Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Winter's End ❯ Winter's End ( One-Shot )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Flamika V 
*yaoi, lime* Touya/Jin - Absence makes the heart grow fonder. It also hurts like hell...
Anime/Manga: Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama / Hentai / Romance | Type: One Shot | Uploaded On: 07.30.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 1.2K | Status: Completed
*yaoi, lime* Touya/Jin - Absence makes the heart grow fonder. It also hurts like hell...
Anime/Manga: Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama / Hentai / Romance | Type: One Shot | Uploaded On: 07.30.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 1.2K | Status: Completed
Title: Winter's End
Author: Flamika
E-mail: flamika27@yahoo.com
Genre: Angst, Yaoi, Lime
Disclaimer: Jin and Touya belong to Yoshihiro Togashi. This a work of amateur fanfiction off of which no profit is made. However, the storyline and writing are mine. Plagiarism WILL NOT be tolerated.
Pairings: Touya x Jin / Jin x Touya
Warnings: yaoi, angst, lime
Rating: STRONG R
Notes: Touya first person POV. Takes place after the Ankoku Bujutsukai, but before Kurama assembles Jin, Touya, and the others for the Makai Bujutsukai.
Archiving: You want it? You got it!
All my other YYH fanfics are archived here:
geocities.com/flamika27/yyh.html
~**o**~
Winter 's end promises
of a long lost friend.
Speaks to me of comfort
but I fear
I have nothing to give.
I have so much
to lose here in this lonely place.
"Fear"
Sarah McLachlan
You used to fall asleep on top of me.
Whether we had sex or not the night before, you would still be there in the morning, passed out, head heavy on my chest, unruly scarlet hair splayed like bloody fingers over the cloth of my tunic, knee lodged most uncomfortably in my groin. You're heavier than you look, you know. And I had to be very careful when I climbed out from underneath you, because I didn't want to wake you from your much-needed rest.
It was somewhat annoying. I don't know why you insisted on crawling onto my futon and using me as a headrest. A few years ago, you said I was nothing but bony limbs and pale skin, someone not comfortable *at all* to cuddle with. Of course, I took into consideration that you were annoyed with me at the time, and thus, I kindly didn't point out that I could see your ribs when you breathed, which didn't make getting cozy with you very pleasant either.
Times were hard then, right Jin? Before Gama joined our Shinobi sect and lent us his expertise for planning, breathed into us his drive for honor, put all his life and faith into our success. Even Reisho's arrogance had to take a backseat to Gama's monetary strategies. We got better. More efficient. We achieved better teamwork. We ate better and more frequently. You liked that.
You used to talk with your mouth full of food.
That was also somewhat annoying. I didn't like having to constantly shield my face to avoid being sprayed with food as you laughed drunkenly with Reisho and the others. Many demons have slovenly eating habits, but it always turns my stomach to watch others' fangs gnash their food into palatable morsels. My mother prided herself in being a mannerly ice demon, and she used to admonish us severely for forgetting our table manners. She'd probably faint dead away if I ever took you home to share a meal with us.
You used to aggravate the hell out of me.
Loud mouth. Hair such a fierce red that I sometimes found myself squinting against its brilliance. Your eyes, your cerulean eyes, they always seemed to laugh at everything. Including me. I didn't like that. The only time you weren't smiling or laughing was when someone ordered you to do something. Then you'd scowl and get angry and huffy. Just like a spoiled little child. But...one time I told you to shut up and leave me alone. And you did. I hated myself for it.
I miss you so much.
I travel. I spend my nights alone in my bedroll, or in shabby motel rooms in the Makai. Gama is dead. You are gone. Reisho and Bakken have stooped far too low, and their dishonorable actions have caused them to lose what little standing they still had in my eyes. Lust for power has twisted their ideals into hideously misshapen things. To whore out our noble sect to that twisted human sponsor was an unforgivable transgression.
Reisho actually asked me to rejoin him and Bakken after the Dark Tournament. We will rebuild our sect, he vowed. We will replace Gama and that belligerent Wind Master! We don't need them!
But I refused. He and Bakken may not need you. But...I was shocked to find that I did. The Shinobi sect just isn't anything to me without you there. And I know that with Gama, you, and me gone, Reisho will be hard-pressed to reestablish the sect back to its former strength. There are very few as skilled with the enchanted paint as Gama was, and I am certain that there are no other Ice Masters of my caliber roaming the Makai, and there is not another Wind Master.
