Disclaimer: The characters are Masashi Kishimoto's property, I own the OCs.

Characters age:

Akane: 18 (51)

Itachi: 18 (35)

Shisui: 22

Naruto / Sasuke: 13

Kakashi: 27

"Well, it is a look," I told Shisui, the two samurais stripped to their underwear and locked up and tied up. We were wearing their armors.

"Let's go."

We entered the room, no one glancing at us twice. They engaged in small talks before diving into what was interest: Haruto and Mari. The guy from the Isle of the Lost, Kai, wanted to get them back there and execute them to "spread a message". The provincial lord said he couldn't care less, but that if they were attracting unwanted attention, he would act and that he could make it easier for them against a certain amount of money. They didn't want to pay and said they could force their way through town anyway.

Right, not really, Kakashi and Yamato-senpai were onto that. When no one showed up, Kai's face contorted into anger, and he tried to leave. We caught him before and Shisui knocked him out.

"Good job," the lord said.

"Sir, let me escort you to safety while he deals with this man," Shisui told him.

"Gladly."

Before coming here, Shisui had told me he had a few favors to use in the Land of Iron. The "safety" was Shisui selling the lord to the samurais who had been told of our operation tonight. We could deal with Kaiji as we wanted, and they'd deal with the Lord now Shisui had given them proofs of his corruption.

When we saw Itachi an Shinobu, I sensed the area for anyone else and when I sensed Kakashi and senpai, we found them to explain everything to them. Senpai left to keep an eye on Mari and Haruto, Kakashi stuck around, and we found Shinobu and Itachi, then got here.

As Shisui left with the Lord, I took Kai elsewhere. To Kakashi precisely. However, Kakashi was not alone. I had felt someone with him but once in the back alley, I dropped my guy next to his, seals on him that kept him from moving.

"Is that…"

"Root member." I looked around.

"Where are they?"

"Something came up. A Steel-Release user precisely." I widened my eyes and removed my helm. Was it Kaiji? It had to be. "They should be able to handle it. Now…" I watched Kakashi use his sharingan on the Root member, then on Kai. It lasted for five minutes total, but he straightened up immediately after. "He's not alo…" There was the loud 'boom' of an explosion somewhere in town. "Akane, you go as a samurai, I'll stay with these two." I nodded, put the helm back on and left.

I ran through the streets, people moving aside at the sight of the samurai armor. I quickly entered the red-light district and found the site of the explosion. It was a casino, people running away from it, burning bright in the night. I looked around and noticed Shinobu, on her knees in the snow. Her wide, horrified blue eyes were stuck on the building. I removed my helm and went to her side to shake her shoulder quite roughly. She glanced at me; her eyes completely confused.

"Itachi-kun..still inside…" My heart missed a beat. I could sense his chakra inside, but it was being actively used, and there were at least three others…

Still, the fire and smoke…I used a water jutsu to extinguish the fire but felt a piercing headache appearing when I used too much chakra. It was…worse than the ones until then, as if someone was drilling in my brain. I stopped my jutsu and fell to my knees, my hands on my head.

"Akane-chan?" Shinobu called me. I put my hand on my left arm when my marks started burning beneath my skin.

Someone used a water jutsu behind us. I peeked above my shoulder to find senpai, or at least a clone of him extinguishing the fire. Shisui appeared in the distance and sprinted to us, putting a knee on the ground between Shinobu and I. He put a hand on her shoulder, and mine and looked at each of us. I grabbed his hand, gave it a squeeze to thank him, and turned him to Shinobu.

I removed the armor and lay down in the snow, trying to use it to cool my arm and headache down. It worked, a little.

"Akane?" I opened my eyes to see Itachi's quizzical expression. "Come here." He made me sit and kept me against him.

"I'm wet," I muttered against him. "And…useless…no control, nothing…"

"It happens sometimes, it's fine to let us deal with the mission," he whispered back in my ear. "Can you walk?"

"I have a terrible headache, keep me from…walking into a pole or whatever." He nodded and helped me up, keeping his arm around my waist and my arm on his shoulders. "Thank you."

"If you're too slow I'll carry you." I chuckled faintly.

"The local authorities are at the casino; I gave them enough information to avoid Shisui to be noticed. He took Shinobu-san home," Yamato told them.

They were in a hotel room Kakashi had booked. There was a Root member and Kai, but also a man Akane had called 'Kaiji' in the room, all of them unconscious. He was currently sitting next to her, who was blowing on a cup of tea, a blanket wrapped around her.

