[ a.n ; a while ago someone suggested clio and i actually forgot to do it!! so i apologize to the person who asked for a fic of him. i kind of spitballed this one, yikes;; it's got a lot of cute shu in it though!! also,, over 2500 words,, whoops,, again ]

[ a.n 2 ; edit ! i've added a shu ending all the way at the bottom of this same chapter! it actually feels more like the real ending, but ah, you can pick which one you like more <3 ]
[ word count ; 1553 ]

[ WARNING ; this story contains some elements of horror, and toxic obsession. if you are not okay with these things, then please don't read this! ]

It was pouring rain. Just one second out of shelter would have you completely drenched, and freezing cold. That was for only one second, but out in the rain for almost half an hour? You could hardly feel your hands, or legs, and your hair was sticking to the sides of your face. You could barely feel your hands gripping tightly to those of your closest friends. Currently, in the vicious rain, and booming thunder, you, Valt and Shu were scampering through an extremely thick forest.

Asides from the rain and thunder, you could hear your shoes hitting the ground and constantly splashing in shadow puddles that would soon flood the entire forest. Your breathing left in huffs, leaving little clouds in the air by your freezing lips. Shu was taking the lead, while Valt was more closer to your side. You couldn't see properly, and the tears burning in your eyes didn't help either. This was almost torture, the three of you had been running for almost half an hour.

You had no idea where Shu was taking you, but you trusted his wit, you knew he would get you and Valt to safety. Frankly, after finally breaking though the forest, in a large clearing was an old mansion. The estate was build with black concrete and bricks, fenced with iron black gate. You'd be able to find shelter in there for sure. The gates were strangely opened, and the locks seemed to be broken, too. Maybe someone had come here for shelter too. Either that, or this place was completely abandoned. The three of you took the stone path up to the front double doors.

"Come on Valt! Let's push." Shu gestured the bluenette to step up front. You wanted to help, but you were drained of all your energy, so you left this to the boys. Shu and Valt counted to three, and shoved the heavy doors open. Once the opening was wide enough, Shu got you to scamper inside, followed by Valt, and then himself. Then he pushed the doors closed. Finally you were safe.

Panting heavily, the three of you threw yourselves down onto the red carpet. Your clothes were soaking wet, and your hair was dripping rain water. Recollecting your memory, it was supposed to be a normal day out today. The three of you were just training in the forest which wasn't far from home. . . All of a sudden, it started raining. Valt had said he knew a shortcut back to his place where you and Shu could wait out the storm or get a ride home with Valt's mum - but things weren't as expected.

Valt took at least ten wrong turns, and you all ended up completely lost in the middle of nowhere. Shu had to find a way out, and he found this mansion. With no idea of what to do, this place was the only shelter you could take.

"H-how are we gonna, g-get back home. . . ?" Valt breathed out, he apologized almost a hundred times before, and you were expecting a hundred more, too.

"We'll find a way, don't worry." As usual, Shu took charge. He stood up and grimaced at his wet clothes, peeling the pink fabric off his skin. "I don't think anyone lives here. Let's check out the place anyway, there should be a bathroom and towels. We'll dry off our clothes and leave in the morning."

The main room was carpeted in red, there was a fancy chandelier at the ceiling, and two curved staircases to the second floor. To the left was a sitting room surrounded by glass pane windows; one of them was cracked straight down the middle. To the right, was another door.

Shu reached a hand out to you and helped you up. You gave him a weak smile, and took his hand. The two of you had always been very close, it was possible Shu even had a crush on you, but never admitted it. You weren't sure you felt the same, but you were sure it was possible to end up falling for him if you gave him a chance. Despite the pretty feelings, neither of you said anything about them.

Valt padded behind the two of you, while Shu lead you to the first spotted door. He lifted a hand and turned the knob, carefully pushing it open. It didn't matter how slow he went, the door practically screamed for mercy.

To spare you the headache, Shu peeked inside. It was just a storage room, so he shut the door and gestured Valt to follow you and him up the staircase.

