Work Text:
Yui came back to her room, looking around at the destruction in disbelief. She had checked all the other nearby rooms; they were all fine, everything in order. It was just hers, just hers that had been totally and utterly wrecked.
The dresser was shoved over, the drawers strewn about, along with all her clothes. Curtains were ripped from the valance, the windows shattered. The mattress was tossed onto the floor, the remnants of her broken nightstand scattered all over.
Yui couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing. This is horrible. . .
Her heart sank when she realized what had been crushed on the nightstand.
Darting to the ruined table, Yui picked up the pieces of what was left of a photo frame. Glass shards slid from it, falling onto the toppled mattress. She blinked to clear the burning in her eyes. The photograph inside was torn.
Father. . . it was one of the only pictures from her childhood that she had of them together. She treasured it with all her soul.
. . . This is beyond cruel.
Yui's fingertips drifted lovingly across his face. "Father, I’m so sorry."
Setting the broken frame on the broken nightstand, she rubbed a hand over her chin, surveying the disaster. There wasn't anything else she could do except get started on cleaning it. Reiji refused to allow the police to be called.
"That's quite a sight."
Yui started as a low chuckle sounded behind her.
"Subaru!" Whirling around, she found him grinning at her from the doorway. That smile unsettled her nerves. It usually wasn't a good thing when he was in a "good" mood.
"What's the matter?" Yui asked hesitantly, then shook her head, remembering how the room looked. "I'm sorry, things are a little messy right now."
Pursing her lips, she began getting to work, picking up a shirt from under her feet.
"Ah, it’s fine," Subaru said, stepping into the room, debris crunching under his shoes. He took the shirt from her hands and threw it back to the floor. "Don’t bother cleaning."
Yui's eyes went round with surprise. "What? Why?"
The edges of Subaru's lips rolled upwards. "I went through the trouble to mess it up. Just leave it like this."
Uncomprehending, her mouth stuttered out, ". . . Does that mean. . . Did you. . .?"
"Yeah. I did it." He said it so nonchalantly, as if it meant nothing to him.
He's responsible for this? Yui could only stare at him in shock, her brain numb.
That seemed to make him laugh, a malignant sound. "Everything’s completely destroyed. . . Aah, this is what I like to see."
"Why would you do this? . . . It’s horrible. . ." Her voice cracked with emotion when she realized he was the one who tore the picture of her beloved father.
How could he do this?
Yui had seen him destructive before, taking his anger and aggression out on his own things, his own furniture, his own room. But never her things. And never this. . . hurtfully.
Subaru stood close, looking down at her, crowding her space with his larger body. His eyes flicked over her features, and he arched an eyebrow. "What? Got something you want to say?"
Yui swallowed a thickness in her throat and shook her head. ". . . No."
Sadness gripped her tight around the chest, and part of her wanted to shout at him. But she knew it wouldn't do any good; it wouldn't change anything. Subaru's moods were volatile and confusing at the best of times. She was used to walking on eggshells around him.
Still, something about that made Yui's heart clench. There was a reason he was so violent, so cruel. Something that made him lash out.
But why at me this time?
Later. . . I'll ask him why he did this later. When he didn't have that troubling smile on his face.
She sighed and glanced down at her feet, at the rumpled shirt he'd thrown back at her. Picking it, and another, off the floor, Yui set to folding them both. "Look, I'm still going to clean up."
"Huh?" Subaru's brow furrowed.
"I’m sorry. Why don’t you take a seat on the bed in the mean—wait, it’s messy there as well. Um, in that case. . ." She stepped to the bed, her hands working to clear off a space for him to sit.
All at once her arm was jerked from behind.
"What’s your problem?" Subaru glared down at her, his eyes seeming almost. . . bewildered?
Yui's lips worked, but she didn't know what to say, what he expected from her.
Frustration seemed as if it was hissing through him. But it was almost. . . sorrow that was in his voice. "Why. . . aren’t you getting mad at me?"
She blinked two or three times, trying to understand why his emotions flipped like a switch. ". . . I am concerned why you did all of this," she said carefully, ". . . but the damage is done. Even if I get angry at you, the result won’t change." Yui gently pulled her arm from his grasp, and he let her go. "I don’t mind if it’s after I’ve cleaned up my room and calmed down a little but. . . I’d be happy if you would at least tell me why you did this."
Confusion passed over his face. "Is this part of God’s Teachings or something, to not get mad at people?"
