T/W: The following chapter may include violence and adult themes.
Viewer Discretion is advised.
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"Yuki..."
"Long time no see, Aoi"
Yuki gave a gentle smirk to which Aoi somewhat leapt forward but then stopped midway.
How was she supposed to react?
"You're awkward as ever" Yuki said and walked forward herself " We're not close enough for this though"
She said dramatically opening her arms.
" Oh shutup" Aoi smirked and moved forward this time, hugging the other woman tightly.
" Did you really miss me or are you just pretending?" Yuki asked as they parted.
" We're not close enough for that" Aoi shrugged back dramatically.
" Aoi! It's you!!" Sam came out hearing the commotion and ran jumping on Aoi, Yuki moved outta the way and the two of them crashed back on the ground.
"Crazy old woman" Aoi cringed a bit as she pulled herself up rubbing the back of her head whilst the blonde woman was sitting on her belly being genuinely happy to see her.
"I missed you" Sam said quite happily.
"Yes, I can see that!" Aoi replied "Now please move, you're heavy"
She said as Sam moved off her.
" Where's the boy?"
Aoi asked right away after they were done with the reunion.
Aoi had basically received a weird message from Yuki, a map location without any single word.
Though since it was a message from Yuki's Line, she couldn't ignore it and came to the location anyways.
She didn't actually expect to find the couple there, she was only expecting Yuki but maybe it was stupid to think that she'd leave her wife behind...
"Come right in" Sam said and Aoi followed, Yuki was at her back.
Aoi came in cautiously only to find a woman tied to a chair and Ian asleep on one of the couches with Yuki's coat on him. He was a tall guy but in that position he looked really small being squeezed up within that long coat.
"What happened here?" Aoi asked.
"That's what we want to ask her" Sam said standing behind the tied up woman and pulling her face up by grasping a handful of her hair.
"I infiltrated the mansion that you asked me of, this woman got to the boy before me, I learned from one of the other maids that she recently got hold of a large sum of money and purchased this cottage by the countryside..was probably planning to run away.." Yuki briefed Aoi.
"What do you want with Ian Strauss?" Aoi asked the woman, she already had a bloody nose and Aoi could tell from Yuki's knuckles that there had been some physical interrogation already.
"I'm going to protect him!!!!" The maid yelled at Aoi to which Sam pulled her hair back to control her temper.
" That's literally all she says" Sam shrugged.
"The maids in Strauss household are generational.. anyone who wishes to leave the household either mysteriously disappears or commits suicide, do you know something?" Aoi changed her question.
The woman reacted frantically "if they find me, I'll kill myself,then kill him!"
Aoi could somewhat judge what her reaction meant
That was indeed a run off...
Her hunch was correct, the only reason that dirty acts of Strauss estate never made it out of the Strauss mansion was probably this-
They probably lived in fear of their lives and everyone who left the mansion looked free to do so on the surface but underneath they were taken care of... And with them, the secrets were buried deep down...
"I get it..." Aoi took a deep sigh.
"You get what?" Yuki asked.
"Open her" Aoi said to which both Yuki and Sam were dumbfounded.
"Huh? Do you know what she even did? She tried to force herself on that boy!" Sam argued, though Yuki remained quiet hoping Aoi had something in mind.
" For someone who claims to kill themselves, you seem awfully afraid of dying" Aoi leaned close to the woman's face
" You want to live don't you?"
The woman looked back fearfully into Aoi's eyes.
" I'll give you a chance to repent yourself, in return for protecting you"
Sam probably didn't understand much but for Yuki those words made sense.
Aoi possibly wanted to use this woman as a witness....
Nobody understood how being raised in an environment filled with fear and helplessness felt better than Aoi..
A helpless person when given a little power may choose one of the two paths...
They either make sure that nobody has to witness the same thing that they did...
Or...
They get intoxicated by that power and do the same thing that they had to go through in order to feel like being in control...
This woman probably chose the latter...
Just by being a part of the Strauss household had stripped her off so much of power that she'd lost all her sanity....
Then one could only imagine how Raina Strauss would have made through all these years without losing herself...
Ian Strauss was the proof that Raina Strauss stood fearlessly infront of those intoxicated with such power, till her very last breath...
She'd left her mark in this world that tried its best to erase her....
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"You up?"
Ian Strauss blinked rapidly, cringing with the stinging pain in his head that was caused by crying for too long..
He looked around with one closed eye and the other slightly opened, finding himself on road with Himari Aoi.
"Where are we going?" He suddenly got conscious and sat up holding onto the long coat that covered him.
His eyes unconsciously searched the backseat for the dark haired woman that saved him.
"They had something to take care of" Aoi answered him without having the need for him to ask.
He settled back against the window
"Himari Aoi.. what are you going to do to me?"
"Don't worry, I have no such interest in you" Aoi eyed him top to foot from the corner of her eyes whilst driving.
"Huh, I didn't mean-" Ian raised a brow.
" Don't worry, even though you basically made a fool out of all of us.. I'm really not the one to punish you for it, I'll leave that to someone else.." Aoi took a deep sigh.
