𝕃𝕖𝕥'𝕤 𝕊𝕖𝕒 (FEM! Reader X Arataki Itto)

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ⁶

I cautiously walked inside, inspecting the cave walls. The cave descended abruptly and I picked up Ushi by the roof. "You're... Kinda heavy." I walked with him under my one arm and the torch in the other.

Once the ground was level again, I put him down. "That wasn't so bad." I smiled as I did. It was extremely dark, saved for my torch's light. I took another step but was met with nothing. "Huh?"
"Moo!" I began to fall forward and panicked. "Shit-"

I felt something yanked on the back of my collar, pulling me back onto the ledge. "Hey- Half-Oni?!" My torch illuminated the oni beside me and he smiled sheepishly, "I might've lied about being able to see in the dark..." I deadpanned, "I already knew that."

"Moooo~!" Ushi wailed and I looked down to see him rubbing his face against my leg. "I'm okay, Ushi! No need to worry!" I tried to reassure him but he continued to rub and trembled slightly.

"I guess he really likes you...?" Half-Oni sounded confused and I bent down to pat him. "Aww I like you too, Buddy." Half-Oni watched on, jealousy building up within him. "Whatever, let's get moving..." He grumbled and turned away.

'Is he jealous of me or the cow...?'

He peered off the edge and gestured to me to hand him the torch. "Not that far down for me but you'll hurt yourself if you jump with your teenie tiny little legs." He hopped down and turned to look up at me. He held his arms open and I looked at him questioningly.

"Jump."
"No way!"
"How else will you get down?"
"M-Maybe there's another way, or you could go on without me?"
"I'm not gonna leave you behind, stupid. C'mooon. I promise I'll catch you! It's not even that bad, look." He gestured to his feet to show he was standing normally.

Ushi walked towards the edge and jumped without even thinking about it. Arataki quickly caught him and placed him safely on the ground.

"See? If I can catch that chubby little guy, I can catch you."
"... I'll choose to think of that as a compliment but I'm too scared to think so fine I'll jump!" I bent down and my grip tightened on the edge.

"If you don't catch me, I swear I'll-"
"Stop being a chicken and just do it already!" He smirked and made a chicken noise, causing me to glare at him. After hesitating for a few moments, I jumped down.

He caught me with his one arm and held the torch away from me just in case. His arm was wrapped around my legs and beneath my rear, holding me against him and I placed my hands on his shoulders for balance. I blushed from the position and he looked up at me.

"See? Told you I'd catch you." I could hear him smirk as he put me down and I reluctantly let go of him, wobbling on my feet like a newborn fawn.

"That was scary..."
"Heh, guess you've fallen for me." He burst out laughing and slapped his knee as he wheezed. He knew how to ruin a moment...

My face heated up a little as I glared at him again. "Idiot, I'm not falling for anything..." I muttered and folded my arms, looking away.

"Here you go." He stopped laughing and handed the torch back to me and began to walk on as Ushi and I followed. 'If I'm the one holding the torch, shouldn't I be the one to walk in front?'

Out of this entire cave, he was the least scariest thing, so I hurried my steps to walk closer behind him. Suddenly, he stopped walking and I bumped against his back. I was about to ask when a cloud of bats flew over us, releasing their high pitched clicking noises in the narrow cave.

"Moo!" Ushi got down and used the roof on him like a tortoise's shell. Half-Oni brought a hand up and pushed my head down. "Oi! Bastard!" I swore at him. "Chill, will ya?!" He lowered his head, too. It was only after the bats were gone, did he let go.

I raised my head whilst fixing my hair and glanced behind us. "This way!" His loud voice echoed against the cave walls and I hurried to catch up.

"Holy..." We stared in awe as the cavern opened up to an area with a high ceiling and a small rock pool at the very middle. But what interested me was the plants around here. Flowers that glowed blue and nearly lit up the whole room. Some were even growing on the ceiling and made the water reflect their enchanting glow.

Arataki wordlessly approached the water and peered inside. "It's like Chinju forest..." While he was occupying himself with that, I wandered around and examined the flowers. They were quite bright, I almost didn't need my torch in here.

"Hmph." I looked at my side to see Ushi sniffing one of the flowers. "Pretty cool, huh?" He huffed in agreement. I bent down to get a closer look but noticed something in the dirt next to the flowers.

"What kind of tracks are these?" It didn't really look like tracks, it's looked more like animal markings made by using claws on the ground. It wasn't just there, I used the torch to light up the walls and saw more claw marks.

I stood up and before I could tell Arataki of my discovery, I smelled something foul but familiar. "It's smells like... Half-Oni! Look out!" I shouted just as a Rift Hound Pup appeared from behind him.

He spun around while summoning his weapon, deflecting it's sharp claws. It was sent backwards and howled. "Whoa! That felt cool! Was I cool?!" Soon, more whelps appeared and circled him. "Oh that's not cool..."

That smell was their corrosion. If you are inflicted with it, the corrosion will slowly kill you... So I've heard.

Four of them surrounded him and I began to panic internally. 'What can I do?' I thought, looking at Arataki. Even he looked a little worried. I frantically looked around, trying to come up with something.

Ushi watched as his beloved leader was in danger and was about to run in to help. "No, Ushi! You'll get hurt, too! Just- Stick with me, okay?"
He nodded and cupped my hands around my mouth, "Half-Oni! Let's just run!" I shouted and he snapped his head towards me.

"What? No way! The Beetle Gladiator never backs down!" He shouted, referring to himself. What that even means, was beyond me. I groaned at his stubbornness and tried to think of something else.

"Relax! I've got a little trick up my sleeve!" I was snapped out of my thoughts and watched curiously when he lifted his one leg before slamming it down further from his other foot, lowering himself into a sumo wrestling stance. "It's SHOWTIME!" He suddenly launched himself into battle while I watched on.

Arataki fought them off one by one and I started to think that I was worrying for nothing. I was stunned when he took two of them out at the same time but had one question in mind.

How does he fight so good but doesn't have a Vision? I've never seen him use one, yet the way he fights is impeccable. I was certain he would have one. Did he just never receive one or was it taken away due to the Vision Hunt Decree? The latter was probably my best bet. Then again, I've met people who has had theirs taken away and suffered psychologically, but Half-Oni didn't appear to be affected at all.

That's the Undefeated Arataki Itto for you.

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