"Why did you go there?" she asked him.

"We went with senpai first, but then Shinobu said she had seen people leaving toward the casino, so we went. When we got there, it blew up just in front of us." Itachi glanced at Kakashi. "Do you know why Root is here?"

"They helped the representative of the Isle of the Lost," he told them. "The province is corrupted, this man, Kai, came here to kill Mari-san and Haruto-san and Root was helping him to destabilize Konoha's power. Apparently, sensei has been too preoccupied with what was happening abroad for a while now." He saw Akane's eyes looking down at this and he nudged her discreetly. She looked up at him and he smiled softly.

She looked so…down.

"Wasn't Root dissolved?" she asked them.

"It was, but when the Sandaime died, the Elders went behind Hokage-sama's back and asked him to come back," Yamato replied. Akane frowned and he almost sighed.

"Sensei discovered it when he came back from Kiri," Kakashi added. "Which reminds me, have you received word from him?" Akane raised a brow.

"No, why? Was I supposed to?" Itachi exchanged a glance with his teammates.

"Hokage-sama said that he would ask you to help us now you were on the continent," Itachi informed her. She parted her lips to say something, but nothing came out. "You communicate via toad summons; they could have been intercepted." And killed probably.

"There were three Root members going to the casino when you were there, Shisui intercepted them", Yamato finished. "From what he told me, the head of the country knows about the situation here and wants to meet us. Everyone involved."

"Mifune," Akane whispered. "When…"

"Tomorrow at noon," she was interrupted by Yamato. "Sorry for interrupting you, but you should go get some rest right now, you look exhausted."

"I'll take you to your room," Itachi told her, standing up. She nodded and stood up, drinking her beverage in one go. She put the blanket away.

"I'll contact sensei," Kakashi told them.

When they were out of the room, Akane left for the stairs. Instead of going up, she went down.

"Akane?"

"We need to tell them," she said quietly. "I can sense Shisui." He pursed his lips. Itachi doubted it was wise to…go find them.

They could be in the middle of "reuniting" after all. Akane was not waiting for him though, despite looking pale and ill. He followed her, somehow, she was not slowed down by the heels or dress, and they found a small house near the ruins of the casino. The smell of smoke was still heavy in the air.

Akane knocked but didn't wait for an answer to enter. Itachi sighed, looking at the night sky and followed, removing his shoes like she did. He followed her up the stairs and almost bumped into her once on the second floor. Akane's face was beet red, and he could hear something banging against a wall.

"Shisui!" Alright, Shinobu was loud and clearly…they were enjoying their time together.

"They're…"

"Let's go back at the hotel," he whispered to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She didn't protest and once back in…well, Shisui's room apparently, Akane sat down on the bed. "Have you two been sharing a room?"

"…yeah, when I found him, he moved to the couch," she replied, pointing at the couch behind him. "I…they…"

"It's not really surprising." He looked in the closet and handed her a pair of pajamas. "You should take a hot shower." She glanced at the clothes for a few seconds and nodded, standing up.

"Can you…"

"I'm not going anywhere." She smiled faintly and disappeared in the bathroom.

When he heard the shower, he sighed deeply and ran a hand on his face. This situation was messy to begin with, now it was worst with the Land of Iron getting involved officially. Itachi sat down on the bed and looked around, trying to find anything that could tell him about Shisui's life through the few belongings he had.

His gaze found the orange bottle of pills on the nightstand, and he took it. It was half-full only and he spotted an empty one in the trashcan. Itachi frowned and read the tag on it. They were strong painkillers with potential side effects like nausea, depression and other good things.

He glanced at the door. Was it Shisui's or Akane's? She had complained about a headache earlier after all, maybe it was a recurring thing?

Akane left the bathroom with long pants, socks and an oversized shirt, so regular PJs for her. She blinked at the bottle in his hand, sat down next to him and took it. She popped a pill in her mouth and took a sip of the bottle of water on the floor.

"I've had migraines for weeks now," she told him quietly.

"You're not eating them like candies, are you?" She didn't say anything. "Did you have any scan in Kiri?"

"They're for people who…are in case of emergency. Dai gave the pills to me and told me not to overuse them."

"You're not listening to him." She pursed her lips. "Come back to Konoha and see Tsunade-sama."

"Why are you here?" He blinked, taken back. "I thought you were going to be operated and all that."

