Dark Adaptation

by Hickok

NEW CONTENT ADDED! Bound to the eternal contract, can a life of sin be so easily shed? Muraki has all that he desires, yet so much remains unanswered. What manner of darkness unfurled between the walls of Muraki manor? Muraki x Tsuzuki and Oriya x Watari

25. Watari: Loves Last Surrender Pt: 3

Dark Adaptation

Disclaimer: Yami no Matsuei is the property of Yoko Matsushita, not the property of NaPap. And don't think I'm not suing!

Loves Last Surrender Part 3

Watari

We twined our arms around each other and slowly drifted off to sleep. I slept the sleep without dreams, without confusion and without the unconsciousness' attempts to solve the dilemmas of the waking mind. I remained that way, for the better part of an hour before Oriya decided I'd rested enough. I groaned my way back into the real world as he mounted my body, his weight bearing me down into the mattress. He shifted a little, moving his hips against mine. He wasn't aroused yet but as I pressed back into his movements, I felt his body react.

"Yutaka?" His voice was groggy, and he cleared his throat lowering it to a whisper. "Sweetheart… are you awake?"

I was still half asleep and not one hundred percent certain of what was going on. "Mmph… Ori?"

Oriya made no bones about his intentions behind waking me. He wanted to make love again and I found myself embarrassingly receptive to this prospect, though my body still ached a little on the inside. My breath pitching high and low as his lips fell upon my neck, kissing the tender flesh softly, and then moving up to my cheek. I moaned quietly, tilting my head to the side and catching the lobe of Oriya's ear between my teeth and sucking on it gently.

"Did you just call me… sweetheart?" I asked, wondering if I had imagined it. Wouldn't have been the first time I let wishful thinking get the better of me.

"Mmmhmm…" Oriya confirmed, moving his mouth sidelong in order to suck my upper lip between his own. I don't think a one of us had opened our eyes yet; so lazy were we in our contentment. "You don't like that?"

"Quite the contrary… no one's ever called me that before." I kissed the front of Oriya's shoulders and dug my nails into his back. He moaned, a deep, rumbling vibration from somewhere deep in his chest. "You know, from the moment I first saw you… I think I wanted you. I wanted to figure you out, to understand you. …I wanna apologize for that arrogance." I reached up to stroke Oriya's cheek, forcing myself to open my eyes so that I could watch him in the dark. "It was wrong of me to think I had the right to know the way your mind words. Truly, you are the most… complex, intriguing, kindhearted bastard I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. And that's all I need to know." I hugged him tightly, nuzzling my face into the crook of his neck, feeling warm and safe and right where I wanted to be. "You really are a good person."

He lifted my hand and placed a kiss into the palm. But his eyes were elsewhere and I could sense that he was deeply contemplating something. "Why do you keep saying that about me? What makes me such a… good person in your eyes?"

I couldn't think of any other way to answer right then, so I threw up my defensive shield and smiled until my face felt strained. But Oriya had started to figure me out and he cut through the crap and seared directly to the bone.

"That bastard really wore you down, didn't he?"

"That bastard made a bastard out of me." I murmured, eyes downcast. Oriya looked confused and I realized that there was no way past this without expressing the complete and total truth. A truth I had allowed no one, not even Tsuzuki to know.

Trying to set my mind to another place and separate my emotions from what was happening, I gathered what courage I had and stretched out my right arm revealing the track marks peppering my inside elbow. He must have seen them the night before but probably mistook them for wounds inflicted during my beating. No such luck. I heard myself start to whimper and then this abashed sound broke out into a contemptuous chuckle.

"I was the bastard." I wanted no mistakes made about that one and I didn't want to hide my egregious sin any longer.

Oriya was able to see the scarring clearly in the dark and he brought his fingers down to run along them. "Yutaka… these are… track marks." He looked down on me and I felt the beginnings of his erection wither against my thigh. I couldn't see his expression but this was enough to confirm his disapproval. "You had a drug problem. Didn't you?"

"Look what I did to myself!" I cried, holding out my other arm, revealing the marks there also. Being ambidextrous, I had been able to inject myself in either arm, depending on how damaged one might be. "We didn't have money enough for the roof over our heads and I couldn't shirk that damn addiction long enough to put food on the table! I did this… to myself… because I couldn't cope with the memories of what that man had done to me. But that's no excuse! It was selfish and I indulged myself in that weak pursuit! Doesn't that make me the bastard?"

"Stop saying that." He definitely sounded angry now. Geez, why had our conversation taken on this turn?

"But it's true, ain't it?" I could feel my emotions getting the better of me. "I'm an asshole, I'm a negligent bastard, I-"

I had indulged myself entirely too much and Oriya was fed up and tired of it. He lost his temper. "STOP IT!!" He pinned my arms down and glared angrily into my face. I hadn't seen him so furious, not even in the alleyway the night before and I felt immediately chastised. "Stop saying that I'm so much better than you! I have done things in my life that would make your hair curl to your eyebrows! I'm not a good man! I'm a profoundly terrible man and even weaker on the inside than you will ever know!" He put his face closer to mine. "All this time… you've been punishing yourself, haven't you? Believing you were only good enough to be with people that you thought to be as bad as you were. That's what this is all about, ain't it?"

He was right. That was entirely what I was all about and I was heart sick with the affirmation of it.

To punish myself for my sins, I would find a man in the same age range and of the same appearance as Okiko Haruhi and get them to bed me in a forceful manner. It brought back all those feelings I had endured as a child, locked in the basement of the house next door. It was the best method of castigation I could think of. The greatest hurt I could inflict. Does a bastard deserve anything more than a bastard? That had been my unconscious reasoning and Oriya had seen it, even when I could not.

Now that this had been made painfully clear, I could do nothing in response but simply lay there as dead as I truly was and whimper my suffering like an animal with its foot snared in the teeth of a trap. Oriya stared down at me through the blur of my eyes but eventually relented in his reprimand and lifted up one of my arms, kissing the marks on my inside elbow tenderly.

"Oriya…" I softly whispered.

"Be honest. Talk to me." He rolled over onto his side and gently trailed his hand across my stomach, caressing the slight muscle formation.

"Talk about what?" I sniffed, sucking back a whole lot of junk that was congealing at the back of my sinuses. Hot damn, that was sexy.

His voice issued to me, soft and low. "Tell me how you died."

"We don't talk about that." I said, shaking my head with final attendance. Whenever a Guardian of Death said that, it was the end of the subject no questions asked. It was an unspoken understanding, a taboo of sorts to discuss the circumstances surrounding our admittance to the Ministry of Hades. Tsuzuki was a little freer on this unspecified censorship than most. When he had first met Hisoka he just went ahead and started guessing how the kid had died at such a young age. He had asked me too but I never told. We had never shared those details about one another. Our friendship was based entirely on the experience and enjoyment of our second life, not reflecting on our wasted first attempt.

But Oriya wasn't a Guardian of Death and he didn't understand how touchy this subject was. His eyes were very alert and boring directly into mine, as though attempting to glamour me in same way or another. I broke the contact and heard him sigh.

"Can't you talk to me about it?" He asked, voice as gentle as always. "I know it's painful but I want you to trust me. You never know; talking about it might help."

I was reminded of my previous quibble, that if talking were of any use, I would have naught a trouble in my heart! But there again was that indispensable sway Oriya had over people. I felt no desire to withhold that information from him, not when he had asked directly.

"Only Mr. Konoe knows how I died… it was easier letting everyone wonder then to make myself think back on how it actually happened." And yet here I was, thinking back all over again. I forced my mind to view the event with professional apathy. It was better that way… it wasn't as horrifying if I didn't allow myself to be horrified by it.

"What happened, sweetheart?" He had noticed my shaky voice and his hand continued to stroke my stomach in gentle circles. I guess he assumed that my death had something to do with my earlier drug addiction, which wasn't the reality at all.

I held my hand out in front of my face and I suddenly jumped back to that day when I had actually seen the skin crackle and melt, the flesh falling away to reveal shiny bone underneath. I remembered the heat, the crackling heat and the cowardice of my mind as I vomited over and over again in fear and futility. Against my will a sob came bursting out of me and with it a series of hiccups as I consciously fought back the tears.

