Yeah, Maruki finds that hard to believe. By every damn angle. Her every worst impulse, her being unable to process her own trauma and turning into something akin to a blade- does she really think she can fool him?
Well, it didn't matter in the end.
He feels himself collapse and wheezing out loud- his brain screaming as he clutches his own hoodie to prevent his hands from trying to reach for her. He desperately tries to ground himself, desperately tells himself that he doesn't want to hurt her when his brain struggles against the injustice of it all. These preachy stupid fucking teenagers...
His dark impulses want to rip everything apart. Rip himself apart till there's nothing left.
"You’ll hate yourself forever," he whispers, his voice barely audible now, his voice barely audible, yet each word cuts like glass. It’s not a plea—it’s a curse, raw and venomous. As if he were making a prayer to the cruel gods above them for trying to disembowel the love Sumire had for her sister. "And maybe then... you’ll understand."
His mind feels like it’s being split in two—one half drowning in despair, the other consumed by Azathoth’s unrelenting rage.
"You are MINE," Azathoth roars, its voice echoing like thunder in his skull. "And I will not let you waste what remains of us. Fight back. Hold on. Do whatever it takes to survive, because if you die—if you fail—then I am nothing. NOTHING!"
The tentacles lash out wildly, slamming into the ground near Fawn, not to harm but to force her back. The sheer force of Azathoth’s will creates a small shockwave, disrupting the moment of violence as if tearing through the fabric of reality itself.
"Do you hear me, Maruki?!" The voice is insistent, a relentless command that won’t allow him to surrender. "You will NOT end us like this! You will fight, because that’s all we have left!"
"Azathoth...stop-" He clutches his chest as if trying to tear out the agony festering inside him. "Get out of my-"
The tentacles lash out. Finally. As if Azathoth actually latched onto whatever sprite of living Maruki held within him. One tentacle wraps around her waist, another binds her hands, pinning her to the wall with a force that leaves the structure groaning under the impact. It’s as if a truck had collided with her, the sheer power making her body go slack for a moment.
Maruki collapses to his knees, clutching at his throat as he gasps for air. His wheezing fills the silence, his breath ragged and desperate. And then, against all odds, he chuckles—a bitter, raw sound that echoes hollowly in the shattered space around them.
"...Well,” he croaks, his voice rasping but tinged with grim humor. “I can’t say I blame it.” He shakes his head, trembling hands pressed against his chest. “Not like I was actually going to die. That's the one wish that can't be fulfilled.”
He coughs, finally managing to straighten himself, his gaze falling on Fawn. There’s no warmth in his eyes—only cold disdain, sharp and unyielding, as if he were looking at something far beneath him.
"Do you have any damn empathy?" he hisses, his voice trembling with raw anguish. “Do you even understand what it’s like to wake up every day knowing you failed? Knowing that you couldn’t save the one person who meant everything to you? To see her face every time you close your eyes and know that it’s your fault she’s gone? That she’s dead because of you?!”
The tentacles retract slightly, their movements agitated, mirroring the storm brewing inside him. Maruki straightens further, his expression hardening into something almost cruel.
"You cling to your pain like it’s your lifeline!" he growls, his teeth bared, his eyes burning with fury. "You claim you want to heal, but you don’t. You don’t! All of you spit on the idea of change, of salvation, like it’s a joke. Because if you let go of your suffering, then what’s left of you? Without it, who the hell are you?"
“And you—you think you’re helping her?” His voice rises, sharp and scathing, cutting through the air like a blade. “Midnight doesn’t need someone who can’t even face their own pain. Someone who lashes out instead of helping. You don’t want to fix her. You just want to drag her down with you. You’re the one who’s dangerous to her, not me.”
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Yeah, Maruki finds that hard to believe. By every damn angle. Her every worst impulse, her being unable to process her own trauma and turning into something akin to a blade- does she really think she can fool him?
Well, it didn't matter in the end.
He feels himself collapse and wheezing out loud- his brain screaming as he clutches his own hoodie to prevent his hands from trying to reach for her. He desperately tries to ground himself, desperately tells himself that he doesn't want to hurt her when his brain struggles against the injustice of it all.
These preachy stupid fucking teenagers...His dark impulses want to rip everything apart. Rip himself apart till there's nothing left.
"You’ll hate yourself forever," he whispers, his voice barely audible now, his voice barely audible, yet each word cuts like glass. It’s not a plea—it’s a curse, raw and venomous. As if he were making a prayer to the cruel gods above them for trying to disembowel the love Sumire had for her sister. "And maybe then... you’ll understand."
His mind feels like it’s being split in two—one half drowning in despair, the other consumed by Azathoth’s unrelenting rage.
The tentacles lash out wildly, slamming into the ground near Fawn, not to harm but to force her back. The sheer force of Azathoth’s will creates a small shockwave, disrupting the moment of violence as if tearing through the fabric of reality itself.
"Azathoth...stop-" He clutches his chest as if trying to tear out the agony festering inside him. "Get out of my-"
The tentacles lash out. Finally. As if Azathoth actually latched onto whatever sprite of living Maruki held within him.
One tentacle wraps around her waist, another binds her hands, pinning her to the wall with a force that leaves the structure groaning under the impact. It’s as if a truck had collided with her, the sheer power making her body go slack for a moment.
Maruki collapses to his knees, clutching at his throat as he gasps for air. His wheezing fills the silence, his breath ragged and desperate. And then, against all odds, he chuckles—a bitter, raw sound that echoes hollowly in the shattered space around them.
"...Well,” he croaks, his voice rasping but tinged with grim humor. “I can’t say I blame it.” He shakes his head, trembling hands pressed against his chest. “Not like I was actually going to die. That's the one wish that can't be fulfilled.”
He coughs, finally managing to straighten himself, his gaze falling on Fawn. There’s no warmth in his eyes—only cold disdain, sharp and unyielding, as if he were looking at something far beneath him.
"Do you have any damn empathy?" he hisses, his voice trembling with raw anguish. “Do you even understand what it’s like to wake up every day knowing you failed? Knowing that you couldn’t save the one person who meant everything to you? To see her face every time you close your eyes and know that it’s your fault she’s gone? That she’s dead because of you?!”
The tentacles retract slightly, their movements agitated, mirroring the storm brewing inside him. Maruki straightens further, his expression hardening into something almost cruel.
"You cling to your pain like it’s your lifeline!" he growls, his teeth bared, his eyes burning with fury. "You claim you want to heal, but you don’t. You don’t! All of you spit on the idea of change, of salvation, like it’s a joke. Because if you let go of your suffering, then what’s left of you? Without it, who the hell are you?"
“And you—you think you’re helping her?” His voice rises, sharp and scathing, cutting through the air like a blade. “Midnight doesn’t need someone who can’t even face their own pain. Someone who lashes out instead of helping. You don’t want to fix her. You just want to drag her down with you. You’re the one who’s dangerous to her, not me.”