#he runs an art gallery and is a lackluster art teacher | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sweetestlamb · 3 years

Text

Mostrami Amore.

Summary: Cha-young tries to move on from a certain mafia boss.

Author’s Note: Thank for to everyone who sent in prompts for Chayenzo, it resulted in this mess. I don’t have much to say, I considered making this into a multi- chaptered story but honestly I don’t have time for another ongoing story so if this seems rushed it was a little, I wrote it in one go today. Hope you enjoy this, I stuck in some of my favorite crack ship because I am weak and obsessed. Happy reading!

p.s takes place after final episode but han seo lives because this is my world and I get to play God.

Another postcard.

Their delivery becomes sporadic and she’s embarrassed at the giddiness that washes over her each time a new square is sent miles across a wide stretch of ocean, the view on the card most likely lackluster in comparison to the true rendering of Malta. She has spent many hours on her laptop searching for images of the small paradisiac island, yearning to see what he sees and feel just a tad bit closer to him. Most of her life has been spent in solitude with only her work acquaintances filling the void at times, so she expected herself to be more equipped to deal with his disappearance and subsequent absence. But nothing prepares her for those moments at the coffee shop, when she finds herself smiling across a table only to realize there is no miniature espresso cup in the hand of a very dangerous Italian Korean mafia member grinning back at her.

The smile melts off her face and she swallows the bitter cool sludge in her cup, the beverage tasting exactly as he had described it without him there.

Nights are the hardest, loneliness coils around her like a snake.

There was never any other fate for them, she knew that when Vincenzo murdered all their enemies this was their only real outcome. He would always be a fugitive on the run and she an accomplice if he were captured and questioned, it was in both of their best interests if he vanished from the face of the planet. But knowing that does nothing to qualm the ever present feeling of isolation that clings to her skin as she sits alone on her couch, downing makgeolli at a vicious pace. Trying to wash his taste from her mouth, that kiss on loop in her mind and the phantom grip of his hand on her neck.

It’s those treacherous nights without the plaza members that have become a second family to her and Han Seo following her like the lost puppy he is calling her “Noona” so freely and frequently until she forgets her own name, that she allows herself to feel exactly what she’s feelings.

Heartbroken.

Desperate.

Lonely.

Rage.

The last one she hides like a dirty secret in the closet of her heart, she knew what she was signing up for. She has no legitimate reason to be angry, or so she tries to reason with herself. But. This was the same man who had bypassed the security of one of the richest men in Korea and ultimately killed him without leaving a trace. She had watched him do despicable things, blackmailing, threatening, seducing, and murdering others as he saw fit and yet, he hadn’t used any of those dastardly ways to see her. That chance meeting at the art gallery had been the last she had seen of him, Then a few weeks later another postcard with the same message she had boldly uttered at the airport, it feels insufficient after having him in her arms again. She knew in that moment that they would never be enough again. She hadn’t even argued when Mr. Nam claimed he would leave this one on his table instead, she merely nodded and walked away to peruse the new sexual assault case she has taken recently.

It gets harder and harder to hear Han Seo regaling the wonders of his “hyung”, her anger boiling deep below the surface like magma waiting to explode and transform into something tangible and destructive.

“He told me that he has a room for me too. I wonder when he’ll let us visit.”

She nods absently, staring out the window at the sunlight twinkling in through the blinds but then his words register and the gears in her head churn before running the sentence back through to carefully process them.

“He---what? You spoke to Vincenzo?”

The human puppy pouts his lips before tilting his head and dealing a hard blow to her ego and her heart, “Yeah, he sends me letters. I got so scared the first time! He said the letter would self-destruct after I read it and I really thought that was true and I dived across the room to escape but I bumped my head on the table and then...”

He sent Han Seo letters.

She had received the same fucking postcard for months on end with the same message she had said to him, and he had time to write Han Seo letters. He hadn’t sent her even one in the time he had been gone.

“That fucking bastard!” She explodes interrupting Han Seo’s recount of his near death experience and he looks wide- eyed and taken back by her outburst, she almost soothes him before another wave of anger rushes through her veins. She had accepted the bare minimum because she thought this was all he could give her but it seemed she was being too naïve. He was Vincenzo Cassano after all, he could make anything happen. She had seen it with her own two eyes. If he wasn’t reaching out to her maybe that was a message and she was too blind to see it.

“Noona? Are you okay?” Han Seo looks absolutely terrified, eyes huge and quivering. She doesn’t bother answering, grabbing her cup of lukewarm coffee and stomping out of the office ignoring Mr. Nam’s calls behind her. She’s tired of being an idiot.

She throws herself into forgetting him, the same way he seems to have forgotten her despite his words to her that fateful night on the stairs.

I thought about you everyday.

Actions speak louder than words and she is done accepting his crumbs. She has never needed anyone, had even accepted when her own father wanted nothing to do with her; she has basically been prepping for this moment her entire life.

So she goes shopping with Miri, buying gadgets that she has no idea how to use but that the other girl makes sound like things that she definitely needs such as a new home security system, her break in still fresh in her mind. She grins at the pretty smile on the other girl’s round face as she explains the specification of the machines around them and she can see why Han Seo has such a huge crush on the girl, the pretty blush that blossoms on the other girl’s cheek after stating the fact out loud is adorable and she pinches said cheek much to her chagrin.

“You should worry about your own love life.” Miri teases but the words sting like acid on her skin and she turns away to hide the grimace on her face, but she’s not fast enough and the other girl catches her wrist halting her movement.

“What? What’s wrong? Did something happen to Mr. Cassano?” Miri whispers the last part, looking around to make sure that nobody overhears them.

She forces herself to stifle her emotions, trapping them in the back of her mind refusing to let him have this kind of affect on her.

“I wouldn’t know.” She tries for a emotionless tone but even she can hear the bitterness in her own voice and Miri’s eyes fill with pity and it makes her sick to her stomach, “Don’t. I am going to be fine. Let’s just go.”

They don’t utter single word in the car ride home.

After that it becomes painfully obvious that everyone in the plaza thinks something is wrong with her and are teaming up to make her feel better. It’s the packed lunches that keep showing up on her desk without fail, her clothes being steamed and pressed for free, the way that they won’t allow her to be alone and there are countless spontaneous family game nights all ending with her drunk and being carried home.

Tonight Mr. Tak is the unlucky volunteer, dragging her limp body in her father’s house and she thinks of all the times that they drank here together and a certain person was the one hauling her body to bed complaining and grumbling but that distractingly fond smile on his face that he only ever seemed to shoot her way. Her heart thumped loudly as he loomed over her and leaned in close, getting her hopes up only to brush her hair behind her ears and softly tell her, “Go to sleep now,” and she had never been obedient all her teachers could testify to that but when he looked at her like that she was powerless to do anything else but listen.

“I miss him.” The traitorous words fall from her lips and vanish into the inky darkness of the night.

A deep sigh from the left of her, “We know.”

She feels vulnerable, the worst thing about having a weakness is other’s noticing too. She hates how weak she feels.

“I am going to forget him.”

The body supporting most of her weight tenses under her arm and she waits for his response, they all love Vincenzo- he had become their unexpected hero and leader in many ways. They would always take his side, she knows that.

“If that’s what you need to do to be happy. Then, do it. Loving a man like Vincenzo isn’t easy.”

She turns to look at him in genuine shock.

“What? You thought I would tell you to keep waiting with no end in sight? You should know by now, you mean a lot to us too. Your happiness is important to us too, we’re a family.”

“But we’re the Cassano family,” she challenges unable to accept that they could love her without Vincenzo attached, but Mr. Tak shrugs at the clarification, “We can be the Hong Family too.”

