Archive of Our Own

the breeze outside was stronger today and blew right past you as you entered the business, letting the glass door close gently behind you and leaving behind the chilly winds. your eyes roamed the space, which mostly consisted of warm tones with greenery scattered around the rather unique business, or at least unique in the city where you resided. the employees behind the counter greeted you with dazzling smiles and small waves, one of them rushing over to hand you your favorite beverage as you headed for the back, thanking them with a small smile.

taking a chance to open yet another café in a major city that already had tons of cafés was most definitely a risky idea, but one that had paid off tremendously for you. once you'd graduated from your university and began to work a real job in a large corporation, you had soon learned that it wasn't for you. it was not necessarily the thought of being your own boss that implored you to invest all of your money into an idea, which could have easily failed and left you struggling, but more so the idea of doing something that you looked forward to. the idea to open a café, which also doubled as a mini bookstore, was one this city had yet to see, but something you'd found inspiration in when you visited the nation of fontaine many moons ago.

"hey, boss," chongyun greeted you warmly once you entered the kitchen in the back, where your food items were prepared every day by chongyun and a few others. "how has your morning been?"

"it's been nice. i woke up a little too early, but i finally managed to finish that book you recommended. it's back out on the shelves if xingqiu wants to grab it for a re-read."

this café was your most cherished dream and steadily became a success. it took years of hard work, long nights and even longer days, and blood, sweat, and tears, yet you would not trade it for the entire world. like any other café, yours had a very recognizable menu with great beverages and even better food items that were prepared in-house every day, but what made you so vastly different from the other cafés around town was the other services you guys also offered. buying this very space had cut into your budget in a way you'd never admit to anyone, mostly because to this very day, you just could not believe that you'd done it.

the entrance floor of your café was a regular café with small tables standing around the floor and beautiful corner booths that allowed for a view of the bustling city. there were a few bookshelves standing in the corners and small tables scattered across the floor with books and people's little recommendation cards, but the second floor was where you had the bulk of your books. the spiral staircase led to the second floor, where every shelf was covered by large and beautiful bookshelves, all packed with books. there were reading nooks in the corners with floor-to-ceiling windows; there were small tables standing around for anyone who wished to sit down and read, small futons scattered around for anyone who wished to sink deep into something soft and immerse themselves in a book, and also a smaller version of your downstairs counter.

for beyond just selling beverages and eatable items, you also sold books. if anyone wished to purchase the books on your shelves, they could, just as anyone could walk in and sell their old books. you had not expected this to go by as well as it had, but it seemed that many people had old books at home that they no longer wished to keep, so your café was the perfect place to bring them, as they'd be able to earn some money from the old books. the price you charged for books was also significantly cheaper as they were mostly second-hand or at least had been read by the patrons of your business and thus were no longer in pristine condition. you were lucky, though, for all of your patrons treated your books well, meaning you never had to worry about the books being ruined by people on purpose.

you gave another wave to the others in the kitchen, greeting them briefly and asking about their mornings, then headed upstairs and through the small door in the back. through here was only your office that had its own bathroom attached, which was not accessible to anyone but your staff. they each knew the code to your office and could enter whenever they needed to speak with you or needed something from here, but there was a lock on the inside that could prevent anyone from entering, even if they knew the code to the lock on the door. that method was rarely utilized by you, though, but sometimes your boyfriend would snap it closed when he came to visit you.

heading up the stairs, you offered small smiles to some of your early patrons, who had already gotten comfortable with their chosen beverages and books from your shelves. there had also been customers downstairs with books from these shelves, but most of the customers downstairs were merely enjoying their morning hour with friends or on their own, while there were also others with their computers on, planning to do their work in the soothing atmosphere of your business.

you grabbed a book for yourself and entered your office, letting the door slam close behind. once your trench coat was hanging on the small coat rack, you headed for your desk, ready to start your day. your purse was placed on the small chair where you usually kept it before you pulled all of your necessities from it. soon as your computer was awake and you were comfortable on your chair, you began scribbling down your own tasks for the day on your notepad, where you always outlined your tasks.

days spent here were never the same, which was also something you loved about owning this place. some days you were downstairs, manning the desk with your employees and getting to greet all of your customers. other days, you would spend hours taking inventory of your shelves and updating your internal cataloging system, ensuring it was up-to-date and that none of your staff would face difficulty when searching for a specific title. but on some days, just like today, you were stuck in your office and would spend most of your day here. with a degree in business management and organizational behavior, you were very knowledgeable on how a business should run and how you should manage your staff.

that meant that once they had all provided you with their wishes for their new schedules, it became your sole task to create new work schedules for the next few months that fulfilled their wishes but also kept your store running smoothly and ensured that you were staffed sufficiently. beyond that, you also had to update the task list and assign everyone to the areas where they were the most skilled or ensure that that everyone had a chance to learn a new department, if they had expressed to you that they wanted to receive further training. and then, you also had to approve all the budgets and information sent to you by your accountant, do research into chongyun's newest suggestions for the menu, hire people for renovations and maintenance, and much more.

"you already look so stressed, my love," a gentle voice cut through the silence of your office, and as you escaped the confines of your own mind, having been staring down at your own expansive list of tasks to complete, your eyes flitted up to find your boyfriend entering your office with two cups in his hands and a loving smile on his face. his soft ashy hair with that unique red streak was pulled back into his usual ponytail, and he was wearing his usual suit, still to this day sending a small pool of heat flooding into your stomach as your eyes greedily indulged in the sight of your handsome boyfriend. "i brought you some coffee, since i figured you'd probably forgotten all about it."

the cup was placed before you as kazuha strolled around the surface of your desk. his own cup was softly placed on the coaster next to yours, one hand grasping onto the corner of the table while the other came to rest on the back of your chair, his lean chest pressing into your side as his attentive eyes skimmed across your notepad. his presence was too tempting for you, especially as you could smell that creamy and comforting scent of his signature sandalwood cologne on the smooth skin of his neck, leading you to move ever so slightly to the right, sighing happily as your head came to rest against his firm chest. there was a rumbling as he chuckled lovingly at your head resting against him, raising a hand to let his thumb graze the plump skin of your cheeks.

