Disclaimer: Yugi-Oh GX does not belong to me nor its characters or rights over the story.

Warn: This story may have heavy and uncomfortable themes/situations like use of drugs, violence, suicide, abuse, sexual harassment, intimate relations, rape, depression, trauma and bad language. If you do not like such, Do not read this.

I have been adjusting the size of chapters, they are a bit smaller than the previous ones.

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Chapter 18: Worries

Rie came back to work without delay, her colleague Tonomiya didn't return that day or even for a whole week. Her eyes squint in distrust and reflect upon the latest happenings. He betrayed her to get favor with the boss of the place and own exclusively the article about the underground duels.

From the connections he had to even find out details regarding the duels, she is sure he has some very fishy contacts. But it doesn't matter, for now, she needs to concentrate on fixing her mistakes.

She didn't get the article on the underground done after seeing what they are capable of, on top of that, being warned by Ryo himself to not meddle more with it, she decided it's best if she takes a step back for the time being. Moreover, even if she wanted to crush them, all her evidence was destroyed along with her mini camera.

Grasping the paper she wrote, she crumples it, throwing it in the trash and with a determined look in her eyes, she starts rewriting it until…

"Kinomoto, the boss wants to talk to you."

She enters the main office with hesitant, ashamed steps. She got an earful about the underground dueling investigation once she not only did that without permission, but it ended in her disappearance for a night plus her colleague being incapacitated for over a week.

He got beaten by some thugs at the ring, it was what the hospital told them, but she believes there is more to the truth than that, though, she doesn't mind even a bit he got what he deserved.

"Kinomoto. I am still disappointed with your last decisions, you could have done something big here, but you cowered in the end. You would have all the support you needed, you just had to plan it through." he declares harshly, she lowers her head in apology "You know why I accept you for this job, Kinomoto?"

She lifts her eyes, surprised at the sudden topic he started, then shakes off her head. He sighs deeply, a stern semblance.

"It's because I saw potential in you. You know what? My son also studies in the duel academy. He is a year younger than you. He has always engrossed himself into research… I asked him why he'd treat dueling as research, making equations and complicated formulas. He told me it was fascinating to think about the possibilities of the duel monsters while facing an opponent and study it and that was also part of dueling and part of what the academy teaches. He saw potential in that."

"I am sorry, I didn't know..." she types, he makes a gesture with his hand for her to stop apologizing.

"When your first entered that door," he points at the entrance "I thought you had nothing to offer to our company, but your reason to be here, that reminded of what my son told me when I asked him why he was such an unique duelist and why he wants to study it like a subject and that got me curious about your way of approaching duel monsters. I wanted to see whether it is true you can do the job, especially someone that bluntly declared they want nothing to do with their family, that really shocked me." he pauses, tapping his finger on table a few times "Well, you disappointed me and you'll need to work hard if you want to prove that you are better than the people I closed that door to. Do you understand? I thought about it and I will give you the chance to redeem yourself with a good article."

Her head lifts in enthusiasm, this is the first time she hears about the boss' son and his motivations for hiring her. He replies with a smile in a severe, but confident tone, handing her some papers which she promptly takes and reads.

"This is about the Genex, an international tournament hosted by the academy you studied in. I considered it, and I trust you will do a good job, plus you know the place and the people, you might get just the amount of excitement we need from it. Now, prove to me you still have it in you to be a true journalist!"

"Thank you, boss!" she bows, showing her screen.

He nods firmly and swings his hand for her to take leave, she rushes out in an exhilarated mood. A tournament... That brings back memories from school. It is for both pro and amateurs. Does that mean he will be there too?

It's been only a few days since… She never got a word back from him. Did he seclude himself again or… Should she expect the worst? With concern weighing her insides, she continues her work day until a message pops up on her device. It is from him.

