“You asked me a question to only ask permission to ask another one?” I chuckled. “You do that a lot. You’re really strange.”
He looked at me shyly. “So, is that a yes?”
“You figure it out.”
Raikidan sighed and was quiet for a moment. “Why did you harm Blaze earlier?”
“Oh, that…” I looked elsewhere.
“If you don’t want to talk about it, just tell me.”
It was true; I didn’t want to talk about it. But I couldn’t think of a good reason why it would hurt to tell. He’d probably just forget later anyway. “Have you ever known what it was like to go hungry?”
“A few times.”
“Have you ever known what it was like to be weak due to starvation?”
He didn’t answer this time.
“A common tactic Zarda used to control us was starvation. Our bodies are so modified that we require large quantities of food to keep us going. This quantity is significantly higher than that of the average nu-human, and it helps with identification if necessary. Because of our food dependence, Zarda would cut our food and use what we were missing as a reward. Many times, Zarda would just not allow us to eat or drink for days, sometimes weeks.”
“And this method worked?” Raikidan asked.
“This method was only effective for certain experiments. It forced them to be loyal, and once they showed him this loyalty, their food rations were never cut. Other experiments, such as myself and the others downstairs, didn’t give in. It didn’t matter how weak we became from hunger, we refused to give in.
I pressed my lips together. “Unfortunately, this method had many negative effects for those who fought. It was common for experiments to become aggressive over food, and those who had been born with a high aggression over food became worse. I’m one of those experiments. I was always possessive over certain things I’d claimed as mine, and when someone tried to take it, I became very aggressive. That possessive nature worsened because of the treatment. I don’t mean to act that way, it just happens…”
“How bad can such aggressive tendencies get?”
“I’ve watched experiments kill each other over scraps.”
Raikidan’s brow furrowed. “I don’t see how that’s unusual. Dragons do that all the time when food is scarce in areas.”
“But humans don’t,” I said. “Humans will go elsewhere if there’s no food. A normal human would avoid violence at any cost, at the risk of a serious injury.”
“All right, I can see that, but what about you? You said you require a lot of food, but I’ve seen you go a day on only an apple, if that. I don’t understand how that statement can be true.”
I scratched my head. “There was another side effect I developed from the deprivation that other experiments only sometimes did. Many experiments’ bodies couldn’t handle the lack of food, and when they were finally given consistent meals, they required even more to keep going.
“Ryoko is one of those experiments. It’s the reason we don’t have food in this house very often. She had already required a larger quantity due to her extreme enhancements, but that increased drastically after the starvation process. My body, on the other hand, had a much different effect. This effect was much rarer than Ryoko’s.”
I looked up at the sky. “My body became so used to the lack of food, it adapted. It learned how to survive and function normally when food was scarce. Over time, it’s been able to function like a normal nu-human’s would, and at times, I won’t feel hungry for days. My appetite has become… situational. I guess that’s how you could put it.”
“I never thought such incredible adaptation was possible.”
“Join the club,” I responded with a smirk.
“What in Lumaraeon is a club?”
I shook my head. “Forget about it. It’s just an expression.”
Raikidan stood up. “Very well, Butterfly.”
“Stop calling me that!”
“No. I’ll stop calling you that when I feel like it. Now go to bed. You’ll be going to work tomorrow.”
I threw my head back. “Yes, boss.”
I then jumped down onto the fire escape and headed into my room.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
(Ryoko)
I opened the door to the basement and headed down, Rylan close behind. Laz handing out instructions hit my sensitive ears. She’d taken Raikidan down here earlier to train him with close-quarters combat, and I was curious how well it was going. He was a capable guy from what I could tell, but our training regimens could be difficult on non-experiments. And knowing Laz, she’s not pulling any punches.
Just then my ears picked up something slamming into a heavy weight bag and then Laz chastising Raikidan. “No, no, not like that.”
I snickered. Sounds like it’s going well.