"you're literally my life saver," you murmured into his shirt, relishing in the feel of him near you as you processed how long this day was going to be. his thumb had come to stroke small patterns into your cheeks, sometimes shifting down to tap against the corner of your lips before he resumed his miscellaneous and self-indulgent tracing across your skin.

you sensed his lips press against your forehead, a pleased sigh landing in between you two before he pressed yet another against your cheeks. then you felt his other hand leave its place and kazuha shift in his spot, manipulating your head to lean into the back of your chair as he came to stand behind it. both of his hands slid around the length of your throat, fingers resting leisurely against your most delicate skin as his thumbs began tracing more patterns into your jawline and behind your ears. the first sight your eyes landed upon once they fluttered open once more was his carmine eyes full of hidden emotions staring down at you, his reddish lips curved into that smile he reserved only for you. it took one lean down for him to press his lips against yours, relishing in the way your eyelashes swept across his cheeks as your eyes shut once more.

kazuha always did this, not that you minded. in fact, it was one of the things you loved the absolute most about him—how patient he was and how much meaning he poured into every single morsel of affection that he bestowed upon you. another kiss was pressed to your lips, never pushing for too much, carrying more meaning than just a peck. the very second he pulled back, his thumb swept across your bottom lip, enamored by your sticky lip gloss now partially removed and tainting his own lip. your eyes would flutter open to find kazuha pressing his thumb against his lips, humming pleased at the vanilla lip gloss you were wearing and chuckling in amusement as you flushed from the sight of your boyfriend pressing your worn lip gloss against his own lips.

but more than that, he was consuming in every meaning of the word. people often saw your boyfriend and assumed him to always be the most gentle person in the room, someone whose movements were slow and well-planned, never rushed or impulsive. but truth was that being with kazuha was consuming, for whilst he was as gentle as one would think and as loving as one could see, he was also a man who relished in seeing his pretty girlfriend at his mercy. he adored the small sigh of surprise you would let out once he surged down to capture your lips with his own, sweeping his tongue across your lips to devour every speck of your lip gloss before he gently requested permission to your mouth. and once he had that, once his fingers adjusted their grip on you to feel every single twitch in your vibrating body, to slide down and grasp your entire jaw in his one hand to tilt your head entirely up to meet, he would take control of your body and your mind, luring sound upon sound and reaction upon reaction from you.

"k-kazuha," you gasped for air desperately once you managed to escape the hold of your hungry boyfriend, falling back into your chair as you panted heavily into the space between you. "oh my archons."

there was a sheepish smile on his face, a slight fluster creeping up to the surface of his pale skin once he realized that he had been feasting on you this early. you already looked absolutely ravished, with your lips slightly swollen and tainted with his habit of nibbling you on your lower lip, all traces of your lip products gone entirely. the flush in your face, crawling down the length of your neck, made it very obvious that you'd enjoyed it just as much as him. anyone watching you two would be able to see the half-closed gazes you were directing at one another, tension sitting between you two just waiting to be broken. yet, none of you had the time today.

this was not one of those days when kazuha could merely secure the lock on your door and relish in the soundproof walls of your office.

"my apologies, love," kazuha grinned sheepishly, observing as you shook your head fondly at him, adjusting your clothing and your hair. "i got too carried away."

you leaned back into your chair as kazuha leaned against the corner of your desk now, pressing his thigh against yours while he stared down at you and you peered up at him. "apology accepted, only if you finish what you started later."

"aren't you working late today?"

"probably will the next few days, too." your hand firmly grabbed onto the black tie wrapped around kazuha's throat, and you could not help but grin as you tugged him down to your level, his eyes widening significantly as that fire from before ignited once more. "but i'm sure my loving boyfriend wouldn't leave me hanging after the stunt he just pulled, now would he?"

"your wish is my command." kazuha pressed a quick kiss to your nose, eyes twinkling happily at the surprise flashing across your face, directing a playful glare up at him.

you'd been the owner of this café for a few years now, but when you first opened this business, you were all on your own. yes, you had your friends, and you had your family, but you did not have anyone waiting for you whenever you got home after a long day at work, nor did you have someone to pull you away sometimes, reminding you to take time for yourself. your friends did it a lot, and you'd never forget how wonderful they had been, but most of them were in loving relationships, and often, you had found yourself longing for something similar. your last boyfriend was someone you thought might be the one.

ayato was your first-ever boyfriend and someone you'd had a crush on for a while. he was a boy in your class and someone you'd known casually for years as you'd been within the same friend group, but eventually things progressed and you two became an official couple. everyone loved you two together, always singing praises about how great a couple you two were. he was a gentleman and never pushed too hard, but he also supported you when you two graduated and you had to go find a job; he was already secured one, for he came from a successful family with a massive corporation waiting for him to lead it. yet, ayato never understood your disdain for working in an office every day, sitting between four walls without any variety.

he never cared to understand your frustrations, nor did he care to actually listen to you, instead always turning every conversation into some sort of lecture about work ethic and such. others had warned you before that at his core, he was the spoiled heir from a conservative family, but you'd never seen any trace of that during your university years, yet eventually, you weren't able to see anything else but that. he attended big meetings and fancy galas with rows of departments beneath him to do all the hard work, while you worked overtime every goddamn day in an attempt to finish the work you'd been handed. when you returned to your apartment and had to spend at least an hour listening to him gloat about his days, you would end every night crying your eyes out in the shower, having to ensure he didn't hear you unless you wanted another rant about work ethic and laziness.

the final straw came the day it all became all too much. your friends had eventually staged an intervention out of concern and been stunned to learn about your days, holding you close as you finally shared the burden sitting on your chest. they encouraged you to do whatever you wanted, to quit your miserable and exploitative workplace, and to follow the dream you'd been imagining for months—opening a café that was also a sort of a bookstore. the evening you told ayato, he broke up with you on the spot. you did not think you'd ever be able to forget how he stared at you in pure disgust, mocking your decision to your face as he reprimanded you for being a weak woman. you did not think you'd be able to forget hearing the words full of misogynistic undertones and looks of scorn on his handsome face.

but now as kazuha's carmine eyes skated across your face with reverence, kissing every inch of your skin with his loving gaze, you could barely even remember how ayato had tried to crush you that evening. you did not need anyone else to approve of you or your dreams, especially not a man, but it meant more than you could ever express to have someone like kazuha by your side. a man who also led a successful and inherited corporation, yet who also treated you with the respect of a business owner. your staff loved kazuha, always swooning whenever he came by and always cooing whenever they got to see you two together. your friends had been appalled to learn of ayato and his ugly words, but they had all come to adore kazuha, who truly treated you as if you were the most important person in the world. even your family approved of him and had invited him into the family with open arms, as had his family with you. ayato's family had regarded you with poorly concealed looks of judgment and animosity, but kazuha's family embraced you with open arms and boundless love.

unfortunately, kazuha also had to leave soon after, as he had to start his own work. so with another kiss pressed against your soft lips and a few more trailed down your throat, all while you tried to push him off with nonstop laughs being spilled from you, he had eventually left as well. once your lip products were reapplied and you had taken a sip of the beverage he'd brought you with a satisfied hum, you were finally able to begin your work. like always, you and kazuha exchanged messages throughout the day whenever you had some time, never feeling pressured to reply fast or feeling bitterness at slow replies, because you both were understanding of each other's schedules and knew that you were both very busy individuals.

