Work Text:
As one pair of hands combs through his hair from behind and another slips its way under his waistband, Takumi wonders how exactly he got here.
If he had to explain it – and he’d taken pains to keep from doing so to any of his friends yet – he’d liken it most to stress toys. That some people need something to take out the pent-up feelings on so they don’t have a mental breakdown.
Except in this case, it’s to keep any more murders from happening, the people squeezing him are two serial killers, and worst of all, he signed up for all of it.
He’s trapped between the two of them – Yugamu seated comfortably at the edge of his lap, leaned forward to grip his hips, and Eito behind him, having long since pulled his shirt off and toying with his chest (and occasionally making comments about how filthy his body and mind are).
It’s intoxicating. Every time Yugamu pulls some noise out of him, Eito doubles down to force his attention back to him. It’s like he’s in the middle of a tug-of-war between Yugamu’s desire to see him lose himself in pleasure and Eito’s need to be the one making him scream. He’s never been manhandled so thoroughly, and worse, he loves it. Something’s been awakened in him that can’t ever be put back, and with sensations like these, he doesn’t want to.
He’s coming apart at the seams. He sees Yugamu look up at him, smug smile written across his face-
Only for it to morph to a look of surprise as a loud shhk! rings out. He goes still, having to brace against Takumi to not collapse, and as his chest heaves, Takumi can see a knife sticking out of his back. It almost cuts through the warm haze he was in as he realizes what’s happened.
Yugamu looks up past Takumi’s eyes, blood trailing out of the edge of his mouth, to look at his killer. “Oh, very good,” he purrs, appreciatively.
He must be delirious. The arousal Takumi was drowning in dries up fast as he focuses on saving him. “Yugamu? Hey, stay with me-“
He feels Eito shift behind him, the only warning he gets before Eito moves, knife burying itself in Yugamu’s back several more times. Yugamu coughs up blood, barely able to reach up to Takumi with a smile before he collapses completely, blood splattering all over Takumi’s front.
Takumi freezes, almost unable to process what just happened. Yugamu’s body’s heavy in his lap, the blood quickly cooling and drying on him. He can feel two hands go back to caressing his front, but where before they felt sensual, welcome, incredible, now they feel almost repulsive. “Why…?” he barely gets out as he watches the recovery drone pick Yugamu’s body off of him.
“You know why,” Eito says, caressing him as he speaks. “The idea of sharing you with another filthy human is sickening at the best of times. Do you really think another hideous beast should see you like this, let alone that one?”
He feels sick. He feels sick to his stomach. “Did you seriously do this out of jealousy?!” He shakes Eito’s arms off of him, moving to get dressed. “I’m going to go check on Yugamu,” he says angrily, earlier warm mood all but forgotten. “You can do whatever you want! But I’m going to go check on my boyfriend,” he says, emphasizing the last words as he goes to chase down the recovery drone.
Takumi runs to the infirmary in silence, with Eito trailing close behind. Ordinarily, he’d check to see if he’s following, but he’s, to be frank, not in the mood as he follows the recovery drone.
Once he gets to the infirmary, he quietly watches the Revive-o-Matic do its job. Eventually, he feels two arms snake around him, pulling him close as Eito rests his head on one of his shoulders. While he doesn’t have the energy to shake him off again, he very pointedly doesn’t move, not leaning into the contact at all. “I’m still mad at you,” he says angrily.
“I don’t see why. He appreciated it.”
“I know that-that doesn’t mean I want to watch one of my boyfriends die in front of me!” Takumi sighs tiredly, knowing this point of attack isn’t working. “If he dies for good, I’m breaking up with you.”
Eito nuzzles in closer to Takumi’s neck, unbothered. “You’d punish me for something the commanders could do? That’s not good leadership, Takumi.”
Takumi grits his teeth. “You know damn well what I mean. If this is ever permanent, it’s over. …If I never find the body, I’m going to assume it’s your doing. Same for if I do find the body but can’t figure out who did it.”
Eito hums. “So many conditions…it sounds like you think I’ll outwit you.”
He looks away annoyedly, not wanting to admit that Eito’s right, and that he knows he has to make allowances for if Eito did. “I hate it when you fish for praise. You’re a good murderer, is that what you want? Who’s a devious boy? Who’s the worst person I know? It’s you!”
