Chapter 9 - Just Friends?! (YuXAza)

Yuji returned to his apartment after a long day, peeling off his shirt as soon as he had shut the door. He was grimy from the workout, which had seen him lose his footing and fall into the damned bog he had been training near.

Hell of a thing for a shinobi to do, he mused, growling at his clumsiness more so than the mess. Shinobi didn’t just trip and fall, for God’s sake!

He was so flustered that he forgot about his roommate. Luckily, she wasn’t in the bathroom when he stormed in. Mentally chiding himself, he worked off his pants and boots, grimacing at the mud that had squished uncomfortably between his toes.

The bathroom was probably the room that had received the most care since he had moved here. It featured a western-style shower just for occasions such as this one. The shower was an area separated by frosted glass, offering semi-privacy. Of course, Yuji hadn’t expected to have a female guest who would mind being seen in the shower if she was living here.

Then again, Azami isn’t modest. At least not around me.

Now THERE was a happy memory. The first day she’d moved in out of necessity, she had been standing there in a black tank top and her panties drinking a bottle of water. She hadn’t budged when Yuji had come in, and didn’t even seem flustered. Yuji had panicked enough for the both of them, he guessed. That didn’t mean he didn’t want a repeat performance.

The hot water hitting his skin in a pitter-patter rhythm was heaven. It hit certain shallow cuts and stung like hell, but that didn’t dull the sensation it gave him. Yuji was low-maintenance, and could survive with little to no gear, but that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy amenities when they were afforded to him.

Yuji was a slender man of twenty-two years. He had a wiry martial-artists build, with sinewy muscles and just about zero body fat. A combination of active lifestyle and high metabolism made sure he stayed in this state more or less indefinitely. He wasn’t as tall as he wanted, but he could get over that. Some other problems were more glaring to him. Such as his cronic anxiety, his homesickness, and his recent near desperate yearning for a female companion.

Not for sex, he assured himself. Not for just sex, anyway. I want a real companion. Someone I can…well, someone special. I’m twenty-two; I’ve never had a girlfriend. I just want some of the normal experiences that others have.

The water began to cool. Yuji frowned, wondering is there was a problem with the water heater. With a start, he realized that he’d been in the shower for nearly twenty minutes. He scrambled out, immediately toweling off with the first towel at hand. Azami would be back any time now and-

Azami.
Yuji felt the towel. He squeezed it, feeling the fabric contract beneath his fingers. This towel was far too damp. He’d only dried off his back at this point. As if it were on fire, Yuji dropped the towel and backed away, swearing to himself that he hadn’t meant it.

I didn’t mean to use her towel! I didn’t even think! Dammit, this is what comes of being a bachelor for too long!

Reaching for his own towel, Yuji dried himself off the rest of the way. He looked around the bathroom, quietly proud that his remodeling had gone so well. The previous owner had left the walls a bare white. Yuji had taken the time to repaint them since, and even retile the floor in black and white. Everything looked shiny and new, even after six months of living here.

Yuji dressed himself in a pair of black workout pants and a charcoal gray t-shirt, ready to relax. It had been a hard week. However, his job wasn’t something he’d trade for anything. In fact, it wasn’t his job that was making his life miserable right now. It was the damned council and their archaic rules. The chief problem at the moment was that they were looking for any excuse to deport Azami to the Sand Village, where she would be arrested.

Yuji was harboring her, giving her asylum from this, acting as lawyer, character witness, and friend to the female he’d come to respect. They’d started off flirting- at least to him; Azami’s agenda was different- then they’d fought, and she’d thoroughly humiliated him. But at the same time, they had an affinity for each other. Azami began to open up to Yuji, and he likewise to her. He felt unfamiliar sensations. He knew what a crush was- he’d had one on Sakura Haruno for years- but this was different. Azami felt…attainable.

They were both goddesses from Yuji’s perspective. But Sakura should have been less intimidating. Maybe it was because Azami was so relaxed about gender differences, or maybe it was because Sakura trained with no less than one of the Legendary Sannin, but Azami felt like she was within his reach.

