{Merge}

{Chapter Two: War of Wills}

I awoke with a yawn, stretching my body like a cat and ignoring the retaliatory creaking of my bones. It seemed as though time had ceased to exist at the moment my eyes had fallen shut, my contentment and the warmth of Shiki's shirtless frame against mine allowing me to stumble gracelessly into a state of hibernation. The darkness of the bunker, while soothing and secure, remained so wholly devoid of light that determining the time of day seemed nearly impossible. Turning away from the wall, I blinked absently at the miniscule ray of illumination that poured through the cracked door at the top of the stairs; the apparent presence of day upon the world worsening my confusion.

"Shiki… how long have we been asleep?" I questioned weakly, snuggling over to his side of the bed, only to find it empty and lacking his lingering warmth. "Shiki?"

My muscles retaliated as I sat up suddenly, my unadjusted eyes darting frantically around the dim space, searching desperately for the lithe figure doused in black and ivory, the colors of midnight. "No…" my lips mumbled without my consent as I failed to find any sign of his presence; his boots, coat, and katana all suspiciously absent. "Shiki? Shiki?!"

"Pet," a low voice purred into my ear, the strong arms around my shoulders preventing me from jerking away in startled panic. Familiar lips against my throat and the vaguely persistent scent of blood and rain allowed my body to go slack and lean into the broad frame behind me, my anxiety reluctantly fading. "Easy, Akira."

"Where did you go? I thought you had left me."

He hummed in amusement and nipped my shoulder lightly, gently brushing his lips and tongue over my heated skin until he could at last deposit a soft kiss against my temple, making me shiver. "You've been asleep for two days, pet. There were several things that I needed to attend to while you were essentially comatose. Did I wear you out the other night?" the ghost of a man asked with a teasing grin.

Scoffing, I shoved him away and rose from my place on the bed, irked by his amused chuckle. "You could've told me that you were going out, asshole! I woke up and you weren't here, and I was…." My voice faded into the silence that hovered between us, and I cursed the flush of pink tint that rose to my cheeks as I cast away my gaze, staring absently at an empty corner.

"Were you afraid without me? Are you scared to be alone, Akira?" Shiki pried, his tone low and animalistic as he took prowling steps around me, his crimson eyes assessing my tensing body, one gloved hand trailing over my hips and lower back. I gasped as he stopped behind me, his thumb dipping beneath the waistband of by boxers while he nuzzled into my mess of unruly grey hair. "Did I not make you a promise, pet? A promise that I would not leave you?"

"You did. But I thought you were gone, Shiki."

"Am I not here now?"

I sighed and allowed my head to fall back against his shoulder, my eyes closing to avoid his scrutinizing glare. "Yeah, whatever. You're here now, but before… I didn't know where you were. I thought maybe the Nikkouren forces had found you."

"They did."

"W—what?! Shiki!" My pulse began to throb painfully in my chest as I turned to face him, fear concealed by anger churning in my stare. He seemed entirely un-phased by the violence of my reaction and merely stepped away, folding his arms defiantly over his broad chest and narrowing his gaze in irritation.

"They're all dead, so I don't see why it matters. I took in Nano's blood, remember? I'm exponentially more powerful than I was before, or have you forgotten?" Shiki hissed, displeased. "After all, I came back as soon as you called."

"Came back… as soon as I called?" I queried doubtfully, staring boldly into those haunting ruby eyes. "Where were you?"

With a weary sigh, he turned away from me and shrugged free of his coat, and I watched in mesmerized awe as the taut muscles of his back arcing and moving elegantly beneath his shirt; the offending fabric the only barrier between my lips and the porcelain skin it concealed. As if he could sense my stare fixed firmly on his person, Shiki stretched casually with a smirk, tugging his shirt over his head painfully slowly before discarding it on the floor. I struggled to maintain my stern expression as he faced me, lounging against the table behind him, his body lean and lethal like a cat. "About a quarter of a kilometer east when I heard you," he informed flatly.

My brows knitting together must have pleased him immensely, and a devious glint flashed in his scarlet eyes. "You could hear me from that far away and made it back here so quickly? Nano's power is incredible."

"It's my power now," Shiki reminded with a hiss. "Your voice sounded so pitiful, so desperate. Like you'd cry if I didn't come to your rescue. I considered taking my time returning… I think I'd enjoy taking in the sight of you with tears on your face again. So beautiful, so weak," his thumb brushed over my lips as he taunted me.

"Bastard," I spat, sitting heavily on the edge of the bed and rubbing my eyes, the sorrowful thoughts of Keisuke's blood dripping down my cheeks making my body feel exceptionally heavy. "I'm sure you think it's funny. 'Let's laugh at Akira's guilty conscience!' You know, not everyone can kill a person and then walk away like nothing happened the way you can, Shiki!"

