Baby, let me stay
When the world is gone
Promise I'll behave
Never right your wrongs
Is that what you want?
Like the other boys?
Someone you can throw; Like the other toys?

Kureto was cute when he was upset, Ari observed, all huff and single word sentences in bed. He brooded more, and she wasn't looking to disrupt his choices, wouldn't excuse her love for someone else. At least he fucked her, she supposed, filled the vacancy in her heart for a moment. He'd cut his hair scraggly short a few days back, just to spite her, but Ari didn't really care about him at the moment, wallowing in her own depression, as self-absorbed as always.

She'd been in love with Norio since high school, and all through their eventual military training. A part of her had joined because of him, so idealistic and handsome with his stark black hair, pale blue eyes making her knees weak every single time. When they'd been assigned to different posts, she'd been unable to see him anymore, had wallowed, in something close to self-pity for a week after he left her. Erika had forced her out of her mood, brought her back.

Without Norio, of course, she felt rather untethered, had decided that lashing out was a good option again, despite his decrying of her usual attitude. But he wasn't there to judge her anymore, so she'd felt more freedom, and when she'd gotten a black demon series weapon and a lower mid-rank promotion, she'd been rather happy. She hadn't stopped thinking about him, but not everyday, thankfully, able to find more shallow relationships that never brought feelings to encroach with the singular affection she felt for Norio.

Until Kureto. He made her feel, even if she only felt his dick at the start of it all. And, like Norio, he'd saved her life; similarly, Norio had put her in accidental danger as well before he'd saved her.

She almost deluded herself into caring deeply for him, but as soon as Norio was stationed at the outpost with her, she was back to teenage pining.

And for the first time, Norio responded to her, made an impassioned confession three months in; after which, she stopped taking Kureto's calls, rested in the warm circle of Norio's arms instead. The outpost wasn't that bad anyways, almost felt like a vacation after she finally had him. She loved the way he made her feel, how he tried to change her, make her better. He was something of a goody two shoes, but that was his charm; because he blushed when he first saw her naked, treated her so delicately she didn't have the heart to tell him that it wasn't turning her on. He'd already made her wait three months into their relationship, and Ari was terrible at waiting.

Ari started thinking about him again, Kureto, instead of Norio, if only because it was what got her off when she was with Norio. It wasn't as if it didn't feel good when she was with Norio; an emotional connection seemed to afford a few orgasms, and an overall pleasant experience. But Kureto didn't often apply himself to the customary conventions Norio did, her boyfriend ever the rule follower, and the trend held in bed. All missionary, and she had to do some serious convincing for him to fuck her from behind. After which he usually asked her not to say fuck like that, and to never repeat the phrase 'I love your dick, Norio'. Very disappointing.

Kureto would've turned her around and made an effort to fuck her again, especially if she asked nicely, 'nice and hard like you always like it, Ari'. And she really did like it, couldn't stand Norio being soft with her, didn't think she deserved it, thinking about someone else she'd left behind six months ago - then he told her that she deserved everything and more. With effort, she kept Kureto out of her mind, and said yes to Norio's proposal a year in, because despite their sex lives, she was in love with him entirely; head over heels.

She'd never tell Kureto about the proposal. She and Norio had never had the time to make it official.

A week after the proposal she'd gotten called to a compound in an undisclosed location, and met with Tenri Hiiragi there. The man was half machine, a fact she found very interesting, allowing herself to zone out in the tense silence the man tried to posture, eyeballing the carved designs, along with the faint whirring of cogs. When he finally spoke, he didn't sound like a robot, and Ari was pretty disappointed.

"If you want to be with my son, you could now."

"I, um, we, I," she held up her hand nervously, pointed to the ring on her finger.

Tenri's eyebrow arched, reminded her sharply of Kureto. "Let me rephrase that, you are going to reforge your relationship with my son. He's acting like a spoiled child who lost his favorite toy, even if he found someone new."

Ari was slightly taken aback. "When?"

"Four months back, I believe," Tenri said, leaning back in his chair.

"Alright. But, how do you expect me to get back together with him? Even if I want to - and I don't, just so we're clear. I'm giving commitment a try."

"That's not what it sounded like when you asked me for a promotion to a rank you knew you couldn't attain."

