Title: Blood Sacrifice
Characters/Pairing: Masaki/Ryuuken
Rating/Warnings: PG-13; Being very vague here
Word Count: 300
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply.
Notes: Written on Apr 23, 2013 for the prompt "This isn't personal." at 31_days. A kind of what if exercise. If anyone has something else about the pairing or just wants to talk about them, please drop me a line. I need to quell the desire to write more.
"I'm sorry, they expect us to."
His words - spoken as though he had no part in this, as if only her life were affected - set her eyes aflame. What about you? she wants to ask, not without reproach. Why did you bow to their will if it's so disagreeable? Why did you not oppose them when you could?
But it's not his fault. Once the ceremony started, it was out of his hands. He didn't want this either, did he?
"It's alright. I don't blame you."
Expectation, duty, and sacrifice constrict his life; there's nowhere they don't breathe down his neck. Without room for self-fulfillment, how does he grow, she wonders. Did he never want to break out?
You'll find no happiness in following a path that others dictate.
What an easy thing to say. She herself couldn't refuse, couldn't argue that this is unfair, that there was no love involved, because - what role has love in this? It's just another task they must fulfill.
"I should be sorry. That they couldn't find you a better match."
They're both on the altar now, bleeding into the ridges. Katagiri told her this could happen: blood on the sheets, but not how. Blood - the key component, the reason, the future. His blood and hers, and nobody else's.
"Don't be silly."
He's gentle enough; he tries, but his heart's not in it. The Quincy cross - a gift from his father, to commemorate this day - dangles between their chests, glinting in the half-light.
So they share the same burden. She will shoulder it; the least she can do to repay him.
"There is no better match."
The cross chills her skin, and when his mouth claims hers, her soul screams for another.
Thanks for reading!