A Forced Pair of Anomalies - Ch. 2
Pairing: Toji x Fem Reader
Summary: A week after your arranged engagement to Toji, you’re starting to get to know each other. This may not be a love match, but can you at least be friends?
CW: MDNI, fluff, sexual tension, friendly banter, dirty talk.
Your father made good on his promise to have you married quickly. A traditional wedding was not chosen, instead a small ceremony with immediate family. Your father said it was for the sake of time, but you knew the real reason behind it: the failures don’t get a big, traditional wedding. Neither clan wants to advertise this match. They are trying to make it happen quickly and without issues.
While their true intentions disgust you, you are secretly glad for it. You don’t want to be paradied around on your wedding day, you just want it to be over. You want all of this to be over, so that you can get acclimated to your new life. One where your parents have no control and you can get a taste for independence.
And you hope to get another glimpse of that today when you see Toji. Your first encounter since the announcement and you were genuinely looking forward to it.
You replayed those brief moments together endless times, trying to analyze anything from them to get a better idea of how he was. Your gut told you he was genuine in what he said, but it could be an act.
You also need to know why he had that look on his face that pisses you off. The most genuine “I don’t give a fuck” face. You were jealous of that ability. You couldn’t hide your emotions because of how expressive your face was, maybe he could teach you how to master that poker face?
As you ready yourself, there’s a subtle burst of enthusiasm through your movements. Your freedom is so close that you can feel it in your soul. It shows in how you present; your eyes are no longer hollow and you don’t resist the urge to smile. Your soul is waking up to the idea of being free of this place.
A soft smile keeps appearing on your face, you get a glimpse of it every time you look in the mirror. As you take a final look at yourself, a servant enters to announce Toji’s arrival. Your lips curl upward at the announcement and you practically skip out of your bedroom.
You make it to the top of the staircase and your eyes immediately find him. Standing between the bottom of the staircase and the front door, facing a window.
You’re examining him head to toe and there seems to be a different aura surrounding him today His shoulders are rolled forward, his head hangs low.
When you make it to the final step, he turns to face you and you’re greeted by a different man. There's a faded bruise on his cheek, the yellow and purple mark stretches from under his eye to his ear. His eyelids are weighed down and his complexion looks sickly. It’s almost like you two have swapped places. This is how you looked on that first day you met.
What happened to him? Was he in a fight? Was that from his father or uncle? Did he do something else to rebel?
He notices your scanning eyes looking him over. His hand goes to the back of his neck and rubs it, “Don’t ask.” His voice is raspy, like he’s on the verge of losing it.
Your feet stutter forward toward him as you’re confused by so many things at once. “Ask about what?” You wink at him but his face is unmoving.
“Do you want to take a walk first?” His eyes slide from you to the window, staring out to the estate gardens. He’s asking if you want to walk, but it’s clear that’s what he wants to do.
You nod your head and thread your arm through his, locking them around each other as you exit the house.
He’s so much taller than you, your shoulder muscle is tense with the angle it’s being pulled up into. The muscle you can feel is solid and defined. You can tell the size of his arms even through the loose fit clothing. The fabric falls around each groove and curve of his anatomy. You’re staring at the exposed forearm you can see. The veins run like vines from his hands up his arm giving life to those muscles. Your mouth goes dry as you ogle at his arm and snap your attention back forward.
Toji seems none the wiser because well- he doesn’t seem like he’s here. His body is here, next to you, but his mind is elsewhere.
You wait until you’re far enough away from the residence to break the silence, “So, are you starting to get cold feet?” You continue that playful tone to try and shoo away the dark cloud that hangs over him.
He lets out an amused huff, “Right- yeah. I almost forgot, we’re getting married in a few weeks.”
“Don’t sound too excited,” you whisper sarcastically.
“You’re telling me you’re excited for this?”
“Yes because it means I get to leave here. I’m excited to get the fuck out and see my family as little as possible.”
“I hate to be the one to tell you, but I don’t know if the Zenins are going to be any different. I think they’re worse.” His voice cracks toward the end of his sentence and he clears his throat forcefully.
