Darker Than Love

THE LOYAL BODYGUARD

It was probably around three in the morning when both Kenji and Aoi had finally gone to sleep.

It had taken them several long hours into the night of passionately feeding each other's lust by their own touches of warmth until they have finally worn themselves out and the exhaustion eventually hit them in an instant. Jin no longer hears any kind of noise around him now. And finally realizing this, he quickly lets out a long weary sign as he leans his head back and rests it over the cushion of the couch behind him. It is already past six in the morning and the sunlight is almost peeking through the small gaps of the blinds hanging by the huge windows behind the flat-screen TV in front of Jin.

He could certainly feel a headache coming, due to the days he has been depriving himself of any sleep. He could already feel the mild itchiness tickling around the edges of his eyes as he tries so hard to completely ignore it. He just yawns himself for another distraction and tries to close his eyes for a few more seconds, even though his mind is completely awake and active to let his eyes take a rest.

He gives up. This has all just brought him to nothing but the same exact thing, where he still could not get any sleep nor even just a short nap.

Jin just sits up once again after he surrenders, and quickly reaches across the table before him to pick up the cup of black coffee he has placed over there. He is already in his third serving, and Jin could already feel all the effects of caffeine he had consumed for the last eight hours running all over his entire system. He is completely controlled by his own hormones, yet it still is not the only thing that had kept him awake all throughout the night.

His lack of sleep today has also been partially caused by something else as well.

Though that other reason he is referring to was not actually something Jin would ever be really proud of claiming out loud. Because the truth is, while Kenji and Aoi had been so very busy "with their own business" last night, Jin had also been hearing everything happening between them.

And yes, he clearly heard the WHOLE f*****g thing they just did.

From the very second that Kenji had walked down the hallway leading to the bedroom, up to when he had finally shown up to Aoi soaked and covered in that bloodstained hell of a mess, and down to the loud grunts and the thumping sounds that had started playing and continued to go on throughout the entire night... Jin had been, all the while, just staying right there in the living room, sitting on the couch without even moving an inch.

And he had heard them totally LOUD and very CLEAR.

Though it had never really fazed him anymore. In fact, Jin has been already used to these kinds of situations. Hearing s*x and seeing it in action is not much big of a deal anymore for him. He had already witnessed it so many times with other men in the family when they f**k and had orgies together in cabarets and private parties. Even Kenji had also f****d a woman at the backseat of his limo with Jin sitting nearby and almost right in front of where he was sitting across the leather seat at the time. So Jin no longer feels anything about it, not even the slightest bit of discomfort when he quickly realized what the two had been actually doing in the bedroom.

He just intentionally ignored all of it. On top of that, he has also become quite accustomed to masking his own reactions effectively and impressively, to the point that he could just act as if nothing could ever really dazzle or intimidate him anymore.

But despite having that skill and ability to detach himself from any kind of emotion, something had sparked and unnerved him after the events last night. When Aoi's moans started echoing through the walls and into the small hallway as she got so loud with her screams almost turning itself into a permanent part of the whole interior in the house, Jin also found himself getting aroused by her noises. And since there have been no doors for each area to cover the rooms, besides the bathroom and the walk-in closet, the sounds she had made just quickly resonated into the empty air and reached him like a straight punch to his gut.

Jin immediately caught on every single sigh, deep breath, and soft whisper she had let out the whole night. They should have never even affected him in any way... But for some reason, he could not stop imagining the scene from how she had sounded at that point. It was f*****g crazy. It was as if he had been literally watching her shaking, gasping, and moaning right in front of him. A very clear picture of her face had even suddenly popped into his mind and he could almost make out a real image of her moving while making those erotic expressions, her mouth opening and closing on its own, her hair splayed underneath her, her whole naked body writhing and turning sweatier beneath him and...

Fuck.

He had gotten really hard. SO f*****g HARD.

And like now, just when Jin has recalled it all over again, he quickly feels himself getting turned on once more. So painful, he hisses and shuts his eyes closed, biting back a groan as he clenches his teeth. He is already at the brink of this ever-growing s****l frustration and hunger for something completely taboo like her. Yet he still could not even rationalize for a bit why this physical attraction has suddenly started acting up only when it is something related to Aoi. Of all women, for f**k's sake.

