A/N: So. I was kidnapped.

My birthday just came and went, and my mom and sister took me to Vegas. Very unexpected, but alright! XD

They told me we were driving out to a restaurant on the outskirts of the state we live in, to have some sort of fancy birthday dinner. And I was distracted listening to music in the car, so before I knew it, we were in Las Vegas! Surprise, surprise!

They had hidden all my stuff in the trunk, but unfortunately, they did not bring my laptop- thus, I could not update any of my fanfics. Gaaahhh!

My apologies. I did not know what was coming at all! Had I known, I would have brought my laptop with me.

Anyway, here's the update now! Thank you for waiting, I'm really sorry you had to get all anxious about it, heh.

Chapter Twenty-Nine. No Risk, No Reward

"Fuirutsu."

Orochi Fuirutsu was just standing up and pulling his coat around himself to leave, having now grown tired of the staring contest he was participating in with another certain rich bastard like himself.

He turned, adjusting his coat properly as that certain other rich bastard simply appeared beside him, as if having teleported across the room. His gaze was marred by mad, golden eyes. It was like the sun trying to blind him.

"Yes, Igarashi-kun?" He said formally, regarding his rival with big, dark brown eyes. The absolute (false) look of innocence.

"What are you doing here?" Came the firm question. More like demand, actually.

Orochi shrugged. "I don't know what you mean, this is a fairly popular restaurant."

The Igharashi heir's face, normally so blank, unreadable, and composed, was twitching with the efforts to keep it looking that way. He inhaled sharply, and exhaled in a long breath, barely maintaining respectable composure.

Orochi would admit one thing- although it was fun getting his life-long rival all angry and irritated... those yellow eyes were like the terrible glow you'd see of a predator in the wild. And there was a lot of danger, a lot of vicious emotions, that flickered in that glowing gaze, which was unsettling to the Fuirutsu heir. Yes, admittedly, he was unsettled by the way Tora was looking at him now.

But he simply fixed that by giving the other man his very own, darker glare, his brown eyes filling suddenly with dreadful promises.

"By the way, Tora." He smirked while he dropped all honorifics, aiming to annoy the other further with this. "Where's Akari? I thought I saw her here with you earlier in the evening."

The tiger growled, taking an intimidating step forward, eyes flashing with a look that said he was ready to kill.

"For the last time, I said, get your fucking hands off of me!"

The car door was opened and she was shoved inside. Both of the men pulled back then, glaring at her as they straightened their suits.

"Gladly." One of them replied, looking damn well exhausted from having to bring her just the short way to the car outside.

"I thought he said this job would be easy..." The other mumbled, turning away from the car and leaning against the door as he closed it- despite the door put between them now though, Akari's yelling could still be heard, muffled, sure, but just as angry.

"Well, it should have been easy. It wasn't, but it should have been. She's just a girl!" The other moaned in exasperation.

A harsh banging on the glass of the window caught both men's attention as they jolted, each one turning to see Akari's fists pressed up against the glass. Her face said she was highly pissed off.

"I HEARD THAT YOU SEXIST PIG!" Came her offended cry, and both men from then on were more careful with their words.

"We need to ask for a raise in our salary..." One man muttered under his breath.

"After this, I'd rather just quit."

To Tora's surprise, Orochi caught the fist flying up towards his face.

"It wouldn't help anything to cause a scene here, Igarashi." The brown-eyed menace said, gripping tiger's fist tightly as both their arms shook- Tora's from the effort of trying to punch the other in the face, and Orochi's from the effort of trying to keep that from happening.

One more second of threatening eye contact, and then Tora stepped back, withdrawing his arm and pulling back his fist. He could care less if people were watching them and if he caused a scene- but he couldn't solve this with violence, he knew. He had to use his head, and he needed to remain calm above all else. Acting up like this would just feed Orochi's fire.

He sent the other man a sharp glare once more, before turning on his heel and walking away.

"Submitting already?"

Though it was painstakingly hard, Tora put on a smile as he turned back to face the other man. "Submission? Submission to what exactly? I think for someone to submit, there has to be an actual threat to admit defeat to in the first place."

The smile he faked was worth it, Tora realized now, as he saw his rival's face grow red and his eyes widen in astonishment.

