Darker Than Love

THE COLOR OF BLOOD

----------FLASHBACK----------

TWO YEARS AGO...

"I don't really have any."

"Oh, come on. That's impossible."

"Really. Why won't you just believe me?" 

Kenichi Hoshinori says this to Aoi Chiba in a faint whisper as they cuddle beneath the blankets, basking in each other's warmth. It has been snowing for the past three days, and the weather has gotten them feeling kind of lazy to leave the apartment. Kenichi just finally got a leave after being on duty for a whole year straight and he still wants to savor every second of it.

That is also why they have been spending this entire weekend just lying on their bed.

He isn't really complaining at all. The world can go move and revolve on its own outside, and he would still be more than willing to be holed up in this apartment, as long as he's with her. It has already been hours, but they still don't even feel sleepy at all. They've been talking about a lot of things... Stuff that only the confinements of the four-walled space could make them tell each other. And so far, they're learning a lot about their differences and similarities.

"You've got to have at least one you prefer the most."

"Nah," Kenichi flatly replies. Yet this time, he seems to have nothing else to contribute to the topic anymore. "Don't have any."

Aoi quickly frowns at her lover's lack of enthusiasm about colors and raises her head to stare at him with a scowl. He chuckles when he sees her expression towards his response. She could be really stubborn sometimes. But she also never fails to look so adorable and amusing whenever she gets like this, even when the reason for it has always been so purely childish. 

"I don't have a favorite color, seriously."

"You're ridiculous. Who doesn't have one?" Aoi chides him back and when Kenichi just shrugs, she startles him with another quick kiss as if it has been meant to be a punishment. Then they both laugh again.

"It's true. It's not like I won't ever get to live without a favorite," Kenichi still insists, "They're all pretty much the same to me. They're just colors." He finishes his words like that, showing no more intention to elaborate his answer. Then he slowly raises his hand to touch her grumpy face and glides a finger over a cheek to softly comb a thin lock of hair that has fallen down beside her eyes. She instantly smiles at the gesture and Kenichi does the same.

At times, she can also be easily distracted by his little touches.

"Why don't you tell me yours instead?" he now reverts the question at her, smiling affectionately.

"Guess it," She playfully dares back and earns a chuckle from him as she drops her chin over his chest, waiting for his response.

"Promise me you won't get angry if I said the wrong answer?"

She giggles at his question and just repeats, "Guess it first."

Her words don't even faze him as Kenichi just grins and looks up towards the ceiling. He tries to imagine the color she likes and closes his eyes for a few seconds. He pictures her in his mind and attempts to fish for clues from the things he has already known about her.

AOI CHIBA... A waitress who grew up in the countryside. 

A woman with a strong sense of justice and hates being treated unfairly. But beneath that brave and confident shell, she is also a cheerful and warm person who just loves collecting cute stuff and will always cry over romantic movie endings. She's a fluffy person underneath her big walls, but always the sturdy one when she's completely guarded.

To Kenichi, she resembles a vibrant color, but not in a sunny shade, neither a comfortable tone like a yellow or a blue would represent. In fact, to him, Aoi feels even much warmer than that. "Red."

He opens his eyes right after he says it and slowly looks down to meet her stare. 

"Huh? Why do you think so?" Aoi just curiously asks. Her face still remains unreadable, not even showing any slightest hint that could tell him if he has gotten it right or not.

"Because it just feels like you..." he answers back and as soon as he reveals those words, it instantly feels like they have been true all along. And it might really be the very case since she has always been like "RED" ever since the first time he met her.

Fiery, radiant... And tempting.

"Well..." Aoi lets out a sigh that sounds too vague to confirm if his guess has been correct, and she just gives him a sly smirk, "If you say so." 

"And... What? Did I get it wrong? Is it red?" Kenichi's confusion finally appears along with the lines on his forehead as he frowns at her, still unsatisfied with her unclear words.