"There was a fire…" I brought my hands up through my hair and pulled my bangs out to hold before my face. I could still see the blond strands turning black and curling back in upon themselves. "The lab I was working in… I don't remember much of what happened but there was glass shattering and then the fire was inside with me…"

Oriya's hand was on the side of my face and he was stroking me gently. "If this was a laboratory… surely the fire department would have been alerted?"

I nodded, still whimpering. "Yeah, of course. But this was late at night. I was working back because… well, that's me I guess. I'm always working. Through the night, through the weekend, through the holidays. I wanted to make a difference. That was my dream, y'know? I wanted to create something that would change Japan… change the world even. But the fire… it spread so quickly. And the windows were bared. The door was titanium and… I don't know. I don't remember a lot of it." That was true. I couldn't recall the specifics of the time before I was a Guardian of Death. It is, in a lot of ways, similar to being born. No one can remember the time before they came screaming into this world. A Guardian of Death too preserves precious few memories. Enma prefers it this way, so that we are not perpetually traumatized by our deaths. In my case, I was relieved. Who would want to remember burning to death? "But… there were hypodermic needles in the cupboard and I… I couldn't just sit there and let the fire eat me. I was so afraid… I filled the needle with whatever chemicals I could find and I… I injected them. Just as I did the drugs. So I… so I wouldn't suffer the fire…" With a surrendering sob, I buried my face into the crook of Oriya's neck and we put our arms around each other, him gently shushing me the whole while I spilt my guts. "But I was in a bad place, even before the fire. I felt all alone in the world. I was scared… This drug I was using, it was the height of popularity at the time and it made all the pain go away. I weaned myself off of it and I was on the straight and narrow for years and years. But eventually… I had this awful relapse. That awful man came back! He brought all my memories back and –" I clutched my fingers against Oriya's chest, squeezing my burning eyes shut as tears coursed down my cheeks. "– I couldn't take it anymore! I was so afraid, Oriya. Afraid of everything! And this drug, this Shell Powder – it made it all go away, even if just for a little while. My family couldn't help me… I didn't even know where they were and the ones I could contact were so disgusted by my behavior they refused to see me." I bit back a sob, ashamed of how resentful I was of them, even after all these years. "They left me all alone! I was all alone and no one would help me! I tried to keep it together and push on but it got to the stage that I couldn't even sleep at night. I just… ran out of steam. I had no one to help me… but that's no excuse. So I started taking drugs again. Shell Powder was a pumped up version of heroin… I shot up so many times I used to lose count. And then… the fire… the fire only killed me-" I broke into uncontrollable sobs. "-before I could kill myself!"

I could feel Oriya's eyes on me and his lips continued to pepper my face, cheeks and hair, his fingers moving sensitively against my bare back. I buried myself against him as hard as I could; wishing I could sink into his arms and be dissolved into the comforting darkness of his body.

"Oh Yutaka…"

That resentful urge hit me again but this time it was directed deservingly upon myself."I thought I had it bad but lots of people went through the same shit that I did and they were strong enough to get on with it." I made myself meet Oriya's eyes, giving him the full capacity of the truth that I had been unable to admit even to myself. "I was weak. And I've spent my entire death attempting to atone for that. Even if all I can do is smile, it's better than being weak, isn't it?"

He'd heard enough and made that clear with a temperate 'Shhh…'. He bundled me into his arms and I let my own go up around his neck. "There, there, now. You made a mistake. A big mistake and you paid for it with your life. That was your punishment, so don't keep blaming yourself in the here and now. You're a different person. You're a good person. You came in here and proved me wrong about so many things that I have taken for granted." He drew his forehead down to rest against mine, sliding a sincere smile through the night darkness. A smile that even I, with my poor eyesight, could see and feel. "It's amazing… you're a dead man… yet you are more alive than anyone I have ever met. Every time you smile, every time you talk, the faces you pull, those beautiful eyes… don't ever believe that you are a weak person. Ever. I… I believe in you, Yutaka. I believe… that if you can make a ghost like me feel alive, you are stronger than you have ever let yourself believe."

This was the sweetest part about being a couple. It was sharing yourself with someone. It was the consolation of another soul, another heart and another voice. I was so touched by his admission that I was rendered momentarily speechless. This confirmed beyond doubt that the connection we had established here in Kokakuro was beyond simple lust and immediate physical gratification. Oriya had feelings for me. Genuine feelings.

"Thankyou." I whispered lastly. It wasn't enough after the sweetness he had shown me but I injected it with all the emotions of my heart and hoped it said everything that I couldn't say. Less is more and I'm sure Oriya understood this. He lifted my knuckles and pressed his lips against them.

"I knew there was something wonderful inside of you. The way you took care of those girls… the way you spoke to them. You're always so… happy."

"Well… not always." I sniffed, wiping at my eyes. "I'm a weepy old thing tonight."

"And that just won't do." Sporting a mischievous smile he slid back on top of me and brushed my hair back from my face. "Maybe I can think of something to cheer you up."

"Hmmm." I purred, rolling my hips against Oriya's. His cock immediately swelled, poking into my inside thigh. "Anything coming to mind?"

He bent his lips down beside my ear, his voice deep and husky. "How does the best sex of your afterlife sound?"

Blood rushed to the head of my penis and it stretched out to brush along the side of his. I smiled up at him, trying my hardest not to get overwhelmed by my hormones and giggle like a moron. "Like I've died and gone to Heaven."

Oriya returned my smile and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. "Ah… you are easy on the eyes. I could stare at you like this for hours."

Oh God no. … Why would he want to stare for hours when there were so many more creative ways that we could be spending the time? I shifted beneath him, rolling my pelvis up, down and around, hoping that he would get the hint. Judging by the state of downstairs affairs, I felt it was safe to say that he did.

"Ah… except when you move like that." He groaned, tilting his head back as I slid both my hands down beneath the sheets and started to eagerly stroke his stiffening erection. I was growing to love the feel of his cock and somehow, I felt immensely satisfied that I was able to put my hands upon it whenever the urge took me from now on. I gave him a good squeeze and dipped my thumb into the wet slit, eliciting a bear like growl from my… well; I suppose you could say he was my boyfriend now, couldn't you? "Careful Yutaka. I can't always be a gentleman in bed, especially if you're planning on pulling out all the stops."

Desire coursed through me and I gripped the head of Oriya's cock tightly, causing him to cry out with uninhibited delight. "If that was what you're like as a gentleman… then for the love of God, stop holding back."

We gazed at one another in longing for a moment and then Oriya betrayed his willpower and leant down, capturing my mouth in a blindingly passionate kiss. Healing ability or no, my tongue was getting a Charlie Horse!

He paused for a moment, apparently stuck on how he might effectively relay his thoughts to me and I gave him the time he required to satisfactorily phrase his words, holding my hands and body steady so as not to distract him.

"How would you feel about…" He began at painstakingly last. "…making love to me? Or do you prefer being the… um…" He struggled for the right word.

"Girly one?" I suggested, using Makoto's former description of me. Oriya grinned, embarrassed.

"Yeah."

In male-male relationships, there weren't a great number of occasions in which I found myself taking the dominant role. I generally was not attracted to men who were more feminine than me and that was what it would take for me to assume the traditionally 'male' position. I preferred my men to be more on the masculine side, affording me the opportunity to play the wench. However, I couldn't deny that the notion of being dominant over Oriya wasn't intriguing, ludicrous though it seemed. He was just so big and manly that making a girl out of him seemed very much like a contradiction in terms. But it still sounded sexy all the same and I craved to feel myself inside of him as equally as I longed for him to enter into me.

"I wouldn't mind at all!" I declared, having given the matter a good thirty seconds of thought. "Top or bottom, it's all good!" Playing by ear, I flung my arms around Oriya's neck, pulling our bodies tightly into alignment. "LET ME ATCHA!"

Not giving him any time to react, I twisted Oriya forcefully around and pinned him to the bed, forcing his legs apart and then sliding between them. He looked up at me, expression torn between shock and admiration.

"Ow…" He said, grinning and rubbing at the red handprints I had left on the back of his neck. "You know, you have some serious potential…"

"I've tried conjuring it up outside the bedroom but alas all my attempts have been in vain!" I sighed with fake dismay, hanging my head. Oriya reached up to stroke my cheek bringing my attention back to the glorious task at hand. I smiled like a horny imp (Not you Ichibana) and tilted my body down over him. "It'll be nice to be inside of you."

