King Kaneki [Kaneki X Fem. Reader]

Chapter 27

"Mom..."

"Dad..."

"MOM!" The tempo spun on a timer, seconds only growing less.

"DAD!" Blood curdling—-crippling. Death ran over her fingers, sinking into the buds of her skin.

Blood filled her eyes and heads rolled.

"It's okay," the reaper whispered, standing over the corpses of her mother and father, his tool only made for the rafting of dripping roses.

His ghost-like claws covered her eyes, shrouding her vision beneath stygian abyss;

"...sleep princess."

__

A beat thumped on the insides of my ears—-a drum. Its echoes choir amongst my unsteady skull, like a golden crown studded with the damaged gems of my never-ending thoughts.

On the moving barque, alone in my room; I sat on a small wooden stool, staring at my reflection through the bucket of lotus water with lit lanterns that accentuated my face. I was currently taking time to wash up and relax, my green cloak and the rest of my apparel laid next to me on a wooden table to dry; leaving me in my undergarments.

Resting my legs next to each other with my hands placed on my lap, I leaned forward closer to the still water, entranced by my image. My (e/c) eyes shifted under the fire light—-faded, it seemed as though all life had drained from the very roots of my being, gone. I glided over my (s/c) skin, pressing into my right cheekbone. (H/c) strands of hair weighed down around my shoulders since I had just taken a nice washing, and my eyelashes fluttered with droplets of lotus water; moisture glistening on my body.

Suddenly, the still water before me was disturbed; ripples occurring by the vibration of a door opening. Quickly, I spun around in my seat, eyes widened at who had entered before I curled up into a ball covering my near-bare form. "Your majesty, uh, do you need something?"

As expected, the king turned around hastily, covering one side of his mask sheepishly. "Goodness I am so sorry, I should've called for entrance first, I just didn't think I'd walk in on you, uh, this, I mean," he stumbled over his words rapidly, perhaps trying to find the most proper thing to say. In the midst of it all, a tiny smile tugged at my lips, 'cute.'

"It's alright, just if there's nothing you need here then please-"

"Huh, HEY!"

Without me even noticing somehow, the king was now only a few inches away from me, his mask keeping me from fully seeing his expression—-but his lips, the least I could see, was melted into a subtle frown.

The man raised his fingers up to my neck, pushing my chin up gently while he began his inspection. "How did this happen?" When he grazed around my throat, a sharp pain sprinted up into my jaw, surprising me. Slowly, the king retracted his hands, careful not to cause that same pain again. "(Y/n), explain."

His demand wasn't intended to be friendly, that I did notice. Tracing back my steps to the small cave and that mentally ill man, I suppose I nearly forgot about the choking incident. There was so much going on behind the realms of my eyes when that man had drugged me, I couldn't process much nor could I remember anything very strongly either. Still covering my body with my head faced away, I answered, "a viridok managed to capture Riven and I back in the tombs. That's how Riven got hurt and that's how these bruises came across my neck... the man almost choked me to death."

Staring at the bucket of water from the corner of my eye, I realized how I hadn't even acknowledged the damage that necklaced my throat when I was gazing at myself earlier. Maybe pain was beginning to feel nonexistent.

"Why didn't you inform me about this sooner?" The royal questioned me, his lips moving. Touching the markings on my neck again, a lump in my esophagus grew.

I knew what this feeling was...

I could feel the muscles in my face tremble as my hands started to shake. I could feel the intakes and outtakes of my breathing intensify, chest sinking. I knew what this feeling was, despite my wishes to be strong—-

tears began to descend from my eyes.

Arms braced me from a fall that I didn't even know I was falling. I could feel my head press into warm fabric, a warm hold. My nails dug into the sleeves, the burning that joined my tears unbearable. I was wrong, pain was existent;

I just can't tell when I'm going to let it all out.

"Awe c'mon! I totally won that one!" Ayato flailed his arms up into the air, showing quite well just how much he despised this game. It's been three days since the departure from Nechakri. Riven, Ayato, and I were all playing a game of Koken in Ayato's room.

"No you didn't Ayato," I spoke, explaining for the millionth time, "it doesn't count if you have more than three kokens on your fifth round." He slumped into his seat, crossing his arms childishly, "whatever, whoever made this game is stupid."

I could understand somebody joking around and acting a little immature just to be witty, but Ayato's countenance didn't seem to say anything at all about 'joking around'. I analyzed his black moon eyes, deeper than the Styx river. His eyebrows settled profusely and his skin-tone lips were sour with defeat. "You'll just have to practice more," Riven spoke up as he began to pack away the pieces, at this point driving Ayato to his rear-ends. "Listen buddy, just because your a big hunky guy doesn't mean I still can't kick your ass-"

"Excuse my interruption, the king requests both sir Ayato and miss (y/n), we're close to Ries."

Slowly nodding our heads at the sailor whom had just barged in, breaking Ayato's headache-inducing rant, the two of us got up from our seats before heading down to the king's quarters.

    After we both had entered, closing the door behind us, we placed our hands behind our back waiting for the royal to speak up. "This journey is finally coming to an end, I just wanted to announce that we might be staying at my cousins a little longer than expected. As you can see, this trip has been—-rough." Ayato and I would have to agree wholeheartedly, that statement was nothing but the truth, and honestly I wouldn't even mind staying a few nights in a castle bedroom instead of this blood boat.

    I tapped my mouth in slight shock, looking away from the king under a brief moment of surprise; I guess the royalty was really getting to my peasantry. "That's fine by me," I replied, side-eyeing Ayato. "Any word of yours is final your honor," Ayato bowed, his usually grumpy expression relaxed in a mannerly fashion.

    "Great," the king rose from his seat, dusting off his silk apparel,

"I believe we're all ready to meet him then."

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