jen

Chishiya (Alice in Borderland)

forget me not

summary: Chishiya meets a strange person and can’t help being attracted to her. He finds out that people do not remember meeting her, so he writes himself notes to never forget.

pleasure (smut, minors dni)

summary: Smut drabble

teach me (smut, minors dni)

summary: Chishiya is forced to teach a class of medical students. The class is incredibly hard but lucky for you, the professor agrees to tutor you. A dream come true if only he wasn't so distracting.

Sylus (Love and Deepspace)

get him back! (smut, minors dni)

summary: Sumt drabble :)

my everything (smut, minors dni)

summary: You can't help but feel insecure about how Sylus gives you the world and yet you can never give him anything in return. He shows you just how wrong you are.

tipsy

summary: Sylus had a little too much to drink and asks you a silly question.

shiny new toys! (smut, minors dni)

summary: While away for work, Sylus buys you a new toy...

OT5 Love and Deepspace

domestic activities with the lads boys!

singing with rafayel!

Rafayel’s strange obsession with karaoke started after a group event earlier in the year. The event wasn’t even centered around singing, it was actually just your company gathering that happened to have a microphone and bluetooth speaker.

Of course he saw the opportunity to have some fun and he ran with it. What shocked you the most was how on board everyone else was. Employees at the venue were cheering for Rafayel and a long line of all the people who wanted a turn started to form behind him.

It was the start of a new hobby.

Rafayel had always been an incredibly creative person, but he had been looking for new ways to express himself besides painting. Luckily, singing was something that people had the luxury of being able to do whenever and wherever they pleased.

And now that he found this new passion, he was singing nonstop. He would sing when he went shopping with you, he would sing when he cooked dinner, he would sing in the shower—hell, he would even sing in his sleep!

You were in no way against his new love for singing, in fact—you were an enabler. Rafayel has always had a beautiful voice so you often asked him to sing to you. Of course he would always ask you in return, to which you always obliged. 

Tonight, however, was a different story. For the past thirty minutes, Rafayel had been begging you to sing with him in the living room. You could tell he was feigning for a karaoke night—especially since it had been over two weeks since you had been able to spend real quality time with him.

On the other hand, you already took a shower and were getting ready for bed. Rafayel was not a fan of that idea and was going to do everything in his power to convince you to go to the living room with him.

“Come on, cutie. Are you really going to deprive me from listening your ethereal voice?” he pouted.

“You hear my voice every time I speak, Rafayeeel~” you teased, dragging out his name at the end.

“One song, please! It’s almost been three weeks since I’ve been able to hear to my muse,” Rafayel begged.

“I have work in the morning, and it's already…” you paused, glancing at the clock on your bedside table, “midnight—it’s already midnight!!”

You didn’t receive a response—at least not a verbal one. When you turned your head to see why you were met with silence, you saw the one thing that somehow always changed your mind.

There Rafayel was, doing his very best to put on a fake pout and widen his eyes to emphasize how truly heartbroken he was by your words. Of course it was all for show, but his theatrics melted your heart.

Plus, just one song couldn’t hurt.

You should’ve known better than thinking you both were going to stop at one. It wasn’t entirely his doing, though. When he picked his one song for the night, you found yourself adding more and more to the queue.

You didn’t even think to check the time until you were fighting the urge to yawn. Right as you leaned back and glanced at a nearby clock, you realized just how late it was.

“Holy shit—it’s 3am, Rafayel! I have to get to bed,” you said, suddenly panicked by the idea of going to work the next morning. You grabbed your designated microphone and plugged it into the bluetooth boombox to charge.

“Or what? Is your carriage going to turn into a pumpkin?” he asked, voice laced with annoyance at your sudden departure.

“Yes, I’m a Disney princess. And as a princess I need my…what was it called again? Oh that’s right—my beauty sleep. I’m off to bed now.”

When you entered your shared bedroom, you knew Rafayel wasn’t far behind. There was no point in him staying in the living room alone, so he figured he might as well go to bed with you.

As you tucked yourself in, he slipped under the covers on his side of the bed. While you knew your body needed rest, you couldn’t stop yourself from tossing and turning for what felt like an eternity.

That didn't go unnoticed.

“Let me sing you something to help you sleep.” His words interrupted your restless thoughts.

“I’d love that,” you replied while turning around to face him.

Rafayel’s low voice echoed through the room and traveled to your ears. The words he sang were foreign—most likely Lumerian—but you felt a familiar feeling deep within your body.

You felt safe, you felt at home.

The song wasn’t long and when it came to an end, your eyes felt heavy but you opened them anyway. You were met with the deep purple gaze you knew all too well.

“That was a popular lullaby in Lumeria. Mothers would sing it to their children and they would almost instantly fall asleep,” Rafayel whispered, earning a hum of acknowledgement from you. Before you could respond, he quickly added, “I have one more song for you,”

“We should really sleep, babe–”

“One last song…you won’t regret it,” he insisted.

You didn’t argue. Based on his tone, this last song held great importance to him—and maybe even the people of Lumeria.

It sounded different, it felt different. The melody was soft like the previous lullaby but the emotions felt stronger, there was more passion.

When the song concluded, you couldn't help but ask, “And what did that song mean in Lumeria?”

Rafayel hesitated at first. His hand moved under the covers and found yours before he carefully interlocked your fingers with his. He took a moment to come up with the right response.

“That was the song someone sings when confessing their love.”

It had finally made sense to you—his love for art, his passion for music. They were his ways of communicating how he was feeling in ways words couldn’t express alone.

That song was his way of saying “I love you”.

“I love you too, Rafayel.”

With the night coming to a close, you were glad you stayed for the encore.

face masks with xavier!

The hour before bed had always been the most routine for you and Xavier.

You both showered, brushed your teeth, and then spent some time doing your own winding down activities. Sometimes he would read, you would scroll on your phone, or you’d both decide to watch a show together.

Tonight, you decided you needed an extra destresser in addition to the hot shower you had already taken. You walked into the bathroom and started rummaging through your drawers of skincare products.

Eventually, you found two packs of matching face masks.

You poked your head out of the bathroom to call out to Xavier. “Babe, do you want to put on this face mask with me before bed?”

“Sure, how long do we have to keep it on?” he asked, taking a glance at the foil packaging you held in the door frame.

“Hmm, let me see…” you paused and stepped out of the bathroom and into your shared bedroom. You carefully read the instructions until you spotted the amount of time required for the best results. “30 minutes!”

“That’s just enough time to watch an episode of our show while we wait," he replied.

Xavier stood up from the bed and slid on his slippers one foot at a time. He saw how excited you were getting just from the smile on your face as he tried to hold back a smile of his own.

On the counter sat two face mask packages, but they didn't look like anything he was expecting.

“These are…Hello Kitty themed?” he questioned. Somehow, he was already reconsidering agreeing to your spa night, but at least no one else would see him with this on—right?

You had already started gathering your hair and pulling it away from your face when you responded. “Yeah, aren’t they adorable? I think I got them as a birthday gift one year.”

Once your hair was tied back, you both tore open the packaging and started to apply the masks.

After you finished smoothing out the damp film on your face, you turned to check on Xavier. You had to stop yourself from laughing, both out of love and also to prevent your mask from getting messed up.

“I think yours might be upside down, babe.”

He quickly turned his head up towards the large mirror in front of you both. The eye holes somehow made their way onto his chin and—to be honest, you weren’t sure how he was even seeing anything.

He made an effort to try and turn the mask around but he wasn’t making much progress. Eventually, he peeled the sheet off of his face completely.

“Ack, it got in my mouth,” he groaned as he picked up the face mask to try again. “I think I might need your help.”

Once you helped him position the mask in the correct spot, it was smooth sailing from there.

You both looked adorable! And even though he would never admit it, he did feel pretty cute himself.

He finished pushing out any air bubbles and you were finally ready to hop into bed until your 30 minutes were up.

You both went to your respective sides of the bed and Xavier reached for the remote on his bedside table. While he scrolled through the streaming services on the television, you scooted closer to him and made yourself comfortable.

He clicked play on the next episode in the series you had been watching together for the past month or two. Just as the popular and catchy intro started playing, you leaned your head on Xavier’s shoulder.

Shortly after, he followed your movements and gently put his head on top of yours.

Not even 10 minutes into the episode, you felt Xavier’s head lean on yours with a little more weight than before. You thought that maybe he was getting more comfortable—but you should have never underestimated his ability to fall asleep at any moment.

A soft snore left his lips, further confirming your suspicions.

Of course he was already sleeping.

You couldn’t fully see his face, but you thought about how sweet he must have looked with his Hello Kitty face mask. You tried to adjust your head to get a better view, but there was no point.

If you moved any further then he would wake up, so you did the only thing you could think of and reached for your phone that was lying next to you.

You instantly clicked on the camera icon and reached your arm out in front of your body, angling the camera towards Xavier’s face.

You really only wanted to take a peek at him, but when you saw how cute he looked, you couldn’t resist the urge to take a picture. You reasoned with yourself that it was only one picture.

As much as you wanted to keep enjoying how silly Xavier was, the timer you set on your phone startled you out of your thoughts—and of course, woke him up.

“Good morning, sleepy head. Time to take our masks off,” you whispered as he slowly moved his weight off of you. 

Xavier’s eyebrows furrowed and lips were slightly pouted outwards in embarrassment when he realized what he had just done. “You didn’t take a picture, did you?” he asked.

“Do you want the honest answer—or the answer that will help you sleep tonight?” you offered, hinting towards the real answer.

“Delete it!” Xavier yelped while reaching for your phone that laid next to you.

You quickly reached for it before he could. “It’s in my eyes only, don't worry!” you laughed, clutching your phone closer to your chest.

“Fine—but only because it's for your eyes only. Don’t go changing the meaning of that phrase on me,” he teased.

“Of course not. It’s my prized possession now,” you giggled. Your gaze flickered from your phone screen towards your—now silent—boyfriend.

You thought he had maybe fallen asleep again, but then your eyes met his. He was just taking in and admiring all of you.

The way you looked beautiful even with a silly Hello Kitty face mask, the way your eyes scrunched as you laughed at the picture of him, the shape your lips formed as you smiled at him. He loved all of it—all of you.

“Whatcha thinking about, Xav?”

He didn’t answer right away. He simply brought his hand up towards your hair and tucked a loose piece of hair behind your ear. His eyes spoke a thousand words, they always did—but they could never top the words that left his mouth next.

“My prized possession.”

baking with zayne!

Baking became a weekly occurrence with your boyfriend over at his house. While you occasionally craved a sweet treat, Zayne has always had an insatiable sweet tooth.

You first found out about his love for desserts on his birthday last year. When you baked him a cake and a batch of cookies, you were unsure if he would even enjoy them. But to your surprise, he couldn’t get enough. Since then, he has practically begged you to bake for him everyday—even if he won’t admit it.

Today, he suggested that you both try to make something you’ve never tried before. You flipped through your cook book until you landed on a page that struck both of your attentions:

Macarons.

“Have you ever had these? They’re soooo good!” you squealed, clearly set on what you want to bake.

“I’ve tried them at a local bakery in town but I’ve never made them before. I hear that it’s a more tedious process than just mixing flour and eggs,” Zayne explained.

He doesn’t realize it but there is a slight glow in his eyes whenever he talks about desserts he really enjoys. You can’t resist the urge to grin at the look on his face.

“Let’s give it a go then!” you exclaimed. You headed to the pantry and grabbed all the necessary ingredients while Zayne grabbed the pans and mixing equipment. 

It didn’t take long for the two of you to whip up a base batter. But what did end up taking forever was deciding on what flavors to make. He wanted matcha, you wanted strawberry—he wanted caramel, you wanted chocolate.

“Why can’t we make all four?” Zayne questioned, a small frown threatened to meet his lips at the thought of not getting all the flavors.

It was a silly dispute, really.

“If we make all four, we will be drowning in macarons for the rest of the month!” you retorted with a teasing laughter.

“That doesn’t sound like a bad thing though...”

“Remember what we agreed on when we started our weekly baking?” you asked.

He let out a knowing sigh before he spoke again. “Only bake enough for the week.”

The only reason you even made this rule up was so that you both ate everything you made before baking more. You guys didn't want to waste any food or let it go bad just because you made too much.

The dessert lover in Zayne wants to object, but he knows it is a logical choice.

“So what do you say we both choose one flavor and split the batter in half?” you tried to reason.

“Sounds good. I’ll grab the strawberries for yours,” he agreed, turning his body towards the fridge. Your eyebrows furrowed at his actions.

“W-What? I didn’t even tell you what I chose!”

“Was my guess correct?”

“Yeah…” you mumbled, impressed at how well he knew what you'd choose.

“I’ll grab the strawberries then,” he chuckled with a small smile.

It wasn’t long until the macaron batter was piped onto a baking sheet and left out to sit. While you waited, you both started working on your respective fillings.

The time it took to mix and whip the cream filling was the exact amount of time the macaron shells needed to set. You popped the baking trays into the oven for 12 minutes and before you realized it, the timer rang for them to be taken out.

Zayne turned off the ringing timer that was resting on the kitchen counter and took the baking tray out of the oven and onto the stovetop. You peered around his torso to get a peek at how the macarons looked after their time in the oven.

“Wow, Zayne! They turned out beautiful!!” you squealed in excitement.

You couldn’t contain the enthusiasm in your voice as you inched towards the freshly baked macarons, attempting to get a closer look. As you backed away from examining your creation, you saw a flash of movement in the corner of your eye.

“I saw that, you know,” you said bluntly with a fake look of disappointment.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zayne mumbled. His voice came out a bit muffled due to the fact that his mouth was full of the macarons you just made. He tried his best to not reveal what he just did, but it was obvious to anyone who looked at him.

“Zayne, you do know that we have to let them set overnight, right?” you giggled and raised an eyebrow at his eagerness. 

“Oh.” His chewing slowed and his face began to turn a light shade of pink as he searched carefully for his next words. “They taste fine to me…”

You couldn’t hold back your laughter. The look on his face was like he was a kid who got caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar—and in a way, he was.

“Hahaha—you really can’t restrain yourself, can you? I guess that’s what having a sweet tooth does to a person,” you responded. You looked down towards the tray—now holding an uneven number of cookies—and decided to reason with Zayne. “Well since each macaron needs two cookies, you might as well eat another one.”

“Hmm, you’re right,” he said, examining the tray before grabbing another macaron off his side of the baking sheet. He didn’t hesitate to pop the cookie into his mouth and devour it whole.

While you only saw him eat two in front of you, you couldn’t help but notice more cookies missing throughout the evening.

Oh well, at least he wasn’t eating your strawberry ones.

shopping with sylus!

Eggs

Milk

Flour

Sugar

You came into the supermarket with exactly four items on your shopping list. So how exactly did you end up with almost an entire cart full of stuff??

“Sylus…” you spoke wearily. You paused your movements in the frozen aisle, taking a second to look at all the items that somehow made their way into your cart. “Can you please stop sneaking all of this stuff into our cart? It’s not exactly within my budget for today…”

“Did you really think I was going to let you pay for any of this? I’m not a monster,” Sylus replied, opening a freezer door handle and pulling out two tubs of ice cream. “Here, let’s get two so that way you don’t get mad when I decide I want to try a bite.”

“I do not get mad when you—ugh whatever, I am not arguing with you right now,” you shrugged, flailing your arms up in defeat.

“That’s because you know I’m right, kitten.”

You jokingly rolled your eyes at Sylus before turning to push your cart further down the aisle.

You had a feeling that he was going to pay for everything he grabbed, but he always ended up paying when he went shopping with you. You wanted to pay for yourself, and even him, if he ever gave you the chance—which he never did.

You both strolled throughout the store, picking up random foods you both wanted to try making during the week.

Sylus even added the occasional bag of candy or chips he thought Luke and Kieran would enjoy. The way he always thought of them warmed your heart. He would never admit it himself, but the twins were his family—so he always made sure to treat them as such.

Eventually, you found yourself in the far back corner of the supermarket. You had never been this far back before because you never really explored past the items on your shopping list.

But now that you had your crazy rich boyfriend buying half of the store for you, you finally realized just how much the store sold.

“Oh look, Sy! I didn’t know this place had a home decor section,” you said while pointing in the direction of the aisles. 

“Retailers have to sell everything to compete with each other nowadays, kitten,” he said, unimpressed by the selection yet amused by your excitement.

“Well duh, but you wouldn’t think a supermarket would sell candles—would you?”

“You’ll never know what I’m thinking but doesn’t that make it fun?” he teased, following you into a long aisle filled with nothing but candles. He watched as you started grabbing jars and inhaling the different scents.

Sylus eventually gave in and reached for a dark burgundy candle, popping the metal lid off. He brought the glass jar up towards his nose and breathed in the scent for a couple seconds.

