STORY WARNINGS:
–Yaoi – Male/Male.
– Rating: Mature. ADULTS ONLY. Contains graphic violence, some coarse language, explicit sexual content both consensual/non-consensual, forced/willing submission, bondage, BDSM, edging, safewords, aftercare, adult themes, guilty pleasure fantasy where you want someone to be a bit too forceful.
A/N: Then Asami lets him go, they go their separate ways, bye-de-bye, The End. Right? Perfect.
...*gasp* Unacceptable, you say? Oh alright then, we'll have the showdown. (^^)
So life and baby happened (I'm an auntie! Yaaay!). 11 days must be my slowest update so far, haha XD I also blame our two characters, you know how stubborn they can be! So what we have here is a beast. No kidding, it's the longest chapter yet by a long shot. I'd even say it's too long but I couldn't split it up, it just all goes together. If nothing else it'll be an interesting exercise to see how far I can hold your attention... *hides*
~ Nyx ~
DISCLAIMER: The Finder series and all recognisable characters belong to Yamane Ayano sensei.
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Chapter 14
Still Sunday. Probably.
Akihito woke to the rain falling in sheets against the window. Yawning lazily, he stretched languorously through his arms and back and all the way down his legs to the tips of his to-o-oes...
He was so comfortable that it was a light buzz, happily dazed as he slowly returned to the land of the living. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept so well, with no lingering grogginess, no dog-tired yearning to fall straight back under only to be scratched awake by the claws of nightmares, just the languid ache from a long sleep, morning wood and a hungry stomach. Ravenous, actually. He rolled, snuggling into the pillow, a luxurious thing filled with bouncy feathers and smelling of strength and pure masculinity that triggered all sorts of deliciously steamy flashbacks –
Adrenaline charged on a wildebeest stampede. He flailed, tangling himself in smooth sheets with a ridiculous thread count that couldn't possibly be his as he toppled out of the bed with a panicked yelp...
This wasn't his bed, probably as wide as five of his stuck together. Nor his room, at least ten times larger than his. Not his walk-in-wardrobe with the domino of dark, expensive suits. Not the dark hardwood furniture that were most certainly not flat-pack, heavy floor-to-ceiling black-out curtains covering half the expansive wall, the luxuriously thick carpet, the pricey watch and wallet and holster and gun on the opposite bedside table...
Akihito panted as he took it all in. "Holy... fucking... fuck!"
He started terribly at the blaring of a cell phone. It was when he looked across at the closed door where the sound came from that he realized that it wasn't rain that he was hearing at all, but the shower. He stared in voiceless fear at the door as the electronic chimes rang and rang. The shower stopped and the chimes carried on ringing, until –
"Asami."
That voice. He almost combusted on the spot.
"One minute, I'll grab the file."
Horror of horrors, Akihito realized the man was coming out. Not wanting to be caught awake he dithered frantically – a stuttered step to the other closed door leading from the room – where the fuck does that go?! – walk-in wardrobe – dead-end, baka! – then in sheer panic he dove back into the bed and buried his face in the pillow and held his breath – way to go, genius, just throw yourself back in the bastard's bed, why don't you...
A door opened and closed before he heard Asami pause. Akihito almost exploded from tension as he wondered if the man would come over, but then another door opened – the one he'd originally almost gone for – and Asami's voice came muffled from the other side as he closed it behind him.
"Go ahead."
Akihito shakily gulped a much needed breath, but regretted it immediately when he was assailed by Asami's scent again. He leaped out of the bed as though he'd been burned. The ache on the soles of his feet barely registered.
"Why are you calling me about this? You already have my orders."
Asami's voice was quieter, further away. Now was the time to leg it, while he was distracted. Akihito checked down at himself and was mightily relieved that he was still in his own jeans and top, just minus shoes – which he was banking on to be by the front door, and even if they weren't he'd still leave in his socks – and jacket. Had Asami removed it ... to tuck him into bed? Into his bed? Because this was clearly Asami's lair, he could tell by the underlying scent and feel of the man permeating everything. Why the hell had Asami brought him here? Akihito had half expected to wake up in a cage. Or in chains...
His phone and other things were nowhere to be seen but that wasn't about to stop him. Akihito crept to the door, pressing his ear to it.
"No exceptions," Asami was saying. He sounded distant. "But you know that so why're you asking?"
Forcing his clammy hands to grip the handle, Akihito turned it, praying it wouldn't squeak... Of course not, this wasn't his apartment. It was Asami's place and of course everything would be well-oiled and bloody perfect.
Corridor. Left or right?
"Reject them, I have no need of such services."
Asami's voice drifted from the left so Akihito headed right. Warm lights lit his way as he made his faltering, heart-thudding progress to another open doorway.
"That's already been agreed. I'll deal with them myself."
Akihito blinked at the cavernous space. It was a living room, open plan and with a wide pass-through window into the kitchen. He eyeballed it all at about a million times larger than his own flat, the furniture sparse but clearly top quality, the style modern and male and very much no-nonsense like Asami. Even the gargantuan entertainment system dominating half the long stretch of wall was just as overbearing as its owner. It was huge. Obscene, really. Akihito might have drooled just a little bit. Though he couldn't quite picture Asami as the surround sound, home cinema type. Or maybe he used it to watch reruns of his best kills... Akihito quickly moved on, taking the eighteen – seriously, eighteen! He could only manage three in his place – long steps across the polished hardwood floor. All the curtains were closed – was it night time?
The man's voice still came from a little ways away but he sounded annoyed. "If they can't fulfil their end of the deal they've faulted on our agreement."
Akihito poked his head out into the corridor on the other side of the living room and headed down and around the corner – the genkan! Relief flooded him. His shoes were also there, sitting neatly beside Asami's polished black leather shoes.
He flew over, stuffed his feet into his shoes, threw open the front door and barrelled through –
He stumbled as he bounced backwards... off a massive chest... in a black suit... He craned his head up to find Blond Tank staring blankly down at him.
"I'm not discussing new terms. Why are you still wasting my time?"
Akihito spun as Asami's voice came from the side – and oh holy smoking sweet goddesses...
Hair and naked upper body still dripped from the shower, damp black strands skimmed golden eyes glinting with arrogant amusement, a rolled up towel hung from the strong neck, water droplets glistened on muscular shoulders and the washboard abs with just a hint of a trail leading from below the belly button disappearing under the waistband of casual slacks... Long legs... Bare feet...
The droolworthy picture was not helping Akihito's morning wood – evening wood, whatever – go down. Asami somehow looked younger without his usual immaculate get-up but also even more male if that was possible...
"Sort out your own mess. You'll pay for it in full if it compromises my business in any way."
Asami was still on the phone, leaning against the doorjam on the opposite end of the corridor. He calmly watched the younger man gawking at him, not looking surprised to find the blond standing at the genkan in his shoes.
Asami let loose an irritated sigh as he finally looked away and barked at whoever was on the phone.
"I won't tell you again, I'm not changing the deal. You have your orders already. Get to it or I'll find someone who will." He hung up on them and turned back to Akihito, his voice melting from steel to practically a purr in the blink of an eye. "So? Are you going to stand there drooling at me all night?"
Akihito only then realized that his brain had short-circuited and he was doing precisely that... "In your dreams." He spun again, intent on running, when he saw Suoh and belatedly remembered the expressionless bodyguard blocking the doorway. "Are you stuck? 'Cos you're kind of in my way there."
He could hear the smirk in Asami's voice without having to look. "That's the general the idea. He's not moving until I say you can go."
"What the hell?" Akihito rounded on Asami, and had to blink at the sight of Asami again. Shit, but the bastard was insanely hot. "Oh, for fuck's sake, put some clothes on!" Then he remembered what he was mad about. "And why have you kidnapped me?! Again!"
Asami chuckled. "Really, Akihito, that's the order you're going with?" He grabbed one end of the towel draped around his neck and started drying his hair. Akihito had to try very hard not to stare at the shifting play of muscles... It should be the eighth deadly sin for the bastard to go around with any skin showing. No, scrap that, Asami himself was the eighth deadly sin.
"You have two ways out of here," Asami informed him casually. "You can try and wrestle your way past Suoh – which, by the way, I would have to see," Asami added, barely suppressing a laugh, "or you can come and talk to me. You decide."
Asami sauntered closer, right up to the genkan until Akihito was almost pressing back against Blond Tank, and then he strolled past, smirking at Akihito's panicked – and more than a little heated – expression as he disappeared into the living room.
Akihito let loose a shaky breath. "Dickass," he muttered.
He backed off from Suoh a little. The guard really was huge. Taller and bulkier than Asami, he could have been made from a lump of marble. The guard stared back, deadpan.