“Your definition of praise leaves something to be desired. It’s almost degrading to be talked down to like a dog.” Eito’s complaints sure don’t stop him from nibbling at the side of Takumi’s neck.
Takumi is still mad. That he lets out a little hiss and arches his back into the embrace doesn’t diminish that he hasn’t forgiven Eito yet. “And we both know you’ve got me beat on the degradation front, easy. Want to call me hideous and disgusting for enjoying something you choose to do to me again?”
“You’re hideous and disgusting regardless,” Eito speaks in between bites, starting to draw blood. “But I thought I made it clear the most hideous thing about you was your taste in men.”
Ah yes, he thinks while he starts to squirm in Eito’s grip, failing to hide how he’s affecting him. This again. “You can leave at any time, you know. I know you just hate to see me with anyone else because you’re the most possessive man alive, but if it really burns you so bad to see me with someone who’s not you, you don’t have to stay around for it.”
“You don’t want me to leave, Takumi,” he whispers, before, as if to prove a point, slowly trailing his tongue along the bite marks he’s left, lapping up Takumi’s blood, and fuck if that doesn’t feel some kind of way. The knowledge of how Eito sees him only enhances every experience he’s giving – the knowledge that he’s pushing past that for him combining with the unspoken but very present degradation of doing all that for a filthy human gets him embarrassingly worked up.
The worst part is that Eito’s right. If he really wanted Eito gone, he already had his chance to make that happen, and he passed it up. Every time he kisses him, every time he embraces him, lets him lay him bare, he knows he could have walked away at any time. Knows that he could before next time. And knows that he won’t.
They’re eventually interrupted by the sound of the Revive-o-Matic doing its job. Takumi feels the arms around his midsection pull him in tighter, but he shakes them off to run over to Yugamu, who’s slowly coming to. “Are you alright?!” he shakily asks.
Yugamu cracks his neck, before giving a sultry smile. “Never better. Although I’ve got a few notes on the kill itself,” he says, turning to face Eito. “I appreciate the passion, but I could do with more foreplay before we get to the act itself. Like, if you want to rough me up first, or do a little torture to set the mood…I’d also like it to last a little longer.” Takumi’s not sure what he expected from Yugamu, but it probably should have been this. “That said, it was good for me. The cruelty of having my life taken before I could see Takumi hit his peak was exquisite. I’d give it a B, on the whole.”
“You didn’t miss much,” Takumi grits out. “Getting bled on like that killed the mood.”
Yugamu tilts his head, as though genuinely surprised. “Oh? How come?”
He sputters, unable to cleanly articulate “I don’t enjoy watching my boyfriend die” in a way Yugamu will understand at all.
Eito, despite being far more culpable, has no such paralysis. “I’ll keep your notes in mind.” He sounds sincere as he walks over to the drone Yugamu is in, which feels like a bad sign. “Though I was wondering – is there a refractory period for being killed?”
Yugamu shakes his head, as though that’s a normal question to ask. “Aside the time it takes to be revived, of course not.” His look goes from explanatory to flirtatious in barely a second. “Why do you a-“
He’s cut off as Eito moves, slamming him by the neck to the back of the recovery drone. Yugamu struggles back for a moment, before going limp. Eito pulls back, pressing a few buttons next to the drone. It closes, trapping Yugamu inside, before the machines around it start whirring loudly. “Did you know the recovery drones are airtight?” he asks Takumi unsettlingly cheerfully. “I’d guess it’s to limit blood flow on its way here. Having the tech means that, with a little reprogramming, it can create a space with no oxygen whatsoever.”
Takumi stares in dawning horror as he hears noise coming from the inside of the drone. “This is another murder attempt?!”
Eito just smiles, completely casual about killing another human being. “You seemed so upset about being bled on. Suffocation is one of the most bloodless ways to kill someone, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”
There’s no way he actually believes that. This is just maliciously misinterpreting what Takumi says. He tries to push Eito aside so he can fix the machine, but whatever Eito did to turn the drone into a murder machine, it’s not easy to undo with all the buttons and levers. Of course it’s not written down how to do this, no one in their right mind would ever use the REVIVAL drone to kill someone, he thinks frustratedly.
