There was a crowing in his head that reveled, rejoiced at the situation. The surge of superiority slithering through his veins when prey finally hit floor—and that’s all it was right now, predator and prey, right? How easily they both fell into each other’s traps; how, despite that docile disposition, his fingertips could discern the betrayal of the body to the mind; how, if he continually added pressure, he could permanently end this animosity—
but those thoughts weren’t normal. Not for him. Not for he who upheld that near-hopeless notion of having faith in life until it was certain death had stripped it down to bare bones. It was hard to cling to that when it wasn’t dominance but rage that restrained such rationality. When it would be so effortless in his state to squeeze it out of existence.
So, Heiji let go. Latched himself off this smug parasite. Stumbled back, because taking the easy way out meant he wasn’t any better than the trapper who’d set him up. Turned away, and pressed his head to the nearest wall because he was better than this… Yet, that proximity gave him realization of how paper-thin that blockade was on both ends.
But that fury still churned, brewing a storm perhaps greater than the one outside. Words wanted to force themselves out of him, and the red heat flushing his face wanted to subside. Heiji wasn’t at all willing—never at all willing—to put anyone through the ringer but himself. For once, though, he wished for that damn pounding in his head would hurry it up and take him away from here. He didn’t know what he was going to do if he stood another second conscious in the presence of someone who’d nearly tempted him to act like the ones he imprisoned.
What Hakuba felt when the tense moment ended, throat once again exposed to air, was a chaotic mixture of flooding relief and shocking disappointment. He hesitated a moment, then pushed himself into a sit, hand moving to touch his neck where Heiji had previously gripped him.
“Ah…” the foreign detective directed his gaze to the one at the wall. “So you do know exactly how I feel.”‘