Chapter 15. Fool's Game

"Fool me one time…"

|Sarada|

The sound of coughing woke me from my sleep, so I rubbed my eyes before sitting up. Beside me, Inojin laid with his eyes shut and his nose considerably less pink than before. With another cough from him confirming that he was still alive, I took the chance to get up and check if Mama was back.

Her room's door was slightly cracked, but there weren't any signs that anyone had been here recently, so I shut her door before heading downstairs. The ground floor was in total darkness and as I turned my head, I thought I saw something move down the hall but after a few seconds of staring, I chalked it up to my mind playing tricks on me.

"I guess it's not that late." I said aloud as I switched on the hallway light and checked the kitchen, "But where is she?"

At night, the whole house gave me the creeps, and it certainly didn't help my conscious that I was alone. After making sure Mama wasn't somehow secretly in the house, I turned off the lights and went back up.

"Wherever she is, she must be having a great time." I sighed as I shut my room door.

"Who is?"

I almost jumped into the ceiling before turning around to find Inojin sitting up in my bed.

"Kami in Heaven!" I screamed before lowering my hands from their instinctive fighting position. I cast an evil glare on him, "Don't ever do that again."

He lifted a hand to his mouth and took a deep breath, "Why? Are you…scared of the dark?"

I shook my head as I approached the bed.

"Maybe…the Big Bad Wolf?" Inojin tried again, his voice weak and raspy as he leaned forward, "Or maybe a…serial killer waiting in the shower?"

"I actually have a fear of that." I told him as I reached for his forehead.

"Or maybe a vampire." He grabbed my hand and pulled me close, his hot breath brushing against my ear before I felt his lips on my neck, "Come to…suck your blood…"

It sent a tingling sensation down my spine, similar to what I felt when Mitsuki and I kissed, but I let the feeling pass and pulled away, quickly voicing my concerns.

"You're burning up. Maybe some water will help? Kami, Inojin, why did you sniff that stuff?"

He was silent for a moment, so I took the chance to search for some water bottles. It was while I was moving around my room that he spoke up.

"He was…taunting me." Inojin rasped, shifting and swinging his legs over the side of the bed, "Mitsuki was. If I didn't I…would have lost."

"Lost what?" I shook my head before placing a hand on his chest and helping him to his fight, "I don't understand."

"You don't?" Inojin questioned, looking down at me, "Well, you should."

Before I knew it, his lips were on a mine, and once I had processed what was going, I quickly moved back.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I asked angrily, although the heated emotion dissipated as I laid eyes on his sweaty forehead.

He leaned against me and for a second, I thought he was going to try and kiss me again, but I was proven wrong as I realized he was trying to use me as support. I barely had my arms wrapped around him before he collapsed into me.

"I've been trying…to let you know this whole time." Inojin took in a large breath, "But I'm…no good with words. I tried to use…my actions. Walking with you from…school, getting you food…it was because I…love you."

My eyes widened at the declaration, but I couldn't begin to deal with that now, "Let's talk about this later. You're practically drenched, come on, go back to bed."

It took all of my strength to lift him up and coax him back onto the bed. Once he was on it, he turned me and found my eyes again.

"I love you, Sarada." He repeated his declaration, desperation clear in his voice, "You need to…know that. I lo—"

"Shhh." I hushed him, holding a finger to his lips, "Don't talk. You're just making your dehydration worse."

With a nod, he shut his mouth and I removed my finger from his lips before heading over to my closet.

'I know I have some water in here somewhere.' I thought to myself as I slid the closet doors open.

The first thing I noticed was that my clothes had been rearranged. At first glance, I would assume they were sorted by color, but as I sifted through the hangers, I saw that Kirara had made some outfits out of the clothes I had. But that wasn't what I was there for. I dropped my gaze to the floor of the closet and happily found an almost empty case of water. It only had a couple of water bottles left but that was enough for me.

"Sarada?" Inojin called as I bent down to grab a few bottles, "I don't feel so good."

"Wha—?" I turned around at the admission, and as soon as I saw his bulging mouth, I grabbed the waste bin and held it up in front of him.