"No, it isn't." Yui hugged her arms around her middle, feeling chilled from the night air coming in through the windows. "I mean, it is part of God’s Teachings as well, but that’s not why I haven’t gotten mad at you." Yui could see the question behind his scarlet eyes. Did he want her to get angry with him? "Subaru, it’s because I trust you. . . and I strongly believe that you had a reason which made you do all of this."
Somehow, she really did trust him. He was rough and aggressive and unpredictable. She was afraid of him, and he'd hurt her a number of times. But still. . . there was also a softness underneath sometimes, that Yui wished she could pull out of him more often.
"Yui. . ." Subaru said her name as he studied her through narrowing eyes.
Then with a quickness that startled her, that red gaze of his turned dark, hardening with the same rage that destroyed her room. "Don’t you dare give me a lecture on morality!"
With a shout that shot her pulse upwards, he grabbed Yui sharply by the upper arms and shoved her backwards. She whimpered out her shock and fell onto the bed.
"Subaru—!"
"Shut up." His shoulders twitched with hostility, and before she knew what was happening, he was on top of her.
Yui's cry was cut short as his fangs drove painfully into her neck.
No!
Shoving at his sides, she tried to push him off. But that only seemed to make him dig harder. She could feel the pressure of his teeth, the rumble of his moan through her body as he drew the blood into his mouth.
Why? What happened to make him so angry?
Tears stung her eyes, and she blinked, struggling to hold them at bay.
Finally, as dizziness swept over her, Subaru lifted his mouth from her skin.
". . .Subaru?" Yui whispered his name tentatively, concern laced in her tone. ". . . Hey, what happened. . .?
He glared at her, but his voice was a whisper itself, almost as if he was speaking to himself. "I don't need your fake tears. They're irritating."
Her mind throbbed with confusion. Fake tears? She wished they were fake. But there was no way she could stop the genuine emotion from showing on her face.
If only I could see him as truly evil, things would be easier. . .
That brought back his rage even stronger. "Don’t look at me with that compassion in your eyes! Don’t try and convince me with some stupid false concern!"
Yui flinched, reflexively trying to shrink away into the mattress. Subaru's face was so pale, but there was a darkness twisting around him, almost making him appear that much more pale. That much more angry.
"W-What’s wrong?" Her voice shook. "I never intended to—"
"You did!" Fury snapped behind those two words, and Yui flinched again.
She shut her eyes, wishing she could shut out all his anger from affecting her so deeply.
Subaru slammed his fist beside her head, into the mattress, and she jumped. "Look at me," he practically growled. "Right in the eyes. Don’t ignore me!"
Yui's heart drummed in her throat, yet she met his confusing, angry stare. But she wanted him to look away. His eyes were agonized. Something inside him was broken.
"Someone like you. . ." He lifted his torso, his gaze finally cutting away from hers, and sliding down her body.
Without warning, he suddenly hooked his fingers into her shirt and yanked. In a single motion, Yui's entire shirt was ripped off of her.
"What are you doing?" She yelped, a shiver of fear rushing through her at the look in his eyes. Eyes that were hungry, and determined. "Subaru?" She whimpered his name, beginning to shake all over.
His lips curved in a cruel grin, one that hid whatever it was that he was truly feeling. "To make sure you can no longer look at me with such a fake expression. . ." His arms bent as he lowered his head to her ear. "I’m going to corrupt you."
Subaru pressed his pelvis into hers, as if to make sure she understood his meaning.
And with horror, Yui did understand.
No! Please let go of me!
She wanted to shout the words, but they were stuck around the fear in her throat. All she could do was shake her head, her eyes shifting as though searching for a way out.
He seemed to read the panicked thoughts on her face. "I’m not letting you go anywhere. You’re to blame, you know? I warned you before, didn’t I? To run away. I even gave you a chance to escape, yes?" His fingers snaked down her sternum, between her breasts and over her simple pink bra.
Yui felt a tremor glide through her. He did try to help her before. And it was—ironically—that act of kindness that had kept her from leaving. She had wanted to find out more about her situation—why she was here, what they wanted with her. And Yui felt deep down that Subaru wouldn't do anything to hurt her, not when he was the one offering the knife to her.
At least, I didn't think he'd do anything like this.
"P-Please. . ." She tried to get out something that might change his mind, but that was the best she could manage.
Subaru gave a dry laugh. "You look completely frozen by fear, huh?" His voice was low, pressing on her. "Very funny."
And then his mouth was against her throat. His teeth didn't sink in this time, just his lips moving along her pulse. His body was heavy against her, and she couldn't stop a soft whimper that slipped out.
