Smoking Love (Mikoto Suoh x Reader)

Chapter Two: Challenger

    The next thing you remember was waking up to one killer headache and that ever-present stench which seemed to follow you no matter where you went, always accompanied by something dreadful and destructive. But what you opened your eyes up to wasn't anything close to evil or harmful. The first thing you saw was the bright face of a girl, who looked no older than twelve and had a soothing presence around her. You got a similar feeling about her that you did with Mikoto. Your paths most certainly intertwined. Her shining, intelligent red eyes seemed to pierce right into you, giving you the sense that maybe she had the same intuition about you, too. It took everything you had to break your gaze away from them to look around you more.

    It didn't take long for you to realize why you'd noticed the fumes the minute you woke up. You were in a bar, a nice, albeit a little odd-looking one, with a few smokers scattered around the joint, some staring at you, the others minding their own business. One you recognized as Mr. Kusanagi (at least who you thought was the second in command), who gave you a small smile when your (e/c) stare connected with his. Dowsing the cigarette, he moved out from behind the bar counter, coming towards you as you sat up with a groan, rubbing the back of your head to try to relieve some of the ache.

    "Good to see you're finally awake," he said as he finished walking over, "You were passed out there for a while. I was beginning to think you'd take permanent ownership of the couch."

    A smirk graced the bartender's lips at his own wit then offered his hand for you to shake in a friendly gesture. "The name's Izumo Kus-"

    "Kusanagi, I kind of figured," you finished in a rush, a little shame ghosting your expression when you saw him looking at you with clear surprise. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I just get a little excited when I guess things right. I usually have more control, but I haven't had the best day today, so I'm a little more bent out of shape than usual." You gave a flicker of a guilty smile, rubbing your neck in an effort to stem your embarrassment. You were making such a great first impression, weren't you?

    Kusanagi didn't look angry or irritated in the least, however. In fact, he looked quite amused. "Heh, don't sweat it. I tend to have that kind of effect on beautiful young women. Make 'em a little nervous."

    Relieved (a little flustered, too), you let yourself relax for a moment, feeling at ease in the man's presence after his reply. You took the Red Clansman's hand in your own and shook it with a firm grip, "The name's Y/N L/N. How long exactly have I been sleeping?"

    Kusanagi began to move his lips to form a reply, yet chose not to when he heard a well-known, commanding voice say instead, "Day and a half. It was... inconvenient."

    You resisted the urge to whip your head around to see the new arrival; you didn't need to look at his face to know who decided to now join in, anyway. You recognised the same annoyed, indifferent tone in the words that told your assaulters to get out of his way. With that in mind, you cranked your neck in a slow motion, catching the sight of the Red King walking down the set of stairs in the bar, apathetic eyes glaring into yours, neither of you willing to back down. A few of the guys noticed the staring contest between you two, instantly shutting up in favor of watching the showdown between the King and the girl they'd rescued on Friday night.

    If it'd been a younger you, you would've dropped out first, but you'd learned to stand your ground. You knew this was some kind of test the Third King was conducting, testing your resolve and pluck, you assumed. The man had called your presence there in the bar "inconvenient," too. No way would you be the first to give in, no matter how uncomfortable it got. Of course, with the kind of luck you'd been having as of late (unreliable), you didn't have too much confidence about your chances of succeeding.

    After engaging in a few more seconds of the stare down, the leader of HOMRA, impressed with your nerve, curled his lips up in a pleased smirk before sitting himself on a bar stool. This action ended the test, breaking the tension between the both of you and setting about the other HOMRA members to resuming their previous activities. You blinked your eyelids in rapid succession while shaking your head, trying to shake off the weird feeling in your gut. It didn't feel like you won. It felt more like an assessment than a challenge of dominance. Besides, who were you kidding? The man was freaking Mikoto Suoh, master of intimidating silence and not losing. He wouldn't allow you to win anything unless he let you succeed on purpose.

    Composing yourself, you resumed your conversation with Kusanagi, who still looked entertained to you, "Then why didn't you guys just take me to a hospital or something? I'm sure it would've been fine."

    The bar owner gave a dismissive shrug. "Our bar was closer. After all, you only got a little bump on your head, along with a tiny scratch on your neck. No need to trouble the hospital with something we could easily fix ourselves."

    You tweaked an eyebrow in response, "The fact that I slept through an entire day didn't give you any second thoughts?" You thought you heard one of the other guys choke on his drink.

    "No. We figured you were still in shock. You seemed pretty tired, too. Plus, who wouldn't want to watch a beauty like you sleep?"

    Your face bloomed red with embarrassment in an instant, causing the bartender to chuckle again. You were gutsy, but you had a shy streak as well.

    "I-I should probably skedaddle on out of here before I make an even more terrible impression of myself. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Kusanagi. I have a feeling this won't be the last time we see each other," you rambled out once more, dashing out the bar before he could respond, eager to get away from the odor of smoke and the scrutiny of so many powerful strangers. You didn't see, but the young girl's smile got visibly brighter watching you leave. She knew you'd come back, back to where you belonged.

Brief third person:
    "How'd we manage to come across her in the first place, Mr. Kusanagi? We usually never patrol that part of town," Kōsuke asked, voicing aloud the question on everyone else's mind.

    "Anna told us someone important was going to get hurt in the area, so the King decided we should check it out."

    "We will be seeing her again then, won't we, Anna?" the ginger questioned, well aware of the girl's ability to see into the beyond.

    The eleven year old only hummed in affirmation, sending a knowing glance at Mikoto.