"The Hokage asked me to postpone it for this mission." She cursed under her breath. "Akane, it could be bad."

"It's…a Yuurei thing." Itachi didn't like the sound of that.

"Are there many things like this?" He bitterly and painfully remembered her stay in the hospital and the catatonia. Akane pursed her lips, and it was enough of an answer. "You told me everything there was to your stay at the hospital back then, right?" She looked down and he breathed out through his nostril loudly, frustrated.

"It's a clan kinjutsu. Like your Mangekyou takes your sight away…being bound to the Shinigami has heavy repercussions," she whispered. "Now I have the Claw I am even more connected to…"

"You've kept me in the dark," he accused her. She licked her dry lips. "If there's someone who should know about the Shinigami and what it does, it's me."

"It's my burden to bear, not yours," she said softly. "You've had enough before, I just…wanted to protect you, I guess, and me as well." He grabbed her shoulders softly and turned her toward him. "I don't want to talk about it now."

"If it messes with your health then I want to know."

"…not until I know you're safe." She took a deep breath and put her finger on his chest. "Not until I know it won't stop beating." He sighed.

"After then." He cupped her cheek and raised her face toward him. "Promise?" She glanced at his lips for a few seconds and nodded.

"Promise." He nodded and kissed her forehead softly before he squeezed her against him. She sighed and leaned into him, returning his embrace. "You…look extremely good in a suit by the way." He smiled faintly.

"Why did you arrange my hair?"

"It looks more sensual and mysterious if it's on your shoulder when you wear a suit. It gives an aura of you being powerful and attractive and knowing it and…irresistible." Her cheek was on his shoulder, and he was glad, because she couldn't see his blushing face.

"You were absolutely gorgeous in your dress too," he whispered to her. "And I was impressed you could be so quick on heels."

"…I had to learn." She leaned more comfortably in his arms.

"Can I stay the night?" She nodded.

"I forget how comfortable you are," she said, turning her head so that her face was facing his cheek. Her warm breath on the skin of his neck sent shivers down his spine. "I still have that headache though."

"I'm not looking for more, I'm fine with just holding you, my love." The nickname flew naturally from his lips. He half-expected Akane to move away, but he spotted a faint blush on her face instead. Face she hid in the crook of his neck. "One more thing."

"What?"

"I love you." She punched him weakly in the ribs. He barely felt it. "I don't know what's going on in your head, but don't forget that."

"…I'm a mess, am I not?" she asked, smirking wryly.

"Yes. We all are in our line of work." With his arm around her shoulders, he put his finger beneath her chin to make her raise her head so he could meet her gaze. "But you're my mess. You have been for years, and you will be until my last breath." She bit on her lip.

"Stop me if I take advantage of that." He kissed her lips chastely.

"You're not." She kissed his jaw and they both got under the sheets. "Try to get some sleep."

She fell asleep in his arms. Itachi waited that moment to move his head face and look at her in worry.

How much was the Shinigami taking from her? What…what kind of thoughts could it possibly put in her head?

He wasn't sure if he wanted to know, but he needed to be more careful than ever before.

He didn't want to think of the worst, but it didn't keep the worry from twisting his insides painful.

I woke up slowly, the migraine still here and Itachi running his hand up and down my back. I rubbed my eyes with a yawn.

"Morning," Itachi's deep voice greeted me.

"Morning…" I mumbled. I searched for my pills, but Itachi's hand took mine gently.

"What if, if you can function with the headache, you try not to rely on them?" I almost sighed. I knew Itachi would try to take matters in his own hands regarding this. I also knew he would not let go of the matter if I had not said anything. "I could keep the bottle." I sat up and ruffled my hair.

"Shisui has half of them already," I admitted under my breath. Itachi sat up as well, a frown on his face. "I have three in my bag." I glanced at his suit. "Were you comfortable sleeping in that?"

"I haven't slept much; I couldn't stop myself from thinking." I pulled on the loose tie. "We're leaving today, I should go back to my room and change."

"Take a shower too." He raised an eyebrow. "You smell like smoke." He sniffed his sleeve, then his hair.

"I didn't notice," he whispered. "Did it bother you?" I shook my head as the door was opened behind me.

I looked above my shoulder to find Shisui and Shinobu, both of them gaping at us. I rolled my eyes and buried my face in Itachi's shoulder, Shisui audibly gasping.

"Get over it," Itachi told them curtly, the warmth and gentleness in his voice gone.

