Darker Than Love

BLOOD AND LUST FOR REVENGE

"I can't believe that guy."

Kenji Yanagi walks out of the funeral hall and down the stairs that lead him to the front entrance of the building, with Aoi Chiba beside his arm, Jin Sasai, and several other men of his gang following him. His face looks menacing when he comes out of the sliding doors and immediately gets into his vehicle, without any other word as soon as the valet boy opens the car door for him. He huffs a breath and waits for Aoi Chiba to settle on the seat beside him.

Right when the door closes behind Aoi, he swiftly turns his body to stare straight into her eyes with a very direct question. There is no way he will let her go now. He needs to know what he really wants to know, no matter what.

"It's him, isn't it?" Kenji has voiced out to her with an edge in his tone. It is not a question anymore, it is more like an affirmation. Yamamoto is certainly the one he has been looking for all this time. It was obvious. Kenji looms over her, waiting impatiently as his eyes squint back almost as if he is glaring.

"It's that old guy who ordered you, right?"

Aoi could not even breathe calmly when he said that with steady conviction. She tries to backs away until she could feel the windows of the car behind her pressing against the back of her shoulders. She suddenly feels trapped. Even when she has already expected him to charge on her like this with that question, she still jolts and contemplates when he has suddenly cornered her in the backseat of his car, no chance of escaping him this time. He is clearly not going to take any excuse denying an answer. Yet she still cannot really tell him the truth, at least not at this second.

"I don't know him," she says in a soft tone, sounding quite uneasy and not too convincing for Kenji to stop.

He can see beneath that assertive lie, she is not completely telling the truth.

"He's a scary man, Aoi," he tells her after a beat, "But I'm scarier than him, you know. I can get rid of him, just say the word."

But she does not want that. She knows how capable and how far more sinister and dangerous Yanagi could be than Yamamoto will ever be. After what Jin had told her before, she already knew it is a risk to take part with Yamazaki at this point. The only reason why she still keeps pretending she is taking part in Ito Yamazaki's plan is that she still needs his back-up just in case. But she has already decided to do this all on her own. Yamamoto is not the guy she will work for anymore, there will be no one who could tell her what to do. She wants something out of her own sake. So, it is no longer a matter of revenge.

This is her own search for the truth.

"He's not an enemy. And you don't have to do that," she simply explains as she looks away.

"Why do you keep lying to me, Aoi?" he gently asks her, his face leaning closer as she feels the first touch of his faint breath against her cheek. "Do you still not trust me?"

"I'm completely fine, by myself," she indignantly rebuts, "I don't anyone in my life. What we had is purely physical in the first place."

She tries to push him off with her arms against his chest yet Kenji Yanagi still does not even bulge. He just gives her a sweet smile that immediately makes Aoi totally annoyed.

"You already had me, what do you want now?" she demands, "Coming after the guy you think has anything to do with why I had wanted to kill you won't ever make any sense. Just let it go. Get rid of me."

"I can't."

She stops. She feels a little lightheaded upon hearing him say those two words. It was spoken in a very hushed whisper that the moment she hears him she quickly flits her eyes back to his. He has a very solemn expression on his face, something that makes her heart raise up a notch as she feels it pounding inside her chest.

"What... do you mean?" she barely sounds out the words.

"I can't get rid of you anymore," he tells her with a steady yet deep husky voice, "I don't even want to think of ever letting you go, Aoi."

He suddenly leans much closer until he already has his head resting beside her neck. She gasps, her eyes widening. She cannot even think straight. What is happening? Why is he acting like this? But she can't even move away. She is slowly being driven by her own desire igniting the spark of passion coming from him.

He nuzzles on the soft spot she has just below her ear and she unconsciously lets out a soft moan.

"Ke... Kenji..." She whispers into the hot air surrounding them. She closes her eyes when he eventually reaches and leaves a small kiss over her hair.

"Good," she hears him answer her for no apparent point, then he continues, "Keep calling my name like that, Cherie Amour."

And before all reasons came back on her, she is immediately taken away once more by his scene hovering over her. She lets him drive her sanity away until she finally comes in contact with his lips.

"Kenji..."

She whimpers under his touch.

"I won't ever let go of you now, Aoi," he tells her after a moment when he suddenly pulls back just to look down at her face. She could not even understand why he is being so sweet like this. It breaks all of her rules but she is not completely backing away.

"You're mine."

Is she? Will, she let him say that now? But he is kissing her like the whole world no longer exists. And she just keeps kissing him back. This is crazy. She does not even want to let go now...

Can she still keep her own promise? She no longer knows. And as a small tear slides down to her cheek upon realizing her own loss, Aoi lets herself be drowned to his affection. She can't leave him now.

It seems like, she is also getting pulled to the abyss of this irrational revenge.

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He no longer thinks.

He just kisses her constantly.