She reads slightly stunned, he is asking to meet her? That Ryo? Not that he hasn't called her out before, but that was when he still wasn't known as Hell Kaiser. Soon after her work, she sees herself back in the building he lives in, a pinch of concern spreading inwardly.

Standing in front of the entrance of his apartment with reluctance she breathes deeply. There wasn't much time to examine it last time when she left, but it looks more normal than what she would expect. Pressing the doorbell once before she hears a click, the person inside opens and it is none other than Ryo himself.

"Rie…"

A mischievous smirk plays on his lips, he grabs her arm and pulls her in, closing the door behind and immediately advancing to slam a kiss on her lips, she feels cornered against the closed door. Why does he always do this?

His hand caresses her face. His kiss becomes more and more intense, his tongue again gliding through hers in many angles. She closes her eyes, flushing at how he is just so passionate, after a few seconds she pushes him away for air. He seems somewhat proud of himself for that. She can see it on his face as he steps back, his eyes still on her.

"Ryo, what are you doing? I just arrived..." she types it.

"I wanted to welcome you properly."

"Since when are you..." she shakes off her head, abashed "Forget it, why did you call me here?"

He casts a blank side glance, walking towards the table and finding himself a seat. She follows him uneasily, sometimes she just can't tell what he is thinking. He is so forceful in one moment and placid like a lake in the other.

"Can I not ask for your company? I thought this is what you wanted. To meet me more often. Isn't that what couples are supposed to do?"

"I-I do!"

She gasps, but why does it feel like he is just playing words with her? She scowls at the thought. He smirks devilishly as if he made a funny joke. His eyes seem to take a look at her from top to bottom, sitting across him. She is still in her work clothes.

A drop of a nervous sweat trickling down her face, confused with his untold intentions, and complexed with the sensation she is being scrutinized, she starts the dialogue.

"Are you still going to those underground duels…?" she lowers her gaze while waiting for the answer.

"Why does it matter?" He is short and crude. "You shouldn't involve yourself with it."

"You should stop it."

She shows the display with concern for his reaction, he simply reads the line and casts his gaze away in a cold manner, closing his eyes with the next question:

"Why?"

"How can you ask this? You're hurting yourself and other people too, how can you be fine with that?!"

"Why is that a problem? This is my style of dueling now."

She gasps, yanking his sleeve to call his attention, he frowns at her as she makes gestures in sign language to tell him off about how it's harmful and awful of him to be doing it. He snorts in disgruntlement, he can already understand more of the words than ever before thanks to spending time with her and all those books he read.

"Fine, I will think about it. It's not like I can't have duels in the pro league anyways."

Her eyes waver in surprise. Is he really listening to her? That Hell Kaiser Ryo said he will reconsider? Still stunned, she risks the question:

"Are you really stopping it?"

"Even if I am not, you won't have a 'no' for an answer will you?"

She flinches. Does that mean he is just fiddling around with words? She sweats nervously, not understanding it, he seems to find joy in provoking her. She sighs heavily, shaking off her head and changing the topic.

"I will be out for a while. I'm going back to the duel academy at the end of the year..."

"Duel academy... Is there a specific reason for that?" His voice sounds uninterested, but the fact he asks proves the opposite.

"Work. They will be hosting a tournament called Genex, for everyone, pro or not. I will be covering part of it, and figured I might meet our friends and who knows, maybe even you."

"I am not interested in such petty tournaments. All I want is a strong opponent and victory."

He blurts out in an icy and harsh tone, her brows raise in worry. He is all about victory and even though he has shown part of his old self, there is no telling what he might do due to his new thirst for winning.

"Anyways, I might be out for two weeks or even a whole month depending on what they decide for the length of the tournament..."

"Is that so…?"

He stands up, supporting his hands on the table, startling her with the noise of the chair being dragged, then he stretches his hand towards her. She is astounded for a moment, wondering what he is up to, but she decides to trust him, accepting that offer.

He helps her up and walks towards the bed, she follows for a few steps until she understands the reason why he is guiding her there and halts her steps, pulling his hand, with a completely flustered and reddened face.

