ぐちゃ ! (Splat!) [Yoru x F! Reader] [End]
Heya! Guess who's officially done with Yoru? That's right, this gal!
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go binge watch Iso's trailer again as a rewar– I mean, to get a feel for his personality, if you catch my drift hehe
Catch you next week! And this time I won't be late!!
❤ฺ·。
Yoru x F! Reader
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 4.5 / Part 5 / Part 6
Genre: Fluff, some angst
TW: Detailed violence
Words: 6k
Synopsis: Hapless doesn't even begin to describe you. With your life flipped upside down within the span of a day; you're left to rely on your best friend Tala to help you pick up the pieces and build the new one forced upon you.
And this 'luck' seems to have caught the attention of one of her friends.
。+❤ฺ·。❤ฺ·。+❤ฺ· +❤·。❤ฺ·。+❤ฺ·
To say today had a good start would be a vast understatement.
You woke up feeling untouchable, as if even a bullet wouldn’t be able to take away the triumphant aura you exuded around everyone on your way to responsibly prepare for the mission.
You were smiling ear to ear in the training range; gunning down bots like a particularly happy paperboy delivering the newspapers.
Neon definitely felt that something was off. But it wasn’t the fact that you weren’t an anxiety-ridden mess, no. What concerned her was how good your aim was, and especially how calm you were with how you wielded your weapon.
It was contagious.
She stood next to you and crossed her arms, speaking loudly to counteract how deafening the shots were.
“Someone’s happy today.”
You shrugged and continued shooting.
“It’s just a good day, you know? Clear weather, chill vibes and everything.”
Neon raised an eyebrow.
With the upcoming mission, she herself was prepared to reassure you on how things would go as smoothly as they did last time. But this?
This attitude was as natural as catching sight of a flying pig.
“Alright, lay it all out, A/N. You were gone all day yesterday.”
She forced a blush out of you with just those words, and prompted you to stop shooting for a moment.
There was no reason for you not to tell her. Well, except for one…
“It’s not like you’d believe me.”
“Don’t be like that, when have I ever doubted you?”
She said with one hand on your shoulder, completely confident in her words. And you could make an entire list in response to that.
A sigh escaped you before you finally managed to meet her gaze.
“Fine. I may or may not have gone out with Yoru yesterday.”
Neon paused for a moment. Then, she snickered, as if you told her you’d won the lottery.
“Be honest. I’ll be impressed with whatever it really is.”
“I’m not joking, Neon!”
“No way, Yoru doesn’t go out with people two consecutive days in a row, I tried!”
Sounds like something she’d do, alright.
Just as you went to throw a snarky response at her, you jumped once she gasped in the most diva way possible and forcefully tilted your Bulldog upwards.
There, she saw it.
“What is this?”
Neon called out as if she spotted a bomb. In fact, she scared you, until you realised she was pointing at your prized gift from the day before.
She tilted the gun to get a better angle and held the omamori in her hand to make sure it was what she thought it was.
“There’s no way– is that from Yoru?!”
You flushed and pulled it away, swiftly turning on the safety considering how stupid of a move this was.
“I told you, dummy!”
“I didn’t think– did he give that to you or did you sneak into a shrine? There’s no way you got that, right?”
You allowed her to take your gun to inspect it. And with just a few touches, she confirmed that it was an omamori only he’d get.
“I’m serious, he gave it to me!”
“How?! I've known him for months and I can barely get a text back sometimes!”
Which is why you couldn’t wait until the mission to finally not have something go wrong for once.
Nevertheless, you innocently shrugged and tucked a lock of your hair behind your ear in the most smug manner possible.
“Oh, well, you know. I guess some of us are naturally irresistible.”
“What-ever.”
Neon crossed her arms and pouted for a moment. But then, she met your gaze with a devious glimmer in her eyes once a brand new idea popped up.
Uh oh.
“Sooo… did he cook you something this morning? Anything delicious for breakfast?”
“I woke up late.”
She clicked her tongue, before getting back to the main task at hand.
“Okay fine. When he does, which he will, you wouldn’t mind, you know… sneaking some for your best friend, right?”
You couldn’t hold back the giggle that escaped you.
Of course Neon would request something preposterous like this. Why wouldn’t she?
“Ease up, Neon. Too early. We’re still just friends, remember?”
