SEVEN

The crackle of laughter made me stop in my steps. Looking towards Kenji's body I tucked the horn I took from Maya into my pocket. The Blood Demon was still alive. He was laughing at us. It was this hissing sound as he slowly started to rise.

I watched as the bullets Shu fired pushed through the holes in his body. He reached up brushing them away as if they were nothing more than dust. This was an S-Class demon. Of course, it wasn't going to be that easy. Still a boy could hope. That hope was for nothing.

"These . . . these are special bullets." Shu sound utterly shocked at the fact that Kenji could still be standing. The bullets in his guns were blessed. They would have slaughtered a lesser demon. So what was it going to take to kill Kenji?

"You've been a very bad boy," Kenji spoke looking at Shu. I could feel the blood lust inside of him. He wanted to kill Shu. Of course he did, being shot by someone sucked and Kenji wasn't the forgiving type.

Swearing in my head I swung on Kenji. He caught my fist bending it backwards as he bared down on me. It felt as if he was going to break my arm. Maybe he would. I watched as he brought his other hand up and punched me in my gut.

The pain that came with the hit was indescribable. I coughed, blood spitting from my lips. His fingers had pushed roughly into my hair before he used it to toss me across the room. I flew from the stage for the second time tonight hit the back wall. I dropped down falling pieces of the of brick crumble away and fall on me. Honestly, I was shocked I didn't go through.

"Kenji, be gentle with him." That voice sent shivers down my spine. Slowly rising to my feet I shook my head as my vision swimmed. When my eyes started to clear, Ban was the focus point. He was sitting at the only table that didn't seem to be overturned.

He was breathtaking. He stood out against the dirty backdrop of the club. The thousand credit suit didn't fit in a place that drinks only cost five credit. His black eyes didn't shift around to take in his surrounding. He was only looking at me. He looked like some high-class gentlemen, not the kind of person that would be in a place like this.

I could feel my heart racing at the sight of him. Was it excitement for a chance to kill him? Or maybe it was nervousness since Shu and my chance for survival just took a nose drive. Maybe my heart was racing because it been forty years since the last time he touched me. Since the last time, anyone touched me.

"What took you so long? The brat killed Maya." Kenji spoke he hopped off the stage as he started to walk towards Ban. I noticed that Kenji was only looking at Ban. Ban was looking at me though. Who was Shu looking at? I made myself turn from the Great Demon. Shu was just a few feet to my right.

My best friend looked . . . frozen. He probably never saw Ban before. Few people get to see him and live to tell the tale. I swallowed my thought. Shu would be one of those few. We were going to make it home. I started to inch my way towards him so that we could stand as a united front. My eyes shifted as Aya moaned turning on the floor. I would get both of them out of this mess. The question was how.

"Natsu has issues with authority figures." Natsu, Natsu, Natsu. He was always calling me by that name. I didn't know who Natsu was. I didn't know why he insisted on call me by that ridiculous name. I was Zero, I've only ever been Zero.

Still I watched as Ban lips twitched. I had said the same thing to Maya when she asked me why I fought with humans. He thought he knew me so well. Maybe he did. He was the only person that knew every inch of me. He was the only being left alive that remembered I was human once.

"My name is Zero." I hissed out my word. Blinking Ban was in front of us. Shu raised his gun, but Ban slapped him away. The action reminded me of the way a human would fan a fly away from their face. Shu flew across the room with the action crashing onto the floor.

I went for Shu, but Ban's fingers were around my throat. My nails dug into his arm as he lifted me from my feet. There was no denying his strength. He was by far the strongest demon to ever live.

"I've missed you, Natsu." His free hair ran through my hair. "You're as beautiful as the day I first met you." I bared my fangs at him. His fingers only tighten around my throat. I didn't know how much longer I was going to last. I could already see the darkness at the edge of my vision. "You're my favorite toy."

I spit at him. My blood sprayed across his face. It wasn't the black ooze that demons are supposed to have. My blood was still red like humans. Ban only smiled, he didn't care about spitting. I've done that lot over the two hundred years we've been playing this game.

