Scarlet

19. Persuasion

Gouenji wasn't sure he heard her right. He stared at her with confused eyes. She was saying the words he had long dreamt of hearing yet something didn't seem right to him.

"You certainly don't mean that." He exclaimed inadvertently.

"I do. Haven't you been waiting to hear that? " She smiled sweetly and kissed him.

"Uh... I'd suggest you wait until you're completely healed. " He said, "You're already in discomfort, trust me, you'll need all your strength to bear the pain when I sink my teeth into you."

He thought he had done the right thing, putting it as straightforwardly as possible. But she dismissed him without a second thought,

"That's my concern, just  do as I say." She answered him as she shifted all her hair to one side. She waited with inviting eyes eagerly anticipating his next move. She was curious to see how he would go about doing it. She was a little nervous too because she knew it was going to hurt tremendously but she knew she wanted a conclusion now.

A few moments passed and he didn't move.

"Why don't you do anything?" She became upset.

"Kira, I think you are in shock. You are not thinking this through. " He spoke slowly and clearly so there is no confusion, " This accident has scared you. You have only returned today and you're already making a big decision. Give it some time and then we can revisit the matter. "

"You said you wanted this." She glared at him and spat these words.

" I still want it but not like this. Not in a way that will make you regret it once the shock wears off and then you feel confined here. " He spoke sadly. It was with great difficulty that he was turning her down given how much he had looked forward to that moment. But given the sudden shift in her demeanor that was out of the ordinary, he believed it was the right decision.

Kira stared at him for a few moments, evidently fuming.

"You just live to torment me don't you?" She suddenly spoke in an acidic voice, " Whatever I want you want the opposite of it. Tell me, does this bring you some sort of joy?"

He was taken aback by the anger in her voice,

"It's nothing like that. " He didn't say much.

She huffed and turned away from him and soon she fell asleep that way.

Gouenji remained still for a while processing everything that had just happened. Frankly, he was astonished by it all. He hadn't even had the chance to love her enough and he had already ended up upsetting her somehow.

He looked towards her and gently stroked her head a couple of times. He then quietly lay beside her.

...

He didn't have to suffer from her distant behaviour for long as the next morning she had thrown her anger to a side, which was a strange behaviour in and of itself. She usually didn't forgive and forget so easily. It took her at least a few days for her anger to subside, especially something as big as the previous night's incidents.

She spotted him step down the stairs and immediately left the breakfast table to approach him. She smiled and held his hand and walked him back to the table.

"You're not...cross with me anymore?" He smiled but was in surprise.

She calmly shook her head and returned to breakfast. Seeing this lifted the weight off of his heart. He chalked the previous incident up to a fluke, out of exhaustion and delirium and put it all behind him.