“I mean, do we have to live on the estate?” You assumed you’d be living on the estate, but on further thought, why? It’s not like Toji is utilized in their clan.
“Most likely. I doubt my uncle wants me unsupervised.”
“Isn’t that what I’m for though? I’ll keep an eye on you.” You nudge your elbow into his side.
“I doubt he’ll see it that way.”
His footsteps slow and his body goes rigid, “This shit is already difficult enough with my uncle. I don’t want to deal with him anymore than I have to.”
Your blood runs cold at his tone, worried you just stepped over a boundary that he clearly wants in place, “Okay… you don’t have to. I was just saying.”
He stops in his tracks and his body halts yours with it. His hand goes to his face and he lets out a long breath, “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to be a dick. I can’t deal with them anymore than I have to, okay?”
“Okay- fine.” Your words come out clipped, you’re trying to hide the embarrassment over what water you just waded into.
He ushers you to a pew off the path you’re walking and you both sit down. He unthreads his arm from yours and you immediately notice the absence of his warmth. You place your hands in your lap as you try and figure out what to say next. “Remeber how you said we’ll be free to do what we both want? What does that mean exactly?”
“It means just that. I do what I want and you do what you want.”
“And what is it that you do exactly?”
“I go to the race tracks a lot and casinos. That’s where I’m at most of the time. Or at a bar getting drunk. Or my side job…” His words trail off like he didn’t mean to say that last part.
You obviously have to ask, “What is your side job?”
“Like I’m telling you that. No one knows what it is and I’m keeping it that way. Trust me, it’s better you don’t know.” That cool, casual tone is back even with his raspy voice.
“Uhm, okay. You don’t want me to know what it is, yet you’re dropping these crumbs to make me curious, nice.”
“I’m telling you in case you’re wondering where I am because I won’t be home a lot.”
“So, I’m just going to be left alone most of the time?” Your face turns with anxiety as the reality sets in.
“You’ll be left alone to do what you want. And it’s not like you have to be there all the time. You can go out whenever, as long as they think I’ve given you permission to do so.”
“And I have your explicit permission to do whatever I want?” Your eyes narrow, questioning how true he is going to be to his word.
“Yes, I told you. I’m not going to treat you like most husbands treat their wives. I couldn’t care less what you do in your free time.”
While you appreciate the freedom, the fact that he won’t care what you’re up to makes your stomach drop for an unknown reason. “So, if I go out at night and come back beat up because I got robbed, you’re not going to care?”
He cocks his head to you with a questioning brow, “That’s kinda extreme.”
“Well, you said you don’t care.” You fold your arms across your chest, showing your discomfort to his previous statement.
“You’re still my responsibility as my wife. I obviously care about your well being, but if you want to go out with friends every night and come home at 3am, I won’t care. And if you come home after you get jumped, I’ll go out and beat up the guy for you, how’s that?”
Butterflies hum deep in your stomach at the idea of him protecting you; a man that is seen as a threat by his own clan. Knowing you’ll have the freedom within this marriage and the protection afforded by him - this arrangement is sounding better and better. “Sounds good,” you turn to smile at him, but he doesn’t return your smile.
Toji shifts in his seat and takes a sharp inhale before speaking, “I was told by our Estate Manager to ask about sleeping arrangements.” He lets out a dry cough before continuing, “You can have your own room. I just have to tell her, so that she can make arrangements.”
You had wondered what the living and sleeping arrangement would be like. Would you be forced to share a room since you are married?
“Where would my room be?”
“It wouldn’t be close to mine, but my room isn’t big enough for two people. We can share a larger room and I can ask for another bed to be put in there.” His hands are now squeezing his knees trying to bear his way through this conversation.
“You’re the only person I’m going to know, so I’d prefer to not be far from you. I’d feel weird being by myself.”
“And you’re not going to feel weird sharing a room with a man you barely know?” He flays his fingers out and squeezes them back into a fist. The action accentuates the veins in his forearm and your eyes trail up a particular long vein.