How do I know this? I know because I listen, whether it be in shadowy corners of seedy bars, or passing shady vermin in the streets, or to village chatter as I roam this dirty, twisted land I call home...I listen for you, Jin. News of a Wind Master with the hair the color of fresh blood on snow, eyes like the painfully beautiful azure sky over Hanging Neck Island, and a heart and personality that shines for miles like a light in the darkness.
But everywhere I go, there is nothing.
God, I want to see you again.
Why did you leave without so much as a goodbye? Was it because I spoke harshly to you, as I've done numerous times before? You think everything is a joke, and it's not. There are just some things you can't laugh at, and...and...there I go again. Trying to pin the blame on you, a sin I was occasionally guilty of during the centuries our sect was together.
Forgive me, but you were always an easy target, at least for me. Though you didn't take well to the forceful commands of Reisho and Bakken, when I spoke coldly to you, you merely frowned and huffed, but didn't raise hell about it. Or you laughed at me, told me to lighten up or you'd forcefully remove the stick in my ass. You were always in such high spirits, even in the direst of times when such cheeriness seemed hardly appropriate. It made me think you had enough mindless joy to shoulder the burden of my endless fount of melancholy, depressive thoughts.
I guess I was wrong.
It's cold here, literally and figuratively. I've journeyed across the Makai, back to the icy lands in which I was born. I should really travel a couple of villages over and visit my family, sleep in a proper bed for once.
But I don't want this cold. I want relentless heat, and sinfully salty skin underneath my tongue, and soft, ungainly lips against mine. I want red hair and sapphire eyes. I want a bright, idiotic grin sent in my direction every other second.
I want you.
We used to make love so clumsily.
When you told me you wanted me, for some reason I never thought to doubt your sincerity. I just gave myself up to you, to the fumbling caresses of your callused hands, to the heavy pulse of your ragged breaths next to my ear, to the haphazard press of your mouth on tender areas of my body. You were rough, awkward. I guess that annoyed me a little, as well. You sometimes nicked me with your fangs when you were going down on me, and you always made strange, mewling noises whenever I pleasured you in return.
But despite all the unintentional bruises and scratches I received, I still found you painfully attractive, more attractive than I ever let on. You were almost...cute. You cried once when I was moving inside you, and it damn near broke my heart.
I care about you, so much.
Back then, I could never give you anything but my kisses, my body, and my fidelity. I could not let you have things that were far too precious to me, things that I hoarded jealously in the depths of my soul, hidden underneath a shroud of protective darkness, kept from the light that we sought so feverishly. But if you were here now, I'd give you all of me.
But you are not here.
Here, there is only me, my beaten-up travel pack, and the snow beneath my feet. The eternal winter has long ago raped the leaves from the trees, and the white, empty landscape accurately reflects my internal sentiments. There was a brief snow flurry a few minutes ago, and there are now small piles of chilling whiteness on my head and shoulders, which I hastily brush off with my hand. The cold is my element, and it surrounds me with proffered power, trying to lend me some of its frigid fortitude. But I, their Master, am deaf to their entreaties. Touya, Master of the Enchanted Ice, a lovely title for one sorely undeserving of it.
I sigh, and my breath does not cloud the air. I am cold inside, as all ice demons are when they are in their element. We are born from the cold, and to the cold we always return. I should go see my family now.
I hitch my bag onto my shoulder, turn, and there you are.
You look positively miserable, standing by the gnarled trunk of a naked tree with your feet sunk into the snow, nose and cheeks red with cold, your crimson hair flecked with tiny snow flakes. You huddle inside a cheap brown cloak, and your teeth are chattering so loudly it's a wonder I did not notice your presence before.
"D-Damn cold up here!" you stammer. "Trust I'd find you here, in the coldest damn place in all of the Makai! Bloody crazy lot, you ice demons!"
"Jin," is all I can say. Looking at you makes me feel light-headed. Were you always this beautiful?
You shuffle your feet to keep the blood flowing in your legs, and I realize you are not wearing any shoes. Oh, Jin, you're...such an idiot.
A shaky grin splits your face. "So, how you been?"
Miserable, I think.
"Fine," I reply. "And you?"
"Crappy!" you exclaim cheerfully. "Horrible, terrible, and all those other bad things." You laugh loudly, obnoxiously, and I love the sound of it. "But anyhow! What have you been doing these past five months?"
