₊˚.༄ God Complex
CHAPTER FOUR:
( between these four walls. )

"no human being has ever stood
so close to my soul as you stand."

Aki Hayakawa had moved in several weeks into him and Seira Rika being partnered together.

That was six months ago.

At first it was hard and brutal to be living under the same roof as the sadist, stepping on each others toes every second spent outside their rooms, and animosity built a wall between the two. Seira was a plain woman as well, for there was no decorations to put personality to the living quarters, she only cared for the bare necessity's. The only furniture in the cramped apartment was a couch and a coffee table, and he could only imagine how plain her bedroom must have been. He often found himself pondering the idea late at night as he stared at the ceiling, and he often came to the conclusion that it was probably just a mattress that dawned a old bed sheet and a pillow.

In the beginning he barely left his room, only ever exiting his four walls to either eat, use the restroom, or do his laundry. Many nights were spent eating alone as well, for Seira never liked the idea of eating together, and often times when he asked her to sit down and enjoy a meal with him she only responded with a glare that could kill someone. Slowly, with time, all these things begin to change though.

Seira several months in had started to bring in plants, paintings, and other small trinkets, and slowly the apartment started to feel less like a prison and more like a home. She had even bought a lawn chair and table for the outside balcony after Aki had scolded her for smoking inside the home. He still hadn't gotten use to that habit even with Seira and Himano both chain smoking around him, but he appreciated that she was willing to make the small change for him.

Although, Seira still refused to sit and eat with him for the longest, until this night.

Tonight, they both sat at the coffee table, and the table filled to the brim with food and saki to feed a whole house hold. He didn't know what the occasion was for, and when he asked she simply brushed off his comment with a shrug of her shoulders. He chalked it up as him finally winning in their combat training a week ago, but the unknown for the feast reason left an uneasy feeling in his stomach, and it filled him more than any food would have that night.

She could tell by his uneasiness that Aki did not like this change in routine, and it made her feel guilty for making him eat alone his normal night schedule. She really had no reason, or at least none that would brush his uncomfortable feeling away. So, she opted to pour two glasses of saki, passing one to him. She watched as his eyes stared uncomfortably at the glass, and when he finally met her gaze she knew she should at least say something.

"Drink it," she stated.

"I'm not old enough," Aki remarked, as if the police or some other authority would barge in any second and arrest him for drinking under the age limit set by bigots in power, or maybe he though she was setting him up.

"Between these four walls everything we say and do stays between them. No one we do not wish will ever take a step through the door, and if they do, I swear I will cut them down. You are safe to be an individual here in this space, for this too is your home," Seira told him in hopes of easing his troubled mind, but also to finally be honest with the boy, for she had made him walk on eggshells enough in the time they spent together.

She watched slowly as he picked the glass up and raised it to his lips, gulping down the contents and quickly coughing once they reached his taste buds and fell quickly down his throat. She quickly did the same once his gaze became fixated on her, and she hastily poured the both of them another glass. One glass of Saki quickly became four, and before either one of them knew it the food had went gone and the drinks had increased. Seira felt fine, for she had been drinking for many years, but Aki had one too many for his first time, and she couldn't help but smile as the boy laid flat on his back and stared aimlessly at the ceiling.

"Why do you dislike Miss Makima," Aki had broken the silence that had been settled for hours between the two. It was a comfortable silence, one of two individuals merely soaking in one not hers company and enjoying the meal set between the two.

The question still came as a shock to Seira though, and she couldn't help but dance around the question, "Miss Makima has a devil contract as you may know, and no one knows who the contract is with," she paused for a long time, pondering on her next words carefully, "I know though, and such a power makes me feel uneasy. It makes me feel small and helpless, but it does ease my mind to know that she feels the same way about me."

"So she knows your devil contract?" Aki quickly sat up and bore his eyes into her own.

"No. Not a soul knows mine."

"Can I know?"

Seira felt guilt quickly set in, for the look on Aki's face was written with childlike curiosity. "Aki, one day you might find out, but tonight will not be that night, and I hope when you do come upon the answer that you keep it a secret, just how what is spoken between these four walls is our secret."

"Why can I not know," Aki's curiosity would get him killed just like a cats, and Seira broke out in a cold sweat from the thought.

"My secrets could get you killed, Aki Hayakawa," Seira spoke earnestly and honest with him.

"Who would kill me," Aki asked, and Seira could not answer him.

"Miss Makima." Aki stated, and Seira's silence only proved him right.

Nothing was said for a long time, for what could you say on such a heavy weight that would make it disappear. Aki knew being partnered with Seira meant that he would most likely die a lot sooner than he thought, but he had accepted that fact a long time ago, but never once had he thought of the possibility of the woman who had seen potential in him be the one of the culprits to his appending doom. Seira knew Makima had a reason for pairing the two of them together, and she knew Makima was using the poor boy as a means to an end. She knew that Aki was meant to become a weakness for her, for with time together he would sure enough be another chain for Makima to wrap around the God Devil.

"Is this why you've been so distant with me?" Aki asked.

All Seira could do was nod her head as a response, and she began to clean the table, done with the conversation at hand, and done with the tension building in the room. She was ready to retreat back to her room, and be one with the only place in the world that made her feel whole and free again.

"You know, when I moved in here I thought your room was as bare as the living room was several months ago," Aki had broken the silence, and Seira gave him a confused glance from the kitchen sink.

"Would you like to see it?"

Aki's eyes grew in size, and his face became flushed, "See your room?"

"Yes," She simply stated and she began to make her way towards her bedroom.

Aki followed quickly behind her, following her exact pace as she led him towards the door that he had been dying to see behind since he got here. He never knew why he was so curious about her room, maybe it was because he hoped it would add more color to the woman he thought had no personality. She was a machine half the time, no emotions and every movement was calculated and seemed second nature for the woman. When they reached the door he watched as Seira hesitated for a moment, but she slowly opened the door and led the boy inside.

He never expected for her four walls to look so animated before.

Seira's room held a yellow glow to it, no fluorescent lights like the kitchen and living room showed. Her walls were lined with records, some of the bands he knew of, but most he did not know. She had a desk that bared office supplies such as a laptop, paper, pens, and several books. She had several book shelves that held an assortment of manga and philosophy books, and even the floor held many more of the same reads for the bookshelves were already overflowing with hold capacity. Her bed bared grey sheets and pillow cases, and a dark green comforter laid on top of them. She had paintings that he couldn't decipher hung on the empty spaces of the walls, and a record player sat perfectly by the window that over looked the grime and dirt of the city.

"Between these four walls everything stays between them, and we both are safe to be ourselves," Aki finally spoke.

Seira was shocked by the comment, and when she turned to look at him she watched as his eyes continued to dance in awe at her room, for this was the first time he was seeing her. This was the first time any personality left in her cage of flesh was being seen by another, and Seira couldn't help but smile at Aki and hum a response as confirmation.

Between these four walls Aki and Seira were free.

( WORD COUNT ) 1693
—— unedited

Guess who's already back with an update! Shocking am i right?! Well, not much to say since i didnt wait several months to update again, so as always don't forget to comment, vote, and share, and i love you, my lovely little souls.