Night had fallen over the city; the moon's pale light obscured by tufts of billowing white clouds. The heat was stifling despite the steadily blowing breeze, making the simple act of breathing difficult. Kogami crept silently up the stairs of the abandoned building; the peeling paint on the walls scrapping off against his jacket as he glided quietly through the shadows of the narrow stairwell. His anticipation grew with each carefully placed step, and it was taking every ounce of his self-control to keep his mind focused.
For Kogami there was no "thrill of the hunt." No excitement or anticipation at the prospect of bringing his prey to heel. His drive stemmed from a compulsion; a deep-seeded urge born of revenge and nurtured by the innocent blood of Makishima's victims. This need for vengeance is what propelled Kogami ever forward, leaving no room for anything else but his dark obsession.
Kogami had been tracking Makishima for several days and every tiny bread crumb had led to this small condemned apartment complex. His enemy had chosen a wise location since the area in question was under heavy construction. The rubble and debris made it a minefield of possible traps and snares, but to Kogami's surprise, he'd made it to the top floor without any problems. He eased out of the stairwell with his gun at the ready and his head was on a swivel. After a quick scan of the hall, he started moving quickly towards his intended target.
Classical music drifted down the hall, leading Kogami straight towards a dim light in the otherwise dark hallway. When he reached the open doorway at the end of the corridor, the crinkling sound of paper caught his ear. He took a deep breath, trying to suppress his rage. He couldn't go in there running on pure emotion. This was his chance to finally take Makishima down and it was essential that he keep a clear head.
"I know you're out there, Kogami," a silvery voice called out. "I've been waiting for you."
Kogami entered the room, gun raised and pointed towards the sound of Makishima's voice. There he found the man sitting on a tattered couch; his legs crossed and a small leather-bound book in his hands. His expression was unreadable, but there was an unmistakable flash of excitement in his amber gaze.
"If you knew I was coming," Kogami asked, "then why are you still here?"
"Because I wanted to see you," Makishima replied casually, closing the book and setting it down on the table in front of him. "The longer we play this game, the more deliciously intriguing you become. I find myself thinking of you more with each passing day, and I wonder whether or not you're thinking of me as well. I decided to stop wondering and simply ask you myself."
Kogami snickered bitterly. "Why am I not surprised you'd try to romanticize this?"
Makishima's eyebrow rose; a slow smile spreading across his face. "So you do think of me?"
"I think you killing you, nothing more."
"Somehow such a morbid truth makes this fated relationship of ours all the more interesting."
"Relationship?" Kogami replied mockingly. "This isn't some story from one of your books, Makishima. We're not here because of scripted fate."
"Ah, but that's where you're mistaken, Kogami. You and I are the main characters in this grand story; I the hero fighting to free this world from its gilded cage of oppression, and you the villain who will do anything to thwart my plans and destroy the last vestiges of freethinking."
"Is that what you think? That you're some noble hero fighting to save the free will of humanity?"
"But of course," Makishima replied with a self-satisfied smirk. "I am trying to incite an awakening; breathe life into a world you and the Sybill System are trying to destroy with your misguided idealism. What am I if not the hero of this tragic tale?"
"I knew you were delusional," Kogami snorted; his voice dripping with distain, "but this? You're a criminal, and I'm nothing more than the hound sent to tear out your throat."
"Now who's romanticizing?" Makishima shrugged nonchalantly, splaying his hands in an act of surrender. "If it's only my blood you wish to taste, then shoot me and get it over with."
Kogami aimed the gun, fingering the trigger, but finding himself unable to pull it.
"You can't shoot me, can you?" Makishima asked, gracefully climbing to his feet. "I stand before you, unarmed and utterly defenseless, yet given the opportunity to finally end my life, you hesitate."
"I'll take your life in due time," Kogami replied coolly, adjusting his grip on the revolver, "but before I do I have one question. Why? What was the point of this sick game? And no more of this hero shit. Is it the destruction you get off on, or are you just a sad, lonely little boy looking for another toy to break?"
Makishima sighed heavily. "You disappoint me, Kogami. I thought you understood me. I thought you saw the true nature of my soul."
"If by 'true nature,' you mean the fact that you're a homicidal psychopath who would destroy the world in order to replace one set of ideals with another, then yes. I understand you perfectly."
Makishima chuckled softly. "Since you already know the answer, why bother asking the question? End my life and be done with it. Or would you rather stand there and stall; hoping you'll find the courage to carry out my death sentence?"
"For a self-proclaimed hero, you're awfully eager to die."
