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Everyone stared in amazement as her transformation took place.
In a
second Nasuti was dressed in a silver and purple armor, looking
down
at herself curiously.
The Armor of Angel is lighter,
more decorative and more feminine than
the other nine. It doesn't have a chest plate, however a large
piece
of silver plate covered Nasuti's back from waist up, making her
look
like she has a small pair of wings on her back. Like the revived
Armor
of Cruelty, this one doesn't have a helmet, however Nasuti's hair
was
automatically piled up on top of her head as she transformed,
and was
held in its place by a crafty circuit and beads. In Nasuti's right
hand
she held a staff. Unlike the sakujou it was a silver, plain fighting
staff, but it has decorative engraving of symbols on either end.
Byakuen pushed his way over
to Nasuti, and rubbed against her gloved
left hand with his nose. Nasuti laughed softly and looked at the
guys:
"Well… What do you think?"
For almost ten seconds no one
answered her. Everyone was just staring
at her, mouth open in amazement. The armor completely showed off
and
enhanced the gorgeous body underneath. The way her hair was done
made
her prettier than ever. Slender, graceful, and extremely beautiful,
she
looked like a mystical warrior queen.
Finally, Rajura sighed: "Since
this one is taken I presume…" He looked
at Kayura hopefully, "Do we have to find another goddess
to wear a
eleventh or twelfth armor by any chance?"
His words won a cold glare from
Shuten and a hard jab in the stomach
from Kayura.
Rajura winced and whispered to Anubis: "You are right, she is abusive."
Guys can be such jerks. Nasuti
thought and rolled her eyes. She then
looked at herself curiously: "Hmmm… Do I have a sub-armor
too?"
Shuten suddenly remembered something
and his eyes widened. "No, don't!"
He shouted, putting his hand on Nasuti's shoulder, who was about
to try
to summon the sub-armor.
"Huh?" Nasuti looked at him in confusion, so did the others.
"Is there something wrong with Nasuti's armor?" Touma asked, concerned.
Shuten suddenly looked uncomfortable.
His voice was barely above a
whisper: "No, of course not. But… hmmm… that is,
didn't you guys ever
experience a little accident the first time you try to banish
your full
armor?"
"Acci… oh! That!"
Touma blushed furiously, remembering the first time
he concentrated to banish his full armor. Instead of changing
into his
sub-armor, he was left nude.
Evidently Ryo had the same experience.
He cleared his throat: "Hmmm…
Nasuti, it might be a good idea if you try that alone sometime…"
Anubis grinned wickedly and
winked at Naza: "I wouldn't mind if she
wants to try that right here."
Shuten glared daggers at his
two snickering comrades: "Shut up and get
the picture off your mind, before I beat the crap out of you two."
"Like hell you could." Naza murmured.
Shuten just ignored him and
took Nasuti by her elbow. He guided her to
the bathroom: "Go in there, try to picture yourself in a
sub-armor and
call on it. You… might have to try several times before it
works."
Nasuti blinked but she nodded
and closed the door behind her. Shuten
cleared his throat and went back to the living room. He smiled
in what
could be described as pure satisfaction when he saw his two comrades
wincing and grabbing their sides. Lady Kayura is really getting
good at
jabbing people. He mused.
Almost five minutes later Nasuti
emerged from the bathroom. She was
wearing a white and royal purple sub-armor. Unlike the full armor,
it
looks almost identical to everyone else's sub-armors. Nasuti sat
down
beside Shuten and gave him a thankful smile, and that was enough
to
indicate what happened to her in there.
Kayura smiled at her and cleared
her throat to get everyone's attention:
"Alright. Now we have everyone's power, it's time to discuss
business."
She has a tone in her voice
that is much like the Ancient One. Everyone
straightened and listened intently. Kayura nodded: "Now,
I have reached
out with the power of this staff, and found that Muma had left
the
Shadow land. However, the Mortal realm is too big for me to do
a scan
for him. Nasuti was attacked by a shadow spirit today, so I suspect
he
is somewhere close. But… we could only wait."
Nasuti smiled: "Then we
should all stick together. Lady Kayura, you are
all welcome to stay here."
"Thank you Nasuti."
Ryo nodded: "The situation
is not advantageous for us right now. We are
in the light and they are in dark, so we could only wait for them
to
make the first move."
