Chapter Text
The shadows coming from trunks and branches have crawled above you which made the ambiance duller and dimmer. You were alone, sitting small in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of tall and thick trees with a broken ankle in a place where a faint gush of the river can be heard which shouts “forest”
You were in a forest. Lost as it seems but no, you are here on a mission—a personal mission.
Looking around for some tree branch for ankle support, you crawled your way on the muddy puddle when you saw a black silhouette among the large group of bushes, a silhouette of a young boy with hair of spikes like thorns which kind of reminded you of a young lad, Megumi.
A loud repetition of thud occurred in your chest. Despite the pain coming from the broken ankle, you crawled out of the rush to the boy, your boy.
Having a son before reaching thirties and naming it Megumi which means “blessing” is indeed a blessing that has been bestowed upon you. A blessing from above-providing light and hope to you, with his small, ball-fists, ready to conquer the upcoming tomorrow as a young one by waddling, and his small, crying noises which you think sound astronomical. He became your entire universe.
Due to circumstances, however, you have never seen Megumi since his dad’s sudden loss of contact. You have no idea where your husband went and what happened to him.
Your husband was the first one to leave but you seek out to find him for the sake of your son. In the end, both parents have left their son and your daughter and the only lead you have is that your husband was killed, your Toji Fushiguro.
You have been hit by instant regret but you have your own reasons. Despite your yearning to have a complete family for Gumi, you simply can’t. Toji is a man who has been through different kinds of rocky roads and the moment he left, you knew it was for you and your son’s sake, but still, you left to find him since you have been partners since then, you thought that you are now his accomplice.
You too, left your son to protect his future.
Palpitating and producing an excessive amount of sweat, you cannot set your mind in a single direction. How could you even think straight when yesterday was all flowers and sunshine but then took a turn and all went downhill. You never wanted this but you wanted them, Toji and Megumi.
With the constant reminder of calming yourself down before making a move, you suddenly remember a significant fragment from the past but this was subtly mentioned by your husband: that a day might come where he needs to clean up the mess served to him. You kind of got the gist of it, knowing Toji but you simply shrugged it off.
If you only listened, this might have been prevented. The short reminiscing you did of Toji made you miss him, your husband.
You met him back then when you were out killing for some grade 1 curses when a man of a large body frame with a huge worm-like creature curled around on its body with its face resting just above his shoulder like a newborn baby, have entered your view and out of panic, you pointed your curse-killing gun and shot the man in which he easily got away with.
“You mad, woman?” He said and Shwaaah! An echoing scream was made by the worm. He seems to be unbothered by the thing over his shoulders. “Who are you?” You finally redeemed your stance and once again pointed your gun towards him which made him chuckle lowly. The both of you knew you were shaking but this is not the time for your fear to take over but for him, this stunning sight of him in front is rather entertaining.
“You know that won’t kill me.” He spoke in a cocky tone. Yes, because this gun is specifically made for sorcerers to use it against curses. “But I can,” you said without batting an eye, trying to intimidate the big guy. He chuckled lowly again, feeling too safe and carefree in such a place that shouts danger.
You felt a twist in your stomach as the staring contest kept on but the man didn’t even flinch. He even kept poking his nose and flicking his pinky for the boogers he got. What a careless man, you thought.
But the staring contest was stopped by an echoing shot from a gun. You have pulled your trigger towards his direction.
The man, wide-eyed out of surprise not because of the shot, but the way you shot got him all excited, grinning from ear-to-ear. You killed the curse that was about to jump on him. “Wow-“ which was suddenly cut off by you.
“No, we’re not done here. Who are you?” reloading your gun and once again aimed at him. He hated to admit but he is invested by the way you stare at him with those large, amber eyes. “If you won’t talk, then.” You marked your aim at the crotch of his dirty, black sweats. “Woah there, Toji Zenin” and you made a face.
Zenin? Toji? That name of his ringed a bell in your head. It sounds too familiar. Almost as if he resembled the Toji from the well-known Zenin Clan. You scrunched your face and processed the thought of him as a part of the infamous Zenin Clan.