Damned if she hadn’t turned him down. She said all the right things about it not being his fault and all. Their situation was unique in a few ways, not the least of which was that Azami was guilty of all the crimes of which she stood accused. Murder, robbery, assault, breaking and entering. All of it fair, just crimes that she had committed.

And yet.

And yet she was reformed. She had done those things to survive. Survival was not a crime. She had no choice. Mitigating circumstances, as Yuji had said to the council. But no one was buying it. They only saw the charges; no one investigated her as a [person.

It made him grind his teeth in frustration. She couldn’t accept his love for some esoteric reason he couldn’t grasp; the council wanted to get at her; ANBU wanted a piece of her. And through it all, he had finally admitted to himself that he really cared about her. He wanted to protect her. And she accepted his help, relieved his loneliness, and certainly made his life brighter.

But when she leaves…

He would sink back to the depths, he knew. Back to existing just to exist; fighting for some large cause, wondering about what kind of good he did, if any. Coming home to an empty apartment to study; to train; anything to improve marginally at his craft. It was all he had.

False modesty aside, Yuji was one of the better shinobi. At least in the upper third of the Leaf’s group. He was generally well liked, or at least tolerated. He was different, sure, but no one held it against him. He would have taken a kunai for just about any of them. He was the type of guy who, if you dropped your wallet and he handed it back to you, you didn’t need to count the money. You knew it was all there. But there was an ever-present feeling to Yuji. A feeling of depression. As if he existed in the confines of another world; allowed to look at the others but not to belong to them. A horrible deep, dark, blackness to his chakra, not unlike a swamp.

Stiffening his lip, Yuji went to work preparing dinner. He would not wallow in self-pity. He had his pride, even if he had little else.

His mouth twitching up at the corner, Yuji lit a cigarette. Not a chakra cigarette, but the real deal. He needed to calm his nerves, and he didn’t want to turn to his drugs. Prescription or not, legit or not, he didn’t like them, plain and simple.

Azami entered the room at that point, dressed in a longsleeve mesh shirt with a black half-shirt complimenting it. A leather jacket was hanging on her body, not zipped or buttoned up, allowed her navel to be seen through the mesh. She wore low-slung black jeans, held in place by and S&M-ish looking belt. Her figure was always alluring, but with this get-up even more so. Apparently she had been out, as she had expertly applied makeup adding to her already perfect features. Her mixed heritage allowed her slightly tanner skin than the others, giving her an exotic look. Especially with an oddly alluring silver eye shadow and lip gloss, and even a bit of black mascara.

Yuji didn’t know anything about makeup. He just knew that he was in love with the way she looked right now. Her hair was even in one of his two favorite styles. No ponytail today, but her bangs were covering one eye.

“Watcha up to, Yu?” she asked brightly, trotting over to him. She leaned over his shoulder, seeing what it was that he was attempting to cook.

What the hell was I thinking? Yuji wondered for the ten billionth time. You don’t confess your love to a girl like this! Not when you’re not in her league! Hell, I’m not even playing the same game!

Azami looked a little confused; likely wondering why Yuji was so quiet. She was one of those girls that either had no idea just how desirable she was, or didn’t care. The confused look was out of place on her, as she was normally so sure of herself. And yet, it made her even more irresistible.

“Just, uh, cooking. Beef,” he added belatedly.

“Enough for me?” she asked, hanging up her jacket near the door. She was a great roommate. Not just hot; she didn’t leave a mess, she didn’t complain, she even trained with Yuji when they could get together.

“Absolutely,” he replied, hoping to add a smile to his voice. He reached for the cigarette smoldering in the ash tray, finding it gone. A finger with black polished nails pulled the tray out of his reach. Disapproving dark eyes scanned Yuji.

“I thought you quit…?”

Yuji didn’t like the tone of question. He knew she hated it when he smoked. He’d had maybe ten cigarettes in his entire life. It wasn’t a habit. Just a stress reliever that, used in moderation, wasn’t all that harmful. But Azami had made it clear that Yuji didn’t need to smoke. He was ninja, and he needed his lungs to work in order to continue to survive.