"So..." Akihito tried. "Don't you feel bad at all, even a little? That you're keeping me here against my will? And it's your fault for catching me?"
"I'm just doing my job."
Akihito had half expected Blond Tank to stand there mutely like he was guarding Buckingham Palace. "What, so if he told you to –" He stopped himself. Because yes. If Asami told Suoh to jump off a skyscraper, this guy would ask which one and what the schedule was so he could attend to it in a timely manner. They'd proved that with the setup for the shootout.
"Forget it," Akihito huffed.
He considered the large guard, thinking furiously... He tried another tact. "You're a pretty big guy, huh?" Suoh didn't react. "So you know you're slower than me, right? You should just let me pass and save yourself the embarrassment of being bested by someone smaller."
"I'm not embarrassed of being bested by Asami-sama."
Akihito blinked. He didn't even pull Suoh up on being a smartass. "Asami can beat you?"
There was a reaction this time, just a small grin pulling at one corner of Suoh's mouth. "Hands down, every time. You have no chance."
Akihito gaped, embarrassed and furious. "You're a right barrel of laughs aren't you? Well what if you did a surprise attack? Would he still win?"
"Yes he would, if such were the training parameters."
"Oh lighten up! It might happen, you never know. Say, I don't know, he stole the slice of cake you'd saved for your lunch even though you'd clearly labelled it as yours?"
"Stole my cake...?"
"Yeah, that obviously doesn't happen in your world, does it? But just say he did. What if you did a surprise tackle?"
"A surprise tackle?"
"Yeah, can he get out of that one and still whip your ass?"
Blond Tank levelled him a hard look. "If you're simply procrastinating from going to speak to Asami-sama, I'll be returning to my post. Or do you plan to tackle me? If so I shall alert the boss."
Akihito glowered, knowing his answer already but hating it. Maybe he should try and have at the guard anyway. But it would only be embarrassing and somehow he didn't want to be throwing blows without direct provocation. Sure, there were implied threats aplenty and he was being kept here against his will, but it wasn't like there was a gun pointed at his head... Not yet, anyway...
"Fine," he snapped. "You can keep your precious pride intact." He toed off his shoes and stepped back onto the main floor. "What time is it, anyway?"
"It's gone eleven pm."
Akihito stilled. "Eleven? You knocked me out for a whole day? Wait – it's still Sunday right?"
Suoh nodded. "Yes, although you were only unconscious for a few minutes. You've been asleep for twelve hours now. You must have been very tired."
"Yeah, well, getting shot at when you're already severely sleep deprived thanks to a certain perverted bastard will do that to most normal people."
"Can you find Asami-sama by yourself or shall I take you to him?"
"Why do you keep trying to get rid of me? Is he going to have your neck if you stand here yapping all evening?" Akihito frowned. "Although I'm disappointed to see your head's still attached. Because I clearly remember you saying that you weren't meant to hurt me and that freaking hurt when you knocked me out, I'll have you know."
"A temporary discomfort, nothing more. No bruising, no lasting damage, no side effects. You were not hurt, as Asami-sama wished."
Akihito stared. The guard's obedience to Asami – and his physical ability to follow orders to the absolute letter – was a little scary. It was like he'd given Asami his soul...
"Good evening, Takaba-san," Suoh nodded politely before closing the door between them.
It took a while to track Asami down. Not because Akihito was lost but because he refused to heel like one of the good little guards the bastard could order around. He headed in the opposite direction from the living room, the way Asami had come. He came across two spare bedrooms containing no personal effects whatsoever, a toilet, another bathroom, and a locked door. He'd stared at that, trying the handle a good few times, before finally his growling stomach latching onto the smell of food and won out over stubborn pride. He carried on along the corridor, following his nose until he found himself looping past Asami's room and back in the living room again. The apartment was a giant, square, luxury doughnut.
Thankfully Asami had donned a bathrobe – though Akihito's blood was still flowing in inappropriate directions at seeing such a casual side to the man– and he watched with a surreal sense of disbelief as Asami stood in the kitchen serving up two dishes of curry and rice. It was like when he'd served tea before. It was so ordinary.
"You're drooling again," Asami smirked as he grabbed cutlery and took the dishes over to the table. One was a significantly more generous serving than the other.
Akihito scowled. "You're not wearing a suit. And you're cooking. It's unreal."
Predictably, Asami took the smaller portion. "Kirishima cooked."
Glasses? In an apron? No freaking way.
Asami started without waiting. He carried on eating as Akihito watched the food disappear into his mouth and the fork slid back out between his lips... Akihito gave himself a mental slap. He was hesitant to share another meal with Asami especially when he wasn't being allowed to leave, but eventually he decided that he couldn't fight his way out on an empty stomach and went and sat down. He kept a wary eye on Asami, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The hunger hit Akihito as soon as the first mouthful hit his stomach and in no time at all he'd wolfed down the lot. It was actually delicious.
"There's more."
Halfway through chasing the last of the sauce around his plate, Akihito stilled. The tone was so carefully expressionless that it instantly rang alarm bells. Akihito slowly looked up to find Asami's eyes on him, his plate pushed aside only half finished. Akihito had been so intent on his food that he'd blocked out everything else. It wasn't unusual.
How long had Asami been watching? He was reclined in his seat, his gaze sharp and fixed unerringly on Akihito, his entire frame unnaturally still even for Asami whose bearing was usually a masterclass in refinement and calculated efficiency. Akihito was reminded of a stalking predator poised to pounce.
"Or have you finished?"
Yeah, there it was, the other shoe dropping. Fed and fattened up for the kill, what Asami had been waiting for. Akihito didn't want to be finished. Finished meant dealing with the elephant in the room – fuck that, it was a fucking giant woolly mammoth. With tusks. Huge ass tusks just waiting to run Akihito through.
But the cold, hard energy radiating from Asami chased away any remaining appetite.
Asami arched an expectant brow. No other movement, just a simple shift of expression that spoke volumes of his patience wearing dangerously thin.
Reluctantly, Akihito nodded.
Asami fluidly unfolded himself to his feet. Akihito shoved his chair back but the rear legs caught, and he flailed for a precious moment as he fought toppling backwards. By the time he'd grabbed the table and righted himself Asami had rounded the table. Akihito leaped up but before he could make it a single step a heavy hand shoved him right back down.
Asami leaned on the table, his arms trapping the smaller man, his voice soft and deadly by Akihito's ear. "I'm going to say this very clearly so there's no chance of you misunderstanding me. You're going to tell me why you left Sion, you're going to tell me what was on that last piece from that hard drive, and you're going to tell me what you've been so scared to tell me. They might all be the same thing, they might be different. You're going to tell me the truth, and you're going to tell me everything. No lies. No omissions. Full disclosure."
Akihito's eyes widened more and more with every word. They were no less scary just because Asami delivered them while wearing a thick white bathrobe and slacks. Akihito was ensnared by the threat saturating the air.
Asami let him break free as Akihito shoved and backed away. "You – you can't still be on about that? I have nothing to say to you. And it – it won't matter what you do to me, I still have nothing to tell you."
Asami smirked cruelly at the faint tremor in Akihito's voice. "I'm not going to torture you, if that's what you mean. You'll simply stay with me until you tell me everything I want to know."
Akihito shook his head with a creeping sense of dread. "Stay...?"
"This is my condo. You can go wherever you like up to the front door, do whatever you like during the day." Asami grinned wickedly. "And at night, I'll come home and you can indulge me until I'm satisfied. Completely satisfied."
"You... That's... That's a fucking sex slave!"
"If that's what you want to call yourself."
"Call...? That's... You know that's not the point!"
Asami shrugged. "We can also eat dinner. I can work, you can watch TV. Perfectly harmless."
Akihito was gobsmacked and he knew his face matched his disbelief. His mouth worked a few times before the words finally came out. "Wha... I... You... What the fuck?!"
"Or you can just tell me what I want to know."
"No!"
"Then you'll stay here."
"That's... You're..." An idea took root, hazel eyes glared fiercely. "What if I shoot you in your sleep? With your own gun? You'll be a complete laughing stock."
Asami arched a brow, amusement curving his lips. "You mean the gun that was already by the bed when you woke up and you could have grabbed and shot me with already but didn't? That gun?"
Akihito floundered. Ok, so they both knew that wasn't going to happen. "I'll trash the place or burn it down or something!"
"I wouldn't advise torching the place unless you have a death wish, but even so, the fire prevention measures here are rather advanced so you'll probably still come out alive." Then Asami sneered and Akihito just trembled. "Feel free to trash away. For everything you damage, I'll just have to dish out punishments."
There was no mistaking the evil gleam in those eyes as Asami stalked towards him, and Akihito backed away, horrified and hot all at once. He glanced towards the corridor, seriously considering taking Suoh on after all.
