Twisted Hearts▪︎Akutagawa Ryuunosuke

十°• Bruised Hearts

Fluff chapter ahead (?)

"You really should take a break from missions."

Hanabi's voice shattered the thick silence that engulfed the atmosphere around them, slicing through it like a hot knife through butter.

Akutagawa only glared at her, his face morphing into one of a frown. Honestly, Hanabi couldn't take him seriously now that he looked so adorable with a bandage on his left cheek. She sighed dramatically loudly.

Hanabi was sitting on the edge of the right side of Akutagawa's bed, in the Mafia infirmary, tending to his injuries. She had purposely asked the doctors to leave him to her, taking the opportunity to actually talk to him properly. His body was completely wrapped in white bandages, reminding her of a certain brunette Detective that she knew how awfully Akutagawa despised.

"...the weretiger, I've heard that his ability could tear apart any other ability? Even yours..."

Akutagawa didn't look her in the eye, instead letting out a 'Tch' sound in response. He watched her take his hand in hers, so gently, like she was handling a baby bird instead of a feared Mafiaso. Placing his hand on her lap, which was covered with a towel to avoid dirtying her pants, she unwrapped his bandages, her face unflinching at the wounds mixed with dried blood under.

Hanabi's touch seemed to send a cold shiver down his spine, making goosebumps appear on his forearm. Akutagawa didn't know why he felt this way, the only thing he was aware of now was the close proximity they were at.

"Answer me, will you?"

Hanabi said with a pout on the corner of her lips, irritated with his impossible attitude he was having towards her. With a cotton ball clipped between tweezers, she dipped it into a antiseptic solution before placing it on his wounds.

She knew Akutagawa hated this; after all, he despised of any sign of weakness, and letting her see him in this injured, vulnerable state was definately considered one. But she also knew that all this loathing and pain was caused by the scars engraved on him from his tragic past, scars that went deeper than skin and flesh; scars that carved his cold, cold heart together.

And unlike physical ones, those scars would never heal with time.

Akutagawa didn't bother to disguise his distaste at her, and she felt his glare piercing bullets through the side of her face.

At last, he turned away with a sigh and a scrunch of his nose, his delicate features adorned with the lines of stress.

"Yes. He did certainly beat the first impressions. But I have no doubt that I will beat him the next time we fight."

"You really think so? His ability does seem to have potential..."

Hanabi mumbled thoughtfully as she treated his wounds. She brought out fresh new bandages from the drawer in the bedstand, which the doctor had kept for his patients.

At those words, Akutagawa hardened his glare at her, not responding.

The evening grew to night, the evening rays of sun that had peeked through the slits of curtain and slipped into their room in a mix of orange and yellow were now growing thinner and thinner, until there was barely a fraction of it left to illuminate the dim room.

"Let me treat your face now. You have a bruise there, don't you?" Hanabi pointed to his cheek.

Akutagawa looked distatefully at her, his eyes narrowing into slits, like the ones of a feline.

"Absolutely not."

There would be no way that he would allow her to get close enough to him to be able to touch his face. Not only because of the fact that he was doing his best to give her the cold shoulder now (which he had always been doing anyways), nor because that even the thought of getting so close to her immediately made his stomach do weird flips.

Instead, it was due to the fact that he knew full well that if Hanabi had even gazed at him with such intensity like she had done before, he was afraid, and terribly so at that, that he would get lost in her eyes. He knew that if he had been entranced by her eyes once again, he just might just drown in them, only sinking deeper and deeper in.

Hanabi was as dangerous as she was beautiful, and she was incredibly confident in her ability to seduce and manipulate others with her dolly appearance. After all, she was a temptress, the embodiment of a femme fatale disguised under a innocent face.

And Akutagawa refused to fall in such naive traps.

Especially those involving her.

"Why not?"

Hanabi said, her turn to frown. She crossed her arms in a petty manner.

"Don't tell me you can do it yourself. I know you can't; your arms are injured. You can barely move without help."

"And plus, I already treated both your arms, just let me dress your face and I'll be done!"

Hanabi retorted quickly, words tumbling out quickly without a proper stop like she had always done. She looked so different now, like a child throwing a tantrum to get a toy they wanted instead of the notorious killer she actually was.

She stared at him longer, a pout settling on her porcelain features. At last, Akutagawa let out a surrending huff.

"...what are the chances of you actually shutting up without getting what you want?"

Hanabi grinned at that, her eyes smiling.

"Zero to none."

She kneeled on the side of his bed, the soft white bedsheets crumbling underneath. She reached out one of her hands steadily to take of the bandage from his cheek, her other hand grabbing on the headboard for support. She was on the right side of him, hence why she had to stretch out her hands to tear the bandage off his left cheek.

Akutagawa didn't spare a glance at her, instead, averting his eyes to stare at the bedsheets below. The moment he felt the light touch of her fingers on the side of his face, softer than the wings of a butterfly, he did his best to not flinch at it, his jaw setting. Physical contact was definately not something he was used to, and he doubt that he would ever grow accustom to it.

Hanabi had successfully taken off the gauze, revealing a large bruise behind it, blue and purple an obvious contrast against his pale, ivory skin. She readied a cold ice pack in the palm of her hand, wrapped in a thin towel to prevent the dripping of melted water. Raising it up, she applied it on his bruised cheek, pressing it softly.

The sudden ice cold sent a chilling sensation on his face, making goosebumps appear on his skin. Still, he managed to maintain a nonchalant expression on his stonic face.

Dapping it for a few more times, she kept it still in place like how she was taught to treat bruises when she was younger. They were silent for a few moments, and Hanabi took this as an excuse to shamelessly admire Akutagawa's pretty features, making him look almost feminine if not for the hardness of his gaze.

"...Akutagawa, have you ever considered being a model?"

He did not turn, instead, he looked at her through the corner of his beady eyes, eyebrows furrowed in shock but more in annoyance.

"You... never actually think before talking."

"I'm being serious."

"You never are."