ON HOLD [] Hearts of gold [] Hunter TOH x Reader

Chapter 12 - Hunter's pov

 I sat beside the creek, feeling Y/N's warm figure next to me. She'd fallen asleep, I could tell, her breathing was quiet and even. Suddenly I heard footsteps. The moment was broken. I shook Y/N awake. She looked up at me with half-asleep eyes. For a moment I was memorized, she looked so great in her dress...the dance we shared was so...magical.

"Well spill it!" she said "Whats so important that I needed to wake up?" she snapped me back into reality

"Oh-um- there's someone coming" I said quickly.

She stood up and dashed over to where she'd left her mask. She put it back on, covering the face that I felt obsessed with, and pulled up her hood.

A scout in full uniform walked up behind us "Uh- hey am I interrupting something or...?"

I wanted to say yes, and to go back to the way things were moments ago, with Y/N sleeping in my arms, more than anything, but I stood up and shook my head.

"Good" the scout said "The emperor is about to make an announcement, and wants both of you to be there."

"Okay...?" Y/N said, slightly confused.

Worry coursed through me, if this was the announcement I thought it was, more than the moment we'd just had would be broken.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back in the ballroom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The emperor was standing on a stage, and gestured for both me and Y/N to come and stand beside him. Every step I took summoned more fear in my chest, I felt sick. We stood up there, beside the emperor, I was shaking slightly, my breath was quick, like when I'd fallen from my staff.

"Citizens of the emperor's coven" Belos began "This ball is of more significance than just pleasure. About a month ago-"

It had been that long of training with Y/N. The time had flew. The panic still surged through me.

"My nephew began receiving extra training, though the reason was not exposed to the rest of the coven, today you will be told." he continued

I couldn't tell how Y/N felt, her mask was on, but she was close. What she was about to hear could change everything. I grabbed her hand in mine, like it would make some sort of difference with the result of the news.

"My nephew, once finished with his training, is to become the golden guard" the Emperor revealed

As cheers erupted in the room, all I could hear was my ears ringing. I saw Y/N's masked face look at me, she pulled away from my hand and ran from the ballroom, pushing through the crowd. I stayed frozen. The dance we'd shared, sleeping beside the creek, training, all of it gone. I chased after her. The crowd hadn't seemed so big before but I couldn't get to to back of it. I finally burst through the last few people. I tried calling her on my scroll. No answer. I tried over and over. Nothing. I finally decided to check her room. I walked through the corridor and stood outside her room. I pressed an ear to the door to listen, and to know if she was there. I heard something that I didn't want to hear. I heard Y/N crying.

I knocked on the door softly.

"Y/N?" I spoke softly

The sound in the room stopped abruptly. I heard her come closer to the door. She didn't open the door, but spoke.

"Did you know?" she asked, her voice was shaky, vulnerable, and broken

I wanted to tell her the truth, but something, something crazy told me not to. I wanted her near me, and I couldn't stand the thought of her being angry with me. So I did what I had to. "No, I....I really had no idea."

She opened the door. She wasn't wearing her mask, her eyes were puffy and her face was red and tear-stained. She stood there for a moment, staring at me, then hugged me. She was shaking, and was sobbing onto my chest. I didn't mind. She pulled away after a moment.

"I-I'm sorry....I'm such a mess." she murmured, she was still wearing her dress, she hadn't had any time to think.

"That's okay." I smiled lightly

She seemed to catch the smile from me, and smiled too. She took a step back "You can come in."

I stepped into her room and shut the door behind me. She glanced to me, then to a closet.

"I'm going to change into my pajamas real quick, just hang tight, then we can talk about....everything." her voice still showed that she'd been crying, but she seemed a bit more cheerful now.

She grabbed some clothes from a small pile, walked into the closet, shutting the door behind her. I sat down on the rug that I had when we were training with Raine. The lie I'd told was for the better. She'd have been even more upset, and I wanted to be around her more than anything.

She came out of the closet wearing sweatpants and a white tanktop. She'd cleaned up her face a bit. She walked towards me than sat down on the rug beside me.

"I...This position has meant a lot to me" she spoke, choosing her words carefully "And I really am...so happy for you, but at the same time...." she paused, I could tell she was trying not to cry again.

Like I had before the creek, I wrapped an arm around her and held her close. This time, instead of being stiff at the touch, she welcomed it, immediately leaning into me.

"I think it's time I told you about my past...the full story" she sighed

"If that's what you want" I said, I didn't want her to say anything she wasn't ready to say

"It is" she said "I was born into the group of wild witches that everyone so eagerly pursues. Although I don't know the name of it like everyone else, I just don't remember. My parents were some of the leaders there, but they didn't really care for me, and I was mostly watched over by the owl lady, Eda. During some sort of heist or attack or something, I was generously taken in by the emperor's coven. But because of all this, I was never really respected or completely trusted. When I became Golden Guard I thought that maybe, there was just a sliver of a chance, that the emperor was showing that he finally trusted me, it helped me find new confidence, hell, it helped me find you. But now that it's all over I just...don't know how to let go."

I took in everything that she'd just said. How much deeper the title of golden guard was to her. She sighed.

"I've got some clothes that were too big on me, if you want to get out of that suit." she said "Just check the closet."

I got up, and she leaned against the wall. I walked into the closet ((A/N : For clarification its a walk-in closet)) and found a bin full of clothes, they were neatly folded, unlike everything else. I went through it and found some sweatpants that were about my size a red t-shirt. I turned and shut the door, switched into the clothes, folded my suit and walked back out. Y/N was sleeping, leaning against a shelf. I picked her up, and carried her over to her bed. I set her down and pulled the softest blanket I could find onto her. After a few moments of hesitation I kissed her head lightly, happiness shot through my veins. I laid down on the rug and let myself fall asleep.