justonetruth | (no subject)

[he doesn't know what to say, what to do- it's not supposed to be this confusing]

Why don't you run? Why don't you?

[the hand he's holding is being squeezed tighter without him realising, and there's something so very confused in his expression]

Everything's broken - why won't you run?

[she resists the urge to yank on her hand or make a face, though she can't prevent a small exhale of pain]

Because you're still... you. You're just hurt. [and that hurts her]

Stupid little girl.

Go away. Go away, right now!

[but he's not moving away, he's not letting go of your hand - wants you gone, but here - wants this confusion to stop]

I'm not leaving you.

[The repetition is firm, full of conviction. She's well aware that he hasn't answered her question, either, but she has to be careful here, has to watch where she pushes]

[sags a little, and just lets his head drop onto your shoulder]

-why?

[sounds broken and so very confused]

[slowly, ever so hesitantly, she puts her free arm around him, offering a hug. This... this is wrong. Kaito should never look like this]

There has to be a reason?

[her voice is quiet]

Always a reason.

You confuse things.

[and that's bad. that's very bad when he has to be in control, though somehow it always seems to difficult when he's not on a contract]

[you being confusing is wrong]

I'm not trying to.

[just a little bit of her usual attitude showing through there, but it's gone again in a moment]

I... can't you let me help?

...No.

No, I can't. [his voice has suddenly gone hard as steel, and he's not so much being held as letting you hold him - for now]

[and yet his hands are slipping to lock around your waist, holding you there]

[there's a way to deal with this. there's always a way, and he's just found it]

[can't confuse him if it's dead]

[she senses the difference, and quickly lets go, except... he's holding her now. And not in a way that's very reassuring.

She tenses. But she's going to stay here until she has absolutely no other option]

Why not?

Dead and gone, and I won't let it be brought back. Don't want at all.

So it has to be forgotten, and I can help with that, can't I?

[persuading himself to speak, keepng speaking, he just has to think clearer, get rid of the confusion, he knows what to do, it'll be so easy if he lets go and takes his knife-]

[doesn't like the sound of that...]

If you don't want it, then why won't you let go of me?

[throws it at him like a challenge]

Why does it matter if I call you Kaito? It shouldn't matter, should it?

Told you, he's dead.

[shakes her a little, his grip moving to her waist]

[grins suddenly, full of madness - there's nothing recognisable as Kaito there any more]

I'm going to fix it all, don't worry.

[don't be scared don't be scared don't be scared]

It doesn't look like you've been doing a good job fixing it so far. [her hands are on his upper arms, but she can't push away -- it almost looks as if they're about to dance, although it's nothing so benign] And you never answered my questions.

Didn't, did I? [a short bark of laughter]

Then three because everything matters, two because it's mine-

And one...

One...

[smiles beautifically]

One is because I can kill you easier like this.

[she has to keep him talking, keep him distracted; she won't be able to get away until he moves or loosens his grip, and she's seen how fast he can move. By then it might be too late]

You still didn't answer my first question.

[it takes an effort to keep her voice from shaking]

I'm sorry, there were so many.

[catches your chin with his fingers, but there's the flat of a blade between them and your skin, ready to use]

I can forget just the one, can't I?

You didn't tell me what happened!

[she blurts the words out, no longer sure if she means what happened to him to cause him to be slumped in this room, where she found him, or what happened to him... period. She isn't sure she wants to know the latter]

Won't say.

[draws the blade back, a shallow cut under your chin]

[he touches the blade to his tongue, smiling a little at the coppery tang of blood and metal together]

[She bites back a yelp and jerks back at the cut, one hand coming up to press the cuff of her sleeve to the cut and staunch the blood. The way he licks the liquid off the knife makes her stomach flop, and not in a good way. She could shove at his arm, just enough to get the blade near his face, to scare him off...

...no. If that went wrong, it could cut his mouth wide open. She can't risk that, even with this Kaito]

Not even how you got burned?

[Her voice is only calm by dint of extreme effort. She has to stay calm. He wants her to be scared, and if she gives him what he wants she isn't sure how long she'll last. It seems that Kaito likes provoking reactions no matter what he's like.

Hopefully this one isn't as stubborn at getting them.

And hopefully he hasn't realized that thanks to his use of the knife, he's now only holding her with one hand. Aoko keeps herself tense, prepared to break away the moment his remaining grip slackens even a little bit]

How does anybody get burned?

[he murmurs, eyes fixed to the cut hidden by her sleeve and her hands, vansishing the knife and tugging at her hand, to get her to show him, all that pretty blood, dripping, wonderfully wasted]

They get careless.

And then they get hurt. [a crooked smile, as close to a genuine emotion from him as anyone will see, twisted and ironic but his. he's prying more insitently at her fingers now, wanting to see]

At a heist?

[resists, then suddenly tries to take a step back at the same time and break away]

[he snatches at her, uncoordinated, but the hand that is already holding her closes with a vicelike grip]

No.

[he's snapped the word out, and he didn't mean to. He wants her gone, but he wants her there, doens't want her out of his reach when he's so close and she's a mess of conflicting insticts why does she do this to him-]

[it's hard to tell if the snap is a response to what she said or what she did, but she isn't sure it matters, gasping as his hand clenches painfully around her wrist. No escape to be found here]

Then where?

[the touch of pain in his statement just before keeps her going, caught between worry and compassion and morbid curiosity. Her eyes fix on the scar, his face, watching his expressions and waiting for another chance to get away.

...And yet she doesn't want to go. She isn't just going to let him kill her, but if there's anything, anything she can do to help him...]

It doesn't even look like it healed right.

Healed just fine.

[or healed just well enough. well enough he can still see, still wear a monocle, still hide it if he needs]

[and he won't tell where, or when, or even who, because that memory is painful and makes him wake up with no voice, staring at the wall in blind terror, fingernails digging into his palms as images rocket across his vision and blood pools and everything comes undone in his memories of a repeating, endless nightmare]

[he retreats to the shield he knows best, face going blank, his gaze on Aoko curiously detached]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

What time zone are you in, btw?

GMT \o/ [drinks tea]

Ohjeez. *is PST, stumbles to bed*

no subject

Ohjeez. is PST, stumbles to bed