She feels her eyes swimming.

“I should go inside.”

She feels sober and more awake than ever, she stays up all night twirling the long strands of her hair in between her fingers.

Thinking.

Variety is the spice of life.

She doesn’t know where she’s heard that but it’s those sage words that are the catalyst for her spontaneous decision.

“Same as always? Silky with some body?” Her stylist peers into her eyes through the wide mirror and she hears herself say, “No I want a cut and some color.” Yu-jin raises one pretty tweezed brow but nods after a moment’s pause, “Okay. How short are you thinking?”

And that’s how she starts her day with long thick hair that grazes her lower back and ends it with a short bob that tickles her neck. It feels like a weight has been lifted from her shoulder, metaphorically and literally and she loves the face that she sees in the mirror, her eyes looking brighter than they have in months. She feels more alive, like a snake shedding its skin and becoming a newer and fresher version of itself.

“Your hair?” That becomes the running theme for her day, shocked gaping mouths and hands reaching out for the hair that was once there. She merely smirks at their palpable surprise, especially Seol-jin who doesn’t recognize her from behind.

“I haven’t seen a pretty lady like you aro--Oh Ms. Hong! I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you, I am so sorry please excuse me!” The interpretative dancer bolts away leaving her to watch him bemused, she skips to Jipuragi with a pep in her step laughing loudly when Mr. Nam drops his coffee upon seeing her and the brown liquid goes flying and douses him in a sticky hot mess.

It’s an entertaining day to say the least.

Moments later when he’s finished cleaning himself up and changing into the cheetah print track suit that he insisted to keeping in the office, he mentions that a new postcard has arrived. She nods at the information, looking at her laptop and it’s only seconds later that she finally looks up and sees that he’s waiting for her response. She doesn’t have one.

Forcing a tight smile on her face she replies, “Oh that’s great. Just put it with the others.”

He does.

But she can feel his eyes on her, his concern heavy and tangible in the air.

She pretends not to notice and keeps clicking away on her laptop, only glancing over at the card once or twice. But it’s only out of habit.

Nothing more.

She starts going on dates with random men. Men she meets in coffee shops, on the streets, in bars, hell one time even the bookstore. She never meets the same man twice and they never get what they want but it does make her feel desirable and that’s all she’s looking for.

“Where are you going?” Han Seo asks her curiously, Miri by his side as she struts out the plaza new perfume on her skin.

“On a date. I’ll see you both later.” They both gape at her and can only watch with wide eyes as she sashays away, heels clicking with every step.

Word spreads like wildfire and no one takes it harder than Mr. An, who calls her a “jezebel” and cries at the front of the law firm for hours, she has to step over him to go get lunch shaking him off when he latches on to her ankles.

The others just look at her with sad eyes, filled with both understanding and disappointment.

Much to her surprise the lunch boxes keep coming and her clothes are still pressed and starched to perfection though.

She also starts taking self defense classes, Korea is much more dangerous than she had first suspected and she has to be able to protect herself because nobody is coming to save her. Not anymore.

It becomes a great outlet for her built up anger and her instructor praises her for being a fast learner. She grins and nods before flipping him and twisting his arm around his own neck in a modified sleeper hold. When he taps on her arm she squeezes tighter instead of letting go and he goes limp for a moment before she comes back to herself and releases him hastily with a quick apology, “Sorry!”

He rubs his neck, panting for air and she feels guilty, there's a tinge of that but most of all she feels powerful, more so than she has for a long time.

It’s crazy but she finds herself asking him for drinks after class and even crazier is that he agrees even with her marks still there on his skin, the area bruised and red. He looks at her like she’s challenge that he wants to conquer, she lets him believe that’s possible. It’s only a bit of fun anyway, she has no plans for anything serious.

Drinks turn into a drunken cab ride home with his hand on her thigh, hot through the thin material of her tights and they don’t feel right- too small and not rough enough but she’s moving on and she has no time to reminisce.

There hasn’t even been a postcard lately. Message, loud and clear.

When she shoves the keys into her door, he’s glued to her body leaving wet kisses on the long column of her neck and she tries to suppress the nausea that swims in her stomach, everything feels wrong and she hates herself for feeling that way. Why shouldn’t she fuck whoever she wants? He is probably doing the same thing, everyday on his beautiful private island. Kissing women that aren’t her and whispering dirty Italian words into their ears as he rocks back and forth, nary a thought of that Korean woman he knew once upon a time.

Fuck him.

She rocks back into the purposeful grind of the hips behind her, feeling the hardness that digs into the soft flesh of her ass and finally the door opens and they both tumble in haphazardly and he thrusts a hand under her loose shirt fingering at her breasts before a dark figure moves far too quickly in her peripheral and she hears her date cry out in pain.

She almost faints at the familiar sight of the one person she never expected to see, the hard glint of his cold eyes as he twists the same hand that had just been fondling her chest. The grip looks painful, the wrist contorted in an unnatural manner.

“What the fuck? You have a boyfriend?!” Her instructor cries out, voice high pitched falling to his knees as Vincenzo kicks his feet out from under him.

She rolls her eyes, of course he would come now when she is trying (and failing) to get over him.

Vindictively she answers the question, ‘No.”

But that makes Vincenzo twist the wrist in his grip even tighter and she can see the bones breaking so she takes pity on the poor man, he didn’t sign up for a murderous mafia leader after all.

“Just let him go. You have no right to do any of this.”

He doesn’t listen right away and absently she wonders if she’ll need to test out her new moves on him, it would be satisfying to deck him square in the face. She dreams of that as often as she dreams of their reunion. Her feelings are...complicated to say the least.

Then with a grunt, he throws the other man away like he’s trash and growls out, “Get out of here before I kill you.”

She tries not be get turned on by that. But it’s a hard sell, her body already getting revved up. He’s telling the truth.

The man wastes no time, jumping to his feet and bolting out the door without one backwards glance. Asshole, he was really just leaving her with a clearly unstable and dangerous man.

“We need to talk.” Vincenzo squeezes out between clenched teeth, and her blood runs cold but she stares him dead in the eyes tired of this game they’ve been playing, if he’s here to end things she wants to know.

“Okay. Then talk.”

She looks insanely beautiful, with her hair cropped so short bringing his eyes to the tantalizing length of her neck. His eyes close in on a spot of moisture on her neck, he feels his blood boiling imagining that bastard touching any part of her. She’s glaring right back at him, her chest rising and falling and he can’t help but check her out, it’s been months since he saw her in person the photo of her doing aerial yoga above his bed couldn’t compare to the tempest that is Cha-young in real life.

The flat plane of her belly is on display under the white crop top loosely stretched across her chest which leads down to her slim hips and legs wrapped in white spandex, leaving very little to the imagination not that he hasn’t imagined her in far less many, many times. Too many times to count. Spilling across the silk adorning his king sized bed with only her name on his lips.

She looks fucking hot.

That makes it even more frustrating because he can still clearly see that bastard wrapped around her like a snake and his hands going up her shirt---he has to take a deep breath before he breaks something. Or chases that asshole to break his face.

There’s so much he wants to say to her, so much he owes her.

I missed you.

I love you.

Come with me.

“Who the hell was that?” He says this instead then watches her eyes glint over into nothing but pure murderous rage. Wrong move. But he couldn’t help it, green eyed raged taking away his decision making abilities.

“That’s all you have to say? Get out.”

He wasn’t expecting rose petals and trumpets when he returned but he definitely wasn’t expecting this, her cold glare or another man in his spot. He thought she would wait for him, just as he had done for her.

“Are you serious right now?” He counters, flabbergasted.