Taking the bin from my hands, he emptied his stomach contents, and continued to hurl as I returned to the closet to grab the bottles. After a second thought, I also grabbed a box of tissues from the top shelf.

"Sarada?" He called as I returned to his side, and I almost dropped the box when I saw him.

Blood was running from his nose like a leaking pipe, and Inojin set the waste bin down before grabbing the box from me and taking some tissues. He plugged both nostrils and as he did so, I noticed he was slightly swaying.

A horrible thought came to mind as I handed him a water bottle, 'Oh Kami, what if he dies because he took the shabu? What am I gonna tell Mama? What am I gonna tell Ino-oba?'

"Arigato, Sarada." Inojin's voice jolted me out of my thoughts, "Hontōni."

I shook my head, "It's nothing. Drink. You need to replenish your body's water."

I watched as he shakily opened the bottle and stood by his side until he had downed two-fifths of it.

"We should have some crackers in the kitchen." I said to him as I turned for the door, "I'll get you some so you can put something in your stomach."

He grabbed my wrist and I looked back, worried that another issue had come up. Instead, his lime green eyes conveyed the same message that he had been repeating moments earlier.

Pulling my eyes away from him, I cleared my throat as I went over to the door, "I'll be right back."

|Sasuke|

"In any case," Kakuzu said as he sat down, handing me a glass of Umeshu, "That's the situation. You in?"

"Pain's asking, right? Do I even have a choice?" Gekkō grumbled, taking a sip from his flask, "How much are we getting for this again? I wanna be sure the money is worth the risk."

"13 million ryo." Kakuzu smirked, "That enough for you?"

Gekkō scowled, "You know I don't like big shit like this. I may be a thief, but I like an in-and-out job. Blowing up a bank and taking hostages isn't in-and-out."

"Relax. We're giving you some men for crowd control, we're buying off the police for delayed response…all things considered, this is the easiest money you'll ever make in your life."

"Except if it was that simple, Pain wouldn't even be asking me." Gekkō crossed his arms, "He wants the Byakuya Ganga to take the heat."

Kakuzu rolled his eyes, "Is that really a problem? You've been on the police's radar, now you'll just be making headlines."

"Headlines brings tips, tips lead to raids, and raids lead to money lost!" Gekkō slammed his fist down on the bar, "The police are gonna be all over us!"

Kakuzu's phone vibrated, and he brought it out, his eyes darting left to right as he read a text message. Shortly after he was done, a grin broke out on his face.

"I doubt it. The police will have more pressing matters to attend to than a bank heist." Kakuzu looked at me, "As expected of your wife."

My confusion must have been etched onto my face because Kakuzu sat up, "What, she didn't tell you?"

Gekkō looked between the two of us, "Who's this she?"

Kakuzu jerked his thumb at me, "His wife, Fujikage Misaki. She went out this morning with two of our guys to smooth over some negotiations with the Mujina Bandits."

Gekkō made a face, "Shojoji's a sleaze bag, your wife's got bigger balls than most 'cause if I were a woman, I wouldn't be caught dead in a room with him."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Kakuzu and Gekkō exchanged looks and Gekkō cleared his throat, "Ah, y'know, there's no use talking about it since she already did her job. She'll probably tell you about it when you get back. I wouldn't want to poison your mind or anything."

"You can't tell me something like that and not elaborate." I crossed my arms, looking from one to the other.

"Not when I know how you care about your wife." Kakuzu shook his head, "The last thing I need is for you to storm over there because of some…old information."

I stood up, "If you two aren't going to tell me, then I'll—"

"Ah, alright, alright!" Gekkō groaned, and I sat back down, "This guy…why do you even, ah fuck it. The man's a rapist, in my opinion, at least."

"What?" I turned to Kakuzu and Kakuzu nodded.

"None of his victims could ever press charges due to his methods." Gekkō continued, "I think the fancy police term is coercion? First, he's all sweet about it but when they say no, he brings up their jobs, their aspirations, and they give in."

I tightened my fist, "He sounds like scum."

