Disclaimer:I do not own the anime, manga, novels, and most importantly the characters of K. K is officially owned by GoRa/GoHands.

Author's Note:Ok, I know I promised to update mid-May and it's now October but I didn't know I would be so busy with my first job during the whole summer! I worked at a math institution for poor children and was on my feet all day, often under the hot sun so I'd be too exhausted upon coming home to update.

However, this update comes with 3 MORE chapters which I will release in the next 3 following days. One of these chapters is a side story that will provide a bit of context for one of the last chapters. Hopefully, this makes up for my absence? And to kick it off, here's an emotional lemon I've been keeping for months!

K: Preserving the Blaze of Your Red

BY: TCOOKIES777

Chapter 19: Burn Marks

"I'm pregnant." She says without a single hint of emotion. Her face remains unnaturally doll-like—so uncaring—as she tends to her injured hands. Both palms bleed from deep gashes she'd sustained from a battle earlier today. Yet, she does not even flinch when she rubs an alcohol swab against her wound.

He doesn't speak for a moment. He simply feels.

It's not anger for how she had ignored his warning that makes him push his hands into his face. It's a numb sadness that makes him slowly sit down beside her on his bed which they now share. After all, deep down he had expected it to happen. It was near inevitable after what they did only a week ago. And yet the news was still unnerving to hear. "How do you know?"

She stops cleaning her cuts to lay a hand against her flat belly where he now can't stop staring. "I sense it… another warmth in me. It's like a dim ember that's about ready to light up into a flame. Also, my period…"

"What are you going to do?" He asks quietly. He wants to say 'we' but it is her decision—her body—to make.

Wrapping her hands in gauze, she shrugs without looking at him. "There's no choice but to abort it. I have to wait at least eight weeks until I can terminate it though."

He had seen her answer coming from a mile away and it still manages to shake him to the core. "But it's… wrong."

"It doesn't matter." She mutters. One hand has been bandaged nicely but she is struggling with the other hand.

"Well, how can you fight while pregnant?!" He can't help but snap out the question. A surge of anger is burning throughout him and he has the urge to clench his hands. It's not anger at her—no, never his King. It's anger for having made another mistake, adding on to the countless many they'd made for so many years at this point. "What will you do when you feel sick? Are you gonna vomit on the enemy?!"

"I told you," She briefly flicks her garnet eyes to him in irritation, "it doesn't matter. By the time three months pass and I can abort it then she'll probably be about ready to accomplish what needs to be done.…"

"And what if she fails and we survive?!" He demands. Panic and despair are beginning to grow in his gut. His hands begin to tremble and he has to clench the bed sheets to control himself.

"She won't fail." She finishes bandaging her other hand but it is a clumsy attempt. With a small huff, she begins to unwrap it to restart.

"But what if she does?!" He wants to tug at his hair—pull on it to release his growing frustration—but his beanie is covering his head as if for protection.

"Why?" Her voice is now rising as she starts becoming frustrated herself. "Do you want me to give birth to it? We're not parents. Considering my parents were murdered when I was young—I wouldn't have a clue as to how real parenting is like! Do you want to raise it? Say that she fails and we survive. I choose to give birth to it. Be it a son or daughter—we'll only be able to raise it into a soldier of our own—a clansman if you may. Because you don't raise a kid in a war. You raise a killer."

"We can work this out together—"

"I told you already. I'll just get an abortion." She continues to fumble with the wrappings. The more agitated she becomes then the more clumsily she bandages her hand. "I've lost so many loved ones… and I have also killed the loved ones of others. Taking one more life—especially one so small as the thing growing in me—wouldn't make much of a difference."

"Is that how you want to fix this mistake?" He grabs one of her wrists to make her look him in the eye. Her steely gaze should make him shiver from a sense of subservience but he knows she would never hurt him. He lowers his voice back to a near whisper and tells her, "We've made so many mistakes over the years. It has cost us so much—so many lives… and we just keep making more. This" He glances down at her belly in suggestion, "is a mistake. So this time we're going to do right by it."

"You don't want me to abort it?" Her face is devoid of any emotion but she tips her head in curiosity.

"It's not right, Anna." He repeats once again, taking her hand into his and gently wrapping the bandages properly while she studies him from under her lashes.

"You said the same thing the first time we had sex." She phrases it as if she's expecting more but her voice has at least quieted down.

