écriture fatale

by crisis rain

Disclaimer: Kaichou wa Maid-sama!/Maid-sama! belongs to Fujiwara Hiro. Fiction plot & originals belong to crisis rain. No infringement intended.

Gouki brushed his face deeper into the folds of his scarf in an attempt to bury his face away from the cold. He was currently out on an errand sent by his mother; a task to pick up some clearance cake for the inevitable visits he would receive from his extended relatives. As per her instructions, he foraged into the busy, crowded Shibuya streets, and shuffled on past the mass of pedestrians. Couples were seen, intimately walking together as they held hands, snuck kisses, and shared laughs as romance filled the night air. Trying to hide his grimace behind the folds of his scarf, Gouki walked on.

He wasn't paying attention, but he felt someone bump into him suddenly and he immediately bounced back, horrified to see that the person he had walked into had fell back onto the cold ground. She was wearing little; a woolen pea coat was draped over her shoulders, and then nothing but a formal-looking thin, blue silk dress underneath. One of her heels toppled off, and she slowly tried to reach for it.

"Oh god, I'm sorry!" Gouki blushed, remembering his aversion to females but mustered his courage and bent down to help her up. "I should've looked where I was going — Sui?!" To his astonishment, the girl before him was none other than his sweet, next-door neighbour. She looked up, face weary and tear-stained. "Goucchan?"

He immediately grabbed her hand, pulling her up and she nearly toppled over the imbalance caused by her right foot still missing its shoe. Pulling to the side, he quickly nabbed her fallen heel and eased it back on her feet. She gazed down at him, face sullen, eyes quietly dripping tears at his kindness. Standing back up, he gave her a quick glance up and down, before yanking free his scarf and wrapped it around her neck. Despite his messy job that ended up tousling her hair, it was warm, and she sniffled in response, trying to halt her crying.

Gouki sighed inwardly. He had a pretty good idea why she was crying, but he felt like it wasn't the right time to press about the matter. "Let's go home, Sui. You gonna catch a cold like this." He gruffly stated, and reached out to help her get dressed into her coat properly, before buttoning it up. 'Mom's gonna have to wait for the cake later.' He mentally groaned, but shook his head to dispel disturbing thoughts of his mother and instead, took Hisui's hand into his own.

People were beginning to stare at them now, casting wondering glances at Hisui's less-than-happy state. Gouki awkwardly shuffled around in the spot, tugging Hisui's hand a bit more insistently now. She took a quivering step forwards before her knees buckled; unable to sustain her weight. Managing to catch her so she wouldn't end up falling back down on the pavement once more, Gouki then noticed the various cuts and scratches on her feet – it seemed apparent that she was walking for far too long in those dress shoes of hers.

He heaved a sigh.

Aratake Karen sat huddled by the kotatsu in the family living space, hunched over the table and glanced over at the clock that hung on the wall behind the television set. Her husband, Gorou, was currently preoccupied with watching the holiday special broadcasts and mindlessly munched on the snacks on the table. She glanced back at him, before glancing back at the time. 'That son of mine is late.' She thought grumpily to herself, before tapping her husband's arm to catch his attention.

"Hmmm?" Came the distracted response; his eyes still fixated on the television screen.

"Gouki's late." She tartly replied, pulling away the bowl of crackers her husband was currently stuffing himself with. "It's almost one in the morning; where on earth could he be?!" Her husband didn't look as concerned as much as he had a reaction to her words, but merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Well… it must've been a pretty big line up at Yoshinoya's. I mean, midnight clearance sales on Christmas cakes? That'll take a while." Gorou reasoned, and it somewhat eased his wife's worries a little, who nodded slowly. "I suppose that could be… still that rascal's probably gone off somewhere, I've got a feeling about it."

As if on cue, she could hear the faint jiggle of keys unlocking the front door, before the wooden door would swing open with a certain force that was only characteristic of her son. Pressing her hands against the kotatsu and pushing herself up, Karen was about to give her hooligan son a piece of her mind. "Gouki!" She shouted out, quickly pacing towards the foyer of her home. "You better have that cake from Yoshinoya!"

She stopped short when her son came home not particularly empty-handed – rather, instead of the cake she was expecting, the tired figure of the next door neighbour's daughter was collapsed over her son's back, looking worse for wear. "H-H-Hisui-chan?!"

