Piranha in the Water: Mitsune Haruo vs. Senkaku Ningensei

Falling.

The air rushed past him, leaving an annoying whistling sound in his ears. The bleak nature of the surroundings complimented the act he was commiting now; no one cared, and no one would care when he was gone. The rooftop of the skyscraper he had jumped off of shrunk into the distance, and even though he hadn't yet reached the height of the other, smaller buildings, he knew that his time was limited, and that he'd soon be splattered on the hard cement below. He was almost happy, but...

Tears?

They slowly floated upwards from his face, and the wind hitting his back slowed him enough to stare at them as he plummeted down. Why was he crying..? What was he sad about? What did he have to regret? When he did this, he had already made up his mind; even if he wanted to, he couldn't stop now. Maybe he was sad... Because it was all finally ending? Were these tears of joy; was he happy because he didn't have to suffer any longer; no one had to tolerate him anymore; he could finally be alone, and happy..?

The smaller buildings shot up into the sky around him; their bleak, brick walls closing in on him. He only had a few seconds left. But he could think as much as he wanted in those two seconds... About his abusive childhood, his multiple suicides, how much of a failure of a father and a husband he was... How selfish he was, how disgusting he was, how many people hated him. They were all probably watching with excitment right now. No one would mourn him... Now everyone could be happy...

Thud.

Nori sprung up in bed with the covers falling off of his body. He was covered in a cold sweat, and shivering slightly, obviously unnerved with what he had just done. The man swallowed his sadness in an attempt to get rid of the feeling in his stomach before he woke his wife; she didn't need to know what was happening... Even if it was a dream, it showed that he wanted to do it, and...

His wife. Nori glanced at his wife's sleeping figure. His abrupt movements had upset her posture slightly... If she was a light sleeper, she'd be waking soon.

"Mmmm...."

Fortunately for him, that was not the case. Tereya was sleeping as soundly as ever, groaning a little because of the bump against her. Otherwise, she was unconcerned with the sudden movement, caught up in her own dreams. Her face was rather peaceful, carefree as she slept. She was snoring lightly, breathing in regularly, and willingly allowing herself to stay in the unconscious state she was in. However, there were slight beads of sweat dripping down her face, signaling that in the middle of her dreams had been a nightmare.... or worse, Sasha.

"Tereya..." Nori grunted before lowering himself back into the bed and wrapping his arms around his wife. He had to admit, she was more comfortable to hug and lay on when she was fat... Maybe he'd fatten her up again, just so he could point out to her how fat she really was... Sighing slightly, Nori managed close his eyes and get back to sleep. Whether he was better by morning would be entirely up to him... And, considering he was himself, he probably wouldn't be.

"MOO-O-OMMY!"

The whine came from a small girl who was now bouncing up and down eagerly in her nightgown; perched on top of her mother's head. Both of her hands were busy pulling the woman's short hair, as she tried to wake her. Despite the usual hostile attitude, the girl was hungry, and needed nourishment! And since Daddy didn't know how to cook, she was stuck waking the crab for breakfast!... And lunch. And dinner. Maybe she should thank her somehow..?

Nah.

"MITSUNE WANTS WAFFLES, UUUUU~!"

It was a good thing that Tereya was nearly invincible to pain.... but only nearly.

Immediately, her hands flew up to grab Mitsune's wrists tightly, and had she not self-restraint, would've snapped them in two. But she didn't want to hear Nori complain about child abuse - even if he had allowed her to discipline her that one time. "If you don't want another fucking spanking..." She hissed vehemently. "I suggest you get your little ass off of me and start marching to the kitchen. Mommy has to get ready first." She tugged the girl off of her and placed her back onto the floor, just enough so that she herself could climb out of bed.

Crouched on all fours, Mitsune scrambled out of the room like a scared kitten, her posterior pointed upwards in the air. She wouldn't get spanked again! Mitsune would spank Mommy! Mommy's a crab; a nasty, Mommy crab! Mitsune would kill her, right after she made her waffles, and then she could have Daddy all to herself!... But then... Daddy couldn't cook, and Mitsune liked waffles. "Crab, uuu~!"

The movement and screaming didn't wake the aforementioned Daddy, and he slept soundly in the bed, though it was obvious he was upset that his wife had switched positions. His skin seemed slightly pale, and he was still sweating... Maybe he was still having the nightmare? Still, it didn't look like he was in too much pain. He was still sleeping, afterall. If he did it again, he would've woken up already...

"...." Tereya was tempted to wake the man up as usual with a slap to the face. However, his countenance made her stop in her tracks, and she looked over his face for a moment. With a slow hand, she placed a hand on the man's shoulder in order to gently shake him. "Hey, Princess..." She mumbled, using another hand to wipe the sleep from her eyes. "You alive yet?"

