AN: Thanks to those who've reviewed so far. I'm writing chapter 8 right now, and thanks to the input from leo_hime_san and BlueMizuki I've hammered out a little bit more of my idea. Don't worry, soon enough the plot itself will be moving further forward.

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Wake up 3

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Supremely uncomfortable, Raizo sat cautiously on the edge of the bed. In the bathroom, the shower was running, the smell of body wash heavy in the air. Chocolate and vanilla with hints of exotic spices like nutmeg, ginger and clove subsumed Mika's natural perfume while she washed away the evidence of her long flight home. She had asked, no begged, begged him to stay. And it wasn't the first time either. The heady terror in her voice in the hospital had eaten at Raizo until he had been left powerless to leave. All he had intended on doing was staying long enough to make sure she was alright, to watch over her while she was so supremely vulnerable to attack. Just as this evening, Mika, shaking like a leaf in a strong wind, her words strained and shuddering just as much, had come near to bringing Raizo to his knees.

He should leave. Should keep his distance. Mika was too much of a distraction when he was near her. Any loss of vigilance on his part could cost her life, his life, and the lives of future children that the clans could kidnap and so many others. And yet – all Mika had to do was look lost, frightened, and Raizo couldn't help but try and deliver her from fear.

Doing his best to shut out the sounds of water striking flesh, of the strange purple fluffy thing he had seen hanging from the showerhead when he took his own shower earlier that day, that she used to wash with slithering over her skin, Raizo sought calm. Tranquility. It was a struggle, it was rare for him to be this close to people, let alone the same person several times. Mika was getting under his skin, and it was an unsafe place for her to be. While Mika may think it was probably the safest place in the world, she didn't know. Didn't know about what happened to women he cared about. He hadn't told her what had caused the break with Ozunu, what had made him lash out, seek revenge. Raizo was all that went bump in the night, and worse than those monsters – because he only made noise when he wanted to.

Raizo hadn't thought beyond killing Ozunu and Takashi, in fact, if Mika hadn't been in the building, or if he hadn't heard her heart still beating, Raizo would have been content to let the blaze take him. It would have been a fitting end, for all he had wanted was Ozunu. That had been his life, his mission, his purpose. Now Mika was his purpose if he had to be honest with himself. She was a target for having dug into the history of the clans, for having been part of the fall of Ozunu. All that meant was, was that to keep Mika safe, Raizo had to kill the remaining clans. Failure wasn't an option. Distraction wasn't an option. The only thing to be done was gather the necessary information, find his targets, and kill them all.

A tall order, but he thought he may be able to manage. Somehow.

Faucets squeaked as they were turned off, "Raizo?"

"I'm here Mika," knowing that all she needed was reassurance, his hands clenching the tops of his kneecaps.

A strange thing, this need, one easily fulfilled with only a word, or a touch. Interaction on this level was foreign, Raizo had seen it on the streets, heard it in apartment buildings, but he had never taken part in such actions. To think that he, a killer, bathed in enough blood to drown hundreds, was the source of... comfort for someone else made his skin crawl, like he should rip it from the muscles of his body, burn the flesh and then he could be clean enough for this. Mika had seen him kill, had seen him maim, then brutally murder, and not once after their initial meeting had she been afraid of him in spite of all that. How did she do that, how could she? She would even reach out, touch him, touch him freely, as though it were simple as counting to one. Didn't that horrify her, that he had murdered out of anger, and in cold blood? That at first, how he planned on using her to help him – was as bate?

Didn't she suspect how he gained the funding for his personal war, using the only skills he had? But then again, maybe Mika was too naive to think of those facts. To question his actions may be too contrary to her trusting nature, perhaps all she thought was that he had killed to protect her, to protect himself and to kill Ozunu. Raizo didn't like this brooding, these strange thoughts that coursed through his mind. Before Mika all there had been was focus, goals. Now that was gone. And her naivete would have a hefty cost.

Standing in the doorway, Mika wore blue shorts, the ragged hems speaking of their former life as lounge pants eloquently, and a white tank top, smoothing oil into her long hair, giving it a strange shine as she tied it up for bed. Raizo knew he could pay the price for her safety, for her to have the innocence she did. He could pay whatever price was necessary to keep her happy. So long as she could look at him like that, for just a little while longer. A little while longer was all he wanted.