“We’re almost a month in and you still don’t know how Yoru’s world works? If he feeds you, he’s basically proposing!”
You definitely knew, but you weren’t about to admit that.
She began shooting with your Bulldog as each of you spoke, almost as if to emphasise the fact you had an omamori tied to the gun.
“That’s a reach.”
“Why’s that? It’s not like you’d say no if he does.”
“Pshh. As if you know that.”
Neon tossed your Bulldog back to you, before grabbing your wrist and forcing you to get a good look at the roots.
Only now did you notice how organised and easy-to-digest they were, as if they were sets upon sets of cables that unwrapped from each other.
No wonder why it felt like your arm was easier to have.
“This wasn’t here before!”
Your eyes widened as you took the sight in. And for once, it looked organised.
“Wait– when the hell did this happen?”
“You didn’t notice this?!”
You flushed and pulled away as Neon laughed. But since you were a simple tee, you couldn’t really cover up your arm.
Before she could somehow sneak in one more snarky remark about how unfocused you were, the door to the training range loudly slid open and caught both of your attention. Your eyes promptly darted to the entrance.
The strong light from behind shone upon a silhouette that took you a moment to recognise.
But if the imposingly tall stature didn’t help with that, his voice surely did.
“Excusez-moi, not to interrupt a pleasant conversation, but we have to leave.”
<Excuse me,>
Chamber called out, earning a sneer from Neon. One that you unfortunately didn’t see.
“Leave? Wait, what time is it?”
“One.”
Your eyes widened.
“Crap. Okay, talk later Neon! Don’t forget to wait for me until I’m back!”
You quickly reloaded your Bulldog and rushed towards him. Neon excitedly waved as you moved through the doorway with the same grin on her face.
“I’ll be waiting, break a leg out there!”
She said, earning a nod before you disappeared down the hallways.
With Yoru’s omamori in hand, you thought, you hoped it wouldn’t be your leg that would break.
You moved down the halls with Chamber by your side, inspecting your weapon one final time.
“Man, time flew by so fast. It feels like I haven’t even trained. Also, am I late?”
Chamber chuckled, his polite laughter echoing through the hall just as much as the clicks of his dress shoes did.
You couldn't tell whether or not he was mad. But from the looks of things, he seemed... unamused.
“Late enough for Brimstone to send me to get you. Was your phone off, by any chance?”
Uh oh.Your face turned red. And immediately, you began fiddling with your bracelet.
Crap, he mentioned your phone; did they send you a bunch of messages that you didn't see?!
“Oh, sorry. I– I left my phone back in my room…” You awkwardly smiled, feeling a bit more embarrassed. “I’m making a terrible first impression on you, huh? Sorry about that…”
“No need for an apology, A/N. I completely understand. It must be exciting, non? Your first mission with a team.”
Chamber noted with a smile as he fixed his tie.
“Ah, to be young, innocent, and on my first mission again.”
You couldn't help but smile.
His voice was calm. Just the stagnant tone of it could put you to sleep if he just spoke long enough.
With everything else, there's no way he wasn’t one of the higher-ups, right?
“So you’re Chamber, right? I heard you’re an expert. Does that mean they’ll bring you on the other side?”
He shrugged and put both hands behind his back as he walked.
“That is a contingency I cannot predict. Personally, I would hope otherwise.”
“Why not? Fighting yourself sounds like fun. Speaking of, now I’m curious about how you are on the field.”
“I admire your optimism. That being said, if I were you, A/N, I would stay far, far away from my double.”
You paused to process what he said.
What did he mean by that? But just as you formed an answer to that question, Chamber stopped in his tracks, and only now did you notice that you had finally arrived at your destination.
You stopped as well once you made your way through the doorway. It felt like the voices of your colleagues were drowned out during the conversation, for some reason.
“Ah, here we are. Now, as I was saying, keep that attitude up, and I guarantee nothing less than an excellent performance from you.”
He said with the same smile he had the entire conversation.
“Best of luck to you.”
And with that, Chamber took his leave and left you with your thoughts like nothing happened.
“Thanks…”
You mumbled, before quickly looking around in order to distract yourself from what he just said. Luckily for you, however, you spotted Omen in the far right corner of the area, both his arms crossed as he listened to Sage ramble on about something.
Quickly, you made your way towards them.