“Just hang in there!” he yells, hitting buttons near frantically. “I’ll get you out of there in just a second!”
“Don’t you dare.”
Yugamu’s voice is strained – of course it is, he’s using precious seconds of air for it – but undeniably firm. “Don’t ruin this for me, Takumi. Just let it happen.”
He stares dumbly at the drone, unsure of what to do. If a drowning man told you to let him drown, lifeguard training would still say to save him, right? But…it is temporary, he…guesses. And Yugamu’s voice didn’t sound unsure at all – it sounded insistent, and hungry for something besides air. Is it…right to just let this happen?
He feels Eito pull him close again, grip tight and firm as he nestles back into place between Takumi’s shoulder and his neck. After a few moments just savoring the closeness, he takes a big step back, dragging Takumi with him. Then another, until they’re too far for Takumi to mess with the controls anymore.
Takumi lets him, mind too muddled to bother resisting. It was like this that first time, wasn’t it? He’s too confused to figure out what the right choice is himself, but he can trust Eito. Wasn’t he fine and happy then? The warning bells blare in the back of his head as the noises from inside the drone get quieter and quieter, but he ignores them in favor of embracing the contact. When Eito tilts his chin and pulls him in for a kiss, he kisses back, parting his lips to allow him to explore his mouth as much as he’d want. Any thoughts he was having get lost in the haze of kisses and bites and pleasure and pain.
(Even so, when he feels a second pair of hands snake around him, feels another warm body press against his front, he can’t stop a few tears from rolling down his face.)
“Hey guys,” Takumi starts at the cafeteria the next day. “Mind if I ask for relationship advice?”
“Is this when you finally reveal your torrid affair with Mr. Omokage and Mr. Aotsuki?” Ima says casually, though the look in his eyes gives away that he’s not exactly reluctant to embarrass Takumi like this.
“I…hadn’t told anyone about that. How’d you all know?”
“It wasn’t exactly subtle,” Kako says quietly. “Eito’s not in his cage often, you’re often missing at the same time he and/or Yugamu are, you’ve had a change of clothes in the middle of the day when there's no visible reason to, the bio lab’s a lot cleaner than anything around it with no explanation as to why it’d get dirty more often…”
Takumi stares. He’d think those are subtle hints-
“Also, check your neck,” Takemaru says, pointing. “If you’re gonna go on the DL, you need to be more careful.”
Takumi feels his neck, his face going red as he feels the still sensitive red marks Eito gave him yesterday, rushing to cover them with his hands. His hoodie doesn’t cover that, does it? It’s like he’s showing off what happened to him.
“So that explains it,” Kyoshika says, deeply focused. “The Holy Jumonji sword had reported hearing fewer strange sounds coming from Sir Yugamu’s room late at night. She said it was because he’d found somewhere else to tend to his Little Yugamu. I hadn’t expected it was with you!”
This was a mistake. He knows that now. He buries his face in his hands so he does not have to see everyone in the room looking at him funny.
“It makes sense,” Hiruko mentions idly. “That that’d be who Takumi ended up with.” She flashes him a smile that’s all sharp, pointy teeth. “His face when he’s stricken with despair is a treat to look at. That shouldn’t go to waste.”
Her words send a shiver down Takumi’s spine, and embarrassingly, are just a little attractive. He does wonder for a second if there are parallel worlds out there where he and Hiruko are-that’s not at all the focus and he needs to get back on track. “Anyways, my taste in men aside, I…wanted to get advice. One of my boyfriends-who shall remain unnamed-keeps killing my other boyfriend. Said other boyfriend says it’s okay, but…I mean, that’s not normal, is it?”
There’s a solid second of silence as everyone looks at him like he’s crazy. “…Well?” he prompts.
“Of course it’s not normal!” Gaku interjects loudly. “That’s the weirdest thing anyone would ever have to deal with, and it wouldn’t happen if you weren’t dating serial killers! Haven’t you heard of the saying “don’t stick your dick in crazy”?”
He takes offense to that. “First, last time I checked, crazy’s not offering for you.” Gaku rolls his eyes at that, but it’s true. “Second, I swear, I’m not sticking my dick in crazy. You’re not being very helpful.”
