"Go on then, Vinsmoke, do your worst..."

"Aww, look! A baby rabbuck! It's so cu-oh, shit. Hi." My intense flinch nearly gave me whiplash when I heard that loud, familiar voice, peering around Ichiji just in time to spot Laoise appearing through the brush.

...Along with Corbin.

Under his breath, as he begrudgingly moved his face away from mine, Ichiji uttered a growl of frustration so low I was sure only I heard it. Yes, I was flustered beyond belief by what had nearly transpired between us, unbelievably so, but seeing Corbin look at me like he was had me feeling ill.

Why does he look so...angry..?

"Well...isn't this agonisingly awkward?!" Laoise shattered the silence with a still laugh, adjusting the basket she carried at her hip. They were likely foraging for mushrooms. An activity the three of us had done countless times together.
"Uh, hey, guys..." That was all I could really say as I pushed Ichiji the rest of the way back before standing up. "I-"

"Come on. They're busy. Don't want us around, I'm sure." Corbin nudged his sister with his elbow, lip curling back a little over his teeth when he looked to Ichiji. Ah, there it was. The blast of heavy, pervasive pheromones. Both Laoise and I immediately gagged and choked, covering our mouths and noses to protect ourselves from the testosterone-fuelled assault.

"Ugh, you balls for brains, cut it out! You both reek!" Laoise's complaint fell on deaf ears as the pair squared up to one another.
"He started it. Nothing would have happened if he hadn't lied and lured me to Germa..." Corbin took a single step forward, and Ichiji immediately matched it.

"You say I lied and lured, but you didn't need much convincing. How is dear Cosette, anyway? Thoroughly fucked, from what I've heard." That hurt infinitely more than I cared to admit. The sight was still fresh in my mind, and now I felt even more nauseated.

"You-!" Corbin bared his teeth, fists clenching tightly as he raised them in warning. "I'll wipe that smug look off your damn face, Vinsmoke!" A poor judgement call. As hurt and betrayed as I felt, I didn't want him to get straight up murdered. I glanced to Ichiji, preparing to intervene if necessary. Not like I could really do anything.

Ichiji wore his usual stoic expression, but there was something in the way he stood that showed he held the utmost confidence.
"You're not worth my time." He spoke down to him, despite being the shorter man. Corbin just wasn't a threat to him, plain and simple.

"You fucking a-"
"Nope. You shut your slutty little mouth, buddy." Laoise to the rescue, shaking her head as she kicked him in the back of the knee, nearly sending him down to the dirt. She then turned to me, offering a soft smile. "Sorry, I had no idea you'd be out here. I can send his ass home if you want to join me? Just you, though. The tampon head can't come."

I wish I could just forget all my troubles and go scrounging for mushrooms, but...

"Thanks, but I have some things to take care of. Another time?" I tried to be as polite as possible, which was exactly why Laoise narrowed her eyes before yanking me off to the side to whisper.
"Is this a hostage situation..? If you can snatch his shades, I can throw dirt in his eyes and we can-"

"No more hostage than usual, really." I insisted, appreciating the fact she was making sure I was safe. "I'll explain everything later, so could you maybe just drag your brother away before he ends up getting prematurely murked?"

And before I violently cry and throw up simultaneously.

Offering a quick salute and nothing more, Laoise scurried back to Corbin and seized him by the sleeve, dragging him off as he yelped and spat his complaints, a couple of mushrooms spilling from the basket in their wake.

Once they were gone, I released a deep breath, the stench of combined pheromones finally beginning to dissipate.
"Wonderful timing. Just perfect. Now he's going to think there's something going on between us..."

Head turned towards the nearby animals instead of me, Ichiji shrugged his shoulders.
There is something between us, whether you care to admit it or not." The fact that he was completely right had my jaw ticking, so I put some more distance between us.

"Well, at least now I know how stupid it was for me to let you lure me out here all alone. Not a mistake I'll make again, I can assure you." Turning up my nose, I slowly approached the pair of rabbucks, clicking my tongue softly in an effort to keep them calm and prove I was no threat.

"You're the one who-" Ichiji cut himself off, taking a long, deep breath in before revaluating his response. "Suits me just fine. The last thing I need is to get distracted by a pretty little skirt that's hellbent on watching my family fail."

I wanted to release a full throttle of aggression upon him for the sexist remark, but at the same time my brain kind of short-circuited when I heard him refer to me as pretty. What was wrong with me? The pull I felt towards him was worse than it had been before our little brush with the broken heart edition of death. Stronger. Harder to fight.

Pull yourself together! He's the enemy!

I reached out to let the rabbuck doe sniff at my hand, her whiskers tickling the skin of my palm before she returned to grazing, allowing me to gently stroke her back.
"So you're content with letting the people, the animals, everything on this island...just die?"

Ichiji was kind of shifting from side to side as the rabbuck fawn dared to move closer to him, snuffling at the ground close to his boots.
"It isn't in my character to care about things like that." He responded in a way that made it seem as though it was an idiotic question to ask. "You'll survive, along with your parents. I suppose Yonji will want to keep that mouthy little bitch as well."

Keep. He's making it sound like we'd be pets.

"And? What about everybody else? The children?" I couldn't fathom how somebody could be so...this. So merciless towards life. It just went to show how badly fate had messed up when it drew our names as soul mates.