"He is scum." Kakuzu agreed, "There are three main reasons for theft: greed, women, lifestyle. Some just want what others have, others want to indulge in the opposite sex, and Gekkō and I want a private island to fly to if shit hits the fan."

"I'm guessing Shojoji wants to indulge."

"Yes, but he's…the worst kind of indulger." Kakuzu lifted his beer to his lips, "We met when we were younger, and it didn't take long to find out he was weird. But he was poor and weird, so women didn't stand for his shit."

"We should've turned him in at the start." Gekkō grumbled, "The thing about thieves is they can turn a cent to a, a dollar to ten, and ten to a thousand. Once he got off the ground, he never saw it again, and that's when we really started to hear stories about his…engagements."

"I don't know why you guys wanted to keep this from me." I said with a shrug, "All I'm hearing is that he's a scum bag, but Misaki can handle herself, she'd never allow him within two feet of her personal space."

"Are you sure she wouldn't compromise for a mission? They went there to negotiate and knowing him, he probably told her to 'help him out', and in exchange he'd agree to anything we have for him." Kakuzu mused.

"But she went there with two guys. Is he so brazen that he would try that in front of them?" I questioned.

"She's not their wife, it's not their job to protect her." Gekkō chuckled, "They were told to get Shojoji to say yes. You think if he shows interest, they won't tell her to take one for the team, yeah?"

"No…well, they could tell her but…she wouldn't do it." I was beginning to feel sick about the situation.

"Really?" Kakuzu perked up, "She'd rather come back and tell Pain that Shojoji asked her for sex and she couldn't bend her code? Then have that reflect on you?"

"Me?" I pointed to myself, "What do I have to do with this?"

"You're one of the Gedo." Gekkō nodded at the ring Pain had gifted me, "Paint trusts you, and she's your wife so in a sense, Pain trusts her as well. If she comes back and says she couldn't bust it open—"

Kakuzu choked on his drink before turning to the side and coughing.

"Anywho, if she comes back and says that, Pain might not discipline her out of respect for you, but your relationship with him can be affected." Gekkō took a swig of his flask, "And I'm gonna guess that you didn't marry a dunce, so would she have all this on her mind and still say no?"

I couldn't answer, a large part of me fearing that he was right.

'I should've been more proactive with her whereabouts.' I thought to myself, Itachi's words coming to mind, 'I'm supposed to lead this mission. She shouldn't be in any danger!'

Kakuzu placed a hand on my shoulder, "See why we didn't tell you? No point in mulling over it when we got confirmation that everything went through."

Gekkō got up and went around the bar, "Get it out of your mind. She's your wife, yeah? You trust her, yeah? Then she's fine."

"Mm." I stared into my glass, trying to convince myself of such, "She's fine…"

|Karin|

TW: Assault

"Misaki-san." Suigetsu entered the bathroom, "The clothes are here on the toilet seat. Just yell if you need anything."

"Arigato." I thanked him quietly as I stood under the cold water.

After a few more seconds spent under the freezing temperature, I shut the shower off and grabbed a towel from the rung. I patted myself dry before I stepped out and proceeded to lift up the extra-large blue tee shirt Suigetsu had gotten me. Black basketball shorts that had been hidden under them fell to the floor, and I couldn't help but shake my head.

Although the clothes Suigetsu had brought me weren't exactly fashionable, they smelled fresh, and that was more than enough.

I caught a glance of myself in the mirror as I pulled the t-shirt over my head, my eyes immediately flying to the cut above my right eyebrow which I had somehow managed to reopen. Blood slowly tinkered down the side of my face, and I touched the wound shakily before bringing my hand back down.

"See? If only I was there to protect you."

Zōsui appeared in the mirror behind me, and I staggered back before turning around to confirm that he was there. When he wasn't, I gripped the sink and took deep steadying breaths.

'He's dead, Karin.' I reminded myself, 'He's dead.'

"No thanks to you." He remarked through the mirror, "And in the end, the same thing always happens to you. Wouldn't you have preferred me over him?"

'Shut up.' I closed my eyes and turning away.

