I honestly don't got a lot to say except in enjoy and tell me what you think!
"I'm so glad to be back!" I exclaimed as Rin and I walked down the hallway to the training center. Rin gave me a funny look before shaking his head. "What?" I asked. "I've missed training with you guys," I explained. "I miss training with you and Shura. It's fun, and I get to spend time with my other brother," I told him. He smiled at that. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder as we walked.
"It's good to have you back," he said, still smiling. "I will admit, I missed sparring with you. You're a much easier opponent than Shura." I weaseled out of his grip and stomped on his foot hard. "Ow!" he shrieked while he jumped on one foot, holding the other in pain. "What the hell was that for?" he asked, continuing to hop down the hallway.
"Learn to say something nice," I scolded. The half demon pouted at that but continued to walk anyway.
"I didn't mean it," he muttered as if he were a five year old. I only shook my head but smiled regardless. I couldn't stay mad at my other older brother figure. He was too nice to stay mad at.
When we reached the training room, I was confused by the fact that there was a strange man in the room standing with Shura. He wore cargo shorts and tall boots with a black jacket. A hat hung over his eyes even though we were in doors, keeping me from seeing his eyes. I didn't like that. "Good, you're here," Shura said, sounding very unlike her usual self. Something was up. "This is Lewin Light, otherwise known as Lightning. He's second in command and the paladin's right hand," she explained. She narrowed her eyes at me in a warning.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Lightning said, coming up to me. He grabbed one of my hands in both of his and shook firmly. I gave him a small smile, trying to hide my discomfort. "Now, I hear you wield two very infamous demon slaying swords. There's are multiple reports of demons themselves being connected to the swords," he said quickly. "Maybe even able to summon them?" As soon as Lightning has begun speaking, I knew he was going to bring it up eventually so I was able to hide my anger.
"No, unfortunately there are no demons connected to them. They only slay demons," I told him. He nodded.
"Well you see, I'm a very capable tamer, and I like to know everything I can about summoning demons," he explained. I nodded in understanding, still not liking this. "Do you mind if I watched a sparring match between you and Shura? I've heard you're a very capable sword fighter." I knew this wasn't a question, more of a request. No, a demand.
"Sure," I said. "Though I'm probably out of shape. I haven't sparred in over a month," I explained.
"Oh, of course. Don't worry about," Lightning said, waving it off. "Just try your best," he said with a smile. I nodded and returned the smile. I ran off to get changed into something I could fight in, putting on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt.
When I was came out of the locker room, I found Rin laying on the floor doing what he called a starfish stretch, though I was sure he was just being lazy. I sat down on the ground next to him and started to stretch. "How are you feeling?" Shura asked as she walked over us. "Lemme see," she said, crouching down next to me. I lifted my shirt up to show the red scar that marred my skin. Shura's face remained impassive as she looked at the since healed wound. "Don't push yourself," she instructed, and I dropped my shirt. "If you need to stop, tell me." I opened my mouth to argue, but she cut me off. "I'm not discrediting you, (Y/N). I'm trying to make sure you remain safe and healthy. You can't do what you need to do if you constantly hurt yourself and don't let yourself heal." I nodded, going back to stretching but being more careful to not strain the sensitive flesh.
As soon as I felt loosened up enough, I got up and made my way over to Shura. Rin continued to lay on the floor, watching us from his spot. "Get up, Rin," Shura commanded. "I need to work with (Y/N) because she hasn't been here, so you're going to work in the batting cages." Rin groaned and pulled himself up from the floor, slowly making his way over to the cages. "Come on, (Y/N). Let's see what you can do."
I stood and shook myself out, feeling nervous. "Two swords or one?" I asked. She looked thoughtful for a moment.
"One," she said after a minute. I quickly took the black ring and transformed it into a sword. I heard an excited noise from behind me. "Let's take this nice and slow," Shura offered. Immediately, she charged me. I knew 'nice and slow' was being used very loosely. I also knew that she meant that I was not to use any power or summon Katsuro.
We danced around each other with waves of our swords, the sound of steel against steel clashing together filling the room. I felt surprisingly good despite all my time off. I couldn't even feel my wound. All I could feel was the vibrations of my arms as our swords crashed. Power thrummed through my body, wanting desperately to used, but I suppressed it. I didn't know until that moment how much I missed this, how much I enjoyed sword fighting. All I felt was amazing, there was so fear, no worry, no stress.
After a few long minutes of trading blows and parries, Shura jumped back, ending the fight. "You seem to be feeling pretty good, and with one sword to boot," Shura praised.
"You were going easy on me," I pointed out. She only shrugged. I heard clapping from the other end of the room and turned to see Lightning standing and clapping.
"That was magnificent," he exclaimed.
"She was going easy on me," I told him simply, knowing this was just a warm up to get me back in shape.
"Grab your other sword, and we'll start again," Shura said. She hadn't broken a sweat and wasn't even out of breath. I, on the other hand, was already sweating more than I would've wanted to admit and very out of breath. I nodded at my teacher and held up one finger to let her know I needed a minute. I was so out of shape.
For the next half an hour or so, we worked on starting to get my muscles back into shape, trying to get my body back to the stress sword fight brought on. Lightning watched the entire time, looking very excited. It was slightly disturbing, but I brushed it off, focusing on the fight. Sparring went pretty well, but when the time came, I was whole heartedly ready to go back to he dorms and relax, and so I did so, letting Rin lead the way.