"And I left Kureto alone, as you instructed, General Hiiragi. You were already going to send me away, your youngest son threatened me and accidentally mixed that fact in."

"You were smart to use it for leverage, Kureto would be proud."

"Don't tell him," she bit out, wondered what else she had to hide from Kureto.

"Anyways, I'm giving you back to him."

"I'm not his to keep or give away; and I'm certainly not yours."

Tenri regarded her for a minute, shrugged. "Fine. But know you'll go no further than Lieutenant Colonel."

"I hardly deserved it in the first place."

"I can't force you, necessarily," the general said, rearranging papers on his desk with a finger, chin propped up on his fist. "But I'm rather disappointed Lt. Colonel Miyasato. You may as well stay the night before you go back. Maybe it will change your mind, if I treat you to a nice dinner and a place to stay for the night."

"It won't."

"And I can't starve you, so it doesn't really matter. You're dismissed."

Overnight, the vampires attacked the outpost, killed everyone, even the few who'd tried to run as soon as they'd hit, a good distance from the outpost. Norio hadn't tried to run, of course, she discovered, his body ripped clean in half, in the center of the small town. Head mounted on a pike with several others, a note tacked to someone's forehead, but she didn't care to read it, too busy trying to breathe again, saw stars as her lungs burned. Some miracle had made her fortunate enough to have Erika along on the trip with her, and Erika, as much of a mom as always, pulled her away to the helicopters.

A blanket was draped over her shoulders, and the doctor warned her about stress, gave her recommendation for a grief therapist, but she threw that away the next day, called General Hiiragi instead. "I'll go back to him."

The general didn't ask if she could handle it, probably didn't care, gave her a simple, "good." And hung up.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Erika asked her, looking up from her post at the door of the communications room. "Really think it through, Ari.

"I don't want to think, that's why I'm going back to him."

"Please don't try the grieving technique of having an old boyfriend fuck your brains out. Please try to cope in a sane way. Please. I can't say please enough,"

"It's not as simple as that, don't be so worried," she said, limbs feeling a bit like lead, exhausted for no reason midday. "Kureto is where they're bringing his body anyways. He'll take my mind off everything, you know."

"I know, because you know he'll sweep you right back up in his arms. You told me he's good at that."

She left the outpost by night, the zone declared unsafe for any inhabitants who decided to stay the night. The letter the vampires left made sure they understood that fact, and the sheer magnitude of their brutality drove it home. It took two weeks for cleanup to complete, and any technologies salvaged; she was on the ground every single day, handling sleepless nights, had passed out after five days of that practice. Sleeping pills and maximum strength anxiety meds were shoved in her face, things that left her half-dead.

Anything to take her mind off Norio, and she'd take annoyed Kureto over anything, still. There were complications now that prevented any relationship, with Kureto's fake dating of the branch family girl, and her loss of her fiance (she didn't even waste time considering telling Kureto about it). She was also distracted with her self-imposed mission of finding the vampires that destroyed the outpost, using the surveillance footage and numerous reports that'd been churned out in the weeks she'd spent helping at the camp.

She joined some sort of coalition of the semi-willing, most of the officers knowing how ill prepared they were to deal with a noble vampire with a first class weapon, one connected to an already flagged vampire named Crowley, along with his two henchwomen. They couldn't easily take on one noble, and if another vampire showed up to honor an alliance? They'd be cut down where they stood, fuck any already unstable assets on their side. Ari wondered if she was still considered an unstable assets, sitting quiet in a meeting room, tenser than ever with the thought of seeing Norio's ashes later on, combined with the knowledge she'd let an ex fuck her into the AM.

When his hair hadn't been scraggly, and he hadn't known about Norio, she supposed, taking her time now to look over more files, forgetting past moment, like she was good at. She'd gotten good at handling her losses.

Why you standing there with your face screwed up
Don't leave while you're hot that's how Mase screwed up

She had her grumpy Kureto and Erika now, at the very least.

Erika was something of her shadow, curtailing her pill habit as soon as it began, told her that, "a prescription doesn't mean a handful."

