(Yuu)
I woke up to the sound of shuffling and a distinct lack of, as little as there was, warmth. I forced my eyes open and saw long pale legs within grabbing distance. It took so much self restraint to keep my hands to myself until his suit pants were on. My eyes trailed up to his back where shoulder blades popped out at me, every little bend made his spine appear more and more prominent, each knob pushed against his back, every one had some sort of line going across it that I assumed were stretch marks of sorts, they seemed to fit perfectly with him. Eventually that too was covered, sadly.
My eyes trailed even further up to find blissfully blue eyes glancing back at me from the side, "I'll have to keep the spine thing in mind, weirdo." He shook his head.
"Do you have to go?" I asked, reaching out to him.
The room was too bright to look at after having just woken up, but I didn't dare close my eyes as Mikaela kneeled down next to me and laid his head right in front of my face, "I do." He offered me a sad smile and began to card his fingers through my hair.
I practically melted under the soothing touch, "Can you come back after and stay again?"
"Mhm, I'll bring my own stuff this time." his face seemed so soft and relaxed, it was a nice change from the sternness and half assed emotion.
"But I like the way you look in my clothes." I whined, earning a chuckle from him.
"I have to go now," He whispered as he drew closer, head tilting. Mika's lips were soft and the goodbye was just as tender, "I'll see you in a few hours, I love you." He gingerly tugged at my hair before all contact ceased completely and he was gone.
I was planning on getting a few more hours of sleep, but I doubted I would be able to now. I needed to think about some things. I really did love Mika, so much. I needed to figure out if I was being paranoid or reasonable and what to do in either situation.
The fact of the matter was Mika had to have known I saw his phone, but he didn't say anything about it. That green cloth covered in god knows what was purposefully placed like that. Mika didn't have the number saved, and it was on his personal phone. It seemed weird and I couldn't find any good reasoning behind it.
A knock on my door pulled me out of my thoughts, "What?" I asked.
"Did he stay?" Yoichi asked through the door.
"Yeah, he might be staying again tonight too." I informed him.
"Do you want me to go to Shiho's?" Were conversations always so question and answery?
"No, I'd prefer to have some kind of available cock block." I half joked.
I could barely hear Yoichi's sigh through the door, "You shouldn't need a cock block, Yuu. If you tell Mikaela no and he actually cares about you he won't be mad or think any less of you. You know that, right?"
There it was, that tone of pity that I hated so much, thank god it was rare for Yoichi to use it, it never failed to make me feel like shit, "I know." Was my automatic response, I had no fucking clue how Mikaela would react. Mika has been slow with me when I asked and understands I have sexual trauma. He'd probably understand if I didn't want to. But there were so many other people out there that would want to, and I couldn't confidently say he wouldn't rather be with one of them.
Our friendship escalated very quickly into a relationship, and since then we've had to manually apply the breaks every time we got the chance. With all that in mind, how was I to know if he really felt anything at all towards me? It just didn't seem possible for him to fall in love with me yet. Mika was different than me though, assuming he wasn't a serial killer, he was everything I wanted to be: generous, kind, strong, smart, attractive, witty, self-restraining, and logical...and I fell in love with that so quick. And then there's me: traumatized, emotionally closed off, over curious, over suspicious, and motivated by a second agenda. It was disgusting really.
He could have anyone he wants and for some reason he chose me. It didn't make me feel good, it made me feel sick.
Normally someone like him wouldn't chose someone like me just from meeting once. That night is kind of a blur. All I really remember are neon eyes, cold hands, and this distinct sense of what I could only describe as panicked calm. I felt secure, he wouldn't hurt me and I knew it, but something was creeping up my spine, waiting for it to go wrong.
"I'm just feeling insecure." I admitted.
"Maybe you should talk to him tonight, I think he would be a lot happier if you would open up more and you could solve this together. Relax, he won't bite."
...
(Mika)
"YOU CUNT!" I pulled my hand back from the crazy woman, she fucking bit me! My hand was throbbing and possibly bleeding, I couldn't tell under the black gloves but I knew it hurt. It was my mistake for not making the seasoned criminal put the gag on. I gave her a swift kick to the gut and took a deep breath to try and control myself, "Where the hell is Raymond?"
"Like I know." The purple haired man swung his legs back and forth as he happily sat on the stool.
"Very helpful, Lacus, as always." I shook my hand out, why did it hurt so bad?
"Relax," Raymond sighed as he finally walked through the door. He took a moment to survey the area, first he noticed Crowley's absence, then he noticed the all too familiar women sitting on the floor, rage evident in her eyes. Ray managed to control his expression rather well, but anyone could tell he was biting down on the inside of his cheek, "this was a bad idea."
"So you do care." My tone was flat, but I found the situation to be amusing.
"Why are you always so condescending? You always try to act like you're smarter than everyone else but you're just as much of an over emotional mess." Ray was always ballsy. Liked that a lot, made things more fun.
I smiled at him as I stomped on Sunni's hand, making sure I stayed a safe enough distance from her, his mismatched eyes narrowed in what I could only assume was anger, but he looked devastated, "I know about your breakdown. I know that you want to play with what you know is mine, and you know I can't let you."
"Crazy as ever, huh?" He winced when I stomped down again.
"Some things don't change. 'Your' Asher is still madly in love with Yuichiro, as am I. You say you're madly in love with Asher, but I know you love Sunni more." I had expected him to attack me at this point but was he was so calm. Eerily calm...
"You're not even that threatening," He shrugged, "you're bleeding big boy."
I forgot how much I hated him when he gets the crazy out for a while.
