Warning: This one's not so cute.
Also, this has become more of a Wadanohara X Ice Scream crossover, but since I can't find Ice Scream or Ice Watching anywhere on fanfiction, I'm just sticking with the Wadanohara category.
"Why would you do such an awful thing?"
"Well, because I have a hobby of bullying the weak."
2
Tatsumiya found that Idate liked to stay out of the house for long periods of time without giving her any warning as to where or what he was doing, which oftentimes left the oarfish alone at home without much to do. She'd read from the books in their bedroom or make tea in the kitchen and watch the stillness of the icy waters outside of the cabin. Every now and then, she would find Mr. Nekoyama, the postman, making deliveries, oftentimes letters from home for Tatsumiya or underwater cigarettes for Idate. She liked talking with Mr. Nekoyama whenever he made his rounds in Iceberg isle; he was a very kind and funny bird, but he usually had to leave only minutes after arrival to make even more deliveries. Tatsumiya would make sure to give him a package of food as thanks and send him on his way. And then she would be left at home. Alone. Again.
It wasn't as if she didn't want to hang out with and talk to the people on Iceberg Isle; on the contrary, she very much wished to. The population was very small, and everyone seemed to know each other very well; everyone especially knew Idate. And that, there, was where the problem laid.
It became very apparent very quickly that no one liked Idate at all. In fact, the wolf boy Shirogane seemed downright terrified of the man, and, by process of association, Tatsumiya.
She would have loved to spend more time with the one-armed owl boy, Yukisada. He was very kind. But he was always hanging around Shirogane, who was his best friend.
There was also a polar bear woman named Rocma who obviously hated Idate with every fiber of her being. Tatsumiya had heard that she adopted an orphaned baby seal named Mafuyu, but so far, the woman had made certain to never so much as leave the child in Tatsumiya's line of sight.
She supposed that Rock talked, but he was never very kind, and Tatsumiya never liked to be around him for more than a few minutes. Ironically, he seemed to be the only person Idate considered to be a friend on Iceberg Isle. The rockhopper penguin, on the other hand, didn't seem to return the sentiment.
That left Peraco, a little penguin girl with too many siblings. Peraco was a very sociable girl, but Tatsumiya usually found that their conversations somehow ended up leading into something like this:
"So, you're the orca's girlfriend."
"Yes."
"And he's not, like, blackmailing you or anything?"
"I don't think he'd do anything like that."
"So you actually like him?"
"Very much."
And then the words would come:
"But you're so nice."
Those words hit her unexpectedly hard. Why would she, such a nice person, ever like Idate, the man who had saved her from the traitor that she had once trusted and considered her companion? The man who had so ruthlessly beaten Old to a pulp in less than two minutes, right before her very eyes.
He was a dangerous person, she knew, but Idate had always seemed kind to her, somehow. He doted on her like a kitten dotes on its master and teased her in such loving and playful manners that she could never help but stay in good spirits whenever he was around. And he'd saved her life.
In her mind, the real question was: Why wouldn't she like him?
Tatsumiya was sitting on the couch at the house, only a few weeks after they had arrived at Idate's home in Iceberg Isle, reading a book that she'd received as a gift from Wadanohara through the mail only the day before. The only sounds in the small cottage had been the howling wind just outside of the window, the clock on the wall, and the turning of pages as Tatsumiya continued to read.
Idate had left approximately five hours ago, announcing that he was going out for a bit. When asked where he was going, he'd only vaguely responded that he was going out for a bite to eat.
There were no restaurants on Iceberg Isle, so Tatsumiya had no idea what he could have meant, but he was out the door before she was able to question him any further.
It had also brought up the question of why he hadn't brought her with him; they hadn't had a date in a while, and a deep feeling on loneliness had crept up on Tatsumiya the past few days. With her lack of social interaction with anyone else on the island and Idate's being gone for so long, she really did feel all alone in this tiny little cottage that they lived in.
Sighing, she turned a page.
Suddenly, the door was blasted open by the wind from the storm outside. "Tatsu-Chan, I'm home!"
Smiling faintly, Tatsumiya looked up. "Welcome home, Idat-"
She froze.
"Hm? What's with that look?" Idate scratched the back of his head and nearly singed his hair with the cigarette in his hand. "Oh, yeah, yeah. No smoking in the house, got it." With a grin, he put out the cigarette in the ash tray by the door.