"You're going to stay here until you tell me what I want to know. It's as simple as that."
"You can't just keep me here! My friends, my family – they'll figure out something's wrong."
The dark gleam in Asami's eyes was unnerving. "No they won't, because you'll assure them everything is fine. And you'll be convincing, because you don't want to get them involved."
Akihito came to a dead stop, staring in helpless horror. His voice was barely a sound. "You bastard..."
Asami was calm, cool, and utterly unforgiving. "It's rather straightforward, Akihito. Just tell me what I want to know."
It wasn't that simple. "Then I can go? If I tell you, you'll let me go?" Akihito couldn't read that hard mask at all.
"Then we'll renegotiate terms."
See, not so simple. He had to get out of here. Not knowing if there was another way out, Akihito rounded the dining table. "There's nothing to tell alright?" He backed through the living space, paced every step of the way by Asami, angling as best he could towards the front door from memory. "You're getting worked up over nothing."
His leg hit something and he glanced over his shoulder –
Asami was on him in an instant, catching Akihito and toppling them both onto the large settee, snaring the younger man beneath him.
"No! Let me go!"
Akihito thrashed out, genuine fear for his life making him hit out harder than he ever had at Asami, head and elbows and feet and everything. Asami easily gathered the flailing limbs until all their writhing had him pinning Akihito face down into the deep leather cushions.
Held immobile, their legs tangled and Asami very much hot and heavy on his back, it didn't take long for Akihito to still.
Asami hooked his chin over the slender shoulder. "You're trembling."
Of course he was. He was fucking terrified. He was totally up shit's creek without a paddle. But added to that was his paralysis from their bodies pressing together, his body heating up even if his mind was tangled with fear.
"Let me go," he breathed.
"Tell me, Akihito."
The crush of Asami's body was triggering a kaleidoscope of images through Akihito's mind – a hail of bullets, Asami shielding him, firing the gun, fighting the intruders, the same hands now pinning him, unrelenting, overpowering with frightening ease – but without actually hurting him, Akihito realized...
He pressed his forehead into the cool leather. He didn't know if he was just shaking or shaking his head because the moment Asami knew, then that bullet would be in his head.
"Why are you so afraid?" Asami's baritone was coaxing, almost gentle.
"What do you think?" The words slipped out, snapped in a moment of heightened fear and tension, and it was too late to take it back.
"Is it really all that bad?"
"Look, Asami, just let me go. I'll walk away and you'll never see me again... Please..."
There was a pause as Asami drew back. When he spoke again, his voice was harsh. "Begging doesn't suit you."
Annoyance flared. "You're always making me beg!"
"Not this kind."
Akihito abruptly found himself flipped onto his back, his wrists pinned before he could hit out. He shrank back at the fury in the golden eyes.
"Maybe I'll just fuck you until you tell me."
"You're crazy!" Akihito struggled, not that he expected to get anywhere but he had to try. "You said you wouldn't torture me!"
Asami laughed darkly. "You have no idea what torture is. This? I'd call this pleasurable persuasion."
"That would kill me!"
"Hardly. Though you may become addicted to me."
Akihito stared in horror. It was stupidly ridiculous, and yet... And yet! Knowing Asami, it wasn't impossible. Of course Akihito was massively terrified but a healthy portion of that stemmed from the stirring between his legs. Why the blazes was he aroused at a time like this?!
He didn't doubt Asami's intention to keep him locked up here, for God knows how long, and judging from past experiences it would no doubt involve pleasure off the scales... Did he fear his own reaction to Asami more than the threat Asami posed? Now there was a sobering thought.
Akihito couldn't hold that intense gaze and averted his eyes. He hated his weakness, he hated Asami more, but he knew he couldn't win.
He mumbled something.
"Speak up."
"I said, I'll tell you. Just let me up." The bastard may well decide to shoot him on the spot. He didn't want to die feeling aroused.
Asami eyed him for a long moment before releasing him. Akihito skittered away, rubbing his wrists. He considered the front door again. But it was impossible, not only with Suoh but with Asami only a few steps behind. Maybe if he bought himself some time and tried to fight his way out during the day when Asami was out, when he'd no doubt take Suoh with him, Akihito might have more chance with some of the other guards –
"Not a chance."
Akihito paused. "Uh... What's that?"
"You're thinking that you'd have a better chance of escaping another day."
How the hell...? Akihito felt like an idiot for being surprised. He headed into the kitchen instead.
"Akihito," Asami warned, clearly irritated. "If I can't take you at your word –"
"I'll tell you, ok! I just want a drink." He really was parched.
Asami leaned sideways against the cupboards and pointed to where the glasses were.
"You'd be thinking all sorts too if our positions were reversed," Akihito grumbled as he filled up from the tap.
"That would never happen," Asami deadpanned, arms crossed.
Akihito glowered over the rim of the glass as he drank.
"Well? Any more excuses?"
Akihito went to go past him but Asami didn't take the hint. "Can I go sit down?"
Asami didn't move, didn't speak. His face was like stone.
Akihito swallowed. It had been a dumb-ass move to come into the kitchen. Asami blocked the only way out. Unless he dove through the pass-through window. Ok, so the reality would more likely be a clumsy scramble onto the counter top and toppling gracelessly into the living room while Asami looked on, hugely amused...
His brain was having an episode. Akihito was vaguely aware of it and tried to rein it in. He gulped down the rest of the water and slid the glass onto the counter top. Solid granite. No cheap veneer here. He could be looking at this for a long time, unless he just bit the bullet and told Asami... If he didn't, and if any of his friends or his parents started getting suspicious at his disappearance...
"It was a video," he blurted before he could lose his nerve again. Then something occurred to him. "But you knew that, didn't you? You asked. I don't know how but you knew. Though you might not have known what exactly –"
The quietest sigh stopped Akihito's runaway rambling, a tight release of wound-up irritation. "Details, Akihito."
"I'm trying, believe it or not! It's a little freaked out in here right now," Akihito waved vaguely at his head. "I wonder whose fault that is?"
Asami simply fixed him with a look like thunder.
Akihito had a feeling that the next aimless ramble would produce a gun. He cleared his throat. "The hard drive. When I only found spreadsheets you asked about images or videos, like you knew there might have been."
It was like seeing a camera lens revolve into focus. The golden gaze sharpened with understanding.
It robbed Akihito of his voice. It was the slightest narrowing of Asami's eyes that prompted him again.
"After you left, when I was cleaning up, I found a piece that had fallen underneath. I... scanned it..." Regret seeped out of him. If only he'd let it go, but he'd been hunting for material for Spotlight... "There was a video. You, Glasses and Blond Tank."
Asami paused at the nicknames. "Kirishima and Suoh?"
Akihito nodded, staring at the glass. "At... At the docks..."
The temperature plunged.
After a few seconds Akihito glanced up. He immediately wished he hadn't. He'd seen it before, that look, only before it had been directed over his shoulder at the assailant holding him at gunpoint. The golden eyes were now fixed on him, utterly cold, not a shred of mercy.
Akihito was dead. He should never have told, he should have held his tongue, should have toughed it out until there was a chance to escape, maybe he could still make it to a window and with any luck they wouldn't be too high up or there'd be a fire escape or –
"Who did I kill?"
Asami was so matter of fact, offhand almost. It hinted at so much, as though it was routine, as though he already knew what kind of activity took place in such a location with the same two people.
Akihito's breath shook. "Kondo."
Asami paused, his demeanour murderous. "Tell me what was in the video. Exactly."
Akihito didn't dare not to. "It was wobbly but... Kondo was already roughed up, on his knees, and you three stood around him. You said something about betrayal, and how this was the final atonement." Akihito faltered but Asami's expression didn't waver. "You shot him in the head. Gave the gun to Glasses, and that's when he looked at the camera, and... That was it."
"Did you see my face?"
Akihito blinked. "No, your back was turned."
"It couldn't have been someone else?"
"What? No, it's you. It might be your back but it's your back. You're... pretty hard to mistake."
Asami grabbed his phone out of his bathrobe pocket and placed a call. It was answered quickly.
"Tsubasa leaked it after all. I want Uehara's dossier within 24 hours, arrange a meeting early next week. If he doesn't agree, tell him I'm ready to discuss terms. We'll trap him then." He listened briefly before his voice hardened further. "No one achieves his position being clean, Kirishima. Find his jugular."
Asami sent the phone clattering across the counter. He inhaled through his nose and held it, as though seeking Zen in that single breath.
