Apodysophilia - Chapter one -
A.N. This is set before the final three episodes of the anime, but after everything else.
"Damn! These bastards never give up do they?!" Akira grunted as he sliced a Kokuchi in half. Shirogane shrugged and sliced another with his cane.
"I wouldn't count on it anytime soon Akira-kun."
"Hmph." He grunted in reply as he caught the last one. "Whew, they're getting bigger in number..." He muttered as he found the Doppelganger device and stepped on it, returning back to his human form.
"I still think you should've called Kengo and Aya to help us on this one Akira-Kun. We were nearly outdone." Shirogane walked over and placed his hands on Akira's shoulders, who raised an eyebrow at the Shin.
"What are you doing?"
"Why Akira, I have no idea what you're referring to..." Shirogane said slyly as his hands lowered down Akira's front and stopped on his chest. Before he could go any further, Akira brushed him away.
"Oi! Damn shadow."
Shirogane fell backwards and over-toppled onto the ground, landing with a thud. "Ow... You're so cruel Akira-Kun!" He whined playfully, rubbing his shoulder where Akira had pushed him. Akira rolled his eyes then glanced up at the evening sky. There was a red tinge to the ever darkening expanse of the sky, and a few stars were starting to show themselves. He'd heard a saying before that a red sky in the evening meant that the weather was going to be good the next day, although he didn't believe in that sort of prediction thing, so he just ignored the wandering thought.
"Guess we'd better get going. The others are probably waiting... Are you still sitting down there?" He raised his eyebrow again and folded his arms as Shirogane pouted.
"It would be nice if you offered your hand to help me..." He muttered before sighing and standing up. "You know, you should really- GAHHH!" He was cut off as one last Kokuchi came out of hiding and sliced his shoulder with its tail. Shirogane cried out as he fell onto one knee and clutched at his shoulder, but before Akira could react, Shirogane turned sharply on the spot and drove his cane into the Kokuchi. It screeched in pain then dissolve into the atmosphere. Shirogane paused where he was momentarily, as if in a freeze-frame, before falling to the floor with a grunt.
Akira's eyes widened slightly as he crouched down by the shadow on the ground. "Shirogane?"
The direct royal of Shin groaned in pain and Akira saw the gash in his shoulder as he shifted slightly then winced. "We need to get you to Master..." He muttered before bending down slightly to help Shirogane up.
Minding his injury carefully, Akira placed Shirogane's arm around his neck then placed his own arm around the shin's waist to support him. Although in a slightly drowsed and pained state, Akira could've sworn he heard Shirogane mutter, "Mmh, if only we could stay this close for a while Akira-Kun..."
Akira rolled his eyes then shifted slightly and starting to make their way down the road towards Bar Still, not really caring if people couldn't see Shirogane and thought he looked like a mad man as he walked.
- Page Break -
"There All done." Master said as he took his hand away from Shirogane's bare shoulder. "Does that feel okay Shirogane?"
Shirogane smiled then nodded, smoothing a hand over the pale, flawless skin. "Yes... Thank you Master."
"So tell me again why you didn't think to call us for help?" Aya asked as she glared at Akira, who ignored her angry gaze and glanced away nonchalantly.
"Uh... We were... Ambushed... There was no time... To call you." He said slowly, cursing himself for not being able to come up with a better lie. Shirogane had started to slip his shirt back on while Akira talked but had paused halfway up his buttons to join in the argument.
"Why don't you tell them the truth?"
Akira frowned and raised an eyebrow at him. "And what truth would that be?"
Shirogane shrugged and carried on with his buttons. "The one where you didn't call for your friends help because you wanted some alone time with me." He pointed his hand like it was a grand gesture to himself and raised his eyebrows suggestively.
Akira rolled his eyes then sighed. "Yes, that's why I didn't call for them." He said sarcastically, shooting a look at Shirogane before turning back to the bar and absentmindedly started to play with his juice drink. Shirogane pouted then slipped on his tie, coat and hat again. While no-one was looking, he slipped a piece of paper over to Kou, who raised an eyebrow but took it anyway.
As he read it, he smirked then handed Master back his glass for another refill, hiding the note at Shirogane's request in the glass so that when Master picked it up, he could sense its words. Master looked surprised then secretly read the note, smiling as well at the message on the paper.
"Seriously though, why did you not ask us for help Akira-Kun?" Haruka asked, speaking up for the first time that day.
