Welcome to Gaia! ::

▱▰▱Akaran carried her upstairs and allowed himself to lighten up a bit as well. He hated having to be so serious but it was appropriate up to this point in the context of the situation. A young girl that Akihiko cared about was being sold into sex slavery after all and this was not lost on even the naive Akaran. He smiled widely as he walked past Akihiko with the child in his arms still. "Aki-suke! Aki-suke! Aki-suke!" Akaran yelled out the nickname in his own Oni-esque tone of voice while still trying to sound cutesy to tease Akihiko. He giggled a bit as they climbed up the stairs and he buried the girl's face into his shoulder as Akihiko carved up multiple henchmen like a turkey. When they got back out he let her down for a moment before stretching his arms. Once Akihiko made his way outside, Akaran nodded and picked up Chiyo again without hesitation when non-verbally requested. "Good idea. Let's get her back home." Akaran tried to sound serious again despite his eyes softening like a haze on Akihiko. Seeing this sweet side to him was beyond refreshing and instilled a deeper trust in him. Now he felt the guilt well up in his throat for being suspicious of him and for his outburst over it. The samurai started thinking of what he wanted to say as they walked down the road together and would carry her back into her home with Akihiko.

▱▰▱Akaran hugged Chiyo closer to him after she initiated. He smiled widely in genuine enchantment with her adorable attention. It was rare for Akaran to spend time with children so he wanted to maximize the preciousness while it was available to him. When Chiyo asked her blunt question, Akaran automatically laughed aloud. He supposed that children always did ask the best questions. He smiled genuinely upon the confirmation that Akihiko was interested in men rather than women which was more typical. Clearly Chiyo and her family knew Akihiko well enough to extract that kind of information. Although Akaran would have taken the conversation at face value either way. Akaran briefly considered teasing Akihiko but elected to help take the pressure off of him instead. Akaran spoke up in the midst of Akihiko's grin. "I'm Aki-suke's friend Akaran Ka-gu-ya. I'm a samurai from the Land of Iron." He gave his brief introduction to the girl before putting his hands in her armpits before extending his arms outwards. He playfully tossed her up in the air before safely catching her three times. Akaran would smile and laugh as he did so and was beaming with genuine enjoyment before pulling her in close again and continuing to walk and talk. "You'd be a beautiful flower girl Chi-yo." He complimented as he looked over at Akihiko and felt himself blush a bit as well despite his attempts to suppress the coloring of his cheeks.

▱▰▱Akaran giggled at her flower question but was floored by Akihiko's compliment. Red was absolutely his favorite color after all but this only made his blush deepen before he placed Chiyo on his back with her hands in his over his shoulders for a piggyback ride. "Red orchids. Akaran means red orchid. My father said I was named after the red orchids of the fire mountain in the Land of Iron. I want to go there someday." His father was secretive and far from transparent and this was the only lead he could go on to find his mother and his other family. She must have lived somewhere on that mountain since that was the place his father went to in order to learn Reiken no Michi. His father returned with him but not with his mother and never spoke of it. Maybe she was dead? At the very least he needed that closure and to know where he came from. What he wanted more than anything was to be accepted somewhere whether that be in his homeland or on the fire mountain.

"Aki-suke's right though, red rules! What's your favorite color, Chi-yo?" Akaran asked curiously but before she could answer, he jogged around and eventually ran faster but mostly in circles around Akihiko's path to avoid getting far ahead of him. As the goofball ran around with her on his back, Akihiko spoke about her parents being glad to have her back safely and how he would not have managed without Akaran. His smile widened and after another minute of piggyback riding, he would run over and sweetly plop her in Akihiko's arms. Akaran knew that he cared about the child and wanted him to get some time with her. "Probably not." He winked playfully in response to Akihiko's statement acknowledging the oni's role in this rescue before poking the tip of his nose and returning to walking beside him. He put his hands behind his head leisurely as he walked beside him. "Man I could go for some lunch soon..." Akaran yawned this out as he stretched his shoulders and diaphragm mid-walk. He flashed his wide grin at Akihiko as he always did to convince him to get food. A nap would also be nice too but the Kaguya's appetite for food and sleep was simply insatiable.

▱▰▱When he passed Chiyo to Akihiko he listened to him talk about the fire mountain and oni. He had a puzzled look on his face as he responded. "Oni live there too? Interesting." He continued walking as he thought about the fire mountain. He supposed his obviously human mother probably just lived in a mountain town or something. "We can visit the oni after we find my ma." Akaran stated matter-of-factly and was willing to stand his ground that they would find his family first. He was not sure where to begin but he would figure it out later as he always did. Akaran nodded his head that they would not have time to eat at the Yamaoka home and just took it at face value. Although he was definitely bummed and was really hankering for rice and chicken. When they finally arrived he watched from outside as Chiyo reunited with her family. He smiled brightly and felt his heart warm as they took her inside to get her taken care of. It was best that he stay beside Akihiko and give the family their space to take care of her before knocking on the door again but he would follow Akihiko's lead as he did from the beginning of this mission.

