the end was inevitable was just too cruel on the girl. But when she'd reached out her hands and looked at him with such warmth and compassion, while the blush had been creeping up on her cheeks, he could only think that was the most beautiful state he'd ever seen her in. He couldn't help wanting to possess all of her and never let her go, claiming her with the kiss so she would never turn to another man.

But she had turned away from him, probably not knowing the grave mistake it had been if she hadn't, simply because of her embarrassment. With her rejection she'd succeeded in shaking him out of the enchantment she had put him in.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't sad that he didn't get to taste her lips, but contrary to Shun's teasing, Hotsuma did think about his actions when he knew how much was on the line.

He had fallen in love with her. The revelation of his feelings had been definite when her hands had touched his and those eyes had trapped his, but he didn't want her to fall in love with him. He realized Shun liked him; you'd have to be blind not to see that. But he didn't want to transform that like into love and making it just as hard for her, as it would be for him when he left. At least that's what he hoped.

Not knowing it was probably too late for those concerns.

Deciding to leave the beautiful retreat he had started to refer as theirs. He'd never seen anyone there during the times he'd been here and considering Shun's antisocial behavior, he found it nearly impossible for anyone to come here. He had to admit she knew how to pick the right places, but, as everything did nowadays, it lost some of its charm when she disappeared. She was able to cool him down, yet brighten the world around him and so the rest seemed to fade away when she was gone.

He had likened her with the stars before, but sometimes he wondered if she wasn't more like the moon. She couldn't be the sun of course; she wasn't burning him after all, so the cold light in the night fitted her better. But the stars were so small and her presence was bigger than that, and although the stars are the real light sources during the night, it was the moon that suited her better. He suspected that the moon was more alone than the stars as well. There were countless of stars but only one moon.

He shook his head and dragged his fingers through his blond strands in confusion.

Why was he thinking about this? He'd never been poetic or romantic, the words didn't even exist in his vocabulary yet there he was, trying to find a metaphor for how Shun felt to him. If she came to know this she would surely try to tease him yet her cheeks would be flaming red, and with that image the desire to see her again arose in him.

Hotsuma guessed this is what it meant to be in love with someone. He had heard the fairytales the grownups told the children, before they could get a real idea about the cruel world they lived in.

He decided that he couldn't spend his time here, because there were too many reminders of the brunette here. Yet, he didn't want to go back to the residence. He hadn't really thought they would act any different towards him, just because there seemed to be a God's power inside him. But his friends had been congratulating him, yet also been very envious and quite honestly they had been overbearing. He wasn't different in any way after all. He hoped the hype would still after a couple of days, but until then he would try to keep away and perhaps find and enjoy the company of Shun.

Hotsuma walked around the town, people were busy working around him and he kept wondering where Shun might be working at the moment. The thoughts kept circling around her existence and if he hadn't been so enchanted by her he would find it annoying.

The month was soon over and during that time he'd had the opportunity of discovering most parts of the surrounding area and what places the locals liked, both in the Giou clan and outside of it.

He'd passed the busy streets by now and was slowly starting to ascend on a large hill that overlooked the town, nearly the opposite side of the town from the residence. They usually didn't come here as the residence had almost just as great view of the town, but Hotsuma found this to be even better, at least in the afternoons and early evening as the sun was nearing the horizon in its slow descent. This made the morning view and dawn from the residence better of course, but Hotsuma preferred the twilight and the night sky.

He arrived to the top and stopped to look back down on the town. The sun was slowly falling and with it the start of a promise of a red sky this twilight and he couldn't help finding the sight to be marvelous. As with everything that was even remotely appealing, he couldn't help but thinking of Shun and how her smile would make the picture complete, while he was looking upon the sky. Hotsuma reminded himself to take her with him to see this at least once.

Looking down on the town again Hotsuma remembered what she'd told him about her situation. Why did the Gods treat her so?

