#chapter 12

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The forest had forgotten what sunlight felt like.

Ancient cedar trees towered endlessly toward the gray sky, their branches so densely woven together that only scattered beams of light managed to reach the ground.

Mist drifted lazily between the trunks where neither animal nor insect dared to roam.

It was as though nature itself had known to stay away.

Something was waiting.

A faint ripple of cursed energy spread beneath the earth.

One curse emerged from the shadows.

Unlike the mindless creatures that had wandered the cities, this one moved with purpose. Its malformed body twisted unnaturally as it climbed over the exposed roots before lowering itself onto one knee.

Some crawled silently across the forest floor.

Others descended from branches impossibly high above.

Within minutes, hundreds had gathered.

None spoke.

None moved.

Then, a powerful eruption of cursed energy.

It was ancient, older than anyone alive could comprehend.

The cedar roots surrounding the curses began to shift.

Every curse immediately lowered its head as the mountain itself seemed to awaken.

Then, a voice.

Not from one direction.

Not from the trees.

From everywhere.

"He followed the illusion."

The words drifted through every branch, every root, every stone buried beneath the forest floor.

"And the city," the ancient voice lingered. "a necessary lesson."

They all began to react, deep clicking noises burst from them mocking laughter.

The roots continued spreading silently through the earth.

Farther.

Deeper.

Beneath them all.

"The strongest believes strength decides the outcome."

A low creaking echoed throughout the woods as towering branches slowly bent toward one another.

"Terribly predictable."

One by one, the curses began striking their limbs against the earth, the sound echoing through the trees in grotesque celebration.

"Ready yourselves. They will be coming soon."

Silence.

"And they all..." the pulse beneath the earth stopped. "...will die."

The forest erupted.

Curses burst through the trees in every direction, disappearing into the morning mist like a tidal wave spilling down the mountainside.

The mountain grew quiet once more.

Only the roots continued moving.

Slowly.

Patiently.

"Come find me," the whisper drifted through the entire forest. "Satoru Gojo."

───────────────────────────────────

Gray clouds clung stubbornly to the mountain peaks, casting long shadows over the narrow roads winding toward the forest.

Several miles away, the last remaining evacuation town sat in complete silence.

The convoy rolled slowly through streets split apart by enormous cedar roots that erupted violently through the pavement. Entire sections of asphalt had been lifted several feet into the air, cracked open as thick roots twisted beneath them like veins.

Buildings leaned at unnatural angles.

Some had been split completely in half, roots bursting through shattered foundations before disappearing beneath neighboring streets.

Telephone poles lay scattered across the roads, their power lines tangled within the growing roots that climbed relentlessly over abandoned homes and storefronts.

Utahime rested her forehead lightly against the cool window of the transport as the devastation drifted past.

A small bakery had nearly vanished beneath a wall of roots, its faded sign barely visible through the overgrowth.

A family-owned bookstore sat with its front windows shattered, thick branches forcing their way through the empty shelves inside.

She wondered absentmindedly what they'd looked like before this tragedy.

Whether the people who had once called this place home had escaped... or whether the forest had claimed them first.

The vehicle finally rolled to a stop outside a weathered roadside inn. Unlike the surrounding buildings, it remained mostly untouched. Almost as though the forest had chosen to leave it standing.

The parking lot sat empty.

Only their vehicles disturbed the silence.

Masamichi climbed out first.

"We regroup here."

No one questioned him.

Everyone got out of the cars and moved with quiet efficiency.

Inside the inn dust floated lazily through narrow beams of pale light breaking between the curtains.

Someone had left their breakfast halfway through eating. A cup of tea still rested on the table beside an open newspaper.

Everyone settled in their own spaces of the lobby.

Nanami silently inspected the edge of his blade.

Mei Mei cleaned dried blood from the curve of her axe with slow, practiced movements.

Naobito and Higuruma stood near the windows overlooking the mountains.

No one spoke, the only voice present was that of the television murmuring quietly in the corner.

It was just background noise until,

"Communication with several prefectures has now been completely lost after widespread damage to cell phone towers and major power lines. Officials say the cause remains unknown, though eyewitnesses describe massive root-like formations emerging from the ground moments before contact was lost."

The footage changed.

Power poles lay snapped across deserted highways.

Communication towers leaned precariously, their foundations ripped apart by enormous roots twisting through broken concrete.

The reporter continued.

"Authorities are urging residents to avoid all forested areas until further notice. Search and rescue operations have been suspended in several regions after emergency crews reported multiple disappearances and repeated attacks within wooded areas."