"The way you hung to life, the sound of you begging to live. I get hard thinking about how sweet you tasted." He was sick; he was a demon. I was yanked forward as he pressed his lips to mine. I hated how my body reacted to Ban's.

My eyes fluttered closed as my lips yielded to his. I could feel his tongue inside my mouth. I could taste the blood and whisky he must have partaken in before coming here. I was sinking into him. The part of me that knew the pleasure that came from the tip of Ban's tongue was ready and willing to give into him.

Kenji cleared his throat and my eyes snapped open. I had to get out of here. I couldn't get sucked into Ban. Aya and Shu needed to get out of here. They needed to make it back home. It was my job to see to that. It was up to me to keep them safe.

Ban still had me by the throat. He had pulled away only to growl at Kenji. His eyes locked with mine again.

"You were even willing to join me in hell," Ban continued his speech. What was the point of bring up the foolish things I said? In the end, he ignored all of them and killed me. "I gave you this life. You chose to waste it hunting me, Natsu."

Ban leaned into me again. He licked the side of my face and it sent shivers down my spine. Why was it his touch? Why did it feel so good when he licked me? I bit off a moan as he ran his fingers up my shirt. I could feel him pinch my nipples. We were supposed to be fighting. What was he doing? What was I doing?

"You didn't give me anything. I took this life. I earned it." He wouldn't act as if he offered me life and I went along with it willingly. I took this life when I bit into his arm. I suffered through the pain of dying and being reborn a demon. I damned my soul in order to live on.

"One more thing," I locked eyes with Ban. I could see that perfect smile on his lips. "My name is Zero!" I yelled out my name using the power that I got from Maya against Ban. It didn't seem to have the same effect on him. His fingers only tighten.

I felt the wind pushed against us before it cut into Ban's hand making him drop me. I stumbled away from him backing up towards Aya. The sound of shots rang out around the room. I could see Ban looking down at the white shirt he had on. Black blood leaked from his chest staining his shirt.

"Shu run!" I yelled as he stood there firing off shots at Ban. It was pointless. If the blessed bullets couldn't kill Kenji, they weren't going to do anything against Ban. My eyes widen when I saw the Blood Demon behind him. "Shu!"

Kenji grabbed both of his arms yanking them at the same time. My eyes widen as blood sprayed from Shu's arms. Kenji ripped them away from his body. Shu stood there looking at me for a moment before he dropped to his knees. Kenji held Shu's arm up over his face letting the blood rain down on him.

I ran towards Shu. Letting out a blast of pure energy Kenji leaped away from the raw wave of magic before it connected with him. I grabbed Shu turning him over so he laid on his back. He was laying in front of me. His head rested on my knees. I shook my head. Leaning down and pressing my forehead to his.

"It's not that bad," I lied to him. "You'll be okay. You'll see Amy and Rai. You'll be okay, Shu." He couldn't be okay. I couldn't heal this; no one could heal this. I grabbed Shu's wounds trying to stop the bleeding. "You can't die. You can't leave me." He was my best friend. Everyone I had in this world left me behind. Shu couldn't do that. I wasn't ready to let go. He was supposed to get old. He was supposed to kill Kenji. It couldn't end this way.

Shu smiled before coughing out blood. I shook my head again. I could feel the sting of tears in my eyes. I wouldn't cry. Not in front of Ban and Kenji. Ban saw enough of my tears. I would never give him the pleasure of seeing more.

"Tell Amy . . . Tell Rai and Amy . . ." Shu coughed more as he tried to speak. I wipe away the tears that were leaking from Shu's eyes. Blood smeared across his face. I couldn't take away the pain he must have been in or maybe he wasn't in pain at all. "You to Zero. I love all of you." I shook my head. I didn't deserve his love. He was my friend, my brother. I should have been stronger. I should never have let him come here.

"Shu . . ." I didn't know what I could say to him. No amount of words could make this right. Shu coughed more blood spraying from his lips. How much time did he have left? Not a lot. His hazel eyes were already going dull.

