𝕊𝕥𝕚𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕞𝕖 𝕌𝕡 (Atsushi x M!Reader)

Chapter #7

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I could remember his face.

Vividly, the contrast in his brightly coloured orbs and pale hair. Slim complexion and open arms, the way he had smiled, the way he had spoken, the way he had broke through my barrier of unease.

The way he said my name.

I was no stranger to the way it sounded on peoples tongues, bittersweet, coated in malice, laced with poison. My name sounded venomous in other people's mouths, like a forgotten toy, one left to rot and decay. Purposely left away to never recall.

"He's just..."

I'd heard it all, psycho, weirdo, witch. My dark aura sent people away, far away. Whether I would reach out to them mattered little when compared to the shadow behind me. Lurking in muffled gasps, stitched eyes and fingers clawing nimbly at my shoulder blades.

But the way he said my name.

There was no trace of mock, no false pretence or lie behind his eyes. An open book, so clear that it scared me. He lacked wits, determination and persistence directed to unknown forces and things simply not to be meddled with. Just one look at him and I could tell that same tenacious look on his face would be the death of him.

But he didn't know that.

He didn't need to know that.

A part of me didn't want him to know it, his naive eyes struck a cord deep within me, one that led an unyielding reluctance. Empathy, I didn't want to feel bad for the boy, he lived his own life as did I, I couldn't spare empathy on such a cheerful figure when I myself felt thrown in the depths of hell.

My mind couldn't bother to think of anything besides him, broken street lights flickering. The sound of only footsteps filled the silence, dim light glinting against marble steps and gravelled roads. It was silent, too silent until I heard the sound of the wheezing.

My body stilled for one moment only, back arching to create the perfect posture I had lacked all these years. I listened, the sound reaching my ears in a soothing manner. Yet I didn't smile or let out a deep sigh in relief. The tension in my muscles only grew, and I basked in that moment only for a few seconds longer before taking another step forward.

But then the gasping noise was overlapped by the sound of footsteps. I quickly turned my head, eyes narrowing on a familiar figure as it approached.

And just like that the wheezing stopped completely.

It was Atsushi, Atsushi Nakijama from what I could remember yesterday. The one haunting my thoughts, scarier than the lurking beast and breathless gasps. I could only stumble, staring as he approached in a slow manner.

He was terrifying.

Silence followed him, smile going unnoticed as a tremor ran through my spine. His footsteps drew closer, my heartbeat increasing with the length of his pace. His unexpected appearance froze me in place, mouth agape as I thought of an escape. He was someone I could run from, he wasn't a monster lurking from behind. He was human, tuffs of hair brushing past his heat filled cheeks, blood pulsing through his body, eyes glistened with emotions.

"Go away."

My voice came out raspy, croaked in a whisper that seemed hardly threatening. The boy himself didn't seem too fazed by it, continuing to walk closer with that sickening determined face of his. As if he could do anything, capable of pushing past the walls I had spent years building up.

He didn't stop, stepping too close before stilling. There was no noise, the soft breeze whipping past in a demeaning silence menacing silence. I hated the silence, I hated the uncomfortable tension, I hated this boy.

"I don't want to," he then said, eyes softening slightly under the light of the lantern post. "I don't want to leave you alone again."

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