Obsession (Ayano x Budo)

Chapter 8

Budo was tired.

His shoulders and arms ached, thrumming with the subdued, tight gnaw of overworked muscles. His eyes fell shut to a dark relief as he took a minute to catch himself. He was drained by what had happened today. He could feel it by the slight headache forming like a knot in the back of his brain. The more he thought about what he's done, the tighter the knot grew, the flashing memories like a pair of hands strangling him in a panicked frenzy-

No. He clasped his head in his hands, sighing, until he heard a noise.

Budo forced his eyes to crank open into the pale, cold white light of the basement, and focused them on the moving form before him. Ayano's breathing was changing from the steady, slow, lulling rhythm he'd been listening to for hours. Her lips parted as she took in a sharper, but still gentle, breathe of air. It was a beautiful noise. He watched, intrigued, as her eyelids slowly flicked open, revealing two perfect, stormy-grey jewels.

She cast them slowly around her, taking in the confined, cement slab walls and concrete floor of his basement like a hawk surveying its vista. They then rested on him, and he felt a twist of nervousness in his stomach.

"Where...?" she murmured, voice as soft and cool as a feather riding the winds, and she had to pause to clear her throat. It was a voice asleep for many hours.

Budo, thoughtlessly lost as he watched her, simply stated, "My basement."

He sat silently on his own rickety, cheap chair a meter or two from her, content to observe as she pulled herself from the distortion of sleep. She seemed to realize that she was covered in blankets, her head was supported by a thick fluffy pillow, and that a cup of hot tea was waiting for her on the side table beside the chair.

"Have some, please," Budo insisted. "You haven't had anything to drink for some time."

Ayano's eyes were sharper now, awake, and briefly considered the cup beside her before returning them to Budo, narrowing them slightly. Oh.

"It's not drugged. I promise," Budo hurriedly added.

He got up from his own chair with a small sqeak and walked towards her slowly, cautious so as to not unnecessarily alert her. Ayano's deep gray eyes shot straight to his own eyes like an arrow, as if challenging him to try anything.

She's not afraid, he thought with pride, the thought of his own beautiful angel being as fearless and strong as ever making him smile slightly while he picked up the tea cup. He brought it to his mouth and sipped the creamy, hot tea, raising an eyebrow pointedly at her before replacing it on the side table with a soft click. "See? All good." He took a few steps back, making sure to give her a sense of space.

"Why have you brought me here?" she questioned with a voice that echoed around the small room. Budo blinked, taken aback by her sudden severity. She's right. This isn't the time to be having a laugh about tea.

Budo slowly exhaled, his feelings of joviality already fading as he forced his face to grow grim. He met her intense stare.

"You killed Osana," Budo began quietly. As soon as he said the words, memories surged at him in a bright flash of red colors. "I know it wasn't your fault, but..." He took a moment to bring a hand to his eyes, as if trying to swat away the visions of what had seen earlier. It worked somewhat and the memories submerged again into the deep abyss of his mind. The moment to collect himself had only taken a second, but it was enough for her to notice.