At first his face was still—no sign of enjoyment or disgust—but then there was a small shift in his lips. Almost a smirk but not fully formed.

“Does it smell nice or are you planning something?” you asked, picking up a pastel yellow candle on the shelf.

He doesn’t respond. He simply tilted the jar towards you, giving you the choice of whether or not you should smell it.

“I’m scaredddd,” you giggle under his gaze. “If this smells awful, I’m telling the twins.”

“And what exactly are they going to do?” Sylus asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Help me get you back of course!” you exclaimed and crossed your arms over your chest.

“I’d love to see you guys try,” he scoffed. He watched as your eyes scanned the candle, looking for the label before shutting down your attempts. “Ah-ah-ah, no cheating. My hand is covering the label so it’s all a game of trust now, kitten.”

You let out a long sigh. “Fine. I trust you—but only for now!”

You finally leaned forward and took a sniff of the candle in Sylus’ grip.

It was…

Perfect.

The smell was mostly sweet like apples and cherries, but it also had a layered scent of spice and wood. It was in perfect complement with the autumn leaves falling off of the trees outside. You knew that it would be a lovely fall addition to the Onychinus base.

You let out a hum of satisfaction before grabbing the candle from Sylus’ hands and putting the lid back on it. You put the glass jar into your cart.

“I knew you’d like it,” Sylus chuckled to himself.

You both continued to wander through the home department before you eventually looped back to the checkout lanes.

As you stood and waited in line, you looked at all of the food in your cart. When you looked up to negotiate with Sylus, his eyes were already on yours—patiently waiting for whatever he knew you were going to ask.

“Let me pay for half,” you insisted. His face gave you your answer, loud and clear—he wasn’t going to let you pay for any of it. “At least let me buy the candle.”

With the long line ahead of you guys, Sylus was feeling generous enough to entertain your antics. “How about this, we can take turns. I pay this time; you pay next time. How does that sound, kitten?”

“Deal!” you immediately agreed.

You thought about how you were probably being arrogant by believing it was going to be that easy to bargain with Sylus, and you were right.

While you didn’t know it yet, in the next few days, your credit cards would slowly be replaced by his.

Sure, he would let you pay, but only if it was his money.

crafts with caleb!

Once Caleb realized that he wanted to be a pilot, he made it his entire personality.

He was that nerdy kid who could spit out random plane facts if someone asked him—or if they didn’t. To be fair, he was also 15 years old around this phase, but there were some parts he never grew out of.

The one thing he never seemed to give up, even with ten years behind him, was making miniature plane models.

When he was younger, Caleb could only ever afford to get the smaller and less complicated models. Now that he is older and has a larger amount of money to spend, he usually splurges on getting more complex models—and you, of course.

When you first heard that he bought a more expensive flight miniature, you knew it was going to be more detailed and possibly bigger. What you didn’t expect, was just how detailed it truly was.

It was already a hassle to cut each individual seat out for the passengers, but it looked almost impossible to glue each button in the cockpit to the control panel.

These models usually took him up to half a year to complete because of how intricate each step was—alongside balancing work and spending time with you.

One day he had mentioned how he was going to spend his day off working on his airplane model, and he invited you to come over to help him with it. Of course you said yes, but you were hesitant to work with something so frail and important to him.

“What if I mess it up, Caleb?” you asked, doubting your abilities.

He took his hand and patted it over your head, both teasing and reassuring you. “Aww come on, you couldn’t mess it up that bad. It’s just like following lego instructions, pipsqueak,” he encouraged.

“This—” you held up one of his old miniature's instruction pamphlets for dramatic effect, “looks nothing like the instructions that come with legos.”

“That’s because you’re not used to looking at them yet. Let’s see how you do once we start, okay?”

“Mmm…okay,” you responded hesitantly.

You both made your way towards the dining room where a large box sat on the table.

He pulled out a chair for you, and you sat down in it. He took the seat next to you before he opened up the box and dumped out all of the contents.

Seventy—maybe even one hundred—plastic bags came flying out onto the wooden table.

While the plastic bags, the stickers, and the instruction manual seemed to be the same concept as building a lego set, you knew it would be much harder than that.

“Where should we start?” you asked as your hands grazed over the many plastic bags in front of you. “Do we do one bag at a time or…?”

“We could try to do that but all the bags are used in different steps, so it might be hard. I usually take everything out and organize the pieces,” Caleb explained.

He continued to give you a general idea on each step of the process as you started tearing apart the plastic and pouring the pieces out.

It didn’t take long before you found your rhythm with unbagging and breaking off parts from each other. As you went through each bag, you handed the separated pieces to Caleb who then organized everything into piles.

“Look at you, pipsqueak. You’re a natural!”

“Caleb…we haven’t even started gluing things together yet.” you giggled at his enthusiasm for doing seemingly nothing.

“Yeah but you haven’t broken anything yet, so I say you’re doing great,” he joked.

After you finished what felt like your 200th bag, you leaned back in your chair to stretch your back. When you looked around to ease the tension forming in your neck, you caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall.

Almost two whole hours had passed since you started.

While it felt like you had gone through hundreds of bags, you really only opened somewhere close to ten. You let out a sigh at the lack of progress you were making before Caleb’s voice cut through your thoughts.

“You’re making a great copilot, pipsqueak,” he praised, nudging your arm. “I can tell you’re getting worked up. You can take a break whenever you feel like it.”

“I’m fine, really. I just can’t believe we’ve been at this for two hours and we haven’t even made it through all the bags!” you finally let out before sinking into your chair. “This is gonna take our entire lives to finish, babe.”

Caleb laughed as he continued to organize the remaining pieces that you handed him earlier. “Tell me about it. Usually, they’re not too bad but this one is so big that it might still take our entire lives even with both of us.”

You thought back to what he said earlier and turned to face him. “I guess I’ll have to be your copilot for life then,” you said with a small smile.

After hearing your words, his eyes found yours and suddenly he felt a rush of everything. Everything from the past ten years, everything since he had first met you. All the love and support you had given him just by being by his side.

Then it clicked.

How foolish of him to think that mini airplane models were the main thing he brought with him into adulthood. They became completely irrelevant when compared with the most important thing he carried with him throughout his life—his love for you.

“Copilot for life, huh?” he repeated your words as a faint blush painted his cheeks at the sudden flood of emotions.

A couple days? Fine.

A week or two? Manageable.

But this? This was tortuous.

It had been a full 3 weeks and 4 days since Sylus had last seen you, and he was going insane. He wasn’t the only one though—you were also losing sleep over not being with your boyfriend. But not for the reason he may think…

You weren’t exhausted every morning because you struggled to fall asleep without Sylus—you were exhausted because of how hard you struggled every night to not touch yourself at the thought of him. You spent hours each night trying to reach your orgasm only to fall short without the help of him.

Tonight, you found yourself at your limit. You were laying in your bed in the hotel room your company had already paid for. Being away for work was always exciting because you got to travel to different cities, but it was also challenging being far from your friends and family. Sylus made sure to call you every night before bed but tonight he had a project that needed to be taken care of. He told you he would still call but he wasn’t sure how late it would be.

As you scrolled through your phone, trying to waste as much time till he called, you caught a glimpse of a photo you and Sylus had taken together. It wasn’t explicit in the slightest—a simple picture of you and him at the beach—but your brain couldn’t help but wander towards the way his hand wrapped around your waist or the way his body was so big in comparison to yours.

Before you could even process what you were doing, your hands slipped past the waistband of your pajama pants and comfortably in between your folds. You were dripping and it felt like you had been ever since you left Sylus back home. Your fingers dipped inside your hole and you start moving them in and out. You used your other hand to slide your pants further down, allowing you to spread your legs out more.

You continued to move your fingers inside you, wishing they were Sylus’. His fingers are much longer than yours and can reach way deeper than yours ever could. You tried to replicate the way his fingers curled inside of you, but you could only barely graze your g-spot. 

Just as your head tilted back into your pillow at the faint pleasure, a loud ringing came from your bedside table. You quickly found the source and saw that Sylus was calling.

Perfect timing.

“Hi kitten, I’m sorry I’m so late tonight,” his voice echoed through your speaker. From the looks of it, he was walking into his bedroom. You quickly pulled your pants up and sat upright in your bed while propping your phone onto your bedside table for him to fully see your face.

“Mmm, it’s okay. I missed you a lot today,” you mumbled. You tried to steady your breathing and heart but once Sylus set up his camera, you were practically drooling at the sight. He had changed into a black tank top and a pair of sleep shorts which left a lot of skin exposed. Skin that you had been dreaming of touching, kissing, marking, hell even li-

“Are you feeling okay? Your face is really red. We can’t have you catching a fever so far away from home,” his question broke you out of your thoughts. His voice sounded concerned yet his eyes held a hint of amusement, as if he knew all the sins you had committed.

“Haha, yeah…I just—uh—just finished working out!” you scrambled for an excuse but of course he could read you like a book.

“Lying to me isn’t wise. I’d confess while I’m still feeling generous,” he spoke with a faint smirk appearing on his lips. You were going to refuse but you figured that if you kept lying, he wouldn’t help you with your…problem.

“Fine! I was touching myself and then you called me. Happy??” You exclaimed, flopping onto your bed.

“Why didn’t you just tell me, kitten? I could’ve helped you.”

“I-I didn’t wanna bother you…” you pouted.

“You could never bother me. Give me a minute and we can pick up where you left off,” he replied before grabbing his phone. His camera went on pause and the slight sound of his tapping on the screen could be heard.

“Mmm? What are you doing?” you asked. His face appeared back on the screen and he positioned his camera back to its previous spot.

“I just notified one of my men to deliver something I've prepared for you. It should be there any second now.”

“Sylus! Have you been spying on me?!” you exclaimed. It really wasn’t a shock that he had kept a close eye on you. Whether it was a real person, Mephesto, or Sylus himself—his eyes were always on you.

“Have you noticed anyone following you around?” he questioned. You didn’t recall seeing any people who looked like they were a part of Onichynus or from the N109 Zone, but you also figured that you would notice if the same person was following you around.

“No…?” you responded.

“Then no, I haven’t,” he said smugly.

“Ugh, you stalker!” you jokingly scolded him. Before Sylus can open his mouth to reply, a knock on your hotel door reaches your ears. “Wow, that was quick.”

You got up from your bed, not bothering to bring your phone with you. The box outside your door was a simplistic black gift box, wrapped in a gold and red ribbon. When you returned back to your bed and unwrapped the box, you couldn’t hold back the shocked expression on your face.

A dark red silicone rabbit dildo and clit sucker with a gold-plated base met your eyes. There was a set of buttons on the base that seemingly controlled the internal and external vibrations. The actual length was big and incredibly realistic. There were veins and a skin-like texture all around it—it seemed…very familiar.

“What is this?” you asked. You knew what it was, you just didn’t know why he was giving this to you. You had brought your vibrator on your trip, but it wasn’t anything compared to how your boyfriend touched you. You were sure another sex toy wasn’t going to solve a problem only Sylus could.

“I’m sure you can make an educated guess, kitten,” he smirked, watching you examine his gift.

“Sylus, I already have a vibrator.”

“This one should be better—it’s the latest model from a luxury sex toy company. It comes in a set for couples and it reacts to our movement to replicate it for the other person.”

“Movement as in…” you hesitated, not wanting to finish your vulgar sentence.

“Use your words,” Sylus urged. His low voice goes directly towards the growing heat within you.

“The faster I move mine inside me…t-the more yours…tightens?” you half guessed. It seems like the most logical explanation. While you had heard about vibrators that paired with a partner’s for mutual pleasure, you just never thought you would ever get to try one out.

“Mhm and the faster I move, the more yours vibrates. I also took the time to customize them so yours is almost identical to my cock, which I’m sure you’ve taken note of.” You nod at his words. He reaches into the drawer of his bedside table, pulling out his toy. His was a thick fleshlight in the same maroon color as yours. You couldn’t get a clear look at it, but you could only assume it looked and felt like you. “What do you say we give it a try, kitten?”

You can see his eyes darken with desire at the thought of finally being able to feel pleasure coming from you. While it is definitely not the same as feeling your touch in person, it was the most you were gonna get for the next week and a half—so you weren’t going to turn this down. His fingers began lightly touching the entrance of the toy and your body shivered in response.

“O-Okay,” you managed to reply as you started to take off your drenched pants, your shirt following. Sylus did the same on his end and turned his toy on, waiting to pair with yours. Once both of the toys were connected, you positioned your camera towards the end of the bed frame and laid down on your back. Your face was still in view but you made sure that he could see the way your pussy fluttered for him.

“Go on and put it in for me,” he encouraged you, voice laced with lust. His eyes never left your face as you slowly inserted the silicone tip inside your cunt. He lined up his cock with the toy and mimicked your movements. “That’s it, put all of it in. Let me feel you clench around me, baby.”

“Mmm feels so good, Sylus,” you moaned. You could feel the way his cock was twitching inside which only made your pussy tighten around him more. You began to move the vibrator faster inside of you, earning you a deep groan from the man on your phone screen.

Your gaze wandered from where your toy moved inside of you towards the screen. You saw the way Sylus’ hand gripped around his fleshlight and how his veins trailed up his forearms—making you wish he had them wrapped around you instead. Of course the feeling was mutual, as he imagined his fingers digging into the flesh of your thigh, marking you in the process.

“You feel so good, kitten. I wish you knew how hard it’s been without you here,” he groaned, grip tightening on the silicone. “I’ve been so—fuck—so horny and it’s been hard not to—hah—jerk off to the sound of your voice every night.”

His words went straight to your fluttering core, making you moan so loud that you almost forgot there were people trying to sleep in the room next to you. You forced yourself to cover your mouth with your hand, biting the skin to muffle any noise that may escape.

“Mmm, shit, you make me feel so good. I wish I could hear you, kitten,” Sylus grunted, thrusts never faltering. “You know, if you came home early—we could be as loud as we wanted.” His brows furrowed in pleasure as he peered to the side and saw the way your pussy glistened on camera.

The look on your face was euphoric as your eyes were rolled back and spit dripped down from your hand you were biting. Your entire body was covered in a thin layer of sweat and you could tell it was affecting Sylus. His face was covered in a shade of light red and his muscles were tense from restraining himself.

Up until now, he was matching your pace relatively well but he craved to be deeper inside of you. His thrusts started to quicken as he reached for the deepest parts of his toy. When the tip of his cock hit the end, the tip of your toy throbbed inside of you. The vibrations hit directly against your g-spot and kept moving until you saw stars.

“A-Ah! Too f-fast Sylus—fuck. Please slow down!” you cried out. His pace was relentless as he wanted to give you all the pleasure you had left back home. You had slowed your movements but the vibration only increased as Sylus continued to pound into his toy.

“Hah—For someone who has been struggling to cum on her own for the past 3 weeks, you aren’t being very grateful,” he growled. The speed of your toy didn’t slow—and it didn’t look like he had any plan of listening to your pleas.

“S-Sorry! You’re just so big and if you keep moving this fast I’m g-gonna—ahh—what are you doing?!” A sudden jolt of pleasure hit your clit as a light buzz came from the upper rabbit section of your toy. You peered down through your legs to see what Sylus was doing. His finger ran fast over the silicone nub on his toy, sending the vibrations to your end. “Fuck, it’s too much! I’m cumming!”

“That’s it, cum for me,” he moaned at the feeling of your cunt clamping down on him. His pace never slowed as he chased his own high and it wasn’t long until he couldn’t take it anymore, spilling his seed deep inside the fleshlight. The twitching of his cock only pleasured you throughout your climax before the vibrating eventually leveled out.

Once the movement completely stopped on both ends, you slowly slipped the silicone cock out of you. You both walked to the bathroom to clean both yourselves and the toys. You put your pajamas back on before plugging the charger into your vibrator and getting into bed.

“Thanks for the gift, Sy,” you whispered to him through the phone.

“Anytime, kitten.”

“Are you gonna try and stop him orrrr,” a muffled voice asked, words echoing through the hallway. Just outside the office room of the Onychinus base, Luke and Kieran peered their heads inside to observe the white-haired man who had just stood up from his black leather chair.

They technically weren’t spying—at least they wouldn’t define it as spying—they were simply watching over their boss! Their gaze followed the man in question as he walked to the other end of the room, grabbing an unopened bottle of liquor.

“Hell no. Do you remember the last time we told him to cut back?” Kieran whispered.

“That time he kicked us out of the base for the night or the time before that—or the time before that-" Luke rambled before being cut off. 

“All of them, Luke! All of them! You know better than to mess with the boss man when a drink is in his hand.” Just as Luke was about to retort, a voice cut through the brief silence—freezing the boys in their places.

“I can hear you guys, you know,” Sylus turned his head in the direction of the door, a look of annoyance twisted with amusement forming on his face. “You boys aren’t exactly…quiet.”

