Mirage Of Blaze Fan Fiction / Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Chasing Twilight ❯ Chapter Thirteen: The One Who Loves You ( Chapter 13 )

A/N: This chapter begins the new NC-17 rating for this story. Don't like it, don't read it, ne?

 

Chasing Twilight

By: Banshee Puppet

Chapter 13: The One Who Loves You

 

~”Things tend to go crazy when you're around, but I find that life is not without its pleasant surprises.”-Naoe.~

 

“Will you stop fussing!” Chiaki complained as Yuzuru started fluttering around the kitchen like a hummingbird after settling Chiaki on the couch. Now that he was awake, he'd been permitted to go home as his physical injuries, though bad, were no longer considered in need of daily attention, but Yuzuru insisted on seeing him to his apartment, then on getting him safely up the stairs once he discovered Chiaki's building didn't have an elevator, and then inside, and sitting down…

 

Chiaki was used to taking care of himself, so being fussed over, in his own apartment no less…frankly, he was ready to snap.

 

Yuzuru shifted uncomfortably and chewed his lower lip. “But you're still injured,” he protested.

 

“I'm a little sore,” Chiaki retorted. “They wouldn't have let me leave if I wasn't doing okay, so stop acting like I'm on my deathbed, alright?”

 

“I suppose you're right…” Yuzuru hedged.

 

“Of course I'm right! Now get over here and sit down, would you? You're making me dizzy.”

 

Yuzuru flopped into a stiff posture beside Chiaki, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. “Sorry,” he said around a pout. “I just worry a little.”

 

“You're worse than my mother,” Shuhei complained.

 

“Your mother?” Now this is going to sound weird, but Yuzuru had never thought about Chiaki's parents, or his family in general, or thought about the fact that he might have siblings or cousins, aunts and uncles. Of course he did, but the thought had just never really crossed Yuzuru's mind.

 

“Yeah,” Chiaki replied. “She calls me every three to four days, tells me how she hasn't heard from me in a while, that it's been so long she wanted to make sure I'm okay and that I make sure to wear clean underwear in case I get hit by a truck, and how she wishes I would reconsider my decision to go to school in Matsumoto and return to Sendai, and that I should know I'm free to come home at any time, and that she's been really worried since I never call. Then she says “well, bye” and hangs up the phone before I even manage to get in an `I'm fine, mother.' And if you happen to answer the phone when you're here and it's her, don't you dare tell her that I've been shot!” he insisted. “She'd have a heart attack.”

 

Yuzuru laughed a bit. Chiaki's mother sounded like a piece of work. “Haha. So, are you?” he teased, feeling the air in the room lighten for the first time in days. Ever since he realized that his feelings for this man were not quite as platonic as he'd originally assumed, things had been awkward and he found he wasn't quite sure how to speak to him.

 

“Am I what?” Chiaki replied with a cocked brow.

 

“Wearing clean underwear, of course!” Yuzuru joked, not realizing what he'd just walked them into.

 

Chiaki coughed a bit. “Yuzuru, I've been in the hospital for the past four days without a change of clothing,” he said.

 

“So dirty underwear then.”

 

“Don't be foul. I'd rather go commando than wear skeevy boxers,” Chiaki scoffed.

 

Yuzuru's eyes, much to his own embarrassment, shot directly to Chiaki's groin when he realized that the other had nothing on under well-fitted jeans. He gulped and flushed, forcibly turning his head away.

 

Chiaki bit the inside of his cheek, trying to use his bangs to hid his own flushed face. `Why did I just say that?!' he chastised himself.

 

“D-Do you…want me to g-go get you a pair?” Yuzuru stuttered.

 

`Do I want Yuzuru digging through my underwear drawer and finding his picture under my boxers. Hmm, let me think about that. Hell no!'

 

“Ah, no, that's alright,” he replied before the room was overcome by awkward silence.

 

*~*~*

 

“Taka—mmph!” Naoe was about to as a question about the young man's strange behavior when his lips were devoured in an eager kiss, the front door locked behind them. Their first night back after Takaya's kidnapping the young man had brought up the subject of his `promise'—which in all the chaos, Naoe had forgotten entirely, or put aside as a joke to ease the tension of a stressful moment—and had asked for a postponement. Takaya was really tired at the time, and everything was so crazy, he wanted to wait just a bit, but assured, `by the end of the week.' Today was Saturday.

