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The director disdains his redheaded rival. He thinks the other man to be crass and audacious. In fact, he often wonders who gave him the right to be so distasteful - certainly not Arceus, as Arceus would never allow such a man to exist.
Aogiri despises Matsubusa, who so casually invites himself into the director’s home to carelessly down a bottle of alcohol in front of the other man. He looks at him now with clear contempt etched onto his face, mulling over how much better the world would be without the redhead in it. Aogiri’s dark eyes are glued to Matsubusa’s pale throat as he takes another drink from the bottle of sake. He wonders how easy it would be to wrap his strong hands around that pallid neck and squeeze and end the other man’s vibrant life. What would it look like when all the mirth in Matsubusa’s impish gaze finally died? At least then Aogiri would be free to achieve his one true goal without such a nuisance getting in his way. Matsubusa, finishing the drink he had taken from his sake, looks up, his crimson eyes meeting Aogiri’s blue ones. The redhead snickers roguishly, not breaking eye contact with the director from his spot lounging on the other man’s couch.
Certainly the day that Matsubusa dies will be Aogiri’s happiest.
Matsubusa has seen the way that Aogiri looks down upon him. He finds his clear hatred of him almost comical. Perhaps that is why he continues to barge into the director’s home night after night, alcohol in hand. He thinks of himself much like an obedient mightyena; no matter how many times the other man pushes him away forcefully, Matsubusa always finds his way back to Aogiri. He doesn’t mind this relationship - in fact, it’s quite entertaining, in his opinion. He likes the way that the director tries to hide his clear annoyance at his rival. The redhead likes to push the other man in the way that he knows that no one else can because no one else knows Aogiri - at least not like he does. Other people might look at the clear condescension that the director gazes upon his rival with and say that Matsubusa belongs to Aogiri, but Matsubusa knows the truth: although it may not seem this way at first glance, Aogiri belongs entirely to Matsubusa.
And so this is why he takes the time to wait for Aogiri in his home every night. This is why he now sprawls across the director’s couch like he owns it. Matsubusa knows that Aogiri would never actually kill him - try as he might; Matsubusa knows the horrible, awful truth that Aogiri tries to avoid: Aogiri cannot live without his rival.
Every day, Aogiri wakes up to a world with Matsubusa in it and, every day, Matsubusa lives in satisfaction, basking in the knowledge that Aogiri will never have the strength to end his rival’s life.
That’s just what Matsubusa believed, though.
It is funny how easily beliefs can be shattered.
That strange, lavender-haired woman showed up and deftly fractured everything that Matsubusa knew - the beliefs that he held close to his chest and maintained.
She had gazed upon the two of them - the two dazed and weary souls that had escaped from the hover car with her aid - and she had spoken with firm conviction, narrowing her catlike, lilac eyes.
“Fight! Don’t be the one who gets weeded out! To raise your potential evil to the next level…you must transcend it!”
A strange sinking feeling presented itself to the redhead and Matsubusa had known then, deep down, that he didn’t stand a chance against Aogiri. Besides, even if he did have a fighting chance, he would rather cease to exist forever than see the life fade out of his rival’s body - the one who he admired more than anyone else. Matsubusa wasn’t sure what was going to happen to him next, but he knew that it must be better than seeing Aogiri stained a sickening shade of red.
Since the two had first met, Matsubusa had thought that Aogiri wouldn’t ever be able to kill him.
And that was where he was wrong.
The truth, as it turned out, was that Matsubusa was more than willing to die at Aogiri’s hands. Perhaps, Matsubusa thought with a twisted sense of satisfaction, once Aogiri killed him, then Matsubusa would finally be his - he would never leave the other man’s mind.
A crippling doubt flooded his mind and told him that perhaps Matsubusa was the only one who had ever truly cared and that Aogiri would not miss him once he was gone. The redhead quickly tried to shake the thought out of his mind - his effort meant nothing. It lingered still in the tenebrous crevices of his mind. For some reason that Matsubusa could not fathom, the thought that Aogiri would be glad to be rid of him stung worse and stabbed deeper than the cold embrace of death ever could.
Regardless, Matsubusa stands resolute in the face of death.
In fact, the redhead stands quietly, gazing softly at the director. He truly is handsome. His thick, dark eyebrows are furrowed in pure concentration; Matsubusa knows that he is likely planning his death but he looks nearly divine in doing so. There is no time for Matsubusa to study Aogiri’s inherent attractiveness, however. Aogiri looks back at Matsubusa with a glare and for a brief moment, weary ruby eyes meet dark sapphire ones. The redhead maintains his confident demeanor, turning his lips upwards in a nonchalant grin. This infuriates his enemy as Matsubusa hoped it would. For a moment, Matsubusa can even imagine that this is all a game, just like the ones they used to play in the past with Team Magma and Team Aqua. Matsubusa is clearly winning.
That is, until Aogiri, with no hesitation whatsoever, lunges forward and tackles his rival to the ground, wrapping his thick hands around Matsubusa's pale throat. The shock and confusion painted on Matsubusa’s pallid face is raw as he struggles against Aogiri's grip. A part of him had been hoping that Aogiri would not be able to kill his rival - that maybe somewhere inside of his heart the director even harbored a love for the redhead. Matsubusa’s eyes focus on Aogiri’s face, and it seems like he makes an attempt to say something - however, all that manages to come out of the redhead’s mouth is a nauseating gurgling sound as he chokes, failing to bring in air to his weakening body. Aogiri feels something like pity for the other man as he watches horror creep into his rival’s expression as Matsubusa brings his hands to his own throat. Aogiri squeezes harder; he wants it all to end. Matsubusa’s eyes fly open as his body gives one last twitch. Within seconds, however, his once vibrant eyes quickly cloud over, unseeing.
And then Matsubusa is gone.
Aogiri stares down at the cold, unmoving husk of his former rival with a snide grin - one that would have surely made the redhead’s heart flutter had he been alive to see it.
Later, when they finally meet again in the deepest depths of an eternal, violet hell, Matsubusa only has one question for Aogiri as he shakes his head, his crimson hair fluttering softly, and as he smiles sadly.
Why did you do that?