“It doesn’t sound like you’re going to be home most of the time anyways, so I think it’ll be fine.” You avert your eyes before he notices what you’re staring at.
“And when I am home, I’ll keep to myself. I don’t plan on bothering you.”
“Why do you say it like that? This might not be a love match, but can we at least be friends?” You turn your knees in to face him, but he still doesn’t meet your gaze.
His eyes stay forward as he says, “I make enemies, not friends.”
“Well, then can I be your first friend?”
“For as long as you can stand me, sure.” His eyes grow heavy with an emotion you can’t place.
“As your friend, can I ask that you stop wallowing in self pity.”
He scowls and snaps his head to face you, “I’m not wallowing! Fuck off.”
Those green eyes are ignited and it takes everything in you to hold that fiery gaze.
You decide to double down instead of letting that wall go up any further. You drop your voice a few octaves to mimic him, “I make enemies. I’m such a bother. You don’t need to know what I do, blah blah blah.”
That fire behind his eyes is extinguished as a half smile creeps up on his lips. He drops his head in laughter, “Friends, huh?”
That dark cloud that he arrived with seems to be dissipating now and you are glad for that.
He stands up from the seat, folds his arms over his chest, and looks down at you, “If we’re friends, can we hang out like we’re friends? Not strolling through the gardens like idiots.”
You’re intrigued by his proposal, “And what would hanging out like we’re friends entail?”
“Tomorrow night. I’d say tonight, but I already have plans. I know a few places, do you want to bar hop or stay at one spot?”
“Let’s see where the night takes us.”
“I hope you’re not a lightweight, I don’t want to be babysitting all night.” He stretches his hand out to you, beckoning you to stand.
And this time, you take his hand without hesitation. Before you can shift your weight forward to stand, he is pulling you up with little effort. His hand engulfs yours entirely as his grasp tightens. You release his hand once you’re balanced on your feet, “I can handle my liquor, don’t worry.”
He keeps his hand in place, suspended between you two for a moment before slowly retreating it back to his side.
You start walking in the direction you came from, “So, where are you going to take me?”
“Somewhere you might get robbed,” he murmurs sarcastically.
“Whatever.” You roll your eyes at him and playfully bump your shoulder into his arm.
He sticks his left arm out for you to link with. Instead of linking arms this time, you rest your right hand on his forearm and cradle his elbow with your left hand. You figure this posture better conveys an engaged couple anyways.
You swear you feel him pull into the touch, as if trying to pull you in closer. And you can feel that your thumb is sitting on top of one of those god damned veins. You so badly want to rub your thumb back and forth over it, but you restrain yourself.
His body heat seeps into you from your connection and you savor it. The warmth coming from that rigid, solid body is oddly comforting. You wonder how it would feel to hug him, you imagine he gives the best hugs. How could he not with those arms that could engulf your entire body and that body heat that could melt you? You also wonder what it would be like to have that body pressed up against yours, or even on top of you.
You shake your head at the thought, trying to rid the image from your mind. You quickly bring your hand up to your hair and move some pieces around, to try and play off the obvious headshake as something else.
When you make it back to the house, you agree to end this visit early since you have plans tomorrow. He proposed the idea first and you agreed, but you really wanted him to stay. You knew you’d see him in 24 hours, but you wanted to keep the conversation going. But, you remembered he said he had plans and you didn’t want to inconvenience him, so you let him go.
As you said your goodbyes, you were already looking forward to what your next counter would bring. Your new friend and soon to be husband had already captivated you more than you realized.
You decided lying to your parents about where you were going tonight was for the best. While you were of age, they would definitely disapprove of Toji taking you to a bar. Instead, you told them you were getting dinner; which wasn’t a lie, surely the bar would have food.
You drove yourself to the meeting spot and were unimpressed, yet unsurprised by the bar he chose. A hole in the wall dive bar with no windows, one metal beaten up door on the front, and a halfworking neon sign above the door.