"Eager would be an exaggeration. However, knowing it is you who will escort me from this world leaves me with a sense of… accomplishment. After all, I made you. Because of me, you've broken free of your master's chains and unleashed the true splendor of your soul. My death will be the final act in our tragedy, and it will mark the final stage of your glorious transformation."
Kogami hissed; his cool exterior cracking ever so slightly at Makishima's words. It didn't help that the narcissistic asshole was right about one thing. He was stalling. And although Kogami wanted nothing more than to see this self-righteous, arrogant prick face down in a puddle of his own blood, listening to the man's twisted words had struck a chord deep in his subconscious. He could feel a part of his soul stirring in a way that was most… unnatural.
Makishima smiled knowingly. "You understand now, don't you? You see the true depth of our relationship. "
"Oh, I understand alright," Kogami retorted, mentally berating himself for letting his emotions show. "I understand you're crazier than I ever imagined."
"If I'm crazy then what does that make you?" Makishima approached Kogami slowly; his lack of self-preservation more than a little irritating. "You're trembling, Kogami. I can see the conflict in your eyes. You want to kill me, but there is something you want more."
"There is no conflict," Kogami said firmly; his finger hovering over the trigger. "You're a murderer, and since the system can't see you for what you truly are, I will carry out your sentence in its place."
Makishima pressed his forehead against the barrel of the gun, closing his eyes and wrapping his slender fingers around Kogami's shaking hand.
"Then do it," Makishima whispered. "Kill me."
Thrice, Kogami tried to pull the trigger. He could feel his hate for Makishima coursing through his veins, and he knew there would be no peace for him until he watched the man breath his last breath. So why couldn't he pull the trigger…?
The gentle touch of Makishima's fingertips sent tiny sparks of electricity flashing between their skin. Kogami sucked in a startled breath; the sudden burst of heat igniting a fire deep in the pit of his belly. He immediately tried to squelch it, but it was already too late. He knew then that his one mistake was not killing Makishima the moment he'd entered the room…
"You feel it, too," Makishima said, opening his eyes and pinning Kogami with his piercing gaze.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kogami replied through clenched teeth.
"You know exactly what I speak of," Makishima whispered, reaching out a hand to touch Kogami's cheek. "I recognize the look in your eyes. It is a reflection of my own thoughts and feelings."
Kogami reared back, raising the revolver and smashing Makishima across the face so hard he sent the man staggering back several feet.
"I am nothing like you," Kogami hissed. "If you see anything in my eyes, it's disgust!"
Makishima spit the blood from his mouth, wiping his chin with the sleeve of his shirt. "Your anger gives you away, Kogami. No matter how much you despise me, you can't deny the truth. We were destined to find each other from the moment we came squalling into existence; two lives fated to cross paths in an explosion of wills. Look me in the eye and tell me there wasn't a moment in your dark, pitiful life that you didn't wish for something more? Something real! Have I not given you that?! Have I not given you a true sense of purpose?!"
"You're insane!"
"Am I?" Makishima breathed, closing the distance between them once more. "Or does the truth frighten you so much that you would deny the one thing you know to be absolute?"
"The only absolute truth here is that you're going to die!"
Makishima's eyes narrowed menacingly. "You keep threatening to kill me yet here I am! Still alive and standing before you! You can't pull that trigger and we both know why! There is something you want more than my death; something so base and entirely human that not even you can deny it. Don't fight this, Kogami. Give in to your desire. Give in to me."
"Fuck you!" Kogami roared, lunging at Makishima and sending them both crashing to the floor. "You know nothing about me! NOTHING!"
Kogami straddled Makishima's waist, pinning him to the ground. He had one hand wrapped around Makishima's neck; the other pointing the gun at his temple. Gathering every ounce of resolve he could, Kogami willed himself to pull the trigger…
It was no use. He couldn't do it.
Kogami stared down at Makishima, falling head first into his bright amber gaze. For a moment he felt like he was drowning; his mind forgetting the instinctive act of breathing. Kogami tried to pull back, but the more he fought to regain control of his senses, the tighter Makishima's grip on them seemed to become.
"I-I don't want this," Kogami whispered, desperately trying to convince himself of those words.
"Your body betrays you," Makishima whispered back, rubbing Kogami's hardened cock through his pants. "You want this. You want me."
Makishima stared up at him in a silent challenge, daring Kogami to deny the evidence of his lust now lying thick and heavy between his thighs. When Kogami made no move to resist, Makishima reached for the gun, pulling it easily from his hand.
"One day you will kill me, Kogami. Of that I'm sure. But that day is not today."