The screen shifted once more.

A map of Japan appeared.

Large sections of forest glowed red.

"Officials believe the majority of recent cursed activity is now originating from heavily wooded regions. Citizens are advised to remain inside designated evacuation zones and avoid traveling through mountain roads or forests under any circumstances."

Another image appeared.

Exhausted first responders.

Children wrapped in blankets.

Smoke rising above distant cities.

"International agencies warn that if current containment efforts fail, the spread of cursed activity beyond Japan may become unavoidable."

No one reached for the remote to turn it off.

The words and images were eating away at Utahime's nerves. She began walking toward the front door, she needed to breathe.

The cool air filled her lungs the moment the door closed behind her. She hadn't realized how suffocating the room had become.

The small town remained eerily still.

Towering mountains loomed beyond the old wooden buildings.

Utahime followed the empty road leading toward the tree line. Each step carried her farther from the inn until the entrance to the forest stood just ahead.

She stopped several feet from the first line of towering cedars.

A familiar ripple of cursed energy stirred gently through the trees.

"I was wondering how long it'd take you."

Leaves rustled softly behind her.

"I was beginning to think I'd finally learned how to sneak up on you."

She looked over her shoulder.

Gojo stood a few steps away, hands tucked comfortably into his pockets.

For just a moment it almost felt normal.

"You'll never learn." Utahime shook her head.

He smiled.

"I've accepted that."

Silence settled between them as they looked toward the forest stretching endlessly ahead.

"I cleared the first few kilometers."

She nodded.

"I figured you had."

"There weren't many left." his voice grew quieter.

"They're all farther in."

The wind carried the scent of pine through the trees.

Utahime found herself studying the path disappearing into the darkness. She could feel Gojo's eyes on her. He was looking at her the same way he did on the rooftop.

"You know," a small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I never thanked you."

Her brows pulled together as she looked up at him.

"For what?"

He shrugged lightly.

"For coming back."

"You just had to say it." she let out the tiniest laugh.

"I meant it."

The smiles lingered between them. Just long enough before the wind changed. Both of them felt the cursed energy from deeper within the forest.

Waiting.

Gojo's smile faded as he looked ahead.

"It's time."

"...Yeah." Utahime nodded slowly, so many emotions taking over her body all at once.

Neither of them were ready to move yet. They needed one more quiet moment before the world changed forever.

───────────────────────────────────

The wind whistled between the towering cedars, carrying the scent of pine through the narrow path.

Somewhere high above, branches creaked softly against one another.

Utahime found herself zoning in on every detail.

The gray sky stretching endlessly above them.

The worn dirt path disappearing into the forest.

The quiet.

She wondered how long it had been since it knew peace, or if it would ever know it again.

The path narrowed as the trees grew impossibly dense.

Thick mist drifted lazily between their feet swallowing the forest floor beneath a blanket of silence.

The group slowed instinctively.

Ahead, an old suspension bridge stretched across a narrow ravine, its weathered wooden planks creaking softly beneath the weight of time.

Beyond it, the forest disappeared into fog.

Warning signs stood crooked beside the entrance.

DANGER.

DO NOT ENTER.

AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.

Some had fallen to the ground, nearly hidden beneath thick moss and creeping roots. Others had been split cleanly in half.

They began to cross. The old bridge groaned softly beneath their combined weight.

Each weathered plank creaked as they crossed, disappearing one by one into the thick curtain of mist waiting on the opposite side.

Halfway across... Utahime stopped. A strange sensation spread through the soles of her boots.

A pulse.

She frowned.

"Did anyone else..."

Before she could finish, Nanami looked down at the bridge beneath his feet. Mei Mei's expression shifted ever so slightly. Masamichi remained perfectly still.

The pulse came again.

THUMP.

So faint it was almost impossible to distinguish from their own heartbeat.

The forest fell silent once more.

Gojo's gaze lingered on the towering cedars surrounding them.

"...Let's keep moving."

No one argued.

One by one, they stepped off the bridge and disappeared into the mist.

Behind them the bridge swayed gently on its own.

Then-

CLICK

Everyone froze.

Another.

CLICK

CLICK

CLICK

The strange, hollow clicking echoed through the trees from every direction at once.

Branches shifted.

Leaves rustled.

Something moved high above them.

Gojo's posture changed instantly.

"Get in formation." Masamichi whispered over his shoulder.

Everyone obeyed.

Gojo stepped forward until he stood at the head of the group. His gaze swept briefly over each familiar face.

Friends.

Colleagues.

