Disclaimer: Rowan doesn't own it.

Note: This story is…interesting. Hints at Ryou/Shizuka…let's just say, it's weird. But please enjoy it anyway!

Red

There was something beautiful in the way she bled, like a pale flower dribbling blood. "Ryou?" She held the blooming cut on her finger up to his face. There was a trail of gooey red sliding into her palm. The hand by her side still held the knife. "Could you get me a band-aid?" she smiled softly despite the pain.

Ryou pulled back from Shizuka, horrified at his own fascination. "Sure." He stood up off the couch and entered the bathroom, Shizuka following behind. He opened the mirror cabinet and pulled out the in of band-aids and peroxide. "Sit here," Ryou said, motioning the counter. She sat on the linoleum tiles, pulled her skirt over her knees, and held her bloodied finger out to Ryou.

He cradled her hand in his own, his intense, earthy eyes watching the blood bubble out of the wound. The edges of his lips parted and spread into a strange grin.

Shizuka frowned, confusion riddling her face with questions. Ryou's eyes reflected the shimmery red of her blood dripping down her hand. Gradually, she noticed how his breath tickled her palm, and how his lashes were barely an inch from the tips of her fingers.

His mouth slipped over her fingers suddenly, his pink tongue lapping the blood, his lips sucking on her nails. Shizuka gasped.

"What-?" She could barely breathe.

Ryou looked up at her and smiled, her fingers between his soft lips. His eyes were laughing, and they were scared, too.

She shook her head. "I…"

Her fingers came out sticky, but the blood was gone. He gently wrapped a band-aid over her injured finger, then patted her head. "All done." He smiled again and kissed her forehead lightly.

The end of her finger throbbed and she hugged her hand to her chest. "Thank you, Ryou," she whispered.

"You're welcome, Shizuka."

She shuddered, but she smiled anyway and pretended not to smell the iron on his breath and imagined that his teeth were not red when he grinned at her.

End

See? Told you; it's weird. I wrote it because of a picture I drew in a notebook a long time ago. I think, when I wrote it, I was thinking about the Millennium Ring. So, reviews for this strange piece would be nice! It's not every day Rowan hints at a hetero pairing!