"But you-"

"I see no threat here." Tora gestured towards Orochi, and then around the rest of the room. Though he kept his eyes focused on the other man, making a clear point with his gaze.

You don't faze me even in the slightest.

Smirking, Tora turned around again, walking with his usual sure and confident stride around tables and past waiters, aiming to leave the restaurant.

Though he'd love to see his competitor squirm a bit more, it would seem he didn't have the time. He knew Akari wasn't anywhere near here by now.

He pulled out his phone, quickly punching in a number.

"Ah yes, hello. This is Tora Igarashi. I would like to send out a search team..."

Well, she hadn't expected to end up...

Where was she, actually?

Akari looked out the window, her gaze traveling all around. There was a pair of large rustic gates that the car was now driving through as they opened up, revealing a massive estate beyond. A large expanse of lawn covered in melted snow, grey cobblestone paths careening this way and that, one of which led up to a large set of front doors on a huge stone mansion.

It was different from both her dark estate and the Igarashi's marble palace. This place looked... more like an old bit of castle from part of a fairy tale, only a tad bit modernized around the edges.

She watched as the car slowed and moved towards the curb in front of all the cobblestone paths, but then it suddenly swerved onto a hidden path that wasn't in her view, and they were then driving underneath an arc of frozen trees.

The drive was short-lived after the trees, because the small rode abruptly dipped downwards and they drove towards what looked like the yawning mouth of a dark cave. Akari blinked as they passed into the darkness, and then the car stopped and the engine's purr died away.

...Just where was she?

Her door was opened soon enough and there stood a different man from before, dressed the same, in a dark suit and such, but he was shorter and stockier than the other two.

"..."

She scowled up at him as he said nothing and simply stared at her, leaning into the car slightly. When he caught the look on her face, he blinked at her, his eyebrows arching just the slightest bit at her displeased expression.

Ignoring her face after that, he reached forth and grabbed her arm, effectively making her struggle and pull back so that he couldn't get her out of her seat in the car.

"I'd prefer to stay in here rather than follow a stranger in the dark." She spat, trying her best to rip her arm out of his strong grasp.

"..."

He gave another tug.

"Oi! Stop it!" She yanked back, but then he reached forward and grabbed her other arm. In one swift move, she was out of the car and had collapsed heavily against his wide expanse of chest. She actually wasn't much shorter than him, so his chin had bonked against her head.

"..."

"Get off already..." She murmured darkly against his suit jacket. Akari pulled back harshly, so that he was simply gripping both of her arms, and they weren't so close together like before.

"..."

The man, a blank expression still on his face that she could barely make out in the dimness of the... area they were in, kicked the car door shut behind her, not releasing her because they both knew that if he even let up his grip a little, he'd regret it.

Akari grit her teeth and tried to plant her feet into the ground, but the guy easily yanked her along beside him, his hands gripping her arms so tightly that his fingerprints could possibly etch themselves into her skin.

So, they walked, for how long, Akari didn't know, because when you're walking around in the dark for a while you begin to lose track of time. Eventually, after a few short minutes of struggling, she realized it wasn't doing anything but wasting her energy and so she sort of allowed him to pull her along with him after that. Still, he did not let up on his firm grip on her (which was smart, on his part, she would admit). And after she stopped struggling, it gave her time to clear her head and calm herself to the point where she could think properly- and she used her deductive reasoning skills to take a wild guess and say this all had something to do with Orochi. Which led her to believe she was possibly at his estate-

"Gah!"

A sudden bright light was seen, as the man with her opened up a door and they entered into the actual house now.

"Where we just below ground?" She mumbled confusedly, stumbling a bit as she blinked.

"..."

"Hey, I'm talking to you." She said then, looking over at the man still grasping her arms.

"Yes. In the garage."

Akari sighed when he finally answered her, and then gasped as she started to really pay attention to everything around her when she looked up.

He was leading her through a wide hallway, made up of silvery-grey stone archways. The walls of stone surrounding her looked smoothed over, as if someone had used sandpaper to make the surface appear like less of an old-castle-like-stone, and more of a new, modern-day type of... almost granite? If that made any sense. It was weird, but it worked.

The walls were lit by crescent lights that glowed with a warm yellow-gold that made her feel, for some reason, nostalgic. She wasn't quite sure why though.

