Welcoming Death - Hololive Fanfiction [ONGOING]

CHAPTER 26: SUBCONSCIOUS

Taking a breath, Ina slowly hyped herself up for the troublesome conversation ahead. She stood before Gura’s front door, fist raised, ready to knock but frozen with fear. There was even a slight tremble in her hand.

“She might hate you!”
“It’s better if she does!”

“You don’t need her!”

The aftereffects of the day before definitely didn’t help. Maybe she was just a lot quieter today but she could’ve sworn that the quieter voices of AO-chan seemed to boom louder in her head recently. 

“Usually I’d say something like ‘We can do this another day if you want to!’ but…” Kiara stood beside her, leaning closer to whisper to her. Despite the low volume of her voice, the assurance in her voice cleared away all of the clutter in her head. “Gura needs to hear this from you as soon as possible. She’s probably hurting so much from guilt,” with a pat on the shoulder, Kiara nodded to her own statement.

The small movement incidentally gave her all the courage she needed. With two solid knocks, Ina announced her presence. 

Slowly, she pulled her hand back, waiting for the door to open patiently. On the other hand, Kiara fiddled with her fingers anxiously. She expectantly waited for the door to open, eyes laser focused on the handle for the slightest bit of movement.

As a set of footsteps came close, Ina's every instinct flared and just screamed for her to run away immediately but those concerns washed away when the door opened.

“I'm sorry but- Oh, It's you, Kiara with Ina this time..." Gura's father looked between the two of them, "Is Amelia with you two? Gura has been… insisting on her not to come near."

"Ameli… A-Ah, no! She's not with us," Kiara waved it off, "we were hoping to at least- um- apologise to her?"

"Apologise?" his brows lowered.

Ina opened her mouth to explain when she was suddenly cut off.

"It's a long story." Kiara smiled awkwardly, taking Ina's hand behind her back in silent support. "We'll try not to take long, I promise."

He looked at Ina, who was looking down and anxiously fiddling with the hem of her cardigan. Sighing, he opened the door for them fully, "If you could get her to leave her room, it would be great."

"We'll try our best." Kiara saluted, pulling Ina with her as she led her through the home, making a beeline to Gura's room.

Ina whispered, breathing shallowly, "I'm so nervous…"

"Hey, I'm here," Kiara squeezed her hand, smiling sweetly. Her abnormally hot palms helped relax the smaller girl, releasing the tension in her shoulders. Taking a breath, Kiara knocked on the door gently with her knuckle.

A raspy, lazy voice came from behind the door, "Daaaad, I'm not hungry." 

"A-Actually, Gura…" As Kiara began speaking, movement came loudly from inside the room followed by small 'Huh!?' from the shark.

The door flung open, almost pulling away from the hinges as Gura checked to see if it was really her. She said cheerily, "Kiara!" She stopped immediately, hand flinching as she saw the priestess behind her, "I-Ina…" 

"Could we… talk?" Ina bit her lip, hand turning white as gripped Kiara's hand tightly. Despite the strength of it, Kiara let Ina use her hand in such a forceful way.

Gura, conflicted, looked toward the phoenix for guidance, just nodding in response.

"Okay… Kiara, do you mind if-?"

"Nah, it's good. Tell me when you're both finished." Kiara pulled Ina toward the room, letting go when Ina crossed the border of the landing and the bedroom.