Obsession (Ayano x Budo)

Chapter 43

Without moving, he stood there at the border and watched her. He didn't want to look away, not when such a picture was right before him, but he had to remind himself to finish what they had started - This is for Ayano. Destroy the evidence for her.

He had to. So that he could have a future with her.

Budo turned and left the bedroom without looking back, knowing that he'd falter if he did. He went back into the basement, his feet thudding as they hit each step with purpose. He grabbed a mop and bucket from the corner and brought it to the centre. First he filled the bucket with water and bleach at the bathroom, and, while upstairs, he grabbed some leftovers from the fridge. A plate and bucket in each hand, he went back down into the basement, closing the hatch door behind him so that the noise didn't travel too far.

Amazing. Ayano really had left behind a spectacle.

Budo wished he could take a picture, but instead memorised every splatter and stain, and observed the masterpiece in the centre of it all with great fascination. To think that he'd been able to see her kill, not once, but twice now! They were precious memories that he'd be able to replay in his mind when he went to sleep, or during class when-

Budo smiled wryly to himself. It seemed ridiculous to think that he would be going back to school tomorrow, no, this morning. After what had happened tonight, he half-expected himself to be dreaming. And yet, he wasn't. How funny.

Sensing his own increasing tiredness, Budo got to work.

As he chopped, pulled, packeted, cleared, washed and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, he thought only about Ayano. In his imagination, she was motivating him with a smile that promised rewards, and with vigour and an energy he didn't know he possessed, he cleaned.

By the time he was finished, his hands were trembling as, at last, he set his equipment aside. The body, or what was left of it, was neatly bagged. He'd cleaned it all, washed the floors with a tubful of Hydrogen Peroxide and checked it all with the backlight. You wouldn't know that a viscous murder had occurred just some hours ago. It was spotless, the entire basement.

I'm done. Thank god, I'm done.

Budo had turned off the lights and slugged up the stairs to the main floor when he realised he still had the bathroom to do, and he started grinning hysterically, having to hold back a bark of laughter for fear that Ayano would wake. Ayano. Just like that, she was in his mind again and he had a sudden flow of motivation pulling him along like a puppet on strings. Ayano.

Ayano.

Ayano.

Ayano in his bed. Sleeping. Her smell. Her body. Her hair. Her hands. Her legs. Her stomach. Her br-

And suddenly Budo found himself in the bathroom, the sink and floor sparkling, a blacklight in his hand, turned on and confirming what he knew. Nothing. No evidence. He stood still, confused. The flow of time seemed to warp inconsistently around him. Sometimes he was in the present, and other times floating in an endless dark space of thoughts where minutes ran by like seconds.

"I am done," Budo finally whispered to himself. His voice sounded like a ghost's to his own ears, and as he turned to leave, he caught sight of himself in the mirror. Without stopping, he thought, I need to see Ayano right now.

His feet followed an automatic path along the passageway, just managing to keep himself upright. As he neared the bedroom, he slowed down, and his deadpan face poked around the edge of the open door, no energy to muster a cautious expression. His eyes fell upon Ayano, and, although her back was still facing him, it was still a divine sight. For a few seconds, he forgot to breathe.

He went closer.

He crouched next to the bed. Without thinking, his hands reached out and felt the tips of her long, silky hair between his fingers. Had she woken up and turned around, Ayano would have seen an expressionless, haunted-looking face.

Budo leaned in, inch-by-inch, until his nose was at the nape of her neck, and just breathed her in. That smell, again, in his room, flooding through his entire body... He could hardly think. His eyes shivered closed of their own accord. He placed his hands on the side of the bed to balance himself as he moved in impossibly closer. He'd have to stop soon, before-

And then it all became too much. Budo couldn't stay awake any longer. His elbows buckled and he fainted onto the bed, only just barely staying on. He surrendered to the claws of sleep, which came swooping in and closing over him like an eagle from heaven.