“Deadly. Get out.”

He clenches his fist, and then stomps out. Turning back but only to watch the door slam in his face.

What the hell.

It had only taken a letter from Han Seo to get him on boat that would take him to an open field and hours later he was soaring through the skies on a hot air balloon, on his way back to Korea. It was insane and he barely had time to explain to his family but Luca nodded at him like this was the only choice and told him that he would take care of everything, and he trusted those words more than he had ever trusted anything in his life.

“Vai a prendere la tua donna( go get your woman).”

He had nodded, gruffly patting the other man on his shoulder before hopping over into the waiting boat.

But he wasn’t so certain anymore that Cha-young was his.

She seems different. Colder almost, she leaves whenever I mention your name and she goes on dates now. I think she’s moving on hyung, what are you going to do?

Those words had been the scariest thing he had never seen. Scarier than every gun that had ever been pointed at his head. He thought what they had was something special, something that could stand the test of time and distance. He stared at the huge pile of letters on his bedside, all addressed to her. He had written one everyday since they had been separated, but each time he was too much of a coward to send it. In those letters he could say things that he could never say to her face, things like how much he ached without her by his side and how her smile was the only thing that kept him going. In those letters he could regal the ways he loved her, and how deeply she had been branded into his soul, every atom of his body belonged to her and her alone. He would kill for her, die for her, anything she needed or merely wanted he would provide it, all she needed to do was ask.

He could only share those feelings in the letters.

He walks for hours, until he ends up at his old apartment the familiar door greeting him and he sticks his hand in his pocket before he remembers that he gave the key away, with a sigh he starts to walk away before the door creaks open and he hears a voice he hasn’t heard in months.

“Hyung!”

A warmth spreads across his back as a solid weight almost knocks him off his feet. He reaches one arm around his body, awkwardly slapping the face that is pressing into his collar.

“You really chose to stay here.”

He feels the nod on his shoulder, “Of course. It made me feel closer to you hyung, I missed you.”

He grunts in response, before turning around and tugging the younger man into a real hug. He had missed the annoying little leech too, he had missed everyone.

They are still in each other’s embrace for a moment before Han Seo pulls away, sympathy etched deep on his face.

“She wasn’t happy to see you.”

“There was someone else there.” He hates the words even as they leave his mouth and Han Seo winces, looking pained for him before tugging him into the small apartment. Everything is just like he left it. He looks around in awe.

“I’m sorry hyung. What are you going to do?”

That’s the golden question, he pondered it all the way here and he’s no closer to knowing the answer to that. Usually she is the one that makes the move, she has always been the brave one between them. He back steps and says things he doesn’t mean and she sees through him and smashes down all his walls. That’s how this has always worked.

“I don’t know. Maybe I should just leave her alone. Let her be happy.”

A loud scoff reaches his ears, “Sure. Is that why you sailed across sharked infested waters and trusted a hot air balloon company run my former thugs?”

He smarts at the sarcastic reply and glares before flicking the cheeky brat on his nose, "I liked you better when you were stupid you know. Now you're a little smart ass."

The younger man looks even more youthful as he grins back at him, rubbing at his nose before shrugging. "I learned from the best."

He has no rebuttal for that so he tries to flick him again, giving chase when he darts off.

It feels good to be home.

He warns Han Seo not to tell anyone that he's here least they give away his location.

So he's not surprised the next day to find the cavalry at his doorstep hands filled to the brim with containers of food. There are tears, mostly from Mr. Nam who won't stop screaming his name and pinching his cheeks to see if he's real and Mr. An who wraps around him like a koala despite his very detailed threats. It's all chaos and so familiar that his heart aches but her absence is like a hole in his chest. Nobody mentions her but they all keep looking at the door, so it's obvious that she was invited but chose not to come.

Because she didn't want to see him.

"You're here to win her back right?" He doesn't know who even utters the words but when he glances up they are all looking at him expectantly.

He didn't know that was what he was indeed here for thought that she would happily welcome him back and they could pick up where they left off but she's made it clear that this won't be the case. This will be the most important fight of his life.

"Yes. I'm here for Cha-young."

He gets enthusiastic thumbs up and a loud giggle from the Yeon-Jin and Cheol-Wook’s adorable baby, her little hands too uncoordinated to do a thumbs up but she waves excitedly feeding off the energy around her.

He wonders how Cha-young would look with a baby in her arms, their baby it's a dangerous thought. But one that he can't get out of his mind once he thinks it.

They stay until midnight, forcing him to eat and drink too much soju until he passes out to dreams filled with a round Cha-young, belly swollen and protruding from her body.

It doesn't take much to learn her schedule(Mr. Nam hands him a laminated copy) and he has to put on a disguise but he enters the shop seconds after her, hearing her order that god awful sewer water she's so fond of.

"An espresso for me." He leans in too close, almost brushing her shoulder and she jolts at the sound of his voice, turning to stare at him as if she's a mirage.

"You're still here?" She whispers and then shakes her head and looks away as if she's hadn't meant to say the words aloud.

It hurts him that she thought he would leave without telling her but he can't blame her, he has been anything but consistent. Instead of answering, he leans forward to hand his credit card to the cashier who glances between them suspiciously before accepting the card.

Their orders are ready in seconds and he follows her as she walks to their table, butterflies in his stomach at the familiar sight.

She turns to him with a glare, "It's just the only available table."

He moves to pull out her chair and she starts at him tight lipped before sitting down. She's in a tight black suit today, two long slits on the side of her pants going all the way up to her thighs. He gulps down his drink to get rid of the drool pooling in his mouth.

"You're upset with me."

She stares at him like he's the biggest idiot on the planet, it's not a look he receives often but she's always the outlier in his otherwise organized life.

"Astute observation." She quips back, sucking loudly at her coffee.

"Why?"

He considered how to go about breeching this subject and in the end had decided on going straight to the source, he had been under the impression that this was working for them.

Her face morphs into a person he hasn't seen for a long time, the Cha-young that would berate him and make him angry enough to curse in Italian.

"Do you think this little of me?"

He's completely lost, "What do you mean? What did I do that was so wrong? Wrong enough for you to cheat on me!" He's panting now, his voice has gotten loud enough to catch people's attention he can feel them watching their table, nosy and invested.

"Cheat on you?"

Cold as ice, her voice is. It almost makes him shiver.

"How could I possibly cheat on you? We're not together. You send me the same postcard with the same message every few months. I have no idea what you're doing in Malta, who you're with. You can't even be bothered to send me a letter, do you think this is a relationship? You think it's enough to pop up like this every once in a blue moon? You've told me nothing about how you feel about me but I'm supposed to be satisfied with whatever you throw my way?"

If he wasn't sitting down his legs would have already given out he's certain about that. Her voice is deadly quiet each word landing and chipping away at his confidence.

"I'm doing the best I can! You knew it would be like this after everything was over, why are you blaming me now? How about you, I don't know how you feel either!"

"I love you! Anyone with eyes can see that, I told you that at the airport too. And again when I took a bullet for you, you didn't think that meant I loved you? I was willing to die for you."

Shit.

It's not at all how he expected them to confess their love for each other, it's hard to believe the words that are coming out of her mouth as she bares her teeth at him.

"So why are you doing this? Why are there other men?"

Why aren't I enough? He wants to say but he's scared of her answer, terrified that she'll say that she can't do this anymore. That he just isn’t enough anymore.

She stares at him long and hard.

Waiting for something. But he doesn't know what.

"You haven't changed at all. You're still a coward, I'm not interested in guessing anymore. I’m done playing this game.”

She stands up and walks away, leaving her unfinished coffee on the table.