People he'd laughed with.

Argued with.

Protected.

"...Stay together."

They followed the clicks until the trees opened without warning. The dense forest gave way to a clearing swallowed by mist.

At its center, stood the remnants of an ancient shrine.

Massive roots had split the stone foundation apart, at the front stood a torii gate leaned drastically to one side, its weathered pillars wrapped tightly in thick vines.

Time itself seemed to have forgotten the entirety of the area.

Gojo stopped walking.

"...No."

The single word drew everyone's attention.

Nanami looked toward him.

"What is it?"

Gojo's eyes swept across the shrine.

"I've searched these mountains every day." he didn't blink, his voice low and weary. "This wasn't here."

Utahime felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

Could this be another illusion?

Gojo slowly lifted one hand.

"Nobody move."

His Six Eyes scanned every inch of the clearing.

Nothing made sense.

Then the mountain answered. A low creak echoed somewhere deep beneath the shrine.

Not from the trees.

From below them.

Gojo's expression sharpened.

"I've been looking for you."

Silence.

Then a quiet chuckle drifted through the clearing.

"No." the voice seemed to rise from the earth itself.

"You've only ever looked where I allowed you to."

Every sorcerer instinctively shifted into a defensive stance.

Utahime turned slowly.

"...Where is it?"

"Hm." Gojo tilted his head slightly. "Old and arrogant." A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "You've gone through all of this trouble just to hide?"

The chuckling returned.

"I have never hidden." the roots surrounding the shrine shifted again. "You simply failed to see."

A pulse rolled beneath their feet.

Everyone felt it.

Nanami looked down first.

"...The ground."

"What is it you want?" Gojo's smile faded.

"To reveal a truth."

"What truth?" Nanami called into the empty clearing.

"One protector." a root burst slowly through the cracked stone beside the shrine. "One savior." another emerged.

"Impossible standards."

The pulse beneath the earth grew stronger.

Gojo folded his arms.

"So let me get this straight." he glanced around the shrine before looking toward the endless forest surrounding them. "You've orchestrated all of this," his arms spread out dramatically as that small grin returned. "because of me?"

The mountain groaned.

"To remind humanity of its place."

A breeze drifted through the cedars.

"I have watched civilizations rise, and I have watched them return to the earth." the roots continued spreading through the fractured stone.

"You believe yours to be different," branches creaked overhead."but you are not."

Silence.

"Hope."

The word echoed through every tree.

"What a fascinating flaw you humans possess."

Gojo smiled.

"We've heard worse."

CLICK.

A single hollow sound echoed somewhere within the shrine.

Then another.

CLICK.

CLICK.

CLICK.

The strange, unsettling rhythm spread from tree to tree until it surrounded the clearing from every direction.

"...They're moving." Utahime whispered, lowering her head slowly to look under the towering trees.

Mei Mei lowered her axe.

The clicking stopped.

An impossible silence settled over the mountain before the pulse beneath their feet became deafening.

"You wished to find me." the voice no longer sounded distant.

It surrounded them.

It was beneath them.

Inside the mountain itself.

"Here I am." the earth split open and the shrine exploded. Ancient cedar roots burst violently through the stone as the entire mountain erupted into motion.

The first wave burst from the trees like a black tide, dozens of malformed bodies crashing through branches with horrifying speed.

More appeared from beneath collapsed sections of the shrine itself, clawing their way through fractured stone as though the mountain had birthed them.

There were too many to count.

Nanami stepped back until his shoulder aligned with Utahime's. "Incoming!" his voice cut through the chaos.

"Formation!" Masamichi barked.

Every sorcerer moved as one.

Utahime planted her staff firmly against the earth as several curses lunged toward her.

They never reached her.

A blue wave of lightning struck the ground a few feet in front of her. The force alone tore the curses from the air, hurling them backward through towering cedars as trunks splintered beneath the impact.

The group began moving closer toward the shrine and away from the forest line.

Nanami intercepted two curses cleanly in one strike, they dissolved into black ash that stained his light suit.

"Don't let them tear us apart!" Mei Mei called, her axe carving effortlessly through another creature before spinning toward the next.

"They know our formation!"

Utahime barely had time to answer.

A curse dropped directly from the shrine roof.

She pivoted instinctively. The wooden staff cracked against its jaw before she spun with the momentum, sweeping another curse from its feet.

Another curse lunged from her blind side.

"Utahime!"

Before Nanami could reach her she ducked causing the creature to fly over her shoulder. Without looking, she drove the end of her staff backward into its chest.

