Always (Kuroro Lucilfer) Chapter 1

 “I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair.”

You stood out on the balcony of your hotel room, the cold wind rustling your hair as your dull eyes scanned over the beautiful view of the city below. You were on one of the top floors of the hotel but the lights of the nearby buildings still shined as bright as stars against the black velvet sky. Your ears could just faintly pick up the sound of the traffic down below.

The hotel door opened and closed behind you, but you were too wrapped up in the serene view to notice. Only when hands rested on your shoulders did you realize you weren’t alone. You could smell the faint scent of his cologne and feel the aura that could only belong to Kuroro Lucifer.

“You shouldn’t be standing out here without a coat. You’re going to catch a cold.” He spoke softly, his hands rubbing your bare arms, cold to the touch.

You glanced at him before quickly looking away. “I don’t get sick easily.”

He shook his head, grip tightening as he forced you back into the room, closing the glass doors behind him. “I won’t let you take that chance. You’re not to go outside without a jacket.”

You sat on the side of the bed and scowled, eyes narrowed at the older male. Your voice dripped with sarcasm as you spoke, “Forgive me, mother, I won’t do it again.”

Kuroro’s gaze hardened, his tone strict. “Don’t be a smartass. I meant what I said, Y/N.”

“Che. Like it matters.” You folded your arms and closed your eyes. “You aren’t around more than a couple days. You know damn well I’m gonna go out after you leave just to spite you because you told me not to.”

He moved forward gracefully, grabbing your chin. Your eyes snapped open, locking with his dark ones. “You won’t defy me.”

“What makes you so sure?”

You could hear your own voice crack and it made you feel like a helpless child. That’s all you were in his eyes; a child for him to control. You always found yourself wondering why he chose someone nine years younger. Why not someone his own age? The question plagued your mind more often than not, but you never voiced it. He wouldn’t answer you, anyway. You could only assume that you were easier to control than someone his own age.

Kuroro leaned closer, his voice low and soft as if he truly was talking to a scared little child. “Because I’m all you have. Without me you have nothing and you would never do anything if it carried the risk of losing me.”

“Don’t talk to me like I’m a child.” You snapped, narrowing your eyes in anger.

“Then stop acting like one.” He responded in a dangerously low tone, letting go of your chin and heading towards the bathroom. The shower was turned on a few minutes later.

You could only glare angrily at the carpeted floor.

Where did he get off, treating you like that?

You fell back onto the bed with an exasperated sigh, staring up at the white ceiling. You couldn’t deny the fact that what he had said was indeed true and that fact angered you more than anything. You had never been a helpless or vulnerable person and you never used to bite your tongue, either. If you had something to say, they can bet your ass you would have said it to their face without a problem.

But things were different with him. You’d always bite your tongue and keep your colorful words to yourself.

It was painful to admit, but you were afraid that you’d piss him off and lose him forever. Where would you be, then?

The shower shut off and a few minutes of silence passed before Kuroro exited the bathroom with nothing but a short towel tied around his waist. You ignored him, still staring at the ceiling as if it was the most interesting thing you had ever laid your eyes upon.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw him set a black bag on the end of the bed before unzipping it. The suit he took out only meant that he was about to leave for another job. Whenever he would go undercover, he always felt the need to wear the same dark blue suit, as if it were his uniform.

‘I guess in a way it is,’ you mused.

Kuroro returned to the bathroom, this time leaving the door open. You watched him curiously, head leaned back at an almost uncomfortable angle. Even though the view was upside down, you could see what he was doing clearly.

He grabbed the pair of scissors from the side of the sink and began to cut his hair. It was about an inch he removed, maybe even less than that, but you could still see the difference. He looked fine, so why the hell did he need to cut his hair?

Kuroro once again returned to the bed, dropping his towel and getting dressed. By that point, you started ignoring him again, mind wrapped around the non-existent reason for his hair cutting.

“Y/N,” his voice had returned to normal, calm gaze watching you closely. He knew that you had drifted off into your own world. It was something you did often to cope and he had gotten used to it by now.

Only when he moved to stand in front of you, his legs brushing against your own, did you snap out of it. Your expression wasn’t exactly friendly, but most of your anger had fizzled out by now.

You didn’t need to question him about what he wanted, seeing his outstretched hand that held a long and thin white bandage. It wasn’t that he couldn’t put it on himself (he had done it many times), it was the fact that he wanted to annoy you by having you do it for him.

You rolled your eyes and got off the bed, watching as Kuroro took your place. After handing the bandage over to you, he rested his elbows on his knees, his fingers intertwining with each other.

Putting one of your knees between his legs, you leaned closer and slipped the bandage underneath his damp bangs, lying it flat over his forehead before tying it at the back. While you did this, the black haired male sat in content with his eyes closed. It was the only moment of peace his day offered him.

Annoying you was not the real reason he made you wrap the bandage every time, believe it or not. Of course, the real reason was something he planned to take to his grave.

“There,” you muttered, backing away so he could stand.

“I’ll be back later. Don’t wait up.” He didn’t spare you a glance as he exited the room.

“If I did, I’d never get any damn sleep.”

You scoffed, grabbing his bag and throwing it into the white chair that sat beside the balcony doors. Something inside caught your attention and you reached in, pulling out a hardcover book. It was one of many from his vast collection, which you still could not figure out where he kept.

You bounced back onto the bed, your back against the headboard. Flipping the book open, you began to read the contents, hoping that the printed words would reach out and grab you, taking you far away from Kuroro.

━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━

It was about three in the morning when Kuroro returned to the hotel room. He wasn’t surprised to see the lights still on. You were a stubborn one and odds were that you would do the complete opposite of whatever he had told you to do. You hated to be bossed around and be told what to do. Most people would believe it was because you were just being a rebellious teenager, but he knew better than anyone that it was not the reason.

Kuroro’s eyes softened when they landed on you.

You were on your back, arm sprawled out and curled towards the pillow. Your left hand was resting on the back of the large book that lay open on your stomach. You had obviously fallen asleep reading it, but considering you had gotten more than halfway through, he was curious as to when exactly you had drifted off.

Kuroro took the book and set it on the nightstand before sitting on the side of the bed. At first, he just watched you sleep, but then he reached out and brushed a few strands of hair out of your face.

You whispered his name in your sleep and he found himself smiling despite himself.