"You can be honest, it's not like I'll tell anybody." I could hear the smirk in his voice, "He didn't know how to handle you. But I did."

'You're not real.' I thought to myself as I reached for the door.

"Who knows your body better than me?" Zōsui questioned, laughing.

I yanked the bathroom door open and slammed it shut behind me as I stepped out into the motel room. My legs felt unsteady, and I began to fall forward as I moved to the bed.

"Misaki-san? How are—" Suigetsu cut himself off as he scampered to catch me, "Shit. Jūgo! Jūgo, get in here!"

Suigetsu's purple eyes shined with concern as he held me, and I watched in an almost outer body experience as Jūgo took me from him and set me on the bed. The weakness in my legs had spread throughout my entire body, forcing Suigetsu to prop me up with pillows. He pulled the covers over me and my eyelids grew heavy. As he and Jūgo conversed, my eyes closed, and I almost immediately wished they could've opened again.

"Let's see if you can recognize your mistakes." Zōsui said, as my surroundings changed to the Mujina Manor I had been in hours ago.

I watched myself shake Shojoji's hand once we were inside and hand my coat to his butler Kokuri. Suigetsu was trying to talk business with him once we were at the dinner table, but Shojoji fended off all his attempts and kept his attention on me. He asked me what I was doing with the Akatsuki, and I watched as I answered.

"No." I found myself whispering, "Don't talk to him."

Zōsui clapped his hands, "Good, you spotted one. Now, let's keep looking."

Kokuri came in with servants carrying trays of food, and I ate my meal in silence while Suigetsu and Jūgo managed to hijack his attention. Shojoji still kept his eyes on me, and I watched as I poured myself some wine.

Although I knew there was no point, I couldn't help but tell myself to stop, "Don't drink from that cup."

"Tch, it's like you forgot everything I taught you growing up." Zōsui clicked his tongue, shaking his head as I lifted the glass to my lips.

After I watched myself down my second glass, tears welled up in my eyes as I realized what was to come, and I turned to Zōsui.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Why?" He raised an eyebrow, "Because I want you to see how foolish you are without me."

I shook my head, "I don't need you. I never needed you."

"Really?" He grabbed my wrists with one hand and held my face with the other, forcing my sight back to past events, "You think this would have happened if I were around?"

Now I was following Shojoji up the stairs. He had asked me to help out his daughter with her feminine problems, and I watched as I lowered my guard. Once I was in the little girl's room, the door shut behind, and Shojoji ordered me to sit beside him on the bed.

"No more." I croaked as I tried to look away, "I don't need to see anymore."

"Oh, but you do." Zōsui contested, holding onto me firmly.

With no other choice, I looked and saw Shojoji uncrossing my legs, murmuring a compliment about how beautiful I was. When his hands ran up my thighs, I shivered, feeling the sensation as clear as day. But the real horror was watching my eyes widen as my arms uncrossed. Shojoji was laughing, happy to reveal how he had coated the inside of my glass with drugs. As he laid me down and unbuttoned his pants, I shut my eyes.

"Stop." I told Zōsui.

"No. You need to see." Zōsui squeezed my chin, "Open your eyes."

Shojoji was pressing his hand against me, and I was failing to resist him. He slipped his fingers inside and I jolted in place.

"Get off me." I said shakily, a tear slipping out of my eye.

Shojoji continued to molest me, and after a few moments he position himself in between my legs and pressed forward.

"Get off me!" I said with more strength, elbowing Zōsui and raising my voice, "Get off of me!"

My eyelids flew open, and I instinctively sat up, breathing heavily.

"Hey, Misaki-san, it's just me." Suigetsu raised his hands as I recognized him, "I didn't mean to scare you, I…" He held out a bandage roll.

I nodded and he stepped closer to me to wrap my head. As he rolled the gauze around me, I looked around and realized Jūgo was nowhere to be seen, so I asked Suigetsu where he had gone.

"Ah, I sent him to get some ibuprofen." He clapped his hands as he finished up.