To make this quaint town her very own prison, capturing her like a bird that really should just fly free. Though, if he was honest with himself, he knew there was something not right with the story she told him Trapped here she was, but not for the reason she told. He also knew that he wouldn't get anything more than that from her, if he'd confronted her she would just have pulled back and closed the door right back over her fragile heart. So he'd played the dumb person and only showing his concern for her.

Perhaps that would have been the right choice though he reasoned. That might have put some distance between them and she wouldn't be as hurt from their inevitable parting.

Hotsuma wanted to scream. Which he also did, he was alone after all. All his pent up frustrations, anger, feelings and pain was let out through one scream. All including Shun in some form, she was probably one of the best things that had happened to him, but also the worst.

He had closed his eyes at first when he started his scream, but when feeling the air starting to run out he opened them again and was horrified with the sight that met him. One of the few trees standing on that hill was set in high flame and burned bright before him. The fire didn't spread and soon started to die down in the same rate as the tree disappeared. After only a few minutes the fire was gone and only a small burn mark was the only indicator something most likely stood there before.

Hotsuma fell down on his knees in shock. He tried to vehemently deny the fact he had anything to do with the fire, but deep down he knew what the cause was. They hypothesized his fire that saved Shun might have been triggered by his voice or strong feelings and he hadn't really taken it into thought of what it could mean on his life, but this almost served as a wakeup call. If he could set fire on a Duras, and even a tree, just through his voice when his feelings might run wild, then the same could happen to a human. He got angry, he screamed, that was normal for every human. But now he wouldn't be able to do that, because he might hurt someone. That thought scared him, and who would want to get close to a human who could set fire to you, if you crossed his limit even once?

But, he knew that now, and so he could prevent it from happening by being aware of it, couldn't he?

He was glad he discovered this possible threat without having hurt someone who truly mattered, and as long as he didn't say anything, nobody would be any wiser either. He wouldn't be left alone because of this power, which would be one of the things that scared him the most. Like Shun leaving, not because their fate wasn't entwined, but because she feared him. He wouldn't be able to live with that. Perhaps, it would be best just to end things now with Shun, before she discovered what a dangerous person he might be. He didn't want to and his heart felt heavy and empty at the thought of losing her, but he would anyway and what was the difference between a day and a week really. Hotsuma contemplated his choices, stay with Shun a little longer and endanger her or leave her and keep her safe from him. He knew what his heart wanted, and he was always more prone to listen to it, but the logic was very serious this time.

Hotsuma sighed frustratingly, he really couldn't come up with a decision right now, perhaps if he saw her again tomorrow something might happen that would guide him to the right choice.

But if he decided to cut things of now, he can't tell her the real reason, it would make her afraid after all. That would be applicable to every human he knows too, he could keep this quiet. He will only tell the one partner he's destined to be with, that person at least had a right to know the danger he was. He would control his own fate and power.

Having resolved himself with a heavy heart to wait for the morrow, and also still shivering from the discovery, he decided to walk back, he'd been gone long enough and the need for food drove him back to the clutches he'd been born into. He still had his duty to perform and he couldn't let anyone down.

And so he slowly began the descent back into the world where everything is predetermined.

Shuusei woke up with a rested mind and she found that she could yet again think clearly. She could still remember the almost kiss she got from Hotsuma and that stupid (except not really) promise that she'd meet him again today, but now it didn't confuse her anymore.

She would go there and meet him, and though she didn't know exactly yet as of how to face him, she was prepared to act like she forgot everything about it, if Hotsuma demanded that of her. Still, what she'd liked most would be an answer to why he would do such a thing.

Unconsciously Shuusei started to comb her hair and when all the knots had been erased she started putting up her hair in an intricate bun with several pins to keep it steady. At last she was satisfied with it she started looking through her small pile of kimonos for one which was both pretty and that Hotsuma hadn't seen yet. She found one with blooming cherry blossoms on which she decided on would be good enough.

What she didn't want to admit was that she wished to look nice for Hotsuma; he was the only one who had called her beautiful and with this she might actually believe his words, if she herself had put some effort in her looks.

