Despite the bliss that had enraptured them for the past few days following the Noh Mask attack in Nakano, the Fourteenth Ward, life certainly went on.

"...a pile of ghoul bodies were found Friday evening in a side street in Nakano," a female reporter said, the broadcast turned up on the TV screen. "CCG detectives have no idea who or what could have caused such destruction, and are prioritizing the identification of the attack's origin."

The screen cut to the street, where a bystander spoke into the microphone.

"I heard some yelling, and then the whole street started shaking as if an earthquake was hitting. Whatever it was, it was terrifying."

"Detectives have no other comments about the on-going investigation, but would like to reassure the public that everything is now under control."

Etsuko scoffed, reaching forward and grabbing her mug from the coffee table.

"Do you think they have any idea about who caused the attack?" She asked Ichijou, who was preparing himself a simple breakfast.

"Most likely not," Ichijou responded, turning around with a tray of rice, natto, and miso soup. He sat at the dining table, fixed towards the TV. "Scorpion's been dead for a while for all the CCG knows. Perhaps they'll link it to another SSS rank, or a powerful organization."

Etsuko huffed, taking a sip from her coffee.

The Noh Masks were probably going to spread rumors now. Rumors about Scorpion, the Mad Temptress, and their former leader, the Bloody Duchess, and how they were all one woman.

Etsuko hissed softly. She had always wanted to keep her identities separate, for privacy's sake. They were like alter egos, personalities she could assume at different times, and they served their purposes well within the past handful of years.

She sighed. Perhaps this discovery was inevitable. Especially since she was now engaged to a human.

Her amber eyes widened.

Oh god. Everyone was going to know about Ichijou now.

Her hardened gazed flashed to her fiancé, who looked at her with an expression twisted with worry.

"Are you okay?" Ichijou asked her, setting down his rice bowl and chopsticks. "You look like you're deep in thought again."

"I—" Etsuko blurted out, her voice clipping. She let out a breath. "You're going to have to be careful now, especially whenever you're near Nakano. The Noh Masks must know that I have a human that's precious to me now, and they'll target you in order to get to me."

Ichijou's eyes darkened, and he gave her a single, curt nod.

"Got it," he said simply, and pressed his lip into a fine line. He thought for a brief second before speaking once more. "And what about you?"

Etsuko smirked.

"The broadcast conveniently left out the fact that there was a ghoul that was cannibalized on scene," she said, her tone high with cockiness. "They'll probably attribute it to some territorial violence, since cannibals have been an on-going issue in that ward, anyway. I don't think they want the public to know that though, since it would strain the hysteria a bit more to know that Nakano's a ghoul hotspot. At most, they'll come up with a new SSS rank to look out for, like you said. But what do I know, you're the investigator here." Etsuko flashed a playful, predatory sneer at him.

Ichijou clicked his tongue in subtle annoyance, laced with the tiniest hint of amusement.

"You've certainly got the inner narrative of our workings down," he chuckled darkly. "I guess that's to be expected from one of the most powerful ghouls to elude the CCG—to evade us means to think like us."

Etsuko took another sip of her coffee, leaning forward to set it down on the glass tabletop again.

For some reason, the praise elicited an unusual sparkle of pride within her, and her chest warmed with the sensation as she ran some fingers through her long white hair.

"I'm at your mercy now," she teased. "One report from you to the higher-ups and I'm finished. You hold an incredible amount of power over my life now, Ichijou-kun."

Etsuko's voice dripped with sarcasm and mirth, her pink lips spreading into a wicked smile.

Ichijou's own lip twitched up in turn, finishing the rest of his breakfast before he got up to wash the dirty dishes.

"I would never," Ichijou said, feigning a hurt in his tone. He tilted his head to the side, something glinting in his onyx eyes. "It certainly would look bad on me if my future wife were to be imprisoned."

Etsuko let out a peal of laughter, draping herself across the couch so that she laid on her stomach, resting her chin on her hands as she watched Ichijou at the kitchen sink.