"Mom." Gouki tiredly greeted her, and kneeled down to let Hisui down. "Sorry, I couldn't get the cake. Sui looked like she was in trouble, so…"

"Does her parents know she's here?" Karen asked worriedly. Hisui gave a silent shake of her head. Karen let out a sigh, before quickly gesturing for Gouki to take her upstairs. "I'll call Sayaka and let her know. Gouki, go draw a bath for her, would you?"

He nodded, kicking off his shoes before helping Hisui do the same. "C'mon now, Sui…"

Hisui followed him silently up the stairs to the bathroom, and took off her coat, holding it in her hands while expectantly glanced around. Gouki had begun to fill the bathtub with hot water, and then quickly skidded back out of the bathroom, heading for the linen closet. Grabbing some fresh towels out of the closet, he quickly made his way back. The sound of the water from the faucet roared in the silence.

Gouki found her leaning by the wash basin counter, bent over and stripping off the torn silk leggings. He caught a glimpse of the black, sheer fabric peeling off and revealing the pale skin beneath and quickly glanced away, face starting to redden. "Sui… ahem, your towel." Stretching his arm and handing the towel over to her, he tried to keep his gaze away from the scene before him, as tempting as it seems.

"Thanks, Goucchan." She took the towel, holding it for a moment before setting it down on the counter top.

"T-Then I'll let you take your bath!" Gouki immediately turned around as he felt his face ascend another few degrees warmer.

He felt her fingers tug on his sleeve, and hesitantly, he turned his head around, hoping she wouldn't see how flushed he looked. Hisui gazed back at him expectantly, a worried frown on her face. He stared back, wondering what she wanted.

"I… I can't unzip my dress."

He stared at her, silent for a moment.

"W-What?"

She turned around, lifting her hair for him to see. In the middle of the back of her dress, was a small, thin zipper that held the torso piece tightly together, and it ran all the way down near her waist. Gouki started to perspire. 'So that's how dresses stay on like that.' He thought dimly to himself, about the magic of how women's clothing worked for a short moment. Clearing his throat, he tried to stare at the ceiling light instead.

"U-Uh, I'll grab mom for you?" He suggested hopefully.

"It's just a zipper, I mean, you can unzip it, right?" Hisui quickly responded, a little more irritated this time. She tried to wring her right arm back, but her fingers were falling just short of the zipper which slipped continuously out of her grasp. "J-Just pull it down a bit, please…?"

Gulping, he pinched the zipper head tightly in his fingers and gingerly pull it down. His other hand held the top piece of fabric in place so the dress wouldn't bunch up along the zipper seam. The zipper was so fine, that in his fear of breaking her expensive-looking dress, he was forced to pull it in an agonizingly slow pace. He got it down halfway when he noticed that the dress straps fell down past her shoulders, having been loosened from its hold. Hands flew away from her back immediately and his face fumed red.

"Thanks–" Hisui started but felt him tossing the large towel over her head, covering her almost from head to toe. "...what are you doing?"

"I-I'm done here, right?! Okay, just gonna get out of your hair! Enjoy your bath!" He yelled out, before slamming the door behind him. Lifting the fabric out of her face, Hisui peered behind her with a quizzical look on her face, before facing the bathtub which looked like it was about to overflow with water. Panicking, she quickly darted over to turn the faucet off.

"Oh no!"

Gouki pressed his back against the bathroom door he had so unceremoniously closed behind him. His heart was pounding so loudly he could hear it inside his own ears. A hand wiped his sweaty brow. That was a close one. He thought about if he had gone farther with the zipper, it would've been too much "stimulation" for him to handle.

"Goddammit, we're not kids anymore." He muttered under his breath.

Nakata leaned against the wall, compressing himself against it as tightly as he could, waiting for the lights of the police patrol car to pass by on the street outside. When he could hear the sirens fade away, he let out a breath of relief. Hands numb from the cold shoved themselves into his battered leather jacket pockets, and he cautiously glanced around before proceeding to dart out of the alleyway, making his way back out.

The past few days had been tense for him. An arrest warrant was out for him after his brief clash at his school's culture festival. Not to mention he had a very intense feeling of being followed by someone for the past day and a half. The paranoia of being caught, either by the police or the possibility of having a stalker, had kept him up and unable to sleep. He had tried to appeal to the local gangs but they all shunned him away, threatening to beat him up into a bloody carcass if he tried to get them involved with the police. With the rest of his lackeys gone and ditching him behind, he was alone.