"Who knows?" she just taunts back and starts laughing. Kenichi tries to complain but she refuses to give him the chance as she quickly moves and leans towards his face. She shuts his mouth with hers and kisses him ferociously. The sudden move easily makes him forget the entire topic.RED.

How could he have guessed it right?

For a good detective, though. It seems he still hasn't lost his touch on being quite the intuitive one despite being away for a very long time from his fieldwork.

"Aoi..."And it's in these kinds of whispered moments, these very intimate and warm murmurs between their kisses, that Aoi has grown to love him even more. She does not want to jinx him but just the other day, she has already seen that small box he had carefully hidden behind those books in the small cabinet he thought she won't even dare to touch. He's going to ask the question soon... But when?

She still wants to wait for his timing, of course. But she also does not want to wait any longer. And if the day finally comes, she even already has an answer.

YES.

To this man, who has given her another chance to believe in herself again. He's the only one she needs in this world. The only man she will ever love... until the very end.

Until the very day... that she'll die.

_____________________________

----------BACK TO PRESENT----------

"You say you want to kill me huh? You're quite confident, Miss Cherry. I like that."

Kenji has always had a thing for domineering women. It fascinates him how they always appear so collected, arrogant, controlling, and confident while being warm and loving at the same time. Their strong personality is just so very unpredictable as it also shows how valuable and impressive their feminine nature really is when it comes to how they carry themselves so comfortably and assertively. Yet despite the hard-shelled outer appearances they are so used to put around them, sometimes, there is also that pure lonely little girl who is just dying to be protected and hiding inside it.

And when Yanagi sees a woman like that, she would always just get his attention so hard. Like this one here. This woman by the name Cherry.

At first glance, he already knew she's in that category. But she's tougher than he has expected and that really makes him even more interested. How could such a woman just casually bargain her life for this? He probably would never understand it but this only excites him more for some reason. After all, Kenji has always been twistedly romantic.

"You like me? I'm sorry but you're not my type, Mr. Yanagi."

Kenji heartily laughs at that condescending reply that he hasn't anticipated and he plasters a silly grin on his face. She even knows his humor, huh? 

"You're not really scared of me?"

"I don't think I am," Cherry just answers in a flat tone, not even looking away, "And I might just kill you right here, Mr. Yanagi. Aren't you scared?"

Really feisty, she seems to be. And Kenji just laughs again, only louder this time. He certainly loves that assertive, stingy attitude of hers even better.

"No," he replies to her after a second, and then he turns to walk a few steps away. Cherry only watches as he crosses the dim-lit room and approaches a shadowed figure hiding from the furthest corner of the place. A man in a black suit slowly appears into the scene, as if he has just materialized from the curtains—where he has been waiting in silence the entire time.

"Jin," Kenji utters the strange man's name as they look at each other, and the latter just silently bows back to him. 

"I want you to keep an eye on her," Kenji Yanagi directly orders this to the man named Jin and Cherry just listens on while she stands near the lifeless body behind her. She almost feels left out as she follows Kenji's movements when he turns in the other direction and heads straight towards the door.

"I have something to talk with the club's manager about," he says this with a noncommittal voice and Cherry just stares. He's now leaving her, just like that? As if she didn't even try to kill him just a while ago? What kind of twist is this?

And before Kenji could even walk out of the room, leaving her with the man named Jin, he gives Cherry one last glance as he looks her way. He puts a mischievous smile on his face when their eyes meet."Don't worry," he tells her just as he opens the door before stepping out, "I'll be coming back for you later, Cherie amour."And right after that, the door finally closes behind him. Cherry just blankly stares at the now empty space in front of her where Kenji has just stood a while ago.

That man... What is he thinking?

As this question echoes in the back of her mind, Cherry slowly moves and chooses to sit down on the couch near her. There's no turning back now. She has already made up her mind. It's either Kenji dies or she dies... Those are the ONLY two options. There's no rainbow here anymore, neither are there any happy endings. No smile and no hope. Only tragedy and cruel reality.Because this is a story of REVENGE... 

And this has NEVER been really just a LOVE story.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------