Ranmaru said nothing but bent over and began to clean up the mess Kusanagi had made without complaint or comment. Kusanagi felt a twinge of guilt pass through her but she just glared down coldly at Ranmaru instead. “Pathetic...I expect you to try harder next time.”
Ranmaru stood, “Of course, Oujo-sama.” He bowed, but then wait, Kusanagi noticed that he was swaying on his feet. Was he about to...? Naw.
Ranmaru put a hand to his head and stumbled forward in a half faint. Kusanagi reflexively caught Ranmaru before he would have hit the ground. “Oi! What the hell is wrong with you?
Are you sick or something!” Kusanagi angrily demanded a tinge of her concern showing in her voice as she momentarily forgot that she was supposed to treat this man before her badly. Ranmaru shook his head and tried to regain his balance,
“N-nothing. I-I’m perfectly alright.”
“Bull-shit.” Kusanagi gritted her teeth, “Don’t lie to me Ranmaru. I hate it when people lie to me.” She warned. Ranmaru opened his mouth to respond when his stomach took the opportunity to respond for him and let out a loud growl. A faint blush could be seen rising to Ranmaru’s otherwise Bitch 33
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emotionless face.
Kusanagi blinked in surprise. “Don’t tell me you’re…hungry?”
“No...”
“Hmph. You’re a bad liar. I order you, not to lie to me Ranmaru! Now, how long has it been since you last ate?”
Kusanagi demanded, glaring hard at him, emerald green eyes flashing.
Ranmaru thought back pensively, unable to lie because of Kusanagi’s direct command. “Twenty days.”
“Twenty days!” Kusanagi looked over at Roze in shock, her mouth hanging open, slight worry in her emerald green eyes. Could that even be possible…!
Roze immediately began to freak out. “Ohohohoho~ That Ranmaru! He’s such a kidder! Twenty days!” Roze laughed nervously and pinned the confused Ranmaru with a death glare.
“If you were hungry then why didn’t you just eat something? Or say something?” Kusanagi continued to prod.
“I wasn’t given permission.” Ranmaru deadpanned.
“HUH?” Kusanagi’s mouth was gapping open now. What was up with this weirdo! He couldn’t be serious could he? What was he...some kind of dysfunctional robot? Mou!
Ranmaru began to quail under Roze’s stare. That maid…was scary. Kusanagi looked back and forth between the two of them suspiciously. “Aha! You are so both hiding something from me...now, I order you to tell me what it is!”
Kusanagi demanded imperiously, placing her hands on her hips. Ranmaru was just about to open his mouth and explain everything (since he was ordered to) when-DING-DONG
The large grandfather clock in the dinning room suddenly chimed.
Kusanagi immediately began to spaz out. “Ahhh! I’m going to be late for class! Ranmaru I order you to eat until you can’t eat anymore! Ja-ne! Cyas!” And with that said the whirlwind that was Kusanagi swept out of the dinning room, 34
destruction left in her wake. Talk about a natural disaster.
“Wait Kusanagi!” Roze called after her.
Ranmaru mechanically moved over the breakfast cart and began to serve himself a plate of food. “Tell me, does she make it a habit to boss people around and give them orders, Roze- san?”
He questioned in a calm manner.
Roze distractedly turned her attention back to Ranmaru,
“Uh...yea, why?”
Ranmaru sighed, as he set his plate down and began to eat stiffly, “That could end up being...troublesome.”
Roze watched as Ranmaru began to eat. She too knew the secret of Ranmaru being a Spell-Collared slave and so knew just what he was getting at. Uh oh. “I see what you mean...that girl...she’s always been careless with her words.”
“Words...have their own power.” Ranmaru said cryptically.
“I think it will be a while before she learns that lesson.”
Roze responded with a frown.
