Wednesday1.24 - [cont'd from Wed. 1.16]

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

[continued from the end of Wednesday1.16]

"You set the terms."

Ran stopped parallel to Yohji in the alleyway, shoulder to shoulder. It was what he'd hoped Yohji wouldn't say, but it was Yohji, who was he kidding? Only himself, apparently.

Yohji fought with wires. With nets and lassos. And Ran was still trying to parry and feint.

Which was how he caught me that first time, Ran thought. Yohji bandied words and his weapon both almost effortlessly. The constant cat and mouse was wearing Ran down, where Yohji seemed to feed off of it. It was how he had come to the bad agreement he had in the bathroom, only he had meant it as an escape tactic, not a promise.

"I'll tell you something you can do. You're getting pretty freaking adept at throwing me shreds of hope and then kicking me when I'm already down."

It was what Yohji had said a moment ago. It hadn't been his intent. If that was how Yohji saw it...perhaps...

A few days ago, Yohji had come to him, and tried to meditate.

He looked down at his hands. They were small and calloused. He knew Yohji had weapon-marks of his own on his skin. He knew many little details about Yohji, just as Yohji knew as many about him. The business of keeping one another alive was a personal one.

...perhaps he was truly hurting Yohji.

...but he had known it was hurting him. He had hoped it would mean Yohji would back away, give up, choose someone else and forget about this obsession. Anyone else.

It wasn't working. It was Yohji, his friend, his teammate. The one person who saw something human in him. If Ran had stopped to think, he would have known better.

He nodded slowly in unwilling agreement, and took a step sideways to face him again, putting small distance between them. "I set the terms," he echoed Yohji. "And I was wrong."