Thinking hard, you didn’t notice your brows, uniting downwards was soon noticed by Toji, getting amused, he didn’t utter any word. Only lifting a brow as he stayed focus on every little facial expression you make. He knew what you were thinking—if he really is the Toji from the Zenin Clan.
Sadly, yes. But he ran away and things have happened yada, yada, and poof, here he is now, facing a beauty who’s aiming at his crotch. He can’t deny that this turns him on as he likes forceful women who dominate him.
But this is too much thinking, he can’t help but shower you with his eyes of amusement. “damn, didn’t know I was famous all along” sniggered Toji which made you scoff out of disbelief, turning your head somewhere to hide the tint of peach across your cheeks. Has it been years since he last flirted with someone? “Well, now you know” you rolled your eyes after making a sarcastic comment.
And from that statement, has captured Toji without him fully acknowledging it. Raising both his hands, palms wide open while clenching his jaw to surpass his overjoyed self, he conceded. “I get that we have this sexual tension surrounding us but could you please aim somewhere else rather than my balls? I may use this for future purposes” He winked and laughed at his own childishness. It has been years since he has talked to someone this loosely.
People surrounding him demand all sorts of worthless crap in which makes him suffocated to the point that he has been numb for years. Just gambling his way through.
Feeling unsure, you began to swallow his non-sensical statement, while slowly withdrawing your gun and placed it in between your sweaty, lower back and the garter of your pants, thinking of slightly trusting this man since it will benefit the two of you for fighting all these goddamn curses knowing that you alone cannot fight these fuckers.
Plus, you are curious about this man who is currently yawning while scratching his crotch. Weird ass dude.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, all the nervousness has finally entered your system, feeling the speedy rush of electric-like bolts, awakening every joint you have all over your body which made your knees wobble but before you even fell on your bum, Toji, who is from a distance, is suddenly beside you, with a hand on your waist and your back on his bulletproof vest-like chest as support.
You assumed he smelled bad with all the sweat that is visible through his dirty, gray tee but he, in fact, smelled quite nice. Not that bad since you’re guessing he’s been around the place for a couple of days already, but not that good either. Just like a so-so scent mixed of sweat, a bit grassy, but the faint stench of musk is still present. Again, your insides took a turn or rather, a 360 flip.
With the loss of energy and an over-the-top nervousness, you have lost control over your body but Toji never complained and even wiped the beads of sweat running across your temple. He is concerned based on the way he surveyed your condition—the way his brows arch and his forehead crease, he is indeed concerned but you’re way too exhausted to even notice such small details.
“I guess we’re even?” said in a slightly soft yet cocky tone, still in the same position, smirking to maintain the energy between you two light. “Keep on guessing,” you said or more like whispered since you really have no energy to even bark back again to let him know that this is not that big of a deal, just pure exhaustion.
“Come again, babe?” Leaning close to your face, feeling his breath across your cheek, such as tease, you glared at him.
“Well, if you don’t mind” He swooped you in his muscular arms and carried you to somewhere you don’t know. You were about to panic and cause a ruckus by shouting all the curse words you learned from elementary but he prevented that from happening before all kinds of curses barge into the both of you when a rough palm was suddenly wrapped around your mouth “I set up a camp” he said. Oh. You removed his hand to speak “But isn’t this like where most curses are?” You looked around, getting anxious and nervous once again but you maintained your expression, not letting Toji know your weakness.
Walking deeper into the woods, you noticed that the trees which are of vibrant green color earlier, gradually became dull and dark, guessing that the curses must have sucked its life out of it which makes this part of the forest more blood-curding. The trail's clear cement mixed with dirt and grass been covered by the overgrown weeds dominating most of the pathway.
You turned your head above to see if Toji is sensing the same spine-chilling feeling you felt but no, he kept a straight face as if the sharp edges of weeds are not a bother to him as he walks. His arms still cradling you in a more protective hold to keep you away from the sharp edges of the grass. He is not scared. This does not make him flinch but rather, having someone to look out for is what scared him more.