"That's what you're worried about the most?" She mused. "You always find ways to surprise me, Ichijou-kun."

"That's my line," he responded with a sly grin. "Scorpion."

She narrowed her eyes, tugging her lips into another smirk. After a moment, she flipped around and sank into the couch, letting out a deep sigh.

"Since you're still on leave until tomorrow," Etsuko said. "What do you wanna do today?"

There was a clatter of dishes as Ichijou put them away on the drying rack, and he wiped his hands dry before ambling up to the couch, where he crouched on his knees and pressed a soft kiss to Etsuko's forehead. He pressed his own against her temple, breathing her in for a minute, before he spoke.

"I was thinking about going ring shopping," he said softly. Etsuko's lashes fluttered as she jerked her eyes over to him in shock. "Since the whole proposal was so...abrupt, I didn't have the time to pick anything out. Would you like to come with me, or do you want it to be a surprise?"

Etsuko couldn't stifle the sheepish smile that crept up on her face, and she brought her hand up to caress the sharpness of his jaw. She entangled herself in his gaze as she parted her lips to speak.

"I don't want to be away from you," she said simply.

Ichijou beamed, and then nodded.

"Alright. Let's get dressed then."

The couple set out to Ginza, where they walked the streets locked arm-in-arm. Etsuko wore an elegant, off-white trench coat over a cream body-con dress, a pair of matching platform boots on her feet. Her hair was fashioned into a chic bun, her bangs grazing the top of a pair of large sunglasses get upon the bridge of her nose. Ichijou was dressed in a black knit sweater, a heavy coat pulled over his shoulders, with a pair of khaki slacks and a silver-and-blue Rolex adorning his wrist.

They looked incredibly beautiful together, apparent in the way others seemed to steal glances at them as they made their way down the street.

They were the perfect couple.

A perfectly damned couple.

Ichijou guided Etsuko through the door of the jewelry store as he held it open, his hand around her waist, and followed her inside as the employees inside bowed and welcomed them.

Etsuko browsed through the selection of engagement rings that were set in a line on the display cases, presented on velvet pillows as the woman who helped them brought them out of the glass. She twisted her lip in thought.

She was never one for material things. In fact, she barely had the funds to finance any real luxury in her life, as she always stole her victims' wallets for the cash and cards they had. She never held a real job, despite graduating with a master's degree from Kamii University, purely because she thought it would be much too dull. College was just a way to pass the time anyway—she never intended to really do anything with it.

And so she found herself in thrift shops often, picking out cheap fares and splurging on makeup products whenever she managed to murder and rob a particularly loaded guy. Material things, as mentioned before, were never really something she was fussy about.

Before, she only concerned herself with killing.

However, she figured things must change if she were to integrate seamlessly into human society as Ichijou's wife. She needed to evolve into something more, something completely different than how she'd been living all those years. All for his sake.

Heat rose to her cheeks as Etsuko gave the passing thought a second consideration.

Wife. The term was foreign to her, but the mere thought of it brought a fluttering sensation to grace her chest, just beneath her ribcage. And she found herself smiling as she gazed down onto the display case.

Etsuko flickered her eyes upon the selection of rings for possibly the dozenth time, and then released a sigh.

"I'm not sure," she finally said, turning to Ichijou, who watched her scrupulously with intense dark eyes. "I think I'd want something simple and delicate, but I'm not really sure what style would suit me."

Ichijou turned his attention to the employee standing in front of them behind the display case.

"What would you suggest?" He asked her.

The employee tilted her head, swiping her gaze across the jewelry.

"We have some limited edition designs available if they're in your budget," she stated, still mulling over the rings on the display case.

"Price isn't an issue," Ichijou told her, and Etsuko's eyes flickered up to him. "I just want something that would suit her well."

The employee bowed and put away the rings before she excused herself, and left Etsuko and Ichijou at the counter.

"Ichijou-kun—" Etsuko started.