"Nnn..." Nori groaned, shrugging her hand off of his shoulder. He was too far in to come out now... He didn't want to wake up. Maybe he could stay like this forever...

"...." Now the wife was becoming irritated. Though she didn't know what he was dreaming, whatever it was continued to pull her away from Mitsune's annoying clutches. Having sought out no other choice, Tereya maneuvered her hands to place upon his chest. Then, with a simple push, she shoved him out of the bed and onto the floor. Hell, it had worked the first few times, she doubted this would be much different....

It took a few minutes for there to be any sort of reaction. Normally, the bed she was laying on would have flipped over, and then she would have her face pounded in by her husband, who would then be satisfied that she had learned her lesson, heal her, and then start on the rest of the day. But... She recieved no such greeting. The man she loved slowly stood, smiled weakly at her, and said "Good morning" before making his way to the bathroom.

"Hold on a minute, Princess."

It took only seconds for Tereya to register the change in mood. Moving up behind him, she grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him. "Before you do anything, how about you tell me what's up?" Her statement was blunt and to-the-point. "Normally, that bed wouldn't be in place after what I just did."

"....? Huh? So... You're getting mad because I didn't smack the shit out of you." Nori was planning to argue with her without looking her eyes. It'd be easier to lie to her that way. "I mean... If you really want me to, I could punch you a few times..." He grumbled. It wasn't like she had smacked him... Maybe he was just feeling generous.

"Please..." Naturally, Tereya shifted towards his front in order to see her face, hands across her hips, and a rather pondering expression on her face. "This ain't mad... this is what's usually considered one who's wondering what in the hell is wrong with her husband."

Half-lidded, Nori made his view of her so dim that he couldn't see her face properly."So you assume that because I'm not hitting you... that there's something wrong with me." He pointed out dully. How long was she going to keep this up..? She'd have to give up sooner or later.

"No. I'm going to assume there's something wrong with you...." She simply matched his movements, half-lidding her own eyes. "...because you're sweating like hell. You woke up in the middle of the night, shivering your ass off. You sound too terrible, even for mornin' grogginess. Either you've caught some sort of illness.... or your ghosts are haunting you."

"Mmmm... I guess that degree in psychology is really paying off, huh?!" Even though he wasn't really upset, Nori acted like he was, and stepped away from his wife; slowly scooting towards the bathroom so he could lock himself in. "There is nothing wrong with me. Okay? Just go and make breakfast, or whatever you do in the morning, and I'll worry about myself..."

"Bullshit."

Tereya definitely wasn't one to buy it. She reached over and forcefully jerked him to face her. "First off, you think you can just lie to me and walk away like it's no big deal? You can't." She spoke, allowing some of her own irritation to come to the surface. "Doesn't work that way when we both know each other. Nothing's wrong with you? Yeah, sure, I'll believe that like I believe my own name. You've never even once told me that you solved your problems... did you?"

"Shut up... I don't have to listen to you; who are you to tell me what to do..? You're... Forget it, I don't feel like talking to you right now..." Slowly, Nori slipped from his wife's grip and finally stepped inside the bathroom. Glancing at her for a moment before looking away, he closed the door, and with a click, locked it. This never happened... She wouldn't get him to talk about it.

Oh, this was getting ridiculous.

"I'm what?" Tereya demanded, slightly indignant. She folded her arms across her chest, glaring at the door that Nori had just closed onto her. "Now that you've said it, I'm officially curious. Tell me, exactly what am I to you? I was simply thinking that I was your wife and you were my husband, but apparently you're thinking of me as something else as well. Go on... say it, now that you've gotten that far."

"JUST LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE." Nori stated firmly from the other side of the door. She was upsetting him... The reason he had stopped the sentence was because he didn't want to upset her, but apparently she was too stupid to realize that. If she decided to kick down the bathroom door, she'd be thrilled to find out that he was sitting on the floor, leaning against it... "... Just go away..."

She didn't.

Instead, she reached up, grasped the handle of the knob of the door, used her energy control in order to force the lock back open, and force the door open, contrast to the usual way she smashed it. She didn't care. She wasn't going to have Nori mull himself to death for the rest of his life because of this. He'd have to understand that she wasn't going to be satisfied until she learned what was torturing him. "I'm not going to leave you alone until you decide to stop hiding from me...!" She said vehemently. "Just who the hell do you think I am?!"

Immediately, the door slammed shut on her, forcing her back a few inches. "Do not come in here, I'm doing something, and I don't want you to see. You want to know who you are? You're a bitch, and a hypocrite; don't tell me about my problems when you haven't solved yours. Okay?! SO. LEAVE. ME. ALONE." He screamed. A very small amount of something red seeped out from the tile floor of the bathroom, onto the carpet of their room. It wasn't enough to stain it... But it was apparent that he was bleeding.

Tereya had lost her patience.

