damned_institute | Day 26: Cafeteria, Lunch

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Day 26: Cafeteria, Lunch

Scar felt cold and sick, though more the latter than the former. As he rose from his bed, he didn't quite know which way was up, and the artificial light coming from overhead seemed as hot and as blinding as the Ishbal sun.

His head hurt, but that was nothing new. After all, the last thing he remembered from the night before was fighting a homunculus off of Lust and then having a conversation about events best left forgotten. The man hadn't been his brother. He just hadn't. And if what Lust had said they'd done to her was true...

Scar stood with shakiness that he wanted to attribute more to a bizarrely weakened physical state than a mental one. Had he been knocked out by some kind of lurking monster before the morning had come? He felt as if he had been out for days, being a veteran of such circumstances, though as he took the practiced role of being an obedient follower behind the nurse and orderlies that came for him, it didn't seem as if much had changed.

This place was probably just playing tricks on him again, and he was tired of being the man left out of the loop. He grabbed some food he didn't really care for and sat down, not seeing anyone he knew already seated. On one hand, he wished he had someone to talk to, and on the other, it scared him that he was no longer used to being alone.

He dug his fork into his food and tried to block out any related thought.

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The teacup clattered from the impact of Ran's hands on the table, spilling some of the tea. Kikyo slowly took a napkin and wiped the liquid away, his countenance flinching momentarily from the outburst. He was not as calm as he appeared to be.

"Yes...how many times, hmm?" Kikyo chuckled, his own soft voice at the edge of reason. Did he believe that Ran could kill him again? Somewhere inside, he almost wanted him to. Not because he wanted to be dead, but because he may have thought that that was what Ran wished for.

Kougaiji had asked him if he had no one to go home to. Kikyo turned his eyes up at Ran, and felt the answer in his heart.

"How many times until you get it right? Haven't you learned anything from Shion?" His voice was as cruel as it was gentle, the kind of paradox that he could pull off with chilling ease.

"Shion?" It came out as a low hiss, rising up as acid from Aya's throat, rolling on his tongue as a raspy, broken whisper and finally spilling from his lips with liquid heat. Anger so heavy on his tone of voice it was almost palpable in the air.

It all came back in a hot rush, pieces of conversations, jaded warmth of remembered touch - Kikyo had always known how to play this game of proximity. Used, Ran had never seen it. Aya wasn't as blind.

"Quit playing around," he snapped, voice dangerously low, the violet of his eyes violent, ready to damage. "Shion taught nothing of killing to me. Unlike with a katana, I'm talented in murder."

"No...he taught you something far more useful, didn't he?" Kikyo purred, icy rage barely hidden beneath the placid amber gaze.

He remembered, too. All those times Ran had come to him for advice. Shion had given Ran only words...high philosophy that made no sense to an impatient teenager. But those were dangerous words, as Kikyo well knew. Words that taken one way, could change this once shining, innocent youth into something that could kill without emotion.

"You both did," Aya said, his voice icy cold, staring down Kikyo with narrowing eyes. The intent behind his words was hardly unclear to either of them, accusation explicit without spelling it out. His fingers were clawing the surface of the table, blunt nails dragging on the smooth skin of the particle board, to curl into tight fists under his weight, which rested heavily on his palms.

Ran's cruel accusation was not lost on Kikyo. For one fleeting moment, there was a trace of something vulnerable within the hollows of his eyes, but it was gone in an instant. Kikyo's fingers curled tightly around the handle of his teacup.

How to love, and how to hate. Kikyo had taught him both of these things. And even in the last moment of his life, he could not be certain which of these had prevailed. Though facing Ran now, he could take a better guess. He met those accusing eyes with his own, speaking bitter words with a smile.

"Ah...and so I did..." His voice trailed off for a moment as he fixed his eyes upon his face, older and more jaded but still pretty. Ran was so young back then. Didn't Kikyo know he would leave an impression?

Aya stepped back, staggered really but he didn't pay much attention to details right now. He stared down at Kikyo, betrayal and disappointment so clear on his unguarded expression, artless as ever. For the past three or four years, he had not displayed this much emotion. And it felt odd, like muscles unused to working were punched into action again.

"..." He had nothing to say. Nothing short angry declarations of 'you ruined me' or 'fuck you,' which wouldn't make him feel any better, yet he'd end up crying it out sooner or later anyhow.

What was the price of betrayal? Could such emotional devastation even be measured? No matter how many times Kikyo died by Aya's sword, it could never be enough.

Was he sent here to find the answer to those questions? To writhe in its guilt ridden depths? This was not a second chance. It was someone taking delight in bringing together the ugly shards of their lives and watching them dance to a dissonant tune.

