#perfectaed

                                                “ Aren’t your fingers wrinkled yet? ”

         He is the first to break the silence with an elbow situated on the bath’s edge. There is no eye contact, and yet his words BOUNCE through the steam in a cringe-worthy echo. Tsubaki has been here longer than he, and already Takumi’s skin has begun to prune ( though his flushed cheeks are far more noticeable. )

deathless ♚ sentence meme

Eyes narrow,squinting at her colleague and mentally counting until ten, a method to stopher from doing anything regrettable later. Were she foolish and easily to lieto as the common folk of soldiers in the army, she would fall for his act ofperfection. But for those that peek a single time to what’s behind the mythicalillusion, deception is denied and pushed away brusquely.

It’sdispleasing how similar they are and it boils her blood, making her see red,like the color of camellias and his infuriating grin. She doesn’t buy hiselegant words and polite demeanor, wishing for him to break that farce if onlyto cease the constant belittling of their comrades. Perfect man, perfect soldier,perfect retainer and then — tomboy, blunt and rude Kazahana with lack ofexperience and not meant to serve Lady Sakura. She isn’t one of modals and heis but behind his courtesy, he’s only a man, trying to not show a weakness to aharsh world. He’s stupid to not realize that will be his downfall but so sheis, knowing she will never be enough for Sakura.

“Haven’tyou? Don’t you dare lie to me, I won’t forgive you if you belittle me.” Harshwords but she stands on her ground, eyes full of intent, daring him tocontradict her. He’s her partner and she understands that part well enough, however,years together do not ease the fire in her skin, a contradiction to her name’smeaning.

Snowflakes shouldn’thurt but then again, her father wouldn’t have known she would follow steps ofharsh and brutality than those of delicate cherry blossoms.

They wereliars and the thought reminds her that showing a single weakness will be herundoing. Maybe she’s too harsh, maybe she’s too cruel, maybe she doesn’t knowwhat to express with him around, he always gets too easy on her skin and itmakes her mad, too mad because in his lies, he finds comforts and she can’t.

18. poisonous kiss

saizo doesn’t drink often.  he knows the effect alchohol has on him.  it makes him slower, weaker ... less capable of thinking, more like a nonsensical brute.  it’s been a rough two weeks.  two weeks with little sleep and little food stationed in the sinking heat of a faraway desert only to fail his mission almost fatally.  really, he doesn’t know why he keeps this job, but saizo’s never learned how to do anything else.  what is he good for if not killing?  what purpose does he have in life if not in the line of assassination?  his hands know nothing else.  

saizo staggers, nearly failing to scale tsubaki’s apartment building and falling to his doom.  he can’t help but consider what a very appropriate ending it would be for him, but he makes it, knife wounds and all.  at the very least, tsubaki has to appreciate the fact that he doesn’t have to remove bullets from his musculature this time.  sew him up, throw him out, repeat on endless loop until he doesn’t come back.  and tsubaki can have his clean, flawless carpet in his clean, flawless apartment in his clean, flawless world.

clean.  flawless.  neither of these words which apply to saizo.  nor ever will.  but that’s okay.  for tsubaki to live in the light, saizo ruins his hands, watching the red seep into his skin and settle.  with those stained, heavy hands, he curls his fingers around the other’s chin, pushing away tsubaki’s concerns, in order to gently press his lips against the corner of his mouth.  alcohol heavy on his breath, saizo whispers in-between sordid kisses placed possessively along the other’s perfect jaw.  “i can’t get enough of you, you know that, right?”  

he has half a mind to wrap a hand around the other’s throat.  just to hold the other’s pulse in his hand and feel tsubaki tense, flutter underneath his grip.  feel him panic.  he’s not in a good place; he shouldn’t be here.  he shoudn’t be doing this.  tsubaki deserves better, tsubaki needs to get away from him - saizo crushes his better judgment against tsubaki’s lips instead, selfishness washing over whatever self-restraint he has left in his bad head.  he wants to bite him hard enough to bleed, hard enough to scar that perfect skin.  everyone would know.  but he doesn’t, opting to claim the other’s mouth entirely, kissing the air from tsubaki’s lungs before pulling away breathlessly.