"Nothing." Why...why can't I just tell you the truth?
"Liar," you suddenly accuse, all laughter and smiles gone from your face. You stalk across the snow, eyes suddenly fierce and angry. I've forgotten how...moody you can be, ever-changing like the winds that yield to your every command. You stop hugging yourself, and without your arms to hold it in place, the cloak falls slightly open in the front. I see you're wearing your white outfit underneath, the one made of thin cloth with only two straps criss-crossing your bare chest. Dammit, Jin, I'll bet you just threw on that raggedy cloak and trekked up here without any thought as to what the abominable climate would do to a body not accustomed to dealing with such low temperatures.
I frown at you. "Why am I a liar?"
"You can't even tell me why you've been running around the Makai all random and crazy-like!"
"I don't see how that is any of your business," I say, gripping the strap of my bag tightly so that I can feel the leather bite into the palm of my hand, a bit of pain that keeps me grounded, prevents me from being swept away in the tide of emotions that are rising in proportion to your angry presence.
"Oh, right!" you exclaim with a harsh, derisive laugh. "It *is* none of my business! In fact, I'm sure you just want me to shut up and leave you alone again, right?"
Anger heats my blood. "Since when did you do anything I told you to do? Always the rebellious one, doing his own thing, not listening to a single word anyone else had to say! You're such a brat, Jin!"
"And you're a cold-hearted bastard!" you yell, trying to kick snow in my direction, but you can't get sufficient traction because your feet are most likely too numb. "Forget this! I'm going somewhere that's warmer and has nicer company than you!"
The winds whirl in an agitated frenzy, sending my aquamarine bangs flapping into my eyes and nearly tearing the threadbare cloak off your shoulders. Your feet leave the ground in a violent rush of airborne snow and lacerating wind energy, and I do the only thing I can think to do. I drop my bag and leap to catch hold of one of your feet, gripping your ankle with both my hands while my own feet dangle a ways off the ground.
You look down at me, surprise blunting the edge of the fury that had formerly dominated your cerulean irises. I can see conflict in those eyes I had so longed to look into every day of these long months, and I know I must make my case before you decide to use your superior strength to fling me back down into the unforgiving snow.
"I'm sorry, Jin!" I say. "It's just...I'm...I'm sorry, alright?"
You stubbornly fold your leanly muscled arms across your chest. "Sorry for what?"
"Sorry...for everything," I say feebly.
Reaching down, you easily haul me up with two hands beneath each of my arms, like a parent would hold a child. I feel better looking at you from eye-level, but the ground seems very far below us. Falling from such a height would no doubt be unpleasant, even for a demon. But even the looming prospect of danger cannot deter me, not now. I need to ease that hurt from your eyes as much as I need to break the vice that closed around my heart the day I woke up in the Kubikukuri Hotel to find you had vanished without me.
"Did you really mean what you said after the Dark Tournament?" you ask quietly.
I shake my head vigorously. "No, Jin, I...I never wanted us to be apart, not with our sect in tatters. You were the only one I wanted to walk away from that tournament with."
You shake me slightly, eyes wide and desperate. "Truly? You're not lying to me, are you?"
God, Jin, how could I lie to you now, with windblown strands of your hair tickling my face, with your breath soft against my cheek, with your eyes so full of emotion? I've been lying to myself for years about how I truly felt about you. It's about time I stopped.
You don't wait for my answer. What you see in my eyes must be evidence enough because I suddenly find myself in a crushing embrace, surrounded by the long-lost scent of you, so much more heady and distinct up here in the sharp, empty frigidity of the endless winter winds. I wrap my legs around your waist and hold you tightly, partly due to fear of falling, but mostly because it seems like forever since I last touched you.
You pull back and kiss me hard and furiously on the mouth, and I return your intensity a hundredfold, garbling the words that try and escape your lips, "Stupid (kiss) Touya, making me (kisskiss) chase you all around the (kiss) damn Makai! God, I missed you!"
So...you knew that I was searching for you all along. That's why you were so angry when I said I'd been doing nothing. But as words give away to the untamed fury of clashing lips and tongues, I feel a sense of joy in knowing that the only reason I didn't hear a whisper of you during my five-month journey was because you'd been behind me the entire time.