 

`This is it,' Takaya thought as he slipped his tongue between Naoe's lips. There was a nervous thrill in it, taking control of the situation rather than just allowing Naoe to `have his way'. `I'm going to do it today.' He'd spent the past two days at home, ahem, researching the subject. What kind of research? Well, if you must know, it's called watching port to see how it's done, not that you'd ever get Takaya Ougi to admit such a thing, and he had a feeling that Kagetora Uesugi wouldn't have admitted to it either. Whatever the case, two days of sleeping alone had left him longing for Naoe's warmth and the taste of his lips, something he hadn't realized he'd become so dependant upon—the strong arms, the pliant tongue moving against his own in fevered kisses, the warmth of a firm body pressed against his own, the familiar, growing bulge of Naoe's sex against him, a feeling that, not long ago, had terrified him, and he now found strangely endearing and somewhat cute, how little control Naoe had over his body when he had such a flawless sense of control over most everything else.

 

“Come away from the door,” Takaya murmured against his lips. “To the couch.”

 

Naoe took a steadying breath and nodded, following the young man and sitting down. Takaya took what had become his customary position, straddled across Naoe's hips, but pressed much closer than usual with their chests nearly touching as he leaned down to kiss the man again, trying to decide on the best way to approach this all without seeming too...sudden. Well, as much of a coward as he'd been up to now, anything would seem sudden, and he knew that, but still, he thought he should work his way up to it, rather than just diving in head first.

 

Of course, Naoe was already in his glory with just this, Takaya being so demanding, controlling the situation so willingly…so when the young man started nipping at his ear and unfastening his tie, making quick work of the buttons of his shirt, he wasn't quite sure what to make of it, other than the fact that he loved every delicious second of it, the feel of Takaya's cool hands drifting across the bare, heated flesh of his chest and abdomen.

 

“Takaya..?”

 

“Shh,” Takaya murmured against his throat. “I promised you a present, so just enjoy it.” He was glad his voice managed to remain steady through his nervousness and let his lips trail over Naoe's collarbone, letting the taste and scent of the man's skin soothe his frayed nerves. Hearing the small moan that escaped Naoe's throat, he wondered why he'd never tried this sort of thing before. Speaking of throats, Takaya decided to nip at this as well as he tossed Naoe's shirt and jacket aside to join his tie. Another one of those deep yet stifled moans escaped Naoe's parted lips, and Takaya mused on what an amazing sound that content little moan was. Technically, he knew he could have left the other mostly clothed, but this way was better. He wasn't sure why. It just felt more meaningful, and he had to admit (at least to himself) that one Nobutsuna Naoe, sans clothing, was a somewhat attractive idea…okay drop that somewhat.

 

He slid back, admiring Naoe's muscular chest, arms, and stomach, his broad shoulders, grazed his fingertips over rosy nipples and was surprised by the cute way they responded to his touch by becoming taut little beads almost begging for further attention. He pinched them a bit, and smirked as Naoe moaned a bit louder.

 

“Takaya… can't I…mmn…also…”

 

“No,” Takaya replied without hesitation or waiting for Naoe to get out the rest of that sentence. “Just relax and enjoy it. You'll ruin my concentration.” Remembering his `research', he leaned forward and closed his lips around one of Naoe's pert nipples and listened to the man's surprised gasp, then the deep, soft moan once again as he felt fingers lace in his hair, urging him to continue manipulating the strong body beneath him.

 

“Taka—ya…” Naoe moaned as his left peck was licked and suckled, while the neighboring bud was still rolling under Takaya's thumb. Heaven. There was no other word he could think of for it.

 

`Isn't it just fear stopping you?' Chiaki had asked him. `What does he taste like? His lips, his skin, his cock. If you're serious, you've got to know those things.'

 

`His lips, his skin, his…' Takaya thought, moving his lips and tongue to the other side of Naoe's chest and giving this nipple equal treatment to that its neighbor received as his hands slid down to unbutton Naoe's pants, unfasten the zipper. `I'm serious,' he thought. `I AM! I'll prove to you that I'm serious about this.'

 

He lifted his head to bring their lips together again and cautiously pressed his palm against the erection contained inside of Naoe's briefs. `It's really hot, and so hard…and…gulp…big. He feels like this because of me?'

 

“Ha ahn…Ta-ah-ka…” Naoe shuddered. `He's touching me. Knowing that he's not afraid anymore... “Mmnn…ha-ahh…” `That really is a gift.'