It dissolved before it ever touched the ground.

Mei Mei smiled despite the chaos.

The mountain shook violently. Ancient cedar roots burst upward through fractured stone as the shrine itself began collapsing inward.

"Move!" Masamichi shouted.

Everyone scattered.

The ancient torii gate crashed into the courtyard with a deafening crack as dust swallowed everything.

Gojo's voice echoed somewhere through the haze.

"Don't stop moving!"

Utahime couldn't see him, only the colorful flashes of his techniques cutting through the thick dust.

Every burst of cursed energy illuminated the forest just long enough for her to see hundreds of crimson eyes watching them...

The second wave crashed into them.

A curse burst through the dust directly ahead of Utahime, its skeletal claws reaching for her throat.

Her staff caught its forearm with a sharp crack before she redirected its momentum past her shoulder. The creature stumbled only long enough for her to bring the opposite end of the staff down across its spine.

Another replaced it immediately.

There wasn't time to breathe.

There wasn't time to think.

Only move.

"Left!" Nanami's voice rang through the chaos.

She drove her staff upward.

The impact rattled through her arms.

Behind her, Mei Mei moved like a storm.

Her axe carved brilliant arcs through the haze, each swing cut down multiple curses before they could close the distance.

"Utahime!"

"I'm alright!"

"There's no end to them!" Higuruma shouted as his gavel crushed another curse into the fractured earth.

Masamichi drove his weapon through another creature before looking toward the tree line.

Utahime finally caught sight of Gojo.

He hovered high above the battlefield, Blue suspended effortlessly beneath his feet as his gaze swept across the shrine below.

For the first time since entering the forest, he stopped searching the trees.

His Six Eyes shifted downward past the shattered stone and the tangled roots littering the forest floor.

Deeper.

His expression changed.

"...So that's it."

Far beneath the mountain, an endless network of enormous roots stretched through the earth in every direction.

They pulsed.

Like veins.

Like a heartbeat.

Gojo's eyes widened. His gaze followed the roots as they spread endlessly beneath the forest, disappearing beyond the horizon.

"...You've been beneath us this entire time."

The clicking suddenly stopped as he pieced it together.

Every curse surrounding the shrine froze.

Gojo's head snapped onto the group.

"WATCH THE GROUND!"

Entire sections of the mountain lifted and twisted. Walls of living wood erupted skyward, weaving together faster than anyone could react.

"Move now!" Masamichi shouted.

"It's too fast!" Mei Mei finished.

The battlefield they once knew disappeared as towering walls of roots surged upward between them faster than anyone could react.

"Nanami!" Masamichi reached instinctively toward him.

Another wall erupted separating everyone within seconds.

Utahime barely managed to keep her footing before a wall of roots exploded directly in front of her, forcing her backward.

The ground lurched violently beneath her feet.

She staggered, then something tightened around her ankle.

Utahime gasped as sharp cedar roots coiled silently around both of her legs.

"What—"

Before she could bring her staff down, the roots pulled.

Hard.

The world blurred.

She was ripped off her feet, dragged violently across the fractured mountainside as loose stone and broken branches scraped beneath her.

Her fingers tightened desperately around her staff as she reached for anything solid.

More roots burst upward around her, weaving together behind her in rapid succession.

The opening she'd come through vanished.

"Let go!" her voice echoed uselessly through the maze.

The roots dragged her deeper.

Faster.

The sounds of battle grew fainter with every passing second.

The forest closed around her.

At last... the roots released her.

Utahime hit the ground shoulder-first, tumbling across damp earth before finally rolling to a stop against the base of an enormous cedar.

She forced herself upright, breathing hard.

Blood trickled from a scrape along her temple.

"What the..." the words caught in her throat as she struggled to get her bearings.

All she knew in that moment... was that she was vulnerable.

And whatever had brought her here... had done so on purpose.

Gojo landed hard atop one of the massive roots, his Six Eyes swept across the labyrinth instantly.

Masamichi.

Alive.

Nanami

Alive.

Mei Mei

Alive.

Naobito.

Alive

Higuruma.

Alive

...

His brow furrowed as he searched a second time.

Nothing.

Without another thought, he launched himself into the labyrinth.