"Ryo, what are you doing?!" she says without any help of devices, but he understands the words fully.

"What do you mean? I didn't call you here just to look at your face..."

"How can you say this…?"

She is shocked at his bluntness, but while she types the next message, he pulls her close, wrapping a hand around her waist, a smirk appearing on his face, his new self seems to find delight in taunting her.

Her eyes flicker for a moment looking into his, there seems to be some fondness on them underneath the collected and dry glint. She feels conflicted about the situation, but accepting that closeness, she also embraces him, resting her head on his chest. Soon his other hand comes to her head.

"You don't need to feel troubled, unless you really hated the last time, it is."

She jolts at his remark, pushing his chest away a bit, her expression is even more jumpy. But as soon as she looks at his smile, she can see concern in it. Her head lowers as she ponders.

Her hand is wrapped by the warmth of his again and he guides her gently towards the bed, sitting on it first and while still holding her hand, he pulls her, making her sit on one of his legs.

"R-Ryo…!"

She protests silently, a muffled laugh comes out of his throat. His gaze lands on hers, they are cool and intense at the same time. His hand comes around her waist. He has become so daring it is a bit overwhelming to her when she compares him to his old self.

"You dropped the honorifics. I am glad to see it, we're way closer now."

Her cheeks keep reddening and burning fiercely with all his remarks, her blood boils wildly inside her, this new personality of his might be a bit too much for her heart to handle.

"There is no need to feel embarrassed." his brows curl slightly upwards as if he feels guilty for her silence "I won't do anything if you don't want to. There is no point in that, after all."

"Ryo..." her lips barely move, but he can understand the word.

His hand comes to her face, her head's height is above his by a very tiny difference, but he has to look up to see her eyes. Her heart pumps so strongly that her chest pulsates. It might come out of her bosom at any moment.

She puts both hands on his shoulders, gripping it firmly, he can feel her shaking under the unimaginable pressure he is putting into her feelings. With a scoff, he brings her near in a comfy embrace and rests his head on her chest, startling her at first.

His closed eyes seem to find peace there, for a moment, she can almost see the old Kaiser who used to be so gentle and quiet. Her mind is shaken by that sight, giving in to his tenderness, her arms enclosing around him as she supports her cheek on the top of his head.

Her eyelids are shut for a brief, but long lasting minute, she can feel how warm he is and carves that sensation into her heart. There is a disruption when he pulls her away carefully, looking into the distance.

"I called you here to tell you something too..." he takes a peek at her reaction, she is curious and bemused "I will be traveling for at least a month and after that I will also go somewhere else when my schedule is free, in other words, I will be out for a while."

"Where are you going?"

She is visibly worried. He can deduce it from the trepidation on her eyes, the scenes of the underground still taint her memory.

"Nowhere you need to worry about. Just visiting an old acquaintance due to an invitation I received. Unfortunately he is also busy and we can only meet after I come back from the trips…"

He hears her deep sigh of relief, she puts a hand to her chest, there is nowhere more dangerous than those underground duels, if he is not going there, then it can't be anything bad, right?

Before she knows, he pulls her close in a kiss, this time it is short, as if he just wanted to call her attention.

"This is why I wanted to spend some more time with you."

He flips her to the bed, putting a hand on her side again, blocking her escape route as his torso makes a shadow over her body, she flushes once more, but once she takes a look into his eyes, she melts completely.

For a long moment she just stares at him, as if snapped out of her reveries, she pushes him away again, turning her face to the side, refusing him, much to his surprise.

"So you did hate it?"

A heavy and unsatisfied sigh as he sits with a soft thud on the bed, his lips curving down, she also sits, nervously shaking her head denying it.

"Maybe we can fix it if we practice more times, until you're satisfied with the results." a suggestive smirk cling to his lips, the red hue on her face reaching almost the shade of blood.

