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

Impending Doom

I sat on the couch, still as a statue. Bringing my knees up to my chin, I hugged my legs to keep my hands from trembling. It didn't help against my racing pulse. I could almost see the thin blue vein throbbing beneath the pale skin on my wrist.

I can't believe Shinohara saw me. How could I have let it happen? Well, it's not like I could have avoided it forever. I thought I'd be ready for it but I'm not. Now it's only a matter of time before Juuzou finds out. What will he do when he does? Would he hesitate to kill me or kill me without hesitation?

Sudden knuckles rapped against the door. I jumped up towards the door with the intention of opening it until a thought stopped me. What if it was Shinohara behind that door? With my heart palpitating fiercely within my chest, I peered into the peephole to only discover Juuzou with a bunch of snacks in his hands.

My clammy palms struggled to turn the knob. When the door finally clicked, I threw myself into Juuzou's arms, crushing his snacks. I had asked Juuzou if he wanted to have a movie night to which he agreed. I wanted him to stay with me at all times from now on. Even though Juuzou is an investigator, too... I feel much safer with him. But that will probably change when he finds out. Which he will. Shinohara will tell him, no doubt about it. I might as well spend one last night with Juuzou in peace before my impending death.

"Aw, you crushed my movie snacks."

I broke the hug, mumbling an apology about his snacks.

"Are you okay, Riri-chan?"

I glanced down at my feet, focusing on my blue-black nail polish rather than the question.

"I'm fine, why?"

"Your sad eyes are back again."

"Huh?"

I whipped my head back up. Juuzou's radiant, scarlet eyes met mine. His fingers touched a stray piece of my violet hair, tucking it behind my ear.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine. Let's just watch the movies."

Juuzou offered some of his snacks but I told him I couldn't stomach anything this late at night. Strangely, he didn't even try to talk me into eating.

First, we watched a movie of my choice. I chose the Bride of Frankenstein. He, unsurprisingly, chose Friday the 13th. With a fuzzy blanket draped over our legs, my fears and anxiety began to fade away when Juuzou's feet started playing footsie with mine beneath the covers.

After a couple outbursts of giggles, I rested my head against his shoulder. Slowly, my eyelids began to drop when Juuzou asked a question about the movie.

"Why did she reject him?"

"Hm?"

"Why do you think she rejected him?"

I thought it over for a moment, my eyes scanning over Juuzou's stitches that resembled the ones on the bride.

"I don't know. Maybe she was just scared. You know, suddenly alive and a monster in front of her..."

Juuzou inched his face closer to mine, letting his eyes trail over to my lips.

"But they're both monsters."

Juuzou replied, his voice lingering.

"But she didn't know that. She just saw that there was a monster in front of her and... screamed."

"I think..."

Juuzou leaned in even closer, his breath tickling my lips.

"That if she saw that she was a monster just like him, she would have accepted him."

Before I could give him my input on his theory, Juuzou sealed our lips together in a kiss. It's moments like these that I'm going to miss. Halfway through Friday the 13th, I found it harder to stay awake any longer so I told Juuzou I'd go to bed. Burrowing myself deep within the covers of my bed, I fell right asleep... Only to be woken by a nightmare. My sleeping body sprung forward with beads of sweat trickling down my forehead and my back. I waited for my heart rate to slow down before walking into the bathroom to splash cold water on my face. It was a nightmare about Shinohara. And... my father. I was on the verge of being killed when I woke up from that dream.

That's it. I can't take it anymore. I'm going tell Juuzou what I am. It's better if he hears it from my mouth rather than someone else's.

He'll understand, right? Oh, who am I kidding? My fingers rubbed my tired eyes. I'm exhausted and delirious. I needed some sleep before I decide to do something crazy.

I tip-toed into the living room to find Juuzou dead asleep on the couch with the movie's ending credits playing. Turning off the tv, I crawled beneath the blanket and into Juuzou's arms which were warm like an oven.