Work Text:
You weren't supposed to fall in love with your bodyguard.
Especially not in the world you live in. In your father's empire, you were the precious yakuza princess. A woman whose father had built the world around her with blood and sacrifice.
Feelings could cost you a life in this world. You knew that all too well.
And yet, you still somehow managed to fall in love with the one person who was completely off limits.
When your father hired him a little over a year ago, you would never have guessed you would fall head over heels for such a dangerous and insufferable man.
Karma Akabane.
His name carried weight in the underworld. You heard the stories that followed him. About how ruthless he could be, how he'd taken down men twice his size with a lazy smile and blood on his knuckles. He was feared for a reason. He was brutal when he needed to be, violent without hesitation, cunning enough to always stay two steps ahead.
Karma's skills were proven to be worthy of a bodyguard in your father's eyes.
Of course, you weren't going to deny that. His skills were amazing.
You never felt in danger when you were with him. He was strong, quick on his feet, and didn't mind getting his hands bloody when you needed him to.
His personality, however, was another story.
He was extremely insufferable, constantly mocking you and deliberately getting on your nerves. He'd hide your phone just to watch you panic, change the password on your laptop for "security reasons," or whisper snide comments during boring family meetings just to see you bite back laughter.
You often got angry at him, yelled at him, threw things at him, and even demanded that your father fire him a couple of times.
However, as time went on, your heart started to flutter at his presence.
It all started when he caught you at a party.
You told your father you were going to be at the library with some friends to study for finals. Karma saw straight through your bullshit and caught you in the act, and had to drag you out of there.
At first, you thought he was going to rat you out to your father. But... He didn't.
"If you're going to lie, at least do better~" Karma said with amusement, but you heard the mock underneath that.
That was all he said as he drove you home, his tone annoyingly amused. He even helped you sneak back to your room, saying this was considered a free pass.
After that, you went from hating him to tolerating him to falling in love with him.
It was stupid. Insanely stupid.
He was your bodyguard.
He was a man sworn to protect you. A man your father would kill if he got too close to you. You couldn't just date him.
So, you did your best to keep your feelings under wraps. You wish this were just a one-sided crush that wouldn't lead anywhere.
Unfortunately or fortunately... You were picking up signals that the feeling was mutual.
He let you sleep on his shoulder during long car rides and never complained. Carried you over rain or mud puddles to avoid ruining your expensive shoes. Carried you and your heels to the car once the party had come to an end.
Some might say you were being delusional. He's your bodyguard. Of course, he would do those things for you.
And at first, you wanted to brush those moments off as him simply doing his job, yes. But you couldn't.
It's the way he gently does those things that makes you think differently. He is a strong man capable of crushing another man's skull, yet he holds you as if you were made of porcelain.
Then came those moments when he remembered how you like your coffee. He remembered the exact favourite scenes in each book you've told him. Listen to you and your pointless gossip that even made your father eye-roll. Gave you his jacket when you were cold.
You started to notice the slight irritation in his eyes whenever you were around another man who clearly showed interest in you. The sharp way his gaze would cut across a room, the way his jaw would clench for a split second before he was smiling again. The love letters and gifts you used to constantly receive from persistent admirers suddenly stopped reaching you.
You never said or did anything about it, however.
No matter how far you've fallen for this man, you refused to make a move. He's still your bodyguard who worked for your father.
A relationship with him wasn't just impossible—it was dangerous.
It did drive you crazy that Karma was always hovering around you, yet he felt so far. That small mandatory distance he kept with you was what kept you from recklessly kissing him.
Because it was a reminder that there were rules between the two of you.
Rules that would keep him from getting executed.
But then, everything came crumbling down that night at the safe house.
The place was tucked high into the mountains, a discreet wooden cabin hidden behind tall pines and buried in thick, quiet snow. Inside, the air smelled faintly of old wood and instant ramen. The heater buzzed in the background, doing its best to fight off the icy air seeping through the windows.