Horrified, Tatsumiya continued to stare at him. It wasn't the smoking that had horrified her so; his mouth was smeared with blood.
Her first thought had been that he'd gotten into a bad fight while he was out. The second was:
What in the world has he been eating...?
"Idate," she struggled to find words. "Why do you-"
The orca quickly intercepted. "I actually need to use the bathroom right now, but I promise we can chat when I'm done." That being said, he leaned over her and, tilting her chin up towards him, pressed his bloody lips to hers. He was lingering much too long for his usual "I'm home" kiss, and this fact, along with the metallic taste on his lips, only served to make Tatsumiya's skin crawl. He pulled back, an almost sickeningly sweet grin plastered across his face. "Love you, Golden Eyes."
And he was off, bounding towards the bathroom door.
Tatsumiya rushed to the kitchen sink, where she spat and rinsed her mouth out, trying to rid herself of the taste of blood. She cried out in surprise when she saw red water fall from her lips and into the sink, where it was quickly sucked down the drain.
She couldn't even think, the taste was so strong. She didn't even realize she was breathing heavily until after five minutes of trying to rid herself of the blood he put in her mouth, when she felt Idate's arms wrap around her torso. His mouth was right on top of her ear.
"What'cha doing, Sunshine?"
She jumped, which in turn caused him to laugh and kiss her cheek.
"Ah, you're too adorable; I could just eat you up."
Instantly, Tatsumiya pulled herself from his reach to look at him. He'd cleaned up while he was in the bathroom, as his mouth was completely blood-free. He still had that impish grin on his face, and it was making her stomach churn.
She suddenly burst out in nervousness. "Do you think you're being cute?"
Idate shrugged his shoulders and shoved his hands into the pockets of his suit. "Well, yeah. Kinda."
"Well, you're not."
He frowned.
"Why was your mouth covered in blood?"
"I'd thought that you would know by now that I'm a carnivore," He explained. "I gotta eat something."
Of course she did; she knew that orcas ate meat. Somehow, though, she'd never imagined Idate killing for his food, and the sight of him, mouth smeared red, caused her to panic.
Noticing her silence, Idate smiled whimsically. "Usually, I try to clean myself up by the beach before coming home, but I kinda forgot until I was at the door. Figured I'd have a little fun with it."
Fun...?
"Well, I didn't find it to be particularly funny. Especially the part where you kissed me."
His grin widened until she could see his pointed teeth. Tatsumiya found herself visibly shuddering. "Oh? Yeah, well, sorry about that."
She blinked in amazement at the sheer amount of insincerity in his voice.
She couldn't believe this.
Tatsumiya wrapped one arm around her stomach and used the other to hold her forehead. "Oh, really, now," She muttered to herself as she walked to the couch and plopped herself down on it. "I can't even understand- Honestly, it's no wonder."
"What's no wonder?" Idate was next to her now, trying to wrap an arm around her quivering shoulders.
"Stop!" She nearly shouted the word. "Please, just- Just don't touch me."
Slowly, he retracted his arm, but still stayed inappropriately close.
Tatsumiya took a deep breath to calm herself. "It's just been so hard for me, staying here with you, Idate. Half of the time, it's just me sitting here alone, and the other half, it's cuddling and sex, and I just-" She shook her head, releasing it from her hand, but refused to look at him. "I really like you, but you're literally the only person I talk to here. It gets lonely. And when I saw you come in with all of that blood on your mouth, I... Really, you had me terrified."
Was it horrible of her to think that if Idate had killed and eaten her, nobody would have ever known?
Idate scratched his head and sighed. "Really sorry I upset you like that, Princess." He looked like he wanted to pat her on the shoulder, but thought better and decided against it. "But, if you get lonely here, why don't you just go and talk to some of the other people here?"
She wished desperately that he wouldn't make her answer.
He nudged her arm with his elbow. "C'mon, Sunshine, what's up? Why you being all recluse?"
Tatsumiya sighed and looked over at him. "Honestly, Idate, it's because everyone hates you."
Going by the expression on his face, this was the last thing he expected her to say.
"Eh? No, that can't be true. Everyone here loves playing with me. It must be that-"
"Shirogane is too terrified to talk to me, and so Yukisada can almost never talk to me, either. Peraco's sweet, but she's always talking about how I'm too nice to be dating you." Idate's fingers twitched at this one. "And I'd love to talk with Rocma, since she's the only other adult woman here, but it's hard when she thinks that I'm going to hurt Mufuyu, and then Rock-"
"Wait a second, who the hell's Mufuyu?"