Toji is waiting outside for you and you immediately notice his outfit. He’s in regular street clothes, not the traditional clan attire you’ve only seen him in. A fitted black t-shirt that is outlining every single muscle on his upper half. His biceps are enormous, probably as big as your head. Those slopped shoulders make his frame appear even more daunting. The baggy white pants he’s in accentuates his height as well, reminding just how large this man was compared to you. You have to swallow the excess saliva that was created while you admired his presence.
He pushes himself off the wall he’s leaning on when he notices you. His attention has you feeling self conscious all of a sudden. You push your hair behind your ear nervously as the distance closes.
“I was wondering if you'd back out last minute once you saw the place.”
“You really think I scare that easily?”
“We’ll find out once you’re inside.”
He steps in front of you to open the door and follows behind. The scene inside is also what you expected: dim lights, musty cigarette stench filling the air, a few pool tables, and some tattered tables with chairs. Your ears are being assaulted by the loud rock music that’s playing from a speaker in the corner.
Toji leans forward to speak into your ear, “If you only order well drinks, I’ve got a hook up with a bartender. Just tell me what you want.”
While you wade through the sea of bodies, Toji’s arm locks around your waist. Your turn and look at him with eyes full of surprise at the sudden contact.
“We’re not doing that polite clan bullshit here. And besides, if I didn’t have an arm on you, creeps would be swarming you all night.” His hand rests on the curve of your waist and he guides you to the bar. The contact has electricity shooting up through your spine and it leaves your stomach in knots. You can’t help but wonder if his reasoning was actually just an excuse to touch you. Regardless, the contact was more than welcome.
As you approach the bar, the crowd of people are packed tightly together.
You feel two hands secure on your waist and fingertips pressing into your ribs as your chest makes contact with the bar rail. Your stomach muscles jump at the intimate touch and your breath catches. Both of his hands caging in your waist has your body reacting more than it should. For some reason, your lower back is arching slightly. You’re anticipating his hips pressing into your ass, but that doesn’t happen. You can tell there’s an appropriate distance between those two parts of your bodies.
Toji motions for the bartender to come over and you have yet to decide what to order. Your train of thought is shattered before you can think about your drink. Toji readjusts his hands from your waist to the bar rail in front of you. His arms frame your body inside his and you are frozen in place, scared to move with this little space between your bodies.
And then if it couldn’t get any worse, he leans down to whisper into your ear, “What do you want?” You hear his words, but don’t comprehend them. Your eyes are still locked on his bulky arms creating a box between the bar and his body. His warm breath on your ear creates a pool of heat in your core and you can’t think, can’t speak.
You’re in a daze as the bartender approaches and takes Toji’s order. You’re jolted back to reality when Toji nudges you with his arm, waiting for your order, “Oh- just make it two. I’ll have what he’s drinking.” You have no idea what he ordered, but you didn’t care. A drink was the last thing on your mind right now.
Toji lets out a cruel laugh, “Are you trying to suck up to me?” Your mind is still hazy because the only words you really hear are “suck me.”
“What?” You need him to repeat himself to make sure you heard him correctly. You turn over your shoulder and see his face is only inches away from yours.
“I said- are you trying to suck up to me? Ordering the same drink as me?”
“Oh- no. I just- figured I’d try something new.” You stutter your way through the sentence because your entire world is off kilter at the moment.
His chest and hips inches from pressing into your backside. That raspy voice hitting your ear just right, giving you chills. And those bulky, veiny arms that keep drawing your eyes back to them.
The bartender returns with two glasses containing clear liquid and a lime squished inside. You think to yourself, “at least it’s not dark liquor." As the bartender slides your glasses toward you, he looks past you and meets Toji’s eyes, “Who’s your friend?”
He speaks at a volume only you can hear, “I’ll let you decide how to introduce yourself.”
He’s letting you decide if you want to be known as his friend or future wife. You kinda wish he made the decision just because you were curious which option he’d choose. You’re technically both, so either option wouldn’t be the wrong one.
“I’m his fiance.” You get the words out before you can overthink them.
The bartender's eyes widen in surprise, “You’re engaged? Since when?”
“It’s a long story: whirlwind romance, love at first site, really cliche shit.” His words are playful, but his delivery is serious.