After several moments of glaring at the beautiful man towering above me, I fought to settle my heaving breaths, wilting in embarrassment beneath his scrutiny and releasing a shuddering sigh. I dropped my gaze to the concrete beneath his boots and rose from my seat, throwing my shoulder roughly against his frame as I walked past, electing to lock myself in the shower for a while out of evasion. Shiki's strong palm on my chest forced me to cease my retreat, and I glanced to study the side of his face when his thumb began rubbing soothing circles against my skin. "Where are you going, Akira?" his low, exceptionally solemn voice questioned.

"To get away from you."

"Is that so?" he asked darkly, his ebony hair falling away from his eyes as he settled his haunting glare upon mine, causing me to recoil and suck in an anxious breath. The gloved hand that had been doting upon me so tenderly quickly rose to grasp my throat, shoving my smaller frame to the floor, his dark form hovering over me dangerously. I winced and bared my teeth, the concrete icy against my skin and my head throbbing from the impact, the darkness of unconsciousness flickering at the edges of my vision. "What do you really want? You beg me not to leave, make me promise – and now you wish to go? Do you intend to test me? Are you making light of the oath I made to you? You are the only person to whom I am accountable, Akira; you should be aware that I expect you to carry that burden. I am Il-Re – I make no guarantees and rarely even bother to speak the truth. And yet, for you alone will I do both. Do you understand, pet?"

"Shiki…." I had rarely ever heard him speak so genuinely, and though his candidness caused a slight warmth to bloom throughout my chest, the gravity of his statements made an anxious chill slice through my skin and bury itself into my bones. The ferocity in his glare began to ebb after several excruciatingly long instants, and was soon replaced by a bizarre fogginess that irked me with its ambiguity. Sadness, perhaps; or maybe loneliness. Dissatisfied by the inaccuracy of my assessment, I studied his piercing stare intently for a while, but was horrified by the exactitude of the conclusion at which I arrived. He was disappointed. Shiki was disappointed with me, and the haunting realization made my heart ache.

After a minute or two of staring at me blankly with dissatisfaction in his gaze, the deliciously muscled frame of the dark man above me retreated with solemnity, rising to his feet in silence and tugging his shirt back over his head. I leaned up on my elbows and clutched the back of my skull with a wince as I watched him, his body lithe and elegant as he reached for his coat and collected his katana from the tabletop. "I left to return to Toshima; to retrieve something," he said quietly while striding to the door, making a vague gesture to an object on the table which I had not noticed before. "A gift."

Shocked, I scrambled from the floor and flew to his side, wrapping my arms firmly around his waist and molding myself against his back, forehead resting between his firm shoulder blades. "Don't go. Stay, Shiki," my voice was much more submissive than I had intended, but I minded considerably less when he tensed within my grasp. Placing several kisses along the back of his neck, his shoulders, and nuzzling into his ebony hair, I allowed my hand to dip teasingly beneath his belt, his porcelain skin smooth like marble against my fingertips. He sighed when I whispered in his ear, coaxing him to cease his departure. "Stay. Come shower. You need to wash Toshima away – you feel dirty and I don't like it."

"Dirty, hmm?" he purred with amusement glinting in his eyes, his gaze settling heavily on mine as he looked at me over his shoulder. "Have you already forgotten that you are the reason I went back? What a rude thing to say, Akira."

Prying my arms from his body, Shiki shooed me away and towards the table, disregarding my wary glances as he laid his weapon and coat atop it, walking boldly past me into the small bathroom that adjoined the monastic bunker's main chamber. I stared after him absently for a while until the sound of water striking the tile floor met my ears, and I diverted my eyes, brows furrowing in confusion as he appeared behind me, fingers wandering beneath my shirt. "What is this?"

"It's yours," he hummed in my ear with contentment, guiding my hands to grasp one of the two sheathed blades that lie before us, nearly identical in appearance. My fingers curled around the scabbard and hilt of the katana at his bidding, the metallic sound of the weapon being freed from its confines slicing into the atmosphere as cleanly as the sword itself. I assessed it curiously for a moment, our reflections staring back at us in the mirror-like gleam of the pristine steel. Though I could feel his lips against my neck, the expression that the dark assassin wore gave me chills as I studied our images, my breath catching in my throat at the lovely sight of his haunting magnificence. Some strange form of gratification lingered on his face despite his closed eyes, and as it blended with an emotion that I could only identify as Shiki's own unique variety of affection, I felt a flitting warmth blossom in my chest, fickle like hummingbirds' wings. His voice was gentle and smooth as he spoke against my jaw, his words punctuated by stray kisses. "You looked so beautiful when you were wielding mine, so I thought that you should have your own. They are sibling blades – this one was forged alongside the one I carry, and they are very similar, though yours is a bit lighter and has less bulk with a slightly shorter blade. Having it made was a mere precaution, just in case some misfortune befell the original. But I think it belongs in your hands, do not you agree?"