The door to the room slowly opened as the twins made their way inside, heads hanging low. Luke and Kieran don’t respond to him immediately, patiently waiting for whatever scolding was to follow—-yet they were only met with silence. With a quick glance up towards Sylus, the twins were met with a glare of disappointment.

“We're sorry, Boss!” they both spoke in frightened unison before turning around and speed walking down the hallway—never giving Sylus the chance to finish his lecture. He clearly didn’t care enough though, letting them leave and wonder when his discipling would come.

He continued to twist open the bottle of whiskey he grabbed from the shelf and poured it into a cocktail shaker. He wasn’t drinking for any particular reason, sometimes he just enjoyed a nice beverage on a cool autumn night. Rarely did he ever let the amount of alcohol he consumed get out of hand—but there were definitely times when he almost had too much.

Tonight, he was teetering that edge of enjoying a couple beverages and accidentally downing an entire bottle. While he kept telling himself one more glass, that didn’t stop him from having his 4th—no, 5th glass of the night. Luckily, his high body mass allowed for him to consume far more alcohol than the average person before reaching a truly intoxicated state.

As the night carried on, Sylus continued to sip on the drink in his hand, listening to a vinyl on his vintage record player. As the instrumentals from the song played, he couldn’t help but softly hum along—thoughts of you consuming his mind.

His gaze flickered to the clock on the wall as he patiently waited for the moment you arrived home. Even though the sun had long set, he knew you were safe—with help from Mephisto’s watchful eyes of course. His eyelids felt heavy every time he blinked, but he never allowed himself to rest until he knew you were safe at home.

When you finally made it to the front door of the Onichynus base and turned the doorknob, you were greeted by two familiar faces.

“Hi boys,” you waved at the twins chatting in the living room which wasn’t far from the main entrance. “Have you guys eaten? If not, I grabbed some food on my way here,” you said, lifting up a white plastic bag filled with carry out.

“We ate already! The boss made some dinner earlier,” Luke responded.

“Good to hear,” you grunted while bending over to slip off your shoes. After you stood back up, you wandered into the living room to continue the conversation. “Where is he anyway? Has he gone to bed already?”

“Uhhh…no, not exactly. He should still be in his office—but beware—he’s had a drink or two,” Luke joked.

“More like a drink or five,” Kieran chimed in, causing you to chuckle to yourself.

“Haha, thank you guys. I’ll see you in the morning,” you said your goodnights and put your food in the fridge before making your way down the hall. You weren’t terribly worried about Sylus overdoing the amount he drank because he only ever had enough to get mildly drunk, never completely wasted. Plus it really only happened maybe once every other year—if that. He had always been a responsible drinker and there were even times when you encouraged him to let loose a little more.

When you reached the door to his separate living room, you softly knocked on the door.

No response.

Based on the sound of your favorite record playing from inside, you knew he was there. You moved to open the door and called out his name.

“Sylus? Syl–there you are.” When you make it into the room, you’re met with Sylus sprawled out in his chair. His head was tilted back but it perked up at the sound of your footsteps approaching him.

“Hey—*hic*— kitten,” he managed to say, greeting you with open arms. You couldn’t hold back the smile forming at both his words and appearance. His white hair was all ruffled from leaning back and his face was flushed a crimson red. You took a seat in his lap, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“Hey there handsome, what have you been up to?” you giggled. It was a rhetorical question, of course. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he had been up to for the past couple hours.

“Destressing,” he replied simply with a lopsided smirk. His hand wrapped around you and found your arm as he lightly traced your skin with his fingers. The warm touch sent shivers down your spine and a soft sigh left your lips. His touch was always so comforting after a long day at work and you couldn’t have been happier to be home. “I missed you a lot.”

“I missed you too, Sy. I always do—you know that,” you whispered back. His pupils were blown wide, most likely from all the alcohol in his system, but little did you know that no drink could get him more intoxicated than the way you do. Sylus’ body leaned ever so slightly into yours and his eyes closed for a fraction of a second longer than usual, signaling to you that it was way past his bedtime. “We should get you to the bedroom, mister.”

“Mmm, the bedroom you say?” He joked, clearly not thinking straight.

“Yes, the bedroom. You know, the place where we sleep?” you asked as one of your eyebrow raises. At this point, it is becoming hard not to burst into laughter at his unseriousness.

“We…” he paused to gather his thoughts while a faint smirk appeared on his face. “We also—*hic*—do other things there, kitten.”

“Are you trying to seduce me right now!?” You lightly smacked his arm at his dirty mind, rolling your eyes playfully. Sylus simply t in response while going to move the hair out of the way—placing small kisses along your neck. 

“Do you want me to be?” he slurred and his words strung out a little longer.

“I want you to sleep!” you whined with a small smile forming on your face. Even though his lips felt amazing, you pulled him away from your neck. “You’re on the verge of falling asleep upright in this chair when our bedroom is right down the hall.”

You go to climb out of Sylus’ lap but his hands gently wrapped around your waist, keeping you temporarily frozen in place. You shook your head and laugh to yourself at his persistence before pulling away from his grip. It didn’t take much strength to do so, leaving his arms to fall back to his sides like they were made of jello.

“Can you walk by yourself?” you asked.

“Can I—*hic*—or do I want to?” he spoke back, his sass becoming far more evident since you left his reach.

“I’ll meet you in the bedroom, Sy,” you said sweetly.

Even if you wanted to, there was no way in hell you would’ve been able to lift his large and muscular body by yourself. That left him no other choice but to get up on his own two feet all by himself. You figured he would eventually make his way to you just as he always did—and you were right. When you entered your shared bedroom, it wasn’t long before a drunk Sylus followed behind you. He didn’t say anything—not that there was much room for thought with the alcohol still flowing through his blood.

Sylus came to his senses enough to change into a pair of pajama pants while you made your way to your closet and put on some comfy sleepwear. You both walked towards your respective ends of your bed, but of course it wasn’t that easy. The limited control Sylus had left of his body only allowed him to flop onto the bed.

You immediately got out from under the covers and crossed the room to his side. A breathy laugh escaped your lips at the sight of the big and strong leader of Onychinus just barely making it into his bed. You rolled his body over, lifted the sheets from underneath him, and gently tucked them over him.

When you made it back to your side of the bed, you pulled Sylus closer to you. He instantly melted into your touch, resting his head on your chest. Just as his breathing slowed and he appeared to have fallen asleep, his voice filled the room.

“I love you,” he mumbled quietly, eyes fluttering open to meet yours. His gaze was captivating yet soft. Even though there have been countless times where you have gotten lost in his eyes, you never grew tired of it—in fact, you only craved him more.

“I love you too,” you replied. Your fingers tangled with his hair and you planted a kiss on his head. He really was your everything. You truly loved and adored every second with him, even if it meant making sure he made it into his own bed on a night he had a little too much to drink.

“I always have, you know—loved you,” Sylus confessed. “From the moment I met you and…even before then. I’ve loved you in every life and—*hic*—I promise to love you in every future life going forward, kitten.”

Listening to him ramble endlessly about his undying love for you almost made your heart explode. He has always had his fair share of incredibly romantic gestures and speeches, but right now felt different. His words unraveled onto each other and in that moment he was only able to say the unfiltered thoughts that were running through his mind.

“And because I—*hic*—have always loved you, and always will. I was wondering if you’d make me the happiest man alive and…marry me?”

Your eyes widened, taken aback by his words. A light blush dusted your entire face at his confession, making it harder to think straight. You searched for any signs of playfulness or him playing a joke on you, but you came up empty handed.

He was dead serious.

“You cannot seriously be proposing to me right now,” you grinned in amusement, knowing it was the alcohol talking.

“Is that a no? If so, please reconsider…” He was genuinely disappointed by your lack of response which shouldn’t have been funny, yet a small chuckle erupted from your throat. You knew that he wouldn’t have remembered any of this in the morning, so there was no true reason to accept or reject him.

“No, I am not saying no to your proposal, Sy. But I think that you should maybe sleep on a question that big,” you giggled, hoping to either shift the conversation to a different topic or finally convince him to go to sleep.

“I wouldn’t ask it if I didn’t know what it meant. I—*hic*—want to spend the rest of my life with you—every day, every minute, every second—all of it, kitten.” Even while stumbling over some of his words, Sylus had a look written all over his face. The look somewhere between love and desperation that only came when he was completely consumed by your existence. Even drunk, he was forever devoted to you.

“You will spend the rest of your life with me, but right now you need a good 8 hours of sleep.”

“Do you promise?” Sylus was practically pouting, peering up at you. You wish you could take a picture of him like this but you knew teasing him in the morning was the best you were going to get.

“I promise, baby. Let’s get some sleep now, okay?” You lean in, pressing a soft kiss on his lips.

“Okay, kitten.”

The next morning came way too soon. The bright light shining through the bedroom windows caused you to stir in Sylus’ arms. You attempted to wiggle your way out of his grasp which only makes him hold onto you tighter.

“Sy, are you awake?” you whispered.

“Mmm,” he groaned in response, clearly not wanting to start his day just yet.

“I have to pee.”

“But you’re so warm.” His arms stayed wrapped around your waist. He went silent for a minute and you assumed he just fell back asleep—grip loosening on you which allowed you to slip out from both his grip and under the covers.

When you came back from the bathroom, Sylus was already mostly awake and laying his back against the headboard. He was always like this—the moment you left his side, he wasn’t able to fall back asleep. His hand reached for his forehead and his eyebrows furrowed in mild discomfort from his hangover.

“You had quite the night,” you said, breaking the silence. “You know, you’re quite the romantic when you’re drunk.”

“I was tipsy at most, kitten.” Sylus’ morning voice was deep and raspy, laced with his usual flirtatious and teasing tone. It brought you closer to him as you hopped onto his side of the bed and positioned yourself in his lap. His words sounded convincing but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself rather than you.

“Oh yeah, wanna know what you asked me?”

“...I’m listening.” he responded while cocking an eyebrow, expressing his interest.

“For my hand in marriage,” you choked out, almost cutting yourself off from your own laughter. 

That’s when the reality of the state he was in hit him. Yeah…he was definitely far beyond tipsy.

He couldn’t help but feel embarrassed from your retelling of his words from the previous night. Not because he asked you to spend the rest of your life with him—no, he meant every word—but because he had already asked you that very question two years prior.

His gaze flickered down from your teasing eyes to the shiny diamond ring wrapped around your left ring finger. The ring he held in his hands when he actually proposed to you.

You two had been happily married to each other for almost two years but you couldn’t bring yourself to tell your intoxicated husband the truth. It probably would’ve only confused his poor brain even more which would’ve led to an endless amount of incoherent questions. At the end of the night, you knew that all he needed was to sleep the alcohol off.

Now piecing together the events from the previous night, he understood how foolish he must’ve seemed. But as always, Sylus wouldn’t go down without a fight.

“I just wanted to relive the moment,” he spoke with false confidence. A light shade of red dusted his cheeks and ears, making it evident that he didn’t have a damn clue of what he was talking about.

“It’s okay to admit you were drunk out of your mind, you know?” you laughed at his attempt to move on from last night's “proposal”.

“Tipsy, kitten, tipsy.”

“Sure, whatever you say…I’ll be sure to include that crucial detail at our ‘future wedding’ when people ask me how you proposed.”

All he did was smile and shake his head.

“Kitten, what’s the matter?”

You didn’t notice it, but Sylus had been watching you for the past ten minutes—focusing on the way your eyebrows furrowed and the subtle glint of sadness in your eyes.

Throughout your relationship with the leader of the infamous group Onychinus, Sylus had never done anything short of spoiling you. Every meal spent together, every outfit you liked, any plushie you found—he bought it for you. Hell, if you managed to stare at something for even a fraction longer than the things around it—he bought it for you. And he did so without batting an eye at the price tag.

You loved Sylus and you loved the way he was willing to do and buy anything for you, but deep down you couldn’t help but feel guilty. Guilty for all the money he was spending on you, guilty for never being able to buy anything fancy or expensive for him. It slowly but surely started to eat away inside you, especially whenever he gave you princess treatment. It really wasn’t that big of a deal but it felt like it.

“It’s nothing, Sy. Don’t worry about it,” you shrugged, turning to face the tv screen. You two had been watching a movie for the past hour, but your mind couldn’t shake your insecurities.

“It’s not nothing, I can see it in your eyes,” Sylus spoke softly. He moves closer to wrap you in his arms and hold your face in his hand. His face shows nothing except care and concern. He leans in slowly and leaves a small kiss on your forehead, making blood rush to your cheeks from both warmth and suppressing your true feelings. “Please…talk to me. You know you can tell me anything.”

You let out a heavy sigh that you didn’t know you were holding in. You know that you should tell him, but you don’t know how to—or how he would react. Would he be upset with you? Or maybe he would realize that you really didn’t have all that much to offer him and that he’d be better off being with someone else.

The thoughts consume your mind and before you can stop yourself, a quiet sob leaves your lips. Your vision starts to blur and all you can bring yourself to do is pull Sylus closer. He doesn’t need to understand what is going through your mind to instantly embrace you. He gently strokes your back, giving you a minute to collect your thoughts and feelings.

“You’re such a strong girl. I would never force you to tell me anything, but please always remember that I am here for you.”

You slowly rise from his hold and look him in his eyes. The loving look on his face and hearing his reassurance almost brings you to tears once more, but you try and stay composed. You take a deep breath in before finally speaking up.

“I just wanna start by saying that…I am so incredibly grateful for you and everything you do for me,” you speak softly. Your voice comes out a bit hoarse so you clear your throat. You’re about to continue what you were saying when you notice a shift in Sylus’ body language. His shoulders were tense and there was a small furrow in his eyebrows. That’s when you realized how you sounded. “Oh my god, Sylus. I am not breaking up with you, I promise.”

Your hands instinctively reached for his face and you held him as if he was made of glass. He immediately loosened up upon hearing your words and melted into your touch. The way he looked at you almost made you want to forget this entire conversation and just hold him all night—but you knew you had to tell him eventually.

“Anyway, as I was saying…I feel as though you are always able to give me everything I could have ever wanted,” you pause, taking a second before the inevitable truth comes out. “but I feel like I can never do the same for you…”

Silence.

It was exactly what you dreaded, but you can tell from his expression that he is far from unhappy with you. He was simply taking a moment to process what you told him.

“Sweetie, you don’t owe me a single thing,” he replies, hands anchored to your waist—rubbing small circles as if gesturing that everything was alright. “You could wake up tomorrow morning and hate me—and I wouldn’t love you any less.”

“That’s the problem, Sy…you deserve so much bett-” Your voice is cut off by Sylus lightly placing his finger over your lips. The warm sensations of his touch silences every possible doubt your brain is trying to come up with.

“As much as I love hearing every word you say come out of your pretty mouth, you are speaking nothing but lies right now, darling,” he whispers. He gently grabs your waist and lifts you upwards so that you are straddling his lap. “You are the only person for me. Please never think of yourself as anything less than my other half.”

“I love you,” you spoke just barely above a whisper, voice teetering on the edge of breaking. It wasn’t the first time you’ve uttered those words, but this time felt different—more intimate. The kind of intimacy that only comes when one person lets down all their walls and allows the other to see into their deepest and darkest parts. These parts didn’t scare Sylus, they never did. They only pulled him in closer until he memorized all of you—the good, the bad, the ugly—all of it.

“I love you too, and I hope you never forget that.”

You must have read each other's minds as you both leaned in closer, closing any and all distance between you. When your lips met, all worries and doubt instantly fled your mind—leaving you with only the man in front of you.

The kiss was tender and passionate, no signs of rushing for intimacy. Sylus’ hands remained on your hips but his fingers dug deeper into your skin as your fingers ran through his hair.

Before things get too heated, he slowly breaks the kiss while steadying his heavy breathing. “We don’t have to do anything, kitten. I would be happy to finish the movie and let you fall asleep in my arms.”

“Sylus…the last thing I want to do is fall asleep,” you whispered in his ear, moving your mouth a little lower to nibble on his earlobe. “I need you.”

Hearing those three words leave your mouth was all it took for Sylus to grab your ass and stand up. You instinctively held onto his neck and wrapped your legs around his waist as he carried you towards his bedroom. “You wish is my command,” he spoke in a hushed tone, tossing you onto the bed.

You laid on your back and peered down at the man towards the end of the bed. Sylus’ eyes met yours and he began to slowly unbutton his red dress shirt. As each button was undone, more of his pale skin and muscle began to show itself. He was teasing you on purpose—stripping as slow as possible to see if you would break—but you enjoyed every second of it. Your mouth was almost watering at the sight and you had long given up on trying to hide your arousal, shamelessly rubbing your thighs together.

Once Sylus fully undressed himself, he climbed on to the bed and on top of you. His hands caged your head on both sides, yet his stare remained gentle. His fingers wandered to the hem of your shirt and he helped you take it off in one swift motion. Lucky for the both of you, you weren’t wearing a bra, leaving you fully on display for him.