❤ฺ·。
The place you've arrived at looked vastly different from the pictures you'd seen beforehand. But, to be fair, you looked at it for a picosecond before leaving for more, ahem, 'important' matters.
Once the aircraft landed, you stepped out with the rest and prepared yourself for the sand that might enter your eyes, recalling which site you were supposed to be in.
But before any of you could actually move to where you needed to be, you immediately found Brimstone standing in front of all of you.
"Alright, let's get one thing out of the way. How many of you read the brief?"
You proudly lifted your hand.
"I did!"
"Me too."
Yoru chimed in, and the both of you earned a nod before he turned to look at Omen and...
"Phoenix, buddy, you're coming with me."
The Englishman’s eyes widened.
"Woah woah, why me? Why would you assume I haven't read it?"
"Have you?"
Brim asked with a raise of his brow, and Phoenix quickly let out an awkward chuckle whilst he scratched his head.
Omen, unlike the two of you, minded his own business and proceeded to walk to his designated site.
"Well, I didn't read read it, but I skimmed over it. Still counts, right?"
Brim walked off to A site right behind Omen, and Phoenix promptly followed behind.
"That's still more progress than last time! Wait, Brim, just hear me out, fam! How come Raze never gets in trouble for it?"
You giggled to yourself before moving to your site: B.
While you walked, you extended your arm and took in the sight all over again.
Seeing the roots so organised felt like such a breath of fresh air. Not only that, but being able to feel it without it mimicking the sensation of being trapped in a deep maze of a forest.
A shade of deep blue caught your eye, and you lifted your chin to see Yoru standing next to the doorway with his Sheriff in hand.
You hadn't noticed him walking off during the feud between Brim and Phoenix.
"Testing out a new look?"
You playfully rolled your eyes.
"Mind you, this is your fault."
"Tch. Then no wonder it looks good."
There he was, the confident Yoru you knew and probably loved.
"You're too confident for someone who got all red over a hug."
Yoru chuckled.
Just as you took another step forward, he spoke up once more.
"You okay?"
"Uh, yeah, of course I am. Why?"
"Just asking..."
This time, his tone was much more... you couldn't really put your finger on it.
Despondent?
You noticed his awkward stance. His shoulders were tense, and his eyes had this odd glimmer in them.
...
Oh.
"Are you talking about the last mission?"
"I didn't say anything."
"I'm serious, Yoru. If I can't be ready now, then I'll never be."
He shrugged and walked through the doorway to which you promptly followed from behind.
"I know."
His path was curt once he felt a tug at his sleeve, and he looked behind to see you gently holding his wrist.
"Hey, dinner after?"
Yoru stared at you for a few seconds and fought the blush that crept up on him. Then, he shook his head.
"Save it for next week. I need to rejuvenate."
"Rejuvenate?"
"Introvert thing."
A set of familiar beeping echoed from window. And it wasn't only a few seconds later until an explosion took its place, grabbing both of your attention.
Definitely Raze. Even you knew that.
"That's our queue. See you around."
Before another word could be exchanged, Yoru tore the fabric open and disappeared into the ocean of blue he called a dimension.
But you couldn't help but let your thoughts roam as you moved near the radianite crates stacked on top of each other.
Having been around Yoru enough to make him come out of his shell, you knew when he was uncomfortable or not. And he sounded like he held something back.
Did you do something wrong? Was it the date earlier? Did you push things too far?!
You mumbled an 'ow' once you picked at your bracelet too hard, a ting of pain following the scratch.
In order to distract yourself, the radio was muted and you hesitantly called out your situation.
'Uh– Raze on B.'
Enough anxiety, you had a mission to get to. Evident by the rapid footsteps that came from long. You immediately took position and held out your arm, lightly twisting each root until you found the right one to slow down their push.
Since they were now untangled and you were calm, it was exceptionally easy to navigate the maze that used to be your arm.
Not the scent, not the hand…
You paused once you felt a peculiar one.
The bomb.
Just as you heard the footsteps switch from a sandy ground to a wooden one, a burst of sundew escaped your arm and immediately landed where they would have stepped if they didn't push themselves back.
The roots stuck themselves on the ground and prevented them from entering.
Perfect.
You held up your gun and diligently watched the angle in case they'd start to get bold.
'Any updates?'
Brimstone asked over the radio. You were so focused that you'd completely tuned everything out, so you jumped once he spoke.
