Through the gallop back Aki didn't so much as glance back at him, racing head with a steady determination.

"Aki! Aki wait!" Yeran cried, worried of the heaving flank of his horse.

"We need to let the horse rest!"

Aki yanked on the reins, stopping so rapidly Yeran dashed past him a few more gallops and had to back paddle.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked, somewhat put off.

"There's a creek nearby," was Aki's brisk reply before unmounting and leading the horse through a narrow opening through the thicket.

'Huh?' It took a few more seconds before the soft gurgle of water was registered into Yeran's tired brain.

'How the heck did he hear that?' Yeran wondered, unmounting himself to follow after Aki.

Just as expected, the small stream was located snugly in the small thicket, the water running crystal clear.

Aki lead the horse to the water, letting the exhausted creature have its fill.

Yeran did the same, only a few paces away from him. He crouched down to fill his water flask and was completely off guard when a strong hand landed on his shoulder.

He jumped, startled, and was pulled to his feet and whirled around before his thought process caught up with his body and rise in its own.

Aki's gaze pierced through his eyes to the very window of his soul, seemingly dissecting his whole existence.

The enchanting purple eyes were far too close and Yeran could see the flecks of silver in them. Aki's pupils have shrunk to a slit and he looked as if he was only one wrong movement away from flaying him alive.

"I forgive many things Yeran Avos, but cheating is not one of them" he hissed under his breath, his grip bruisingly hard on Yeran's biceps.

"OH? It is there where you have morals?" Yeran asked, voice patronizing.

Aki narrowed his eyes.

'I shouldn't goad him on,' Yeran thought, but his mouth was not as wise as his brain.

"Your hands are dripping with blood, your entire being is covered in blood and you are telling me that you don't forgive cheating? What a joke!"

Yeran did not notice being let go, much less thrown. His back made a painful impact on the ground, air knocked out his lungs.

Aki was on him lightning flash, a knee painfully digging on to his rib cage and a hand fisted on his collar.

"Say that again," Aki's voice was whisper quiet, and so much scarier than being yelled.

"And what if I did? What if I am a cheater? Will you kill me?" Yeran smirked, panting from adrenaline.

"You think I won't?"

"Please Aki, we both know that's the last thing you want," Yeran raised a hand to trail his fingertips along the raised curve of Aki's cheek bones. His body left lax. Unguarded.

The pain was all consuming and suddenly there, Yeran did not had enough breath left in him for a shout. He gasped, weakly, mouth opening around a silent scream.

Aki had buried a dagger through his shoulder, pinning him down like a butterfly on display.

"OH, sorry, did that hurt?" Aki's tone was condescending and there was a silent fire behind his eyes.

"I've been told not to break a heart for there is only one," he started, a small knife flipping over and over in-between in his fingers. It glinted in the sun, wickedly sharp and tragically beautiful, just like it's holder.

"..but there are always 206 bones, which should I start with?"

"Wh..what?" Yeran croaked.

"Do you know that taking a life is so much easier than mending a broken heart?" Aki ignored him.

"Because when a life is lost, then it is lost, there's nothing left behind. A heart on the other hand, they still have to move on, you know, keep going. There may be a bleeding, gaping hole in them, always hollow and never to be recovered completely, but they still have to keep on living, it's far too much a torture. Not even something I would resolve to. Better to slip a dagger through the ribs and end it." His voice was monotonous, as if reciting someone.

"Yo..y...you..." Yeran gasped through the pain.

Aki's eyes refocused on him, the mist covering his eyes lifted.

"I'll give you one favor, dear husband, you can choose which bones I should go for, we'll keep on going until I'm satisfied, hmm...?" Aki patted his cheek with the knife he was holding.

He looked like a vengeful angel, haloed by the sunlight streaming through the trees.

"Let's start with these fingers, shall we?" The hand fisting Yeran's collar loosened to grab the same hand he trailed over Aki's face.

Yeran blinked, for a second surprised whether he would actually do it or not. Then he saw the look in Aki's face, the twisted mask of fury, disgust and determination, and he knew.

Aki would kill him right here and now, take all the consequences that comes with it. And he would do so without flinching. All for someone he does not even like.

Yeran isn't blind. He had seen the lingering glanced from the corner of his eyes, there for a second, only to turn away when his attention turned towards them.

He had felt the fleeting touches, just the same as avoiding touches. He knew what lurked behind Aki's eyes. When it turned from hatred to that, Yeran did not know, but it had happened and he noticed.

For all that Aki wanted, Zeke was the only obstacle and here he was, defending him.

Yeran did not knew whether to laugh or cry, but there was definitely admiration bubbling inside him. Along with a good, healthy amount of fear. As was supposed to, when someone pinned you to the ground with a dagger and was hovering over you with another

Yeran was forcefully yanked back into reality with a snap. This time, this time the pain was a blinding white, roaring in his ears and deafening silent at the same time.

"Stop...stop...stop..." Yeran screamed, writhing, only to fall still with the sharp sting at his shoulder.

Right, he forgot about that little detail.

"Stop? Give me a good reason to," the sadistic smile on Aki's lips were off putting and Yeran had a hard time arranging words into some kind of coherancy, much less speak them out loud.

"No? Let's go for another then,"

"There was never a relationship to begin with!" Yeran yelled, knowing Aki will not wait for him.

....

CLIFFHANGER......

Hey,

Don't come after my head, the more comments, the sooner next chap will come...

See ya,

Arkhane.

P. S. : the fact that I have lots of pics in my gallery and can't tell who's who is depressing.

Never let it be said that Aki is anything but a demon