Hey y'all!!! Yeah, yeah, I know I'm late again, but guess what!!! I managed re-capture--Uh, I mean, invite back, Feather-chan!! So, everyone, let's give a nice warm welcome back to NinthFeather!!

NinthFeather:...T_T

Me: O.O Feather-chan?! Why are you crying?!

NinthFeather: Because I was finally free!! I had finally, FINALLY managed to escape, and you had to go and send your stupid yakuza thugs after me!!

Me: Well of course I did!! It reflects badly on me as a yakuza if I let one of my captives--er, I mean guests, escape!! If I just let you go, I'd lose my credibility!!

NinthFeather:...Yakuza have credibility?

Me: When it suites us, yes.

NinthFeater: Well as if being kidnapped by you for the SECOND TIME wasn't bad enough, now I don't even have the chance to escape again, because this time, instead of handcuffs, you put me in shackles! SHACKLES!! Where the heck do you even get shackles anyway?!

Me:...I'd tell, but then you'd lose your plausible deniability. Oh, and I'd have to kill you.

NinthFeather: TT_TT...Just get on with your fic, already.

Me: ^-^ Ok!!

Warning: There is a TON of bishie x bishie romance in this chapter (seriously, this is the closest you will ever see me get to writing a lemon). So no like, then--

NinthFeather: RUN!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!

Disclaimer: I STILL don't own the bishies...T_T...I hate my life...

NinthFeather: You'll gain no sympathy from me. I'm the one in the shackles.

Ruka was having a decidedly bad week.

Not only had Rei gotten severely injured in a training accident, but it had been completely Ruka's fault! While the accident itself had not been his doing, Rei had gotten injured saving Ruka. And because that obviously wasn't bad enough, things just kept getting worse.

Of course the Saint Beasts' first mission in months would come on the very same day that Rei was injured. Of course they couldn't refuse the assignment, as Pandora, a little too smugly, pointed out. Of course Yuda would suggest leaving Rei behind in heaven, alone, while the rest of the Saint Beasts descended to Earth.

And of course, Ruka had been the one who had to tell Rei all of this.

Because of all that, Rei had not spoken to Ruka, or even looked at him for that matter, in three days, and it was seriously starting to wear on the silver-haired angel.

Ruka sighed as he stared out over the balcony of his chambers. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to fly off this balcony, find Rei, drag him back to Heaven's Palace (kicking and screaming, if need be), and force the smaller angel to talk to him. Somehow though, Ruka thought that might do more harm than good.

A soft knock at Ruka's door brought the silver-haired angel out of his reverie. Thinking that it was Yuda trying once again to convince him to leave his chamber, Ruka ignored it. Yuda would give up eventually.

But the knocking continued, becoming more and more insistent as time went on, until, finally, Ruka angrily stood up, knocking his seat over with the force of the action.

Yuda...you just don't know when to give up, do you? Ruka seethed as he stalked over to the door. Roughly wrenching it open, Ruka shouted, "Yuda, please. I have already told you—," but the rest of what Ruka had been about to say died on his tongue as he met the pair of large, amber eyes on the other side of the door.

"Rei..." Ruka said softly, staring in disbelief. For a minute he thought his eyes were deceiving him, but he soon realized that that was not the case. Needless to say, Ruka had certainly not expected the smaller angel to come anywhere near him until after the silver-haired angel and the others had returned from their mission, much less actually come to Ruka's room himself.

"R-Ruka," Rei replied, stuttering slightly, then cursing himself for it. Why did Ruka always have such an...intense effect on him? Even when Rei was supposed to be mad at him, one look from those blood red eyes was enough to turn the violet-haired angel into a tongue-tied mess. Rei knew he should feel embarrassed or annoyed by this reaction, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to be either.

Without another word, Ruka stepped aside, making a path for Rei to enter the room. Rei entered the room in equal silence, turning to face Ruka after he had shut the door.

For a while, the two just stared at one another, neither one wanting to be the first to break the long silence between them. Eventually, Ruka became aware that if he didn't speak first, nothing would ever be said. Sighing, he finally ended the quiet. "Rei, I...I'm sor—,"

"Ruka, I didn't come here because I wished for an apology from you," Rei said softly, cutting him off. "Nor did I come here to make you feel guilty for what you did. I understand that you were just trying to protect me, like you always do," Rei smiled fondly at the memories his last statement conjured up.

"However, there is something that I wish for you to understand as well," Rei continued, a renewed firmness in his tone. "Yes, I have been hurt. And I think we are both aware that I'm not just referring to my wings," Rei took a deep breath to steady himself, before continuing.

"This is the first mission the Saint Beasts have gotten since...S-Stheno," Despite his determination, Rei still could not say his name with stuttering, "Ruka, can you tell me, in all honesty, that, had I not been injured, you would not have objected to my presence during this mission?"

Ruka had no answer for Rei's question. No, that was a lie. If Ruka were to be completely honest with himself, he knew he did have an answer, but it was not the right one, and Ruka was all too aware of that. So, in response, Ruka merely hung his head, refusing to meet Rei's probing gaze.