"What did you do in my bed?" Shisui asked us.

"If someone did something, it's you two. You were loud." I could almost feel them blushing and I smirked against Itachi.

"Wh…what!? You guys came!?"

"We left quickly, Akane just wanted to tell you what was told."

"Oh." I moved back to look at them. Shinobu was holding Shisui's arm, Shisui scratching the back of his neck. "I've gotten the summary, we're leaving at noon so in two hours."

"Two hours?" I repeated, surprised. I glanced at the alarm clock showing it was ten already. I glanced back at Itachi. "You should have woken me u…" He cut me off by poking me on the forehead.

"You needed the sleep." He climbed over my legs to get up before pulling me up. "Get your stuff, we're going to my room."

"Huh?"

"Wow, Itachi, what are you implying?" Shisui asked with a twitch of the brow.

"I don't trust Shinobu with Akane." Heh?

The ginger woman was in my face the second he said that, pushing him out of the way.

"We haven't really met yet, so my name is Shinobu." I nodded.

"Uzumaki Akane, nice to meet you." She took her chin between two fingers, her dark blue eyes looking at me up and down. I almost felt naked under her stare despite being in the least sexy outfit ever.

Then, a grin slip her face and she hugged me enthusiastically.

"My, you're so cute and pretty Akane-chan!" I was taken back, her flowery perfume strong in my nose. "I get why Itachi-kun turned me down last year now, you're so precious!"

"Shinobu, you're overwhelming her," Shisui said, removing her from me. Shisui, my forever savior.

Noticing Itachi's stern gaze, I hurried to pick my things up, stuffed them in my bag and followed him to his room. I shook my head at Itachi once we were there.

"She's obscene," he simply stated before closing the bathroom door behind him.

I changed to my kunoichi outfit: a burgundy kimono top with long sleeves that ended at my fingernails with a black obi, black shorts that reached my mid-thighs and knee-high black boots. I had mesh tights on, as well as a mesh long-sleeved top beneath my kimono top. I was brushing my hair to make a ponytail when Itachi exited the bathroom, sporting only a towel around his waist.

"You're half naked," I commented, avoiding looking at him as much as I could.

"You've seen me naked."

"Well, sure b…Itachi!" I gasped as he hugged me from behind, keeping me against him. He buried his face in the crook of my neck, his hair tickling my skin. "Itachi…"

"You've changed outfit."

"Yeah, why? I thought it looked good."

"It does. Very, very much." I curled my toes on the floor when his hand was on my thigh.

"Get dressed."

"One condition."

"What?"

"Don't avoid looking at me when I'm like this. I thought you liked having me naked or close to naked." I rolled my eyes. "Akane…"

"Of course, I enjoy that, but you're quickly becoming the source of my migraine," I admitted through gritted teeth. He chuckled and grazed my neck with his lips for a second before moving away.

I hurried to the bathroom to finish getting ready. Once done, I saw Itachi ready as well, both our bags on his bed. I put my bag on my back, but before I could leave the room, the Uchiha took my wrist in his hand.

"Yes?" His lips were on mine. I responded immediately when his hands were on my cheeks, and I put my hands flat on his chest.

"Do I smell better now?" he asked me in a breath, against my lips. I buried my nose in his shoulder and took a deep sniff.

"Yeah, you smell like the hotel's soap now." He kissed my temple.

"Good then. Let's go." I followed him.

It was decided Itachi and I would stick to Haruto and Mari as they knew us already. They were both shaken up by what had happened and the fact we had to leave, but they followed us. Shinobu was also put on our team while Shisui, Kakashi, Yamato and Kaiji would follow us. I had no idea of what was going to happen exactly. To be honest, I had not been that involved in the discussions either and I was…kind of fine with that.

Dealing with Kiri had drained any brain power I had.

Itachi was taking care of everything: explaining what was going on to them, breaks, directions and making sure I was alright. He'd have this soft and gentle glint in his eyes when he'd talk to me.

We reached the place that would become the Shinobi Union HQ later on. I looked around us when we stopped in front of the entrance, a samurai and a bald man with a scar over his eye and forehead greeting us. We bowed to them, and the bald man bowed back, scanning the five of us and stopping on Shinobu for a second longer. She inched closer to me, trying to hide behind me despite being a few centimeters taller.

"Welcome to the Land of Iron. I am going to take you to Mifune-dono." We followed him.