Suddenly, her view changed from the strange hallways, and her attention was brought to the large room she was just pulled into. It was different than the hallway- still had stone-granite walls and such, but the floor, instead of being carpeted, was now smooth and clear, made of almost a glass-like surface.

And it was very beautiful. Everything above, was reflected in the glass floor below.

The crystal chandelier, sparkled so brightly it hurt to look at, and its sparkles seemed to reflect around the room and bounce slight rainbows off of the smooth, clear, and shiny flooring.

Everything was breathtaking in this room. Unfortunately, she was lead right on through it and barely had time to keep glancing at it before she was tripping up the stairs in her small heels.

The staircase seemed to go in a circling twist hugging the outer walls of the pretty reflective room below. They traveled upwards for a while until they reached a certain floor and she was lead through another long line of hallways, past a few very expensive-looking framed artwork on the walls, and, at last, they stopped outside of a set of impressively carved doors with glinting bronze handles.

Again, that shine in the bronze of the door handles also gave her a nostalgic feeling... what else had that bright, almost golden glow to it?

The doors were pulled open abruptly by her companion, and she was led inside a new room before she could continue on that train of thought.

"Shitsurei..." The man said politely, closing the door behind them and taking a deep bow as he let go of her arm and properly faced her. He stayed like that, bowing to her as he spoke. "My name is Koizumi Kenshin. I have been assigned to you while you stay here."

It was Akari's turn to go silent.

"..."

The man glanced up, and for once she got to see his face. He wasn't exactly handsome, but then again, he wasn't exactly not. His eyes were dull and grey though, and the only really interesting thing about him seemed to be his blue arrangement of hair, set up in some sort of complicated ponytail-type up-do.

"I apologize for not speaking to you much before, but I was given strict orders to bring you straight to this room as soon as you arrived here."

She stared at him blankly, ignoring the part about her 'staying' for now. "Here... as in... the Fuirutsu estate?"

Finally, he pulled out of his bow, straightening up and meeting her gaze with his own. "Correct."

She folded her arms, contemplating this situation for a moment.

While she thought, he took her silence as a sign from him to keep speaking. "Your name is Michiyo Akari, yes?"

She simply nodded, looking at him, wondering still about her current predicament.

"May I call you Michiyo-san then?"

Finally, Akari decided to speak. She held her hand out to him, deciding he was just doing his job, and that he seemed nice enough. "Just Akari is fine. You can add on the 'san' if that makes you uncomfortable at all. Mind if I call you Kenshin?"

To her surprise, the trail of a pink blush flushed across his cheeks and he timidly took her hand in his, accepting her handshake. "We've only just met. I- don't think that would be proper. Please address me by my surname."

"...Alright, 'Mr. Formal'." Akari took her hand back slowly. "Koizumi it is then."

He nodded, adjusting his collar in an awkward manner. She had obviously made the man uncomfortable. "I appreciate it, Michiyo-san."

Though Akari's eyes narrowed at his refusal to call her name casually, she let it slide because she was feeling slightly guilty for making him become so frazzled.

As they had a pause in their conversation, for the first time, she seemed to take in the room around her for a few moments.

It was huge, (aren't they always, in these type of estates?) And the stone walls from before were not showing anymore. Instead, the walls were covered in an eggshell wallpaper, and the whole room seem to revolve around the color scheme of off-whites, chocolate browns, and bronze. It wasn't too different from the Igarashi Estate, but then again, it had a completely new quality to it. A new feel. A different atmosphere.

But she didn't like it. If anything, she felt like she was slowly, slowly suffocating in here, the longer she stayed.

The man known as Koizumi suddenly cleared his throat, and she directed her attention back to him.

"So," She said, before he could bring it up. "Explanation?"

His face became some sort of question mark and she sighed and found a seat on the nearest sofa chair, crossing her legs and staring over at him. (might as well make herself comfortable, right?) "Why am I here, and just how long am I supposed to be a good girl and continue staying here for?"

"Erm... Well Orochi told me you are to marry him, so that means-"

"Did he also tell you that I rejected his proposal?"

"..."

"Oh, I see. So you're only acting according to your superior's orders, blindly going along with whatever he tells you to do. Even if it's wrong."

The man reached a hand up behind his head, scratching it to relieve some of his discomfort. "Well you see, he's not just my superior."