"Go ahead and pray to that God of yours," Subaru rumbled across her skin. "Although I can’t guarantee that God would answer someone as dirty as you."
A flash of shame closed over Yui, a flood that might never recede. She hadn't felt shame like this back home, at church. But here, in this house of monsters. . .
"Stop," she said, her voice thick, sounding tiny and young, even to her own ears. She was too afraid that if he kept going, he really would corrupt her away from God, in both her body and mind.
"I won't stop," Subaru said, his voice roughened with want, but his eyes locked intently on hers. "I want you. . . to hate me."
He lifted off her middle and looked down at her as if he wanted to will her hatred into existence.
"Hate me, loathe me. . . Absolutely despise me."
Yui swallowed heavily, trying to pinpoint that look, the emotion that was hovering so close to the surface on his face.
"I’ll make sure you can never forget me inside of you. . ."
Subaru's hands began moving down her body. Cold fingers against her skin with zero warmth in their touch. These were hands that wanted to destroy, to corrupt. They wanted her to hate.
"No!" Yui tried to squirm away, a panic beginning to overtake her.
His lips came down on hers, stopping her movement and silencing her with a moaning growl. But she pushed hard, as hard as she could, managing to break the rough kiss and wriggle upwards with all the strength she had.
But before he could pull her back under him, Yui hissed out loudly in pain.
"Ow!" Her face closed in a grimace, something sharp cutting into the skin of her back. Pieces of something small and broken on the mattress were carving into her.
Surprise crossed over Subaru's features, probably because the pain wasn't caused purposefully by him. He briefly allowed Yui to sit up. "What is it?"
She turned her head, trying to reach behind her, the jolt of pain making her momentarily forget why she was trying to get away. "It hurts. . . my back. . ."
Subaru grabbed her and pulled her back under him. "What's wrong?" He gruffly flipped her body over on the mattress before she could reply.
"No!" The protest slipped out, panic again coursing through Yui. The consuming terror made her miss the change under his tone. Instead she wondered in horror, would he do something terrible, like take her from behind? Tears rapidly gathered in her eyes at that thought.
"Don't move!" Subaru growled, a hand tightly gripping her shoulder to force her into stillness.
Fear urged Yui to comply. But a second later, she realized what he was doing. Fingers gently glided over the places that stung. She blinked in shock.
"Glass shards?" Subaru said softly, and Yui could hear the frown in his voice.
Glass? The windows were too far away for the fragments to reach the bed, weren't they?
The picture frame. . .
It was the broken photograph, slicing her open again, and the emotional pain of it cut much deeper than the physical.
"Ow!" She gave a sharp cry as Subaru pulled another shard from her skin.
"You're injured," he said, the faintest hint of sadness tinging his tone.
"But it only stings a little bit, so I’m sure it’s fine," Yui replied, trying to reassure him that she wasn't hurt badly. It didn't occur to her that she was trying to make him feel better, when he was the one who had just been attacking her.
Subaru paused for so long that Yui wondered what he was doing, fear beginning to pick up once more in her veins.
Then all at once, she felt his tongue slide over the cuts in her skin.
She cried out at the shock of it. "Subaru, what are you doing?!"
Yui's body shuddered, and his grip on her shoulder tightened as his mouth traced a path along the wounds.
Why. . . Is it the blood making him do this?
He groaned, but there was something different in the sound, not the wild animalness that had taken over him just a few minutes ago.
Yui's fingers curled into the mattress, but after a moment, the pain began to sting much less than it had. It was a different kind of pain. . .
Slowly, Subaru lifted his mouth from her skin. Her back tingled in all the places he had licked. Another long pause, and his fingers lightened their grasp on her shoulders, the touch turning gentle before they lifted away.
With a quiet softness, Yui felt Subaru's weight rising from the bed. She pushed herself up, turning to face him. He was gazing down at his feet, all the rage gone from his face.
". . .My bad," he said, so softly, so awkwardly, that she almost couldn't hear it.
Her lips parted in surprise, and she couldn't find the words to reply.
Did I hear him right? Did he just. . . apologize??
Subaru didn't seem to expect a response from her. He just rotated on his heels and walked away, leaving Yui to pick up the pieces of the mess he made. A mess that she somehow knew didn't actually have anything to do with her.
And there it was again. That feeling from before that had made Yui stay, rather than escape. Deep down, perhaps she knew at that moment, that she would never escape him. That she would never want to.