Yoru unmuted.
'They're not committing. Probably a distraction.'
You were surprised at this.
Despite the ruckus, he seemed confident in this assumption.
'Good call. Then we're staying here. Think you can hold your own out there, kid?'
'Yeah. We just need smokes.'
The blast echoed on Yoru's side made you wince. Luckily for you, he muted and spared you the inevitable ringing in your ears.
And it only took a few seconds before a purple mist emerged right where you were aiming, shielding you from the bullets that would promptly be fired.
Combined with Yoru's call, you could now tell they were shooting at random.
Some time had passed since that ‘attack’.
Despite what you thought was a hard push earlier, Yoru was ultimately right in the end and they'd aggressively pushed out on A, forcing Yoru to rotate. You, however, decided to go from behind.
The distant gunfire took over your ears and unintentionally helped shield your footsteps as you moved.
Then, it stopped and a heavy thud followed.
"Yo, I got the spike!"
Phoenix proudly called out over the radio. But before you could hear who responded to him, you immediately tuned it all out and focused in on the steps right around the corner.
You were in bath, and there was clearly someone who wasn't paying attention to you. In the words of Neon, 'easy pick'. Or whatever she used to say.
Then, the sound of the teleporter went off and concealed you even further.
Just as he took his final shot and stepped back to reload, you held out your arm and began twisting a specific set of roots to emit a strong scent.
You knew you'd started to do something right once he began to cough into his elbow. And with a deep breath, you mentally prepared yourself to get your first kill.
You peeked and began shooting, refusing to let your finger off the trigger until the Bulldog ran out of bullets.
And... you did it.
Gekko's dead.
A huff escaped you once you took a step back, reloading with incredibly shaky hands. Your eyes were stuck on the omamori as you worked.
You got your first kill.
The teleporter going off twice snapped you out of your trance, before the voice of Yoru took over your ear on the radio.
"Who's in bath?"
"It was me, I got the pick on Gekko."
You said with a shaky yet excited voice.
Now you started to understand why Neon spoke like that sometimes.
"Finally got a kill? Nice one."
You couldn't help but smile at this.
"Chamber's stuck in hall with the spike. It's only us here. If we can draw him out, one of us can get an easy kill."
You peeked to see the spike sitting right in front of the teleporter. And if you looked closely, you could see a golden glint reflected off of him. Probably the tattoos on his head.
Yoru was backsite.
With all of this in mind, a plan immediately popped up.
"Stay there, I'll lure him out."
"Got it."
You stood near the doorway and already knew which root to aim for before you even lifted your arm.
A shadow slowly emerged from above and blocked the glimmer.
Then, the air stopped.
Just as the building he was in buckled under its own weight, Chamber peeked, shot then disappeared into the teleporter with the spike.
It took you a moment to look down on your hand and realise that there was a hole on your palm, blood slowly pooling around the wound and escaping.
❤ฺ·。
Everything felt like a blur at that point.
Noises were drowned out, your mind drew blanks and your eyes were focused on only your hand.
Warmth slowly began to encircle your right shoulder. And like a virus, it began spreading in a line across the inside of your arm, red fluid continuously seeping out of the 'small' wound on your palm.
It took what felt like a few minutes to comprehend the fact that he hit his shot almost perfectly. So perfectly, it went through your arm and tore your roots apart.
Then, you realised that the odd deafening noise around you had been reduced to a mere rumble. But once you looked up, the explanation was immediately provided.
The exit was blocked by what seemed to be the building you ripped apart before he took his shot.
You couldn't move your right arm whatsoever.
You felt a pull on your chin. And before you knew it, you were looking right at a familiar set of brown eyes.
"Hey, hey, look at me, are you okay?"
How did he get here... so fast?
"Y– yeah, I'm good, I..."
The centre of your right shoulder felt so heavy now, as if the bullet inside now began increasing in weight.
You still haven't been able to comprehend the fact you were shot. Yoru, however, wasn't in a state of shock like you were.
"We need to get you to Sage."
"We have to run to B."
You both said at the same time, and you earned a dirty look from him.
"Yoru, It's fine. It doesn't hurt."
"You're bleeding."
"It's not important! Look, let's take care of the spike first, then we can get to my arm. The teleporter's just outside!"
"We're not going–"
"I'll be good, it's not like it hurts, anyway!"
