Patience was not one of Akali's best traits. From a very young age, she had been a restless and energetic child, running from one place to another, showing all her skill and strength. And she hadn't changed much now that she was a woman, she had only gotten better.

More agile, more skilled, stronger. Less patient now that she was on her own, so traveling from one place to another, settling accounts with those who dared to hurt her homeland was something she enjoyed considerably.

She could be in Whe'le one day and around Navori the next, and back at the monastery in less than a week. Nothing could stop her since she had decided to be her own master and that wasn't going to change soon, much less if it was her father's murderer who wanted her under his control.

And was it really necessary to send his craziest acolyte?

Since their last fight, Akali tried to stay as far away as possible from the shadow warrior who followed her. Three days had passed since then and she knew she had to avoid him, she had no time to sleep or rest because she knew first-hand the boy's tracking capabilities; she knew any moment he would just appear in front of her. But after wasting so much energy she was in dire need of rest before continuing her trip to the monastery.

She stopped at a village near the Placidium of Navori, where she found a modest inn that offered shelter and food for the night. Or at least for a while if she felt her ghost close enough to leave.

Not far away Kayn watched, up from a tree branch, as the young woman entered the small two-story establishment. He had changed his strategy after realizing that the girl avoided him in an almost impressive way; when he thought he had her cornered, the next instant she was gone. Then, he would wait until she let her guard down, and attack when that happened.

After requesting a room, Akali decided to buy some food before going up to sleep, so she sat at one of the available tables in the dining room and dedicated herself to enjoy her noodles. It had been a long time since she had the luxury of eating her favorite food, so nothing would stop her, not even her crazy stalker.

When she finished, she quickly climbed the steps to retire to her rented room, which she found immediately thanks to the owner's indications, and entered. It wasn't very big, but it was enough; it had a foreign style and there was a bed, chair and table as a desk, a window, and a couple of other pieces of furniture, nothing impressive, consistent with the price.

The assassin untied her hair and took off her cloak to put it on the chair, then allowed her body to fall onto the bed without bothering to loosen the ties of her clothing, she simply let herself be enveloped by the feeling of being in a soft bed, even if it was only for a few hours. She began to relax little by little, her consciousness fading second by second...

THUNK!

The kunai nailed right into the front wall a few inches from its target, but far from scaring or intimidating her prey, it elicited a soft laugh that echoed through the small room. Kayn fiddled with a candle that previously sat on the table, tossing it and sliding it between his fingers without taking his eyes off it.

"Maybe you should leave your hair down more often, it suits you," he said as he put the candle in its original place.

"Maybe you should stop bothering me so often, it'll suit me better," she replied, sitting up on the bed, "Look, I'm tired, so you can try to kill me in the morning... Or while I sleep, choice is yours"

"Ah, does not attacking while you sleep make me a weak coward?"

"You get it, you learn fast."

For the first time, they knew what it was like to have a normal conversation, not in the middle of the battle as their talks usually were. Kayn found himself enjoying how peaceful it was, the woman always had clever answers to everything he said and that made it more fun because sarcasm was one of his specialties.

"You know, you've been entertaining me a lot in the last few weeks. I'll leave you alone for now if you just undo the magic bond"

"Oh, come on..."

"I'm serious, it would be a shame if the Kinkou lost their best weapon. Just cancel the spell and you won't see me for a while... at least not if master doesn't want me to look for you."

"I don't know how you concluded that I was the one who used magic on you, but I'll let you on a little secret." The girl leaned back on the pillow behind her, "I don't have any kind of magic ability or control over it. Whoever has bewitched you, it wasn't me." she finished her confession nonchalantly.

"And you expect me to believe you?"

"Well, you can try to kill me if you want, but if you succeed you will be very disappointed", she settled on the bed, hinting that she would not continue with their conversation for long "you are following... the wrong target" she yawned

"As for the magic, Kayn," the warrior heard the Darkin's voice, "... she's telling the truth. There is no magic in you, can we just finish her?"

He hesitated for a few moments. If it wasn't magic, what had she done to him then?