"My sentiments exactly, my dear Guardian of Death." Oriya purred and the sound was so sensual that I decided not to fuck about any longer and determinately brought both hands down and worked his aching cock, throwing all the motion of my shoulders and upper back into it. Oriya groaned and slid his hand across my shoulders, tracing his fingers down my spine and then burying them into the cleft of my buttocks. He used his spare hand to rub one of the pert cheeks, delving his fingers into the velvety softness of my entrance.

I hissed slightly from the small stabs of pain erupting out through each point of intrusion. "I'm still a little tender there, baby." It felt natural to call him by this pet name now and though I shocked myself by coming out with it, I was happy to hear myself saying it just the same.

"Well, I didn't hear you complaining at the time." He shot back cheekily, though I did notice that he became decidedly more gentle in his ministrations. Old softie.

"Not complaining. Just… making a scientific observation." I looked over my shoulder and down at Oriya's hands. They looked so big outlined against the pale flesh of my bum. "Here's another one: You, sir, have a butt fetish."

He rolled his eyes, fully intending that I bear witness to his sarcastic gesture. "Well… eureka."

I ignored him for the most part, just content to close my eyes and roll my pelvis forward and back, meeting the tender probes where they fell. "Mmm… feels damn good." I bent forward to place a kiss on Oriya's mouth and met his eyes again, grinning like a devil just so that he knew I was going to have my fun with him. I sat up straight and high, seating myself directly atop Oriya's erection. This wasn't something I ever did, it was just too overtly exhibitionist for my tastes but I wanted to do it for Oriya. I wanted to watch his expression and hear his voice and watch him move. I started to rock our bodies together, both my hands on the crown of my head, knees leveraging the weight of my body into the mattress beneath us. Oriya exhausted a deep rumble as our swollen cocks rubbed together, his hands clinging to my buttocks and fingernails hooked into the cleft. He started to thrust upward in order to meet me and I groaned as we swayed together like this for as long as we both could stand it, sweat dripping down our bodies. I felt my hair slide down off of my shoulder, a drop of sweat rolling free from my chin and landing in the center of Oriya's chest. Oriya moved one hand down from my butt and hooked his fingers between my legs from behind. His fingers brushed through wiry pubic hair and pressed against the soft flesh of my testicles, causing me to shiver with involuntary longing. He cupped the swelling sacs, rolling the flesh between his palm and fingers until I felt my balls contract tightly. One of his fingers tickled the underside of my penis and I stared down into his flushed face, wanting to break into his body with wild animal recklessness. I'm sure Oriya judged that this was my next course of action because his hands now grabbed me firmly by the ass and he started to pull him up towards his chest.

"Get up here." He growled.

What he was suggesting was something I hadn't done before. I'd never trusted nor lusted for anyone to the degree that I did Oriya and it was because I was so carried away by the extremeties of my desire in that moment that I went ahead without hesitation. I shuffled forward on my knees, moving up to perch my ass on Oriya's chest, kneeling with my legs framing the sides of the brunette's head.

"Watch me." He ordered and I found it a fruitless command because I couldn't have taken my eyes off of him, even if I had wanted to. Oriya took a hold of me, using one hand to direct my aching cock in between his lips. His eyes never left mine and I wanted to tilt my head back and yowl at the ceiling but I gave him the gift of my complete, undivided expression, hushing out deep, evocative breaths between my gaping lips. I murmured with deep satisfaction as Oriya sucked my greedy length vigorously, his hands braced against my hips as I rotated my pelvis against his face, my scrotum additionally stimulated by the pressure of his chest between my legs. I brought both hands out to blindly brace against the headboard of the bed, sighing and mewling my appreciation of Oriya's skill. It was Heaven while it lasted but after a while I felt an unwelcome pressure push down through my pelvis and this time the groan I emitted was one of sincere dismay.

"Ori? I gotta go."

He slid his mouth free of me immediately and looked into my face with pining eyes.

"Where on earth do you need to go?" He wasn't being difficult but I felt frustrated just the same.

"I need to pee." I whispered, feeling the insistent tug on my bladder escalate at the delay. Oriya's brawny chest was in the way, so I couldn't scrunch my thighs together as a means to hold back the flow.

He raised an eyebrow as though the idea of a Guardian needing to urinate was something he hadn't even considered. "What, now?"

"Either that, or you go on about your business and get a very nasty and not so refreshing beverage." It was a wonder I hadn't felt inclined to go before now, considering the previous sex session and all the alcohol I had consumed before hand. I swung my legs over Oriya and kissed him quickly on the lips. "I'll just be a minute. Keep the bed warm."

"Hurry back." He urged, giving my bottom an encouraging slap as I swung myself off of the mattress. I was momentarily tempted to ignore my straining bladder and just throw myself back on top of the samurai but thankfully my better sense won out over my hormones and I settled for a sly wink over my shoulder as I dashed for the bathroom, not particularly concerned with giving him a good view as I went. I shut the door behind me and hunkered over to the toilet, feeling gratifying weight and tension released as I handled business in the usual manner. Once I was done, I cleaned myself up proper, flushed the toilet and washed my hands, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I headed back towards the door. My hair was disheveled, my face and body considerably rosy and I looked the happiest I had seen myself in a long time.

Damn, I was a lucky guy!

And it occurred to me then, to see whether or not I could sneak up on Oriya. I knew that the guy had been able to sense Hisoka phasing into his Ghost Mode but I was still tempted to try, regardless of the end result.

I shifted and then opened the door, trying to do so as discretely as possible. I tiptoed to the end of the bed and eased my knee up onto the mattress, slinking up to the space between Oriya's legs. His big firm cock jutted up high, eagerly awaiting treatment and I realized then that I hadn't once gotten to taste it yet. Oriya had gone down on me twice and here I hadn't even returned the favor! I would certainly have to amend that little gaffe!

"I can see you, you know." Oriya murmured lazily. He looked down at me, directly at me and smiled generically. "You Guardians think you're so damn sneaky with that little gimmick but I've told you before; has jack effect on someone like me."

"That's just too bad then, isn't it?" I said tartly, sticking out my tongue at him as I shifted back into sight. "This might have been extra hot, if you couldn't have seen me doing it." I set my hand around the head of his penis and tugged teasingly, just so he got the hint.

Oriya's eyelashes fluttered and he tilted his head back. "I think I'll enjoy it just fine this way, thankyou."

I grinned sweetly as I crawled up his body and sprawled out on top of him, fingers linked with his own and using this connection to pin his hands to the sheets above his head. I leant down and placed a rather sloppy kiss on his bottom lip, capturing half of his chin in the process.

"You think we're just gonna skip straight to the grand finale without me having done my share?" I asked skeptically, shoving my hips down hard and grinning as blood rushed into Oriya's cheeks. Our mutual desires rubbed together so hard it was a wonder that the throbbing sex organs didn't ignite. "I wanna taste you Ori… I want to make you my favorite flavor."

Oriya merely smiled and when I released his arms, he crossed them lazily behind his head and spread his legs, freely allowing the worship/molestation of his body to commence unhindered.

I spent a few misspent minutes admiring Oriya's naked form before setting to work, kissing and sucking on the perpendicular lines of his throat, capturing the pulse between my lips and holding it as proof of life in my teeth. It twitched in my clutches and I gave it a little lick, listening carefully every passing second for any sound my lover may have emitted. So far, Oriya was emitting a deep engine like purr; a throaty 'mrrrr…', which was nice but more suited to lazy contentment rather than extreme arousal. I knew I had to work harder! Dammit, let I it never be said that Yutaka Watari ever made a half assed job of things! And as soon as that thought transmitted its plan to every station in my body, I had snatched the samurai's hot, erect cock into the palm of my hand and was tugging on it mercilessly, whilst my pink, no doubt incredibly chaffed lips sanctioned themselves around one lovely copper nipple and sucked on it, turning the little bud into a pebble. Oriya gasped and then moaned expansively, tilting back as I kissed him down, tracing my tongue around every little line and arch in the beautifully maintained body, coming to an eventual pause at the place my fingers continued to work so diligently. I lifted my head, meeting Oriya's deep eyes with an expression of teasing ignorance.