Before he could get another word in, you immediately moved through the entrance from behind and walked as fast as you could towards the teleporter. Yoru followed from behind despite his ability to disappear into the rift.
You weren't lying when you said it didn't hurt. But that, unfortunately, was before the adrenaline had worn off. And you hadn't realised such a fact.
Now that a moment had passed, with each step you took, it felt like you were exerting more and more energy just to get to your destination.
You stopped just a few feet next to the would-be teleporter to catch your breath. What you hadn't noticed was that it was blocked by so much rubble, it was impossible to get through even if you wanted to.
You lifted a hand towards the wreckage and began sifting through the remains of roots you had to clear an entrance.
But no matter how much you tried, you couldn't locate any points for what you needed.
It was as if the roots Chamber sliced stripped you away of your powers completely.
Yoru held your chin and noticed the tinge of blue that painted your lips.
That wasn't to mention how deathly pale you were, even more than you naturally were.
"You're losing too much blood."
You weakly shoved his hand away.
"Don't do that..."
Yoru rolled his eyes. And since you forgot who you were dealing with, you were to pay the price.
He slipped a hand under your legs and one behind your back, exploiting your weakened state to easily lift you in his arms.
"Get– let me go!"
You tried to push him away whilst he moved back, to no avail.
And just moving your good arm left you exhausted. Combined with the sudden aching that overtook your right one, it felt like you were stabbing yourself from the inside over and over.So you rested your head on his shoulder and let him take you...
...
Where was he going again...?
"You, you wouldn't let anyone do this to you..."
"I wouldn't have used my abilities out in the open–"
He snapped back, before he caught himself and cleared his throat.
"I'm... sorry. You're right, I wouldn't."
Yoru sighed. Then, completely unprompted, he let out a whispered cuss under his breath.
"I should've taken the chance when I had it."
"Huh...?"
"Nevermind."
You felt the hot afternoon sun shine upon you once Yoru moved through the doorway, before he stopped out of nowhere.
You took it upon yourself to lift your heavy eyelids and look at what was in front of you.
The wreckage from A went through the teleporter, enough to block the entrance to the fight.
And it was as if Yoru knew what ran through your mind just by the way your foot twitched.
"We'll be fine."
You heard a bullet whizz by each of you from behind. Luckily, Yoru dodged it and immediately moved towards the rubble, allowing the walls to conceal you.
He set you on the sand and took out his weapon.
"I'll be back. Try to hold out until then, A/N."
You quickly grabbed his sleeve.
"Wait– don't, don't leave me here, let me help!"
"I can't let you get hurt twice."
"But Sage can bring me back, I can still–"
Yoru got on one knee and held your shoulders.
"I'm not letting you get hurt. Don't make me repeat myself."
You stared at him for a few seconds. Despite your blurry vision and all of the noise from the fight deafening you, you could see the look in his eyes.
His irises swam with vulnerability.
"You're not giving up, huh...?"
He stared at you and let the tense silence be your answer. But just as he went to stand up once more, you pulled him back and pressed your lips against his forehead.
"I'm so lucky to have you."
Yoru, stunned, simply blushed and weakly smiled.
"I... could say the same thing."
He caressed your cheek with his thumb, before finally standing up and digging his hand through the rift.
You closed your eyes in order to gather all of the energy that you could. And judging by the constant ringing in your ear combined with the repetitive beeping, it sounded like the spike had been planted.
You put your left hand on the nearby stack of crates, helping yourself up.
The omamori on your Bulldog caught your eye, its green colour shining brilliantly against the dullness that surrounded you. It almost worked in pulling you out of your dizzy state.
Your eyes locked on the rubble whilst you caught your breath.
There must be a way to get through this. But how? Your roots were sliced from within.
You held out your incredibly shaky arm towards the entrance and took a deep breath in an effort to calm down and outline exactly what remained.
Scent couldn't be produced and you couldn't squash anything either. That left you with…
You perked up once you noticed one single root that was still connected.
The bomb.
The bomb was still there!
It wasn't much, but you had to get creative with it.
You took a few steps back and leaned on the wall, aiming towards the rubble. Then, you shot.
A burst of sundew immediately stuck to it like ducklings to their mother. You then rushed to grab it with both hands, and, despite the ever increasing pain, you pulled on it as hard as you could.