as predicted, it became a day much longer than you were expecting. there was a determination in you to finish this as soon as possible, both to clear up your own schedule and also to make sure your staff had their new schedules so you could make any necessary changes. kazuha had been sending you messages throughout the day, and to appease his mind, you'd sent him pictures of the lunch you'd gone out for, assuring him that you were still taking care of yourself. although, at some point, your outgoing messages became less frequent as fatigue settled in, all while your determination burned strong. you were beginning to feel tired, waving goodbye to all of your staff as they gradually stopped by to say their farewells as their shifts ended, politely reminding you to take breaks and take care of yourself with worried glances cast in your direction.

the moon was settling into the dark night as the lights in your office burned bright, the same as the lights emitting from your computer screen. it was close to ten pm by now, much later than usual for you. the café closed at around seven pm, and most of your staff had left during the day, but the few who'd left just after closing all swung by your office, offering you kind words and concerned looks as you waved them off with a soft smile. but the tiredness in your bones was becoming too much now, as were the cramps forming in your fingers from typing, a yawn leaving your tense body as you stood up from your chair, stretching halfheartedly. sliding off your slippers, you made sure to save all of your progress before putting your computer to sleep. you would be back again tomorrow to finish, but there was no chance in hell you were going to lose everything you'd worked so ardently on.

once your boots were back on and your coat was covering your form once more, you flipped off all the lights in your office and headed out, phone thrown into your purse, which rested around the curve of your shoulders. the lights in your café were obviously all turned off, but the stunning city lights provided you with ample visibility to make it down the stairs and do one last sweep of the café before you made your way out, locking the doors behind you once more. your car was parked around the back in the staff parking, so you made your way around the corner, humming to yourself as your heels collided with the solid ground, the sound of crunching leaves sending a childish joy through you as you stepped on them.

yet just as your hand reached into your purse, aiming for your car keys, your eyes caught sight of something in your car window. you never got to make a sound, nor did you get to turn around before a cloth covered your mouth and nose, an arm wrapping around your middle, forcing you to inhale whatever was saturating the cloth. and just as everything went dark, your senses fading, you could feel your body being dragged away. your back was resting against a hard surface as you were dragged backwards, legs stretched out before you as the heels of your boots suffered the fate of letting out grating sounds against the bumpy surface.

the last thing you remembered feeling was your body thrown against a hard surface as a steel door was thrown shut.

𖦏

a muffled sound echoed through the empty space, the coddling haze wrapping around your brain beginning to fade steadily as you steadily regained consciousness. grogginess sat behind your eyelids as you tried to lift your head, trying to move your hands only to realize you were barely able to do so. that haziness sitting within your mind vanished within a second, replaced with panic as your eyes snapped open. trying to pull your hands or move your legs were futile endeavors, and you could no longer hold back the pangs of panic, your head tearing back and forth as you tried to force your eyes to blink away the blurriness.

"boss, she's awake!"

your breath hitched in your chest, and whatever strength you were forcing into regaining control of your own body disappeared as you froze in your place. you were in some sort of a dark room, something that resembled an old warehouse. you were now able to see. the wooden chair beneath you was old and rickety, creaking as you tried to pull your wrists back. there was a wave of fear settling into your chest, one spreading through every nerve of your anxious body as you tried to squeeze your eyes shut in hopes that this was all a bad dream. your ankles were bound to the legs of the chair, and your arms were both tied together behind the back of the chair, another stretch of rope securing your tied wrists to the chair.

small ripples of effort were reaching your own ears, somehow bleeding through the sound of your blood pumping through your own head. your breathing kept diverging from its usual pattern, small beads of sweat running down your skin. at some point, you came to realize that all those small sounds, the panic, and the terror were all coming from you. there was someone walking around you, probably the same person who'd called out before, which was making you even more anxious. you refused to cry before you knew what was happening, but truthfully, you still could not understand what was happening or why.

who would want to kidnap someone like you?

you were a simple business owner, spending your days in your café. your friends were all people you'd known for years; your family came from a simple background, never involved in anything shady or weird, preaching hard work above all. your boyfriend was a normal business owner, someone who spearheaded a successful business with his background being your typical success story of a family, having formed a profitable corporation and passing it down through the family. all the staff at your café were regular people, always showing up on time and leaving when their shifts were over, never causing you, your other staff, or your customers any troubles.

a set of footsteps nearing you from behind sent your mind spiraling again; your wrists were rubbed sore from your fruitless attempts to break free. only as you peered down, not wanting to face the person about to make it into your sight, did your blood grow icy once again as your eyes blinked blankly down at your own form. the trench coat you had been wearing was no longer covering your form, leaving you in your chosen outfit of an off-shoulder sweater that fell to your waist, where a belt held up your jeans. the expanse of your shoulders was out in the open, and you had never regretted your outfit more than when you felt something cold, something metallic, grazing across your skin. you pressed your eyes together painfully, mentally trying to awaken from this horrid dream.

yet as the same cold sensation pushed itself into the lower part of your chin, forcing your head upwards, you could no longer ignore reality. your eyes drifted open with apprehension, one of your fingers painfully pushing your own sharp nail in between the skin of your other fingers to hold back the tears that were desperately trying to escape your eyes and the cries you wanted to hurl at the man.

"you're finally awake," the man taunted you with an ugly smirk curving his lips, relishing in how utterly disoriented you looked, still refusing to show any further terror. by now, you could see the barrel of a silver gun was the thing sitting just below your chin, rendering you unable to move as freely as you wanted. your captor laughed at the gulp that he saw you swallow once you came to understand that with just one move he could blow your brains out, killing you within mere seconds. "took you long enough, sweetheart."

there were other men strolling behind you, and a true gasp of unadulterated trepidation flooded you once you saw them setting up various tools and tables. none of them seemed fazed by the torturous tools they were preparing for their leader, laying down mats and placing a plastic apron next to you, where a small table with an array of knives and other tools was glinting, ready to pry answers from you. his eyes hungrily skimmed across your face, but nothing was as awe-striking as the tears brimming in your eyes, watching as your facade crumbled and jaw went slack in distress.

"w-what do you want from me?"

"straight to the point, huh? have a feeling i'm gonna like you." his fingers traced down the skin of your face, but as you turned your face away from him, hating the feeling of his fingers on your skin, his fingers painfully curled around your jaw. sounds of agony were spilling from your pursed lips, his fingers tightening around your chin as he forced you to meet his eyes, smirking in your face. "and you're defiant, too? no wonder he chose you."

his words were absorbing into your brain yet failing to dissect even the most obvious meaning laced within them. the touch of his skin sitting against yours was triggering a bout of nausea to gather in your gut, inwardly sending more panic through your body. something about his eyes felt evil in ways you had never seen before, as if there were no boundaries he would not break. your muffled cries of pain meant nothing to him as his eyes dirtied every inch of your skin, drinking in your worthless attempts to loosen your constraints. asking him anything was obviously meaningless, for it was quite clear that he was not going to honor you by answering any of them. his eyes were too busy taking in a sight that did not belong to him, and his fingers kept pushing further into your jaw, hoping to leave red marks formed by his fingers behind for his own amusement.

you had no idea how long passed as he let go of your chin and threw your head back, a cry of anguish spilling unwillingly from your lips. the other men had begun to filter out of the room, leaning down to murmur something to the man in front of you. someone brought over a chair and settled it in front of you, where the man took a seat and tied the plastic apron to his own front. your eyes scanned the room and noticed that two men did not leave the room, tying aprons around their own middles as well before they returned to where you were held, standing on each side of you.