"And look where it got us." He shakes his head but there is no longer a trace of anger in his voice. Instead, he just sounds defeated. He grumbles to her, "From now on, unless it's a King, I'll do all the fighting by myself. Good thing we've already set the charges in place even though the process took weeks…."

She studies his hunched form for a short while, letting him sit quietly beside her. Then she turns to peer at the hand he had bandaged so carefully with his rough hands. Smiling softly, she thinks to herself that, after all these years, he still treats her like she's fragile. She continues staring at her hand in contemplation for a moment longer before stretching it towards the man to touch his warm cheek.

When he raises his head up at her, she speaks commandingly but also softly as if in plea, "Misaki, I want you to touch me again."

Watching his reaction, she patiently waits for him to answer. At first, he stares blankly at her. The only indication of his reaction is his throat bobbing heavily as he swallows hard. And then, "Do you remember what love is like?"

The strange question catches her off guard and she can't help but blink in befuddlement. "What?"

"You're not in love with me." He speaks slowly, his gaze remaining blank but unwavering. Nonetheless, there is a certain, almost strict understanding as he speaks. "And I'm not in love with you."

"But we do love each other." She finishes for him. Her hand still firmly cups his warm cheek.

"So why do you want to do this?" He asks her softly, as if the question itself could somehow tear her apart.

Turning her head to the side, she finally breaks away from his questioning eyes—almost as if out of shyness. "I told you that time we had sex. It's the only way I can get anywhere close to that warmth from long ago. Otherwise, it's just… too cold in here. I—I feel just as cold and empty as this bar. Having you inside me, touching me, is the only way I feel whole again. Or else, I feel so lost and empty that I sometimes forget what we're fighting for."

She grazes her fingertips against the hard edge of his jaw. "It's ironic isn't it? I contain an inferno of power and yet I feel so cold all the time."

Closing his eyes, he takes a minute to process her words carefully. Deep down, he wants to laugh bitterly at how much he agrees with her again. So many years of fighting had flown by and it's what she says that makes him realize how lost they are. The both of them were too young when it all started and they were forced to mature quickly once the people they'd relied on departed one by one. When it became just him and Anna, he had no choice but to fight every day for their survival. Somewhere amongst all that bloodshed, all those agonizing screams, all those deaths, he found himself sometimes so absorbed in the fight that he forgot what the hell he was fighting for to begin with.

"I'm not asking you to make love to me." She speaks up once more, breaking the heavy silence. His eyes open and he turns his attention back to her. Standing up from the bed, she takes a step forward but pivots around so that she's facing him. "I'm just asking you to make me feel warm and whole again. If only for a moment. It's the only way I can…"

"Is there nothing else I can offer?" He pleads with her quietly. Without a doubt, he would share his warmth with her whenever she asks him to. But to share his warmth in this form was definitely not healthy.

"This is the only way." She says and the message behind those words somehow cut into him deeply. What she means is that he can never be Mikoto. He can never give her such warmth the way Mikoto did when she was a child. There is no other way to fill in the cold dark void but this way.

He studies her a second longer. She is patiently gazing down upon him and it reminds him of the difference in their positions. They were once like brother and sister in their younger years. But that relationship had mostly changed over time. After what happened with Totsuka and Mikoto… when everyone started drifting apart once they lost Izumo… And when they were left with only each other, things were no longer the same. They don't see each other as brother and sister anymore. She is now a beautiful King with powers to fear and admire. He plays the loyal knight who will shatter the night sky and offer her its diamonds if she so asks him to.

So he sighs, reaching for the hem of his shirt to slowly lift it off himself, and asks, "What does my King command me?"

Anna stands before him. Their knees are touching as she slowly unbuttons her dress shirt. The more buttons she releases, the better the slopes of her breasts can be seen. She finally slips off her silk dress shirt, letting it slide from her shoulders like water. Her nipples immediately harden under his heated gaze. She had never been taught to wear a bra.

She goes on to tug at the zipper of her skirt and it falls down to pool around her feet. She takes his hands to wrap them around her shapely hips. Placing hers hands atop his, she then slowly slides them down, letting the motion and pressure of their hands tug her panties along. She shivers slightly from the sensation of his calloused palms caressing the sides of her ass cheeks and continuing to sensually slide down her smooth legs. He catches a glint of wetness shining on the bridge of her underwear but the clothing piece gets lost in the pool of clothes. His eyes slowly trail back up, drinking in the sight of her unveiled body once again.