Your father sent you to this safe house with Karma after a failed assassination attempt on your life. Someone who worked for your father betrayed him and sold off your schedule to an enemy.
Luckily, Karma was there and took the hit for you. The bullet grazed his upper arm pretty deeply, but he was fine overall.
Your father didn't think it was safe for you to be at home until he made sure there were no other rats involved in this betrayal.
So, he sent you and his favourite attack dog into the mountains. Away from everyone.
"I hate puzzles." You grumbled, annoyed that you put two awkward pieces together again.
The jigsaw puzzle on the mahogany table was a thousand-piece nightmare of a pirate ship out at sea, and you had spent the last hour trying not to lose your mind.
70 percent of this stupid puzzle consists of the colour blue cause of the ocean and sky.
Karma sat next to you, watching you struggle with amusement, rather than helping you. You stopped asking him to participate for a while now.
"You hate anything that requires thinking. Shocker." He snickers.
You frowned and flicked a puzzle piece at his shoulder. It bounced off his black shirt and fell into his lap.
Karma grinned like the shit bag that he was and put the puzzle piece into the pile.
"I'm surprised you're not dying of boredom. You didn't bring any of your games." You said.
"I have you to annoy. That's pretty fun."
"If you annoy me enough, I will kill you and bury your body somewhere in this mountain." You said threateningly.
"Scary~"
You decided to ignore him and finish this stupid puzzle. Might as well, right? There really wasn't much to do in this stupid safe house.
"Cold?" Karma asked.
You wanted to tell yourself that he was only asking because that was part of the protocol and not because he secretly cared.
You shook your head and found two pieces that fit together.
"How's your wound?" You asked, trying to be as nonchalant as him.
"It's fine. I've been through worse."
You slowly picked up another piece.
You knew that. As good as he was at his job. That didn't mean he didn't get hurt every now and then. You'd seen it sometimes firsthand.
Just like yesterday, when the bullet grazed his upper arm as he pulled you into his arms.
Karma noticed your gaze on the wound under his shirt.
"It's not your job to worry about me." He said with a light teasing tone.
You sighed. "But I do anyway." You admitted before you could think about it.
Karma's attempt to make the atmosphere as light-hearted as possible was crushed with that one simple sentence.
It didn't help that you quickly looked away, pretending to focus on the puzzle.
As nonchalantly as possible, Karma turned his head to stare at the window and watch the gentle snow fall.
Your heart was beating so wildly that you were worried he could hear it.
'Argh! Why did I say that?! Stupid! Stupid!'
Why couldn't you just tease him back like you normally did? Why did you have to sound so sappy?
You quietly do your puzzle, the two of you ignoring the tension in the air.
For the next five minutes, your focus was entirely on the puzzle. Maybe with a little too much focus. Sometimes you put random pieces together that clearly do not match.
"Hey..." You piped up, trying to test how awkward the air was. "You've been working for my father for a year now, huh?"
"Yep." He replied with a dry tone. "Happy anniversary to me, huh?"
You grinned. "I'll break into one of my father's cabinets and steal one of his expensive wines as a gift for you once we get back."
"Hm, I don't know." Karma tilts his head as a slow, mischievous smirk appears on his lips. "A whole bottle just for me? Sounds like a waste. How bout we split it?"
"As if. I'm willing to steal it, but not drink it. If Father catches you, then you can take the blame."
"Are you trying to get me fired?"
"He wouldn't." You waved him off. "You're too important. He might ask you to chop a finger off."
"Aw, come on." He playfully nudged you. "Just one drink."
You looked at him, tempted to keep arguing with him, but that smile on his face softened you. "Fine."
He smiled. Not a cocky one, not a sinister one. It was a true, genuine smile. One he only does for you.
You haven't realized it yet, but your eyes lingered a bit longer.
Karma reached out to cup your cheek, and that snapped you out of it.
You shot up. "I-"
You both froze, and the reality hit you.
Karma's hand remained suspended in the air for a split second longer before he curled his fingers into a fist and let it drop to his side. His gaze darted away, jaw clenched tight.