"I already know what you're gonna say," Ichijou said, rolling his eyes. His fingers fidgeted with a seam on her trench coat. "I know. You already hate it when I buy coffee for you. But please let me just splurge on this ring for you, just this once. It's going to be a token of my love for you, and I want it to be special. So just let me, won't you?"

Etsuko met his wide, anticipating eyes. A smile was stretched across his lips, his brow creased in sheepishness. She sighed.

She knew that rings weren't going to be cheap, but she hadn't expected for Ichijou to just completely ignore the pricing. She was aware that the CCG paid well, and had tremendous benefits since they were technically government positions, especially for a First-Class Investigator like Ichijou. It just...didn't sit right with her.

Ichijou drew her closer to his body, tugging on her waist as his arm snaked around her, and he pressed his lips against her temple. She felt his warm breath tickling the length of her neck, and she shuddered from the sensation.

She let out an exasperated hiss.

"Just this once," she relented, twisting her lips into a pout. "Only because you said something dumb like that. You already do enough for me, Ichijou-kun. You let me move in with you, and I'd feel awful if I felt like I was taking advantage of you financially for shopping and whatnot, too."

Ichijou blinked, gazing at her with soft but confounded eyes.

"Can't a man be proud of the fact that he's able to provide for his woman?" He murmured in her ear.

Etsuko felt a burning heat sear into her cheeks.

"Dummy..." she muttered, sliding a sharp gaze away from him as a faint smile ghosted across her lips.

Ichijou let out a low chuckle, pecking a kiss onto her temple once more.

"Mine," he whispered.

The woman came back with a long black box, and she ducked behind the display again before she set it up in front of the couple. Ichijou eased his hold on Etsuko, and she leaned forward, blinking down at the velvet box.

"This is this year's winter collection," the woman said. "Its inspiration relied heavily on bare trees and ice. Perhaps these would be more to your liking?"

The woman opened the top flap of the box, revealing a set of four unique-looking rings, all fashioned from white-gold, all inlaid with crystalline diamonds.

The one on the far right, however, immediately took hold of Etsuko's attention.

It was a dainty little thing, the circlet just a thin band but interwoven with what looked like branches, stripped of their leaves. Dots of tiny diamonds scattered across the branches, like little snowflakes, with a larger one set into the center of the ring. It was a two-piece, and a matching band to complete the set rested just beneath it.

Etsuko gaped at it in awe.

Ichijou cracked the tiniest of smiles as he stared at his fiancée, and then looked up at the employee.

"We'll take that one," he said, motioning towards the set.

Ichijou made his purchase, pulling out a black credit card from his leather wallet, and guided Etsuko back out onto the streets on Ginza with a small white bag in his hand, a red sakura logo stamped on its side. Etsuko clung to his arm, her cheeks scarlet.

"Thank you..." she murmured, leaning her head against his shoulder as they walked back towards the train station.

Ichijou laughed, pressing kiss into the top of her head.

"You're so cute today," he mused. "So shy. Perhaps I ought to buy you jewelry more often."

Etsuko hissed, hitting his arm before she released him and folded her arms across her chest. Ichijou rolled his eyes, and collected her back towards him with a suave hand around her waist.

"And now the old cranky-pants is back," he teased, pecking her cheek.

"Shut up," Etsuko murmured, twisting her lip as she looked away from him, though she remained tucked in his arm.

That night, after they'd showered, Etsuko laid in bed and was reading through her copy of The Black Goat's Egg, her finger adorned with a new shiny ring, when Ichijou emerged from the bathroom, dressed only in a pair of gray sweatpants. Even from where she was sitting, Etsuko could peep the bulge that was straining against the crotch of his pants.

Etsuko peered over her book, a mischievous eyebrow raised.

"Need some help there, big boy?" She cooed.

Ichijou scoffed, reaching his arms up so that he could grasp the top of the door trim, and he leaned against it as he crossed his ankles. Etsuko admired his muscles as they strained, the veins protruding from under his skin.

She licked her lips.

"I can't help it," he said, shrugging. "You're looking way too hot for your own good right now."

