Disclaimer: The author of this fanfiction does not, in any way, profit from the story. All creative rights to the characters belong to their original creator(s).
The Sadist, the Masochist, and the Terracotta Dynamic
by Pout
Oishi comes home and hears the talking abruptly drop off. He slowly removes his shoes and takes the time to check the messages on the machine before finally going to the bedroom. The door is thrown wide open like an invitation and he comes to a stiff stop three steps in. Akutsu is lying there, cigarette in one hand, the other behind his head, naked and pale and waiting. Sengoku is trying hard to spontaneously dissolve into free atoms. It isn’t working, but neither of the couple really cares one way or another. Oishi says nothing, just stomps indignantly out of the room, slamming the door on his way, as Akutsu pulls tar into his lungs. Just as the cigarette is getting smashed dead into a full ashtray, they hear the sound of water running in the kitchen sink, the ding of the microwave, the metallic clatter of pots and pans.
Akutsu jerks out of bed, pulls on his pants and shirt and storms out to the kitchen where Oishi is watching his pot full of water boil and bubble. “What are you doing?” Akutsu asks, to which Oishi answers that he is making dinner. Akutsu stares him down then grabs the pot and chucks it into the living room, watching the handle swing around and around and the steaming water soak their sofa and scald the hardwood floors. Akutsu says nothing, just pulls on his shoes and leaves, the door rattling on its hinges for a long while after his exit. Sengoku appears and Oishi tells him he should just go and he does, running for the hills.
It is twilight by the time Akutsu returns. Oishi is watching the news but clicks off the TV when his partner reappears. He tells him that dinner is in the fridge, and that’s when Akutsu grabs the potted plant off the window sill and hurls it full serve at the wall. It shatters, a red-brown rain of dirt and innocent roots, and Oishi jumps up to fetch the dustpan before the sound of cracking earthenware has had the time to fade to silence. Akutsu watches him pick every speck of dirt off the floor. Oishi announces that he’s going to go take a shower now. He unbuttons his shirt and lets it slide off his shoulders as he disappears into the bedroom. Akutsu listens to the sound of running water and smokes a cigarette down to the filter before he follows the other inside and wonders why he keeps doing this to himself.
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Note: The idea was to show the difference between public and private personas. The title follows the chronology of the piece. That is to say, Oishi is the “sadist” and Akutsu is the “masochist.” The “terracotta dynamic” may be interpreted however you like.
If you would like to provide feedback on this story, please feel free to e-mail me at: poutonly@gmail.com.