A/N: Two updates in one day! Woo, I'm on a roll! =)
"I'll admit, I'm surprised you'd choose this," Jianyi said softly. "This is a phobia of yours, isn't it?"
"Being this close to you would be anyone's phobia," Yaone spat.
He sighed and released one of her hands so that he could comb one of her long, violet ponytails, letting his fingers run through its length.
"I guess what they say is true. The prettiest flower you want to pick is always the most poisonous."
Yaone lashed out with her free hand, striking Jianyi alongside the face and digging her claws in for good measure. It was enough time to dart out from beneath him and she started to run for the door, each little square tile on the floor feeling as though it were a mile long.
She yelped, feeling something tug snuggly around her waist, preventing her from escaping. Wheeling around, she saw Jianyi grinning, holding one tail end of her lilac obi as if it were a leash.
He yanked it hard, throwing her off balance, and slung her into the desk, sending a mess of pens and papers through the air. She landed on a keyboard, wincing at the sound of the buttons crunching beneath her head. Before she could get up again, Jianyi had her trapped beneath him, one knee shoved between her legs and each of her wrists locked in his iron grip.
"Just remember," he said, bending over her until his lips were moving against hers, "that you chose this."
Yaone writhed beneath him at first, whining as his mouth claimed victory over her own. The sour whiff of cigarette smoke smothered her lungs and she almost retched at the taste of his tongue delving deep down her throat.
He let one of her hands go again, creeping his way down until he reached the chain girdles on her thighs. He had only a moment to undo the links before Yaone grabbed his scrawny throat and tried to push him off, summoning a feral strength from deep within.
Jianyi couldn't help but admire the way her hair splayed out around her face, the fierce struggle for her pride and dignity playing out on her scrunched, tear-stained face. When he grew tired of her attempts to shove him away, he rammed his knee into her and all of the air in her lungs escaped in a single gasp.
In one swift motion, Jianyi reached for one of the pens in his lab pocket, clicked open the tip, and slammed it down into Yaone's open palm, impaling the soft skin in a spray of blood.
The youkai screamed, a fresh wave of tears trickling down the raised lines left by the bulging veins her neck. Jianyi plunged back onto her lips, harshly biting down on the tender skin even as she continued to bellow at the ceiling. Now that she was crippled beneath him, he undid the other chain girdle and let his hands roam over her torso.
"Ni, stop!" she whimpered, tasting the bitter iron of blood from where he had bitten down on her lip. "Please, stop!"
Jianyi grinned, his mouth curling against her collarbone. Pushing himself off of her, the scientist reveled in the way her eyes were shut in pain, squeezing tear after sparkling tear from the edges of her lashes.
"What was that?"
"Please…stop. I'll do it…just please…don't…"
Still smiling, Jianyi started to back away, making Yaone shudder at the sudden movement.
"Of course you will," he said and bent over to pick up the stuffed bunny. "Because in the end, you will always choose your own pride, forsaking your friends for your ego. You'd rather die for some misplaced sense of dignity, than live to defend your comrades." He let out an exaggerated gasp. "What would Lord Kougaiji think if he knew he had such traitorous followers? And Lirin—it's no wonder she's running away from you all the time."
Yaone stumbled to her feet, clutching her injured hand to her chest. Jianyi's dark eyes slid over to her. She reminded him of some wretched statue, standing lopsided, ready to topple over at any moment, with tears and blood staining her beautiful skin while the lilac waistband flowed around her and trailed onto the ground. Like some angel cast from the heavens and damned by the earth.
He glanced down at the pen in his hand, then held it up in front of the rabbit's face. "Oh, look, bunny. We've broken another pen. That was my favorite one, too."
Yaone staggered to the door, a grey fuzziness beginning to cloud her mind and blur her vision.
"Oh, Yaone," he called after her. "Do try to have that elixir ready by the end of the week. I trust you now understand what the terms are?"
Yaone said nothing. Using the last of her strength, she wrenched open the door and left the laboratory, leaving the mad scientist surrounded by smears of blood and scattered papers.
Sparing a glance at the demolished keyboard, Jianyi smirked. He set down the rabbit on the desk and took out a cigarette. The mix of nicotine smoke and the lingering traces of her blood on his lips made for an interesting taste.
"Though," he told the rabbit, "if she ever forgets, I wouldn't mind having to remind her."
Several Days Later...
"Yaone?"
Dokugakuji peered around the doorway, frowning when he spotted her sitting behind what looked like a bar, though instead of drinks, there was a variety of chopped plants scattered across the table and colorful, steaming liquids bubbling forth from several hanging cauldrons. A thick, ancient-looking book was spread before her and she frowned at its tiny, flowing script, never bothering to look up at her youkai friend.
"Can I come in?" Doku asked again, taking another step into the small room.
"Sure."
That was all she said. She kept her head bowed in her work, except for when she moved across the room to take a clipping from another plant or fetch a small vial from one of the dusty shelves. Doku stood awkwardly in the middle of the cellar. He couldn't see it, but he sure could feel the black thundercloud hanging over the room.
"Is…is everything ok?"
Yaone dumped a small handful of leaves into a cauldron, her face as cold as ice. "Everything's fine."
Unconvinced, he walked further into the room, trying to catch a glimpse of her face through the pillars of smoke. He stopped short when he saw the white bandage around her hand and the dark scab at the corner of her mouth.
"What happened? What's wrong with your hand?"
"Nothing. I cut it."
"Bullshit." The word caught her attention. "You'd have to be more than a bit sloppy to cut yourself that badly, and I've never known you to be careless with a knife. If something's wrong, why can't you tell me?" She ignored him and flipped through the pages of her alchemy book. A little perturbed, Doku circled around to her side of the table. "What did Ni want?" He drew in a sharp breath. "Did he do this? Yaone, did he—"
"I told you, Ni just likes to play games. It's nothing to worry about."
"You can't just let him get away with this, Yaone! Why—"
She wheeled on him so fast he jumped in surprise. "Doku!" she snapped. "Please, I'm very busy. So I'd appreciate it if you would leave."
Stunned, Doku stared at her dumbly, jaw hanging slack. After a long moment, when he couldn't take her glaring at him anymore, Doku turned and left, his thudding footsteps on the wooden floor accentuating the absolute silence. He slammed the door behind him. Yaone winced, hating herself for inflicting such hurt and confusion, especially since now, Doku was the only one left.
Because in the end, you will always choose your own pride, forsaking your friends for your ego.
Sliding to the ground, Yaone buried her face in her palms and wept until the gauze on her hand had swollen with the weight of her tears.
A/N: Ni's such a sadist.
Yeah, I think we'll call that finished. Just needed to get it out of my system. I hope you guys, er-enjoyed-it? Is enjoyed the right word? Well, if you did, then that's just sick...just like Ni.
xD Thanks for reading!