Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The day had been long. After being presumably stuck inside a giant sting, the crew has to put their focus onto traveling towards Penacony.

Himeko paces towards her room. No one was blaming her for saying that the adventure with the other red head, had her longing for some alone time.

While opening the door of her trusted room, she was greeted with the comforting smell of the coffee beans she grinded that morning. Less comforting was the individual waiting for her on her desk.

There she was; greeting her with that all-knowing smirk. At least, seemingly all-knowing. Himeko knows that the lady before her does not show her true colors to anyone and was definitely not gonna show Himeko how she really felt.

"Greetings... I see you already made yourself feel at home?" The red head prompts, trying to ignore the other woman's presence.

'"My, my Himeko, what a polite welcome... I expected a little more of a... what should I call it... fire... from you, after the whole scene you were in earlier." Kafka dropped, followed by a slightly smaller smirk and a quirked up brow.

Himeko doesn't even question the Stellaron Hunter's knowledge about the earlier events.

"I'm too tired to deal with you right now, I simply don't have the energy for banter." Himeko waves her hand dismissively and walked towards her bed. She sat down, hoping the lack of interaction with the other woman, made her leave.

She was not only referring to the fight with the hive. Her relationship with Kafka was... Complicated. It makes her exhausted. It was purely a way to escape reality.

That's not what Himeko longed for. Her true goals were always the essence of trailblazing. Everything else was simply not interesting enough.

To call Kafka interesting is an understatement. Kafka is everything. She is everywhere. It tires Himeko to the point of exhaustion.

A Stellaron Hunter, a daunting criminal. A woman that does not know fear, making her more dangerous than anything Himeko has ever encountered.

Her lack of fear made them come in contact in the first place. Since the moment they met, Kafka was very outspoken about her physical attraction towards Himeko, greeting her with the cheesiest lines, the most awful nicknames and gifts she probably had 'picked' up from some struggling business.

In the beginning it was almost exciting to have found someone where she could let of her steam. Weirdly enough, their encounters made something in Himeko come to light that she would have rather have left in the dark. Preferably locked away, set on fire down a river.

Being space-widely looked for, has its consequences. She knows that the Stellaron Hunters follow a script, Kafka being utmost loyal to Elio's words. Therefore the fear that strikes Himeko at night should be absolutely unreasonable.

Still, she gets shaken by the thought of something critical happening to Kafka. A few weeks back, Kafka limped into her room, her calve bleeding, insisting it's part of a script. At the time the Stellaron Hunter gave her a look of slight confusion towards the slight quiver in the red head's voice.

Back then Himeko told her to be more mindful of her actions. "Considering all the big crimes you pull off, it surprises me you can't take good care of yourself."

Kafka made it known that she did not like where the conversation was going. "It's part of the job." She shrugged. Himeko didn't let anything happen that night, resulting in the Stellaron Hunter slowly limping out of her cabin.

She had almost offered to tend to her. But the moment she was about to suggest her help, she read a new look off of Kafka's face; Uncertainty, something that one would pair with fear, confusing Himeko to the point of silence and a turn to her bed.

Almost the same way as how she turned to her bed in the present.

"We don't have to banter, if you don't want to, although I must admit that it's a part that makes me drawn to you..." Himeko looks up towards Kafka's words. The Stellaron Hunter hops of her desk, relocating herself in front of the cabin's window. Himeko could see the woman's reflection on the window.

"I don't want to do this anymore." She states firmly, expecting a unreadable look in the reflection. Instead she glances upon eyes portraying a slight shock. The standing woman quickly recovers and fixes her posture slightly, trying to look into the distance of space.

"If that is truly what you want." There it is. The monotone voice that makes a comeback every time Himeko brings up the slightest discussion about feelings. It should make her feel good. She is done with Kafka, and the Stellaron Hunter is not resisting or forcing her to stay.

Stay for what? There was nothing between them. This realization made her stare at the standing woman in disbelief. Unjustified disbelieve. She stares at the ceiling for a while, trying to collect her thoughts. The fact that Kafka could just let her go was something that she could not grasp. Himeko never assumed that she was special to Kafka, for all she knew there were dozens of other girls Kafka could get back to.

The sound of slow footsteps makes Himeko's gaze shift towards the source of the noise. Kafka turned around with a blank look on her face. She opens her mouth, seemingly hesitating on her thoughts, followed by her worded thoughts.