“I…yeah. Sorry. Just stressed today,” he managed, withdrawing his hand. He knocked over the pepper, halfway through a curse when he stopped himself. He looked up sheepishly. “Sorry.”

Azami had seated herself at the low table near the door, resting her head on one hand which was propped up by the elbow. “Sorry? C’mon, you know I’ve heard worse.”

“I don’t swear in front of women,” Yuji replied stubbornly. “It’s in poor taste. And you know I don’t think of women as weaker than men.”

Azami smiled at that, leaning forward in a way that could be suggestive, depending on how you took it.
“You know better than that.”

“Aye, I do. It’ll be a woman that’ll do me in,” he joked, managing to smile back. “Look at me. I’m already tied to your apron strings.”

“Sure it’s not my bed you’re tied to?” she purred. “You’ve been looking at my belt. Are you wondering if I do anything with it but wear it?”

Yuji gulped and reddened, trying not to let her get to him. It was her little game. She liked to see him squirm and blush. She only played this game with him, so far as he knew. It made him feel special. And this game had no loser.

“Yeah, I was. What else DO you do with that belt?”
As soon as he said it, Yuji knew he’d handed her the match. Part of him wished she’d go into detail.

She smiled at him, as a snake might smile at it’s prey, if it could.
“You wanna find out?”

His reply was setting a plate of beef, rice, and stir-fried vegetables in front of her, before quietly seating himself opposite her. They ate in silence for a while, the only sound being that of their chopsticks clinking against their dishes.
-
--

Azami’s day had begun at ten the night before. She didn’t have many friends in the Leaf, but the few she did told her to get ready, because they were going out. She felt a little guilty about leaving Yuji, her best friend, behind, but he was nowhere to be found. Probably training. That was no way to meet people, but Azami understood Yuji pretty well, and knew this was his way of coping with stress, anxiety, and everything else.

She showered, taking a moment to admire herself in the mirror. Well, admire wasn’t the right word. Azami was aware that people found her attractive. She didn’t let it go to her head, but she also did not use false modesty. She had good looks and a great figure. Besides, Yuji had said that, and Yuji simply did not lie.

As she stood under the shower, she smiled at first, thankful to Yuji for taking her in like this. He wouldn’t accept money from her and he cooked, so she had no living expenses. She repaid him in the only way she knew he would accept: friendship. Yuji didn’t make friends easy- especially girls- and Azami was more than happy to spend time with him. Beneath that dark exterior lay an interesting soul who could feel lonely in a crowded room.

As she ran her hands through her hair, then underneath it in the back, her expression turned more serious. She thought of Yuji, and when he had confessed to her.

I was a criminal. I acted like a complete slut toward him, and I humiliated him, not to mention kicked his @$$ in a fight. But he looked past that, and past my boobs. If he only understood that I don’t deserve him.

Azami knew full well that Yuji thought she was out of his league. That strictly wasn’t true, either in skill or in looks. He was an attractive man, if you liked the darker, lone-wolf type. He had handsome features without any of the swagger that some of the ‘alpha-male’ types she had seen possess. He was really quite a catch for a kunoichi, if he’d only put himself out there. The girls gossiped about him a little, but he didn’t give them any material, which was both good and bad..

God, I wish I could have said yes to him. Instead, I had to lie. Because I’m punishing myself. How stupid is that?

Very, she decided. Very stupid indeed, especially when you consider he’s the one who put her on the straight and narrow. But that was how she thought.

After drying herself off, she draped the towel over the towel rack, careful to leave things in perfect order. The least she could do, she figured, was not give Yuji more work.

She smiled as she thought of him, shirtless and cut-up, yet exuding a strange power that spoke to you. It was as if you knew you’d be safe fighting alongside him. Most of his injuries did not come from mistakes on his part; they came from him defending you. As long as you were on the same side, Yuji’s life was yours. In turn, you somehow just trusted him. That made Azami think back…
--
--

Hidan had stabbed himself in several places, all in the name of torturing Azami. He had no choice- the two here, Ryofu Housen (Property of Andr28a), and the other, known as ‘Kimihiro Tadayoshi’, though that was an assumed name, had the ability to kill him. He needed a distraction, and the girl was perfect. He and Kakuzu, his partner, withdrew quickly.

