Well we've made it. 131 reviews later I give to you chapter 12!
Songs:
When Mikoto says "They just left to go get you" start this list
1. Minuet for a Cheap Piano (A Winged Victory for the Sullen)
2. Steep Hills of Vicodin Tears (A Winged Victory for the Sullen)
3. We Played Some Open Chords (A Winged Victory for the Sullen)
(Anyone see a pattern haha? Yeah for some reason they just really inspired me with this chapter so uh yeah)
"Are you sure you want to leave so soon Umeko-chan? I'm sure those friends of yours would walk you home."
"Oh I'm sure they would but I wanna get home," she smiled back at the blond, who looked at her concernedly for a second before sighed and giving her a small smile.
"Just don't be reckless."
"Me? Reckless? Never!"
"Umeko-chan you fell out of your bed yesterday because you were reaching for the TV remote and slipped."
Said girl blushed, crossing her arms over her chest, "Yeah, so? We all lose our balance sometimes."
"Right."
Umeko glared playfully at the nurse, finishing putting her things into the small plastic bag the hospital had given her. She reached in, feeling the old sweater that had miraculously made it out of her most recent escapade completely unscathed once the blood had been washed out of it. She pushed apart the folds to check that her pictures were still there, also somehow unharmed except for a small scratch on the corner of the picture of her parents.
She couldn't help but sigh softly, happily, shrugging further into the heavy black jacket she was wearing.
"Did he give that to you?"
"Who?" Umeko asked dazedly.
"That redhead. That's his coat isn't it?"
"Oh, um, yeah it is."
Umeko looked at the ground with a blush on her face while the blond smiled largely at her, "He must really like you then."
"I hope so," Umeko whispered, clutching the handle on the bag a little tighter. Yes, she certainly did hope so.
"Well, I'll be going then," she forced herself to sound cheery, giving the blond a quick wave before exiting the room.
"Bye Umeko-chan! Get home safety!"
"I will!"
She all but skipped out of the hospital, breathing in deeply as she finally pushed through those double doors and out into the fresh air.
With a grin so big it almost hurt she started down the street, a skip in her step that hadn't been there for a while.
As she looked around, she couldn't help but think that all the signs looked a little more colorful, the sky brighter, and the people beautiful. Ah- what a week in lock up will do to a girl. Well, not lock up, but close enough in her opinion.
She took her time wondering back to the bar, walking slowly and occasionally stopping to look in a store window at a dress or two. Yes, it was a good day indeed.
She was a bit surprised when she couldn't hear them from half a block away like she normally could but she reasoned that this was probably a good thing. A sign of maturity, of them growing into- oh who the fuck was she kidding?
The silence continued as she stepped in, and she looked around, blinking in confusion at the empty space.
"They just left to go get you," she heard that familiar voice drawl, and her attention was drawn immediately to the body sitting on a stool by the bar. He looked just as good as ever, and even though it'd been less then 24 hours since she'd last seen him, the tug in her chest when she saw him made it feel like it had been much longer.
"Hi," she whispered, quiet voice bouncing off the walls.
She looked good, he thought. A little smaller though then when she'd left a week ago, probably because she hadn't had a real meal since. What caught his attention the most though was the sight of his jacket on her, completely engulfing her small frame. The picture of her in his cloths caused a kind of primal satisfaction to push up in him, mainly because the heavy leather was more then just an article of clothing, it was a mark. It marked his claim on her, told all others to stay away, and he loved that she was finally starting to submit just a little to him, even though, he mused, she probably didn't even realize it this time.
"What are you smirking at?" she laughed breathily, walking lightly over to him.
His face stayed blank, but she could see the mirth dancing in his eyes as she sat down in the stool next to him. Her head tilted slightly to the side, full lips parting slightly as she gazed up at him.
"You find me funny don't you?" she mused, propping her elbow on the counter and resting her chin in her open palm.
"You give me plenty to laugh at."
"I'm sure," she rolled her eyes lightly, small grin still firmly in place.
A silence fell between them; one where Mikoto felt comfortable to just shut his eyes while Umeko gazed contentedly out the window. But it was a content nothingness; one where a quiet buzz seemed to circulating around them that acted better then any words could have to fill the space between them.
What could have been hours or maybe just minutes slipped by, the loud ringing of Mikoto's PDA finally cutting the quiet.
"Mikoto!"
Said man raised an eyebrow slightly at Izumo's panicked tone, already having a fair idea of what he was about to say.
"Umeko's not at the hospital."
Right on point.
"The nurse said she left hours ago, is she at the bar?"
Golden amber eyes slid over to the large cinnamon orbs looking back at him, and he let the simple words slip past his tongue, "No, she's not."
