"shifter" the name left his mouth in a whisper of awe.  the woman in which had so readily been given away was a shifter. and a woman at that. woman of the shifter race were considered precous because there were so few of them. the were protected, yet he found one here where she was being tortured.

she hadent mooved since the name had left his lips. had barlet breathed. he wanted so much to comfort her, to reassure her that he would protect her, but knew it would fall upon deaf ears. the woman seemed tp be only eighteen but her eyes were cold and distant, the sighn of one who suffered greatly.

"please" her voice was nervous and almost inaudible to even his acute hearing, "dont tell master Aoshi" he knew it was hard for her to ask such a thing, he suspected she had never asked someone for somthing before and doing so now was against her very nature.

Mikotos answer was to step past her and head into the bathroom. grabbing bandages, he headed back into the room, "i see nothing to inform the master of this house of" he answered calmly.

Akira wared with her emotions while still keeping up her mask of indifference, why had he not taken her back emmidietly once he found her marked?, and most worrysome of all, how had he known the mark of the shifters?

  Mikoto took the bandages and gently bandaged her back, carefull not to jar her body unnecicarily. once finished he ordered she put her kimono back on properly.

he knew she wanted to know how he had come to know the sighn of the shifter but he wasnt ready to tell her just yet. knew he had to put the collar on he but dreaded the moment. in doing this he would take away the one thing he knew she believed was hers. her thoughts. with the collar he would merge his mind with hers and take control. her powers and anything else he desired would be at his command, though he doubted she would disobey often.

he brought the collar infront of his face and stared at her while she stood infront of him, her back to him. "do you know what this is?" he asked

"yes" was the only answer he recieved from her

"do you know what will happen when the collar is clasped about your neck completly?" he asked wanting to make sure she knew what he was about to do before he did it

"yes master" she answered

he sighed, the collar would bring pain to her. ripping down ones personal mind barriers was a brutal process even for the strongest of their race.

taking the collar he placed it gently about her neck making sure she had sufficient room to breath and menouver. he clasped the buckle of the collar togather and was met by a bright flash and was at once greeted by a sharp intake of breath. he watched her face even as he felt her inner barriers  crack and fall, felt her power rise within him and was astonashed by ist magnitude.

how could such a strong shifter have gone unnoticed for so long? he didnt understand, but he really didnt have time for such thoughts. her legs began to wobble and she collapsed under the strain of the collars effects,

Mikoto caught her under her legs and around her hips, carrieng her to the bed. she tried to struggle from his grasp but he wasnt allowing it to happen, keeping her firmly pressed against his body. "now stop struggling" he said as if to a petulant shild "noone intends to hurt you, im simply putting you on the bed for better comfort. the collar will leave you drained for the next day or two so just relax"

his voice became soothing and hypknotic, soothing her when seh felt her defences would serve her the best. she was afraid, he read it in her mind, afraid of what he would do to her, afraid of what wouild happen in the long run, and most of all afraid of her increasing desire to submit to his gentle rule of her. she had never before felt the need to actually subbmit, he could see it deep within her heart, she had always led a quiet defience but her body demanded her to give into him. how could she feel compelled to do so when the man she felt such things towards could torment her beyond reason without regret?