The sundew refused to let go. In fact, it stuck to it even more, which pulled the rubble with it. And the more you struggled, the more it held on.
The next thing you knew, you were on the ground once you'd finally pulled out the massive brick the sundew was attached to.
This set off a domino effect.
You grabbed the Bulldog and rushed behind cover as the wreckage began to tumble over. Sand upon sand covered the air and the noise from this move split your ears for what felt like minutes.
Then... silence.
The dust had settled.
You weakly clutched your Bulldog and leaned on the wall whilst you walked to the now-clear entrance.
The fight could be seen through the open window. And so could the spike, surrounded by fire and being defused by Phoenix.
The rest were clearly holding off someone in garden alongside Yoru who was behind them.
He was only halfway through, and there were only a few seconds before the bomb would go off, judging by the black aura and the unnatural impact it had on the area around it.
Victory should be guaranteed...
But that was until you noticed Sova near the doorway who aimed his bow and arrow, ready to shoot a dart. One dart, stall them and that would give the bomb the time it needed to explode.
They didn't see him. It seems like he didn't see you, either.
Before he let go, you took aim and immediately began shooting, the bullets rapidly digging through him.
It took only one more for you to take his life.
The Englishman immediately met your gaze and said something with a wave of his hand, but his words fell on deaf ears since all you could hear was the pounding of your heart.
You huffed and stood up, taking a few steps back to lean against a nearby wall. The Bulldog fell out of your grip, and the omamori's gentle green colour was defiled with the trail of blood that continuously seeped out of you.
Then, it all went dark.
❤ฺ·。
You awoke from your deep slumber with not only a raging headache, but with an arm so sore it felt like it was only one wrong more away from melting off of your shoulder.
Almost completely driven by instinct, you immediately sat up and clutched your head, a gentle voice adjacent to you immediately reacting to such a move.
"Oh, A/N, try not to move too fast–!"
The pain set in just as Sage held your shoulders, and you mumbled an 'ow'.
It felt like the blood inside your body was swirling and sloshing inside you as it got used to the sudden movement.
"Ah, really...? I turned my back on you for one second..."
"Sorry... First mission, and stuff."
"Don't start with that, you did great! Two kills on your first mission is something to be proud about!"
You ran your fingers through your hair and began gently rubbing your head, the ringing in your ear slowly dissipating.
It took you a moment to comprehend what she said. But once she did, guilt quickly set in.
"Thanks... Yo, I wasn't too bothersome to revive, was I?"
"Revive? No, you didn't die, you didn't die at all! You've been out for two hours, you actually survived!"
You didn't believe her, despite the wide grin on her face.
Probably trying to save you the embarrassment of dying on your first mission.
"Totally..."
"I'm not joking!" she smiled tenderly and clasped both hands together, "Ah, I– I know this sounds hard to believe, but you truly did."
"Let me get this straight, you're saying Chamber tore all my roots and I survived?"
"Not just your roots, A/N; he tore a few of your arteries as well and you still made it! It was miraculous!"
She placed a finger on her chin once a new piece of information popped up.
"Now that I think about it, theoretically, you should have passed out thirty seconds afterwards. Hypotension is no joke."
You paused once you caught something from the corner of your eye.
On a nearby counter right next to the sink was your trusty little Bulldog, the familiar omamori still tied to it.
Unfortunately, it was soaked in blood. And you swore you could see that it was torn, as well.
Huh...
"Really...? Maybe my luck's really turning over this time."
"Possibly. On another note, if this happens again, I might have to put 'durable' in your files."
She winked playfully.
"Seriously? Wait, no, Brimstone might–"
You heard two knocks before the door behind you swung open, revealing two very familiar silhouettes.
Neon and Yoru solemnly stood near the doorway, a serious expression very unnatural for your Filipino friend to have.
But once she noticed that you were awake, her eyes glimmered with an abundance of joy.
"A/N!"
Uh oh.
Before you could prepare yourself, you were already pulled into a hug that put all the aching in your arm to shame.
She hugged you even tighter (and knocked the air out of you for good measure) before finally pulling away.
"A/N, you're alive!"
"I'll... leave you three to talk. Erm, Neon?"
"Huh?"
"Brimstone?"
"Wha– oh! Oh come on, she just woke up! Can't you tell him to give me a few minutes, at least?"