This is REALLY bad. He should never even be feeling this way for that woman. Most of all, if that woman is already an unspoken possession of the Boss, she is completely OFF-LIMITS. That's A BIG RULE. So, what the hell is f*****g wrong with him right now?

SHE HAS TO GET OUT OF HIS HEAD... THAT PICTURE OF HERS.

Right. That must be the root cause of all this insanity. All because of that time she had stripped right in front of him with such promiscuous intent to test him out. And not only did she actually had him losing his ability to speak and react back to her at the time, but she had also certainly worked that charm off against him now. Because since then, he could no longer erase that vivid image of her bare body flashed with all its naked glory and curves glued and permanently imprinted inside his head.

He needs to stop this all now. Jin should get rid of that complete insanity as soon as he can before it could ever lead to becoming more of a burden in the future. That woman...

Even when he does not physically see her, even when she is not even speaking to him, she still f*****g annoys him.

Just what the f**k is she? And why does he have to go through all this ridiculous dilemma just to get her out of his head? He must have really become a total moron now to even be terribly bothered by something so useless and pointless like this s**t.

Perhaps, this is also already a sign that he just needs to get laid again tonight. As soon as possible, whoever it would be, he just has to let off this fuming steam slowly clouding all of his common sense. AOI is still an enemy, and Jin forcefully reminds himself about this again.

She is the least of all the women in this world whom he should ever be thinking of f*****g over a bed. And Jin should start keeping this in his mind and consciously repeat it until it becomes a constant reminder. Because he already knows, that if he never really does anything to fix this problem with her sooner or later, he would just suddenly explode into a total mess.

And that ugly scenario is surely not something he nor Aoi, or even Kenji, would ever want to deal with anyway.

This f*****g drama just really needs TO BE STOPPED.

Once and for all.

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Three days since that night that they finally had s*x for the first time, Aoi Chiba wakes up one morning from the feeling of a slight feathery kiss touching her on the forehead. She quickly stirs up and opens her eyes just to see Kenji pulling away from her and is also about to turn around to leave the bed. But her arms have suddenly moved from her sides as she reaches out to him and pulls him down back to her side.

"Stay much longer," she whispers into his ear, and she feels him shiver at her words as she wraps his body closer against hers and playfully bites him on the shoulder with a teasing spark in her eyes.

Kenji shifts around immediately as he manages to change their position where he is on top of her with his arms supporting his weight as he looks down at her bare morning face.

"f**k, you're so pretty," he curses all of a sudden, his thoughts uttered out loud and he dives down immediately to give her one kiss but Aoi just gently stops him with a hand over his mouth.

She laughs when Kenji scowls at what she just did and she just shakes her head at him.

"I'll let you kiss me but only if you say you're going to stay here with me all day," she dares with a wicked smile, chuckling when he licks her on the palm covering his lips.

Kenji squints his eyes for a second, thinking and probably weighing her demand with slight interest, before he eventually answers, "You know I can't. Not today."

"Too bad then," she retorts with a half-hearted pout.

And Kenji just chuckles back, putting one more faint kiss against her palm before he takes it off of his mouth to move back. He quickly gets up from the bed, pausing for a while just to sit near the edge, while Aoi still remains unmoved over the mattress behind him.

He soon reaches towards the drawer of the bedside table near him and takes out his gold watch. He puts it on without another word. He then senses Aoi shuffling behind him as she moves over the bed and not long after, he begins to feel her body getting closer to his back. She rests a cheek over one of his broad shoulders and runs both her hands up and down on his arms. Kenji lets out a long sigh, trying not to give in to her warmth and soft touches, but still fails when she suddenly kisses him on the side of his neck.

"I can't really force you to stay, huh?" she says this in a lazy tone while she nuzzles her face against the nook between his neck and shoulder.

"Can't really stop you from leaving?" she also adds.

"I love that you're doing this," Kenji eventually speaks back as he slowly turns his face this time to spare her a glance, "But I really have to go."

She pulls back right after he spoke as she meets his stare, still smiling.

"You smell great though," she comments, "And I'll be just bored again."

"I know that. But I'll be back before you know it, Aoi," he just explains back to her in a gentle voice, raising a hand up to lightly caress her on the cheek.

"You always say that."

"And I always do it," he answers immediately, and he means it. Aoi then closes her eyes when he starts gliding his hand up to touch her ears and playfully tug on them.