"I just don't understand why." She evidently tries to keep her blank expression. 'I was under the impression I was pretty good in making you feel good.' She tried to pick up that slight bite in her voice, not perfectly pulling the facade off.

"That's not the issue." Himeko holds on. This was stupid. She had no right to expect anything from the Stellaron Hunter. Did she even truly want anything from her?

Kafka breaks her train of thoughts with a firmer comment that makes the red head slightly shiver. "Than what is?" She let a silence fill the room. Kafka had never been this impulsive and even if it seems like she made a choice in the moment, it was actually thoroughly calculated beforehand.

Himeko looks at her with narrowed eyes. Trying to convey the meaning behind her slight drop of composure. Being fed up with this ongoing cause of heart headache, she dares to question.
"Do you truly not understand, or do you not want to understand?" This statement clearly presses all the wrong buttons of the standing woman. She loses all composure, resulting in her walking towards the bed, cornering Himeko to the wall behind her. With a bewildered look and a hand clutching Himeko's collar she exclaimed. "I don't know what you are insinuating, miss navigator, but as far as I'm aware, there is nothing to understand."

This makes the cornered woman lose all calmness.

"There is a reason you are here, in my cabin. I know you try to convince yourself it's just to have some fun, but I think your reaction proves to the both of us that this is more than just letting loose."

Before the other woman can react, the navigator resumes her rant.

"If you are truly not able to experience fear, why are you not embracing the fact that there is something we both long fo-" Kafka breaks her sentence off by clasping her other hand over her mouth, resulting in a look of shock coming from the cornered woman. The Stellaron Hunter depicts a similar look as the night she limped into Himeko's cabin; Uncertainty, coupled with a new emotion that Himeko could not quite place.

After her own action sinks in, she fully let's go of the navigator and hastily turns around.

"So this is it? You just decide to run away?" Himeko forces her voice with a slight pressure in her throat.

"I would love to..." There is a slight shake in Kafka's voice. She turns back to the woman on the bed. A slight shake in her stance. The woman thats always so confident is nowhere to be found. Her entire demeanor almost that of a different person.

"I don't want to feel like this Himeko... I think..." The woman turns her eyes to the window, avoiding the searching look of the navigator. "...I know, that you are someone special to me..."

The words that leave the Stellaron Hunter's mouth make Himeko stare at her with wide eyes. A fluttering feeling zooms throughout her body, followed by an uncertain confusion.

Kafka reverts her eyes back, the confusion on Himeko's face clearly portrayed, since she opens her mouth to speak again. A slight hesitation before she continues. "...You are not the first woman I found attractive, or even admirable. Far from it. I have traveled far and wide, met numerous women, killed legions, have stolen uncountable documents...' She pauses, clearly bothered by the thoughts she must structure. '...I have never felt this way. I always thought I wanted to, but in reality, Himeko, I don't. I don't want to fear you."

Himeko could not believe the words she spoke. Kafka turned her attention back to the window. A long time they both stay quiet, the Stellaron Hunter breaking the tension keeping her gaze on the window.

"The moment I heard you were stuck in a giant sting, my whole body went numb to the point I could not move. I knew you would not get hurt, but I should not care either way... Still I came here, as fast as I could, relieved that your stupid train was not gone, relieved that you were not gone." She doesn't say the last part outloud, she couldn't.

In the time it took for Kafka to dare to look back at Himeko, she was already elevated off the bed. Now both at eye height, Himeko advances towards her.

There was a lot that could be said with words, but instead she was grabbing the Stellaron Hunter's face with both hands, bringing them together in a kiss. The action was nothing new, but the feelings with who they were met, was like never before. She expected Kafka to pull away, assuming that she could not handle this much emotion, instead the slightly taller woman pulls her in deeper.

A slightly damp feeling crosses Himeko's cheek, making her realize that she started crying. Instead of being filled with lust and want, the kiss was subjected with passion and another feeling that both of them could not place. It terrified Himeko.

Kafka is the one that pulls away, wiping her hand under Himeko's right eye. With a slightly more controlled look of uncertainty, she opens her mouth to say something.

Before she could say anything, Himeko shushes her with a finger. "Just for tonight, I long for silence filled with you."

