Deranged Love - Hanma Shuji

Chapter 7

After that predicament I ended up in, I was very distraught. When Hanma left the room, I went to the bathroom to finally get the blood off my face and to get rid of that awful stench that seemed to cling to my body. Removing my clothes was the first step to relief, it had felt so freeing to not have those humid items on my body. It was only once I was naked that I took a look at myself in the mirror and saw what I looked like: dirtied by dry blood, hair out of place from how I had tied it when I left the house and face completely devoid of anything. For a moment, I got lost in my own reflection and started remembering the feeling of Hanma's hands on my body along with the feeling of his lips on mine. I quickly poured some water on my hand and wiped my mouth when I found the mere thought warmed my body. "Don't enjoy it." I told myself as I threw myself a glare to then step inside the shower and let the water run a moment until it was hot enough for me to step under it.

As the scalding water cascaded down my body, it burned the evil I had done, off my skin, slowly peeling that layer of sin and letting it pour down the drain. It made me feel a different kind of numbness than the one I had felt after having gone past the point of no return, the one of shooting someone without it even being explicitly ordered, with nothing but the adrenaline controlling my body. The cold of the rainy night made me feel some sort of chill all through my body once I had left the building, and once I had gotten home, I had realized the heat was not gone. And yet, my skin burned so good under his touch—the same touch I welcomed without fluttering, without flinching, without even thinking he could hurt me.

About to hit myself in the face to get those sensations out of my memory, I quickly stepped out of the running water when it turned freezing cold. "What the—" Careful to step on the rug with the foot that wasn't wounded, I wrung my hair and wrapped a towel around my form as I tried to keep some warmth. Thinking I had done something, I twisted the faucet a few times to check if there was a problem, but it stayed freezing cold. Once I considered what could be the cause, it only took a second to sigh and add another towel on my form, on my shoulders this time like a cape, and hold it tight as I left my room and stomped down the stairs in frustration. "What are you doing?" I hissed at Hanma who was leaning on the sink, his elbow on the counter as he rested his chin in his hand and looked at the water running down the sink. A smirk was adorning his features when he turned around which only annoyed me more.

"Huh? Here to invite me?" He asked as he pushed himself off the counter and stepped to stand in front of me once again, "Had a change of heart?" With the back of his hand, he tucked my hair behind my ear and looked down. I did not miss the way his eyes focused on my hips nor the way his fingers moved as if he had to hold himself back from taking me right there. Usually I would hate that feeling inside my chest, of being his source of entertainment like a predator looking at his next meal, but I was starting to find it... addictive. The way he was looking at me with that hunger, that need, I wanted more of it. But I did not easily yield and I knew it was wrong, so I held back and pushed him away.

In a few quick, painful steps I reached the sink and turned off the tap. "The plumbing sucks and whatever you were doing ruined my shower, it made it frigid. Refrain from doing that again." I said as I hobbled past him. I should have thought he would not stop there and nod in agreement, no, he was not like that. He wanted to toy a bit more, that's why his fingers lazily gripped the towel around my shoulders and pulled at it, removing it and sending chills down my spine in the process. I stopped dead in my tracks and before I could turn around to grab it, I felt it hit my ass with force like a huge whip. With the towel around my body, however, it was enough to ease the pain. I did not wince or moan in pain, not even hiss.

Instead, I turned around and went to snatch the towel from his hand, "Give this back." I said with a sigh, but he kept it out of my reach by balling it up and raising his arm. "Alright, take it." I would give myself one attempt to take it from his hands, but I would not try harder. That's what he wanted, he thrived on seeing me struggle and forcing me in situations in which only he had the control. With one hand holding my towel tight around my form, I raised my arm to take the towel from his hand, but he moved and that was enough to deter me. "Keep it, I don't have time for those games." "Oh, but you do. Don't you like it when I toy with you? See how you're all flustered and looking downright fucking hot all mad, shit..." He swore under his breath as he lowered his arm and let his gaze trail down to my thighs where my skin was exposed.