time stopped. it stopped the moment Ran's eyes looked at her in betrayal. it stopped when Rindou seemed to have taken his last breath.
Hikari only held onto his limp frame. no tears fell; not a sob escaped.
she got suspended in the moment of endless hurt, sinking deeper for every time she thought there wasn't any lower. it turns out pain was bottomless—there was never a thing such as the lowest. there was no limit to how much you can hurt and be hurt.
she only knew she'd been swept up her feet once the doctor arrived for Rin. it seemed like he wasn't dead, but rather just passed out from all the blood loss.
at least I got to protect you.
but at what cost? Ran's intent to kill was only ever cut short because she'd given him something much bigger to agonize over.
she got up from the floor, hands bloodied, her cream nightgown red. it was a mixture of the brothers' blood—a sick, twisted joke and reality all the same. things were never going to go her way even if all she's done was open up her heart again.
be normal. have friends. we can be happy now.
—as per Ran would always tell her.
although he did also tell her none of it would actually ever be normal because of who he was.
she walks over to their bedroom lifelessly, not knowing what to tell him. among all things, there was guilt, fear, and shame that lurked within her heart.
if she told Ran about it all, wouldn't he kill Rindou right away?
he was drunk. he was hurt.
I'm fucking tired, as he'd put it.
the halls dark, her footsteps quiet, all it would've taken her was a glance at her reflection to see that she looked less alive than before she'd come across Ran. thing were changing; they were changing for the worse.
Hikari opened the door to their room, still in her spot as she finds Ran lying on their bed. he had his back on the mattress, head dangling on the edge as he smoked, his view of her upside-down.
he looked like a beautiful painting. a painting of an elegantly bruised half-naked man with purple hair and tattoos that covered half his frame, wounds prominent on his skin as everything around him got swallowed in darkness.
for a moment Hikari wondered where the moon was hiding for tonight, only to realize she had much bigger problems on hand.
"Ran..."
he blinks, eyes lazy as he looked back at her, smoke leaving his lips. she slowly approaches, crouching down to level their faces as she cupped both his cheeks. he took his cigarette away, hand coming up to the back of her head as he fits his lips in hers.
she could only watch in surprise, the smoke from his throat polluting her mouth. the girl pulls away in a fit of coughs, Ran's chuckle not at all welcome at the moment.
"Hikari," he muses, smiling up at her, "so who did it better?"
"what?"
"who fucked you better hm?" he grinned, stroking her hair, "did he even make you cum? Rin could be quite self-centered."
Hikari's eyes widen in disbelief at his words, words she knew he only said out of spite—to chastise her.
"he must've done a good fucking job then? seeing as you refused to fuck me since then."
he laughed to himself. a shiver went down her spine.
"that's not it, Ran, I thought you would kill him if I didn't intervene," she tries to explain without fault, only for her voice to crack.
YOU ARE READING
Corpse Bride || Haitani Brothers/OC
Fanfictionsequel to Killer Stranger after Ran's death, Hikari and Rindou only have each other to turn to as they grieved. time passes and both get used to the way they live-but what happens when right as they start seeing the other more than just a proxy for...