Taken - Shio and Soma
Shio: New Pet
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Chapter 6
Shio:
A week
after my punishment I felt well enough to go outside. My body still ached but I didn’t want to stay cooped up
anymore. I hated it when he tore me
with his claws. At least I didn’t scar
easily. My arms were covered in small
scars though. I stepped out into the
sun, running my hands through my hair, and tipping my head back.
become fast friends and I felt it my responsibility to look after him.
speak with him. Scowling, I walked over
to see what was going on.
“Hey Aki,
what’s wrong?” I asked.
< sty style='mso-tab-count:1'> The pet
he was speaking witd shd shoulder length light blonde hair.
to me.
comfortable pants and tennis shoes, unusual attire for a pet but he wasn’t
wearing a shirt.
“Shio,
he’s new and won’t talk to anyone. He
needs to, he needs to talk to someone.” Aki said quickly.
I nodded,
“Technically you’re still new, it’s only been a month or so.”
“Well,
you try to get him to talk then.” Aki said, sitting down and crossing his arms.
“Hey, I’m
Shio and you are?” I prompted.
“Keiji.”
He replied simply.
I smiled,
“Well Keiji, why don’t you sit down and the three of us can talk.”
Slowly he
turned around. He looked fine, healthy,
well takare are of. His bright blue
eyes looked a little sad but were full of life. The collar around his neck marked him as a pureblood’s pet and I
wondered whom he belonged to. The jewel
in the front was ebony, seemed to drain the light from around it.
complexion.
“Tell me
something Keiji, what’s wrong? Does
your master treat you bad? It doesn’t
look like it. You’re not marked up and
you’re dressed very comfortably.”
“Yeah,
unlike my attire.” Aki laughed, looking down at his leather clad legs.
He was
silent for a moment, running his fingers through his hair, “No, he doesn’t
treat me badly. It’s just that I don’t know
who I am anymore. One minute I’m about
to commit suicide because I can’t stand living with people who aren’t my
parents and won’t let me have a normal life and the next my wrist is grabbed by
some asshole demon named Yumi and I wake up in bed with my head being stroked
by some guy named Tadashi who says that I belong to him now.” He growled, “I
think that about covers it.”
“Yumi
isn’t an asshole!” Aki said sharply.
Keiji
blinked in shock, “Sorry, you’re right, he really isn’t.
tell me the truth so I suppose that he really isn’t. I guess I’m a little bitter.”
I nodded,
“That’s understandable.”
He looked
at my eyes in confusion, “Dude, what’s with your eyes?” He asked, changing the
subject.
I
scowled, “My eyes? Oh, they’re black, I
keep forgetting. I’m a quarter.
human.”
He
nodded, “Tadashi said my father was a quarter and my mother, a human.”
“So a
small part of you is demon. That’s
rare. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just
rare. I take it your parents were
killed and some demon hunters took you in?” I asked.
He looked
shocked, “How did you know?”
“Easy,
that’s what usually happens. Usually,
in order to prevent something like that from happening, the child is given over
to a pureblood at a very young age so that they’ll be safe.” I paused, “But
hey, you have a good master. Tadashi’s
nice, I like him.”
“I don’t
have anything against him. I’m just a
little upset about what’s happened. I’m
not going to try to leave, yes, the idea has come to mind but I haven’t given
it much thought. It’s better here.”
I nodded,
“How old are you?”
“Sixteen.”
His eyes
grew wide, “That young?”
“Yeah, there’ve
been younger pets.” I looked around for a moment, “Like her.” I pointed to a
red head across the field, “She was eleven.
Then there’s Itsuko who was eight.
That one just isn’t right to me but it does happen.
He
sighed, “I suppose I should consider myself lucky.”
“In more
ways then one. Belonging to Tadashi is
lucky, so is being sixteen and not eight.
Don’t worry about what happened, just focus on the present and the
future. You’ll be better off for it.”
“Tadashi
will take good care of you, he saved me.” Aki said with a smile, tracing the
fading cross burn on his chest.
I
laughed, “Oh, and I’d be careful what you say about Yumi, in a way he’s your
master. He’s Tadashi’s protector, so be
nice.”
“Protector?”
I sighed,
“In a way you could say that he’s Tadashi’s master. That’s a simpler way to put it.”
He nodded
in understanding, “I see. I’ll be a
little more careful then. I don’t
really hold anything against him I’m just upset.”
“I’ve been
here all my life so I can’t really say that feeling upset is normal or not but
Aki can.”
“Yeah, I
was upset and escape was the first thing on my mind.” Aki laughed.
Keiji
scowled, “When did you come here Aki and how is it that you’ve been here all your
life?”
“A month
or so ago.” Aki said, looking at his nails, “I think I need a hair cut.”
Keiji and
I burst into laughter, “I was born here.
My father is a half-breed and my mother was his pet.” I shrugged, “Oh,
and Aki, you look good with long hair.
I think Yumi likes it, if he didn’t I have a feeling he would cut it.”
“Nobody
better ever try to cut my hair!” Keiji growled with a smile.
Aki and I
smiled, “Well, if Tadashi thinks you’d look better with short hair…” Aki
trailed off.
Keiji
narrowed his eyes, “My hair.” He paused, “So what are your masters like?” He
asked.
“Well,
you called mine an asshole.” Aki laughed, “If you didn’t notice, Yumi’s my
master. He’s just Yumi, I can’t really
complain anymore.”
He looked
over at me, “Soma’s mine, he’s a half-breed but pretend I didn’t tell you
that. In case Tadashdn’tdn’t tell you,
you aren’t supposed to socialize with half-breed pets but because Soma was able
to get me this collar it’s alright.” I paused, “Soma’s great.
sweet and takes good care of me.” I shifted uncomfortably, “Well, ok, so every
now and then I don’t do what I should and get punished for it but I can’t
complain.”
“Where
did you get those scars? Did he give
them to you?”
I shook
my head, “I gave them to myself.” I laughed, “The horrors of being a
quarter. You two are lucky.
the month.”
They both
scowled at me, “What do you mean?” They asked at once.
“Like
clockwork, every month all quarters have a laps in sanity so to speak.
just get very angry and become easily violent.
For people who are closer to being purebloods, like Ran, they changeape ape and go nuts. Let’s just say that
we’re kept locked up. I’m usually not
because, for some reason, I don’t act like that around Soma.
locked up. I got very angry and ended
up throwing a chair and used a piece to cut myself. I couldn’t stop thinking about Soma and wanted to get him off my
mind. Pain was the best way to do it.”
I shrugged, “So it was my own fault. He
would never permanently harm me like that.”
“I think
ll hll have our own little lapses of judgment.” Keiji smiled, “Hell, I was
going to kill myself with a piece of lamp, what does that tell you?”
“That
your master needs to keep a closer watch on you.” Aki laughed.
“Well, it
was before he came, right before anyone came.”
“Keiji!”
Tadashi shouted, “Come here sweet.”
He
blushed at the endearment, “That’s adorable!” I grinned, “I wish Soma would say
things like that to me in public.”
Keiji got
to his feet, “Don’t even go there.” He walked over to where his master stood.
I watched
as Tadashi kissed Keiji’s forehead before taking him inside, “Now that was
sweet.” Akid wid with a smile, “When I asked Soma why your arms were bandaged
he wouldn’t give me a straight answer.”
I nodded,
“That’s understandable, he doesn’t really want to focus on it.
up my arms for him to see.
“Damn
Shio, you did do a number on yourself.”
“Oh, give
me a break. I know what I did.”