(Haunt) I could just breathe you in (Mars Red, Misaki/Aoi)

[thepasteldyke]

Title: I could just breathe you in
Fandom: Mars Red
Ship: Nakajima Misaki/Shirase Aoi
Prompt: #53 Haunt
Rating: T
Scope/Length: 781 words
Warnings: None
Notes: Title from the song Dark Beach by Pastel Ghost. Post-canon.
Summary: Aoi goes back to the theatre expecting to conduct an interview. Instead, she meets someone who is very much dead.

 

She had to be dreaming.

There was no other way this could be happening. But then again, she’d recently learned about the existence of vampires, so why wouldn’t ghosts be real as well? She’d have to ask the opinion of that strange pink-haired man she now knew Shutaro worked with. Surely he’d have some thoughts on the matter.

 

As of right now, however, that would have to wait.

 

She stared into a mirror that had been stowed away for later at the theatre.

She’d come to conduct an interview on an upcoming play, but instead she had found the spirit of someone who was most definitely dead.

Behind her, sitting on top of a fabric-covered armchair from a previous production, was a woman with short dark hair, dressed in light robes. As she moved, she didn’t make a single thread in the fabric shift beneath her.

 

“How long are you going to pretend I’m not here?”

 

Aoi blinked, and from one moment to the next, the woman was right next to her. She yelped, finally turning to face her.

But as she faced left, she felt her neck grow cold, the woman having moved to her other side in an instant, her hand running along the back of her neck.

She could hear her chuckle, and when she turned her head this time, she was finally face to face with a woman she knew had turned into ashes as the sun hit her skin.

“Misaki-san…!”

They had never met, but she had admired her craft, her performance on stage spellbinding.

“Hardly seems fair that you know my name while I don’t know yours,” Misaki said, leaning in close. She was colourless, translucent. If she reached out her hand to touch her, Aoi felt as if it would pass right through her.

“Oh, um, I’m Aoi.”

She felt cold as Misaki’s hands touched her cheeks. To her surprise, aside from the temperature, her touch felt almost like that of a living person’s.

Misaki forcibly turned her head this way and that, looking at her closely.

 

“I’ve never met anyone who looked so remarkably like me before. Has the army mastered cloning?”

Trying to pull her face out of Misaki’s grip and failing, she wondered if she’d retained her vampiric strength or if ghosts were just naturally strong.

“I’m not a clone,” she said, accepting the hands holding her cheeks. “I’m human.”

 

“I’ll just have to believe you, I suppose.” She finally let go of her face, only to lean in impossibly close. Aoi could feel the cold emanating from her face on her own. When she let out a shaky breath, it came out as a cloud of white smoke.

“U-um, Misaki-san, you’re kind of close…” She stared into Misaki’s eyes, colour rising to her cheeks.

“What of it?” Misaki asked, a smirk making its way onto her face. She ran her fingers up her throat, underneath her chin, tilting her head up.

Aoi swallowed, going even more red than before.

She felt Misaki’s other hand card through her ponytail. “U-usually you only get this close to, um, kiss someone…”

Misaki raised an eyebrow.

“And would you like to?”

Aoi’s eyes opened wide at the question. “But we’re both women…?” Not to mention the fact that Misaki was dead.

Misaki scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Why should men have all the fun? Well? Would you?”

Eyes darting from one side to the other, Aoi finally met Misaki’s eye. “...Yes.”

 

The touch of Misaki’s lips was ice cold, leaving her lips tingling. But still, she leaned into the kiss.

Her lips were cold, but they were soft.

Her eyes slipped closed and she opened her mouth to let Misaki’s tongue inside. It felt like breathing in the freezing air on a midwinter night.

 

All too soon, Misaki pulled back.

Aoi opened her eyes again, her breathing quick, her face flushed from the cold and the lack of oxygen alike.

 

Her lips stung when Misaki traced them with a cold finger.

“Your lips are blue,” she said, clearly amused.

She rose into the air, high above the ground. Aoi felt herself miss her touch, no matter how much it hurt.

As if reading her mind, Misaki laughed. “Come meet me again, Aoi.” She started to fade into the aether, invisible to the naked eye.

Aoi could still feel her presence.

“Any time,” Misaki’s voice whispered in her ear, making her shudder.

 

And just like that, she was gone, as if she’d been nothing but a dream.

But Aoi knew better.

 

The cold had left her lips burning as they started to regain their heat.

There was no way this could have been anything but real.