A Love to Die For

“C’mon now, say ahhhhhhh!”

Akio’s eyes darted between the onigiri held between dainty fingers and an expression of utter sweetness beaming at him. From the whimsical smile to the fluttering eyelashes, it was too saccharine a scene for what it should be.

A thin yelp of protest escaped his throat as he stared at the crimson eyes waiting expectantly for him to lean forward. He had taken a moment too long to react, so a slight wave of the hand caused him to flinch like a stray puppy. That was what he was, a bundle of instinctive caution at the hand that tried to feed him.

A normal passerby would take one look at this scene and immediately be screaming for him to Man up! Just eat the damn thing already and get a freaking room! How innocent and naïve such a person would be.

They likely imagined a couple sitting side by side on a schoolyard bench at lunchtime –handmade food hovering in the air with a sense of pride, waiting to be devoured by a loved one. And on top of that, it was made by a girl, his girl. One that would attract a fair amount of attention if she weren’t taken already. But Akio knew that it was all a sham.

After all, schoolgirl uniforms were deceiving. Youth gave many the benefit of the doubt. Preconceived notions were great at hiding secrets from a passing glance.

To that same onlooker, this seemed like the perfect scene for a budding romance – moments watched with bated breath while urging that gap to close and finalize with some results. Their attention was focused on those centimeters of gain, the measure of a relationship seemingly as innocent as the couple was immature.

That was, of course, a fatal mistake of letting their guard down. A rustle of the bushes was all it took to nail down the intruder, and the illusion to disperse.

A glint of metal flashed, followed by a sharp yelp of pain.

“AHHHHHHHH!!!”

Akio felt a chill as someone in the bushes screamed in terror, fleeing the scene. The realization of attempted murder left them scrambling with a trail of blood left behind. Akio felt sorry for the curious person looking from afar, but only to the level of someone burned by being curious at how a gas canister would explode if shot at.

That person had been let off easy. Akio, on the other hand, had no escape routes. The girl before him was a propane tank and the onigiri a trigger finger for a shotgun. Any false actions would be death before he could get out of range.

And then, she turned back to face him, eyes still containing a flash of murder from before. Black locks of hair dangling in front of her face, trying to hide it. It took several moments for the kindness to seep back in.

Sheepishly, he eyed the girl pinning him with her presence. Forget propane tank, she was the entire mine field if she wanted to be. A tiny twist of her lips marred the otherwise perfect look of sweetness she had on, a slim barrier keeping him on the edge of danger. Her hand swept away any notion that she had held the thrown fork, a laughable innocence covering up any devilishness.

Twenty meters away. A single flick of the wrist with deadly accuracy had drawn blood on the unsuspecting prey, but she had let them escape. That was never her target, just a mild annoyance interrupting a precious moment. Rather, her eyes were now all on him, not realizing, or maybe not caring, that all that pressure would make any other man mentally review his last will.

Akio was used to it. At least, he was getting there. He swallowed that fear enough to make the slightest movement – a scoot backwards to construct a bit of resistance. The onigiri followed suit. Another few centimeters back, but the distance never grew.

The smile never faded. The looks of adoration never stopped. Somehow, it was more terrifying this way, even more than if he were to gaze at death itself. At least, the alternative would be over in moments.

By now, he was at the edge of the bench, the armrest digging hard into his back. It was another dagger held against him like the stare trained right at his lips.

“What’s wrong, Akio? Aren’t you going to dig in?”

Before he could react, the hand pounced and grains of rice shredded between his wavering teeth, failing to find any words to block the attack. A hint of mayonnaise followed after, and then tuna. It was a perfectly normal spectrum of flavors, nothing to be alarmed about.

Until a hint of iron invaded his tongue.

Immediately, Akio’s eyes honed onto the side of the half-bitten onigiri, where her fingertips had moved a smidgen – enough to reveal dried flakes of blood.

Some would find it endearing for a girl to put in enough effort to bleed for her cooking, enough so to choke down the result, all outcomes be damned. One could be lulled into a potential sense of gap moe. The insane would even find this commitment charming.

But this was simply a delusion to help Akio cope in the moment.

There were no visible cuts, no bandaged fingers from snafus. The blood on her fingertips likely wasn’t even hers. But that begged the question that he was trying so hard not to think about but failed.

Whose was it?

Perhaps, the girl could sense it from his deer-stricken gaze, as if having ingested poison. She looked down at her hand and waved it off with a dismissive giggle. He couldn’t tell if she was serious or not. It hadn’t been that long since he’d known her.

“Oh, that? Someone found it silly that a yankee could cook. Even dared to joke about how I’d murder the food. Wasn’t laughing anymore after I murdered his face.”

“Any more of this and I might die my-”

Akio whined between the chewing, choking suddenly but too late to shut his own mouth. A very fake laugh escaped from him, but the damage had been done.

The dull sound of wood scraping by his ear changed the very air. A turn of the head in that direction revealed a sharp knife planted into the bench. Attached to that was a twitching arm, veins bulging and muscles textured like the forearms of a bodybuilder.

It was a full-power deathblow that had missed him by inches. There was hardly any joking when it came to her, but the miss had been intentional. That didn’t make it any less fearsome, particularly as the wood snapped at that very moment.

“Ah, look at that. Progress, if I say so myself. For you, I can control myself. To think that you’d risk it all to make me a better person. It’s no wonder I fell for you.”

Her eyes were full of hearts even as her actions spoke the opposite. Akio was too afraid to ask what had happened to the unfortunate soul from before. His heart was overclocked with concern for himself. But now, he was certain as to what the commotion had been that morning.

This girl, Misaki Haibara, was a danger to society.

Thoughts of her locked somewhere instead of a casual lunchtime outing came to mind first. Those that knew her name, knew she was untouchable. A disaster, a terror, walking death – no one dared approach her. Adults that dangled seniority and position found themselves becoming the next missing person. Calling her a yankee was putting it as mild as ketchup. She even made the balls of yakuza shrivel with her presence alone.

No one was stupid enough to walk the same halls as her. That was, until Akio opened his dumbass mouth like he always did and made her notice him. Worst split-second decision with the worst timing ever.

“Akio-kun… there’s not much time left before class starts. Let’s skip right to dessert.”

Misaki leaned over, using the knife to stab another handhold to crawl her way up to Akio’s eyes. She was so close now that her hair tickled his eyes. Not being able to see created an even more visceral chill than before. Try as he might, Akio’s back could only bend so far. With no room left, her lips pressed against his. It was gentle as it could be, but there was no way in hell he could enjoy it. He could taste nothing but his own bruised tongue flittering between his chattering teeth as her strong grip anchored him in place. The whites of his eyes showed as he tried to disconnect himself from reality. Soon enough, his body gave in to the impulses, kissing back as if trained to give in.

Misaki was forceful. Misaki always had her way. If she couldn’t, then heaven forbid those that stood in her path.

And somehow, that same Misaki was his girlfriend.