"this is how we're gonna do this. i'm gonna ask you questions, and you're gonna be a good little girl and answer every single one. you refuse to answer one or give me an answer i don't like, you get punished. you act up, you get punished. i don't wanna hurt you unnecessarily, sweetheart. just be good for me."

"fuck you."

a smack echoed through the empty space. your scream echoed alongside it with a stinging in your face, tears springing to your eyes as you blinked hazily. there was a throbbing pain in your cheek where he'd struck you with the back of his hand, and you could feel warmth spilling from your lips. a hand bunched into your loose hair, igniting another scream from your sore throat, forcing you to meet his eyes. "that mouth of yours is gonna get you into a lot of trouble, girl."

but you refused to yield, and he refused to let you disrespect him. any question he posed to you, wanting information about your business or your staff, you simply refused to answer. your body endured hit after hit, screams of blind pain constantly ripping through the room as the two men held you in place. some hits came in the form of backhanded smacks to your face, snapping your neck to the side time after time as your cheeks swelled and your mouth leaked blood. but as if he came to realize that more hits to your face would merely hinder your ability to speak, he began directing his hits elsewhere. other came in the form of a hair pull, damn near pulling your hair straight out of your scalp, and others were brutal hits to your limbs. but you endured it all, resisting the voice telling you to give up, because you could not get anyone else in trouble.

whereas before, you had come to conclude that your abduction was indeed not random nor was unwarranted for them. you knew something or someone that they needed information about, and they were willing to beat the answers out of you.

but then, as if he were over this game of beating you senseless, he plopped back into his chair and leaned back. one of the other men handed him a cigarette and a lighter, allowing him to light his stick and take one long drag as you watched through bleary eyes, your head having fallen to the side. your attempts to break free had come to an end, resigning you to whatever fate was ahead of you, but you could feel the skin around your wrists had been rubbed raw from every jolt that had shot through your body. blood was trickling down your chin and the bruised skin of your throat, soiling your light sweater as you blinked mindlessly at him.

another drag was inhaled by him as he glanced around before his eyes landed on you. the smoke burning in his mouth was blown directly in your face, all three men laughing at your disgusted reaction, the smoke burning your eyes and sending twinges of pain through your broken and battered skin. the man nodded to one of the others, and your eyebrows furrowed together as he raised your purse, hand digging through it as he searched for something specific. your breath hitched in your chest once more, head shaking on its own accord, when he ripped your phone from the safe confines of your bag. you tried to close your eyes, to make it impossible for them to unlock it, but you were helpless to fight the fingers pulling your eyes open as your phone was held before your face and unlocked against your will.

"hm, what a lovely picture," the man mocked you with a curl of his lips, spinning your phone to show your lock screen and your home screen to the other two men; your lock screen was a simple picture of a lake you'd visited, small fish and ducks floating around, but your home screen was a picture of kazuha on the beach, his face turned towards the ocean as the setting sun kissed his skin with gentle tones and an angelic glow. his back was exposed, and he was merely wearing a pair of swimming trunks, but nobody could miss the red and black tattoos wrapping his right shoulder and down his right side, a few more decorating his other arm. his silky hair was down for once, flying freely in the wind. to anyone who did not know kaedehara kazuha, they would have no clue who this man was, but to anyone who did know him, he was at his most exposed state here in the comfort of your phone. "told you, lads, we had the right girl. kaedehara kazuha's girlfriend."

something in your mind splintered when you heard them say his name.

they should not know who kazuha was, nor should they be able to recognize him so easily in that picture, where his face was not even showing. it was a picture you'd taken a few months ago when you two had taken the weekend off, flying off to a warmer destination. but most people did not know that kazuha had tattoos strewn across his smooth skin, lying neatly over his lean build. but your eyes were tracking their faces as they went through your phone, openly narrating that they were going to search for kazuha and his information in your phone, something that proceeded to make no sense to you whatsoever.

they had known the bare minimum about your staff members and your friends, asking the most trivial questions as if they were relying on you to provide them with more information. most of your friends were not people whose names they knew, and with most of your staff, they also tried to pry some basic details from. but your blurry eyes could not miss the grins of joy on their faces once they saw kazuha on your phone, almost as if he were the one they'd been wanting intel on. the way they reacted when they saw your home screen, happily announcing that you were kazuha's girlfriend—it was all too damn confusing. and with so much pain coursing through your body, bruises already forming all over your skin, and a persistent aching sitting all across your muscles, you were beginning to see stars twinkling merrily off in the distance.

you finally had a moment of reprieve, a moment to regain your breath and try to gather your thoughts again. ever since you'd woken up in this place surrounded by unfamiliar people and tortured for information, your mind had been blanking out entirely, focusing all of its attention on keeping you sane and stopping you from passing out. you'd been continuously storing away as much of your surroundings as you could, hoping that somehow it would all prove to be valuable when you were saved.

if you were saved.

"so, miss café owner," the man pondered out in the open once more, holding your phone tightly in his palm as the other two men came back to assume their positions by your chair. there were cocky smirks lingering on all of their dangerous faces, you noticed, as the leader sat back down on the chair in front of you. "how well do you know kaedehara kazuha?"

when you did not answer this time around, turning your head away to refuse his question, you were spared the brutal wallop he'd been dealing out all night. instead, your eyes went wide as saucers as you felt something cold pressing against your cheeks, the item flat against your heated skin. slowly your sight directed itself downwards, gasping at the sharp blade resting against your cheek. he was no longer playing these games with you, letting you dodge his questions and merely punishing you with physical blows; he was becoming serious in his line of interrogating now.