"T-That's not… This is not the problem."

"Then, what is it? Was I too rough? Did I come too fast? Did it hurt you? Or… Do you still… Feel uncomfortable…?" he throws the questions non-stop.

His gaze fixates on hers, narrowing subtly, she can see them almost wavering as he stares coldly, pretending he is calm to hear an answer for that while his insides boil uncontrollably. He is referring to her awful first time, if that can be even considered that, which was not even consented to and made her tremble in fear just at the idea of being touched anywhere by someone for a while during her last year of school.

Even though she felt desperate and frightened, she came to trust him, allowing him to be very close, despite being abashed and rather unwilling to at times. It seemed as if the pain was attenuated by those feelings that she sensed coming from him, his passion and the way he tenderly looked at her. She could forget everything else and let herself be lost in his eyes and in his touch.

"No… It's not… It did hurt... But I enjoy being with you like this too. It makes me feel connected to you..."

Her cheeks prickle even more with the admission, a stronger tinge of pink coloring them, she plays with her fingers lowering her gaze abashedly. His head almost tilts, as if he tries to understand what is going through her head.

"If you liked it, then why?"

"I don't want to be coming here just for this… I want to talk to you too."

"You want to talk?" his expression is rather blank, a glint of puzzlement in his eyes "I thought we just did that."

"Not only about where we are going, about other things too… Even though we have known each other for some time, there are many things I still don't know… And I want to learn more about you. I don't even know if you had anyone before we..."

She gasps while typing all the words, her breath hitching on her throat for a second. He raises a brow, she is a bit too insecure considering all they did, which amuses him a tad.

"Why would you think that? Did I look that experienced to you?" a rather conceited smirk appears on his lips, making her flush harder. "I thought it should be pretty obvious that it was my first time with how many times I missed-"

"That's not my question!" she cuts him off out of embarrassment.

"What? You think I had intercourse with someone before you? No. When would I even have the chance? I'm not like Fubuki who enjoys having flings. Or do you think I'd be having relations with any fangirl that would be more than willing to be in bed with me? And make my school life more complicated on top of letting my dueling career derail? I was dueling the whole time in the academy and after it too, you should know that better than anyone else. Wasn't that promise but an excuse to let us both concentrate on our careers?"

Her lips that were willing to pronounce words just a moment ago close shut, her eyes flickering while looking at him. His voice doesn't falter nor his gaze.

"Though I can't say the same of quenching my urges, in truth, I never had this strong feeling of uncontrollably and intently wanting to jump someone until I met you. You've really awakened something in me back then. I had to control myself many times or I'd have done much more than just kiss you when I could, but I thought we were clear in waiting. Albeit I'm not up to waiting anymore, needlessly waiting will not get me anywhere, I want you now."

She jolts on her seat feeling even more uncomfortable than when they started, his smirk grows a tiny bit, why is he so fond of joking about such topics? Smug, even. Or is it because he also considers having her a personal victory?

Does he have this much joy in seeing her blush? Is it possible that he was really this intense in school too, but never let it be transparent to her eyes? Perhaps Fubuki was right all along about him being so passionate and intense. The next topic makes his eyebrows twitch.

"Why did you start those underground duels?"

"This again?" he sighs heavily, supporting his hand on the bed. "Does it really matter?"

"Yes. Me."

Her stares pierces deeply into his eyes, she is not afraid of seeing what is hidden in them or getting herself lost in there for a long minute. A grunt of discomfort comes from his dry throat, feeling pried on.

"Tell." she puts her index finger on her chin and pulls it outward curving out and down, repeating the word with her lips.

"I was offered an opportunity by my new manager. To get back to the pro leagues, though I can say it did help me set my dueling straight, I don't need it anymore."

"New manager?"

"Monkey Saruyama. He contacted me after I had a slump in my career, you must have seen it all over the dueling magazines too, how many duels I lost... That same day you waited for me in the stadium of the minor leagues, I met that man..."

