A/N: Hello everyone.
I'm back. :)

Hope everyone is okay, wherever you are in the world, reading Inumaki and Maguro's story here in Fanfiction or Wattpad. Work has been hectic. I was promoted, so workload got a lot more heavier, with much more things to think about.

Life. It's just life.

Uploads will be done when I got a good chapter out.

Hope you all enjoy it. :)

Love,

A.615

74. Lonely Inumaki Toge

"Could you tell me about your family, Toge-kun?" Maguro asks, settling down comfortably in Inumaki's bed as he turns off the light for the night. She saw him turn to her, and just before the light switches off, she saw his twinkling violet eyes and lips turning up into a wide smile.

The room slips into a temporary pitch blackness as her eyes slowly adjusts to the pale light from the night lamps in the garden just a short distance away from Inumaki's garden right outside his window. Only the light padding of his foot on the tatami lets her know that he is getting closer to her.

And she couldn't help that her heartbeat speeds up at that thought.

He lowered his body and sat down with a sigh, patting her legs gently for her to move.

"I'll tell you more if you scoot over," Inumaki said, nudging her over to the inner part of his bed. Maguro protested with a twist of her body to lie flat on the bed, marking the territory with her body.

"But I want to sleep on the outer side," Maguro whined cutely to Inumaki, who smiled and shakes his head. Though he dotes on her and wanted to submit to her every requests, this will not be one of it.

Giving her nose a playful pinch, Inumaki brushed aside her baby hairs and pinched her soft cheeks. "No. You'll fall over the bed. Sleep inside."

"But-"

"Be good, Maguro," he started, still patting her legs and nudging for her to move in.

But she refused still with a kick of her legs on the bed.

"I don't wanna," Maguro pouted cutely, miffed that he doesn't allow her this. It's easier to get out of bed if she wants to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and she had a habit of hanging her arm over the bed and let her arm dangle down to the floor.

Shaking his head at her, he smiled defeatedly and sighed. What had she done to him to have him wrapped so tightly around her little fingers? Well. There's no one to blame but him. He loves her too much to deny her anything. He will just have to accept this if she could kick up such a fuss over which side to sleep on in the bed.

He rolled himself over to the inner side of the bed carefully, mindful not to put pressure on Maguro's limbs on the bed. Once on the inside, he begun busying himself with the blankets and the position he's going to take on the bed.

Yes. Position. He had Maguro to protect, that includes even in his sleep if she were to insist to sleeping on the outer side of the bed like this.

Pulling the neatly folded thin blanket he uses for the summer up from the bottom of his bed, he gave it a few flaps and let it settles down on both him and Maguro. Turning on the air conditioner, he settles with tucking Maguro in, making sure her foot is well covered with the blanket.

"Comfy?" he asks her, just to be sure she's where she wants to be. If she had a sudden change of mind and wants to return to her room, he'll accompany her back to her room.

No questions asked. Just allowing his Tuna all the freedom and choices she wants.

"Mmhh?" she mumbled sleepily in reply.

Inumaki turned his head back quickly to look at her.

Surely enough, her eyes are closed, appearing asleep already. And here she had requested for him to tell her more about his family just minutes earlier.

Never ceasing to be cute at all times, Inumaki chuckled lightly and settles himself down next to her, content to stare at her for a while, just in case she decides to wake up and listen to his story.

While he does so, he begun taking note of Maguro's features closely. Her fair skin looked so lovely underneath the weak light from outside the window, with her long dark hair fanning behind her. Earlier, she was pulled into his room with her hairpin. He had taken them off in the heat of wanting to touch her hair. It must have ended somewhere on the kitchen's countertop.

He knew that she would usually sleep in a loose braid. But as there's no hairband around, she had opted to just throw the bulk of her long hair to the back of the pillow, letting it hanging off the bed. Her soft lips are swollen still, pinkish red from how hard he had sucked on her lips when he kisses her. He bet she would look even more exquisite if she where to stand underneath the moonlight, in a garden full of bellflowers serving as her backdrop.

In a lovely yukata.

With a lovely flower in her hair.

With her lovely bluish grey eyes that would have looked strikingly similar to Gojo's eyes were it to carry on a brighter blue tone like him.

He will have to remind himself then to take a picture of that scenery.

Her dark long lashes suddenly flutter softly, telling him that she hasn't sunk that deep into sleep as of yet.

Slipping his arm underneath her head, he gently pulls her into his chest and carefully brushes her baby hair away from her forehead so he could lean in. That way, if she turns around in the night, he'll know. He smiles widely to himself, more towards how happy he is with her in his arms like this. She always smells so good, and so soft in his arms.

Patting her back lightly, he wished this would slowly become their daily routine from now on – to end the day in each other's arms, safe and sound.

And warm.

She turns to her side to face Inumaki, nuzzling up to his throat while breathing in his scent that she loves so much. Inumaki wastes no time in feeling delighted with the attention he is getting from her and allows her to move closer to him on her own. Slinging one arm on top of his waist, Maguro pulled her body closer to him herself and latched on, settling her cheek on the hollow of his throat. The pleasant thrumming of his pulse sends her a sense of security, banishing all the fears she had felt for the lives of her teammates earlier in the day during the event.