“You’re breathtaking, my love,” he praised. He immediately lowered his head down towards your body and his mouth quickly found your neck. He began marking you—claiming you—as if this was his only chance to.

His marks continued all over your neck and sprinkled all over your collarbone. The warm pool of arousal between your legs from his kisses and bites all over your chest was becoming unbearable. You decided to make the next move as you subtly crept your hand lower and lower until it reached his hard cock.

“Mmm an eager kitty, are we?” he hissed between his teeth, clearly affected by your sudden touch. “I was gonna take my time with you, but I suppose we have the entire night—isn’t that right?”

“Yes, Sylus…I need you right now.” Your hand never stills, continuing to stroke him.

“Where do you need me, love?” His fingers traced down your figure, waiting for your response.

“L-Lower,” you gasped out. His teasing touch was driving you insane. All you wanted to do was shove his hand into your pants and have him take you right there, but you knew being patient was worth it.

“Lower where? You’re gonna have to be specific.” His index finger slipped just past your waistband before he paused, rubbing gentle circles on your skin.

“Ah—fuck. My pussy. Please, I need you inside my pussy,” you moaned.

“There you go, using your words like a good girl,” he replied smoothly, the praise sending a jolt of pleasure through your body. From the sound of your begging, he instantly pulled down your pants and underwear in one movement. He still hovered over you, one arm laying next to your head while the other made its way between your legs.

He takes his middle and index finger and glides it through your folds, collecting your arousal before shoving it back inside you. Your back arches off the bed at the feeling of his fingers curling inside your cunt, just barely grazing against your most sensitive spot.

“Ahh—Sylus-” Your eyes squeeze shut at the sensation.

“What is it, sweetie? Does it feel that good?” he teases. You can practically hear the shit-eating grin on his face, getting so turned on at the thought of you falling apart on his fingers.

“Hmmph, yes! Fuck, please move faster,” you plea. Your hips trying to move along to the rhythm of his fingers.

“Since you asked so nicely.” Sylus’ fingers react to your words almost automatically, curling deeper inside your pussy and hitting your g-spot effortlessly. The pleasure ripples through your body and you cling onto his arm to stabilize yourself. He moves his thumb towards your clit and begins to rub it quickly.

“F-Feels so good. Please don’t stop,” you beg. The added stimulation from him rubbing your clit has you seeing stars. You can feel your orgasm start to build in your lower stomach and your nails dig deeper into his skin.

“I can feel you clenching around my fingers. You wanna cum for me?” he groans at the feeling of your fluttering pussy on the brink of collapsing. All you can muster up is an urgent nod before everything comes crashing down. Your cunt pulses around his fingers and he keeps moving them throughout your high. “Good girl, making a mess for me. You did so well.”

You took a minute to catch your breath while admiring the man above you. His body craved yours but his eyes showed nothing but love and admiration for you. He was truly amazed by how beautiful you were, inside and out.

Once you’ve recovered from your orgasm, you motion for Sylus to lay on his back and you climb on top of him—your legs straddling his.

“Wanna ride you, Sy. I wanna make you feel good,” you whispered. You lifted yourself up, hovering just above his hard and leaking cock.

“Mmm fuck, kitten. You know you always make me feel good,” he growls, leaving a quick kiss on your lips. His hands find your waist and guide your heat to where he wants it most.

When he pulls away, your eyes remain locked on his as you finally sink down onto his length. The look on your face is of pure bliss, eyes rolling to the back of your head from him stretching you out. Sylus lets out a deep growl at the warmth and wetness that surrounds his cock, thrusting upward without thinking.

“Sylus–!” you cry out at his motion. You grab onto him and steady his movements in order to adjust to his size. Once his dick is fully inside you, you begin to lift yourself up just enough and fully slam back down onto him. Your hands tangle into his hair and gently tug while you start to speed up your pace.

“You hear that? The sound of your cunt being claimed by me—you’re all mine and I’m yours,” Sylus groans out. “Yours to have, to hold, to fuck.”

The knot in your lower stomach begins to tighten as your insides clench around him. His words only bring you closer to your peak and your bouncing becomes more sloppy. Sylus’ gaze flickers from your face down to where he is tearing you in half before he flips you onto your back and starts moving again.

“Fuck, your pussy is perfection—it was practically made for me.” he groans into your neck, sucking until he finds your most senstive spot. His cock thrusting inside you in addition to his praise and kisses almost sends you over the edge.

“I-I’m gonna cum. You feel so good inside of me, please don’t stop,” you beg.

“How could I deny such a sweet request from such a perfect girl.” He lowers his hand down towards your clit one more time, giving it a couple rubs back and forth. “Come on baby, I can feel how badly you want to give it to me.” That was all it took for you to finally let go all around him.

Sylus could feel that he wasn’t going to last much longer. The feeling of his cock twitching inside of you carried you throughout your high, making your eyes roll to the back of your head. “See, baby,” Sylus growled, locking eyes with where your bodies connected. “You don’t owe me anything, look how perfect you are for me. Look at how well you take my cock.”

You glanced down towards the place where your bodies joined and were met with the sight of his veiny cock covered in your slick. You let out a high-pitched whine from both the way he destroyed you as well as the overstimulation from your previous orgasm.

Sylus’ movement starts to falter slightly, signaling you that he was close to his own release. His fingers dip deep into the plush of your thighs, raising them up and throwing your legs over his shoulder. This new angle has you seeing stars and another orgasm builds up before you realize it.

“Mmm you’re gonna milk me dry, kitten. I’m so close—fuck. You want me to cum inside, don’t you?”

He feels the way your walls are fluttering around him again and he can only let out a low groan and mumble a profanity. You can’t help but moan in response to his filthy words and nod your head, giving him the okay to finish inside you. One last thrust and look into your eyes is all it takes for him to reach his climax and empty his cum into your tight cunt.

The feeling of his thick ropes of cum pumping inside you brings you to your third and final climax of the night.

Sylus lays on top of you while remaining inside of you until his dick starts to soften. When he pulls out, he can’t help but stare at the way his cum leaks out of your pussy. It takes everything in him to not push himself back inside you and make sure his load stays in the deepest parts of you.

“Thank you, Sy,” you whisper, lightly playing with his hair. Your voice snaps him back to reality. The way you look down at him almost makes his heart explode out of his chest and he wonders how he managed to get so lucky. “I am so happy to have you in my life.”

The easiest way to get back at Sylus for being a smug asshole is to touch yourself when you know he can hear you in the other room.

When he hears your muffled moans and cries, he instantly rushes into your shared bedroom—eyes flickering to your glistening pussy. His presence has you biting your bottom lip and grinding faster into your hand.

His gaze darkens on your flustered face before he starts making long strides towards the bed. He goes to remove your hand and replace it with his—but before he can, your voice stops him.

"No touching allowed. Feel free to have a seat and enjoy the show, though," you teased with innocent eyes staring back at his. As you continued to pleasure yourself, Sylus surprisingly did as he was told and took a seat on a chair towards the edge of the bed.

You took one of your hands and swirled your slick around with your middle finger. The look on Sylus' face was unforgettable. His jaw was tense as his eyes roamed your body. You licked your lips before inserting two fingers into your hole.

"A-Ah!" you cried out at the instant pleasure. It was nowhere near how Sylus made you feel, but you had to teach him a lesson. A lesson which seemed to be working.

"You're so wet, kitten. I want to devour all of you," he growled under his breath. His arousal was evident with the bulge forming through his slacks. Your fingers curled up towards your g-spot, imagining it was his cock reaching the deepest parts of you.

"Mmm Sy~" you moaned and reached your other hand up to fondle with your nipple. Your eyes never left his as you quickened the pace of your fingers. The knot in your stomach was becoming too much and you knew that your little game wasn't going to last much longer. "I-I'm so close–fuck! I'm gonna cum"

The sight of you so close to falling apart on your fingers was pure torture for Sylus. He couldn't stop himself from palming his cock through his pants, groaning at the contact.

"Let go for me, darling," he growled as he watched your pussy clench around your fingers. The sound of his voice was all you needed to be sent over the edge. Pleasure surged through your body as you let out a string of moans and profanities.

Once your orgasm washed over you and your breathing steadied, you peered down to Sylus who now had his cock freed. He continued to stroke it to your figure before walking towards the edge of the bed.

He climbed on top of you, caging you in with his arms on either side of your head.

Sakurazaka University Hospital had grown quiet, the rush of the day giving way to the low hum of machines and the occasional echo of footsteps down sterile hallways. Most doctors had already gone home. The lights in their offices had flicked off one by one, leaving only slivers of fluorescent glow through the narrow windows of doors.

But not his.

Inside, Dr. Chishiya sat hunched over his desk, sleeves pushed back, pen gliding across paperwork with unhurried precision. He should have gone home hours ago, but no doctor’s work was ever truly finished. His office smelled faintly of disinfectant and coffee, and the only sound was the soft shuffle of pages turning.

A knock interrupted the stillness.

“Come in,” he called without looking up.

“Dr. Chishiya…” a voice spoke. The voice belonged to Hikaru Nakayama, the head of administration for Sakurazaka University. The university was home to a prestigious medical school which led to many hospitals and clinics being constructed under its name all throughout Japan. Most students in their medical program ended up at their hospitals at some point during their careers—and Chishiya was one of them.

He knew what Hikaru wanted. For the past three days, he has continuously pestered Chishiya about teaching an intermediate pediatrics course on the university campus. Each and every single time he brought it up, Chishiya always responded the same.

“No.”

Hikaru blinked, clearly thrown off by the bluntness. “I- you haven’t even heard me out.”

“Do I need to?” Chishiya murmured, signing his name on the document in front of him before finally setting his pen down.

The administrator fumbled, tugging at his tie. “If you’d just consider it…there are new benefits we can offer.”

That at least earned Chishiya’s attention. His gaze lifted, sharp and assessing. “I’m listening.”

“Well…” Hikaru cleared his throat. “If you agree, you won’t need to complete your continuing medical education credits this year for your license renewal.”

Chishiya’s pen stilled against the page. That was tempting. He despised wasting hours on mandatory lectures on material he’d already mastered years ago. Slowly, he leaned back in his chair, finally regarding the man standing awkwardly in his doorway.

“You said benefits…as in plural.”

“Yes! Yes,” Hikaru stammered, quick to nod. “There’s also a pay bonus, and-” he paused for dramatic effect, though it did little to hide the anxiety written all over his face, “an extra month of paid leave.”

Chishiya let the silence hang, studying him. His smirk was faint, but there. “Email me the details.”

Hikaru nearly sagged with relief. “Of course, Doctor. Thank you for accepting! The class is r-”

“Email,” Chishiya repeated, picking up his pen again.

The administrator bobbed his head in agreement and backed out, closing the door quietly behind him. Chishiya hummed to himself, amused at the man’s dedication. Whether it was dedication or desperation was debatable, but who was he to care? He certainly wouldn’t care once he got his month of paid time off.

♤♧♡♢

Your laptop screen glared back at you, the spinning wheel taunting you with every failed click. “Oh, come on!” you groaned, slamming the heel of your palm against the trackpad.

From across the couch, your roommate didn’t even look up from her book. Ann was sprawled lazily on her side, reading glasses slipping down her nose as she flipped another page of her thick forensics text.

“What is it now, Y/N?” she asked, voice bored but teasing.

“Remember how I couldn’t register for my pediatrics class yesterday because the system crashed from ‘high volume’?” you grumbled, glaring at the error message on your screen.

“Mhm.”

“Well,” you spun the laptop toward her dramatically, “now there’s only one pediatrics course left open, and the professor isn’t even listed. How am I supposed to know what I’m getting into if I can’t look them up on RateMyProfessor?”

Ann finally looked up, blinking at your theatrics before snorting. “God, dramatic much? You’ll survive. It’s your last semester before you’re free, so look on the bright side.”

“There is no freedom,” you groaned, collapsing backward onto the couch with a throw pillow clutched to your chest. “After med school comes residency. After residency comes endless work until I die.” Your voice was muffled by the pillow, but Ann was already laughing.

You sat up again, shoving the pillow into your lap. “I just like knowing what to expect. What if I get a total jackass professor?”

Ann’s grin widened. “But what if you get a hottie? Extra motivation to study.”

You rolled your eyes. “Yeah, right. The chances of landing a hot professor are practically zero. I’ll probably end up with some old man who smells like chalk dust.”

♤♧♡♢

Sakurazaka University’s lecture hall was louder than usual that morning. Dozens of students crammed into narrow rows, the smell of coffee and cheap convenience-store pastries heavy in the air. The chatter was chaotic with some people nervously flipping through textbooks, others laughing about weekend plans, and you, chewing the inside of your cheek as you refreshed the digital syllabus on your laptop for what felt like the fifteenth time.

The door creaked open.

Silence spread across the room almost instantly, as though the air itself had been held down. A man walked in, his steps unhurried, his presence cold and composed.

Definitely not an old man.

He was younger and far more handsome than you expected. No gray hair, no tired posture of an overworked professor. Instead, a sharp figure in a loose white coat, blond hair falling neatly around his face, dark eyes narrowing with disinterest. He carried no bag, no stack of notes. Just a slim folder, which he placed on the desk with a quiet thunk.

“I’m Dr. Chishiya.” His voice cut through the stillness. It was smooth, low, and effortlessly commanding. “This is Pediatrics 302. Read the syllabus. Don’t waste my time asking questions already answered in it.”

That was it. No warm greeting, no introduction, not even a smile.

Around you, students exchanged wide-eyed looks, some stifling laughter at his bluntness, others already scribbling nervously in their notebooks. You sat up straighter, studying him more closely. His gaze skimmed the room—detached yet sharp—as though he could already tell who would pass, who would fail, and who wasn’t worth his time.

You were in for one hell of a semester.

♤♧♡♢

The lecture hall was quieter than usual, the low hum of ventilation and the occasional shuffle of papers were the only sounds breaking the stillness. It was only the second week and people were already dropping like flies. Whether it was the boring material or the professor who clearly didn't want to be there, people didn't bother attending any more lectures.

You settled into your usual spot near the back, notebook open but mostly untouched. The lecture had already started, Chishiya moving at the front with his usual calm, detached air. You told yourself you were paying attention, but your eyes kept drifting.

At first, it was casual—a glance at how he adjusted the papers on the desk, the neat flick of his pen as he underlined a point, the slight arch of his brow when a student asked a question. There was something…deliberate in the way he moved, almost measured, as if every gesture had been planned, precise and controlled.

You caught your heart speeding up, your chest tightening in a way that felt foreign. It’s just…how he moves, you tried to reason. Focus on the lecture.

But your eyes kept returning to him. His presence constantly pulled you back in each time you shifted your attention back to the textbook. The tilt of his head as he listened to a question, the way the corners of his mouth twitched ever so slightly when he considered an answer, the sharpness in his dark eyes as they scanned the room. Each detail pulled your attention further in. You realized, slowly, that your mind wasn’t on pediatrics at all. It was on Chishiya.

A small chuckle escaped him as a student gave an impractical response to his question, yet you caught it. It was quiet, controlled, yet somehow teasing. Your stomach fluttered. You were fixated by his lectures but not just by the material. You felt a heat rising in your cheeks and cursed yourself silently for thinking about him like that.

You told yourself it was harmless. You weren’t doing anything wrong. You were just observing, noting his mannerisms to memorize them and get on his good side. But when he glanced up, and your eyes met, a jolt ran through you. His gaze was sharp, unwavering, and suddenly it felt too personal.

“You’re staring,” he said, voice low, almost amused, cutting through the lecture hall like a knife. How could he just announce that to the entire class?

Your stomach dropped. “I-I was just…listening,” you stammered, heat flooding your face.

“Listening, huh?” His lips twitched into a faint smirk, corners tugging just slightly, the kind that made your chest tighten.

You swallowed, suddenly acutely aware of how your fingers clenched your pen, how your knees were pressed together tighter than usual. "Yes, I was listening to what you were saying. I wasn't staring-"

“You were,” he said smoothly, voice calm but with that undercurrent of knowing. “If you're too far away, you will never catch the important details but if you look too closely, you will miss the big picture. Don't get too caught up looking at me when the information lies in the text."

Something in the way he spoke, detached yet teasing, sent an electric thrill down your spine. You couldn’t look away, couldn’t stop your heart from racing. Every word, every motion, every glance he gave you felt like it was meant to pull you closer, to make you notice him more.

By the time the lecture ended, your mind had shifted entirely. You were no longer thinking about exams or syllabus points. You were thinking about him. The way he stood, the sound of his voice, the faint smirk that seemed to linger in your thoughts even after he had turned to collect his materials.

You packed up slowly, trying to keep your composure, but your eyes found him again, and he noticed. That faint, deliberate glance he gave you as you left the room made your stomach flutter and your pulse spike. He had seen you. He had seen the way you couldn’t stop staring. And somehow, that made your infatuation feel both thrilling and terrifying all at once.