He leaned against the lamp post, huffing heavily as the fatigue began to catch up. This back street was quiet, but at least nobody was here. Fishing for a pack of cigarettes inside his pockets, he took out the crumpled paper box and began to shake one out. The last one. Throwing the box away without a care or concern for littering, he placed the cigarette in his mouth while he tried to find his lighter.

Chapped fingers began to flick the lighter on, but the spark wouldn't hold. Grunting with frustration at unable to even enjoy his last smoke, Nakata angrily threw his empty lighter against the floor, smashing it with his foot. It was then he noticed someone walking down from the end of the alleyway, and he stiffened, coiling himself to flee. As the figure walked close enough, into the light of the lamp post above, he spotted a tall, lean man with combed back dark hair and a rather serious face. He was dressed in a black suit and tie uniform, and his gloved hands held out a lighter.

"I saw you were having trouble, sir." The man stated politely albeit hinting no emotion nor intent whatsoever in his tone. Nakata raised a brow. Maybe the gods are looking after me right now. Gotta have my smoke.

"Eh, thanks man." He quickly swiped the lighter from the man's hands, and cupped the end of his cigarette as he lit it up. Puffing in deeply with a content smile, he tossed the lighter back to the man, who caught it quickly. "You really saved me here."

The man dressed in black pocketed the lighter neatly inside his blazer pockets, before stepping slightly to the side. "Actually, my master would like to have a word with you." Another figure began to approach the two from the same direction whence the man had come from. Nakata glanced up, still puffing on his smoke, before his jaw slowly dropped, along with his cigarette. As it fell against the floor, the embers still glowing hot, trailed a long, thin line of smoke.

An unamused-looking Igarashi Tora stood beside his footman, Hanagata, and had his hands casually stuffed in his trouser pockets before withdrawing his own set of gloves.

"You… you're that…" Nakata took a step back, face reeling in terror. Tora snapped the gloves over his hands, before he flexed it into a fist, feeling the strain of the leather tighten against his skin. Satisfied, his eyes would then target Nakata in front of him, and shot him a glare. A look that filled with such menace and hatred, that Nakata understood for the first time what "bloodlust" felt like.

Nakata took a few more steps back, raising his hands up defensively. "L-Look, hey man… easy there –" He couldn't finish his sentence as a forceful blow from Tora's fist came whirling at his face. He felt the left side of his jaw crack under the pressure and he staggered to his knees, spewing blood from where his tooth had cut his mouth. Letting out an anguished guffaw as he continued to splutter out in pain, Tora wasted no time grabbing him by the cuff of his shirt before landing a solid blow with his knee, driving it deep into the man's ribs.

Hanagata stood in the middle of the alleyway, stoically keeping a watch out, and the least bit unnerved at what was happening.

"I'm not in the mood, Nakata." He finally spoke, his voice cold and apathetic. "Didn't I warn you before? I told you not to mess with her. And you went ahead and did it anyway." Nakata was rewarded with a swift kick to his abdomen, which sent him flying back. He couldn't even scream out in pain from having the wind knocked out of his lungs. "Third time's the charm, isn't it, Nakata? Is that how many times I have to teach you a lesson before you learn?" To emphasize his words, he stomped a foot down against the fallen man's hand, and an audible crack broke the ragged breathing, changing it into a genuine scream of pain.

Nakata felt his vision blot out several times from the pain, and when he finally opened his eyes, he found himself perspiring despite the cold. Coughing caused pain to rack through his entire body. "Damn, Igarashi… all this… for just a woman…?"

Tora had thought about stopping there, but when his prey talks back, he was compelled to remind them of their place. He dug his heel deeper into Nakata's broken hand, eliciting another scream of agony. He knelt down beside the man he had beaten almost half to death, golden eyes glowing like coals in the darkness.

"She's my woman, and if you touch her again the next time I'll make sure you're dead." He whispered into his ear, before getting back up, walking back towards Hanagata. The footman turned around, quickly removing a clean handkerchief from his breast pocket and handing it over to his master. "Young master, the blood –"

Tora grabbed the cloth and hastily wiped the sweat and blood off his face. "Have my clothes dry cleaned tonight, Hanagata." The footman bowed, taking the stained handkerchief back.

"Yes, sir."

He started up the car, and gave a quick, final glance back at the alleyway. Nakata laid slumped on the floor, unmoving. He glanced at the rearview mirror, spotting Tora sitting quietly in the backseat, eyes closed. Starting the ignition, he put the car into drive and began the long drive back home.

