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Kiss of Monochrome - SID

Ch 2:

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Fingers entwine in hair and lips crash softly harshly and passionately with the force of colliding planets and she can't remember how she got here or why or when but she doesn't care because oh god the warmth the excitement the lust is all that's left in the air and she is struggling to breathe and oh she throws her head back as his fingers moving lower to indecent places but oh she doesn't care because OH--

Kira wakes with a start, golden eyes stretched wide and fingers clenching the sheets below as if holding on for her life.

Then, as the shock is worn off by reality, she sucks in a deep breath and holds it, staring straight ahead but not seeing much at all. Scenes dance through her head, blurred around the edges. There is an unfamiliar warmth in her lower belly, and everything feels almost surreal. Kira presses the palms of her hands to her face, and finds that it is heated, blushing furiously.

A single word – a name – springs spontaneously to consciousness, and she grasps it quickly before it could slip away.

There was a man. The man.

Her mind slips, and the name disappears into blackness.

There was the man.

But who?

“Concentrate.”

“Shit--!” Kira bites her lip in pain as she hits the ground. The small streams of water circling her two wrists splash to the ground, inanimate once more, as the tattoos turn from blue back to black.

A pair of feet comes into her view. “Pathetic. I don’t know what’s wrong with you, nor do I want to know. Get up.” Dante’s burnt-red eyes are apathetic as he sends another streak of black fire to bite at Kira’s already roasted arm.

Suddenly, a jet of water counters the fire. Both evaporate into the air with a soft hiss. Dante’s raises his eyebrows at Kira, who struggles to her feet. For a moment, she wavers and looks like a frail sapling in the wind. The black markings around both her scorched wrists glow blue, weakly. The air is silent except for her weary panting. Burn wounds all over her pale skin drip blood steadily to the grassy earth below.

Finally, Kira gains her balance…and raises her fists defiantly, waiting, asking, for Dante’s next attack. There is something strangely heart-twisting in her pose, in the determination in those honey-coloured eyes. She asks for the next blow that will certainly bring her to her knees. Dante merely finds it foolish; her stubbornness will only become a death wish one of these days. The girl does not know when to surrender.

Dante closes his eyes, briefly. “Five minute break.” He turns to give her some space.

Kira drops to the ground after managing to hold her ground for a few more seconds, just so it wouldn’t be considered collapsing. The smell of grass is strong and bitter in her nose, and she feels too heavy to heal the burn wounds marring her skin.

I lost again.

Of course, this was far from Kira’s first defeat by Dante. In fact, defeat was all she ever encountered whenever the two sparred. It is an outcome set in stone, an unchangeable destiny. So by now, the prospect of failure should settle well with Kira. By now, she should accept her defeat with a bowed head, and submit to that pair of blood-red eyes. By now, she should not insist to fight until the bloody end.

Right now, Kira doesn’t care.

Slowly, she brings her right hand up and presses it against a wound on her left arm. She watches as the wound closes steadily under the touch, and thinks that she should at least be grateful for this ability. Who needs Dante’s demonic strength, Dante’s speed, Dante’s smarts, Dante’s good looks, Dante’s—

“Five minutes up. Let’s go.” Speak of the devil. Kira glances to her right, up at the young man’s handsome face that she both wants to bash in and caress; the face that she both hates and loves half to death.

Dante flicks a small flame leisurely at Kira’s prone form. “Now.”

Kira thinks she would rather go with the bashing in at this moment. She blinks her caramel eyes, stalling for the sake of aggravating her mentor more. “But it’s only been three minutes.”

Dante smirks. “I know.”

Kira barely dodges the next monster fireball in time.

Something was distracting Kira today, decides Dante. Usually, she is dancing on the edge of a blade, alert to the world at all times.

It had been a particularly frustrating sparring session. Kira should be able to keep up with him for some time, but this time she was crushed within minutes. Dante felt no qualms about physically harming her; no qualms about pushing her to her very limits. Normally, the stubborn girl responded well under pressure. It was a mutual understanding between them; Kira never held grudges against Dante. Besides, she is more than efficient in healing whatever wounds he threw at her.

But today, it had been like trying to spar with a rock: do whatever you want to it; nothing comes back out anyway.