"Let them try whatever
stupid tricks they got." Anubis snorted and his
eyes narrowed: "I'm the demon lord of darkness! These pathetic
shadowlings better think again if they think they can play a trick
on me."
"Yeah and I'm the warrior
of light so they won't come near me." Seiji
rolled his eyes, "Get real!"
"Why you…"
"That's enough, Anubis."
Lady Kayura ordered sternly. She nodded to
Seiji: "Korin does have a point here. We have to be extremely
cautious
from now on and never let our guard down, not even for a moment
before
we know what exactly we are dealing with."
Ryo nodded, acting like the
leader he is: "And certainly no fighting
among ourselves. So what do you suggest we should do in the mean
time,
Lady Kayura?"
"Shuten and myself both
learned to handle the sakujou, and Shin's spear
is somewhat similar to a staff, so we three will teach Nasuti
the basic
points about fighting. Also, Nasuti, we need you to do some research
on
Muma, we need everything you can find about him."
Nasuti nodded: "I will try my best."
Touma exchanged a glance with
Seiji and offered: "Seiji and I will help
you Nasuti, we are getting pretty good at computers."
She smiled at them gratefully.
Kayura continued: "Meanwhile,
the rest of you should train hard, and…"
she let a smile on her face as she finished, "and help around
the house."
Naza's jaw dropped: "What? But…"
"No buts." Kayura
held up her hand and announced, "We are staying here
at Nasuti's expenses, it is only fair that we help out around
the house
to return her hospitality. Besides," she looked at the three
Mashos;
"you people need some training on this anyway, so your rooms
won't look
like pig sty!"
The three Mashos flushed in
embarrassment. Seiji smirked while Ryo and
Shu silently prayed that lady Kayura wouldn't decide to have a
tour
around their rooms.
Nasuti tried very hard to keep
on a straight face and said: "Well, I
guess everything is settled then. Why don't we have some dinner,
and
then I'll help you people to settle in."
"Yeah, it's already 7 o'clock and I'm starving!" Shu said urgently.
Everyone laughed as Shin smacked
his head: "We can always expect you to
lighten the mood, Kongo no 'Bottomless Pit' Shu!"
Over dinner, they discussed
how to arrange for Lady Kayura and the
Mashos' stay. Rajura was going to stay with Seiji and Touma, Anubis
in
the room of Ryo, Shin and Shu, and Naza on the couch in the living
room.
Now only Lady Kayura and Shuten are left.
Before Nasuti could invite Kayura
to stay in her room, Kayura grinned
mischievously: "Nasuti, if you don't mind, I'd like to take
the couch
in the study. Shuten can sleep in your room if you don't mind.
He is
much more… comfortable around people than I am."
Nasuti gave her a look that
could only be described as a mixture of
gratitude and embarrassment. Shuten looked everywhere but at Nasuti,
his face is emotionless but that slight tint of red on his cheeks
betrayed him. Several people snickered openly while the others
politely
raised their glasses to hide it.
Only Shu, who finally took his
interest off the food, looked at Lady
Kayura confusingly: "But isn't that inappro…"
Two pairs of hands clamped his
mouth before he could utter the word
"inappropriate."
"Excuse us, we need to
talk to Shu in private." Touma said politely,
getting up with his hands still over Shu's mouth.
"Yes, Shu is eating all
the steaks at an alarming rate." Shin, who was
the owner of the other pair of hands, said smoothly, "He
need to learn
to behave when we have guests around. Now please excuse us."
Together the two dragged Shu
into the kitchen, and Nasuti made a mental
note that tomorrow she will bake Touma's favorite dessert, and
tell
Shin that he is allowed to keep pet fishes in the house.
"Hey, what are you two doing?" Shu wailed confusingly in the kitchen.
Shin sighed: "You can tell
the difference between chicken and beef, but
you can't recognize a couple when you see one."
Shu's eyes widened: "You mean, Shuten and Nasuti…"
Shin rolled his eyes: "Well
duh! Why do you think she broke down that
night? I thought by now you should've guessed."
Shu looked overwhelmed: "I
didn't know why she was depressed! I didn't
dare to ask her!"
Touma sighed: "Well now
you know, so shut up and leave them alone."
He gave Shu a pat on the shoulder: "Love is in the air, amor
para
siempre… get yourself a snack and get some clue, old buddy."