Akari blinked. "Huh?"

"We're actually close friends. And being his friend, I choose to support him in whatever he does, so..."

"..."

"Also, he had put a lot of trust in me, leaving me to attend to you, his fiancée-"

"I am no longer his fiancée."

"That's not what he says."

"So what?!" She suddenly stood from her seat, pointing a finger at him. "You know him well, since you're such great friends with him, correct? You should know what a liar he is then!"

"Michiyo-san." Koizumi said gravely. "Stop this and calm down a moment."

"How can I calm down? I don't want to be here!" She spun for the door, trying to edge past him, even though he was doing a very good job of getting in her way. "MOVE!"

Suddenly, the door opened.

"Aahhh, it does my heart good to see my best friend and my fiancée getting along so swimmingly with each other!"

"Orochi." Both Koizumi and Akari said his name together, currently in a rather awkward position- he had his arms wrapped around her to stop her from leaving and she was just about to elbow him in the gut.

The Fuirutsu heir stepped into the room and silence fell. With one look he gave to his friend, Koizumi swiftly let go of Akari and was out the door in merely seconds. The door was closed and Akari could hear it lock from the outside.

That blue-haired bastard... Akari thought darkly, right before her eyes settled on the only man now standing in front of her.

Orochi gave a charming dimpled smile and a small wave. "Hello!"

His chipper attitude was more off-setting than the evil side that he was so good at hiding, and Akari's eyes narrowed. "Tell me why I'm here."

"Then please, have a seat."

Before much else could happen, he had moved forward, grabbing her arm tightly and dragging her towards the couch in the middle of the room. He sat he down in it with a slight push, and then he took his seat beside her with his smile still in place.

He's angry for some reason... Was all she could think as she stared over at him.

And it was true. Orochi was not in the mood for her stubbornness. Not after the way Tora had spoken to him not too long ago.

"So!" His smile grew wider and his white teeth glinted in the lighting. "Why are you here you ask? Did I not make it clear the last time I saw you that I was to be taking you home?"

"This isn't my home."

"Your father gave me permission to marry you. Which means you will live with me, and this place will be your home."

Akari glared at him. "Did I not make it clear the last time I saw you," She mimicked his words. "That I will not be marrying you? Which, therefore, means I will not live with you here- not now, and not ev-"

Her whole face burned an angry, bright red when he suddenly leaned forward and placed a finger to her lips. The resentment in her eyes couldn't be anymore fierce, and he wasn't looking too 'chipper' anymore either.

"Shut up a moment." He hissed through his gritted smile, finger still pressed firmly to her lips. "You're annoying me."

She narrowed her eyes and reached up a hand to push him away, but his other hand stopped her and suddenly, she was being pressed down into the cushions of the couch.

It was all too uncomfortable, what happened next.

He leaned in.

And he kissed her!

"Mmmph?!"

All she could register in her brain was that this fool, this complete idiot, actually had the audacity to press his finger to her lips, and then, shortly after, place his lips there!

I'll kill him I'll kill him he is a dead man.

"OFF!" She shouted, tearing her lips from his and getting a knee up in between their bodies. With a hard kick, she barely missed his groin (though she wished she hadn't missed) and that sent him backwards on the couch, to the opposite side.

Wiping her mouth with the back of her had vigorously, she got up and marched away from the couch, searching around the room for some sort of towel, or better yet, the bathroom, so she could wash her lips off with soap.

Yes, soap. It felt that wrong to kiss Orochi. Dirty. Disgusting. Absolutely unappealing.

"You fucking-"

Right before Orochi could finish that sentence, (he had recovered quickly from her misplaced kick and gotten off the couch, following her across the room) she finally found the space leading into the bathroom, and with a loud slam, shut the door right in his face- making sure to lock it.

"Bastard." She completed his sentence for him while he cursed through the barrier of the door. "You fucking bastard, Orochi." Her voice was low, and sounded very, very lethal. "I am going to kill you, just so you know."

"And I'm sure that's what you said to Igarashi the first time he kissed you," Orochi sneered, as she turned the sink on and grabbed a rag. "But you came around to liking him, didn't you? That means there's the same possibility that you'll come to love me."