Kafka obliged, her uncertainty met with a split second of look that would be best described as sadness, quickly overthrown by her standard blank look. With a removal of Himeko's finger to her lips, she captures the red head's lips again. While trying to make the kiss filled with their usual need, it brews to a more passionate want.

They stumble towards the bed, the kisses growing towards a more recognizable trade between them. Himeko's back hits the mattress, pulling the Stellaron Hunter in deeper into their need.

Without her usual witty quips, Kafka retorted to kissing down her neck. Himeko let's out a small whimper of ecstasy. All of a sudden Kafka stops, giving herself the room to look down to the woman beneath her. For a moment they just look at each other. Himeko tries to find the answer in the eyes of the woman above her. Before she can read her expression Kafka let's out a small sigh.

"You are really beautiful like this." Kafka is known for her compliments, she was very talkative when they were letting off steam. This seemed to be no different, but Himeko knew that something changed in Kafka's attitude towards her. She decided to not say anything about it, while the woman above her continued to kiss down her neck.

Short after Himeko gave a slight push onto the Stellaron Hunters chest, making her give into pushing her onto the mattress, turning their dynamic around.

Himeko's hands find her jacket, tugging it with force, making the taller woman help her getting it off. Himeko's fingers find the buttons of her blouse, quickly opening it up, making room for her right hand to touch up her stomach to feel her skin. The warmth radiating from such a cold person brings a nice contrast, although after tonight, Himeko questions if the woman she was holding, is really that cold.

Kafka throws the blouse away, giving no time to the woman on top of her to admire the body beneath her by grabbing her face for another, passionate and needy kiss. Himeko's right hand firmly grabs over the bra that is covering Kafka's chest, resulting in her letting out a breathless moan into her mouth.

Needing more, she quickly removes her own bra, removing the barrier for direct contact. Himeko got the hint and altered the attention to her right breast, kissing it softly, with a slightly more gentle approach than usual. Kafka might have noticed, but she did not seem to mind, keeping the red head steady with one hand.

It could have been Himeko's imagination, but she could have sworn Kafka kissed her hair, a soft action that had never happened before. Time seemed to go slower, or they both were both in less of a rush. Kafka pushes Himeko's head up for another kiss.

Chapter Text

Kafka had joined the Stellaron Hunters for a clear reason, to discover her ability to feel fear. She expected it to feel like a slight shiver down her back, comparable to standing in the cold.

She did not expect it to feel so warm, a heat that could burn her skin off if she came too close. Nothing was ever as tempting to touch, but she couldn't. Her body simply won't let her.

Himeko was the sun. Better yet, she was a dozen of stars collapsing into each other, making Kafka body disintegrate into nothing. Oh, did Kafka long to touch the stars, but she couldn't. She wouldn't.

She was not comparable to the heavenly bodies gracing the universe with their light. She was a puppet, that had one goal. Having found the goal was so much less satisfactory than she could have ever imagined.

The longing to be able to embrace the comforting heat, replaced by a silence between the two woman. If you didn't count the slight whimpers Himeko made while they were making out.

After kissing for a while, Himeko noticed her own want for more, resulting in her grinding down Kafka's thigh. Her hands clutched the bedsheets underneath her. A slightly louder whimper leaves her mouth and Kafka took this as an invite to bring her hands to the smaller woman, making her grind down harder while parting their kiss to intensely study her face.

This was good, they were getting to that nostalgic rhythm again. A dance they have performed countless times, right into the comfortable spotlight where Kafka shouldn't have to worry about sunscreen.

She noticed that Himeko closed her eyes, while biting her lip, presumably trying to keep herself from more noises coming out. Without a thought Kafka's left hand reached out to grab her chin, which startled the red head a bit.

Himeko's eyes fluttered open, revealing her unfocused eyes, darting around Kafka's face. A pretty pink blush creeping up her cheeks, pairing beautifully with her red locks.

Normally she would have Himeko begging beneath her for more at this point, but today was not normal. Himeko's question shakes up thoughts that Kafka was not ready to deal with.

To prevent any more questions she pushes her thumb upon the red head's lips. Himeko had a split second of a thought, before taking the digit in her mouth, sucking it obediently.

Her eyes tried to focus on the taller woman, making Kafka feel a burning sensation overtaking her face. She forced herself to look away, pointing her gaze at the window, missing the small smile that settled onto Himeko's lips. Kafka ignored the slight rustle that fell upon her ears, trying once again to place her focus onto the vast amount of space playing before her.