Dante considers asking, but decides it’s not worth his time. Most likely, they’ll exchange a few sarcastic, scathing comments that they don’t actually mean. And by ‘they’, Dante thinks ‘Kira’. His half of the conversation usually involves one-syllable words or sounds. It only drives Kira even crazier not being able to read his emotions; something she has always been able to do with other people. Dante sometimes wonders if a demon could even have any emotions to be read.

“Dante!”

Dante turns and sees a tall, slim young man striding towards him, the shock of white hair on his head clashing with his electric-blue eyes. Said blue eyes are indifferent as they regard Dante, almost cold, but Dante has seen them warmer, though regrettably when they are focused on Kira.

“Rai,” the demon greets monotonously.

“Where’s Kira? Sato-sama wishes to speak to her.” Rai says it with his chin raised importantly, blue eyes flashing as if daring Dante to contradict. Provoking.

Dante already dislikes the bleached-haired man, but whenever the topic of Kira comes up, the asshole can be downright insufferable. He puts on an equally nonchalant air when he answers Rai. “She’s sleeping.”

Rai looks frustrated at Dante’s lack of cooperation. “Which room? Or do you not know?” Another jab. Dante, as Kira’s appointed guardian, is to always know of her whereabouts and activities.

The demon’s lip curls. Rai will regret that move. “Our bedroom. I expect she is up and showering right now.”

Dante leaves there without seeing Rai’s expression, but he doesn’t need to. The innuendo was enough for Rai to clench his fists so hard his knuckles cracked.

Technically speaking, it is their room. Dante and hers.

Kira dries her hair with a towel, then squints into the fog-covered mirror. A pair of eyes stare back, the colour of caramel, or dark honey.

But, considering the fact that demons don’t sleep and that Dante rarely uses ‘their’ room for other purposes anyway, it is unofficially Kira’s. It contains of a single dresser, a desk, and a plain bed with a plain white pillow and plain white sheets. At night, Kira gets the single bed on one side of the room and almost always falls asleep alone. Occasionally, Dante would sit on the windowsill, maybe reading, and make sure a non-existent kidnapper doesn’t get to Kira (unfortunately, she is known to sleep through tornadoes).

Kira has long since got used to sleeping with the demon’s presence nearby. It was not uncomfortable, merely comforting. Sometimes they talk, occasionally sling around some sarcasm. Other times, she lies in silence and watch him read, and he lets her. That is their relationship; strange to an outsider, but Kira wouldn’t have it any other way.

Though, of course, she would never dream of telling Dante that.

A sharp rap at the door wakes Kira from her thoughts.

“Kira?” comes a hesitant voice. It is Rai, and Kira smiles a little to herself. She has always liked Rai, who was always kind and protective of her in a big-brother way.

“Hey Rai,” she calls back. “Gimme a sec.”

Quickly, Kira runs her fingers hurriedly through her long locks of silver hair and ties it back with a black band. Then she opens the door.

Rai eyes her damp hair, though he says nothing else but: “Sato-sama would like to speak to you.”

Kira looks at him questioningly. “Oh? But my weekly appointment isn’t for another two days.”

Rai shrugs, grinning a bit helplessly.

“Well, damn,” sighs Kira. “There goes my evening plans.”

Rai looks at her sympathetically. “I guess they're not that fun then.” A pause. “What do you do during them anyway?”

Kira puts on her most mysterious smile, which probably ended up rather silly and childish. “Shh. That’s a secret.”

“Erm. Right.” Rai runs a hand through his spiked shock of white hair, then holds out his arm. “Shall we go then, milady?”

“Eh, I’m sorry,” Kira gives him her most apologetic smile. “I’m supposed to wait for Dante, remember? Only he can come with me to Sato-sama’s office.”

Rai’s disappointment is quick, but Kira, as always, catches on to the emotion swiftly. “Hey, listen,” she begins. “Tomorrow, we’ll train together okay? Dante will be away on a mission anyway.”

The young man’s blue eyes brighten at the invitation. “It’s a date,” he agrees, smiling once more.

Thanks for reading and please leave a review if you enjoyed it!

- aTea