"Shiki… I can't—"

"Accept it, Akira. I want you to be able to defend yourself when I'm gone."

The katana clattered against the wooden tabletop when I quickly released it from my grasp and yanked free of Shiki's arms, glaring at him angrily as he assessed me with a mildly startled expression. "Are you planning on going somewhere, bastard?"

"Of course not."

"Prove it!"

"Prove it?" he asked lowly, his gaze narrowing as he addressed my accusation, as if threatening me to repeat myself and confirm what he had heard. Suddenly, his weight was pressed roughly against me and I found myself trapped firmly between his taut frame and the table, the edge of the surface biting into the backs of my thighs. "You want me to prove how much I want you? How badly I wish I could consume that body of yours; to not let go?"

"Why are you being so intense? I was just upset, okay?" I stammered awkwardly, leaning my weight back on my hands in a pitiful effort to evade the oppressive aura of seriousness that burned in his eyes like wildfire. "Shiki, please… calm down."

Scowling, he took a reluctant step back to permit his scrutinizing stare to scan my expression, roughly grabbing my wrist in a crushing grasp and dragging me behind him into the bathroom, the shower's steam fogging my thoughts. "Akira…" he mumbled, his tone dark and dripping with erotic sensuality when he pressed me against the wall, ridding us both of our clothes and claiming a deliciously violent kiss, our tongues tying knots and teeth leaving brutal marks in each other's lips. "Why do you doubt me so easily?"

"You're Il-Re," I replied between panting breaths, moaning and arching against him as his sighs danced over the skin of my throat, "why would I trust you?"

"Because," he groaned when I tugged him into the shower, the scalding water sharpening my senses to each of his ghosting touches, "you know that you can. Don't you, pet?"

Though a miniscule gasp fled from my lips, rolling from my tongue, I gaped and shied away when Shiki dropped to his knees before me, trailing ginger kisses over my slender hips and abdomen, suddenly taking my arousal into his mouth. "W—what?!"

"Trust me."

He smirked at the half-hearted bitterness of my glare, coiling his tongue around my length painfully slowly, hollowing his cheeks for mere teasing instants before swallowing me deeply, causing my knees to buckle as I grasped his shoulders for support. My hands kneaded into the taut muscle and my eyes fluttered shut with a moan, the strength of his body making me feel small and safe in his presence, and my fingers brushed lightly over his cheeks and wove into his hair affectionately. "Shiki, why are you doing this?"

Pulling away, the scarlet stare of the phantasmal creature below me seemed oddly soft and gentle as he leaned into my touch, purring with contentment, "I want to."

Shiki took my hand carefully in his, dusting each fingertip with kisses before resuming my pleasure, his tongue tracing sensual patterns along my arousal as his unoccupied hand trailed along the back of my thigh, teasing my entrance. A brief instant of discomfort throbbed in my lower spine when one finger pressed into me, curling and massaging me with delectable accuracy before adding another. Clutching tighter to his body, I tangled my digits roughly into his ebony hair as a wanton moan spilled from my lips, arching and grinding onto the intruding fingers when he drug one over the knot of pleasure within me.

"There?" Il-Re teased cruelly, repeating the motion with greater force and holding me tightly to his chest as I slid to the icy tile floor, my body no longer capable of supporting itself under his expert ministrations. He hissed sensually into my ear, biting the lobe before soothing it with a soft lash of his tongue, "Turn away."

I willingly complied, turning away from him and dropping onto my knees and forearms, arching against the strength of his fingers as they kneaded soothing circles into my back, his motions mirroring each other in perfect symmetry. After several minutes, I could feel his chest mere centimeters above my back as he pushed his own heated arousal into me, and the pleasant ache of being so wholly filled made me cry out. Placing an easy kiss on my shoulder, Shiki laid his hands alongside mine on the shower floor, sliding them beneath my fingers and coaxing me to weave them with his own. "Here. Displace your pain onto me," he cooed, barely wincing as I enclosed his hands in a crushing grasp. "Good, pet. Just like that – let me feel what you feel. Tell me what it feels like when I'm inside of you, Akira. Tell me."

"You're… you're so warm, Shiki," I responded with a tremor in my voice. "It feels like we're one person, it feels good."