Ignoring the little voice in her head telling her she's acting like a love-struck fool and that she shouldn't be so happy to see someone who will ultimately break her heart no matter what she'll do. She made her way out of the room, the house and found her way to their secret hide out. She didn't know when she had started calling it theirs instead of hers, but she only felt it was appropriate since he also spent much time there now.

She sat down on her regular spot beneath the tree and started to wait for Hotsuma to show himself. Ten minutes became an hour and before she knew it the sun had passed midday, hunger started to gnaw on her. She had only eaten a little rice for breakfast and that had been several hours ago.

Where the hell had Hotsuma disappeared to, when he was the one who wanted to meet up? She knew though that she wasn't first priority and that anything the adults said was absolute. It didn't change a thing just because Hotsuma was now an official Zweilt candidate.

Understanding that Hotsuma might not be able to show himself made her decide she would go and find something to eat, and return later on to see if Hotsuma would turn up during the evening instead.

Shuusei raised herself and started walking out of the garden, but she didn't walk more than one street away before a pair of arms captured her which kept her in one place.

Normally she would have screamed in this sort of situation, but recognizing the smell of the person behind her stopped it.

And that horrified her because when had she had the time to learn and actually memorize his smell?

Moreover, it calmed her down, though the hug most likely helped in that department. Shuusei was feeling this entire thing was starting to become ridiculous.

"Hotsuma, what do you think you're doing?" Shuusei questioned as casually as she could to hide the embarrassment she felt. She probably didn't fool him though.

"I didn't want to see your back towards me." Hotsuma answered and Shuusei fought down another blush, and won.

"You could just have said my name and I would have turned." She deadpanned and turned so they stood face to face. While she had turned Hotsuma had backed off a bit and was simply holding his hands on her arms before he completely dropped them.

"Well, I might have used it as an excuse for being able to hug you." He smiled.

"You could have just asked." Shuusei rolled her eyes.

"But would you have agreed?" Hotsuma asked with a mischievous look in his eyes.

"No." She relented before adding. "Idiot."

"Aw, come on Shun, it was just a harmless hug. Don't be mad. Please." Hotsuma begged her but she could tell he wasn't serious at all.

Shuusei sighed, he was starting to get very bold in his actions towards her and she wasn't really sure how to respond, just like in the beginning when all he did was alien to her.

She raised her hand and before Hotsuma fully registered what she was about to do, she'd succeeded in flicking him on his forehead and he flinched in pain.

"Ow, what was that for?" Hotsuma questioned while rubbing the sore spot.

"That's the punishment for being an idiot." Shuusei explained simply, before walking past him back to the overgrown garden.

Now that Hotsuma had come it seemed like she would have to wait with her food plan, she couldn't be seen around town with Hotsuma after all. Hotsuma would also most likely not leave her alone; he could be very tenacious sometimes.

"Why are you going back? It seemed like you were leaving when I came." He inquired when he saw her walk back while trailing behind her.

"I'd had enough of waiting for you today so I decided to head home, but that isn't necessary now that you are here." She lied, simply because she didn't want her hunger to be known. But things rarely went as she wanted as her stomach decided to betray her by growling.

Shuusei blushed when that happened and walked a bit quicker.

"Ah, I see, you were hungry. If that's the case then we should go eat something. I haven't eaten that much today either." Hotsuma smiled.

"No! I'm not going to let anyone see us together, which will undoubtedly happen if we go anywhere." Shuusei rejected his proposal which she had predicted to come if he learned about her hunger.

"But we are both hungry, please Shun." He almost whined, internally wondering why being seen together with him would be so bad. He didn't call her out on it, but he stored that little slip up for a later time. "This isn't the time to be worrying about others. I'm sure it'll be fine." He still couldn't help but press a little despite that.

"No, I'm not going anywhere else with you. If you want to eat anything you can go on your own." Shuusei again denied Hotsuma of his wishes.

