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Lu.
That solo trip was the most treacherous thing I have done to date. Not only did I have to hide it from my partners, I had to hide it from my family too, simply because of how in depth and traumatizing this stupid shitty ass mission was. All I wanted to do was lay down with Minato and Lorenzo and take a fat nap. Sleep away all the stuff that happened and forget about it all.
I had already visited Joni and Helsie, just to tell them I was alright. They’re my first priority after all so it would make sense. Now hopefully with those two worrywarts out of the way, I could go home to my beautiful and caring partners. Absolutely nothing is going to happen when I get home and we can just sleep.
My footsteps were heavy as I walked down the dimly lit sidewalk. It was a dark night, the moon barely emitting any light to guide my way. As I approached our house, I could see the lights in the living room turned on. That’s odd, it’s well past those two’s bedtime, so I have no idea what those dimwits could be doing.
Our yard was uncharacteristically unkempt, which was weird since Lorenzo normally kept it tamed. I walked up the steps to the porch, the loud bangs echoing throughout the whole house. From what I could hear, the two were already talking, Minato’s voice being much louder and brash. I fumbled around for my keys, having to take a moment to unclip them from my belt.
As the keys jangled in the doorknob, the house went silent, as if everyone was waiting for me. And with how long I was gone, they probably were. The door creaked open to the two of them in the living room, Lorenzo sitting on the couch, and Minato apparently mid-stride. We stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, before I stumbled towards them and sat on the loveseat we owned. The other two didn’t speak, while I wasn’t expecting much fanfare, I would’ve at least liked a welcome home.
“Lucien, where the bloody hell have ya’ been?” Lorenzo sounded almost sad, disappointed at most. I mean sure, I vanished without a trace for almost two and a half months, but I feel like I do this often enough that they should be used to this. Well, I don’t disappear for that long but same thing. “A mission, it’s not that big of a deal, can we just go to bed now?”
My eyes felt heavy with fatigue, were they really gonna argue about this? Minato stepped forward, anger clearly running through his words as he spoke. “Not that big of a deal? You were gone for fucking months Lucien, of course we’re going to worry.” He ran a hand through his hair, then returned to his stiff pose of crossing his arms. Really, they were definitely making a bigger deal than needed.
“Guys, I just want to sleep and ya’ll are being assholes about it.” I hung my head low and slumped against the cushions, it was almost three A.M, I just wanted to sleep. “We’re not being assholes about this. Sorry we worry about you and wish you well. Maybe you should actually fucking tell us when you leave and what the mission is about. We’re a team y’know?”
Did Minato really have to bring up this mission, it’s making my life so much harder. And the fact Lorenzo wasn’t doing anything to stop him from yelling was also pissing me off, it just showed he agreed with Minato. “I don’t have to tell you guys shit, you guys aren’t the boss of me.” And so what if my annoyance leaked into my voice. I was annoyed, but most of all, I just wanted them, and they clearly weren’t giving me that luxury.
“Well we’d prefer if ya’ just tell us somethin’, anythin’, ‘bout where ya’ been. Everytime ya’ nick off, it’s like going on a wild goose chase trying to make sure you’re alright.” Lorenzo’s voice was much gentler, a calm in the storm of Minato’s brashness. “None of you fuckers can be talking about running off, you both have done it before.” It didn’t make any sense, why were they getting on my ass for stuff they’ve also done?
“We don’t vanish for MONTHS! It’s a few days to a week at most. At least try to act like you care about us worrying for you.” Why was Minato being such a bitch about this, could he just leave me alone? “Well at least the leader of my own group actually trusts me. Unlike a certain someone I know. That’s why I can go on missions like this.” I stood up to face Minato, I wasn’t scared of him and I knew he wouldn’t hurt me, but damn did it sting to have to actually yell at him, let alone be petty with him.
“It’s not my fault she doesn’t trust me for saving an innocent life, Nemia has no part in this so leave that incident out of the conversation!” His voice sounded more strained, and while I knew I shouldn’t have brought up their issues, I was tired of him being such a hypocrite.