A few pained moments passed in silence. Kikyo couldn't look into those eyes for long, and let his gaze flutter down a little lower, focusing on Ran's bruising lip.

"...what happened to your face?" he murmured softly.

[ooc: So sorry about the quality of the last tag. X__o I think I must have been half asleep still.]

"...hnn." Aya took one more step backwards, perhaps to put more distance between them, to gain more leverage on the situation. He hated being floored like this, feeling like a cornered animal, vulnerable. Preparing for everything was his everyday routine, from mad scientists to religious lunatics and back to genetic manipulation beyond what should be considered spiritual rather than physical body. He had seen it all and would not bat an eye for whatever crazy shit they had thrown out for him this far. But Kikyo, alive, after these five years: not possible.

The dead were dead, moved on and left the living to deal with the fuck up that life generally was.

"Someone hit me," he said coldly, edging towards the frozen detachment he had been able to achieve before. "But worry not, I was the one who started it." And then he smirked humorlessly, the bitter words spilling from his lips, unbidden. "Not that you'd care."

Contrary to what Ran might have believed, Kikyo really did care. Though mostly it was for reasons he might not have agreed with. No one could lay a hand on his Ran. To leave a mark on his face, or any other part of his body, for that matter. It made no difference whether it was deserved or invited; it was still a trespass.

Ran didn't know what Kikyo had done to the man who'd shot him, that fatal night in Sendai seven years ago.

Kikyo matched Ran's cold smirk with a smile that was deceptively warm.

"Of course I care," he said. "Why wouldn't I?"

Aya snorted, fingers balling into tight fists beside his hips. There was no limit to Kikyo's lack of shame, he should have known this by now.

The anger he had managed to repress somewhat was now rising within him with urgency that did not invite any restrictions.

"The hell you do," he muttered, lips pulling back to bare a hint of teeth. "Don't fucking lie to me." The logic in such a command was not to be found any time soon. Aya knew Kikyo would lie, he was prone to assume anything the man uttered as untrue. But logic had fled somewhere far away after breakfast and Aya didn't seem to have the energy to look for it now.

There was a time when Ran used to believe everything Kikyo told him. It seemed like those days were long gone. The ironic thing was, nothing Kikyo ever told him was a lie. He only lied to him in omission.

Ran really had changed. Was it all Kikyo's doing? And if it was, there was almost a sick satisfaction in his heart, knowing deep down that it was he who marked him. He left these invisible scars upon him with irrevocable deeds that could never be forgiven or forgotten.

If Ran wanted to banish him from his life, then Kikyo would hold on to him in the only way he knew how.

He took a slow sip from his tea, lips curled into a cruel smile.

"Not so trusting anymore, I see," he purred.

If Aya wouldn't have been this angry, he probably would have been amazed by the shear amount of boldness in Kikyo's lack of tact. But as it was, he only felt something snapping within as the man insisted on jumping on the shards of his broken heart. Heart that he had lost, hidden and for a moment regained only to be broken again and then mocked by that uncaring smile.

He sucked in a sharp breath, and let his feet take him back to the table. The blood rushing in his veins, in his ears, made it impossible for him to hear the sound of his own hand connecting with Kikyo's face. The teacup was still poised on the man's lips as Aya hit him, hard and heavy, intent on causing damage, not just driving his point across.

It was impossible to hurt him as much as Aya had been hurt, but it sure as hell didn't stop him from trying.

As Kikyo went flying to the floor, the teacup spilling its content all over him, Aya walked away. Eyes hidden with crimson locks, mouth a thin line of forbidding lips, he let the nurse grab him and escort him away, uncaring.

[ooc: checked with Kikyo mun~]

[going to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/177215.html?thread=12047167#t12047167)]

Chair, teacup, everything crashed down to the floor along with Kikyo as the hand flew across his face with stinging force. He didn't even try to parry the blow, though he should have seen it coming. Pain flared across Kikyo's cheek, blood pounding so hard within his ears that he could barely register the sound of his cup smashing against the ground.

For a breathless moment, he sat there on the cold tile floor, drenched in tea, and dizzy from pain. He glanced up through the dark strands of his hair that fell across his face to see the backside of Ran as he walked away from him.

"Hn..." his smile was as bitter as the odd metallic tinge of blood and tea upon his tongue.

A nurse rushed to his side, making a fuss. Such unnecessary care, but Kikyo let her help him to his feet.

"My goodness! I hope you are alright. Let's get you cleaned up, ok?" She began to lead him toward the exit.

Kikyo barely looked at her as he turned for the door and walked out without a backwards glance.

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Day 26: Cafeteria, Lunch

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