“It doesn’t make it any better that you’re getting dicked down by crazy instead!” Kurara jeers. “It still makes you a horny little degenerate who’s desperate for punishment. …Though that also describes Yugamu perfectly, so maybe it’s for the best that you’ve taken each other out of the dating pool.”
Takumi’s face burns with humiliation. This was perhaps the worst idea he’s had, and he’s the one who signed up to date two serial killers. What is he supposed to say, that she’s wrong? She’s right on the money, actually.
“Guys, let’s dial it back a bit,” Nozomi says gently. “What matters most here is that Takumi’s happy, not if we’d do the same in his place.”
She hesitates, looking him over. “You are happy, right? This isn’t a cry for help?”
She’s so kind. She always has been. Perhaps in another world, that’s what he’d go for instead of chasing adrenaline and risk. “I am,” he says quietly. “I just…I’d like advice.”
He feels a hand clap down on his shoulder, someone pulling him close. “Did someone say romantic advice?”
He looks up to see Moko with a bright smile on her face, as though she’s been waiting her whole life for this moment. “Uh, yeah…?”
She gives him a pat on the head. “Listen, Takumi-boo. Love is just like wrestling here.”
Maybe he should have expected this outcome. “Is it, now?”
“Sure is, babe!” She brushes past her sarcasm neatly. “You know not all wrestlers work as faces, right? Some work best as heels. And oftentimes, the story requires the heel to get beaten up, but they know that. That’s what they signed up for. As long as it stays in the ring, there’s no harm done. …It is staying in the ring, right?”
He nods slowly. “I…think so? I mean, the murders happen suddenly, but…well, the guy being murdered agreed to and likes it?"
He can hear in the background a "TMI, dude”, but it doesn’t slow down Moko any. “Then, it doesn’t sound like it’s a problem. Just keep it in the ring. …And keep in mind, even great wrestlers need off days. If it’s bothering you that much, there’s no shame in taking some time away.”
…Despite his expectations, that was…actually kind of helpful. “Thank you, Moko.” He still isn’t…certain on how to feel, but he feels a bit less adrift at sea.
Not long after he’s finished talking, he feels a hand grip his, before caressing it, nails lightly scratching. He can tell who that is without having to see it. “Takumi, a word?”
He lets Yugamu pull him away, avoiding the glances of anyone else in the cafeteria. At the end of the day, he knows what he wants.
Yugamu takes Takumi to his room, inviting him to sit down before he speaks. “I’ve noticed,” he starts, more carefully than he usually speaks, “that you don’t seem to enjoy the murders.”
Huh. He hadn’t thought Yugamu was capable of hesitation or regret. “What tipped you off?” Takumi snarks.
“Your face,” Yugamu responds sincerely, reaching out to take Takumi’s chin. “I’m not denying its appeal when you’re distressed – it truly is a delight to see.” Takumi squirms, looking away as best he can in Yugamu’s grasp. Was it really that common knowledge how good he looks when he’s in despair? “But there’s an art to it. Whenever I see your face in my last moments, you look genuinely heartbroken. Too much for it to be sexy. …It’s a bit of a buzzkill, to be honest.”
Takumi stares at him blankly. What was he supposed to say that wasn’t “of course”? “I don’t like watching bad things happen to people I care about…? How is this a surprise to you.”
Yugamu’s looking at him with a strange look on his face, as though Takumi is the weird one between the two. “Look, I’ll talk to him, “ Takumi continues. “He’s only doing this because he’s jealous, there has to be another solution than killing you-“
“Don’t,” Yugamu cuts him off, hesitation gone. “…You’re still viewing the killings as bad. You don’t get that getting killed like this is…frankly, like a dream come true for me.”
He looks tiredly at Yugamu. “Can you blame me?”
Yugamu shakes his head. “That you feel that much for my safety is…strange, but it’s a part of your charm. I’d prefer it if you saved it for when I’m really in danger, though. In any case, I’ve been hard at work figuring out ways to make this better for you, and I’ve got a few ideas.”
That-he’s not sure he wants to know. “Dare I ask?”
Yugamu smiles sharply. “I’ve narrowed it down to two ideas. First, I can train you to get aroused by the sight of murder.”
