(Thanks for reading, and apologies for taking so long to resume the story but I hope it was worth the wait. Don't forget to leave a comment or two!)
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Angela awoke to find herself naked on the floor with Genzo behind her, also with nary a stitch on. Her head throbbing, she tried to remember what had happened but her mind came up totally blank. Looking at Genzo, she observed that the skin around his neck was crusted over with dried blood and wondered how he'd been injured. As she got to her wobbly feet, she felt a rush of something warm slide out of her. Glancing at her leg, she stared in horror when she saw the milky fluid running down her thigh onto the floor. She knew by the smell that it was semen, and it wasn't Noboru's. [Oh, god, did I sleep with Genzo?]" she thought with fear. She tried to force her brain to remember but nothing surfaced. Kneeling next to him, she saw that his face was paler that usual and there were dark circles around his eyes. "Genzo! Oh god, Genzo, wake up!" she begged, shaking him. His eyes twitched, but didn't open and he let out a weak moan of protest at being jostled so roughly.
Wondering where the hell everyone was, she was startled when the door flew open and Noboru burst into the room. He froze when he saw her nude, bent over Genzo. When the smell of Genzo's ejaculate reached his nostrils, he roared in fury and shifted so quickly that his suit exploded into tatters around his expanding body. Pulling his lips back, he bared all his teeth and grabbed Genzo by the neck, pulling him into the air until his feet dangled inches from the floor. "Nobu, stop it!" Angela pleaded.
"[Uruseh]!" he growled threateningly. Looking up at Genzo, he tightened his grip on his throat and snarled in Japanese, "I never thought you capable of such betrayal! Why should I refrain from killing you?"
"My lord..." he gasped weakly. "Saburo..."
At the mention of his brother's name his grip slackened and Genzo crashed to the ground choking. "What of him?" Noboru demanded.
Holding his neck, Genzo coughed and continued, "He took her...I followed...tried to kill him, but she was losing too much blood...had to provide..."
Angela put a blanket over him and cradled his head. "What is he saying?"
He knew his brother. If he had gotten a hold of Angela, he had meant to kill her. Noboru could only surmise that he had rescued her and used his body's own resources to keep her alive. "[Onnegai, yurusenei], Noboru-donno," Genzo whispered before blacking out.
"Genzo!" Angela hugged his head and cried as she held him.
Though he realized that he owed Genzo a profound debt for having saved her, he couldn't stand the sight of her touching him so tenderly. Ryuzo and Shinnosuke ran into the room at the sound of their voices. "Noboru-sama! [Daijo-]" Shinnosuke stopped midsentence when he saw the scene in front of him.
He turned his blazing eyes to Angela. "Put something on," he snapped, before storming out of the room. Frightened, Angela did as he ordered before putting a pillow under Genzo's head.
Returning to his usual appearance, Noboru threw on a robe and began angrily pacing the room. "Would you care to explain what happened?" he spat sarcastically.
Shinnosuke was about to say something when Ryuzo cut him off and stepped forward. "Saburo somehow found out about our situation. He chose to attack when we were about to begin the last set of data collection. I don't know how but he knew to target our masks and we all lost control of our senses. Genzo was not in the apartment at the time and must have returned to find us fighting amongst ourselves. When he saw that Angela was missing, I can only assume that he set off in pursuit."
"[So-deska]?" Noboru stared out the window, still fuming.
Ryuzo felt compelled to continue. "My lord, at the risk of speaking out of place, what Genzo did was not volitional. Her last mating session was interrupted and if he was exhausted from defending her, as well as from his loss of blood, there was no possible way that he could resist her advances. I am willing to wager that she has no recollection of any of this."
Noboru gripped the windowsill so tightly, his knuckles turned bone white. "I suppose I should be grateful to him."
"Shinnosuke, go check on Genzo," Ryuzo suggested.
Nodding, he returned to Angela's room to see her trying to support his head so that he could drink from a glass of water. "What did you do?" he couldn't help blurting out.
"I had to try and save her," he croaked. His neck was still sore from being strangled but he lacked the strength to shift.
"Do you remember anything?" Shinnosuke's earnest eyes searched his anxiously.
"Beyond healing her cuts and giving her blood, no. Nothing after that," he lied, hoping that his friend would not sense his discomfiture.
"Shinnosuke, will somebody please start speaking English and tell me what the bloody hell is going on?" Angela set the water glass down and waited.
Taking a deep breath, he explained, "Apparently Saburo attempted to kidnap you last night. He paralyzed us and took you away. Genzo pursued him and brought you home but you were injured and he gave you blood to keep you alive. He remembers nothing after that."
She looked sadly into Genzo's half-closed eyes. "You saved my life?"
"Your babies need their [ka-chan]," he attempted to joke. "So Ninja Boy came to the rescue."
Feeling so grateful to him, she held his head to her chest and wept softly. "Oh, Genzo, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to bring this on you."
"I will deal with the consequences," he said weakly. Though he couldn't recall the last time he'd felt so awful, a warmth spread inside him at being so close to her. He closed his eyes as he felt her tears hit his face and listened to the beat of her heart, strong and steady within her chest. A streak of possessive pride coursed through him as he knew that it was his blood sustaining her.
The sound of someone clearing their throat caused them to turn around. Leaning against the doorframe, Ryuzo said, "I have one last blood draw to perform." Kneeling next to Angela, he efficiently filled a vial and then left the room without preamble.
Turning his face to hers, she looked into his bloodshot eyes. "Is Saburo dead?"
"I do not know," Genzo answered honestly. "I hope that he is."
Shinnosuke regarded his friend with sympathy. "Rest, Genzo. I will be back shortly."
Torn between wanting to see Noboru and not wanting to leave Genzo alone in his condition, Angela began to fear that irreparable damage had been done to their relationship. "Genzo, can you change to heal faster?"
"I do not have enough blood right now to tolerate the metabolic demands of the change," he replied faintly. "Otherwise, I would have done so already."
He looked so frail. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"[Daijobu]." He met her eyes and added, "Go to Noboru-sama. I know you wish to speak with him."