♤♧♡♢

The “56%” at the top of your test might as well have been a death sentence. The red ink burned against the white page, your pulse pounding in your ears. You swallowed hard, skimming the corrections, but your eyes snagged at the bottom: See me after class.

Your stomach twisted.

You lingered as the lecture hall emptied, the scrape of chairs and shuffle of feet fading until it was just you and Chishiya. He sat at the front desk, chair reclined, pen in hand, flipping idly through papers. His posture screamed nonchalance, but his presence filled the room.

You stepped forward, clutching the exam in sweaty hands. “So…” you tried to laugh, though it came out shaky, “I guess I failed.”

“Observation skills intact,” he murmured without looking up, tapping his pen against your test. “You did fail. Lack of knowledge, lack of preparation, and lack of care led you to receive that grade.”

Heat rushed to your cheeks. You wanted to disappear, but his voice was steady and detached, rooting you to the spot. He finally glanced up, his gaze settling on you with clinical precision.

“Teach me then,” you blurted out.

His pen paused. He looked up slowly, eyes narrowing at you, dark and calculating. “Teach you?” His voice was even, almost bored, but there was a flicker there. A small spark of curiosity.

“Yeah,” you said, forcing a small, nervous giggle. “You can teach me how to earn an A, Professor."

You finally let your eyes meet his, licking your lips nervously under his gaze. You noticed the way his pupils flickered in response. There was a subtle shift from your eyes to your lips, then down to your chest. A heat rushed to your cheeks.

“See something you like, professor?” you teased lightly, testing him, biting the inside of your lip to hide your sudden nervousness. Without thinking, you reached for the buttons of your blouse, unfastening the top one, then the next. The air between you seemed to thrum, heavy with tension.

A shiver ran down your spine as you met his eyes again, searching for approval, anticipation curling in your stomach. And then—like a grip on reality—he leaned back just slightly, the faintest sharp intake of breath, his voice cutting through the charged quiet.

“Ahem.”

Your fingers froze mid-button, heat and panic flooding through you. Chishiya’s eyes snapped back to yours fully, precise and cold, but unmistakably on the edge of control. “I think it would be best to focus on the exam material rather than… whatever ‘extra credit’ you were thinking of.”

Your entire body filled with embarrassment.. “I-I’m so sorry,” you stammered, fumbling to button yourself back up. “I thought you… I thought you knew where I was going with that.”

“I did know.” He cut you off, tone cool but edged with amusement. “I just didn’t think you’d start undressing here and now. Regardless of time or place, it would not be appropriate for a student and teacher to engage in sexual activities.”

“I apologize for trying to get a better grade in an inappropriate way. I know that it could’ve very easily put your job at risk as well as my education,” you immediately bowed your head apologetically. How were you going to get out of this mess now?

“Mmm, it’s not that. I’m technically not employed by the school, so I can really do whatever I wish,” he replied simply.

“So I'm not hot enough??” you blurted out before you could stop yourself. Your hands flew to your mouth at your vulgar language. Not that professionalism was relevant anymore considering you practically stripped in front of him.

“I never said that. As attractive as you are, not everyone can be easily bribed with sex,” he stated.

“Y-You think I’m…attractive?”

“Mmm, forget I said anything,” Chishiya mumbled before he scribbled something on a notepad, sliding the paper toward you.

“This is the counselor’s office. Switch out before you waste any more time failing this course.”

“I can’t,” you shot back instantly, your voice louder than you intended. He raised an eyebrow, yet remained unbothered. “This is the only pediatrics class left. I graduate at the end of this semester. I have to take it.”

“Then do better,” he said simply, already turning back to his papers.

You clenched your fists. “You’re impossible.”

“You’re unprepared.” His tone didn’t waver, but when his eyes flicked up, there was a challenge there. And that was when the idea hit you.

“Fine. If you tutor me and I fail the next exam, I’ll drop the class.”

He tilted his head slightly, studying you as if calculating the probability of your failure. “Mmm. Promising, considering your last score.”

“Oh shut up.” You crossed your arms. “But if I pass, you have to keep tutoring me for the rest of the semester.”

The smirk returned, faint but undeniable. “Fine.”

♤♧♡♢

The library was almost eerily quiet that evening. Golden pools of light spilled from tall lamps across polished wooden tables, casting long shadows between the towering shelves. The smell of old books mingled with the faint aroma of coffee from the small café in the corner. Every footstep you took felt loud against the dark hardwood floors.

You spotted him immediately. Chishiya sat at a corner table, loose white coat draped over the chair, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His posture was perfect. He was relaxed yet confident, just enough lean to suggest the right amount of disinterest. As you approached, his eyes tracked your every movement. Pen in hand, he flipped a page in his textbook slowly, deliberately, as if waiting for you to arrive.

“You’re late,” he said finally, not looking up, voice smooth but carrying that unmistakable edge that made you tense.

“Yeah by two minutes,” you muttered, sliding into the chair across from him, trying to act casual.

He didn’t reply immediately. Instead, he let the silence stretch, eyes finally lifting to appraise you. The corner of his mouth quirked, just slightly. “Two minutes is enough time for a patient to die,” he said. Voice flat and cool. And somehow incredibly challenging.

You rolled your eyes but felt your stomach tighten. Sitting there, across from him, you were hyper-aware of his presence. The faint scent of antiseptics, the way his hair fell over his forehead, the subtle lean of his body toward the desk—just enough to make you feel watched.

He pulled out your test from the last session, flipping it open. “Let’s start with what you got wrong. Why did you miss these questions?”

You explained, careful, your voice steady but betraying slight nerves. He listened, head tilted, eyes narrowing occasionally as if measuring each word, judging each thought. “Incorrect,” he said sharply at one point, and you flinched. “Try again. Think clinically. Observation is key.”

Minutes passed, tension building. You reached for your pen, fingers brushing against his as you moved, and you caught his eye. A flicker passed over his face—subtle, almost imperceptible—before he returned to your notes. Your hand lingered, heat pooling in your chest at the slight contact.

“Focus,” Chishiya said softly, voice low, almost a whisper. Yet the way he said it made the word dangerous, demanding. Surely he knew what he did to you.

You swallowed and refocused, but the tension remained, thick and unrelenting. His instructions were sharp, clipped, yet there were moments where he leaned slightly closer to point at your notes, his proximity sending a jolt through you. Every deliberate movement carried weight. Whether it was his hand brushing your wrist or his knee bumping into yours, it sent shivers down your spine.

When you faltered, he didn’t scold. Instead, he tilted his head, gaze piercing, lips twitching faintly. “Not enough attention to detail,” he murmured, voice low, almost teasing. “Try again.”

You met his stare, cheeks warming. “I’m trying,” you admitted, voice firmer this time.

“Then think harder.” His tone was neutral, almost bored, yet every word carried the unmistakable authority that made your pulse quicken.

These private lessons were turning into torture sessions by the second.

♤♧♡♢

Weeks later, the midterm exam results slid across the desk toward you. Your fingers trembled as you lifted it. Eyes scanning and heart hammering, your breath caught at the top in bold: 90%.

A wave of relief, disbelief, and pride flooded you all at once. You glanced up at Chishiya, desperate for reaction, for any sign that he cared.

He was still calm, composed, almost unreadable, yet the faint twitch at the corner of his lips betrayed something. He moved down the row, indifferent yet precise, flipping through another student’s test.

After class, you waited to the side, the echo of footsteps fading until it was just the two of you. “So… I passed,” you said, testing the words as if they might disappear in the air.

He didn’t smile. Not quite. “Mmm. With such a great teacher, it's hard not to,” he said, his tone clipped, detached.

“Don’t be smug,” you countered, stepping a little closer, heart thudding. “You’re stuck with me now.”

He finally tilted his head, gaze sharp, analyzing. “Unfortunate.” His words were dry and controlled—yet there was something in the way his eyes lingered on you. There was a spark, a flicker of amusement that made your stomach twist.

You squared your shoulders. “I’m not going to fail again,” you said, more firmly. “So, what now? More tutoring?”

He considered, leaning back slightly, fingers drumming the edge of a folder. “If you want to survive this semester, yes. But you will follow my instructions precisely. Deviate, and you fail. No excuses.”

“Deal,” you said, a smirk tugging at your lips despite your nerves.

♤♧♡♢

You walked out of the lecture hall, exam in hand, the bold “90%” still fresh in your mind. Relief, pride, and exhaustion mingled together and your steps began to feel lighter than usual.

But even as you passed the empty hallways, your thoughts refused to stay on your test results. They kept drifting back to Chishiya. The way he had leaned back in his chair, calm and calculating, yet somehow impossibly commanding. The sharp glint in his eyes when he caught your gaze. The subtle smirk at the corner of his lips, the way his hand had hovered over his pen with deliberate precision.

You felt a heat in your chest and a flutter in your stomach that had nothing to do with relief at passing. In the quiet of your thoughts, your mind wandered to…other possibilities. The way his touch might feel, the dangerous thrill of what it would be like to test his control, to see how far he’d let you push. You caught yourself blushing, biting your lip, and shaking your head at just how distracting he had become.

A small and guilty laugh escaped you as you shook the thoughts away, telling yourself to focus—to breathe. But you knew deep down that the next time you saw him, it wouldn’t be just about pediatrics anymore.

Even as you walked back to your apartment, every movement, every glance over your shoulder, was colored by the memory of him. Your pulse quickened, your imagination refused to be tamed, and a thrill of anticipation settled in your chest like a fire just waiting to be ignited.

You couldn't wait to see what he would teach you next.

♤♧♡♢

Lucky for you, Chishiya invited you over to his house for today's study session. This meant you could finally be alone with him without wandering eyes, but it also left much uncertainty for how you would act.

Chishiya’s office was dimly lit, the small desk lamp casting warm shadows over stacks of neatly organized files. He sat with sleeves rolled up, pen scratching against paper. The faint smell of coffee hung in the air.

“You’re late,” he said, “Typical, but you’d think you would be on time for once.”

“Got stuck in traffic,” you responded, hoping that would be a sufficient excuse.

“Hmm,” he contemplated lecturing you again but decided against it. “Let’s get started with what time we have left for today.”

You slid your notebook onto the desk, flipping it open and trying to force your mind into focus. Words swam before your eyes as you scribbled notes, but every time you looked up, you caught him glancing your way. Not overtly, not in a way that felt threatening, but in that deliberate, assessing way he had. His sharp eyes scan your movement, reading you as easily as a patient chart.

The faint scent of antiseptics from the hospital clung to him, mixing with something musky, subtle, intoxicating—and you could feel it seeping into your skin, curling around your senses. You tried to breathe through it, tried to make yourself concentrate on the equations and clinical notes before you, but your hands trembled slightly as you reached for your pen.

His posture was impossible to ignore. Relaxed, controlled, yet every slight lean forward, every casual adjustment of his sleeves seemed purposeful, precise. It was the kind of movement that demanded attention whether you wanted it or not. You found your eyes flicking to the line of his jaw, the curve of his neck, the veins on his arms and cursed yourself silently. Focus, Y/N. Focus on the material.

But the words on the page blurred again, your pen hovering in indecision. You could feel heat pooling low in your stomach, your pulse quickening at every subtle shift he made. His gaze met yours briefly, just a flick, and your chest tightened. You tried to shake your thoughts—focusing on clinical reasoning or patient symptoms—but your mind betrayed you, tracing imagined scenarios where his proximity wasn’t just about tutoring.

A quiet exhale escaped him and you jerked slightly. You looked down, scribbling a note that made no sense. Nothing you wrote seemed coherent, nothing in your mind could focus. The notebook in front of you became a blur of meaningless lines.

Finally, Chishiya’s voice cut through the haze, low and even but threaded with something else, something that made your skin prickle and your breath hitch.

"Y/N, I need you to focus," he murmurs, but there's a hint of something more in his tone.

"You're the one distracting me," you whisper back, your voice barely audible. “This material is so dense…”

There was a moment of silence before you finally made your move.

“I wish you were teaching me something else.”

A faint and knowing smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “That is a dangerous thing you’re suggesting,” he said finally, voice low and even.

Your heartbeat quickened. “Then stop me,” you challenged softly, leaning just slightly closer, daring him.

He tilted his head, silent for a long moment, and in that pause, your pulse pounded in your ears. The tension had built so high it felt like it might snap. You could almost imagine what might happen next. The heat of proximity, the brush of fingers, the taste of lips.

His eyes narrow, and for a moment, you think he might pull away. But instead, he leans in closer, his lips brushing against yours in a soft, yet desperate kiss. It's electric, sending shivers down your spine. You respond eagerly, your hands reaching up to tangle in his hair as you deepen the kiss.

Chishiya's hands roam over your body, exploring every curve. You can feel his desire growing, matching your own. He pulls you onto his lap and you straddle him. You immediately feel his growing length press against your heat, causing a loud whine to leave your mouth. You start grinding against him as you both moan into each other's mouths. The pleasure starts to build up deep within your core.

"Is this what you wanted, Y/N?" he growls, his voice laced with dominance. "To seduce your professor? To have me teach you what it feels like to be fucked right?"

"Yes," you gasp, your hips moving in rhythm with his upward thrusts. "I want you, Chishiya. I need you."

He stands up quickly, lifting you effortlessly, and carries you through the hallway to his bedroom. He lays you down gently on his bed, his body covering yours. His hands trail down your sides, lifting your shirt and exposing your skin to his touch. You arch into him, craving more.

“A-Ah Chishiya! Please touch me,” you whine out. His touch was cold and calculated yet it did nothing but warm your entire body and send shivers of pleasure from head to toe.

Chishiya's mouth finds your neck, kissing and nibbling as his hands explore lower, unbuttoning your pants and slipping his fingers inside. You gasp as his fingers find your wetness, stroking and teasing. He scoops some of your slick up towards your clit and circles around it before he slides a finger inside your hole. He curls his finger deep within you, making you shudder in pleasure. He adds a second finger and continues moving in and out in a rhythm that has you panting and begging for more.

"You're so wet for me," he murmurs, his voice thick with desire. "So ready for my cock, isn’t that right?”

All that leaves your mouth is a high pitched moan as his fingers reach deeper than before, curling and caressing your most sensitive spot.

“Be a good girl and respond when your professor asks you a question,” Chishiya orders. He starts kissing down your neck, sucking and leaving markings along your collarbone and chest.

“O-Oh god! Yes, Chishiya! Need your cock so bad, I wanna feel you inside~”

He moves lower, his mouth trailing kisses down to your stomach as he pulls off your pants and underwear. You're completely exposed to him, and the look in his eyes is one of pure hunger. He spreads your legs wide, his tongue diving in to taste you.

“Gotta make sure your cunt is ready for me,” he groans into your pussy. The vibrations from his words make your back arch off of the mattress and tangle your hands in his hair. Your legs threaten to close around him, but he pushes them open with his hands, digging his fingers into the flesh of your thighs.

You cry out as he continues, your hips bucking against his face as he licks and sucks, bringing you closer and closer to the edge. He circles your clit with his tongue, applying just the right amount of pressure to send you spiraling. Just as you're about to cum, he pulls back, a wicked smile on his face.

"Not yet," he says, standing up and unbuttoning his own pants. "I want to feel your pretty pussy cum around me when you do."

He positions himself at your entrance, his eyes locked on yours, asking for permission to enter. You nod your head for him to continue and with one powerful thrust, he's inside you. He moves his entire length inside, filling you completely. You both moan, your bodies reacting to each other in perfect sync. He starts to move, slow and deep, driving you wild with each stroke.

"Chishiya," you cry out, your nails digging into his back. "P-Please, I need more—faster!" You can feel the way his cock twitches at your pleas, making you clench harder down around him.

He lets out a deep groan and obliges, his pace quickening, his hips slamming against yours. The room fills with the sound of your pleasure, your moans and gasps echoing off the walls. You can feel the tension building, your body coiled tight and ready to explode.

"Chishiya! I'm so close—fuck!" you moan.

"Cum for me, Y/N," Chishiya commands, his voice a low growl. "Let me feel you cum around my cock. Show me how badly you've wanted this."

His words push you over the edge, and you shatter, your body convulsing as waves of pleasure crash over you. "Mmm fuck Chishiya! Oh my god—ahhh feels so good!"

"Ah fuck, Y/N. You're clenching around me so tight. I'm gonna cum—Gonna fill you up, okay?" He groaned into your ear, hot breath fanning against your cheek. You nod frantically at his words before his seed spills into you and he collapses on top of you.

He rolls off you, pulling you into his arms as you both come down from the high. You rest your head on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart, a contented smile on your face. His fingers trace lazy patterns on your skin, sending shivers of aftershock pleasure through you.

"So you finally got what you wanted since day one, huh?" he asks, his voice soft and teasing.