"and don't even try to lie now, little lady." your own phone was held up in front of your eyes, forcing you to peer at the picture your friend had taken of you and kazuha, you peacefully asleep in his arms with a fluffy blanket as he smiled down at your sleeping form. your face was not visible in the photo, but there was no doubt that kazuha was loving whatever expression you were wearing, one hand resting around your back and holding you close to his chest with his other hand caressing the top of your head. "the evidence is right here."

you shakily swallowed the ball of anxiety sitting on your tongue, eyes hesitantly drifting from the loving picture of you and your boyfriend and back up to the eyes of the man, his darkened pupils devouring your reactions. "he's my boyfriend," your voice came out muffled, your split lips making it difficult to even get any words out without jolts of hurt resounding through your face.

the man's grin widened impossibly more, looking up at the two men in victory. at last, you had given up on resisting their invasive questions, the press of a knife against your skin providing ample reason to give up. "and the bird sings! so tell me, miss café owner, what would make a beautiful woman like you, law-abiding and kind, date a man like kaedehara kazuha?" and as your eyebrows scrunched together with an odd prickle inviting itself into your already frazzled brain. "the man leading the biggest criminal organization in the city."

one would have been able to hear a pin drop or the small crickets jumping around in the silence that followed. perhaps the only sound one would be able to hear was the sound of your heart halting in your chest, lingering words and spiteful sneers permeating the space around. you wanted to deny it immediately, to let out that laugh building up in your throat and laugh mockingly in his pompous face, to mock his ability to track down the right people. because surely your kazuha was not this man he was accusing him of being—he could not be some sort of criminal, someone who leads a syndicate like that.

"ever heard of the kaedehara clan?" he craned an eyebrow at you, letting his one finger fall across your cheek to pick up the first and only tear that somehow slipped past your defenses. "they're oh-so-loved, always donating to charities and schools, known as kind and gracious. but that's just a facade."

"you're lying," your whisper cut through his malicious words, but there was no conviction in them. you could tell he was relishing in how you suddenly seemed to be distraught, much less composed or poised than you'd been before. "he would never. he… he could never."

but somehow, even you did not entirely believe the words spilling from your lips. because in some sense, in some weird and twisted turn of events, this was beginning to make sense in your mind. you and kazuha had been a couple for about four years and had been living together for just over a year, with you having moved into his large apartment and settling into his former home as your now shared space. it was much larger than anything you'd ever been near, sitting at the very top of the glass building downtown, your boyfriend being the proud owner of the most sought-after penthouse in the city. he had always been giving beyond belief, paying for as much as he could without offending you or indirectly making you feel poorly. despite being a wealthy man with so many assets to his name, he never once bragged about his net worth, nor did he ever make you feel inadequate.

but there had been odd instances in the years of the relationship that had never made sense before but would suddenly become a lot more relevant if this man were telling the truth. once during a dinner date, some man had approached the table and greeted kazuha in an overly friendly manner, letting his searching eyes eat you alive as you squirmed in your seat. he was quickly removed from the restaurant, and apologies were handed out, but just for a moment there, something lethal had crossed over kazuha's serene face. you'd always chalked it up to him being a protective boyfriend, but thinking back to that night, you could not help but recall how he'd sneaked out at night under the pretense that something had happened at the company. when you found his clothes the next morning in your bathroom, while kazuha slept peacefully in the bed, there were droplets of red dotted across the cuffs of his shirt—something you had initially found odd but chosen to ignore, yet now it became very apparent that you had been correct all along. it was blood.

then there was the odd friendship between kazuha and his closest friends, who were all very nice and had always been great fun. they were your typical friends, teasing kazuha endlessly and always trying to rile him up, but sometimes you'd catch them all exchanging silent but solemn expressions, nodding at the wordless communication. you'd sometimes overheard them discuss business, using words that were obviously code words for other stuff, but you'd never wanted to interfere in his friendships, and thus, you'd always let it slide.

and then, who could forget about the day you found an array of guns hidden away in his side of the wardrobe? it was shortly after you had moved in and on a day when kazuha had gone to the office, leaving you at home all on your own and awarding you the space to finally sort your side of the wardrobe as you wanted to. but upon constantly finding smaller accessories belonging to him on your side, you decided to put them all away. standing in the wardrobe was an island that now held both your stuff and his, including the locked drawer on his side, which always remained firmly locked. yet on this given day, he must have forgotten to lock it, and in your quest to find the right drawer, your fingers had curled around the small handle and pulled it open… only to find that the drawer was much deeper than one would assume, guns lining the four walls and neat stacks of ammunition sitting in the middle.

kazuha had a perfectly sane explanation, though, when he returned to find you sitting on the floor in the same spot, staring up at the guns. his family had come from a long line of samurai and had always been natural protectors, which meant the kaedehara family firmly believed in keeping safe measures. he would never use them and had never used them, but they had been a gift from his elders, and you knew better than anyone that one did not refuse presents from the elders, especially in traditional clans. he had led you further down the hall and shown you the room with his collections of ancient katanas and foreign swords; other japanese weaponry artefacts were also decorating the space. he was a collector of artefacts and rare items, which he also considered his guns to be. he did not keep his collection of guns in here merely in case someone broke in. they would not have access to his weapons. most could not wield a sword properly, but shooting a gun was a different story.

and who would forget the time you'd gone out with your girls on a saturday night in a new dress you'd brought for yourself, dancing the night away on the dance floor and having a blast with your friends. well, until some creep began harassing all of you, attempting to lay his hands on you all, shooting off sexual comment after sexual comment. you'd all tried your best to stay away, and security eventually dragged him out; you all assumed you were fine. hours later, when it was much earlier in the morning and you'd all had a little too much to drink, it had finally become time to go home. all of you had people who could pick you up, either partners or friends or roommates, so you patiently waited outside with your friend, who would be spending the night at your place.

when that same man came stumbling back toward you and your friend, the two of you rushing to get away from him, he never made it closer than a few steps before a figure stepped in between you. that same gentle smile never faltered from your boyfriend's face as he used himself as a barrier between the drunkard and you two, calming you down instantly as you knew you'd always be safe if kazuha was around. he'd handed you the car keys and nodded for you to lead your friend back to his white suv, insisting he'd alert security of the man's presence once more. kazuha would slide back into the car a few minutes later, thumbing off a quick text as he threw his jacket onto the seat, the one he'd been wearing just now. his eyes would sparkle, and he would muffle a small chuckle at your friend, who was knocked out cold in the backseat with you, then place a brief kiss against your forehead.

and somewhere along the lines, you had convinced yourself that the loud bang that had echoed just as you closed the car door that night was a mere figment of your imagination, something you'd conjured up due to the alcohol in your blood. you'd tell yourself that the small red stains on kazuha's trousers were not there and that you were imagining the splatter on his bunched-up jacket.