Far below, the pulse beneath the mountain quickened as though something deep within the forest had recognized where he was going.

| Chapter 12

| Chapter 12

🧡🧡☆ ZONACs ☆ 💚💚 ◇ 2 ◇ -Volume 2-

- Chapter 12 -

AO3

She kneels beside his grave, her hand resting on the headstone. Once a week, she visits him. Most of the time, she talks about their past or tells him about her growing shop. Today though…

“He is a doll. A brilliant little boy. Considering his past, his manners are amazing. It has to be Jamie,” she stops for a second after saying his name. If only he was still here to really talk to. She could use his advice, “his dad. Like me, he is adopted. But he never really had parents. So his behavior now… Jamie is doing a brilliant job with him.” 

She glances out past the cemetery to the blue of the cloudless sky, a rarity in this part of the world. 

“Uncle Lamb, I think I am catching feelings for him,” a laugh, “ for them both. After Frank, that scares me. Yes, I know he isn't, that all men aren't the same. Frank would never think about raising another man’s child and could never do such a good job, if he did. 

I know this. But I don't want my heart broken again. You know I'm doing well. Amazingly so. Oh,” something occurred to her, “I don't need him. Frank thought… if I pursue this, it will be out of want not need. That is a huge difference.”

She lays her head on the headstone for a second. It is as close as she can get to her beloved uncle. 

“It might be okay, right? I mean, I can take it slow. He isn't going anywhere. The shop will be there. He will be my neighbor.”

She nods to herself. 

“We can hang out as mates, see where it goes. I have to be careful because of Fergus. He gets close to me and it doesn't work,” she shakes her head, “no good. Is that why you never dated, because of me?”

The grief that is always just under the surface, bubbles up. She swallows the lump of it that rises. 

“I pray I wasn't too much of a burden.” Her voice breaks at the end.

A soft breeze blows across her cheeks, drying her tears. She smiles. 

“Right. Thank you Uncle Lamb. I love you.” 

Chapter XII: How Far ….To Let Him Go

| KIY

I didn’t pack anything up.

Mic insisted.

Said something about princesses and royal treatment. About how he wanted me to rest, to drink tea, to watch snow like I always do when I’m overwhelmed.

So I did.

I stood at the window, watching white petals fall from the sky and disappear on contact. He was behind me, zipping the last suitcase with a decisive little sigh—like he’d just tucked something important into the folds.

When I turned around, he looked at me the way he always does when I smile too easily: like it unspools something wild in him.

“All set up there?” I asked.

He didn’t answer me.

Just walked over with that slow, possessed rhythm he slips into when he’s already made up his mind. My tea left his hands first—placed neatly on the counter—and then his hands were on me. Lifting me like nothing, setting me on the freezing marble. I gasped, but he kissed the sound right out of my mouth.

I melted.

Of course I did. I always do when he holds me like he owns time itself.

“Micah,” I murmured, his name already breathless.

But he wasn’t in the mood for names. He was in the mood for worship. My coat peeled from my shoulders, the dip of my sweater dragged down his path like he was tracing constellations across my skin. When his mouth hovered above my breasts, I forgot what language I spoke.

“Princesa,” he whispered to me, “I need a reminder.”

My breath stuttered. His hands were already tugging the hem of my sweater, his touch maddening in how slow it traveled.

“Care to grant me a wish?”

I bit my lip, playing coy even though my thighs had started to tremble. “Depends on what it is.”

He grazed my nipple with his teeth, and the noise I made didn’t even sound like me.

“How far can I play with you,” he asked, pinching me softly, “before you’re at your wit’s end?”

I swallowed a moan and tried to laugh. “You’re gonna make us late again, aren’t you?”

He didn’t laugh back. Just tilted his mouth to my neck and growled, “The man in charge is never late.”

I don’t know what possessed me, but I let him.

Let his fingers dip between my legs, past the lace I wore just for him. Let his tongue draw shapes against my throat while he whispered things he knew would undo me. He was relentless. My panties were wet before I said a word.

“Like I’d waste a set you bought me,” I managed to say.

He paused for a heartbeat, and then: “Then answer my question, wifey-to-be. Posso brincar com seu corpo?”

God. Portuguese.

“Merida,” I whispered, my knees knocking. “Micah—”

“Well?”

“Yes,” I said, breath catching. “Fucking yes. Just hurry up and do me.”

His smile shifted then. Darker. Hungrier. “It would be my greatest pleasure.”

And then—nothing. Just the feeling of him pulling away. My whole body jolted.

“But not yet.”

He moved me from the counter. Toward the fridge. When he opened the door, I thought maybe he wanted something to drink. I didn’t expect what he pulled out. Blue cuffs, dusted in cold, their silver buckles fogged with frost.

“Micah?” I eyed him and the cuffs. He… can’t be serious. “What is this?”