Takumi’s really, really not sure he wants to know what Yugamu means by training, but…well, whatever his mind can conjure up is probably worse than what he means. “You don’t mean training like a dog, do you?”
Yugamu nods, and continues on like it’s a normal suggestion. “You’ve heard of Pavlov’s dog, right? An ordinary stimulus can be turned into a pleasurable one with operant conditioning. …I was just planning on having you watch snuff films while I get you off, but if you want to wear a collar and dog ears while we do it, then-“
“Nope! I’m good!” Takumi interrupts him a bit roughly. That-he hates that he can imagine what that’d be like. He still has enough self-respect to turn that down. “You said you had another idea?”
Yugamu looks dismayed at his rejection, but continues. “I did. How to put this…you’re a bit of a blushing virgin in this area. I’d be more than happy to ease you in for your first time, so you can see it’s really not as bad as you’re imagining it.”
Takumi’s face was already red, but it goes redder. “You of all people should know I’m not anymore.”
“At erotic killing, not in the traditional sense. …You’re also a virgin for torture as far as I know, but that’s a matter for another time. …I’d be more than happy to take that first too, for the record, and any others you’d like to entrust to me. But for now? You could get a turn. See what killing someone with mutual bloodlust is like.”
Takumi hesitates, and Yugamu continues. “I could kill you, if you’d like. You know me, I’m a switch.”
He looks down. The offer doesn’t really change his core issue with this. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he says quietly.
Yugamu gently laces a hand in his. “That’s why I want to show this side of me to you. I want you to hurt me. If that’s just not something you’re into, that’s fine. But it seems to me like you’re seeing something else than consensual, kinky fun.”
This is, like every decision Takumi’s made for a while, a very bad idea, but he can’t deny the want he hears in Yugamu’s voice. He knows he’s bad at figuring out when people are lying, but it really doesn’t seem like he is. …Besides, aren’t relationships about compromise? Yugamu’s trying to meet him halfway here, and he can return that. “I’m…still not sure about this, but if it means that much to you, I’ll…give it a try.”
It's impossible to miss how Yugamu’s eyes light up. “I’m so glad,” he whispers.
He guides Takumi through it – lays down and beckons him over. He encourages him to disrobe him, before grabbing a pen and marking a target right at the center of his chest. “That’s where the knife should go,” he says calmly. “That should give a quick enough death to not sicken you, but long enough to satisfy me.”
Takumi stares at the target, the point he’s supposed to use to kill his partner, almost transfixed. “Are you sure it has to be stabbing? Couldn’t I poison you or something?”
“You don’t have as strong a stomach as you think you do,” Yugamu replies without missing a beat. “The kind of poisons that don’t drag it out leave a huge mess that I doubt you want to see. You’ve already absorbed a few commanders, so this should be more familiar to you.” His smile turns twisted, sincerity overtaken by lust. “Besides, as far as the physical side goes, I’m more interested in the feeling of you penetrating me with that knife than the feeling of your fingers down my throat. For today, at least.”
Despite how much Yugamu’s put him through already, Takumi still blushes. “You know, I had thought actually entering a relationship with you would take the edge off of what you say.”
Yugamu’s smile doesn’t budge. “By now you know I’m not joking. Any time you want me to modify you, or mount you, or you want free reign to do anything to me…”
“Is what we’re doing right now not enough for you?” He asks, before looking away. “…I don’t get it. I really don’t…get it.”
He’s expecting Yugamu to say something disgusting, but for once, that’s not what he gets. “It’s because it’s you. If it were just for the sensations, I could get that at my job. I’ve killed plenty of people, I could intentionally botch a kill and let the cards fall where they may…it’s all empty there.”
Takumi looks back at him, seeing a surprisingly thoughtful look on his face. “I thought you enjoyed the act of killing,” he says.
“Not for my job. There’s no room for anything to happen there but detachment from my end and survival instinct from theirs. Of course I’d want more than the physical experience of the act itself after a while.”
“…Is that why you like it when Eito kills you?” Takumi asks gingerly. There certainly isn’t love there, but there certainly is strong emotion.