"Would you like me to taste you?" I asked after what was, I hoped, an obnoxiously long hiatus. In response, the samurai spread his legs as far as he was able, gazing down adoringly at me as I crouched between his legs in the artistic impersonation of a lioness about to pounce upon its prey. I felt my eyes practically gleam in the darkness and I licked his lips with audible anticipation.

"If you dare… savor me. Devour me alive." The samurai whispered without fear but with every trace of untamable delight. I took my hand away from his erection, stretching my body out and tucking my hair behind my ear as I placed a kiss on the tip of his penis. I tasted sweat and the salty flavor of man and I nearly bit him, such was the crazy longing that stole over my senses. Oriya sat up, leaning his back against the headboard and spreading his legs wide so that he could get a good look at what I was doing. I wanted to give him the most erotic view that I could provide, so I chose to kneel between Oriya's thighs on all fours, my chest pressed against the linen of the bed and my butt arched upward toward the ceiling. I clenched the flesh of his loins between my splayed fingers and lowered my tongue and lips around the dark tip of Oriya's cock as erotically as possible. The head glistened with pre-cum and I placed his mouth around the very tip, swirling my tongue softly across the crown and into the pinprick hole from which the tiny drops of premature desire stemmed. I licked up the pearly droplets as eagerly as he had mine earlier and distributed a little nip to the rounded summit, causing Oriya to arch his back unwillingly. The axis of his spine only curved further to an almost drastic degree as I took the burning desire into my mouth, near swallowing it the very first time. His flesh tasted slightly salty against my tongue as I flicked it over and around the thick shaft, licking with teasing intentions. I moved up and down along the axis, one arm wrapped around Oriya's bent right leg, whilst my other hand determinedly pushed his left hipbone down, to prevent him from getting too carried away with his thrusting and risk choking me. I had pretty good gag reflexes but I had my limitations and Oriya brought me to the very edges of them more than once. I kept my eyes open, not making a sound as I suckled the samurai's penis like a babe on its mothers teat, watching religiously as my less than audible partner stretched powerfully along the sheets, hands clasping at everything from my hair, to his own face, muscles and veins tightening and drawing in rigidly across his chest, shoulders, arms and neck. I observed the rolling of his eyes as they sank back into the recesses of his sockets, mouth sliding open and then just as quickly snapping shut. He gasped as though he were running from something fearful, though his expression was one of bliss rather than terror. It was a simply marvelous thing to experience.

I drew on his manhood, hallowing out my cheeks so that I could contact it from all sides. The only sounds in the room were Oriya's groans of ecstasy and the soft sucking noise from my mouth.

I lifted Oriya's wide hips and used the alternative angle to push his cock a little deeper into my throat. Oriya got the hint and lifted himself upwards so that I could take more of him into the depths of my gullet. My lips skimmed the tight skin mercilessly, my tongue continuing to probe along the hard shaft and then moving to stimulate the sensitive area beneath. Oriya rolled his hips so that he buried himself a little further into my mouth and I relented in the margin of self-control I still contained and started to suck with intense vigor. It was amazing – the sensations! I felt as though I could have truly devoured Oriya there and then and the guy would only scream at me for more.

Oriya sighed and put his hand on the back of my head, fingers fisting in my hair to further encourage my actions, rather then to inhibit them. I closed my eyes as I sucked him deep, focusing on the entirety of the sensation. I pulled him in as far as I was able but I still couldn't take him entirely, which was disappointing to me but judging from Oriya's heated groans, wasn't a great deal of concern to him. I gave his balls a small rub as I drew him back out of my throat and swirled my tongue beneath his penis in a widening circle. His taste was delicious; salty and spiced with the natural tang of man. I started sucking in earnest, moving my jaw up and down to sway that thick erect length in time with my body. Oriya's moans of pleasure brought my eyes back open and I watched his abdomen rise and fall with the excited heaving breaths shooting up out of his body. His eyes remained locked on me as I moved my mouth along his length, every muscle in his chest reflexively tightening and growing taut. I tasted him and nibbled the tight flesh of his cock until the thrusting movement of his pelvis became faster and considerably more detrimental to the continued sanctity of my throat tissue. I let Oriya enjoy himself for just a little while longer and then, when I sensed he had reached his limit, I pulled away with almost callous glee, sliding my tongue up underneath his penis and flicking it upward dramatically when I hit the tip. Oriya gasped, eyes widening and reached down, grabbing my upper arms in his strong hands.

"Do it to me. Now." His command terminated in a growl so sexual, it could substitute for an entire hour of foreplay. I eased my arms forward, out of his grip and pressed my hands into the curved pads of his pectorals, thumbing then tonguing at nipples that were already as firm as they were going to be. Oriya eased his thighs up off of the mattress and slid the lower half of his legs up over me, stretching out one arm to brace a hand into my upper back, keeping most of his weight off of me as he maneuvered himself into position. I lowered myself down along the line of his chest, wriggling my pelvis into place and sighing as Oriya's knees came up and framed my hips. He whimpered slightly as I wedged my fingers down underneath his tight bottom and sank them one by one into the exceptionally tense little hole.

"I know it hurts…" I whispered. I kissed his face all over, pecked his scrunched eyelids and used my spare hand to stroke the taught lines of his neck. "Sorry, baby. Haven't you… haven't you ever…"

"Once. The first time I was with a man. I was twenty-two… so it's been some time." He flexed back, groaning as I extended my fingers inside of him, pushing against the tight muscle. "Forgot how much it damn hurts."

"We don't have to do this." I brought my mouth down and kissed his pouty lips, holding my fingers steady inside of him. "I'm more than happy being the 'girly one'. We can turn this around right now. I really don't mind."

He shook his head from side to side, twisting his long hair in trails through the air. "No. I really wanna try this. With you. To have you inside of me-" His hands pushed down the heated flesh of my back and hooked about my buttocks, moving me up and down along his throbbing heat. I gasped in a shockingly high pitch as pleasure flooded up through my abdomen. "- after being inside you. I want… all sides of you. Every part of you. I don't want to miss a thing." He moved me down and eased his thighs up towards his stomach. I retrieved my fingers from the heat of his entrance and rested both arms down on his chest, exhaling a nervous breath as I pressed my cock up against his sensitive place.

"Okay." I said. I think I was more nervous than he was. "You ready?"

Oriya gave a shallow sort of half-nod and I felt his entire body relax. I guess it was now or never. I steeled myself for what was to come and ducked my pelvis backward, sort of inelegantly heaving myself inside of him. He gasped and dug his nails into the soft flesh of my butt, squirming his erect penis up against my stomach and chest. My throat clenched in and a deep rumbling snarl came lilting out as the tightness of his body encased me like an all-encompassing compression of lust. He clenched the muscles of his ass tightly and I brought myself to move, diving in and out of him with reckless abandon. To be honest, I was finding it difficult to set a pace. I hadn't had a chance to be dominant for a long time but Oriya was wonderfully patient with me. I wormed my hand down and wrapped it around his penis, stroking him up and down in time with the lunges of my pelvis. The friction was outstanding, the groans of pleasure coursing from Oriya's mouth nearly as phenomenal as the physical gratification itself. It didn't take long for those tremulations to start coursing down through my thighs again and I quivered all the way to my toes, curling them back and stretching my upper torso up as high as it could go when I felt my cock hit the edge. I was on the tip of my third orgasm that night, when Oriya grabbed me roughly about the waist and pulled me out of his body.

"Wait! What are you doing?!" I cried, feeling robbed and cheated. I had wanted to come inside of him; I had wanted to fill him with the proof of my desire. Oriya kissed me but didn't bother to placate me beyond this. His own passion had taken precedence over my personal feelings and I was put out about this for approximately two seconds until I realized just what this fervor had inspired in him.

Oriya pushed me, so that I landed on my back against the rumpled bed sheets. I bounced once and whilst my body was somewhat suspended in the air, Oriya hooked one hand beneath the small of my back and flipped me over onto my stomach. My face went a little red but then I was grinning, wild with enthusiasm. He was going to get in behind me and make me moan. This was the most exciting thing I could ever imagine. Being in this position with any of my previous partners had never brought me as much stimulation as it did in that moment.