Akari paused in scrubbing her lips with the rag to glare over at the locked door. "I can promise you right now- that will not happen."

There was a slight pause on the other side of the door.

"I will steal you from him, Akari. I'll steal your love, too."

As she turned off the sink, continuing to wipe at her traumatized lips with the rag (maybe she was overdoing it, but this guy really was a snake, she had come to realize, and having his lips pressed to hers was simply too much), she could hear the retreating footfalls of Orochi as he turned and walked away from the locked bathroom door- and then she heard the faintest sound of the bedroom door unlocking, opening, and then slamming shut once again.

Apparently, that was really all he had left to say.

And those words... normally, they wouldn't bother her. But the way he said them this time- while he always sounded so determined, this time, it was more than that.

He had made it sound like it was already happening.

"I don't love him, you know."

"I understand."

"And he doesn't love me."

"I know."

Irritated, Akari set the tea that Koizumi had brought her after Orochi had left the room, down on the coffee table in front of her. She looked up at the man sitting across from her, keeping her company (more like keeping track of her so she didn't do something stupid, like try to break down the door... again...)

"Then why do you support this? Technically speaking, this is kidnapping."

He sighed, grey eyes meeting hers in a weary glance. "It's not kidnapping if you know him well. You're engaged."

"We aren't engaged, dammit!"

"Calm down." He warned.

"You calm down!"

"I am calm."

"Uuggh!"

Akari collapsed back against the couch, feeling all at once hopeless, misunderstood, and frustrated. Frustrated at herself, Orochi, Koizumi, and, again, at herself. She hated herself for being such an easy target. Sure, she put up a fight basically the whole time, but a whole lot of good that did. Tch.

She was weaker than all these people around her, and she hated facing that fact. Completely loathed that brutal truth.

"My foot hurts." She openly complained, resting one of her arms over her eyes in exhaustion.

"I'm sorry. But it's not the door's fault, you know."

Removing her arm from over her eyes, she peeked at the blue-haired man keeping her company. "Are you trying to tease me? Are you actually trying to be funny? I didn't know you had it in you."

He shrugged. "I don't, really. All I'm telling you is that, it's your own fault for kicking the door so many times. The Fuirutsu Company is a famed construction company. You should have known that anything they build, doors included, are reliably sturdy."

"You know, the more I talk to you, the less I like you." She said, rather bluntly.

"I would be hurt, but I could say the same about you, so..."

Snorting, Akari suddenly stood from the couch, causing him to stand up as well. She glared at him. "No offense, Koizumi, but I'd like you to leave now."

He bowed deeply, and she was surprised at the small smile that appeared on his face when he straightened up and looked at her.

"I thought you'd never ask. I'll leave now. And I suggest you go to bed, Michiyo-san, it's very late."

Without another word, he turned, unlocked the door with the key he had, and was gone. Of course, the door was re-locked behind him.

Seems he's two-faced, just like his best friend. Well, they're perfect for each other then.

Sighing, she walked over to the bed in the corner of the room and collapsed on top of it, not bothering to look in the closet or wardrobe for a change of clothes, not bothering to shut off the lights, not even bothering to close her eyes.

How could she sleep? She was restless. She felt like a damsel in distress- or a caged animal. It was... well, it was infuriating.

Turning on her side, she looked back across the room at her abandoned tea set on the coffee table. She stared at that for a long moment, the small tea cup with it's fragile curves and shiny, golden metallic color, and then that sense of nostalgia from earlier reclaimed her once again.

It took her a few minutes, because all the craziness that had happened recently had clouded her head, but then she remembered. That face came to her mind only all too easily.

Tora. His deep golden eyes, and the usual smirk on his handsome face...

Wait a minute, where the hell was he at a time like this?! Doing paperwork?! Did he even know she was missing?!

I mean, it's not like it's his job to 'rescue' me, I can keep trying on my own. But still, it'd be nice to know he had even noticed- let alone, cared, that I'm gone!

"God damn that selfish tiger to hell." She muttered, turning over on the bed and stuffing her face in a pillow.

Oh, wait... I guess you can't really damn a devil who's already from hell, can you?

She groaned again. Sometimes, she really wished she could hate him, even a little bit. But unfortunately, that was close to (if not completely) impossible.

"Maki. Any updates?"

The collected tone of his second-in-command responded immediately on the other end of the phone line.