He and Shin chuckled and left
the kitchen, leaving Shu to rummage the
cabinets for some chocolates before happily returning to the dining
table.
***********************************************
It was quiet some time later when everyone called it a night and
dispersed. Shuten quietly followed Nasuti into her room and closed
the
door behind him. Finally, they are in privacy.
It took only a second for Nasuti
to throw herself into his arms, and
the two kissed longingly. They were so lost in each other that
whoever
outside had to practically pound the door in order to get their
attention.
Shuten and Nasuti were startled
out of their embrace by the noise.
It sounded like someone was about to force his way in to the room.
The
couple exchanged a glance, and frowning, Shuten walked over to
open the
door.
A very annoyed looking Anubis
stood by the door. However, his annoyance
was quickly replaced by amusement when he saw the impatience on
Shuten's face and the blush on Nasuti's.
Shuten glared at him: "What do you want?"
Anubis grinned: "Well,
I was just wondering if you have any extra
covers Nasuti? Rekka has a bad memory and couldn't remember where
you
stored them."
Even if Ryo doesn't remember,
one of the other guys, especially Seiji,
must do. This is just an excuse to spy on them. Nasuti realized.
She
cleared her throat: "I have extra covers stored in the attic,
I'm sure
Ryo at lease remembers how to get there. I also have towels and
other
things on there. And I believe the bathroom downstairs has new
toothbrushes and pastes if you need them. Anymore questions Anubis?"
She told him where everything he possibly needs is, not giving
him any
excuse to come back and bother her later.
"No, I believe that's all
I need to know. Thank you Nasuti." Anubis
snickered. "You two have a good night. A long, private, wonderful
night…"
"Shut up!" Shuten
snapped and slammed the door in his face. He turned
to Nasuti and saw her face burning a lovely crimson.
Shuten sighed and sat on her bed, pulling her down to sit in his laps.
"Forget Anubis, he is a
jerk but he doesn't have a big mouth." Shuten
reassured her, brushing her soft hair with his slender fingers,
admiring
the golden highlights in those silky strands.
Nasuti laughed softly: "Oh,
I'm not worried about him saying anything.
I just have to get use to people teasing me." She rested
her head on
his shoulder, "I have a feeling we are going to be teased
a lot around
the house, from now on."
"I couldn't care less."
Shuten murmured and held her close. For a
moment they sat in silence, simply enjoying the peaceful feeling.
Suddenly Nasuti felt his hand moving. She looked down and saw
him
playing with the Jewel of Life around her neck.
She immediately recalled that
night when she almost gave up her life.
She looked into Shuten's eyes and whispered: "It was you
back then,
wasn't it?"
Shuten understood what she was
referring to and nodded: "Yes, it was
me. It's a good thing Juu left this with you. I was able to be
connected to this world with the Jewel of Life. When it glowed…
it was
my doing."
He cupped her face with his
hands, suddenly very serious: "Nasuti, if
anything happens to me in this battle… I want you to be strong,
all
right? Live a happy life, for me."
"I will." She answered
quietly, searching his eyes, "But promise me you
will try to stay alive. Losing you was a great pain, I don't want
to go
through that again."
"I promise." He hugged
her tight and gave his word, "I'll try my
hardest to protect us both, so we can walk out of this battle
and live
on together."
Nasuti smiled. She suddenly
remembered something and lifted her head:
"Shuten?"
"Yes?"
"Next time I try to call
on my sub-armor, would… would that happen
again? You know, leaving me without anything…"
He chuckled softly: "No,
of course not. Now that you learned it, it
will work properly. Unless…" He kissed her nose lightly,
his eyes
twinkled, "Unless you purposely want to banish your sub-armor
as well…"
Nasuti's eyes widened as her
face flushed, but she took a deep breath
and whispered: "You mean… like this?"
With a flash of light her sub-armor
was gone, leaving her nude in
Shuten's arms.
All traces of mischief and humor
were instantly gone from his eyes. He
looked at her beautiful body and his eyes burned with a flame
that was
only a spark moments ago. He traced her contour with his hands
and
murmured: "Yes, like this…"
Another flash and his own sub-armor
was gone. They fell onto the bed
together, Shuten clicked off the lamp and let nature, instinct
and
love take their course.