"Kiss me." She commands him.

"Where?" He murmurs.

"Here." Speaking in a quiet voice, she places her hands over her breasts in indication.

Placing his hands back onto her bare hips, he pulls her closer to him and then leans his face up to press a gentle kiss against a rosy bud.

"Ah!" She gasps sharply. Glancing up, he is about to ask her what's wrong because she had not responded so easily like that the first time. Her expression looks like she is in delightful pain though since she appears to be wincing. But then she brushes a hand through his coppery locks and brings his face closer to her bosom, muttering, "I—I'm more sensitive than usual… Perhaps because I'm pregnant…"

He can't help but find that theory interesting so he decides to test it out by kissing her other nipple. She gasps again and then tosses her head back when he takes the bud in between his teeth. He alternates between biting roughly and sucking it soothingly, eliciting throaty moans from her. Meanwhile, his other hand is groping the soft flesh of her other breast, flicking and pinching the pink nipple. Something about her body feels different this time and it takes him a minute more of kneading her soft mounds to realize that her breasts are just slightly larger.

He pulls away to peer at one of her stiff, wet nipples. They're flushed a dark red from his harsh teasing and dripping with the evidence of his aggressive sucking. He gives each bud one last lick before going on to kiss down the valley of her breasts. When he reaches her stomach, he pauses to caress a hand against her flat belly for a moment before closing his eyes to lay a tender kiss. She is silent as he does so but then she sucks in a breath as he moves his mouth to the apex of her thigh. Meanwhile, his hands have wandered down to her rear and he squeezes the firm flesh of the cheeks. He is so close to where she wants him to be but his hands are roaming her body everywhere but there. She wants to grab his hand and guide it to the place between her legs and—oh!

His mouth is on her nub down there—he is massaging his tongue against those bundle of nerves. It's difficult to continue standing upright with her legs shaking so when he sucks her clit too hard, she falls forward and onto him, unable to stand the pleasure any longer.

"Don't stop." She whispers breathlessly into his ear. He nods in answer, and she shudders upon feeling his hands snake around her rear cheeks to reach her pussy. A finger slides itself against her slit, picking up a sticky trail of her arousal. Then, one of his hands spreads her lips open as the other inserts a slim finger into her gaping wetness. His voice is husky when he whispers to remind her, "This isn't how I love you."

She doesn't say anything. Pressing her face against the crook of his neck, it takes her a moment to readjust to the sensation of being fingered again. She can feel her sticky walls stretching and sucking in his digits while he shifts his fingers around, stirring her insides as if he was trying to explore every corner of her cavity and map her out. It only takes a few deep pumps and her juices are already trickling down his arm and onto the front of his jeans. Still pressing her face into his neck, she is beginning to smell the muskiness of his sweat as well as the heady scent of both their arousals.

He grunts when she suddenly bites into his neck, digging her teeth in and then soothing the pain with hard licks. She is marking him as hers and this thought makes his cock twitch with arousal, already straining against the confines of his pants. The brand of HOMRA on his left collarbone throbs dully but when she swirls her tongue against the tattoo he feels a delicious burn that leaves him hissing and his erection quickly hardening. He continues to trace the swollen lips of her pussy, rubbing his index finger up and down her slit twice before pushing into her silk folds for several pumps and then repeating the cycle all over again. "This isn't how you love me." He says.

Her juices are dripping onto the crotch of his jeans, soaking through the material so that even the head of his cock can feel the wetness. She wants to grind her bare sex against the huge lump poking against his jeans but she doesn't want to lose his fingers just yet.

She is still engraving her marks all over his neck and tasting his tattoo even as he starts to push more fingers into her. At the fourth finger, she pauses to take in a deep breath at the sensation of her body being stretched. When he starts pumping her with his four fingers, she collapses onto him, leaving her wet bottom up to let him continue fingering her. Waves of light-headedness hit her as the jolts of pleasure running through her core get stronger and stronger with each pump. Her hips have begun wiggling on their own, pushing back onto his fingers faster and faster. It does not help that in this position, her breasts are smashed against his own hard chest. Her rosy peaks are grinding against the rough skin of his hard muscles with every rocking motion.