Unwanted just like him.

She doesn't see him for days and she accepts that her words had done their damage, she had cried until she fell asleep that night. Waking up with swollen red eyes that no amount of concealer would save but thankfully no one commented on her state.

She goes through her day on autopilot and before she knows it she's back home, ready to face her night alone again. She pushes the door open, half praying he'll be waiting for her but her hopes shattered when she turns on the lights and finds no one.

"It's better this way." She lies to herself, pouring herself an obscene glass of soju. She's going to need plenty of alcohol to get through this pain.

Her head is woozy and heavy when she hears a sound, suddenly alert she stills in her chair before rushing over to get a frying pan walking on the tips of her toes she prowls closer to the clicking sound, finding herself at the window peering at a long lost friend. Placing the frying pan on her window sill she pry opens the window, screeching when the audacious bird flies inside landing on her table as if he belongs there.

"Hey Inzaghi! Get your dirty bird feet off my table!"

He looks at her nonchalantly, making himself comfortable on said table and she sighs before shutting the window and drunkenly swaying over to him.

"What are you even doing there? Do you want to be my bird now, I won't be a very good owner. I won't remember to feed you. I barely remember to feed myself."

Despite being a bird he finds a way to roll his eyes at her before standing up and only then does she notice something on his leg. She looks at him cautiously before moving closer and untying the paper on his leg, the pigeon barely reacts before flying over to her couch. She sighs in annoyance, she's going to have to clean everything after this bird leaves.

She unwinds the string holding the paper together, unrolling the paper scroll. There is a message written inside: the rooftop. 9 pm.

Glancing at her clock the time shines at her.

7:34pm.

"This could be a trap."

It very much could be, she has enemies now. It was a small price to pay for taking down Babel but she's always looking over her shoulders now, so this note could easily be someone luring her to hurt her or get back at Vincenzo.

Inzaghi coos loudly at her as if he can hear her thoughts. This time he finds a way to look exasperated.

She stumbles off to her room.

She needs time to think.

"So she told you that she loved you and you didn't say it back?"

"I was shocked. She was growling at me and looked ready to kill me at the same time." He reasons back, trying to show his hyung his point of view. The younger man doesn't look even a little bit convinced by his logic.

"Okay and? That sounds perfectly normal for you too. You should have shot someone and wrote it back in their blood on the table."

He recoils in disgust at the suggestion, "What the hell is wrong with you? Are you actually insane, why the fuck would I do that?"

Han Seo stares deadpan in return.

He puts up a hand trying to stop whatever response he has, "Don't say it."

It doesn't work.

"Pig's blood. Don't forget I saw it all, I've never seen Ms. Hong look so excited before. You're both crazy."

Well, that had been different. It was an old tradition, she simply had an appreciation for the classics.

"And I bet you're defending her right now in your mind. Noona is just like you, that's why you're made for each other. She's the gasoline to your fire."

"You know that would just make an even larger fire right?"

"Yes. I'm smart now remember? I know what I said."

He sighs falling into the comfortable familiarity of the couch, a spring digging into his thigh.

"Why didn't you say it back?" His stills at the barely whispered question, his chest constricting as he recalls the passionate confession. He had frozen, like he'd always known she was the brave one between them. Always doing the unexpected and the time was no different, her words had knocked him off his feet.

"Because I was scared."

Han Seo huffs at his honesty. He doesn't know where the words are coming from but he's tired of keeping it all in.

"Because if anything happens to her it'll break me, I thought it would be better if I kept her at a distance. I thought this was enough. I thought this would be easier. When I think about her I want to drop everything and just be with her and that...was too dangerous. I had to keep my distance."

There's a pregnant pause, just the sound of their breathing filling the void.

"Was it?"

"What?"

"Easier. Is this better? Enough?"

He thinks about Cha-young getting married to a faceless man, exchanging vows and sealing it with a kiss, happy and in love on their honeymoon wanton moans and screams from their room, learning that they're having a baby and her round and glowing with someone else's child smiling brightly as she rubs her belly and it's too much. He wants to smash it all into little pieces.

"No. It's not enough. I need her, without her nothing is enough."

"That's what you should have said to her. Don't glare at me I'm right, but I have an idea. I saw it in an American cartoon."

And that's how he lets his younger brother convince him to send a note to Cha-young using Inzaghi, the pigeon had shown up one night and he'd been so happy he almost kissed the bird.

"How will he know where Cha Young lives?" He asks skeptical even as he ties the note to the birds leg.

"I showed him a picture of her house. According to the cartoon, birds just know.”

He stares at the younger man, wondering why he's listening to this ridiculous plan.

"This is stupid. I should just text her, Inzaghi is never going to deliver this. He's just a regular pigeon."

"This is more romantic." He answers matter of fact.

"How is a pigeon delivering a message in anyway romantic?" He challenges already knowing from the shit eating grin he won’t like the response.

"The same way pig blood was." The brat counters and he doesn't get a chance to respond before Han Seo picks Inzaghi up and throws him out the window, "In the name of love!" He only barely stops himself from bashing his head into the wall, the younger man has to wrestle him to the ground.

It's stupid. They did all of this for nothing the cool breeze makes him pull his coat tighter around his body, exposed to the weather on the open space of the rooftop.

He checks his watch, 9:48.

She's not coming and the worst part is that he doesn't know if it's because that damn bird never delivered his message or if it's because she really doesn't want anything to do with him. The burden of not knowing hurts more than anything.

Expelling the air in his lungs he walks back to the single door that leads off the roof, twisting the doorknob in his hand and pulling it open.

Meeting the shocked face of one Cha-young.

They both just stare at each other before he speaks, "You came."

He can't believe it. Inzaghi had actually delivered the note, somehow the pigeon had found her house and she was here. He almost pinches himself to see if he'd passed out on the roof and this was just a dream.

"I didn't know Inzaghi was a carrier pigeon." She futilely tries to change the subject and he takes a step back, gathering the tattered pieces of his courage. The same courage that had propelled him to kiss her all those months ago on the stairs.

"I'm so happy you're here. I waited for you."

She stares at him like he has two heads before blushing, and avoiding his eyes.

"Come with me." He extends his hands and tries not to be too hurt when she bypasses it and steps around him instead.

At least she was here.

With a quick swipe of his hand he sends the message to his accomplices.

Now.

The lights come on, fairy lights decorating the roof top in a heavenly glow. She spins around in wonder, eyes nearly as bright she's so beautiful it's almost painful to look at her.

Then the music starts.

The soft notes filling the space.

When I walk down a road I don't know well....

She looks around in wonder, staring back at him she can’t believe what’s happening.

Then the letters start falling from the sky, all the letters he had written to her alone and missing her thousands of miles away. His plaza family smiles down at him, throwing letters from a higher building.

Cha-young stares up at the sky in surprise, hundreds of letters landing all around her.

It had taken a few days for Luca to send them all over and then another day to get the guts to do this, there was no turning back now. He had never willingly made himself vulnerable to anyone else, but according to Han Seo it was the only way he was going to win her back.

“She just wants to know that you love her too. Show her.”

He watches anxiously as she picks up a letter, stroking lightly at her own name on the front looking at him with stunned wet eyes.

“You wrote me a letter.” Her voice is revere and awe that he doesn’t deserve, not after everything he has put her through in the sake of protecting himself but he’s too elated to see her looking at him like that again, like he’s someone important to her.

“182. For each day we were apart. I told you I thought about you everyday, and every time I did I wrote you a letter.”

She stares at the letter in her hand, gently ripping it open and devouring the words on the page. Nerves shoot up and down his body as he watches her read his most private thoughts about her, her expressive face for once empty of emotions as she silently reads the letter.