I looked down to see a few drops of blood had piled on the floor, "We all bleed. That's life."
"Bet you wouldn't say that if it was Yuu." Ray was always funny like that, Yuu would never be in this situation. I would make sure of that.
"You're right, but luckily for me, Yuu isn't the one bleeding. Even luckier, it isn't my wife bound on the floor. I would say thanks to you I've seen enough of his blood for a lifetime, but it's far past that now." I sighed.
"He'd hate you if he remembered." Ray took one step closer.
"Yesss sir," I took a step closer to him, "which is why I can't have you meddle. I want to make a deal."
Ray stopped and looked to Sunni, he looked sympathetic, it didn't suit him, "What's your deal?" He tried to get closer to her, but Lacus stepped in between them. Ray knows me well enough to know I don't work closely with amateurs, Lacus was not someone to be messed with.
"Leave our lives and you can have Sunni. Stay, and I'll kill her. I'm sure she'll sell quite nicely. And don't even think you can win against me. We both know you can't beat me on your own." I squatted down and pulled her up by her hair. She seemed too distracted by Ray to care about what I was doing, "such a pretty girl. I know someone would just love her."
Ray clenched and unclenched his fist over and over again, digging his nails into his hand before prying them out again. I loved how much I affected him, "Mikaela, I don't have room to talk, I'll be the first to admit that, but I'm certain that if there's a god, he wants you dead."
"Fucking moron," a smile crept into my face as I dropped her head, "I am god."
"A psychotic one." His eyes were fixated on Sunni.
I rolled my eyes, "Aren'y they all? There are consequences to our actions, Raymond. Your life is always so centered on you, at least I can say I've dedicated more than one lives to an angel."
"That doesn't count," He sneered, "Yuu wants nothing to do with your bullshit."
"Please stop stalling. You're obviously not here alone otherwise you would've attacked me by now. But, you should know that Crowley is also upstairs," I scoffed when his eyes widened, "your body language is so easy to read. Please make your choice, I need to disinfect my hand, I hope she doesn't have something." I grimaced.
She made a noise of protest and my hand throbbed even more. This was going to be a bitch to hide, I had a very difficult time denying Yuu, so I suppose I'm sleeping with gloves on tonight.
"That's not my wife," Ray chimed, "I don't care what you do."
"Well, no. But it is Sunni." I sarcastically offered him a sympathetic look.
"It might be her, but she's not the same. That's like saying that Yuu and Asher are the same when they're not. During my little breakdown I planned to hurt you. But that would be stupid. I'm not looking for history to repeat itself. Last time I was on the 'winning' side," he exaggerated the word winning with an eye roll, "it wasn't worth it. I was gone for the rest of my life. Sometimes, Mikaela, you just gotta let go."
"You don't want her?" I asked as I sent a sly glance to Lacus, he understood.
"Of course I do, but I want you to stop! You're fucking up again and you're gonna regret it later. I know that you're only trying to be kind of decent right now because of what he said when he died. I was there! You think no one knows, but seem to be forgetting that I was right fucking there when you asked for a change to be better!" He let out a huff, "But you're not even trying. You aren't trying to be a good person." As those words slipped from his lips I felt something crack, maybe it was a piece of my sanity, maybe it was my restraint, or maybe it was my last ounce of patience.
I cocked my head towards her and Lacus removed her from the scene. She'd be dealt with later and I didn't want a business partner to see this, "Me?" I asked, "I'm not trying to be good? Do you see the precautions I've taken?"
"You know you aren't being good. You act like a fucking fundamentalist! Selfish and only hearing what you want to! I'm done! I'm tired of playing! The only reason I haven't left is because I'm worried about what you're going to do to Yuu and Ashe-" he stopped himself from finishing, eyes widening, "fuck."
Satisfaction creeped all throughout my body, "Asher, huh? Now why would you go and hold information like that from your only friend?"
"That's not what I meant, I meant when you find out... UGH, fuck!" He smacked the side of his head, "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
"Ray, even if you aren't interested in harming Yuu, and are really staying for him and Asher, how do you intend to protect them from me?" I made sure to lighten up my tone, I wanted his guard down.
"I don't fucking know!" He snapped at me.
"Useless. Whatever. By now Crowley has certainly kicked the other two you brought... and Sunni, well, you'll see," I ran my unbitten hand through my hair, "if we're not going to make any progress here, then leave. I don't want to have an outburst before going back to him."
Ray looked shocked, "You're just letting me leave?"
"Yes," I plastered on my million dollar smile, "but when the time for action comes, don't say I didn't give you a chance to run. We can all find redemption in the eyes of our angels, don't be a fool and pass up an opportunity for glory."
Ray took a step back, another, and another before stopping, "When Yuu finds out and cuts you off from him completely, don't say I didn't warn you. Redemption is never a guarantee."
"He won't remember, I'm being careful." I assured him, igniting his last line.
"I didn't say remembers. I said finds out. As crazy as it sounds, Mikaela Shindo had more sanity than you ever will. Believe it or not, he was somehow less of a criminal than Mikaela Tepes. Not to mention, and I can't believe I'm saying this, a better partner, he made a habit of not lying to Yuu. But somehow that's all you manage to do." He began to walk out the basement door, but I couldn't have that.
"Raymond?" I called out to him before he could leave.
"What?!" He snapped.
"Normally, I'd be all for a fair fight, but I've already injured myself. You see, I'm really itching to give you a taste of your own medicine," I gave him a bright smile, no where near as kind as anything I would ever give to Yuu, and snapped my fingers, "You really think I hire them just for the business perks? Much like you, my friend, I can't deny that I do have a soft spot for personal gain."