Oriya slid his hand underneath my pelvic bone and lifted my abdomen off of the mattress, bringing my bottom up into the air. He ran his fingers down the back of one of my thighs and then parted my legs, bringing me into position on all fours. I felt his lips press down against one of the rounded cheeks before the mattress bent beneath his weight. He shifted onto his knees and held my ass steady as he positioned himself behind me. I was trembling all over, shaking from sexual exertion, from excitement and anticipation. I brought my cheek down to press against the mattress and had just enough time to grab a mouthful of the bed sheets between my teeth before I felt the hard shaft enter me again, lifting my hips at an obscure angle and twisting like a corkscrew inside of me. I shrieked from around the mauled material, vaguely aware of the saliva dribbling down my chin as Oriya lifted my waist off of the bed and held onto my thighs, fucking me doggy style. My fingernails were tearing cuts in the starch white sheets. I groaned as loud as I was able as my ass took him repeatedly, eating up the delicious length. I was panting as though I had run a marathon and I could feel my skin shivering, an entirely separate sensation from the trembling of my limbs. I found myself making this strange barking groan, a sound I had not imagined myself ever capable of producing. Oriya was emitting similarly primitive sounds of passion; one of his hands fisted in my hair, the other clutched the space between my legs as he pounded into me relentlessly. Sweat was streaming out through the pores of my skin and I thought I would faint at any given second. As though I were not suffering enough, Oriya went one further and suddenly grabbed a hold of my testicles, alternating every movement with his hips to every squeeze and massage with his palm and fingers. I squirmed against the twisted sheets, mewling without shame as he then traced the fibrous flesh surrounding my occupied entrance with the fingernail of his spare hand. Then he brought that hand back and started to heartily slap the cheeks of my ass, causing my cock to tremble with each blow. I drove my head into the sheets of the bed, twisting my face around in the wrinkled linen, trying desperately to alleviate myself of these indescribable feelings. It didn't seem natural… no one should have been this good! It was too good if that was possible… I felt as though I were about to lose my mind… And regardless of that fear, I was addicted to it. I wanted more.

"Yes! Oriya, keep going…" I yelped, managing to push my torso up off of the bed. My head was hanging and I could see Oriya's knees positioned behind me through the gap in my legs. My ass stung from the slaps Oriya left behind but my healing ability kept kicking in, only escalating the pleasure of this erotic demonstration. He didn't hit me hard, each contact was more of a playful smack and it was entirely lovely. I looked back to that day I'd made my way to Kyoto on the bus; how I'd confessed to myself that I wasn't sure I could enjoy sex without an element of masochism to it. I knew now, that wasn't true. Even this minor act of masochism Oriya exerted against me wasn't damaging enough to be considered violent. He followed up every strike, with a tender rub to the injured muscle. It was pure sexual pleasure and it was something Oriya and I were indulging because we were pent up like a bunch of randy stoats. Once we'd passed this stage, I could see myself quite happily making love with him in a more civilized, compassionate fashion.

But until that time came… "Don't stop… Oriya… Ahh…" I scrambled for purchase against the sheets and found none. My toes curled again as the erotic sensation increased inside of me. He was so big and full and he stretched out my cavities to full capacity. Part of me ached but a larger part of me would have been content to see him remain there forever, if that was possible.

Oriya eventually stopped spanking me and used both hands then to pull my buttocks back tightly, pressing even deeper into me then before. I yelped eardrum fracturing high as the other mans big erect length smacked into my prostate, shooting additional pleasure up into my brain like a resulting dust cloud. One of my legs snapped back in reflexive response to the stirring of the nerves deep inside of me. My head tilted, hair rolling down across my shoulders as I braced my weight on my aching hands. I looked over my shoulder, meeting Oriya's eye with a dreamy, lust filled smile. It was apparently more than enough to drive Oriya completely over the edge and he then literally threw himself on top of me, arms braced on either side of my body and driving into me with all the strength he possessed. He was rough and he moved against me like an animal, driven into a mad mating frenzy by the full moon or something. I kept waiting for my butt to break, I kept waiting for the novelty to wear off but the shear, tormenting pleasure never ebbed for a second. He had his teeth in my shoulder and I'd started to bleed but he licked at the small wound he'd made, even as it healed. He kissed the back of my neck, nibbled the lobe of my ear, and rubbed his chin into the tangled mess of my hair. I felt ready to collapse back down onto the mattress and just let him drive me into the linen when he had a sudden change of heart about how this might best work. The next thing I knew, Oriya was pulling me back until my legs were hanging over the side of the bed and he checked out of me momentarily in order to position my body just right. I should have been grateful for the chance to rest but to my immense surprise, I wasn't the least bit relieved. I wanted him back in me. So much, it couldn't happen fast enough! I whined at the lack of attention but was soon rewarded for my (very little) patience when Oriya leant over my body, his chest pressed to my back for a moment and hair spilling down over both it and my shoulders. I took a moment to catch my breath and Oriya used this opportunity to brace his arms on either side of me, fisting his hands into the blankets.

"Hold on…" He panted and I had to wonder just to what anomalous lengths this mans stamina went.

I did as I was told, ten times the panting mess that he was. I grabbed a hold of Oriya's arms above the elbow, hanging on for dear life, wondering if I was going to survive another onslaught. "I feel like… I'm going to die… you'll kill me with these things you do…"

I don't know if Oriya heard me or not because seconds later he was bucking against me again, penetrating so deeply that he actually suspended my lower body completely before settling into a pleasurable, if erratic rhythm. As we moved together, Oriya pressed a kiss into the side of my face and then rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Honey… want me to say your name?" He barely got it out.

I gasped as he touched me deep. "I want you to scream it." I provided some most likely unnecessary assistance in this task, arching my back as far as I was able and then thrusting back against him with all his might, tightening the individual muscles in my anus as I did. The friction threw Oriya into orgasm and he came screaming my name.

I lay there, half sobbing, half panting, tasting blood from where I had bitten clean into my bottom lip. Oriya's cock started to soften inside of me and I pinched it tight, wanting to hold on and keep him there, maddening though making love with him was. I wasn't sure that I had emerged from it with my sanity intact. Was I insane now? I felt the world was a very different place to what it was when I had left it.

Oriya panted for a while before reluctantly retrieving his limp cock from the depths of my considerably swollen entrance. I whimpered softly, my body starting to slowly slide down the bed, my strength almost completely evaporated. Oriya picked me up and lay me out on top of the sheets, crawling sleepily up alongside me, kissing me wherever his lips fell; the backs of my knees, my thighs, the soles of my feet, my loins, my hands, the scars on my inside elbows, everywhere. His mouth found mine and then he slowly kissed me down from there, taking my cock into his mouth when he reached it and finishing me off in a matter of seconds. I came into his mouth with every ounce of strength left in me and then the same thing happened again. I experienced that brief blackout but this time, I passed through that and moved right on into the period of sleep, such was my exhaustion.

Though, if I thought myself finished for the night, I was one sadly mistaken Guardian of Death. A few hours later, Oriya got up to go to the toilet and the sight of him moving back and forth across the room brought out the tender side of me. When he arrived back at the bed I was waiting for him with arms wide open and rather than the aerodynamically robust butt breaking escapade we had previously embarked on, we opted for a more lazy and tender expression of affection. He lay on top of me and our arms went around each other and then he was inside of me and we made love, more so for the intimacy of the act than for the sexual gratification. That had been what the previous two sessions had covered. We kissed and touched and whispered to one another of tender things and my heart felt the warmth of it, even more than my body did. When it ended, he stayed inside of me and I was so happy I could have cried for it.

Three times in one night was none too shabby. Especially for an old bloke like me!

It must have been around 6:30 am, when Oriya's stirring brought me out of unconsciousness. I was facing away from him, having a bit of Me time on the opposite side of the bed but I could hear and feel his movements easily. The only other sounds that could have competed with him were the cheerful chirping of some crazy early morning birds and the rivers ever-constant trickling flow in the near distance. The mattress bent and then lifted as Oriya stretched wearily, smacking his lips and uttering a small complaint, no doubt from the varying aches and pains acquired during the night. As for me, my butt felt as though it had been thrown into a weed whacker, prodded with an electric cattle rod, pulled inside out, then set to rights and reattached to my body all without anesthetic. If anyone should have been complaining around here, it should have damn well been me.

