@wingedwax / one word writing prompts
❅ — has kabayaki always tasted so bitter?
natsuo’s voice is deafening in her ears, sharp steel piercing skin, spewing blood from an open wound. her father’s is low, a dull blade, slowly tracing old scars, vulnerable in a way that burns. their temperaments are nothing new, fuyumi’s head aches, every movement of her jaw as she chews sending a tremor of pain through her temples. her throat feels too thick to swallow, the food clawing at her throat when she forces it down. that bitterness fills her mouth again, stinging her tongue, and for a moment it feels like she’s choking. their words crawl under her flesh, tearing their way to her core, ripping her apart from the inside until she’s numb, until she’s nothing but an empty shell.
but really, when was the last time she felt like anything more? when was the last time she felt like she deserved anything more? surely this emptiness, this gaping hole in her existence, is written in the stars for her. her sins, her regret, taint every moment of her future. this is her punishment, her burden to bear, and to bear alone. chopsticks slowly lower from her lips, gaze trained on the honeyed piece of fish in her bowl. fuyumi suddenly feels violently ill, chills pinpricking every inch of her skin, heart plummeting to her stomach and thieving all oxygen from her lungs.
bitter. it tastes so...bitter.