Makishima reached up, slipping his hand around the back of Kogami's neck and threading his fingers through his thick black hair. He pulled Kogami towards his parted lips, never once breaking eye contact.
For one brief moment, Kogami tried to stop the kiss from happening. The thought of sharing such an intimate exchange with his worst enemy was abhorrent. This was a man he despised; a man who he'd pursue unto the ends of the earth to kill.
Makishima must have sensed Kogami's moment of clarity, lifting off the ground to meet him halfway. When their lips finally met, the spark of electricity Kogami had felt moments ago was magnified a hundred fold. Every cell in his body was on fire; the energy between him and Makishima growing with the intensity of you their kiss.
"Touch me," Makishima murmured, nipping Kogami's lip with his teeth. "I want to feel your skin against mine."
Kogami responded immediately, pulling Makishima's shirt free and sliding his hand underneath the silken fabric. His skin was soft and warm; so smooth it made Kogami crave more. His desire became a need; the compulsion so strong now that he lost all pretense of restraint. When he tore Makishima's shirt open; a burst of laughter erupted from the man's lips.
"You started this," Kogami hissed, undoing Makishima's pants and pulling them off, "yet now you laugh at me."
Makishima took hold of Kogami, flipping him onto his back and slamming into the floor. The air rushed out of Kogami's lungs, leaving him momentarily stunned. It gave Makishima just enough time to pull open his jacket and start unbuttoning his shirt.
"It's not you I laugh at," Makishima replied, feathering Kogami's bare chest with kisses. "It is the situation that amuses me. To think this admiration turned obsession would lead to this. Moments ago you were going to kill me, now you're going to fuck me. Even you must find the circumstances comical."
Kogami took hold of Makishima's head, crushing their lips together in a painful kiss. When he finally broke it, Makishima was gasping for air.
"Stop talking," Kogami commanded in a quiet voice.
Makishima nodded in reply, greedily leaning in for another kiss…
It was frantic and uncoordinated; a mixture of passion and rage. When they were finally skin to skin; their bodies writhing in a tangle of arms and legs on the floor, Kogami couldn't hold back any longer. He took hold of Makishima's hips, lifting his slight frame and slamming him down onto his rock hard cock.
Makishima cried out in pain; his nails slicing into the skin of Kogami's chest.
"Do you feel our connection now?" Kogami taunted, keeping Makishima firmly in place. "This is what you wanted isn't it? Surely you didn't think I'd be gentle."
Makishima relaxed his body, lifting his tear-filled eyes to meet Kogami's merciless gaze. "I had… no such… thoughts," he bit out. "It's your… cruelty I want, not your… compassion."
Makishima pressed his palms to Kogami's chest, lifting hips and sliding up the length of Kogami's throbbing cock. Then, just before Kogami slipped completely out of his body, Makishima lowered himself back down. The vision was beyond erotic, and combined with the feeling of Makishima's slick heat straggling his dick, it sent Kogami careening over the edge of his lust.
Cruelty is exactly what Kogami gave him, tearing into Makishima's body with such ferocity that twice he lost consciousness in Kogami's demanding arms. Every time Kogami tried to pull back and slow his carnal attack, Makishima would spur him on. Harder… he would whisper. Deeper…
When Kogami finally climaxed; the force sent him spiraling into a blissful chasm of ecstasy. He clung to his temporary lover's shuddering frame, listening intently to Makishima's racing heart as he tried to steady his own.
Makishima murmured something weakly; words Kogami couldn't quite make out through the haze of exhaustion. He tried to focus on the sound of Makishima's voice, but the melodic tone only succeeded in lulling him to sleep…
Kogami shot up from the floor, wobbling unsteadily on his feet. He reached out blindly, splaying his hand against the nearest wall. He was still naked; Makishima's scent clinging to every inch of his skin. It was enticing and revolting at the same time, making his heart ache and his stomach turn in the same breath.
He straightened, squinting against the sun shining brightly through the tattered curtains. There was no need to search the room. Makishima was long gone; the only sign of his presence was the wind up record player sitting in the corner. Kogami sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. He'd chastise himself for his mistake later. At the moment, all he wanted to do was wash the stink of shame from his body.
He dressed quickly, almost missing the slip of paper tucked into the pocket of his jacket. He unfolded the scrap of parchment, recognizing the literary work immediately: Measure by Measure written by William Shakespeare. Act III, scene 1, line 83 was circled in stark red ink.
If I must die
I will encounter darkness as a bride,
And hug it in mine arms.
Written just below it, in beautiful script was a message from Makishima:
I shall never grow tired of the chase. Come for me, hound. I await my death with bated breath…
~END~
