"Excellent." She settled back down, her head finding that perfect spot on my chest again. "First question: What's your biggest fear?"
Starting heavy, aren't we?
"My biggest fear is failing Noel," I answered honestly. "Not being able to protect her. Leaving her alone."
Yuzuriha hummed thoughtfully. "Family bonds. I respect that."
"My turn. Why did you really leave Japan?"
Her body tensed slightly against mine. "Direct, aren't you?" After a pause, she continued, "I got blacklisted. Exposed a guild for exploiting desperate hunters. They had connections, I didn't."
"That's... not what I expected."
"What did you expect? That I killed someone? Stole something?" There was an edge to her voice.
"No. I just thought it might be something more personal."
She relaxed again. "It was personal. They took advantage of me when I was vulnerable. I made them pay for it." Her finger tapped my chest. "My turn. Have you ever been in love?"
I hesitated. "No. Not in the way you probably mean."
"Elaborate?"
"I've cared for people. Been attracted to them. But true love? The kind where you'd sacrifice everything? Only for Noel, and that's different."
"Fair enough." She shifted, her leg sliding further over mine. "Your question."
"What do you miss most about Japan?"
She didn't answer immediately, and for a moment I thought she might use her skip. Then, softly: "The cherry blossoms in spring. The way they fall like snow. My sister and I used to..." She trailed off. "Just the cherry blossoms."
I didn't push for more. Something in her voice told me this was territory best approached carefully.
"My turn," she continued, changing the subject. "How many people have you slept with?"
"That's what you want to know?"
"Is that your skip?"
"No," I sighed. "Two. Both in high school. Nothing serious."
"Hmm." She sounded almost disappointed. "I expected more from someone who looks like you."
"Been too busy keeping Noel and myself alive to worry about dating."
"Fair enough."
"Same question to you," I countered.
"Just one," she admitted, surprising me. "A fellow hunter in training. We were seventeen. Awkward and brief." She laughed softly. "Quality over quantity, right?"
Her honesty disarmed me. For all her flirtation and bravado, there was something refreshingly direct about Yuzuriha when barriers came down.
"Why the constant flirtation if you're not actually looking to sleep around?" I asked.
She shifted, bringing her face level with mine. "Who says I'm not looking? I'm selective, not celibate." Her eyes held mine. "And flirting is useful. People get flustered, reveal things, make mistakes. It's a tool."
"Is that what this is? A tool?"
She tapped my chest. "That's another question. My turn." Her voice dropped even lower. "What's the real reason you registered as a D-Rank when you're clearly much stronger?"
"Skip," I said firmly.
Her eyes widened in genuine surprise, then narrowed with interest. "Really? Your free skip on that?" A slow smile spread across her face. "Now I'm even more curious."
"My registration is correct," I offered. "Let's leave it at that."
"For now," she agreed. "But since you skipped, I get to ask another. Why did you agree to this mission? You could have turned it down."
"Money."
"There are safer ways to make money."
"None that pay this well for a few hours of work."
She studied me for a moment, clearly unsatisfied with my answer but unwilling to push further. "Your turn."
I thought carefully. "What's one thing you've never told anyone else?"
She tensed again, then relaxed with a sigh. "Skip."
"Really? Now who's being mysterious?"
"Everyone's entitled to their secrets," she echoed my words from earlier. "So what is your next question?"
"Tell me about your sister, you mentioned her earlier."
Pain flashed across her face—real, raw pain that her usual mask of playfulness couldn't conceal. For a moment, I regretted my request.
"Her name was Saya," Yuzuriha said eventually, her voice barely audible. "She had the same purple hair as me, but her eyes were darker. Almost black. She was sick for most of her life."
"I'm sorry."
"She died three years ago. I was with her at the end." Yuzuriha's finger resumed tracing patterns on my chest, but slower now, more deliberate. "Before she died, she made me promise to live freely. To stop sacrificing everything for others."
"Is that why you seem so..."