{Line Break}
Later that evening, I sat with Bon in the common room of the dorm, trying to find some peace and quiet. Most of the time, everyone hung out in the kitchen and dining room area unless Shima and Rin were playing video games. They were both working on English homework, so it was perfect. It was quiet, the only sound being soft breathing and the sound of pages turning every couple minutes or so.
I was sitting in Bon's lap reading my book as he leaned back against the couch lazily. He had his eyes closed, and I could tell he was half asleep despite the rhythmic movement of his hand traveling up and down my side. His hair was down and in his eyes, his face soft and relaxed. It was good to see him so stress free.
Smiling at my boyfriend, I made to grab my bookmark carefully as to not disturb him. I set the book down on the end table and then proceeded to snuggle into him more, laying my side against his stomach and chest and my head against his shoulder, nuzzling into the crook of his neck slightly. I inhaled the sweet scent on his skin, just basking in the moment shared together.
His eyes fluttered open, and his brown eyes peered down at mine. One hand moved up to the rest on my back, and the other moved to grasp my hand, twining his fingers with mine. He brought both our hands up and kissed the back of mine, causing me to smile slightly. "Hey, babe" he muttered, brushing my hair away from my face. I smiled, nuzzling my face into his neck further. He chuckled and pulled me closer. "You're so cute," he muttered. A blushed and tried to curl into a ball, successfully kneeing Bon in the stomach.
The face he made made me laugh out loud. "I'm sorry," I managed through my laughter. "I didn't try it," I said. I tapped him on the nose, making it scrunch up in response. "That's what happened when you say something stupid," I told him with a smirk.
"It's not stupid," he rebuked. "It's the truth." He grabbed me by the sides and sat me up so I was straddling his thighs. As soon as I was settled, he dug his fingers into my ribs, tickling me with no remorse. I shrieked with laughter as he assaulted my sides.
"B-Bon, stop it," I gasped. "T-that tickles." He only smirked and continued to tickle me relentlessly. He carefully flipped me over onto my back and crouched above me. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my lips, his hands coming to rest on my sides, slowing to a more gentle, comforting movement. I reached up and grasped his shirt in my fists, pulling him closer. He pulled back after a moment and stared down at me, making me blush harder still.
"You are cute," he told me.
"Right back at ya," I said with a smile, punching him in the shoulder lightly. He leaned back down for another kiss, this one more rough than the last. The feeling of his lips on mine was overwhelming, and I let him do all the work, too lost in the moment to do much else. I pushed him back by his chest after a minute or so, needing air. He kept his forehead against mine as we both caught our breaths. "Beautiful," he muttered, his lips brushing against mine as he spoke.
"I love you," I whispered.
"Love you, too," he murmured. He moved himself to lay beside me on the couch, but it wasn't enough space, so I ended up laying on him, my head on his chest. His hand returned to the small of my back, reaching under my shirt to rub bare skin. "How you holding up?" He asked, and I knew he was talking about training and emotional stress.
"Okay, actually," I admitted after a minute. "Training was hard today because I haven't been for so long. It was also nerve wracking because Lewin Light, the right hand of the paladin, was there to watch."
"Really?" he asked, sounding shocked.
"I lied to Angel during our 'meeting,'" I said, using air quotes. "I think he either knows for a fact I was lying or is at least a little suspicious," I told him. We hadn't talked much about the meeting because there wasn't much to discuss. This was the first time we were really talking about it.
"You lied to the paladin?" he asked disbelievingly. "How'd you get away with it?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "That must mean it was a pretty convincing lie on my part," I said. "I've had plenty of time to practice, that's for sure," I muttered under my breath. Either Bon didn't hear it or just didn't acknowledge it because he didn't say a word.
"Why did you lie?" he asked.
"It was information about the swords that I couldn't reveal. I have a gut feeling about that guy, and it's not a good one," I admitted. "I've always been a first person impression kind of person, and I did not like what kind of energy that guy was giving off." I felt Ryuji nod from above me.
"Trust your instinct," he said, patting my back a little. "(Y/N)," he murmured.
"Hmm?" I hummed, looking up at him. He was staring at the ceiling, looking a little unsure. "You would tell me if there was something going on right? You would talk to me about it?" I froze for a moment but recovered quickly.
"Of course," I said, kissing him on the chin. We laid there for a few minutes, my stomach churning with guilt for lying straight to my boyfriend's face. I felt awful already, but I couldn't say anything. I couldn't drag him into this. It wasn't his battle to fight. I could risk losing him. I didn't know what 'sacrifices' meant, but I wasn't willing to loose anyone close to me.
My phone suddenly buzzed, startling me. I used my arms to prop myself up and checked my phone, finding a text from Shura.
Shura
5:21
Meet me in town at the cafe as soon as possible. We have a few things to discuss. Just tell whoever you're with that I needed to go over a few things about getting back in shape with you. It should be easy enough for you to get away with.
I frowned at the text, but I knew it was important. She wouldn't drag me away from rest, and she most certainly wouldn't ask me to lie if it wasn't important. "Hey, Ryuji?" He hummed in response, letting me know he was listening. "I have to go meet with Shura. It's something about one on one training to get me back in shape," I told him. Another lie. It already felt awful, like a lead ball rolling around in my stomach.
He sighed, looking a little disappointed. "Okay, be careful, and don't push yourself to hard," he instructed.
"I won't," I promised, getting off of him. I pressed a quick kiss to his lips in farewell. "Love you, see you later," I said before walking out of the room, wondering what Shura could have in store for me.