"So, you won't really going to give me a kiss this time?" he asks after a moment to tease back, just in case she might have changed her mind then. But Aoi just shakes her head at him, instantly smirking.

"I'll just wait until you come back," she tells him after a beat, obviously taunting him. Yet Kenji just snorts before he finally stands up from the bed to leave for real.

"Then I'll be off," he gives her one more look over his shoulder before he finally walks away. Aoi just silently watches him leave this time, her face now unreadable. For some reason, it suddenly leaves her a cold feeling witnessing the view of his back getting further away from her. This has always happened every morning that it almost becomes a natural scene in her daily life. Their soft kisses in the mornings, the hungry s*x in the nights. Yet every time the day passes on, Aoi would always feel emptier than the day before.

It does not make sense but it still gets even more unbearable every day. This feels like something she had already done and felt in the past with someone else. And even though it had never really been near anything like what she has today, she still feels the same odd feeling spurting out from the pit of her stomach whenever she watches Kenji walked away from her after she wakes up.

'I'll be back, Aoi. I promise.'

When was the last time she had actually heard those same exact words uttered with that gentle kind of voice?

It felt too long ago now, but the painful recall still hits her so hard the clearer she remembers it.

"Kenji?!"

And before she even realizes it, Aoi Chiba shouts loudly and immediately takes off from the bed to run across the hall as she repeats Kenji's name again. As soon as she reaches the living area and spots him, she dashes her way towards him before he could even take a step inside the elevators.

Jin's face turns in her direction upon hearing her voice and the two men just gape at her sudden appearance. She does not even notice their reaction as she hurriedly crosses the floor between her and Kenji and quickly opens her arms to hug him. Taking him by surprise, she instantly kisses him so passionately. His eyes widened and he could feel her whole body, every curve, plastered all over him as he automatically cages her into his arms.

"I take my words back," she whispers after their kiss, breathing over his lips just as she slightly pulls away, "I actually need a kiss."

Kenji immediately feels warm upon hearing her say those words as he smiles back, moving his hand up to gently brush the hair beside her face.

"Same here," he tells her, "Though next time, I would have preferred you not running in only your undies inside the house just to do that."

Upon reminding her of that, Aoi instantly realizes that she is actually not wearing anything at all besides her black silk underwear that she had luckily slipped back on before she had gone to sleep last night.

Well, it is not like Jin is going to be shocked, anyway. He had already seen her way more naked than this. But still, Kenji does not actually know that. So probably, she has to remind herself of the decency next time. It would be kind of awkward now to stay there after knowing this. But Aoi just chooses to play it much more casually as she slowly pulls away from Kenji and stays on her spot right in front of him and beside Jin.

"I guess, you're still not aware of that, then," Kenji just remarks with a blank face as he gives Aoi's body one more look and steps back.

"Give me your coat, Jin." He then flits his eyes to the man on the side, who has been trying so hard not to glance at Aoi's way, keeping his silence as well with respect to the given circumstance at hand. And Jin just silently obliges to Kenji's command, taking off his suit to hand it to Aoi himself.

Aoi just takes it right away without saying another word, not much of a glance at Jin either, and wears it immediately. Kenji eventually nods as soon as she got the thing on, and turns his way around to finally enter the elevators.

"I'll take my leave now," he says for one last time, and Jin bows at him just before the doors close between them. Aoi only waves a hand back.

With Kenji already gone, the place becomes even much quieter right, yet both Jin and Aoi still do not dare to say anything.

She feels it, even if he does not talk to her that much lately. Jin still feels suspicious of her. She knows this because he would always make sure he is anywhere near him whenever they are left in the house together. She pretty much had to walk over eggshells around him because he got sharp eyes as well. But, it is not like she is also on a mission. She still has not gotten another note yet since that first one she had received. Maybe, the security is really getting tighter inside the building lately since Kenji has been already promoted.

But even if that is the case now, she is not really going to stop her purpose just because of that. In fact, Aoi has already set up another plan in mind and is also finally deciding to fulfill that for real this time.

Even if she really dies after this, there are no more regrets. This is not about just killing Yanagi anymore, this is already a search for the truth she desperately needs. And she knows it would be a much more dangerous path to go through, but she already chose this. Kenji Yanagi is her only way.

And he will be the only one who will give her the justice she has been needing all this time.

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