Disclaimer: I don't own 'Owari no Seraph'. Mizuki © me.

late nights

It is so late into the night that he feels as if he is the only one left in the world. The halls of the Imperial Demon Army's headquarters are empty, and his footsteps echo in the silence. Shinya Hiragi feels alone, and it is only then that he allows his thoughts to turn to her. Even though it is late, he wonders if it were still reasonable of him to want to see her tonight.

Her kisses have always been full of promises, her hands the sort of hands that were more suited to her practice of gardening than they were weapons; though he has always liked her fingers best when they are wrapped around him. Perhaps it is not unreasonable of him to want to see her, but more so the fact that he is already changing directions to head off to find her. He can't help himself. It's been days since they were able to talk for more than few minutes, and he misses their nights alone together more than he thinks he should.

Shinya turns the corner and the illusion is broken. He can see immediately that he is no longer alone, nor the last one working late, because Guren Ichinose is doing his best to close his heavy office door as quietly as he can.

When he manages it successfully, Guren smiles to himself self-satisfactorily as he begins to walk away. Shinya thinks of calling out to his friend, but Guren is too far away and he is too distracted by the out-of-character behaviour he has just witnessed. Guren does not usually sneak anywhere.

Giving up on that, Shinya approaches Guren's office and opens the door to see for himself the exact sight he should have known to expect.

A woman lies slumped across Guren's desk, fast asleep on a pillow of paperwork. Her hair snakes over her desk, tied in a thick, blue-black ponytail. Though a hand hides her face from his view, Shinya knows exactly who it is who Guren has conned into helping him with his overdue paperwork.

Leaving the door open, Shinya enters his office and walks forward quietly. He is thinking of her fingers and her kisses as he reaches the woman's side and he studies her sleeping face. She breathes lightly, lips parted, and he thinks only that she is very cute.

"Mizuki." Shinya murmurs, leaning down to her ear.

He shakes her arm, blows in her ear, pinches her cheeks, until at last she stirs. Mizuki opens one bleary, violet eye and the resemblance to Guren becomes almost uncanny. There has always been something about the eyes of the Ichinoses; a sense of unshakeable resolve.

Shinya smiles at her. "Mizuki, time to wake up."

"…I didn't mean to fall asleep." She mutters, sitting up at last.

She pulls her hair back over her shoulder, fingers brushing against the shaved bottom half. For a moment, she doesn't look at him but at the paperwork below her. She seems to be thinking about something, only Shinya distracts her with a hand placed on her shoulder. When Mizuki looks up at him, the black leather patch worn over her right eye is clearly seen, and Shinya finds himself staring at the edges of a scar that creeps out from behind it.

Though he prefers to think of Mizuki's fingers and lips, he has also been considering the origins of her scar lately.

"What?" Mizuki asks, frowning.

He pushes his worries away. "Guren skipped out on you again," he says instead, "Why do you always agree to help with his work when he only leaves you to do it?"

"Because he always says he'll do half and I'll finish the rest," she answers simply, "He was working quite well tonight – until I fell asleep, that is."

"I don't think that guy quite appreciates having you as a little sister enough, you know. I have a feeling you're the only reason Guren manages to get any work done."

Mizuki Ichinose laughs, and Shinya realises he has never really wanted to kiss someone as much as he does her. He holds back only because it is Guren's office and it would feel weird to kiss his sister there, but compromises by holding out a hand. Mizuki accepts it, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet.

"Come on," Shinya says, pulling on her hand, "Let Guren deal with his own messes."

"But it's due in the morning." She argues dubiously, glancing back at the paperwork.

"It'll teach him not to abuse his power as the older sibling."

"You're such a mean friend, Shinya – although since you're helping me, I guess you're not my mean friend."

As he leads her across the room, their grips loosen and eventually, fall away. Shinya makes it a few steps down the hall before stopping and waiting for her to catch up, as Mizuki lingers long enough to pull the door shut behind her. She still has that guilty look on her face, a familiar furrowing of her brows and pursing of her lips that he recognises as worry. She has always had a bad habit of worrying too much, even back when he first met her as a child.