I almost flinched as his hand touched my cheek, but once his thumb swiped under my eye, I realized that he was wiping away my tears. His purple eyes swam with regret, and I couldn't bear to look at him any longer.

"Gomen, Misaki-san." He apologized quietly, "If I hadn't encouraged…no, if I hadn't brought you along—"

"It wasn't your fault." I cut him off, "I had a feeling that…anyway, it wasn't your fault."

"But he ra—"

I held up a hand, "Suigetsu, please."

He bit his lower lip but nodded, and silence spread between us. It really wasn't Suigetsu's fault. I had been careless, and I had made many mistakes that I normally wouldn't have.

"Anyway," He continued, "You don't have to worry about him. He can't hurt you or anyone else ever again."

"You…killed him?" I asked hesitantly.

He nodded, his mouth hardening into a firm line, "He had it coming; the world won't miss him."

"No, no…what about Pain's plan?" My throat began to clam up, "How are we supposed to…?"

"I handled it." He waved his hand, "We talk to Tsukiyo, that fat fuck's lieutenant, and he agreed to help. He said it was the least he could do after his sudden promotion."

I couldn't hold my tears back any longer, and they came running down my face as everything took its toll on me. Shojoji, Zōsui's haunting image, Suigetsu's readiness to admit that he had killed someone…it was all too much.

"You shouldn't have killed him." I shook my head, "You shouldn't have…"

Suigetsu took a seat beside me and touched my shoulder gingerly, "Misaki-san, I'm a yakuza. Killing is part of the job, your husband should've told you this."

"No, that's…what?" I wiped at my eyes.

His eyes widened as he covered his mouth, "Shit, I mean…"

"Toshiaki-kun would never…" I trailed off as I recalled my conversation with Sasuke last night, how he had changed the subject after mentioning what he'd done to gain Pain's trust.

"Forget what I said." Suigetsu hurriedly interjected, "It's just a stupid rumor rolling around, there's probably no truth to it."

Jūgo unlocked the door and entered the room just as Suigetsu finished talking. I took two tablets of ibuprofen dry and swung my legs over the side of the bed.

"You should rest." Suigetsu advised, although he stilled helped me to my feet, "There's no need to hurry back."

I shook my head, "I want to see my husband."

|2 Hours Later|

The room was pitch black when I stepped inside, so I dimly lit the lights before setting down my purse and the paper bag with my clothes. Sasuke started to get up, but I immediately told him to stop before coming around the side of the bed. He moved over and I caught his eyes flick up to the bandages around my head.

"What happened?" He asked me as I got in beside him.

I said nothing and laid down, turning my back on him. I had hoped he would get the hint that it wasn't something I wanted to discuss, but knowing Sasuke, he would still want some answers.

"Misaki." He called.

I kept quiet and felt the bed shift as he moved closer to me. It was only a second later that I felt his lips on my ear as he whispered, "Karin, talk to me."

Fighting off my instinctual urge to elbow him away for being so close, I tried to push him away again, "I'm really tired, can we talk in the morning?"

"No, we can't." I shut my eyes at his response, "You told me you were running an errand for Pain, you didn't mention anything about negotiating with Shojoji. I had to find out from Kakuzu and his connect."

"I didn't know I would be…well, what does it matter? I got the job done, didn't I?" My brows furrowed in anger, "And do I have to tell you everything? I can take care of myself."

"Can you really?" Zōsui asked from behind me.

'He's not real.' I reminded myself, although he seemed to be casting a shadow over me.

"I'm not saying you can't." I felt Sasuke sit up behind me, "I just…I want to be sure that you're okay. That you're safe. What happened with Shojoji?"

I sucked in a sharp breath and Zōsui laughed.

"Go on, tell him." Zōsui remarked, "Tell him what he did to you."

Sasuke placed his hand on my shoulder and turned me around so that I was facing him, "He…Did he do something to you?"

"Nothing…" I avoided his gaze as I spoke, "Nothing I couldn't handle."

"Ooo good one!" Zōsui laughed, his arms crossed as he stood next to Sasuke, "A mysterious answer, I like that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke questioned.