 

“…'tsuna…lift your hips for me,” Takaya murmured, laughing a bit at the look of surprise on Naoe's face.

 

After only the briefest moment of shock, Naoe did as asked, feeling somewhat awed as Takaya removed his slacks and briefs in one swift pull, letting both drop to his ankles, which Naoe then subtly fought off to give his legs at least some freedom of motion. Idly, he realized he was still wearing his socks…and absolutely nothing else, while Takaya was fully clothed. “Why?” he asked, desperate for something that would make this situation make some sort of sense.

 

“Because I'm serious, Nobotsuna, about you, us, this, and I want you to know that.”

 

“Takaya, I…” but Naoe's words were cut off by a gasping, throaty moan as the young man wrapped his fingers around straining flesh and began lazily stroking up and down the turgid member between his legs.

 

`God, I could live for the purpose of making these amazing sounds come out of him,' Takaya thought. `He's gorgeous, his body is totally perfect, even the erection in my hand, in all it's perverse glory, is beautiful. Were you always this amazing, Nobotsuna Naoe? Why is this the first time I'm really taking the time to notice how breathtaking and sexy you are?'

 

“Do you want your present now?” he asked, the feeling of being in control of the situation quieting the last of his reservations.

 

Naoe just blinked at him stupidly for a moment. `Huh?' “This isn't it?” he asked, quite perplexed. What was Takaya thinking? What was he up to? He'd moved beyond simple kissing and tame petting to basically intense, all out foreplay and that wasn't the present? The feeling of his hand stroking him up and down wasn't gift enough? As it was, the poor man had been waiting so long that even the simple, lazy hand job was pure ecstasy.

 

“No,” Takaya returned, amused, and pleased, at seeing Naoe look confused for once. “This was just an excuse to get you naked.”

 

`Did I just say that?' Takaya wondered, but no sooner had he thought it than more unbeckoned words came from his lips. “To hear your sexy little moans and watch your muscles tense when you're pleased by what I'm doing to you.”

 

`Takaya. Kagetora. You say you aren't the same, but I know better. Both parts of you are still happiest when you're in control of me, teasing me. Even so, I suppose if it's this kind of teasing, I don't really mind. I've waited for you to acknowledge my feelings for so very, very long.'

 

“You haven't answered, Nobotsuna,” Takaya murmured against his throat, using his thumb to smooth the droplets of pre-cum over the blushed head of Naoe's sex. “Do you want your present?”

 

“Yess,” he whispered hoarsely in reply, clutching the sofa cushions for dear life as the word barely managed to come out as more than a barely audible sigh. `God help me,' he thought. “Yes,” he answered more clearly. `I'm hopelessly and irredeemably in love with this man, and I can never be forgiven. Please God, make his memory stay buried, make sure it never returns so we can stay in one another's arms, Takaya and I.'

 

*~*~*

 

There was only one word to use while describing the Koneko no Sumu as of late—chaos, complete and utter chaos, and not in that fun, organized way the assassins of Weiss were used to.

 

Case #1: Nagi Naoe

 

He'd been sleeping on the couch for days because, for reasons he was too mortified to share, he couldn't return to his own home. Whether he'd been kicked out or was taking a voluntary leave of absence was anyone's guess.

 

“I guess I'll have to wake him with a kiss!” Aya chirped. She, at least, was loving every minute of this week-long sleepover.

 

“I don't think so,” Ran protested, sitting the girl down far, far away from the slumbering telekinetic and whacking said telekinetic in the face with a pillow. “Get up,” he barked. “It's past noon. And you're taking my shift. If you're going to stay here, then you're going to work.”

 

“Oh, and what are you going to do?” Nagi snapped back.

 

Ran didn't have time to reply as Omi stormed down the stairs with an armful of doujinshi wailing. “Aargh! That's it! I've had it!”

 

Case #2: Omi Tsukiyono

 

Since Nagi started working at the Koneko a few days ago, Omi had come across more yaoi doujinshi featuring the two of them than he could fathom, and far more than he could stand. The first dozen were sort of flattering, the next hundred weren't nearly as cute. `I never want to see another yaoi doujin,' he thought, which is why he'd donated his collection to Ken and Yohji.

 

Case #3: Ken and Yohji.

 

“Is this even physically possible?” Ken wondered aloud as he turned the manga in hand to every conceivable angle he could think of.