After a short while, Hanagata glanced back at up again, checking on his master. "Young master, if I may ask something."

Tora didn't stir nor open his eyes, but merely responded plainly. "What is it, Hanagata?"

"Kogarashi Hisui. What is she? Your toy, or your woman?"

This prompted Tora to slowly open his eyes. Hanagata felt a chill go down his spine.

"You mentioned it back there, in the back alley. You called her your 'woman'."

Tora scoffed, before leaning back in his seat, glancing outside the window. The answer eluded him again.

Hisui took a seat on the rug-covered floor of Gouki's bedroom, hitching up the extra fabric of his hoodie sweater he had lent her temporarily after her bath. Pulling her knees into her chest, she wrapped her arms around her legs and laid her head to rest on top. It was late, Gouki's parents had already gone to sleep (not before insisting she was welcome to stay for the night, just like "the good old times"), and she was just about thinking of perhaps finding a spot to curl up when Gouki entered into his bedroom, holding a spare pillow and some duvet covers in his arms.

"Oh, Sui. Just sleep on my bed. I'll sleep on the floor." He walked over, setting down the covers before snatching his own sheets and pillows off. Hisui sleepily snatched the spare covers and stubbornly laid down on the floor, rolling over to her side. She threw the covers over herself. "I'm fine like this." Came her muffled reply. Gouki groaned.

"Mom's gonna kill me if she finds out I let you sleep on the floor." He protested, trying to pry the covers off so he could get her on the bed instead. She resisted for a moment, but he had the upper hand in terms of strength, and managed to rip the covers off. "Hah!" Gouki tossed the covers away so she couldn't reach them again, but noticed that Hisui wasn't wearing any bottoms – the only saving grace was his hoodie that was barely long enough, covering most of her bottom.

"Why aren't you wearing pants?!" He screeched, immediately tossing the covers back on her. Hisui sat up, hair tousled from the rough play, squinting back at him. "Well, none of your pants fit me… and all of your drawstring shorts are in the wash…" Gouki's face flared up possibly for maybe the hundredth time that night. "Y-You should've told me! I could've grabbed something of mom's for you…" Facepalming, he sat back down on his bed. "Just… just go to bed and forget about it…"

Hisui reluctantly crawled into bed, dragging the covers along with her. She sat on the mattress, before patting the empty spot beside her, looking at Gouki with a smile. "We can share the bed, I'm sure it's big enough." Gouki could only frown at her in his attempts to dissuade her of the idea, shaking with embarrassment.

"...No." He finally managed.

"Why not?" She didn't understand the logistics of his answer.

"Because…" He struggled for a minute.

"If you catch a cold then I'll feel bad."

God fucking dammit, Gouki. Why are you like this?

Moments later after fruitless arguing, he found himself lying in bed, stiff as a plank, beside Hisui who laid beside him, currently fidgeting to get comfortable. It was a little tight on real estate, so their proximity to one another only prompted his body to descend into a panic mode. The fact that his sweet childhood crush was currently also not wearing any pants floated into his head as a friendly reminder, didn't help. He mentally cursed himself for letting her do whatever she wanted – again.

Gouki was so busy occupied with his own thoughts he didn't notice that she had rolled over to her side, facing him and was staring at him the entire time. When he finally noticed, he jerked back and banged an elbow into the wall beside the bed. Hisui's brow jerked up, perplexed at his actions.

"You alright?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." Gouki sweated.

"We haven't done this since we were six." She laughed. "Though, back then I was the bigger one."

Gouki gazed at her quietly, propping himself to his side to face her as well. "...Well yeah, I'm a guy. I'll be bigger than you no matter what in the end."

"Mmm. That's true." Hisui mused aloud.

Silence draped over the two of them once more. Hisui smiled softly, closing her eyes tiredly. "Thanks again, Goucchan."

"For what?"

"For being here with me."

He swallowed, feeling a hard lump in his throat.

"Look, I know you probably don't want to talk about that guy, but if you ever need to–" Gouki started, but she shook her head slowly, before a pained laugh came out.

"It was just me being stupid. I shouldn't have gotten involved." He could sense the tinge of regret in her voice. "I mistook his actions for kindness."

Gouki wanted to shout 'I told you so!' but held his tongue back. "I always knew that piece of shit was no good." He muttered, scowling back at Hisui. "I saw the news earlier. The guy's engaged, and he's messing around with you." It almost felt good to talk shit about Tora like this, but Hisui remained oddly quiet, as if she was thinking heavily for a moment.