Mizuki falls in step alongside him, straightening the creases out of her uniform. Shinya watches her movements, graceful and dexterous, before saying, "I was thinking that we hadn't seen each other much lately."

"Hm, but isn't that just because they pulled me off active duty?" Mizuki replies, matching his soft smile, "I'd prefer it if they'd let me get back to work."

"You're still considered to be injured."

"You mean this?" She taps the patch over her scarred eye, "Sure it aches sometimes, but it's hardly an impairment."

"Being blinded counts as an impairment."

Mizuki nudges him playfully with her elbow. "I can still see out of my other eye, Shinya. Guren's not interfering and making things seem worse than they are, is he?"

"Not that I'm aware of." Shinya replies, watching her shoulders relax. He knows Mizuki hates fighting with her brother, though it's hard to avoid when Guren is involved. He has a habit of rubbing people the wrong way – the exact opposite of his sister, who has always been altruistic and brings out the best in others.

Mizuki is someone that you want to please, whereas Guren is someone that you want to piss off. Shinya likes them both all the same.

When they finally exit the headquarters, Mizuki takes a deep breath of the cool night air and her eyes turn to the stars. She is old enough to remember the time before the vampires, though the memory of a fireworks festival is nothing more than a faint whisper in her mind.

"Mizu," Shinya distracts her intentionally, disliking the moroseness in her smile, "Stay with me tonight."

She stares up, wide-eyed, and he reads the question on her lips before she can put it into words. He leans down, kissing her forehead. It is as much affection as he dares to show in public, even though they are alone right now.

"I wanted to see you," he confesses quietly, "I miss spending time with you."

She steps closer, as if to kiss him, but all that happens is her saying, "I miss you too." For a moment, her fingers brush up against his. "…Fine. Your place tonight."

He nods, and in the space of a heartbeat their usual distance has been resumed. In public, they are careful to be seen as nothing other than good friends. They use formal terms of address, and maintain the appropriate distance apart expected of them. There are consequences that come with mixing business and pleasure, and neither of them are willing to find out what they would be. Shinya uses her nickname, Mizu, sparingly; especially considering the flush of memories it evokes.

They walk mostly in silence. The conversation is casual, and the quiet is companionable.

Occasionally, Mizuki will glance up at the night sky and he finds his breath catching in his throat at the sight of her, skin glowing under moonlight. Inevitably, Shinya finds himself considering her scar and the familiar questions loom in his mind. He doubts that Guren has spoken to her of it – more likely he has skirted the issue or just acted on his own whims behind her back.

He pauses as they arrive at his apartment, just one of many that accommodate the surviving population. Mizuki has to hurry to catch up, though it isn't hard with her long legs and wide steps, only prolonged by her utter lack of impatience. The door is already open by the time she reaches it, allowing the two of them to enter side by side.

Mizuki shuts the door behind her, locking it with a soft click that promises little distractions from their time together. There is a mutual desire, an understanding between them that this time is valuable, restricted, and that there will be a goodbye at the end of at all.

Shinya has already come as close to that farewell as he wants to, recalling in a flash the panic of hearing that Mizuki's mission had gone wrong. He can vividly remember the sight of her bloodied body carried Guren's arms, the two of them painted unrecognisable with gore as they had escaped back into human territory. There was nothing either of them could have done to save her sight.

"So, does this mean you're providing tea for the both of us?" Mizuki asks, her fingers pushing against his waist, startling him.

Shinya lets her guide him further into the room, which opens up to a quaint kitchen and lounge. Luxuries are sparse, even for those in the Hiragi family. They have little to spare for an adopted member of the branch family, such as he is.

"I can't promise much," he replies, "I'll see what I have."

"Don't worry too much about it."

Shinya turns to face her, smiling down at her. "I won't. You worry enough for the both of us, besides."

She ducks her head, hiding her blushing cheeks. Though her hands push against his chest, she resists the ache that calls for more intimacy. "Idiot." She breathes, knowing that if she were to touch him now she could easily lose herself in his skin.