Idate looked taken aback.
"Rocma's daughter. Mufuyu."
His eyebrows scrunched together. "Rocma's got a kid...?"
"Are you listening?"
"Sorry, sorry." The orca waved his hand nonchalantly. "Just soaking it in. Never would have guessed."
Tatsumiya was now feeling guilty about telling him. It seemed as if Rocma had been trying to hide the child from Idate.
"Anyway, I think I know where you were going about Rock. He is a dick."
"I'm not sure you, of all people, should be saying stuff like that," she shot back at him.
Idate ignored simply ignored the jab. "Hm... Yeah, I think you should go and see the owl and the wolf tomorrow."
"I already told you, Shirogane is terrified of me because we're dating, and Yukisada is always with him." She was beginning to lose her nerve about talking with him. It seemed as if he wasn't listening to a thing she said.
"Oh, no, I heard," he told her, "But there must have just been some sort of misunderstanding. I'm sure that if you go over to their house tomorrow, maybe bring some tea, you can clear things up real quickly."
She didn't like the tone in his voice. He was obviously up to something.
She conceded, nonetheless.
That night, Shirogane the wolf jolted awake at the sound of a knock on the door. From his position on the couch of Yukisada's living room, he peeked over the armrest to peer at the clock hanging on the wall. Two in the morning.
He listened, ears perked, as the knocking continued in a rather loud and annoying pattern. Whoever it was obviously wasn't very concerned about their sleep.
"Shiro-Kun," he heard Yukisada's voice call out groggily from his bedroom. "Can you please see who it is?"
Shirogane hesitated a moment.
The knocking persisted. In fact, it seemed to grow louder at Yukisada's voice.
Slowly, he got up from the couch and crept towards the door. When he reached his destination, Shirogane noticed that the knocking had finally stopped, as if the visitor had heard him approaching, and wished desperately that there was a peephole on the door.
Perhaps it was Rocma. She was the only person he could think of on Iceberg Isle with such perceptive hearing, other than himself. She wasn't exactly patient or friendly, either, so it would explain the loud knocking. But what could Rocma possibly want at two in the morning?
Hopefully not beat the shit out of him.
Carefully, Shirogane creaked open the door.
He knew, from the smell of cigarettes that hit his nostrils almost immediately, that it was the orca before he could even see him.
Letting out a startled cry, Shirogane immediately attempted to slam the door shut, but Idate had jammed his foot into the small space before he was able.
Harpoon. Shirogane began to sprint to the next room. There was a harpoon upstairs.
Before he even had the chance to reach the door leading to the kitchen, however, he felt a tug on the collar of his shirt and knew that he'd been too slow.
"Where you think you're going, buddy?"
"Oh, no, please, spare me!" He cried. "I don't taste good at all, I swear!"
The orca slapped a hand over his mouth. "Keep quiet, dog; I didn't come to play... Not today, anyway~"
It was at this point that Shirogane began to legitimately cry, though he's wanted to even since he'd thought Rocma might be at the door, wanting to kick his ass.
"Now, I'm just going to pass along a little information, and you can do with it whatever you want, 'K?"
Shirogane nodded his head profusely.
"Good, good. 'Cause, you see, my girl's been kinda depressed lately, and I think it's because she's not making any friends here, which really sucks, because I like her a lot more when she's happy. Now, she might also be a little mad at me, which is why I'm sleeping on the couch tonight, but I still wanna cheer her up however I can. She's really cute and sweet; has a nice smile, you know? Puts a smile on my own face."
Shirogane nodded so hard he felt as if his neck was going to break.
He didn't like the orca's smiles.
"So I told her to come and play with you and owl boy tomorrow... See where I'm going?"
He most certainly did, and he did not like it at all.
Still, the orca elaborated. "Meaning that if she comes home tomorrow without a smile on her face, I'm not going to be happy. Meaning that the next time we're playing together, you and owl boy aren't getting off with any arms attached again."
Even though the orca was behind him, Shirogane could feel the scary expression on his face, and so he cried even harder.
With all this being said, the orca finally released him, but he still stayed stiff and motionless. "Well, that's all I had to say! Thank you oh, so much for inviting me into your home so late at night!" Shirogane heard the front door open. "Better get some sleep, worm!" And it was slammed shut.
After a few moments, Shirogane climbed back onto the couch and wept himself to sleep.