But I didn't feel like complaining. Not in the least. I was damn sore and damn sure I would be walking crooked until my healing ability kicked in but I was supremely chuffed to say the least. If you subtracted my ass from the equation the rest of my body felt tingly all over, that brilliant post-coital buzz I usually had after making love, times fifty. It wasn't something I could do every night, (Maybe every second night, if I piled up on the vitamins) but it was a nice way to kick off a physical relationship. It had been an exhausting affair though and I wasn't yet recovered enough to even react to Oriya's awakening, so I chose not to move and shut my eyes, snuggling down against the pillow and willing myself back to sleep again. With any luck, he would sneak off quietly to do his early morning training regime and I could catch a few extra hours kip uninterrupted by temptation. But it seemed he wasn't quite ready to skip on out just yet.

I felt him roll over and he was no doubt looking at me, watching me doze, which was terribly romantic but I couldn't relax for the concern that he would try to initiate something. Some people like to make love in the morning. I'm not one of them. Morning means gummy teeth, bad breath, mussed hair, craggy features and black bags under the eyes. Morning is for sleeping in and only sleeping in. In fact, I distinctly disliked being touched up in the morning. It usually made me quite crabby and I didn't think I could even exempt Oriya from this norm, beautiful and charming though he was. Watching me sleep was all well and romantic but I kind of just wanted him to piss off so I could go back to sleep and not concern myself with the thought of his hand snaking up between my legs.

Oriya didn't yet have that in mind, though I was sure it wasn't too far away. He was instead more interested in using the light to his advantage and I felt a slight chill go through my body as he slowly pulled the sheet down off of me, all so that he could take a more comprehensive look at my body. I felt his hand stroke up my butt and had to actively force myself to steer clear of the pleasure it afforded me. Making it just that little extra difficult as always, Oriya then decided to test the waters by scooting closer and nuzzling my cheek affectionately, one hand mooching between my legs and delving down through the pubic hair to cup around my testicles. I elegantly responded by snapping my thighs together like a blunt pair of scissors and then slamming my heel backwards into Oriya's shin.

"Morning, Kitten." The brunette calmly commented, though he did retract his hand as quickly as one of those 'Whack-a-moles' you see at the sideshow carnivals. "That's weird… I can usually see that sort of thing coming…"

I retrieved the sheet from where Oriya had considerately bunched it around my ankles and hoisted it back up to my chin, ensuring that my bottom was safely tucked back out of sight. "Still sleeping… too tired to play now…" I yawned with such bravado that it nearly strained my jaw muscles. "And why are you calling me Kitten?"

"Did you hear the noises you made last night?" Oriya said provocatively, his hand petting deftly at my backside. "And who said anything about playing right now? I was just looking for a bit of a… cuddle."

"Oh bullshit." I snapped, wriggling about beneath the sheets, enjoying how the material felt against my bare skin. "Where is your hand right now?"

Oriya took a moment to check."…On your bottom."

"Case in point: Men never want to cuddle." I patted his hand, trying to pry the fingers away without entirely waking myself up to do it. "Cuddling is a woman thing and a more sensitive queer boy thing."

"That's not true." Oriya said indignantly. "I like to… cuddle." He kept saying cuddle like it was a foreign word. "I like to cuddle a damn lot."

"Then don't grab my ass as a means of conveying it." I guess I wasn't getting back to sleep any time soon. I could already feel a slight hangover starting to take effect.

His hand didn't go away but continued to rub my fanny in a gentle circular motion. "I wasn't grabbing, I was just… touching."

"And the difference?" God, who I wouldn't kill for an aspirin.

"The difference is that it's affectionate." He leant over to plant a kiss below my ear. "Sorry. I guess it's been some time… I might be letting myself get carried away."

"I think so and I urge you to keep it up!" I yawned again and snuggled down deep into the blankets so that only the upper portion of my face was visible. "So sleepy…"

Oriya's voice dissolved into an impish tone. "I'm not surprised. You were a busy boy last night." He gave my bottom a departing squeeze and then swung his legs out of bed and faced away from me. I wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon and the opportunity was just too tempting to pass up. I looked over my shoulder as Oriya climbed out of bed and stretched his arms above his head, drawing out his cramped and aching muscles. I took it all in like a breath of fresh air, eyes grazing across the shifting expanse of muscles in his back, the sinews of flesh rippling down over the arched bones of his shoulder blades and hips. And that bottom… Damn, why wasn't there ever a camera around when I needed one?

… Hold the phone…

While he was distracted, I fished about on the floor until I came across the place I had set my mobile phone during the night. Upon hearing the mechanized snap that was intended to replicate a camera shutter, Oriya spun around just in time to catch me holding the phone up.

"That thing better not have a camera attachment." He said in mock warning.

"Aww, don't be upset!" I cooed, flashing my most winning smile. "It's just a little memento! I gotta have some evidence that I managed to bone a supermodel, otherwise no one's bound to believe me."

He laughed that deep rusty laugh I was already so in love with. "I ain't no supermodel, mate." He sat down on the side of the bed and began pointing out his faults to me as he listed them. "I got split ends and freckles on my nose and brown spots on my chest. One of my eyes is bigger than the other and this nose of mine; it hooks slightly to the left." He ran a finger down the line of his nose, which now I noticed did lean slightly to one side. "I broke it doing martial arts when I was a kid and the plastic surgeon did a shoddy job of straightening it up again. I'm a very normal, very average human being. My only saving grace is that I work out a lot and that takes attention away from my more obvious faults." He glanced towards the bedside table, checking the time. "Speaking of which, I really should be getting on with it."

I dropped the phone back down to the floor and used my fingers to stroke up and down the line of Oriya's back. "Oriya no… don't go outside, it's still mostly dark." He'd woken me up good and proper and now he here was preparing to welsh on me? I had already bypassed the grumpy waking up stage and had passed well into drowsy morning pillow talk cuddly wuddly stage. "Why don't you just come back to bed and put your big beefy arms around me?"

He gave me a weird look over his shoulder."… As… appealing as I'm sure that's supposed to be… I'm sorry but I can't comply. I gotta uphold my routine." He twisted around and started to sort through his underwear drawer. "Unless of course you want me to get fat and lose all this muscle?"

I'm sorry to say that I had a shallow moment."…Then again… physical activity is also very important."

"Yes it is." He said smirking smarmily at me before returning to his valiant search for underwear. I watched him with mounting anticipation, blinking through the slight headache-laying siege to my brain. I was in a very lovey dovey mood all of a sudden. My body felt tender and extra sensitive, as though the slightest touch would alight each and every last one of my nerves. But I was tired. More to the point I felt… drained. Lethargic. Like I had no energy at all. I haven't ever been a morning person but this was bizarre even for me. Passionate night of love making aside. Oriya on the other hand appeared bright eyed and bushy tailed.

"My god you have a great bum." I mused after a good minute of just watching him. "I didn't get to see much of it last night what with you hogging the steering wheel and all." I reached out and ran my hand down the visible portion of Oriya's ass, marveling at the taught muscle, the smooth flesh… "But that's weird… your skin is tanned but… you're equally dark on your bottom. You've got no tan lines… is this your natural skin tone?"

"No, no. I like to avoid tan lines when possible so I sunbathe in the nude." Oriya fished a pair of suitable underpants out of the drawer and slung them over his arm.

I stared with my mouth wide open, unable to shake the image of him lying naked out in the blazing sun from my head.

Oriya noticed my expression and winked slowly, licking his lips in a purposefully seductive manner. "Maybe you can join me one day and we can do something about the outline on your butt."

The cheek of him! I stuck my tongue out to show just what I thought of his unnecessary observation."I think tan lines are sexy. So did my last boyfriend." It had actually been his idea for me to sunbathe in my thong. Honestly, the things I will do for men sometimes astounds me. I guess at heart I'm a truly tiny man, if I feel the need to alter myself just to suit the desires of others.

Oriya clearly didn't appreciate me bringing up my ex because he gave me a look that was rather haughty in the definition. "Was your ex-boyfriend able to fuck you unconscious several times during the course of one night?" He said, lowering his voice to a husky drawl. My face lit up like a Tiki torch.

"I don't know what that was about… I've never blacked out during sex before." I chuckled softly, scraping my hair back out of my eyes. "You were just… so damn good. It felt like I was going to explode if something didn't happen. I guess my brain shut down in order to protect my body from experiencing the full extremity of what was happening." Seemed like a fairly sound analysis to me.

