[KIYOMI]
Kiyomi was glad to see Sakura around.
She was happier with her, but she knew that this was just borrowed time. She knew that no matter what she tried to do on the human lands, or whatever she tried to make herself feel, her karma was coming for her.
It wouldn't matter how long she had to stand on the sidelines this time, the only thing that would matter was what was coming and with Izanami in the human lands, Kiyomi could assume that Doiwa wasn't really going as she had imagined.
Hell was slowly closing in on her, and she needed to be very careful.
Of course, having Sakura with her made her feel safe and protected, but the good doctor was also intelligent enough to know that there would come a day when Sakura Watanabe would be forced to choose.
She would have to choose between Kiyomi and Doiwa, and with the people she had been entrusted with, it wasn't hard to tell what Sakura would choose. Kiyomi would just be another pet for Sakura Watanabe and there wasn't shit she could do about it.
"You've been silent since we came from the hospital," Sakura pointed out when they got to Kiki's apartment. She had been studying the good doctor even as she signed out of the hospital and left Izanami in one of the reinforced wards in the Odanera City Hospital.
She looked like she had a thousand and one things to say, but Kiyomi didn't even know where to start. She couldn't understand what had gone so terribly wrong over the past few years.
She had been happier in Odanera and yet the timer had gotten so close to home and her illusion of safety. She had to make that choice and she had to do it for both of them. But what if she let herself be happy, even if it were on borrowed time?
Would that be insensitive of her, or would it just be the one option that should control this time?
"Just thinking about how awesome it was to be in the same space as you."
Kiyomi's face lit up in an attempt to hide what she was truly feeling; the raw fear of being banned after being given a chance at safety, a chance at a life that didn't have to involve her constantly running.
The human realm had been the only place that Izanami had been unable to reach her, and now that Izanami had managed to cross over, there wasn't a realm that the vengeful Bogdan Lycans wouldn't explore to come for her.
She was doomed and she was soon to be a goner. But then maybe if she smiled at Sakura frequently, if she looked at her Erasthai like every moment was precious and not because her fate was on a timer, then maybe Kiyomi would be safe, right?
Maybe life wouldn't be as complicated and harder, but maybe the deities would see that she deserved to be happy every once in a while, right?
"Well, I could say the same. I was a starving woman, and when I saw you, I lunged in shamelessly, and I haven't been happier than that, my precious petal. You're everything good in my life, and I won't let you go—
"—No matter what methods you're thinking of to push me away right now. I love you; you know that, right? You know I would never let anyone hurt you, not my mother, not Bogdan, and definitely not Doiwa anymore, yeah?" Sakura said.
Kiyomi couldn't help but feel a blush creeping up her cheeks as she opened the door to her apartment. The hallways were quiet as they had been for the past years or so.
They were not filled with any chaos and if anything, the steady breathing from the humans indoors reminded Kiyomi that perhaps this was the kind of world she deserved to be a part of.
Chaos followed her through and through, and regardless of what she tried not to think about, at the end of the day she would have to make a choice.
"Do you think we are terrible for each other?" Kiyomi asked.
Sakura chuckled softly. She expected this after her mother's appearance and now, she was glad Kiyomi brought it up because this was just Kiki showing her her fears.
This was the rogue opening up and Sakura would be damned if she didn't feel special to Kiyomi for this.
So much was happening, and would be happening, yet in the middle of all that, it seemed like Kiyomi's trust in her hadn't wavered, which was honestly more than Sakura could ever have asked for—
—And it was the only link between her and her humanity at the moment.
"Of course, we are almost terrible for each other. But only because I ruin people and you fix people, which in any world would be the perfect dynamic. We aren't terrible with each other, petal. We are what we need to be to survive.
"You fight well and have managed to hold your own against the madness that has been thrust back into your life. I know you don't want me to feel pity for you. I love you, and I want to see you happy.
"Which is why I forced my mother into a position that got us into Odanera city hospital. I needed to see you, because if I didn't, I would have gone crazy, Kiki. I would have lost my goddamn mind and Doiwa would have burned.
"Don't stress, you won't be doing this alone," Sakura said in reassurance, and Kiyomi just sighed softly. Their days on the side of the realm were numbered, and Kiyomi knew it was just a matter of time before it all exploded.
The enemies had momentarily stopped coming after her. Just because she had managed to protect the apartment block and the hospital didn't mean that she was going to always have a chance at saving herself and her people.
She had masked up really well, but the Bogdans and the Doiwa Lycans would eventually come knocking. It wasn't that hard a tale for her, and she was okay with it. It wouldn't matter at the end of the day because it would be fixed. But at what cost?
"We'll be okay… I promise you that. Anyway, enough about the future that won't even be as fun as right now. I missed you so much. Let's talk about us, petal," Sakura said, adding the last with a pout, and Kiyomi smiled at her.
She had almost been too cooped up in the game of impossible and possible that she had failed to see that sometimes she had to live her life and she had to embrace every moment as if it were her last.
She didn't have time for regrets and Sakura being here was the perfect reminder of all that. She would be fine, as long as she was with Sakura, and perhaps that wasn't as comforting as it sounded but it was also their chance at a peaceful life.
"Oh, yeah?" Kiyomi teased.
Sakura nodded incessantly, making Kiki smile.
"How about how you came smelling like your pets?"
Sakura stilled.
She should have known that even beneath all the masking she had done, Kiyomi would always know when something was amiss.
"I… I had to," Sakura said, her shame making a show, and that got Kiyomi curious.
"Had to?" Kiyomi mused as they both walked into her apartment.
"It was the only way to throw off their scents," Sakura said softly, not knowing how to best express that she needed to make sure no one would come after Kiki, or that Izanami had managed to come at the best of times and Sakura had used that chance to come over here instead.
It was a tough job for Sakura, and she knew it too, but she couldn't bear to have her Erasthai questioning herself.
Kiyomi was enough for her, and she needed Kiyomi to be very aware of that. It was a desperate wish for Sakura, because frankly, she couldn't think of a life without Kiki.
"It must have been hard, hmm?" Kiyomi asked as the door closed behind them, and she pressed Sakura's back against the wall, earning a soft gasp from the woman.
"I—" Sakura tried, unsure if this was a trap for her or if this was the only way.
"Did they at least make you cum?" Kiyomi asked, her eyes never leaving Sakura's.
"What?" Sakura whimpered, Kiyomi's breath hot on her skin.
She was screwed, and she knew it.