Kafka could not lose to the stars, not today, preferably never. She reminded this herself continuously.

Himeko let her thumb go with a pop, making Kafka's eyes revert back to the red head. An ethereal image came alive before her eyes. Himeko was panting, grinding down harder onto her thigh. The source of the earlier rustling came to light, being the way that her dress fell down her shoulders, revealing that she was not wearing a bra.

The Stellaron Hunter unknowingly gasped at the view, making her think that she had long lost to stars. No, she wasn't ready to face it, how could she ever have given herself the right to look directly into the source of light.

The elegant woman broke her thoughts with a moan and a tug to her hands. Kafka had to take action, she had a beautiful woman to please.

The taller woman flipped them over, crumpling the iconic white dress of the red head up to her stomach. She was greeted with a sight that she was very familiar with. Still, she tried to make a detailed mental note of the gorgeous woman before her.

Himeko was clearly impatient, latching onto Kafka's right hand and leading it towards her soaked panties. Normally Kafka would tease her for it, but she remembers Himeko's request for silence. To be honest, she herself could not form the words to play around.

She rubbed the wet fabric, making Himeko let out a quiet whine and covering her own eyes with an her left arm. The Stellaron Hunter was not moving at a desired pace, resulting into a louder and dragged out whine escaping Himeko's lips.

Having the message received, Kafka moves her other hand to swiftly take off her underwear, revealing Himeko's wet cunt, the newly introduced cold brought a shiver down the red-heads spine.

The woman above her dropped a silent chuckle from her lips, easily covered up by the natural noises of the moving train, not followed by any explanation. Himeko did not care anymore in the moment, or rather, that she did not want to care. She wanted it to be over and done with.

Their thoughts were seemingly on the same wavelength, making Kafka introduce her fingers to her aching clit, rubbing it in small circles, trying to set a slow pace.

Himeko needed more, a burst of pure ecstasy to forget with who where she was. To feel a mind-numbing sense of nothing, an actual stillness that she was longing for.

"P-please.." She did not have to ask twice, the purple head immediately picked up the pace, making the woman underneath her let out a sensual moan.

Slowly losing control, Kafka couldn't stop herself falling deeper into the addicting reactions from the lovely woman under her. She brought her unoccupied hand towards Himeko's left breast, squeezing it with a slight roughness, the raw lust in her blood overtaking the coursing liquid in her veins.

An even louder sound filled the room, enabling Kafka's addiction to the noise to go into overdrive. Needing more of that narcotic voice, she impulsively thrusted one finger inside. This was far from making Himeko feel whole, but she was too busy moaning to care. A familiar feeling of confidence washed over the Stellaron Hunter, forgetting their earlier promise.

"Fuck...you look so good like this...giving yourself to me.' She said with a slight whine in her voice. The comment gets answered by a loud whimper from the other woman. Kafka lowered her head towards Himeko's ear.

"Awh... It's not enough is it?" The faux of sympathy clearly portrayed with a fake pout. "...You can take one more, right?"

The sinful whisper was clearly a rhetorical question, succeeding to bring a broken mumble to enter the room.

"...Y-yes..."

The Stellaron Hunter embraced her rediscovered confidence. She slightly distanced her face, lifting up a brow coupled with her mischievous smirk.

"What was that? I don't think I heard you."

The more Himeko had to hear Kafka's voice, the more she was brought back to reality. She removed the arm that was covering her sight. In an attempt to prevent more conversation, she steadied her voice to convey her pure want.

"...P-please Kafka... I can take more..." Paired with a needy look, she tried to convince the other woman. "...W-wont you make me feel good?" She completed her sentence with a desperate moan and a knowing, small smile.

Kafka was already falling down the hole of no self-control, but this made the Stellaron Hunter's brows knit together, feeling herself ache.

Without hesitation she thrusted in a second finger, stretching the woman below her, fucking her with a newly set desire.

Himeko didn't care if others could hear the sinful noises she made. She couldn't think about anything else than the two fingers thrusting into her, finally giving her the mind-numbing comfort of pure pleasure.

The hand playing with her breast moved up to meet her chin once again, forcing her to meet Kafka's hungry gaze.

"You're taking me so well, love" An immediate look of regret entered Kafka's face. Her actions falter slightly, but before she could vocalize any words, the woman beneath her yanked her down by the neck, meeting the look of a soft anger.