He pressed two fingers against my lips—tasting myself on them—and whispered, “Uh-uh-uh. You know my name in this serenade. I don’t want to punish you this soon, my little siren.”

I should’ve stopped him.

But I didn’t.

The cuffs wrapped around my wrists, and I let him tether one arm to the refrigerator handle. The cold bit into my skin, but I didn’t flinch. I burned from the inside out.

Then he lifted his sweater. There, tucked into his briefs, was a white feather. Soft. Pure. Completely out of place. He stroked my ass with it, like he was drawing lines of silence into me.

“Why aren’t you responding to me?” he asked, his voice suddenly sharp. “I’ll keep you here as long as I please.”

“Y-yes, Sire,” I breathed.

Tears began to fall down my face. Like something broke and rippled out into the open. I was terrified. Not of him. Of my willingness to surrender. To fully let him stir me off the cliff. Flashes… grim quick memories poured like molten lava into my brain. It took everything in me not to scream fucking bloody murder.

He panicked—briefly. Reached for the cuffs. But I stopped him. Pressed my leg to his chest and said, “Don’t you dare. I’m fine.”

“You sure?” he asked.

I nodded through the tears. “If you must ask me, then your hold will break, Sire.”

That made him smirk. Made me feel like I had some of the power again.

“Then your safe word for me?”

“Icee, Sire.” I said, lips shook.

“Good siren.”

Then came the second surprise. Mic pulled out the stolen spa stones from our Hot Springs endeavor. Hidden in the stove’s drawer like they’d been waiting for this moment.

“You have to recite the Portuguese alphabet,” he said. “Every time you mess up, I’ll punish you.”

“But you only taught me the vowels—”

He just shrugged. “I know you read ahead, Kiyanna.”

The first stone kissed my spine. I gasped.

The second slipped between my legs. I screamed.

“Start,” he said.

“Ah… beh… cê… dê… eh…” My voice cracked. “It’s too hot!”

“Another one?” he teased.

I blocked him with my knee. “No. I can finish.”

“You better mean the alphabet.”

But I couldn’t concentrate. Couldn’t focus with the heat pulsing inside me like a brand. He stared at me like he was memorizing every twitch, every whimper.

“Ah. Beh. Cê. Dê. Eh-fee. Gê. Ah-gah—wait!”

Too late.

He placed a third.

I don’t know how I didn’t faint.

Eventually, I stumbled. I sobbed. I screamed the safe word. “ICEE! Get them out—get them out now.”

He did.

And then I collapsed.

The floor was cold and hard, but his arms caught me. He rocked me against his chest, whispered apologies against my scalp. His warmth pressed against all the places that ached. But I couldn’t stop crying.

The pain was annoyingly intense but that didn’t stop me from wanting him.

“Punish me with your hand,” I said softly. “I still need to feel your touch.”

His eyes turned glassy. “Okay. What would you like me to do?”

“Three hard spanks, Sire.” I told him under little composure. My heart was leaping at my chest.

My blood ran cold.

He nodded. Kissed my forehead. Held me like I was sacred. And then I lay across his lap.

“One,” I gasped.

“Two.”

The last one—he let me choose.

“Left cheek,” I whimpered.

His palm came down hard enough to echo. “Three.”

Afterward, he scooped me into his arms and laid me near the fireplace. My body was still shaking. He kissed my shoulder and stood slowly.

“When you’re ready,” he said, “Come find me.”

I couldn’t stop the tears.

I couldn’t stop feeling so foreign. So misplaced. I was reminded how many people treated my body like a disregard—a nuisance. Then that night played. Not fully. But a glimpse into hell left me shivering with no added fire.

They fell in slow, stinging rivers down my cheeks, and I didn’t even try to catch them. I couldn’t. My body wasn’t mine yet. My mind was somewhere splintered—off in the space between now and the part of me that begged for this without fully knowing what I meant.

I asked him to show me that side. I asked him… jokingly. In passing. I was flirting. I was drunk on us. I thought I was ready.

But when it was real—

When it was his voice, low and sure, his hands steady with purpose, his rules replacing the world I thought I controlled—something in me floated too far from the shoreline.I didn’t expect the tears. I didn’t expect the way they kept coming, even after he’d stopped.

There was this strange, buzzing sensation in my skull. Like electricity with no outlet. The air turned tight. Smaller. My chest felt like a locked drawer someone forgot the key for.

And fuck.

What did this mean for us?

Our dynamic—our dance—had gone off rhythm. I could feel the gap forming. A bridge I couldn’t cross.

Would he regret touching me like that?