"I dunno." Akira shrugged, glancing down at his drink as Shirogane stood up and walked over to behind Akira. "I guess I just wanted to fight them solo for a change. I know Shirogane got hurt but we handled it fine otherwise... What are you doing?" He turned on the spot when he felt Shirogane tug lightly at the back of his jacket.
"Nothing." The silverette said slowly and in a disbelieving tone. Akira's eyes narrowed but he turned around to face Haruka and shrugged. He was about to say something else when he felt Shirogane's lips ghost over his neck. He jerked up and turned around sharply to become face to face with the smirking shadow.
"What was that?"
Shirogane raised an eyebrow. "I still don't know what you're referring to..."
"Seriously Shirogane... Stop it." Akira growled before trying to walk past the shadow. Shirogane subtly licked his lips and as soon as Akira passed by, he grabbed the back of his jacket and yanked so it came off. Akira stopped and turned on the spot to give Shirogane a look which said 'What the fuck are you doing?' Shirogane just smirked further and took a step towards the confused and angry teen, only to get Akira to take a step backwards himself.
"Shirogane... What are you doing?"
"Seriously, it's nothing, Ak-i-ra-kun!" He sang and leaped forward to embrace the brown haired teen. Akira stood there with a look of surprised for a moment before he tried to push the clingy shadow off him.
"Sh-Shiro- GET OFF!" He pushed Shirogane away with such a force that it made the shin fall backwards onto the ground again. Shirogane panted for a moment, then looked up at Akira with a seductive look and licked his lips quickly. Akira's eyes widened in disbelief and his mouth dropped open too. Everyone else watched with wide eyes at the scene, not bothering to move from their spots to help Akira as it was quite amusing, despite being quite an odd situation.
Shirogane made another lunge for Akira who jumped backwards out of his reach. As the shin went to move again, Kou stood and quickly moved behind Shirogane to hold his arms behind his back and restrain him.
"Hey!" The Shadow shouted in protest, but Akira sighed in relief.
"C'mon Shirogane, you're scaring poor Aki over there." Kou nodded his head to Akira and Shirogane followed his gaze. His body tried to lurch forward when he made eye contact with the teen but Kou held him where he was.
"What's wrong with you?" Kou asked. "You're not usually this... well... for lack of a better word; horny."
"I was hoping this would not happen..." Master said which made all heads turn to him and frown.
"Hope what wouldn't happen?" Aya asked slowly.
Master sighed and placed down the glass that he had been cleaning. "Very rarely when a Kokuchi scratches a direct royal, there is this condition that you can obtain called Apodysophilia. It's so rare that I've only heard of it happen to one other person and that was many a millennia ago..."
"What's Apody-sophie?" Kengo asked, making everyone raise an eyebrow at the bar tender for an answer.
"Apodysophilia." Master corrected. "It's where you have a feverish desire to rip someone's clothes off."
Akira gulped, glancing down in worry at the Shadow, who was still giving him a lustful look.
"It would seem that only Akira-kun is affected by this... Odd..." Master mused, rubbing his chin as everyone did the same.
"Can't you just see that he's using it as another damn excuse?!" Akira whined, yelping as he caught Shirogane now giving him a very seductive look from across the room where he was being held.
"Actually, it does exist. It is a real thing that can happen when a Kokuchi scratches a direct royal..." Kou said as he struggled to hold the Shin back. "In most cases, it's the person who the affected is enamoured with or the first person they see when it happens so I think it's only affecting Aki because... Well... We all know how Shirogane feels..." he trailed off as he caught Akira glaring at him then quickly added, "Or because he's a direct royal too?"
"Yeah whatever." Akira said coldly then sighed and ran a tired hand through his messy hair. "Well anyway, that last fight really tired me out so I'm gonna go. You coming too, you horny bastard?" He turned and raised an eyebrow at Shirogane, whose head perked up like a dog when he noticed Akira addressing him.
"Are you sure you're going to be all right Akira? I mean, what with his... Condition, and all..." Aya said, shifting uncomfortably on the spot. Akira nodded.
"It should be fine. I can handle him, don't worry about it. Later." And with that he exited the bar, the shadow floating behind him every step of the way, secretly plotting the best way of committing an ambush on the teenager later tonight.
Dark: I'm aware that Apodysophilia is the desire to disrobe YOURSELF, but read 'till the end and you will understand why Shirogane's only trying to disrobe Akira ;D