"But I can sleep with a handful, unless you want me to run off to Kureto tonight again," Ari said, knew she was coming across rather poisonous, eyes narrowed, hair tousled with the bed spread tangled around her.

"Fine, do what you want," Erika said, calling her bluff; but Ari wasn't the one to not carry through once she'd made a threat.

So she got up. Went to the door. Opened it with a pointed look at her friend, knew she wasn't the one to lash out at, but Ari wasn't the best friend. Not now, not ever.

As soon as she crossed the threshold of the door, Erika was after her, followed her right up to his door, which he opened soon enough, glaring down at her. He did a lot of glaring now; just like before. Ari leaned up, wound her arms over the back of his neck, bringing him down for a kiss, one that he actually responded to, hands strong at her waist like always. He pulled her tight to him, snaked a bold hand down to her ass right in front of Erika, painting the exact portrait she'd been looking to achieve.

And now that she was around Kureto, she couldn't leave without having him fuck her, allowing him to pull her back into his room. He shut the door expertly in Erika's face, pushed Ari against it, hands slipping casually up her frame, smirk curling his lips. She tried to kiss him again, but he hadn't accepted most of her kisses, all because of his injured pride, maybe. The pouting would get old, but for now, it made him rougher, and she loved that, his strong hands making her feel weaker than ever.

"So you're back are you?" He asked her, arm above her head, caging her in with his body, nose inches away from hers. "Why?"

"Yes sir," she mumbled, watching him very closely, ever so attracted to him. "It's just, no one can get it like that."

Her hands curled in his shirt, undoing the buttons as he considered her, standing straight. "Fine. But after I fuck you, you need to leave."

"But Kureto," she whined, rising up on her toes to try for a kiss.

"No," he said, with a good amount of finality. "Now, I've been thinking about your ass for most of the day, so why don't you find somewhere nice to bend over?"

"Fuck me in your kitchen."

"Over the island."

"You're lucky i'm tall enough for this."

"You're lucky I'm in the mood for you."

"Make sure to spank me, why don't you, General grumpy."

Kureto rolled his eyes, even as he undid his belt. "I'll use my belt, if you're going to demand so much from me."

"Shut up, you're already hard because I suggested it, you don't get to pull a prude mo-" he quieted her with a kiss, walking her towards the kitchen island, looking a bit less angry now.

He looked at her, stated as seriously as he could, "I am; you know you always get me going."

She couldn't help but smile, be swept up his his casual charm, and his disgusting face, with those annoying eyebrows. In the three days before she'd left, Ari had received singular attention and affection from Kureto, as he processed her leaving, had cum 21 times in one day, which was a new record for the both of them. She'd forgotten about Norio; and the fact that she had been the one to ask the General to give her a promotion in exchange for leaving Kureto.

He stripped her instead, undoing her tight pants in a flash, hands caressing slow back up her legs, palms warm against her skin, gliding over the round of her ass, grasping tight before he spanked her. As half knelt as he was, she could run his fingers through her hair, yanked at the strands when he hit her, was pushed back against the island table as he made to take off her shirt. His lips went to her breasts with a degree of haste, hands cupping both of her breasts respectively. It mostly tickled at first, because of his shitty haircut, but Kureto was persistent, and her laughs changed seamlessly to moans.

With a quick hand, he turned her around, had her underwear tossed across the floor, brought his belt down on her exposed ass. "Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"And when I make you cum, what are you going to say?"

"Thank you," she moaned, covered her face with her hands to recall another time when Norio had told her to never thank him, that she deserved everything and more.

But she didn't.

He slipped fingers into her, teased her like only he could, whapped her with his belt a few more times as he did, but he was too impatient, it seemed. His belt clattered to the floor, and his hands were at her hips, nudging her up on the counter, almost made her feet leave the ground, straining on her tiptoes as he guided the head of his cock to her slit, ass aching just as much as her clit. She wiggled like she always did, mostly to have him brush against her clit, his grip on a hip tightening.

"Stay in one place, you still squirm like the neediest little slut."

She usually stopped squirming after he spoke to her, content with having riled him up even further, looking forward to being fucked senseless, maybe enough for him to take pity and let her stay. She'd have to behave, of course, but she was very good at that, one of her feet leaving the ground as he pushed into her, didn't give her even a pause, though she'd never ask him to. Ari loved that she felt whole again, let her moans come easy as she relaxed. He overwhelmed her entirely, driving home deep every time, hit something within the first minute that made her see stars.