"You're doing it again," Akihito groaned, dropping his head in his hands as he rambled. "Is it just to wind me up or do you honestly not care what you say in front of me? 'Cos now I gotta ask who Tsubasa is, 'cos that was also the name on the thumb drive you made me hack for you, you know? And wow, I really shouldn't have said that 'cos I'm not meant to know but I guess it doesn't really matter anymore. But hey, you said full disclosure, so does that mean I get extra Don't Kill Akihito points for good behaviour? And who's Uehara? And – oh my God, are you being blackmailed?! 'Cos that did not sound like you're calling the shots which is so –"
The thud of a heavy glass object and the ensuing slosh broke through Akihito's panicked verbal haemorrhage. Asami poured two fingers and knocked back the amber liquid before turning to Akihito.
"Never keep something like this from me. I will always find out, better you tell me sooner rather than later."
Akihito couldn't compute what Asami was saying. "You make it sound like there'll be a next time."
"Your point?"
"I don't know! You're not going to kill me? I'm going to see something else like this? You tell me!"
Asami regarded him for a moment before he sighed, irritation pinching his brow. "I'm asking myself the same thing. I've sank bullets into people for less." His eyes were evaluating. "Why didn't you use it? You could have leaked it online or sent it to the police."
"Ah..." Akihito opened his mouth but no words came, wracking his brain for how he could possibly explain –
"You were going to..." Asami observed, menace dripping from his softly rumbling voice and from every fluid shift of ripcord muscles as he stalked forwards a step.
Akihito shrank back, having nowhere to go. Unless he hid in the fridge. "Yeah, well, but I didn't, ok? And that was all before you saved my life! I mean, you weren't exactly helping your own cause at the beginning, were you? The dodgy as hell flash drive? And the laptop with freaking bullets in them? Not to mention you flaunting your gun in my face. I was trying to get out of the firing line, as it were –"
Asami planted himself right in front of Akihtio, his eyes narrowed to slits of golden shards. "That's why you left Sion. You wanted to clear out before you went public."
The fridge was becoming quite the appealing option. "Not that it worked, you tracked me down anyway. But then all that... stuff happened, and what the hell was I supposed to do!"
"Stuff?"
"Like the dinner! I mean, who spends a hundred million yen just for dinner? With me? Ok so it was for charity and your public image and blahdy blah, but seriously? And then..."
Asami leaned his hands on the counter on either side of Akihito. "Then we had sex."
Akihito flushed, shrinking back, the edge of the granite counter top digging into his back. "No! Well, yes, that happened – and I'll remind you I did not agree to that! Even if..."
A sculptured brow arched expectantly. "Even if?"
"Even if nothing! That's not where I was going with this! It was... They... There were so many of them..." Akihito shivered, his gaze lost in another dimension as he subconsciously wrapped his arms about himself. "You saved my life. Even when you knew they were after me and not you. And then you... didn't shoot me when... when you found out I'd..."
Asami leaned closer, forcing Akihito to bend away even more with one hand behind him on the counter. "So the video?"
Akihito shrugged, his eyes shifting. "It's toast. I mean, it looks like you have the Chief of the fucking Tokyo Met in your pocket but even he wouldn't have been able to help you if something like that had gone viral. I owed you my life, I couldn't chuck you in jail after all that. So we're even now. A life for a life."
He flinched as Asami raised a hand, but the long fingers only caught his chin, upturning his face, searching every corner. "How many copies did you make?"
"Just one! And I fried it, but you saw that. And the actual piece of the original hard drive is dust. Literally. Or maybe sludge. I ground it up and scattered it in the Sumida River."
A large hand slid around his neck. Hazel eyes widened in alarm and Akihito grabbed the corded forearm even though the grip wasn't suffocating, just very much there, telling Akihito that Asami could if he wanted.
But something had shifted in Asami's gaze, darker but in a different way, a faint curve playing on his lips. Akihito didn't so much feel like he'd be skinned alive any second as consumed.
"So you're a ticking time bomb," Asami rumbled. "Whatever you promise now, you still know. You still saw. And you can still talk."
Akihito yanked harder at the solid wrist but he couldn't move his head, held immobile and bent backwards awkwardly by the single hand securing his neck. The grip was getting steadily harder and unlike Suoh, there were no orders preventing Asami from hurting him.
But more than fear, Akihito was furious at the accusation. "I'm no flake," he was vehement. "Once I give my word, I don't go back on it. And I'm telling you, I won't tell anyone."
Asami smirked darkly. "I know."
Akihito flared. "You know? What, so you're scaring the shit out of me just for kicks? Fuck you!"
Akihito tried to shove the larger man away but Asami pressed himself against Akihito, his body firm and unyielding even with the denim, bathrobe and slacks between them. His sneer was unmistakably suggestive. "If you insist."
He leaned in further, his head tilting.
"Oh my God, you asshole, that's so not what I meant!" Akihito's brain was scrabbling frantically for a distraction, a diversion, anything... "Are you posturing?"
Asami actually froze in confusion, halfway to closing in on Akihito's lips.
Akihito had just thrown that out there, a crazy random last ditch effort. He ran with it. "The chimps do it, you know. I saw this nature documentary once about this one chimp, he wasn't anywhere near as big as the other males and even looked a bit bald from run-ins with the other apes. The females wouldn't pay him any attention and he'd had enough. So he was charging around throwing rocks and branches and making a whole lot of racket – ughh –"
The hand at his neck squeezed.
Asami drew back enough to look him straight in the eye. His voice was dead. Like, I will literally kill you and it's not even worth putting any emotion into it dead.
"You did not just try to compare me to a bald chimpanzee."
Ok, now he'd pissed Asami off. Akihito could feel it in the crackling waves like electricity sparking out from the bastard. Great going, Akihito. He quickly veered off in another direction. "Or are you scared?" he croaked passed the grip on his neck.
Another ominous pause from Asami.
Akihito honestly didn't think he'd fare any better with this but at least the diversion was working. "Don't tell me I actually threw you for a loop? You're scared I'll expose the army of skeletons you've got knocking about in your oversized closet and they'll lock you up for so long you'll be rolling out on a mobility scooter? Scared I'll best you?"
The golden gaze narrowed, more in disbelief than anything else. "You're giving me reasons to shoot you?"
Right. Yeah. That was dumb as fuck. Akihito laughed nervously. "Uh... Well... I... uh..."
He saw Asami search his face, seeing the genuine trepidation making him tremble. A smirk curved Asami's mouth, with that familiar glint of arrogance and dark amusement back in his eyes that jolted through Akihito.
Asami drew closer again, towering over him. "Fortunately for you, we both know you can never hope to win against me."
Asami had just given him a save. They both knew it. But this was Akihito, he wasn't just going to roll over and bow down in gratitude. They knew that too. He rallied right back up.
"And we both knew you'd say that. So why are you strangling me? Unless you're scared, that is, and trying to make a point."
Asami ran the pad of his thumb up along the jumping jugular and tipped up Akihito's chin, his whisky-tinged breath brushing Akihito's lips. "Baiting me, are we? Did no one teach you not to play with fire?"
Akihito was pushing against Asami's chest but it was half-hearted at best. "Yeah, well, sometimes it's the right thing to do even if it's dangerous. And once I decide to do something, no one can stop me."
Asami's lips barely brushed against Akihito's. "I do enjoy your challenges, Akihito."
"That wasn't a –"
Asami's hand slid around behind Akihito's neck and drew him into the kiss.
"Mmph –!"
Even that motion alone, so overbearing and not taking no for an answer, triggered a charged bolt down Akihito's spine. He tried to shove Asami away but the bastard was like a boulder. Asami's tongue pressed between his lips, entwining with his own, flooding him with Asami's taste that squeezed his balls and stirred hunger deep in his gut.
He choked down the moan that wanted to escape him, managing to release it as a huff of air instead that Asami swallowed up and, as though knowing what it had been, swept his tongue with even more demand. Plunging deeper, Asami forced him to accept more and the stirring heat only intensified.
The hand at his jaw, and the arm that slipped around his waist, they held him immobile but there was no hand forcing his jaw apart. Akihito could bite him, draw blood. But he didn't. He couldn't. Swamped by Asami's demand, he was honest enough to recognize he was saturated by his own torrent of fierce desire.
When Asami drew back, a knowing glint in his eyes, it was an altogether different kind of fear that slammed into Akihito.
When had he stopped fighting? Since when did he yield to a man like Asami? Unnamed emotions welled up inside him. Akihito fought free, the skin at his neck burning from twisting in the large hand until Asami let go. He managed to dart out the kitchen but then Asami was on him again and their wrestling carried them back to the settee, most likely by Asami's design. Soon he was pinned down with his wrists and legs trapped under Asami's weight again no matter how hard Akihito struggled.
"Let me go, damn it!"
"What are you so afraid of?"