Making it halfway down the stairs, I spotted the two at the hanging heavy bag. Laz readied herself, punched it three times, and then instructed Raikidan to repeat. He pulled himself into a bad form, to which she sighed and corrected him, and then he hit the weighted bag. She shook her head and pressed on his core, reprimanding him again about his form and the importance for doing it. Oh, Laz, we all can see you’re just using it as an excuse to touch that fit body of his.
The pair stopped their task and looked at us when Rylan and I made it to the bottom step. I grinned. “Looks like you two are having fun.”
Laz scowled. “Fun isn’t a word I’d use.”
“She’s being a pain in the ass,” Raikidan said.
She smacked him in the abdomen. “No, that’s you. If you’d pay attention for once, you’d get this right.”
He rubbed where she hit him. “I am paying attention. You’re just too picky.”
I half smiled, throwing my thumb behind me. “You want us to leave so you can have your lovers’ quarrel in private?”
Laz glowered, and Raikidan looked confused. Rylan snickered behind me. “Quite the mixed response.”
He then slipped past me, heading for a closet. “Why don’t we show him something more practical? He may learn better that way.”
Laz nodded. “Can’t hurt to try.”
Raikidan narrowed his eyes at her but kept his mouth shut. Interesting. Their relationship confused me to no end. I needed to know more about it. And that meant getting to know Raikidan. He was the biggest unknown in all this. But how?
Rylan and Laz pulled out mats from the closet and laid them out on the floor. Raikidan stayed out of the way, watching with great intensity. I sat down on a nearby table, content to take it all in. I’d love to join in on the spar, but no one could handle my strength. I doubted even Raikidan, as strong as the simulation claimed to be, could hold his own against me.
I did my best to not sigh out loud. Being strong was useful, but my kind of strength just got in the way most of the time.
Rylan and Laz got into position and she went about telling Raikidan the basics. Based on his bored expression, she was repeating herself. I giggled. He should have just listened in the beginning. Then she wouldn’t be going back to square one. He’s lucky she’s not teaching grappling. He’d find that instruction even more of a snore fest.
Laz got a few punches in on Rylan before he went at her, showing a few other types of strikes not in her current “lesson.” Typical Laz, she chose to “reprimand” him by striking him with a few non-lesson strikes of her own. Hypocrite.
Not surprising, the verbal lesson didn’t last long, and Laz and Rylan went in on a full-on sparring match. Raikidan watched the pair intently, his tensing muscles catching my eye. Either this sparring excited him, or something else was up.
My attention was pulled away when a flicker of fire caught the corner of my eye. With fire-consumed fists, Laz threw a punch out at Rylan, who blocked with a small ice shield on his arm. Really, you two? I could understand getting excited to spar, but adding in elements was a bit overboard. No, I’m not jealous they can use elements and I can’t. That’d just
be silly.
Laz landed a few good hits on an ice shield Rylan created on his arm, but when she hyperextended on the last one of the form set, Rylan ducked under her. He grabbed her extended arm and rolled her over his shoulder, slamming her onto the mat on her back. Wow, nice move, Ry!
My excitement turned to surprise when Raikidan slammed into Rylan. What the—
“Raikidan!” Laz shouted.
Raikidan towered over Rylan as he lay on his side cringing. “That was Raikidan? I thought Ryoko slammed into me.”
My back straightened. Did he really hit that hard?
Laz jumped to her feet and tried to push Raikidan. Keyword was tried. He didn’t move at all. Laz wasn’t the strongest out there, but even she could push most heavyweight civilians around. What is he?
Laz smacked his arm. “Knock it off!”
Raikidan’s attention snapped to her, his eyes so intense I thought he’d light her on fire. She didn’t back down. Wow these two are intense. Wait…
A grin spread across my lips as my eyes narrowed. “Someone is being protective.”
Laz’s eyes snapped to me, but Raikidan’s didn’t. He focused back on Rylan, who was now getting back up. Rylan backed up a few steps, gauging Raikidan, who remained still, intent on him. My grin widened and Laz’s eyes narrowed. She was so in trouble. No way she could convince me I was wrong. All that tensing he’d done was because he didn’t like Rylan hurting her, even if it was agreed upon. Which meant there was something there, even if small. I just have to figure out how to get the truth to surface.