"seems like you've finally realized that your little boyfriend isn't the gentleman you always brought." the tip of his knife strolled across your frozen face, flicking the falling tears off your face as other instances came surging into your mind, and you were rendered speechless, a glaze falling over your eyes as your heart tried to fight whatever your brain was recalling. your entire being was in a war with itself, struggling to align what you felt with what you had always known somewhere deep down.

you were simply too caught up in your own head to provide them with any proper answers. but then again, the mission had always had two different purposes: lure kazuha out of his comfort zone and snatch the most important person to him from under his nose. the reality was that you had no chance of providing them with any sort of intel, which would prove to be beneficial to them and their own leader. they had always known that this could be a real possibility, because kaedehara kazuha was no ordinary gangster.

the youngest leader of the kaedehara syndicate, he single-handedly controlled every single part of the city and its surrounding towns, with the most direct smuggling routes under his control. money flowed in and out of this city, and most passed through his hands at some point or another. he was not entirely rotten to the core, for he did have morals, or so the streets said. he did not deal in drugs or people, refusing to dabble in such ventures. instead, he was someone whose businesses included controlling all the casinos in the city and in every other major city in the country, along with owning most high-end restaurants, clubs, and hotels. his family had placed themselves at the very top by controlling every single entity of this city and various others. there was no deal happening in this city that he did not know about; there were no new gangs breaking out under his control, and there was certainly no selling of drugs to children. but he was not a clean man, for he still had the blood on his hands and his stakes in shady business.

a scream ripped from your throat was cut short as a hand curled around your chin once more, your own phone raised far above your head as the flash blinded you for a brief second. you could hear them laughing about sending this very image to kazuha, cackling joyfully at the silent tears falling down on your face as they inevitably responded to the feverish messages your boyfriend had been sending you. a hit against the back of your head knocked you out cold, your body slumping defeated to the side as another photo was sent off to your boyfriend's number, which had never even replied to the first message of your battered body.

the plan had been simple, really. you were an unknown to most people with a grudge against kazuha, someone they'd heard of but never seen before. kazuha's innermost circle of friends kept his life simple and easy, eliminating anyone who could be a threat towards their leader and ensuring that his girlfriend, the love of his life, was never in any danger. but tonight had been a rare opportunity for those men, who had been tailing you for archons know how long. it was a one-in-a-million opportunity, and they'd be absolute morons to not leap at its arrival, snatching you up in that narrow time frame where you were not protected by your boyfriend or his ever-loyal group of friends, who also just so happened to be members of his syndicate.

if you were knowledgeable about your boyfriend and his job, if you seemed to know information about his life as the man who ran this city but in secrecy, then torture was fair game; they were merely tasked to wring as much sensitive material from you as they could, no matter the cost. kazuha would burn down the city and everyone in it, but the intel they'd have on him would be prevalent enough to land him in real trouble before he could begin his reign of terror. whether they ripped off all your nails, burned your skin with a branding iron, permanently marking you as the property of a rival gang, or whether they simply cut off all of your fingers and toes, mailing them to the man until you eventually died from blood loss, none of it would matter. because your words would be enough to land him in trouble.

the second alternative, however, was the most beneficial for all parties involved. if you turned out to know absolutely nothing about kazuha, they would land upon another goldmine of beating the living shit out of you before sending off the pictures to kazuha. he would come running without a doubt because you were by far the most important person to him, and with wounds like these marring your skin, he would never be able to refrain. but he would be waltzing right into a trap, walking headfirst into an ambush that would result in his death. yet before they killed him, they had another crucial choice to make: whether they would kill you in front of him, just to watch his most cherished love lose her life because of him, or whether they should leave him for dead as they brought you along with them, savoring in the thought of having kazuha's girlfriend at their mercy.

𖦏

the doors burst open before anyone could even prepare for it, jolting the careless captors out of their seats as varka and diluc came running into the warehouse in the all-black outfits, guns raised high as they aimed upwards. bullets were fired as the two men ducked behind a stack of crates, aiming their shots upwards at the captors lying in wait, holding their own guns. ifa, ororon, alyosha, and ajax came running in as the next squad, dressed in the same colors with guns raised and shields held in their other hands, blocking all the bullets racing at them as they raised their guns to fire back, allowing varka and diluc to stand from their hiding spots.

your groggy eyes began to open as your ears caught the commotion around you, even though it was hard to decipher whatever was happening. your head was pounding in ways it'd never hurt before, and there was genuinely no part of your body that did not ache or throb in searing pain, blurring your rationality even further. through your blurry eyes, you could see bodies falling from the top floor, but you weren't able to see much else. it was as if someone were holding a thin layer of film over your eyes, not blinding your sight but limiting it. the noises were loud, sending shock waves through your body as your whimpers of pain became louder. you could have sworn there was blood flowing from your ears, your eardrums being damn near tortured with these piercing sounds of disaster.

the man who'd been in charge of capturing you had taken refuge behind a hidden wall in the back, managing to stay away from the splattering of blood and the falling bodies. his breaths were coming out choppy as his eyes rapidly assessed the situation he now found himself in, realizing that they did not stand a chance. kaedehara kazuha had brought along his personal army, one consisting of former army soldiers and commanders and also individuals who'd been trained by the experts within their ranks. they had all assumed that kazuha would not have the type to gather his personal army, perhaps only being able to gather a few, who would have been handled easily. but now, they were sorely losing to kazuha's most valued soldiers, who were still pouring into the entrance of the building. but moreover, they had not expected to be discovered so soon.

after all, they had never once made any allusions to your location.

varka and diluc had eliminated a majority of the gang members hidden away on the second floor, shielding behind their shields their comrades brought in. there were countless men lying dead across the floor, most having died from the accurate shots fired by the two former army commanders, but others had simply died from the fall, falling headfirst into the concrete floors. there was blood splattered all over the floor, making it seem almost like a literal bloodbath, but there were likewise brain matters mushed across the floors. ajax and alysoha were holding rifles, shooting bullets at the men hiding around the first floor, all while ororon and ifa kept everyone protected by the large shields, which kazuha had purchased for shoot-outs like these. most of the men that had been called in for this operation to kill kaedehara kazuha were already dead.

but you remained untouched in the middle of the floor, your body slumped forward and your head hanging against your own chest as you tried your very best to block out whatever was happening around you. nothing felt real to you anymore, not these sounds nor the rubbed skin on your wrist being further rubbed raw by the harsh rope confining you to this chair. everything was just too loud and too much for you, resigning you to some odd state of consciousness that kept you awake but in the dark. yet what kept you safe was not your refusal to perceive the situation around you, nor was it because everyone had magically chosen to ignore your presence. no, it was the presence of kinich, scaramouche, xiao, and kaeya standing around you with large shields protecting your body.

you will protect her even if it kills you.

he knew that they were never making it out of here alive, nor were they ever going to achieve the goal his boss had bestowed upon him. when they were succeeding in their plan, having abducted you without any issues and been able to keep you here for hours, it had felt as if this was a great plan. they were confident in their own skills, and they were assured in their own manpower, drawing one too many conclusions, which would eventually lead them down to this path—one where most of them had already lost their lives and the rest were seconds from losing theirs. assuming kazuha would show up alone, thinking that his personal army would fail to gather at his one command had been their biggest oversight in this plan.

for kaedehara kazuha had not taken his family's syndicate to unprecedented magnitudes by being a man whose word meant nothing.

