School Days | A Shadow Slave Fanfic

Throughout the time in which she had seen Sunny, not once had she ever seen him make such an expression. His eyes were dull yet boiling with rage, a mixture between cold cruelty and vicious rationality bubbling within his eyes in a sadistic dichotomy.

Nephis felt herself shivering as the question lingered in the air; despite not having the same defect that Sunny did, she felt compelled to answer the question, as Sunny's bloodied form only served to make his image more harrowing. Unconsciously, she found herself stepping back as Sunny's expression shifted from one filled with fury to one of despair.

"You're scared of me." Sunny said pointedly, lying back down and turning into the chair to avoid Nephis's form. Nephis quickly shook herself from her stupor as she closed the distance between the two once more, rolling him over as he weakly attempted to cover his face with his bruised arms. "Sunny, I'm not scared of you. I was just surprised." Sunny shook his head, clearly not buying her excuse for even a moment as he continued to hold his hand across his face.

"No, it's fine. Of course you're scared of me. You're normal, and I'm…a monster. A fiend who doesn't deserve to be alive. Why would I blame you?" Nephis grabbed his arm gently and pulled it away from his face; Sunny had held his eyes shut to avoid tears spilling out his eyes. His arms were shaking in hers as the damage from getting hit by a car finally made itself known. 

"You saved my life, multiple times today." With a sigh, Nephis placed a kiss across his chest, blood painting itself across her lips as she licked it off idly. 'He does taste sweet too.' She thought before focusing on more pertinent matters. "I'd never be scared of you; I'm just surprised you'd react so strongly just because I got hurt. Look at you! I should be the one getting angry that you got so hurt!"

Nephis's mock scolding brought a small smile to his face as he pried his eyes open slowly to gaze upon Nephis's smiling form. Slowly, she lowered herself down and planted a kiss across his lips, which he weakly returned. "I was…planning to kill him. I don't know why that was my first reaction." Sunny explained, his eyes darting away from Nephis own as he shrank in on himself once more.

Sighing, Nephis placed a hand on his chest gently before raising him up slightly. Sitting down, she placed his head on her thighs as she ran a hand through his hair gently. She could still feel Sunny shudder slightly at the contact as his face winced in preparation for pain that would never come. "Sunny, these people are clearly willing to do anything to get you back. Do you have any idea how important you have to be for more than thirty people to arrive to collect you?"

Knowing her words could be misinterpreted, Nephis quickly continued. "What I'm trying to say is, all you're doing is protecting what you hold dear. I'm flattered that you're willing to go so far for me, but I can't love you to my fullest if you're behind bars. So please, try not to kill anyone. For me." Sunny nodded weakly as a small smile settled itself on his face. 

If only one thing was certain in this world, it was that he was enjoying the head massage Nephis was offering him. He was releasing low hums that reminded Nephis vaguely of a cat as she giggled slightly upon studying Sunny's form. 'He does remind me of a cat, an extremely muscular, good-looking, strong cat…' shaking her head to stop her mind wandering, she glanced back at Sunny's injured arms.

"I got hit by a car." Sunny commented, already sensing the question she was preparing to ask. Nephis eyes widened with shock. "Getting hit by a car! My God, Sunny." Leaning down, she kissed him feverishly across his face as he laughed slightly at the ticklish feeling. Suddenly, his face grew bright red as he looked up at Nephis.

"Did you say you…love me?" Sunny asked tentatively, Nephis offered him a smile as she nodded slightly. "I do, Sunny, I really do. With all my heart and soul, I do." She whispered, Sunny's expression turned from embarrassed to thankful to confused in a matter of moments. Noticing his confused expression, Nephis raised an eyebrow as Sunny's eyes remained fixed on hers.

"I don't know what it means…to love someone that is." While he did love Rain, it was immensely different from what he and Nephis shared. Upon hearing his words, Nephis wore a sad smile across her face as she stared down at Sunny. 'That witch Morgan changed how he views love entirely!' Nephis thought internally. Sunny's voice tore her from her internal swearing at Morgan as he looked at her with a guilty expression.

"Did I make you angry? You look angry." Nephis shook her head feverishly before smiling at Sunny; her hand snaked its way from his hair down to his chest. Her touch was ticklish as her fingers danced across his chest gently, careful not to press too hard. Sunny, meanwhile, was laughing incessantly, unable to resist the onslaught of tickles that he had tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

It was one of those rare moments where she got to see him wear a rare happy smile as he laughed. 'Music to my ears' as she increased the intensity of her movements, Sunny's laughter grew to a point as his body started twitching to resist her tickles, and yet Nephis didn't relent. Eventually, she stopped giving Sunny a moment to gather himself as she smiled warmly down at him.