 

Yohji peered over his shoulder. “Hmm…I'm actually not sure, but I'd love to try and find out.”

 

“Yohji!” the brunette blushed brightly at the implication.

 

Said manga took the lovers' perversion to a whole new level, which kept Ran up most nights.

 

Case #4: Ran Fujimiya.

 

“Keep your sick fantasies entertained on your own time,” he grumbled, taking the manga from Ken's hands and slamming it into the nearest waste paper basket before glaring at their stalkers, I mean customers, and snapping “and if you're not going to buy anything, then leave!” He was famous for that…though he sounded more irritable about it than usual today.

 

“Ready to go?” Saori chirped as she bounced into the flower shop.

 

“Go where?” Ran blinked.

 

“Shopping for your tux, of course,” the girl replied.

 

Blink. Blink. “My…tux?”

 

“Uh huh. For prom.”

 

Ran blinked at the girl like she was a three-headed purple alien some more. “Prom?”

 

“Uh huh. Since you're taking me to mine,” she said, dragging the poor red-head out the door.

 

“I'M DOING WHAT?!”

 

… …who's day just got a whole lot more interesting.

 

Case #5: Aya Fujimiya

 

Nagi rubbed his flattened nose. “Don't mind me if I murder your brother,” he complained, before getting yanked to his feet and dragged down the hall. “Ay-”

 

“Let's go to my room,” the girl said.

 

“Wha..? But Ran…”

 

“Saori will have him tied up for hours.”

 

“His shift…upstairs…”

 

“Doesn't start until two.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really.”

 

… …who was a typical seventeen year old girl desperate for some time alone with her boyfriend, and willing to go to any means necessary to get it, even subjecting her big brother to shopping for a tux.

 

Case #5: Saori

 

…who makes it a habit of conspiring with her friends, especially in such instances as it concerns getting time to try and figure out what makes the easily irritated Ran Fujimiya tick.

 

“Saori, isn't prom four months away?” Ran made the mistake of trying to apply logic.

 

“Yes, but the early bird catches the worm. This applies to all sorts of things,” Saori retorted. Always combat logic with better logic, and while you're at it, never ask a woman a question when you're trying to argue logically. Never works.

 

“And why am I taking you?” Ran had apparently not read the `how to' manual on dealing with the fairer sex.

 

“Because Chiaki and Yuzuru will go together, though they don't know that yet, and Takaya will bring Naoe—I'll force him to, and in four months Yuuiko will have worked up some nerve and will ask Sakura to go with her. Aya and Nagi will go together. I'm positive there's someone that Omi likes—he gets that `thinking of a special person' look sometimes…so all of my friends will be busy and I'll need company. Besides, you like me, so it only makes sense. You ought to be more agreeable if you want to win me over or someone will steal me right out from under your nose.”

 

“Who said I was try…??”

 

“Don't be so difficult,” Saori protested. “I've already decided to get to know you better, so just grin and bear it.”

 

“But…why?” Ran should really have known to stop asking questions, but some people are just gluttons for punishment.

 

“Because you're a good-looking guy who likes plain old Saori for some reason and I can't chase after Yuzuru forever. Besides, I think under the abrasive bastard act, you're probably a really nice guy…anyway, let's just say that it's about time I move on.”

 

“… …you're not plain,” Ran stated, finally giving up and letting the girl have her victory.

 

Saori blushed slightly and changed the topic. “I think when school's out I'm going to start taking kendo. Whaddya think, I'd be good at it, right?”

 

Ran blinked at the non-sequiter from hell. “Why do you want to take kendo?”

 

“Well, because swords are cool,” she chirped happily. “And because it beats the hell out of beating people up with a shovel.”

 

“A shov—you know what, I'm not going to ask.”

 

Saori chuckled. “That's probably for the best.”

 

*~*~*

 

It had to be a dream, just had to be. Because if this was real it meant a living, breathing Takaya Ougi was on the floor, kneeling between his legs, closing his lips around his head and sliding his mouth down over his heated, over-sensitive shaft—and the thought of a real Takaya giving him a real blow job was something he wasn't sure he knew how to handle.

 

`I want to watch,' Naoe thought, looking down at the dark-haired young man clumsily finding his way around the strained flesh between his lips, but was soon thereafter forced to look at the ceiling instead, moaning loudly and trying to remember how to breathe as his chest heaved erratically. `I can't watch. I won't last ten seconds if I do,' but oh how he wanted to watch so badly. He was really torn, lacing his fingers in Takaya's hair perhaps not as lightly as he meant to to urge him on.

