Our Strange Duet (Yandere Modern Princes x Reader)

Chapter 57: The Taste of Fresh Blood

Ichiro was certainly not in the mood to speak with anyone but the younger girl he so adored. He hardly wanted to have a conversation with his backstabbing brother either. For all of his preaching that he thoroughly loved his little brothers, it didn't stop him from stealing their happiness, did it? No, certainly not, never mind the fact that the blonde sacrificed everything else in his life for them.

As the bluenette sat in the large bath for nobles and royalty, he crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to look over at his older brother. He resented him. In order to fix their relationship, it would take more than just a few pretty words. Ichiro wasn't even sure if giving up (Y/n) and helping him secure her for him would make up for what he did. Their family was crumbling, and quickly at that.

Life truly wasn't fair for him. The next thing he knew he would be drowning in a pool of his own blood. He wanted to throw up at that. It was a disgusting sight. Violence had never been something he was drawn to. In fact, he, like Orion, was queasy to the sight of blood. Rei had scarred him with all the things he had done. That was what he wanted to believe. He didn't want to think that he was responsible for being feeble and weak. If everything else was the blonde's fault, why couldn't it explain his fear for violence?

As he felt the water ripple, he looked up to find Kazuki with a conflicted state of mind. His eyebrows were furrowed, his golden hair soaked by the rose-scented water. A bath typically did much to calm his nerves, relaxing him and putting him at ease, but it seemed not even that could draw him out of his despairing feeling. Clearly, there was something heavy on his mind that he couldn't form into words. It was rare when he was unable to speak eloquently. He had always been so articulated.

"I," the blonde paused, scooping up a palm-full of water and staring down into it, "I wanted to talk about your behavior as of late."

"What, are you going to ground me?"

Ichiro's eyes darted to the side with his snide remark, narrowing his cyan irises in discontent. He was in a foul mood, so much so that he refused to think of anything else but pleasantness, and regrettably, the only thing that was delightful was the (h/c) haired girl. Yet it only drowned him in his own sorrow. He only wanted her to join him and kiss his worries away. Why did she have to leave before telling him what he wanted to hear?

"Ichi, this is serious. I don't know what's happening to you. Can we at least talk about this? Just a bit?" the older male asked, finding that nothing snapped the bluenette out of his heavy trance, "(Y/n) looked concerned."

The bluenette sighed heavily, pulling his knees up to his chest and let a remorseful smile be placed on his face. He supposed that she did look conflicted about something or other, and he would have gladly accepted her worries for him. That small frown on her face and the way her eyebrows bunched together. She had held onto him tightly, but then Kazuki entered and her focus on him had been ripped away. It hurt too much.

"What do you think is wrong with me?" he sighed, resting his head on his knees, his gaze distant.

"I haven't the faintest idea. You've never been so violent."

The younger male gave a confused expression, lifting his eyebrows. His mind was a blur, sure, but he was uncertain about what exactly the blonde was speaking about. Had he seen him fighting with Rei? If so, then he should have known it wasn't out of nowhere. It wasn't as if the bluentte had put everything into his fists either. He relied mainly on his words to sting the younger male. It seemed to work, too.

"He had it coming. I mean...you would have done the same thing."

"There was no threat. I'm not a saint, but you killed two people without any regret or hesitation. That's not normal, especially not for you. You won't even hurt a butterfly, Ichi! What could they have possibly done that rendered it 'coming'?"