Hotsuma muttered something under his breath before turning around, and almost ran out of the garden. Shuusei felt slight disappointment that he had just disappeared on her without a word, but then he might just have been fed up with her attitude.

Perhaps it had been for the best.

But before she'd really started on her self-deprecating thoughts Hotsuma came running back with some packages in his arms.

Shuusei lifted her eyebrows in surprise while a little happiness found its way into her heart again. Her eyebrows fell down again when she realized that Hotsuma must have had ran to the market to buy some food for them both as Shuusei refused to go anywhere. She kicked herself mentally for not thinking about that possibility.

"Since you didn't want to go out and eat, I went instead and brought the food to you." Hotsuma said cheerfully. He was carrying two bentos in his hands which he held up for her to see clearly. "I got lucky and the first booth actually sold some food."

"Well, since you went to the trouble of buying it I guess I'll eat with you." Shuusei haughtily said, trying to sound like she couldn't care less, but Hotsuma just smiled.

He sat down beneath the tree and beckoned for Shuusei to sit beside him. She sat down carefully and took one bento from Hotsuma and started to eat from it. It wasn't anything special, just some dried rice, but it did fill her stomach and she was soon full.

They ate in complete silence, just enjoying each other's presence and the comfort it brought.

"Hey Shun." Hotsuma suddenly said, a clear hint of hesitation could be found in his voice.

"Hm?" She barely got out because of the drowsiness she felt after eating.

"If you had a power that hurt people in your surroundings, would you stay away from them? To protect them." Hotsuma asked carefully.

Shuusei blinked, confused as to why Hotsuma asked something like that.

"Well, everyone already have such a power you know. Words can really hurt, sometimes even more than a sword through your stomach would, which also is one way to hurt people. There are lots of tools you can use as well to hurt people physically. So no, I wouldn't stay away needlessly. Pain is something you'll experience as long as you're around people, both by your hand and by others." She explained after getting over her initial surprise at his seemingly random question.

"But what if you can't control it? And it would make people fear you?" He pressed on.

"You can't always control your words and actions, sometimes you will lose control. It's human to fail, and anyone can instill fear in someone else." She continued to answer his questions.

Hotsuma didn't look convinced, but he kept quiet after that.

"Why are you wondering?" Shuusei asked, letting her curiosity get the better of her.

"No reason really." Hotsuma simply answered, though Shuusei wasn't exactly impressed by that response. She could also understand and guess he would have his own secrets; she still wanted to know them though. She quickly quelled that urge with the fact that as long she held secrets of her own, she didn't deserve to know his. So she simply took ahold of his hand with her own in an attempt to soothe him, temporary forgetting what that lead up to yesterday.

Hotsuma was surprised by the gesture; he had suspected Shun wouldn't want to touch him because of yesterday. He tried his hardest to ignore the same urges that had surfaced this time though. He simply grasped her hand too and decided he did like her touch, no matter how insignificant it was. Hotsuma started to observe Shun again, and couldn't help but be reminded of his earlier thoughts. How was he supposed to leave her when he saw her vulnerability that was so easy to abuse?

But he didn't have the right to feel such things when he would be one to hurt her as well, either by his newly discovered fire or his inevitable leave. He was so confused yet he didn't have anyone to speak to. Shun wouldn't be able to understand all of his fears as she simply didn't know about the horrible creatures he would be forced to fight, nor did she know about the depth of his feelings for her.

He was truly and utterly lost. And so he yet again decided to just go with the flow, he couldn't really come up with any other suitable solution other than leaving. Suddenly he felt something poking him on his forehead.

"You know, frowning doesn't suit you. You should keep to following your instincts and leave the thinking to me." Shuusei said while still poking him on the forehead.

"Are you implying that I'm stupid again?" Hotsuma said with mock anger in his voice.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying." Shuusei smiled.

"You really know how to distract me." Hotsuma mumbled softly before raising his voice again. "I really don't like how you treat me, so I'll just act on my impulse and punish you." He played angry and suddenly pulled Shuusei into his arms and lifted her up in his arms. She screamed in laughter when she felt the ground under her disappear and Hotsuma started to walk towards the pond.