***
A limo was waiting for Kusanagi just outside the mansion in order to take her to school. Sigh. Damned over-protective bastards. Her school was literally only a quick ten-minute walk from the mansion and Kusanagi knew she could use the exercise. Kusanagi had a real sweet tooth and ever since the loss of her last butler…she had just been so depressed she had been eating way too many sweets lately. She sighed heavily as she grabbed at her sides. Gah! She was developing a pair of love handles! What she wouldn’t give for some exercise…or maybe she just needed some action. Things really had been too quiet around here lately, hmm…
Kusanagi got into the limo and zoned out as it drove her to Akai Bara (Red Rose) Academy. Kusanagi really didn’t want to go to school. She hated school. Perhaps, she should try and get a home schooling teacher or something? She mused. But then dismissed the idea as impossible since she doubted she could find one that would be able to put up with her mood swings and eccentricities. Or rather one that she would be pleased with anyways. Losers. Good help was so hard to find and Kusanagi hated useless people.
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Kusanagi just wanted to stay home taking care of the misunderstood animals in her menagerie and just forget about and ignore everything else in her crazy life... Especially her unicorn Sora - she loved riding him and just felt so free when she did so. She loved to gallop around the vast grounds of her estate - without a helmet - recklessly putting her life on the line. Being dangerous. Feeling that adrenaline rush. Feeling close to the edge but most of all feeling totally free and alive.
Just block everything out.
That’s why she had also gotten into painting. It was one of her favorite hobbies. When Kusanagi painted she was able to just block everything out, the world, Roze, her meddling grandfather, and then she was able to recreate it. The way the world really should look, the way the real world should be. She made her own world in her paintings and lived inside of them, inside of her own world. Sometimes it was hard to find some peace and quiet though when she painted and she ended up yelling a lot to Roze or any of the other servants that were foolish enough to bother her when she was in the middle of ‘create mode’. She’d usually end up yelling something at them like
‘ Urusai! ’ ‘Shut up!’ or ‘Be quiet!’
Kusanagi hated the real world and especially hated her classmates. They were all so...superficial and empty and fake. And their ‘so-called problems’ ha! They made Kusanagi want to laugh and laugh. And laugh she did - right in their stupid faces. What? Their problems were laughable after all so Kusanagi felt it was justifiable. They didn’t know what real problems were like - they didn’t know what real suffering was. How could any of those people ever understand her? They all lived charmed lives. They had their parents, they went to school, and after school they went shopping with their friends and bought their heart’s desires. She hated people that thought they knew anything about her. They didn’t know her. They didn’t care about her. They lived in different worlds.
It was all fake. Plastic.
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Their biggest problems were deciding on which cellphone model they wanted to buy next or which new shirt or accessory they should buy. Or what movie they should go see that weekend or what boy they should ask out next, or what boy they should break up with. Toying with people’s emotions. Pretending to love someone. Love. What did they know about love? Those people had forgotten how to love, really love. Love...Kusanagi bit her lower lip, was best left forgotten.
Sometimes Kusanagi just couldn’t hide the hate and bitterness that was in her heart and so she lashed out at people. She wanted to control her emotions better but it was so exhausting to do so and why pretend to be ‘happy’ when she wasn’t happy at all. It was better to just be honest she decided. Besides being nice and pretending to be happy just to please those people who didn’t really give a damn about her seemed like a total waste of energy. Who gave a shit about those peo
ple anyways? And so she laughed in their faces and hated them openly and they in turn hated her. They thought she was a bitch. And they were right.
Yep, Kusanagi Kimamura was a total bitch.
Kusanagi stepped out of the limo and made her way to the main school building with heavy steps. She could feel the glares and stares and eyes on her back. Those eyes - it was almost overwhelming, the hate she felt directed her way. They were looking down upon her. They all thought they were better than she was and had already passed judgment. Damn, she just wanted to go back home and crawl under her covers and dream dammit!
