Will Always Be There

Ch. V

"One-san!"

(Y/n) woke up startled by Dororo's yell. She didn't hesitate to run out of the room and ran to the entrance. Mio had left a while ago and Hyakkimaru and the priest still weren't back. The thought of either of those two being the cause of Dororo's terrified yell made her blood run cold.

"Dororo! What happ-" (Y/n) stopped in the tracks and gasped in horror. In front of her, behind held up by the priest and Dororo, was Hyakkimaru who was now missing his right leg. Tears weld up in her eyes as she noticed all the blood he was losing. "Get him inside, now!"

They got him inside and once he was laying down, (y/n) and the priest got to work on cleaning him up. (Y/n) wrapped up his leg quickly and made sure to tie a rope around his thigh tightly to try and stop the bleeding. It wasn't until they had finished, that (y/n) heard whimpering and gasping. She blinked and looked around, almost thinking that it was Dororo.

"It's his voice" Dororo said a bit sadly as he sat next to his sister, "the priest says that when he lost his leg, he gained his voice" (Y/n)'s eyes widened as she looked over at Hyakkimaru. Of course she was happy to hear him, but at the cost of his leg?
She didn't know what to think exactly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the morning, (y/n) and Dororo stayed by Hyakkimaru's side, along with the priest. Dororo had just told (y/n) that he followed Mio last night, to help Toboro feel a little at ease about her working for both sides. But what (y/n) heard shocked her. Of course, she kind of had her suspicions. Mio worked from night to morning, what other jobs were there in that time frame? Even so, it still shocked her that Mio did that kind of work.

"Hyakkimaru!"

Everyone turned to see Mio running into the room to check on Hyakkimaru. Takebo tried to get her to go to bed, but Mio insisted to stay and help clean up Hyakkimaru. She raised her sleeves and Dororo froze. (Y/n) noticed that and turned her gaze to what he was looking at and her eyes widened when she saw the big purple bruise on Mio's upper arm. Mio noticed their stares and lowered her sleeve to hide it from them. Dororo shut his eyes closed and ran out. (Y/n)'s gaze followed him as he ran outside.

'I don't blame him. He must have remembered back then' she thought sadly

Hours later, everyone was busying themselves around the house while Hyakkimaru sat by the entrance.
He hated the feeling of not doing anything, especially when he could be out there killing that demon that took his leg. If he killed it, surely, he should get his leg back. He grabbed his sword and tried to get up, but it wasn't steady enough and he fell forward.

"Hyakkimaru!" Mio called when she saw the sword fly near her, "you must stay put" she said as she laid him back down and ran back to grab the cloth she dropped. "You mustn't go. I understand that you're frustrated, but what if you die?"

Dororo was about to walk in when he heard Mio talking to Hyakkimaru. Same, for (Y/n). She was about to check up on him but looks like Mio beat her to it.

"I pushed myself too hard as well, so I get it" Mio said. Hyakkimaru looked up at her, "I'm so stupid. I knew it wasn't easy to make money" she whimpered, then she rubbed her tears away, "no, no. I'd already promised I'd never cry because of a samurai ever again. You too. If you try too hard and die, you lose" she said as she helped him lay back on the wall. "Then who'll take care of Dororo and (Y/n)?" she asked smiling, "anyways, I heard you found your voice. That's amazing. Try to say something"

(Y/n) peaked her head to see the two. She saw Hyakkimaru shake his head and covered his ears. She tried not to chuckle at his actions.

"Is your voice too loud for you?" Mio asked and Hyakkimaru plugged his ears with a sad look in his eyes. Mio chuckled "You'll get used to it. Dororo said you are now like a beast in a cave" Hyakkimaru only shook his head again, "Then, how about a song? Dororo says you like mine and (Y/n)'s songs, right?" She mentioned and took a small breath, "Pick a red flower" she started and Hyakkimaru put his hands down, "I sing whenever I feel sad" she mentioned before continuing, "Instead of crying pick a red flower to give. I will put the flower"