Big Bad Brother Wolf

Asher held his breath as he watched Inuharu slowly approach me after hearing that I’ll be his sister’s combat partner. ‘If looks could kill, I would be six feet under already,’ Asher thought as he watched Inuharu curl his upper lip while speaking, oddly, calmly.

"One wrong move and I'll tear you limb from limb until your body parts are so small that nobody, not even the most brilliant scientist in the world, will be able to identify you." The man said before walking away to the other side of the room.

 

Asher slowly released his breath as Kir quickly walked over to me and pulled me to our designated training spot. 

“Let’s just start training before he decides to change his mind and rip you apart.” Kir spoke quickly as she pulled her gloves over her hands and tossed me a pair. 

"Alright, Miss Bastet and Mr. Romanov, I want the two of you to work on some kickboxing techniques. Kir I want you on defense this time, Asher you'll be on offense." The teacher told us, pulling me out of my dark thoughts of all the different ways Inuharu will torture me simply for being partnered with his sister.

Kir and Asher began taking up our positions as instructed, however she seems to be having difficulty figuring out which defensive stance she should use.

Asher walked over to Kir cautiously as he knew that her brother was somewhere in the room, watching us like a hawk, hoping that I’ll give him a reason to make good on his threat. 

 "Before worrying over how to position your legs, you should try to focus on your opponent's positioning, it will make it easier for you to pick the right positioning for yourself." Asher said, hoping that she doesn't misunderstand my advice as criticism. 

"You're right, thank you." Kir said with a warm smile on her face as she followed my advice and watched my stance before deciding on her own.

“Ready?” Asher asked, though he could see that she obviously was.

"Ready!" Kir responded with excitement in her voice as Asher began slowly circling her until he found a good opening to start with.

Asher used a sweeping leg kick, or at least attempted to use one, but Kir reacted quickly with unnatural speed, even for a supernatural, and caught him off guard with a sweeping leg kick of her own, causing him to fall on his rear.

Asher quickly got back up and went in for an uppercut, but again, Kir dodged his attack and continued with an attempted roundhouse kick, however Asher was able to quickly catch her leg and began spinning her, before throwing her to the ground. 

Kir caught herself right before she hit the ground and used her momentum to swiftly punch my ribcage, before backing out of my reach. Asher laughed, actually starting to have some real fun sparring with this insanely strong and fast woman. 

"Never take your eyes off of your opponent, not even for a split second." Asher heard from behind him before suddenly falling to the floor with arms wrapped behind his back.

"No fair! I wasn't paying attention!" Asher laughed out loud. 

"Hey, it's not my fault that you don't know the first rule of combat." Kir laughed back, giving me a chance to reverse the roles as Asher quickly turned around and pinned Kir to the floor. 

"Hey!" Kir yelled at me as she continued laughing. 

"You should learn to follow your own advice, PRINCESS." Asher teased. 

Kir’s laughter died quickly as her eyes shifted to the other side of the room, telling him that he’d be in trouble if he didn’t quickly move off Kir. 

Before Asher could offer Kir a hand to help her up, his body got thrown against the wall of the gymnasium. 

"Oh hey! Inuharu, I almost forgot that you were here. How was your sparring?" Asher asked casually despite the man's grip on my throat.

"Roo, RELEASE HIM!" Asher heard Kir command, though her demand was in a much stronger and more dominating tone than the last time we were in this position. 

Suddenly Inuharu winced and backed away from me, looking defeated. Asher watched as Inuharu walked past a crimson-eyed Kir like a pup being scolded by their mother.

Asher’s eyes lingered on Kir as he watched her eyes slowly revert back to their natural icy blue. ‘Not to self: figure out how and why the princess’s eyes change colors.’

The bell rung, signaling that combat training was over, ‘thank goddess!’ Relief washed over Asher as he successfully survived the class without Inuharu ripping him to shreds. 

"Hey, are you hungry?" Kir asked casually, as if it was normal for her to invite someone to eat with her moments after her brother had the person in a death grip. 

‘Though based on what I've seen so far, I suppose that, for Kir, this probably is really a normal part of her life due to having a brother as devoted to protecting his sister as Inuharu is.’ Asher thought to himself before replying to Kir. “You sure that’s a good idea? Inuharu might try to kill me again.” Asher pointed out to her. 

"Oh...yeah, I guess it wouldn't be a very good idea to hangout with you then." Kir said with disappointment evident in her voice. Asher looked around, feeling slightly uncomfortable seeing the girl look so upset. 

A part of Asher wanted to comfort her and agree despite the risks, the other part is reminding him that he can’t finish his mission if he’s killed by an outraged, overprotective, wolf. 

It only took one final glance at the girl's saddened expression for Asher to make up his mind. 

"Alright, what did you have in mind?" Asher asked the girl who instantly brightened up upon hearing his words.

"Really? You'll hang out with me??" Kir cleared her throat. "I mean... I was thinking we could grab some food and after eating, maybe we could use the rest of the time to spar some more?" Asher laughed at her obvious enthusiasm, despite her failed attempt to act neutral.

After we grabbed our lunch, we headed out to the forest where we met earlier today, to eat and talk for a bit. 

"So, why is the princess suddenly out in public after fifteen years?" Asher asked Kir, attempting to make small talk as he was unsure of how he should talk to this girl. 

"Hmm....how do I explain it simply?" 

KIr tapped her chin in thought before continuing, "well after my father passed away, it was announced that I'll be the one to take the throne, not Roo. When I received this information I decided that now would be a great chance to take a little control over my life, especially since Roo was visiting Venice." Kir explained to me. 

"Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but your brother doesn't seem to be in Venice, unless that is... I'm actually hallucinating this whole thing." Asher laughed at the last part of his sentence, knowing that there's no way this is any kind of hallucination. 

"You know, Roo wasn't always so quick to attack people that approach me. He's not as violent or crude as he pretends to be. He's actually very sweet and caring. When we're in the house he's usually focusing on his studies or playing games with me and the twins. I've even caught him helping our stableboy with the barn chores a few times." Kir informed me.

 

 "Well then, I guess the big bad brother wolf isn't so bad after all...he just doesn't like ME." Asher grumbled under his breath. "So did he treat Moose and the twins like this at first too?" Asher asked curiously.

 

 Kir laughed "At first? Ha! He still treats them like that, he's just more lenient with them now because he knows that they're harmless." She corrected me.

"So how much troub-" Asher’s sentence was cut off as his work phone rang. "Sorry, let me check this really fast." Asher said as he walked a little ways away from Kir to answer the call. 

"Hello?" Asher answered before hearing his boss's voice. "What's taking so long for you to get me that information that I asked for?!" He demanded from the other side of the phone. 

"I'll have the information for you soon, I promise, I'm working on it as we speak." Asher assured him.

 "I want you to work faster! You said her emotions seem to trigger her to use her powers right? Then do whatever you have to do to make her angry enough to use her powers fully!!" He then hung up on me. Asher looked over at Kir and sighed.

"So much for not getting killed today." Asher walked over to Kir and bit her neck, expecting her to attack me or for Inuharu to come swooping in out of nowhere. Instead he was startled by an unexpected development.....