"Geez, I don't know if I'm that good…" Oriya said doubtfully, making his way over to the cupboard and rummaging through for his exercise gear. "None of my ex-girlfriends ever reacted that way."

"How about ex-boyfriends?" I asked carefully, not entirely sure that I wanted to hear him affirm that he'd had past relationships with other men. Girls I could handle because they were in an entirely separate league to me, so technically they were not competition. But Oriya was tactfully honest and he chose not to elaborate any further than simply confirming my thoughts.

"None of them passed out either." He stated, picking up his since abandoned yukata and sliding his arms into the sleeves, leaving it untied so that it gaped at the front. I bit my lip, musing over his revelation thoughtfully, not at all minding the view he was giving me. Knowing now that I was the only one who had ever reacted such a way, made me feel kind of wimpy.

" … I must be getting old." I concluded with a shake of my head. But that didn't make me feel any better either. "Nah, let's just pretend that you're that damn good."

He smiled suggestively at me. "I can go along with that."

I propped myself up on my elbow and braced my fingers against my temple, smiling with drowsy affection as Oriya finally completed his search for his training attire. "You were right though. That was the best sex I've ever had… not that it's been much of a horse race admittedly."

He stared at me for a long time and I sensed that there was something bothering him, evident in his body posture, if not his immaculately controlled facial expressions. With a downward glance towards the floor and a departing tug at his obi sash, he emitted a deep sigh, the line of his eyes diverted in all and any direction but my own. Oriya wasn't one for blushing but there were other signs he exhibited that indicated his guilt just as dutifully as other people's eyes and facial expressions might. I waited for him to speak up, to make some indication as to these internalizations that seemed to concern him so. Perhaps here and now in the light of day, free from the influence of alcohol, he was regretting our passionate exchange the night before? Maybe he was embarrassed by the fact that we had both gotten equally carried away and had done things usually seen only in the more extreme of adult movies? I felt a sharp twinge in the region of my heart and suddenly found myself wishing for the security and modesty of my robe, since left abandoned by the filth-streaked window. I certainly hoped that Oriya wasn't intending to leave that mess for Mrs. Koneko to clean. I would have to sneak in later and wipe it down when I had the chance.

"Oriya…?" My voice was so temperate and reluctant. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the truth of his feelings, if the honesty would only harm my delicate state of bliss. "What is it?" I sat up, pulling the sheet to my chin to keep myself covered, despite the morning warmth already dribbling in through the walls. "Are you regretting what we did, is that it?"

His eyes snapped back into alignment with the direction of his face and he stared at me as though I were absurd. "What? No! No, honey not in the least!" He crossed the room in a heartbeat and slid back atop the mattress, pulling an arm around my shoulders. The sheet slid free from my body as he pulled me onto his lap, trailing his knuckles up and down along the side of my thigh. "Last night was perfect… You have no idea how long I've been thirsting for your body against mine, the sound of your voice as we made love." He gazed down into my eyes, running his finger up along my face and through my hair, stroking it back behind my ear with an adoration I had never seen anyone, not anyone ever, direct towards me. "I want to tell you something… something I've wanted to tell you for so long." He bent forward and kissed my mouth, bringing his bottom lip slightly open so that we could initiate an intimacy in the act and then set me back down upon the mattress, hoisting himself out of bed. I watched him with mounting confusion, feeling anticipatory emotions whelming through my chest and an uncertain waver of disappointment, stemming from a passing hope that he had been just moments from confessing his eternal and undying love to me. But he instead crossed to the credenza and with an awkward glance back over his shoulder, slid open the top drawer and started to rustle through it. I had an absurd fleeting thought that his hand was about to emerge clutching a jewelry box, there within residing an engagement ring. I nearly squealed like a girl, before reminding myself that a fortnight was far too soon for him to be proposing. Never mind the tepid cold flush that snared my heart and lungs when that hand instead emerged from the drawer clutching two familiar, long thought misplaced, sealed bags. With a brief moment of hesitation he held them up high for me to clearly see and then tossed them onto the bed near my feet. Even without my glasses, I could make out the flaking of skin contained within the plastic folds of each bag. I looked down upon them, positively mortified by what I was witnessing and with deliberately neglectful naivety, reached out to pick them up.

"These… these are the samples I was missing." I stared at him with undecided emotion, knowing what he had done but not entirely wanting to hear him admit to it. "You took them. You took them out of my damn medical kit?!"

He took a deep shuddering breath, his expression dissolving rapidly into distress. "Yes. But I was going to return them." His hands implored me desperately. "I've already returned the semen samples."

Sublime anger welled up inside of me and I felt my features rot into a pure snarl, my lips curling back over my upper row of teeth. "Why did you take them in the first place…?" I demanded, climbing out of the bed and storming up to Oriya, so furious that I didn't even bother to throw on my yukata. He wasn't enjoying the view right then that was for sure. My expression must have been severe because he actually took a step away. "What on earth were you thinking?! What could it…" I grinded to a halt in my onslaught, eyes dragging down from his as it dramatically dawned on me. Something clicked inside of my mind. Something snapped at such a deep profound level that it near shattered my heart. "I know what this is about… This is about Tsuzuki, isn't it?" I prodded his chest with my finger. "That night Muraki phoned you… I should have known better than to think that guy was simply doing me a favor. He asked you to do this… didn't he?"

He couldn't meet my eyes and his face was so deeply shamed that I knew the answer before he spoke. His chest swelled with a tired, regretful sigh. "Yes." I felt the depth of regret in his admittance but it gave me no solace. My eyes teared up; the degree of the truth was so painful. "He told me that if I delayed the case and kept you here in Kyoto… he wouldn't kill anymore."

"He told Tsuzuki the exact same thing." My eyebrows shot up into the lines of my forehead. "Oh my God… Tsuzuki… Now it makes sense! Muraki wanted me out of the way so that he could have Tsuzuki all to himself. He must have realized Tsuzuki wouldn't have risked going to anyone besides me for help. All this… just so he could get to Tsuzuki?!"

"That seems to be the case, yes." Oriya confessed reluctantly. He seemed as disgusted by this arrangement as I was but I wasn't about to grant him any degree of lenience on account of our shared antipathy. I narrowed my eyes, reminding him just who was the subject of culpability in this instance.

"Did Muraki tell you to sleep with me too? To win me over so I'd stick around longer, was that all part of your sick games?" I launched myself directly into the space between his arms and struck out with both my fists simultaneously. I was so fired up, I didn't think about where I was aiming and went straight for his chest, which turned out to be a big mistake. I gave it a good go, predisposed to resent him for the admission I was certain was coming but it was like punching a wall of concrete. Oriya let me take my aggression out on him for a moment before tiring of my attempts and grabbing me by one of my wrists. He spun me around, pinning my back against the line of his body and bracing his arms around my chest and abdomen respectively. I struggled and screamed in meaningless wordless rage, my movements resulting to no avail. Each struggle on my behalf caused considerable discomfort and even pain, which only served to make me angrier.

I wanted to hurt Oriya for what he had let Muraki bring us to, for the manipulation I had endured at the hands of these men and my own feelings. For betraying me… and most of all for betraying her. Thinking of her made me all the more furious and I renewed my attempts to engage him on a violent level. I wanted to keep on punching him because it was better to direct my attentions elsewhere then my own troubled thoughts.

"Damn you!" I cried, trying to stamp on his toes. He squeezed me harder against his chest in response. "Damn you, you two-faced prick!"

"Now you just calm down!" That last comment had apparently been too much for him to tolerate. "Calm down and we'll talk but there's no point going on with this if you assume my intentions before I have even expressed them."

It took a minute but his words had a gradual soothing effect on me, just as they always did. My energy levels, already drained and lethargic, petered away to non-existent and my body lagged in his grip. He hesitated upon registering my surrender but assessed my state as sedate enough to chance his lips upon my ear. His breath was ragged but not from the same reason as mine I wagered. Fighting a battle with him was like fighting off my own past. No matter how I struggled, it was still there and could not be pushed aside.

"Are you angry at me because you feel that I have betrayed and tricked you?" He asked in that same husky tone that made me shiver all over. "Or are you angry at yourself for feeling this way about me, when you know it should have been the last thing on your mind?"

