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It was "unusual", to say the least.
Sherry had been resting in his mansion for two weeks. Two broken ribs, resulting from the last fierce battle between demons, were responsible for their "vacation". She hasn't had such a long rest period since she met the black book demon, Brago.
The demon was adamant. When they were not after their opponents, they trained hard until exhaustion. But now, with her ribs broken, and the strict medical recommendation that she should rest if she wanted to recover as quickly as possible, she was enjoying a brief break.
The drugs she was taking for pain and accelerated recovery made her a little groggy at times. And she thought a bath would be great for relieving her head.
A few minutes later, she was finishing dressing after taking her shower, when a liquid sensation on the inside of her thighs, let her know that something was going on.
She rummaged through the bathroom drawers, looking for something.
"Shit." He murmured, looking for a tampon to no avail. "Great! I forgot that damn drugs cut off all contraceptive effects."
"Sherry !!" Brago shouted from somewhere in the mansion.
She didn't answer and her steps thundered down the stairs, coming towards her room quickly.
"Just a minute, Brago." He replied back. Locking the bathroom door and starting looking for something to use temporarily.
The doorknob jerked when she finally found a packet of sealed tampons stored in the bottom of a drawer.
"Sherry! Open it! I smell blood!"
"I'm fine, really! Go away!" She screamed desperately, she was not eager to confront the demon about it.
"What's wrong, Sherry? Open the door !!" He demanded.
The door opened, and Sherry with a startled cry, tried to lower the dress that was wrapped around her waist and lift her underwear.
"What's wrong, Sherry ?!" Wide-eyed, he ran to his knees in front of her.
"What are you doing? !! Get out !! Get out now !!!" She hissed furiously.
Brago looked down and saw the little blood on the inside of his thigh, while Sherry desperately lifted her panties.
He paused while looking at the guardian of his horrified book. His eyes were generally stoic and cold, wide with horror.
"Are you bleeding from there ?! Are you dying ??!"
Sherry squirmed again, trying unsuccessfully to kick the demon. His face was burning with embarrassment and anger.
"It's my period, it's okay. I just need to ..."
"Brago !!" Sherry screamed when the demon took her in his arms, "Are you crazy? Put me on the floor!"
He grabbed her tightly by the arms and dragged her out of the bathroom across the room. He put her on the bed and fought with her so he could lift her dress and pull on her underwear.
"Did you get hurt in battle ?!" Looking down in panic, struggling to calm his partner.
Ah, for the love of ...!
Sherry tried to pinch and scratch the black demon, shaking his fists to punch him, while he deftly dodged the blows.
"No! You could ... grrr! ... You wouldn't ... What the ... Stop ... STOP!" Sherry's voice rose in panic as Brago's head came closer, trying to take a closer look at his 'injuries'.
Brago did not stop and she tried to resort to dirty fighting. A well-placed kick hit the demon in the forehead, but it seemed to have little effect as he tried to spread his legs further.
"Stop! Brago! Can you hear me ?!" She begged, but he was not listening.
His face was pale, which was really remarkable considering that his natural color was already pale. Brago seemed torn between anger and despair. Undoubtedly certain that his partner and guardian was dying.
"Brago!" She screamed, hitting him hard in the chest. Her efforts to free herself from the demon were unsuccessful. And he managed to get his legs open, and he quickly pulled off his panties by pulling hard with a sharp claw.
The flimsy fabric tore in milliseconds and flew across the room, landing on the floor. Brago's eyes widened horribly when he gaped.
"You're really bleeding. How did you get hurt like that ?! Is it an internal injury? Can we fix it ?!" Brago grunted, trying to get a better look at what he perceived as an injury.
"Let me go, Brago! Let me go NOW, or I swear I'll burn your book, damn it!
This made him let her go.
Sherry quickly lowered her dress, her eyes burning with humiliation. The still agitated demon seemed to want to touch her again. She fired a torrent of words, gesturing with her fist as if to attack him.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?" An enraged Sherry looked like she was about to tear the demon's throat with her own teeth, if that would erase her humiliation and embarrassment.
"If you just listened to me for a damn second! I'm fine !!" She gasped as she faced the demon.
His words seemed to have the opposite effect, as Brago straightened with hatred, his pointed teeth grinding with the force his jaw clenched.
"DON'T LIE TO ME !! I can smell the blood, Sherry! When would you say you were hurt ?! When your fragile and pathetic human body succumbed ?!" Brago approached in fury.
"I'm not dying, you idiot !!" Sherry was still breathing heavily. "Don't your women menstruate?"
The empty look she received in return should have been her answer, but just to be sure ...
"Don't they bleed once a month for five to seven days? Usually every thirty days or so?" She asked.
The black demon shot her a horrified look.
"Do you bleed for five to seven days ... every thirty days?" Brago's lips parted in disbelief and he looked at her in astonishment.
"Uh, yes, is that what your women do, no?" Sherry asked slowly, still uncomfortable with the incredulous and suspicious look.
"And you DON'T DIE about it ?!" Brago asked, not looking the least bit convinced of his words.
The situation itself was so absurd that Sherry started to laugh. She couldn't help it.
"How much blood did you lose?" He asked worriedly, his lips twisted in a thin line.
"I'm not going into shock or dying!" Sherry said between laughs.