They really did hate her. Not that she cared…
Liar. Kusanagi’s inner voice piped up. Oh shut up. Kusangi snapped back. She wouldn’t get close to anyone. She didn’t want or need friends. No...never again...she’d never get close to anyone like that again. It would hurt too much if...She had vowed to herself since that day that she’d never let anyone get close to her again. And so that’s what she intended to do. And that’s why she had created her Bitch Mask perfectly made to keep people away. She was indeed an Artiste.
As Kusanagi made her way towards the front steps she could hear the whispering of her classmates follow her: “Oooo~
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It’s her, it’s Kusanagi.” “She’s such a bitch.” “Our class doesn’t need someone like her...” “We don’t want her in our school...”
Kusanagi straightened her back, nose high in the air, and put a haughty expression on her face. She couldn’t allow herself to appear affected by their harsh words - because she wasn’t affected dammit! She was ice. She didn’t feel anything. Liar.
Why were her eyes burning? Dammit. She must have gotten a piece of lint stuck in them or something.
***
Ranmaru rushed out of the mansion after Kusanagi as soon as he couldn’t eat another bite. He didn’t know what to make of his new Mistress - she was very...contradicting. Ranmaru had expected something much worse than Kusanagi’s simple breakfast request when she had used that eerily familiar sly smile. Shiver. It had reminded him of HER. Ranmaru had felt slight panic and then felt like an idiot when her request had been something so simple, harmless.
Ranmaru had gone to the menagerie. And didn’t see what all the fuss had been about. Sure, the larger than life yokai ostrich had tried to peck his eyes out but with his yokai speed he had been able to steal the needed eggs no problem. Next, had been the oranges. Ranmaru had simply leapt up into the tree to pick them and that had been when a giant man-eating python attacked him. It had indeed caught him off-guard and in seconds had wrapped around his entire body. The python had been eerily reminiscent of his control collar and Ranmaru had slightly freaked out because of that, but once he regained his senses he wrestled with the python quickly showing the creature who was boss, in about 5
seconds flat.
Other than that, things had gone well and without further incident and he had been able to use his yokai speed to whip up Kusanagi’s breakfast in about a minute!
When she had knocked the dish he had prepared so carefully to the floor he couldn’t help the sadness he felt. It was simply a waste of good food after all. Food that he was just dying 38
to try. But he sadly knew that he would probably be getting canned dog food again for his diet or worse…kibble! And then he had humiliated himself by nearly fainting in front of his new Mistress. (Probably due to the energy he had expended during his trouble with the ostrich and the python.) He thought she was going to punish him...but had completely surprised him by catching him before he could hit the floor. What was that about?
And then she had acted almost...concerned? Naw. His cover had almost been blown too. He had already been so close to being forced to reveal that he was a Spell-Collared slave. He had to be more careful in the future. And then the most unexpected thing Kusanagi did yet was when she had ordered him to...eat.
--till he couldn’t eat anymore.
Slight drawback there but Ranmaru wasn’t complaining. He wouldn’t take a gift horse for granted. He had gotten to eat food - real food! And he was immensely grateful for that. It was almost as if Kusanagi saw him as a human being, an equal. He already felt indebted to her grandfather and now to her for the small kindness she had shown him just that morning. His new Mistress Kusanagi might not be so bad or was she? He still couldn’t figure her out. Perhaps, when they were alone together Kusanagi would reveal what she was really like...gulp, shiver. What if Kusanagi was like HER after all? Her attitude and cruelness and that smirk were so eerily familiar and similar to HER it was making Ranmaru’s skin crawl and his stomach do flipflops. But he had to find out and know for sure. And that required - observation.
Ranmaru had already planned on going with Kusanagi to school since he had been charged to protect her. But now it was also a mission to try and figure out his new Mistress...who was she really? What was she really like? She intrigued him...and Ranmaru knew from past experience that oftentimes actions spoke louder than words.
