Obsession (Ayano x Budo)

Chapter 39

"First of all, tell me who you are."

...What followed was a long stretch of nothing.

Ayano considered the person before her, who, even though bound by ropes, was acting as though nothing in her situation was amiss. The girl only looked listlessly onwards with a pair of silver, almost icy, eyes, staring at nothing in particular. There was a strange, uncertain feeling in the pit of Ayano's stomach. She felt like she had seen those eyes before - but where, and when? They almost seemed to glow. Like molten, radiating aluminium.

Ayano took a deep breath, and tried again. This time she allowed her impatience to show. "What is your real name?"

...

The softest nudge of irritation begin to wriggle inside of her - and because it was so gentle and tiny, it feel like a colony of fire ants crawling through her veins. The fact that this girl before her looked so unbothered, almost like she was waiting to be entertained... made Ayano want to do something drastic to rip that indifferent expression off her face. 

Ayano didn't say anything as she reached into her jacket pocket and drew out a small, frumpled ball. She separated it into two and shook them, revealing it to be pair of new, white latex gloves. Wordlessly, she took her time pulling them over her fingers of each hand. They felt cool against her skin. Comfortable.

When she was done, she reached into her pocket again, this time pulling out a small metal object covered in a plastic bag. She removed the bag, tossing it to the side, and held the object inside in one hand. The weight was solid.

She pressed a small, almost invisible, button on it, and -Tschk!- a blade the size of a finger shot out of it, snapping into the white basement light with a gleam. A switchblade. The steel was thin, and short, but it would be very durable, and very disposable. Ayano glanced at the girl to gauge her reaction.

Those silver eyes had been watching, quietly, throughout this demonstration, but they showed no hint of fear.

This bitch doesn't realise who's in charge here.

Immediately, the fire ants in her blood ran faster, hotter. Ayano bent down, until she was face-to-face with the girl. She brought the tip of the knife to the creamy white of her throat, and let the cool tip of the blade brush slightly against the skin under her chin. Info-chan didn't even flinch. Her eyes were steady.

"Tell me." Ayano stated simply. She started to press the tip against her flesh - until it dipped into the skin in a way that was just begging to break the surface.

"I don't see the point. I'm going to die anyway," the girl replied for the first time, and Ayano felt the vibrations of her voice carry along the knife in her hand, shivering across its cold body in her fingers. She was surprised by how smooth and assertive her voice sounded. Had she heard it before?

"You won't die if you comply with my questions," Ayano responded.

From the look Info-chan gave her, Ayano could tell that she didn't believe that for a second. And she was correct to assume so. Ayano sighed, trying to let out some of the hot steam that was rising in her. This wasn't a girl, but a woman - she was intelligent, and that made Ayano hate her more.

"How about this then?" Ayano started. "Let's strike a deal. If you tell me everything, I'll give you some painkillers before I have my fun."

"No, naturally you won't. You want to see me suffer." Ayano's hand holding the halter of the switchblade tightened its grip.

"This is your last warning to spill everything. Tell me who you really are. Tell me why you betrayed me. Then I want to know the secrets you've been hiding from me - why you contacted me in the first place."

Info-chan sighed.

"All of those demands are either idiotic or senseless," she replied, almost tiredly, and then gave Ayano a practically invisible smile, both with her mouth and with those mocking eyes. Ayano's blood boiled. She was condescending her, and it was infuriating. Didn't she realise the position she was in? Didn't she realise what was going to happen to her?

Info-chan was still continuing in that patronizing tone of hers, "Firstly, do you realise how valuable my secrets are? Do you believe I'm going to give them away simply because my life is at stake? You are an idiot if you think that-"

There was movement like a blitz of lightning, and then - Crack!