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Kazuma's hand grips a damp cloth, wiping the blood and grime from his arm, an arm that should've been broken, should've been worse, but wasn't.
She shouldn't care this much. Shouldn't have wanted to scream when she saw his body hit the ground earlier. Shouldn't be standing here now, unable to breathe, unable to move.
She's scared. She's angry. She wants to scream, but doesn't know if it's her place.
Her thoughts were snatched back when she heard her name.
"Ayano?"
His thumb brushes gently against her cheek as his hand settles there, the warmth of his touch cutting through her frantic mind.
"What's going on?"
She couldn't answer. Couldn't even try.
Her lips parted, but nothing came out.
"Hey." He stepped closer, gaze locked on hers. "Ayano. Talk to me."
He reaches with the other hand, cradling the opposite side of her face now, forcing her to face him, to look at him.
She jerked back. Moving away from his reach.
"I'm not worried about you at all," She blurted
A lie.
She took another step backwards
"I don't care."
Another lie.
It kept spilling out, the words snapping out of her throat like reflexes, not thoughts.
She could barely see him now. Just the blur of his silhouette and the weight of everything she couldn't say pressing down on her chest. Hot tears flowed.
She pressed a hand to her mouth, another against her chest, as if trying to physically stop her from spilling more, clutching at the pain building within her chest.
"I'm not-"
Before she knew it, he'd pulled at her wrist and his mouth was on hers. Not to soothe. Not to argue. But to put an end to the war spilling from her lips.
The kiss was salty from her tears. But it was soft. A reassurance, a grounding force, a way to stop the chaos inside her. His hand slides to the back of her head, pulling her closer, but it's not possessive. It's gentle and sure. As if he's trying to hold her together.
His hand curls at the nape of her neck, steady.
She clutches at his shirt, burying her fists in the fabric like it's the only thing anchoring her to the moment.
And when he pulls back, her breath shudders out of her. She stares at his chest instead of his eyes, throat burning.
"I hate you."
A whisper. Raw and defensive. The only thing left she could throw at him.
He just brushed his thumb along her cheek, eyes steady on her.
"You're really bad at lying." He whispered back. Gentle. Familiar. Maddening. All too him.
Her head dropped against his chest. Quiet, stubborn frustration pressed right over his heart.
She didn't know what she was to him.
She didn't know if she was allowed to fall apart like this.
She didn't know if she even mattered enough.
It's embarrassing.
His hand moves to the back of her neck. The other brushes her hair behind her ear, fingertips lingering like he's memorizing her.
He exhales. Breath warm against the skin of her neck.
"I'm yours, Ayano," he says, a quiet surrender. Close, like he means for only her to hear him. "Every damn piece of me. So... please. Look after me.."
There was no teasing in it. No smirk. Just truth, bare and raw between them.
He's not trying to take anything. Not demanding. Just asking. Offering. Confessing.
Her hands are still twisted in his shirt when she breathes in.
"Then stop trying to leave me," she said. "Stop being reckless. Stop brushing it off like it doesn't matter if you come back bloody or not."
Her head lifts, meeting his gaze head-on.
"You don't get to disappear on me. You don't get to make me-"
She stops. Maybe because she sees it before he can bury it.
The flicker in his eyes. Not surprise exactly, more like impact. As if her voice reached someplace he wasn't ready for.
And then he leans in, forehead pressing gently to hers - too close to look at her, too close to be seen. His bangs fall forward, shielding the part of him that slipped out.
"You haven't been my girlfriend for ten seconds and you already have so many demands."
Heat floods her face.
"Kazuma, you- I'm not-!" she sputtered
He smirks, but it's softer than usual. "One condition," he murmurs.
"Condition? I'm not - this isn't-"
"Kiss me."
She glares. "Absolutely not!"
"Please?"
His voice was teasing - light, like always. But his face wasn't.
There was a gentle smile playing at the corners of his lips, soft and quiet.
Maybe that was what did her in.
So she does.
Slowly. On a breathless impulse. She tipped onto her toes and pressed her lips against his.
Kazuma didn't hesitate as he let himself fall into the kiss. Into her. Warm hands threading into her hair, pulling her closer.
The kiss ended quicker than he realized. Her cheeks burned brighter than her hair, eyes blazing straight into his soul.
"You promise."
He felt his heart ache as it swelled a little more for her.
"I promise."
Crazy. Stubborn. A living, walking wildfire. Perfect.
Now all that's left for him is to figure out how to survive this without losing his mind.