For years, he was not enlightened by affection, growing up in a clan of sorcerers, he was forced to do things a kid of young age should not do. His youth was stolen away from his younger self which is why feelings such as affection are rather bizarre and unfamiliar.
Although he perceives the flirtatious trait, he sees it more as a coping mechanism to fill the unidentified void in his inside, swallowing him alive. But once he noticed the paved road leading the status of a relationship into a serious one, he would always run away, afraid that this might trigger the possible explosion of his obscure overflowing emotions but mostly, afraid of himself being the cause of pain for people he unconsciously cherishes.
Looking upon at his suppressing frowning face made you think. You are a sorcerer and this is not your first time going out for days to kill and look out for some curses but you can’t help the rise of your body hair whenever you heard the crackling sound of a curse. You can’t help feeling nervous since you never wanted to be a sorcerer in the first place but you were told that the lives of innocents were to be involved when this conflict remains unsettled leaving you no choice but to obey the command of the elders.
All of this is because of the damned traditions and orders made to follow by your family. The reason why you knew about the Zenin Clan is that your family is an ally of theirs and the orders made by the Zenin Clan were the same orders to be followed by your family which is why you somewhat understood Toji’s sentiments or maybe you’re wrong?
“Really?” asked Toji even though he knew. This was supposed to be a trap for you. To lure you into the camp in which he will destroy by putting it on fire or killing you once your guard was let down with a surprise attack. This kind of thing is not that hard for him to do but rather, too easy which made him be laidback with this job. Toji is known for the title “sorcerer killer”. He is used to be ordered by different people to kill sorcerers as long as the pay is good, and one of his recent clients has ordered him to kill a female sorcerer who uses guns to eliminate curses.
You, said by the client, are a future threat to their plans. Whatever they plan to do to you never really reached Toji’s line of interest. But that was before which made him regret not listening to their reason as to why they demand him to do this.
He knew there is something more than them pointing you as a threat but he brushed that thought off and focused on the beauty in his arms who is trying her best not to fall asleep but eventually failed when Toji supported her head with his large hands before it fell backward and tried his best not to wake the sleeping beauty as he opens the small, orange tent he set up.
Slowly crouching as he gently placed you inside the zipped tent and made sure you are secured and comfortable by placing a pillow he brought below your head and once he felt like you can now dream far, he helped himself by sitting beside you.
The tent was rather cramped not because it was too small, but Toji’s body has taken all the space which made it look tight and cramped. He lets out a tired huff thinking about letting the deal go while gazing at you. It’s weird for him to even think of getting attached to someone whom he must kill but he, himself cannot fathom his feelings nor the circumstances themselves.
In his eyes, you’re making a grumpy face while gritting your teeth which made him wonder about your dream if it includes him or not. He groaned internally while he glided his palm into his forehead and grabbing his hair hard—This is a dumb idea.
Grabbing the large cloth, he used it as a blanket to warm you up. Though he could use his body, but maybe next time. He thought of leaving you here, tempted by a large amount of money from the deal, but even though he wants to, his body seemed to refuse to remember the curses he has gathered somewhere among the bushes, not that far from the tent.
He would rather stay to keep you safe and probably to check you out if whether you do pose as a threat for him and for the client, or check you out literally. He scoffed at how messy and unpredictable his mind is when it comes to you. He was never interested in such concepts of liking and much more of seriously loving a frail being. From the way he grew up, he has thought of things such as pursuing the things that are more valuable for him—money.
But you, on the other hand, came out as someone who is indeed frail based on seeing your wobbly legs earlier, but what impressed him is that you were courageous. Your stance never changed similarly to your mindset. Moreover, you never blinked an eye despite fear. It inspired him to try as well. To do his best once or twice since too much is not deserving of worthless beings.
He thinks of you as someone who is worthy. Comparing you to others, there is not much of a difference. You are still weak, but for him, you pose as someone who is more delicate than weak.
And while the comparison continued, he, too, dozed off to sleep while sitting beside her.