N O T E: With Taste being my first BASTARD!!! fic, I decided to do
something different for this oneshot. This is an hour fic- meaning it
was written (literally) in an hour. That means that there is no
pre-outlining or idea scribbling down, all I have is a goal- to make a
Dark Schneider POV on Yoko. Hopefully, this will be as much fun as I am
hoping.

Enjoy.

Taste
by Hikaru

The wine glass in my hand was partially empty, however I had not
yet suffered one amount of what simple humans called 'being drunk'. No,
alcohol did nothing to my bodily functions, thanks to a little spell I
picked up a few decades ago. A wine-loving mage taught it to me, just
before I killed him-- he cheated me in a game of Go, trying to keep my
win of 30,000 yen winnings from me, so I killed him. It was so simple
back then, killing was an easy thing to do. However, as of late,
senseless murder just didn't seem as appealing; I couldn't put my
finger on why, just yet, but something was stopping me. I shook my head,
riding my thoughts of the trivial.

My eyes wandered around the growing celebration for my victory
against Abigail- the stupid, stuffed-shirt lord of the dead. Good
riddance. I may have not killed him, but I doubt he'll try to kill me,
Gara or Arshes again. He always had a hard time with learning not to
mess with higher beings, which would explain his attachment to that
stupid 'God' they call Ansla-Sax.

Girls were scattered throughout the party- wenches mostly,
who lacked a particular beauty to appeal to my tastes. Princess Sheila
stood in the back, with her father, the king. They had come past me
earlier, thanking me again for protecting the seal (which I then found
out was stored inside Sheila's body) and saving Metallicana from
almost certain destruction. I kept my eye mostly on the princess than
the king. She blushed furiously at every look I gave her, much to my
amusement. And as the two left to associate with the other guests, I
took Sheila by the hand and whispered in her ear that I wish I could
be sealed inside her body-- making her blush profusely again.

Ah, I have so much fun with her. I guess it has to be pointed out
that I have no interest whatsoever in the princess, except for,
perhaps, a 'bang' once or twice. True, she is beautiful, but if Larz
ever found out I slept with his sister, he'd be after my head again-
and I REALLY don't need that right now, considering that I'm doing well
at the moment. I have a whole kingdom who is in my debt, I have my
daughter/lover Arshes Nei close to my beckon call, and Gara to contend
with whenever I get bored. What else could I ask for?

On the other side of the room, the 'royal announcer' (as I call
them) stepped forward and raised his voice through the court,
"Presenting The High Priest Geo and his daughter, Tiara Norto Yoko."

Yoko-san.

The source of my new found conscience.

I looked up from my chair, a slight intrigue in my mind. It had
been a day since I had even seen Yoko-san since the defeat of Abigail.
She simply just disappeared from the castle for the day-- I was told
she was helping her father tend to the injured villagers, and far from
it for me to fly above that wretched town, much less walk through it,
asking what were the whereabouts of the high priest's daughter. Her
hair, as always, was let down, just draping at her shoulders. She wore
a black satin dress, flowing all the way to the floor in a semi-tight
fit. A slit was in the dress on her right side, starting at her lower
thigh. Leave it to Yoko-san to let just a small amount of skin be
shown, leaving you begging to see the rest. I was surprised, actually,
that she had beared this much skin, seeing as she had been very
particular with bare skin ever since the Gara incident (and not to
mention Count Diamon as well).

The Lushe part of my soul whispered something about the dress
being Yoko's mother's, and she wore it only on the specialist of
occasions.

I raised an eyebrow to that.

So I was a special occasion now? Interesting. A sly grin sneaked
its way onto my lips, making me seem even more devilish in my black
leather ensemble, complete with a flowing cape of black and purple
velvet. I rose from my chair, placing my wine glass on the table in
front of me, and headed towards the 'great' priest and his delicious
daughter.

Geo was less then pleased to see me, even though the celebration
was on my behalf. Perhaps it was the lustful look in my eye as I
approached them. It was obvious the look wasn't pointed to him-- maybe
that was why he looked so bent. "Good evening Dark Schneider." Geo
muttered, trying to look grateful, but failing miserably. "I hope that
the festivities are to your pleasing."

"Oh yes," I said with a smirk aimed towards Yoko-san, "The party
just got _very_ interesting, Priest Geo." A slight blush appeared on
Yoko-san's face, but disappeared as quickly as it had come. "Good
evening Yoko-san. My, you look very, very beautiful tonight."

"Thank you Lushe-kun." Yoko-san muttered, turning her vision to
elsewhere, and her blush becoming uncontrollable. I began to believe
that it was not me who was making her blush, but the fact that she was
wearing such a dress to a public affair.