Rylan rounded his shoulder. “Are you going to keep acting weird?”
“Don’t hit her again,” Raikidan warned.
My brow rose, and Laz’s attention snapped back to him. “Excuse you? Just because you won’t hit a woman, doesn’t mean everyone else has to abide by that rule.”
He won’t? I sat back. Meant I wasn’t going to get to test out his… strength. I’m sure Laz does when no one is looking, though.
Raikidan scowled at her. “I don’t approve of this treatment.”
Laz crossed her arms. “And I’m supposed to care? Get out of my way and let me get back to my sparring.”
She tried to get around him to square off with Rylan, but Raikidan stepped in her way. Laz sidestepped him, but he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back a few inches. I grinned. This was amusing.
Laz ground her teeth. “You know what, you spar with him, then.”
“Wait, what?” Rylan said.
“He needs the practice, and if he’s not going to let me spar with you and watch how it’s done, then he can get hands-on experience.”
He sighed. “All right, fine. But you owe me.”
She waved him off as she walked over to me. “Yeah, yeah.” I smirked at her when she sat down, and she narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you start.”
“Oh, you’re no fun.” I nudged her. “You can’t be all that mad at him. It’s an admirable trait.”
“It’s an annoying one.” She gave me a sidelong glance. “Not even you can come up with a reasoning that doesn’t scream, ‘because you need to be delicate and protected like some useless flower.’”
She had a point. I didn’t understand the moral stance much better than she did, especially so when it got in my way of getting things done. If I were in her shoes I’d be just as irritated.
Rylan looked over to us. “Hey, that’s not why we’re like that. I’ve told you that over a hundred times.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
Rylan frowned, and even Raikidan looked back at her. Neither appeared to understand her reaction to the behavior. So clueless. No matter how many times we explained it, not even Rylan understood why we had such an issue with the stance. I didn’t lie. I did find it an admirable to have as a trait, but there was a line to be aware of. And by how Raikidan is acting, this isn’t a line he grasps at all and is well beyond crossing.
The two men squared off. Not understanding where Raikidan stood with fighting experience, Rylan took a more defensive stance, using the time to analyze him. Raikidan, on the other hand, took a more reckless approach, swinging at Rylan, trying to find weak points.
“Use your head, Raikidan,” Laz chastised. “You waste energy and allow your opponent to find your weak spot in your defense.”
“Like right there,” Rylan announced before slamming his fist into Raikidan’s side.
Raikidan grunted in pain and threw out another attack, still no tactical thought being put into his swings. Laz sighed but chose not to scold him again.
I rested my arm on Laz’s shoulder and leaned my head on her. She glanced at me. “Liking the view?”
Rylan got another good shot in on Raikidan. I grinned. “I’m watching two hot guys working up a sweat by beating on each other. What’s not to enjoy?”
Her brow rose. “You have some weird tastes.”
I winked at her. “More like fun.”
She rolled her eyes and focused on the men again. Damn. I needed to figure out how to engage her better, or I wasn’t going to get my desired answers.
I leaned on her more. “I mean, the only thing that could make this better is if they lost the shirts.”
Her face scrunched. “Please stop sharing your weird fantasies with me.”
I chuckled. “You could always share yours instead.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t have any.”
“To share? Oh c’mon, Laz, don’t be shy.”
She pushed me off her. “Knock it off, Ryo.”
I huffed. There went that idea.
Raikidan finally landed a hit on Rylan, and it looked like he got him pretty good by the way Rylan cringed. I wonder how strong this guy is. I really wanted to go toe-to-toe with him. He owed me a match anyway.
Laz praised Raikidan, though Rylan grumbled about not receiving any when he did well. Aw, someone’s a little jealous.
