Chimera (Delusion)

         In between a kotatsu and a shoji screen, lay two bodies. The small, unlit apartment stayed silent while clashes of light blistered the sky outside the window. Loud booms sliced the air, masking the emotional bond between two heaving chests in the middle of the living room.
         His were the first to land, slipping down her neck and dripping to the floor. She was frozen on her back with one hand on his chest and the other gripping his right shoulder, supporting half his weight above her. She looked up at his face. His eyes were shadowed by his untame, raven colored hair; and his lips hung loose as his breath fanned her skin. She heard his hands shake on the tatami mat as he slowly balled them into fists.
          Besides the melancholic rhythm of drops cast on her neck and collar bone, the only warmth she felt came from her upper right hip and thigh. They were straddled by his rattling knees. She wondered why she couldn't say anything. She had practiced perfect quotes for years, storing sentences in a sacred place, and imagining what he could possibly say in return. Now, she couldn't pluck out a single word. All she could do was stare at his quivering body through darting eyes.
         Her mind was a hurricane.
         Then, he said the words that silenced the madness within her. He said it slowly and carefully.
         "Hisashiburi desu. Ima, yakusoku desu."
         Her pupils built and swelled; her throat tightened, then expanded. The ginger gloss she put on so delicately over her lips minutes prior to their reunion, now bathed his.
         She had finally won.