That almost sounded like genuine concern from Asami. Shout at him, beat him, fine, but Akihito couldn't take that warmth just then. He lurched, desperate to get away. But Asami caught both wrists in one hand, pulling the belt off his bathrobe with his other hand. Akihito fought harder when he saw this but to no avail, Asami soon had his wrists trussed together.
He was stunned to stillness when Asami actually rolled off him. Asami sat them both up, sitting beside him, half turned his way with one leg bent up on the settee.
"Are you so afraid to give yourself to me?"
"I'm not... That's not...!" Was that what he was doing? The column of skin exposed by the parted bathrobe was completely distracting. "I'm not giving myself to you. Who the hell talks like that?!"
"Isn't that why you told Sakazaki nothing about the shooting, or about Nishizuma's men, even when he threatened to have you shivved in jail?"
Akihito really shouldn't have been surprised that Asami knew that.
"You didn't even mention the encrypted flash drive or the laptop. You could have spun quite the tale of my coercing you under duress."
"Why would I? You'd probably have sent your own men after me!"
"And the video? If you were really hell-bent on nailing me you would have posted it online as soon as you'd left Sion, or even as soon as you'd discovered it. You had... nine days, was it, before you eventually destroyed it."
Akihito's eyes darted nervously. "That's... That's because you practically gave it to me." It wasn't even a tenuous excuse. It wasn't any reason at all because no way was he admitting that the idea of releasing it had made him feel physically sick.
"Is that so? Then perhaps I should tell you all my secrets. You can't use it if I'm the one who tells you, right?"
"You baka, that's not how it works!"
Asami sneered.
It only made Akihito more furious. "I will take you down Asami, and it'll be with evidence I find by myself. I don't need handouts." Some part of him was trying to warn him about stupid life choices, of which swearing to bring down Asami to Asami's face most definitely counted as one, but it was a tiny voice drowned out amidst his swirling turmoil.
"We both know you won't take action against me."
"Watch me," Akihito snarled.
"Right. And that's why you almost got yourself killed saving my life? So you could bring me down?"
Akihito couldn't answer that. It had happened so fast, he'd reacted on instinct...
"Give it up, Akihito. It's not going to happen." So indifferent. Matter of fact.
Akihito saw red. He couldn't fathom why he reacted so strongly, unless it was true, which was simply too terrifying to consider. His work as Z4m4 M1r0 wasn't just what he did, it was part of his identity. Rooted in his core values, strengthened by his character, his publications were his declaration that he would expose one corrupt shadow at a time and would never be suppressed or silenced.
Give it up? Never.
Akihito was rearing up before he could register it, intending to shove Asami aside and leg it, but with his wrists bound he ended up swinging his joined fists at Asami like he was battering a volley ball over the horizon.
Unfortunately for Akihito, Asami was far too used to combat. Dodging came instinctively, jerking aside just enough to let the fists swing past and let Akihito throw off his own balance.
Doubly unfortunate for Akihito, he wasn't the most coordinated person. His legs tangled up and he toppled with a surprised yelp, his head launching on an unmistakable collision course with the corner of the coffee table.
Or it would have been, had Asami not caught him, snagging Akihito about the waist and yanking the smaller man in front of him. But Akihito's balance was too far gone, his momentum too great. Asami tried to tug him back onto the settee but Akihito ended up dragging them both down instead, tumbling clumsily to the floor with a grunt, Asami somehow landing beneath Akihito.
Akihito lay there staring up at the ceiling in stunned surprise, wedged between the table and sofa, with Asami's arm tight about his middle.
Akihito could feel it starting. And there was no controlling. it. It tickled, bubbling up as surely as a bath fart, unaffected by how he was biting the inside of his cheek in an effort to contain it, until his shaking could no longer be disguised as coughing. Lying on top of Asami, his laughter spurted like a geyser.
Asami's sigh breezed across his shoulder, a simple gesture brimming with exasperation.
Akihito only laughed harder. An edge of hysteria crept in, then took over, until all the tension seeped out on a dry sob.
Completely drained, he dropped his head back on Asami's shoulder, his eyes fixed on the featureless white ceiling. It was so pristine that it was almost like staring into fog, with no focus point.
"I want to leave." He wasn't really asking. Though he really was.
Akihito wasn't sure why they were still lying there, on the tiny patch of floor between the table and settee. It was such a bizarre place to hold a conversation that it felt like neutral territory. Not that he thought Asami would subscribe to such thoughts. Bastard was probably just enjoying feeling Akihito lying on top of him.
Long fingers came into view before going up and past, settling on his head. One or two fingers idly slipped through his hair.
"And go where? I'll only find you again."
That didn't feel as ominous as Akihito would have expected. Maybe he was just too tired to muster objections.
He finally roused himself and – barring a brief grind against Asami's groin which he swore was totally accidental as he tried to get up with his wrists bound by the thick fluffy belt – he managed to plop himself back on the settee without further incident.
Asami rolled up and crouched between his knees. He still felt hemmed in, even though he was slightly looking down at Asami from this position. Asami's presence radiated out beyond his skin, engulfing Akihito whole.
Unable to meet Asami's gaze, or look anywhere near Asami with his robe parted and with nothing concealing the planes of chiselled muscle, the eight pack, the 0%-fat strictly-skin-only crease at his abdomen with the faint trail leading down...
Hauling his eyes away, Akihito stared resolutely down at the belt from Asami's bathrobe. It was a symbol of sorts. It was all out there, all his secrets, all the reasons why the man who ruled the Japanese underworld would make him disappear. And here he was, entirely at Asami's mercy.
"I already knew, Akihito."
Akihito was so zoned out that it took a few moments for the words to register. He searched Asami's face – impassive, a little amused at his expense, underlit with his signature arrogance. "Knew what?"
"What was it again?" Asami sneered. "'Misdemeanour computer trespassing', wasn't it?"
Akihito's eyes went huge. The exact description from his court sentence! "You knew?" He did not just squeak. He refused to admit he squeaked. "Since when?"
"After you ran into me and checked me out."
Akihito spluttered. "I did not!" He so did.
"You were such a mouthy brat I had Kirishima obtain your court records. I'd heard of Zama Miro before, of course, and we'd investigated without any results. Imagine my surprise to discover not only that it was you and that you'd targeted me, but that you were serving out your sentence by overhauling Sion's cyber security. I could appreciate the irony."
Akihito was getting paler and paler as Asami spoke. "...Shit."
Asami actually laughed. "Didn't you think it strange? Why would I make you hack an encrypted flash drive if I didn't know you were a hacker?"
"Why would you if you knew? Especially with you being my target!"
"It was a calculated risk."
"Hell of a risk."
"Why do you think I sent for you that day?"
"What do you mean, sent for me? That was by coincidence, Ogawa and Mitarai had food poisoning –" His words died at the knowing glint in Asami's eyes. "No way. Oh my god, that's just seriously disturbing. You realize that, don't you? Shit... What if I'd gotten sick too?"
"You wouldn't have suffered the same affliction, of course, though you didn't attend the meal in the end which made things easier."
"Oh, great, yeah, just what I've always wanted, to make things easier for you," Akihito snarked. "So you sent for me to see what I'd do with the USB stick? Jesus. I knew I should've walked out. You were sussing me out." He frowned as his mouth ran with his thoughts. "As in, testing me? To see if I'd blog or post anything about it? What if I had?"
Asami was pointedly silent.
Akihito gaped. "You were going to shoot me?!"
Asami's eyes narrowed. "It's no worse than releasing damaging information."
"Yes it is! A thousand times worse! I can't believe you were really going to shoot me!"
"You were going to cause me substantial difficulties."
"But I didn't!"
"Neither did I."
Silence descended, brittle as frozen crystal. Akihito glowered, Asami stared back, each as obstinate as the other.
Eventually Akihito slumped back on the settee. He would have been more comfortable without the fluffy binding. He huffed, waving his arms vaguely at Asami. "Is this really necessary?"
"Not in the slightest. I simply enjoy tying you up."
It wasn't fair that Akihito was the only one blushing at that comment. "You and your perverted kinks..."
Asami chuckled. "Did you really think I went around flashing my gun and threatening just anyone at Sion? I reserved you that privilege since you knew what I was."
"How the hell should I know! I can't begin to imagine what nefarious plots go through your twisted brain."
Golden eyes glinted. "I'm sure you'll figure this one out."
There was no mistaking the heated gleam in his eyes as Asami leaned in. Akihito backpedalled, so intent on putting some distance between them that he ended up scrambling backwards over the sofa backrest. He teetered at the top with the predicament he'd placed himself in and flailed uselessly, before crashing to the floor.
His groan of pain was met with laughter. It was that warmth wrapping around Akihito again, confusing and confounding him and tying him in knots. He seriously had to leave before... before...
He somehow tripped back onto his feet and scuttled for the front door –
Long arms wrapped around him from behind. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Anywhere you're not! Clearly."