He got a little closer to the figure resting on the bed, it seemed that she had fallen asleep in mere seconds. He looked suspiciously at her delicate features and her slow breaths, and at her dark hair that cascaded from the pillow. A very beautiful woman, indeed.

He had never really stopped to think about the physical appearance of the women he had seen in his life, he had no time for trivialities when there were much more important matters to attend, and on his path to glory, there was no room for companions. That was another indication that there was no humanity left in him, because the beauty of the ninja lying on the bed was enough to let anyone stunned.

He was so deep in thought that when he came to, he realized that his outstretched arm was bringing the edge of the scythe dangerously close to the assassin's abdomen, obviously Rhaast's doing. He spat a couple of insults under his breath at the Darkin as he withdrew the weapon from Akali. Nearby he spotted an empty closet and put the demon inside, ignoring the colorful language that it was showing him for locking it up.

He closed the wardrobe doors and took a deep breath, trying to push Rhaast's annoying voice out of his mind. He looked back at the sleeping woman, but as much as he wanted to stay away, not even all of the self-control available in his being could fight against his insatiable curiosity. He approached carefully and knelt to get a better look.

There was something about her that made him want to investigate... Was it her mysterious personality? Her blatant insolence? Her striking beauty, perhaps? Kayn thought that she should use it as a weapon, she could use it quite a lot to distract her enemies and then...

He shook his head and frowned. Mentally berating himself for considering such nonsense, he got up from the floor, turned around, and sat in the chair that was available in the room. From there he crossed his arms and sighed, contemplating what he should do now. On one hand, he could believe what Akali had told him, after all, Rhaast had confirmed it and now calmly returning to the temple was not a bad idea.

But for some strange reason, that seemed… disappointing. He wondered what he expected from his little hunt because of course, he intended to kill her at first, but that idea wasn't as alluring as before. Why do it if his only motive had been nullified?

Akali made a strange noise, shifted on the bed, and sat up with narrowed eyes. Then she turned to where the warrior was and frowned as if wanting to focus properly to see if she was seeing right.

"Why are you still here?" She asked with a soft voice.

"Trying to decide if I should kill you, let me focus"

"Oh, sure… let's start, then" she got up and stretched, getting ready for what she knew was coming, "where is your weapon?" she questioned, scanning the room not noticing the huge scythe that Kayn used to carry.

"What, you think I can't beat you with just my strength?" he chuckled

"You will be at a disadvantage." As soon as Akali got her hands on her trusty kama, she charged at the warrior in an impressive leap for someone who had just woken up.

Kayn reacted quickly and stopped the attack with the chair he was sitting on earlier, his great combat prowess evident as he blocked and dodged with what he had at hand. With his movements, he tried to force the girl closer to the wardrobe where Rhaast was so he could take it and fight back, but abruptly froze when he managed to snatch the weapon away from her.

They both watched the kama slide across the floor, ending up under the table. Akali groaned; her slight drowsiness had played a trick on her and she was about to say something about it when she felt herself being pushed back hard. Suddenly she was sitting, her back collided with the base of the bed and her head against the soft mattress, her legs being held by something heavy, when she looked up she realized that it was Kayn straddling her. She was going to shove him off but he was faster and grabbed her wrists tightly with one of his hands.

The young woman wanted to complain, attack, yell at him, but both hers and the warrior's words refused to come out the moment their eyes met. Amber and brown clashed, taking their breath away, leaving a sensation that was new for them and a strange urge that neither of them had ever felt.

Akali could finally see clearly into his eyes; there were a lot of things inside. Greed, selfishness, danger... but also courage, loyalty, ambition. It seemed like he was trying to read her just by looking at her.

In those brown eyes, Kayn found something as fascinating as a jewel. Besides being challenging, cold, analytical… they were also brave, strong, determined.

Time seemed to stop right there; there was nothing else in the room, in all of Ionia, in entire Runeterra that wasn't them. Their breaths mingled, and without realizing it, they gave in to the temptation of gently bringing the skin of their lips together.

Sorry for the lateness... Ya'll ready for K/DA's comeback tomorrow? New fanfic soon ;)