Tempted | Minamoto T.

05

"[ name ]!" stated Teru, rushing down the stairs to at least get a grasp on your arm—with the strong intent of shoving you back inside your room and cornering you there until he pulls out answers from you.

You roam your eyes around the living room, disappointed at your uncle's empty presence. You let out a breath, leaving you no choice but to face Teru and kick him out of your home. This is YOUR place, you shouldn't be the one running out.

"Got you." Teru swiftly gripped your arm, forcing you to turn to him. "Will you just stop running away?! Aren't you exhausted already?!"

Without uttering any response, you abruptly pulled your arm off his grasp. It appears that he had already forgotten how much you dislike being grabbed like you're some kind of item needed to be picked up.

"...I'm still here after you made that mistake because you told me that it wouldn't happen again. I worked under you because you said you needed me to. I did you favors while you did me none." you began, gaze narrowed. "Don't you think it's about time you stop?"

    Teru finds his brows furrowed at your statement. He attempts to reach for you but halts, a lump on his throat. "Why are you looking at me like that?" he questions.

    You're quiet, your gaze lingering around his expression that's filled with hesitation. He wishes to speak, but can't seem to spit out. He's good with that. He can do it all day if you ask him to.

   "...Why are you looking at me like that?" you ask, noticing that there's some kind of longing in his stare that pierces right through your heart, and sad to say, not in a good way; looking at you with the intent of making you feel guilty with your actions.

   "I'm not...I'm not trying to look at you in any way." Teru says, his fingertips that took your arm briefly brushes against his palm. He can still feel your warmth lingering against his skin. "Is it really so hard for you to talk to me—"

   "Whenever we do," you cut him off. "Empty promises will always walk out of that mouth of yours."

   "What are you talking about?" Teru's suppressed emotions are beginning to spill out. You provoke them with just your stare or with the way you move your lips when you speak. He's done for. "...I keep my promises, [ name ]. When you told me that you would prefer if I just hated you and not like you at all, didn't I promised that I would? I hated you."

"No, you didn't." you frown. "Was that it? That was hate for you? Bickering with me in front of Akane, throwing away the bell that will protect your brother, that's it? That's it? That was your hate?"

Teru gulps. He couldn't properly convey insulting words towards you, hence, he delivered it through his actions. He thought he was doing so well. He was mundane with the idea of hating you, but the idea of you hating him? It makes him crumble.

"And if you do say you hate me," you bit the flesh inside your mouth, looking up at Teru with your narrowed gaze. "Why does it look like you're about to do something I won't like?"

The blonde exorcist takes a deep breath, realizing that he's awfully close to your space, practically stepping into your personal bubble. You can feel some strands of his hair brush against your forehead as he leans back upon realization.

    "...You didn't seem to hate it before." his statement alone made your eyes widen, sending you the strong urge to abruptly grab his wrist that's slowly reaching for your hair.

"Can you hear yourself?" your piercing tone made Teru take a step back, his chest rising and falling within seconds of hearing your displeased tone and witnessing your angered expression. "You're making this all about you. You're a hypocrite and insane for saying something like that."

You expected Teru to reflect the same expression you're portraying right now, but upon looking at him, you notice his cheeks painted with a tinted red color. With how frustrated he feels at the moment, he must be wondering why he's reacting like that as well.

"What can I do?"

You raise a brow, building a wall of silence between the exchange. What is he talking about?

"What?"

"What do you want me to do?" you hear him ask, this time, desperation slowly dripping down along with his words. "What more do you want me to do for you to like me?"

Without notice, he places his hands on your shoulders, lightly gripping on it as he leans in once more. "...You want me to kneel? Beg? Cry for you?he murmurs. "I'll do it. What else? What else do you want me to do?"

    You grabbed him by the collar, shifting all of your strength down to your hand and pushing away from your space, his grip around your shoulders loosening upon feeling his weight being pushed off of you.

   "What the hell is wrong with you?" you stated, disgusted by what words he's spitting out, and the expression he's wearing—it's as if he's just learned more about something he likes, and he wants to learn more.

   Seeing this desperate side of his made you realize that he's not on the right head at the moment. You understand and know where all of the pent up emotions are coming from, hence you never gave too much effort into making him understand you. Inside his head is clouded and you're vivid. He's just letting his mouth and body run, he's not thinking at all.

     "Get yourself together, Minamoto." you firmly stated, your gaze hardens into a glare as he stood in front of you with an indescribable frown. "Don't ruin things for us any further. You can only do so much."

    Teru narrows his eyes, his frown twisting into the stitched up smile he uses around other people who knows nothing about his yearnings; and with the same delighted tone, he spoke,

   "I hope you know that you're ruining me."

    You can feel your eye twitch with his statement.

   "You're already ruined. Even if I wanted to, I'm not like you who's willing ruin someone even more if they get the chance."

   Teru scoffs, giving his head a slight tilt. "Oh? You think you're any better?" he questions, dusting his collars that you gripped so hard on earlier. "Alright, believe that."

    You watch as Teru makes his way up to your room once more to fetch his sword that he threw aside just for you to give him attention. He went from begging to pointing blames back at you once more.

    And it left you wondering how he's able to portray the perfect brother image to his siblings, and yet he considers no dignity and hesitance when showing you the awful and filthy part of his behavior.