Author Note: Eventually, I'll get around to rewriting this series to fit with this chapter. Until then, a tiny update. I'm not dead.
Hikari squirms against the chair, against the bonds around her wrists, until she can't bare moving anymore, until the skin of her wrists is rubbed raw, and she just wants to scream at the top of her lungs- but screaming won't do a thing for her. She bows her head, and bites her bottom lip, and holds down all the anger, the pain, the fear, all of it, buries it down so deep that she never wants to feel any of it again.
And then she let out a slow breath, steady and confident, and she doesn't flinch when the door swings open a second time.
Asa, with her superior smirk, flips the switch, and the lights buzz to life overhead. Hikari narrows her eyes, squinting against the brightness of the room, and as her eyes water, she curses low, under her breath, and prays Asa doesn't take it as a hint of some weakness.
"I've brought you some food." She says, tray in hand, and strolls to Hikari's side.
Hikari ignores the offer, lifting her head to meet Asa's gaze. "Why are you doing this?"
"You ask a lot of questions for a woman in your position."
"I believe I've only asked one since I arrived here."
"Defiance isn't going to get you anywhere, sweetie."
"I just want to know why."
"Be a good girl, and eat your food."
"And how am I suppose to do that?"
"There you go again, asking questions."
"I'm pretty sure that's a legitimately good question to ask."
Asa drags a chair from across the room, the legs screeching nauseatingly against the concrete, and swings it around to sit in front of the bound girl. She then takes a seat, the tray on her lap, and picks up the fork with some strange food clinging to it.
"I'll feed you, of course."
"I'll pass." Hikari says, her tone flat.
"You have to eat." Asa lifts the fork to the girl's lips.
"I don't have to do anything."
Hikari cranes her neck as far away as possible, and offers a sneer to the sickeningly polite woman.
"You'll starve before your night and shining armor even realizes you're missing."
"I'll take my chances."
"Oh, a gambler, I like that. Really though, how did Itachi snag you?"
"I think we've played this back and forth game before. Remember, you slapped me when I mentioned your brother."
"Yes, sorry about that. Sometimes, I'm just a little bitter."
"I think you're a hundred percent insane."
"No, sweetie. The man you're dating is."
Hikari doesn't know why, but the statement strikes something deep inside her, and she cringes inward, and bites her tongue to refrain from questioning Asa further. The look in her eyes must give it away because Asa's smirk grows, and her own eyes glint with a silent victory, and then she's placing the tray on Hikari's lap, and heading towards the door.
"Something for you to think on." She almost sings as she leaves. "You'll be here awhile."
And then the room is flooded with shadows, and Hikari finds herself alone with her thoughts.
And she hates it.