I shook my head and tried to lie back down, "Toshiaki-kun, please, I'm tired."

"Tell me what happened." He persisted, "I've heard things about him. Did he…did he rape you?"

Realizing that he wouldn't give up, I needed us to go to the only place where we could speak freely.

"Bathroom." I squeezed his hand as I got up, "I need to use it."

Getting the hint, he followed behind me and once we were both inside, I went to the sink and splashed warm water on my face. Sasuke shut the door and turned on the shower for good measure before turning to me.

"You need to tell me what he did to you." Sasuke ordered, and I glanced at him through the mirror, "Right now."

Zōsui, who was also behind me, smirked, "He's getting angry, Karin. You don't want to see him angry. Or maybe you do?"

I grabbed a towel from the hand rack and wiped my face as I contemplated how I could escape Sasuke's interrogation. There was only one answer: hostility.

"Or what?" I quietly replied to Sasuke's demand, setting the towel down and turning around to face him, "If I don't tell you, what are you going to do?"

If it weren't for the seriousness of the situation, I might have laughed at the dumbfounded look on his face. It was clear he wasn't expecting me to respond to him with such words.

"Karin, I'm trying to help you." Sasuke plead, "But I can't do that if I don't know what's wrong."

"For Buddha's sake, are we really doing this again?" I groaned as the familiarity of the situation dawned on me, "You don't have to help me! It's not your job to and it's certainly not your mission. Why are you so focused on this?"

"Because we're—"

"And don't say it's because we're friends." I held up a hand and cut him off, "We are partners, nothing more, nothing less. Your job is to make sure this operation is a success and playing the concerned husband when we're alone isn't going to help."

Sasuke's mouth fell into a firm line as he considered my words, and I wished with all my might that he would finally drop the subject. Instead, his eyes narrowed, and he grabbed my wrist.

"If that's the case then what happened Friday night was what? An act?" His grip on my wrist tightened and he pulled me close, "We kissed and you asked me to hold you, that was some kind of ploy?"

I blinked as I recalled the moment he was talking about, and immediately lowered my gaze, "That was a mistake."

"It's not a mistake to want some…comfort." Sasuke assured me as he held my arms, "I care about you, Karin. If you don't want to tell me what happened, that's fine. But don't tell me to ignore when you're clearly going through something."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say he actually likes you." Zōsui chuckled, "But I know better. And you do too."

"Okay." I wrenched my arms free from Sasuke and grabbed the doorknob, "You're right, I don't want to tell you. Now can I please just go to sleep?"

Sasuke's lips were poised like he wanted to say something else, but he must've decided against it because he sighed and nodded his head. I opened the bathroom door and went back to the bed while he stayed behind to shut off the shower.

I made sure to get in bed facing away from him, and I pulled the covers up to my shoulders. When the bed dipped behind me, I knew that he had gotten in. What I didn't expect was for his arms to come around me and pull me close. I tried not to shiver as I felt his chin settle into the crook of my neck, and his breath brush past my ear.

"Oyasumi, Misaki." Sasuke quietly bid me goodnight.

"Oyasumi."

|30 Minutes Later|

Though I'd repeatedly mentioned how tired I was, Sasuke ended up falling asleep before me. I almost envied him for having no concerns to keep him up, but quickly cut off that line of thinking as I realized I hadn't caught Sasuke in any weak moments. However, once I heard his soft snores, I knew I wouldn't be knocking out any time soon. I slowly slipped out from under his arm before getting up.

"Gomen." I apologized to him quietly, planting a kiss on his cheek, "You don't have to worry about me."

Grabbing a night robe from the couch, I pulled it over my clothes and patted my pockets for room keys before quietly exiting the room. Maybe a walk around the grounds would give my body the same exhaustion my mind was facing.

With that, I took the elevator down to the first floor and looked around. At 11 p.m., there were still associates coming in and out of the main building, and those who weren't particularly busy gave a slight nod to me as they pass.