 

Takaya let his gaze travel up the other's body, from the dark little happy trail to the six pack abs, tight pecks with their pert and rosy little nipples. `Holy shit,' he thought. `This has got to be the single most erotic thing I've ever seen.' His groin seemed to respond with a `yeah, no kidding,' and as he ran his tongue lightly over the man's slit, pulling a loud moan, nearly a scream, from Naoe's throat, said groin commented, `wait until you get a load of this,' and forced his tongue to start playing with the tip more fiercely to see if he could get Naoe to scream for real. The gentle sobbing he heard in reply was almost as good, as it was apparently the smaller of Takaya's heads that was doing all of his thinking at the moment. He let go of the erection with a slight pop, drinking in the delicious scent of an aroused Naoe and saying huskily, “Nobotsuna, look at me.”

 

“I can't,” Naoe replied desperately, fighting the frustrated tears edging his eyes. `I can't, but oh how I'd love to…' he thought.

 

“You can't? Why not? Don't you want to watch me? To see what I'm doing to you?” Takaya felt the urge to tease the overly-aroused man a bit.

 

“Yes. God, yes, Takaya, but I can't. I'll come too quickly if I watch you.”

 

“That's fine,” Takaya murmured, massaging his inner thigh. “I want to make you cum. That's the whole point of doing this. So watch. I don't care if you get off too quickly.”

 

When Naoe did lift his head and looked down, Takaya couldn't help a sharp inhale. Flushed, aroused, and slightly sweaty, with tossled hair and watery eyes, it was all Takaya could do to keep from touching himself. “You look fucking sexy,” he murmured, “all horny and wanton like this.” He nipped lightly at Naoe's tip. “So fucking hot,” he breathed against the heated flesh, and looked up at the man through his bangs as he decided to show a little mercy and closed his lips over Naoe's cock again, sucking a bit as he took as much as he could into his mouth, letting his tongue trace the veins on the way up and then sliding back down again. The pace was dizzyingly slow, the suction delicious, but not quite enough, and the way Takaya, still fully clothed seemed to savor him, the very taste of his sex—well worth the wait.

 

Naoe moaned and whimpered, trying to keep still for the inexperienced, yet intuitively talented lover he had.

 

“Ta-ah-ka…please!” he begged. “It's too slow. I'm so…close…please…god Takaya. I'm going crazy. Please, suck…suck harder,” he begged, insanity and desperation edging his tone. Takaya chose to oblige, sucking Naoe as hard as he could, hollowing his cheeks in the process, bobbing his head up and down, and as an added bonus for begging, massaging the man's heavy balls with the palm of one hand. He only got in maybe three or four full bobs before Naoe screamed his name and came hard in his waiting mouth.

 

`What does he taste like?' Chiaki had said. `His lips, his skin, his cock, his cum. If you're serious, you need to know those things, and if you aren't serious, then stop pretending to be. You want advice on what to do for him, suck him off. That's my advice. He'll love it, right? And it should clear up any doubts you have about whether or not you can return his desire with a desire of your own. You owe him an answer to that question. You owe him at least that much, as the person he's loved for longer than a lifetime.'

 

Takaya moaned softly as he swallowed down what Naoe had to offer. Doubts? He'd had them? He couldn't remember what they were right now. Of course, he was actually too horny to remember much of anything by the time Naoe had pulled him up into his arms and was planting kisses all over his face and mouth and shoulders. “You didn't have to swallow it,” the older man whispered.

 

“I know that, stupid,” Takaya retorted, voice huskier than he meant it, before he proceeded to moan softly when Naoe's leg brushed across his arousal.

 

Naoe's eyes widened in pleased surprise. “Taka…”

 

“What?” Takaya barked slightly. “The way you were moaning, even a monk would have been turned on.” He suddenly remembered how easily Naoe, who was a monk, was aroused and amended. “Or a nun, even.”

 

“I'm just relieved,” Naoe said, nuzzling Takaya's throat affectionately. How long had he waited to be able to touch him like this? Lifetimes. A small eternity, maybe, and it had felt like long enough in this life alone to measure decades even though it hadn't even been a year that had passed since they met. “Since you've never been aroused by me before, I thought it might be that you didn't feel attracted to me at all and were only humoring me.”