Ranmaru decided that when trying to go unnoticed by people one had to look the part. And so had opted for dressing all in black and covering his head with a handkerchief. He reached the Academy grounds and immediately sniffed her out. Odd. She’s not inside the school building yet. Ranmaru discovered and Bitch 39
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took off in the direction that he had caught her delicious, err, her perfectly normal scent.
He tracked her down and stumbled upon an interesting sight-A yokai cat girl with bright bubble-gum pink hair and rather large breasts that seemed to want to pop out of her tootight sailor outfit (Japanese school uniform) was trying to get past some male students that were blocking her way and closing in on her.
“Hey, why in such a hurry babe? Why don’t you stay and play a while?” One of the boys leered at her.
“Uh no...really...I have to get to class. Please move...”
The girl pleaded as she tried to get past.
“You know you want it, just look at you...” One of the other boy’s blatantly stared at her breasts, “Tempting us like that. That’s gotta be against school rules the way you wear your uniform.”
The cat girl blinked confusedly at them and quirked her head, “Tempting? Temp...ura? Nyao?”
“Now, you’re just playing with us. You must know the effect the state of your attire has on guys like us...” The boy licked his lips. Ranmaru realized the boy must have been referring to the fact that the girl’s uniform blouse did seem to have a few buttons undone in the front revealing an ample amount of her cleavage, however, using his keen eyesight Ranmaru saw that this hadn’t been on purpose. The girl’s blouse seemed to have burst open and there were a few buttons missing as a result. The girl’s school uniform was obviously too small for her. But that didn’t explain why the girl hadn’t just gotten herself a new one? Though on second glance Ranmaru noticed that the girl’s uniform was frayed in places as well. Was she perhaps...poor?
“State of my... attire?” The cat girl blinked at them and thought they were referring to the condition of her ratty school uniform and blushed.
“You’re just asking for it.” Another boy continued. 40
“Asking for what, nyao?”
“This.” The boy reached out and made a grab for her breast.
“Iiyyyeee! Nooo~!” The cat girl immediately screamed, quite loudly in fact. Ranmaru had to plug his ears with his index fingers. “HENTAI! PERVERT!”
That’s when Kusanagi showed up out of nowhere. She hit the groping guy over the back of his head with her school bag. “I don’t even need my bokken to deal with you losers...” She declared as she tossed her bokken (wooden sword) and school bag aside and got into a fighting stance. “Oh wait, let me put my gloves on. Otherwise I may just break a nail and I paid a hella lot for this French manicure.” Kusanagi continued conversationally as she slowly put on a pair of expensive black leather gloves.
“Now
, I’m ready for ya. Come and get it boys. Your punishment that is.”
Ranmaru blinked at her confusedly, just what was she expecting to be able to do?
“Ack! It’s the bitch!” One of the boys declared almost fearfully.
“It’s Kusanagi! Crap!”
“You got that right - but please try not to crap yourselves. That’s just disgusting.” She sneered.
The leader of the group suddenly frowned back at her in challenge. “It’s just one girl, pull yourselves together dudes! We can take her! We’re guys.”
“U-uh, yea! Oss! We can do it!”
“Right! Let’s get her! Ahhh!”
The three boys closed in on Kusanagi and she just smirked at them and got into a fighting stance once more. She then quirked her finger at them as if to say ‘Come and get it bozos’.
They then rushed at her and Kusanagi moved forward. The first boy she immediately kneed in the groin. Ow. Ranmaru flinched – that HAD to have hurt. The boy doubled over in pain almost immediately clutching at himself, tears in his eyes and a pained expression on his face.
The second boy she attacked she grabbed his head with both of her hands and smiled brightly right in his face. The boy Bitch 41
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blinked back at her confusedly, a goofy grin beginning to form on his face as well as a slight blush. Was Kusanagi going to kiss him or something?
But then Kusanagi suddenly head butted him – hard. Oh. The boy realized as he fell back dazed. He lay on the ground passed out, a white flag of surrender in his hand. The third and final boy was already trying to back away. Uh oh…his face read.
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