Would he see me as fragile now? Would he think I made it harder than it had to be? That I wasted the moment with my tears and silence and trembling hands?

He didn’t look at me like Mic.

When he pulled away from me, when he stood there, trying to cover up his disappointment with kindness. Cold eyes pierced my lungs.

So… distant.

And yet, that was the whole fucking point.

I asked to see the king in him. The dark, commanding pulse beneath all the softness. And he gave it to me. Without hesitation. Without apology. He gave me the most unfiltered part of himself—and I wept at the taste.

Now he was gone.

Quiet.

Probably pacing whatever room he’d disappeared into, rehearsing apologies he didn’t owe. Wondering if he’d broken me. Wondering if he had gone too far.

But it wasn’t that. Not really.

It was the sudden drop from the pedestal. The freefall. The intimacy of it. And if I let him sit with those thoughts too long—if I let him spiral without a tether—he’d build a wall between us I couldn’t scale. To him, this would feel like rejection. Like I’d seen the true shape of him and turned away.

I couldn’t let that happen.

I needed to find him.

Now.

Before silence became the answer we never meant to give each other.

| MIC

I behaved like a fucking demon.

How can I face her now?

How can I be the one who claims to protect her, when I let that part of me out without warning?

I should’ve told her. Before any of this.

This wasn’t something I just played around with. This was war. Inside me. Every day.

But she accepted me so damn easily. She loved me like it was the most natural thing in the world. It scared the shit out of me. Because I could never be that easy to love.

Her cries—

they haven’t left my head. Not even for a second.

And I just kept going.

Safe word be damned.

She said it. I fucking heard it.

I knew.

I knew how deeply she struggled to feel safe during sex. And still—I didn’t stop. I didn’t soften. I didn’t step back and hold her like I should’ve.

Fuck me.

She’s probably questioning everything now.

And I deserve it. Every second of this silence. This shower. This shame.

Even if she walks away—

Even if she looks me in the eyes and says I crossed a line we can’t uncross—

I’ll take it. I’ll let it break me.

I was still on the floor of the shower, dripping in steam and self-loathing, when I heard her voice:

“Micah, please turn the water off.”

My fear hit like a punch to the gut. My soaked briefs clung to me like a second skin, pathetic and heavy. I stood up slowly, reached for the nozzle, and cut the water off just before she fully walked in.

How much more humiliation could I take?

And then—

She came to me.

Kiy draped a warm towel over my shoulders, her movements slow, careful, reverent. I still didn’t move. I let her pull my briefs down, and I stepped out of them like a child caught in the rain. She bundled me in the linen like I was something sacred. Like I was still hers.

She led me to the bed, sat me down.

Kneeled before me like I was the one who needed saving. And maybe I did.

“I’m not upset with you,” she said softly, fingertips tracing the towel’s edge. “I just—”Her breath broke.

I saw it. Felt it.

“It’s all on me. When I asked you before, I didn’t know what it really meant—to be dominated. It… it terrified me. Brought up things I didn’t expect.”

“Kiy.”

My voice barely worked. She didn’t owe me an explanation. I knew this already.

But she kept going. Keep bleeding out. I didn’t want to see her like this.

“Micah, I love you.”

She pressed her forehead to my lap, her voice muffled in the folds of the towel.

I sat there, stunned. Silent.

“This—you—won’t change that. I don’t care how far your thoughts go. You’re not losing me. Ever. I just need… time. I need to find my footing again.”

My heart cracked in two.

I couldn’t let her carry this guilt. Not for one more breath.I threw off the towel. My body is still burning up.

“Stop.”

I pulled her up, held her wrists. “You don’t have to adjust to anything. This isn’t your fault. I heard the safe word. I chose to ignore it. That’s on me.”

Her voice turned to a whisper.

“It’s okay.”

“No the hell it’s not, Kiyanna.”

My voice broke open.

“You trusted me. You gave me the one thing you don’t give anyone, and I fucking betrayed it. I got drunk off the power. I kept pushing. And if you hadn’t—if you hadn’t cried—God, I don’t know where I would’ve stopped.”

“Micah…”

“Tell me it’s over.”

I needed to hear it. I needed the punishment.

But she stepped back like I’d slapped her.

“I won’t!”

I stood up, bare, undone. My shame is hanging off me like steam.

“So you trust me? Right now?”

I stepped toward her, testing the space between us. She backed into the wall, heartbeat rising—I could feel it.I shouldn’t have done it. I knew she was scared. But I had to see—had to know. I held her wrists. Not hard. But enough.