I dropped my chin down against my chest and just panted, not possessing the energy nor the will to reply. I knew he was right. I was angry but not just at him and Muraki. I had been weak… I had let myself get carried away in my emotions and concocted a means of salving my wounds by burying them deep beneath a prospective romance. I had accelerated my emotions and extended my degree of affection towards Oriya more than was natural because I had been facing a tragedy too great for my weak heart to cope with.

I was more at fault than anyone and I couldn't figure it out for myself. Not until Oriya had all but rubbed my nose in it.

Oriya granted me my shamed silence and rested his chin on my shoulder, clenching his fingers about my waist and arm respectively.

"I'm sorry." He soothed, planting a small kiss into the side of my neck. "I'll admit, when your assignment first started out, yes, I manipulated you. I used your attraction to me to divert your attention from what you should have been doing. I thought it was for the greater good, don't you get it?"

Once again I could feel rather than hear the sincerity in his voice and that old fashioned compassion was always a welcome change to me. I could feel his arms making slow-drugged movements across my waist and arm, could feel his body moving against mine as he breathed. It was a blessed welcome release to be awarded this decadent indication. His long warm fingers gently soothed my hair away from the left side of my face and then I felt his lips just at the nape. He softly pecked the skin below my ear and my eyes slid shut for applause at the delicious sensation. His hand pressed against the crown of my head, so his lips were now set atop the shell of my ear. He was attempting to seduce me away from the topic. To annul my anger in the same manner that he had distracted me from my task in the first instance. This time, I refused to relent, easily tempted as I was prone to being.

"Playing with my heart is worth Muraki's empty promise, huh?" I was surprised my lips didn't freeze from the cold tenor and Oriya sure as hell didn't miss it. His lips released my ear but his warm mouth stayed in close proximity.

"I haven't played with your heart. That's the point. I know I used you." I felt his chin press down against the crown of my head. "I did a terrible thing in going along with this and the guilt has been driving me insane. But when I saw you in that room, examining the bodies of my girls… I didn't have to pretend anymore. My feelings for you are very real."

I tugged free of his hold and spun to face him; my eyes tearing up so furiously that my vision became doubly blurred, rendering Oriya's face into an indiscernible mass of blots. "I wanted to believe that more than anything! But now- now I don't see how I possibly can!"

I couldn't see his eyes but I could hear the injection of tears in his voice. Dear God… I couldn't deny that he wasn't at the very least frightened by his prospect of losing my trust. If not me entirely"You have to believe me. Please. You have to."

"Why?" I blinked back my furious tears. "Why should I?"

"Because I'm falling in love with you."

I felt my features literally contort and my chest ache with the agony of several skipped heartbeats. My mouth slumped wide as my vision cleared, assembling Oriya's beautifully sincere expression back before my eyes. He looked frightened and tears broke his own eyes. They said beyond doubt that he longed for me.

"…What?!" It burst from me like a whispered screech and if I thought the sounds I had made the previous night were strange, there were nothing compared to the garbled mess forthcoming.

He came toward me and brought my fingers down along the cup of his palms, urging me gently towards him. "Every second I spend with you, I feel it growing in my heart. I don't understand why it's happened this quickly but I think you were always meant to come to me. I think you were meant for me, somehow." He leant forward, pressing his lips against my forehead, thumbs rubbing up over my knuckles. "If you only knew how good you feel to me. Being around you… it's like you've lit a candle in my chest. There's warmth and light where before there was only cold searing darkness. I was dead until you came here."

I felt burgeoning warmth flare up through my body and I pressed my nose into the curve of his cheek, caressing the lines of his hands with my fingernails."I understand… that's how I feel too. You have no idea how strong my feelings for you are. You could beat me, you could break my arm and I'll still long for you. I'll still want you… But I have to trust you. That's more important than anything. You understand?"

He cupped my face between his hands and forced me to meet his eyes. "Then trust me. Please. Believe me; It's broken my heart what I have done. I want to know who hurt my girls so badly it tears into my brain. The only reason I did what I did was because my girls were dead and there was no changing that. But if I could do this one good thing, if I could keep anyone else from dying… do you understand? This time, I could do something in order to save lives. That's important, isn't it?"

"Of course it's important." I said, pressing my hands down over his. "But… you have no idea what this case has been like for me." I sighed. I made a decision. "I can trust you… right? I mean, you already know two of my most shameful secrets. Maybe it's time you learnt of my proudest one."

"I'd like that." He whispered. I stepped back out of his hands and made my way over to the crumpled form of my yukata and pulled it on, composing myself as much as possible before turning back to him.

"Should I tell you then, why I have cried here within Kokakuro? Why I cried for those girls that should have meant nothing personally to me?"

"It's because you're a gentle soul." He concluded, smiling as though there was no other reason why I behaved the way that I did. I shook my head in dismayed return.

"No. That's not why. I haven't been crying because those girls lost their lives." I strengthened my chin and raised my head, forcing myself to meet his gaze with strong resolve. If he was to know the full extent of my neglect, he would not hear it from a weak mouth. This truth, this unintentional secret was truly my proudest mistake and had remained so for thirty-three years. "I was crying… because I thought that my daughter… had lost hers."

Oriya's eyes shot wide. "… Your daughter." He literally gasped as the obvious answer leapt out at him from where it had surely crouched in speculative musings within his mind since my earliest days here. "Seki."

- EC-

Watari: Whoo! I feel so hot! (Faints)

Oriya: I feel highly disturbed that we actually read through that with these two staring over our shoulders! (Points to Saki and Count, who look very content and romantic)

Count: Awww... you two were so cute...

Oriya: You shut up, Perve-boy!

Tsuzuki: (Pokes head back in) Say, is it over yet? Is it safe to come in?

Watari: (Revives) Never. Go away so we can have the post chapter discussion without you sticking your finger down your throat and rolling your eyes.

Muraki: (Comes back in) Never mind, I know for a fact that NaPap is way too tired for her normal 'after-fic-discussion-with-the-characters' so she is just going to go ahead and conclude everything here and now.

Tatsumi: That is terribly lazy of her.

Saki: Indeed it is. But that's our NaPap. And I guess after such a long update, she has a right to feel tired.

NaPap: (Sticks head back in) You know it! (Waves at readers) Hope you enjoyed the porn everyone! Please review me! Give me lots of reviews! I know that there are at least a hundred people reading this and for the amount of work I put into it, I expect more reviews! It's kind of like writing a bestseller and only getting paid ten bucks for it!

Tatsumi: That will never happen with ME backing you financially, Miss NaPap.

NaPap: And that's why you get the biggest throw cushion on the floor, Tatsumi. (Waves at readers again) And I know I haven't gotten back to my reviewers yet and I'm super sorry but I just wanted to get the next chapter up lickity split! I promise I'll get back to you all as soon as I'm online next but I'm so tired right now, it's all I can do to make this good for nothing excuse of a vow. (Head swoons from tiredness) So, thanks for reading as usual and I hope you enjoyed it and that not too many people got nosebleeds!

Watari: I know I did! (Holds up piles of bloodied tissues)

Muraki: Put those in some sort of biochemical waste disposal unit, if you please. The last thing we need is all your various blood infections floating about the office.

Watari: I don't have blood infections! I'm as clean as soap!

Muraki: I wouldn't have unprotected sex with you even if you were skipped to me across a pool of disinfectant.

Watari: Oh yeah? Well you're not that hot either, Mad Eye chipmunk cheeks! Your shoulders are too wide in the anime and you're voiced by a mad American Weasal!

Muraki: That's very rich, coming from the gentleman who was voiced by James from Team Rocket!

Watari: Eric Stuart and that voice leant me a delightfully eccentric quirky air! ... Even if it wasn't all that sexy... still sexier than the mad American Weasal!

Oriya: And they're off and running. So much for the Post-Lemon sex I was hoping to have...

Tsuzuki: Ah, I don't care. Let them fight. The longer they carry on, the more time there is before NaPap forces me to give up my virginity. (Shudders) Eek, that's pretty soon too! Save me Tatsumi!

Tatsumi: I shall certainly try my best, Tsuzuki.

NaPap: Well, that's it for this update, ya'll! Hope it was fun and all that but now, I gotta go sleep for a few days! Oh and buy myself some of those nicotene patches. Please review and I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as I can! Love you all! (Huggles)