"You do it, Zero. Like with grandpa. Don't let that asshole kill me. You do it." I shook my head. I could feel the pain in my chest. It felt worse than the hits and kicks that I took earlier. This pain I haven't felt in two hundred years when I watched my family die in front of me.

"I can't," my voice was a whisper. I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill him. He was supposed to live. He was supposed to come home with me.

"Please, Zero. Drink me. Let me become a part of you. Let's kill them together." I closed my eyes. A tear leaking from the corner. I could feel it fall from my face and onto Shu. I didn't speak. I only bent over him. I bit into Shu's neck. His blood was warm, sweet like the sugar cookies Amy always bake on our first night home from a mission. It filled me with power and grief. It was hard to swallow, but I forced myself to drink every last drop.

Laying him down so gently I ran my fingers over Shu's eyes so they could close. This man, I met him when he was just a boy. I watched him grow. I watched him love and hate and love again. I watched him get married and have a child and I watched that child grow into a beautiful teenager. Now he was gone. Because of them.

A black flame surrounded my body. My nails grew longer my fangs came down longer. Spikes grew along the cartilage of my wings. I could feel hot liquid running down my face. Reaching up I touched my cheek to see crimson tears.

"Die," I was in front of Kenji swinging and kicking at him. He blocked my attacks flipping back. I was behind him my foot going into his back. I came around the front of him and elbowed him in the face. Kicking at him again he caught my leg. Picking me up he slammed me down into the floor.

Grabbing my hair, he slammed my head down into the floor a few time. I pressed my foot against his chest kicking him off of me. Moving quickly I was in front of him. He blocked kicking me in the gut. It sent me sailing across the room and into another wall.

Kenji was on top of me again. I used my arms to block my face as he sent one powerful punch after another against them. I wondered how long it would be before the bone in my arms shattered. I growled the black flame raged around me again making the demon back off of me. I jumped up and Ban was behind me.

Ban grabbed me by the hair and slammed my face into the floor. Turning me over I felt Ban bite into my neck. This was foreplay for him. I wasn't in the mood. I pressed my hand against his chest sent a pure blast of my magic at him. He was pushed off of me. A hole burned in the expensive shirt he had on.

Before I could get up, Kenji kicked me in the face. My head snapped to the side and I rolled over. I tried to shake it off, but Kenji was on top of me. He sent five rapid punches into my face. I could hear a bone break. I was pretty sure it was my nose. It would heal. I was a demon, I healed quickly.

Kenji yanked me up off the floor kicking me across the room. I crashed into Ban's foot before he sent me back towards the Blood Demon. They were playing kick the kid with me. I wasn't sure how many times they kicked me as if I was just a ball or a rag doll. Ban grabbed me driving me down into the floor.

My demon form faded away. I couldn't keep the form in my weaken state. Of course, I was losing. I was against two S-Class demons. My eyes shifted to Aya. She was hiding under a table. 'Run' I mouth the word to her she was crying; she was scared. I didn't blame her. I would have been scared too.

"Cute, he reverted back to his human form. Most demons revert back to their demon forms after that kind of beating." Kenji was mocking me. I felt myself be turned over onto my back. Ban's face was close to mine. He smelled like blood and spices. It was a pleasant scent. One that I committed to memories years ago.

"Natsu is so much more." What did that mean? What more was I? I was no one. I was nothing. I was Zero.

"Let's kill him and the girl already." I swallowed, they knew Aya was here. Of course, they did. Even this weak I could smell her fear. I could hear the sound of her pounding heart. This was our end. Our team all die in this place. Dragun was our resting place.

"Natsu isn't to be touched. If you ever try to kill him, you will learn true pain and fear." I could hear the threat in Ban's voice. Did Kenji hear it? Why was he protecting me? After beating me, Ban never killed me. Why? Was he mocking me?

I sucked in a breath as Ban groped me. How could my body still react to him? Ban only smiled he leaned down pressing his lips to mine. I didn't kiss him back. I didn't have the energy. I didn't have the drive.

"Be a good boy, Natsu," Ban whispered in my ear kissing me again. "Goodnight, my love." He bit into my neck again. I hissed at the pleasure and pain his bite always bring. Then there was nothing at all.