The bartender tips his head, “Well congrats. This rounds on me to celebrate.”
Toji releases his hand from the bar and picks up his shot glass, motioning it toward you. You pick up yours, clink the glasses, and shoot the liquid back in a forceful gulp.
You rarely did shots, so the shock of the foul liquid on your tongue makes you gag. You have to work to swallow the liquid without looking like a child.
His flat palm taps your waist, “Go find us a seat, I’ll get the next round.”
You shimmy your way out of the crowd and go to inspect the seating options. When you’re a few feet from the bar, you look back at him. And good god- his physique from the backside is just as impressive as the front. Average sized people surround him and he looks like a titan among them. Those broad shoulders framing those sculpted back muscles, your throat goes dry at the sight. You wonder what it would feel like to have your nails digging into those muscles. The image sends a flash of heat straight to your core and you turn back around.
Your obvious attraction toward him is bubbling up to the surface and about to be a dangerous combination with the alcohol.
How would intimacy in a marriage like this work? He did say he’s not going to treat you like his wife. It seems like this will be a friendship shrouded by marriage. But friends can have sex, can’t they?
The thoughts make your head spin and it feels like that one shot is already taking effect. You find the closet open seating and snag it. Your leg is bouncing beneath the table, anticipation building as you watch him approach with your drinks.
You’re trying to force those plaguing thoughts from your mind. The more you try to shoo them off, the more they stick. Several scenes flash through your mind's eye in a second: his arms caging you in at the bar, that deep voice whispering in your ear, his hands on your waist. The super cut ignites a heat between your legs. You squeeze them together on instinct, not wanting to admit to yourself what that feeling was.
You were zoned out because now Toji is back in your field of view and he’s sitting down across from you. You furiously blink your eyes to try and ground yourself back to reality.
“I saw you choking down that gin, so I got you something sweeter this time.” He slides your glass toward you with a cocky grin.
“Thanks,” you quickly pick up the glass to take a sip. You know alcohol is not a good combination with these feelings, but you can’t be sober and sit in these feelings either.
“The bartender had a few more questions for me after you left.” He smiles into his glass as he takes a drink.
“Like what?” Your eyes go to his lips, noting how they’re parted just enough for the liquid to get past.
“Like how I managed to find a woman who would put up with me.”
“Did you tell him the woman wasn’t found, but chosen?”
“I didn’t get into the details of it.”
“Oh, you didn’t want to explain our ‘whirlwind romance’?” Your tone turns mocking on the last two words, as if the idea of a romance between you two is a joke.
“No, not to a man who’s had to kick me out of this bar for fighting.” He didn’t dispute the ‘whirlwind romance’ comment, was that intentional? “I don’t think he cares about the details, as long as I behave while I’m in here.”
“And you’re going to behave just because I’m around?” You tease as you set down your glass.
“Not sure yet, you might be the reason for more bad behavior.” His eyes narrow on you and they’re trailing from your eyes to your lips.
Heat floods through your body at his suggestive remark. Your eyelids pull back and you hold your breath. The tension is now so obvious between you two and you don’t know how to broach it.
You awkwardly laugh to play it off, “Yeah- right. I’ll do my best to keep you in line tonight.”
He smirks to himself, like he knows he flustered you with that simple comment. He takes a loud gulp of his drink before continuing, "Also, I told the Estate Manager you were fine with us sharing a room.”
Your internal voice is screaming in agony. He’s doing this on purpose! He can feel the tension too and he’s fucking with you now.
“She did look at me weird when I mentioned the second bed, but she didn’t say anything.” His eyes feel like a microscope right now, dialed in to your expressions and body language.
You try to feign ignorance at his leading statements, “Really? I feel like most couples don’t share rooms, especially in the clans.”
“We’re not like most couples though, remember?” He flashes his teeth at you with a feral grin.
He’s clearly not letting up, so you ask yourself: why are you fighting this? Feelings are inevitable in a situation like this. Or are they? Your parents were an arranged match and never showed any true love toward each other. They felt more like business partners than spouses.