Fervently.

Passionately.

Roughly.

Blindly.

Greedily.

Her taste becomes a solid part of him that he wants to be permanent. And the more he breathes in her scent, the stronger he gets more addicted. He presses and enters her mouth in one swift motion, his tongue tangling against hers. He presses closer, pushing her back against the side of the car until he could feel all of her curves and the warmth of her smooth bare skin gliding against his hard chiseled chest and arms under the thin fabric of his shirt. He pulls her in, tugging her lips as he nips on it with his teeth, lavishing her all throughout.

He feeds on her moans and the noises he could only make as he wraps her in his arms.

"Kenji..." he hears her gasps his name when she suddenly pushes him back so she could look at his face.

He meets her stare, her pupils dilating, and both of them are already darkened in color as she gives him a sultry look of lust, making him instantly aroused and needy.

"I really want you," He tells her in a husky voice, licking his lips to resist the urge to dive in for another hungry kiss, "But it's not proper to do this all here."

Aoi's face suddenly freezes. She is not expecting to hear that from him. When she uttered his name, she is already thinking of giving in to his desire. Yet, for some reason, he surprises her again—with this sweetness and inexplicable gentleness he is showing to her. She can't really read what he is thinking right now, he does not even show any reaction. But as he gazes deeply at her, she flushes.

"What?" she asks anxiously. Aoi does not ever want to overthink this all yet his stare just keeps melting her with silent promises that her chest immediately tightens upon hearing his words beneath his longing gaze.

"I'll wait until we get back to our place," he simply explains as he tries to fix her dress and brush her hair away from her cheeks. He slowly pulls away, still looking at her with unreadable eyes but it feels more affectionate now... Because he is acting like this. And Aoi could feel her heart plummeting inside her body.

Kenji does not really want to stop. In fact, he is already so hard and almost at the brim. He wants to be inside her right in an instant. But this is not the right way for him. He wants to make her feel different. This is not just s*x. He is not really keeping her for this reason alone... There is something more to this kind of relationship. At least to him, he wants to believe that. He wants to give her the utmost respect and decency that he could show to a woman.

He is not just his woman at this point... She is now also a part of his family.

Is that even right? Even when he knew she almost had him killed the first time they had met?

Kenji does not really care at all. The only thing that makes him sane right now is the fact that she is here with him. Since that night she accepted him and comforted him with his pain... She has already become his family.

No more than just a woman he could keep as his own... She is now a Yanagi.

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It is still not over.

Jin Sasai has chosen to stay at the funeral place for much longer as he lets Kenji and Aoi leave first and return to their territory. Upon going back to the hall where the other guests are also silently sympathizing with the host family, Jin Sasai meets Sakamoto. In all his one leg and two crutches glory, the older man limps to get closer to him and greets him with a half bow of his head.

"Sakamoto," Jin quickly repays the gesture with a bow as well.

It is quite rare for them to meet like this without the company of Kenji between them. Sakamoto has known Jin Sasai for so long since he started joining the Yakuza organization and he has seen the young man nurture his beliefs and abilities in protecting the young boss Yanagi. So far, Sakamoto has always been impressed by Sasai's strong dependable nature and his loyalty. He can't really be casual with him though. That is one thing that has always felt awkward between them as well.

Jin Sasai and Sakamoto have never been really casual to each other, even when they are almost at the same level of superiority in the Yanagi family tree. But the two could read each other's thoughts right away, and they both have always been prioritizing Kenji's safety most of all. That is why when their eyes met a while ago, they instinctively approached each other in reflex. Knowing that this sudden meeting is something they both need to get the most of.

"You mind if we talk for a minute?" Sakamoto speaks right away in a formal tone, choosing to be as direct as he could, "Somewhere quite far from here, if that's okay."

Jin Sasai does not even need to answer that because he quickly guides Sakamoto into a corner of the hall where no one is looking at them. He helps him out, and finally gets them the privacy they needed when they round the corner and enters an empty hallway just outside of the funeral hall.

"I think you already know, what I know, don't you?"

Sakamoto's voice comes out in a whispered assumption as he stares back at the younger member with a sly smirk on his lips. He does not even need to elaborate on what he meant with his words when he asked him about the stuff he might know. Sakamoto could clearly see the acknowledgement in Jin Sasai's face right away when he looks back at him.

"Ito Yamazaki," Jin Sasai briefly indicates, not even batting an eye. "We got a target, don't we?"

"Yeah, we do," Sakamoto comments, sounding quite pleased and amused as he continues, "And I don't really like him. So, he's all yours. Make him pay for what he did to us."

And boy, does Jin could never agree for more. That has been the only thing in his mind when he had found out about Ito's betrayal of the clan.

That bastard is really going to pay a lot for hell. And Jin will be the one who is going to dig the bullet.

To his rotten brain... Jin will never hesitate.

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