"Not until I'm satisfied."
Whatever Akihito's furious outburst might have been was interrupted by the front door bell. A shadow of irritation flashed over Asami's face, but Akihito was sorely mistaken if he thought this would be his chance to slip away. Rather than letting go of him, Asami simply hauled him along as he went over to the intercom on the wall.
Akihito thought he vaguely recognized the suited man with the shortish black hair and wireframe glasses visible on the display, though he couldn't place him.
Asami kept one arm wrapped about Akihito as he went to press the button, which was when Akihito kicked out at the wall and shoved them both back a step, making Asami grunt.
"I like it when you're feisty," came the warm rumble in Akihito's ear.
"You pervert!" Akihito elbowed him in the gut and twisted and almost got free, but Asami jerked him back hard by the arm and smacked him backwards into the wall, winding him. Asami pinned him – Akihito distinctly felt the burgeoning interest between the muscular legs – as he reached for the intercom button again.
"Get Suoh to let you in, I have my hands full."
"You can easily free your hands up!" Akihito coughed as he fought to get his breath back, still struggling against the stronger man.
"Pardon the intrusion," floated a man's voice from the genkan.
"In here," Asami called back.
"You're seriously going to manhandle me in front of your visitor?"
"I told you, I'm not finished with you."
"Yes you are! I told you everything!"
The world abruptly spun as Asami hoisted him over his shoulder. "What the hell? You stupid Neanderthal, let me down!"
"What's... going on?" The visitor's voice came from somewhere nearby, standing in the living room doorway if Akihito had to hazard a guess. Not that Akihito would know, dangling over Asami's back with his ass up in the air.
"Oh, this?" Asami asked innocently. "It's nothing."
Akihito kicked out, trying to dislodge himself. "It's not nothing! I was just leaving!"
"Behave. Unless you want me to get the cuffs out."
Akihito froze dead still.
"No?" Asami smirked. "Well that's a shame."
"Do I even want to know?" the guy asked, sounding unimpressed.
"No. I can't offer you tea today."
"It's fine, this won't take long," the visitor said. "But I do need to speak to you."
Akihito frowned at the top-down view of Asami's bathrobed ass. Was this visitor not disturbed by Asami carting a body over his shoulder?
"What is it?"
The guy hesitated.
"Kuroda, I'm hard and I was about to haul this tight piece of ass to my bed. Make it quick."
Kuroda? Akihito half tried to place the name as he also wavered between being outraged or embarrassed to all hell. Or mortifyingly aroused... Eventually it was his blush that won out, and not just from the fireman's lift. "I can't believe you just said that..." he muttered, covering his face even though the visitor had only met the seat of his pants so far. "You perverted baka..."
"Quiet, you," Asami growled, though he didn't actually seem annoyed. "Save your endearments for when I'm ploughing into you and making you cry."
Akihito's furious objection to this outlandish notion was curtailed as Asami delivered a resounding slap on the butt, making him give a started yelp instead. "Argh!"
"TMI, Ryuichi..." the visitor groaned.
Ryuichi? Why the hell was this guy calling Asami so familiarly?
"Well?" Asami prompted impatiently.
"It's about that matter you wanted me to look into."
"Which one?"
"That hacker, Takaba Akihito."
Akihito went oh so very still.
"Oh, yes?" Asami's voice honeyed with amusement. "I thought it was all cleared up."
"The hit is, yes, the bounty has been dropped though there's something I'm still looking into. But that's not why I'm here. Some disturbing rumours are doing the rounds, involving you."
"Me?"
"Some say you've already dealt with him, others say you've claimed him. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
"What do you mean, 'claim' –!" Akihito tried to wiggle off Asami's shoulder but the man stopped him with a warning squeeze of his thigh. Akihito winced. Asami wasn't messing that time.
"How peculiar," Asami drawled.
"I thought so too. But no one's been able to verify either way, seeing as he seems to have gone to ground."
"Has he now?" Asami mused. "And what was it you're still looking into?"
"Well we've been looking into how Nishizuma got his information, the anonymous tip. Someone delivered him Takaba's court records."
"Who?" Asami's voice was suddenly sharp.
"I've got a man on it but we have no leads so far. Whoever it was..." Kuroda shook his head. "The records are sealed for the punk's protection, and redacted. But the copy Nishizuma had was complete. If they have that kind of clout, you need to be careful."
Akihito had been feeling more and more faint, and now there was a wave of nausea as well. The threats he'd dismissed as insignificant, thinking it might just be some kid holed up in his bedroom pranking online...
"Let me down," he said quietly. "Seriously, Asami. Before I throw up."
Asami was uncharacteristically gentle as he slid Akihito off his shoulder and helped him upright, keeping a steadying hand on his shoulder until the immediate urge to hurl passed. He even unwound the bathrobe belt and released his wrists.
Being the right way up fortunately helped. Akihito was soon breathing easier. His fingers itched, needing to start digging, poking, prodding, to find the real identity behind this faceless threat...
The penny dropped. "Oh, bloody hell! That's Takaba!" Kuroda swore.
That was when Akihito recognized who it was – District Prosecutor Kuroda Shinji. Akihito had most recently seen him at Nishizuma's trial, both in person from a safe distance lost in the crowds as well as giving interviews on TV.
Kuroda rounded on Asami. "You've had him here all along? This is a bad idea, Ryuichi."
"There's no need to lecture, Shinji."
"I'm telling you, he's bad news!"
The Prosecutor seemed to hate him for some reason. Akihito tried not to take it personally.
"I'll be my own judge of that," Asami said, an edge in his voice.
A thought suddenly occurred to Akihito. "Wait... If you're the Prosecutor, why are you running around doing errands for Asami?"
Kuroda gave him a long, hard look before turning to Asami. "Did you know he was arrested when he decided to target you?"
"Oh, that's low," Akihito shook his head. "Why does everyone keep trying to throw me under the bus?"
Golden eyes swept over to him. "Everyone, Akihito? Even me?"
Akihito scowled. "No, not you..." he admitted grudgingly.
"Didn't you hear me?" Kuroda urged. "You were his next target."
Asami sighed. "I know."
"You know? And all you're doing is –" Black eyes blinked as Kuroda suddenly stopped. The shadows parted, his troubled expression clearing as he came to some conclusion. "Oh, I see... Well, in that case. I'll leave you to it."
"What."
Kuroda turned at the sharp demand. But he only gave Takaba a dismissive glance, clearly not deeming the punk worthy of his time, before continuing for the door.
Akihito surprised him, and himself, when he grabbed Kuroda's arm, spinning the Prosecutor back around. "What's Asami doing?"
Kuroda made an irritated sound, shaking Akihito off. Asami was doing that expressionless thing again, his face a cold marble mask that told Akihito nothing more than that the bastard was hiding something. And gauging Akihito's reaction. And planning his next move accordingly, no doubt something despicable and devious and totally in his own favour. Actually it told Akihito quite a lot...
Kuroda's black eyes flickered over to Asami. When Asami spread a hand in a go ahead gesture, he eventually explained, "I was going to say he's neutralising the threat."
Akihito drew back as though he'd been burned. Neutralising...? He stared at Kuroda, stared at Asami. And all of a sudden there was no air for his lungs, completely sucker punched, the ground whipped out from beneath him.
What was this aching feeling? What was this hurt?
"Of course," Akihito said bitterly. "So that's why. All of it." He laughed. His voice sounded strange, stilted and trembling just a little. Why were those golden eyes so intense? Asami looked angry – downright flaming furious, in fact – but surely Akihito must be mistaken.
Asami advanced, his steps heavy and purposeful and ominous. "Of course that must be it. Why else? Why else would I save you from a lecherous drunk and take you out for dinner? Why else would I save you from a hit with your name on it?" He advanced further, backing Akihito in turn, his voice harsh. "Why else would I indulge myself and cross the line that I never cross of mixing business with pleasure?" Golden eyes scorched a hole right into Akihito's soul. Another step and Akihito's back hit the wall. "Why else would I dispatch valuable resources to keep you safe? Why else would I bring you to my own fucking home?"
The rare obscenity was practically a snarl. A large hand fisted in Akihito's t-shirt, hauling him close and up to his toes as Asami loomed over him.
Akihito could only grasp Asami's robe, trembling. "Asami..."
Molten eyes blazed furiously. "What else could it be except to neutralise the threat?"
Why was Asami so pissed off? What had Akihito done? He had no more time to think when Asami plundered his mouth, taking him in a brutal kiss. He winced, fighting against the barricade of Asami's broad chest, but there was no messing with the devil. Akihito's tongue felt like it would tear, the zing of copper blending with Asami's taste in his mouth.