Yugamu gives a low hum in visible satisfaction. “Of course. Though it absolutely helps that he’s excellent as a killer. It’s like watching an artisan at work, except you get to feel their hands on you. …Metaphorically speaking, that is. Feeling their tools as they carve up your body is almost as good, though.”
He looks Takumi over, confusing and misplaced pity all over his face. “It’s a shame you don’t get to experience it. He doesn’t seem to want to kill you. You’re missing out, though I suppose it can’t be helped. If there’d be no love in the kill, then that’s that.”
Takumi very consciously refrains from addressing the bit about Eito not wanting to kill him (it’s wrong but-it can’t be-sure, he’s not worried about it, but-he’s not addressing that right now), and decides to go for a smaller point. “Are you saying there is love when he kills you? You know it’s out of jealousy, right?”
Yugamu chuckles. “Heh, it sounds like he’s not the only jealous one here, but I digress. There isn’t love, but there’s something just as good – hate. Not only that, personal hatred. The most I can get from someone I kill from my job is just survival instinct from them. They don’t hate me; they hate that they’re dying because of me. But the kind of bloodlust that comes from deep, deep loathing? Oh, baby. Now that’s a connection. …Besides, I’m enough of a romantic to appreciate a death for the crime of love.”
Takumi’s losing it. He has to be, because some of this almost makes sense. The feeling of being special to someone is intoxicating, even when that comes with barbs and thorns. “And being killed by someone who likes you?” he asks in as flirtatious a voice he can convey.
“The finest experience I can imagine,” Yugamu whispers back, hunger clear in his day to see.
There’s no point in holding back. Not with Yugamu looking at him like that. He doesn’t hesitate to get close, moving to straddle him. Yugamu rolls his hips to meet him, letting out a low moan. He seems so…happy and unguarded with him.
Takumi slowly picks up the knife Yugamu’s set aside for this, slowly moving it so the point rests above the target, tip ever so slightly carving into flesh, a few drops of blood welling around it. He can’t help but hesitate, the weight of what he’s doing weighing down on him.
Yugamu seems to notice, and wraps a hand around Takumi’s, squeezing gently before pushing down.
That serves as all the encouragement Takumi needs. He drives the knife down, pushing harder when it encounters resistance. Yugamu chokes as he feels his heart pierced, but the smile on his face doesn’t fade, and Takumi can’t miss how his hips buck against him. He…wasn’t kidding. He wants this.
As he slowly dies, Yugamu’s eyes meet Takumi’s. “I love you,” he whispers as he bleeds out.
Despite everything – despite how weird this situation is – Takumi can’t help but find himself returning the feeling. “I…love you too.”
In his last moments, Yugamu looks euphoric. There isn’t a trace of anger or regret or any negative emotions on his face. He goes out with a smile, eyes slowly and gently closing.
Takumi finds himself blankly staring at the corpse. The feeling of warmth and intimacy he’d enjoyed a moment ago feels like it’s fading too fast. He’s…happy that Yugamu got to be happy, right? Shouldn’t that be enough?
The hand still laced in Takumi’s slowly goes cold. Takumi refuses to let go of it, even when rigor mortis starts to set in. Instead, he finds himself laying down next to Yugamu, pressing his cheek against Yugamu’s cold, lifeless one. Yugamu’s blood smears against him, but he pays it no mind. Even when the recovery drone comes and takes Yugamu’s body, ripping it out of his hands, he doesn’t move, staying curled up next to the empty space where Yugamu used to be. Even as it grows as cold as he feels inside.
He's not sure how long he stays there on the empty bed before he feels a pair of strong, warm arms gathering him up like he weighs nothing. Like the reverse of that first time, a part of him thinks, remembering that time he carried Eito home on his back. It had been awkward, his heart had been hammering hard, and he’d been so happy to help a friend, but…Eito was taller than him by a significant amount. He’d struggled hard to keep his feet from dragging on the ground as he walked. The reverse has no such issues – Eito carries him easily and neatly in his arms, if a bit rigid in his posture.
…That makes sense though, doesn’t it? He’d carried Takumi once before. Back in that first time, back in the desert. …Takumi hadn’t remembered because Eito had knocked him out before dragging him away to die.
He doesn’t seem to want to kill you.