He smiles amiably and takes a few steps back to give them space. Mizuki makes her way towards the table, taking a seat as Shinya begins to rummage through his kitchen. While she waits, she unzips her boots and yanks them off her feet. Though it's not particularly warm, she enjoys the air and stretches her toes. She finds the JIDA uniform stifling to wear, though she can admit that she still likes how it looks on her.

"Maybe I should make some tea first…" Shinya murmurs, glancing back to her.

Mizuki jumps up from the chair. "I'll help." She declares, but makes it only a few steps before he intercepts her path.

"No you won't," Shinya says, steadying her as his fingers tighten around her waist, "You do too much already."

She is easy enough to pick up, not giving him much of a fight. Her fingers grip the back of his shirt at the suddenness of his movement, her legs swinging around his as he carries her forward and sits her on his table. Shinya catches the lingering smell of her skin and soap and finds himself unable to move away now that she's in his arms.

"…You seem to be the one worrying too much now." Mizuki replies softly, teasing him.

She lifts her face to meet his gaze, her violet eyes catching in the light, and she has stolen his breath without realising it. Shinya doesn't really think about anything more than that when he kisses her, seeking the breath she hides behind her lips. He only means to kiss her once, but she encourages him to continue and he has little will to deny her anything.

Her fingers brush through the ends of his hair, across the nape of his neck, and he returns her caresses. The shaved underside of her hair is rough, but the longer strands are soft as silk. He likes to see her wearing her hair out, but the length of it is impractical for what he has in mind. The kiss continues, but his mind wanders from her lips to the feeling of her breasts pushing up against him and the warmth of her thighs against his hips.

"Mizuki," Shinya murmurs, pulling away, "You know you don't need to wear that here." His fingers brush across her scarred cheek, sneaking underneath the bands that secure her eye patch in place.

"It's not a scar people need to see." She argues gently, her eye averted.

"But you still don't need to wear it around me," he insists, "You don't need to wear anything at all, really."

Her cheeks flush red and he knows he has succeeded in sweet-talking her. Shinya takes the patch off himself, revealing the full, thick line of scar tissue underneath. For such a messy cut, it has healed pretty well; her partial blindness exempt. She never had any hope of recovering sight in her eye after a wound like that.

Shinya places his fingers along her jaw, lifting her chin so that he can kiss her lightly.

"I'm not that hungry," she blurts out, "Are you?"

He can see what she is asking, reading the question in her tight embrace and eager eyes. The next time Shinya kisses her, it is a hard, rough answer that pries her lips apart and has him pulling her hips against him.

"There are more important things to be doing." He whispers back huskily.

They make it to his bedroom in a fumbling of ecstasy, and before either of them realise, their kisses have become something more. Shinya lays her down on the futon and follows at his own leisure, stripping off his shoes and shirt first. She stretches her hand out to him before he is even with her reach, though her fingertips do at last brush against his skin and they collapse in a tangle of limbs and kisses.

Shinya spends most of his time finding the particularly sensitive spots; under her ears, the hollow of her collarbones, the soft skin of her thighs. Each time, he receives a breathy moan as encouragement, interspersed with some stupid joke and laughter, and soon enough he is working his clumsy fingers on the buttons of her uniform so that he has better access.

"Here." Mizuki says, and she takes over the undoing of her shirt and underclothes.

"Sorry." Shinya replies softly, to which she laughs and he smiles.

He ends up only managing to work her tight-fighting skirt down her legs, before standing to unbuckle his own pants. Shinya moves their clothes to the side of the room. When he returns, it is to kneel between her knees and pause as he studies her laid out before him.

Her hair fans out across the sheets, and she has thrown an arm over her eyes. Even so, as his fingers press down against her hips, he can see her blush. Mizuki's skin is marked with years of service in the army, with scars that he has rediscovered many times over, and Shinya can't stop watching her breasts moving with each breath. It strikes him that they are lucky to be alive.

"Mizuki," Shinya calls out, and she finally looks him in the eye, "You're so beautiful."