Ryofu made to kill Azami, a former member of the Akatsuki. Kimihiro blocked his path, and when Ryofu saw the Akatsuki cloak that Kimihiro had been given by Itachi Uchiha, all hell broke loose. When Kimihro had rushed to Azami’s defense, he had been thrown violently into a rock, causing a temporary paralysis. That had left him at Ryofu’s mercy, and still he fought for Azami’s sake. In the end, he had given her his chakra through a clone, and that enabled her to get the drop on Ryofu just long enough to help them both escape.

That night, they huddled in a cave. The ever-shy Kimihro gave her his shirt and Akatsuki cloak both to keep her warm, planning to brave the frigid mountain air in the dead of night by himself.

It was that memory that really made Azami’s heart warm. When she thought of the discomfort Yuji must have felt at that point, and just what he was willing to do for her, it gave her a kind of warm, gooey feeling towards him.

Memories aside, Azami had to get ready to go. Her new friends were taking her to a club, hoping that she would make some new friends. The more important she was to as many people as possible, the harder it would be for the council to justify getting rid of her.

She did her make-up quickly, enjoying the thoughts of the male attention she would get. She also knew that if there was any attention she didn’t desire, her friends would get rid of it. Shinobi; especially kunoichi; tended to take care of their own.
-

At the club, Azami danced a bit, met some new people, had a couple of drinks and the like. As the night wore on, she found herself drifting farther and farther from the dance floor and bar, until she wound up in a secluded back corner, the sounds of the music in the distance. The candle on her table illuminated her in such a way that complimented her slightly tanned features. The way the light kissed her made the shadows show in just the right way as to make her look alluring.

She’d had many guys talk to her tonight; but she knew that she wouldn’t be going home with any of them. None were her type. They looked at her like a side of beef. While she might enjoy the attention, she did not like their intentions.

That’s a nice thing about Yuji, she mused, letting her head rest on her hand. [/b] He doesn’t expect sex, even though we’re living together. I’d have a hard time telling him no if he did ask, just because I feel so comfortable with him.[/b]

It was now about three in the morning. Yuji wouldn’t be home yet. Or if he was, he’d just be reading or training quietly. Azami decided to drop by and freshen up. She needed to ditch the club scene for a little bit anyway. It got old after a while, and it was becoming increasingly clear that she’d made very few real friends here tonight. Superficial bastards.

That goes for the girls, too, though. The trouble with independence is that you can only be independent by yourself. That sure gets lonely.
-

When she got back, Yuji wasn’t home. Azami quickly used the bathroom, touched up her make-up, and left again, swearing to train again tomorrow. The Leaf was a great place to vacation, she had to admit. But she couldn’t slack off too much. There were still bounty hunters after the hefty price on her head. Yuji hadn’t managed to clear her yet of all the charges before her in the Leaf, let alone the other villages. That would be a long, hard process. The fact that his reading material had recently changed from martial arts to law techniques indicated that he wouldn’t be giving up the cause anytime soon.

Azami lifted the book, and a few pages fluttered to the ground at her feet. She stooped to pick them up, when a section of writing caught her eye. She raised an eyebrow; Yuji tended to write to calm his nerves at night. Usually romance fiction. Probably because he couldn’t get the real thing.

“And she…
She is a goddess, and I a mere mortal.”


Azami had a hand to her mouth, first in surprise, then out of laughter. It was sooooo like Yuji to write something like that. It probably reflected his real feelings, and the grandiose wording was certainly corny enough to be one of his lines. Yuji had a hard time getting right to the point on matters like this.

Azami allowed herself a wide smile. So she was a ‘goddess’, was she? Is that how he saw her? Now that was food for thought.