The two men exchanged several more blows before Raikidan gained the upper hand and hauled Rylan over his shoulder, tossing him on the ground about three or four feet away. Not bad.
“No, not like that, Raikidan,” Laz scolded. Of course Miss Perfectionist found something wrong. “You can’t lift someone like that. You’ll hurt your back.”
I couldn’t argue that. It was a smart thing to nitpick.
He held up his hands. “What are you, my mother?”
I fell on Laz as I laughed. She sucked in a tight breath. “You make me feel like I am.”
My laughter continued. This was too amusing.
Rylan got back up to his feet, his breath heavier than I expected. Raikidan had to be putting him through a lot for that to happen. Rylan wiped beads of sweat off his brow and tugged at his shirt. Oh wait. I paid more attention to the air, and realized it was a bit hot in here. Wearing so little clothing myself, plus my higher-than-average body temperature, I only really ever noticed when the temperature dropped. Plus, Rylan is more susceptible to heat due to his element.
“Rylan, do you want me to turn the thermostat down?” I called out. “I’m not sure what’s up with the hike in temp, but it’s not a problem to adjust it.” I glanced at Raikidan and Eira, who looked unfazed. “These two won’t complain either way, I don’t think.”
Rylan pulled his shirt over his head and discarded it on the floor. Oh my. “No, I can handle it. Thanks, though.”
A thin layer of ice formed around his hands and spread up his arms, right up to his torso, the heat of his body melting it little by little. Rylan relaxed as he cooled down, his head hanging back a bit. When he’d cooled off enough, his muscles flexed, and the ice shattered. His body glistened. Oh, Satria, take me now! This was getting to be a bit much for me. I joked about them taking their shirts off to get a rise out of Laz, but I wasn’t actually prepared for Rylan to go beyond that.
Raikidan crossed his arms. “Are you done yet? Or do you need some more time to pamper yourself?”
Laz snickered next to me.
Rylan scowled
and readied himself. “Watch it. Your cockiness is going to be your downfall.”
Raikidan pulled himself into a poor stance. “We’ll see.”
I clapped my hands together. “And fight!” They both looked at me, their brows creased, and I laughed. “Sorry. I watched Argus play one of his fighting games the other day.”
Rylan shook his head, a small smile on his lips, and then used Raikidan’s distracted state to gain the upper hand on him. Smart! But Raikidan had some good reflexes and managed to evade the surprise attack. Rylan, not to be outdone, refused to be shaken off that easily and closed the gap between themselves and grappled Raikidan.
Raikidan’s strength proved superior and he easily escaped, but Rylan had a trick up his sleeve. He grabbed Raikidan’s shirt and pulled it over his head, twisting the garment at the same time, trapping his unsuspecting victim.
Laz and I rolled with laughter as Raikidan struggled to free himself, having to resort to removing the shirt entirely. That was too funny of a power play.
Raikidan, displeased, tossed the shirt at us. Laz managed to dodge, but I wasn’t so lucky. “Ah!”
I pulled the large shirt from my face, but not before I got a good whiff of his scent. Man, he smells good. Wait! Brakes! Back up! I couldn’t think that way. I needed Laz to be the one who thought he smelled nice.
“Don’t laugh,” Raikidan said. “It wasn’t funny.”
Laz snickered. “Just because you didn’t enjoy it, doesn’t mean it wasn’t funny.”
Raikidan’s eyes narrowed as he pointed at her. “Do you want to do this sparring thing instead?
I leaned on her and waved at him. “No, no, keep going. I’m enjoying this view.” I glanced at Laz. “Aren’t you?”
She looked at me, her eyes impassive. “What view?”
“Oh c’mon, Laz. Look at Raikidan’s bod! Those abs are so flat and yummy, you could eat off them.”
“And what about Rylan?” She grinned at me. “You could wash your clothes on those abs.”
I did everything in my power to not react and to block out the tantalizing mental image of running my hands over those amazing abs of his. Or eating off them. Stop it!
Destiny (Experimental Heart Book 1) Page 42