*:･ﾟYou Bet I Stare ･ﾟ:*

CHAPTER 41 - empathy

SOUSUKE
—❁—

I stare up at Kou, going silent. The only thing that was coming from me was the sound of my breathing.

"Sousuke.." Kou looks down at me, gripping his staff. "Don't listen to him, damnit! Come on, let's get out of here and go back!" He then grabs either of my shoulders, staring down into my eyes.

"No." I mutter back.

"Why would I go back with somebody that doesn't even love me? Someone that only went down on me so I would forget about everything!?" "Are you even listening to yourself, Sousuke? This Tsukasa guy is full of sh—!" I watch Tsukasa punch Kou down to the ground, not even feeling any sort of remorse.

"Hey Mitsuba! Do you want a gift?" Tsukasa comes up to me and grabs my hands, smiling. I brought my head to nod, still not using my voice. "Okay! But you have to get rid of him first." He points at Kou on the ground. "And Kou! You want Mitsuba back, right?" Tsukasa walks over to Kou and kneels beside him on the ground, patting his head. "Right?" Tsukasa mutters as he grips the top of Kous head, clenching a thing of his matted hair in his fist. "Like hell he'll get rid of me.." Kou mutters, bringing himself up as he wipes the blood from his lip. "So you don't want Mitsuba back..?" Tsukasa smiles and shoves Kou back down. "Okay then!" Kou grunts as he stops himself from smacking down too hard on the ground. "I didn't say that!" He exclaims up to Tsukasa.

But Tsukasa just ignored him and looked back at me.

"Hear that? He doesn't even want you back.." He looks back down at Kou, probably smiling. "Strange.." "Th-That.." I watch Kou get back up. "That isn't what I said! You're bending all of this so out of sorts! You're using Sousukes vulnerability against him and that isn't fair!" My eyebrows raise as he grips his staff tighter. "He knows I love him, don't you Sousuke!"

My gaze stayed stuck on Kou as my lips sealed themselves shut. I couldn't bring myself to speak on his behalf, so all I did was stare at him. It was like my eyes were fuzzy, but I was still awake. I was still present in whatever was going on, but I couldn't properly think or speak for myself. I could only agree with whatever it was that this Tsukasa guy was saying.

It almost felt like all I was right now was a puppet on some string and Tsukasa was the puppeteer.

"Right..?" Kou mutters, his voice growing silenced as he just looked at me. I then watched him angrily look at Tsukasa, marching over to him and grabbing him by the collar once more. "What the hell did you do to him! Answer me!" "What are you talking about? This is Mitsuba." Tsukasa smiles at Kou before getting an insanely horrifying look on his face. "I didn't do anything to him." "Oh, you're so full of shit!" Kou suddenly jabs his staff into Tsukasa, zapping him with intense power. Tsukasa wasn't even showing any signs of intense pain, but he was rather laughing.

Suddenly, my body rushed over to Tsukasa and grabbed onto him as I fought on pulling him away from Kou. I couldn't stop myself or make myself work harder. Tsukasa was controlling me for sure, but I couldn't even use my own words in this situation. The only thing I could do was tear up out of frustration.

Kou was fighting for my safety and all I was doing was fighting and rebelling against him.

"See! He doesn't love you anymore!" Tsukasa laughs as Kou weakens his power, most likely out of shock. "Sh-Shut up!!" Kou demands as he grips his staff tighter, growing angry as I pull Tsukasa away and hold onto his arm. It was like I was separating the two and protecting him. I was then suddenly shoved to the ground on my knees with my back to Tsukasa's skirt covered legs as he held my face up by the chin to look at Kou. "You really shouldn't disobey.." Tsukasa mutters, squeezing both of my cheeks with his thumb and fingers. "If you disobey, things only get worse for Mitsuba.." My eyes stay locked up on Kou as my fingers grip either side of the ground beneath my knees. "Don't you realize?"