A/N: If you read these over on my LJ, you can see the pretty pictures that accompany it. The URL is nyanja14(dot)livejournal(dot)com .
As always, these are totally un-beta'd so if you notice something off, let me know!
035: HEAT
The first time Yoite killed a man with the kira, he got sick to the stomach. He managed to hold himself together during the debriefing and the ride back to the apartment, but once he was there Yoite locked himself in the bathroom and retched into the toilet for half an hour. He laid on the cool tile for some time afterwards, shivering and swallowing to try to get the sour taste out of his mouth.
Yoite had felt the man's ki in that instant before he cut through it with his own. It had been hot, so much hotter than the life force of any of the animals he'd practiced on. In that moment before the man's ki scattered, Yoite thought he'd been burned.
"Oi." Yukimi was knocking on the door. "You alive in there?"
Yoite pulled himself off the floor and unlocked the door. He couldn't bring himself to look Yukimi in the face, but he could tell the man was evaluating him.
"Drink this." Yukimi shoved a tall glass of water at him. "All of it, unless you want a nasty headache later. And then go to bed. There's another mission tomorrow, so you better be ready."
Yoite nodded and drank obediently. He managed to finish half of it before he had to clear his throat. "Yukimi?" he rasped.
"What?" He was sitting down at his desk, booting up the computer, but he turned his head to look at Yoite.
"Does it..." Yoite stopped and started over, finger clenching around the glass. "Is it always like that?"
"No." Yukimi turned back around to type on the keyboard and log in. "It doesn't get any easier, but you get a little better at it each time."