You’re not quite sure how you ended up here. Or why you always kept coming back for more. Maybe it was his mysterious aura, maybe it was the way acted like he never gave a damn, or maybe it was the way he always ended up inside you.

Two shots and a late night conversation on the roof later, you find yourself back in Chishiya’s room.

You both knew not to waste any time together. After many months of casually hooking up, you both sought each other any time you were bored, stressed, needed a distraction, or incredibly horny. Which you were.

After making your way to Chishiya’s hotel room, he quickly closed the door behind you before his hands fell to your waist. His gaze caught yours, making your body shiver at the intensity behind his eyes. You felt your breathing speed up and your heart was beating out of your chest as you waited for him to make the first move. He spent a moment admiring how helpless you looked as he pushed you against the wall, closing any distance between you. His mouth met yours in a heated kiss that sent a rush of heat to your core.

The sudden contact made you gasp as you melted into the kiss. Your hands flew to the back of his neck and his long blond hair. The way his mouth moved was relentless. He nibbled at your bottom lip, asking for access before moving his tongue inside your mouth to meet yours.

His hands slowly moved from your waist to cup your breasts. He grazed his fingers over your clothed nipples and lightly pinched them through your bikini top.

“Ah! Don’t tease me.” Your brows furrowed in both annoyance and pleasure as he continued to roll your nipple between his fingers. He brought his other hand behind your back and untied your top, allowing it to fall to the ground.

“That better?” he asked with a smug grin. The cool air hit your exposed upper body, making you cling onto Chishiya’s warmth. “This eagar for me?” he chuckled.

“I always am,” you responded softly. You found that honestly came easily when you were with him. His reservation always perfectly balanced out your transparency in the heat of the moment. It was why you couldn’t stay away from each other.

“Let’s not waste anymore time then.” He grabbed your wrist, guiding you further into his bedroom. “Lay down for me,” he commanded once you reached the edge of his bed. You followed his orders, your bare back hitting his soft comforter.

“How can I resist a pretty thing like you?” he asked. His eyes raked over your entire body before landing on the wet spot seeping through your bikini bottoms.

“We both know that you never can,” you replied, giggling to yourself. His gaze flickered to your face and he climbed on top of you. His leg slotted its way in between your thighs, almost alleviating the pulse coming from your core. He noticed your pent up desire. He always does. “Please…”

“Gonna make you feel good. You’d like that wouldn’t you?” He grinned. You nodded and before you could mutter a response, he removed your bottoms. His clothes quickly followed and he positioned himself on top of you again.

His hand lowered to your cunt, gently moving one finger between your folds. He groaned at the contact with your slick, pushing his finger deeper into you. You let out a loud moan and clung onto his body. His finger continued to curl deep inside you as his thumb made its way to your clit. He rubbed gentle circles on it, admiring the way it made your face contort in pleasure.

“Mmm, feels good. Keep going,” you moaned, holding his face in your hands. His gaze darkened as he listened to the sound of you and your pussy begging for more. He leaned in and closed the gap between you while adding a second finger inside you. The knot inside your body tightened at the new sensation.

“I can feel you clenching around my fingers. You're gonna cum so soon?” he teased, voice deep and laced with desire to see you let go. You nodded quickly before his fingers curled inside you just right, causing you to reach your climax instantly. “That’s it, let go for me.”

You clung onto his shoulders and gripped his hair as a wave of pleasure washed over you. His fingers continued to move inside you as you rode your high out. Once your breathing slowed, he pulled back and began stroking his cock. He groaned at the sight of you and your glistening pussy as he aligned himself with your entrance.

His eyes met yours, asking for permission. You quickly nodded and you felt his tip begin to enter your cunt. The feeling had your eyes rolling to the back of your head while you gripped his bicep to ground yourself. While you guys have had your fair share of hookups, the initial stretch always took some time to adjust to. Chishiya didn’t take long to bottom out and waited until you gave him the okay to begin moving.

Once he did, it was euphoric. The way he moved in and out of you felt unreal. The way his cock sent pleasure throughout every part of your body had you seeing stars. His thrusts started off slow, careful to not hurt you or burn himself out too quickly. Eventually, he couldn’t deprive himself of feeling your pussy clench tighter around him. His pace picked up as he gripped your hip with his hand and toyed with your tits with his other. Your legs wrapped around his body, bringing him closer to you.

“Mmm Chishiya,” you moaned loudly. You could feel every inch of him enter and exit you. Each time he fully entered and hit your deepest part, a shock of pleasure jolted through your body and brought you closer to your second orgasm.

“Not quite.” His thrusts slowed, halting the sensation building in your lower body. “Try again.” He pulled all the way out of you before slamming his entire length back inside.

“S-Shuntaro!” you quickly corrected yourself as he hit the most sensitive spot inside you.

“That’s more like it,” he growled in your ear and kept pounding into you. His constant thrusting sparked a desire you’ve never experienced before. It was as if he was controlling your entire body and mind with his cock.

“Shuntaro…” your voice wavered. Your hands traced his upper body, making their way to his broad shoulders. “Wanna mark you up,” you slurred. Your nails dug deeper into his skin, bringing your mouth to his collarbone. “Want everyone to know that you’re mine.”

Your teeth barely grazed his skin as he slowed his movements and pulled back from you. Your arms fell to your side but before you could argue, Chishiya grabbed you by your hips and flipped you onto your stomach. Your knees kept your ass upright as he entered you again. As he bottomed out, he wrapped your hair in between his fingers before roughly tugging your head back.

“Mmm,” he groaned. “You know better.”

You did know better. Your entire relationship was kept a secret for a reason. Neither of you wanted to show signs of weakness in a place like the Borderlands. That meant no public interactions and never ever leaving a mark on the other.

“B-But-” You were quickly cut off by his hand sneaking around your stomach and finding your sensitive clit once more. “Oh god. Shuntaro, I’m so close.”

“Yeah?” His pace never faltered as he continued to assault your g-spot and clit simultaneously. “Cum for me then,” he gritted between his teeth, cock twitching inside of you as he approached his own high. You rocked your body onto his as you matched his thrusts with yours, chasing your second climax of the night.

“Fuck. I’m cumming,” you whined. Your head tilted back as he gripped your hair harder at the feeling of your cunt squeezing him. You knew he was close from the way his thrusts got sloppier and his breathing faltered. “Please Shuntaro!” you moaned. “Please fill me with your cum.”

That was all it took for him to give one final push into your pussy and paint your insides with his seed. His body collapsed next to yours as you both caught your breath, your eyes remained on each other.

After a minute, you felt his cum start to drip out of you. You brought your index finger to your hole to collect some with one quick motion, bringing your finger to your mouth and sucking. Chishiya’s eyes darkened.

“Oh you’re dangerous,” he groaned before grabbing your hips and moving you so your back was touching his chest. “We can play that game if you want, but don’t forget that you asked for it.”

When you arrived in the Borderlands, it was all a blur. Not even a minute ago, the streets of Tokyo were flooded with people and cars but after what felt like a split second in the restroom, everything and everyone vanished.

“Hello?” you called out.

Where did everyone go? It felt like a weird fever dream to have the largest city in Japan completely deserted. As you wandered the streets, passing your favorite shops and even venturing to your home, you realized this wasn’t a sick prank or your brain playing mind games on you. Everyone was gone.

Were you the last person in Tokyo now? You thought you may run into someone in another city, but you faced an issue upon arriving at the subway. There were no trains running, there wasn’t even power. You quickly pulled out your phone, but the screen was black. How was this even possible?

As night fell, you continued to search for any sign of life before eventually giving up and settling down in a nearby shop. Was this your new life? Or would you wake up the next morning with everything back to normal? While pondering your now questionable existence, a bright light started flashing on a nearby billboard. You peered out the window to see what it said.

“Welcome player. The game will commence soon. This way to the game arena.”

A game? Surely that meant there were other people going to play. As you followed the signs to the arena, your thoughts began to spiral about what you were getting yourself into.

Upon entering the game arena, which was really an empty strip mall, you noticed a group of people. Real, living, breathing people.

“Hello? Do you guys have any idea what is happening?” you called out, jogging towards them. There were about 6 people all huddled around a table with a phone on it.

'1 per person’ was printed on a sign next to it.

“Ah a newbie. Yeah, you’re in for a long ride. Or maybe a short one if you don’t make it out alive,” an older man chuckles to himself.

Still confused, you walked towards a table and picked up the phone, expecting it to remain blank like yours. To your surprise, it flickered on and scanned your face before flashing a screen that read ‘please wait for the game to commence’.

“These are the games we need to play to survive. Just try your hardest,” a woman approached you. She had her long dreadlocks tied up in a ponytail and wore a blue and white striped tank top with a pair of flared jeans.

“What do you mean? Survive how?” you ask, anxiety spiking from the newfound concept.

“There are games we have to play. If you don't play, your visa expires and you will be killed,” she explains before the game begins.

“Registration has closed. There are a total of 7 participants, the game will now commence.

Difficulty Level: 6 of Diamonds

Game is ‘Hangman’

RULES: Guess the unknown word with less than 5 wrong letter guesses or you will be hanged,” A robotic woman's voice booms through the mall.

“The number represents the difficulty as well as the number of days added to your visa, in this case 6. The card suit is what type of game we have to play. Diamonds are logic based. Clubs are team based. Spades are physical. And hearts are…the worst,” she says, chewing on a fake cigarette hanging out of her mouth before pulling it out and shoving it into her jean pocket. You gave her a kind nod in return for her explanation.

It was all a lot for you to process but you decided to focus on the task at hand and make it through the first game. Hangman seemed simple enough in school but when you're the person being hung, it was terrifying.

Once the game began, each participant was locked into a room with a noose tied around their necks. The rules were once again explained. For each wrong answer, the rope would be raised slightly until the 5th and final failed answer which would make the participant the hanged man. You were strategic, knock out the vowels and then common consonants. Before you knew it, the game was over.

“Game Cleared,” the robotic lady's voice rang again.

You weren’t sure if your guesses were lucky or the universe happened to be forgiving today, but you made it to the end with relative ease. As you exited the room you were locked in, you looked for the woman from earlier. It seems there were no other survivors and you began to think she never figured out her word.

Once you exited the building, you saw her silhouette in the distance. The wind resisted your movement, but you caught up to her.

“Thank you for the explanation earlier. I really appreciate it,” you mustered up, out of breath.

“Oh, no worries! It really wasn’t a big deal. That old man was a total jackass and you deserved a real answer. I assumed it was your first game,” she beamed. At least there was still some kindness in this world.

“Yeah…I’m not really sure what to do now though. Do I keep playing games?”

“Technically you don’t have to play another game till your visa is about to expire, so you can stick with me. I’ve been staying in a nearby shop a couple minutes away and I have an extra place to sleep. I’m Kuina by the way,” she said, offering a smile.

“Thank you so much. I’m Y/N.”

Making your way through the empty and dark streets of Tokyo felt surreal. Normally people would flood the street day and night, but now the world was put on pause. Kuina explained how cars and electricity don’t work anymore. Most foods have gone bad with the exceptions of anything packaged in plastic. These living conditions were rough and were going to take a while to adapt to, but at least you weren’t alone anymore.

When you arrived at Kuina's hideout, you almost passed out the second you sat down. The entire day had drained all the energy out of your body and mind. You rested your head against Kuina’s makeshift guest bed as your eyes fluttered shut. You heard a small giggle come from across the room before she spoke.

“Aww look who's already dozing off. Sleep well, Y/N,” Kuina whispered, cracking the door closed.

“Goodnight, Kuina. Thank you for taking me in,” you smiled sleepily, eventually drifting off into slumber.

A scream. A woman’s scream. Kuina, it was her.

Your body jolted up and your eyes scanned the sunlit room until your eyes met hers.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” you questioned, beginning to get out of bed.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” She stood and positioned to guard herself. Did she think you were going to hurt her? Does she not remember everything you guys went through yesterday?

“I-I met you yesterday in a game. You told me I could stay with you…” You looked at her, concerned that she didn’t remember.

“I’m sorry but I don’t recall and I am going to have to ask you to leave.” she spoke sternly, backing away from the doorway.

“Kuina-”

“I don’t know how you know my name or how you got here, but I think it is best you leave without argument.” She shakes her head and turns back to the opposite side of the store. You stand in her guestroom, confused and hopeless. The alliance you formed yesterday, crumbling apart overnight.

She forgot you.

♤♧♡♢

You wander the city again, looking for a place to set up shop like Kuina. While your alliance with her may not have worked out, you learned quite a lot from her. Find a convenience store that has lots of food and water, and under no circumstance let your visa expire.

The days pass and you had to join another game. You wandered the city and found a game arena at last.

When you entered the doorway to a large rundown office building, the same robotic voice from the first game boomed over the PA system and through the hallways.

“One minute until registration closes.”

You rushed through the halls and up the elevator to the highest floor, carefully following the arrows pointing you closer to the game. There was no turning back now.

You quickly went to pick up the last phone remaining on a circular table against the wall before turning it on and registering for the game. When you entered a nearby meeting room, you were greeted by 10 other people. You began to examine the fellow participants when you noticed him right away. It was hard not to. A man stood to the side, leaning against the wall. You could hear the bass coming from his earbuds while others stayed anxious in silence. He wore a white jacket and white shirt, alongside a pair of black sweatpants. His outfit didn’t seem to match his composed demeanor. You couldn’t make out his face completely due to his hood being up, but you still picked up on his coldness.

“Are you going to keep staring or ask whatever it is you’re wondering?” he spoke.

“H-Huh?” You choked out. That was no way to speak to somebody. Before you could respond, the PA system dinged.

“Registration has closed. There are a total of 10 participants, the game will now commence.

Difficulty Level: 8 of Hearts

Game is ‘Undetected’

RULES: Make it to the safe zone on floor 1 without being detected by the hunter within the time limit. Time: 30 minutes.”.

“You look confused. Is this your first game? Try to not weigh the team down so we can all make it out alive,” the man scoffed before making his way into the main office area. The last thing he wanted was some deadweight first timer dragging him down with them.

Your thoughts went wild, taking in every detail around you but you continued to follow the blond haired man. He knew what was going on and his knowledge might just save you. It wasn’t your first game but it was a game in the heart suit. Kuina didn’t elaborate as to what they were like but you knew it would be the worst.

“The game will now commence.”

The other participants started running towards the nearby stairwell immediately. Your body followed until you reached the next floor. A sign towards the bottom of the staircase read ‘Level 9’. You realized there must be 10 total floors with a whole 9 more to go. Whilst contemplating the best course of action, you noticed a company flyer on the outside of the main office floor entrance.

This was your office building.

You must have not realized it when rushing to get inside or from the now torn apart interior, but there was no doubt in your mind that the building you were standing in was the one you showed up to work for everyday. While you had never been to the top 3 floors of the office, you knew the overall layout was consistent on all 10 floors. There were alternating staircases on opposite sides of the building. This meant in order to go from floor 9 to 8, you had to pass through floor 9 to the opposite side of the building. Whilst you were coming up with the fastest way to get from staircase to staircase, you heard gun shots from around the corner. You went to back up into a nearby cubicle but found yourself bumping into the blond man from earlier in the game.

“Yeah so, in case my words weren’t clear earlier, the hunter can and will kill us. So you should try your hardest to not draw any attention to yourself,” he muttered with no hint of emotion on his face.

“If I am such a hindrance, why let me follow you?” you whisper shout back at him.

“You haven’t proven yourself to be completely useless yet. Plus there is only one straight shot through this place, but it seems you figured that out already,” he shrugged before turning the corner and making his way through the main floor.

You both moved through the next levels of the building with ease until you reached the 5th floor. The group of people ahead of you must’ve encountered the hunter as more gunshots echoed throughout the hallway. Heavy footsteps began to approach both of you and you reached for the blond’s arm, rushing into a meeting room. He quickly shut the door and you both hid behind the end of the table. You were almost certain the hunter saw you make a run for it but before you could process an escape route, the door to the meeting room shot open and the hunter walked in. You watched as he paced around the room. He paused and the room went silent. He left shortly after and you let out a long exhale.

You got up and searched the room for anything useful. You recalled that a letter opener and baseball bat were in a drawer near the end of the long table. Your boss always kept them handy for situations like these. Well maybe not this exact situation, but ones where anyone was in extreme danger. The blond haired man examined you rummaging through the drawers and broke the silence.

“You know this place? Did you work here in the normal world?” he inquired.

Memories came washing down over you as vague visions of the real world came back. Your coworkers gossiping with you at lunch, the way the office chairs creak when you lean too far back, every time you’d anxiously twirl your ring when you had an important meeting coming up, the many coffee stains engraved onto your desk.

You paused and just looked at him. A moment of silence passed.

