willow | d. hale [on hold]

38 | brave

what if stiles and i can't get back to how things were?

[ 3.23 — 3.24 ]

Willow was silent as she leaned against the doorframe of Scott's room. While she and Stiles couldn't bring themselves to look at each other, she still wanted to be there while Melissa checked over his health. She wanted to be there to make sure Stiles was Stiles.

Melissa went to check Stiles' pulse but paused before grabbing his wrists. Flashes of how aggressive the Nogitsune had been the day before ran through her mind. She was scared that he was still there and waiting to hurt her.

Seeing that fear, Stiles slowly offered his wrist. It broke his heart to see her scared of him, but at the same time, he thought he deserved it.

"Well, medically, you seem okay. You're definitely a real person," Melissa told Stiles, managing a nervous laugh.

"Okay, so I'm real, but am I the real me?" Stiles asked. Unfortunately, Melissa didn't have an answer, but the person who did just arrived. When Scott came into the room, Stiles sat up and looked at him expectantly. "Is she here?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"Okay, let's do this," Stiles said, moving to get off the bed. He noticed the uneasy and hesitant looks on all their faces — even Willow, who was looking at the ground. "Guys, we have to do this."

Stiles took the lead as they all went downstairs. Kira's mother was already waiting for them, her cold gaze focused on Stiles.

"Do you recognize me?" Noshiko asked him.

Then Kira ran into the house, having caught up with her mother and determined to keep this from happening. "Stop!"

Stiles shook his head, not looking away from Noshiko. "It's okay. I'm the one who asked her to come."

"You're the one who's going to get stabbed with swords," Kira told him, fear spreading throughout her. "Mom, don't do this to him."

"It's already done," Noshiko said.

Confusion washed over Stiles, and he slowly turned his head to see two Oni had appeared behind him. They marched forward, and despite his instincts telling him to run, Stiles stayed put.

Everyone held their breath as one of the Oni tested him, placing its hand on the left side of his face. Its eyes began to glow a bright yellow, and Willow clutched Scott's hand nervously.

As quickly as it began, the test was over. And the Oni vanished before Stiles even hit the ground, shivering from the cold that was seeping all the way down to his bones. Scott, Kira, and Willow all rushed to his side to make sure he was alright.

"Look behind his ear," Noshiko instructed.

Scott turned Stiles' head, revealing the backward-five-looking kanji symbol that they all had. "It worked."