Ayato Kirishima...was obsessed.

Part of him was too proud to admit it. After all, it was like a weakness. To have become so attached to a human, of all things.

And yet here he was. Tailing you from the shadows like a slyly flitting bird, a sharp swathe of darkness himself as he leapt from pipe to pipe. In a way it was your own fault. In a place like Tokyo, why the hell would you go wandering down an alleyway like this on your own? Weren't you afraid of some Ghoul leaping out at you and eating you in an instant?

Maybe you had nerves of steel. What seemed more likely to him though...was that you were probably naïve. You likely didn't even realize what you were getting yourself into.

That much was actually true. You really didn't have any idea. All you yourself knew was that there was a young man, probably around your age, who was always huddled up in this dank and miserable passage. He seemed to be homeless, but didn't want to be seen begging out on the open street, so he took to these shadows instead. You didn't know how he had survived out here, pale-skinned and tan-haired as he was, given that he was so reclusive. You'd only spotted him by chance one day, and decided to help him out the next time you came this way.

It was precisely what you were about to do right now. You'd purchased some packaged bread and bottled drinks to give to him, and you figured that if he took them gratefully then you'd perhaps be able to bring him something on a daily basis. Doing good deeds was kindly, and it no doubt brought forth some good karma too.

You assumed as much anyway. It was, unfortunately, a poor assumption to make.

“Hey...um...I hope this doesn't come across too nosy but...I've noticed you sitting here a lot, and I want to try and help you.”

Ayato looked down upon you as you approached the sitting figure. The boy looked up from the ragged army green blanket he had wrapped himself in, glancing at you with wide eyes as you handed the bag over to him.

“...You're...giving these to me?”

What an idiot.

Ayato couldn't fathom why you were being so nice to this guy. Couldn't you tell?

Did you not know what he was?

Of course not. You were just a stupid human.

“Th-thank you. You're so sweet...not like others...” the young fellow breathed out happily, hugging the bag of goods to his chest and making the plastic crackle. You simply shook your head modestly.

“I couldn't just leave you like this.”

At first, as you were turning away, you thought that things had gone remarkably well. You didn't notice him standing up behind you, letting the blanket slip away, his eyes turning black and scarlet. His mouth drew wide and he advanced closer behind your back, reaching out with a cruel hand to snatch you by the back of your neck and pull you back with him.

He didn't get much further than that.

His limb was severed in half, blood escaping in a vast splatter.

“GAAHHH!!!” he cried out in horror and stumbled back, clutching onto the bloodied stump that had once been his arm. You had of course already turned around in horror, and let out a scream when you saw that happen to him.

There was little time to recover from it, as Ayato dropped down between the two of you like a spider falling from the ceiling. He landed deftly, and then straightened up. His kagune pulled back sharply, bloodied, ready, but once he was certain this wretch was dead, he had no need to use it again.

He'd ensured your safety for now. That was all that mattered.

You were all that he truly cared about.

He faced you then, turning slowly, with eyes that were just as dark and terrifying as the one who had just attempted to kill you. Yet he seemed to be strangely calm and relaxed. Like this was exactly what he had been anticipating.

“Wh-who!?” you stumbled back away from him, falling halfway against the wall, legs going limp and loose. Ayato only advanced on you slowly. His violet blue hair had partially fallen over his face, revealing one menacing eye. It stared at you ceaselessly as he just came closer and closer.

“You should be thanking me. That asshole was going to do whatever he wanted with you, but I made sure that didn't happen. Would you rather be dead right now? Because that can be arranged...”

Your back only pressed more tautly against the stone, so much so that you could feel the dampness seeping through the fabric of your clothes.

Water dripped down from the pipes, splattering on his cheeks and rolling down his skin to reach his jawline. He barely seemed to notice that either, as he reached out with a pallid hand and touched your own cheek. You could feel no difference between the cold metal of his pinky ring, and his actual fingers.

These two people...one dead, one alive. They were both similar. They both had those monstrous eyes, and it seemed clear that they were far more powerful and capable than any regular human being. Even as he was simply cupping your face with both hands now, you were frozen to the spot by fear...and something deeper too.

There was something commanding, stilling about just his presence alone. And after seeing how easily he had dealt with that other ghoul...you didn't want to cross him.

“Why did you save me!?” you managed to blurt out, only for him to take his thumb and press it firmly against your lips. Ayato thought you were pretty, beautiful actually, but he didn't have time for any of your whining.

“I saved you because I wanted to. I could have left you for dead, but I decided not to...and so you're very lucky, [Y/N]...”

When he said that, your body only sank all the lower, to the point where it felt like his hands upon you were the only things keeping you upright. This monster fought another monster to save you...a person who had never met him. Yet he seemed to know who you were. You were lost here, but Ayato was very aware.

He'd waited a long time to finally touch you like this, to finally be with you in person. The setting wasn't the most romantic, what with the bleeding corpse only a meter away, and the locale of a rain ridden alleyway, but it would do. It didn't matter what happened now, because you'd be making plenty of better memories together once he took you back to his apartment.

That's where he'd be keeping you. For how long?

Let's just say...indefinitely.

Ayato didn't have much of a plan beyond getting his clutches around you, and now that it had finally happened he felt like he could reward himself aptly. While allowing his thumb to slowly drag across your plush lip, he spoke again, hot breath dusting your face and carrying with it the slight metallic tinge of someone else's plasma.

“So it's only fair that you repay me for it. Right?”

There was a brief pause, before his casual, fittingly placid expression which matched so well with his near monotone voice, suddenly changed. His lips pulled apart into a menacing grin, his eyes sparking with a manic light that only looked scarier considering the hues they were showing.

“It's only fair [Y/N]. Besides...I can't help myself anymore.” he seemed to be leaning in closer and closer while he spoke, and there was nowhere for you to go, “I had to waste so much fucking time waiting to meet you, and you almost go and get yourself killed before I have the chance. There's no point in planning anything else, I should just act on instinct, right?”

Ayato's breathing started to quicken, his lips quickly drawing by your ear, heart pounding almost as fast as yours:

“Don't worry though...hehe...” his dark, breathless chuckle made you squirm, and the feel of his tongue darting against the shell of your ear all the more so, “I...won't kill you. I'll find other ways of...consuming you...”

Suddenly he pressed his mouth firmly against the side of your neck, holding your head in place while he kissed it passionately. You gasped and let out an involuntary moan, feeling the graze of his teeth as he barely held himself back.

Your frantic, desperate, woozy eyes cast upwards, and settled on the stormy strip of grey sky that lay overhead. Fresh rain spit down onto your visage, mingling with the hotter tears that were falling. An odd feeling overcame you. Terror. Relief.

When you closed your eyes only a moment passed before he was kissing you properly, his lips pressing to yours and his tongue pushing inside. Ayato tasted you, feverishly, heated, and allowed his hands to grip your hips and keep you pinned between his body and the hard concrete behind you. You were heady, limp and weakened in his hold, almost like you were ready to give in to him.

A monster. You knew that's what he was, and even if he had saved you from certain death, you felt like you were doomed either way. Ayato was still a stranger to you, but already you could tell. For once, you were making a smart assumption.

You'd never escape him. Forever, you would be his.

...His alone.