in the shade of trees ; n. chuuya

.vingt

a/n: a lot of profanities ahead + extremely sorry for the late chapter !

-

The report had gotten to Mori too late.

Ineko knows that she will face consequences; if not from Mori, then from her now fragile relationship with Odasaku. It's not that Oda blames her; she doesn't think he even knows about Ango's betrayal- and she is sure not going to be the one who breaks the news to him. Ineko doesn't understand how Dazai was so chill about it; when she found out the boy from the ship was a spy, she nearly broke down.

"Focus," she mumbles to herself. "Fucking focus, you dipshit. Revenge. That's the only thing that matters."

She looks up from the sink where she's been bending over for the past few hours and grits her teeth as she sees her reflection; the tap still running steadily. She hasn't bothered with anything except for stalking Mimic ever since the deaths of the children; her hair hasn't been brushed for three days- only patted down in an half assed attempt and she's finally gotten eyebags and paler skin- which, if she may say, is an ugly change to her prized bronze complexion.

"Revenge," she breathes out, and clenches her fists tightly. "Get revenge."

She looks up again, biting her lip hard enough that she tastes metallic liquid in her teeth and on her gums. She clenches and unclenches her fists. Her fist leaves her side before she blinks, and it's buried in the now cracked mirror. She watches in morbid fascination as blood trickles down the cracks and down her arm.

It kinda reminds her of-

-of what, exactly?

Oh. That's right. How could she forget her parents?

"Focus!" She spits viciously at her reflection. Still, that doesn't stop the sound of the running tap morphing into the gurgling of water crushing eardrums and burning noses and eyes.

Ineko knows she's growing alarmingly unstable. She still hasn't talked to a Chuuya since that night, and she doesn't plan to either. She can't let anyone see her in this state.

"Tou-san," she whispers to herself, "why aren't you leaving me?" Her words is slightly slurred. "Fucking leave me!" she screams and hit her hand repeatedly against the shattering mirror. "Leave, leave, fucking leave me I can't handle this-"

"-Oi, baby pirate, what the fuck are you doing?"

Ineko's hand freezes mid way to the crumbling plaster wall where the mirror once was. She turns around slowly.

"C-chibi?"

Chuuya smirks.

"Was that a stutter?" He continues as she stared at him in a dumbstruck silence. "I was on my way back from buying some fucking good wine," he reaches into his coat and holds it lazily between two fingers, "but of course there are noises of a beast screaming." He smirks. "God damn, you're loud. I can hear you from the ground floor."

Ineko slowly puts her hand down, ignoring the throbbing pain. Chuuya only carelessly swings the bottle to and fro in his grasp, slightly tilting his head in a mockingly innocent way. "I wonder if your just as loud in bed."

"I'm going to kill you, chibi-chan," she snarls, stalking forward as a flush advances onto her cheeks. She suddenly stops and winces, clutching her bloody hand. Chuuya sighs.

"Idiot." He non the gently grabs her by her hair and unceremoniously pulls her into the living room. Ineko doesn't even feel the pain- her hand hurts more.

"Shitty brat, let go!" She fumes. "How did you even get into my apartment, shithead?"

"Oh my, those are rude words for such a lady like you."

"You're more feminine than I am," she spits.

"You're autistic, seadog." He grips her wrist in his hands, brutally opening the first aid kit. Ineko watches fascinated as his fingers dance around her hand in a surprisingly gentle fashion, dabbing at the cuts and tweezers gently plucking out bits of plaster and mirror shards.

She stares at his fedora, letting her eyes travel down to his furrowed brows, then his piercingly blue eyes. Chuuya stiffens as he feels her intense gaze on his face. He's suddenly aware of how close they are, and in a flustered panic, he pushes her wrist back to her, taking a few steps back.

"Do it yourself," he says gruffly and throwing the kit into her lap. She glances past him at the open window. He obviously came through her window instead of a door like a normal human being.

"How did you open it?"

"It was open, dipshit." Ineko frowns. She knows it wasn't open. She never opens her windows, in case of stray bullets from snipers. Even if the glass isn't bulletproof, it's at least some sort of flimsy protection- and better some, than none. She glances at Chuuya, whose blue eyes burn into her.

"What?" He spits, but his eyes soften a little as he gets a good look at her. "You're being stupid, seadog. Get some rest." Ineko ignores his biting words. Instead, she thinks back to what he said as he arrived. A smirk appears on her pallid face.

"Baby pirate?" She snickers as Chuuya gets slightly flustered; in an angry way. He storms over and pull her forward by the ear. She flinches for the expecting punch, but she's greeted by a gently flick on the forehead. "H-huh?"

"Unless you prefer a kick, then I'm happy to oblige," he snaps. After heaving a sigh, he seats himself down on the couch, and Ineko follows.

There's a moment of quiet. Chuuya looks like he wants to say something, but he bites his tongue. Instead, he asks,

"What are you going to do?" It's not as if he doesn't know. He just prefers if Ineko can comfortably say it herself; it will help her sought out her thought process, and it would imply some sort of trust as well.

But Ineko doesn't speak. Chuuya scowls. "Fine, I'm leaving." He stands up, but her snickering voice stops him.

"Throwing a tantrum are we, baby chibi?" He whirls around, his body glowing red as he furiously readies his ability, but he stops as she stares down at her hands and whispers.

"I'm going to get revenge, and kill Odasaku."