Sinister Affection

Seventeen

Third POV

Oh God, no...what is she THINKING??? Going out into the forest like that when she KNOWS she's probably going to get seriously injured...and maybe...

No! She won't die, she won't! I have to follow her!

But should I tell the others? Maybe...okay, I'll leave a note...no, that will just worry them. I'll just have to go find Myra on my own.

Aoi silently closed the front door, and ran towards the forest. He was almost there when he heard a yell of fury.

Myra.

She'd confronted the beast.

Aoi knew how scared she was. Myra was terrified that it would hurt more people, so at first, she'd tried to run away. That hadn't worked, so her next plan was to kill it. But at what cost?

Aoi didn't want to know.

*  *  *  *

Myra had managed to arm herself with a shard of glass she'd found in the forest, but aside from that, was taking on the beast bare-handed.

Aoi, please don't come now! She thought. This is my fight. You'll only mess things up!

Unfortunately for her, Aoi ran into the clearing where he'd first found her...the exact same place she was fighting the beast at that moment.

He wisely kept quiet, but the beast noticed him, and roared. Clearly, it recognized him from his little stunt a few weeks ago.

It lashed out at him, knocking him into a tree. Not again, he groaned internally.

Luckily for Aoi, he wasn't injured much. He staggered to his feet as the beast tried to move away from Myra and attack him.

Myra, however, was doing an excellent job at keeping it at bay. Her training over the last few weeks had strengthened her. And that was when Aoi understood.

She'd been planning this for a long time, even before she could remember the true identity of the beast. That's why she had trained so hard. Myra had known that there would come a day when she would have no choice but to kill the beast.

Myra let out a hiss of pain as the beast clawed her, but she didn't back down. "Go away, Aoi!" she screamed. "This is not your fight!"

"I can't just leave you!" He said, trying to move further. 

"I'll be fine, just go!"

"No!"

Myra stabbed the beast in the stomach, and pushed it to the ground. There it collapsed, howling in pain.

She ran to Aoi. "Listen, I don't have much time. It won't stay down for long. Please Aoi, you need to leave. I'll be fine."

"I can't," he said, holding her hands. 

"This is my fight," she said, cupping his face in her hands. "I promise you, it'll be over soon."

He didn't like the way she said that. It sounded like she might die.

"Fine. I'll move. But I won't leave the forest."

"Aoi, I-"

"I will wait for you at the lake."

"I...okay."

She kissed him. Behind them, the beast began to stir.

"Go."

Aoi nodded. "I'll wait for you."

He turned around and left, every step breaking his heart a little more.

Myra sighed in relief as he left. She loved Aoi, but as she had said, this was her fight. Also, there was a part of her that was threatening to come out, and she did not want Aoi to see that. From what she knew, this was a gift granted to her, as a compensation for losing the 'beast' part of herself.

She turned to the beast, who was now struggling to its feet. "Okay, sweetheart," she said, a slow smile forming on her face. "Now that he's gone, it's time to make you pay."

*  *  *  *

Aoi sat down on a rock, quietly waiting for Myra.

He brushed some hair out of his eyes. He remembered Myra doing the same thing once.

"Aoi, your hair covers your eyes. You need to cut this bit in front."

"But I'm a superstar! I need to have fabulous hair!"

"There's no point if I can't see you."

He smiled at the memory.