Chapter 19: No Matter What

[KIYOMI]

Kiyomi wasn't sure if she needed to be here with Elif after what she had just witnessed with the police. She could only ever imagine what Elif had gone through in the past few days and what she would probably endure.

It broke Kiyomi's heart and a part of her wished she could make it better.

Of course, there was the chance to go to Odanera hospital and see for herself what Sakura had said to her, but there was also the possibility that the woman had been playing games with her.

Kiyomi may have already used her Lycan magic to burn the clothes she had come with from the Russian manor, but it didn't make it any easier to forget the person she had seen in the mirror.

For a moment, she wondered if Elif would ever want to associate with her if the human knew what Kiyomi had done. It was eating her up so badly and the fact that Elif knew she was here was still fucking with her mind.

Perhaps she just had to hope to the goddess, who had abandoned her with Sakura, that all would be well.

"Uhhh… Hi. I didn't know where to go and I came to your house. I didn't know you were home or even that you were going through all of this. I shouldn't have come, and I shouldn't have dragged you into my mess.

"I'm really sorry, Elif," Kiyomi rambled as she made careful steps towards her best friend. She wasn't even sure her relationship with Elif meant anything anymore at this point.

Maybe she was hoping for the impossible, but what else could Kiyomi do? She had done everything she could to survive and she had ended up messed up.

Granted, that didn't make it any easier for Elif who probably had offered worse than her, but how could she make it up to her when she didn't have time to relax?

"What happened to the transpo you were supposed to take? They called me and told me you didn't show, Kiki," Elif said as she looked at her friend.

She could see the bags under Kiyomi's eyes and how frustrated the woman seemed, but then she had to ask the questions otherwise she would go insane.

She had spent the past few days trying to amp out the van that had taken Kiyomi for the hospital but she hadn't found anything.

"I thought they came for me, but it turned out that it was queen Sakura's high guards," Kiyomi said carefully, knowing so well that this wasn't ever going to be easy for the both of them.

She had hoped that by coming to Elif's house and cleaning up, she would just do that and leave Elif a note thanking her for being the best friend in the world.

But now that didn't even seem like the truth because Kiyomi had put the woman through a lot that she could have thought possible.

"Queen Sack… the psycho Lycan queen who wears a bone crown and spends her past time tuning lives with contracts? That evil queen? What the hell?" Elif said as she realized how dangerous everything had gotten for her best friend.

"Yeah… But you don't need to worry about that. She made me sign a contract and set me free, I think. I still need to go to the hospital and confirm if the Lycan enforcer really cleared my name or if it was just a part of her games again," Kiyomi said defeatedly.

She hated the Lycan queen with everything she had and didn't have. That woman was the spawn of Satan and was worse than Satan himself.

The fact that Kiyomi had seen a part of her resemble Sakura in the mirror at the manor made her feel like she no longer had a soul. Perhaps that was what happened when she interacted with the crazed psycho, or maybe it was all just in her head.

"Are you okay? You said she was worse than the devil… What did she want from you? How did she let you free? What price did she want? Is she going to keep you safe from the Bogdan Lycans? What of the Russian mob?

"What the hell will she do? Is she coming after you? I need to know so I can prepare to pick that stubborn bitch's ass when she tries to take you from me again. Did she hurt you? In any way?" Elif said as she got up and checked Kiyomi out.

It was almost like she was certain that the queen had done something to her friend and she needed to know if there was a way around that. Elif was always worried about Kiyomi, something that Kiyomi tried to make her drop, but she had never managed to.

It wasn't the easiest of tasks.

"I'm okay, Elif… I really am," Kiyomi said, adding the last bit to herself. She needed to convince herself she was okay, because only then would she have the strength to deal with whatever hell Sakur Watanabe had prepared for her.

She may have been a free woman, but Kiyomi was that psycho's mate, and with the contract in progress, there was never going to be a day when Kiyomi was truly free. At least she was smart enough to know that. She just had to get her affairs in order.

"Tell me everything. It's already evening anyway, so you're not leaving. And don't you even think of leaving me like you did last time," Elif said feistily and Kiyomi chuckled. Her best friend was inane. If she were a Lycan, Elif would definitely be part of the revolution.

"But I have to go to the hospital…"

"Lady, sit your ass down, and rest," Elif inside and Kiyomi sighed. She couldn't get herself out of this one, so she sat on the couch beside Elif, resting her head on Elif's lap. She was hungry, but too tired to go to the kitchen or even ask Elif for food.

So when they were sitting, Kiyomi just snapped her fingers and they had food before them. It didn't surprise Elif who was already turning on the TV to act as background noise for when Kiyomi told her what the psycho queen had done.

"I could have gotten you food for the kitchen, Kiki," Elif pouted and Kiyomi just hugged her waist as if that was supposed to keep Elif calm. Well, it did work, but it didn't mean that Elif was done pouting.

"I know, but I owe you some good food after everything I told you. Besides, if I'm going to tell you what happens you might not want to eat the food in the kitchen and that would be a waste. At least if we don't do this, I can just snap my fingers again," Kiyomi said.

Elif looked at Kiyomi like she had earned the most incredulous of things coming out of her friend's lips. Perhaps it was what it was at the moment, but maybe, they could ignore that for the sake of their truth, right?

"I'll give you a pass, because I need to know everything and start planning a murder or murders," Elif said, her tone so serious like she would truly go after Sakura.

Kiyomi just let out a slight laugh at the idea. At least she was not alone in this, even as she began to give Elif a recap of what happened to her like it was just some tell-tale she was spreading.

Oh, but if only it was that.