“On your knees.”

The words escaped before I could kill them. Her hand flew, slapping my cheek. She crumpled at my feet, sobbing.

And then, everything stopped.

I knelt with her. Held her in my arms. Not as a dominant. Not as anything other than the man who’d failed her.

“I’m sorry.”

Over and over again.

“I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”

| KIY

I could barely breathe.

But I had to try.

My fingers dug into the fuzzy rug beneath me, clinging to its threads like truth. He wasn’t getting away from me. Not this time. He fucking promised.

“You lied….. to me.”

Mic stopped in his tracks, turning around like I’d knocked the wind out of him.

“What?”

“You promised.”

The words came out soaked in hiccups. My voice sounded cracked and foreign. My nose was probably covered in snot, my vision too blurred to recognize the man in front of me. For a second, I almost convinced myself he wasn’t real. That he’d already disappeared.

“Kiyanna…”

“You said you’d never leave me again!” I was shouting now. Past dignity. Past fear. “How many times do we have to prove… it doesn’t fucking work. I’m willing to fight with you. Why can’t you see me?”

He just stood there, stunned—staring. For too long.

Then, without a word, he slipped on a crumpled graphic Christmas tee I got him, paired it with checkered pajama pants from the drawer. Sat on the bed like a ghost.

But I wasn’t done.

“This isn’t the end!” I marched toward the bed, voice still blazing. “Stop fucking running away. You’re not alone in this. We’re bound to trigger each other—no matter how gentle we try to be. That’s growth. But you running every time? That’s not the man I thought you were.”

His jaw locked tight. Knuckles cracking near his thighs.“It shouldn’t be like this,” he muttered. “I’m not willing to hurt you.”

“You’re not hurting me.”

“Kiy—”

“You stopped.”

That made him look up. Confused. Vulnerable.

“What are you talking about?”

“The safe word.”

I sniffed hard, wiped my face with the sleeve of my shirt, and stepped closer.

“When I said it, you stopped. You asked me what I needed. Then you readjusted.”

“I didn’t—”

“You did.”

I nodded, firm now.

“In the moment when it mattered most, your instincts shifted. You heard me, Micah. You changed direction.”

He went still. I could almost hear him replaying it. His eyes shut like he was watching something frame by frame. My heartbeat paused.

“So I did,” he whispered. “It doesn’t change—”

“It changes everything.”

My head tilted with defiance.

“What’s really the issue here? Because I’ve proven you wrong. And now you’re telling me it doesn’t matter? Bullshit. You hate being wrong.”

He cracked then.

“I can’t lose you again!”

His chest heaved.

“Years ago, I spun you into that dark place. I don’t want to keep repeating that. It fucking breaks me.”

“No one spun me anywhere. I’m my own damn person, Mic.”

I stood straighter.

“There’s shit I’ve dealt with bigger than you. And I’m still standing. That’s life. No one gets out unscathed. We aren’t meant to be perfect—we’re meant to choose. In spite of everything, in spite of ourselves, we choose love.”

I crouched in front of him, lifted his head until his eyes met mine.

“Do you choose me?”

He almost whispered it.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

I pulled him into me like the whole world deserved us.

“Because I chose you too. Every single fucking time.”

| MIC

I should’ve collapsed when she said it.

Because I choose you too. Every single fucking time.

She doesn’t know what those words did to me. Or maybe she does, because she held me so tightly, like she was afraid I’d unravel if she let go.

And I would’ve.

I sat there, arms wrapped around her waist like it was my only means of breathing. Her heartbeat slowed down and I matched mine to it. I was trying not to cry, not because I didn’t want her to see—

But because I couldn’t bear to drown in the emotion any deeper than I already had.

She saved me again.

Without even realizing it. Just her voice, that fierce little shake in it. It was enough to yank me back from the place I swore I’d never let myself return to.

She doesn’t need to fix me. She never tried. She just wanted to see me. And for some fucked-up reason, I was still afraid that if she looked long enough, she’d change her mind.

But she didn’t.

She chose me.

Even when I showed her the ugliest parts. Even when I went too far. Even after the safe word, after the silence, after I fell apart in the shower like a goddamn failure—she still looked at me like I was hers.

And maybe that’s what love really is.

I didn’t have to perform and control her. And maybe I didn’t have to protect her all the time either.

But I felt like a stubborn mess.

Love was a terrifying thing.

This steady, burning sensation in my chest kept saying: she knows who I am… and she still wants me anyway.

So I need to show her.

How much I did love her.

With something that rewrites her story.