varka stepped out of the shadows, never needing to utter a single word to his comrades, who already knew the routine. despite being a big man, both bulky and tall, he was swift on his feet and made it up the stairs to the second floor within record time. every collapsed body on the concrete ground earned another bullet piercing through their head to ensure their deaths before varka launched their corpses over the banister, throwing all the corpses into one large pile as diluc likewise began dragging bodies to the same pile. ororon and ifa kept the shields up just in case there were more enemies hiding away somewhere, as did the four men in the center, occasionally throwing concerned looks back at your beaten form.

the leader had just spun around in his spot with the hopes of sneaking away when he found himself standing face-to-face with none other than kaedehara kazuha, who was spinning a gun around his fingers with carmine eyes burning holes into his face. but what was more striking was not the gun, nor was it how frazzled kazuha looked in his black suit. no, it was the serene smile on his face, underlying tones of malice and impending terror playing in the corners of his mouth. the man tried to speak, to beg for forgiveness or perhaps reach for his own gun, but before he could even make up his own mind, a gunshot shattered his one kneecap before another tore through his other kneecap. a bloodcurdling scream rippled through the space now riddled with death and revenge, and whilst the others remained unbothered at the sound, your body jolted in its place.

it was as if the haze clouding your mind scrambled away as that scream registered somewhere in your brain. your body shot back into action, head rising drastically as you tried to glance around, needing to locate the source of that scream. something in you already knew it was the same man whose bruises wreaked havoc on your body, but there was something in you that just had to see it for yourself. yet your eyebrows braided together in utter confusion, you spotted the familiar men standing around you, all of them turning to peer down at you with sympathetic expressions, shaking their heads in disbelief. but why would they believe here, you asked yourself as your eyes flitted around in sheer confusion. xiao murmured something to the others, giving them a few seconds to change the formation, even if all the enemies had already been dealt with. his golden eyes met yours once he crouched down before you, his heart constricting in his chest seeing the stricken expression on your face; you were frozen in shock, even around someone you'd known for years.

"take him to the stronghold." kauzha nodded towards the wounded leader whose cries and whimpers were still spilling from his mouth, both his hands covering his now shattered and endlessly bleeding kneecaps. varka nodded, waving a hand for ororon and ifa to help him lunge the grown man out of the building. "sweep once more, then stand by. no traces must be left behind, especially nothing that leads back to her. do i make myself clear?"

and then kazuha took off in a sprint, running to the center of the building where his closest friends were keeping you safe now. all of the dead bodies had been thrown into one large pile, and just as kazuha made it past his own shield, dropping shamelessly to his knees before you, the others finished the clear. with a single nod from scaramouche and xiao, everyone scattered from the building. they slammed all the doors closed, standing guard in long droves of loyal soldiers as you and kazuha were left alone.

his shaky hands wanted to reach out for you, to gather you within his embrace and never let you go again. he wanted to fall to his knees and bury his face in your stomach, begging for your forgiveness for failing you so vastly. there never should have been any situation where a rival gang was able to get anywhere near you, let alone abduct you and inflict such wounds on you. his carmine eyes scanned every single inch of your skin, pained to hear the labored breaths escaping your mouth as you kept your eyes shut. your bottom lip was split so widely with blood still pooling around your broken mouth, more dried blood having drenched your chin. your cheeks were both swollen and discolored beyond anyone's comprehension, bruises already forming. despite your eyes not having to endure any direct hits, some strikes across your face had also caught your eyes, redness forming around them with your left eye already swelling.

his eyes fell further down to examine the rest of you, cursing himself out. there were finger-shaped bruises flitting across your jaw and your neck, providing proof of how your kidnapper had continuously snapped your head in whatever direction. your sweater was damn near entirely stained red, but what caused kazuha to lose his balance, head falling into your lap as his breath flared up, was knowing that most of that blood was in fact yours; it was not all from the carnage he had brought in here, but it was proof of what they had done to you. a gasp fell from your lips when you felt something land against your legs, only to find your boyfriend kneeling before you, his hands clasped together in his lap as his head had fallen against your legs.

"you found me," your tone broke once more as he raised his head, emotions clouding his dim eyes as your own brimmed with unshed tears. "you actually found me."

almost on instinct, you let your entire body fall forward, no longer needing to keep your guard up or pretend that you were fine. your head landed right in the crook of his neck, your bloodied hands curling into his shirt as his arms surged to tighten around your shaking body. he pulled you right off the chair and into his lap, holding you so close one would think he was trying to press you into his own body, one hand curling around your waist while the other kept running over your hair. words of encouragement and promise were being whispered into your hair with small kisses being pressed against your hair, while you kept your face buried in that soft curve of his, breathing the addicting scent of his cologne and his natural odor. all the fight had seeped from your body within mere seconds, turning you into a literal puddle in kazuha's hold.

"i'm here, my angel. i'm here, and i'm never leaving you again. may the archons curse me with whatever punishment they see fit for not getting here sooner. but may they also ensure that you will never suffer such a fate again," kazuha rambled into your hair, drawing your head back to wrap his hands around your face, frantically pressing kisses into every inch of your face. your glassy eyes would not waver from his panicked carmine ones, which were jumping all across your face. you studied silently as he raised your bloodied and wounded wrists to his mouth, pressing kisses around your injuries, making sure to never harm you further but moving reverently, as if he desperately had to feel your skin on his own. "i will never forgive myself for allowing it to happen."

but that was also what sobered you instantly, remembering why you were even in this situation in the first place. so you pulled your hands away from his soft grip, ignoring that soft confusion making its way onto his face as you wrapped your own hands around his face and forced him to meet your eyes. "is it true?"

"is what true?"

"i cannot do this right now, kazuha, i really can't. i need you to tell me the truth about your work, about yourself." a cough broke your speech, throwing your body headfirst into convulsions of pain as you coughed up blood. kazuha tried to speak, to express your need for urgent care, but you shook your head. "i-i need you to answer me first."

kazuha's honest eyes were searching yours, his fingers curling around your waist as he let out a sigh. "i am kaedehara kazuha, the thirty-first clan head of the kaedehara clan and the third successor of the kaedehara syndicate."

a broken sound came tumbling out of your mouth, hands falling from his face as you tried to claw your way off his lap only to be kept in place. your hands pushed weakly at his chest, mouth babbling word after word, begging for him to let you go, but kazuha merely refused to. his fingers never pressed into you, nor did his tone ever change with you, for your reaction was only valid. not many would be calm after learning that their boyfriend was no ordinary man but was indeed a mob boss. but as your body's energy levels reached their maximum once more and you collided with kazuha's firm body, you had to admit that being held in his arms felt as comfortable as ever—you felt safe in his arms, hearing his sweet voice whisper in your ears as he finally stood up.

