King Kaneki [Kaneki X Fem. Reader]

Chapter 22

Standing here defenselessly in the open room of unknown emptiness, I wanted to release my kagune but knew that Riven would decide against it. Silence coated the area like a plaque which only just made its undying shadows even more mysterious and undetectable.

"Miss, step back into the hallway, but do so very... carefully." Riven's voice deepened at the end of his sentence, the man was more than serious on his every word and despite his calm yet deadly tone, I could tell that urgency laced his voice strongly.

    Deciding against him, I shook my head, letting go of his arm, "no, we need to push forward, the valuable is either right here in this room or somewhere beyond it, sending me back to hide away from danger isn't going to help get it."

    When I had let go of Riven's arm, the flames of the torch revealed something in his stone cold eyes that looked like the burning edges of insanity. Strings of light green that naturally marked his irises stretched out in a way that seemed farther than normal and for a split second, in the mirror of his midnight pupils, the semblance of a demon made itself apparent through the windows of his soul.

    Staring at his constricted pupils and large green eyes, I felt the tempo of my heart slow and wished his devil-like gaze would finally draw away from me.

It was beginning to feel like maybe he was the monster in this shadow-cloaked room.

"Miss... please don't make me force my hand on you." Riven spoke in a calm tone which only made his expression even more disturbing. I believe this is the first time a ghoul has made me feel this scared, but that wasn't going to make me step down. Releasing my kagune, I sprung out the legs of my rinkaku and summoned my kakugans. Even with threatening red eyes like mine, I would still say that Riven's natural pair of green ones were far more terrifying.

"During most of the journey for this objective, I've been following your every word and backing down whenever told to do so which is something I don't usually do. At this point, I won't be obeying your every command any longer. Yes I understand your duty to the king but I find this protecter-job a little ridiculous now. Stop me if you want but I'm not going down without a fight; besides, we're not the enemies here."

The possibility of Riven turning on me or leashing me useless was the last thing I wanted right now, but I decided to bluff instead and show my strength. Truth still nestled in my words though, and I wouldn't plan on losing the argument so soon.

"Wow, the king wasn't joking, you really are stubborn."

At the sound of Riven's words, first I narrowed my eyes in pure confusion, but then allowed a full frown to overtake my countenance after rendering the whole sentence.

"What did the king say about me?!"

    Instead of answering my question, Riven simply sighed, grabbing my hand, "If you insist on coming along with me and possibly dying, you're at least going to have to keep ahold of me the entire time." He tightened his grip around my fingers making sure that I wouldn't even try to escape if attempted. "I'm not going to fight you on your freedom (y/n), but my first priority will never change."

Turning our attention back to the massive room cascading pure black, Riven and I both knew that if we moved even a muscle one wrong way, death himself would pay us a quick visit with treachery and it wouldn't be nice.