( Complete ) it's been a while since you've come around

[seeyouinpieces]

WHO: Tira and Youji Kudou.
WHAT: The two meet again after being separated for a very long time.
WHERE: The very edge of the jungle.
WHEN: Uh, whatever day it is now.

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[smokeandwires]

Their house was gone, completely up in smoke, so Youji didn't have any way to leave a note for Omi. It was probably for the best. If the youngest Weiss knew that he was headed for the jungle, he would freak out.

He took a few steps closer to the edge, inhaling sharply when the scent of blood hit. She was nearby, and she'd just killed something recently.

"Tira-chan?" His finger was on his watch, just in case.

[seeyouinpieces]

Tira could hear his voice.

She continued to move closer, until finally she appeared, dripping with blood and standing barely three feet in front of Youji at the very edge of the jungle. Her tail swished and a few droplets of blood splattered to the ground.

"Youji." She responded, voice lacking the usual cheer.

While Tira was definitely in her cold, hard part of her personality, she didn't seem inclined to attack.

[smokeandwires]

It had been a long time. She was covered in blood and he involuntarily took a step back. Her voice sounded dead, which could lead to an attack. He couldn't get himself to drop his guard.

After everything with Natalia, he was starting to wonder why he kept coming back to thoughts of Tira. Clearly, the first option would help him live longer than the second.

"Isn't this getting old?" he asked, reaching into his pocket for his cigarettes. "I don't think the 'wild jungle woman' look suits you. Please, how about you come home? Back to the town with me."

[seeyouinpieces]

The animal instincts she had received upon falling under Zikhadhara's curse seemed to have manifested themselves quite nicely in Tira's already-deranged mind. When Youji stepped back, the hand at her blade twitched and her footing shifted ever so slightly. However, her mood didn't seem altered because Tira didn't really want to kill Youji -- the involuntary reaction was only a result of the prey flinching from the predator.

Purple eyes stayed fixed on Youji as he spoke, watching carefully. "Why?" She asked, "So I can kill in the city instead of the jungle?"

Tira knew she could not exist without taking the lives of others. She had always known. And since Youji had displayed an obvious dislike of senseless killing, the girl couldn't see what his point was or what he was trying to do.

[smokeandwires]

He took a long drag from the cigarette, trying to think of what he had to offer her. What was the real reason he wanted her back in the town? Because he felt guilty? Because he was weak when it came to women? Who knew.

"You have to kill?" he asked, looking straight at her, at the blood soaking what little clothing she wore. "Haven't you ever thought about what was beyond that? Is there anything else besides killing for you?"

Just because he'd had to give up all hopes of a normal life didn't mean that she had to. She seemed like the kind of girl who had been trained all her life to do this - which was such a waste.

[seeyouinpieces]

Tira watched him with cold eyes, an almost curious expression passing her bloody face. "Have to kill?" She echoed, as if she couldn't believe what Youji had just said. "Have to kill. Ha. Ha ha."

The bitterly amused laugh died away instantly. "Of course I do." The deranged girl responded, taking a few steps closer. "Of course I think about what my life would be like without killing." Tira didn't seem angry, but there was definitely something malicious in her voice, laced with a bitterness so strong that she could almost taste it. "Naturally, I tried to fix it once." Another predatory step closer. "Found a nice family. They took me in, cared for me, gave me a normal life." Even closer. "I was happy there." Closer still. "But do you know what happened then? Do you know how that lovely little fairytale ended?"

Tira stopped. She was barely inches away from Youji, and her eyes were intensely locked with his. "I killed them. All of them."

[smokeandwires]

Youji stood still, not letting her intimidate him. He didn't look away, either. She was probably used to whoever she stared at cowering in fear before her. He didn't work that way.

He still had his cigarette in his mouth, which bobbed up and down as he talked. "Why? Why did you kill them if you were happy? Did you want to kill them?"

Slowly, very slowly, he reached out his hand, to wipe some of the blood from her cheek. "Or is it something you can't control?"

[seeyouinpieces]

Tira was taken aback by the reaction. She could understand that he was not intimidated by her... but how could he be so brave as to touch her, and without the intention of hurting her?

But she didn't flinch.

"It was all a lie anyway." She finally said, the other side of her personality being smothered by this cold, cruel one. "I'm a fool for thinking I could possibly have a normal life. Oh, how I tried to forget how beautiful blood looks, how nice screams sound, how happy it made me to cut out the heart of those who opposed me." She laughed then, but it was nowhere near happy -- and she slipped right back into her viciously cold demeanor again immediately after. "But ignoring it all just turned me into a time bomb. There was nothing I could do to stop it."

It was hard to tell if she felt regretful or not.

[smokeandwires]

So, it sounded like, if she didn't kill, she would explode with rage. It was a terrible way to live, and Youji hated to think about how part of his brain was agreeing with what she was saying. He'd had that sort of high after a mission, where he had too much adrenaline to sit still for hours afterwards.

His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Have you ever thought of other things to do instead? To release that energy without taking a life?"

[seeyouinpieces]

"Other things...?" Of course there were other ways to release energy, but Tira couldn't possibly match them with killing. "But it's not the same." She said, curious purple eyes still staring intently.

Tira lived to maim and destroy. And while she could entertain herself with destroying non-living things, in the end all that mattered to her was the blood and thrill of murder. She couldn't shake it, and she would never be able to shake it.