When we were in front of Mifune, who was younger yet did not look that much younger, they took our cloaks and gave us tea to warm us up. I put mine down when it was making me too hot.

"Welcome," Mifune greeted us. We bowed.

"Thank you for your hospitality Mifune-sama," Itachi stated firmly. "My name is Uchiha Itachi. This is Uzumaki Akane, from the Hidden Mist, Shinobu, Haruto and Mari." I nodded at him. "We apologize our issues have reached your nation."

"You have hidden people connected to them in our nation," Mifune reminded us. I took a step forward, now next to Itachi.

"Due to the reason they are in exile, we could not let them in a shinobi nation. We are sincerely sorry for this, but the Land of Iron seemed like the safest place for them."

"It would have been but in a less corrupted province," he agreed. "You have picked the worst one, although this young lady's business would not have functioned that well in a less corrupted place." Shinobu looked at her feet. "Now, please tell me of this place you both come from."

Mari stepped forward, Haruto remaining behind her a little and she explained things from her point of view, how we extracted them from the place during a coup, how we took them to Shinobu and how Shinobu took care of them until a few days ago.

"I cannot deny that the original goal of the island, which was a place with no shinobi, was tainted because, at some point, anti-shinobi propaganda started to appear and grow more and more.

"We think they might try something against the Elemental Nations at some point," Itachi continued. "We cannot say for sure if they would refrain from attacking the Land of Iron directly, but it is a possibility as we have seen."

"When shinobi start having issues, it usually ends up in blood and tears for everyone, even those not involved," Mifune stated solemnly. That was sadly true. "Choosing the Land of Iron for protection was not a bad idea, but it would have been better had it been officially asked." I exchanged a quick look with Itachi.

"We were not in a situation to…properly ask, our deepest apologies," I said, a little bit ashamed. "However, Hatake Kakashi should arrive with words from the Hokage and potentially the Fifth Mizukage as well."

"I see." Mifune glanced at all of us and turned to the bald man. "Lead them to their rooms Okisuke."

"Understood."

I found myself sharing one with Shinobu. She…talked a lot.

"I'm sorry but I have a headache, could you please…"

"Oh sure, I'm sorry." She took something from her bag and put it on my bed next to me. I blinked at the pills. "Shisui had them and told me they were yours, I thought you could use them if he was not here." I popped two in my mouth and swallowed them. I glanced at Shinobu in relief.

"Thank you." Itachi did not need to know.

At dinner, Itachi told me the others had arrived and that Shisui would be sharing his room. I just shrugged, not caring about it. He looked around and leaned more toward me.

"There are chances Shinobu and Shisui might want to be in one of the rooms on their own," he told me quietly. "If you're fine with sharing a room with me if it happens fine, but if you're not I'll tell Shisui so they don't bother you."

"Oh, I didn't understand that. Huh…there are two beds it's fine." He frowned and took my chin.

"You look high." I pursed my lips, and he narrowed his eyes. "You found painkillers?"

"…my head was killing me…" He let go of me with a frustrated sigh. "Look, I know I take too many of them, okay? But you're not a doctor either."

"It doesn't mean I'm going to let you become an addict without trying anything to stop it."

"You're…have you always been this dramatic?"

"I'm worried," he corrected me. I rolled my eyes.

"It's not the priority right now. If…if they want to fuck, then we can share a room. Can I go back to eating now?" He nodded without a word.

Shinobu looked down when I noticed her staring.

"Ah, you know," Shisui told him. "I thought taking half of the bottles would do something to…make her stop."

"If only." They were sitting face to face on their beds.

"Are you…good if Shinobu spends the night here?"

"Yeah, we talked about it with Akane already. I'll go to the girls' room." Shisui took a deep breath.

"I know I haven't been around for a while, and that we have not caught up or anything but…are you two good good? She gave me the quickest summary ever and refused to talk about it after."

"Yes." Itachi gulped under Shisui's analytical staring. "We're not…in a relationship if that is what you're looking for. She doesn't want that right now, and I've seen how she is, I'm not going to add more stress on her shoulders."

"But you want to be." Itachi looked down. "Did you tell her?"

"Yes. I've also told her I loved her." Shisui looked relieved about it. "It doesn't mean it is going to solve everything, even if I wish it could."

"Well, being a Yuurei is tough." The Uchiha heir frowned at him.

"Do you know something I don't?"

"Probably. She said a lot about it when we left Konoha." Why…

Shisui was there and Akane needed someone to talk to but…he hated the fact Shisui knew more than him. The awful bitterness of jealousy was making knots out of his intestines.