" Punish-?" Ian's mind legit went dark from torture devices to guillotines in a few seconds and that showed on his face.
"I'm pretty sure it's not the punish that's going on in your mind.." Aoi noticed he'd strayed far enough judging by the horror on his face.
" That's right! I played you all! Everything was in plan to begin with..from me meeting Kirihara Mari to everything-"
Ian abruptly ranted out but got cut off in the middle.
"No it wasn't" Aoi interrupted him.
"Mari chan wasn't a part of your plan to begin with"
" Huh? How can you be so sure! You know well that I used her!" Ian argued.
" You did, but wasn't it more like you going along with things? If I'm not wrong...it was probably a huge coincidence that Nicolas Strahovski asked you to use to your advantage" Aoi replied to which Ian became silent for a while.
" It's so weird..." Ian took off his shoes and pulled his feet up on the seat, curling himself in that long coat
"A part of me still doesn't understand why is Kirihara Mari doing this for me? Is it pity? Is it guilt? I don't understand..."
" You should ask her about this instead of running away " Aoi told him. He coiled up being as confused as ever.
Moreover he still didn't know whether he could trust Himari Aoi or not...
He probably had other reasons that he didn't like Himari Aoi for rather than just not being able to trust her...
" Actually in the beginning I had a crush on Natsuro sensei and it's probably more natural and makes sense... " Ian confessed hoping once it was out of his system, he could probably see Himari Aoi more objectively
" Also please put the screw driver down"
" Ah sorry force of habit " Aoi spoke with a twitching brow putting down the nearest object that she'd grabbed hearing that confession.
"Natsuro is taken, just reminding you!"
"Huh I know, it's just he's so different from other omegas I've known... he's so fearless for an omega that I couldn't help being interested.... there was an incident where some of my classfellows caught a female omega in heat.. Natsuro sensei came alone to get her without fearing a group of alphas in rut, not only that, he scolded us too... I think it was pretty cool"
" You know I've noticed you have a pretty low view of omegas in general, you should really drop that, you've already been saved by two omegas already"
Aoi pointed out, she'd noticed it from the start but she didn't blame him much due to the environment he was raised in... She hated alphas too once...but now she'd come to terms with hating a person instead of the whole gender....
"Two?" Ian asked
"Yeah, your mom and the woman who saved you today" Aoi said.
" Yuki san was it? She's an omega?" Ian hadn't realized, well it had alot to do with him being physically unwell which was probably why he didn't notice.
"Actually there's more..." Aoi brought up.
"What is it?" He asked.
" Yuki chan is Mari chan's ex"
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"Aoi's changed"
"Heh, has she?"
Yuki nodded with a smile. Sam was driving so she could barely see her expression but the maid sitting at the back could since Yuki kept an eye on her from the front mirror.
"She's more vocal and expressive now" Yuki said.
"I think Aoi was always expressive" Sam argued " She's always been overly sensitive to others around her which is why she's so perceptive of the actions that others might choose to do.."
"Even though she used to understand everyone and their reasons, doesn't mean she showed any mercy to them, I think the Aoi right now is softer, more human" Yuki replied.
" Do you think it's a good thing? " Sam asked.
" Aren't you the psychologist? " Yuki shrugged.
" Aren't you a cop? " Sam counter questioned.
" Soon to be" Yuki repeated to which Sam shrugged as if implying it was the same thing.
" Are you a cop? " The maid unintentionally interrupted.
" Don't worry, not yet" Yuki turned back to look at her.
"Also, why don't you tuck? "
" Eh? " The maid didn't understand though Yuki forcefully tucked her head along with her own and a bullet pierced through from the rear window of the car to which sam sped up.
The woman screamed as the glass shards fell forward on them, even though Yuki was covering for her.
"Honey, get me an angle" Yuki said leaning forth and pulling a casket from under the back seat unclipping it and pulling out a shotgun to which Sam pulled a steep turn whirling all the way around as Yuki took aim and shot at one of the cars in chase.
The bullet hit one of the front tires making the car skid off, though another car came forth from behind in the chase and made a few more shots to which both Yuki and Sam lowered down and the maid screamed even more
Sam ended up getting off the road as well. Yuki popped out and made a shot hitting the glass window but missing the driver.
"Honey there's three in chase"
"Actually four" Sam corrected looking at the incoming car from the front which made her take a large turn and completely skidding off road and going off one of the steep edges over which the car automatically moved breaking through alot of overgrown vines.
"Sam!" Yuki yelled out
"Sorry sorry, I'm totally not used to this model urgh" Sam pulled a brake trying to turn the car accordingly
"I can't believe a former vet can be this bad at driving" Yuki kept a lookout
" All vets are bad at driving!! And I was a psychologist!!" Sam argued
" Wow this really isn't the time for a couple fight" Yuki said
" sh-t!!!"
The maid panicked when Yuki said that.
" What's up?" Sam asked taking a rocky route being a little worried.
" The nursery will be closed in an hour" Yuki reminded
" Brace on tight, these idiots have messed with the wrong mom! "Sam geared up.