"Tell me everything," he purred as he thrust into me and I cried out, jerking my hands into fists around his. "Tell me exactly what to do to make you want me."

"I—I already want you," I sighed with a pitiful moan, shuddering as he shoved demandingly into my firm heat. "A little deeper. Please… just a little…."

Savoring his every touch, I strained to memorize the blazing paths carved over my flesh by his hands and lips and tongue, charting an irreversible map in my mind, begging to recall each moment spent in his clutches. My arms shook as I fought to straighten my elbows, rounding my back against Shiki's chest and whining, the minor shift allowing him strike the tangle of pleasurable ache inside me more consistently. He hummed against my skin, leaving messy, possessive kisses along my neck and spine before resting his forehead between my shoulder blades as his breaths grew increasingly more ragged, falling into frantic unison with my own. Though the dark specter of a man concealed his suffering exceptionally well, I could sense the agony he caused himself in his efforts at restraint with each spasm in the powerful muscles of his arms and erratic jerk of his hips; efforts that were doubtlessly for my sake alone. The oppressive aura that he donned naturally like a cloak of shadow seemed far less present in moments like this, and I reveled in his vulnerability. It was barely noticeable at all, and yet, my growing familiarity with him and our constant near proximity permitted me to glimpse into his truth, like staring into the colorful warping of the glass of a marble. Every miniscule trait seemed obscure and concordantly glaringly apparent, and in those of weakness, his mere presence reminded me of how exceptional Shiki truly was. His existence was woven snugly from the vilest and most beautiful modes of perfection, and it wildly enhanced my fondness and desire – though I was unsure if he was softening or if I was absorbing his latent psychosis.

"How do you feel, pet? Can you feel the tightness in your hips, waiting for me to give you permission to come? Tell me, Akira," his husky voice danced into my ear, causing me to shiver as I was torn from my musings.

"Shiki, go slow," I mumbled in reply, turning my head so as to taste the divine sweetness of his lips on the edge of my mouth when he complied, the motions of his body languid and steady, allowing me to rock back to meet him. Grinding and rolling my hips, the fresh sensation of his arousal moving within me in a novel way urged the apex of my pleasure to simmer forth, pooling in my gut. "Slow. I want to feel you come first."

"Akira…."

A groan of provocation spilled from his tongue, rumbling deep within his chest as he knotted his fingers viciously into the mess of grey hair at my nape, pulling me back and burying himself deeply into my body, the warmth of his release deliciously pleasant. Soon, the erotic quality of his tone and powerful, dominating frame gave way to my own completion as he stroked my neglected arousal gingerly with teasing touches. Moans of ecstasy that sounded entirely foreign to my ears tumbled freely from my tongue, and it felt as if I was watching my reflection in a shattering mirror. The person that I became in the moment of climax, hot and tainted with the scent of sex, existed only within that instant; that wanton being surging away with my release, the mirror breaking as he faded with the sensation.

"Shiki," I said softly, leaning against him beneath the shower stream and savoring the hot droplets of water as they struck my equally heated skin. He hummed quietly in acknowledgement, hands absently roaming over my body as he bathed me, the lather of the soap he had procured nearly as luxurious as the kisses he sprawled haphazardly over my back. "I'm sorry that I was so upset earlier… I think I was just scared that you were gone, too. That you left me."

"I'm not going anywhere, pet. Not without you."

"And thank you for the katana; but I'm still angry at you for running off to do something so dangerous."

"It suits you. And cease your griping, nothing would've happened to me."

I sighed when his palms trailed over my lower abdomen, dousing my flushed skin with fresh water and sending the cleansing foam spiraling into the drain. My fingers wove into his dripping ebony hair and I claimed a sensual, but needy kiss, dragging my tongue over his lower lip and nipping him playfully. "We should go somewhere beautiful. I don't know where, but I remember some places from the old geography books that we had at the orphanage."

"I will take you wherever you care to go. I hope to depart at nightfall, so we must rest a bit more before we leave."

"Sure," I hummed, sinking against Shiki's muscled frame in satiated contentment. Placing a chaste kiss on my temple, he turned off the shower tap, stray droplets ticking angrily as they fell against the tile floor, and he hoisted me to my feet, drying my flesh carefully and settling us both back into bed, his chest pressed protectively against my back. Though I begged to some unseen god that he had not heard my pitiful mumbles of adoration when he folded his arms around me, I could feel him smirk into my shoulder in smug acknowledgement. "I guess anywhere is beautiful if you're there, too, Shiki."

Okay guys, sorry it's been such a long time. I'll be updating Merge soon, I just needed to finish up Accord and a few other things first.

Soon, promise!

Meadie out.