Etsuko giggled, placing her bookmark back in the novel and set it aside on her nightstand. He looked magnificent with the light of the bathroom illuminating him from behind, like some kind of halo. His body was so built, athletic, lean but bulky in all the right places. He had traces of stubble on his chin, his dark eyes blazing with a desire that burned into her soul as he stared right through her.

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sat up, leaning back on her hands as she continued to admire him, flicking her eyes up and down his chiseled figure.

"You know," she purred. "I'd never been with a man with so much muscle before you. The average guy is a lot...skinnier. I don't know why it didn't click to me that you were a Dove until you told me. It should've been obvious, especially with that body."

She kicked her foot up, twisting her lip in thought.

"Or maybe I should've mistaken you for an MMA fighter. You definitely have the build for it."

Ichijou let out a chuckle, releasing his grip on the trim and making his way to the side of the bed. Etsuko watched him with unblinking eyes, narrowed like a feline as it stalked its prey. Ichijou kneeled at her feet, dipping his hand under her knee and bringing it up to his lips. He pressed a soft kiss against her skin, the peak of her knee cold against warm lips. 

Etsuko shivered.

"You had me running around the entirety of Tokyo," he said softly, a menacing glare glinting in his dark eyes. "I had to adapt to keep up."

She let out a fluttery laugh, bringing a hand forward to twist her fingers into his dark wavy hair. Ichijou groaned as he felt her tug at the roots, and Etsuko's face flashed over with something of wickedness.

"The idea of you chasing after me," Etsuko murmured, releasing her grasp on his hair for just a moment before tightening it again. Ichijou let out another drawl, and Etsuko yanked him up to her face. She sneered, drawing a tongue over his bottom lip, before she pushed him back to the ground. "Sickens me."

Ichijou's dark eyes were widened slightly for a moment, and then they hooded over in amusement.

"What?" He mused. "Don't like it when your prey bites back?" 

He hopped onto the bed, his hand closing around her throat and pushing her down onto the mattress. Etsuko stared up at him with venomous eyes, her pink lips stretched into a smirk. Ichijou shifted his hand and pressed the tip of his index finger against those lips, and it sank into her mouth to press against her tongue. She lapped at it gently.

"Look at you," Ichijou cooed. "So pretty with my hand around your throat. I bet that didn't happen often with you—having hands clasped around your throat like this."

Etsuko rolled her eyes back as she felt him sink his finger deeper into her mouth, until the first knuckle. She groaned.

"Shh," the man hushed, shifting his knees so that he now knelt at her side. He brought his other hand to drag down her body, lingering on the swell of her breasts, palming them, and then went further down to her hips, to her inner thighs, before they reached her mound, searing with heat. "You like this, don't you? I can tell. You're so wet already and I've only touched you for a few minutes."

Ichijou brought his lips down next to her ear.

"Dirty slut," he hissed.

She felt something throb in her core, and his fingers suddenly grazed her bud with a lightness that seemed to be barely there. She trembled, feeling him sink his finger deeper into her mouth, to the second knuckle.

"Ichijou..." She panted, arching her back and leaning into his touch.

He gazed down at her with a playful, darkened look, so insidious that a shiver rippled up her spine.

"What is it, baby?" He murmured. "You aren't at your limit already, are you? I've barely touched you."

Etsuko groaned, shaking her head.

"Good," Ichijou whispered. He fingers made contact with her slickness, and she winced from his touch, letting out another moan. "There's my good girl."

He rubbed gentle circles on her, occasionally dragging his finger up and down the length of her slit, before continuing the motion—constantly teetering her between the line of pleasure and wanting. She shuddered under his touch, feeling everything as he continued to pin her down onto the bed by the throat, his finger in her mouth, her tongue lapping and her lips suckling tenderly upon it.

Etsuko reached a hand over and ran her palm up and down the ridge of his bulge, and Ichijou let out a hiss, throwing his head back.

"Fuck."