Neither of you said anything for a good minute.
"I-I'll be in my room." You mumbled.
You stood there for a few extra seconds, waiting for him to say something—to make a joke, to insult you, to tease you back into familiar territory.
He didn't.
Even when Karma heard you going all the way up the stairs, he still couldn't relax. His heart wasn't ready to calm down.
The hand that was about to touch your cheek, he used it to rake his hair back.
"Dammit." He clicked his tongue.
Karma wasn't sure if he was upset because you pulled away, or because he was doing something completely reckless.
In the meantime, you didn't leave your room for hours. From time to time, you did regret coming in here empty-handed. Because you literally had nothing to entertain you. Your temporary room had only the essentials.
A bed and a closet. That's it!
At least downstairs you had a puzzle set to work on.
.... And, you at least had Karma.
You aggressively shook your head.
No, no, no, no! Don't think about him and his stupid handsome face!
The most distraction you got was trying not to think about your red-headed bodyguard. It would have been a lot easier to forget he was here alone with you if Karma didn't check on you every thirty minutes.
Karma would knock lightly each time, his voice casual. "You alive in there?"
"Yeah," you'd call back, trying and failing to sound normal.
You get that it was part of the job to check on you, but you felt as though he was doing this as an excuse to talk to you.
Even so, that didn't stop you from wanting to leave your room. Wanting to be next to him.
Be with him.
But if you did, you were worried you would do something reckless.
The sky eventually grew darker, and snow came down harder.
You lay on your bed, waiting for sleep to take over, just so you could escape these never-ending thoughts for at least a few hours.
But sleep wasn't coming anytime soon.
Karma's almost touch was plaguing your thoughts, keeping you up.
If he wasn't your bodyguard, you would have let him touch your cheek. You would have let him do more than touch your cheek. But he is your bodyguard. A man who could never fully have you.
It was painful.
But, for his sake, it was best if you kept up this distance. Stay here. Don't bring up that almost touch. Stop thinking about that almost touch.
You sighed loudly and stared at the ceiling.
'I'm hungry.' You thought annoyingly.
Maybe you should have eaten that ramen Karma offered you over 2 hours ago.
Sleep wasn't coming in anytime soon, and now you're hungry.
What a perfect combination.
You groaned in annoyance and sat up, mentally cursing your father for sending you here. You weren't used to this lifestyle. You had maids and servants at your beck and call for every need. Getting something as simple as your own food was absurd to you.
Just grab something to eat and come back upstairs. Maybe eating something warm would help you sleep faster.
With that in mind, you pulled on a thick blanket, wrapping it around your shoulders like a cloak to shield yourself from the cold seeping under the door. The wooden floor was icy under your bare feet as you opened your door and stepped into the dim hallway.
When you went downstairs, your muscles tensed, expecting to see or hear Karma by now. Expecting the awkwardness to commence.
But none of that happened.
Because he wasn't here.
You froze and furrowed your brows, your eyes scanning the area.
"Karma?" You called out.
The only sound you received was the fireplace crackling and the howling of the wind.
You stepped further into the room, bare feet brushing against the worn wooden floor. The hairs on the back of your neck stood up.
You were starting to get worried. No, you were worried.
Where is he? He has to be here.
He couldn't be upstairs.
He needs to be on alert. By being in the living room, close to the door, just in case something happens.
This time, you shouted in a panicked tone. "Karma!"
Your eyes swept the room frantically and landed on the front door. Your heart dropped.
His boots and jacket were gone.
Did he go outside?
Had he seen something? Heard something? Was there an intruder he had to confront? Was he out there right now, bleeding in the snow while you stood here uselessly in a blanket?
Still wearing nothing but your sleepwear and blanket, you were about to head out to find him.
But after taking two steps, the door swung open.
Karma came rushing in, snow clinging to his boots and the hem of his pants. The wind shoved a burst of icy air into the cabin before he slammed the door shut behind him.
