Ayano twirls the sticker-note between her fingers, wondering – not for the first time – why would she note down in no uncertain words that she needs poison. Granted, poison is never something not worth having, but the times when one could simply stroll into a pharmacy to buy a pound of cyanide have long passed.
Many would think it shouldn't be at all difficult to come into possession of some illegal substances in her neighborhood, and, technically, they wouldn't be wrong. She even knows precisely who she would have to speak with were she in need of those. Nobody would bat an eyelash over a teen looking for some excitement, if the word qualifies. But a teen looking for a potent poison? Somebody would be breathing down her neck the next day, at the latest.
One inconvenience piling atop another. Of course, they do tend to travel in herds.
Still, looking into avenues for acquiring poison isn't a bad idea. She's still learning how to use this whole dark web thing, and truthfully, isn't sure if it's any safer than looking for questionable materials in person. Still, it's an option, if nothing else.
Not that there should be much need for such measures, soon. If everything goes right, her plan will come to fruition today. Just to be sure, both she and Senpai will have a perfect alibi – a cinema bill and security camera footage. She's not risking having Taylor in jail again. Her Love might have said it was nothing terrible, but apparently, when a girl says something like that, it might mean the exact opposite – or so the TV says. Then again, TV lies. It's rather confusing, and Father is not being helpful at all. Strange, he should know these things. He's married, after all.
Mother isn't much more helpful. She tries, that much Ayano will give her, but the choice of clothes the woman suggested for her to wear has been no help at all. The teen can't fault her mother for that, though, she's giving advice that seems to have worked on Father. Still, showing off her midriff had only made Senpai look anywhere but at her. Does Taylor find her undesirable to look at?
Ayano raises up the hem of her shirt, enough to expose her stomach, and gives it a measured poke, her skin giving way without much resistance. She bites her lip, repeating the action with her stomach taut, this time, to a similar effect.
Maybe Senpai has a preference towards a more athletic sort of body? Or is it that she finds fat disgusting to look at? Taylor does keep herself on the slim side of weight - thin, even. Is that what she's looking for in a lover? Skin and bones? She can show both! It may getting colder by the day, but what is getting chilly when compared to drawing Senpai's eyes? Her wandering gaze would surely keep her warm!
Then again, what if she kept her eyes averted because she prefers a more conservative sort of dress? She herself wears clothes that don't show much skin at all, though that might be because she's feeling self-conscious about showing her body to anyone but her lover. To her! One day, anyway.
Whatever the reason, the thought of being the first to ever appreciate Senpai's perfect body in full fills her stomach with something Ayano isn't capable of describing.
Not an unusual occurrence, lately. Not an unwelcome one, either.
The girl picks out a lavender blouse and a tank top – one just an inch short of covering her waist – and lays them out on her bed, not bothering with looking in the mirror. Appearing fashionable is one thing – all of her wardrobe is objectively decent – having a preference is something else altogether. What would Taylor's be though? She might be covering her body up for her, but does she want Ayano to do the same? Would her Love think her improper for not doing so?
She releases her lips from between her teeth, feeling the skin about to break.
"Clements." The girl pauses in writing her letter at Ayano's voice, her hollow eyes turning to her host. "Which one should I wear for a date?" Her only answer is the continued, empty stare. No skin off her nose for trying.
Hmm, tank top it is then. She needs to know for sure what her Love thinks of showing off skin, and what better way than to gauge her reaction to Ayano taking her jacket off once they enter the cinema. The cinema... now that she thinks about it, Aisha's brother was rather... well fit.
...
She needs to buy a gym pass.
A cursory glance at her captive reveals the girl is still staring at her, instead of continuing on with her writing. Of course.
"Continue your letter." Wordlessly, she does.
It's a wonder she hasn't forgotten how to breathe, really. All of her other physiological needs Ayano taught her to withhold, as a test. As long as she's physically capable, anyway, as the Asian youth learned some time ago, when she arrived at her hideout to find Clements shaking in fear of the inevitable punishment for having failed to follow her command, and yet far enough gone to not have even tried to clean up after herself to avoid it.
Ayano makes sure her guest is back to her task before she starts changing, stripping off her T-shirt and putting the slightly-too-tight top on. She then sets about to doing her hair up. Showing that one prepares to meet their Love is important. She didn't quite understand why, until Taylor showed up wearing make-up on one of their dates. It felt... she has no comparison, really, for all these wonderful feelings Senpai has awoken in her heart. Feelings she'd long ago accepted were not hers to experience.
Surreal. That's what the dark-eyed girl would call her life ever since meeting Senpai. Discovering all the things in herself that she could only read about until recently. Love, excitement, anticipation, wanting...
...anger.
A large number of those emotions remain steadily outside her ability to name. It did not take long, however, to recognize the other, less pleasant feelings than the ones Taylor evokes in her chest. Hatred, for one, she finds very disturbing – burning, scratching, howling in her gut, twisting her thoughts in the most unpleasant of ways, always festering just beneath her skin.
Killing helps.
Senpai does too. Her mere presence causes Ayano's heart to stutter, and her tongue to tie. She's gotten better, she barely even stammers any more. Still, all the bad that comes with her Love is well worth it, because at the end of the day, She is always there for her, brightening the day up for her, taking away all that is wrong.
It's only natural Ayano does the same for her.
Surely, Taylor will one day appreciate the lengths Ayano has gone to in order to remove those three whores from her life. Why, the teen will admit that using one of them to dispatch the others might have more than purely utilitarian reasons behind it. There is a sort of poetic justice to it, and the apology in the note will certainly brighten Senpai's day as well. It is, after all, a heartfelt one. Ayano may not be a specialist on feelings, but if Clements wasn't sorry for what she did, then at the very least, she was certainly sorry she did it. It's close enough in her books.
The girl in question is looking at her again. Awaiting further instructions, no doubt - just as Ayano has taught her to do after she's done with a task. Let's see, then – she picks the letter and her laptop from the desk, and sits down on her bed, opening the folder with saved parting letters she found on the web. Her eyes skim the pointers she's made regarding Clement's own, carefully comparing them to the contents of the note in her hand: the why, the guilt, the apology, the murders, the goodbyes. Yes, that should- wait, no. Her eyes hover back to the pointers on the screen. Right. She forgot about writing to the girl's parents. That's something people do, apparently.
She brings up the document with the note. What should she say to them... an apology and the reasons for which their daughter had ran away sound reasonable. An apology both for being a terrible person, and for leaving them behind. Oh, she should probably also say she loves them, right. Now, to just move the explanation for running away from the third paragraph and... done.
A short revision later, one made to ensure the part addressed to the girl's parents fits in with the rest, she places the computer in front of Clements once more, pulling on a pair of gloves before picking a sheet of paper from its ream. It wouldn't do to leave her fingerprints on something that is supposed to be of her captive's making alone.
"Rewrite it again." Silent, as always, Madison complies.
With the girl set to writing yet another note, Ayano leaves for the bathroom. A week ago, she wouldn't have dared to leave her prisoner alone unrestrained - not after she tried hanging herself when Ayano left to wash her clothes. It's a stroke of luck that the girl botched the knot. She can ill afford to spend so much time on another victim – she needs results, and she needs them now.
And results she shall have. Clements is as ready as she will ever be. All that remains to be done is to guide the girl close enough to her destination that she won't get lost in the unfamiliar surroundings. Oh! And put on make-up before that.
She has a date to go to, after all.