With a kick, she smashed the door off of the hinges, charged in without warning, picked up Nori by the scruff of his collar, and slammed him into the wall. Her eyes had now narrowed dangerously, glaring like knives into his own. "If I'm a bitch for worrying about you, then so be it!!" She snarled. "But I can rest assure you that I am no hypocrite. Sure, I may have my own problems, but at least I'm honest about it! There's never been a single time where I've had to lie to you about something! Tell me, what the fuck's driven into your head that you have to lie to your own wife's face?!"

"... Look what you did..." Instead of meeting her gaze or resisting, Nori focused on the long gash on his arm. It was obvious that it had come from a blade; there was no way she could've done it from kicking the door in, or slamming him against the wall, but he was blaming it on her all the same. After staring at it for a while, he let it hang down the blood snaking down his arm before it began dripping onto the ceramic floor. "... You hate me..." He mumbled lowly. "You hate me, and you want me to die... You wish you'd never left your old husband... Why don't you just divorce me and leave me already, if you hate me so much..?"

"WHAT IN THE FUCK HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU?!" Tereya screamed in fury, eyes widened, and teeth gritted together. "I....I can't believe this shit you're spouting right now!!! What in the world makes you think I hate you?! I love you!! I married you!! I protected you when you were nearly killed by that brat!!! And I fought for nine fucking months in order to break Sasha's grip away from both of us!!! What in the hell could possibly make you think I HATE you?!"

Nori frowned. His feet still weren't touching the floor, and he was still pressed firmly against the wall... He shouldn't have told her to get stronger. Not that he had the willpower to break free of her grip. "I don't know... You just do... I know you do! Why wouldn't you? Look at me! Don't you just want to hate me?! I bet you can't resist it! Right now, you're struggling not to laugh, aren't you!? Seeing me here pinned against the wall is a turn on, right?!?" Nori screamed back. He still wouldn't meet her gaze, and was instead staring past her. "Just let me go... I want to be alone..."

"You can't even look me in the eyes when you say those words!!!" Tereya snapped. "You know all of that is a god damned lie!! I don't know what in the fuck has told you that I hate you, but it's complete bullshit. And you seriously think I want to laugh? When my husband's being fucking paranoid?! I don't want you to die, you moronic bastard!!" For emphasis, she grabbed his wounded arm. She concentrated her energy, forcing it within the injured limb. Slowly, veins that were cut began to seal off into clots. It would take some time for the wound to actually heal, and the process she was using would be a bit consuming. But it didn't matter...

Nori winced. She didn't need to do that..! She knew he could do it by himself... "Get. The. Fuck. Off. Of. Me." He bit down into her hand; the one that was grabbing his collar and keeping him pressed against the wall. This wouldn't even be enough to draw blood... or really hurt her. He was too weak to do that. Nori had always been weak... He was weak then, when he met her, and now, when they were together...

That allowed Tereya to concentrate on the wound. With the time that had been given, she managed to heal it, not completely, but enough to give the body itself a chance. She released him, allowing him to drop back onto the floor, and folded her arms across her chest. "I don't want you to die, nor do I hate you. I love you, and so does Mitsune. Both of us have stuck by you far too long to back out now. Can't you realize that?" She insisted, her anger softening a little.

The moment she let him go, she'd permitted him to run away. Using kogeru, he moved himself to the living room. Their house was huge; by the time she found him, as long as she didn't pin him down again, he could move somewhere else and keep avoiding her. That's what he'd do. He loved her, and Mitsune!... But they didn't love him. He knew they didn't. Why would they? He was a leech. He fed off their happiness, and made everyone miserable.

He wouldn't get the chance to run away again.

Immediately, a set of arms trapped him in a Nelson, hands gripping the back of his head in order to keep him in place. Her voice whispered, once again annoyed. "Now I can't let you go..." She growled. "Now, look at yourself. You look away when you speak those fucking lies. You run away from me when I try to talk to you. We both know you're just being hopeless. If it's going to take the rest of my goddamn life, I'm going to keep hounding you until you get it through that thick skull of yours."

"... I..." Nori paused. Was there a point in continuing? Instead, he hung limply in his wife's arms. She'd get bored with him eventually. "I think Mitsune's hungry... she's going to be mad when she comes out of the shower and finds out there's no food on the table... You should start cooking..."

"And what? Are you going to run away and cut yourself again? Or maybe even kill yourself? I'm staying right here, until I'm sure you're not going to do anything stupid."

"Then you can make me follow you around all day... This is uncomfortable. Let me go." Nori sighed. He would... Until she went to bed; then he'd go off on his own and do whatever he wanted.... Whatever that was.

"Not until you tell me what the hell's going on with you." Tereya replied stubbornly, even tightening the grip she had on Nori for a brief moment.

"I already told you nothing's wrong."

