Obsession (Ayano x Budo)

Chapter 10

Budo felt his angel's hands caress his face, as if they were made of silk. Her fingertips trailed softly, shooting pinpricks of electricity across his skin as she said his name, over and over again, "Budo. Budo. Budo."

Each whisper of his name on her lips, every soft stir of her warm breath on his ears, sent a feeling of feather-light contentment running into him, making his heart feel whole and huge. This was all he'd ever wanted. Just the look of love in her eyes - a look for only him and no one else- could make him feel as if he could do anything.

When he looked into her face he saw how beautiful she was, how she was so intelligent, so calm and perfect. Just one small, delicate face could give him such happiness...

Dum.

In the distance, there came a single, deep, echoing knell of a heavy bell, and Budo felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding wash through him. No. He watched as reverberations shuddered through the golden mists of the airs surrounding him and as Ayano drew back. His chest immediately felt the sense of emptiness, the whole, happy feeling wrenched from his heart as her hands fell away.

And then, leg stepping out from the whirling clouds, Taro Yamada materialized, right in front of his Ayano with a sickening, arrogant smirk on his face. The cold emptiness inside of Budo manifested as Taro's arms wrapped around his angel's waist like slithering snakes; it became a hot, thick, growing gruel of red anger, jealousy and hate. The sight of them together did more than make him envious, it repulsed him. Someone so pure and beautiful as her should never even touch something like him.

"Get away from her!" he screamed, but a familiar paralysis held his muscles still. His eyes watched with fixéd fury-dread as Taro reached for the perfection of Ayano's face and leaned forward to kiss her-

Budo's eyes snapped open with sudden alertness, staring unblinkedly at the night-blue ceiling of his room. The sound of rain hitting the roof shattered through the room, accompanied by a chill seeping through the walls - the promise of winter. The outside world was changing, and he felt as if there was a sort of unbalance within himself and the world.

His heart was still beating rapidly breath his ribs, unfocused eyes still seeing the image of them. His hands curled of their own will, and he felt a sudden inclination to punch something. Hard.

The nightmare-experience had felt much too real for his liking. In fact, he realized, it was probably very likely that it would become a reality. Unless he did something. He released a frustrated sigh as he turned to his side.

Why did it ever have to be like this? She and I are soul mates, why can't she just love me? Why must she be so blinded?

And yet her perseverance was astounding - she would gladly kill any rival, just to get close to him, and was still so unbearably shy! When Budo had seen how she'd crumbled before Taro, he'd immediately remembered her words in the basement. She'd killed Osana not because Info-Chan had made her. She had done it purely for Taro... A twist of envy in his gut made him wish that Ayano loved him that much. He knew without a doubt that his own love for her went just as deep as her's for Taro, and probably deeper.

What if I acted the same way as her? Just eliminated all my rivals?

His mind immediately dismissed that thought. No, Budo, it's fine. Stick to the plan you started. Take it slow, intervene their relationship in a non-dangerous way, wait for her to lose interest, and then you can have her.

Even as he closed his eyes again and was greeted by darkness, he felt a restlessness inside of him. He was growing tired of waiting.