"Shit. We'll start a search then."
"Ai."
"We'll be back later then."
"Fine."
And the line went dead. Mikoto dropped the phone on the bar top, and by the time his eyes slid back over to her a full-blown smirk had reached her lips.
"You sent them all away didn't you," it didn't even sound like a question, and Mikoto felt the one corner of his mouth twitch.
"I might have."
She grinned, leaning forward, "So what are you going to do to me now that you've got me all alone?"
Oh he could thing of a number of things he'd like to do to her, the majority of which involved her sprawled out underneath him screaming his name loud enough for the whole god damn city to hear.
But there was something just so peaceful about her right now; he couldn't bring himself to break it by pushing her to fold to him.
He sighed loudly, and Umeko barely had time to blink before he had one arm under her shoulders and one under her knees, long legs carrying them easily up the stairs.
"Hey!" she laughed, hitting his chest lightly.
"Quiet," he ordered, but she just laughed and gave him a disbelieving look. Still, she brought her arms up and wrapped them around his neck, lacing her fingers together on the other side.
He kicked the bedroom door shut behind him, setting her down on her feet in the middle of the room.
"So now what?" she laughed, breaking away from him to step lightly around the room.
"I mean, we've got this whole big room to ourselves and the whole day to do whatever we want. I don't know about you but I vote on reading the 500 page book on ancient Greek culture I have in my bag, I think that would be exciting. I guess the other option would be to finish where we left off yesterday-"
She sat down on the edge of the bed, looking up at him from under her lashes, "Or are you just gonna stare at me the whole time?"
And he could of; he could spend hours just sitting and watching her, because every second was different. She was like a living painting, picturesque for a moment before moving and shifting, then freezing for another moment more.
"Mikoto," her eyes beckoned him closer, as if saying 'come here, I want to be near you, be close to me.'
And who was he to deny her?
"You're in a weird mood," he bluntly stated, walking towards her nonetheless.
"I just spent a week under house arrest, I'm pretty sure I have the right to have gone a bit stir crazy."
He just hummed back, positioning himself between her legs and bending till his mouth was just centimeters away from her ear.
"Do you really want me to fuck you right now?"
Umeko flinched. 'Fucking' just seemed so, well she'd rather not. The hunger burning in his eyes scorched her and she couldn't help but be scared as hell of it. Yes, she was fine with fooling around; in fact she was more then fine with it. But the way he had said fucking made her cringe.
"No, not particularly," she said in a quiet voice, and Mikoto could feel her mood change without even looking at the expression on her face.
He pulled back, looking down at her. Her face was somewhat reserved, but her eyes were jumping with a mix of anxiety and apprehension. Mikoto was quick to realize his mistake, and moved to fix it accordingly.
He slid his hands down her thighs till they hooked under her knees so he could wrap her legs around his hips. He leaned down, burying his nose in the crown of her head.
"I wouldn't do that," he said quietly, and Umeko relaxed. She loved this feeling of being surrounded, it made her feel safe; there were so many moments where she would be standing by herself and regardless of where she was, be it the bar or in the middle of the city, she would feel exposed, like her skin was doing nothing to protect her from the penetrating gaze of the world surrounding her. But like this, with a heavy shadow over her and a cocoon of heat around her, this is when she felt safe.
For some reason this revelation seemed absolutely mind-boggling to her, and a wave of drowsiness hit her. Mikoto smirked at the sudden exhaustion in her expression, watching as her eyes drooped and her shoulders slumped.
"Get in," he grabbed the edge of the sheet, and Umeko slid over. She pushed off her jeans, slid off his coat, and shimmied out of her t-shirt, folding everything neatly and putting it next to the bed. Mikoto found this particularly amusing, because really, why'd she have to make it so perfect?
As he pulled off his own shirt he watched the way her pale skin stretched and moved as she pulled herself down beneath the sheets. It looked softer than any silk he'd ever seen or touched, and his fingers twitched with the urge to smooth his hand across it.
Her nose crinkled slightly as he left his jeans in a pile and climbed in, and when she looked back up at his face she almost rolled her eyes at the amusement she could clearly see in them.
"Jackass," she muttered as he got in next to her, but he ignored her and she huffed.
As soon as his body slid in next to hers, the cool sheets warmed and Umeko felt a pleasant shiver race down her spine, making the hair on her arms raise and the skin across her chest break out in goose bumps. She moved closer to him, body desperate for the warmth he seemed to radiate. She curled in on herself, tucking her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around herself, nose practically touching his side as she continued to shiver.
She jumped slightly when a heavy arm dropped down around her, tucking her in neatly against his side, and she heard amusement in the deep voice as it drawled, "Silly girl."
