Author's note: So re-reading the very last chapter of Tokyo Ghoul I realized that it is a time skip of about 6 years. In my previous chapters I put that it has only been about a year (since I think I started this right before the last TG chapter came out) I will be fixing that now. So in other words, this story takes place about 6 ½ to 7 years after the Dragon Wars. Akira and Seidou are about 30-31 years old at this point.

Chapter 3

Wicked Games

"Please, Seidou." Akira spoke just above a whisper, as she gripped tighter to Seidou's black, wet cloak. Her body was shivering again.

Seidou breathed in sharply, his body rigid, and his pulse quickened.

"Tch, still gonna beg me to eat ya, eh, Mado?" Sweat was beginning to form on his forehead, and he was beginning to hear his heartbeat in his ears. "Top of our class, my ass!" Seidou snorted. "Look'n pretty pathetic if ya ask me."

With his back still towards her, he could feel the pressure on his cloak tighten more, and the sound of rustling blankets as she pulled herself to her knees.

"I dont know if this is real, I dont know if you're really here, but even if this is just a dream, then just stay here till I wake up." Her head rested against Seidou's back, blonde hair covering her face. Seidou kept his gaze straight forward, his eyes were sullen, and there was an uncomfortable lump in his throat.

This aint no dream Mado, this has been and always will be-a nightmare. I'm a nightmare.

"Mado," Seidou started, his voice low. "You need to get to bed."

For the first time that night, the rain and thunder died down, with just the monotonous sound of soft rain falling onto the windows.

"I dont need sleep!" Her shout was more startling than thunder.

In an act that shocked Akira, Seidou pulled away from her grasp, so quickly that she almost toppled over. His teeth were clenched, and his knuckles white from tight fists.

Dazed, confused, and still a little drunk, Akira watched with wide eyes and pounding heart beat, the ghost of the boy she once knew. From where she was looking, she could see just the side of his face. Sadness enveloped her. He had that same hopeless look, the same she would see during their academy days, when he would stare up longingly at their rankings. His hair was no longer that lovely chestnut brown and he lost most of his plump child like features, but the way his eyes would look when he felt defeated stayed the same. That above everything, broke her heart, because what stood before her right now was not an SS rated ghoul, but her Seidou Takizawa. Seven years had passed, but right now in this moment, it was as if a day hadn't gone by.

She remembered Amon telling her to accept the loneliness and emptiness from letting go of her hate. For years she lived by that, that same rose colored bubble she wrapped around herself, and yet here she was. Akira Mado was no child anymore, hell, she lived through enough to put a centenarian to shame. All of them did.

"Seidou, it's been a very long time."

Seidou quirked a smile. "It's been 84 long years." He was always one for pop culture references, though he'd never let anyone know that who worked with him.

Putting her head in her hands, still in a buzzed haze, she wanted to laugh out loud at the madness of everything-and so she did. Laughter ruptured out of her forcefully, not giving her lungs enough time to fill air. Akira felt herself falling apart. Years, no, her whole life had been crashing down on her these last few weeks, and add insult to injury, someone had to be there to see it all.

In her mad fit of laughter, Seidou didnt know exactly what to do. Dealing with an emotional Akira was still something very new to him. He pulled off his drying cloak, walked over to Akira's shaking form, and wrapped it around her shoulders. As soon as the cloth touched her skin, she froze.

"There's no getting warm in these damn wet clothes. If you aint gonna sleep, then at least get in the bath." His voice sounded gruff and low, and it pulled Akira back to some of her senses.

"None of it matters." She mumbled.

"It all fucking matters! So get the hell up. I was nice and saved you, and I dont even have to be here with ya, so get up and do something."

"I just-I just cant do it anymore! Alright? Top of our class, number one, and best Akira Mado-cant fucking do it. There, happy? Are you fucking happy now Takizawa?"

He flinched backwards, she had been calling him by his first name all night, and now to be called by his last name felt impersonal, and hurtful.

They had all lost something, that was for certain, hell, some of them even lost the right to call themselves human. But didnt she realize everything he had been doing for her behind the scenes? The sacrifice of leaving her and Amon to themselves, and fighting in the shadows to protect the new order of things. It was a slap in the face.

"Just shut yer fucking mouth!" Seidou lunged forward, fingers digging into her shoulders, and his head bowed. "Ya know, did you ever think to wonder how I felt during all this stupid shit? All these years away, all the years in between?"

Akira's eyes were wide as she stared at this man, this man that was once Seidou Takizawa. His white hair, still damp, his long torso, thin yet carved and defined, and the skin tight black garment he wore-she took all of him in. Even the way his voice began to shake.

It's my Seidou.

She didnt know how to find her voice, so she mustered everything she could. "I did." There was a pause between the two. "I thought about it every day, every night, and every moment."

"Shut up."

"No! I mean it. Seidou..." Ok, how was she going to say this next part. Should she even say it at all? "Seidou, you were my first-my first l-l"

Fuck!

"My first love!" That last part felt loud in her ears, did she really just shout that out?

It felt like Seidou had been punched in his gut.

Like a broken dam, Akira diverged everything inside of her.

"Ever since our academy days. The way you tried, and the way you never compared me to my parents, you only saw me and only me as your competition. Everyday I watched you strive, and fight, and I loved and respected every aspect of you. But-but then I noticed, it was like I became more than just a rival, but someone you deeply hated. And it made me sad." Akira began to shake and sniffle. "I never wanted you to hate me."

"I never-" Yes he did, he did hate her, or at least he thought he did. "I never hated you."

Before either of them realized, they had gravitated closer, their noses just a few inches apart. Seidou could pick up Akira breaths were becoming more shallow and quicker. For the first time in years, he felt nervous. Her blue eyes were bloodshot and glazed over, and her eyelids heavy. Booze still smelt the same to him, and that excited him.

"Prove it." She dared. The flicker of life came back into her eyes. She loved seeing the SS rated ghoul revert back to his old self, even if it was just for moments at a time.

"F-fuck you Mado, I dont have to prove shit!" Seidou began chewing on his lip, quickly feeling he was losing any sense of power. The situation was changing, and he didnt know how to handle that.

There was something intoxicating about watching him squirm, in fact, back in the day Akira used to fantasize about it. Deep in the corners of her daydreams she used to picture Seidou back up against a wall, and her slowly approaching. He would be a trembling, embarrassed mess, desperately trying to keep control of the situation. She used to wonder what he would do if she traced her lips against his neck, all the power she would-could have over him. He would be putty in her hands, melting under her touch like Sunday cinnamon rolls. Oh, god, did the very idea make her head spin!

The tables of power were turning. The cloak fell from her shoulders as she raised from the bed, the cold floor creaked beneath her bare feet, and her eyes locked onto the slowly retreating half ghoul. She reached out her hand, and without touching him, had backed Seidou up against the wall. The gap between them was closing, and her hands rested on his chest. There was once a time Akira believed ghouls did not have hearts, but here she was, feeling enraptured in the sound of his heart, beating as fast as hummingbird wings. Alcohol had nothing on this intoxicating feeling! It swarmed in her head, warm waves of desire and power swam in every vein. This was more exhilarating than any preceding fantasy.

She wanted to devour him, until every bit of him was inside of her.

You're never leaving me again. Never again.

Wow you guys! So very sorry about this very, super duper late chapter! This story is not dead I promise! Just had a ton of life stuff going on, lots of changes and so forth. Thank you for those still checking in on this story! I hope you guys can forgive me. Also, sorry for the abrupt time line change. As apologies, next chapter will be pretty steamy ;D