Putting the papers down, Azami left again to rejoin her friends. That bit about a goddess and a mortal stuck with her all night.
--
--

As they finished their meals, casual conversation began. The ‘how was your day’ sort of thing. Their answers were radically different, as to be expected. Yuji had trained, fallen in the mud, and just gotten home. Azami was out all night and planned to go out for a little while, then rest. Yuji had nothing special planned; just training and studying. That led up to Yuji’s paper.

“I, er, read a bit of your work,” Azami told him. That was nothing new. He sometimes asked her opinion. But never about this end of his work. He didn’t know that, so he answered with a cheerful ‘oh, what did you think?’

Azami kept eating in a relaxed way, taking a drink before she answered him.
“Well, it’s not every day you get compared to a goddess.”

Yuji immediately sputtered and stood up, turning progressively redder.
“Oh, no way! You read that trash? Don’t take that crap to be- that is to say-”

She had him.
“You mean I’m not like a goddess?”

“No, no, I don’t mean you’re not like a goddess! I mean, the sex thing!”

“You WANT to have sex with me?” Azam hadn’t read THAT part, but it was best to let him keep talking. She was curious and not at all offended. There was an attraction between them, and Yuji, being ridiculously polite, would never mention sex to her.

“No! Yes! Dammit!”

Yuji was so much fun sometimes. It wasn’t hard to talk him into a corner, if you knew how to lead him. And Azami certainly did, and she employed that ability often enough to make Yuji realize who was in charge.

As if he didn’t know.
With an amused grin, she began to tug him toward his bedroom. He panicked, and she slipped him into a headlock to force him to calm down.
“Go get dressed; you’re coming to the club with me. You don’t mind going with a goddess, right?”

“B-But I don’t dance!”

“I’ll teach you. No shame in learning from a goddess.”

“After I wrote that trash, I mean, don’t think that I would even ask- I’m not like that!”

Azami let him go. She stood before him, eyes searching him.
“You think I don’t know that? You write what you can’t say. And I know you aren’t asking for sex. You’re not that kind of guy, and I’m not that kind of girl. I think you know that by now.”

He nodded, apparently to scared to say anything else. That, or he was learning. You couldn’t talk yourself in a corner if you didn’t say anything.

“Good. Now, c’mon, as friends. Besides, you need to get laid. A guy your age, a virgin? THAT is the only pathetic thing here. If you want to get a girl, you’ve gotta get out there! Now, go get dressed!”
--

Yuji knew a lost battle when he saw one. But he had to say one more thing. He couldn’t let it go.
“I’m sorry I wrote that trash. Even if it’s what I’m feeling, it’s wrong. I just…”

He ran a hand through his hair, then down his cheek and across his jaw. He tossed his head back a little, as if he planned to gargle the words.
“I just wish I could have been more normal sometimes. Instead of training so hard, maybe I would have made more friends, or had a girlfriend, or been less lonely, at least. I made my choice and I stand by it. It’s not that I’m not interested in sex; it’s that I just can’t see myself doing it with someone I don’t love, at least on some level.”

Before he even got the word out, Azami was already leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.
“I know,” she repeated. “I know you better than you know yourself. Sex isn’t something you do with just anyone. It’s nice to know that someone else feels that way, too. Takes the pressure off, doesn’t it?”

To his surprise, Yuji agreed. He nodded that, not quite meeting her eyes. So Azami spun him around, seized him by the shoulders, and shoved him into his room.

“Get dressed! Leather jacket, dark clothes. Got me?”
-

Yuji stripped totally, pulled on a fresh pair of underwear, and stared at his clothes. Dark clothes? Aside from plain white t-shirts, that was all he owned. That didn’t narrow it down. A club scene, huh? Maybe his black jeans? He pulled them off, finding them a little loose. He had a belt handy, so that was one problem solved. What else? He thumbed through the rack, not wanting to look like complete crap tonight. Not if he was out ‘with’ Azami.

Just friends…alright, I can deal. She seems intent on finding me a girl, whether I want one or not. She’s not stubborn, just always right. So I have been feeling the sting lately. I DO really want a girlfriend. Some kind of companionship. Hell, sex, if I’m honest with myself. But not ‘just’ sex. I can’t lie to myself that way, either.

