All The Way Around 2
[PART 5: In The Evening Light]
He nodded for her to continue.
"Are you into being choked?"
And immediately regretted it.
"No," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose to fight off the oncoming headache.
"Are you sure?" she insisted. "It didn't seem that way earlier."
"That's how erotic asphyxiation works. It messes with the body's fight-or-flight response."
"It wasn't erotic. It was regular asphyxiation, except you kept kissing me."
He gave her a look.
"Before you say I shoved my tongue down your throat, that was me poisoning you."
"And I assume the moaning was to distract me?"
She put her hands up in defeat, laughing.
"Why ask this so suddenly?" he wondered.
"Isn't it normal to want to know each other's fetishes?"
Truthfully, she didn't know. She had no experience with this sort of situationship, after all. She just wanted more ammo to annoy him with.
"What's yours, then?"
"Ah... It's no fun if I tell you outright," she claimed, shaking his shoulder. "You have to guess like I did."
"... breeding kink."
She laughed again.
"N-No way—!" More laughter. "No way you're the one accusing me of that."
"The risk does something to you. Don't deny it."
"Projecting much? Besides, even if you were right, I wouldn't call that a breeding kink."
"It's the textbook definition of one."
"Hey, Seiryu..."
"Hm?"
"You're kind of a pervert, aren't you?"
He scowled. "You're the one who told me to guess. Are you upset because I got it right away?"
"It's not about that," she said, sidestepping the accusation. "I mean... why else would you know so much about breath play when you're not even into it?"
"That's—"
He cut himself off, meeting her curious eyes with a quiet sadness.
"... that's something I learned during a mission."
She didn't notice, and he managed to push it back before breaking away from her stare.
"Sounds like an interesting story," she probed not-so-subtly.
"It was a serial killer case. A bit of a mood killer."
"I'm a big bad villain," she said, running a hand through his hair. "I can handle it."
The dichotomy was almost enough to make him smile.
"Do you remember three years ago when a State Minister was found dead at a love hotel?"
"Hmm.... no."
Unsurprising. Despite the high-profile victim, the news didn't cover it that much.
"As you can guess, he was choked to death. However... State Minister Matsuba had a phasing quirk and self-defense training. He could have easily evaded his killer. The police were stuck looking for a criminal whose quirk could have prevented that from happening..."
"But there was no quirk at play," she guessed.
"Correct. Matsuba was caught up in the euphoria caused by oxygen deprivation."
She frowned, sneaking a brief glance at his neck. "Weren't you still a student back then? How come you were involved in a serial killer case?"
"It was during my first internship. My... mentor was called for the investigation, and I was allowed to help. She... she was the one who figured out the culprit's quirk had nothing to do with that death."
"What was it?" she asked, "The villain's quirk, I mean."
"I'm not allowed to tell you."
"Eh?"
Right when she was getting invested?
"Why? Was it part of some greater conspiracy?"
"Not at all. The villain's identity and quirk were deemed restricted information to protect one of the victims."
"Ah... but hypothetically, if you were to tell someone who had no intention of harming that victim—"
"Give up."
"I'm serious!" she insisted, turning on the bed so she was crawling on top of him. "All that stuff was three years ago, right? I can promise you no crimes will be committed with this one quirk description."
"The answer wouldn't change even if it happened a decade ago. It's a matter of principles."
A secret was entrusted to him. So he would keep it.
She leaned back, sitting on his lap with a flat expression.
"Are you really trying to lecture the villain in your bed about principles?"
"Yes."
Cammy shook her head in disbelief.
"Do you expect me to discard everything I believe in because we're sharing this taboo?" he continued, just as incredulous as her. "You can't corrupt me that easily."
At that, she could no longer keep a straight face, doubling over him in laughter.
"Ha... corrupting you, am I?"
He was somewhat right. She couldn't imagine having this conversation with him a few months ago. She also couldn't help but laugh at the way he put it.
"How many nights..." she began, smoothing a thumb over his cheek. At the cut she'd given him while they fought on the couch. "Do we have to spend together before you trust me with state secrets?"
"I don't know. How many nights together before you tell me who has my family's relic?"
"But I'm not the one getting corrupted?"
She was wrong. The villain he met months ago wouldn't be here now. She would have choked him out and robbed him blind.
"I'll let you think that," he decided with an imperceptible smile. It was best not to steer the conversation in that direction.
"Oh~?" Their noses were brushing now. "Do you know something I don't?"
Even if she seemed determined to push his buttons...
Ending 2
And so far what we've done Has made our lives become Something more than... Evening light to make it right