He growled as she rubbed him, and eventually, he pulled his hand away from her throat, his finger vacating her mouth, and he hooked his thumb over the waistband of his sweats to tug it down. His member tumbled out, and Ichijou positioned himself so that it loomed over her face. She purred, wasting no time in reaching out to grab it and sliding her tongue flat against the underside of it, eliciting shivers down his spine and sharp gasp through clenched teeth.

She pumped her hand up and down the length of him, watching his reactions through narrowed, seductive eyes as he continued to move his fingers over her wetness.

Suddenly, she felt a pressure ease between her legs and into the base of her core, and she let out a small gasp in surprise.

"Ichijou..." She mewed again.

"Yes, baby?" He responded softly. He wrapped a hand around the base of his length and tapped the head lightly against her lips. "Tell me what you want."

"I want—" Etsuko started, but was cut off as she felt a second finger push into her. "Oh!"

"Tell me, baby," Ichijou growled.

Etsuko let out a strangled breath, her eyes shutting but then opening wide as he started pushing his fingers in and out of her, slowly, agonizingly slow, from the fingertips all the way up to the knuckles on his hands. She shuddered, involuntary and seizing, and she threw her head back against the mattress to steady herself from the pleasure that wracked her mind into a numb mush.

"Can't..." She whimpered softly.

"Hmm?" Ichijou asked, the sound erupting from the base of his throat.

"Can't...do it..." Etsuko finally managed to garble out through quivering lips.

A trace of a smirk etched into his sharp features, something menacing brewing in those onyx eyes as he stared down at her.

"Can't use your words?" He cooed teasingly. His fingers stopped and pulled out of her, a whine of complaint rendering from her mouth. "Perhaps I should stop so that you can speak properly."

Etsuko furrowed her brows, pausing for a moment, and then she lunged.

She grappled his shoulders and swung him down onto the bed, swiping a leg over his hips so that she straddled over him, landing firm hands on either side of his head. He quirked up a brow and the corner of his lip twitched up, a gleam reappearing in his eyes.

"Now that the truth's out, you don't really have to hide your strength anymore, do you?" He jeered, sputtering out a chuckle.

Etsuko sneered back.

"I'm not as submissive as you think I am," she murmured teasingly.

Ichijou eyed her up and down, that smirk still plastered on his face, and he brought his hands up to clasp his fingers behind his head.

"Show me, then," he commanded.

A glimmer of heavy lust twinkled in her maple gaze, and Etsuko brought her lips down to press gently against the base of Ichijou's throat. As he moaned, a deep rumble rose from it, and she felt the vibrations upon her lips as she moved them rhythmically against his skin, dragging them up to his Adam's apple, to the narrow ridge of his jawline, and then finally to the edge of his mouth.

She snatched his lips into hers, and crushed a passionate, deep kiss into him. Her hand snapped up to grasp his cheeks in her fingers, squeezing them so that his lips pursed open, and she pushed her tongue in between them, forcing it down to meet his own. He groaned into her mouth, the sound almost enough to make her eyes roll back, and she panted against his ragged breath as they lost themselves in each other's touch.

Etsuko reached back and took hold of his throbbing length, hard to the touch, and stroked it a few times before she guided it to her opening, slapping it against the slickness a few times before pushing herself back against the head. Ichijou clenched his jaw and then released it so that his lips could hang open just slightly, his eyes flickering down to watch as she pushed him into her, and then returned back to her face, colliding with her hungry amber glare.

"Etsuko—" He whimpered. 

The feeling of her enveloping him banished his voice, her rear slamming into his hips as his length dug into her all the way to the hilt. Etsuko's groan mingled into a laugh as she smiled down at him, his head tossed back, his body quivering from the sudden pleasure. She leaned forward and pressed her palms into his broad chest, arching her back, and slid her hands over his skin before raising her hips, slamming it back down on him once more.

The movement made his body jolt, and his hands immediately unclasped from behind his head and reached out to grapple at her thighs, squeezing them and groping them helplessly as she rode him, her eyes wide in a crazed lust, watching him, drinking in the sight of him. She continued moving relentlessly upon him, her hands wrapping around his shoulders, her thumbs stroking up and down the sides of his throat.