"Are you scared?" Shu looked over at you with soft eyes.

"A little. . ." You trailed off, earning a small squeeze from his hand to yours. The first thing on the dirty wallpaper was a large painting framed beautifully. It looked to be of a family of three, but the faces were burnt out. You could only see charred black canvas, and some shoulders. It was sad really. . .

"Guys, I'll go this way, you go that way!" Valt piped up, cringing at his own loud echo, then scampering down the hall to the right.

"Valt, don't go too far." Shu called out, sighing in defeat. "We'll go look for him if he doesn't come around soon." He mumbled to you, before making a left and turning to the first door. A piano room. . . There were many instruments lined up on the walls, and laid on the floor, all of them covered in a thick sheet of dust. Those wouldn't be helpful. Shu turned to the next door, nothing, the next, nothing, the next, finally a bathroom. It was a bit more clean compared to the other rooms, maybe this place had been left for only a few months instead of years.

"Here, dry off your hair." He handed you a white towel, that was surprisingly clean and soft. You ruffled up your hair and dried it as best as you could. Shu watched you for the most part, but turned away when you started to take off your wet clothes. Shuffling through the drawers, you managed to find some spare clothes for Shu. A simple black long sleeved top, and white jeans; how lucky you were. Under those, was a simple silk night gown. It was rather skimpy and thin to be honest, but you didn't have any other choice. After the both of you got dressed, Shu tried to move his eyes anywhere but at the silk falling around your pretty frame.

"It's okay, you can look, don't be so nervous." You mumbled. It was only possible to see the lace of your bra and just a small bit of your stomach, but Shu was still flustered. The drawers had much more clothes, but all were too large, or too small - strange.

The both of you hung up your wet clothes and went looking for Valt again. The hallway to the right was much longer, so it'd be harder to find the bluenette. He wasn't in the library, he wasn't in the study, and he wasn't in the bedroom.

You wandered around the room for a bit, looking at things here and there. You came across a small photo on the night table, so your little fingers picked it up. Immediately, your heart started racing, and your skin went completely pale. . . Suddenly, you felt a hand on your shoulder. Screaming, your whipped around, only to be confronted by Shu.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" He asked quietly, rubbing at your arm. You didn't say anything. Worried, he looked over at the photo in your hand. The photo was the spinning image of you. It was exactly you, just fifteen minutes ago when you were getting dressed. The drawer that was just an inch open, was full to the brim of even more photos. Shu didn't know what to think, the fact that he just saw you half bare in a photo, or the fact that someone was in the house taking photos.

"Shu- did you see anyone?" You lowered your voice to a mere whisper.

"I didn't. Come on, let's find Valt and get out of here." Shu shoved the photo in his pocket without thinking, grabbed your wrist and started pulling you along.

"Sh-Shu, you're hurting me-" You tried to pry his grip from your wrist, he was gripping too hard.

"Sorry- [Y/n]. . ." He shut his eyes for a moment. "I don't want to hurt you."

You just rubbed at your wrist silently.

"No. I change my mind. I'm find out who did this."

"Why-!? Shu, let's just get Valt and leave!"

"If I can't protect you then I don't deserve you! Go look for Valt, I'm finding this sick bastard that lives here, and killing him with my bare hands."

You'd never seen him like that. You were completely frozen in place, watching him strut down the hall, furious. You felt like your ears were playing tricks on you, but you started to hear music. You started to hear violin music, which could only be coming from the piano room. You recognized the song as the classic 'Tchaikovsky - Valse Sentimentale'.

Shu turned into the piano room. This couldn't be good at all, so you scampered after him. As soon as you were close to the door, it slammed shut before you could get in. Your ears started welling with tears that you tried to blink away.

"Please open, please open!" Desperately, you started shaking the door knob, trying to push it open, but it wouldn't budge. You had no idea what was going on inside the room, if Shu was in danger, if you were in danger, everything turned into a bad nightmare in seconds. It clicked in your mind that you could probably use your nail - so you did. You stuck your nail in the key lock as far as you could and twisted as hard as you could, it felt like hell, but you had to help Shu. When the door finally opened, your nail was split near the bed, and bleeding, but you couldn't care less.

