"Don't touch me!" Kyo snapped, flinching away from a long time enemy. He was scared of the sense of arousal that permeated his senses when he got too close to this man.
By evening, it hadn't gotten any better. No conversation had passed between the two, except for the rare moment when he demanded something from who he now considered to be his captor, but, strangely, every request, whether it was for a pillow to prop his leg on, or a soda, was immediately granted. He had brought Kyo some strong, likely prescription from the hospital, painkillers, and they had granted an appreciated wealth of relief.
Feeling better, Kyo stared around the tiny one room apartment that belonged to his enemy. The bed, while not large, dominated the main area, and against the back wall was a small television hooked up to a video game console. The whole area was a bit messy, strewn with games and dvd cases. Kyo himself sat under a kitchen island counter, and the kitchen area itself was cramped. The cat, Kyo had gathered Yagami called it Dickface, was sitting on a back counter eating out of a can of cat food. How Yagami managed to care for anything other than himself, Kyo was beginning to realize, much to his growing irritation. Yagami was sitting on the bed, examining papers in a folder, a Japanese to English dictionary sitting next to one leg. Every so once in a while, he would push his one long bang back, sigh, and grab the dictionary. He hadn't said a word to Kyo in about an hour. The last thing was to insist that Kyo take another dose of painkillers, before the pains in his head and leg got bad again.
"Yagami?" Kyo was bored. Annoying his enemy would subdue that.
"Hmm?" He didn't look up from his papers.
"What're you doing?"
"Translating tour contracts."
"Lame. I want candy."
Still not looking up, "what kind?"
Kyo hadn't thought that far ahead. He just wanted to get in Yagami's way, if he had to be here, he might as well make it hard on the both of them. "Um, I don't know."
Yagami didn't say anything, just continued with his work.
"Peanut butter cups."
"Kay." Yagami shrugged, and set down the folder, and grabbed the keys to the apartment, out the front door without even a sign of irritation. Kyo wondered how far he could push this.
Iori wandered into the market, hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans. He knew full well what a figure he cut, stood out, what with his flame red hair, tall, built figure amongst the working class office drones picking up necessities for them and their families. Iori grabbed a bag of miniature peanut butter cups, and more soda, just in case, as it looked like he would have a house guest for some time. He knew Kyo's reasoning. He couldn't go home with a loss, he wouldn't let his girlfriend see him beaten, and Iori happened to be there, He wasn't sure they hated each other that much anymore. Perhaps, at one time or another, they had, but it was likely the sex that had changed that. Iori threw some money at the disgruntled college student cashier, and made his way back to the ancient apartment complex. It had been the only place that had been willing to rent to a sixteen year old, and by this point Iori had grown fond of it. Even the badly whitewashed hallways and the young woman underneath him with the small children that she never really watched after. He ran up the stairs, not out of any particular rush, out of habit. The lock was broken, he usually used his pocketknife nowadays, the key didn't even fit anymore, but it worked either way. No one wanted to break into a shithole like this, and Iori was fairly dangerous, whether he really wanted to be or not.
Kyo was in the exact same position, on the couch, shooing the cat away. Unfortunately, Iori noticed, Dickface thought the hand brushing him away was an invitation to play. Iori picked the cat up before it bit his wounded guest, and dropped the candies and the sodas on the counter. Kyo watched him. Iori sctratched the cat's ears, much to the ugly little creature's delight, and opened the bag of candies, tossing it casually into Kyo's lap. Kyo looked up at him in disbelief.
"Um, thanks?"
"No problem. Soda?"
"Sure…" Kyo was untrusting, eying Iori as he opened a can of soda and handed it to the man. Kyo smelled it, tasted it, and looked back at Iori, who had stopped caring some time ago and only noticed out of the corner of his eye.
"You just wasted a perfectly good chance to kill me." Kyo said.
"Isn't that what I've been doing all day?"
"But isn't it, like, your life goal or something to kill me?"
"No."
"It was."
"Yeah, then we fucked."
"It was a fucking mistake, get over it."
"Wish I could."
But Kyo didn't hear the last words spoken. He turned on the small television, sat there with his coveted candies and soda, and sulked. Iori gave a slight smile, just having him there, in the silence, he could pretend.
There was some sort of calming routine in coming back to the apartment to find Kyo still on his couch. Iori set the bass in its black canvas gig bag next to the door and leaned over the kitchen island counter to watch Kyo, playing video games lazily. He had stopped paying much mind to Iori either, and over the last month and a half it hardly seemed like they were enemies any longer. Kyo could stand, take a few steps, and at this success, Iori had offered, again, to take him home, Kyo turned him down. Kept Iori up at night to wonder about that, what the decision to stay meant in their mess of a relationship, but in the end, he had to count his blessings.
"I drank the last soda." Kyo didn't even look up.
"Oh."
"You're not pissed?" Apparently Iori had given the wrong response in not caring.
"Not particularly."
"Fuck you."
Iori shrugged, and filled Dickface's bowl with cat food.
"What've I got to do to get a reaction from you? Kill that fucking cat or something?"
"That might work, but don't get any ideas. I think animal abuse is still illegal in this country."
"I don't fucking care." Kyo sat up, watched Iori from afar.
"You're the one who didn't want to go home again."
"Can't. Leg's broke."
"Not so badly anymore. You walked yourself to the bathroom this morning."
"I did, huh?"
"What are you, bipolar or something? First you wanna' kill me, now you don't wanna' leave, what gives?" Iori stared at his houseguest, dumbfounded.
"Maybe I want to kill you and take over your life."
"Good luck. You can't play bass."
"So?"
"So you can't have my life unless you can take on what I do. Bet you can't work, either."
"Maybe I can. Maybe I've been studying your technique."
"You're not trying to take over my life, Kyo."
"No, but I might have an evil scheme."
"I don't think you do."
"So trusting, Yagami, you're gonna' get yourself killed."
"By you? I don't think so. I could still take you right now, easy."
"Not when I'm better."
"I still could."
"Then why haven't you killed me?"
"I don't want to."
"Fuckin' moron."
"You want me to kill you, Kyo?"
"Fuck nah! I gotta' kill you first."
"So then, why am I a moron for letting you live?"
"You're supposed to kill me, ain't'cha?"
"No."
"Yes you are, dumbfuck!"
"I'm not. I left the family, I told you."
"You still use the name."
"No, you use the name when you talk to me."