Now she is really red. Mizuki covers her cheeks with her hands, hiding the blush. She wonders if he can hear how hard her heart is beating or how short on breath she has become with anticipation. When she reaches a hand out towards him, Shinya helps her sit up.

"Really?" she muses quietly, downplaying her embarrassment, "I thought you were the attractive one in our relationship."

He laughs and leans forward to kiss her quickly, feeling her shuffle closer and wrapping her legs around his hips.

"Ready?" he asks quietly.

She nods, acquiescing quickly before she buries her head in his shoulder. As Shinya presses forward, entering her as slowly and gently as possible, her teeth scrape against his skin and she bites back a cry that thrums in her throat, against his body.

"You can move." She tells him, urging him to continue as eagerly as they had been before.

His first thrust her crying out, and has him saying, "Lie back down so it's easier."

She nods, kissing him quickly before complying. She lies on her back, and his fingers clamp down on her hip as he finds his rhythm. Mizuki grips the sheets underneath her, her fingers curling into white cotton as he continues. Shinya's fingers creep up over her stomach, and with one hand he fondles her breast.

"Do you…" she loses her breath for a moment as he buries himself deeper than before, "Shinya, do you want to go from behind again?"

"No." He is firm in his refusal, leaning down so that his hands are either side of her head and she cannot escape his ensuing kiss. "I like looking at you, Mizu," he whispers, "You…you're so beautiful…"

She turns red all over, and reaches up to link her fingers around his neck as her body moves with each thrust.

"That face right there," Shinya continues breathlessly, as she closes her eye and is unable to bite back the next moan, "That's a really cute face…"

The feeling of being stuffed full is fading as her body heats up even more. Shinya is doing a really good job – almost too good. "If you keep going like this," Mizuki manages to squeeze out the words between heavy breaths, "I'm going to…"

Her fingers dance over his shoulders, along the muscles that move as he repositions his arms and frees a hand to readjust her legs. "I want you to," Shinya urges, "I'm about to too."

"Just not inside me…"

He pauses to laugh at her remark, because he already knows the drill, and she is glaring up at him. "Don't stop now." She orders quietly.

"Sorry," He lifts her legs a little higher with his hands and thrusts in deeply once more. He is rewarded with her breathy groan, and he asks, almost teasingly, "Was that good?"

"Y-yes-"

He catches her stuttering words with a kiss and continues to fuck her the way he did before until her back is arching away from his fingers. He holds her closer because he likes the feeling of her breasts pushing against his chest, her body shuddering, her lips stammering out, "I-I'm coming-!"

He knows she is because she is so wet and tight and warm, and he stills for a moment as she trembles around him. Shinya loves the feeling, knowing that he has made her feel so good, and he loves the look on her face as well – eyes shut tight, lips parted, her nose wrinkling as she cries out when he pulls away.

Shinya lets her down as he kneels between her legs, still hard and so close to finishing. All it takes is for Mizuki to prop herself up with one arm, and to wrap her fingers around him with the other. A few good strokes are all it takes before he too reaches his own climax, groaning out something that sounds vaguely like her name, his cum dripping over her chest and rosy nipples.

"God…"

Mizuki falls back onto the futon, and Shinya recovers his breath before standing. "I'll go get something to clean up with." He announces before leaving the room.

She is left with that promise, and throws a hand across her face once more. Mizuki has no idea why Shinya would think she is still attractive with that thick, ugly scar running across her face, but she doesn't want to question it because she loves those words – needs them, even. He has always been her reassurance, her confident, her oasis. Even as kids, he never turned her away when Guren shut her out of his room and refused to play with her, and even as adults, it had been that way until that mission with Guren that cost her an eye. Afterwards, however, he became something else other than a friend.

"Mizu." Something lands on her stomach as Shinya enters the room, almost lackadaisical.

She uses the cloth to clean herself up. He takes a seat on the bed beside her, watching for a moment, fingers brushing up against her thigh. When she begins to sit up, presumably to put the cloth in the wash, he grabs it from her hand, throws it across the room, and lies down on top of her.