"Shu-!?" You practically burst inside. . . He was nowhere to be seen. The room was cold, the windows were opened just in small cracks, but the wind was strong enough to blow the silky white curtains around effortlessly.

"Ah, my dear, you've finally shown up!"

A small gasp slipped past your lips, and you turned to the voice, slowly stepping away from the figure sitting in front of the piano. The curtain engulfed the silhouette, and left nothing behind. Your steps came to a halt, just in time to feel freezing cold hands grip your shoulders.

"Your skin is so soft, as I expected." The words felt like hot breaths against the nape of your neck. "You have such a pretty face, I've never seen anything so pretty." A sharp nail ran along your florid cheek. You were too scared to look, you didn't want to look. You couldn't speak either, your protests and supposed screams were just tiny whimpers and whines.

"Cute! You're so cute! That noise you made was so cute! Make it again."

". . . Where. Where is Shu, and Valt." You breathed out, softly. The person finally let go of you, just to twirl into your view. It was just a person. A boy, about your age possibly. He had fluffy white hair, and looked as if he belonged in a circus. His sharp teeth stuck out from between his pale pink lips, somehow not digging into his own flesh. There were red diamonds painted on his face, and he wore a jet black cloak with some gold linen. He only smiled at you.

"That doesn't matter, sweetheart. We'll have lots of fun, just the two of us." He tilted up your chin with a finger. "They'll come play later if they want to, I couldn't care less."

"Who even are you--?"

"I'm glad you asked! My name is Clio, your lover."

This kid was completely insane. You didn't understand a word coming out of his mouth.

"You may not know me, [Y/n], but I know you. I know you all too well." He pressed a hand to his chest dramatically. "I've always loved you, ever since I laid eyes on you half an hour ago." His eyes nestled shut. "I know you were made for me, hand made, perfectly for me to love."

While he was lost in his own fantasy, you tried to make a run for it, but he stepped right in front of the door. There was no way out.

"What's wrong my love? Didn't you hear the song I played for you? I thought you'd like it-"

"Please, please let me leave."

"No can do! I worked so hard to capture you, I'm not letting you get away from me." Clio hissed, narrowing his eyes. "I'll play another song for you then!" He clapped his hands together and grinned. No one was at the piano, but the keys were being pressed, the entire mansion was being filled with it's eerie music, that made you want to scream. Clio grabbed onto your hands, and spun you around, treating all of this like some sort of ball, where you were a princess, and he was the prince. You tried not to cry, you tried not to scream, but just when you were about to - Clio dug his teeth into your neck.

The pain was sharp, it stung right through every vein in your body, paralyzing you completely. You could only remember collapsing, before everything going completely black.

"Good morning my love!"

Everything was a blur, you couldn't remember a single thing. Your eyes slowly opened, and started to focus. You were in a bed, you must have fallen asleep. Everything was hazy. . .

"Did you sleep well, dear?" You felt a hand stroke your cheek affectionately. Your dead eyes moved to the person. Ah, it was Clio. You nodded tiredly, and slowly sat up in the bed. Clio immediately cupped your cheeks, and kissed you on the mouth at least four times.

Strangely, you returned the affection fully. You couldn't stop your arms from moving to wrap around him. Something felt wrong. Something was wrong with how right this felt.

"My perfect, perfect doll. You're perfect, [Y/n]. I love you."

You stared at him, lifelessly. He continued to rub your pink cheek. Your head tilted to the side, and a tiny smile marred your pretty pink lips.

"I love you, Clio."

"Good girl, good girl. You're catching on so well. You're such a good girl. Who's good girl are you?"

"Your good girl. Your princess. Your doll. Your everything."

You said these things. . . And you were starting to believe them, too.

_______________________________________________________________________

[ kurenai shu ending ; ]

"If I can't protect you then I don't deserve you! Go look for Valt, I'm finding this sick bastard that lives here, and killing him with my bare hands."