"Even if you don't know what love is, I'll teach you. I'll guide you every step of the way and never leave you behind." A smile spread across Sunny's face once more as tears fell from his eyes. "You mean it? Really? You won't hurt me, hit me at all?" Nephis nodded firmly as she lifted him up, pulling him into a hug as Sunny returned the gesture as much as he could.

Pulling backward, Sunny moved his arms gingerly around Nephis head as he suppressed a wince, pulling her forward and pressing his lips against her own. Her eyes widened for a few moments before returning the gesture, holding onto Sunny like he would disappear the moment she let go. They held the position for minutes, their tongues battling furiously as they separated for air.

Licking her lips, removing the lingering saliva that connected the two, Nephis stared into Sunny's eyes with passion flaring in her eyes. "We…should stop here." Nephis said she didn't know how Sunny would react if she tried to go any further; he was only just getting used to physical contact of any nature with the opposite gender, and she didn't want to abuse it.

Sunny nodded tentatively before pressing his lips against her own for a few seconds more before pulling back. "This is about the most I can handle…I'm sorry." His voice was low and regretful, yet Nephis merely grabbed his chin to focus his eyes before smiling understandingly. Her grip was nothing like Morgan's; he enjoyed the warmth she provided immensely.

"I'll be fully healed in about three days; we just need to last until then." Sunny commented breathlessly. Nephis looked him over with shock as she took in his bloodied form once more. "Three days? You got hit by a car, Sunny! That isn't normal for you to be out and fighting that quickly." Sunny smiled at her concerned expression before rolling over and planting his face on her thighs.

His voice was muffled by her legs, yet she could still make out what he said anyway. "Experiments, they made sure I healed quickly." Instead of replying, Nephis merely let her grimace show in full form as she ran her hand through Sunny's hair gently to soothe both him and herself. 'They experimented on him, beat him, took advantage of his body, branded him! I'm starting to wonder if these scum deserve to be alive.'

Suddenly, she felt inclined to bring up a sensitive topic. She knew Sunny didn't like to speak of his past, yet Seishan's words sparked a curiosity in her that she couldn't force herself to ignore. "Sunny, do you know who Seishan is?" Spinning on her lap to face her, Sunny sat up with a jolt before narrowing his eyes dangerously. 

"Yes, what did she say to you? Listen, you can't trust anything that comes out of that horrid wench's mouth!" Sunny clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned pale; Nephis grabbed his hands, causing him to relax slightly before offering her reply. "She mentioned that you're like a machine, and you can't disobey anything Morgan tells you."

Upon hearing Morgan's name, Sunny seemed to shrink in on himself as he thought of an adequate way to respond to what Nephis said. Instead of fully explaining himself, he chose to leave it vague to not evoke any more painful memories that his already fragmented mind could no longer bear.

"Listen, since we'll be fighting alongside each other more often, then I think you'll have to know this too. If I ever pass out while I'm fighting, run away." 

Grabbing Nephis shoulders, Sunny stared her in the eyes with genuine concern riddled across his face, tears welling up in his eyes that he suppressed to continue his statement. He was shivering in a way she had never seen him shiver before, as his hands vibrations almost caused her own body to shake in the process. 

"I…don't want to hurt you by accident. If you don't run, you'll die. Just abandon everything and run, please. If you've never trusted another word that's come out of my mouth before, just listen to this!"

Nephis nodded silently as Sunny let out a breath he had been holding in. Instead of continuing to dig into his past, Nephis simply grabbed him by the shoulders and gently threw him onto her soft thighs. "Sleep, Sunny, you've earned it." She whispered. Sunny smiled at her for a brief moment before closing his eyes, and eventually unconsciousness crept into his mind and invited him into the world of dreams.

Scrolling through her phone clumsily, Nephis was forced to navigate the internet with a single hand as the other ran through Sunny's silky smooth hair with robotic single-mindedness. Soon enough, her eyes focused on a single article, vaguely hinting to what Sunny had mentioned.

'Fighting in your sleep allows you to do all that your body remembers at 100% efficiency. You might even attack friend or foe indiscriminately unless properly controlled. Some have begun calling it…'

'Ultra instinct.'