Lorenzo had stood up and placed a hand on Minato’s shoulder, a move I supposed was meant to calm him down. “Minato, maybe we should just take it easy, yeah? It’s been a long night for him.” Minato had swatted Lorenzo’s hand away, turning around and facing away. “Minato, if you're going to be such an ass to the two of us, maybe you should just go to bed. We don’t want to be dealing with your attitude right now.” I glared at the back of his head, I knew he wouldn’t see it, but I sure hope he felt it.
He genuinely looked like an angry cat with the hair raised on his back, and while I found that funny, I knew this was more serious than it needed to be. “Fine. You two can go on your jolly way being reckless and throwing your life in danger.” Okay, he was actually pissing me off now, I had to shut him down before he said something that would hurt all of us. “Reckless? You call us reckless? Minato, I need you to take one look in the mirror and then tell me what recklessness is. You of all people can’t be talking.”
His shoulders visibly tensed and then relaxed. He didn’t say a word as he walked to the front door and left. He just straight up left. There was a clatter as he took his swords off the rack outside, his footsteps retreating down the steps and away. I let out a groan and sat back down, Lorenzo plopping down next to me. “I’m glad you’re home, Lucien, but shouldn’t we head out and follow him?”
I weakly nodded and grasped his hand, pulling him closer and into a hug. At least one of my boyfriends was happy to see me. “I suppose he can stay out there for a while, teach him a lesson, hm?” Lorenzo chuckled at my suggestion, his head leaning on my shoulder. “If he’s not back within the hour, then we go. He's normally able to handle himself but with his emotional state I don’t reckon it’s safe to be fightin’.” This intrigued me, how long has he been like this? I suppose I could ask later, but right now, I just want to relax with Lorenzo, even if Minato wasn’t here.
M.
Reckless my ass. If they want reckless, I’ll show them reckless. At least I have plans and strategies in my recklessness. My swords banged heavily on my thigh, my stomach lurching as I planned to walk into Demon’s Dojo. The place had been crawling with demons of all kinds, and most importantly, The Night Rose. She was a big target on the club’s hitlist, so if I could take her out, I can prove that I’m trustworthy.
The trip wouldn’t take long, especially with all of the utilities along the way. As I got closer, the grass under my feet became more and more icey, until I was walking in snow. I almost forgot it was snowy up here.
The snow crunched under my feet as I moved, the building coming into view. I could already see a few demons, the bastards just chilling as if they did nothing wrong. I finally took the first few steps up, the demons automatically starting to move in my peripheral vision. I’d wait for them to just be behind me before swinging and slicing their heads clean off. Despite being just apparitions, they had quite heavy footsteps.
Things were going just fine. I was confident, these demons had nothing against me. I kneeled down to open a chest, a demon's footsteps banging behind me. It was farther away, so I was going to finish opening the chest, but apparently there were two walking in unison. Once behind me, I was able to slice one, but the other was able to slash my shoulder. It didn’t hurt much, just a few scratches, and I was able to dispose of the demon that hurt me swiftly. A small injury like this wouldn’t prevent me from fighting The Night Rose.
With most of the demons gone , it was time to fight her. I walked into the main building, The Night Rose standing idle in the middle of the room, facing away from me. With her distracted, I pulled out the Mammoth from my jacket and aimed at her head. With a headshot as a starting shot, there’s no way she could get the upper hand.
As I pointed the gun at her head, she turned to look at me, her empty eyes boring into my soul. I took the shot before she could react, the recoil making my arm jolt with pain. The cut was more adamant than I thought. I shook the pain out, sprinting away and into cover before she could shoot back. I heard her shriek as the shot hit, the scream shaking the whole building. I hid behind a wall and reloaded my gun, the satisfying click of the bullet being inserted echoing loudly.
Her shots started hitting the wall I was hiding behind, the damage being enough to break it, which really pissed me off since cover was minimal here. As I slid to another wall, I took another shot. Unfortunately a body shot, but a shot nonetheless. Right before I hid behind another wall, one of her shots hit me in the same shoulder I was scratched in. I let out a grunt of pain, but reloaded my gun and shot again, a headshot this time.