Rei sighed and walked over to Ruka, laying his hands on his chest. "Ruka, look at me, and listen well to what I have to say."

Though he did not wish to, Ruka could not deny his beloved anything, let alone such a simple request. Reluctantly, the silver-haired angel lifted his head, meeting those beautiful jewel-tone eyes he loved so much.

"Ruka, what Stheno did scarred me, and not only physically. I will forever bear the mental and emotional scars of what he did and what he...tried to do," Rei shuddered at the images flitting across his mind's eye.

"But that is all they are. Scars. Shallow reminders of a pain long since past. They are not cracks that threatened to widen at the first provocation. I am not made of glass, and I will not break," Rei's voice softened as he continued, "Ruka, I love you. I love how protective you are of me. You are the only reason that I am able to feel safe again."

"But Ruka, you cannot protect me from everything. I am a Saint Beast. I will be placed in dangerous, possibly life-threatening situations. This is something that you will simply have to accept, just I must accept that you will face the same."

For a few moments after Rei's speech, there was complete silence between the two angels, as Ruka stared at Rei with a kind of awe. When had his delicate angel become so...strong?

No, Ruka thought, shaking his head. Rei has always been strong. I just never took the time to see that strength. Smiling, Ruka gently wound his arms around Rei's slender waist, pulling the smaller angel flush against his chest.

"You're right, Rei. I should not have agreed to leave you behind from the mission without consulting you first. I cannot, however, promise that I will never be overly protective of you again," Ruka couldn't help but chuckle at the indignant look his words brought to Rei's face, "However, I can promise that I will do my best to keep it under control from now on."

Rei smiled that one smile that never failed to make Ruka's heart miss a beat. "Thank you, Ruka. That means so much to me," Rei lilted, entwining his arms around Ruka's neck and pulling the crimson-eyed angel down for a passion-filled kiss.

Ruka couldn't help but groan as the heat of the kiss seared through his body. He hadn't realized just how much he'd missed Rei until this moment. He'd almost forgotten how amazing Rei's body felt when it was pressed against every line of his own. How his tantalizingly sweet mouth tasted as Ruka caressed every inch of it with his tongue. And how unbelievably arousing the sound of his breathless moans and gasps could be.

And Ruka wanted to learn all of it all over again.

So completely lost in the kiss was Rei that he did not notice Ruka lifting him into his arms and carrying him to the bed until Ruka broke the kiss, and Rei found himself lying on his back, with the larger angel hovering over top of him, and wondering how he ended up in this position.

Rei's whimper of disappointment at the loss of the kiss quickly turned into a gasp of pleasure as Ruka's lips attacked his neck, nipping and suckling all the spots he knew would drive Rei crazy.

"You have no idea how long these past three days have been," Ruka murmured against Rei's neck, his hot breath making the smaller angel shiver, "Not being able to touch you," he purred as he slowly slid his hands down Rei's sides, undoing the clasps of his robe as he went.

"Not being able to kiss you," he moaned, peppering the skin of Rei's neck and clavicle with feather-light kisses, ever so slowly moving further down Rei's body.

"Not being able to love you at all...it's been torture," Ruka finished, and, with one last glance at his beautiful angel's flushed expression, Ruka latched on to one of Rei's newly exposed nipples, using a skillful play of lips, tongue, and teeth to pleasure the pink bud.

Rei arched into the touch, unable to hold back the pleasured sounds and strangled cries that escaped his lips in response to what Ruka was doing to him.

"Ahh! R-Ruka...Mmm! W-We...we sh-shouldn't—Ahh!"

Ruka smirked against Rei's skin and crawled back up Rei's body to look the small angel in the face. The sight never ceased to steal his breath away.

Rei, with his pale skin flushed a delicate pink, his chest rising and falling rapidly with every breath he took. His beautiful amber eyes heavily lidded and glazed over in hazy pleasure, and his lovely red lips swollen ad bruised from their earlier kisses. It was truly a sight to behold, and it was one that only Ruka would ever have the privilege to lay eyes upon.

"Don't tell me,love, that you haven't desired my touch at all these past three days? For I know I have certainly longed for yours..." Ruka trailed off suggestively, lightly skimming his finger tips down Rei's pale chest, causing the violet-haired angel to moan softly.

"Th-That's not—," but whatever protests Rei had been about to make were cut off when Ruka caught his lips in another fiery kiss, the heat of which quickly wiped any future protestations from Rei's mind.

Well, there it is. Chapter 11. So what did you think of my lemon scented chapter? Good? Bad?

NinthFeather: Incredibly disturbing?

Me: You know what, Feather-chan? No one asked you, so shut up.

NinthFeather: You want me to shut up? Then let me go.

Me: Not happening.

NinthFeather: Then no complaining about my comentary.

Me: -.- You're evil.

NinthFeather: I'm sorry, who's the one that shackled me to the wall???

Me: Good point. Anyway, on to the review begging!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!! This is my first time writing anything remotely close to a lemon (well, a consensual lemon anyway...) so I need you people to tell me how I did!!! *gets down on hands and knees* Please review!!! Please!!

And on that note, I bid you all farewell!!

~Neko-chan (and the captive NinthFeather)