Clearing his throat, Geo quickly muttered, "I have to go have a
word with the king," and walked away from us.

I was relieved he was gone, but now Yoko-san looked even more
stressed. The absence of her father meant that I could say
inappropriate things to her to make her feel even more uncomfortable
(even though, if given the chance, I would tell the priest about some
of my fantasies concerning his beloved daughter). My eyes scanned her
over again, taking in her immense beauty. Up close, I could now see the
bags under her eyes, due to her lack of sleep while I had been-- well,
dead. Her eyes still were tear-stained, as well as her face. Oh
Yoko-san, how many tears did you spill for me? Do you know that if you
ever left me, mine would be double- no triple that of the tears you
shed for me?

I placed my giant hand underneath her chin and made her look up
to me. "Lushe-" she breathlessly whispered as she traced her hand
against my jaw. "It's still hard to believe that you have come back to
me." As her hand went past my nose, my nostrils were filled with her
scent. Gods, she really was trying to drive me mad, wasn't she? "I was
afraid-" she whispered. "Afraid that you..."

I scooped up her hand in mine, forcing it to my lips, where upon
I kissed her fingers gently. "I wouldn't leave you Yoko-san," again
I caressed her fingers with kisses, "I owed you 500 yen, didn't I?"

"OH!" She quickly snapped her hand away from me, placing both
her hands on her hips. "Lushe-kun!"

Letting out a gentle laugh, I ran my hand through her hair. "I
was just kidding, Yoko-san. I came back for other reasons."

She glared at me, "Arshes?"

I raised an eyebrow, "You can't be jealous."

She simply folded her arms and turned her vision away from me
again. My breath got caught in my throat for a moment, surprised at
this. I knew that Yoko-san had feelings for me, but only because my
soul was Lushe's. If she were jealous of Arshes, that would mean- "You
are jealous!" I accused, amused at the whole situation. I followed her
sight over to where Arshes and Gara were sitting, conversing about god-
knows-what. My smile grew wider as I wrapped my arms around Yoko-san.
She fought it for a moment, but then realized who she was up against,
and gave in without further objection. "Do you see Arshes sitting over
there, Yoko-san?" She nodded slightly, now trying to turn her vision
away from Arshes and move it to another subject. Yoko-san was
uncomfortable about the subject of Arshes, or any of my former lovers,
and now was the time to fix that. "Arshes found me when she was very
young- she couldn't have been more than five. I took her in and raised
her. I taught her the ways of magic, and the art of war..."

"...And then you became lovers." Yoko-san mumbled bitterly.

"That is not the point, Yoko-san." I corrected her, tightening my
grip around her. Her body was now tightly against mine. I had to fight
the inner need to spring upon her my lust for her, since at this moment
it would just make matters worse.

She had to understand how I felt.

"So what is you point, Lushe-kun?" She snapped back, growing
impatient with me.

"The point is," I hissed, annoyed with her impatience, "I love
her as a father would love a daughter; as your father loves you. I am
protective of her- and yes I love her." I could feel Yoko-san's muscles
tighten under my grip as I said the words 'I love her'. "But," I added,
bringing my mouth close to her ear, "Not as I love you, Yoko-san." I
released her from my grip, allowing her to go free. She whirled around,
staring at me in disbelief.

"You do?" She questioned, shocked.

I scoffed, "As if you didn't know that already! If anything ever
happened to you Yoko-san- if anything-" I bit my lip, trying to prevent
myself from becoming too emotional. "I don't know what I would do. You
keep me calm Yoko-san. I feel, a soft of inner peace when you're
around. I need you with me, always." It was true too. She was the only
woman that had ever made me feel this way. Arshes, well, she could take
care of herself. I was protective of her, but I didn't worry over her
that much. I had faith that Arshes could overcome anything because she
could protect herself. Now Yoko-san, could hardly protect Lushe Len
Len, much less herself. She constantly placed herself in danger without
ever realizing it- putting me in multiple stressful situations that
would have never had happened if Yoko-san had taken a moment to think
about what she was doing.

A silly smirk formed on Yoko-san's lips, trying to hide in a
giggle. She acted almost triumphant. She took a step towards me and
collapsed against my chest, wrapping her arms around me. "I'll stay
with you Lushe-kun. Always, always, always."

I nodded slightly and then lowered my head down to hers, pressing
my lips firmly against her lips. She quickly pulled away, staring at me
in disbelief, "You didn't change back!"

I smirked, "Perhaps Lushe wants to give us some time alone."

~Fin~

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This fic was made for the sole purpose of entertaining the BASTARD!!!
fans out there. The author of this story has no association with the
series or its publication. Standard disclaimers apply.