He finally selected a black, collared shirt that had silver lines running across it in a grid pattern. That would do the job. Sneakers, not sandals. Leather jacket, not his old, comfy trench coat with the three metal buckles that held it closed. Okay, looking…how DID he look? Whatever. Azami would tell him what she thought.
--

Azami gave Yuji the once-over as he exited his room, nervously patting at his hair and tugging at his sleeves.

Awww, he’s so nervous! It just adds to how cute he can be. It’s easy to forget that even stone-cold, stoic warrior can be vulnerable sometimes.

“Don’t you worry; we’ll get you back here soon. But hopefully you’ll have some hot little number with you, and she’ll probably get those jeans off you before you’re in the door. That’s just what an uptight cutie like you needs.”

She clapped Yuji on the butt, leaving her hand for a long second to tease him. She guided him out the door and toward the club. It was hard on her part. Maybe a little like sending your child off to school by himself for the first time. She didn’t want to let him go, but she had to. It wasn’t fair to him to keep teasing him when she would never say ‘yes’ to him. Maybe if he found another girl, she’d feel better, too?

The thought had crossed her mind that he might not keep being interested in the case to make her a citizen if he had another girl, but that was a risk she had to take. She did love him back, even if she could only have him as a friend.
-
--

They both had a good time at the club. It took Yuji a while to get comfortable, but once he relaxed a bit, he managed to have some fun. He didn’t really hit on anyone, but a few girls flirted with him. It was progress. Azami hadn’t really expected him to grab some girl right away. You had to work up to these things. At least, if you were Yuji, you did.

After a few hours, they agreed to call it a night. It was early by club standards, but Azami hadn’t slept in over a day and was starting to feel it. It was hard to work off no sleep when you had no adrenaline going.

As they walked home, Yuji looked over his shoulder at her, blushing a bit.
“You know, you were easily the hottest one there. Which is weird, because I don’t normally say ‘hot’ when referring to a girl. It seems like an insult.”

Azami laughed. “No, no, ‘hot’ is the right word for the club scene. You can’t say ‘pretty’. Outside of a club, maybe.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, falling silent again. He was taking time to arrange his thoughts, as he genuinely had no idea how to approach this subject. He’d never had a roommate before, let alone an attractive female one.
“Listen, uh, if you ever do find a guy you like, you know, uh, feel free to bring him home. I mean, I know I’m uptight, but…”

She saw where he was going with this and spared him the trouble of continuing.
“Thanks.”
A pause.
“Well, if I’m ever with a guy or girl, and you wanna jump in…”

Yuji rolled his eyes. “I thought you kunoichi were possessive creatures and didn’t like to share.”

“We don’t. But we also have twice the sex drive of normal girls. It can wear a guy out pretty easy, trying to keep up with a kunoichi. Girls match each other sometimes, though, if the guy isn’t up to the task.”

“You’re just screwing with me.”

Azami’s eyes gleamed mischievously. “Am I? Believe what you want…”

They were back now, and on Yuji’s doorstep. He dug for his keys, placing them in the lock. He turned and held Azami’s upper arms. She moved into a combat crouch, wondering what he had saw, and how she had missed it. When she realized Yuji was amused by her reaction, she stood back up.

“It’s out of character for me, I know, but…”

He leaned in and kissed her gently on the cheek.
“Thanks. If you hadn’t dragged me out, I would have been sitting there feeling sorry for myself. I would never do the club thing by myself, and I had a great time. I owe you.”

For once, Azami was left as the speechless one. Yuji, for his part, just turned the key in the lock and opened the door, going in first to turn on the lights. Azami followed him in, a sudden surge of affection gripping her. She caught up with him as he was going toward the bathroom, spun him around, and had every intention of tearing his clothes off. She didn’t care about her promise to herself at this point; that last kiss had done it. She wanted nothing more than to rip off his shirt, yank off his jeans, and jump him then and there. The whole world could watch and she wouldn’t have cared.

