Ficlet Series (Tenipuri)

One. The Desideratum of Violence.


Kai never had much use for rational thought. Life was action and reaction, instinct, and maybe that's why he liked martial arts so much. It had nothing to do with thought and everything to do with his body, moving through blows and blocks that were more primal a part of him than anything else.

When Kite Eishirou showed up at the dojo, it didn't have anything to do with thought. It was chemical, pheromones in reverse, and Kai knew from the way Kite smelled that he hated him. Kite, as much chemical and instinct as Kai was, must have felt the same, and for the first long, few days, every one felt the hairs on their body stand on end as the tension mounted. Even the sun looked full to bursting, growing more swollen and red with each passing moment.

It started with the sound of one of the screen walls of the dojo ripping, as two young bodies fell through it. In truth, it started before that, but Kai couldn't remember any of it. He couldn't think. There might have been a breach in territory, one inch to close to the other, there might have been a snarl, but then their bodies were moving on their own.

He felt his fist push out of its own accord, connecting with something tangible, and heard the sound of flesh against flesh. There was a stinging in his rib cage, and blood on his tongue, but he knew somehow that every strike that landed on him was repaid. A tangle of flailing limbs, the smell and taste of dirt, and there were yells around him from what must have been the other students.

The sun burst, disappeared, and then there was rain falling down on them. It soaked through Kai's hair, pulling his loose waves straight down, and left pink trails along his skin. His body was sore, bent, broken, and he could hear heavy panting coming from both of them. A pair of glasses lay a few feet away, crushed beyond repair, and he noticed that Kite's eyes were a pretty shade of brown.

Kai started laughing, straddled on top of this new boy. "You're pretty good."

Kite smirked up at him, lips painted red, white teeth dyed with stripes to match. "You're not bad either."

And wasn't it strange, how sometimes all two boys needed was one good fight, before they became the best of friends.


Two. Colors.


The sky was blue, so blue and big like it was going to open up and swallow him right then and there. No clouds, not today, and the sun was a big yellow period in the middle of an empty page. Kai smiled. Such a beautiful day, all blue and yellow and all that jazz, and those fuckers were only seeing red. Or was it brown... blood never really looked red after it came out and dried up, crusted gunk on some one's swollen face.

"Dude, you better stop, or you're going to get blood on your shirt."

Kite removed his hand from where it had just collided into soft, wet, skin, and as he pulled it out Kai could hear the crunch crunch of shattered bones. Kai pushed himself off from where he had been leaning on some brick wall, and smiled at the mess Kite had made of their ugly faces.

"That'll teach you for trying to fuck with me," Kai said, kicking one guy in the stomach for good measure, pleased when he groaned and folded into himself.

Kite was walking away now, wiping the blood off his hands with a handkerchief (who the hell carried around a handkerchief in this day and age?), and Kai had to skip to catch up to him.

"Kai-kun," Kite said, putting that silly little handkerchief back in his pocket, "you're perfectly capable of winning your own fights."

Kai blinked. "But you're the one who started punching them first!"

"I didn't see you stepping in to help."

"You looked like you were having fun." Kai smirked, sly, all knowing confidence. "Sides, you like protecting me. Remember when we were little kids, and I didn't know martial arts, and you used to beat up any one that picked on me?"

"It's because you were so small and weak."

"And because you like me so much. Like, you totally li~i~ike me." Kai fluttered his eyelashes a little, teasing.

"Be quiet, Kai-kun, or I'll make you eat Gouya."

Kai laughed to himself, because with almost any one else Kite was always a physical threat, puffing himself up like an alpha lion, but with Kai he was always 'I'll make you eat Gouya' or something equally silly.

"I like you too, buchou," Kai said, because Kite really liked power trips, and calling him by an authoritative title was bound to go a little to his head. Sure enough, Kai could see Kite's eyes flash a little behind his glasses, Kite's lips turn up the slightest bit.

"But I never said I liked you in the first place."

"You don't have to." Kai smiled. "Cause I already know all that shit."


Three. I Went Crazy Again Today.


"Kai-kun."

A familiar voice through a half open window, and Kai was stumbling out of bed. He opened the window and Kite was sliding in, impossibly elegant, slim muscles and earthly sweat. Kite reminded Kai of a hyena, his appearance both intimidating and absurd. The popular girls in school would laugh at his too-gelled hair, at his squared glasses, but never where he might overhear them. His every stance, every movement, carried a feline grace that belied his species. No carrion eater, not really, and as Kai watched at the dojo, every stance, every movement, had a killing intent.

That night Kite's hands were bruised, and his knuckles were stained with red. Kai cleaned them up, and didn't say anything. He would pretend not to know Kite's sins until Kite was ready to confess. He had his own sins to hide. Afterwards they fell into Kai's bed, and every kiss and bite that Kite placed on his skin was like a confession. A secret that only their bodies knew, and in the pleasure he took between Kai's legs, Kite was absolved.

The day that Kite went too far was a sunny day. Kai had been expecting it, the time when Kite would crack, and he wouldn't be enough to settle down the furies in Kite's head. It started with a phone call, with Kite telling him to meet him outside his apartment, and to bring money. Kite never asked for things, and Kai never answered with a no, and so he stuffed his wallet with all the money he had. The sky was red outside, ominous, and Kai stuffed the wallet in his backpack with some clothes, a toothbrush, and his mp3 player.

When he got there Kite was sitting outside on a brick fence, his backpack beside him. His eyes were blood red under the harsh sun, thick underneath the glass of his lenses.

"Kai-kun," he said, "I forgot my wallet. Go get it for me."

It was the smell he noticed when he stepped into the apartment first. Rotten, thick, and stale. He didn't know how long it had been, and stifled the urge to gag. The bodies on the floor were recognizable at once, though they were dyed in a sickening shade of brown-red. He stepped over them to get to Kite's bedroom, and returned to Kite with a small, brown leather square in his hand.

He slipped it into Kite's waiting palm, and their fingers brushed, Kite's skin cold despite the heat.

"Kai-kun, did you see?"

Kai shook his head. "I didn't see anything."

Kite stood up, grasping his wrist with those too cold fingers. "Run away with me."

There were sirens in the background, and in his paranoia, Kai thought they were coming for them. He let his hand slip down, intertwined his fingers with Kite's. "We can take the train."

Kite nodded, lips upturned in a small smile.

End.