 

“I was scared,” Takaya admitted with a pout.

 

“Getting aroused by me is scary?” Naoe asked, hand sliding down lightly over the young man's clothed erection.

 

“No,” Takaya continued to pout. “But being in love with you is terrifying,” he half-whined.

 

Naoe stilled in shock. “Are you…saying…” This had to be some sort of dream. There was no way. It wasn't possible…those words coming from the lips of the one he adored most in this world. He had to be dreaming. There was no other explanation for it.

 

“I don't know what happened between you and Kagetora,” Takaya began. “Or if I'll ever be Kagetora completely, or if I'm only a reflection of someone you once loved, Nobotsuna, but I, Takaya Ougi, am in love with you.” He paused uncertainly. “Do I have to be Kagetora? Can't you accept my feelings just as Takaya? Can't you love me, also, just as I am, because the me that I am right now, at this moment, is the person who loves you. And I know that this is a stupid time to say this, when we're in this situation, with your hand on my crotch and me this…well, like this…but the one who loves you is me. The one who needs you, is me. Why does it have to be some sort of tragic, eternal love story? What's so bad about just plain old, ordinary, unexciting love? I'm the one who loves you, as Nobotsuna Naoe or whatever other name you want to use,” he said, not ready to admit he'd forgotten the name Naoe had in this life. Hey, he'd only heard it once! “I'm the one who can't stand the thought of losing you, so for whatever that's worth and whatever it means, can't you accept it and let it be enough? I love you. As myself, I love you, whoever that is. These are my true feelings that won't change.”

 

“Takaya,” Naoe murmured, wrapping the other into a loose embrace. “It's as I've always told you: the one I love is you and no one else. I won't take back my words.”

 

*~*~*

 

“Still sulking, I see,” Haruie said, resting her forehead against a strong back. “Don't pretend to be sleeping when you're still this tense.”

 

“He probably won't come back,” Crawford sighed a bit, rolling over onto his back. “He thinks I'm heartless.”

 

“Not heartless, just in pain,” Haruie soothed. “You can try talking to him. I'm sure you know where he is.”

 

“No. He's probably right,” Brad replied. “Schuldich and Farfarello are missing, and I'm here with you. What am I doing, Haruie?”

 

He didn't know how this had happened. He'd run into the woman in a bar, trying to drink himself into oblivion after having a vision that told him in no uncertain terms that his best friend and former lover was now the enemy. He knew there was nothing he could do to change anything, no matter how many visions he had. Crawford didn't know what sort of sorrow the female possessor was drowning at the time, but in the end, he woke up naked and tangled in her arms; he wanted to stay there forever and just pretend the rest of the world didn't exist. He knew he couldn't, but he wished it wasn't true.

 

“Finding comfort where you can, Brad,” she soothed. “There's nothing wrong with that.”

 

“And you? Comfort as well?” he asked, feeling the warmth of the breathtaking woman at his side, the swell of her breasts and the smooth line of her stomach lightly pressed against him, one leg draped lightly over his own.

 

“Comfort. Redemption maybe. Does it matter? He misunderstood. Talk to him and he'll forgive you.”

 

“He's going to be killed and I won't be able to change it this time either,” he said. “My family is falling apart. I've lost my cool. I'm not myself anymore.”

 

“I know how you feel,” Haruie replied. “Like the world is moving forward without you. Like all of a sudden, out of nowhere, time is catching up with you and you feel old. You've been in love before, haven't you? So deeply in love that nothing else mattered. And because you understand his feelings, you don't want to stop him, even if he's going to kill that boy and ruin everything for you. I'm right, aren't I? That was someone you seriously couldn't do without until you discovered you had to.”

 

“You're too observant,” Crawford complained, but nodded. “I had a wife,” he replied. “Looking back, I don't really remember falling in love with her. I think I probably loved her always, since before we met or before I was even born. That's how it feels. I had a vision of her dying in a plane crash. She was about to go on a business trip and I was determined to stop her. She got so angry with me. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. It was the middle of the night. She ran out crying and was hit by a bus. I realized then that the means didn't matter. If she was going to die, the future would make it happen no matter how much I intervened. These visions…are such a useless power. What's the point of seeing the future if it can't be changed? You've been in love the same way, right? That's why you understand.”

