Haven't written here in a while...Uh...yeah.
A tired groan escaped his throat as Genma turned over on the bed and away from the sunlight. His hand plopped down on the other half of the mattress, expecting the smooth skin of a woman, though all he felt was cold cotton. He groggily let out a "huh?" and slowly opened his eyes, widening them when his memories of last night came back in a huge hit. Feeling his heart speed up ten times as fast in the matter of two seconds, he bolted up so fast stars began flashing before him from the head rush. As his vision cleared, he took in the familiar scent of soap and turned to the right a little, seeing the bathroom door half open. He took a deep breath and calmed down a little, climbing out of bed to slip into some black pants. He slowly tiptoed over and pushed the door open quietly.
Inside, the orange tinted lights illuminated the hazy atmosphere of steam from the bathtub in the far end of the room, the length parallel to the side wall. Clothes were neatly folded on the counter by the sink while slender shoulders leaned against the end of the tub, her back facing the door. He continued his tiptoeing as he made his way in, crouching down behind her as quietly as he could, though he knew she already sensed him, and placed a kiss at the crook of her neck, right next to the sealed rose. "Good morning, Riku."
"Morning, Genma. Though who said you could come in when a lady is in the bath?" She said, a smile clear in her tone.
"Well, the door was open, that's permission enough for me." He said, his eyes scanning the small amount of her back that was visible to him over the bathtub and bubbles, noticing all the small, faint scars that covered her skin and through her tattooed wings, though the one that caught his eye the most was a much thicker, more prominent scar that ran from the top of her shoulder down and into the water. Not realizing he was doing it, his thumb lightly ran down the length of a quarter of the scar, a little sad that it went straight through her right tattoo. He could feel her skin twitch underneath his touch as he did so and slowly wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Unless you want me to leave."
"Well, isn't the answer obvious?" Riku leaned her head back to rest on his shoulder and stared up at the ceiling. "You wanna know what happened with the Akatsuki, don't you?" She listened to his silence, taking that as a 'yes' and continued. "I should've died there. Not in a suicidal way, but if it wasn't for the Houkou, I really would've died. When you guys left, they expected me to talk, but I managed to stay silent for a few more days and endure all that shit they put me through."
She waited a few seconds in case Genma wanted to stick in his own words but when there was just silence, she continued. "I guess…Pain just got sick of it. Sick enough to actually get out of his chair and…"
He gazed down at her battered face, despising the determination still so strong in her eyes and picked her up by the neck from her kneeled position." You need to talk before you regret it." Pain narrowed his Rinnegan from irritation and suddenly, his hand had found its way through the center of her torso right beneath the rib cage. Hot blood poured out from the wound around his arm and dripped onto the already stained ground. Tossing her body aside, he shook his hand to get the excess blood off his hand and watched her writhing figure as a pool spread out from the hole he had made.
Riku gasped for air as she felt her life slowly slipping away from her along with her vision. 'I…I can't die…' She thought, not feeling much of the pain anymore with everything numbing.
'Has the time come?' The velvet voice echoed through her mind.
'Do I have any choice?' She thought reluctantly.
At that moment, a white light engulfed her body and slowly formed into the silhouette of a graceful dog above her back, its eyes slits of red…
"…and then I ended up a few miles away in the forest."
"I should've been there…"
She pulled at his arms and loosened them a little for her to turn around in them and still stay in the water enough to cover most of her chest. "If you were, I couldn't do this…" She placed her hands on either side of his face and gave him a simple, yet passionate kiss. As she pulled away, a small smile pulled at her lips, "Now that you got your morning greeting, get out."
"Aw, you really wanted me to leave?" He stuck out his lower lip with puppy eyes.
"In case you haven't noticed…I'm still taking my bath."
"I could always wash your back…"
"Get out."
"Come on, like before…" He flashed the same grin that always melted her heart.
She smiled and pushed his forehead with her index finger. "Out."
Riku sighed and sunk into the soapy water to her chin, her eyes closed to enjoy the relaxing warmth she sat in. Something in the back of her mind told her this was all wrong. It told her she never should've come back at all. It told her…she should be dead.
There's a nice morning thought.
After a while of listening to her morbid conscience, she finally climbed out of the tub and dried herself off with one of the two navy towels hanging on the back of the door. With the towel wrapped around her chest, her folded clothes in her hand, she stepped out of the bathroom and rounded the corner into the indent in the bedroom that held his drawers. As she did, she saw Genma lying on the bed with his hands behind his head, a big smile stretched across his face. Riku crossed her arms with her eyebrow arched. "Enjoying the view?"
"I am if you are."
She rolled her eyes with a smile almost as big as his, taking in his shirtless form, and began opening up his drawers. "Mind if I borrow some things to wear?"
He let out a deep sigh. "I prefer the outfit you're wearing, but go ahead."
"Stop acting like a pervert." She fished out an old pair of black pants and smaller t-shirt that looked like it hadn't been worn in a while, her smile not fading.
As Riku and Genma stood around the kitchen island, drinking tea and orange juice, respectively, the dull doorbell echoed through the small apartment.
"Ah, shit, I forgot she was showing up this morning!" Genma went over to the door, not bothering to go put on the shirt, that one article of clothing he seemed to hate wearing today. He reached for the knob but was stopped by a fully dressed Riku with a hand pushing him back.
"Allow me." She opened the door at an agonizing pace for him and expected surprise then anger and tears but instead just saw a familiar grin. "K-Kyoko?"
"Hey, m-!" The woman's greeting was abruptly cut off by a clothesline to the neck. She was pushed back by Riku out into the hall and took a big step back to regain her balance, sucking in a big breath of air along with a cough.
Riku shut the door behind her quickly before Genma could even react to the situation and held the doorknob so he couldn't open it again. "What are you doing here?" She asked in a frantic whisper.
Kyoko cleared her throat and straightened, crossing her arms. "I saw you were back and came to see you, but I wasn't expecting the attempt to decapitate me with your elbow."
"Sorry…but more importantly, you're the one going out with Genma?"
"No, no, don't worry. I was just doing that to find you."
"Did ya…do anything with him…?"
"No! I know he's yours so I made sure not to go there."
Riku let out a sigh of relief and put a hand over her heart, taking a few breaths to slow it down.
Kyoko tilted her head a little with confusion and curiosity, "Possessive much…?"
Riku started slowly, "Well…I'm pretty sure if you did anything with him, he could get arrested…"
Sorry if this sucks balls. I wrote this two years ago...