By the time Asami drew back, tear tracks arced from shimmering hazel eyes. The extreme edge seemed to have eased off from Asami's fury but there was no mercy in the harsh lines of his stunning face. The hand buried in Akihito's top slid up, wrapping around the back of the slim neck. It was high-handed and overbearing, unquestionably territorial.
"The only freedom you have in this world is in my hands, Akihito." His voice was at once hard and soft, the rumbling baritone absolute.
Any other time, Akihito would have been hurling insults and objections. But right now he couldn't understand the crushing ache consuming him. Did he want there to be something more? He felt like he was desperately hoping but without any idea as to what. There was too much happening all too fast, and he couldn't get his thoughts clear being so close to Asami.
All he could manage was a question, plaintive and raw. "What does that even mean?"
Asami smirked darkly, without humour. "A life for a life, wasn't it? Your freedom is in my hands. And it seems you hold mine."
Did he mean the footage? But Akihito had destroyed that... Akihito felt like he was being washed away in the tidal wave that was Asami, his aura forceful and overwhelming.
There was a soft thud and a click. The front door. Akihito had all but forgotten about the Prosecutor. "Was that Kuroda?"
"You're not talking about him now."
"I was only..." Akihito stuttered to a stop, his mouth all but forgotten as Asami threw off his bathrobe. Literally wrenched it off and flung it away.
"You'd better not start mentioning other men when we're having sex, Akihito. It won't turn out well for you."
But Akihito barely heard.
Hot. As. Fuck.
Broad, powerful shoulders, the high ledge of his pecs, the very definition of washboard abs. Not an ounce of fat, not even just muscle though there was plenty of it, but power.
There was no inconvenient towel in the way now, Akihito was awarded an unobstructed view. Asami was only half naked but the more uncomfortably tight Akihito's jeans became, the more his entire vocabulary seemed to deteriorate until it simply became Fuuuck.
Asami started yanking the crumpled t-shirt up Akihito's lean torso.
"Wait – Asami, wait!"
The sudden note of genuine horror gave Asami pause.
Akihito grabbed Asami's left arm, pushing and tugging insistently until Asami relented with a grunt and held it out to the side.
Akihito stared transfixed at the massive bruise covering Asami's side over the ribs. It looked like someone had lobbed tubs of dark paint at it, a canvas of angry modern art. Black and blue and purple, it spread larger than the span of his hand over the ribs, over the bulge of muscles Akihito didn't even have and curving out of view around the back.
Akihito reached with shaking fingers, the tips feathering the marred skin. He remembered that blow, the thud of the giant's elbow. It had to hurt like a bitch, maybe even broken, even if Asami betrayed no outward sign of discomfort. It was probably a self-preservation thing. Weakness would be a death sentence in Asami's dog-eat-dog world, the strongest standing upon the crushed bodies of their enemies.
So why had the mightiest of them all cast his mantle over a scrap like Akihito?
"What did it mean?" Akihito sought the answer in the intense glow gazing back at him, wanting – needing – to understand. "Your protection – what did it mean?"
The ghost of irritation shadowed Asami's brow. The seconds ticked by from an unseen clock. Akihito was starting to think that Asami wouldn't answer when the taller man finally conceded.
"It means," – the emphasis on the present tense was heavy, accompanied by an equally heavy sigh – "more than you need to know."
It told Akihito precisely nothing, but even this was given with extreme reluctance. Asami was clearly not going to relinquish anything more on this angle.
There was something else that mattered to Akihito. He couldn't pretend that it didn't. "Why?"
Asami tipped up Akihito's chin. "You can figure that one out yourself," was Asami's unhelpful suggestion before he took Akihito's lips in a kiss that was just as demanding but without the earlier brutality.
Akihito's hands were tentative on Asami's chest without any material to hold on to, mindful of the huge-ass bruise. Asami's tongue swiped, swept, stirred his own, and Akihito might have – maybe, possibly, just a tiny bit – kissed back.
Then Asami was stripping off his slacks and Akihito's brain was fried all over again. Heedless of Akihito miraculously still being fully dressed, Asami stood there in all his naked, formidable, sizeable glory without an ounce of shame. And why the hell not? He was Adonis in the flesh.
"Someone pinch me."
Akihito wasn't aware that he'd actually muttered his dazed sentiment aloud until Asami smirked, brimming with arrogance and that amusement that often glinted in his eyes as he regarded the brat.
Akihito was pushed down to his knees. He wasn't entirely opposed to the idea as Asami caught his hair in a tight grip that sent blood coursing south and made the tight denim borderline painful. Asami wasted no time and thrust into his mouth.
Fail. Akihito heaved, the sudden motion scraping teeth against the engorged length as his throat protested violently and he pulled away coughing.
Asami hissed, though his tone was still darkly playful. "Do you want me to punish you, Akihito? I will if you use your teeth again."
"It's your fault for going so deep!"
"Then why don't you show me how it's supposed to be done?"
Akihito gaped, before realizing that maybe he shouldn't be kneeling where he was with his mouth hanging open and promptly snapped it closed. He looked between Asami's dark smirk and the erection that seemed to have grown even more... He'd walked right into that one.
"This is gonna suck."
Asami actually snorted.
Akihito winced. "Pun not intended. I..." He'd never done this before. It was going to be nothing like when Asami had blown him, the warm throat muscles working magic around Akihito's tip... He fought the blush trying to bloom across his face, not very successfully. "You'll probably regret this."
He figured that Asami would probably just choke him with it anyway, or maybe that was just his excuse. Tentatively, very unsure of himself, he reached for the sizeable length and stretched his lips around the engorged mushroom tip.
He slid forwards, feeling the contours as he took Asami as deep as he could go before he was about to gag – which wasn't even halfway. His hands fluttered until they eventually settled on the corded muscles of Asami's thighs. He slid himself back, resting just the tip in his mouth and licked around the considerable circumference, finding he had to work his tongue as far around as he could physically go to encircle Asami's considerable size. He circled several times, amazed at the smoothness. He slid forwards again, still only managing halfway before withdrawing, swirling again with his tongue. Then he did it again, and again, mystified at the unusual taste that seeped through his mouth – until realization suddenly struck him and bloomed a startling flush across his cheeks. Asami's taste... His eyes drifted up along the light trail he'd spotted earlier leading to the belly button, over the ripcord muscles flexing in response to what Akihito was doing, up past the chiselled jaw...
Golden eyes blazed down at him, fingers loose amidst blond strands. Asami started shifting, smooth and slow, every glide forward carefully controlled, zeroed in on Akihito's every reaction and flicker of the eyes, gauging the exact moment before he gagged, when Asami would withdraw before commencing the same torturous invasion again. Asami was taking back control and Akihito's breathing strained, as his body heated and stirred and his own arousal throbbed. He dared to reach for the balls hanging heavy, wrapping his hand around them. He might have sniggered at the notion of having Asami by the balls, literally, had his lips not been otherwise and fully occupied. Asami's hand tightened in his hair and his hips thrust further, still the same steady, careful glide, but deeper.
Too deep. Akihito went to draw back but Asami's grip in his hair tightened and he pressed slowly further. Akihito tried to break free again, pushing against the strong thighs, but Asami didn't let up. He pressed forwards even slower now, so slowly that Akihito's gag reflex reacted with a series of little chokes rather than any giant heaves. Akihito tried to shake his head as the swollen tip nudged insistently against the back of his throat, blinking away the tears clumping his eyelashes, but Asami brushed the hand not holding him in place through his hair.
"You can do it, Akihito. Swallow me down."
Akihito tried as Asami kept pressing deeper, tried to relax around the thick intrusion descending one slow millimetre at a time and pulling small choking sounds from him. Asami held still several times as Akihito's gut threatened to upend its contents, but Asami wasn't deterred, murmuring reassurance and soon resuming his drawn-out pursuit for the bottom of Akihito's throat. Speared with eyes that burned like the fires of hell, Akihito wondered at his own aching arousal as his eyes leaked and he slowly choked.
"I knew you could put that impudent mouth of yours to good use," Asami murmured, his voice rough and warm.
Akihito had taken the whole length down to the dark nest at the root. His cheeks burned at the sight he must be presenting – his eyes damp but still lit with defiance to counter his self-consciousness, saliva running down from the corners of his mouth, throat extended around the sizeable intrusion, noticeably hard as he was made to wait on his knees.
Golden eyes dilated almost to midnight, Asami withdrew, steady enough to allow the throat muscles to relax back down, pulling free with a messy pop.
Akihito was hauled to his feet, pressed back against the wall. He was still trying to reestablish his equilibrium, leaning there on shaking legs, when his top was dragged up over his face.
"Wait, I – mmph!"