Just as I reached the main doors, a voice called out to me, and I turned back to find its owner. A lavender-haired woman with sharp grey eyes was walking towards me from the mess hall, and I racked my brain as I wondered why she was she vaguely familiar. It was only as she reached me that I realized she was Konan, Pain's lover that Sasuke had told me about.

"I know how you're feeling." She took one of my hands, "But it's too cold to be going outside like that. Why don't you keep me company?"

My reluctance must've been written on my face because she smiled chuckled lightly, "Come on, I don't bite."

She tugged me back to the elevator and once we were inside, she pressed the door close button twice, the alarm button once, and then looked at the floor counter. A green light scanned her retina before the door shut properly. I had thought we were on the lowest floor possible, but when we started going down, I knew I was being taken to the lab Sasuke had lengthily explained. But we went down for a long, long time.

When the elevator finally stopped, the doors whirred open and I found myself looking at an underground laboratory that I could've sworn only existed in movies. It even had the same distinct smell of disinfectant and metal.

"Joō-sama, what is this place?" I asked as I stepped out beside her.

She raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "Your husband never told you?"

I put on my most innocent face and shook my head, and her eyes softened as she took my hand again, "Gomen, if you knew, you wouldn't be asking. This is a lab my…Pain built. I come down here sometimes when I want to be alone."

"But you brought me?" I tilted my head in confusion.

"I heard you and your husband's situation." She led me to an office-like room and went over to a coffee machine in the corner, "I know what it's like to not be able to

She turned the coffee machine on and inserted a French vanilla pod, then handed me a mug.

"Of course." I took the mug from her with a nod, "But you…heard?"

Konan looked to the side, "I may have…invaded your privacy out of fear, and for that I apologize. In any case, I know it's not easy turning down help from the one you love."

I was in no mood to continue thinking of my clash with Sasuke, but the empathy in her voice told me that there was more to gain from humoring her rather than changing the subject.

"Have you also turned down Pain, Joō-sama?" I questioned, my eyes watching her figure for a change in body language.

"Why do you think I'm down here?" She replied with a sad smile.

The coffee machine blinked green, and she set her mug under the fountain before pressing a button. We watched in silence as hot water filled the cup, and once hers was done, I set my mug down and repeated the process. When I turned around, Konan had brought out creamer and sugar.

"…May I ask why?" I quietly posed the question as I dropped two teaspoons of sugar into my coffee.

I watched her out of the corner of my eye as she looked up and thought.

"This time it was because I didn't want to have sex." She shrugged her shoulders as she poured a bit of the creamer into her mug, "Maybe I'm oversharing."

"You're not." I quickly assured her, and after a moment of hesitation, placed a hand on her shoulder, "I…Toshiaki-kun and I haven't done anything recently either."

"Why haven't you?" Konan turned to me, her grey eyes shining with curiosity, "Is he too rough?"

"What?" My face immediately heated up and I tried my best to maintain eye contact, "No, he's really gentle. I just…haven't been in the mood."

She nodded solemnly, "And I'm sure you're not in a hurry to…resume activities after Shojoji."

I couldn't help but stiffen at his name, and she immediately raised a hand to her mouth, "Gomennasai. I…what happened? If you have the strength to tell me."

Taking a sip of my coffee, I shut my eyes and thought about the best way to go over my experience.

"I don't know why you're taking this distressed maiden act this far." Zōsui whistled, leaning against the wall, "You've been through this before, what makes him different?"

As much as I wanted to ignore this negative figment of my imagination, for once he was offering some encouraging words, albeit in a backhanded way. With a deep breath, I recounted what had occurred in the Mujina Manor from start to finish. When I was done, Konan set down her mug and wrapped her arms around me.

"Misaki-san, I'm so sorry that happened to you." She cried as she hugged me, "What can—how can I help? Anything you need, I'll—"

"I just don't want to think about it." I cut her off, already starting to regret sharing the story with her.

If there was one thing I hated more than being powerless, it was being pitied. Konan drew back from me to nod, and I gave her an appreciative smile.

"Well, that's enough of that." She said as she clapped her hands, picking her mug back up and taking a long drink, "Are you a fan of the show Romy and Jule?