" Likewise!!! " Yuki pushed the seat backwards and got onto the back seats taking position, ready for shooting down anyone at their tail.
The maid covered her head and screamed even wetting herself while these two women were grinning up till their ears.
"Who are you both??" She asked shivering real hard
"Just a pair of moms who need to pick their son from nursery at five"
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"What happened to you?"
Mari stood there with widened eyes, not that she didn't know what had happened but for some reason it was still horrifying to look at.
"It's a long story..let us in first"
Aoi said to which Mari moved from the door but Ian was taken by surprise too watching that expression on her face.
She held his hands the moment he came in and put one of her hands onto his cheek.
"I'm okay" He whispered to her.
Mari didn't really expect Aoi to come back with Ian, she'd been expecting Aoi because they were supposed to look for Ian which is why she'd been patiently waiting at home.
"Sorry for not telling you beforehand.." Aoi tried to explain herself "Ah, hold up..." She excused since her phone had been ringing since she'd got in.
"Hold up! I really need to go!!!"
Aoi got ready to leave as fast as she'd came in.
"What happened?" Mari asked noticing how much of hurry Aoi looked in
"The nursery closes at 5!" Aoi replied and rushed out.
"Huh?" Both Mari and Ian were dumbfounded.
Though Aoi had left without leaving any answers.
Though not that it mattered for either of them in that moment....
Now that the two of them were finally alone Ian started to feel somewhat flustered but he looked a little mad too.
"Come" Mari took him by the wrist and took him all the way to the room
She took out one of the new pair of clothes that she'd bought for him assuming he'd be over quite often considering their relationship...
Naturally she took out the first aid box too
"Wash up, I'll fix some food for you and apply medicine"
" Mari san" Ian stopped her as she was ready to take off in order to make food.
Mari stopped to atleast hear him out.
Though Ian started stripping down for some reason.
"Please take a look" He stood there completely exposed, with all the marks and bruises that told his story.
"We.. can't be each other's firsts in any regard...in fact... I've lost count of all the people I've been with...the people I've slept with because I had to, you won't be the first and only one to lay eyes on me, by character I'm considered loose even if I wanted none of it and eventually that would come up at many points in my life, you'll probably suffer alot not just because I'm irritable and moody, but also because there will be times I'll have mental breakdowns and it'll be very hard to handle me...there's nothing unique about me, all I carry is a burden of my past that will probably haunt me till my very last breath, even now I'm probably looking really strong upfront but my heart won't stop knocking against my chest violently... I'm afraid that what you feel for me is pity and that one day it'll wither away and you'll find someone pure and more comfortable to be with...I think I'll break down really bad at that point..
I don't think I'll be able to take that at all... Please, don't give me hope...I won't be able to handle it.... "
Ian lowered his head apologetically.
" Am I getting rejected?" Mari asked.
"I'm sorry, I'm just afraid.. there's just so many-" Ian was about to start again when Mari moved forward and hugged him.
" That won't do.. the only answer I'll accept is yes" Mari whispered close to his chest hearing his heart beat like crazy.
"But did you listen.. I-" Ian had a little panic of his own.
" I, Kirihara Mari, have only loved one person with my complete heart before you.. and after you I won't love another ever again.. " Mari whispered yet again.
" Eh, that's not okay, you should always move forward in life... I don't want to hold back anyone.. " Ian argued.
"What do you even want? " Mari looked up at him being a little annoyed since he just contradicted himself.
"No I mean- urgghhh!!!" Ian was really confused now.
"Though you really shouldn't stand naked infront of me for too long"
Mari parted from him closing her eyes.
" Because I'll catch cold? " Ian asked hesitantly
"Because I'll want to touch you then" Mari spoke gently opening her eyes and eyeing him head to toe.
" I'm dirty... " He argued rather than denying it.
She turned away and undressed herself too dropping her clothes by the entrance of the bathroom as she went in.
Ian ended up following. As she stood under the shower.
" Am I top or bottom?"
Mari didn't answer that one, rather she offered her hand that he took after some hesitation and pulled him under the shower by his waist...
It felt really thin in her grip...
He'd lost alot of weight...
She gently turned him against the wall holding his wrists behind his back as she caressed all over his dripping back passionately while he pressed his face against the wet glass breathing hard.
She let his hands loose letting him rest them against the wet glass as she caressed his body from the back. His fingers slid down the glass as if trying to claw through it
He eventually turned over and locked lips with her as her hands wandered over his chest while his hands played with her hair messing them up.
They stopped to take a breather from the kissing
"Flat" She mumbled squeezing his chest.
"Like you get to say that" He kissed her forehead to which she grabbed his face and kissed his chin because that was what she could reach.
She grabbed the soap and gently circled it all over his chest washing him up.
He turned back over letting her wash his back as well. Her hands wandered all over his body giving him goosebumps all over.
She raised the soap infront of his eyes and let it slip out of her grip.
"Why don't you pick that up?"
She said with a light smirk upon her lips.
"Sh-t...."