~*O*~
There is a hotel on the outskirts of the town. We get a room, and it is just like old times again. Sweet. Poignant. Hot.
This must be a small slice of heaven, to be here, naked in your arms again. Your skin is sleek underneath my fingers as I fight to touch every exposed inch of it, re-exploring your body, once again seeking out the places I know will bring moans from your throat. We are hasty and clumsy. Your hands tremble as they part my thighs, and I bury my fingers in thick strands of scarlet hair that are cold from the wind outside but are quickly warming from the heat of our lovemaking.
I savor the sweet burn of you deep inside me, and as you begin the rapturous search for the ideal rhythm, I understand why you wept so many years ago. This utter abandonment, the sweet surrender of all inhibitions to pure sensation...it's enough to reduce any demon to tears. This is completion, light, and sheer ecstasy all rolled into one, and I spill hot, white passion into your hands as I brokenly call your name into your crimson hair.
We lie spent in the aftermath of our furious coupling, gasping for breath in the airy darkness, both of us covered in a glittering sheen of sweat. Your head rests underneath my chin. You're still heavy, Jin, but I've deeply missed the comforting press of your body. I brush sweat-soaked strands of hair away from your forehead, and you nestle more comfortably against me.
The stress of traveling out of your element takes its toll on your body, and I feel you sink into a contented sleep, snoring lightly. I lay awake with my arms wrapped around you, listening to the winter winds beating against the window, absently finger-combing the tangles from your thick hair as my mind for once looks towards the future with something that resembles eagerness.
I will stop to see my family, even if it's just so you can shock my mother with your oh-so atrocious table manners, but we will not remain there for long. No, I think we'll head south, Jin. Somewhere warm, where there is no need for your shabby cloak and shivering limbs. Maybe somewhere with blue skies, and those fluffy white clouds you loved so much. Oh, and plants that don't try and take bites from your ankles when you walk by.
But I doubt such a place exists in the Makai. Our only chance at owning such a divine kingdom withered away when we lost the Dark Tournament. But I know what you would say if I voiced my gloomy thoughts: "Sure, there may not be a place like that around here, but it won't do just to stop looking and be depressed all day! Right, Touya?"
I smile drowsily at your hypothetical encouragement. Right, Jin.
The strands of your hair now flow freely between my fingers, and the weight of your head on my chest is not annoying the slightest. It's reassuring, and I drop off to sleep knowing that you will be there when I awaken, heavy, loud, unmannerly, but nevertheless...mine.
~fin
28 July 2003
Author: Flamika
E-mail: flamika27@yahoo.com
Genre: Angst, Yaoi, Lime
Disclaimer: Jin and Touya belong to Yoshihiro Togashi. This a work of amateur fanfiction off of which no profit is made. However, the storyline and writing are mine. Plagiarism WILL NOT be tolerated.
Pairings: Touya x Jin / Jin x Touya
Warnings: yaoi, angst, lime
Rating: STRONG R
Notes: Touya first person POV. Takes place after the Ankoku Bujutsukai, but before Kurama assembles Jin, Touya, and the others for the Makai Bujutsukai.
Archiving: You want it? You got it!
All my other YYH fanfics are archived here:
geocities.com/flamika27/yyh.html
~**o**~
Winter 's end promises
of a long lost friend.
Speaks to me of comfort
but I fear
I have nothing to give.
I have so much
to lose here in this lonely place.
"Fear"
Sarah McLachlan
You used to fall asleep on top of me.
Whether we had sex or not the night before, you would still be there in the morning, passed out, head heavy on my chest, unruly scarlet hair splayed like bloody fingers over the cloth of my tunic, knee lodged most uncomfortably in my groin. You're heavier than you look, you know. And I had to be very careful when I climbed out from underneath you, because I didn't want to wake you from your much-needed rest.
It was somewhat annoying. I don't know why you insisted on crawling onto my futon and using me as a headrest. A few years ago, you said I was nothing but bony limbs and pale skin, someone not comfortable *at all* to cuddle with. Of course, I took into consideration that you were annoyed with me at the time, and thus, I kindly didn't point out that I could see your ribs when you breathed, which didn't make getting cozy with you very pleasant either.
Times were hard then, right Jin? Before Gama joined our Shinobi sect and lent us his expertise for planning, breathed into us his drive for honor, put all his life and faith into our success. Even Reisho's arrogance had to take a backseat to Gama's monetary strategies. We got better. More efficient. We achieved better teamwork. We ate better and more frequently. You liked that.
