Kiss me. Kill me, your character killing mine.
Haou was not a romanticist. He never believed in saving his kisses for someone who he felt something other than lust for. And, as cruel as it was to the girl, it was the same case here (or so he told himself).
His gloved hand reached out to her jugular, and slowly traced the veins from her throat to her chin as he lifted the other's head to face him. She was beautiful, he would admit, but the king was never one to fall for just a pretty face. He had seen many women in his time--but Aki was outstanding on her own.
"One night," he said smoothly, and lowly, as if whispering a well-kept secret into her ear. He had done this before. She was his prey, and he was the predator. "To forget all of your troubles. I can provide that."
She did not speak, and he did not expect her to. His hand did not wander from her chin, and his other hand was placed behind his back. He was teasing, with only words and the feel of fabric.
"Loosen your bounds, and be free," he was too dramatic, he wryly mused. Haou's golden eyes seem to glow as he stared into her brown eyes--eyes that reminded him so much of Judai. Their faces were inches apart, and Haou noticed that she seemed extremely hesitant.
Hesitancy would only prolong the inevitable. Haou leaned in and captured her lips in a kiss; the deal was sealed.
It should not have been her.
He was not dueling her, he was not angry at her, he held no grudge against her, but yet--
Inferno Wing's claws tore through the layers of her clothes and cut through her flesh as easily as a knife through butter. Haou's eyes widened as he saw the spill of red from her back, and her lifeless form falling to the ground.
The king was almost paralyzed for the first time in his life. That attack was not meant for her; he was dueling Yusei. That attack had been for Yusei, to end the mechanic's life because Haou was tired of the other interfering with Judai.
He grit his teeth and let his bangs cover his eyes. A needless sacrifice--did she love him that much?
And for the first time since forever, Haou felt the guilt and regret clawing its way through his body.