In a daze, she struggles to unzip the fly of his pants through the haze of euphoria that is beginning to overtake her senses. She fumbles with the zipper and then after several more pumps she manages to pull out his cock. It is just as erect and rock hard as the first time. Precum is already trickling down the side of his head and she brushes it away with a flick of her thumb. Just as she pops that thumb into her mouth, her orgasm hits her full force and she automatically arches her back like a cat. Like this, his cock is kissing her navel and, as she shakes from her climax, the motion is causing his tip to smear its milky fluid all over her belly. Waves of sexual pleasure zap through her core as sweet juices pour out of her like nectar.

"This is what I can offer my King." He breathes heavily.

She rests her forehead in the crook of his neck, clutching his cock tightly while trying to catch her breath. Hearing slurping sounds, she glances up to witness him licking her orgasm off his hand once again. She leans forward to kiss him on the mouth, ignoring the way he stiffens under her for a second as she traces her tongue against his lips to clean up the remains of herself on him. It's tangy and musky—a bit different from the salty taste of his milky semen.

His tongue slips out and she opens her mouth to allow him in. She lets him explore the cavity of her mouth for a while before daring to entwine his tongue with hers. Last time, she let him devour her sweetness. This time, it is a battle of dominance as their tongues rub against each other harshly. This open-mouth kiss allows them to fully taste each other—her intoxicating sweetness and his refreshing spiciness. When she pulls back slightly for a breather, he is panting against her bruised lips as he asks, "What is my King's desire?"

Outlining the edge of his jaw with hard pecks, she whispers, "this", taking his engorged erection and guiding it to her wet folds. She lets his bulbous tip rub between her lips several times, spreading their arousals on each other and prepping her body for the inevitable burn and stretch that the deep penetration would force onto her. His hands fly to her hips as she finally sinks herself onto his thick length with a heavy sigh. She tosses her head back, relishing the feeling of his hot rod filling her to the brim just like last time. Her hands are braced onto his muscled chest to anchor her in place. He groans under her, remembering what it was like to slide against the delicious ridges of her wet walls, molding her burning insides to his shape. Perhaps it is just his imagination but she somehow feels even tighter than before.

"I command you" She gyrates her hips onto him, hissing at the sensation of his cock happily twitching within her, "to burn me with your mark."

"As my King commands." He whispers before flipping them over with ease. She is still trying to find a new hold on him when he snaps his hips into hers sharply. Her hands dig into his hair—his beanie had fallen off at some point—in a desperate attempt to hold onto something. He pulls his cock out of her until his tip rests just at her entrance before fluidly piercing her again. The bed is already creaking in time to their thrusts as he pounds into her with the same brutality as the first time.

She doesn't have to wait long until his tip finds the entrance to her womb. Once he does, her hands find their way down his back where she automatically digs her nails into his hard flesh. Every time his tip caresses the sensual wall deep within her, she can't help but drag her nails across his back out of blind pleasure. When he spreads her legs farther apart, she practically screams out a moan upon feeling him rub his knuckles against her swollen clit. His fingers sear her wherever they touch and his long, deep pumps continue to stoke the fire burning within her.

Every time he pistons into her, pleasure strikes her core like an instrument having its note played sharply over and over again. A delicious tingling spreads in her abdomen and she feels herself drifting closer to another climax.

Suddenly, he grabs her legs to wrap her around his waist and picks her off the bed. The motion of his hurried walking causes his cock to stir her within, drawing out whimpers from her with every step he takes. She is just about to ask him what he's doing when he gently lays her down against a new surface. Beneath her is polished wood and the coldness of it sends delicious shivers through her body. She doesn't even notice him wince at the sensation of her walls tightening even more onto him. The burning temperature of her body is a stark contrast to the coldness of the counter and it heightens her arousal.

The counter.

"This—AH!" She cuts herself off with a pleasured shriek as he continues to viscously ram himself in and out of her. She no longer has enough breath to comment on how he is fucking her on top of the bar's counter. In this area, there are windows around them. Thankfully, the shutters are closed and hardly any customer walks in anymore. Even so…

"You're getting—tighter!" He grunts. The sounds of their wet flesh slapping against each other like a drum echoes across the expanse of the empty bar.

