Human Value || Kakuzu

Ch. 8 - Because I'm Selfish

She felt like the undead. Her body was moving, but her mind was nowhere in sight. She wasn't sure how everything came to be the way it was, but what she could process was that there was nothing she could do about anything. Suddenly, the ground had been overturned under her and the sinkholes were swallowing her into a pit of nothingness.

"You're back again?"

Risa lifted her eyes from the ground and glanced through the bars of Kakuzu's cell. It was obvious that she had retraced her steps via muscle memory because she vaguely remembered the warden telling her to go ahead and he'd be right behind her, but she couldn't remember how she made it or how long it took her to get there.

"It's dinnertime." She mustered up the courage to say. "We always eat together if we're nearby."

Kakuzu stood up from the wall and approached the bars. Judging by her solemn appearance, she must know everything now. Honestly, she looked sick to her stomach, but at least she wasn't acting like everything was okay. If that was one thing he appreciated about her, it was that she never beat around the bush with her expressions.

"I'm not-"

"Ya are. You're hungry and ya want to eat. No excuses."

Silence fell between them as he wasn't going to argue with her. Finally, a guard showed up to let her into the cell. Her time was going to be limited, but she had less restrictions this time. With a loud slam of the bars behind her, Risa got a small sense of the feeling of imprisonment, but all she could do was let out a small breath. The guard stood along the opposite side of the hallway and crossed his arms, seemingly daring them to try anything funny.

"I made ya some fish, rice, and vegetables." Risa unpacked the lunch pail she'd brought with her, trying to ignore the sentry's presence. "There's also some soup that's easy to digest and some clean water. Make sure ya eat it all."

Kakuzu glanced over the food, not seeing too many faults besides a few overly charred sections of fish. She was never a terrible cook, but it did look like she got better over time. Picking up a pair of chopsticks, he began to eat her home cooking, not stopping until the bowl was clean. It had been a while since he'd eaten anything so it was safe to say that he was famished.

Risa ate as well, in silence, while she observed him. She was shocked at the extent of his stitches since there were more along the corners of his mouth, but she didn't want to bring attention to it right now. Instead, she wondered if this was going to be the last time she saw him. The thought of his undetermined execution date loomed over her head and it made it hard for her to swallow her next bite of food as a stray tear slipped down her cheek.

"You shouldn't cry for me."

His voice startled her out of her thoughts and she immediately placed her bowl and chopsticks down. She didn't mean for him to see her cry, but the emotions were now slipping through the cracks of her intended mask.

"Who else will then?"

"Why do you always have a rebuttal for everything I say?"

"Because you're my partner." She sighed with exasperation. "I always have to repeat myself because ya never listen to me the first time. Ya shouldn't have to guess how important ya are." To me..., she wanted to finish.

Kakuzu watched in slight amusement as she murmured something incoherent under her breath and started to clean up their dishes. It seemed to baffle him how she stayed by his side all these years, but at the same time it didn't, because she was so tenacious. She was completely determined to make sure he was always included and that he never disappeared.

"Take off your shirt so I can clean your wounds." Risa rummaged through her bag to pull out all of her medical supplies. She'd made sure to bring him a change of clothes as she salvaged anything she could from his trashed home. Looking up to see his expression, she smirked with a teasing stick out of her tongue. "You thought I was going to leave right after dinner? I'm going to annoy you for the rest of the night."