Crown on the ground...

She makes this little noise of   i r r i t a t i o n ;  Not at him, necessarily, but maybe at the way he lets his back become such a problem before he seeks any sort of help with it.She shuffles into her kitchen, clanks around for maybe 90 secondsand then returns with a glass of water and a look that says she isn’timpressed. She holds back on the scolding until he’s hydrated.”Some day, you’re going to actually cripple yourself, sensei.”She informs him, sitting down and laying hands over the ugly scarleft behind by his former colleague. Muscles jump underneath herfingertips, and she hisses as she begins her massage.

She looks at him with those sea glass eyes, and for a moment she looks like an animal about to chew off its paws; desperate, angry, feral. She can still feel fingerprints across her flesh---------whorled bruises that fade fromviolet to invisibility under the glowing green of her hands. Pooled blood haslong since been washed like watercolors down the kitchen sink; she lookswhole and clean---------untouched. In truth, she’s so cracked it’s a wonderthat she doesn’t    l e a k .  She stares at him and swallows   h a r d .She does it because she’s angry---------because she’s desperate and hurtand because nervous energy is crackling like    l i g h t n i n g   between herteeth. Because the taste of fine alcohol and bad breath is all she can thinkof, and because maybe this can keep her from thinking. Maybe she does itbecause she wants to punish him; she isn’t sure, and it doesn’t matter; her small hands find his shoulders and she   p u s h e s   him until his backhits the wall. Her fingers curl in the fabric of his vest---------she tugs him down to her level, angles her mouth across his, and kisses him like a drowning woman searching for oxygen. The kiss is teeth an tongues---------a fist in his goldenrod hair and the heel of her hand along the edge of hisjaw. She wants it to be hard, and ugly---------she can feel the bloom of a developing bruise under the delicate skin of her lips but when she tastesb l o o d   (hers. She’s sure that it’s hers) her heart curls up at the edges like the dried peel of an orange. She pulls away as impulsively (suddenly)as she’d begun the kiss---------she wipes at the streak of red she’s left behind on his skin with one thumb, and looks at him with an unhappinessthat is nearly cellular; she’s not sure what he is to her, but she can’t quitejustify using him to wash herself clean. She pulls away because she’s ashamed and maybe because, secretly, she wants to keep on kissing him.“Go find someone else to have fun with; I’m bad company tonight.”

“Senseeei! I’m here to rub your shouldersss!”

AGGRESSIVELY REFUSES TO EVER SPEAK OF THIS AGAIN.She low-key accepts the casserole though.

AGGRESSIVELY SMASHES HER PHONE INTO DUST.

[txt; psycho] You 100% need to invest in a scarf.[txt; psycho] Free advice.[txt; psycho] How the hell did you get this number?

[txt; k-k-karui] Wow. Good for you.[txt; k-k-karui] So are you all mutants, or is everyone in kumo just hot?

[txt; unknown]  New phone, who this?

[txt; cherry bomb] Are you fucking kidding me?[txt; cherry bomb] You are literally seeing someone[txt; cherry bomb] Which I didn’t know, BTW[txt; cherry bomb] And it is serious enough for you to send nudes.[txt; cherry bomb] AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME, WTF SAKURA.

Ino   l a u g h s   at the expression on her solemn little girl’s face. The woman leans down and scoops the little girl up, resting her on one hip and supporting the toddler’s back with one arm as her free hand rises to push wispy hair away from wide black eyes. The little girl stares at her with a serious expression--------reaches out with one fat hand to curl fingers around Mommy’s wrist and Ino huffs affectionately, even as she returns to watering her plants. The little girl looks just like her father when she makes that face.“Daddy did your hair, huh? We’re going to have to show him again, aren’t we?”The question is mostly rhetorical; the little girl rarely makes very much noise and certainly cannot speak. Ino sets down her watering can and offers a smooth rock on a long chain-------something that the girl can put in her mouth without the hazard of choking. Something that won’t get lost because it’s attached to Ino.“Are you ready for lunch? Shall we go find your brother and your father?”Ino shifts the little girl into a more comfortable position and heads toward the door.