Chapter Text
A light thud was heard when you sat down on the porch to take a breather. You have been working with water the whole day—more than usual, and for some reason, you felt cold and weak. No matter how hard you protested, your eyes felt heavier and heavier as a headache rose to your head. The footsteps walking toward your direction didn't even faze you.
Your forehead was suddenly met with a warm hand. This warmth—the rough feel of skin—it was all too familiar.
"You're burning up," Benimaru blurted out.
"Maybe if you helped me do work here..."
You didn't really mean that. You knew that putting infernals to rest was of much more importance. And you wouldn't be so selfish to prioritize your wants before the citizens in your district.
As if on cue, you sneezed after taking the last of your strength to say those words. This made you close your eyes shut. Benimaru got up on his feet to fetch a blanket from the closet.
While you were drifting to sleep, you felt a pair of strong arms pick you up. You never liked being carried like this. The only thing it ever does is remind you of how weak you were, and honestly, it hurt.
Yes, Beni was strong—in almost every possible way, even his features showed it. And you loved every detail he had. From his lengthy eyelashes to his raven black hair. Especially his crimson pupils and the power it held behind them. They reminded you of how the color of flames can still be beautiful, but they also hurt you.
Every time you looked straight into those eyes, it felt like he was taunting you. His strength only made you feel insignificant—undeserving even, and somehow, he always did remind you, even though he never meant to.
Benimaru was aware of this too. He always wanted to reassure you that he didn't mean to make you feel small. But he wasn't the best at communicating. He just couldn't find the right words to say without sounding like a jerk, even with other people. He hated how he makes you feel that way.
With a sigh, Benimaru went inside the house and placed you on the mat, wrapping the blanket on both of you. You didn't have the strength to protest since you were so tired.
"You look stupid for getting a fever from this when you've been doing this your whole life." Benimaru quietly murmured. Why did I say that? Benimaru thought.
The warmth surrounding your body lulled you to sleep before you can even respond. Benimaru sighed and laid down on the bed to face you. You took short breaths that fanned his face and it almost drove him crazy. He never once got used to being so near to you. The weakness he felt whenever he was around you always came flying down to him like it was the first time he ever felt it.
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Sunlight peaked through the windows as your eyes slowly fluttered to the bright morning light. It felt warm and cozy.
You breathed in to indulge the musky smell of the clothes your face is currently stuffed in. Benimaru always smelled like this. A hint of smoke clinging to his shirt mixed with the scent of body wash that you could just take in all day lo—
You suddenly paused.
A few seconds passed and you wiggled around, trying to get away from a firm grip. However, the squeeze on you only tightened. Benimaru slowly opened his eyes, and he caught sight of two arms struggling to keep some distance between him and you. An annoyed expression occurred on his face, and somehow, you found it cute. It's as if he was a little kid unwillingly woken up in the morning.
"Stop that" He lazily groaned while he re-positioned the both of you, yanking you towards him abruptly.
Now your face collided with his chest. Beni's face, on the other hand, was placed on your shoulder. The small gusts of wind kissing the skin around your ears were killing you softly. Your brows furrowed as a shade of red tint slowly crept up your cheeks.
"What the hell are you doing..." Your words muffled from being sandwiched between Benimaru and his arms.
You slowly became aware of how ridiculous you must look right now with your bedhead. It was quiet for a few seconds before he replied.
"What else, stupid," he grumbled. Somehow, you were reminded of the way he held you back then. The same warmth still embraced you gently the way it used to.
When was the last time he held you in his arms dearly? When was the last time the distance between both of you was excruciatingly small? He has been so busy with work—with being a responsible hikeshi, that spending time with each other felt so long ago.
"Don't overwork yourself," He softly muttered while he shifted his position once again so that your forehead is tenderly placed against his. He moved a stray hair from your face and glided it towards the back of your ear.
"It was just laundry," You avoided his eyes, still extremely aware of how your noses are almost touching. One could clearly hear you pouting.
His droopy crimson eyes locked in on yours when he lifted your chin to force you to look at him. Stupid. Benimaru clicked his tongue to express his frustration about your stubbornness. "You don't have to laundry yourself to death, idiot," He inched just a little bit closer, the distance between your lips slowly dissipating.
The rapid heartbeat rising each second that passed, the blood rising from your cheeks—it was all washing over you at the same time.
You never really got used to the feeling too.
You broke off eye contact and turned to face the other way. Beni wasn't quite happy with that though—now he was really annoyed. He couldn't blame you. Benimaru faced the ceiling and crossed his arms. His mind went back and forth, trying to come up with ideas on how to make it up to you.
"Beni," you quietly spoke up after seemingly a long silence.
Benimaru's heart jumped. He liked how you called him differently than the others. He purposely told people to call him Waka. All because he only wanted to hear the nickname you gave him come from you. An indicator—perhaps, that you were different.
"What is it this time?" Benimaru's eyes drifted to the corner of the room. He tried his hardest to show that he wasn't fazed at all.
"Stay here for a little while." You finally say.
Benimaru was quiet for a few seconds after that.
His arms snaked it's way back your waist and he placed a soft kiss on your nape just before burying his face in your neck.
"...sorry. I love you"
To say that it made your heart skip a beat would be an understatement.
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Hello. This is my first story! I revised it since I realized my sentences were weird. I also used 'you' a lot. I've only been doing academic works my whole life, and I didn't have any interest in creative writing up until now. Writing fanfiction is actually a lot of work. This is just an experiment since I don't have the experience writing character x reader (or any fanfic in general) I just finally had the courage to write my ideas because I don't see a lot of fire force fics!