You'd never seen him like that. You were completely frozen in place, watching him strut down the hall, furious. You felt like your ears were playing tricks on you, but you started to hear music. You started to hear violin music, which could only be coming from the piano room. You recognized the song as the classic 'Tchaikovsky - Valse Sentimentale'.

Shu turned into the piano room. This couldn't be good at all, so you scampered after him. As soon as you were close to the door, it slammed shut before you could get in. Your ears started welling with tears that you tried to blink away.

"Please open, please open!" Desperately, you started shaking the door knob, trying to push it open, but it wouldn't budge. You had no idea what was going on inside the room, if Shu was in danger, if you were in danger, everything turned into a bad nightmare in seconds. It clicked in your mind that you could probably use your nail - so you did. You stuck your nail in the key lock as far as you could and twisted as hard as you could, it felt like hell, but you had to help Shu. When the door finally opened, your nail was split near the bed, and bleeding, but you couldn't care less.

"Shu-!?" You practically burst inside. . . He was nowhere to be seen. The room was cold, the windows were opened just in small cracks, but the wind was strong enough to blow the silky white curtains around effortlessly.

He was standing in the middle of the room, but there was no one else around. The piano continued to play eerie music, echoing around the room, mixing with the ominous whispers of the cold wind. He looked almost like a ghost there, pale, and lifeless.

"Shu? Are you okay?" You took small steps closer to him, and placed your hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine." He responded quietly. You were still worried about him, he was acting strangely. "Just paranoid."

"Of what?"

"I can't lose you." His answer was too quick. "Someone wants you," slowly, he turned to face you and gripped your shoulders. "But I want you more."

"Shu- what are you talking about?"

"Valt's gone now, it's just the two of us."

"Shu-"

"You look pretty in that outfit."

He wouldn't let you speak, he was too quick, and he flustered you too fast.

"Do you like the music? I picked the song for you."

"S-slow down, I don't understand," You slightly pushed him away from you. It was obvious that response hurt him immensely, but you didn't know what else to do. "You're saying you, like-" you pointed at yourself, and squinted. "Me?"

"You're smart. I always liked that about you." The whitette slightly tilted his head, suppressing a smile. Everything started to make sense. How else would Shu know to drag you and Valt through the forest to safety. He was also the first person to take charge in looking around, and maybe he even picked that same night gown out for you, too. This felt planned, but there was no freaking way Shu Kurenai would have planned all of this just to spend some time with you.

"You look pale, are you cold?" He reached a hand out to your cheek. You swallowed down hard, and stared down at your shoes.

". . . The photo's." You mumbled. "Are they yours?"

"Are you angry?"

You weren't angry, just confused. Maybe a little violated and creeped out;  but this was your best friend you were talking about. You could abandon him for something like this.

". . . Shu, this was too much. You didn't have to do any of this. Please, let's just get Valt and go home." You responded tiredly. "I mean. I share the same feelings, but this?" You opened your arms, gesturing to the ridiculous setting you were in - this place was dangerous. "Did you have to do all this?"

"I don't want anyone in the way. I want it to just be you and me, forever." He pressed his fantasy onto you even more. You didn't know what was going on in his head, and he was trying to tell you as best as he could, this was difficult. "What's wrong with the mansion? It's all for you. Everything here is for you, I want to give you the world."

You stared at one another for a while. You felt bad for him. He was insecure and paranoid as he said.

"Who's this other person that wants me?"

Shu glanced at the door for just a moment. "Valt."

You didn't think that little kid had the time for a crush, and especially on you. Shu was his best friend too, so they must have talked about it, Valt maybe admitted, and Shu said nothing. Instead, he did all this.

"Now what? Shu?" You reached a hand out to his, rubbing at it comfortingly with your thumb. "How can I make you happy? What do I have to do?"

He looked so much more relieved. The white haired male pulled you into a hug, stroking at your hair, and kissing your head.

"Stay here, with me. You'll be my Princess and I'll be your Prince."

"Okay."

A princess' poison will always be her very own prince.