"This can't be right. Isn't he just using you for those gross duels?"

"Using me?" a muffled, raspy laugh as if that was a funny statement "Right. He is, but I don't mind, I achieved my victories and much more than that, what does it matter now? It is true I got a new perspective after meeting that man, it was an eye-opening experience."

With a sudden movement, she pulls on his turtle-neck cloth again, to see faint marks there and glares at him with furrowed brows. He takes her hand away carefully, rolling his eyes to the side, a deep sigh, almost bored.

"I already told you this is nothing. It doesn't hurt as much when you're acquainted with this type of pain."

"Acquainted?" She is shocked, but he dismisses the topic.

"I will consider what you said before. What about you, are you fully fine?"

Recoiling her hand, she nods briefly. A faint smile plays on his lips, his hand fondles her hair, startling her slightly.

"That's good. Do you feel better now?"

"When did you start learning sign language? And why..."

"That's an obvious question. I have been doing it since we finished school and you should know the reason." he makes signs for the last sentence while repeating with his lips silently "Reason. You."

Her eyes open slightly in astonishment, her lips opening along. Her idle hands grab her knees, leaving red marks as she presses it. A tepid palm lands on her cheeks, pulling it smoothly towards him, her eyes meeting his.

"I told you before, I am not making you wait anymore. I want you now, not only later in life."

"Ryo..."

Stretching her arms, she puts it around his neck and brings him close, kissing him passionately. They share that warmth. It's because she loves him, and much like he wants to be with her, she wants to be with him too. There is no way they can stop this. It's such a powerful, unbridled feeling. She let herself be in his arms once more.

The next morning, Rie rubs her eyes sluggishly while waking up, scanning the surroundings searching for him. He is sitting at the edge of the bed, wearing his pants.

She crawls and sits there too, her garments are only a black set of lingerie, she feels slightly abashed, covering herself a bit with the bed sheets. Her hand gently pats his back.

"Now. Ryo. Leave?"

"Are you provoking me for a second round? Because if it depends on me we could do this the whole day."

He smirks looking at her, she jerks on her seat, using her arms to cover her torso in shame, another muffled laugh comes out of his lips, he has been making those sort of jokes ever since he changed, the old Ryo would never say such things and would be often clumsy and troubled with such topics.

His eyes scrutinize her whole figure for a moment, appraising it mentally, is she trying to use black to match his new looks, maybe? That would be adorable. It contrasts with her clear and smooth skin. One part in particular catches his attention, the side of her torso, it has a scar.

His eyes squint faintly, it's from the time she got wounded in that cave, he still remembers the reason, she was pushed by the water currents towards corals on the rocks and got a fever for days, plus a bunch of stitches, right before their graduation duel too. She feels his stare, her fingers agitatedly entangling on each other.

"You are really pretty, Rie."

"Why are you saying this all of sudden?" she is uptight, pulling the bed sheets even more to cover herself, it is cute to see her overworked with just a compliment after all they did.

He bends uncomfortably close and kisses her neck, biting it with enough strength it leaves a hickey, she jumps in response. Getting up and rushing to the bathroom, leaving the door half open while driving into a half panicked state upon seeing herself in the mirror.

Suddenly, she spots his figure coming from behind her, he supports both hands on the sink around her staring at their image on the mirror. His warm chest brushes against her back, his shoulders and upper body are larger than hers, her figure could be swallowed by his figure and easily enclose her in an embrace if he wanted to.

"You look pretty like this too."

A tiny smile plays on his lips, he leans onwards, his skin touching her more than necessary, his hands surrounding her torso in a slow motion, touching every centimeter of her smooth skin. He pecks her neck again while taking a brief look as she uncomfortably jolts wanting to find a hole to hide, his expression does not hide just how much he seems to find amusement in teasing her.