with your exhausted and battered body, kazuha carried you out of the building. your face was buried in the crook of his neck, and your arms were lying across your own body as you'd inevitably fainted once more from the long night you'd had. outside of the building, all the men saluted their young leader whose movements never halted as he sped towards his suv, caring for nothing or no one but you. they watched as he gently placed your mistreated and victimized body in the back of his car, snapping the belts into place and letting his hand ghost over your cheeks before he ran to the front, speeding off at record speeds. as always, the others looked to scaramouche and xiao for further information. with a nod between them, xiao took off running to his own car and brought half of the men with him, already summoning their personal doctor and his crew to your penthouse to heal you.

they were going to stand guard outside your home just for safety measures, even if it was damn near impossible to get anywhere near the place where you and kazuha resided. they had all also assumed that nobody would be stupid enough to target you and thought it to be an impossible mission to harm you, but tonight had proven them wrong. which meant they were no longer taking any chance. and if you left kazuha, if you decided that this was all too much for you, he would let you walk away because you meant everything to him, but that would cause turmoil in the lives of his subordinates. so perhaps he was attempting to secure your loyalty for his own, but as he sped towards your place, there was something more lingering in his stomach. because he had known you for years and become friends with you, always seeking out your peaceful café whenever xiao wanted to indulge in a book or get away from his bloody life. you had always greeted him so warmly, remembering his coffee order and reserving books you thought he would enjoy, even allowing him to bring them home on loan as a special privilege. so yes, he wanted you to heal so you would stay with kazuha, but he also just really wanted to see his friend smile so brightly at him again.

back at the scene, scaramouche was already giving out orders, watching as the large piles of bodies grew larger. he had called in their gang's cleaners, who would be here soon. it would be their job to clean this place from top to bottom, erasing any evidence from tonight entirely, particularly any proof of you having been here. perhaps the blood from all of these dead losers would rouse suspicion in the same way because they were gang members, but you were an ordinary citizen of the city; there was simply no reason as to why your blood should be found here. and as scaramouche observed the blood being cleaned, seeing all the tools they were planning to use on you, he felt truly sick to his stomach. in their operations, they never targeted wives, girlfriends, and children with no involvement in whatever shady stuff was happening. you were meant to be off-limits, not just because you were the girlfriend of kazuha, but most importantly because you were a civilian with no stake in this war. you were the person who would go out of your way to search for limited edition books for him, often undercharging him for the copies with a dismissive wave. friends did not measure presents in their monetary value but in their emotional value, you would always say whenever he tried to offer you more.

once the evidence was all erased, far gone behind bleach solutions and hours of work, scaramouche gave the final nod and watched as the pile of bodies went up in a bright display of fire, skin burning in the early morning hours. he nodded for everyone to get back to the cars, peeking back at the grand fire as he was driven. this would be discovered and would end up all over the news, labeled as more gang violence, yet the public and its authorities would continue to have no idea who'd done it or why. but the underworld would understand the burning message once and for all; kaedehara kazuha and his syndicate were not ones to target.

the sun would be beaming in through your open curtains, showering your bedroom in the beautiful view of the sunrise. days had passed since the incident, and you had stayed home ever since, healing steadily and working through the mental scars burning into your mind. your staff were told that you and kauzha had both caught some sort of virus, staying home to recover. but in reality, you were far too scared to step outside your home, and you certainly did not look well enough to do so. your body was marred with bandages, wounds, and deep bruises, searing into your skin painfully. you were sitting up in your bed, rubbing your eyes tiredly as the pain thrumming across your skin had shaken you from your dreams early.

the first few days were rough, with you not even being able to glance at kazuha without a boatload of emotions welling up in your core, haunted by his lies. you had been sleeping next to a man whose hands were tainted with blood, numerous lives resting on his guilty conscience. his eyes had always been honest, but obviously, he had been anything but honest with you. for years, you had been sleeping next to the most infamous criminal, someone whose rule ran this city and whose words could have someone murdered without hesitation.

the door swung open, and kazuha walked in, a tray held in his hands as he blinked, surprised at your figure. he had clearly not been expecting you to be awake already, staring at you like a deer caught in headlights. but then a pleasant smile broke out on his lips as he approached the bed, placing the tray on the table by your shared bed as he climbed in next to you. sitting back against the headboard, his hands slid over your legs with a silent request as he offered you that soft expression. with a fond sigh, you raised yourself to your knees and swung one over his legs, settling yourself down onto his lap as he pulled you close, pressing a delicate kiss to your shoulders. you were only wearing his worn white shirt with most of the buttons undone, its fabric virtually hanging off your body as he relished in the sight of his girlfriend sitting on his lap, dressed in just his shirt.

his hair was down as it always was in the morning, sweeping over his bare shoulders as he sat shirtless under you, giving you the perfect opportunity to slide your hands up the warm skin of his lean torso, his muscles rippling against his skin as his tattoos curled around his pale skin. sliding across his chest and his firm pecs, enjoying the feel of his broad shoulders under your fingers, your final destination was his hair. a soft groan of muffled pleasure caressed your skin as he kissed and sucked new bruises into your skin with a revived desire to make you his, once and for all.

but kauzha had also been by your side for years, and even in this situation, he came running for you. despite all of the odd instances that had led you to accept this reality, you had never felt unsafe around him, nor had your trust in him ever faded entirely. even now, when you knew of his true identity and what he had perhaps done, you found that did not change. he had told you many things over the past few days, wanting to tell you as much as he could, yet anyone would have noticed how he was leading you gently in the direction he wanted you to go. you were taking in every word he said and never questioned when his words were accompanied by familiar gestures and caring touches, subconsciously rendering you unable to even form any thoughts on your own.

so maybe he was a criminal, and maybe he had killed someone before, but who were you to judge him? you knew him intimately and knew that he would never take the life of an innocent, just as you knew he would never pollute the streets with poison. but he never told you about all the people who had been through worse events than you when they were unable to pay money that they owed to one of kazuha's casinos. he'd never told you about all the rival gangs he had given orders to eliminate, having always eradicated any competition before they could even become competition.

so you fed right into kazuha's honeyed voice and his half-truths, allowing him to invite himself right back into your life and into your bed. he let his hand drift up and grip onto your chin, staring up at you with hungry eyes as he tugged you down to meet his lips, flipping you back into the sheets as he pinned you down. and you remained ignorant of the man currently pulling your shirt off your body, choosing to eat right out of the hand he was leading you around with whilst the other hid secrets beyond your wildest dreams.

for you belonged to kaedehara kazuha and he would never let you walk out of his life, keeping you sated and pleasured with gentle smiles and loving gestures. and as long as you remained unaware of all the lies he was still feeding you, of his bloody history, and of the hundred of people who'd died at his orders or whose lives had been led astray by kazuha's deceitful and nefarious ventures, everything was fine.

because you were his, and he would kill anyone who tried to take you from him.