The polished wood beneath her makes a small rubbing sound as her body rocks against the surface in time with his sharp, deep strokes. She can feel his thick balls hitting her rear every time he drives himself into her. Their juices are dripping out continuously, sliding down her slit to trail down her butt and gather into a puddle on the polished wood surface beneath them. The puddle of arousal grows and grows until she starts sliding across the counter and he has to grab onto her hips to keep her in place. It takes a moment to adjust but she then realizes that he is using the wetness of the counter to his advantage, allowing the slipperiness to move her body with ease. Now, he is pushing and pulling her onto his cock with an easy tug of her hips while continuing to stab himself into her endlessly. She has to brace her hands against his sweaty chest to find a hold once more. However, he sees her wince and then takes her hands into his to inspect them. Bloody handprints are left on his bare chest, adding on to the other marks she had left on his body. The fresh bandages wrapped on her hands are now stained a deep red. She is about to tell him to not stop when he suddenly leans his head into her hand and presses a tender kiss against her palm. All the while, he does not slow down his thrusting pace as he switches to her other hand and lays another soft kiss against her bleeding palm. She is still gazing in wonder at him and he is still pounding himself into her when he tilts his face up to gaze heatedly into her eyes. His pupils are dark and dilated with a carnal desire. They'd been living on their instincts for so long already that, at this point, they can no longer control what their bodies need. To mate, or produce—anything to conceive a family because they are so lonely. The two of them are so lonely and they miss the company of a family whom they can return home to. They miss the hot, homemade meals and the sweet desserts. They miss squabbling with the others and laughing with them too. They miss it all, but now they have only each other.

A tear starts to form in the corner of Anna's eye but she quickly blinks it away before her partner can notice and ask her if he's hurting her. Meanwhile, his cheeks are tinted a light pink due to the erotic heat they have ignited within each other. There has always been a rugged handsomeness to him as he forcefully grew out of his adolescent body throughout the harsh years. But at this moment, studying how his chiseled body shines with sweat and sex as he drives himself into her, how his messy copper bangs are pasted to his flushed face with stray strands flicking drops of sweat from every motion, how his sharp eyes are hooded with passion, how he growls every time his cock kisses her womb… he doesn't just look painfully handsome—he looks like he could be her lover. She would never say that aloud, of course. Besides, he is the first and only person she has been with like this.

Anna cups his cheek with a bandaged hand and he turns to kiss into it briefly again before abruptly arching his back, digging his hips deeply as if he was trying to bury himself within her. His mouth snarls open into a euphoric roar and she cries out in response as his cock shoots thick loads of his hot seed straight into her womb. Her toes curl at the sensation of his essence burning its way into her, completing her final command. She is at the peak of her orgasm, arching her back off the wet counter, when she faintly feels him grab her breasts tightly and latch his mouth onto her stomach. He sinks his teeth into the soft flesh of her belly, at the same time his tongue is a hot brand on her skin. The pain is like fire and, for the first time in her life as a clansman and king, she can feel the burn as he marks her within and outside.

There is a resounding crack of wood splintering but they ignore it as their flames roar into a blaze and their bodies literally flare up into a passionate red.

"I know you don't love me like this." Anna pants, cupping his face again and brushing away the hot tears of frustration sliding down his cheeks. "But you're right; I have forgotten what love is like. I don't know what it is anymore."

"…. I know." Yata whispers back, because he feels the same way.

She is resting her head on his muscular chest, diligently tracing his scars with an index finger. His arm is wrapped protectively around her shoulders as they lay together on the bed. Both of them are tired but neither are anywhere close to sleep. His train of thought is disrupted once he feels her soft breath tickle the planes of his toned stomach as she suddenly says, "Akihito."

"Hm?"

"Akihito is what I would name the baby if it's a boy." She shifts her head upwards and he tilts his head down to meet her gaze in response. Her nose brushes the edge of his jaw as she brings a hand down to let a finger play with the dip of his navel. "It means 'Bright Prince'."

"And if the baby is a girl?" His voice rumbles with both exhaustion and amusement.

She's silent for a while, continuing to rub the dip of his belly button in thought. And then finally, "Her name would be 'Yuki' because it can mean good fortune or snow."

"Which meaning are you going for?" He suppresses a yawn, entwining a hand into her snow white strands which curtain against his arm. Her silky tresses are now a tangled mess from their earlier activity but he gingerly brushes through them.