He waits.

Breathless and terrified.

“Why didn’t you ever send them? They were mine so why did you keep them?” He hears an edge in her voice that makes him wonder if she’s only talking about the letters.

“Cha-young, I don’t think you understand.”

She breathes out loudly, stomping over to him until they are inches apart and he has no choice but to look into the deep pool of her eyes.

“I don’t! I don’t understand anything, I thought you had found someone else in Malta and the postcards were just your way of being nice. I thought you didn’t feel the same way I did, you were sending Han Seo letters but you wouldn’t do the same for me. What was I supposed to think? Why didn’t you try to help me understand, you were gone for six months!”

There’s so much wrong with everything she said, how could he find anyone else when his heart beats for her? How could he forget her when everything he did reminded him of her, he saw her every night in his dreams. But he doesn’t make the same mistake this time, he says what’s important.

“I feel the same way. I love you Cha-young. I thought this was better for you, that this could be enough. But I was wrong, I missed you every minute of every--”

“Come home with me.”

He stops, stares, gapes and then stares some more.

“What? I wasn’t finished confessing though.” Actually offended that she interrupted his planned speech. He was about to recite one of his favorite Italian love poems for her and then ask her to dance.

She rolls her eyes dragging him towards the door, “Don’t you think we’ve wasted enough time? It’s been six months and you have been here for too long, you have to go soon.”

She’s right, he has a flight in two days for an identity he borrowed for his escape.

“Listen to her, just go back to her place and have a good night!” That sounds like Cheol-Wook and then they all erupt into applause and start cheering and hollering, chanting their names and then to his embarrassment they start chanting, “Go have sex! Go have sex!” complete with the monks banging on their drums and he doesn’t think he will ever live down this moment, especially when he sees Miri capturing it on the new video camera he had gifted her.

He flips them off as an eager Cha-young pulls him away their laughter following them all the way.

The car ride is too long on the way over and she wonders how quickly she can undress them both as soon as they reach, there is simply no time to waste.

But once they get to the doorstep he suddenly freezes, tugging her backwards into his chest.

“This looks familiar doesn’t it?” His voice is dark and smoky and she immediately knows what he’s referring to, and she refuses to give him any reaction.

“Are you seriously doing this right now?”

“You let someone else touch you. Here.” He runs a hand up her neck, briefly squeezing, “And here,” she gasps at his hands suddenly on her breast, squeezing harshly at the tender flesh.

“So what are you going to do about it?” She knows that she’s playing with fire, but that is their foundation. She has never aimed to cool him off or tone him down, she sees the dark side inside of him and loves it, encourages it and feeds on it herself allowing it to bring her darkness out too.

He kicks the door open, shoving her side and she delights at the rough treatment. She hopes that she is filled with his bruises tomorrow.

She doesn’t wait for his next move, pulling her shirt up and over her head before tugging off her skirt leaving herself in a barely there lace panties and a matching lace bra that is translucent, her nipples peeking through the sheer material. He stares at her transfixed, his hunger evident in his eyes and in the tent forming in his tight dress pants.

“Take those off.” She commands and he smirks before obeying, peeling the pants off his thighs standing in his button down shirt and tight boxer briefs that leave nothing to her imagination, every delicious inch of him visible. She steps forward bringing their bodies in contact, before thrusting her hand inside the opening of his briefs. He feels hard and smooth, liquid pooling at the tip and she twists her hand collecting it to ease her slow strokes up and down. His voice hitches as she fingers his balls and without warning she tugs his boxers off, leaving him bare to her eyes.

Mesmerized by the unencumbered sight of him, she drops to her knees using her hand to guide him to her eagerly waiting mouth.

His flavor explodes on her tongue and she swallows more, grabbing his hips to drag him deeper into her mouth until she can feel him in her throat, but even after her eyes start to burn and she feels herself choking she doesn’t stop, bobbing up and down hungrily, sloppy wet sounds filling the room in a filthy symphony. At first he lets her control the movement, pliant in her hands but as she increases her speed and suction he starts groaning and huffing loudly and then she feels his hand on the back of her hand, keeping her in place and when she looks up at him he looks wrecked. Eyes dazed and his face red and flushed, she ingrains that image in her mind, for when he’s gone and all she has are her toys.

She stares back defiantly before he draws himself out of her mouth, a single line of spit connecting them and then he thrusts back into her mouth roughly and she opens her mouth wider to accept the abuse, loving every second of it even as a her throat aches. He sets a frantic pace, his balls slamming against her chin and she doesn’t realize at first that his grunts have transformed into words, too much blood rushing to her head.

“Mine. Mine, nobody can---ah fuck! Nobody can see you like this. Only me. You’re mine.”

He fucks her mouth like it’s his to use and do what he pleases, and she’s wetter than she’s ever been listening to him claim her verbally and with the wet push of his dick in her mouth.

She starts grinding on the floor like a cat in heat and without preamble he grabs her under her armpits and lifts her like she weighs nothing, his dick sliding free from her hot mouth, “I want to make you scream.” He says this like a declaration of love and she throws herself at him, kissing the words off his lips. His tongue swirls in her mouth and she wonders if he can taste himself in her. It makes her hotter and she grinds her barely covered pussy onto his naked length, groaning at the friction even though the thin layer separating them.

He tosses her onto the bed and she doesn’t even remember them walking, his tongue and his wondering fingers had completely distracted her.

She lays sprawled across the bed as he stares at her, like she’s feast he can’t wait to devour.

“Nobody has been in here.” She doesn’t know if he’s asking a question or making a statement, but she feels that his jealousy is real. Seeing her with someone else had done something to him, guilt washes over her. If she had seen him with someone else she would have lost her mind too.

“Nobody. I never brought anyone home before, that guy was a mistake. I was just hurt and missing you. I’m sorry.”

He had abandoned her for six months and she didn’t owe him anything but his pain is her pain and they are stronger now, everything has been said.

“Good.”

Then he rips her panties away and buries his face between her legs, prying her wide open with his hands and lapping at her with his searing hot tongue. Immediately he has his wish and she screams, loud enough to fill the entire room.

“Already screaming amore? It’s going to be a long night, I want to make you hoarse.”

She doesn’t get a moment to respond before he’s back to licking and sucking at her most sacred part, fingers deep inside her as he thrusts and strokes alongside his tongue, his fingers and tongue moving in tandem and she tries to stifle the scream but a particularly deep fuck makes the sound erupt from her throat and her head feels dizzy from the overwhelming sensation.

He has boundless energy it seems, as time drags by and she feels her body tightening up as he systemically destroys her, he never takes a break or pauses, slurping up all the liquid that drips from her and the sounds of him swallowing are beyond erotic. When a hand runs up her stomach and squeezes at a bouncing breast she can’t contain her moans of pleasure, crying out as his fingers pinching the tight bud of her nipple.

“Please.”

He coos in her, “So pretty when you beg.” Then he sticks his tongue as far as it can go and she hears the rush of blood in her head as her body shakes apart and her release gushes from her body, twitching when he laps it all up her oversensitive body recoiling from the overstimulation.

She has never come like that before, most men have never put in the work necessary to make her come and she wasn’t one to fake it so her experiences with sex with someone else were few and far in between.

This feels like nirvana.

“You still with me amore?” The bastard looks so smug, looming above her naked arms on the side of her head, and she had no idea when he took his shirt off.

“I can’t feel like my legs.”

He chuckles loudly at the statement, grinning growing wider.

“Well I can assure you that they’re still there and they will look great wrapped around my waist.”

Raising to his challenge, although her body is still buzzing she wraps her legs around his waist, they feel like jelly but she finds the strength to follow through with her movement.