His tee was left trapping his arms up overhead as Asami silenced him with his own mouth, working on the flies and growling when he could taste himself on Akihito's tongue. Akihito tried bringing his top back down but he could only pull it down behind Asami's head, which only pulled the man further into the kiss while the top dug across the stitches on his arm, so the only way to free his arms was to yank them out of his t-shirt.
But by then Asami had his denim and boxers halfway down his legs.
"Asami, wait!" He toppled but Asami caught him, hoisting up a knee to free the leg, leaving the jeans and boxers bunched around the other leg.
"What for?" Asami mused, shoving two long fingers between his lips.
"Nngh!"
Asami dipped his head and sunk into the slender neck, a delicious drag of teeth below Akihito's ear that had him groaning and almost collapsing at the flash of pleasure that bolted down his spine. He didn't know when he'd started sucking on Asami's fingers, lost as he was to the kisses and nips and caress along his neck and jaw.
It wasn't long before Asami withdrew his fingers, slipping his hand down between Akihito's ass cheeks and plunged the slick fingers into the puckered entrance. Akihito gasped, raising up on his toes at the sudden intrusion, eyes smarting at the burn.
"Asami, slow down!"
He almost buckled at the sharp pinch on his nipple. The aggressive, swirling torment on his neck kept him stirred almost to full mast despite having no other friction against his erection, the fingers scissored, stretching him wider, hitching his breath, flushing his skin.
"Asami..."
Asami hooked an arm behind Akihito's knee and hoisted it up, yanking off the jeans and boxers that dangled from the ankle, stretching Akihito wide as his fingers thrust deeper. Akihito dropped his head back to the wall, his coordination impaired, struggling with his precarious balance on one leg. He clutched at the muscled shoulders as Asami seemed to take his exposed neck as invitation and scraped his teeth along the thumping artery.
The fingers suddenly withdrew and Akihito juddered from the loss. Before he could process his disappointment, Asami was aligning himself –
"No, wait! Asami –!"
His cry of alarm was cut dead as Asami plunged to the hilt in one forceful thrust. Akihito gasped, eyes flying wide, tears filling and spilling over, mouth wide and silent. When Asami didn't move further, his gasp broke free, shuddering out of him as he wrapped his arms about Asami's neck in an attempt to ease the splitting fullness, his head falling onto his arms.
"Fuck, that hurts!"
"Relax, Akihito."
Akihito could feel the subtle trembling of powerful muscles as the man forced himself to hold still.
"Bastard, I told you to slow down!"
Asami nudged against his cheek until he turned, licking up the flushed cheeks and catching the tear drops that had escaped, before capturing his lips. It was sensual and warm, Asami's tongue soothing, sparking a delicious tightness right down his spine.
"Nobody else can give you pleasure like I can," Asami murmured against his mouth.
"It fucking hurts!"
"Without darkness there's no light. Without pain there's no pleasure."
"Yes there is!"
"Pleasure like I give you, Akihito? Where you swallow your pride to beg me to let you come because that's how much I make you want it? There's only me, Akihito. At that moment when you ache for ecstasy, only I can give you the pain and pleasure to set you free."
Akihito's cheeks burned. "Who the fuck talks like that?" It wasn't the first time he'd asked that this evening. "And anyway, sex against the wall doesn't work. Trust me, I know."
Yeah, been there, done that, got the t-shirt. That had been a mutually embarrassing and – in hindsight – hilarious evening with Risa that he was never going to speak of involving the first aid box and a towel-wrapped bag of frozen veg that had to be pressed against a rather delicate place.
Something flared within the golden orbs. "Is that so?"
Alarm bells started blaring at the dangerous tone but it was already too late. Akihito didn't even have time to talk his way out of it before Asami proceeded to prove him completely and utterly mistaken.
Asami bent to loop his free arm behind Akihio's other knee... The one he was standing on...
"No no no no, Asami –!"
With a totally wicked gleam, Asami easily hooked up the knee, suspending Akihito against the wall with his legs spread over Asami's arms, parting him wide, making him frantically grab onto Asami's shoulders.
"You're hurt, you shouldn't be –"
Akihito ended up gasping into Asami's mouth as the man began to move his hips, a leisurely press followed by an equally slow withdrawal, just shallow motions that didn't hurt any more than the dull ache that Akihito had realized it had become. It was mind-boggling to think that Asami had waited until he finally relaxed.
"See how you take me to the hilt. Your ass is hungry for me, sucking me in, squeezing –"
"Oh my God, would you shut up..."
To be honest Akihito had expected the bastard to just plough into him, but as Asami resumed his delectable, painful, soothing, electrifying path down his neck, Akihito realized Asami was still holding back, stirring the smaller man up again but waiting, the gratification never one sided, pacing himself until Akihito relaxed more and his breathing became heavier, still waiting, until Akihito's hips moved –
Asami deepened, angling just a little more until Akihito's back arched, his eyes flying open, unaware how he grasped the broad shoulders raising scratch marks and leaving crescent indents.
"There it is."
There was no going back then. That was when Asami took his pleasure and forced Akihito to follow, the smaller arousal slapping between them, skin slapping obscenely, pounding so deep that Akihito moaned helplessly, low and long, half surprised he wasn't smashed through the wall.
"Asami..."
Anchored onto Asami's shoulders, Akihito was slowly losing himself as he tilted his hips to take Asami deeper, burying himself in the excuse of being forced while hungrily squeezing Asami all the while.
He grabbed himself and groaned. But Asami shifted one of his legs up to the shoulder – since when could Akihito bend like that? – and freed his hand to grab Akihito's wrist, pinning it to the wall.
Akihito made a garbled noise of protest. "I need to..."
"Not yet."
Asami thrust even faster and deeper then and stars dotted Akihito's vision as pressure built deep in his pelvis, that still rather unfamiliar force that had nothing to do with his erection.
"I'm – I'm –"
It sounded desperate and needy but Akihito couldn't care at that point. Releasing his wrist, Asami grabbed the weeping length trapped between them and fisted it hard. Akihito's moans filled the room as a tidal wave surged from deep in his pelvis and his balls tightened –
"Asami!"
The dual orgasm surged through him, overwhelming and unstoppable, the climax from his nerves buried deep inside crashing together with the cum splattering their chests. But Asami was still thrusting, and he was oversensitive and it was too much, too raw, too strong, until the larger man buried deep and shuddered against him, groaning his own release as teeth caught Akihito's shoulder and sent stars spinning out across the canvas of Akihito's scattered mind.
Octopus-limbed and hazy-eyed, Akihito could only remain suspended until Asami collected himself. Even then his struggle to free himself was token at best, easily overpowered as Asami scooped him off the wall and carried him to the bedroom.
Still connected, Asami lowered Akihito onto the massive bed and pressed him into it, uncaring of the gloopy mess sticking their bodies together.
"Eww..."
Asami silenced him with a kiss, deep and hungry and demanding, his hands now available to roam and caress and pinch and scrape and feather over Akihito's oversensitive skin.
Akihito groaned. "Give it a rest already."
But Asami began to thrust again, somehow hard again, or still hard, Akihito had no idea which.
"I can't, I can't anymore –"
Still thrusting with purpose, Asami caught his jaw and drew him in, the other hand pinning one of Akihito's wrists down. "Take what I give you, Akihito. Let yourself go."
Asami was relentless. Plundering deep, he drove Akihito through and beyond the oversensitivity until Akihito was trembling, almost fearful of the sheer intensity of the storm within. Asami was unshakable in his demand.
Akihito was swept helplessly along, raised up, teetering... "A- Asami?"
Everything was burning, not just his body but the entire landscape of his mind. Asami continued to pound down all his walls, forcing all his fears and confusion to the fore, until it surged through him, carried on his thundering pulse. The emotional hurricane Asami left in his wake, all the confusing contradictions – the inescapable darkness and fierce protection, brutal fury and indulging warmth, forceful demand and self-denying reciprocation.
"Tell me, Akihito. Tell me what you need."
It was too much, more than Akihito could bear. He was aware of it this time, that moment when he gave up control. He stopped fighting, held blindly onto Asami, and let himself be drowned by such intense gratification that throbbed and resonated to the marrow.
"Asami, please..."
Submission, at last. Asami became another being entirely, unrestrained in his absolute dominance over Akihito's every move and sensation and feeling, frightening and exhilarating all at once.
Molten gold blazed into shimmering hazel. "Darkness and fire. Pain and pleasure. Subjugation and freedom. I'll give you everything, Akihito."
With the nectar of their coupling and shuddering breaths bridging the space between them, it was crushingly intimate as Asami consumed every inch Akihito gave. He burned Akihito up with such overwhelming sensations that the younger man entirely forgot anything other than Asami and what the Adonis was doing to him, until he clung to Asami and sobbed his name and hurtled through the cosmos all over again.