She takes a while to respond, allowing a moment to enjoy the relaxing treatment. The comforting motions of his hand combing through her hair—practically petting her like a cat—causes her eyes to droop in sudden sleepiness. She barely manages to answer him with, "both", before succumbing to sleep. Meanwhile, he stops brushing through her hair and slowly reaches his hand around to touch her smooth belly. He distractedly rubs against the bite mark he'd colored her stomach with out of instinct.

Both.

He knows what she means.

The tragedy that started it all had happened on a beautiful snowy day. 'Yuki' is like a prayer in contrast to that day.

He imagines days of fighting passing by—with the days turning into weeks, and the weeks turning into months.

He imagines them alive—maybe even victorious somehow.

He imagines Anna—his King—and her belly heavily swollen with his child.

He imagines her with twins—a hot headed boy and a clever but beautiful girl.

He imagines the girl would be the younger twin and the boy would protect her diligently.

He imagines Anna happy again as she regains a family she had lost twice before.

He imagines the bar filled with life once more, boisterous and noisy because a raucous bunch now occupied it just like before.

He imagines his beautiful King telling the others the many mischievous tales of him as a hotheaded vanguard—his brothers who had fought alongside him in battle—and of a king with hair of wild fire and a burning gaze.

He imagines a happy future for Anna and him.

And then he stops.

He stops smiling softly to himself.

He stops caressing his hand around Anna's marked belly.

He stops daydreaming.

Because Yata then remembers once more…. They're not supposed to have a future.

AN IMPORTANT REFRESHER! :

We have been introduced to 2 future Anna's so far. One future Anna has short hair and rules the Dresden Slates at Mihashira Tower (the Gold King's previous place of residence). As Third King, the duty of the Slates have passed onto her now that the Blue King is deceased and yet to be reborn in someone else. Yata Misaki is her 2nd in command and Fushimi Saruhiko is her 3rd. She currently commands the Blue clan until they gain a new Blue King. This Future Anna has defeated the Grey King in her timeline and is subduing the remains of JUNGLE. However, she is not who she once was, as the Yata of this timeline notes. He tells her that she is a great ruler but a sad King.

The other Future Anna retains her long hair and is more merciful than short-hair Anna. However, in her timeline, everyone she cares about has died, except for Yata Misaki who is her only clansman left. They are the only ones left standing in the fight against JUNGLE and the Grey King and they are preparing for the final act in this war that has raged on for years. However, in a vulnerable moment of desperation and hopelessness, Anna the Red King and her only clansman, Yata, carelessly have sex without protection. This act of passion leads to consequences far greater than they could ever imagine. These consequences (and not just that Anna is impregnated) are soon to be revealed...

REPLIES TO REVIEWS:

kim123kn: Wow, I wasn't expecting such a long review but I enjoy them because it shows how much thought and effort the reviewer put, so thank you very much! Yes, the lemon(s) between Future Anna and Future Yata are supposed to hint at how terrible the future can become and how it can change our characters. I wanted to show how emotionally scarred they can become when faced with loneliness, desperation, and an understanding of the bleakness of their situation. I want the lemon(s) to show how events that transpire in the future can force our characters to become someone entirely different. I mean, it's totally unlike Anna and Yata to have sex with someone they're not even IN love with. They love each other, yes, but not romantically. The only reason they had sex was because they were so broken and stressed and they were desperate to feel something again. To feel alive and happy, if only for a moment, even if that happiness was purely sexual. And they have unprotected sex because that is how hopeless they are. They don't care about the consequences because they know it probably won't matter anyways (it'll be revealed why in a later chapter). I always write my sex scenes with an importance to it. I don't like pointless sex. Sex needs to mean something in my stories, or else, I wouldn't even consider writing them. And thanks! It's really hard to make Anna x Yata work. I see them as more of siblings, like a protective older brother and his younger smartass sister, ahaha. And, OMG, YES! I've been dying for a friendship between Anna and Sukuna but there's hardly anything canon between them! The only canon thing we have is that one photo of Anna holding a hand out to Sukuna during the finale credits of K: Return of Kings. At least give us a side story or cd radio story focusing on the two! Anyways, thanks for your thoughtful review and I hope I addressed your questions/topics sufficiently!