 

Haruie curled deeper into his shoulder, lightly tracing the muscles of his stomach. “Hai,” she answered quietly. “Centuries ago, before I was a possessor. He was such a kind, brave, stubborn fool of a man, and madly in love with one of my dearest friends. Nagahide tricked him into serving under me and married his twin sister. He had the best intentions in mind, figuring Kazu-kun would grow to love me, but when he begged me to be permitted to join the battle in Nagahide's place, I couldn't refuse him, even though I knew that everyone who fought that reckless battle was going to die. I think he knew it too.” She paused. “There are so many ways of being in love, but one great love is enough, I think. More than that would be too much to bear. Afterwards, this sort of thing is fine, right? You agree, don't you?”

 

Crawford sighed softly in thought. “It's nice,” he agreed. “Just to know you have someone to talk to, someone to hold. It's enough,” he said, leaning over to plant a bittersweet kiss on the woman's lips. “Plenty. I'll talk to Nagi tomorrow.”

 

“Whatever you want,” Haruie murmured, letting her hands loop loosely around his back, before chuckling a bit as she felt his slide up to cup her breast. “Again?” she asked bemusedly.

 

“Just once more,” he told her. “One more day of peace before we have to go deal with the mess that's been laid before us.”

 

`One more day in the comfort and safety of your arms.'

 

*~*~*

 

“Nobotsuna, damn it! I said it was a gift, you don't have to!” Takaya protested as he fought against the large hands unfastening his jeans, blushing cutely, which only made Naoe want to do it more.

 

“But I am also feeling very giving,” the older man teased. Takaya was acting so flustered and adorable, even after what he'd just done and admitted to, protesting any reciprocation from Naoe even though the teen was quite erect.

 

“Seriously, cut it out you perverted monk!” Takaya complained, though his voice was quite husky at the moment and betrayed him. Actually, he didn't really want Naoe to stop, but not being in control of the situation made him nervous.

 

“But you told me I could do whatever I wanted to you,” Naoe reminded him.

 

“You're taking me up on that offer now?!” Takaya sputtered.

 

“Would you feel better if I let you turn on the television?” the monk asked with a quirked brow, finally startling Takaya still enough to get his fly open and cup the hardened member through thin cotton boxers. `After confessing your love to me, do you think I'll let you get away so easily?' he thought. `I've waited too long to hear those words.'

 

“Don't tease me!” Takaya protested. “If you're going to be that way, just hurry up and do it. I don't want to hear your smartass commentary.”

 

“Hurry?” Naoe asked in his usual `I'm up to something but you won't know what it is until I do it,' tone, though Takaya was too embarrassed, nervous, and horny to really notice.

 

It is perhaps for this reason that when he barked out a “yes!” he wasn't really prepared for Naoe's more devilish side to come out.

 

Kissing the man as he swiftly pulled the pants and boxers from his narrow hips, Naoe then leaned in as he disrobed Takaya from the waist down, whispering, “don't forget you asked for this.”

 

He slid down to the floor without delay, pushed Takaya's shirt tails out of the way, and without further preparation, deep-throated the turgid shaft in one swift stroke and began sucking firmly.

 

Takaya screamed and tried to arch, but Naoe's hand on his hip held him in place as his head bobbed with swift fluidity up and down, taking him into the back of his throat each time, sliding back with no small amount of tongue play.

 

“Nnaaaooo….'tsuna! S-slow down! Oh god!”

 

Naoe let go of Takaya with a self-satisfied little pop, letting the man see him tonguing his slit a bit as he looked up at him before answering. “First you want me to hurry, now slow down. You're indecisive, Takaya,” he teased, sucking his finger to run the moist digit along the underside of the teen's shaft. “Should I ignore your please and do whatever I want to you then?” He pressed his thumb firmly against the head, kneading the shaft with his fingers.

 

“Evil,” Takaya muttered through a choked moan. “You're evil, Nobotsuna. Getting me to give you free reign was your plan from the start, bastard. Fine, do what you want.”

 

Naoe chuckled softly. “Gomen,” he murmured before closing his lips around Takaya's arousal once again.

 

“You don't sound sorry,” the young man complained, but decided just to enjoy the attention for once, and the delicious sensation of Naoe's lips and tongue and throat all there trying to please him. “And take off your socks,” he muttered. “You look stupid with only that on.”