You used to talk with your mouth full of food.
That was also somewhat annoying. I didn't like having to constantly shield my face to avoid being sprayed with food as you laughed drunkenly with Reisho and the others. Many demons have slovenly eating habits, but it always turns my stomach to watch others' fangs gnash their food into palatable morsels. My mother prided herself in being a mannerly ice demon, and she used to admonish us severely for forgetting our table manners. She'd probably faint dead away if I ever took you home to share a meal with us.
You used to aggravate the hell out of me.
Loud mouth. Hair such a fierce red that I sometimes found myself squinting against its brilliance. Your eyes, your cerulean eyes, they always seemed to laugh at everything. Including me. I didn't like that. The only time you weren't smiling or laughing was when someone ordered you to do something. Then you'd scowl and get angry and huffy. Just like a spoiled little child. But...one time I told you to shut up and leave me alone. And you did. I hated myself for it.
I miss you so much.
I travel. I spend my nights alone in my bedroll, or in shabby motel rooms in the Makai. Gama is dead. You are gone. Reisho and Bakken have stooped far too low, and their dishonorable actions have caused them to lose what little standing they still had in my eyes. Lust for power has twisted their ideals into hideously misshapen things. To whore out our noble sect to that twisted human sponsor was an unforgivable transgression.
Reisho actually asked me to rejoin him and Bakken after the Dark Tournament. We will rebuild our sect, he vowed. We will replace Gama and that belligerent Wind Master! We don't need them!
But I refused. He and Bakken may not need you. But...I was shocked to find that I did. The Shinobi sect just isn't anything to me without you there. And I know that with Gama, you, and me gone, Reisho will be hard-pressed to reestablish the sect back to its former strength. There are very few as skilled with the enchanted paint as Gama was, and I am certain that there are no other Ice Masters of my caliber roaming the Makai, and there is not another Wind Master.
How do I know this? I know because I listen, whether it be in shadowy corners of seedy bars, or passing shady vermin in the streets, or to village chatter as I roam this dirty, twisted land I call home...I listen for you, Jin. News of a Wind Master with the hair the color of fresh blood on snow, eyes like the painfully beautiful azure sky over Hanging Neck Island, and a heart and personality that shines for miles like a light in the darkness.
But everywhere I go, there is nothing.
God, I want to see you again.
Why did you leave without so much as a goodbye? Was it because I spoke harshly to you, as I've done numerous times before? You think everything is a joke, and it's not. There are just some things you can't laugh at, and...and...there I go again. Trying to pin the blame on you, a sin I was occasionally guilty of during the centuries our sect was together.
Forgive me, but you were always an easy target, at least for me. Though you didn't take well to the forceful commands of Reisho and Bakken, when I spoke coldly to you, you merely frowned and huffed, but didn't raise hell about it. Or you laughed at me, told me to lighten up or you'd forcefully remove the stick in my ass. You were always in such high spirits, even in the direst of times when such cheeriness seemed hardly appropriate. It made me think you had enough mindless joy to shoulder the burden of my endless fount of melancholy, depressive thoughts.
I guess I was wrong.
It's cold here, literally and figuratively. I've journeyed across the Makai, back to the icy lands in which I was born. I should really travel a couple of villages over and visit my family, sleep in a proper bed for once.
But I don't want this cold. I want relentless heat, and sinfully salty skin underneath my tongue, and soft, ungainly lips against mine. I want red hair and sapphire eyes. I want a bright, idiotic grin sent in my direction every other second.
I want you.
We used to make love so clumsily.
When you told me you wanted me, for some reason I never thought to doubt your sincerity. I just gave myself up to you, to the fumbling caresses of your callused hands, to the heavy pulse of your ragged breaths next to my ear, to the haphazard press of your mouth on tender areas of my body. You were rough, awkward. I guess that annoyed me a little, as well. You sometimes nicked me with your fangs when you were going down on me, and you always made strange, mewling noises whenever I pleasured you in return.
But despite all the unintentional bruises and scratches I received, I still found you painfully attractive, more attractive than I ever let on. You were almost...cute. You cried once when I was moving inside you, and it damn near broke my heart.
I care about you, so much.