“Yeah…I did,” you spoke softly. The feeling was odd. You knew that you had worked in the building but the memories felt fuzzy. Maybe this new version of Tokyo did that to people. The world felt the same but looked so different. Bits and pieces were of what you remembered but the puzzle wouldn’t come together as a whole.

You remained silent for the rest of the game until you made it to the final floor and were mere feet away from the safe room. When you peered around the corner, you saw the hunter standing in front of the safe room door, injured bodies surrounding him. You quickly retreated and covered your mouth to prevent any noise you might’ve made.

The blond saw the scene for himself and knew time was running out. He quickly emptied his pockets and pulled out a tinfoil contraption.

“Smoke grenade,” he spoke softly while going to light a match, “when I set it off and throw it, he won’t be able to see anything. That is our chance to make a run for it.” You nodded and got ready to bolt.

Once the grenade landed in front of the hunter, the entire room filled with smoke. You and your newfound partner ran towards the safe room door. Before you completely crossed the line, you felt a hand wrap around your wrist and yank you backwards. You couldn’t see anything except the hunters glove grabbing your wrist. Without hesitation, you swung the baseball bat in your other hand down on his arm as hard as you could. A scream of pain left his body followed by a loud thud from him falling down shortly after. You couldn’t even comprehend what happened as you were being yanked in the opposite direction and into the safe room.

Only you and 3 others survived the game.

On the way out of the office building, the man in the white jacket approached you.

“What is your name? You should join the Beach,” he stated, “I think that you would make a great fit in helping us escape this world.” He thought your resilience throughout the game was impressive. Plus the Beach could always use an extra hand. Maybe with time, he could implement you for whatever he was planning.

He was met with no response. Your eyes bore into his, contemplating what to do. He wasn’t sure what to do. Did his flattery come off wrong? Had you seen right through him?

“Did you hear me? I never got your name. I’m Chishiya if that’s what you’re being cautious about,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “The Beach is a large group of people who complete games to collect the cards.”

It seemed like this ‘Beach’ had more answers than you did, and there was no one else you trusted more at this moment than this man. Yet you still couldn’t shake the feeling that he would forget you like Kuina.

“I will join you as long as you do not forget,” you hesitantly replied.

“Forget…your name? I won’t.” He looked puzzled.

“Y/N L/N,” you said reluctantly.

“Y/N…Y/N. Yeah, I won’t forget. Let’s get going now.” he motioned for you to follow him.

♤♧♡♢

The Beach’s name was deceiving to say the least. There was no sand or ocean, not even a lake or pond. It appeared to be a rundown hotel building but at least there was electricity running throughout.

“It’s not what you expected, huh?” Chishiya nudged your arm and smirked as you both made your way to the front entrance of a hotel. From the outside, you could hear a loud bass booming from the other side of the building which made you pause.

“I-Is that music? People are really partying in a place like this?” You were astounded by people's lack of care but Chishiya interrupted your thoughts to put in his two cents.

“When you know you have no chance at survival, why not spend what may be your last day alive enjoying it to its fullest?” he replied, opening the main door and holding it for you to follow behind him. “It is in no way sensible, but I don’t completely blame people for wanting to live their life the way they please. As long as they follow the rules, the Beach is their home to do whatever they please.”

The music got louder as you moved your way through the main lobby, catching up with his long strides.

“Rules? What rules?” You quickly walked up the main staircase and through the narrow hallways.

“There are 3 rules here, but I’ll leave the specifics to our leader. He should be in his room.” Chishiya pointed to a grand door at the end of the hallway. “Feel free to meet me back by the pool when you’re done.”

You nodded before turning around and making your way towards the leaders room. The smell of alcohol and cigarettes infiltrated your senses, causing your face to scrunch. You made your way through the dining room and into the lounge area until you were met with a gentleman with long black hair and sunglasses. There were two young ladies dressed in bikinis, attached to both of his sides.

What a strange sight.

“Uh…Am I interrupting something?” you spoke up, feeling out of place.

“No, not at all! Please have a seat, I was notified of the arrival of a new recruit,” he beamed and leaned forward on the couch across from you. He then began his introductory speech.

“The Beach is the ideal utopia that I, Hatter, created when I entered this world. Here, you are able to live your life however you wish. You can drink and party as much as you want, allowing yourself to forget about the horrors of the outside world. That being said, there are a couple rules that must be followed in order to live in this utopia.” You nod your head, recalling your conversation with Chishiya before entering.

“Rule number one, all members of the Beach must wear swimwear.” Your facial expression must have given away your confusion as he went to elaborate. “One cannot easily hide anything on their person when wearing a swimsuit. That being said, keys and locks are destroyed here to further ensure no secrets are being kept. Does that make sense?” he asked.

“Yes, I understand...The only problem is that I don’t have a swimsuit.” Your eyebrows furrowed. You didn’t think most people carried them around, yet it was the mandatory dress code here.

“Not to worry. We have a large selection for newcomers to pick and choose from, we can get you situated after you agree to the other rules,” he grinned and continued. “Rule number two, all playing cards belong to the Beach. We believe that through completing all the games and collecting all the cards, we will be able to return to the real world."

Was that really possible? While doubt clouded your mind, it seems the Beach is far more established than anywhere else, so they must have a better idea of ways to leave than others. You snapped out of your thoughts and continued to listen to Hatter ramble.

"And lastly, rule number three. Death to all traitors." His face shifted, seemingly taking this last rule very seriously. "Being a traitor includes planning against us, hiding playing cards, and trying to leave the Beach.” Hatter leaned back into the couch, pulling each girl by his sides closer to him. He tilted his head down, so his eyes met yours above his sunglasses before asking, “Are these rules you are willing to follow?”

If your logic stood correct, you were in no position to oppose the rules unless you wanted to die.

“Yes, I agree to the rules.” You stiffly nodded with your fists held tight.

“Wonderful! Welcome to the Beach. There is a room downstairs with appropriate attire, feel free to take what you want,” he directed.

You quickly stood up and made your way to exit Hatter’s room. Exiting felt like a breath of fresh air, both literally and figuratively. No longer surrounded by alcohol and smoke, you were finally able to think about the situation you got yourself in. Would collecting all the playing cards really allow someone to return to the real world? How long would a place like thi-

Your thoughts were shortly interrupted.

“Oh hey there pretty thing, are you lost?” A voice came from behind you. When you turned around, a tall man with long black hair and an eyebrow piercing approached you. He held a large black rifle over his shoulder which made your body tense. “Don’t get all shy on me now. We can have lots of fun together if you let me.” He stuck his tongue out, revealing a metal ball pierced through his tongue. You shivered in disgust and started backing away from him.

“Get lost you creep!” you shouted, running downstairs to the clothing room.

“You won’t be able to resist for long!” he called out behind you.

You took your time browsing through different swimsuit options before finally settling on one that fit you comfortably. After you got dressed in your new attire, you made your way towards the pool in the back of the hotel to meet up with Chishiya.

The music was blaring even louder than before as bodies crashed against each other and drinks got downed. Though your surroundings were overwhelming, you could spot the blond from a mile away. Apparently he could spot you just as easily, eyes locking with yours. He motioned for you to come over to him, so you did.

“How was your meeting with Hatter?” Chishiya inquired.

“It went as well as it could’ve. He is definitely…a character," you chuckled to yourself. "Why do they call him Hatter anyway?” you asked. It wasn’t a common name or title you’d think most people would want to go by.

“I guess he was a hat merchant in the real world and the name stuck,” he recalled.

“Ahhh. I was thinking because his utopia was something only someone as insane as the Mad Hatter would create,” you joked. Chishiya let out a breath of amusement at your comment.

“After I left, I ran into this weird guy carrying a gun. He was very handsy to say the least.” You looked at Chishiya to see how he’d react. It wasn’t that you expected him to go and riot over this, but you thought he might show an ounce of care to what you said. Instead, he just shrugged his shoulders and laid back in the beach chair he sat in.

“Sounds like typical Niragi. Unfortunate that you had to meet him your first day here, but his existence is something that is hard to escape. He is one of the militants that controls the firearms at the Beach. They’re also the ones who kill any traitor.”

“Hmm, another reason not to betray the Beach. Getting killed by Niragi would be a very anticlimactic demise for a world like this,” you half joked. You definitely couldn’t allow yourself to die here, especially not in the hands of any of the militants.

The conversation went on as Chishiya continued to explain the ins and outs of the Beach. Eventually a wave of silence washed over the two of you as the night carried on. It wasn’t awkward, it felt natural. Chishiya remained observant of you and his surroundings. Even with all the noise attempting to crowd his thoughts, he felt drawn to you. Whether it was your curiosity, the way you carried yourself, or your ability to adapt to such a change of environment just to ensure your survival, he couldn’t shake the feeling of keeping you around. For his plan, of course. At least that is what he kept repeating in his head.

♤♧♡♢

The next morning, you wandered down to the kitchen to get something to eat.

“And who do we have here?” The voice and tone was all too familiar. Niragi was back to torment you again.

“Didn’t I already tell you yesterday to leave me alone?” you gritted through your teeth. He cocked an eyebrow upon hearing this. His confusion faded as a smirk crept onto his face.

“I don’t think I remember meeting you and trust me, it would be hard to forget a pretty face like yours.” He moved closer, wrapping an arm around your waist. You struggled against his grip until someone interrupted.

“Niragi.” His voice was low and commanding. “Didn’t Hatter just lecture you about harassing newcomers. It would probably be best if you left her alone.”

“Oh look at you being a knight in shining armor. It seems you’re just jealous because you’ve never actually gotten any actio-” He was quickly cut off, falling backwards and onto the ground. You looked down at your fist before you could actually process what you did. You just punched Niragi. You just punched a large man with access to all the guns in the Beach. Shit.

The panic on your face must’ve been evident as Chishiya went to reassure you.

“You didn’t break any rules. You simply punched a pervert, so he technically can’t harm you,” he stated. “Come with me.”

You began following Chishiya through the main hotel lobby and to the pool. The area wasn’t as crowded as it was at night, but it’s safe to say happy hour never ends for some people. You found a nearby table in the shade and took a seat.

Now that you could properly gather your thoughts, you recounted your interaction with Niragi. He doesn’t remember meeting you last night. He forgot you. Just like…

Kuina.

She was here. As if you had manifested her presence, she suddenly appeared in front of you. She shows no signs of recognition when approaching you and Chishiya. She takes a seat on a lawn chair across from you, greeting you with a smile.

“Hi there! It’s nice to meet you, I’m Kuina. Chishiya mentioned that he recruited a new Beach member.” She put her hand out for you to shake. You hesitated briefly before returning her smile and taking her hand in yours. She forgot about you again.

“I’m Y/N,” you spoke softly.

“So tell us, what games have you played or was the 8 of hearts your first?” Kuina asked eagerly, snapping you out of your thoughts.

“Oh well…” you started. How do you explain that the first game you were in was with her but she completely forgot about your existence? And how much longer would she remember you right now until she ultimately forgot again? “My first game was actually the 6 of diamonds…”

Silence.

She soon let out a laugh. It wasn’t snarky or disingenuous, she simply thought you were playing a joke on her. Chishiya continued to listen silently.

“That is such a coincidence because I just played that game like a week ago. I don’t think anyone else survived it though…Maybe you’re thinking of a different suit or number.” Her brows furrowed in thought.

Your heart rate began to speed up but you could no longer take the reality of your situation. People didn’t remember you or anything to do with you. You quickly stood up and excused yourself from the conversation, muttering something about going to the restroom.

You rushed in, slamming the door behind you. Not only was that humiliating but your only explanation for everything happening to you made no sense. People meet you and forget about you the very next day. How would anyone believe that? You wouldn’t even be able to keep allies and survive here if no one remembered you. Maybe you could confide in Chishiya, but you also didn’t want to get him involved in babysitting you when he had his own survival to focus on.

When you grasped the reality of the situation, you finally exited the bathroom. As you turned the corner to head back to the pool, you were greeted by a familiar blond. Chishiya was…waiting for you?

“Sooo, what the hell was that about?” He spoke up. Your thoughts raced a million miles a second, trying to come up with words and formulate sentences you hadn’t prepared yet. You took a deep breath in and attempted to explain what you thought was going on.

“This is gonna sound insane and I don’t expect you to believe me but,” you hesitated. Your words felt jumbled together but you knew you couldn’t keep this to yourself any longer. “People forget about me shortly after meeting me. That’s why Kuina forgot me from our game together and why Niragi didn’t remember me telling him off my first night at the Beach. Not that that would’ve stopped him but…” You nervously laughed before your voice trailed off.

“Wow. Uh-” Chishiya took a second then spoke. “You’re right, I don’t really believe you. I mean, how is that even possible?” Your heart dropped at the thought of the one person you confided in not believing a word you said. You didn't know the answer to his question and the silence between you was suffocating. “We’ve been together for a while-” He went to argue but you quickly cut him off.

“Do you remember me?” You asked urgently. He only nodded but it wasn’t the reassurance you needed. He was skeptical. “Maybe you’re special,” you said hesitantly. That answer wasn’t an explanation he was looking for. You felt your face start to heat up and your vision became blurry. Before he could respond, you quickly turned away and made it back to your hotel room.

He didn’t chase after you, not that you expected him to. It’s not like it mattered anyway, he would forget sooner or later.

♤♧♡♢

The following morning, Chishiya made his way to the second floor and began people watching by the lobby railing. Kuina came from behind him and took position next to him, interrupting his solitude. His head swarmed with what you told him yesterday. Curiosity got the best of him before he brought himself to ask the question. “Was what you said yesterday to Y/N true? Her not playing in the 6 of diamonds game?”

“Hmm?” She paused, trying to recall what he was talking about. “Who is that? I don’t know a Y/N, but if she did play that game, she definitely didn’t survive it. No one left the arena except me.” She chewed on her fake cigarette and fell silent.

That meant…you were telling the truth. Kuina completely forgot about you and the conversation you had yesterday. Chishiya backed away from the railing and made his way towards your room.

“Uh goodbye to you too?” Kuina called out to him, rolling her eyes at his abrupt disappearance.

One knock soon turned into five as he awaited a response at your door. You just finished getting dressed for the day when the incessant knocking started. You don't know who you expected when you opened the door, but you shouldn't have been so surprised it was him.

“You weren’t lying,” he spoke up. You remained quiet. What did he want you to say? What were you supposed to say? “I’m sorry for not believing you.” You wondered what made him come around. As grateful as you were for his realization, that didn't stop the pain from your previous conversation.

“I had just confessed my biggest weakness to the one person I trust the most and he just didn’t believe me. You didn’t believe me. You are the only person who remembers me overnight and you didn’t try to help me, or even understand what I was going through.” Your voice cracked at the recollection. “It hurts so bad to wake up everyday and have the people you meet forget you ever existed, especially when-”

Chishiya saw the look on your face and the tears in your eyes. Just as they ran down your face, something snapped in him. He didn’t know what to do but his body acted before his brain could. He pulled you in and held you close. While it wasn’t natural for him, it felt right to comfort you.

“I won’t forget.” He held you tight. You let out a sob and returned the embrace. You slowly pulled away and your eyes met his.

“It’s okay, really. I feel like it’s bound to happen over time-” you started but he cut you off.

“The day we met, I made a promise to never forget your name and I don’t plan on breaking it,” he said sternly. He wasn’t going to back down and give up, not while he could still try and help you.

As much as he wanted to force himself to be logical and think of ways to possibly use your curse as a strategy to leave the Borderlands, he couldn’t help but care far beyond that. Knowing that he may forget you at any moment made him want to memorize everything about you for reasons he hadn’t even begun to understand. It felt like his body was being taken over and all he could do was try and cherish your existence while he still remembered it.

“Thank you, Chishiya,” you finally spoke up, wiping away your tears. “I just don’t know how long you’re going to remember.”

“I will find a way to remind myself of you every chance I get.”

♤♧♡♢

After he left your room, Chishiya was brainstorming ways to remember not only your name but also your face and memories you created together. He entered his hotel room on the executive floor and dug through a pile of scrap metal and gadgets he created. He sorted through the pieces before finding the remains of an old digital camera. He spent the rest of the day meticulously fixing it until it was functioning again. Now, even if he forgot, the pictures would remind him.

By the time night fell, Chishiya wandered out of his room and to the top of the roof of the Beach hotel. He spent a lot of his free time there because it gave him a perfect view of everyone and everything at the Beach, while only those observing closely enough would notice him. Not many people knew of its existence because they were either too busy getting drunk or too stressed out during game nights.

Light footsteps approached up the stairs to the roof and Chishiya turned his head to see who it was. It was you. Did you know he would be here or was it purely a coincidence? He waved before turning back to face the pool.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know anyone would be up here,” you stammered.

“It’s fine. I don’t own the roof, you know,” he smirked. “Feel free to stay.”