Her screams rang in my ears as she turned into her stupid puppet thing. I’ve heard stories about this, so I was prepared, and took a few shots at the eyes. Every shot I took reverberated in my shoulder, the pain slowly worsening. I hid behind a wall to cradle my arm and reload, breathing heavy as blood trickled down my jacket sleeve.
I heard the roar of her fire blasts being shot, and rolled to the right. I heavily miscalculated and rolled the wrong direction, getting shot with the fireballs, effectively slamming me against the far wall. I hit the wall with a thud and fell to the floor. The room was spinning and everything smelt like smoke. I slowly tried to get up, the pressure on my shoulder getting worse as I used that arm to pull myself up.
I tried reaching for my gun as I stood, but it was kicked away as The Night Rose walked up. I was practically on my knees in front of her as she menacingly stood there, not shooting or attacking, just staring as I tried to get up again. My chin was grabbed as she forced me to look at her, blood trickling down my face from a cut somewhere on my head. She looked disappointed almost, as if she was expecting more, which only made me push her away and pull my swords out. I swung a few times, the hits batting and bruising her, causing her to move back to the center of the room.
I wiped blood off my eye and readied up again, I wouldn’t get hit again. After what felt like a few minutes of intense battle, we were both at our limits. The Night Rose was barely holding on and I was bleeding and bruised. It wasn’t helping that swinging my sword around so much had caused the injuries there to worsen, I could barely hold up my sword on that side.
She stood in front of me. She was one hit. Just one more swing and I could go home. Everything would be fine. I rushed to slash her but she shrieked and shot out another fireball. Being in such close vicinity to her meant I couldn’t dodge so I got hit with the attack. My vision blacked out as I hit the floor, the final fight leaving me.
I couldn’t move my body with how much everything hurt. Some parts felt like I was on fire while others felt like they were actively bleeding out. I went to crawl up, to stand up and fight like I was supposed to, but all I could do was clench my muscles.
I felt myself get lifted by the throat as she picked me up. My hands went to pull her hands off, but my body was so weak that I couldn’t even lift her hand a tiny bit. She stood there choking me out, my legs hanging in the air as I struggled to get loose. Blood rushed to my head as I let out choked pleas and gasps. This was it, this is how I die. I die knowing that Lucien and Lorenzo are mad at me, that Joni would never forgive me.
I stopped moving as I accepted death, it wasn’t worth it anyway. She seemed confused for a second, but gleefully took the chance to finish me.
The loud shot of a hunting rifle echoed through the room. My eyes shot open as I heard the new gun. In front of me, The Night Rose froze, shock in her face as she fell, me falling with her. She disintegrated in front of me as I started laughing. Maybe the blood loss was getting to me but I almost wanted her to kill me.
I layed on the floor as I curled into myself. My body hurts. It hurts so much and I can barely move to save myself from whoever was here. There was blood all over me, and I only knew that because I felt the warmth of the thick liquid seeping over my body. I heard the footsteps get closer and let out a few dry heaves, surely these people would just leave me alone so I can die in peace?
“Minato!” “Oh my god.” The two voices felt familiar yet so distant. My vision blurred as the figures kneeled next to me and forcefully moved me onto my back. The pain was unbearable and moving only made it worse. My ribs feel broken, my legs are jello, and my shoulder has searing pain, it can’t get worse than this. Hands cupped my cheeks as another pair lifted up my shirt and felt around, I winced in pain, I still had no idea what was going on. “Yeah, definitely a few broken ribs. He must’ve gotten slammed.” The hands on my cheeks wiped away tears. Tears I didn’t know were coming out.
The figure that was holding me leaned in, allowing me to finally see who it was. “Lor.. Lorenzo…?” My partners were here? Even after that shit I pulled? “Yeah, that’s me alright. We gotcha love.” Despite the pain, I reached up with my better arm and pulled him in for a kiss. It was quick, considering he was more worried about me almost dying, but I needed it. “Lucien..?” I tilted my head up as much as I could and saw the other pulling bandages out of his backpack.
“I’m here, you dumbass. Now please stay awake, we can’t have you falling asleep until we’re ready.” At the mention of sleep, my body realized it was almost six A.M. Three hours since I first left. How long did that fight last? Lorenzo continued to hold me as Lucien put bandages all over my body. It felt nice, but I really did just want a kiss from him as well.
