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IT DIDN'T TAKE Y/N MUCH effort to find the camp, even when her plan had taken so long that the sun had fully set. The sound of voices was so soft in the sharp edges of the shadows, frequented by the fear of demons, and she was inherently drawn to the noise of people.
It was true, that humans were always drawn to each other.
It was the way that she had always liked Sabito. Cared for Sabito. Loved Sabito.
"This better not fail on me," Y/N muttered to herself, clutching her haori to her chest and wincing at its damp warmth.
She stepped into the clearing, immediately noticing the nine teenagers gathered around a fire together, with what smelled to be fish roasting on sticks over the flames. They evidently hadn't noticed her yet, so she took a moment to stand there quietly and watch.
From the looks of Asa and his friends, they were real tired of eating fish, the light-haired boy crinkling his nose at the oily animals crackling as they cooked. Y/N stifled a laugh, unable to blame him for the disgust in his expression, as she glanced to the two boys she was really looking for.
Giyuu's chin rested in his hands as he stared into the fire, not seeing not was before him in favour of whatever he was thinking of, his blue eyes almost empty in deep thought.
Beside him, Sabito was picking at the threads of his haori, frowning at the fraying fabric with a small crease between his eyebrows.
Cute. Y/N didn't mentally catch herself in time to stop the thought from slipping into existence, but it was true. The way his rosy hair, the same colour as his warm cheeks, fell over his shoulders, veiling the small smile that curved his lips as one of the other Slayers made some little joke. Sabito was cute - the intricate fiddling patterns of his fingers, the way his eyes glittered like sparkling clouds in the light of the fire.
To stop herself from making any further ... observations, Y/N stepped further into the area, awkwardly clearing her throat to announce her presence and waiting for them all to swing around to look at her with alarm. Sabito as the evidently most-proficient Slayer even had his sword out, and the girl winced.
Not a great start.
"I brought a gift," she said quietly, coming forwards and dumping her haori on the ground.
It was Asa who hesitantly came forwards to inspect it, peeling back the layers of blood-stained f/c fabric to find ...
"How did you get all this?" Giyuu asked incredulously, his eyes sweeping over the rabbit carcasses laid on the haori, all eleven of them.
"I hunted all day today," Y/N answered, avoiding his eyes in favour of looking at her palms, which were stained red and smelled metallic. "I wanted to bring food, in case you were tired of fish, and ... say sorry."
There was a tense silence as her massacre of the previous night came to the forefront of their minds, and even Y/N herself winced as she caught glimpses of the singed grass around them.
"Well." An unfamiliar girl with long hair in two braids hanging down her chest shoved her way past the three boys at the front of their group to collect the rabbits with a wide smile. "Dunno about you lot, but it'd be fucking fantastic to eat something that's not a damn fish tonight, before we have to go out on patrol."
"Don't worry about patrol," Sabito snorted, not even looking up. "After last night, demons aren't coming near this spot for another forty hours."
The girl frowned at him. "You could at least be grateful." She turned to Y/N. "My name's Hiroko, and thanks for the food."
"No problem," Y/N replied, filing the name away for later use. Hiroko seemed the kind sort, and definitely the kind of person worth getting to know after the conclusion of the Selection - she also seemed to be the closest thing to a leader the group had.
"Okay, I'm going get these ready, could you guys help?" Hiroko clapped her hands, seven of the others following her closer to the fire to skin and prepare the rabbits for dinner, not so subtly leaving Y/N alone with Sabito.
She noticed that I wanted to apologise. Y/N made a mental note to thank the other girl properly later as she sat by the silent boy's side, curling her legs up to her chest.
"I'm sorry."
Her words were quiet, but it was so hard to pierce the silence, so difficult when she wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around him and sob out her apologies and just beg him to not call her the names she'd heard as a result of her Breathing Form.
Even when she'd saved people, the names had followed her everywhere. Misfit. Monster. Murderer.
"I ... I really lost control. And I didn't think i-" Y/N blew out a long breath, trying her best to articulate her thoughts in a way that would make sense. "I didn't think it would be so bad. I'm sorry for scaring you, and for losing control, and ..."
She could no longer put all of words she longed to say into coherent statements, so she fell silent, staring down at her hands to avoid seeing any part of the boy she'd disappointed in her vision.
So, of course Y/N was surprised when Sabito reached across her, suddenly pulling her into his arms, her face ending up resting on his chest as his head fell to the nook between her shoulder and neck, hair tickling at her skin. Her eyes flew wide open, as she barely managed to move her arms to wrap them around him in return.
"I was scared, Y/N," he murmured, the sensation of his lips grazing her skin as he spoke sending blood rushing to her face, and she desperately hoped he couldn't feel her increased warmth. "But I wasn't scared of you. I was scared for you."
Oh.
"I saw you surrounded in fire, and my only thought was 'please, let Y/N be safe'. I went overboard too, and I'm ... really, really sorry. I would never mean to hurt you."
Sabito's words brought so much comfort and inexplicable warmth to her that all she could do was wrap her arms around him tighter, and think to herself, so this is what love feels like.
"All made up now?"
Giyuu's bored voice sent them virtually leaping apart from each other, to find their friend raising an unimpressed eyebrow down at them, holding some pieces of cooked meat on sticks out to them. Y/N accepted two and passed one to Sabito, hoping the light of the fire could give a plausible explanation for the blush in her cheeks.
"Yes," she responded, raising her eyes to look directly into Giyuu's. "And I apologise to you, as well."
He gave a small smile, which was his equivalent of practically crushing her in an embrace. "You don't need to apologise to me. This is- it's the Final Selection. Things are going to happen that we don't want to, so I suppose ... all we can do is stay together, and not be drawn apart."
Though he'd probably meant to provide reassurance, his words were ominous, and Sabito told him as much, with a chuckled, "A downer as always, Yuu."
Immediately, Giyuu's smile faded as he glared at his closest friend. "Someone has to balance out your excessively giddy mood every time you start talking about-"
Sabito shut him up with an effective look, but not before Y/N could practically combust with the strength of the heat in her face and ears. She stole a look at him out of the corner of his eye, smiling softly as she thought of how far he'd come from the scarred, frightened boy who had started this whole journey.
She didn't want to assume, but ... Y/N knew she must sound giddy whenever she thought or spoke of Sabito.
Poor Giyuu, she thought, as she curled up to sleep after finishing her share of the rabbit, right by Sabito's side.
But, then again ... I'm really glad he's here. That we're all here.
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thank you for reading this
book and i hope you enjoy it!
~ jazzi