A Pretty Face (KNY x Reader Fanfic)

Chapter 29

You're walking through the district. Overhead, the red lights swing and sway from the wind. People converse with one another. Some seek geishas to spend the night with.

Strangely, you don't know what you're doing. How had you gotten outside? Surely, Gyutaro would have forbade it. Weren't you sick?

A sudden throb made you look at your palm. Dried blood stuck to the crevices. It no longer hurt, but felt hot. There was no more poison. All of it had been sucked clean.

Why were you still walking?

Your clothes should have been ripped from earlier. As your gaze turned back down, you were wearing something different. Purple robes. Too hazy to question it, you continued walking.

Vendors called out to you. They wanted money for their cheap trinkets. You didn't have any to spare. Everyone was glancing at you. Why?

Piece by piece, you began to realize the attention was drawn to your face. Your fingers reached up, tapping your chin and mouth.

Blood, darker than your own, was sticky against your skin. Metallic burned on your tongue. Repulsed by the sensation, you spat at the ground. People gasped and pointed.

Whose was it? Harshly wiping at your face with the end of your sleeve, you saw just how much of it there was. The purple of your clothes began to turn a darker shade; more like plum. Maybe a rotten plum.

You wanted to feel the sun, especially since you hadn't felt its warmth in so long. Your skin would flake away at the slightest ray. A demon's trait. For decades, you had only known the cold chill of the moon and her stars.

So had Gyutaro, but for a little longer.

Why had you done it? Even after knowing what your blood could do, why did you drink it like that? Douma was pleased to know he wouldn't have to watch you grow old, but yet, you still couldn't understand why you had made that decision.

Back then, you remembered writing a letter and sending your long-dead crow away with it. You wondered if Gyutaro ever received it. By now, it must have fell apart from old age.

Again, why were you even outside? Dawn would break soon. People were already retiring for the day. The fun was over. They still looked at you strangely. Why?

Her scent traveled through the wind, making your nostrils flair. Oh, how much you had once loved her. There was nothing left but hate.

"Found you."

Sharp nails dug into your forearm. They ripped through the fabric and left crescent shaped moons into your skin. Hardly any blood was surface, but it still stung.

"You idiot...everyone is watching..."

Daki was angry. Again, she grabbed at your arm and led you away from the crowd. Her hand wiped furiously at your mouth. When pulling away, you looked at the dried blood flaking away in the wind.

"Why are we outside? Where's Gyutaro?" You asked, suddenly growing self-conscious with how many people stopped and stared.

"I hate you. You've ruined my brother. This is all of your fault." Darkness brooded in her features. Her eyes couldn't meet your own.

What did she mean by that?

"I didn't do anything to him. Where are we going?" Again, you asked, yet she ignored your question.

"You did everything to him. He killed me because of you."

"But you're not dead? I don't understand—"

"Yet. I will be, though. And it'll be your fault."

As she leaned forward, her nose centimeters away from your own, the kanji in her eye startled you. What was more frightening, was the small reflection of you in her pupils.

Your skin had never been so pale. It resembled chalk. The color didn't look natural. You didn't use to look like that.

Small remnants of caked blood was splattered against your jaw. Wiping it away, you focused again on your reflection.

Irises the color of a snake's. Piercing, yellow, and with small flecks of orange. A sunset, maybe. Comparing it to a snake was too cruel.

Blinking, you opened your eyes again and were no longer bathed in the red district lights. Nails weren't sinking into your skin, leaving marks. People weren't watching you.

"Do you think I got enough of it out?" You heard a voice ask.

"Why are you asking me? It's not my poison. I wasn't stupid enough to let it drip on her..."

They continued to bicker, one voice more shrill than the other. You knew who they were, but continued to act as if you were asleep. Dealing with them right now was going to give you a worser headache.

"Gyutaro, your mouth—" Daki gasped. Curiosity made you want to open your eyes, but you resisted the urge.

He sighed, and you heard his bones pop.

"It's fine. I had to do it."

What was he talking about? His sister muttered to herself, shooting a glare towards you. As your eyelids twitched, Daki glanced between you and her brother.

"No. She didn't need saving. Y/N can't die like a regular human. She would've been fine." Pointing her fingernail against Gyutaro's chest, building pressure made a slight bead of blood spill.

"You don't know that. It's already said and done anyway, so leave me alone." He turned away from her and made a shooing motion. Offended, Daki slammed the bedroom door shut and went somewhere else.

He shook your shoulder. You remained slack and resisted tensing.

"Stop pretending, Y/N. She's gone."

Cracking open your eyes, it took everything to not let your expression of surprise be noticeable. Around his mouth, you observed thin lines running from his bottom lip to his chin. They were burn marks.

"Don't beat yourself up over it. I wanted to help."

"What—?"

And then you saw it.

Whenever Gyutaro spoke, he had a slight lisp that could almost go unnoticed. But you heard the change in sound easily. Opening his mouth to speak also made the damage apparent.

Sucking the poison from your hand had burnt the tip of his tongue off.