This feels so sudden, this is only your third time being around each other and your second time alone. And then you repeat that to yourself under a different context: this is only your second time being alone and the tension is this thick already… Yeah, there was no way you were fighting this any longer.
You finish off your drink to give you a boost of confidence. You move your foot under the table until it bumps into his, “Okay, no fucking around. No teasing. What’s on your mind? What do you expect from this?” You gesture your hand between the two of you.
He seems surprised, but amused by your forwardness, “I don’t expect anything.” He puts a foul emphasis on the word ‘expect’.
“Well, I thought we were acting as friends, but you’ve made excuses to be all over me tonight. So, you tell me - what’s on your mind.” You want him to say it first.
“You say that, but aren’t you the one who introduced yourself as my fiance?”
“And what about it?” Your voice has become monotone. You’re not teasing, you’re trying to cut through the bullshit.
“Nothing,” he shrugs his shoulders. So, he’s hitting you with a reverse - he doesn’t want to admit the obvious either.
“Toji…” you look at him with mild annoyance, “I don’t like ambiguity or uncertainty. Be real with me or stop with the touching and teasing.” You say it, but you don’t actually mean the last part.
“Be real, huh?” He pauses for a moment, slowly nodding to himself, “I’m thinking that if this is a marriage of convenience, wouldn’t it be convenient for both of us to use each other to scratch that itch?”
“That would be convenient,” you bring your foot up from the floor and graze it against the side of his leg, “We have needs, it only makes sense for husband and wife to do that for each other.”
“Good because I’ve been imagining the noises you’re going to make when I’m between your legs.”
Your stomach jumps into your throat at the explicit image. That heat in your core is growing and guiding your next words, “And what noises do you imagine I’m going to make?” Your head tips in curiosity.
“I bet you whimper nonstop like a pathetic, little slut.” Him calling you that snaps the last of your restraint. You’re ready to jump over the table and crawl into his lap.
“Then let’s find out - tonight.”
He scoffs, “Tonight? And where do you think that’s going to happen?”
“You have tinted windows on your car, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I’m not fucking you in my car. When I have you, I need you spread out for me. Not crammed in the backseat like we’re teenagers.”
“And when are you going to have me spread out?”
“When we’re married and have our own room.”
“You want to wait until we’re married, seriously?”
“I’d take you back to my room now. But people will definitely hear you and I don’t need the headache from my uncle when he’s asking why I’m fucking my fiance before she’s my wife.”
“You think I’m the only one who would give us away? Don’t tell me you keep up this nonchalant act in bed too.”
“You’re gonna have to wait and find out.”
“You’ll live. Distract yourself with your hand to pass the time. That’s what I’ve been doing.”
The vulgar scene in your head is so vivid: Toji buck naked, back up against the head board, head tipped back while he strokes himself. Letting out low growls and hisses as he touches himself.
The arousal coursing through your body makes you squirm in your seat and you’re using all self control right now to not throw yourself at him.
Several more rounds followed and many more sexually charged conversations. Every shot and every comment had your sanity hanging on by a thread. You needed to know what his lips tasted like, what they felt like: on your lips, on your neck, and between your legs.
You manage to end the night with just fucking each other with your eyes. When you stand outside the bar to say your goodbyes, he pulls you in by your waist. His hold on you is claiming as he pulls you flush against his chest.
His head tips down to look at you, you can smell the gin on his breath as he speaks, “I’ll probably see you again before the big day, right?”
Your breasts pressed against his solid front steals all the air from your lungs. Those green eyes are staring straight into your soul. You let out a breathy, “Right…”
He leans his head down and his lips are so close to yours now, you close your eyes and part your lips. Instead of feeling his lips, you feel a sharp tug on your bottom lip.
Your eyes shoot open as his teeth release your lip followed by a low laugh. He lets go of your waist with one final, “Good night,” and turns back to walk to his car. He strolls away from you, hands in his pockets, looking like the definition of nonchalant. Acting like he didn’t just wind you so tight you were about to snap.
How the fuck are you suppose to last another two weeks?