Obsession (Ayano x Budo)

Chapter 33

The timer buzzed. Almost immediately, Budo gently pressed down its button. The basement was once again filled with near silence, disturbed only by the sound of rough and pained breathing.

"That went by quickly," Budo muttered to himself as he dusted off his hands. He glanced down at them and sighed. They were filthy. He offhandedly looked again at the time and his face blanched as he finally realised that he was very late for school. Ayano is at school right now, was his first thought. Just like that, a blazing excitement took hold of him and he began to smile to himself. So much activity in just one day. How lovely today would be! Budo wiped down his hands with a damp cloth, then took off his apron. Beneath it, he already had his school clothes. His school bag was waiting for him upstairs by the front door. Hanging the dirty apron on a hook on the wall, he turned to leave.

Without looking behind him, he waved behind his back. "Gotta go, Taro. See you later." 

Budo waited expectantly, and after a few seconds, turned around. He was still smiling, but it was a different kind now. "Aren't you going to say goodbye to me?" he said, his eyes calmly daring.

There was hardly a delay before the quick, if laboured, response. "Goodbye."

"That's better." Budo turned away to leave... but he didn't move forward. Hmm? Was he forgetting something? 

Budo slowly turned around again. His eyes saw Taro's watching, hesitant ones, which darted away as soon as they met his. All of a sudden, he realised how silly he was being. Yes, he had been forgetting something - something so simple, in fact.

"This'll just be a minute," Budo mentioned casually as he stepped closer. If Taro could squirm, he'd doing that right now. Budo felt a sudden rush of dominative power over the immobile, fearful thing before him.

"Sorry Taro," Budo said as he wrapped his hands around Taro's neck, even though he didn't really mean it. He enjoyed seeing the hope wash out from his prisoner's eyes. So he was right. Taro had been planning on yelling for all he was worth once Budo had gone. It made Budo happy that he was trying so hard to stay alive. It just made everything a lot more exciting.

"Wait! Can't you just tie a cloth around my mouth? Or use tape?" There was a desperate pleading in the tone of Taro's voice, even as Budo started squeezing, and Budo felt satisfaction flow like a rising well within him.

"But if I did that, then you gnaw or lick it to weaken it. Then you would scream."

"No - I - would...n't."

"These walls aren't enforced," Budo continued indifferently as he watched Taro suffer. "There's a chance you'd be heard and saved. Then I'd go to prison."

Of course Taro couldn't reply by now. Budo figured he needed to exert enough pressure to crush his throat without cutting off the blood supply. He moved his fingers a little lower, away from the jugular, and then, in a fit of energy, gave a quick final press that made Taro's choke turn into a gurgle. Whoops. A little too hard.

He released his grip slowly, and Taro immediately started gasping in air, struggling to take it in through his crushed windpipes. Budo noticed his face start to return from pink to its original colour. Maybe he had been too rough, but it was for Budo's safety. There was no limit to the precautions he could take.

Just to be sure, Budo tore off a piece of duct tape, took a clump of Taro's hair and pulled up, and placed it over Taro's mouth. He could see the sudden angry and hopeless disbelief written on Taro's face as he pressed down the tape. He was probably thinking, "What was the point of strangling me if you were going to use duct tape anyway?"

The answer is always simple, and Taro must have realised it too, because he shut his eyes in understanding. It was always for pleasure.