That same kind of silence that had engulfed them downstairs resurfaced, filling the silent room. Mikoto thought she was already asleep when her quiet voice whispered, "Are you going to make me leave soon?"
Umeko peeked up at him from beneath her lashes, watched as his eyes opened to reveal his piercing orbs. And she could see in them, the question of 'what are you talking about?'
"It's just, Chise told me some," she flinched at her next word, "things about certain…reputations you have with woman and- and it just makes me nervous because…because I like this, a lot actually."
Her voice had become much smaller, almost a whisper by the end, and she curled in on herself completely as she finished. But Mikoto would have none of it, of her hiding from him.
She was a naturally quiet girl to begin with he supposed. Sure, she could crack a joke or get in a good natured argument, but her natural inclination was to just listen, not speak, and it was a tendency that he noticed made her more inclined to drift off, mind going places her body couldn't follow. And he knew first hand how dangerous your mind could be, how traitorous it was at times, and he felt inclined to keep her from traveling to those places, because he knew for a person like her those far away places were especially dark, hiding in them more demons then he believed she'd ever tell him.
But that was fine, she didn't have to tell him everything, because he understood that there were some parts that really couldn't be put into words, because they were best handled if they were simply tucked away in a corner of your mind where they'd only have the chance to creep out every once and a while.
So that's why he grabbed her shoulders and unwrapped her small frame from around itself, forcing her to look at him. He leaned over, burying his nose in the junction of her neck and her shoulder, hands coming to wrap possessively around her waist.
"You're not going anywhere," he growled against her skin, and her breath hitched at his next words, "I will never let you leave, Umeko."
This should have scared her, terrified her really, that someone was stating their claim on her this possessively, hell just yesterday in the hospital she had been screaming and raving about it, but now she just felt like there was no fight left in her. Somehow this man wrapping himself around her had sucked all the fight out of her, his primal possessiveness filling her with a warm buzz, one that she loved because she was positive she'd never feel quite as warm as this, as wanted.
"Okay," she whispered, "I'm alright with that."
That seemed to be all the approval he needed to pull her to him till he had her positioned so that she was on her back while he was on his stomach, half laying on top of her with his left arm wrapped over her neck to slide underneath her head, his other arm tucked under a pillow above him. Her smooth legs shifted against his until his left leg was between hers, and while he would have thought this position would have made her uncomfortable, a deep, relaxed sigh escaped her lips as he settled his weight on her and she finally drifted off. Mikoto watched her for a second before burying his nose in her hair and following her to sleep.
Izumo dragged himself into the bar slowly, the other members hesitating to follow him inside. They were all fucking terrified of course, because their king's immediate and as of lately violent reactions to any situation involving the young woman they'd been housing had proven to be anything but peaceful.
Tatara instructed Anna to go stand with Kamamoto then followed his friend inside, knowing they were going to have their work cut out for them.
They had searched every spot they could think of, but Umeko was nowhere to be found. It was like she'd disappeared. And that damn lazy king hadn't picked up his phone once today since the call this morning, so there was going to be no way to make this any less of a bomb then it was.
"King," Tatara knocked lightly, waiting to hear any noise from the other side of the door. When he heard none, he swallowed thickly and called, "I'm coming in."
Now Tatara wasn't sure what exactly he was going to see, but he was certain this wasn't it.
Mikoto was asleep in the bed with an equally unconscious Umeko pulled half underneath him. They both looked content to just be the way they were right now, and were so still Tatara had to concentrate for a minute to see if they were even breathing or not. But they were, slow and steady they breathed in this incredibly intimate position, with no cares to bother them for once in their lives.
The blond couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face as he realized the trick his king had pulled on them, happiness overpowering the slight annoyance he felt at being sent on a wild goose chase around the city the entire day.
"What? What's wrong?" Izumo asked as Tatara closed the door and turned around with a smile.
"Nothing's wrong, I just wouldn't go in there if I was you."
"And why's that?"
The younger man brushed past his friend, heading back to the bar downstairs,
"Because the royal couple is resting."
Well I personally think this chapter is sweet, because a little fluff is always good for the soul. I kind of feel like last chapter and this one have been a bit on the slower side as far as story progression goes, so I put super extra ultra work into the next chapter (yes I have it done and I'm just finishing editing it) which will become available to you at 140+ reviews. The door is yours to unlock people, use your goddamn key!
Any predictions on what will happen in the story? We did that one chapter and it was uber helpful for me to kind of figure out how to write the story so it could be a way you all liked so if you wanna, add a prediction to your review and I'll be happy to respond to any questions as well. Well, gotta run.
Gally
P.S.- Next chapter will be a bit of a time skip (weeks not years of anything)