"Kureto," she gasped, almost shouted, clutching the side of the marble island table. "That hurts so fucking good."

He laughed at her, "That fast, huh?"

"Yes," she managed, trying to find better balance on her feet, maybe shift him off that spot, but he wasn't going to let up.

"I like it when you call me sir, Ari," he said, drove her name home with a thrust, holding her hips as she tried to move.

It didn't help, of course, as she choked on her words, quivering only making him rub deeper, and she couldn't seem to breath for a moment. When she did, her words were robbed again by moans, forehead on the cool table, hardly able to hear his noises over the sound of her own. He set a hand to her lower back, pressed her down against the cool marble, and she shivered, felt the hand slide up her spine, grasp her hair instead, his breathing heavy, hand relaxing, tightening in her hair.

"I'll call you sir from now on, I swear," she said, finally able to speak.

A smirk curled his lips, but he didn't answer, gathered her up by her hair instead, arm snaking around her stomach, fingers coasting down to touch at her clit as he began a slower, more fluid pace, made her sweat even more as pleasure began to course through her body. She grasped his wrist when the pleasure threatened to overwhelm her, didn't want to cum so soon, didn't want this to end, not yet, content with remaining on the precipice. She felt, so, so terribly, fantastically close to something she couldn't touch, loved how holding back made it hurt.

Kureto let her hair go, allowed her to drop back to the counter, kicked her legs apart, fucked her hard and fast again. Ari came, through no fault of her own, she only had so much discipline, he didn't let up, made her climax quick again, something only he could do, stopped finally, firm inside her, let her clench around him with the aftershocks of her orgasms. She liked that best, anyways.

"Thank you," she managed finally, rolling her body over the now warm marble, arching back against him

"You're so fucking wet right now," he murmured, voice low in away that made her quiver, chanting a silent mantra of his name. "I bet…" he trailed off, but she felt his fingers rather acutely, two of them, sliding in alongside his cock, "how is that, then? Do you want me to try fucking you like this? Just until you cum."

She felt too full, writhing there as she sought to escape the stimulation, too much after two orgasms. His finger crooked slightly inside her, and she let out a sharp moan, rocking back accidently as she tried to find her footing, had him chuckling when she stayed there. It felt fucking good now.

"Fuck me, please, sir," she said, with hardly a moment's hesitation.

He started moving, made her shout with sharp thrusts, crude; but it worked for her, made her ache in a way that resonated through her whole body. And, fuck, he was going to make her cum again, wasn't he? She buried her face in the crook of her elbow, moaned sloppily, legs going limp, finally, couldn't think about anything else besides his dick. He'd turned her into a complete mess, eyebrows creased, muffling her noises against the table, pain lacing her pleasure.

"The good thing is, no matter how many times I fuck you, your tight little pussy stays that way." He said, a slight laugh caught in his throat as his hips met her ass, slipped a third finger into her, made her see stars.

And she came fucking hard, pained whine turning into a shout she couldn't tone down. But the stars were more almost as fun.

His fingers slipped out of her, wet fingers grasping her hips, chased his own orgasm, which he found in short time, thankfully. She was rather focused on riding the waves of her own orgasm, his dick going soft after a minute.

"Are you finished?" He asked her, stepping away with her nod, "You can go."

"Let me stay," she murmured, speaking into the marble table.

"Look, I can't have you stay with me, you made it clear you didn't want to this time around.."

"I know, but I had an arguement with Erika, and I can't sleep without pills, I just feel like I can breathe around you," she said, words coming fast, so tired she wasn't sure she'd remember this, "so l want to stay."

"...you're talking to me about this in the morning, then."

"Fine," she sighed, stood on wobbling legs, slumping through his apartment until she found his bathroom,

Ari cleaned herself off the best she could in a five minute shower, drying herself off in one of his towels, allowed him to stand in the doorway, watching her quietly. She tossed the towel to the side, tried to walk out, but he caught her waist, grasped her upper arm to yank her in, kissing her harshly; but it was the first kiss he'd initiated in the two weeks they'd taken up again. He didn't let her go for a good moment, fingers pressing an ache into her skin. His lips dropped to her neck next, mouth working against her skin, tried to pull her even closer, as if she wasn't clinging to him.

