Chapter Text
Whenever it rained, the sounds of rain and wind rushing through the wide, empty alleyways of this dead city appeared like a howl.
The Stellaron Hunters, Blade and Kafka had just completed another task, progressing Ellio’s script on the world’s stage one step further. They now walked towards their hideout in an abandoned arcades, raindrops thudding against their black umbrellas overhead.
The sound of tens of thousands of fast-falling droplets splashing against glass, concrete and black canvas. Buzzing of almost burned-out neon signs, a rumble of rupturing clouds. Scraping of worn out boots and clicking of elegant heels against the black and broken pavement. Just like colors and images reflecting in the puddles, it all swirled and mixed and vibrated in his head. The ambiance of this dead and rainy planet always felt calming, soothing his mind and bringing him clarity - but not today.
There was a static in his brain, searing like a sharp dagger being driven into his skull. Inside it were faces in front of his eyes as he blinked, voices, even faint smells and tastes on his tongue. Something in the way he butchered those guards with his bladework, or in one of their faces that vaguely resembled someone, something from long ago. Or maybe the way their blood spurted and splashed on his face that set it off.
It got him walking slower than usual, his every footstep heavier than the rest. He didn’t remember it ever taking so long for them to get back.
So tired… What was he thinking about again? About someone who left a long time ago…
His vision grew dark, his heart tore. Waves of pain flooded his chest, expanding outward. For a split second he realized what was happening before the edges of his sight became a black hell, gaping void swallowing everything. His legs were like tangled up as he veered off, almost walking into a wall before his bandaged hand caught him on the cold stone.
“Not now-”
But there wasn’t ever any good time for this. His limp hand dropped his cover from the rain as his stoic posture crumbled, the man sliding down the wall a grunt and sitting down underneath it.
After that, everything became a blur.
***
“Bladie?”
She had slowed down to her walking pace to match his a good bit ago, observing him and waiting patiently until she saw him collapse. At first she thought it was some wound that he sustained and as usual wouldn’t tell about, always trying to tough it out until the bleeding and pain would inevitably catch up with him. He was stubborn, but with his immortality he was allowed to be.
Kafka’s heels once again clicked against the pavement in a steady rhythm as she walked towards the other hunter. Her umbrella covered him as she crouched, to check for wounds and blood.
Only to find two red, marastruck eyes staring into her. His expression was crazed, eyes no longer glazed over but instead dangerously focused and full of intent. His teeth were bared in a disturbing smile.
It was too late to react from this close. With a crazed expression, Blade grabbed at her, his fingers and his grip sinking into her arms like the jaws of a hungry wolf and reeling her in. Kafka felt strength that she didn’t expect to still reside in his body, hopeless to resist. Her umbrella likewise clattered to the pavement next to his, cold drops of rain now splashing on her face.
The swordsman held her close to himself, like he was both wanting her, and afraid that she’s about to disappear and never come back. His face pushed into the crook of her neck, his lips kissing her soft and pale skin, eliciting a soft moan from her.
“I’m not disappearing Bladie,” Kafka whispered to him, trying to calm him down. He didn’t reply, just shallowly breathing as his arm went down her back and suddenly grabbed her butt, something she would make sure to divorce any other person from their arm for.
The crimson-haired woman pushed with her hands against his chest to separate them, driving her nails into him. Wrenching his groping arm off her backside, she started to stand up, but felt another strong grasp tighten around her wrist and pull again, making them both fall over, with her back against the pavement and him on top of her.
Kafka groaned in slight frustration when her teammate held her down, pinning both her wrists above her head with one hand - the Stellaron Hunter didn’t like losing control, however illusory that loss appeared. He then once again leaned down, his teeth lightly biting into one of her exposed shoulders as her coat slipped off.
It was starting to get out of hand, but she didn’t react. She didn’t want to. Fear was an emotion that was foreign to her. The sight of someone like him, overpowering her and looming dangerously, should bring dread. But for her it instead brought novelty. It was thrilling. It was exciting.
It would just take a quick snap of Kafka’s fingers to stop him. Every time his Mara struck, Blade would show her a new side of him, but she always ended it short with her spirit whisper. But now she wanted to see more. More of the beast lurking below this emotionless surface.
His free hand ran down her smooth figure, over her now wet, white shirt and black shorts before reaching for her knee and trying to spread her legs apart, pushing his own hips between hers. Kafka resisted him, just a bit, wanting to see how far he'd go, and Blade didn’t disappoint her. Forcefully grabbing one of her thighs, he pried them apart. Seeing this, she decided to entice him further, wrapping her legs around his waist. She felt how hard he was, his tight pants straining against his erection that now poked and prodded her shorts, making her unwillingly feel some arousal, but also giving her a smirk. Was he that desperate for her?
But that smirk quickly turned into annoyance when his free hand reached back up and grabbed onto the middle of her shirt, tearing it open without a warning. Her buttons flew out and skipped along the street as a cleavage was opened, exposing her lacy black bra. He squeezed one of her breasts, drawing another sharp exhale from the otherwise stoic hunter, before his fingers hooked under the fabric, about to pull it off too…
The rainy street was a bad place to let him go any further, so she quickly flicked one of her trapped wrists. Purple strings, glowing softly in the darkness, materialized from the rings she wore on her fingers, wrapping around his throat.
“Listen,”
She didn’t need to say anything more. The glow of his eyes faded, going from red back into dull black and gold. Like a raging fire descending into embers still smoldering at the bottom of a firepit. It was like seeing the soul come back into his body, Blade taking in a sharp breath.
His grip on her slacked, both hands letting go. He sat up straight, discovering her lying under him, both of them intertwined in this suggestive position.
“I’m sorry,” he quickly said. “Did I… hurt you?” his voice displayed a hint of… panic?
Kafka chuckled, seeing his reaction, probably the first time she ever saw him afraid of something. How cute to see him putting on that face…
“No, completely on the contrary dear,” she replied, herself also letting go of him with her legs, her heel slightly digging into his hip and giving him a push to make him back off even further.
“Huh?” Blade exhaled in confusion over that comment.
“I wouldn’t mind continuing in a better place for this,” Kafka replied teasingly, making the man pause for a few seconds as his fogged mind processed and pieced everything back together, back from its frayed state.
“...Don’t joke with me like that,” he merely responded, before starting to take off his coat to give it to her to cover up.
“No need, we’re not that far off,” she stopped him, before fixing her shirt as much as she could.
But as they collected their umbrellas and started to walk back again, one question persisted at the back of Kafka’s mind… Was this reaction really about her? Were those feelings that overtook him in his marastruck state a manifestation of what he felt towards her? Or would it be the same with any woman, if it wasn’t her in front of him?
For some reason, the thought that it might be so left a stinging feeling somewhere at the bottom of her heart for the remainder of the day.