Yugamu’s words come back to him, but he’s able to properly dismiss him this time. Eito has no such hesitation when it comes to his life. He’d tried to kill Takumi that time, and, well…they’d fought at the end then. If Eito had held back out of some kind of affection for Takumi, it would have made that fight in the defense room so much easier. Sure, Eito was dating Takumi, but that felt more out of wanting to study him like a bug or provoke him for reactions than out of any particularly soft feelings. That he hasn’t killed Takumi yet has to come from pragmaticism rather than any affection.
…But it’s not as though he couldn’t. Yugamu had been right – Eito truly had a talent for killing. Maybe in less varied ways than Yugamu would like, but he had killed Yugamu easily a great many times. And Yugamu was an assassin – his baseline difficulty to kill had to be much higher than Takumi’s. …Besides, there was how Eito had killed Hiruko and Eva in the first timeline. He barely seemed to struggle. There’s no way Takumi himself was harder to kill, even now. Especially now.
He looks up only to see Eito looking down at him, brow furrowed, eyes intense, studying him. It’s hard to read lack of or presence of killing intent there. …The worst part of trying to figure him out was how much he looked like the him of the first timeline. Like Takumi’s best friend and close confidant. …If that Eito had asked Takumi to drink poison, he probably would have done so and died happily.
His thoughts are disrupted by the feeling of his back hitting his bed. After a moment, he feels a cold washcloth scrubbing Yugamu’s blood off his cheek. He squirms away from it, ineffectively. “Ugh, quit it!”
“Don’t be like that, Takumi,” Eito fires back while gripping Takumi’s chin, angling it up so he can get better access to wipe the blood off. “You’re even more hideous dirty like this.”
“I bet you wouldn’t mind if it were your blood,” he grouses, shaking his head. “Just…leave it.”
Their eyes meet for one long moment, before Eito puts down the washcloth. Takumi almost feels pleased before he feels Eito licking a long trail across his cheek. He stares at Takumi, almost daring him to blink first. For his embarrassment at being toyed with to be stronger than Eito’s revulsion at consuming human blood. If killing and torture are Yugamu’s love languages, then there’s no doubt that mind games to force one of them to submit first are Eito’s.
He tries, staring at Eito’s eyes for a few long moments as his face reddens. But Eito doesn’t budge, and eventually he breaks the stare, stewing in his own annoyance. He feels a gloved hand ruffle his hair in a mock display of affection that’s only more degrading. “Good boy.”
“I hate you,” he grumbles quietly.
“Thank you,” Eito says cheerily. “I hate you too.”
He looks up at Eito again, seeing him look genuinely happy. Well, as genuinely as he was capable of. That’s the worst part of all this. That Eito seems happy in a way he never did in that first timeline every time he gets to see Takumi like this.
…He loves tormenting Takumi. Making him suffer was his favorite thing, despite being (on paper) his boyfriend. And yet genuine bloodlust from him has been completely absent.
“You know, Yugamu pointed something out to me,” Takumi starts, in a tone he hopes is conversational and not nervous or shy. “You could kill me.”
It isn’t an accusation or a question, just a statement of fact. Right here, right now, if they fought, Takumi would lose. And it goes beyond that – all of the strategies Eito used to kill others in that first timeline would have worked wonders on Takumi. Even now, he doesn’t lock his door.
There’s never been anything stopping Eito from killing Takumi. And yet…
Eito tilts his head, looking down at him curiously. “You know that, and yet you’re here.” It’s not an accusation either. If anything, it sounds fond – fond in a different way to how he sounds when he’s tormenting Takumi, but also different to how he sounded when talking about the power of friendship.
Takumi looks away. “I can’t seem to stay away from you,” he says quietly. That’s really it, isn’t it? He has plenty of grand-sounding moral reasons to keep coming back. He can’t kill Eito just because he can’t understand him, that would be wrong. He should keep talking to Eito as exposure therapy so he’ll eventually join the team. He should use the leverage he somehow has to incentivize Eito not to kill people. But whatever excuse he makes, the result is the same. He still comes back again and again.
He feels Eito’s hand stroke his cheek, and he leans into the contact, damn the consequences. Eito’s already consumed the person he used to be. Why not drown further in him? “Do you want to?” he asks, strange curiosity building in him. “Kill me. I know you hate that I killed the first you.”
