He holds out his hand to me, waiting for me to take it. Blood pools at the wound on his wrist, trickling trails of crimson slowly sliding down his arm.
"I want to die!" A cry, so long ago in a frozen world.
Why couldn't he just let me die? Why did he have to become game for me, force me to live on his life-force? Why did he wish for me to live even when he knew that all I was, all I am, is a lie?
The coppery sweet smell coats my tongue.
Cracked fingernails, crimson snow. Trails of rusty red stain the stone walls of the tower, the blood of the wretch trying to climb the hill of bodies and scale the tower.
Blood stains my hands. His blood as he died before my eyes, our father's blood as he cursed us with his dying breath. I have killed so many. My hands will never be clean.
I should have died for him so that he could live rather than take his name after he was gone.
My lips close over the wound. The heart beats, replacing the blood I take as his body tries to close the cut.
Blood stains my hands, coats my mouth and throat. I live by the blood, the sacrifice of others.
"I want to die!"
The flow of blood has slowed to a stop. Kurogane no longer bleeds, but scarlet still stains his skin.
"Save Yuui, he needs to be saved!"
For Yuui cannot save himself or those he holds most dear.
Kurogane barely twitches as I lick away the remaining traces of blood. Yuui may not be able to save himself, but at least he can try to keep others from staining themselves with blood on his behalf.