When he was beside the pond he started with some swinging motions towards the pond while Shuusei had exchanged the laughter with pleadings to stop and clinging to Hotsuma's neck.

"So what did you say I was?" Hotsuma inquired with a clear promise of being soaked in his words if the answer didn't suit him, but the smile on his face told another story.

"I said he was the brightest and most handsome man in this land, and the kindest who would never throw a lady into the water." Shuusei played along, not wanting to actually land herself in the pond.

"That's better." Hotsuma smiled even wider and lowered Shuusei onto the ground. He sat down beside her, facing the water.

"I can't believe you threatened me with throwing me into the pond." Shuusei said when she calmed down a bit.

"Well, you're not the only one who can tease people." Hotsuma replied, though never denying her accusation.

And Shuusei simply chuckled at his statement while shaking her head, but Shuusei made one mistake while laughing with Hotsuma. She forgot her newest principle and looked into the reflective water.

Immediately several images overwhelmed her. She let out a gasp of pain but again she couldn't tear away her eyes. They were simply drawn to the pictures, and were that Hotsuma as a child?

Hotsuma was quite surprised when he first noticed the change in her demeanor, but when she started to whimper in pain he immediately became worried.

"Shun? Shun! What's wrong? Can you please tell me?" Hotsuma tried talking to her while gently shaking her shoulders to get any response from her. But Shuusei only remained in her position, her hands now grasping her head and pulling out hair from her intricate hairdo.

The pained whimpers continued and Hotsuma noticed Shuusei's horror filled eyes focusing on the water, though he couldn't understand why. So he did the only thing he could come up with.

Shuusei didn't know how long she sat in that state of confusion and pain.

When she finally felt like it was becoming bearable, even though it still hurt, a strong force teared her away from the images and wrapped his arms around her. Succeeding in pressing her head against his torso and carefully cradled her.

She immediately felt how the pain disappeared but she breathed harshly, like she'd just been running for hours. The usual shock that followed still had its claws in her as well, which caused her to not actively realize just how the spell had been broken this time.

When Hotsuma heard her breathing calming down and she started moving a little he released his grip on her and she slowly raised her head and looked up at him through her eyelashes. If she hadn't just had some sort of seizure, Hotsuma would have suspected she tried to seduce him. The messy hair, red cheeks and glossy eyes looking up through eyelashes made a very suggestive expression. This however wasn't the case and Hotsuma simply held her carefully, not tucked into his chest, but at an arm's length, hands still on her shoulders.

"Are you okay now?" He warily asked.

Shuusei slowly nodded and let out a raspy yes.

"Can you tell me what happened? I'm worried about you and you scared me." Hotsuma confessed, slowly rubbing circles on her arms.

"It's nothing you have to worry about." She answered quickly and looked away, but not before Hotsuma got a glimpse of a haunted look in her eyes.

"Are you sure? It didn't look like nothing." Hotsuma pressed.

"Yes I'm sure, I'm fine now." Shuusei practically snapped at him.

"Okay, I just don't want anything to happen to you, that's all." He defended himself while holding up his hands in surrender.

"Ah yes, thank you for worrying, but I'm really fine now." She smiled a little and turned her head towards Hotsuma again.

"Fine, it's all that matters in the end." He smiled back at her and patted her head, trying not to ruin her hair even more. She blushed a little and swatted his hand away.

"It's such a shame about your hair, it seemed like a really complicated bun and now it's ruined. You really looked pretty today too." Hotsuma complimented her, remembering the fact now that he had focused on her hair.

Shuusei's cheeks turned beet red and she wanted to vehemently deny it, but she knew this was the very reason she did it in the first place. Hotsuma only laughed softly at her embarrassment.

They both calmed down and sat serenely in the quiet stealing glances at each other all the time. Shuusei felt the urge to touch Hotsuma's face she always succeeded being captivated by. Slowly raising her hand to follow the urge and Hotsuma did nothing to stop her.