“I was right they do look great.”

“Well this would look great in me.” She counters, grabbing at his thick ruddy red dick jutting from his body and he rocks into her hand before knocking her hand away and taking himself in his hand.

“Do we need a condom?” He asks her, looking like he is ready to stop at nay minute if she tells him that they do.

“No.”

She has been on birth control since she was a teen and there’s been no one for her since she met him, and she trusts that it’s been the same for him.

“Thank goodness, I want to feel everything.” He barely finishes his sentence before he’s easing into her, slow and steady. She lets him continue for a moment before she tightens her legs around his waist and pulls him in roughly, as deep as she can get him in this position. “Fuck, you’re so impatient.”

“Shut up and fuck me already.”

He grumbles at her calling her bossy, but she sighs when he draws out and slams back in with a quick snap of his hips.

“Yes just like that!”

He takes direction very well, repeating the motion until the bed starts to creak from their movements, he pistons in and out of her gone all semblance of gentle or slow, they have teetered into a speed that can only be defined as “break neck” and she feels her body sliding up the mattress as he pounds into her over and over again, she latches onto his neck eager to leave a branding mark on him and he groans at the suction, grinding harder into her and gripping her ass to force her to meet his vicious thrusts.

Absently she feels him peeling her bra from her body, the only remaining item of clothing that has survived their coupling and she knows exactly when he sees the scar. The grotesque knitting of skin that had left a permanent scar on her shoulder, she almost covers it up but when she peels her eyes open he is staring at her mesmerized.

“Don’t look.”

He leans down to kiss it, the softest more precious kiss she has ever received in her life.

He peppers more kisses all over, then strokes at it with a single finger.

“I should have realized, this was your confession. I was an idiot. I will never be that stupid again, I love you so much. I would do anything for you. Anything.”

He puts her legs on her shoulder, nearly bending her in half before resuming his thrusts but they are less frenzied now, it feels like lovemaking. Her eyes prickle when he kisses her scar with every downward thrust, whispering, “Beautiful, so beautiful. Every inch of you.”

She cries out.

With every thrust he kisses her scar, making her feel lightheaded and naked.

When he moves them into a new position, her back to his front giving him better access to her scar, she loses herself as he whispers sweet nothings into her ears and litters the spot with warm kisses.

She falls off the edge with his lips on her scar and him deep inside her, warm bursts filling her up before leaking out onto the bed sheets.

“Today’s our last day.”

Waking up next to him is torture, she tries not to ingrain that in her mind but it’s too late it’s already there. He blinks away the sleep in his eyes at her words and then nods solemnly in agreement.

“Yes for this visit. But I’ll always come back for you.”

She smiles brightly, “Don’t keep me waiting for too long.”

They don’t leave the bed except to get breakfast and that ends with her laid across the kitchen table getting taken from behind after teasing him. He can’t seem to keep his hands off her new hair, twisting the short strands in his hands and yanking on them. She catches him looking at her heatedly more than once.

Then they wind up in the shower, trying to clean up and getting dirtier instead, his hands tight in her hair and around her waist as he hoists her up to pound her into the wall. Making up for lost time.

They get messages from their entire family, Vincenzo showing her a message from Han Seo asking if he’s going to be an uncle soon. She promises to embarrass him in front of Miri very, very soon.

Both pretend they don’t feel the day fading away, bringing them closer to their goodbye.

Tomorrow he will be gone again, but there’s no guessing now. She knows what she means to him now and that’s more than enough.

She wakes up to an empty bed and a ticket to Malta, the ball is in her court.

#vincenzo #chayenzo #smut #but you know with feelings #romance isn't dead #you can find it in strange places #like pig's blood #han seo has the best wingman #the mafia family

116 notes · View notes

setsunatama3 · 4 years

Text

chapter 20: Ego

AN/ i hope you guys are staying safe through this covid-19. In other news I have been having issues with my job and have been seeking employment elsewhere. I tried to make it work with my new boss. But it's rather tiresome to put up with the petty nonsense I have been dealing with. In a job I have been doing for the better part of five years. (with no real complaints until now in the last four months.) it's a long story i don’t want to get into. It puts me in a rather bad mood, not conducive to writing. So I made the decision to get a new job with more hours and better pay as well. Along with more time to write.

I would also like to thank my patrons over on Patreon. If you desire to get the early access to my work (and smut when i do write it) then donate if you are feeling generous. And follow me on twitter for any updates.

don't forget to check me out on twitter at https://twitter.com/setsunatama3 for any announcements from now on.

notice i also post on wattpad at :https://www.wattpad.com/773701195-the-maelstrom-of-remnant-chapter-one-exile

arcive of our own at https://archiveofourown.org/works/20596958?view_full_work=true

deviant art at: https://www.deviantart.com/setsunatama3/gallery

fanfiction.net at: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13280840/1/the-Maelstrom-of-remnant

tumblr at https://www.tumblr.com/blog/setsunatama3

ficwad at https://ficwad.com/story/279918

Chapter 20: Ego

Thinking back on the moments just before roman aimed his weapon at the other containers of dust. Sarada knew she had acted on the impulse to save her friends. It was a knee jerk reaction. One moment she was fighting a pair of Faunus rookies, one a scorpion, the other a snake. The next, she dropped her guard at that moment. The need to protect her comrades overcoming her sense of self-preservation.

One eye bleeds to red and morphed into the kaleidoscopic blossom of the eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. The other morphed into an ever vivid purple with concentric rings and nine tomo, the Rinnegan. With this, the rush of her real power flowed through her veins. She saw and felt the locations of her friends. Even as a fiery pain exploded from her abdomen and chest. And her arms felt heavy. They focused her will on this one goal.

Using the control granted to her by the mastery over the Byakugō no In. Sarada pulled her friends to herself as she blasted the two she was fighting against away from herself in the same motion. Using a Banshō Ten’in in concert with a Shinra Tensei. Throwing the two Fang members away just as they delivered the most grievous of blows to her. As the scorpion had stung her with his tail as he impaled her on his sword. Just as the snake ran her through with his knife, he had bitten deep into her neck. The resulting forces acting on them ripped them from her flesh.

Forcing herself, ignoring the pain, Sarada pushed even more power into her eyes. Summoning her mighty avatar, the grand and ever-powerful Susanoo.

As the blast washes over her avatar. Sarada struggles to maintain focus due to her injuries. As a result, the avatar of power flickers out of existence moments after the blast.

Blood trailing from both eyes because of the lack of use of the avatar. Sarada collapses moments later, her wounds not healing like they should. She knows there is something wrong right away.

With a groan of “, is everyone all right?” from Yang propping herself up with one arm. While looking around to see the carnage brought upon the docks.

The blast had ripped through the docks. Making a perfect distraction for the white fang to escape. Off in the distance, she could see the airships fleeing the scene.

“Hugh, oh god Sarada!” Vella cried.

Yang and the others turn at her frightened scream of shock.

Panting heavily as her lungs filled with blood, Sarada was just glad they had realized something was wrong. As she channeled her chakra into releasing the Byakugō no In on her forehead. Using the stored chakra to use one of the signature Jutsu Tsunade. One passed from teacher to student As a mark of mastery. The Ninpō Sōzō Saisei — Byakugō no Jutsu as the markings appeared on her skin and her wounds regenerated rapidly.

Sarada’s focus was directed to the teary-eyed Vella, who was gripping her hand.

“Don’t worry, e-everything will be all right.” her partner cried, desperately trying to comfort the girl.

Hacking and coughing up a large amount of blood, Sarada struggled to speak.