It doesn't take but a few seconds for her to take both his arms away from her and turn around in an embarrassed manner, demanding a halt to his actions while fidgeting and having a hard time keeping her eyes on his, as she is too distracted with his figure and how much she can feel his body in contact with hers. She wakes up from her dreamy state once he delivers another bite to her neck, a bit less strong than the first one, but enough to leave a reddish mark that fades gradually.

"W-what are you doing?" are the words she spouts with her lips.

"Isn't that good? Everyone will know you're taken and they can finally stop bothering you."

"Not. Fun." she protests, massaging her nape he just bit again, just how aggressive could he be?

"I will try to be more gentle next time."

He smirks, enclosing her in between him and the sink, which seems to be a habit of his, his warmth blazing on her skin when it comes in touch with him. His lips coming close to her face, his breath blowing tepidly on her cheeks as he teases, his hand sneakily coming from behind her, not letting a single inch of distance in between their bodies as he wraps his arms around her torso.

"Don't worry, Rie, you taste well everywhere." he kisses her cheek.

The assertion makes her almost jump in place, she knows his tongue had gone far more places than just her mouth the last time, so did hers, but remembering it just made her blood simmer again, even more as to how much they both enjoyed it.

It felt like he had an uncontrolled desire to explore every part of her body and she doesn't know where all that passion came from, he looked so much more collected and cool before, in school and even when they started dating and now it seemed as if his emotions just burst all at once in a chaotic mess and he is letting it all out with no consideration on what it may ensue.

Her eyes flicker wildly in a moony state, unable to resist his attempts of yet again seducing her, her hands coming to his face without warning and pulling him in for a kiss, this time, she was leading it, letting her tongue invade his mouth, eliciting a pleased moan on him, both his arms strengthening the grip around her.

She could swear he would be ready for more in no time, just the thought sent her body in a frenzy state as their kiss deepened, he pulled her away in a second, gasping for air, his cheeks and forehead utterly pink.

"I'd love to continue this, but..."

He places a hand on her shoulders, snapping her out of her infatuation, her face as red as his, as she looks at him, her eyes faltering, glancing only at him in a lovesick plea, her hand comes after him again, caressing the lines of his chest, his breath stopping a second at the touch.

He gulps dryly, maybe he went a bit too far, he concludes after seeing his full erection, this all just with that short moment of kissing, he grumbles lowly in disappointment on himself, his brows furrowing in a certain rue for starting the taunting in the first place.

"I'm sorry Rie, I need to go no- Hnmm."

His lips are sealed by hers, he groans at the sensation, she is so soft everywhere and her lips so pleasantly warm, his hand unwittingly pulls her head closer to get a hold and orchestrate that kiss, their bodies brushing on each other in a delightful manner, his hand slithers towards her underwear, his fingers ready to make a way in between her legs, a slight wetness surprising him even through the clothing he barely started touching, he stops right there.

"Shit..." he curses mentally, almost at a breaking point where he wouldn't be able to hold a gram of self control. "I can't..."

Again, he halts, his breath ragged while removing his hands from her. Perhaps now, she was the one being a bit too much for him to handle.

"Fuck! You've done it now!"

Without a warning, he grabs her bottom, pulling her up and sitting her on the sink, startling her slightly before he quickly gets rid of her underwear as if it's an enemy in between them, he proceeds pulling her on the edge, decreasing the distance in between them, her thighs happily wrapping his torso.

He also undresses his pants as quickly as he can, with just one hand, occupying the other hand with caressing her back, their kissing ceases but for a moment as they look at each other, her hands cupping his face, has her touch ever been so caring? He leans over her shoulder, whispering on her ears:

"I'll make sure you won't forget this."

His hands slide from her legs to her backside, his grip firming, letting the softness of her skin come in between his fingers, suddenly, he yanks her close, his member sliding in between her legs with ease, her head is thrown back a bit at the sensation, but unlike their first time, she seems less bothered, regaining her composure, her arms circling around his neck, her legs pressing the sides of his torso, adding to his joy.