"It seems we just found her, actually." Came the calm reply.

Tora jolted to attention after hearing this, the lazy drawl in his voice completely erased and replaced with a snappish tone. "Where?"

"Well, there is a bit of trouble we're having though..."

"Where is she, Kanade?" Tora gritted out.

"The, Fuirutsu Estate, Sir."

"..."

"..."

"Sir?"

"..."

"...Hello?"

It was at that moment that the phone in Tora's hand snapped in two.

Akari had no idea when she fell asleep, or how on earth she had even managed to fall asleep, but next thing she knows, there's the sound of insistent tapping and then, finally, some sort of smash.

She bolted upright in bed, blinking wildly and turning this way and that, right before rolling ungracefully to the floor.

The heavy sound of boots on the flooring is what caught her attention first after the smash (which sounded a lot like glass shattering) and then, there was a hand reaching out to her. She stared, still upside down on the floor, up at the man- men- standing over her. Her eyes zeroed in on the one holding out his hand, though.

"Michiyo Akari? Are you alright miss?"

"Who are you?" She asked blankly, reaching up and taking the man's hand. Her eyes scanned over his uniform, and then at all the rest of the men in the room, who were... piling in through the broken window?! "Wait a minute... what..."

"My name is Minami Yuji." He pointed to the symbol on his uniform. "Search and Rescue Task Force."

As she was pulled to her feet, she noticed that most of the men around her wore anxious expressions. "What's wrong? Why are you guys coming in through the window? Why not use doors like normal people!"

"Well, uh... there was a problem at the front gate... and they wouldn't let us in, and..." One of the men stated, rubbing the back of his neck.

"We had to improvise." Another shrugged.

As Akari took this all in, she found herself being pushed towards the broken window.

And then she was falling out of the broken window. The broken window that was five stories above the icy cold ground below.

Orochi blinked in surprise.

The empty room. The broken window.

It would seem he had arrived to the scene too late.

Admittedly though... he was... impressed. Sure, he was angry too, but he truly was a tad impressed. Really... wow. This had happened quicker than he had expected it. It had only been a little over three hours now since he had taken her, three hours of her staying at his estate before she was 'rescued'.

He smirked. Tora may be a selfish person like Akari had said before, a man who does everything only for himself. But just like any other human, love made him act differently than he usually would.

So selfish or not, that man finally had a weakness.

"Seriously Tora?!"

He blinked and set down his glass of liquor (meant for distracting him a bit from the stress of worrying about a certain young woman) on the desk before him, while Akari stormed right into his private office.

As golden eyes looked her over, Akari pushed hair out of her face and left the door wide open behind her, not even bothering to address the line of men who had brought her here. All of those men simply stood now in the hall, looking rather pale and uncomfortable as they witnessed the petite girl rampaging around the Tora Igarashi's office, treating him disrespectfully in his own home.

"An entire Search and Rescue Task Force?!" She huffed, crossing the room quickly and approaching where the tiger sat, legs crossed, at the large chair behind his desk.

Tora said nothing.

"I mean, I can understand your worry, since I randomly disappeared after dinner," She continued, and paused to slam her palms down on his huge wooden desk. "But I can't believe you went so far! An entire Task Force? An entire god-damn Task Force!"

Slowly, Tora uncrossed his legs and stood from his seat, ignoring the girl reprimanding him as he casually walked around her, and stepped across the room and over towards the door, which was still left wide open, with that 'entire god-damn Task Force' waiting cautiously outside.

"I'm not sure if I should be offended that you didn't think I could handle things on my own, or flattered that you went to such measures for me, but regardless of that, I'm pretty positive that those men have far more important jobs to do other than looking for me and bringing me back to you like some sort of lost pet!"

Quietly, Tora dismissed the men waiting in the hallway, and then stepped back and shut the door to the office with a sound-less click.

Akari was barely even noticing his actions, because now she had turned around and was approaching him again, headed straight for where he stood at the door, his back turned in her direction.

"People are getting kidnapped all the time on the streets, right? And I was merely taken for a few hours- in fact, it was practically nothing! So why-"

In a swift movement, Tora had spun around, grabbed her by the wrist, and pulled her to him. It had all happened so fast, she had barely noticed, and only when his arms were wrapped firmly around her did she realize that he was... embracing her.