"I think I have some shorts that may fit you," she offered.

Raizo didn't understand, "I am fine as is."

"To sleep in?" skeptical, that little tilt of her head, nose wrinkling. "Firstly, you're wearing a belt. Belts poke. And the buckle will be cold. Secondly, jeans are scratchy against freshly shaved legs. Which my legs are, I may add." Ticking off items on her fingers, "Third you'll have to lose the jacket, I may like the smell of leather, but it isn't very comfy to snuggle up to. Which brings me back to the point of, I probably have some shorts you could sleep in."

Confused, Raizo couldn't keep the frown from his face, not fully, "I did not plan on sleeping."

"What were you planning on then?" going to rummage through her chest of drawers.

He thought that was self explanatory, but perhaps this was one of those 'things' that he had to explain clearly. In small words. "To watch over you. I will keep you safe tonight."

Turning, Mika tossed something at him, "Well that's easily done from the bed and you're allowed to sleep you know. You don't have to stay awake to keep me safe from boogeymen."

She was right, he could watch over her from the bed. It just wasn't wise for him to do so. Being in female territory was alien, almost as much as being viewed as a protector rather than a killer. In the hospital all that had kept him from quietly exploring Mika was her condition and the whimpers that had come from her lips when he moved to kiss her. Guilt ate at him for that gesture, it had been foolish, but she had been laying there, her hands on his face still. Too tempting to resist. Raizo remembered how soft her mouth had been when she kissed him, even through his injury induced stupor. He had thought recklessly, what would it hurt? Then she had made a low sound, like a dying puppy just as his mouth had been about to touch hers. So, guilt for that as well as the sure knowledge that if she knew what he really was, she would recoil in horror, devoured Raizo, showing him little mercy.

Interrupting his thoughts, "Raizo, please, I need you here."

And like that, he caved wordlessly. Only turning his back, Raizo stripped, movements jerky. What was he doing? This was madness! Mika had to know what she could ask of him, demand, with ease. Behind him there was a little meep, and Raizo tossed a glance over his shoulder, pausing as he shoved his pants down. Cheeks had gone to a strange dusky pink under her dark cocoa complexion, and Mika wasn't quite looking at him. But her eyes would dart up briefly before moving to somewhere else.

Looking himself over quickly, to find what had embarrassed Mika so, Raizo couldn't see anything out of place. Yes there were more scars since the last time she had seen him without his shirt, but beyond that there was nothing different. Shrugging it off, Raizo finished changing into the amazingly soft shorts. Adjusting himself a moment, Raizo mourned the lack of support from the garment, but it would do. When he turned back, Mika had flipped the covers down, making space for him. Keeping his eyes locked on the neutral territory of mint colored sheets, Raizo got between them, but before he could drag the covers up himself, Mika was pulling them up to his armpits, and tucking them down. There was a small square of a blanket that she dragged over, worn, battered, frayed at the edges, and some form of faded silver that may have once been blue that smelled so strongly of Mika and age that he had to wonder how long she had had it. This was laid carefully over both of them as she pressed close. Freezing at the sensation of flesh on his, Raizo closed his eyes. Mika's skin was cool on the surface, still vaguely moist from her shower, and her calf where it touched his had a small amount of roughness from being freshly shaved.

Seeking to distract himself while Mika rolled half over him to turn out the bedside lamp, "How long have you had this?" indicating the small blanket.

"Since I was a few months old," laying on her side, Mika took hold of his near hand with one of hers, and hooked the other one around his bicep. "It keeps me safe."

He thought that he kept her safe, "A blanket," supremely skeptical.

She laughed nervously, cheek pressed to the side of his shoulder, "Silly, yeah. Besides, it's the right size. It covers me from my shoulders down to the tops of my feet, and it's soft." To demonstrate she took a corner of it and rubbed it against his cheek, "It's my silky blanket. When I was five and had chickenpox, I would wrap myself in it and it would make the itching not so bad, and the heat in my skin would cool down."

Raizo contained a shudder, his senses had narrowed down to the sound of Mika's heart, the points of contact between their bodies. He needed distance or he wouldn't be able to watch over her tonight the way she wanted. Never in his entire life had he been so close to someone and not been fighting them or trying to kill them.

