Fighting Side By Side

Asleep in the forest

The next morning you awoke and sat up. You looked around for a moment before faintly remembering the night before. You blushed again and hid your face in your hands. "I can't believe I did that!" You yelled at yourself internally. "Wait... Akaza... did it first..." You pointed out to yourself. "H-he must have just been tired!" You told yourself, trying to ignore the fact that you knew demons didn't need to sleep. You hurried over to the girl who still lay sleeping. You checked on her before going over to the kitchen and beginning to make food. Soon the girl came wandering into the room. "Good morning." You smiled, continuing to work. She spun around and stared at you. "Want some?" You asked, motioning to the food. "You... You were working with the demon!" She shouted. "I don't know what you're talking about. Last night you ran up to the house yelling that you and your friends had been ambushed by a demon. You then fainted from exhaustion and so I brought you inside." You explained. "Now, do you want some?" You repeated. She thought for a moment before hesitantly nodding. You served her a bowl of ramen before making yourself one. She kept an eye on you while she ate. After you both were done eating you retrieved her sword and gave it back to her. You then assured her that everything was taken care of and that she could continue on her journey. She hesitated before leaving and disappearing. You breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on your bed. "It just seems easier to kill them." You said to yourself. "Ah! What am I thinking?! My grandad was one!" You thought. You laid back and rested your wrist on your forehead. You stared at the ceiling for a while before sitting up again and looking out the window. Akaza stared at you from the hallway, smiling slightly. You sat there looking out the window for a moment longer before sensing that you were being watched. You turned around and smiled seeing Akaza. "Morning!" You greeted cheerfully. "Good morning." He replied. You looked back out the window. You blushed a bit remembering what happened the night before but quickly brushed it off. Akaza looked like he wanted to say something but didn't. He continued to smile slightly and walked deeper into the house. You sighed and continued looking out the window. "Do I... have feelings for a demon? I mean he's nice and all but... if he was like the other demons I would be his next meal!" You thought to yourself. You took a deep breath and stood up. You grabbed your sword and went outside. You looked back at the house briefly before running off into the forest. Soon you found the little quiet stream again. You followed it for a while until you found a large tree that had split into three trunks and had grown above the rest of the forest. It made sort of a C shape with its base. You sat down on a root in the middle of the C. You thought about everything that had happened lately. As you did, you pulled your knees up against your chest and hid your face in them until you had become a little ball. Your mind was running with so many thoughts that you soon found a tear running down your cheek. "What am I doing? Why am I crying? Is it just because I'm overwhelmed, or is it because I know it wouldn't work? I'm I that in love? No! I have very little proof that he even likes me back!" You scolded yourself. After an hour or two you got up and stretched before going over to some berry bushes that you could tell were safe to eat. You picked and ate them for a while until you were satisfied. You then went back over to the tree and climbed up to a large branch that was quite high up. You laid down on it and continued with your thoughts.

A while later you awoke to find that you had accidentally fallen asleep on that high branch. You jumped up and looked around before grabbing the branch above you and continuing to climb higher. Soon you reached one of the highest branches that you could get to and walked out onto it the whole time holding onto another branch so that you wouldn't fall. You looked far into the distance, watching the sunset. It was beautiful from up there. It then hit you that it was sunset and you immediately jumped down onto a lower branch. You did that a few more times before finally reaching the bottom. It was already dark on the ground so you grabbed your sword from the spot you had left it at and ran back along the river until you finally saw the house. You ran into the clearing and up to the front door. You then calmed yourself and opened the door before walking inside. Akaza glanced at you from the hallway, seeming slightly worried. You couldn't help but pant a little bit due to the fact that you had just ran through the forest all the way back. You set your sword down on a shelf and sat down, still slightly out of breath. "Are you ok?" Akaza asked, walking over to you. "I lost track of the time and had to run back." You answered, finally catching your breath. Akaza smiled, seeming slightly relieved. "Sorry if I made you worry." You apologized. "It's fine." Akaza replied. "You've seemed off all day. Is something the matter?" You asked. "I'm fine." Akaza responded. "Are you sure? You seem like you have something on your mind." You repeated. "I'm fine." Akaza insisted. "If you say so." You sighed as you stood up. You walked over and grabbed your sword before sitting down and beginning to polish it. "If you ever wanna talk I'd be glad to listen." You said, still caring for your sword. "It's fine." Akaza replied, sitting down next to you. You smiled slightly before getting back to your work. You soon finished and put it back up on the shelf. When you sat back down you curled yourself into a ball again and hid your face in your knees. "I know he has his own life and deserves privacy but it's bugging me that something is clearly wrong and he won't tell me!" You thought to yourself. "Did I do something wrong? I don't know and on top of all this I think I have a crush on the demon that let me stay here! Speaking of which, I still need to find a permanent place to stay. I hate how all of this is making my brain spin! It's overwhelming." Akaza reached out his hand and rested it on your shoulder. "You ok?" You lifted your head up enough to see him. "Yeah, just... a lot on my mind." You answered, a little bit of sadness in your voice. Akaza smiled slightly and gently hugged you. You could feel your face get a bit red as you hugged him back. He was so gentle with you even though he could kill someone with one hit. It was kind of sweet. "What am I doing?! Friends hug all the time! It's a natural response to someone being sad or scared! It is not proof that he likes me!" You scolded yourself internally. Akaza hugged you slightly tighter. He whispered something that sounded like, "I never want to let you go." but you couldn't be sure. You took a deep breath and relaxed. In that moment everything felt perfect. You felt completely at peace in his arms to the point where you were sure he could feel how relaxed you were. Akaza smiled slightly and continued to hug you. You suddenly started to feel sleepy and your eyes began to get heavy. You started leaning on him slightly without even noticing. Akaza held you slightly tighter, continuing to smile slightly. You just gave up on fighting it and quickly fell asleep. Akaza hugged you for a bit longer then gently laid you back on the bed and pulled the covers over you. In your half asleep state you somehow managed to say something along the lines of, "I love being with you." but no one could tell. Akaza stood up and walked towards the door. He stepped outside and softly closed the door behind him.