"Shut up... just..." A frustrated sigh left her lips. "Just fuck me, don't think of anything else."

There was nothing to think about. Everything was already in the open, they both just decided to ignore it. An unspoken agreement, where both parties are equally struggeling to uphold their part of the bargain.

There was never a promise about the matter of love, neither thought there was a need for one. The very chance did not cross their minds, while subconsciously always being present.

The fact that Kafka's found confidence made her say the word so confidently made the two woman re-enter reality.

Himeko was not ready to face the world, a sudden burst of energy coursed throughout her body, putting Kafka back onto the mattress with an aggressive thud.

The red-head grabbed the hand of the woman beneath her, forcing the fingers to enter her once again, trying to get herself towards the tip of the edge of pleasure. Her own hands moved towards her own chest, trying to hold onto the ecstasy that was shortly lost. She closed her eyes, tilting her head towards the ceiling.

It was a sight to see, the woman underneath her watching her with awe, bringing her unoccupied hand towards Himeko's waist to hold her steady. A beautiful picture unfolding right before her eyes, she cursed herself for not being able to focus on it.

It was getting too warm for Kafka. The heat was blistering up her body. Any more and she would burn up into ash. Her starstruck look was mixed with a look that could best be described as concern. Not the concern to get burned, but the distress to have the right to get hit by the rays of warmth.

Their eyes meet when Himeko decided to look down. After seeing Kafka's expression, the red-head reverted her focus to the fingers filling her, silent moans continuously spilling out of her mouth.

"D-dont...l-look at me like that..." There is an hidden pain in her voice, trying to cower behind the pleasure in her voice.

The Stellaron Hunter forced a blank look upon her face, in attempt to fix her composure. She tried to put her focus on her occupied hands, pressing the woman on top of her down faster. She could not bring herself to meet Himeko's eyes, but she knew this was not enough for the ethereal woman to get to her high.

The louder moans that filled up the room slowly got mixed with frustrated whines, making Kafka attempt to face the woman while entering a third finger in her cunt. She tried hard to keep her well-known confident facade up, but the earlier distressed expression redeveloped when the woman above her let's out a loud groan.

The additional digit made Himeko lose the ability to hold herself up straight, making her head drop down upon Kafka's shoulder, moaning directly into her ear. The purple-head's hand shifted from her waist to the back of her neck, while steadily pumping her fingers in and out.

Himeko needed more. She needed to face a bit of reality to get to an escaping release. She gathered her strength, lifting her head up to kiss the woman before her.

The kiss was supposed to be lustful, mixed with raw need, instead both of them passionately made out, before a loud moan broke the two up.

For a moment Himeko could escape, the pleasure making her mind shut down for what seems an eternity, a comforting buzz filling up her thoughts. A distorting train of awareness crashed with her feelings of bliss. The way Kafka looked at her, kissed her and held her, filling her head, while the woman helping her ride out her high, admired her with wide eyes.

Himeko fell down back to earth. "Shut up... shut up... shut up!" The red-head exclaimed unconsciously, bringing a small confusion, overthrown by a sad look to the Stellaron Hunter's face.

Kafka didn't make a noise, but she understood what the red-head meant. She took her fingers out of Himeko's cunt, not even bothering to clean them. For the last time that night she brings her gaze towards the cabins window, coming to realization that no matter where she looked, she could not escape the stars hunting her. Whether it were the ones illuminating the space outside, or the very one on top of her.

She lost, never stood a chance to win. The moment she entered Himeko's room she unknowingly accepted the lifelong sunburn.

She scrambled of the bed, searching for her blouse and jacket. She purposefully ignored the other woman still located on the bed.

After putting on her blouse, she a stood straight, facing the door. "You were right...we should stop this..." A silence fills the room. "...Thank you...." Kafka turned her head towards the Himeko. "...For everything." The navigator didn't meet her eyes, leaving Kafka to gaze upon her back. With a quiet sigh Kafka opened the door.

She had no right to fear Himeko. A woman like Kafka could never give the stars what they deserve. Tangling with the Stellaron Hunter could only result in the stars exploding to dust, corrupting its very soul. There was no way Kafka would hurt her sun.

Unfortunately she already did, leaving Himeko alone in her room accompanied with her own quiet sobs.