He’s not sure what he expected – some traitorous part of him almost wants Eito to take him up on it, to end this guessing game and show him where he really stands with him. That’s not what he gets, though. Instead, bafflingly, he sees the levity leave Eito’s face, confusion replacing it. Maybe he got fed up with Takumi’s stench this close? “Why do you ask?” he asks, frustratingly neutral.
“…Isn’t that what all of this is leading to?” he asks. “That’s what it was the first time. That’s how this works. You wouldn’t be this nice to me if it weren’t another leadup to betraying me. …Don’t you want to get it over with?”
For some reason, Eito seems to like that answer even less, his face turning into a scowl. “Don’t insult me,” he hisses. “When you die, it will be by my hand, of course. But not like this. Having you just give up to me is utterly repulsive.”
Takumi squints. That’s…not what he expected out of Eito, ever. “I’m sorry, and every time I fall for your manipulation doesn’t count as that? Or does it, and you’re just pressuring me into doing stuff you’ll hate me for. You sure seemed to have a fine time taking advantage of me last time, after all.”
Eito doesn’t look him in the eye, tension clear in his demeanor. “That’s not the same thing. That doesn’t count.”
He raises an eyebrow. This is…new. This is the first time he’s heard Eito talk like this. “You want to elaborate on that?”
For the first time since they got here, Eito visibly hesitates. Instead of elaborating on anything, he gets up, taking a step back from Takumi. “Never mind. I can’t think with your vile stench this close.”
He takes another step back, and something primal in Takumi stirs. The cold’s coming back.
The affection felt like a façade, but living without it is so much worse. Against his better judgment, Takumi reaches out for him, grabbing onto his leg before he can leave. “Stay,” he asks, leaning his head against him.
Eito doesn’t move, looking down at Takumi with a disgusted look on his face. One eyebrow’s raised in a silent demand. Ask nicely, or he’ll leave. There’s nothing stopping him from getting clean, fresh air. Despite the subtlety of it, his demand presses to Takumi’s core. Of course this is just another game for him.
And of course, just like always, Takumi’s desire not to be alone outweighs his pride. “…Please?” he whispers. “You don’t need to do anything, just…stay.”
After a painfully long moment, Eito turns back. He wordlessly sits back down on the bed and pulls Takumi in close. Despite his vocal revulsion and despite the layers of clothing separating himself from the world, he’s so warm, and Takumi can’t help but nuzzle closer. “How hideous,” he hears Eito mutter. “Base and filthy.”
He can’t find the words to dispute that, resting his head against Eito’s chest. If he closes his eyes, he can almost pretend it’s that first Eito, his dearest trusted confidant.
(…But that one never got this close to him, did he? The one who tugs his hair, who holds him like a boa constrictor trying to keep his prey from escaping, who kisses him like he’s trying to choke him is the one staying with him. Is the one who chose to be with him.)
He knows this could easily be the precursor to another round of manipulation and sabotage. That the label of boyfriend could be just as much of a front as the one of best friend.
He drifts off in Eito’s arms anyways, falling into a restful, peaceful sleep.
It doesn't take long for history to repeat. Once again, Takumi finds himself trapped most deliciously between his two boyfriends. And, once again, right before he'd hit his peak, he feels Yugamu slump against him, a sharp object embedded in his back.
(He's almost tempted to start frisking Eito for weapons before they get naked. Almost)
His initial reaction is the same - to try to catch Yugamu, to stop the bleeding. But before he can, Yugamu meets his eyes, look the same as when he was letting Takumi kill him. There's no anger or resentment, instead there’s only pleasure and satisfaction to be seen.
With the last of his energy, he takes and squeezes Takumi's hand, and it's as though that action soothes his heart. This is what he wants. There's no way it could ever be normal, but they can all live with that. Before Yugamu can breathe his last, Takumi leans forward to kiss him. Yugamu dies with a smile and the lips of the person he loves the most on his.
Takumi leans back, feeling strangely warm. The drop in his stomach feeling like his heart's been torn in half that's happened up to now never comes. He...doesn't want to stop this. Doesn't want this to end.
He turns back to face Eito, matching his look of elation for once. "Well? Don't stop."