"Stay still." He whispers, thinking that once she gets up she will start dressing herself.

"I'm cold." She says in reply, shoving him off.

He grabs the sheets from the bed and tugs them over the both of them before she can make to stand. Shinya has no intention of letting her go just yet, evident in the way in which his arms circle her waist and pull her up against him.

"Give me a moment," Shinya requests, for once not sounding teasing in the least, "I'll make us some tea later – but don't, for a second, think I'm letting you get dressed any time soon."

Her arms are squashed between their chests, and she ducks her head so he can't see how red she blushes. "It's embarrassing when you say things like that," she confesses, straight-forward as ever, "But, um, that doesn't mean I want you to stop…"

"I know. You like it." Shinya declares, running his hands down her back until she shivers.

"I like you." She amends softly.

Shinya, for once, is glad that she isn't looking at him. He has turned as red as she usually does, but it wouldn't do for Mizuki to realise that all it takes is that soft mutter from her to expose his weakness. "Well, believe it or not, I like you too," Shinya replies quickly, "Just don't tell Guren – I'm certain he'd kill me."

Mizuki laughs, wriggling up so that she can look him in the eye at last. "You know, I think he might have caught on after that time he walked in on us," she pointed out playfully, before adding, "But he trusts you, so it's fine."

"Ah, that's good. He's a pain in the ass to have to deal with already…"

"Hm, I know," Mizuki's expression becomes unreadable for a moment, thinking of something beyond tonight, "…Is he really not interfering with my reinstatement?"

"I wouldn't know, Mizu."

She slips out of his arms before he can stop her. "It's just…" she pauses, and sits up on the mattress, "I know for a fact he doesn't want me out in the field after that last mission went so badly."

The sheets pool around her waist as she leans forward, hugging her knees close. Shinya is quiet, only watching as he thinks that he never expected her to be this concerned about the situation. Mizuki doesn't like combat, so he had thought it wouldn't matter so much that she was not assigned any field work. Perhaps her restlessness stems from the fact that everyone else she cares about – her brother, Shinya, even that Hyakuya brat Guren saved – is out fighting and she cannot do her bit to protect them. That would certainly be the most Mizuki-like explanation.

Shinya sits up after her and moves so that she is between his legs and he is able to wrap his arms around her from behind. His fingers creep over her arms, his lips pressing gentle kisses to the nape of her neck as he thinks of what to say.

"…I don't either." He admits at last.

"You're not interfering, either, are you?" she jokes, but admittedly, her trust in him is more stable than it is with her brother.

"No," his words whisper across her skin, "But I understand why Guren would, if he did, because he loves you and so do I."

"You do?" She turned her head ever so slightly, looking back over her shoulder.

Shinya leaned in, kissing her cheek. "I do – although you already knew that, so stop acting so surprised."

Mizuki laughs suddenly, and though it is short, it is also very, very sweet. Shinya feels as if her laughter is a victory, is his saving grace. His hands pull on hers, tightening around her fingers. Because he likes to see her reactions, because he is already in so deep and has already drowned in all that she is, he adds softly, "If this world hadn't gone to shit, I would absolutely have married you by now."

There is no way the Hiragi family would let him marry a traitorous Ichinose; never mind that Mizuki is too strong and proud to betray anyone. The only one of them who would support that would be Kureto Hiragi, but only in the context that he would be the one marrying Mizuki.

"Oh," Mizuki's whispering voice draws him back, "Well, that was something I didn't already know."

"I know," He smiles lightly, but his hands are still holding hers firmly because her shoulders are still tense against his chest, "…As a distraction, this isn't working, is it?"

Mizuki shakes her head. "No," she admits, "That doesn't mean I don't appreciate you trying, though."

Shinya kisses the back of her neck, smiling not only because she does not, but also because she is beautiful and, to put it simply, worth smiling about. "I'm sure that everything will be fine," he promises, "Just give it time."

There's been an internal month long debate about whether or not I add to this one shot. For now, I've decided to upload it and leave it.

Thank u for reading and please leave a review!