He unzipped his jacket with quick, practiced motions and tossed his hoodie back, red hair a dishevelled mess, muttering how cold it was. He paused mid-movement when he finally noticed you standing there in the middle of the room, blanket wrapped around you like a cloak, eyes wide and breathing uneven.
"Hey. I thought you were sleeping." He said, casually as ever, unaware that he had unintentionally taken ten years off your life.
He was here.
He was okay.
"You were out." You breathed out.
Karma raised an eyebrow, wondering why you were pointing out the obvious. "Uh, yeah. I was doing a perimeter check. No snow monster in sight."
Relief hit you. And before you knew it, you ran up to him, the blanket falling on the floor. Your arms wrapped around him, and you buried your head against his chest.
The snow on him touched you and clung to you, giving you the chills, but you didn't care.
Karma went still. Surprise was still etched on his face before it softened when he realized why you were hugging him.
He hesitated to hug you back. He knew the rules. He knew the punishment for getting too close to the boss's daughter.
He knew the hell that awaited anyone for being in love with someone like you.
He grew up in a world with blood and sacrifice. He thought by now his heart would have hardened. He would never get too close to anyone. Would never open up that wall for anyone.
But here he was, getting hugged by the woman he could never fully have and feeling his heart soften.
When it came to you, his heart would always soften.
Karma relented and wrapped his arms around you, pulling you closer, tucking you more securely against his chest.
"I was only gone for fifteen minutes." He assured softly.
"You could have told me." You tried to snap, but it came off as weak since you were on the verge of crying.
"I thought you were sleeping."
"It's not your job to assume things, dummy." You smacked him once on his back.
The hit didn't even make him flinch. It just made him laugh, that familiar, infuriating sound that usually made you roll your eyes.
"My bad, my bad." He tightened his hold for a moment, giving you a quick squeeze before slowly, reluctantly, easing you back. His hands slid down your arms until he could see your face.
Your eyes were a little red at the corners, your cheeks flushed both from the cold and from how hard you'd been trying not to cry. You kept your gaze angled slightly down, as if meeting his eyes might shatter you all over again.
"Next time I leave," Karma promised, voice low, "I'll be sure to let you know." Gently, he brushed away a few strands of your hair from your face. "Okay?"
You swallowed and nodded once.
The unspoken rule you both agreed on long ago was starting to dissolve. Slowly but surely.
The way he held you and spoke to you made you wish you could stay here forever with him.
You stayed with him by the fire after that.
Even though you finished eating a hot cup of ramen, you couldn't leave his side, scared he would actually disappear from you.
In fact, he still could. Not in the literal sense, no. His life can be taken at any moment. Only be taken because his whole job was to protect you.
And that was terrifying.
An hour had passed, and you were both sitting together, quietly drinking tea near the fireplace.
"I hate tea," Karma muttered, sounding like a petulant child, but still took small sips.
"There was no coffee, so shut up and drink." You snapped, but with no real bite to it.
"I like it better when you were worried about me." He said, feigning hurt.
You rolled your eyes. "Then go back outside and freeze," you deadpanned.
He snorted. "Tempting."
The crackle of the fire filled the silence between you. Outside, snow tapped softly against the windows in restless little whispers, and somewhere in the cabin, the heater hummed on with a tired, uneven rhythm. The safe house felt smaller at night. Cozier, maybe. But also more intimate.
Karma took another sip but grimaced again. He set the half-empty mug onto the table. He'd figured the fire would be enough to keep him warm.
You did offer the blanket to him, but he thought you needed it more. You both ended up sharing it.
"If I'd known you'd look this worried, I would've stayed outside longer," Karma said, smirking, clearly enjoying having you cling to him.
Something told you that he was never going to let that go.
You glared. "That's just evil."
"Look who you're talking to." He shot back.
You scoffed out a laugh.
You were taking your time with your tea, so now that your mug was empty, you were out of excuses to be with him.
"Aren't you going to bed?" Karma asked.
As if his words physically poked you, you flinched.
It wasn't a simple question. He was giving you the option to leave now. It was your chance to put a stop to this romantic tension that kept on brewing.