"Tell me tomorrow morning."

"I will," she said, felt incredibly heavy in his arm.

He walked them to his bed, let her shuffle around under the covers, choosing a position, glared when he brought more pillows over to divide them. Ari couldn't believe his nerve, and Kureto seemed set on behaving like a hurt teenager, flopping down, shutting off the lantern light with moody zeal. Such a baby.

When she woke up the next morning he wasn't in bed, the shower running in the background, giving evidence of his location. She started to sit up, stopped suddenly to process how fucking sore she was, cursing his name. Fucking sadist; said sadist turned off the shower then - and, frankly, she was a rather willing victim when he got her worked up.

"You're going to have to airlift me out of bed," she called, admiring the lean comma of his body in the doorway.

"You are hilarious," he deadpanned, rubbing off his hair with a towel, choppy ends sticking into the air before they settled with a pass of his hand. "And you're still telling me about your relationship."

She wouldn't tell him they had been engaged. "Fine," she said, waited until he was done in the bathroom and back in the bedroom, sitting in a chair away from the bed, intent on being as standoffish as he could. "Are you ready?"

"No, let me go get some fucking popcorn - of course I'm ready," Kureto said, oozing sarcasm and less than vague annoyance.

"Calm down, you're so angry all the time," she sniffed, brushing his words out of the air. "I met him in high school, right after the catastrophe, because he was interning at the principal's office, and I'd gotten into a fight. He was tasked with finding me ice and bandaging me up; and, later, he saved my life in the field, somewhat indirectly, but he was always helping me up. And at first he didn't notice how much I was into him, you know, he always laughed off my advances, but something changed when we were at the outpost, maybe because of our," she pointed between Kureto and her, "almost relationship, and the phone calls. Maybe he saw me differently, I dunno. But he confessed to be one night, how hopelessly in love with me he was, told me to stop taking your calls and be with him. So I did."

"And you lived happily ever after."

She flinched. "He died, I don't find that happy in any sense."

"But you left me so casually, so you must've been ever so into him."

"I've already told you I was head over heels in love with him. He made himself the easiest person to talk to, to be with, even if he was a rule follower, and I couldn't do that shit if I tried. But he thought I could be better, told me I deserved everything. You didn't. "

Kureto rose to his feet, handsome face screwed up, "Well I'm sorry you never gave me the fucking chance to give you everything. My father just told me you were the one who suggested leaving me alone, all to get a promotion."

"He said he wouldn't tell-" that was a false truth, even if it had been said. "He was already plotting to send me off, I just took your advice and climbed the ranks!"

"By leaving me?"

"If you loved me so much, why'd you let me go with one phone call?"

She knew things too, he wasn't the only one sitting on truths.

"Because...My politics hadn't lined up. If I went against General Tenri, then my career might've found itself undermined."

"See. We're both self-serving people, don't act like it's a crime."

"Get out. You're not staying the night anymore, I'll just call you in for quick fucks from now on, don't come to my room uninvited again."

"Well, I'm not leaving right now."

"Are you fucking serious?"

"My ass hurts, my goddamn legs are numb; gimme a fucking second."

"Then I'm leaving," Kureto huffed, striding over to his closet, dragging on jogging shorts and a t-shirt, defined muscle of his torso just visible in the fabric. "I'm going for a fucking run."

"Really? You're going to be like that, pretty boy? You think your feelings are going to move me more than the image of his head on a fucking stick? you can happily leave me alone for a couple days."

Kureto cast a poisonous look over his shoulder as he crouched to lace his shoes up, drawers wide open, clothes spilling out. After her was done, he stomped out to the kitchen, stopping in front of her clothes, glowering down at them as if personally offended by the lace panties. He snatched her clothes off the ground, tossing them at her, sending them soaring from the kitchen, past the bedroom door. Ari caught them, her night pajama shorts and tank top separate from her bra and top, making a face at him.

"Be gone before I get back," he snapped.

"Fine."

"Good."

And, thankfully, he left.