"Mute" Mizu X F!Reader

11

In the morning, you were the last one to wake up. Your eyes bore a faint tint of pink from crying for a while, but they were nothing compared to the eye bags that had formed overnight.

"You look terrible," Taigen was the first to comment on your appearance. You frowned, throwing his hairpiece off his head and onto the floor.

"It was a joke," he quickly picked it up, dusting it off, and placed it back on his head.

"Don't listen to him, Y/n," Ringo said, handing you a bowl of food as you sat down by the new fire.

You didn't notice Mizu looking at you from the other side of the room as you ate your meal. In fact, you didn't even realize Mizu was still there. Now that you knew her true emotions for you, you had to pretend like she wasn't there so your feelings wouldn't get hurt as bad.

You knew it was basically impossible to ignore her forever, but that's for your future self to worry about.

The four of you left soon after everyone ate and were back on the road. For most of the trip, it stayed silent. The two of them quickly caught on to the grim atmosphere between the two of you and decided to stay quiet. Finally leaving the deserted fields, you found yourselves in a village again. You remembered this place as well.

"What are we doing at a brothel?" Taigen asked as the four of you stood at the snowy steps.

"I have business inside; you're free to leave," Mizu said, walking up the stairs.

"Let's go, Ringo," Taigen said, walking the other way. "Where are we going, Taigen?" he asked, following him.

"To leave Mizu to do 'business' in a brothel," he put emphasis on the word business.

You didn't want to be in the same room as Mizu, but you felt a sting in your heart just thinking about this. You'd been to Madame Kaji's brothel before with Mizu, as she also said she had business here and ended up killing a whole army. You didn't know what other business she had left, unless she had other plans. And that single thought was enough to drive you to follow her inside.

"Y/n, are you coming-" Ringo looked back to see you entering the brothel with Mizu, "nevermind," he trailed off, running back over to Taigen.

The two of you stood there, looking away from each other as you waited to be served. It was only for a few seconds, but it felt like hours. You tried to keep your eyes away from Mizu, but having to look at random people naked felt as if it was even worse. Soon, the familiar voice of Madame Kaji broke the awkward tension.

"Y/n, Mizu," she greeted with a smile, "what do I have the pleasure of helping you two today?"

You stayed back as you watched Mizu lean in to whisper something into her ear. Mizu kept a stoic expression, but you saw her eyes widen for a split second.

"Excuse us, Y/n, but we'll be in the room right over. Please do make yourself comfortable here," she quickly excused herself as she took Mizu into the room.

You bit the inside of your cheek as you watched the door quickly slide shut. You stood at the same spot for a while before you felt your feet starting to ache. Scanning the room, you looked for a far enough place to sit down for a while. Finding a spot right around the middle of the room, you quickly made your way over and sat down on the cushioned mat.

You let out a sigh as you finally rested your feet from traveling for so long. As soon as you sat down and got comfortable enough, the thought of Mizu entering into a brothel at such short notice took over your mind. Even though she said it was just business, you didn't know what kind of business it really was. The feeling of your heart being stung struck you as you kept on thinking of what she could be saying in that room. You took out your cards and began to fidget with them, trying to distract yourself. You froze as your eyes read the card 'Mizu.'

You needed to get your mind off her quickly. Spotting the sake that was left out for the customers, you grabbed the bottle and took a small sip. You scrunch your face as the bitter liquid went down your throat. You must have caught the attention of the workers there as you opened your eyes to see five workers sitting around you. It took you off guard, thinking that maybe the effects of the sake already kicked in, and you were already starting to see things. You tried reaching for your cards, but your mind felt too hazy to do anything.

One of the workers, a young charming woman with a twinkle in her eye, approached you with a sly grin on her face. "Are you a new customer? I haven't seen you around," she remarked, her tone was teasing. "I would've remembered someone as cute as you." She poured you another cup of sake. You finally found a card and held it up without knowing what it said.

'Thirsty.'

She read the card and poured you even more glasses. Quickly drinking it, you had yet another one which you gladly took. As more cups came your way, more workers showed up. After the events from last night, you really needed some kind of distraction, and what was happening now was a big enough distraction to last you a little while.

You accepted their attention as they began to carefully touch your face, even letting them place a few kisses everywhere except for your lips. You had the imprints of their red-stained lips left on your cheeks and forehead in the end.

With all the sake in your system, you didn't even know what was happening anymore. The sound of your laughter mixed in with theirs filled the room as you continued to drink away the pain you felt for Mizu.

"Can we get a card with our names on it?" one of the workers asked as she wrapped an arm around you. Slowly, you nodded, lazily reaching for the cards and with sloppy writing, you wrote down illegible things. Except for when one worker pointed out something.

"My name isn't Mizu" she said holding up the only card that was legible reading 'Mizu'

There had to be a dozen more workers now all surrounding you as they kept complimenting everything about you. As you kept on drowning yourself in the sake, you were completely unaware of the effects you were having on a certain someone-Mizu.

Mizu finished talking with Madame Kaji. "There's a room empty down the hallway for the two of you." As they went for the door, they started to hear the faint sound of laughter. Sliding the door open, they were met with what seemed to be a crowd of workers all surrounding someone.

Mizu didn't care for who was being surrounded; that was until she heard the faint sound of your laugh. She turned around and walked over to where the crowd was and pushed herself through. Your eyes met hers for a split second; she scanned your face to find all the kiss marks left. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she walked towards you with clenched fists.

"Looks like someone important is here to take Y/n away," one of them teased, earning a playful laugh from the others as they all watched her take you away from them. The group of them all simultaneously bid farewell to you. You could barely walk with that much sake in your body, turning around to face them; you waved goodbye with a smile before falling straight onto the floor.

Mizu picked you up from the floor and carried you in bridal style. You looked up to see the same stoic expression she had as she carried you away from them. You rested your head against her chest, hearing the faint sounds of her heartbeat as you felt yourself slowly fall asleep.

The thought of the workers flirting with you and putting their hands on you made Mizu feel jealous of those workers. She couldn't lie; she felt jealous of all of them. Just looking down at your face to see their kiss marks filled Mizu with a mix of emotions, and it didn't help with you laying your head on her chest.

"Mizu," you whispered out. She stopped walking to look at you. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Her voice was soft as her eyes met yours again. You felt yourself drifting off to sleep once again, unable to respond.