"I'm really hopeless, aren't I?" Her voice sounded small for some reason. "I'm really, really hopeless. I always do the wrong thing." Tears were forming again. Hisui sniffed, quickly rubbing her eyes. "Sorry, I'm gonna get your pillow wet."

Gouki flicked the middle of her forehead with his fingers. "You dummy. You're not hopeless." Hisui sniffed, before finishing rubbing her eyes and tried to settle back in bed again. "You're just stubborn, hard-headed, and difficult." He teased, but immediately regretted it when he felt her coil back a fist and punching him in the gut.

"Talk about yourself! You're wild, ill-mannered, and just as stubborn as I am!" Hisui shot back. Gouki sighed, flopping back down on his pillow.

"Yeah, I know that all too well. That's why I'm the only person who can stand you." He murmured, wrapping an arm around her into a loose embrace. Hisui confusedly tried to return the hug back, but realized that he had already fallen asleep; the slow but light breathing was an indication. Cocooned in the blankets and his warmth, she glanced up at his sleeping face, smiling softly before drifting off to sleep herself.

"What am I to you?"

She faced him in the garden, a garden so exquisite and exotic it would be the ultimate envy of anyone in the world. Inside this private, lush garden she faced him, her heart as tumultuous as the floral specimens that surrounded them. He stood before her, imposing in figure, dressed in the finery he so casually owned, merely smiling down on her as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Worry gnawed in her heart, and that worry was pressing, urgent –

She desperately and urgently needed answers right this instant.

"You're my toy." He expressed joyously, and with a wave of his hand her arms and legs felt stiff and wooden; falling down gently she found herself propped up in an ornate chair. Looking down in horror, she saw the ball joints of a mannequin in place where her elbows, wrists, and knees were. Before long, she lacked the strength to move any part of her body; paralyzed.

"You look so beautiful in the dress I got you." He would murmur into her ear, and just like magic, the blue chiffon dress would appear to cover her naked, horrid mannequin body. She tried to scream, but no sound came out. Feeling her head jerk back slightly, she realized with growing terror that he was brushing her hair back as if she was a doll. A play thing.

He would vanish, and before her, Chiyo would appear, her kind face stained with tears.

"How could you…? How could you, Hisui?"

No… Hisui strained to scream, to shout, to yell out – she wanted to tell Chiyo that she was wrong, that she was sorry, that she didn't know –

"I thought you were my friend, Hisui."

Hisui jerked awake, gasping in shock in the revelation of her nightmare. As her senses slowly adapted, she realized that it was morning already, feeling the sunlight filtering into the bedroom and the faint sound of birds chirping outside. Tossing around, the second thing she realized was the unmistakable weight of Gouki's arm still wrapped around her waist, and she was effectively pinned down in bed with him. Hisui blinked, staring at the folds of his shirt, wondering what she should do.

He had always been a gigantic sleepyhead – a super deep sleeper. She patted his face gently. He didn't seem to wake up. She patted him again. Still no response. Hisui laid her head back down on the crook of his arm, still feeling a little tired from last night. The echoes of the nightmare slowly began to fade away as she closed her eyes again, drifting off once more.

Gouki woke to the burning sunlight that scorched him awake with its bright intensity. This was the sort of brightness indicative of the late morning, and he reluctantly opened his eyes, squinting for a moment. Feeling a ball of warmth emanating from his chest, he glanced down stiffly to see a head of dark brown hair buried against him. His heart leap out before returning back to the mortal coil when remnants of last night's events floated back in his mind.

"Sui." He gently nudged her, and she stirred a little from being poked. "It's morning, wake up." Strange how their roles were reversed this time around. Most of the time it was her job waking him up. Gouki sat up with a sigh, look down beside him at Hisui's sleeping figure. It was rare to see such a vulnerable and soft expression on her face when she was often rigid and reserved when awake.

"Not gonna wake up, huh?" Another sigh, his eyes still downcast looking at her. An idea entered his head, and he quietly paused, contemplating for a moment, before leaning down, brushed the hair out of her eyes, and kissed her gently on her forehead. To his relief, she was still fast asleep, clutching the hems of his sweater sleeves in her hands while still curled up beside him. He quickly climbed out of bed, careful not to wake her, before quietly exiting his room to get ready for the day.

When he closed the door behind him, Hisui popped open her eyes — wide open — a look of shock on her face.