"And whenever I had bad dreams, I had a lot of them, my father was a cop and was killed in a shooting when I was seven during a picnic, I would just wrap myself up in my blanket," one of her legs wrapped around his, and Raizo thought he may scream. Warring desires sped his heart rate up, while Mika continued clearly unaware of his turmoil, "I don't sleep right without it. It's perfect, in the summer I sleep with just this and a tanktop, in the fall I use it and a few sheets, and in winter it adds just the right amount of omph to my duvet. Plus, it makes it so bad things can't get me, makes me invisible to them."

The absurdity of that comment snapped Raizo out of his torture, "A blanket. A blanket can't keep murderers off your back, or prevent earthquakes, or even a meteor from striking your apartment building. Let alone make you invisible."

Her leg tightened over his, bringing his thigh flush with the deepest warmth Raizo had ever felt, and she pinched the area between his thumb and forefinger of the hand she was holding, "I know that! But it makes me feel like it can. So I can sleep. So I don't have to be scared."

"Mika you don't need me here then," pouncing on the only way to get away, Raizo thought his salvation lay that way. His body was aching, an agony that he wasn't used to, it felt so nice, so wonderful to be held like this, to be so near someone, but it hurt. Knives were cutting the surface layers of his flesh away slowly, flaying him, and the worst pain Raizo ever felt was seeping from the places Mika was touching so innocently. "Your blanket can watch over you and allow you to sleep."

With surprising strength Mika wrapped tighter around him, "No!" Bare cheek was pressing to his bare chest, and Raizo felt fresh moisture landing there, "Don't go, my blanket can't keep away the Ozunu, you can."

Harsher than he intended, "The Ozunu are dead Mika."

"But they don't feel like they are," rolling to face her Raizo shivered as her lips moved with her words against his collarbone. "They feel like they could come at any moment and take you away. Like he may show up, and hurt you. Like I didn't rush into the dojo and shoot him." Voice cracking, Mika choked on her syllables, and Raizo could barely understand them, "Like he killed you."

That only added further to his confusion. Mika said 'take him away', like him being gone was bad. She had said 'hurt you', like his pain was meaningful. 'Killed you', as if, as if his death would hurt her. Scared her. Not her own death, but his, not her own pain, but his. And that was exactly why Raizo had to protect Mika, he had to keep safe the only person who thought he was worth anything. Raizo hadn't ever been worth anything to anyone really. Keiko had been the most caring person, but she had been touched by the life they lived. Hardened inside, not purposefully cruel, but not like this. Like Mika, who was clinging to him, scared not for herself, but for him.

Of their own volition, Raizo's arms came around Mika, tugging her closer, tucking his chin over her head. The riot of agony seared his body, but he could handle it for now. Sucking his bottom lip, worrying at it, Raizo kept his face tilted so he wouldn't be tempted so badly. One of Mika's hands wiggled between them, coming to stroke the side of his neck and the bottom of his jaw, and Raizo could do nothing but bite his lip almost hard enough to draw blood for fear he would commit further folly than being in bed with her, with holding her so close. Paralyzed Raizo waited for Mika's next move, and he didn't have to wait long.

"Raizo?"

"Yes, Mika," clenching his teeth, Raizo thought maybe now was a good time to commit seppuku to spare himself further before he did something to dishonor Mika's trust.

"You're real right?" her face came closer, "You're real, you won't leave without waking me up?"

Nodding so she could feel it, even though she couldn't see it, "Of course."

"Good," she let out the breath she had been holding, and then her lips were on his.

Really he shouldn't have been surprised, but Raizo was. Every time a woman kissed him before, all two times that is, he had been held immobile for some reason. This time was no different until he felt Mika's fingers in his hair, rubbing at his scalp. Driven beyond his tolerance, Raizo couldn't rein in his tiny groan or keep his mouth from opening under the soft pressure of Mika's lips. She broke away gently but it was horrible when she did, because Raizo hadn't wanted it to stop.

"Good night Raizo, sleep well," as she burrowed in even closer, her chest pressed to him, her legs tangled up with his, fingers trailing lazy designs over his shoulder blade.

"Sleep well Mika," whispering, knowing he wouldn't be sleeping at all.