I heard the backpack zip shut, signaling that Lucien was done. I could hear he was near my feet, so I kicked him as hard as I could. “Ow! I take my time to heal you and you still kick me.” Lorenzo laughed as Lucien crawled up on the other side of me. As if reading my mind, he kissed me softly on the cheek. “Now, don’t think I’m not upset with you. Not only were you a huge hypocrite tonight, all you did was prove my point about being reckless.” Lucien’s voice was stern as he spoke, showing he wasn’t going to allow me to talk back.
I scoffed and turned to face Lorenzo, him sighing once he saw the look in my eyes. He kissed my other cheek, to which I smiled as much as I could when feeling like this. Maybe I could die here in both my partners arms. I contently closed my eyes, happily knowing that both of them are next to me. “Hey. Minato, what did I say about falling asleep?” The words drowned out as I let sleep take me. Maybe it was more than sleep, who knows?
Lo.
Minato’s eyes closed, which only led to me worriedly looking up at Lucien. Lucien patted his cheeks, trying to slap him awake, but Minato was out cold. Lucien cursed and went to pick up his backpack. “Can you carry him? Without disturbing his injuries?” I hastily nodded and picked up Minato as Lucien led the way. Minato was surprisingly light, I thought he would be much heavier because of how much muscle he had, but I guess I was wrong.
“I would say we bring him to Joni, but I doubt she’d want to deal with his ass so early in the morning. Let’s just go home.” I nodded again, slowly following behind Lucien as he led me through Demon’s Dojo. If any remaining demons followed us, I wouldn’t have known with how swiftly Lucien killed them.
The walk back took extra long, since we both had to take shifts carrying Minato. Everytime we switched, he would cuddle back into our chests, acting all innocent like he didn’t just run off and almost kill himself. Which reminded me. “Should we worry ‘bout how he just gave up before we got there? We both saw it, he stopped fightin’.” I moved the backpack around on my shoulders, Lucien being the one carrying Minato right now.
Lucien’s eyebrows scrunched together. When we walked up to the building and heard fighting, we expected Minato to be doing everything in his power to get out of her grasp, but instead he was just being held limply, like he was waiting for her to kill him. “I’ll talk to him when he wakes up. Even I wasn’t expecting that, if he’s going out, he’s going out with a bang. That was nothing like him.”
I sighed with worry, what was up with him. He seemed more agitated the past few weeks. Anything could tick him off. I knew he would never get upset with me, so him swatting me away earlier definitely hurt. I could see both of their sides, but that argument shouldn’t have been elevated to that degree. I meant to calm them down, but Minato stormed out before I could speak anymore.
Over the past few weeks, he had been more protective of Nemia, even going as far as to spend two weeks at her place until she had to kick him out. I don’t know if it was because of Lucien running off or what, but I should probably bring it up later. Our house came into view over the hill, Minato being handed off to me since Lucien had the keys.
Minato had groaned as he was passed off, his ribs being crunched around a bit as we moved. He had melted into my arms when comfortable again, his head tucking into my chest as we walked up the stairs. His hair was matted to his forehead with blood and sweat, how could he have gotten so bruised, knowing him he thought everything through, despite being reckless.
The door squealed as it was opened, Lucien holding it open so I could maneuver inside. I walked to our shared bedroom and placed Minato on the bed, taking extra care to not jostle him too much. Lucien was in the bathroom grabbing any medical supplies we had.
I went to go help him, but as I started walking away, a hand softly grabbed mine. I turned to face Minato and tell him to let go, but he was still out cold, seemingly subconsciously reaching for me. I sighed and sat on the bed, clutching the hand that desperately reached for me with both of my hands. Minato’s hands were still in their gloves, and from what I could see, his knuckles were battered and bruised. Did he seriously fist fight a demon? His swords were nearby when we found him, the punching must've happened earlier.
I carefully took his gloves off, his normally unscarred hands having cuts all over the place. The hands that have lovingly held both me and Lucien now on the brink of death. It was a hard thought, but knowing Minato would still reach out to me even on his deathbed was sweet. Which he wasn't. Minato is going to live, whether he likes it or not.