Something stopped her. She wasn’t sure what, and she turned her headlong passion into an awkward kiss on the cheek. Her silver lip gloss left a print on his cheek, and had the side effect of making her want to decorate the rest of his body with the same color.

She just smiled quietly and forced herself to walk to her room, shaking her head and mentally whipping herself for nearly jumping Yuji’s bones.
--
--

It was about three in the morning when a groggy Yuji got up. He looked down at himself, wearing a black tank top and black trunks that clung to him a little snuggly. He normally covered up more, but tonight, he didn’t really care if Azami saw him. He’d seen her in her nightwear before. No big deal. And in a way, it would be kind of hot for her to see him like that.

He opened the door, his mind lost in thought about earlier. He was far from an expert, but he felt sure that kiss on the cheek wasn’t what Azami had in mind earlier. You didn’t practically fly up to your roommate, who you saw everyday, to kiss him on the cheek.

I’m thinking about this the wrong way. She’s a beautiful girl, and we’re probably thinking the same thing and both holding back. That’s so stupid. Why don’t we just-

He had no answer for the question he was about to impose on himself. He had always thought about sex as doing something with someone you loved. And that was still true to him. But he loved Azami. And she clearly felt something for him. If it was lust, she would have already been on top of him. If it was just friendship, then this was more dangerous. But again, he thought about her kiss and how she shook her head and walked away. It didn’t add up.

He glanced toward Azami’s room, finding the door open, but the room empty. She probably went to the bathroom or something. He heard the shower running and felt a small chill. He really wanted to be in there with her. He’d had some very vivid fantasies about that. But there was no way he was going to act like a horny little troll on that fantasy. But he was going to wait for her until she came out.

As an afterthought, he flung his tank top back into his room. Somehow, it felt right.
-
--

What are you doing, Azami?

She had stripped and put the shower on almost ten minutes ago, but hadn’t gotten in it. Instead, she was sitting there, thinking about what she had almost done. Thing was, she wasn’t so certain it would have been a mistake. That overflowing affection she felt might have been a sign that she could forgive herself and have Yuji, like she really and truly wanted. But she couldn’t get past her crimes.

With a sigh, she shut the shower off and put her black half-tank and boyshorts back on. She Her hair swished behind her, reminding her that she’d left it untied tonight, and that she still had her make-up on. She was too depressed to care about that for the moment. She might put on a cheerful face for Yuji, but living with him, while fun, was making her ache for a man in her life.

She glanced at herself in the mirror, knowing full well that if she was really so inclined, she could go find someone. Anyone would have jumped at a chance to be with her. Those that could look past her statistics as a criminal, anyway. The Leaf bunch was surprisingly forgiving about that kind of thing.

She exited the bathroom, and spied Yuji standing in front of the window. She drew her breath in a gasp, a hand to her mouth.

Yuji was almost naked. His wiry frame suddenly seemed more muscular under the shadowy light that the moon put into the room. She could feel an intensity from him; a nervousness. But that was nothing new. She had seen that before. His anxiety was horrible sometimes, and she’d occasionally catch him struggling and offer her support.

No. It’s not anxiety. Doesn’t feel like it.
--

Yuji turned his head to face Azami, secretly pleased at the stunned yet enraptured gaze she was giving him. It was humiliating, but it felt…good. Yuji always knew he would be submissive when it came to girls. They intimidated him, so the role came naturally. It was easier, besides, to let them take the lead. It didn’t have to get kinky. Unless that was what she wanted.

Azami fumbled over her words, her usual cool and teasing demeanor gone. Yuji turned fully toward her, forcing himself to leave his arms at his sides and not cross them over his bare chest. He’d never realized how damned cold it was in here at night. It felt kind of good, as his insides were burning up.

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” he said plainly, hiding nothing as he padded towards her. “Azami, you know how I feel about you. And that’s enough for me. I think we’ve both had the same thing on our minds tonight. Maybe we could compromise and…I don’t know. Cuddle or something.”

