𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 | 𝗠.𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘂𝘆𝘂

────── two

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

═══ MATSUNO CHIFUYU ═══

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

BEING ENGULFED IN THE WARMTH of Chifuyu's apartment felt heavenly. Once the adrenaline had worn off, Akiko had begun to shiver from the cold of the night. Almost instantly after they had stepped inside, Chifuyu had pushed her toward the sofa in the living room and handed her a fluffy blanket to warm herself up. Then, he had disappeared into the kitchen, seconds later the kettle could be heard.

Whilst the boy was preparing a cup of tea for her, Akiko took the time to look around. She felt like an intruder in someone else's house. No one could blame her. She was a stranger inside another stranger's home. Yet the pictures hung up on the walls drew in her attention. Some of them showed Chifuyu as a little boy, some with his family, others with a group of boys — one of those boys happened to be Baji, the ravenette who had taken on Hanma.

Suddenly, Akiko felt guilty. Had she gone straight home, none of them would be in this situation. She was nothing but a bother to these people. All she had done was cause them more trouble. Chewing on her lip, Akiko averted her eyes to the floor.

That was when something petite and furry jumped onto her lap, startling her.

"Huh?"

"Meww"

It was a small black cat. He had climbed onto Akiko's lap, where he now curled up and comfortably licked his paws. Just like that, her thoughts came to a stop and she smiled.

"Hello there," she whispered sweetly. "Who are you?"

At first hesitant, Akiko gently ran her fingers through the cat's fur and once it became apparent that the cat enjoyed it, she didn't hold back.

"Aren't you a real cutie? Yes, you are." A giggle escaped her lips as the cat chewed on her finger.

"I see you've met Peke J." Chifuyu returned with the promised cup of tea. He sat it down on the coffee table before he gave Peke J some cuddles as well. "I'm sorry if he's bothering you."

"Not at all. I'm more surprised that he approached me in the first place," Akiko admitted. "I always felt like animals don't like me very much."

"Well, Peke J has already taken a liking to you," Chifuyu chuckled in response when Peke J jumped out of his arms and settled back down in Akiko's lap.

Warm liquid running down her throat, warming her up from the inside, Akiko let out a sigh of relief. The tea's aroma soothed her senses after the initial shock from before had worn off.

"Hey, uhm ... thank you. For helping me back there. And I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

Standing up from where he had kneeled down to Peke J, Chifuyu smiled softly and shook his head. "You didn't trouble anyone. We would have clashed with Moebius sooner or later. And Hanma loves to play games. He saw an opportunity in you to distract us and he took it."

"Still. I owe you," Akiko retorted stubbornly.

A rosy tint appeared on Chifuyu's cheeks. He seemed to be searching for a response, when his sight fell on your knees and took in the dried blood.