Where Loyalty Lies // Mori Ougai x Reader

Chapter 14: Never Let Me Go

Y/n's mind was frozen as all of her and Mori's previous interactions with each other raced through her head in that moment. She stared at him and held back her smile prompted by his confession, as she wanted to act professional in his presence as much as possible.

"It's strange—to me," she said, looking to the side.

Mori noticed her apprehension, but didn't want to make any assumptions about what she meant by that. "You may see it as such, but I don't think being with you has ever felt more normal to me."

"Is love really so normal?" Y/n shifted her gaze to the ground. She wasn't prepared for him to actually feel the same way towards her.

Mori sighed with a half-hearted smile. "Is it really so wrong for me to love you?"

"I didn't expect you to," Y/n said.

Mori's eyes widened and he almost wanted to laugh from shock. "And why wouldn't I?" He said, grinning.

Y/n clenched her lips together. Shit, don't smile like that, she thought. "How should I know what attracts you to someone?" She said, mumbling.

"Do I really have to explain how everything about you catches my fancy?" Mori said.

"I just don't get it," she said, looking back at him. "I've caused you all this trouble. How could that possibly be appealing? Why are you confessing your feelings instead of lecturing me?"

Mori thought about why he was being so open with her. Usually, he would keep his cards close to his chest, but he also wondered why he didn't feel the need to dwell on the mistakes Y/n has made lately. "Whether we're near or far, I find myself wanting you to see how important you are to me—to understand how much I need to forgive you for the sake of my own heart," he said.

"But why am I the only one you do such things for? How can there be no one else that deserves your affection over me?" Y/n's mind was unsteady at the unfolding confession he was making. She didn't want to jump to conclusions about what this would mean for the two of them now.

Mori sighed, frowning a little at how she didn't seem to be grasping the truth of his words. "I am the boss of the Port Mafia. That is who I must be, and to forsake that role for the sake of love would be nothing but irresponsible of me. However, there is also no one else who has made me such a mess in the way you have. When you're gone, I want you to return. When you're angry, I want to ease your mind. When you're sad, I want to crush those who would waste your tears. And when you're happy, I want to bottle up that dazzling light of yours into a jar and look at it always. I never needed that light until I found you, and I'm not willing to give it up anymore. Must you still doubt this?"

"It's not something I'm not used to," Y/n said.

Mori stared at her while, trying to understand why she seemed so disengaged by this topic. "But I'm sure you must know what it feels like. In many forms, it has touched you, and right now, it stands before you."

"Maybe, but not serious feelings. Not romantic ones. Not until—" Y/n said, pausing. She wasn't ready to say it. She wanted to, but why was it still so difficult?

Mori's solemn eyes slightly brightened. "Do you mean 'until now'?" He said moving in closer to her. "What has changed your mind since then?" He was hanging onto her every word.

Y/n stiffened. "You didn't scare me then." But you're scaring me now, she thought.

He was taken aback. To someone like Mori, that normally would have been a threatening statement, like someone challenging his dominance, but when it came from Y/n, he was glad that it meant that there was one less barrier between them now. "I don't recall holding back in that regard when we first met, so what gave you the impression that I wasn't one you should be intimidated by?"