God knew that’s not where either of them wanted it to end. But Azami nodded anyway, taking Yuji by the hand and leading him to her bed. He had insisted she take the larger bed in the master bedroom, and he moved into his storage room, where towers of books threatened to topple over. Her room was big, empty, and yet welcoming.

Her bed was covered with black sheets and a black comforter. It made for good camoflague, as she slept in total darkness. If her enemy couldn’t find her, he couldn’t do anything. She, meanwhile, could maneuver nearly uninhibited in the dark.

She took her side of the bed, allowing Yuji to roll into bed next to her. She slid into him, wrapping her arms around his neck and lifting her waist so he could get an arm underneath her. His other hand curled around her shoulders. She buried her head in his neck, her hair fanning out over his hand.

He slid his hips closer to her and squeezed her tightly, determined to be content with this. If he truly loved her- and he did- then it was worth waiting for. He would MAKE her love him.

To hell with this!

Azami’s thoughts and movements came fiercely, as her rush of passion toward Yuji returned. She rolled over on top of him, this time holding nothing back. She kissed his cheek first, seeing the silver marks she left in the wake of her lips. It didn’t matter; he was going to be hers NOW. She met his neck next, picking the most vulnerable spot in the side, guessing (correctly) that Yuji would like that. The neck was a vulnerable place; to offer it to someone like Yuji did by extending it denoted an extreme, intimate trust. Azami took full advantage of that, leaving a mark right where she would have bitten him. What the hell- she did bite down, gently. He gasped, possibly flashing back to when she tried to kill him when they first met, and his body stiffened, but his grip around her tightened again.

She looked him in the eyes, took aim, and planted a kiss right on the lips. Their breathing synced up unconsciously as their lips and tongues danced over each other. Azami’s hands were on Yuji’s chest and were pressing hard enough to make small bruises and even draw blood. Yuji clearly didn’t mind, but he didn’t reciprocate. He kept his arms safely around her waist, clearly unsure as to what he was ‘allowed’ to do.

When Azami backed off and pulled her nightshirt off, putting it around his neck to hold him still as her kissed moved down his neck and chest, the rulebook as he knew it was gone. He pulled her tighter, feeling their bare chests meet. She paused to allow him an opening. He slid her waist closer to him, until she was perched on his stomach. When she leaned forward, she was in just the right range for kissing, which was pretty much as far as he thought things would go.

“C’mon,” Azami urged, guiding Yuji’s hand to some more interesting areas of her body. “Oh, y’know what? We’re gonna stain the sheets with that lip gloss all over you. We’d better get cleaned up.”
She lowered her voice an octave, giving a husky sound to her voice.
“I’ll wash your back.”

What the hell was I thinking? Things ending at kissing? I didn’t know she’d get so into it so quickly! I just meant to tell her how much I loved her, and I was going to prove it by asking her out every day until she said yes.
I guess she’s ready to forgive herself for her crimes.
--

It was practically a wrestling match all the way into the shower. They moved as fast as they could with their underwear pooled around their ankles.

Azami planted one more kiss on Yuji’s lips, pressing their bodies as close together as possible. With a smacking sound, she pulled away, arms around his neck. She was actually his height, possibly a little taller, so she couldn’t peer adoringly up into his eyes. She wanted to say how much she loved him, but that might screw up what promised to be a very nice evening. There would be plenty of time for that afterward. It would be healthy for Yuji to have one instance of casual sex.

Starting tomorrow, he would belong to her, after all.

As promised, she pushed him into the shower and washed his back. Then his front. And then made him do the same to her. She literally had to force his hands to certain places, as he was still having a hard time believing this was really happening. She nibbled happily on his neck and chest as he finished her body. She put one leg in between his, backing him up into the wall and keeping his legs spread, first with her knee, then her thigh, and then with her hip. She pushed his arms above his head and even nibbled at his armpit a little.

They were laughing at themselves by the time they were drying off. How stupid it was to wait so long when they were clearly in love?

“You can’t back out now, kiddo,” Azami teased. Yuji was past the point of blushing. He just nodded and gave her another hug. They stayed that way until they got back to Azami’s room.

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