Back then, I could never give you anything but my kisses, my body, and my fidelity. I could not let you have things that were far too precious to me, things that I hoarded jealously in the depths of my soul, hidden underneath a shroud of protective darkness, kept from the light that we sought so feverishly. But if you were here now, I'd give you all of me.
But you are not here.
Here, there is only me, my beaten-up travel pack, and the snow beneath my feet. The eternal winter has long ago raped the leaves from the trees, and the white, empty landscape accurately reflects my internal sentiments. There was a brief snow flurry a few minutes ago, and there are now small piles of chilling whiteness on my head and shoulders, which I hastily brush off with my hand. The cold is my element, and it surrounds me with proffered power, trying to lend me some of its frigid fortitude. But I, their Master, am deaf to their entreaties. Touya, Master of the Enchanted Ice, a lovely title for one sorely undeserving of it.
I sigh, and my breath does not cloud the air. I am cold inside, as all ice demons are when they are in their element. We are born from the cold, and to the cold we always return. I should go see my family now.
I hitch my bag onto my shoulder, turn, and there you are.
You look positively miserable, standing by the gnarled trunk of a naked tree with your feet sunk into the snow, nose and cheeks red with cold, your crimson hair flecked with tiny snow flakes. You huddle inside a cheap brown cloak, and your teeth are chattering so loudly it's a wonder I did not notice your presence before.
"D-Damn cold up here!" you stammer. "Trust I'd find you here, in the coldest damn place in all of the Makai! Bloody crazy lot, you ice demons!"
"Jin," is all I can say. Looking at you makes me feel light-headed. Were you always this beautiful?
You shuffle your feet to keep the blood flowing in your legs, and I realize you are not wearing any shoes. Oh, Jin, you're...such an idiot.
A shaky grin splits your face. "So, how you been?"
Miserable, I think.
"Fine," I reply. "And you?"
"Crappy!" you exclaim cheerfully. "Horrible, terrible, and all those other bad things." You laugh loudly, obnoxiously, and I love the sound of it. "But anyhow! What have you been doing these past five months?"
"Nothing." Why...why can't I just tell you the truth?
"Liar," you suddenly accuse, all laughter and smiles gone from your face. You stalk across the snow, eyes suddenly fierce and angry. I've forgotten how...moody you can be, ever-changing like the winds that yield to your every command. You stop hugging yourself, and without your arms to hold it in place, the cloak falls slightly open in the front. I see you're wearing your white outfit underneath, the one made of thin cloth with only two straps criss-crossing your bare chest. Dammit, Jin, I'll bet you just threw on that raggedy cloak and trekked up here without any thought as to what the abominable climate would do to a body not accustomed to dealing with such low temperatures.
I frown at you. "Why am I a liar?"
"You can't even tell me why you've been running around the Makai all random and crazy-like!"
"I don't see how that is any of your business," I say, gripping the strap of my bag tightly so that I can feel the leather bite into the palm of my hand, a bit of pain that keeps me grounded, prevents me from being swept away in the tide of emotions that are rising in proportion to your angry presence.
"Oh, right!" you exclaim with a harsh, derisive laugh. "It *is* none of my business! In fact, I'm sure you just want me to shut up and leave you alone again, right?"
Anger heats my blood. "Since when did you do anything I told you to do? Always the rebellious one, doing his own thing, not listening to a single word anyone else had to say! You're such a brat, Jin!"
"And you're a cold-hearted bastard!" you yell, trying to kick snow in my direction, but you can't get sufficient traction because your feet are most likely too numb. "Forget this! I'm going somewhere that's warmer and has nicer company than you!"
The winds whirl in an agitated frenzy, sending my aquamarine bangs flapping into my eyes and nearly tearing the threadbare cloak off your shoulders. Your feet leave the ground in a violent rush of airborne snow and lacerating wind energy, and I do the only thing I can think to do. I drop my bag and leap to catch hold of one of your feet, gripping your ankle with both my hands while my own feet dangle a ways off the ground.
You look down at me, surprise blunting the edge of the fury that had formerly dominated your cerulean irises. I can see conflict in those eyes I had so longed to look into every day of these long months, and I know I must make my case before you decide to use your superior strength to fling me back down into the unforgiving snow.
"I'm sorry, Jin!" I say. "It's just...I'm...I'm sorry, alright?"
You stubbornly fold your leanly muscled arms across your chest. "Sorry for what?"
"Sorry...for everything," I say feebly.