So you did. You stood near the edge of the roof, laying your body against the cool metal railing. The cool wind carried the scent of cigarettes and alcohol to your nose, but you had gotten used to it by now. Neither you or Chishiya spoke, both taking in the commotion below. Colored lights flashing and bodies moving to the sound of some pop song. Even with everything going on below you, your mind began to wander to your earlier interaction. You eventually caved and asked the question that has been on your mind all day.

“Why do you care so much about trying to remember me?”

“Why do you ask?” His voice was flat and his face remained unfaltered.

“You’re very strategic here. You don’t show your weaknesses and you hold your cards, no pun intended, close to you. I just thought that wasting your energy on me would hinder your progress in the long run.” Your ability to see into his actions and intentions took him by surprise.

“I’ve considered that." He turned to face you and continued. "To be completely honest, I don’t know the whole reason for being so insistent on helping. When you told me about this curse, or whatever you want to call it, I wondered why I was the only one to not be affected by it. If I am the only person who can do something to help you, would I be able to live with myself knowing I didn’t?”

He thought back on his life outside of the Borderlands. He recalled the many times he had been let down by people and their ability to put value on human life so easily. Influenced through monetary gain with no regard to those they are hurting. He was never the one calling the shots in those situations but now he was. He was in control of the outcome of whether you were remembered or forgotten.

“I’m glad it’s you, Chishiya.”

He was glad too.

One beat of silence turned into two. Before he could stop himself, he asked the question he was holding in since you walked onto the roof.

“Can I take your picture?”

You turned to face him, eyebrows raised. “You have a camera?”

“Yeah, I put it together earlier today to help with the whole remembering thing,” he explained. He pulled the mini camera out of his pocket, showing you his creation.

“Wow, I didn’t know you could get one to work here! That’s so cool!” Your eyes sparkled with interest as you reached for it. The fact that he was able to assemble a functioning camera was impressive. “You can take a picture if you want.”

Chishiya snapped a couple pictures of you. Some were candid of you laughing at him concentrating to get the angle right, others were posed as you held up peace signs and smiled. He was becoming quite the photographer.

The night carried on with pictures and words getting lost with it. You never caught it but he managed to get one more photo later in the night where you were looking up at the stars in the sky.

That was one of the first nights the Borderlands felt a little bit like home.

♤♧♡♢

Your time at the Beach continued on like this for many days. You spent your days trying to figure out why people forgot you and your nights with Chishiya.

Tonight was a rare occasion. Practically everyone was away playing one of many nearby games to renew their visas. Lucky for you and Chishiya, you played a game together yesterday which left the Beach deserted.

You took the opportunity to finally take a dip in the pool now that bodies weren’t crowding it. You dipped your foot into the water to test the temperature. To your surprise, the water was warm. You lowered your body into the pool until you were completely submerged.

From a distance, you would make out a man in a white jacket making long strides towards you. He squatted down and went to grab his camera.

“You’re really photogenic,” Chishiya said, snapping a candid photo of you in the water.

“It comes with practice,” you giggled. You continued to swim laps around the pool before coming back towards him.

“Did you take a lot of photos in the normal world?” he asked.

“I have a camera in the real world. We used to take photos everywhere we went,” you replied. You reminisced on all the pictures you’ve taken on major events and holidays. Birthdays, summer festivals, Halloween, the list goes on.

“We?” His voice brings you back to the present.

“Yeah, we.” You paused. “You know, me and my family.” Your eyes met his and he caught a glint of something in your eyes as you spoke. Whatever you were thinking must’ve been bittersweet as he noticed you trying to shrug the feeling off. He thought maybe you were worried that your loved ones in the real world would also begin to forget.

He didn’t inquire any further upon seeing your reaction. You kept swimming and chatting with him until you heard a large group of people in the lobby, prompting you to leave while you still could.

♤♧♡♢

Days together turned into weeks before Chishiya cared to acknowledge how he felt. Your time with Chishiya made him reflect on who he was as a person. How he expressed himself, how he valued his life and others, his purpose in this alternate reality. It was like you altered his entire brain chemistry and made him experience parts of himself he never knew existed. He couldn’t help but gravitate to you even if it was against his better judgement. Emotional connection was a weakness when playing these violent games, but his heart continued to crack and cave with each day spent with you.

One afternoon, you sat at a table in the dining room. You grabbed a plate of whatever food you could find and started thinking about life back at home. How were your family and friends doing? Were they also stuck somewhere in this world? What if they didn't survive the games?

You were quickly snapped out of your thoughts by the sound of footsteps approaching. A blur of white came from your peripheral vision and before you realized it, Chishiya was in front of you.

“Hey smile,” he spoke quickly, taking something out of his pocket.

“What-” Your eyebrows furrowed before a lens and bright flash met your confused face. “You didn’t even give me time to react!”

“Perfect,” he said to himself while looking at the tiny camera screen of the picture he took.

“That picture was definitely far from perfect.”

“Who said anything about the picture?”

♤♧♡♢

That evening, you and Chishiya watched the sunset on the roof. You both had spoken about your lives outside of the Borderlands but you had never revealed anything major. You were worried that once you had the courage to open up, he would begin to forget everything. You didn't want to be disappointed by the outcome if he happened to forget these things about you. Against your better judgement, you told him the one thing on your mind for the past day.

“My birthday is in 2 days." It truly wasn’t that big of a deal, but you still wanted him to know. Someone needed to.

“Oh wow, I had no idea. I didn’t forget, did I?" he asked, half joking.

“Haha no you didn’t. I just haven’t told anyone here because…well there isn’t really a point if they're just going to forget.”

“Did you want to do something with me then?” His eyes caught yours.

“There is this flower field nearby, maybe fifteen minutes out from here if Hatter will let us leave”

“Flower field, huh?” He chuckled to himself. “You really are a hopeless romantic.”

You lightly shoved his arm and giggled. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

After leaving the roof for the night, Chishiya walked you to your room. The halls were quiet as you made your way through them and stood outside your door. You turned to face Chishiya and his eyes found yours. You don’t know what took over you but you couldn’t hold back any longer. You leaned in and pressed your lips to his. The kiss wasn’t super long or passionate, but it was just enough to bring a hint of bright red to both of your faces. He didn’t say anything afterwards. He simply smiled before waving goodnight and walking down the hall.

Chishiya struggled to sleep that night. His mind was consumed by thoughts of you and the kiss you shared. He kept replaying it in his head but he could sense something was off. Usually his brain is sharp and can pinpoint specific details about anyone and anything, but he felt his memories starting to blur. Parts of your conversations earlier in the week started to become lost as he tried fitting them together and filling in the blanks. The mental turmoil became too much for Chishiya as he eventually drifted to sleep with your name echoing in this head.

♤♧♡♢

The next morning, Chishiya followed his usual routine. He wandered downstairs to grab a package of cookies for breakfast and made his way back up to his room. He took a seat at his desk and got to work making a gadget Hatter requested earlier in the week. When he opened his notebook, he noticed some writing at the bottom of the page.

'Y/N'

“Y/N?” he mumbled to himself. He flipped through the pages and realized that it was written on every single one. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to make sense of the name. He turned to the most recent page he wrote on and saw a different note at the bottom.

‘Meet with Y/N at 10pm, rooftop, don’t be late.’

Next to the writing was a photograph of you smiling on the hotel roof and looking up at the starry sky. He didn't know who you were but he knew he had to find you.

He spent the rest of his afternoon going around the Beach, trying to match the picture of you with random girls' faces. After looking through the entire beach, dusk began to settle and Chishiya had almost given up hope.

It wasn't until he heard the sound of cars coming back from the games that he realized where you must've gone. He rushed to the front of the building and carefully examined the cars that pulled up. People filed out of the vehicles, one by one.

There you were.

“Y/N?” he asked.

“Hey Chishiya. How have you been?” You smiled and made your way inside.

“Good, good. I was looking for you.”

“I had to go to a game tonight, remember?” You looked at him, worried that he spent so much time trying to find you when you weren’t even there.

“Ah yeah, sorry about that.” He put his hood on his head, attempting to mask his embarrassment of forgetting. “Want to go to the roof now or meet later?”

“I can be up there in an hour if that's good with you. I just need to take a quick shower,” you replied. He nodded before heading up by himself.

As you showered, you thought back to Chishiya. He didn’t know that you were off at a game. It could have been genuine forgetfulness, but Chishiya wasn’t the type to just forget about something like that. He would’ve remembered the days you had to play a life or death game, right?

As you made your way up to the roof, you contemplated testing him. It felt disingenuous but it was the only way to tell if he was losing his memory of you. You made it to where he was standing and took a deep breath. Conversation flowed as it always did before you finally brought yourself to test your suspicions.

“Are you excited for my birthday?” you asked, trying your best to remain calm.

“Yeah of course. Did you have something planned?” He smiled and tried to play it off.

“Mhm…” you looked at him before continuing, “I was thinking we could go to a nearby flower field.”

“Flower field, huh?” he chuckled. “You really are a hopeless romantic.”

It hit you.

You were slowly losing him, but you didn’t know when he would be gone for good. You just hoped it wasn’t soon.

♤♧♡♢

Days passed and before you knew it, it was time to play another game. Chishiya agreed to go with you since his visa was also approaching its end. He seemed to remember just enough that you still carried on everyday with minimal hiccups in conversations.

The game arena you were selected to go to was at a nearby high school. The game was the 4 of diamonds but it wasn’t challenging, especially with Chishiya helping you. There weren’t any casualties from the game and you made your way to the exit and meet with the chauffeur.

Chishiya said he was going to go and look for a specific tool in a nearby tech closet and that he would catch up you in a minute. As much as you didn’t want to leave him alone, the smell of the practically decomposing school was becoming incredibly nauseating, so you complied. There were 3 cars waiting for you outside and you got inside one before looking out the window for Chishiya. You never saw him leave the building but you prayed that you just missed it and he made it out safely. The car engine turned on after a couple minutes, signaling it was time to go.

“Hey wait! There is someone who just left at the school!” Someone called out from the seat in front of you.

“Too late, they should’ve gotten here on time,” the driver replied before hitting the gas. Just as you were about to drive off, you caught a glimpse of the straggler. It was Chishiya. You tried to get out but the doors were locked and you had already been on your way back to the Beach.

Unfortunately for Chishiya, he had to make his way back to the Beach by foot. He spent way more time than he thought trying to find a specific sized screwdriver and now he was paying for it.

He passed through cities and towns until the sun began to set. By the time it was completely dark out, he was walking by a neighborhood of houses. He scanned the vicinity for a house that he could survive in for a night. One house in particular caught his eye. It had your name on it.

When he entered, everything was surprisingly well put together. He went through the kitchen cabinets and drawers, looking for something to eat but coming up empty. He went upstairs and found your room almost immediately. His eyes wandered the walls and all of your belongings before he took a seat on your bed. Your room reflected everything about you perfectly.

In the corner of his eye, he noticed your bedside table and proceeded to open the top drawer. Inside, there was a well-kept photobook with a leather cover. He was shocked to see that it was one of the few items in the house that wasn't completely torn up.

Chishiya's hands grazed the cover before he opened the first cover to the first page. He saw photographs of you and your family, just like you mentioned. He went to turn to the next page before his movement froze. He knew better. He knew you’d want to go through the book yourself, so he closed the book and stashed it away in a nearby plastic bag to bring back to the Beach.

♤♧♡♢

Back at the Beach, you rushed into the executive’s meeting room and informed Hatter that Chishiya was left behind. He sighed before taking off his sunglasses and sitting in a nearby chair.

“He will be fine. If he isn’t back by tomorrow morning then we can go and send a car out for him,” he gruffed. “It's a shame he isn’t back now though. He had a device he was supposed to give me to test tonight.” It was almost as if a real and visible lightbulb appeared above Hatter's head as he turned to you. “Be a dear and grab it for me. I assume it’s piled up with the rest of his junk. It should be a small blue box, no bigger than a pack of cigarettes, with a small screen and number pad.”

“A-Are you sure? I can’t just barge into his room without permission!” You countered.

“No secrets in the Beach, right?. If Chishiya were to be hiding something, it’s better to know sooner rather than later. Go along now,” he insisted, motioning for you to leave the room.

While it didn’t feel right to be in Chishiya’s room without his permission nor him being present, you can’t deny how curious you were. He didn't seem like the time wasting his time decorating, but you could never be certain.

You walked through the hallways to the executive rooms until you reached his. You weren’t sure what to expect but it definitely wasn't what was on the other end of the door.

‘Y/N L/N’

Pictures and sticky notes plastered his walls. Some said your name while others had information about you. All your emotions came crashing down at once.

He went out of his way to make sure he remembered you each day or at least he tried to. While you were truly grateful for his efforts, you couldn’t help but feel guilty of tying him down to memories that he has probably long forgotten. You shouldn't allow him to live a life trying to remember everything about someone he was inevitably going to forget.

It took a while but you made your way in and out of his room, returning to Hatter with the device.

♤♧♡♢

The next afternoon, Chishiya set off to return to the Beach. It wasn’t long until he made it back.

When he returned, he made his way up to the executive floor and to his room. When he opened the door, he instantly felt like something was off. He closed the door behind him and turned to examine his room.

His bed and desk looked the same, but his walls were…bare. But weren’t they always?

A part of him sensed the lack of something but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. Once he turned back to his desk, he instantly fell back into routine. He toyed with metal plates and wires before reaching for a pen and paper in a nearby drawer.

He rummaged around a couple of drawers but failed to find his notebook. He didn’t think much of it and instead reached for the bag he found yesterday. He saw a leather book inside that he didn’t remember grabbing, but he assumed there were empty pages to write on. When he pulled it out, he noticed a name engraved on the front.

‘Y/N’

When he opened it, he was met with images of a girl with her family. The writing next to the pictures indicated they were from graduation, Christmas, birthdays, and other major events. He kept turning pages without hesitation.

Then he froze.

Pictures of him flooded the paper. Not pictures from the Borderlands though. Pictures from the real world. Pictures of you and him. The writing next to the photos only made his thoughts spiral out of control.

‘Date with Shuntaro :)’

‘Happy 1 month, my love’

He felt his mind try to untangle itself as he realized what this meant. This girl was his girlfriend in the real world. The worst part about it? He doesn’t remember her.

Chishiya continued to flip through the journal until he landed on a beautiful picture of the two of you in a field of flowers.

‘Shuntaro got me the prettiest promise ring for my birthday <3 He even agreed to coming back here with me next year!!’

The picture was dated 365 days ago. That meant…

Today was your birthday.

He instantly shot up from his chair. He ripped a picture of the two of you out of the book and rushed out the door. As he ran out of the hotel, his thoughts ran just as fast. He remembered the flower field the photo was taken at in the real world and it was only 15 minutes away from the Beach. The sun was setting but he couldn’t care less. He had to see you.

"Y/N, Y/N, Y/N," he repeated over and over again.

He sprinted through a nearby forest, white jacket blowing in the wind behind him. He didn't stop running until reached the open flower field. He looked around for your figure but you were nowhere to be found.

The running caused him to collapse in the grass, air escaping his lungs rapidly. He laid in the flowers, catching his breath and watching the sun set. He brought himself to sit up and picked a flower out of the ground, twirling it in his hand. He continued to mumble your name to himself like a mantra. He didn't notice you approaching him until you spoke up.

“That flower…” Your voice rang in his ear, making him stand up instantly. “Do you know the name?” you asked.

Chishiya looked confused, eyes wandering to the flower and back to you. He shook his head.

You saw it. There was no recognition in his eyes. Not for the flower. Not for you.

“Forget me nots,” you smiled bitterly. While your name was in his mouth, you were far from his memory. It was always bound to end this way, wasn't it?

“Are you Y/N?” he asked, voice soft and fragile. You hesitated before shaking your head.

“No, but I know her…She wanted me to tell you that-” your voice wavered. “She won’t be coming.”

“Please let me see her. I need to see her.” Chishiya’s voice began to shake. You couldn’t get any words out, so you chose to remain silent. “I’ve hurt her. I told her I wouldn’t forget about her and I did.”

“I’m sorry but I was only sent to tell you that she is gone.” You stared at him with regretful eyes but you knew it was the right thing to do. He has his whole life ahead of him and you couldn’t weigh him down by your existence. “She also wanted to say thank you. She was really happy with you…” Your eyes began to water but you started to walk away before he could see.

Chishiya was left in the flower field alone, forget me not in hand. He fell to his knees as he was faced with the reality of what just happened. Y/N was gone. The night breeze blew through his long hair as your name continued to leave his mouth in a hushed, hopeless whisper.

He stood back up to return to the Beach. As he went to settle his hands into his pockets like he always did, he felt a piece of folded paper in his pocket. When he pulled it out, instant regret washed over him.

It was the picture of you and him. The person he was talking to not even a minute ago was the one person he was looking for all along.

“Y/N!” he called out. “Y/N, where are you?” He ran towards the direction you left in, but you were long gone. He didn’t stop running or calling out for you in hopes you would come back to him.