Ayakashi: Romance Reborn One-Shots

Kagemaru | Sip of Poison

"Here. It's a new one I came up with. Try it and see how it tastes."

A cocktail glass is placed in front of you, followed by a plate of assorted biscuits. You raise a brow at the smirking male as you pick up the glass carefully, giving the unknown drink a quick examination and a sniff. Fruity with a hint of spiciness.

"Heh. Ya still think I poisoned the drink or somethin'?" Kagemaru leans closer to you, his smirk only widening upon seeing you avert your gaze and move away.

Ever since you became on neutral terms with Kagemaru, you naturally found yourself becoming—what he referred to as—his 'guinea pig' for his alcoholic drink creations. When he first told you about his new found hobby, you didn't quite believe it at first and assumed he was merely joking around as always. But much to your surprise, his words were genuine.

As you're sitting here, squinting at the light coral-colored liquid, you can still see his smirking face in front of you. He can't blame you for thinking something so accusatory. After all, he's constantly having an inscrutable smirk etched on his face, and when you do ask for the truth, he simply replies: "I don't know. Why don't you try it to find out?" Although he hasn't poisoned you nor any of your Ayakashi friends yet, you're still cautious when it comes to his creations.

At the same time though, you realize that, once again, your wary thinking is preventing you from fully becoming friends with the male. Because of that, you shake the negative thoughts away and down the drink down.

The Spider Woman Ayakashi snorts, moving away from you. He rolls his eyes, blowing into the pipe. "Humans're so trustin' yet not at the same time. Now ain't that funny."

You sigh, putting the glass down gently. Just like all the other drinks, this one tastes fresh and delicious. "Must you always speak so mysteriously?"

He blows into the pipe once more, rolling his eyes. "I ain't speakin' mysteriously. Ya jus' too dumb to understand."

"And must you always insult me?"

"Heh. Insultin' ya is my speciality. A friendship's not gonna work with me if I gotta speak politely or whatever."

"It won't kill you if you were a bit nicer, you know..."

"Oh? Makin' these good drinks for ya ain't nice enough?"

"Well—"

Kagemaru heaves a long sigh, and propping an elbow up, he rests his chin in his palm and intently gazes at you. "Yer pretty dumb up there," he points to his head, "I outta knock some intelligence into ya."

"H-Hey!" You pout. Although he's still insulting you, there's a gentleness to his voice this time around, as if he truly took your comment from before into consideration. Realizing this makes you slightly flustered as you avert your eyes to the cloudy sky, focusing on the way the wind feels against your skin.

"I didn't jus' pick ya as my guinea pig as a means of torture or somethin'. There's a reason why I didn't pick someone like Akiyasu or Zantetsu, ya know..." He closes his eyes for a moment.

You direct your attention to him, intrigued. Of course he would leave his sentence hanging like that. "Um... what do you mean by that?" you ask, unconsciously moving forward, inching closer to him.

The Ayakashi's eyes flutter open a bit, his purple eyes boring into yours. He has always looked beautiful and graceful from a distance, but seeing him up-close and personal is a different experience; the way his eyes are lowered in a sensuous way, his lips parted slightly, is making your heart soar.

Pretty...

He reaches out to brush against your cheek, trailing his fingers down to your collarbone, lingering at the area. His touches are sending tingles throughout your body, and your face is beginning to feel warm—too warm to your liking. "Hey," he mutters. He moves his hand to the back of your neck and pushes you closer to him.

"K-Kagemaru...!" You stumble forward, but he holds onto you securely by the waist with his free hand.

His lips move to your ear and he whispers, "It's obviously because I like ya."

-♡-

Geez, Kagemaru, you're moving a little too fast. It's bad for my heart.