"In her defense, you guys had a lot of unresolved issues so no need to be mad about being kept in the dark," Shisui added with a pointed look.

"I'm not mad."

"Fine. Jealous then. You've always tended to get jealous and possessive when Akane was paying too much attention to another guy."

"That's not true," Itachi refuted.

"Please, you think I never noticed the glares you'd give me when we were training together, and I was helping her, and she was coming to me instead of you?" Itachi looked away. "Anyway, when all of this is over, I'm counting on you to take her back to the village, even if it's just to get checked out."

"You think I don't know that?"

"I'm sure you do, but I'm doubting your ability to make her follow you." Itachi frowned. "I'm not going back to Konoha and she seems dead set on bringing me back."

"…I know. I can't just force her to come either though."

"Why not?"

"Because she'd never forgive me?" Itachi retorted sarcastically. "I can't force her to come, she said we'd talk after my surgery, so I guess it means she's going to come back at some point but…"

"Don't let her out of your sight. Seriously. Did she tell you about how I left the Akatsuki?"

"Not exactly?"

"Well, Madara wanted to get his hands on her, and we agreed to disagree on the matter. However…her dad is also after her."

"…do you know why?"

"Just…he'd keep saying it was family business, but then Akane mentioned a clan dark ritual so it can't be good. The thing is…I know Ushio now. He's…strong."

"How strong are we talking about? I know he fought the Fourth Hokage but…"

"Stupidly strong. My sharingan does not work on him. He himself admitted the Kotoamatsukami might work. 'Might' Itachi, 'might'. He…he put a fucking seal on one of his eyeballs that deflects genjutsu. It's like looking at your reflection in a mirror."

"Akane created a seal that seals doujutsu, she's not stupidly brilliant for nothing." Shisui smirked tauntingly.

"'Stupidly brilliant'? It's nice to finally see you be hone…" Itachi threw his pillow at him.

"Shut up, it was fine until she started to get unwanted attention on her." He had not heard Shisui snickering or making fun of him in a long, long time.

"Sorry, sorry. Anyway, Ushio can also…he doesn't have an Ice Release but he is part of the Yuki clan, his affinity with water is too good. If you're in contact with some water he also is connected to, he can control you."

"Control you?"

"Yeah, he did that when I was recruited. It made Sasori green with jealousy as well. Basically, he controls the water in your body to use you like a puppet. It's terrifying. Oh, and he uses the Hiraishin."

"Do you have any good news about the guy?"

"Madara regrets recruiting him, and Ushio has his own agenda, I doubt he wants to see Madara's plan happen so…the enemy of my enemy is my all…"

"No, they're both enemies." Itachi stood up and grabbed his bag. "Should I walk Shinobu here?"

"I'm coming with you." When he closed the door, Shisui put his hand on Itachi's shoulder and leaned toward his ear. "It's Valentine's Day tomorrow." Itachi moved away and they reached the girls' room quickly.

Shinobu opened the door quietly and left the room, a finger on her mouth.

"She's sleeping," she whispered to them. "Don't wake her up."

"Got it, now…" Shisui started, embracing her. Shinobu giggled as he kissed her neck. "See you tomorrow, Itachi."

"At least wait until you're in the bedroom," Itachi droned at them before entering the room.

The room was in the dark, but he could see Akane's sleeping form in her bed. Itachi put his bag at the foot of his bed and lay down on it.

"Goodnight Itachi," Akane said. Itachi smirked faintly.

"You pretended to be sleeping so she stopped talking?"

"I'm sure she's nice, but I can't right now."

"I don't blame you." He saw something moving in the dark and reached out to it. His hand was in Akane's, who squeezed it. "Goodnight my love."

"I'm gonna develop diabetes if you keep being so sweet." He chuckled briefly.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take."

"Jerk."

"Sure."

He waited to hear her steady breathing before falling asleep himself.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have liked it, please do let me know in reviews! Thanks to the Guest for the reviews! Yeah, I'm not a native speaker, I'm very much French but thank you! And my thesis is on the influence of the Arthurian myth in pop culture and I'm comparing Marvel comics and mangas/anime. If anyone have read my MCU fic, then you've seen Captain Britain and...he's pretty much the sole reason I've picked this subject. Not gonna lie, I didn't think there would be so much stuff to write about it, especially with dear old Captain America.

Bye!