"Hotsuma?" A voice suddenly called out.

Both Shuusei and Hotsuma's heads turned towards the new voice despite already knowing who it belonged to.

Izanami.

Shuusei panicked, several thoughts passing by. How had she found them? Izanami hated being outside of the family ground and going to town, even more to such an obscure part. She must have gotten strict orders if she was willing to come to such a place.

Remembering her position Shuusei practically threw herself away from Hotsuma as they sat too close than it was proper. Their compromising position wouldn't help and Izanami couldn't have come at a much worse time.

Standing up Shuusei slowly started walking backwards before turning into a full out sprint. One last look over at Hotsuma told her he was very disappointed, most likely of her flight. The one look she had turned towards told her all she needed to know, that ice cold look in her dark golden eyes promised nothing but pain.

Shuusei knew she was screwed.

And that's it, hope you enjoyed it and that it lived up to your expectations! Please review!

Responses:

Fireblaze1807: Thank you so much! I'm so happy you liked the last chapter :) I tried to keep Hotsuma's slightly dim as I feel he can be in the manga, and I fear I might be going over the top sometimes, but I hope I've been able to portray his sharper side as well in this chapter. The same applies to Shuusei, though the other way around of course, and you can hopefully see some growth in her here too. And while I would like for the drama to be over, it seems my mind wasn't on me on that one, so we're having one last hurdle.

deaththekid1998: Thank you for reviewing and I glad to see you're enjoying this. It most likely won't be a continuation of this one, mostly because I don't know what it would be about. For now though I'm deciding between doing an epilogue with a collection of different scenes or making those scenes as short one-shots. It depends a bit one how long and how many there'll be.

cookieswithmilktea: Thank you for reviewing. Yep it's ironic, the divine powers in this series isn't decided by humans after all, but God. And he doesn't care about anything except blood, then how "pure" the blood is, isn't something important to others than humans. Status is something humans came up with after all.

elfigh: Thank you!~~ Yep, reviewers and your kind words are what's giving me the courage to publish what I write :) I'm really glad you like this. Yes, the lack of fem Shuusei is one of the reasons I made this. I wanted to make one, though I didn't want to make one which tells us why Shuusei stopped being with a girl as that would be original enough, and so I came to think about the fact that no one has done a first life story and immediately got an idea for that as I could use a female Shuusei there and if I wanted to include romance it wouldn't be so taboo as it would be if Shuusei was a male.

giogiu: Thank you for your kind words! Yeah, Hotsuma is really learning on how to handle Shuusei, and she's getting weaker against his charms ;) Last chapter was about them finding each other again, unfortunately it didn't keep up for long and life throws curve balls at them still. But I'm glad I gave you pleasant dreams, that means I really succeeded with the last one. Ah, so that was you, thought it was a bit weird when I didn't get one from you ;) and I hope you're still here waiting.

Leiya: Long time no see, thanks for coming back and reviewing. I completely understand, I also lose it a bit sometimes due to the fact the manga is still on hiatus, hopefully it'll come back in full force whenever the manga start again. I'm really happy to hear you like it despite the obvious difference in quality between first and last chapter. Things will get dangerous, but we all know she'll make it in the end ;) and that's absolutely true, Hotsuma won't stand for any shit towards Shuusei, she's far too precious. Nice you picked up on that detail, it'll be mentioned later on as well, I did get the idea from the manga after all. Thanks again, and I hope you'll have the time to read this chapter too.

Absalon95: Thank you for reviewing. I'm sorry I was so late with this update, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway :) Haha, you and my sister say the same thing ;) great minds think alike. I'm glad you liked it!

FidgeyTova: Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed this as much as you did last time, and thanks for reviewing! Yeah, I'm really looking forward to writing that scene as well, and I hope I'll be able to do it justice for your expectations. I hope this update will be to your satisfaction :)

Thanks again all of you, and please review, it's the source where I get my courage from after all :) See ya!