Reaching down, you easily haul me up with two hands beneath each of my arms, like a parent would hold a child. I feel better looking at you from eye-level, but the ground seems very far below us. Falling from such a height would no doubt be unpleasant, even for a demon. But even the looming prospect of danger cannot deter me, not now. I need to ease that hurt from your eyes as much as I need to break the vice that closed around my heart the day I woke up in the Kubikukuri Hotel to find you had vanished without me.
"Did you really mean what you said after the Dark Tournament?" you ask quietly.
I shake my head vigorously. "No, Jin, I...I never wanted us to be apart, not with our sect in tatters. You were the only one I wanted to walk away from that tournament with."
You shake me slightly, eyes wide and desperate. "Truly? You're not lying to me, are you?"
God, Jin, how could I lie to you now, with windblown strands of your hair tickling my face, with your breath soft against my cheek, with your eyes so full of emotion? I've been lying to myself for years about how I truly felt about you. It's about time I stopped.
You don't wait for my answer. What you see in my eyes must be evidence enough because I suddenly find myself in a crushing embrace, surrounded by the long-lost scent of you, so much more heady and distinct up here in the sharp, empty frigidity of the endless winter winds. I wrap my legs around your waist and hold you tightly, partly due to fear of falling, but mostly because it seems like forever since I last touched you.
You pull back and kiss me hard and furiously on the mouth, and I return your intensity a hundredfold, garbling the words that try and escape your lips, "Stupid (kiss) Touya, making me (kisskiss) chase you all around the (kiss) damn Makai! God, I missed you!"
So...you knew that I was searching for you all along. That's why you were so angry when I said I'd been doing nothing. But as words give away to the untamed fury of clashing lips and tongues, I feel a sense of joy in knowing that the only reason I didn't hear a whisper of you during my five-month journey was because you'd been behind me the entire time.
~*O*~
There is a hotel on the outskirts of the town. We get a room, and it is just like old times again. Sweet. Poignant. Hot.
This must be a small slice of heaven, to be here, naked in your arms again. Your skin is sleek underneath my fingers as I fight to touch every exposed inch of it, re-exploring your body, once again seeking out the places I know will bring moans from your throat. We are hasty and clumsy. Your hands tremble as they part my thighs, and I bury my fingers in thick strands of scarlet hair that are cold from the wind outside but are quickly warming from the heat of our lovemaking.
I savor the sweet burn of you deep inside me, and as you begin the rapturous search for the ideal rhythm, I understand why you wept so many years ago. This utter abandonment, the sweet surrender of all inhibitions to pure sensation...it's enough to reduce any demon to tears. This is completion, light, and sheer ecstasy all rolled into one, and I spill hot, white passion into your hands as I brokenly call your name into your crimson hair.
We lie spent in the aftermath of our furious coupling, gasping for breath in the airy darkness, both of us covered in a glittering sheen of sweat. Your head rests underneath my chin. You're still heavy, Jin, but I've deeply missed the comforting press of your body. I brush sweat-soaked strands of hair away from your forehead, and you nestle more comfortably against me.
The stress of traveling out of your element takes its toll on your body, and I feel you sink into a contented sleep, snoring lightly. I lay awake with my arms wrapped around you, listening to the winter winds beating against the window, absently finger-combing the tangles from your thick hair as my mind for once looks towards the future with something that resembles eagerness.
I will stop to see my family, even if it's just so you can shock my mother with your oh-so atrocious table manners, but we will not remain there for long. No, I think we'll head south, Jin. Somewhere warm, where there is no need for your shabby cloak and shivering limbs. Maybe somewhere with blue skies, and those fluffy white clouds you loved so much. Oh, and plants that don't try and take bites from your ankles when you walk by.
But I doubt such a place exists in the Makai. Our only chance at owning such a divine kingdom withered away when we lost the Dark Tournament. But I know what you would say if I voiced my gloomy thoughts: "Sure, there may not be a place like that around here, but it won't do just to stop looking and be depressed all day! Right, Touya?"
I smile drowsily at your hypothetical encouragement. Right, Jin.
The strands of your hair now flow freely between my fingers, and the weight of your head on my chest is not annoying the slightest. It's reassuring, and I drop off to sleep knowing that you will be there when I awaken, heavy, loud, unmannerly, but nevertheless...mine.
~fin
28 July 2003