Pᴀʀᴀʟʟᴇʟ | Dᴏʀᴏʀᴏ 2019 Fᴀɴғɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ |

28: Traitor

Tahomaru did have a hard time, even if he was with everyone, in trying to kill the demon. They never expected that the wooden barrier would break, sweeping them along with the water that came flowing through it.

Just when they thought that everything will be over, a young man with blades as his arms came and dealt with the demon as if it was no one's business. The man wore a blank expression on his face as he stood on the ground above them.

"Bro!"

He heard a child's voice from a distance. He turned and saw a child...with Haru? His face wore a confused expression. Did Haru knew this guy? But the last person to arrive wasn't someone he was expecting.

At the sight of her running, Tahomaru could feel his heart skip a beat. It was like his heart was never alive and the sight of her made it suddenly start beating. He never expected to see her in this place. There was no other thing he wanted to do than go to her and envelope her body in a tight embrace.

He missed her more than he could imagined.

His black hues never left the girl even after she stopped running, leaning her hands onto her knees. She roamed her alluring blue eyes that he haven't seen for a while before it stopped on the dead body of the demon. He thought that she saw him, but it looks like it wasn't the case.

Tahomaru could feel himself sucking a deep breath and getting it stuck on his throat when he saw how she brightly smiled at the unknown young man in front of her, who patted her head after his artificial arms were returned on it's place.

Kou looked like she was saying something when Hyogo suddenly uttered Eri's name in surprise.

"ERI-SAMA?!"

The loud voice of his retainer had echoed in the wide area, almost catching everyone's attention. Tahomaru saw how the brunette stiffened and blinked her eyes, probably trying to remember where she heard that voice or maybe she was surprised being called as Eri in that way, before she slowly turned her body to face Hyogo.

"...Hyogo...-san...?..."

Ah.

Her soft voice that he haven't heard for a while. To Tahomaru's ears, the sound of her voice is almost like a lullaby he won't get tired of listening to.

"It's really you". The bulky man said in delight. Kou looked like she wasn't expecting to see them too.

Hyogo was just standing near him. Tahomaru felt nervous and excited at the same time, waiting for her to finally notice his presence and laid those beautiful eyes on him. But it never came.

He wanted to tell her to look at him. Pay attention to him. She never knew how much he longed to see her again. She never knew how much he wanted to pull her against him right now. She never knew how much he wanted to touch her.

"Eri".

His voice came out almost as a gasp...- almost pleading.

He wanted to call her by her real name, but everyone else was present. He couldn't risk of getting her in danger. His black lustrous hues glittered when he finally meet the warm gaze of her sapphire colored ones.

Ah, finally. She looked my way.

Tahomaru's emotions flooded his chest. Eyes almost not blinking, afraid that the girl before him might vanish if he did so. He saw how the girl opened her mouth to say something when Haru suddenly squealed in glee.

"Tah----"

"Tahomaru-sama! Kyah! It's you!"

Haru happily waved her arms around, hoping to catch his attention which was very successful. Tahomaru sent a small smile in her way which made her immediately stop her movements.