"Do you want me to leave?" You asked, trying to avoid the question. Trying to avoid your true feelings.
You clutched your mug tightly. If he says yes, then you leave, no questions asked. And tomorrow, you would act like nothing had happened.
But if he says no... Then...
You pressed your lips together.
You don't think of the answer.
Karma paused. He knew the right answer. The safe answer.
He should send you upstairs. He should remind you he was hired to protect you, not to hold you when you panicked, not to stand there and soak in your warmth like a starving man given food.
And yet, he also remembered the way you had clung to him earlier, breathless and shaken, your arms wrapped around his torso after he'd come back in from the snow. He remembered how your voice had trembled when you spoke.
Something in him, something he had spent years forcing into silence, had flickered awake at that.
"No," Karma responded sincerely, and your heart jumped. "I feel like you won't be able to sleep if I'm not there." He chuckled softly, a lame attempt to act like his usual teasing self.
Your heart thundered.
Robotically, you put the mug down. "Oh... Okay."
You leaned back against the couch, feeling his shoulder press against yours.
Neither of you said anything and kept still and kept quiet. Sitting this close, having his shoulder touching yours, was enough to get Karma into trouble.
So you both didn't move, thinking this should be enough. But it wasn't enough. Especially for two people who desperately wanted to hold each other.
"Cold?" Karma asked, a lot more softly than before.
This time, you nodded. Shyly nodded.
Karma's arm lifted slowly and settled over your shoulders, pulling you into his side. His arm was heavy and warm around your shoulders, the weight of it dragging you closer until your side was flush against his.
The faint thud of his heartbeat reached you in uneven echoes, as if it couldn't quite decide between calm and chaos.
There was a small, frightened voice in your head saying that this was not okay.
Karma could get into trouble. Big trouble.
Your blood went cold when you started to think of the possibilities of what your father might do if he found out what Karma was doing.
"Karma—" you were about to pull away, but Karma's grip was strong.
"There's nobody here." He said into your ear, making goosebumps blossom across your arm and neck.
You went still.
He's right. There is no one here but you and him. Anything could happen, and it will never reach your father's ears.
Yet, that didn't stop you from getting nervous or even thinking about the possibility of your father discovering the simple fact of Karma having his arms around you.
"There is no one here," Karma said again, in a low voice that made you shiver. He didn't sound worried or scared at all.
You bit your lower lip and kept your eyes on the fire, then on your lap, trying to figure out where was the best place to look while his gorgeous golden eyes were on you.
The corner of Karma's lips twitched. What a cute reaction from a woman who would throw a glass full of ice at you if you caught her in a bad mood.
He lolled his head forward, and he rested his forehead against yours.
"Look at me."
You didn't at first until he started gently bumping his head against yours.
Your eyebrows twitched.
It was such a stupidly him thing to do—annoying, childish, and somehow exactly what you needed to cut through the suffocating tension.
And just like he wanted, you finally looked at him. Well, glaring to be more precise.
But Karma didn't care. He finally had your attention.
"You are so annoying." You mumbled.
"Then why are you still here?" He said teasingly, the tip of his nose brushing your cheek.
Too close. Way too close.
"I... I just don't want to leave you," you said quietly. Your eyes were enough to melt the coldness in Karma's heart.
His eyes softened, and for a brief second the usual smugness disappeared entirely.
An imaginary alarm was going off in your head. But it was barely noticeable the closer you leaned in towards each other.
And after many gruelling months of pining for one another, you both finally shared a kiss.
His lips met yours in a kiss that was, at first, almost shockingly gentle. Warm. Careful. As if he were afraid you might shatter if he pushed just a little too hard.
Your eyes fluttered shut as heat flooded your body, melting the cold that had been clinging to your bones since you'd first stepped into this mountain.
For a heartbeat, the world went utterly, perfectly silent.
No wind. No crackling fire. No echo of your father's voice in your head.
Just the press of Karma's mouth against yours, the rough brush of his thumb against your jaw, the faint tremor in his breath as he exhaled against your skin.