"...What the hell?"

Surprisingly enough, those words came from Tora, not her.

As he held onto her still, making sure not to allow her yet to break free from him, he continued on with his words in a low, flat tone- a tone holding slight accusation, maybe even a bit of anger.

"What the hell kind of trick are you trying to pull?"

Akari stiffened in his arms, unable to hug him back. Her own arms lay down at her sides, and she was growing steadily more uneasy as he continued to speak. What did he mean 'what is she trying to pull'? She's not trying to pull any sort of trick! She's not trying anything!

"I don't understand-"

"Of course you don't."

With her head pressed against his chest like it was, she could feel the vibrations of his voice along with hearing it as he spoke. The sensation was both strange and somehow... in a weird way... after the crazy night she had gone through and all... it was also soothing.

In a careful sort of gesture, she raised her arms, and encircled them around his back. Her fists balled up as she gripped at the fabric of his shirt.

"I'm sorry."

There was silence in the room for a long time after that. And when the deep silence was broken finally, all that came was-

"Hmm."

Akari blinked twice, wondering if that was all he was really going to say. Here they were, embracing each other like this, and plus, it had taken her a lot of effort to push her pride away enough so she could apologize (and she wasn't even really sure what her apology was for! She simply felt it was something she should say to him in the moment!) and all he was going to do was hum at her as a response?

"Do you even know what you're saying sorry for?"

Her mouth had opened as she was preparing to yell at him again, but then she quickly closed it after he spoke.

"Of course you don't." Tora repeated again, letting out a barely audible sigh before finally releasing his arms from around her, so that he could take a step back and look at her.

Under his familiar and intense golden eyes, she found herself getting a bit flustered and stumbled over her words. "But- still- I do feel sorry." She murmured.

Tora's stare was unreadable, as he looked at her with a half-lidded gaze. "I can't believe you were stupid enough to go and get kidnapped. You know, I thought you were better than that."

She scowled and stepped forward, poking a finger into his chest. "Now listen here you damn tiger! I didn't plan on any of this happening! And if you think I didn't try fighting them about it, well, you couldn't be more wrong! I-"

Suddenly, Tora was moving, quickly grabbing her wrist, pulling her forward, and then using his other hand to push down at the juncture between her shoulder and neck. She yelped, collapsing to the ground with him on top of her, kneeling over her with a solemn gaze.

"That's something I figured out how to do on my own." He said simply, while she huffed and squirmed in her new position underneath him on the floor. "The move doesn't have a name, but as long as you can execute it properly, it doesn't matter what it's called, now does it?"

"Are you trying to teach me something? Because this is some messed up way to do it."

Leaning back and standing to his feet, Tora paused to let her stand up on her own while he adjusted the cuffs of his sleeves on his shirt. "I'm a busy man as it is, but I'll start teaching you judo starting tomorrow."

He mentioned it so nonchalantly she almost didn't really catch it.

"...You're kidding."

His sharp eyes met hers in an instant then, and she shuddered at the intense glare.

"Do I look like I am?"

Slowly Akari shook her head. But then, a scowl reset itself onto her face. "Hey wait a minute! You don't decide things for me! I'm sick of being bossed around by people- I can teach myself whenever I like and- and why the hell are you laughing all of a sudden?!"

Sure enough, Tora had a hand pressed to his forehead and a wide grin spread on his face. He had his eyes closed and was chuckling lowly, as if he had just heard a funny joke, rather than having been listening to Akari's angry ranting.

"So stubborn!" He sighed at last, dropping his hand and opening his eyes again, the smile still loosely set on his face.

Akari's face reddened and she felt her muscles involuntarily relax as she saw that smile on his face. Was that... a real one? Had she somehow gotten a real smile out of him?

Well, Tora thought that maybe it was just the overwhelming relief that was making him do it, but he really was smiling, just a bit.

He suddenly turned to her again, giving her a good, long once-over with his eyes. His searing stare was making her nervous, and her muscles tensed up again while his eyes seemed to rake over her with a growing need pooling in their yellow depths.

He stepped forward, arm extending, and all she could do was stand there and let her mind go blank and her heart jump to her throat.