Ichiji was staring at me, awkwardly jostling his leg as the fawn curiously nudged at his knee.
"I really don't know what you want me to say. I thought we established the fact that I don't have the capacity to care about something like that."

Monster.

No, I couldn't just leave it at that. There had to be some way to try and convince him to be on my side. If Laoise could take a Vinsmoke because of a bond, then I knew I could too.
"But you do. If you have the capacity to care about me, then you have the capacity, period." I pointed out, tensing when he reached his hand down towards the young creature sniffing his pant leg. The forest was still, but the air between us felt charged, like the moment before a storm breaks.

"I'm not helping you. End of story."
I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding as Ichiji reached out, his hand coming to rest lightly on the chestnut fur of the young rabbuck. Its long ears gave a few nervous flicks, but it stayed close.
"Fine," I muttered, turning away toward the village path. "I have Laoise. She’ll convince your brother, I’m sure of it. And I know Corbin would jump at the chance to help end this."

"(Y/N), wait!"

With a pitched bleat, the mother rabbuck darted into the trees, her fawn bounding close behind, startled by the sudden sound of Ichiji’s voice as he called after me.

I should’ve kept walking. I wanted to. But the moment his voice reached me, something deep in my chest twisted tight. A sharp, aching pull that dragged me to a halt. My body turned before my mind could catch up, betraying me with its longing. He’d taken a step forward, one hand slightly raised, like he’d almost reached for me. Almost.

Please...don't say anything that will trigger my attraction to you...I'm begging you...

“If… If I agree to run some interference...slow things down where I can...would you…” Ichiji trailed off, his jaw tense, brows pinching like he was grappling with a language he hadn’t been born to speak. The next words sounded foreign, awkward, like they didn’t belong in his mouth. “Would you agree to… some kind of arrangement? One where we… spend a set amount of time together. Each day. To… ease whatever this fated nonsense is.”

He looked like he hated every word, not out of disdain, but because he didn’t understand why he was saying them in the first place. Vulnerability. That's what it was, and it was a bizarre look for the heir to the Germa throne. What was more alien was that he was offering to help me in exchange for something so...pathetic.

If it's so pathetic then why is my heart about to crack right out of my chest?!

"Time as in wh..what..?" My voice faltered slightly as my mind worked to register the proposal. "I'm not going to slee-"
"That isn't what I meant! I'm not an idiot, I know better than to try seducing you again." Ichiji snapped, running a hand down his face which skewed his glasses upon his nose, giving me a partial look at his eyes. He was looking everywhere but me. "You can't deny that something inside of you is itching to be close to me. That's how it is on my end, as irritating as it is to admit..."

Itching is an understatement...

"Time. Just a little, each day. Five hours," he said flatly, as if it were a casual favor. "Agree to that, and I’ll run interference. I’ll buy you and your merry little band of idiots the time you need to chase whatever hopeless plan you’ve cooked up." My scoff shot upward, ricocheting through the forest canopy like a challenge.

"Five hours? Every day? Are you out of your mind? Absolutely not. One." The words left my mouth sharp and fast, but inside, that disgusting little voice, the one I hated most, was already spiraling. He wants to see you. Every day. Five whole hours. And it was screaming.

"Understand I'm taking a considerable risk even offering this much. Four hours." Ichiji countered my lowball, taking another step towards me in an attempt to intimidate. That wasn't going to work this time.
"Two hours, not a second more, and you don't touch me. This," I motioned to my entirety. "is a no touching zone."

Ichiji stepped closer again, closing the gap between us until barely a foot remained.
"Two and a half hours," he said. "No touching. I won’t speak unless you allow it." Why was he so relentless about this? I felt it too, of course, the pull, that invisible tether yanking us toward each other like gravity had taken a personal interest, but still. This wasn’t just risky because Judge could find out. It was dangerous because of us. Because of how close we kept getting to crossing lines that couldn’t be uncrossed.

"Fine. Two and a half. No touching. No talking." I gave a sharp nod, eyes locked on my reflection in his tinted lenses. Fantastic. I looked flushed, like a wreck. Pathetic. "I’ve got things to do," I added, turning back toward the path. "So don’t start whining about being bored. I already had to put up with your meathead brother sulking the entire time you were busy giving me the cold shoulder."

To my surprise, something in Ichiji’s posture eased. The tension that had coiled so tightly in his frame began to unwind, and without a word, he fell into step beside me, matching my pace with unsettling precision.
"Unlike my brothers, I don’t require constant stimulation," He replied evenly. "There will be no bitching."

Somehow, I doubted that, but I didn’t have the energy to start another sparring match with him. Not after everything that had just transpired. Finding out about what Judge was planning, nearly falling for Ichiji's charms, seeing Corbin again for the first time since I had found him screwing Cosette, and now this…whatever this deal with Ichiji was. It was too much.

"There better not be any funny business," I muttered. "I won’t hesitate to reject you again and leave you a sobbing mess."

"I’d like to call your bluff," He said, a touch dry. "but I know you’re reckless enough to follow through."

"Don’t test me, Vinsmoke."

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***I got all my top front teeth pulled out and now have a partial denture at the age of 29 - thank you, genetics, liver medication and growing a human inside of me once. I am not thriving.

Also I don't remember if I posted this before but this is a rough idea of what Laoise and Corbin look like:

Next Time: Thoughts, Be Gone!***