Akaran, without thinking, felt his hand slowly drift over to gently grab Akihiko's as he savored their ephemeral moment of time together. He felt his fingers interlace with Akihiko's as his middle and ring finger rubbed against the cloth of his partially-fingerless glove. He felt his heart flutter as he held Akihiko's hand. This soft feeling caused him to turn his head to Akihiko and utterly spill his guts. "I'm sorry for what I said and did before. I believe in your heart more than you do and it makes me crazy sometimes." He rubbed the back of his neck as he expressed his regret. No one was able to truly make him that angry and concerned but he was realizing that its source was of a deeper sort. "I care about you and I never wanna leave." Akaran felt his grip tighten as he smiled with amorous support for his partner. After all that Akihiko stated in their travels together but especially today, he felt safe in expressing himself.

▱▰▱Akaran's cheeks were now the same carmine color as his hair when Akihiko touched his face and brought him down for a kiss. Akaran rather aggressively grabbed the mercenary's shirt with both hands and pulled him into a hungrier kiss than perhaps either of them bargained for. He felt Akihiko's hand tangle itself in his hair as he tugged harder on his shirt before affectionately rubbing his chest. Despite Akaran's taller and more imposing demeanor, he still wanted Akihiko to feel masculine in their loving embrace. The weeks and weeks of traveling and training together brought romantic tension that came crashing down all at once. After a minute of passion, he felt his love well up in his mouth to give to Akihiko. With their lips locked, Akaran could not help but savor the taste of the kiss before gasping for air. It was then that he bit Akihiko's lower lip gently and gripped his shirt yet again. "You're so damn hot." Akaran said with lust in his voice and eyes before releasing his lip. Akaran then used his hands on his chest to playfully push him back because he did not want them to awkwardly get caught by Chiyo's parents. He took a few moments to catch his breath as he waited for the parents to welcome them in at the right time.

▱▰▱When Akihiko was pushed off he smiled when the father appeared. The hug and Chiyo's father's jovial expression elucidated even further that Akihiko had a special familial connection with them. Akaran smiled smugly as he watched Akihiko's kind manner of comporting himself. He was not buying for a minute that Akihiko only did this to repay a debt and he hoped that his facial expression got that point across. Akaran laughed when he was called the husband knowing instinctively that Chiyo said something. She really was shaping up to be his little wing-woman after all. He returned the hug warmly and without hesitation before responding to his grateful words. "Happy to help! Chi-yo is the cutest." Akaran then flashed a charming smile and a thumbs up once the hug was concluded. He then cracked his knuckles after Akihiko mentioned settling the score with the mobsters. "We got this!" He was now ready to leave the house and finish the mission once Akihiko once. However, he was even more excited to spend more alone time with Akihiko.

▱▰▱The bosses seemed completely unaware when they were besieged by Akaran and Akihiko scarcely an hour after Chiyo's rescue. When they returned to the families he was proud to have had a role in truly making a difference. Days later in Konoha, Akaran sat beside Akihiko in the hot water. When Akihiko finally brought up the matter that Akaran had been wanting to discuss, he placed his hand on the man's thigh from under the water. They were of course nude in the private springs and Akaran was taking full advantage of it with his lover. Right after he asked Akaran the question he placed his other hand on his neck and smashed their lips together with loving but no less starved kisses. "Shut up. I gotta feeling I don't wanna know anyway. What I wanna know is if we can help people together again. I liked that about you, A-ki-hi-ko." His eyes were immensely sincere as he floated the idea of them somehow finding a way to do white-hat mercenary work. The opportunity to crack down on more exploitation might be less profitable but it was not like Akihiko was hurting for money. Besides, they could make money from better sources for the purposes of getting the bad guys shut down. He was not interested in being outright vigilantes but perhaps bounty hunters? Either way, he began very tenderly kissing the man's bruised jawline as he awaited a response, realizing that he might be in pain while they were kissing normally.

▱▰▱Akaran grinned when his leg was grabbed. He was unsurprised by Akihiko's typical sappy and no bleeding hearts routine but somewhat annoyed by it. He knew who Akihiko really was that he felt he had to keep suppressed. Akaran returned the kiss before listening to the rest of Akihiko's questions regarding their next steps. His grin widened to be even more suggestive as his hand slid up Akihiko's leg to firmly grip another area. "Sappy heroics? Bleeding heart? I wonder what lil Aki thinks about that." His grin was even more sultry and suggestive as other movements were made. Akaran then began kissing and biting into his neck all in an effort to weaken his stubborn resolve. "Seems like he doesn't agree with you. What do ya think now? Are you gonna be a good hero?" Akaran kissed his neck some more to increase the intensity of his affection. This was all in an effort to be persuasive for Akihiko to change his path and make the mercenary squeak. "You're my boyfriend now, A-ki-hi-ko, so you're goin' with me to the Land of Iron. I'm now strong enough to be a great samurai. After that we can go look for my ma." Akaran continued to be forceful with his affection to render Akihiko helpless to him. He was determined to be officiated as a samurai despite his unorthodox ways. He would not rest until his family honor as a Zaishin Kaguya was restored. In the silence, Akaran moved up again and showered Akihiko's face in kisses on his forehead, nose, cheeks, and lips. He felt smugly satisfied in his ability to convince Akihiko now.