She knew the feeling that came before he kissed her. That intense, burning itch that filled the air, traveled down her skin, and made even her bones tingle in anticipation. And it was what she was feeling now. Which meant, he was definitely about to kiss her.

His fingers cupped her chin, and he tilted her face up towards his while he leaned down to reach her lips.

Raw. He felt like he was stripped raw and bare every time their lips touched. Touching her skin was one thing, seeing her face, and hearing her voice, was another, but indulging in her kiss- feeling her lips pressed firmly to his- every time this happened, it made him feel vulnerable. Which made him feel like he needed to pull away, lest he have all his barriers come crumbling down permanently. But each time this happened, he was unable to pull away, and only tried to enjoy it more.

Akari felt a happiness rising that she couldn't control, as this kiss felt different from all the rest. It felt like... this was only leading up to something. Something seriously important. Needing to know what that something is, she pressed up onto the tips of her toes and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him harder.

Well when she kissed him harder, Tora only felt he should challenge that and quickly nipped at her bottom lip. He smirked when she pulled away for a few gasps of air before he continued, and of course he barely gave her enough time to suck any oxygen in at all before he put both hands at her hips, pulled her to him harshly, and forced his entrance into her mouth.

Seconds later, they could both feel the temperature in the room rising as their tongues danced and played together, and while she tried to rub her thighs together as her own need began to build up, he felt his member strain and jump a little from where it was trapped inside his pants.

When she pushed on his chest and he finally pulled away, licking at her parted lips before looking down at her with a heated glance, she went a little higher up on her toes, and gave him the simplest thing he had never received before from a girl- a kiss on the cheek.

He blinked while she went back down to her own height and gazed up at him with sparkling silver-blue eyes.

He blinked again.

His cheek was tingling.

His dick hurt too as it strained and grew more inside his pants, sure, but his cheek was practically on fire and-

Was he blushing? He never thought he'd do that again, but his face was burning up and he felt some sort of foreign feeling taking over him.

Why was something so simple and delicate as a kiss to the cheek, effecting him so powerfully?

Just what the hell kind of trick are you trying to pull on me? He again thought, for what seemed like the hundredth- no, thousandth time. Toying with the emotions I didn't even know I had... damn it.

He opened his eyes (never really realizing that he had closed them for a brief moment) and looked down at her again, letting his gaze meld with hers. Allowing the undeniable pull between them to cause intense gold to meet icy-blue silver, and even out into a gaze that held some sort of strong meaning to both of them.

Every time he looked at her, he knew it all over again. Every time they did this, he was reminded of that feeling that he had never truly known. A feeling he felt, or at least, had thought he had felt, briefly with the Ayuzawa. Real, true, iron-binding and throat-parching, infatuation- wasn't that what he had called it back then? But now, with Akari, it was even more than that. It was... a feeling that he was unsure of- he just never really knew what it was like, because from what he had heard, it was the realest thing you could ever feel, and for him, everything in his life had always been fake and artificial.

Ah, she really brought out the strangest qualities in him. For him to be feeling this way... him? It was entirely uncalled for.

She had made more than just a simple impression on him. She had done more than just grab his interest- she had actually maintained his interest, and made it grow larger until it became more than simple interest anymore.

What a woman.

He chuckled lowly, tilting his chin down so that she couldn't quite see the look on his face. Oh, he was slowly losing his sanity. He actually wanted to take the one risk he had never opted to take before... well, they do say that rewards don't come without some sort of risk involved, correct?

But would he even be able to do it?

"...You almost make me want to say it." He murmured to her in a deep tone.

Akari stared up at him, a bit dazed from the kiss still, and a bit confused. His hands, still placed at her hips, gave a little tug forward, making her press again even closer to him.

"Say what?"

Tora tilted his head up again, so that she could clearly see the way his eyes stared into hers so seriously.

"I love you."

A/N: There we go. That should make up for the late update.

Review? *raises eyebrows* Ehh? ;)

CK :*

p.s- imagine how pissed Tora will be when he finds out Orochi kissed Akari... IF he finds out, that is... hehehe... it's stillll a mysssterryyyy...

Seriously though, he'll be so pissed. It'll be awesome. And hot. Not to mention, it'll be hot ._.

Jealousy looks good on practically no one, but Tora wears it best. Now... Review? *grins sheepishly* yes? c: