A/n: It's really casually mentioned in Kagetsu Tohya that Akiha has apparently been engaged to some dude for a while, and I figured, "hey, that's kinda weird. Let's see what we can do with this.
Also this is set in a little AU where Kohaku never set her big revenge plan into motion and most of the more "dramatic" Akiha/Kohaku moments never happened.
"...yes. Yes, of course," Akiha says, twirling the phone's cord around her finger. There's a slight smile on her lips that can't be heard in the sternness of her voice, but Kohaku is watching, and she sees the way the smile brightens her entire face. Kohaku pretends not to watch as she cleans Akiha's study but it's difficult to look away from that radiant smile. For a while she forgets to breath.
There's something so magnetic about the sheer openness around Akiha. For once she doesn't look like the hardened head of the Tohno family, but just a normal teenager girl, blushing slightly as she talks on the phone. The way her eyes shine makes a shiver run up Kohaku's spine.
"I look forward to it immensely," Akiha's says. She laughs, "Yes, yes of course. Goodnight." Akiha hangs up and exhales.
Kohaku clears her throat. "An important phone call, Akiha-sama?"
"You could say that." Akiha tries to keep her face straight but the smile persists. "It was my fiancé, actually. Since graduation is coming up soon he wants to meet against so we can discuss wedding arrangements."
"Ah," says Kohaku. "You must be excited."
"Not particularly," Akiha says. "It's business, like so much of the what the Tohno family does. There's no reason to treat it any differently."
Kohaku smiles and nods. "Tea?"
"Why not? Something sweet would be nice."
"One cup of something sweet coming up."
When she looks back, Akiha's is still smiling to herself, knuckles resting gently over her lips. Kohaku feels dizzy.
A picture frame falls off its nail and shatters on the floor. Akiha jumps.
"Sorry!" Kohaku picks up the broken frame carefully. It's an old picture of Akiha and Shiki from when they were children. Akiha is wearing a white dress and Shiki has an arm around her shoulders. It's one of Akiha's favorite pictures. "I must have knocked it lose by accident."
Akiha tsks. She takes the frame from Kohaku. "You should stick to cleaning outside."
"Of course."
Akiha goes back to her desk and the smile returns a few seconds later. A sudden wave of nausea makes Kohaku turn away, shutting the door behind her before Akiha can see her.
For years there'd been this subtle tension between the two of them, something they were both always acutely aware of but chose to ignore in favor smiling and joking with each other. Over the years the way that they made each other laugh and smile had started to become less of a lie, less of an elaborate mask of guilt, and hate, and something that might have been actual friendship. And over the years Akiha had thrived.
She was flourishing under the stress of her classes and getting along better with Shiki than she had in years. The gracious smiles she gave family friends and classmates, and the little smirks she gave Shiki at the worst of his jokes, came more often. Her friends visited her often and she visited them. For all appearance she had become a normal happy teenager.
Kohaku stares down at her mistress' tea cup. The years had passed, and Akiha was moving on, Kohaku realized numbly. When had that started to happen?
Kohaku reaches into her dress and pulls out a small, clear vial. Akiha was happy. Very happy, by the looks of it. And she'd only be getting happier if Kohaku let her.
Three drops, that's how she starts.
Three drops in her breakfast, and in her lunch, and in her dinner, and in her tea. They do so little on their own, but over time they'll do so much. She or Shiki could take a bite from Akiha's food and feel absolutely nothing; the doses are too small, the drug too slow acting. It's similar to what she gave SHIKI but uniquely made for her. It's meant to work slowly, and wear down the natural defenses of her blood. But Kohaku persists. She's used to playing the long game.
For weeks she does her work. Three drops. And Akiha continues to be happy.
"So when do I get to meet your fiancé?" Shiki asks one day at dinner. "Or are you planning to hide him until the wedding?" He's grinning over his cup at his younger sister in the way that he knows usually flusters her. Kohaku watches silently as a faint blush rises to Akiha's cheeks.
"It's not as though I'm hiding him. The right opportunity just hasn't presented itself. Besides I've hardly spoken to him myself."
"I'm not sure if I can approve of the wedding until I've met the guy," Shiki says.
"Please, as if I need your permission to marry," Akiha says, sounding a little too pleased at the protective tone in her brother's voice. Behind him, Hisui face is soft and calm, peaceful. It's so horribly ordinary that Kohaku can hardly believe it. The world hasn't really come apart at all, it's just Kohaku.
Akiha smiles at her brother. She scolds him for his jokes. And she eats the meal Kohaku made her.
It starts slowly, which is just fine.
Akiha stands at the top of the stairs, winded with a hand on her chest. She took the steps a bit too quickly and is out of breath. Her brow is furrowed, her gaze just a little unfocused. Kohaku comes up behind her and Akiha stands up straight before she turns around, slowing her breathing.
Days later she watches Akiha stare at a small cut on her finger that doesn't want to heal. It's nothing but a paper cut, but Akiha watches it with pouted lips. With an annoyed sound she puts her papers down and reaches for a band-aid, ignoring Kohaku's silent stare.
A week later Akiha leaves in the middle of dinner, saying she's feeling tired from her long day. Kohaku hears her vomiting when she presses her ear to the bathroom door.
When Akiha starts brushing out clumps of her hair, she decides it might be in her own best interest to skip school for a few days.
"Hey, are you feeling alright?" Shiki asks. Kohaku looks up from her cards to see Shiki leaning over Akiha, placing a hand on her forehead. Kohaku and Hisui are seated on the couch opposite the siblings and they watch as Akiha jumps and scoots away from her brother, face growing red.
"I'm fine," she says. "It's just a little cold."
"You're pretty pale...are you sure it's just the cold?"
"Of course it is. I'm human, I can get sick just like anybody else," Akiha says. Kohaku snorts quietly.
"Really?" says Shiki. "I thought you were a robot powered by tea."
"If only, Nii-san. My life would be much easier." Akiha coughs once, and then she can't seem to stop coughing. Her shoulders shake with the force of her coughs.
When she can finally stop Akiha clears her throat. "Apologies. It...it was Kohaku's turn right?"
"Akiha-sama..."
"You should probably get to bed, Akiha," Shiki says.
"Nonsense, Nii-san, I'm - "
"Nope," says Shiki, crossing his arms over his chest. "This is an executive older brother decision. You're sick and you're going to bed."
Akiha sighs but stands up anyway. "Fine. But for the record I was about to win."
The next afternoon the phone in the manor rings when Akiha is in the shower. Kohaku rushes to answer it before Hisui. The man on the other end of the phone asks about Akiha, apologizes, and says that he won't be able to make it to their meeting later because he's been called out of town on a family emergency. Kohaku promises to give his message to Akiha and hangs up.
A few minutes later, Akiha walks out of her bathroom, robe tied around her. "Is my dress out of the laundry?"
"It is," Kohaku says. She holds it up for Akiha's inspection. Akiha looks it over closely, nodding to herself a few times.
"Good," she says, sitting down in front of her mirror. "I haven't seen my fiancé in person for quite awhile. We should probably hurry." Kohaku watches her quickly brush out her hair and lays the dress down on the bed for her. Outside a soft rain is beginning to fall and Akiha frowns at the window.
"I've already called the cab, Akiha-sama. Do you think you can get dressed before the rain gets too bad?"
"I'll have to," Akiha says. She dabs concealer gently under her eyes with a sigh. "I can't afford to arrive looking like a wet dog. Good thinking, Kohaku."
Kohaku gives her a small bow and then leaves.
"How dare he!" Akiha throws her umbrella down by the mansion door. "To stand me up on a day like this! The nerve of that man!"
Kohaku catches Akiha's coat when the young woman tosses it off of her shoulders. Her hair and her clothes are drenched and her shoes look absolutely ruined. Outside the wind is hollowing with a rage that matches Akiha's own.
"Perhaps he was stuck in traffic, Akiha-sama?"
"For two hours?! Ha!"
Hisui shuffles in behind them with a mop in her hands and Akiha heads upstairs. Halfway up the stairs Akiha freezes, clutching her chest. Her eyes are squeezed shut and Kohaku can see the way her body spasms with the pain of her breaths. Hisui doesn't seem to notice.
"I'll go get dinner ready," Kohaku says lightly. Above her Akiha clutches the railing and struggles to breathe.
For all that her condition continues to worsen, Akiha doesn't let Hisui call a doctor. Kohaku hears her heaving violently in the bathroom, her body trying desperately to rid itself of Kohaku's insidious touch, but Akiha still does nothing. She's there for every meal Kohaku makes her, eating when every instinct in her body must be screaming for her to do otherwise and not once asking Kohaku any questions about what she makes. Her fiancé still calls occasionally, but is apparently respecting her desire to recover from her mysterious illness in peace.
Seo and Tsukihime come by when they hear that Akiha isn't feeling well, which irritates her to no end. She's been almost completely bedridden for days, and her skin is beginning to look faded and pale. She doesn't like being seen when she isn't her best. Kohaku does her makeup and props her up with pillows.
The girls' conversation lacks its usual energy, something her friends are clearly trying to make up for. They talk circles around the drowsy young woman, and Kohaku hears every drawn out pause and awkward silence. In the end, Akiha's attempt to seem perfectly fine leave her friends baffled. A few "you don't even look sick"s are thrown around and Akiha laughs off each one in turn.
"What do you expect from a Tohno," she says with a tight smile. She looks tired and annoyed but Kohaku can see the pain that she's trying to suppress.
Kohaku walks the girls out, keeping her expression guilty and embarrassed the entire time. "I'm so sorry that your concern was wasted. "
"As long as Akiha gets better and can come see us again then it's okay!" Seo says.
"Ah well," Kohaku starts to say. She bites her lip. "Yes... that would certainly be nice."
"What? What is it?" Tsukhime asks.
"It's just...well, Akiha is a very kind person and she certainly has no desire to hurt anyone's feelings. But between school, running the house and her engagement...Akiha has very little free time. "
"Engagement?" Seo asks. Both girls look at each other.
Kohaku covers her mouth. "Oh dear, I didn't realize it was a secret."
"Wait, so has Akiha been avoiding us because she's sick or because she's busy?" Tsukihime asks.
"Akiha-sama asked me to make up reasons for why she was unable to see all of you. Like an idiot I said she was sick too many times and now I've put my mistress in an awkward position."
Seo's face falls as realization dawned over her. "Is Akiha ever not going to be "sick" after this?"
"Akiha-sama is growing up. And with that comes more responsibilities and - "
"Don't you get it? Akiha thinks were a distraction," Tsukihime says. "We're a childish distraction that Akiha's grown past..."
"Akiha-sama has no desire to hurt any of you. You are her dear friends after all."
"No, don't worry about it," Seo says softly. Both girls head towards the door. Seo looks for a moment like she wants to say something but then she's leaving and both girls are gone.
Kohaku locks the door behind them. Little by little.
Akiha starts coughing a few days later and doesn't stop. Kohaku makes her tea with honey to help her throat but it obviously doesn't do much. Akiha blames it on staying out in the rain for such a long time and Kohaku gently chastises her for not taking enough care of her body. For over working herself. And Akiha is overworking herself. She keeps trying to go to school, keeps trying to meet with her friends and her fiancé, telling everyone that she's feeling better when Kohaku knows she just can't stand to be in bed anymore.
"You won't get better unless you stay at home in bed," Kohaku tells her. Sometimes Kohaku wonders at how some divine being doesn't strike her down every time she lies to Akiha's face, but then she tells herself that if justice could carry itself out then neither of them would be in this position in the first place.
"Why don't you go lay down for a while?" She suggests to Akiha, one day when the coughing has grown so violent that she thinks Akiha may actually pass out. It's a sign of how truly in pain she must be that Akiha offers no argument and lets Kohaku lead her off to her room. Akiha lays down heavily on her bed and moans quietly, a hand on her stomach. Kohaku reaches down and places her hand over Akiha's. Beneath her robe, Akiha's skin feels strange and feverish. Kohaku imagines she can feel the poison beneath her skin, defiling and violating her from the inside out and she feels something strange tingling in her own stomach.
Akiha's eyes open slowly and when she meets Kohaku's gaze she seems to focus on something she sees there. Kohaku doesn't move her hand, only sits in silence and lets her mistress watch her.
"Would you like me to bring you some tea, Akiha-sama?" Kohaku asks flatly. "Something to help settle your stomach?"
Akiha shakes her head slowly. "That's quite alright. Please wake me in a few hours so I can finish my paper work."
"Alright. You try to get some sleep then," Kohaku says. Her body doesn't seem to want to move however. Her hand remains lightly on Akiha's own. Akiha is breathing so heavily now. Has Akiha always been so small? Kohaku wonders. She looks haunted, debouched, and Kohaku fingers slide mechanically beneath Akiha's robes seeking the warm flesh beneath.
She leans over Akiha placing kisses on her forehead, her cheeks, and then finally her lips. Akiha feels so frail against her when she kisses her back that it makes Kohaku want to laugh. She shifts her hand so that she's caught both of Akiha's against her stomach and pushes her further back against the bed. Akiha moves with her, letting her pin her wrists above her head, letting her shove Akiha's clothing out of the way. So utterly submissive beneath her hands that Kohaku feels almost drunk with the power Akiha is giving her.
Kohaku climbs over her, knees on either side of Akiha's hips as she watches the woman move beneath her. Her movements are so blunted with her fatigue that Kohaku is almost frightened of hurting her. A wave of disgust washes over her at the joy she feels in this moment, strong and powerful and in control in a way that she's never been. Akiha's fiancé may have her soon enough, but Akiha will always have been hers first, she thinks with delirious joy. Makihisa's proud, beautiful daughter, spreading her legs at the behest of her maid.
"Akiha-sama, would you like to..?" Kohaku tugs her clothes down over her chest and hears Akiha's breath hitch as her eyes fall on the bite marks on her chest. She swallows and then nods once, and Kohaku pulls Akiha against her chest. Akiha's fingers dig into her back as she bites.
With little finesse, Kohaku slides her fingers between Akiha's legs, spurred on by the faint trembling she feels in the other woman's thighs. Akiha moans against Kohaku's skin when she drags a finger against the wetness over her panties and bites her harder. Kohaku's fingers tangle in thick black hair and she throws her head back to give her mistress better access to her. Kohaku feels like a thick fog is filling her mind. She wants to bend down and whisper what she doing in her ear. Wants to whisper that she's killing Akiha. To tell her that she poisoned her own blood earlier that morning, knowing that she would be feeding Akiha today. She wants to tell her that she doesn't want Akiha to leave her. That she loves her. That she wants her to die.
"Kohaku..." Akiha's red tinted lips fall away from Kohaku's skin as she arches her back. "Kohaku, Kohaku. Ko - "
Kohaku smothers her words down with lips.
Kohaku wakes up early the next morning. She sweeps the backyard of dead leaves before she gets to work on breakfast. Three drops for Akiha. Nothing has changed.
The photos are in black and white, Kohaku's face isn't visible, but her body is clear enough. Akiha's face is visible, her hair is wild and messy, her soft lips parted as she writhes. Kohaku smiles down at the picture before dropping it into an envelope.
I am very sorry you had to find out like this, Kohaku writes, but you should know what kind of woman your son is marrying. She places the letter alongside the picture.
Little by little.
One day Hisui asks her what she's doing to Akiha.
"What do you mean?" Kohaku asks calmly, still focusing on dinner more than she is her sister.
"Akiha-sama won't say anything... but it's you isn't it? "
"Hisui-chan, I can't get Akiha-sama to cut back on her tea, do you really think I could get her to let me hurt her and do nothing? "
"There was a time when I thought that maybe...maybe you wanted to hurt Akiha-sama." Hisui's fists are clenched tightly against her apron. "Am I wrong?"
"Hisui-chan!" Kohaku drops her knife sharply against the kitchen table and Hisui flinches. "We aren't...Akiha-sama and I have moved passed everything that's happened between us! Even if I felt resentment for her once I've grown out of it. I...I care about Akiha-sama."
The look on Kohaku's face must be very convincing because Hisui's own expression softens. "I'm sorry, Nee-san, I'm being ridiculous."
Kohaku sighs. "It's...it's okay."
"Akiha-sama just seems so weak these days - "
"I know. I hate too see her like this too."
"Do you think she'll get better, Nee-san?
"Akiha is the strongest person I've ever known," she takes Hisui's hand gently in her own. "There's no way this will keep her down long."
Hisui nods to herself and squeezes Kohaku's hand. "Of course she is."
Hisui leaves. Kohaku hums as she poisons Akiha's dinner.
Akiha is late for breakfast.
Kohaku hasn't needed to wake Akiha up in years, so it feels strange walking up to her room to wake her. When she knocks she gets no response so she steps into the room.
"Akiha-sama, it isn't like you to sleep so late!" she calls.
Akiha is laying on her side, staring listlessly across the room. For a moment the blankness in her eyes frightens her. She's not used to seeing that expression outside of a mirror.
When Akiha turns to her with red rimmed eyes Kohaku shivers. "Are you feeling alright?"
"You know I'm not, " Akiha snaps. She pulls her blanket over her shoulders. "My former fiancé' s family contacted me last night. Apparently they can't have their daughter marrying a "deviant".
"Ah."
""Ah", indeed. I don't have any work to do today, Kohaku. Leave me be."
Kohaku bows and then leaves.
Out in the hallway she leans against the wall and tries to close her eyes against the almost palpable feeling of coldness that had clung to Akiha skin. She covers her mouth with her hands, trying to stifle the gasps that rise suddenly in her throat. Little by little, she'd told herself. This was all that she could do. Something had gone wrong earlier between the two of them, but it could it be fixed, it had to be. She'd been slowing down, forgiving and forgetting. She'd let Akiha's happiness infect her and dilute her until the hatred she'd once felt had fizzed down to nothing. It wasn't supposed to last this long. None of it was.
But she was winning now, this was her victory over the Tohno family.
Kohaku laughs in the empty hallway but even to her it sounds fake.
In the end Shiki hammers the last nail into Akiha's coffin himself.
Kohaku can't hold back her smile when she first sees Shiki and Arcueid together. The vampire woman is so vibrant and cheerful around Shiki that she out shines everyone in the room. She can see Akiha appraising her throughout dinner. Taking in how loud she laughs, her short blond hair, the way she squeezes Shiki's shoulder every time he makes her laugh. She's the opposite of Akiha in everything she does, and she clearly makes Shiki happy.
Halfway though dinner Akiha excuses herself.
She doesn't need to check Shiki's room to know what he and Arcueid are up to, so she gives his room as much space as she can and cleans instead. It's much too late for her to be cleaning really, but there's been a restless energy sitting under her skin since she watched Akiha try to hide the cracking of her voice when she spoke to Arcueid. So Kohaku cleans.
She's not cleaning very thoroughly, really only moving dust around, when she hears a soft sound coming from the roof. Kohaku puts down her broom.
There are more than a few practical ways to get to the top of the Tohno Mansion but Kohaku leans out of the window and pulls her up onto the balcony above her. She isn't surprised when she finds Akiha there, balanced silently at the ledges edge. The woman doesn't turn, though she must hear her approaching.
"Shiki and Arcueid seem happy together," Kohaku says. When Akiha turns her heels peek over the edge of the roof. Her nightgown clings against her frame with the light breeze and highlights how gaunt her figure has become. When Akiha's finally speaks her voice is a weak imitation of Tohno's Akiha's voice.
"Is this what you want?" she says in a hoarse whisper. "Is this what will make you happy?"
"No, Akiha-sama, nothing will make me happy."
"Of course not," Akiha says. "Why would getting exactly what you want make you happy?" Akiha looks unsteady on her feet, and she wraps her arms around her thinning frame.
"This...this isn't my cross to bear," she says.
"Do you really think that Akiha-sama?"
"No, Kohaku. I have no idea what to think anymore."
A stronger wind makes Akiha stumble and without thinking, Kohaku reaches out, catching Akiha's hand and yanking her back over the edge and into her arms. Akiha falls, her full weight barreling into Kohaku and knocking both of them over. Akiha isn't as heavy as she should be and she feels sharp and angular in her arms. For a while the two of them just lay there, breathing, Akiha's head over her shoulder, her hair lightly ticking Kohaku's face. On some strange impulse Kohaku reaches up and begins stroking her hair.
"I don't understand," Akiha says quietly. "I don't know what you want from me anymore."
"You can't die Akiha-sama," Kohaku says.
"You want me to live so you can keep torturing me? Is that it?"
"I think if you were to die..it would hurt me," Kohaku says.
Akiha scoffs. "You can't be serious."
"I think I am. I don't want you to die."
"If you keep this up you'll kill me."
"If I don't then you'll leave, Akiha-sama. You'll marry some other man, have kids, make friends, and be happy. And I don't want you to be happy."
"Do you want me to make some arbitrary promise like "I promise to never be happy?" Should I be rude to whoever I marry and distant from my kids? Should I resent any happiness that comes my way?"
Kohaku tightens her hand in Akiha's hair. "I can't let you be happy Akiha-sama, but I can't let you die either. Isn't that simple enough?"
Akiha laughs. "The cat wants the mouse to walk into its own trap." Kohaku cups her cheek gently and she leans into her hand. Akiha watches her, tense and uncertain, but then she's kissing Kohaku, slow and deep. Kohaku tries to chase the taste of poison on Akiha's tongue.
"Why did you have to be happy, Akiha-sama?" Kohaku asks when they break apart. "Why did you have to make me happy?"
"I'm cruel. I'm cruel and I wanted to spite you by making you happy."
Kohaku laughs. "Yes," she says, "that must be it."
Akiha looks down at the plate in front of her, and the corner of her lip twitches.
Shiki is having an animated conversation with Arcueid on their side of the table, and Hisui looks like she's trying her best to suppress a smile at their banter. The dining room is warm and lively this evening and not even Akiha's lack of energy can effect it.
Akiha cuts her cake with the flat of her fork, eyes trained on Kohaku. Kohaku stares back at her. Arcueid laughs loudly at something and Akiha spears a piece of her cake.
When she takes her first bite Kohaku closes her eyes. She has to tighten her lips against the smile that threats to slip through her mask.
Little by little, she thinks. Slowly.