"Toge," she mumbled against his skin sleepily. "Are you comfortable like this?"

In response, he kisses her temple softly and sighed, "Much more comfortable than you could imagine," he replied her in his thoughts, pulling her closer to him by her waist. "Knowing that you're safe in my arms, I'd sleep better for sure."

"Tell me…" she mumbles. With how close her throat is to his skin; her voice vibrates against him. Inumaki rubbed his cheek against her forehead, loving every second he has with her.

"Hmm," Inumaki hummed out loud, thinking where to start. "Let's see; I have 3 younger siblings. 2 brothers, and the youngest is my baby sister. She's the only one that has my mother's dark hair while the rest of us has my father's off-white. Mother was ill for a while from flu, so the rest of them have to take turns taking care and watching over my young sister. She doesn't like people who aren't her family to touch her, see. Father had had to bring her to the family meeting when my brothers went to school."

Maguro smiled. She could imagine Inumaki's father carrying his sister on his shoulder while in the family meeting. It was a warm image of a family, with everyone smiling and just being in each other's presence.

How she had missed this feeling.

Inumaki seemed to have sensed her starting to feel down, and quickly switched topics.

"Everyone said I looked like an exact copy of my father when he was young. So if you wish to know how I would look like when we're all grown up, you can look at my father."

"Does he have the Snake and Fang curse too?" Maguro mumbles against his skin. She really liked how his voice sounded, more so when he hums out something and his voice vibrates against her skin.

Unknowingly, both of them echoed each other's likes perfectly.

Inumaki replied her, "He doesn't have it anymore. Once he had me, the curse moves on to the next heir of the family. That's how we determine future heirs."

Maguro adjusted her head against his throat and continued, "How do you avoid not accidentally cursing someone in the family? If you don't mind me asking," she added, realizing too late that it might be a sensitive topic for him. She could feel him smiling against her forehead and he pulled her closer to him, holding her against him like a babe.

"No, I don't mind if its you," he replied her, albeit in a much softer tone. He knew what she had felt just now, about not wanting to upset him about this topic. Sooner or later, she'll find out about it anyway, either from his parents, or his siblings. Might as well find it out from his point of view. "For heirs, we inherited the Snake and Fang curse through the birth of the family's heir. It wasn't a choice. We're chosen from birth, while the rest of the family members can use the Snake and Fang's cursed powers by drawing or ink the marks on their skin. The powers are similar, but the heir's powers are the real deal."

"As heir, whether it is intentional or not, the power is there all the time. We are different from the other family members, where they can speak normally as they wish, and only use the cursed speech's powers when they infuse their inked marks on their skin with cursed powers. Mine is active all the time, so the heirs get to have a separate hall as their living quarters to avoid accidental cursed speech from happening."

Maguro's hand comes up from holding on his waist to his head. He blinked in confusion when she started to brush his hair gently with her fingers, occasionally patting his hair, as if soothing a child.

"I'm sorry," Maguro apologized, kissing his skin near her lips. "It must have been lonely there."

Inumaki felt something tugging on his heart string. He had never voiced it out loud, or tell anyone in any way. But this is the first time someone noticed that deep down, he was lonely.

Nobody had noticed, and no one had comforted him this way before.

Though his parents are kind to him and gave him plenty of love, but no one knows just how lonely it was to live in the Heir's Hall. The servants there are minimal, and not many people would serve the Snake and Fang Curse's heir out of fear of being cursed accidentally.

And Maguro knew what he had felt just now when he told her about the heir's powers.

He didn't understand when he was young, but there are times he had to be gagged when he threw a tantrum in order to not curse anyone.

He was too young to understand back then. He thought his parents had abandoned him.

How lonely he had felt back then.

But now…he has Maguro.

He smiled. All the loneliness has evaporated like iced frostings against a glass window when the warm rays of sunshine was let into his heart. How his Tuna have brought forth hope and new possibilities in his life.

That it is possible for him to speak and wield the power of the Snake and Fang curse.

And that he won't have to be lonely anymore.

He smiled, grateful from the depth of his heart that he has met her. They really are destined to be with each other.

"I have you now," he said in his thoughts to her quietly. "I have you now," he repeated, "I don't feel lonely anymore with you by my side."

"And there is a lovely garden behind the Heir's Hall, near the sleeping quarters," Inumaki started, reaching up and gently grasping Maguro's hand in his, kissing the back of her hand sweetly. "Like most clan families dealing with curses, we have Wisterias all around the family ground to ward off evil spirits and curses. But mine have bellflowers everywhere. It's very beautiful during a full moon's night. You'll love it."

His voice in her head sounded so lovely to her. Him gently telling her stories of his family brought forth a sense of peace, and in turn, a really sleepy and heavy eyelids. She sleepily wanted to ask him to tell her more about his family and himself. She wanted to hear more, to know him more, but her eyelids are stubborn. The next thing she knew, she had woken up to the sound of birds chirping outside the window.

Brand new day, and the day the 2nd challenge begins.