Epiphany. [Guren Ichinose x Reader] ➥ Book 2. [Semi-hiatus]

Epiphany ~ Chapter 36.

-Narrator-
"Mama, is everything okay, they're good people right?" Nico looked up at Yuna, big eyes glossed over in temporary concern but she didn't want to worry him so she still nodded in reassurance,

"Don't worry, it's okay." She soothingly rubbed his arm,

An intimidating man with dark hair and charismatic eyebrows had come to her place accompanied with a woman with blond hair and fairly cold eyes they both wore the uniform that she knew belonged to the JIDA and of course she couldn't say no to them, the way it looked they weren't really going to be taking no for an answer either.

"I'm Kureto Hiragi, pleasure to meet you. I'm acquainted with a veteran who was quite close to you and your family." He introduced himself and then she immediately remembered the old lady who ran the bakery, She'd known her for a long time as she and a few other old people in the village were also in the Japanese imperial demon army during their younger days, so this information alone seemed to help Yuna relax,

"I see." She slowly nodded, before gesturing to the living room, "Have a seat." She offered, to which he accepted,

"Would you like something to drink?" She asked the two but they both shook their heads no,

"That's quite alright," Kureto politely declined, "I won't be here for long anyway so I should probably just get straight to the point,"

"I'm aware you are acquainted with Y/N L/N and Guren Ichinose, is that correct?" He asked,

"Yes, they helped me out quite a bit." She confirmed, "Why is that an issue?"

"Oh no, of course not, in fact we're quite well acquainted ourselves, colleagues if you will." He explained,

"Ah, I didn't know that." She thought it was possible that they were also in the army but didn't think too much into it as they were nice enough and helped her out, "I'm sorry but what's that got to do with me?"

He chuckled, "While Guren Ichinose is definitely still my colleague, Y/N isn't; she actually deserted her duties as a soldier but we know she has been in contact with Guren and some of her other friends in the military." He continued, "That's why we need your help."

"Ah-" the whole scenario was awfully suspicious to Yuna and she felt like there was a lot more to the story than what Kureto Hiragi was letting on but she still listened regardless,

"We want to negotiate a few things with Y/N, she is excellent at what she does and we don't have many soldiers like her but we don't think this will be possible under normal circumstances."

"Did something happen to make her not want to negotiate?" Yuna asked,

"Long story short, yes but things have changed and she clearly doesn't trust us enough to hear us out."

Yuna was hesitant to help them, "I don't know, if I'm completely honest I feel like I shouldn't put Y/N in a position where she is forced into seeing you, especially if she doesn't want to."

It was silent for a while,

"I see, so you think you have a choice?" He finally dropped the act, and she wasn't surprised, she heard rumours about the Hiragi family being ruthless, their authority was absolute and not to be questioned, however this did confirm her suspicions regarding whether what he wanted would be beneficial to Y/N and Guren but it also made her worry about whether what he made her do would endanger the two or not,

"Nico, go and play in your room, I'll join you in a second." She put him down on his feet, but Kureto stopped him,

"Actually, we need the boy," he beckoned him back and Nico looked at his mother for silent approval,

"What on earth do you need a child for?" She huffed, her agitation slowly rising at the involvement of her child,

"We just need him to write a letter, but I have no problem with taking him with me and getting him to do it that way." He shrugged,

Her jaw slackened as she was now pushed into the decision of choosing to protect her child or friends who had helped reunite her with her child.

She deeply exhaled, and obeyed him not knowing what this man was capable of, he was the last one she would trust with Nico, "Nico, come here, sweetie." She called him back, and he nervously padded over to her,

"Aoi, help him write the letter, please" Kureto ordered and she nodded,

"Can we use the table over there?" She pointed to it and Yuna nodded,

When the two settled themselves she couldn't help but throw several glances at the two, it must've been very obvious though as it caused a chuckle to erupt from Kureto's throat, "I won't kidnap him, you can relax."

"Despite the fact you just threatened to, that's not the only thing I'm worried about-" Yuna sighed, folding her arms,

He leaned back in the chair and crossed his legs, getting too comfortable for her liking, "I won't hurt you or your son in any way, shape or form. Does that ease some your concerns?"

"No I have one more. What did you do to Y/N for her to run away from you?"

"From me?" He smirked, "What makes you think it was me?"

"You're a high ranking military official first of all, let alone a Hiragi it's quite weird you're the one personally looking for Y/N." She pointed out, "It also sounds unusual for someone of your rank to be searching for someone who you know to have ran away rather than gone MIA."

"Hmph, you're smart, I like you." He commented, "Fine, I guess I should tell you the truth if I am requesting your help like this, besides there's not much you can do to counter what I want to do anyway." He shrugged causing Yuna's facial expression to drop in disgust, he definitely had no good intentions and was lying about getting her back for her skills,

"Y/N and I were supposed to get married." He simply stated and then it all made sense,

"Arranged marriage, huh? No wonder-" she muttered to herself,

"Hm?" He raised an eyebrow,

"Nothing." She responded quickly,

"Aren't you going to ask me more."

"No."

"Heh, you really are a smart one. We could also do with more people like you in the Japanese imperial demon army." He commented knowing that she had pretty much figured the whole thing out without much information,

Yuna shook her head, "Thank you for your offer, Mr Hiragi, but I'm perfectly fine the way I am now." She turned her head to Nico who seemed to be fairly comfortable with the woman named Aoi, she also smiled back at the child so they were getting along well enough, "Besides if these are the type of issues that occur in the army I'd like nothing to do with it."

"Very well then."

Aoi stood up, with Nico in tow, "We've finished the letter, Lord Kureto." She announced,

"I see, we'll be on our way then." He replied,

"Are you going to deliver it yourselves? I thought you didn't know where she was." Yuna questioned,

"You don't have to worry about that, I've got someone who can help me with that." He reassured despite the fact that what he said was the complete opposite of reassuring, "I'll be in contact very soon to let you know what I want you to do next."

"There's more?" She exasperated,

"Of course, but don't worry all I need you to do is meet up with her like normal, nothing weird will happen, it'll just be a casual catch-up between friends."

It was meant to be just a casual catch-up between friends but Yuna knew better than to trust the words of that man, she couldn't help the intense guilt she felt, she had set Y/N up and if something happened to her it was all her fault.

"Nico, mummy's got to stop by somewhere quickly before we go home." She hastily picked him up walking to the car,

"Ooh, where are we going next?" He asked excitedly,

"You'll see." Yuna laughed at his enthusiasm.