[SAKURA]
"Get out," Sakura said to her enforcer who wasn't even shaken that a chair had been flung in his direction. It was like Otaru had long expected this, but even that didn't excuse what Sakura was about to do.
The defiance on Otaru's face was something else because the man didn't even seem to be the least bit bothered by his queen's tantrums. He wanted to see for himself what Sakura was up to this time.
The woman had been on the edge of the cliff one too many times.
Honestly, it never once made sense to Otaru how calm she could be in a time that screamed danger to the one she loved, and even the fact that she wasn't trying as hard to keep the sanctity of her new bond sane.
"Is that an order or a request?" Otaru asked, knowing so well that this could end very badly for him. It seemed like he was challenging the stubborn woman when she wasn't in the right mind.
However, if there was someone who could help Sakura restore her sanity on this side of the realm, then it had to be her enforcer. He knew her best and he knew what was needed and how she needed it.
He was her only hope, honestly, because if Sakura's relationship with Kiyomi was to work, then someone had to remind the queen of what she had with the wild good doctor on the other side of the realm that they shared.
Perhaps it was the only way out but there were far too many risks for Otaru to be that confident. Then again, maybe he was looking forward to the madness that his queen would be releasing on him too, right?
"I said, get the fuck out," Sakura growled but that didn't seem to answer Otaru because he stood his ground with her. It is risky but he needed to know if that's what she needed or what she wanted to see happening.
"An order or a request?" Otaru insisted and Sakura sighed.
"Why the fuck do you have to be so stubborn?" Sakura asked frustratedly and Otaru breathed a sigh of relief. It was weird, why seeing as the queen hadn't exactly given him a reason to be worried about his safety.
The woman was in the worst of moods, and yet even then, Otaru seemed to realize that this was not one of those moments when he needed to make a run for the hills and hope his unhinged best friend wouldn't come after him with the entire Doiwa army.
It had happened once and that shit had screed Otaru for life.
Then again, maybe it hadn't been enough because the man still had the guts to play games with the unhinged Doiwa queen, maybe he needed a match with the crazies that Sakura Watanabe could offer him, no?
"So, it is not an order," Otaru breathed and Sakura glared at him.
"You need to leave now. I will have pets here and I don't need you to put a damper on my mood just because you want to insist on me having some damn conscience that will not be of any help to me in Doiwa.
"Go, Otaru, there are things that need your attention more than I do. When the first pet comes, you know you will not be able to leave, right?" Sakura was almost like she was pleading with Otaru to leave.
She didn't want to screw this up in front of her best friend.
She knew the man was on Kiyomi's side and honestly, it made her happy, because at least he wasn't alone. But at the same time, having Otaru in the room when the pets came would trigger her conscience and she wouldn't do what she wanted to do.
There was no denying that she had missed them and that she wanted to see how well they had improved, but goddess was it bothering her this time.
It was almost like she had to have an entire thought process ready to explain to Otaru why she didn't need him in the room, when all the other times, Otaru had stood stiff at the door, watching whale Sakura and her pets pleasure each other.
Maybe it was because, for the first time, Sakura was scared of being judged.
She was scared of what this would mean for her and Kiyomi and she hated that there was the possibility of Otaru bearing witness to her conscience bothering the shit out of her, she had to be good and she couldn't do that with Otaru in the room.
"Sakura…" Otaru trailed off when he spotted the uncertainty in his queen. The woman who had always been sure of what she wanted to do was suddenly so unsure of whether this was for the best or the worst and it crept Otaru the fuck off.
It was like staring at an old mirror that didn't know what to show the person in front of it because of how crumbled up the pieces were and how harsh the shards could get occasionally. It was a death wish, but Otaru was Otaru anyway.
He was still determined to dare and hope.
"An order. It's an order," Sakura sighed and Otaru felt his heart break for his best friend.
He knew how hard this was for her and she could tell that she didn't want to do this.
But with what Cronos had mentioned earlier, there was the chance that Kiyomi Kimura was already a target of the Bogdans again, this was stirring Sakura one too many times and Otaru could tell just how much.
"Okay, but if it helps, the doctors from Yana went to help her out in Odanera. I told them to say that it was your idea so she wouldn't think you left her alone," Otaru said softly.
Sakura stared at him gently; she knew that this was a risky time for them and even the discussions about Kiyomi Kimura were dangerous.
However, the universe hasn't exactly come with a to-do manual for feelings and emotions, it wasn't easy and yet somehow, Otaru knew what to do when it came to emotional entanglements.
Perhaps that's why he was there as the good balance of the Lycan Queen of Doiwa and her people, right?
"Thank you… but you have to leave now, please," Sakura said.
Otaru just nodded sadly. He knew that this was a lot for Sakura too and that the burden was heavy too. He could only hope that she found a way to deal with this because only she could.
Otaru was certain that there wasn't a soul in the supernatural realm that would ever be able to match what Kiyomi Kimura had done for the Lycan queen and so as he walked away from the council room, Otaru wished that Sakura didn't hurt her Erasthai even more.
He hoped that it wouldn't be as easy for her and that she wouldn't try to justify the wrongs that came with her position especially when the subject was Kiyomi Kimura — that woman deserved better.
"Your majesty, the pets are here. Shall I send them in?" Lola's voice came through and Sakura knew that it was time, even as Otaru walked out.
"Yes, please," Sakura said, surprising Lola, but then Lola couldn't even comment on the queen's sudden polite nature. Perhaps she was changing for the better and the kingdom would be too, right?