"Let me check." Brago suggested narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously. "Just to make sure."
Sherry immediately sobered up about it.
The demon walked slowly towards the bed and she snarled at him in warning.
"Don't you dare, Brago !! Don't come near me !!"
"You're lying, aren't you? You don't want to tell me what happened, because you're dying !!" Bragoacused, mocking as he approached in order to grab her again. "Your fragile human body is sick !! You are succumbing to whatever the damn human disease you have !!"
"Fuck you!" Sherry burst out screaming. "I'm so tired of you! All you do is scold me, make fun of me and accuse me of everything you could think of, as long as I could read your cursed book! You are the most hateful and rude creature I have ever met and I hate you ! "
Brago stared at her in stunned silence, as tears began to slide slowly down his cheeks.
"I'm cramped, menstruating and have a million other things on my head and TWO broken ribs, damn it! I can cry if I want to!" She tried to justify herself.
"Sherry, calm down. What's going on? What's wrong with your body ?!"
"Do you want to know what's going on ?! Well, I'll tell you what's going on !!!" The blonde intoned in a high-pitched voice. She pointed directly at Brago in fury.
"You didn't listen to me while I told you I was having my period. It's good for a human woman to have a period! It's normal to bleed for five days during your period, but you, with your stupid mind, arrested me so that you could 'examine' me. " She snarled, making quotes in the air. "I was fine! Do you have any idea how embarrassing and humiliating it was ?!"
"Uh ..." Brago was speechless, confusion twisting his face. "Is that why you're crying ?! Are you sure you're not dying ?!"
"You LOOKED at my private parts! That's why I'm upset! You didn't have my permission to do it! Happy now, Brago ?! Huh?" The demon just stared at her with the restless red orbs.
"Did your dense demon brain finally understand ?! Or do you want to see for yourself again ?! Fuck you!" She gasped in fury trying to calm herself.
"Do you bleed for five days every month and still haven't died?" He asked after a long pause.
His frustrated growl echoed throughout the room.
Brago narrowed his red eyes at her. Not looking the least bit sorry or guilty as he crossed his arms.
"If that's true, how come you've never been 'menstruating' at any time since I met you?"
"I use pills, Brago !! Contraceptive !! Human medicines that interrupt my cycle. Or interrupted until last week when I stopped taking them!"
The demon took a long break again. "Why would you take these things if they hurt your body? You shouldn't mess with your body that way ... It's not natural."
Sherry's mouth fell open.
"Don't give me lessons on how to take care of my body, when YOU drag me into battle after battle !! And make us walk for days and nights without rest !!"
"This is ... different ... I'm strengthening you. I'm not changing your insides or anything." The demon snapped angrily.
"You know what? Just leave me alone !! Go hunting for a mouse or something. I need warm blankets and chocolate now, I don't need you to make my colic and headache worse."
The pale demon moved restlessly, in contemplative silence. He still looked troubled, but his mind seemed to have calmed down a little. Without a word, Brago turned and walked to the door, when he came out he knocked it with surprisingly delicacy.
After going to the bathroom and cleaning himself, Sherry allowed himself to sigh and lean back on his expensive, clean sheets. With an angry growl, she grabbed her blankets and wrapped herself in a soft, warm cocoon. The heat always had a way of easing her debilitating cramps, she cursed Brago again in her head for a few seconds. Surrounded by familiar warmth and comfort, Sherry fell into a comfortable sleep.
In his dreams, a child Koko paraded through an extensive meadow of green grass, a sunset in the background illuminating the beautiful scene. Koko's smiles and laughter were accompanied by her own childish laughter, her little childish version chasing her friend in a prank game. The children rolled and screamed in innocent delight, reliving in their dreams their most precious and pleasant memories.
"Koko! Not so fast! I can't reach you like that !!" The sun in the background began to fall with surprising speed, dark clouds covering the light and enveloping the children in their mantle of darkness.
Koko seemed unaware of the world darkening around her. She ran faster and faster, moving away from Sherry who frantically tried to wave and call out to her.
"K-Koko !! Wait !! Don't go too far !! Don't go into the darkness !!"
A sudden jolt woke Sherry from the dream world. She gasped for a moment, trying to slow her heart rate and breathing.
The dark figure beside him was easily recognizable, and Sherry reflexively grabbed his abdomen with the colic that hit him suddenly.
Brago hovered over her, examining her face more closely to see her discomfort. "You are in pain?"
"I'm fine!" She assured him. "Is there anything you want?"
"I had a conversation with the old man .." He was interrupted.
"Albert, Brago! He has a name, you know ?! It's Albert." Sherry murmured.
"He said ... that females of your kind can be in pain during your period ... he gave me this thing ... he said he could help make you more comfortable."
The demon hesitantly held out the object in its claws. Sherry blinked in surprise at the offered chocolate bar. "O-Thank you." She did not expect this move or consideration from Brago. "That was ... kind of you." Sherry nodded in thanks.
With a grunt, the black demon moved away, he looked awkward, with his hands in his pockets, and a strange look in his scarlet eyes. Sherry seemed to notice his unease.
"Is there anything you want to ask me, Brago ??" She blinked her blue eyes, waiting for an answer.
Brago switched feet before fixing his gaze steadily.
"The old man said it's normal among human females ... W-that thing ... But are you sure you're not dying ?!"