“Weeesse... hack... gasp…”

Sarada grimaced as she withdrew the swords from her body. Coughing out more blood as the wounds closed and gasping in relief at fresh lungfuls of air. It was a disturbing tableau. She did not even hesitate to force her hand into her side, just below her ribs. To manually draining her chest cavity of blood. Channeling wind chakra. Aiding in the cutting of flesh. The only sign that it actually hurt was a small grunt of pain and the pinched expression she wore. As she allowed the blood to flow until the internal bleeding ceased. Easing her breathing as she removed her hand.

The act was so casually done that the others let out a grimace at sight. It was telling that for Sarada that this was not uncommon for her.

As soon as the wounds hissed and emit steam as they closed slower than average. Shock and disbelief turned to awe and wonder. And within moments, her injuries sealed themselves shut. And her body once racked with tremors stilled. As her breaths returned to her. As her Byakugō no In receded back to its diamond-like form.

It was not long before the telltale wails of the V.P.D sirens reached them. And like always, too late to do anything other than cleanup.

As the bullheads landed and professor port stepped out along with deputy headmistress Goodwitch. Drawing the teen’s attention.

“It’s rather fortunate that none of you were hurt. And thanks to you, we now know just who was stealing dust.” Glynda said as she watched the police round up the remaining white fang who had not escaped.

Slapping her riding crop in her hand, Glynda turned to the students in question. “however, while you are not in trouble for the actions taken tonight. I expect a detailed after-action report by tomorrow evening. Now get on the bullhead. It’s time to go.”

As they loaded onto the bullhead, Sarada lamented the fact that the only things accomplished tonight was the fact that they now know about the discovery of shinobi bearing the Uzumaki crest were in remnant and her ruined clothes.

]|[

In a flash of light, Naruto made it back to the room in the occupied Safehouse. When the once closed wounds burst open once more. Naruto bit back a curse as pain flared up in his arm once more. The door to his room was kicked in by Emerald. Pointing her guns in his direction.

Eyes widening in disbelief, Emerald took in Kitsune’s battered and bloodied form. As she let out a gasp of surprise as she lowered her weapons.

As Kitsune strode forwards without a word now that the girl had lowered her guns. Grabbing a scroll near the door, he opened it on the bed. As she watched him in fascination as he unsealed the scroll and withdrew a slip of paper from it.

It was such an odd sight that Emerald could not help but voice her curiosity. “Um, what are you doing? And is there anything I can do to help?”

The questions caught him off guard, and he paused midway in his application of the seal. Thinking about how he would answer this.

The silence was one that only lasted for a moment. Before Naruto answered in the negative.

“No, I don’t need any help. This seal will take care of my biggest problem and siphon off the corrosive aura in my wounds.” Naruto said with a shake of his head. And applying the seal to his arm.

The moment Naruto applied the seal to his arm, it hissed with steam. As his wounds rapidly closed. It was rather lackluster for Emerald. She had thought there would have been more to the show than what she saw.

Naruto flexed his arm, making sure that everything was working correctly. Nodding his head, he stood and walked to his shower. Almost forgetting the girl in his room.

Turning to her with a grin hidden under his mask. Naruto said as he stripped, “you know unless you want a free show, leave.”

Emerald blinked at his non sequitur. Flushing red, she quickly turned and left. A reaction that caused him a bit of joy as he tapped the seal on the door, locking it. He then took off his mask and armor, sighing at his ruined flack jacket. He then headed to his shower. With the events of tonight on his mind.

It was an amusing sight for cinder to see Emerald come rushing out of the only other room bedroom in the Safehouse. Her face tinted red. Running past the kitchen where she sat nursing a cup of coffee. It meant only one of two people had returned. And she needed to have a conversation with Kitsune. It was better not to put this off.

With that in mind, Cinder made her way to his room.

In her attempt to open said door, she found that it was locked. Casting it off for the minor inconvenience it was. She attempted to pick the lock. Only for that to fail moments later when she felt the telltale pins of the simple lock click into place. Yet the door remained locked. When she attempted to unlock the door, it stubbornly remained closed. Even using brute force and trying to kick down, the door failed.

Out of options, Cinder waited by the door, sorely tempted to burn a hole in the wall. The only thing staying her hand from this action was the fact that Kitsune was her current benefactor.

It had only been ten minutes that she had been waiting when the man she was looking for stepped out of the room.

Now dressed in a pair of black pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Along with his ever-present ANBU mask clipped to the side of his belt. While wearing a halve mask covering most of his lower face. Presenting cinder with a view of his eyes. Now dyed a vivid purple flecked with the barest hints of blue and red. If one were to look closely.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at her presence. As she flushed in embarrassment, having been caught staring. Now giving him a glare that would threaten to anyone else but him.

Cinder let out a Huff of exasperation before growling out, “we need to talk.”

“Ok, lead the way.”

Cinder turned and led him into the kitchen, all without saying another word.

Naruto sat down, still maintaining his ever-present grin. While waiting for cinder to begin this conversation . And if, on queue, it hadn’t been over five minutes before she gave in to her anger.

“I would like to state that I won’t give up my maiden powers.” Cinder almost hissed at Kitsune.

It was a statement that had almost caused Naruto to laugh in disbelief. It was as if she thought she had a choice in this matter. Before the air of congeniality. He had about him faded and was replaced by an air of finality in this matter.

“No, I am afraid it is you who does not understand your situation. There are only two options for you at this moment.” Naruto said, letting the silence and his serious tone tell her just how bad things will get.

“The first choice you have is that you give up the stolen portion of the fall maiden powers. And save your own life. The other is you die when those incomplete powers you have tear you apart.” Naruto explained, trying to impart just how bad things will get for her.

Out of frustration or anger, Naruto did not know, but when cinder had heard this bit of news. She let a growl of anger rumble from her chest. As she slammed a fist into the table. As she hissed out.

“No!”

With that action, the tight leash the girl had on the powers that were slowly killing her. Slipped and her eyes glowed with power and killing intent.

Undaunted by this display of anger and the paltry amount of intent, he could feel Naruto felt that he should remind her just who she was speaking to.

His eyes flashed red, and for a moment, cinder felt like she was dying. Drowning under the vast weight of Naruto’s killing intent. As her life flashed before her eyes.

And just like it was never there, the visions of death and despair, unending pain, and suffering, oh so much suffering. Just disappeared. And cinder slumped back into her seat, hunched over, gasping for breath. And shivering and rubbing her arms, curling up in on herself for warmth like she was freezing.

Naruto knew that this conversation would go nowhere now that tempers were raised. And while thinking of how to proceed so he could save her life. Kurama interrupted his train of thought.

“Oi, brat, you know what the girl really wants.”

“Yeah, I know she wants power, Kurama. And the only way to open her eyes. To just what is going on is to give her what she wants.”

Now that he was looking at her, Naruto noticed just how odd it was that a girl like Cinder would be involved with Ozpin’s enemies.

“Naruto, let me talk to her. I have an idea.”

“What! No, that’s definitely not an option Kurama.”

“Brat!!! You can let me talk to her, or I’ll make all your ramen taste like cardboard.” Kurama threatened his partner.

“... you wouldn’t dare.” Naruto hissed.

With a smug grin, Kurama knew he only needed to give a little push, and this would be his victory. “Try me…”

With an audible sigh and a grumble of “stupid bastard fox.” the air in the room shifted as Naruto let Kurama take control.

It was something that did not go unnoticed by cinder as she stared across the table at now slit red eyes.

“Ah, so you noticed, did you,” Kurama started with a wide grin. He was about to continue when he felt something off. And he paused as he was staring into her eyes. Kurama noticed something off about cinder.