Sage sheepishly smiled, both hands behind her back.
"I'm sorry... This'll take just a few seconds, okay?"
With a loud groan, Neon decided to follow the healer with an immense amount of reluctance.
But you couldn't let her go without some reassurance.
"I'll catch you later, Neon!"
"I know you will!"
The door slammed shut and they disappeared.
You wanted to ask Yoru what that was all about; but you had a much better idea in mind.
"I– I wanted to–"
Just as Yoru looked back, he found himself pulled into another embrace.
This one, however, didn't cause him immense pain.
"Missed you."
You mumbled. And to say Yoru was speechless would be a vast understatement.
His mind drew blanks at such a sudden move, despite it not being the first time. And all he could really do in response was put one hand on your back.
"You... Um, you had me worried back there, you know?"
The words mindlessly escaped his mouth, but he didn't really do much to stop it.
"Really?"
"Yeah..."
He quickly cleared his throat before he continued.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm impressed you got Sova. I don't know how you got through the rubble."
You pulled away with an unamused expression.
"I– I thought you died back there."
"You need to expect more from me, dummy."
He blushed and rolled his eyes.
"I said don't take this the wrong way, 'dummy'."
You glanced at the omamori on the counter behind him, but promptly looked back so that he wouldn't catch on.
"So, uh, speaking of dying... Where do you get omamoris again? Shrines?"
"Yeah."
"Are you going there any time soon?"
You tried to be discreet about it, but somehow, he still caught on and looked back to see what your eyes kept darting to.
And he saw your weapon, the omamori you spoke of gently resting on top of it.
"Huh, it's torn?"
"Yeah."
A meek smile forced itself on your lips as he walked towards the Bulldog and picked it up.
Damp with your own coagulated blood, and torn open just as you thought.
"Sorry about that."
"What do you mean? It's a good thing."
Despite scrutinising it, Yoru didn't sound as bothered as you did. In fact, he sounded pleased.
"This means it did its job."
You perked up at this, but you caught yourself before you did anything impulsive.
"So... remember when you mentioned dinner?"
"Totally. You said no."
Yoru nervously cleared his throat.
"Yeah, I, um, I remember. And I don't want to miss my chance this time."
"Miss your chance?"
"I don't like it when people get all up in my business. But you know what?" He pulled you close by the waist. "Maybe it's not so bad when you do it."
You snickered.
"You're just saying that because I almost died."
A mischievous smile painted his previously callous features.
No matter how much he tried, flirting just wasn't Yoru's thing. That much you could tell.
But teasing definitely was.
"Fine, guess I'll ask Sage to join me for the date I had in mind."
The word 'date' immediately snatched your attention.
"Wait. Okay, fine, let's hear it. What's the idea?"
"Hanami's coming up and... I haven't celebrated with another person in a while. Wanna join me?"
Hanami?
That's right, it was the first of May; the trees must've bloomed already, and the celebration must've started.
You beamed at this and completely disregarded your sore arm.
"Is it just the two of us?"
"Tch, yeah. I have a good spot booked and everything. There's this one old lady that sells the best dango, I'm thinking of going to her again this year. If, um, again, you don't have to, but–"
You gently elbowed him with your good arm. Even then, he could barely feel the pain you intended him to feel.
"Don't say that, yes I am. We're going. Where's the spot?"
"Don't you need a minute to rest?"
You proudly gestured to yourself.
"I'm well rested. Don't I look like it?"
Yoru stared at you for a few seconds.
You looked dishevelled. It was natural for someone who danced with death mere hours ago, but the confidence you radiated made it look like it was just the wind after a pleasant jog up a hill.
He couldn't help but agree, and that was made obvious from the slight shimmer in his usually narrow eyes.
"If you say so."
You moved towards him.
"So, where's the spot?"
"Kitanomaru park–"
The words were lodged in his throat once you took his hand in yours, pulling him out of the patient room and into the hallways.
If you keep walking down this hallway, you'll eventually pass by someone who'll see you both like this.
But he worked to convince himself that he didn't really mind...
You met his gaze with a warm smile, before pulling him close to you.
"That sounds amazing."
Just the thought of spending the day with Yoru on that river sounded like some kind of paradise only few would achieve. Fortunately, you were one of the 'few', and you were about to enjoy it as much as possible.
You knew what that day would entail, and you were ready for it.
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