Lucien walked in, his footsteps now light without his shoes. He held multiple med-kits and other heals, his arms almost overflowing with supplies. He tossed them all on the bed, the impact causing Minato's hand to tighten in my own. Minato groaned as his eyes fluttered open, relief practically flowing out of me. I knew he wouldn't die but it was still scary seeing him so battered. “Oh jeez, I thought I'd be dead by now.”
Minato's voice was raspy and sounded like he had been hit in the throat, or y'know choked out like we walked in on. “Oh shut up, be glad we were even there to save you.” I knew Lucien sounded pissed, but deep down I also knew he felt like shit for not finding him in time. After the first hour of Minato gone, we went out and searched for another hour and by the time we saw footprints in the snow another hour had passed. I had my suspicions he would go there because the group had mentioned this big bad boss, and who would be so reckless to go by themselves other than Minato himself. But I didn't want to lead us to Demon's Dojo if he wasn't actually there and throw our whole course off track.
I felt really shitty not making us go there first since we could've at least prevented a few of his injuries. Probably not all with how reckless he is, but enough he wouldn't be wheezing like a dead man.
“Minato, how are you feeling?” The male on the bed shifted around, small grunts of pain leaving his throat as he forced himself to sit up. Nothing but rest could be done about the broken ribs, so no vampire or demon hunting for a while. “Uh, like shit, that's what.” He let out a breathless chuckle and gripped my hand harder, who knows what was going through his mind right now.
Lucien ended up having to maneuver around Minato to wrap up even more cuts that weren't seen when he first did the wrapping. Minato did end up taking his jacket off, complaining about having to buy a new one since this one was all torn up. I don't understand how he could worry about a stupid jacket when he nearly died.
Minato shifted his arm around, wincing as the bone made horrible scratching and grinding noises. “Well, safe to say I dislocated this arm at least five times during the whole fight.”
“Well maybe if you weren't such a dumbass, you wouldn't be in this situation.” Lucien got off the bed and walked back to the bathroom with the supplies in hand. The silence was suffocating as we sat alone together. It wasn't interrupted until Minato's voice sliced through the awkwardness.
“I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to go this way.” I could almost call him a sad kitten dipped in water with how meek he looked right now. He was practically at our mercy, something that had taken time to let happen. "It's alright, just don't do it again, yeah? Do ya’ know how worried me and Lucien were? We thought ya’ died.”
He curled in on himself, he was probably eating himself up, something I couldn't let happen. “Hey, you're alive, and that's what matters. And if I were you, I'd apologize to Lucien too.” Minato nodded as I gently pulled him closer, melting into my touch as I let my head rest on his hair. We'd need to get him into the shower. And probably wash our sheets while he's in there.
I heard the door open behind me and Minato perk up a bit as Lucien walked in and sat on the bed next to us. I could feel Minato dying to pull him into the hug, but was hesitant knowing that Lucien was already pissed.
Minato didn't pull away as he spoke to the other, probably not wanting to make eye contact. I mean, I wouldn't either so I don't blame him.
“Listen, Lucien. I know I acted rashly-” “Wow.. You think so?” Minato's hug got tighter as Lucien interrupted him, but he stayed strong and spoke again. “I'm sorry for running off, and I'm sorry for getting all pissy earlier. I was just worried about you and when you came home all dismissive like nothing even happened, I just-” His voice cut short as he sniffled. He hands balling into fists on my lap.
“I just couldn't afford to lose you as well.” I felt my shirt get wet as Minato's voice got all solemn, tears prickling out of his eyes. Me and Lucien made eye contact, worry strong in his eyes as he gently pulled Minato out of my grasp and into his own. “Minato, while you also worried the fuck out of us, I understand why you acted the way you did. I'm sorry for leaving without saying anything, I'll get better at it as long as you two promise the same.”
Me and Minato nodded, both content with that deal. Lucien kissed Minato's cheek and then gestured to me as well. I happily joined the hug/cuddle pile and laid there with them for a while until Lucien shoved Minato off.
“And your ass needs a well deserved shower.”