 

When Naoe chuckled around his flesh and reached back to oblige, Takaya almost drew blood, he bit his lower lip so hard. `Chaiki, you bastard, you knew it was going to come to this, didn't you?' he thought. `I'm seriously going to owe you one now, but first I'm going to kill you for tricking me into this situation in the first place.'

 

Naoe was ecstatic, listening to the man panting above him, mewling as his balls were toyed with and gasping in shocked surprise as a moist digit grazed over his anus. He was enjoying keeping Takaya teetering on the edge, completely dependant upon him to fall over.

 

“…'tsuna,” Takaya panted. “Mn…'tsuna…” his brain shutting off for the second time that day. This felt so much better than it had any business feeling, and when Naoe decided to try a small experiment at his expense and slip a wet finger inside the young man's tight hole, Takaya screamed his name loudly and came on the spot, bursting lights flashing behind his eyes as he ejaculated almost violently down his lover's throat, stuck in the throes of the most intense orgasm of his young life. Of course, so few of those had been instigated by someone other than himself up to now that he couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed.

 

He panted helplessly as his brain finally, after some minutes, sifted back into his head. “Nobo—tsu—na…is that…your finger?”

 

Naoe licked his lips and wiggled the digit a bit. “Yes. It is,” he stated blandly. “Do you hate it?”

 

Takaya swallowed, his inner muscles tensing and relaxing around the appendage inside of him. “Take it out,” he stated. “Before I get turned on again.”

 

Naoe obliged with a slight laugh, circling the ring a bit afterwards just to tease, and wondering when he was going to get the pleasure of putting something else in his new favorite place. He slid up onto the couch and kissed the man who loved him, unable to get enough of those words sifting endlessly through his brain. `He loves me, he loves me, he loves me.' “You love it,” he teased.

 

“I love you,” Takaya corrected around a yawn.

 

“Takaya.”

 

“Don't forget,” he murmured sleepily. “I'm Takaya. The one who loves you is me and no one else.”

 

“Yeah, I'll remember,” Naoe replied adoringly, lifting the groggy young man into his arms and carrying him, already half-asleep into the bedroom to rest. He could clean up their mess later. It wasn't like they'd left much behind anyway, just a pile of clothes and a bit of an aftertaste, really.

 

`I understand,' Naoe thought. `You love me, but you haven't forgiven me, and maybe you never can. That's why you refuse to remember.'

 

As he curled up beside Takaya and closed his eyes to sleep, he thought `given that, I'm sorry, but I hope you never remember a thing. Then we can stay like this—holding in my arms the only piece of you that is innocent enough to want to be mine, to let go of your restless price and allow yourself to be possessed by desire.'

 

*~*~*

 

A/N: Phew…that Naoe/Takaya smuttiness was long! It was originally going to be one chunk, but I decided to split it up with a nice helping of random humor and some serious thought. Obviously, the rating on this story has just gone up, but I think it was a nice change of pace. The sexual tension between…MANY of the characters needed SOME relief, and I thought these two were a good, obvious choice. That and Takaya DID have a promise to keep. I sort of have this fear though that all my pairings will meet a crescendo at once, and I'll end up stuck with a chapter that will require like seven lemons. God, I hope not! I don't really write smut just for the sake of smut. If it's there, it's because I think it's called for. So, no, I have no intention of writing a lemon for every single pairing, though there are a few I think will have earned it. Naoe and Takaya, obviously. Probably Chiaki and Yuzuru, or Schu and Omi…beyond that, I don't know. Maybe Ran and Saori would be cute. Well, if anyone wants to beg a lemon out of me for any of the pairings, I'm open to suggestions, but writing one for everyone would be too much work!

 

Sakura hasn't shown up in a while. I think I'll have to bring her back in the next chapter. She's really a `supporting character' more than anything else, and I'm not sure how to write her. I think `this must be massively oc for her' but I'm not sure how to fix it. Anyway, this late in the game I think it's probably just best to run with it as it is rather than trying to fix problems with characterization. Well, I always worry that all my characters are ooc though. I think `would he/she really do this? No way. Or maybe…because I've never seen them in this situation so it's possible…' Well, to be honest, most of the time the story drags right along without me and before I know it I've got ten pages written and my hand is tired and an hour or two has passed and I'm not sure how it happened. Haha. My muse can be a real tricky bastard sometimes, so I guess it can't be helped.

 

Well, I'm going to stop babbling now. Hope to write more soon!

 

~B.P.~