"Mnh… You really wanted me this much?"

A smile plays on his lips in a slightly conceited and happy tone, more blood accumulating on his face than he'd admit, she kisses all over his nape, her lips are as leaving a trail of flames as if his skin burns. Holding her even harder, he thwacks himself into her, multiple times, the sensation of being welcomed in her insides just makes it unbearably savory, he lets out groans, his eyes catching a glimpse of her mouth opening too, her muscles contorting in happiness.

"Crap… This is hard, I won't…" he mumbles mentally, sweating with the movements again.

She is startled when his grip strengthens even more, his skin blazing on hers again as he slams himself harshly and fast, her breath hitching at each time he does it, until he can't hold himself back, before she knows, she is enjoying it too, bringing her hips closer.

"Fuck, Rie! I can't stop!"

He declares plunging her even more, at the moment they both feel their parts twitching, releasing a rush of pleasure through their veins, her legs unconsciously closing even more around him as his body shudders, coming inside her again. He didn't even know they could finish so fast and how it happened.

"Mmnh…" his moan is almost stuck in his throat, his face in a deeper red than she has ever seen. "Rie… I didn't expect you'd be so ready for this again…"

He finally increases the distance between them, she is slightly shocked with the sudden separation as he steps back, her skin feeling cold, missing his warmth, a bit dejected even, perhaps she wanted him a bit more and she was ready to admit that she was completely enthralled by him. His brows furrow upwards in guilt:

"Sorry, was I too rough?"

She slides off the sink with his help, denying with her head shyly, a soft thud on the ground as her feet touch it, jolting at the cold ceramics. Her eyes flicker while meeting his bluish orbs. His hand comes close to her face, but before he has the chance to touch it, a shiver runs through her body, something just leaked down from in between her legs and from the color and consistency she can only guess this is… A surge of panic, she slams her thighs together, closing the space in between them.

"Don't worry, I heard… This is normal… Some of it will drop for a while… You probably didn't see the last time because we were on the bed…" he tries to explain somewhat awkwardly, averting his gaze "Though, we might need to clean ourselves properly, you also got me all… Well, I may need to wash the bedsheets and this bathroom too, it is all messy thanks to us." He looks down at his limb nonchalantly and she flushes even more, running towards the shower box.

He joins her shortly after, still trying to calm her down and explain to her what it all is, which doesn't make her cheeks less pink than what they were. He chuckles dryly at the adorable sight. After finishing the shower, he starts dressing again, casting a glance at her.

"I have to work. You really hogged me 'til the last minute, though I don't mind that it ended up like this even if I'm late…"

Her lips open, but she shuts them, her gaze ashamed of even looking into his face, she seems to recall what they just did and the amount of embarrassment that colors her face tomato-red elicits yet another muffled laugh on him.

"We will see each other soon enough, you don't need to feel this sheepish." his hand strokes her hair gently "Try to not get yourself into trouble."

His words come off inexpressive, but he casts a last glance back, she has the impression that just for a second, his eyes wavered a bit while looking at her. He leaves the place right after.

She goes back to the room and rummages in search of her clothes, grasping the bed sheets, they're completely unkempt, her cheeks flush remembering the reason why and what he told her before about it being messy, not only once, but already twice, and just a minute ago she did it for the third time, more than that she was swept by her own desire, practically jumping at him, she was even fully excited and he seems to have noticed it too, that must have been very shameful to watch, why was she been behaving like that? Why was her body even reacting like that? She always thought only boys could be like this.

She never thought after what happened in school she'd be able to ever think or want to be intimate with someone again, but after that first night, she couldn't stop thinking about Ryo, what they did and suddenly, she found herself wanting more of that, to be in his arms.

He has always been someone special to her, but Is she really this much in love with him? Slapping her own face to wake up from her daydreaming, she scolds herself mentally, it's time to get back to work.