Not Another Romeo & Juliet Story! (Juuzou Suzuya x OC)

Spilling Guts

Tonight, the hunger had overcome me. Not for Juuzou's flesh but for something else. As he rested his head against my thigh, I combed my fingers through his soft hair wondering how we got to this point. He must have sensed something too because he sat up only to push me down against the pillows. He hovered over me for a second before planting his lips on mine softly. Deepening the kiss, his stitches caressed my bottom lip while his saliva moistened my lips but also made my stomach feel like I was on the edge of a roller coaster, ready to drop. I didn't mind, though. I absolutely loved the feeling. We kept kissing even when I rolled on top of him, reaching to undo his pants.

"Riri, wait."

But I didn't want to wait any longer.

"I can't..."

I kept going even, thinking why the hell not?

"Stop! I can't!"

He smacked my hands away. I shrank back, afraid of the tone of his voice.

"What? What's wrong?"

"I can't..."

Juuzou had this defeated look on his face. He dropped his head down low, his hair covering his eyes.

"Juuzou?"

"I can't... because..."

That's when Juuzou spilled every thing onto me. Shackles. He was taken away in shackles. He didn't live like most children in a normal household with a warm, comfortable bed. He lived in a cold and dark cell. There were days where his kidnapper decided to dress him up as a girl and force Juuzou against his will to live as the opposite sex. But the reason why Juuzou didn't want me to go any further was because she did something to him. The most inhumane thing possible for him to continue living as a girl. Juuzou didn't explain in detail but I can only imagine. It made me sick to my stomach but it also made my blood boil. So that's why his voice is so high for a guy like him. I'm ashamed of myself. I mortified him into telling me his darkest secret. But his secrets didn't stop there.

He originally went by the name Rei. "Juuzou" was the name later given to him once he became a scrapper for the infamous ghoul restaurant. Although I've never attended a ghoul restaurant, I know exactly what a scrapper is and what they do. There, he was trained to kill humans. His own kind. What's even worse is that his mama would reward him with "good boy points." When I asked what the points meant, Juuzou said it was the reason why he doesn't feel pain anymore.

The ghoul who did this to him is known as Big Madam. But Juuzou still likes to refer to her as his mama. Why? I don't know. But on the day the doves raided Big Madam's place was the day Juuzou was rescued and brought into the CCG. Yet they didn't catch her. Which means she's still out there. This must have been what Shinohara was talking to me about. By the end of his story, I wanted to cry. I wanted to cry for him but I felt it wasn't my place to cry. Especially if Juuzou wasn't going to.

"Oh, Juuzou..."

I pulled him into a hug.

"Huh?"

He hesitated before wrapping his arms around me, hugging me tighter than he's ever hugged me before. Now I understand Shinohara. Because of ghouls like Big Madam, innocent lives are being taken away. Innocent children like Juuzou. For the entertainment of demented ghouls. It's ghouls like that, that make us look bad.

"Okay,"

I pulled back from the embrace, staring Juuzou in his eyes.

"I'll tell you something about me since you've shared that... I didn't have a very nice childhood, either."

"Fix your stance."

"I did."

"Not like that. Like this."

I shut my eyes, remembering the strike to my ankles to fix my fighting stance. My father, Matasaka Kamishiro, was the leader of the 6th Ward. But due to Rize's voracious appetite, he was captured trying to protect us from getting caught. I don't remember where this hatred started from. But out of nowhere, Rize and I had always competed for our father's approval.

I think it might have all started when I asked our father for lessons in martial arts. I could tell Rize wasn't fond of that idea. The thought of me, spending more time with our father, must have displeased her. But why did she care when she out and about eating everything in her sight?

But I couldn't possibly tell Juuzou this. I chewed on my lip, wondering how I was going to go about this.

"Your father abused you? Why?"

I broke the eye contact with Juuzou to stare at the blankets beneath us.

"Did you do something?"

I didn't do anything. It was Rize and her gourmandizing. Tsukiyama was right. She is nothing but a gluttonous pig.

"My sister. She was the one who always angered my father. And he took his anger out on me."

"You have a sister?"

Juuzou asked, his eyes almost bulging out of his head. I nodded, hoping he wouldn't ask too much about her.

"What did she do?"

I wanted to tell him. I wanted to tell him everything. But I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

"You can tell me, you know?"

Juuzou stared at me with the beady eyes of a ventriloquist doll. Waiting. He had spilled everything right in front of me. Juuzou showed me the skeletons in his closet. He told me his deepest and darkest secrets. He opened up to me. I need to do the same. But when I tried to speak, my mouth hung open. No words came out.

"Okay... You don't have to tell me now. But will you tell me some day?"

I nodded, thankful that I could hold off the fact that I'm a ghoul for yet another day. But I couldn't help but wonder when that day will come.

"Juuzou?"

"Hm?"

"We don't have to do that."

"Really?"

His red irises lit up like the spark to a starting flame.

"Yeah, we could just lie here and cuddle, if you want."

Juuzou has never known what love is. Never experienced it. Then again, neither have I. But then why does something about this feel so right?