"You cut yourself, you say both me and Mitsune hate you, and you're still saying nothing's wrong with you. You have a really good habit of taking bullshit, you know that?"

"Mmm... It looks like we're going to be here a while... I guess I'll catch up on my sleep, since it was cut short when you woke me up..." Nori sighed, then closed his eyes, ready to fall asleep. If she tried to wake him, he'd use the moment she moved to break free and then use kogeru to get away.

It was hopeless.

In frustration, Tereya finally gave up. She angrily threw him aside and stormed off. How could he be so selfish?! But it didn't matter.... she could play it his way. But she would know whenever he would attempt to run off again... if he did anything more than cut himself, she would be there to punch him in the face and call him idiotic for doing so. But for now, he was far beyond reasoning. She might as well go cook breakfast now...

"Ha... haha..." Nori laughed. He felt like laughing. Why shouldn't he laugh? He had been right! She did get tired of him! And Mitsune probably didn't like him anyway; she only loved Sasha. So was he free now..? Free to do what he wanted?! If so, then he wouldn't have to bother either of them anymore. Nori layed motionless on the floor where she had thrown him... He'd get up when breakfast was ready.

At the kitchen table, Tereya wasn't a happy camper. After cooking, she had immediately set up the plates without word, before taking her own seat at the table. Her elbows were on it, and her fingers were folded together. She had her eyes closed, and she was silent the whole time. Although there was steaming food in front of her, she didn't feel like taking a single bite. In fact, she was just tempted to throw her plate into the nearest wall out of frustration - an urge she was doing her best not to give in to. Why? She had put so much on the line, so much to show that she cared....

....and yet, it didn't seem to matter to him.

His child didn't seem to matter to them.

If anything, it seemed like Nori hated the both of them.

Why...?

In a burst of red, Mitsune appeared right in her seat, her mouth already inches away from her own food. Just as she was about to jump into her food, she looked up... and frowned at her mother. "The fuck is your problem? I can't eat with you sitting there with that puss on your face... snap out of it." She ordered briskly. This was Mitsune's way of saying ''Mitsune loves Mommy! Mommy doesn't have to be sad''!

"....then go throw your food away...." Tereya muttered lowly. "I'm gonna be like this for a while."

"And why's tha--"

Their conversation was interrupted by Nori sitting down across from them both, and even though he obviously didn't want to eat, he picked up a forkful of his food and ate it. Still, he refused to look at either of them. Mitsune caught on quickly, quieted down, and began eating her food like an actual human being. Tereya's response would determine the course of the rest of the day.

It was here that Tereya decided to pop the question, taking in a deep breath before beginning. "...do you hate us?" She asked quietly, not having any more strength to start screaming at him.

"I love you both..." Nori replied quietly, focusing intently on his food. It wasn't that he didn't like them... It was that he could see his parents in himself. He was an abusive husband, and didn't seem to care about his child... But he couldn't help it, right..? It wasn't his fault! He just needed to go away for a while, and forget about everyone...

He still refused to look at her. "....look at us when you say that." Tereya pressured, an urging in her voice. "Looking away is just going to make me think you're lying again."

"... I dont want to."

"What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid of anything."

"It's becoming more and more easier to guess what you're thinking every time you lie.... you're comparing yourself to your parents... aren't you?" It was her first guess, based on what he had told her at the restaurant. It was the only thing that had seemed to cause a negative effect on his mind, the only thing she had been told about. Past things like that could change a person forever, as with her own case in her enslavement and personal Hell that she had went through. She could relate to Nori... in her own way.

"... I hate you, leave me alone..."

And with that, Nori disappeared from the table as quickly as he had come. His food was left unfinished; he had really only taken the one bite, and that was small in the least. It barely made a dent in the food on his plate. Mitsune stared for a few seconds at the seat where her father had been just moments ago, then quickly switched to Tereya. "Mommy..." She began. "You... And Daddy, aren't going to get a divorce, right..?"

She could safely assume she struck home.

A heavy sigh came from Tereya's lips, and she placed a hand to her eyes. At Mitsune's statement, she allowed herself to chuckle harshly. "You should be glad, kid, if that happens..." She said calmly. "At this rate, he's going to take you away and go someplace where I can't follow. Neither of you would have to deal with this bitch anymore, right? You'd get to have Daddy all to yourself..." Her words were practically foreign to her. But, at this point, it seemed hopeless. She felt so miserable, so helpless that she had yet to do a thing to help Nori.

"... N-No... You're not getting a divorce! Mitsune won't let you! You'll go... Get back together, and and and then you..." Mitsune didn't really know where she was going with this. But Mommy and Daddy needed to stay together! She would make them stay together. "Mommy... If Mommy doesn't go get Daddy now, Mitsune'll kill her, uuu~!" She chirped, then motioned around. She found out her Shikai! Mitsune was invincible now!