"Selfish?" she finished for me. "Self-centered? Hedonistic?"
"I was going to say independent."
"That's generous of you, Xavier-kun."
We lay in silence for a while, her head resting in the crook of my neck. I could feel her heartbeat against mine, our breathing gradually synchronizing.
"My turn," she finally whispered. "What happened to your parents?"
"They died in the Utah S-Rank gate incident."
Her body stilled. "The Crimson Breach? They were there?"
"Both of them. My father was A-Rank, mother B-Rank. They were part of the containment team."
"I'm sorry," she echoed my earlier sentiment. "That was... a bad one. Even in Japan, we heard about it."
"Most of the bodies were never recovered." I kept my voice neutral, despite the familiar ache in my chest. "Noel was sixteen. I was eighteen. Our extended family tried to take what little insurance money came through, so we left. Started over."
Her hand found mine in the darkness, fingers intertwining. The gesture contained no flirtation, just simple human connection.
"Your turn," she whispered.
"What are you really doing here, Yuzuriha? In this gate?"
She laughed softly. "Money, just like you."
"There's more to it than that."
Her thumb traced circles on my palm. "Maybe I'm running from something. Maybe I'm looking for something. Maybe both."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting tonight," she replied, lifting her head to meet my eyes. "My turn. What would you do if you could be any rank you wanted without consequences?"
An interesting question—one that probed at things I couldn't fully reveal, but allowed enough truth to satisfy. "I'd do exactly what I'm doing now, but with a lot less hiding."
"Which is?"
"Taking care of Noel. Building something sustainable. Maybe own a nice beach house."
"Boring," she teased, but her eyes said otherwise.
"Not everyone wants excitement and danger."
"And yet here you are, in a red gate, playing twenty questions with me." Her leg shifted against mine, and I became acutely aware of how our bodies were pressed together. Her thigh brushed against my groin, and my body responded involuntarily.
Her eyes widened slightly. "Oh? What's this?"
"Biological response," I said dryly. "Don't read too much into it."
"Mmm, quite a response." She shifted again, deliberately this time. "That's another huge skill you're hiding, Xavier-kun."
"Just ask another question," I deflected.
She laughed softly but let it go. "Fine. If you could go back and change one thing in your life, what would it be?"
"I'd have let them know how much they meant to me," I said without hesitation. "Said proper goodbyes."
Yuzuriha nodded, understanding in her eyes. "The things left unsaid weigh the heaviest."
"You?"
"I would have seen through the guild's lies sooner," she said simply. "Saved myself years of exploitation. Given Saya a better final year."
We lay in silence for a while. The weight of our shared losses hung between us, not exactly uncomfortable, but present.
"My turn for a question," I said finally, breaking the silence.
Her finger traced a lazy circle around my navel. "Ask away, Xavier-kun."
"What do you actually want? Beyond money, beyond survival. If you could have anything."
Yuzuriha pursed her lips, considering. "Peace, maybe? No, that's not quite right." She shifted, resting her chin on my chest to look up at me. "Freedom sounds too simple, but that's closest. Freedom from expectations, from the past, from..." She paused. "From caring too much. It hurts less that way."
"Does it really?"
"Are you asking if not caring hurts less than caring? Because yes, obviously."
I shook my head. "I mean, does pretending not to care actually hurt less than admitting you do?"
Her eyes narrowed. "That's a different question. And presumptuous."
"Just an observation."
She pushed herself up, hovering over me. Her purple hair fell in a curtain around her face, tickling my shoulders. "My turn. What's your real power, Xavier Valentine?"
"Skip," I said.
Her lips curved into a victorious smile. "Two skips. Now I get to ask you to do something."
"I'm aware of the rules."
"Good." She leaned closer, her lips nearly brushing mine. "Kiss me."
I raised an eyebrow. "That's your request? After all that build-up?"
"Disappointed? Were you expecting something more scandalous?" She tilted her head. "I could always change my mind."