Your mind blanks. The alarms in your head were silenced.
Then the kiss deepened.
Your fingers fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer without thinking. He responded immediately, angling his head, his lips moving against yours with a hunger that had clearly been starved for far too long.
You pulled away for a moment. "If I didn't like you so much," you panted and glared at him. "I wouldn't have gutted you like a fish by now."
Karma grinned cheekily; his eyes flickered with amusement. "You can still try."
You should have rolled your eyes. Should have smacked him. Instead, you kissed him again.
The more you kissed him, the more you realized how starved you were—how long you'd been denying yourself this, how much you'd tried to bury. The months of tension, of unspoken longing and restrained touches, all came rushing to the surface at once.
You would climb onto his lap, and the blanket you two were sharing fell to the floor, no longer needed. You found something else to keep you warm.
Karma kept his hand on your lower back, pressing you against him as much as possible.
"This is such a bad idea." You breathed out against his lips.
Karma chuckled in a way that made your heart flip. "Probably."
But has either of you stopped? No. The kiss and touch only escalate.
You feel Karma's hand going under your shirt to run his fingers down your spine. You let out a shudder, and fuck did that drive him insane.
His hands went from your back to your waist and your stomach, like he was unsure of where to touch. Those same hands that you felt before, but only on a professional level.
Never like this.
During those late hours of the night, when it was just you and your thoughts, you tried to picture his large hands on your body. Touching you as a woman rather than a client.
And now that fantasy was coming true.
You left a small space for a second to pull your shirt over your head and toss it to the side before kissing him again.
The kiss came across as a little clumsy. You weren't wearing a bra, and you were too shy to give Karma a chance to see so much of your skin at the moment.
Karma only managed to catch a quick glimpse of your upper body, yet it was enough for him to go mad. He had trouble restraining himself after that.
His lips left yours to trail down your jaw, then your throat. He kissed, sucked, and nipped along the sensitive skin of your neck and shoulder, marking a path that made your head fall back and more sounds spill from your lips, embarrassing you.
He clearly was desperate to touch your skin, and as embarrassed as you were for making such noises, you didn't want him to stop, especially when he started kissing lower.
Your hands moved on their own, slipping over his shoulders, down his chest, mapping the solid muscle beneath his shirt with uncertain fingers. He was so much stronger than he ever needed to be with you, and yet he held himself with a restraint that made your heart flutter.
Then suddenly, the world tilts.
A startled breath escaped your lips as you found yourself lying back on the couch, panting, with Karma braced between your legs and looking down at you like he had been waiting for this exact moment far longer than he cared to admit.
Karma grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head, along with the second shirt he had, and threw it over the couch.
Your eyes immediately drifted to the wrapped bandage on his bicep. Underneath that white bandage was the bullet-grazed wound.
You reached out to touch it, but Karma grabbed your wrist, pinning it next to your head and hurriedly gave you a distracting kiss.
Right now, he did not want you thinking about the wound, which reminded you that he was your shield. Not about the bullet.Not about the fact that he had taken that hit for you
Not at this very moment.
Bit by bit, clothes were being thrown to the floor until there was nothing left to throw. The cold wasn't a problem anymore when you both had each other to keep warm.
The fire could die out at this moment, and neither of you would notice.
Karma's hands were warm everywhere, but they were also gentle. It was the same touch he had always used when lifting you into his arms or guiding you through danger, only now there was no protocol separating you from the meaning behind it.
Protocol was long forgotten at this point. There were no more restraints between the two of you.
Finally, there were no rules between the two of you. Or, more like they just didn't matter at the moment.
What mattered was your nails scratching his back, the way his breath tickled your ear, the affectionate look you would give each other, the way he apologized when he thought he was being too rough, and how you wrapped your arms around his neck just to pull him for a kiss.
You knew it was a reckless idea to have slept with him that night. Or the following nights after.
But now that you both know what it's like to have felt each other, to finally close the distance, you both couldn't stop.