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"Just the two of us?"
"Do we need anyone else?"
Akutagawa was dead.
Atsushi stared at the body on the floor, a pool of blood flowing at his feet. He couldn't look away, no matter how hard he tried. That feeling still lingered on his lips, as if it burned him, and a sharpness in his chest was daring to make him cry.
What the hell?
He staggered back a step, the heel of his shoe slipping in red. The low hum of an electric guitar and the vibrations of microphone feedback still rang in his ears- distant, but still there. His eyes darted back and forth along Akutagawa's resting figure, from the stillness of his limbs to the peacefulness of his face. Probably the most peaceful he's ever looked. Atsushi felt sick at the thought.
A kiss. That's what it was. That prick kissed him, then had the audacity to die.
The worst part wasn't the kiss itself, but the fact that there was a meaning behind it. Atsushi had always called him an "emotionless bastard" but he never thought that this was how he would be proven wrong.
Akutagawa, that apathetic killer.
No one would have ever guessed that the thing Akutagawa would kill the most brutally would be himself.
"Damn you," Atsushi choked, clenching his trembling fist. "You knew exactly what you were doing."
He dropped to his knees beside the body, ignoring the sticky warmth of blood that soaked through his clothes as he did so. Looking into those dark, hazy eyes of the lifeless corpse, he knew he shouldn't touch it. Touch him . He couldn't. If he did, then this would be real.
His voice cracked. "Why..?"
"There's a thing that Dazai told me about."
Atsushi stopped picking at the grass on the floor, his hand hovering over the small, empty patch. "What is it?"
Akutagawa carried on, the same empty expression on his face.
"To show how much you care about someone, you would press your lips against theirs. He called it a kiss."
He turned to Atsushi, an almost unnoticeable smirk creeping onto his face as he pointed at his own lips.
"Why don't we try it out? Kissing each other."
...
Sticking his tongue out, Atsushi made a small sound of disgust. "Why would we do that?!"
Akutagawa's smirk immediately dropped.
"Because everyone's doing it," he deadpanned. "Let's give it a go too."
"No way! Gross!"
"I just wanted to try..." the older one sighed.
"When it's your birthday I'll think about it."
"You know I don't have one of those," Akutagawa puffed. "Please? You'll do it just this once, won't you?"
Atsushi glared at him. "Does it look like I'll do it?"
"...Yes?"
Idiot.
"She's missing, Akutagawa! Lucy's gone missing and you're acting like it's nothing!"
Atsushi stood rigid, shoulders heaving as he stared Akutagawa down. His hands were balled into fists, knuckles white. Round 6 was moments away, and the air was thick with panic disguised as anger.
Akutagawa didn't flinch. He kept the same unreadable expression he always did, more cold and distant than usual.
Atsushi carried on, "No one's seen her after Round 5. She could be anywhere- What if the aliens took her?!"
Standing still, Akutagawa remained silent.
"I bet you didn't even notice at first, did you?" Atsushi snapped. "She could be hurt. Worse, she could be dead. Yet you're not even saying anything."
Akutagawa looked away, just briefly. He still didn't speak, but the dark look in his eyes said enough.
"You always do this, pretend as if nothing matters to you," Atsushi's voice became louder. Whether purposely or not, he didn't know.
"ANSWER ME DAMMIT!! WHY'RE YOU SO EMOTIONLESS?! DO YOU EVEN FEEL ANYTHING?!"
His throat felt like it was on fire. Tears rolled down his cheeks, and he quickly wiped them away to keep at least some composure.
He sighed, "After Gin died, Lucy just... shut off. She needed someone to be there for her. She needed us. She needed me. "
The voice he wanted finally responded, low as if it had been buried deep under the other's throat.
"...I know."
Just two words. But they were the most painful thing Atsushi had ever heard.
He stormed off. Away from Akutagawa, and towards the stage.
The stage was where this life began, and where this life would end. Atsushi knew that after this, he would be dead, and Akutagawa would win this stupid game. He was sure of it.
You fool.
Those were his last words.
Managing to find the courage to touch him, Atsushi let his fingertips softly brush the hair out of Akutagawa's face, slowly caressing the skin on his cheek. He felt eerily cold, despite being so full with life just mere seconds ago, singing his heart out.
"I think you're the fool here," Atsushi whispered under his breath.
Fingers entwined. Tears fell. Blood spilled.
Akutagawa was dead. And Atsushi was not.
"Just the two of us?"
"..."