"You're so big," she cooed. "It feels like you're digging into my stomach. Do you feel it, baby? How far you're reaching into me?"

Ichijou let out a garbled grunt, his hands slipping to her hips, grasping at them and using more force to slam them down with every over bounce. He began bucking his hips, meeting her rhythm, and she let out a squeal. The sounds of their bodies colliding filled the room, the crispness of it, the wetness of it. Over and over again.

"Fuck, you're gonna make me cum," Ichijou huffed, the sweat beading upon his forehead, his face growing a delightful shade of pink. 

He let out a whimper, throwing his head back into the covers again, and Etsuko let out a low laugh. She reached out and grabbed his face, pulling it back towards her, and she caught his eyes as they widened.

"Look at me," she breathed, continuing her rhythm with a brutal monotony. "I want to see you shatter."

Etsuko released her grip on his face, and he remained locked in her gaze, as though he were entranced under the most nefarious of spells, and he raised his hands up to cup the modest handfuls of perky breasts that bounced with every movement. He tugged at her nipples, eliciting a wide, maniacal smile upon her lips as the sharp pain rippled through her body, and she felt herself throbbing around his member, the swell of him growing harder the longer she moved over him.

Their shallow, ragged breaths drew in unison as the rhythm of her remained terrifyingly constant, and Ichijou furrowed his brows deeper and deeper as he felt himself constrict.

"Fuck, Etsuko, I'm gonna—"

"Cum inside me," she said, dropping herself so that their bodies pressed against each other. She turned her head to the side and caught his earlobe between her teeth, and she heard him hiss.

"Fuck," he cried, the curse catching in his throat as the whimper hitched behind it, wrapping his hands around her waist and forcing her up and down on him with even more conviction. 

He began bucking his hips again, wild and desperate, until he let out a strangled wail as he shoved himself deep inside her one final time.

She felt herself release the coiling that had built up inside her core and convulsed around him, trembling, and let out another squeal that melded into a fluttery laugh. She felt him fill her up with spurt after spurt, and he struggled to breathe as he pressed his head back into the mattress, his face scrunched up in a look of pained ecstasy, his mouth hanging wide. A stuttering moan erupted from his throat, merging into a series of whimpers to convey a rapture that tore through his mind, and Etsuko watched in delight as she felt him crumble beneath her.

As the convulsions and trembles of euphoria dwindled into a stunned state of numbness and stupor, Ichijou finally released and fell back against the bed, his hands falling limp at his sides only for a brief moment before he brought them back up to wrap around her shoulders. She was sprawled on top of him, heaving, and she nuzzled into the crook of his neck as she felt his embrace close in around her.

They cleaned each other up as they entered the shower again, and after toweling each other up, they hopped into bed without bothering to slip into any clothes. Etsuko scooted into Ichijou's waiting embrace, and they snuggled up against the pillows with the blanket pulled up to their shoulders. Ichijou pressed a gentle kiss against her forehead, Etsuko closing her eyes and sighing a breathless sigh as he did so, and he took her hand into his.

He brought the glimmering ring up to his mouth, and then pressed another kiss onto it, grazing her knuckles afterward, his warm breath sending a rippling sensation up her arm and to intoxicate her already disheveled mind.

"I love you," he murmured tenderly.

And Etsuko couldn't help herself, with his obsidian-clad eyes, the sharpness of his features, the adoration that seeped into every fracture of his being. She gazed down at him with the same level of reverence and ache, the words ghosting across barely parted lips.

"I love you, too."

~~~*~~~

Hi. I'm back...kinda LOL

I know there were some notifications that this story was updated earlier today, and that's because I made some oopsies while editing HAHA

I do intend to finish this story, but I'm not sure how regular or irregular the updates will be. 

In the meantime, if you've watched/read Jujutsu Kaisen, I've been working on a new project called Mine, which is a Geto Suguru fanfic, so head over to my profile to check it out if you want!

Make sure vote and comment!

And as always, thanks for reading!