"No, it's fine." I reached up, sliding my hand behind her neck, pulling her down gently. "Just surprised."
Our lips met, and what I'd intended as a simple, perfunctory kiss transformed immediately. Yuzuriha made a small sound in the back of her throat, pressing herself against me. Her lips were soft but insistent, tasting faintly of something sweet I couldn't identify. What started as compliance with her request rapidly evolved into something hungrier, more urgent.
Her hand slid up my chest to cup my face, thumb tracing along my jawline. I responded in kind, my fingers threading through her hair, anchoring her to me. The kiss deepened, her tongue teasing mine. The weight of her body, the heat of her skin, the subtle scent of her filled my senses.
When we finally broke apart, both breathing harder, she remained close enough that I could feel her breath against my lips.
"Interesting," she murmured. "Very interesting."
"What is?"
"You kiss like you fight. Controlled, precise, but with something wild and addicting just underneath." Her eyes studied mine. "Something you keep leashed."
"My turn for a question," I countered.
She frowned but nodded. "Fair enough."
"Why did you kiss me like that? Was it just curiosity, or something else?"
Yuzuriha laughed, the sound genuine and light. "Straight to the point, aren't you?" She traced a finger along my collarbone. "Curiosity, yes. But also..." She bit her lip. "I like you, Xavier-kun. You're different. You see things others miss. You don't treat me like most men do."
"How do most men treat you?"
"Like a prize to be won. Or they're intimidated. Or they just see..." She gestured at her body. "The package, not the person."
"Their loss."
Her eyes met mine, searching for insincerity and finding none. "You really mean that?"
"Is that your question?"
"Yes."
"Then, yes."
Yuzuriha remained perfectly still, her expression caught between shock and something softer, more uncertain.
"That's... not what I expected," she said finally, her voice uncharacteristically small.
"You asked for the truth."
She leaned down slowly, her lips meeting mine with none of the playfulness or aggression of our earlier kiss. This was something different – tentative, almost tender. My hands found her waist, steadying her as she pressed against me.
When she pulled back, her eyes searched mine. "Your turn to ask a question."
"What are you afraid of, Yuzuriha? Really afraid of."
She didn't answer immediately, her fingers tracing patterns on my chest. "Meaninglessness," she said finally. "Living without purpose. Dying without having mattered to anyone."
"You mattered to Saya."
"She's gone."
"It doesn't erase what you meant to her."
Yuzuriha's eyes shimmered in the dim light. "My turn. If we weren't stuck in this gate, if we met under normal circumstances, would you still be interested in me?"
The vulnerability in her question caught me off guard. "Yes."
"Just yes?"
"Yes, without hesitation. Gate or no gate."
Something in her expression shifted, softened. She leaned down again, her kiss deeper this time, more insistent. I responded in kind, one hand sliding up her back, the other cupping her face. Her body pressed against mine, the heat between us building.
When she finally broke the kiss, we were both breathing hard. She rested her forehead against mine.
"We should sleep," she whispered. "Long day tomorrow."
"Probably," I agreed, though sleep was the furthest thing from my mind.
She shifted, settling beside me instead of on top, her head tucked against my shoulder, one leg still draped possessively over mine. "This is dangerous," she murmured.
"What is?"
"This."
I said nothing, letting her drift toward sleep. Her breathing gradually slowed, her body relaxing against mine. Just when I thought she'd fallen asleep, she spoke again, her voice barely audible.
"Thank you for tonight." she whispered.
Before I could respond, her breathing had deepened into the rhythm of sleep. I lay awake much longer, watching the play of filtered light across the tent ceiling, acutely aware of her warmth against me.
This is dangerous, I thought. Not just the gate, not just the mission, but this unexpected connection. I'd come here with clear objectives, not looking for complications. But then Nicole came and now here Yuzu was, asleep in my arms, another complication I hadn't planned for.
Eventually, exhaustion claimed me too, and I slipped into dreams filled with purple eyes and unspoken truths.