Within the depths of the seal, Naruto and Kurama conversed.

“Oi, brat, you feel that.”

“Yea, I do, Kurama.”

The two worked together channeling chakra bursting into a vibrant display of flame-like clothing. And six orbs of obsidian. Naruto’s eyes taking on the telltale ripple pattern of the Rinnegan but not turning purple. Kurama was still in the driver’s seat.

Their collective eyes widened as they stared at the half fall maiden. What they had felt was not the maiden powers within the girl. But a magic of all of her own. No, not magic, Kurama corrected himself. It was magic, yet not. While it was tightly bound and suppressed, it was still there. And they were the very reason the maiden powers were rejecting her.

“Hahahaha, so this explains so much!” Kurama exclaimed as he cackled with glee.

It changed the plan a bit, and Kurama wanted to put forth an offer. “Girl, I have a deal for you.”

When Kitsune’s eyes had changed and taken on that odd pattern, she felt it. In the back of her mind. The sensation that she was only an ant to the being before her. So when he addressed her for the second time in that deep guttural voice, cinder opted to pay attention to his words.

“Y-yes.” the half maiden timidly asked.

As the cloak sputtered out of existence, Kurama brought forth his proposal. “Give up that paltry amount of power and abandon whatever goal you have against Beacon. And for that, we will grant you power beyond your current comprehension.”

When Kurama mentioned Beacon, cinder found courage in her anger once more. “No! I want my revenge. Ozpin must pay. He needs to suffer.”

Kurama ran a hand through his fur within the seal as he took in her words. As he and Naruto conversed internally about this new revelation.

“Kid, she at the very least believes that she is in the right on this. And to do it, she wants the beacon to fall.”

“Yea, Kurama, I felt it as well; she’s not lying. However, I know this is a step we need to take.”

“Agreed.”

With the path set, Kurama relayed their intentions. With an audible sigh, he spoke. “Cinder, we have chosen to give you the power you seek for the maiden power. However, when you are ready, we need to discuss just why it fixates you, this obsession you have with Ozpin and beacon.”

She had given them a tentative nod; What choice did she really have? It was give up her half of the maiden powers or die. And for a survivor like Cinder, it wasn’t much of a choice at all.

“Ok, I-I Can work with that.” Cinder agreed.

“Come with me.” Naruto replied.

Standing up, she followed Naruto out of the kitchen and down the hall to a door that strangely she had never noticed.

Upon opening the door, she walked into a large room. One that was larger than it should be. The walls were made up of panels of a stark white stone.

As she watched Kitsune walk to the center of the room and make odd hand signs, the room lit up with a seal script, and a separate chamber and door appeared off to her left as the panels shifted. Directly in the center of the room, three shelves arose from the ground to his left, right, and one to his rear. A slate just more prominent than a rose before him.

“You should go into the room over there bathe, and when you come back here, leave your clothes and any jewelry in the room.” Naruto explained as he gathered his supplies. And walked around the raised slab.

With a blush, Cinder quickly headed for the door. Once inside, she immediately took off her dress and underwear. And hopped into the rather large bathtub without a second thought.

Once, she had focused on cleansing herself. Cinder had calmed down and focused on the simple task before her. It helped her put things into perspective.

Yet this ended all too soon. With her ablutions finished, Cinder quickly dried off and noted the silk robe that was where her clothes once were. And regarding it for the act of kindness, it was she wrapped herself in the gown. And stepped out into the white room.

She noted the complex script on the small dais. Amazed at how fast Kitsune must have worked to accomplish this in the mere fifteen or so minutes, she was in the other room.

Naruto took notice of Cinder the moment she had entered the room. For Naruto, it was a rather odd sight to see the confident woman he had met reduced to this shell of what she was when they had first met.

“The first thing we will do is remove the maiden power. I don’t expect any complications from that.” Naruto informed her.

“So, if you will take a seat on the table.”

Cinder nodded to Kitsune’s instructions, and in one swift motion, she let the robe pool onto the floor and sat down on the dais.

Naruto walked around to the front of the table. As he did so, his eyes gained the concentric rings of the Rinnegan.

Cinder had closed her eyes as Kitsune placed his hands on her shoulders and activated the power of the Preta Path. As he did so, a bond of sorts formed between himself and cinder.

]|[

Drip... drip... drip.

It was to the odd sound of water that Cinder heard. As she opened her eyes to what looked like a massive sewer.

It was strange, but something told her to head deeper into the depths of the dark sewer. Left with no other choice but to proceed. She began the walk forwards in almost a daze.

It was not long before she came upon a set of massive gates. Left wide open.

Cautiously, she stepped into the darkness of the gate. And into a massive forest that stretched on as far as the eye could see.

A power like Cinder had never felt before. Was pulling her in the center's direction of the forest. From what she could feel from the mountain path leading up to a set of torii gates. That she had just exited from.

So like before, she started her trek down the mountain. She only hoped that the journey was faster. And as if the word answered her wish, suddenly she was in the center of the forest just before the base of a shrine with the same torii gates Nine in total.

As Cinder entered the courtyard of the shrine. She came before the man who was aiding her in her time of need. The infamous Kitsune unmasked. Meditating with a small fox in his lap.

As Cinder took in his appearance. She felt the fluctuation in power. And when Kitsune opened his eyes, she stared face to face with cerulean orbs rather than purple or red.

Naruto quirked a brow in puzzlement. As he wondered whether or not she was naked. “How odd.” he voiced aloud.

“Just what is odd, I assume you are the one who brought me here.”

“No, I did not.” Naruto denied, “you came here of your own accord. You could have turned back.” The sage explained.

Leaving just what that implies up to Cinder herself.

“However, I am curious why are you naked.” he inquired as he gazed at her naked form with an ever-widening grin. “This is a mindscape, and since we share a bond, you have a small bit of control here. Even if it is my mindscape.”

Flushing with embarrassment, Cinder wished she had something that would cover her form. Within moments of that fervent desire, it clad her in a simple white summer dress.

With a grin, Naruto snarked, “there, see that’s not so hard.”

Cinder just scowled at him for his candor. Despite knowing that if this is what he was like regularly. Cinder preferred it to what she had thought was his typical cold, off-putting personality.

It was only after Cinder had calmed down that she noticed his most prominent trait. Three whisker marks on each cheek. “So you’re a Faunus. It would explain why you call yourself Kitsune.”

With a laugh, Naruto shook his head.” no, I am not a Faunus. These are just birthmarks.

“So just what are we doing here, anyway?” cinder asked.

Naruto rubbed his head and grimaced briefly. “Ah, that well to put it simply, you are resisting the removal of the maiden power. Or rather, some part of you is clutching on to the belief that you need it. And just ripping it away from you when it’s unstable and in your weakened state is bad. So we will solve the mystery of why you need this power.”

Crossing her arms, Cinder let out a huff of irritation. “So, just how do we do that?”

“Why that’s an easy one, Cinder. We look at your life, and we have to start from the beginning.”

Upon his words, her anger flared. As Cinder thought to herself. “How dare he, this insufferable man dares to tread upon my past…”

As she scowled rapidly, thinking of a way to get out of this. At least until it occurred to her that to do this, Kitsune obviously needed her consent. It gave her an angle to work with.

Sitting down next to him, looking as petulant as a child. Cinder worked her angle. “Fine, but I get to see your memories too.”

Naruto nodded, knowing that if that’s what it took to save the stubborn girl, then it would be fine.

“Ok, then if that’s what it takes, then I’ll start my name is Naruto Uzumaki I Am a Shinobi, and this is my story…”

With those words, the world around them faded to black...

0 notes