The Mountain King and I [Inosuke X Reader]

Chapter 6: Reveal

At first she didn't know what to say her words since they were caught in her mind; her tongue could not articulate what she was feeling inside.

It was a strange occurrence seeing a feminine, petite, yet attractive head upon such a muscular taut body. What her eyes gaze the most towards was the emeralds that stared back at her, shining in the light the lanterns within the dining area of their small cottage.
Her face would light up like a candle, feeling the heat travel around. She couldn't believe something so divine was hiding under that smelly old mask. She was staring for so long that she didn't realize that his expression was slowly turning from annoyance to irritation. Inosuke grunted before clicking his tongue against his teeth as a sneer formed upon his lips.

"What?! What the hell are you looking at! Do you have a problem with my face or something?!"

In a way he felt hurt as he assumed that she found him unappealing or not as menacing as once before. He knew his face was gorgeous but he was often underestimated, yet made fun of for having such a good looking face. Wearing the mask helped him during fights but also paid homage to his boar mother that raised him. But seeing his mate's little to no reaction besides gawking at him was causing him to get upset.

"No! That's not it I swear it's not! You're just.. You're really pretty.."

It was Inosuke's turn for his cheeks to become a crimson color as she complimented him. The only other time he was complemented for such a lovely face was from his friend Tanjiro; even then it made him uncomfortable hearing it from another guy. Inosuke wanted to be manly not pretty but it was a curse that he had to live with, yet _____ found it to be a blessing as this whole time she thought and wondered what he look like under that mask; it drove her crazy!

"Preh-Pretty?! I'm the manliest man around! Don't call me pretty! Pretty is stupid! Girly!! Frr-For girls like you! I'm a MAN—"

"Are you calling me pretty?–"

"YES! I mean no— SHUT UP!"

Watching him get flustered like this was too much to bear so she would stand up and come around the small table they were eating from and take his hand into hers, holding it until she pressed it upon her face. _____ nuzzled into his palm to show a submission to the wild Alpha male who felt disrespected.

"Inosuke, I didn't mean it to be rude or anything.. I just genuinely think you're attractive. Sorry if I used pretty to describe you; that was a poor choice of my words."

Feeling her soft skin against is palm felt like lightning bolts shooting around his body. Also hearing her sweet apology made him feel fuzzy, getting giddy over her well-mannered nature through his minor tantrum. For a second Inosuke was choked up, struggling to find the words to say.
Inosuke then took her into his arms, embracing her tightly to his body with his face into the crook of her neck; which became his favorite spot on her form.

"Mmm.. Sorry."

"For what?"

"Thpht.. fer yellin'.."

His teeth sucking with improper speech reminded her of her little brother whenever he felt bad for hurting her feelings. In a way Inosuke did act like a child even though he was a grown man of 18 years old. _____ found it to be truly adorable so she would reach back up and pet his head softly, cooing to him as they both sat down with her inside of his lap; her legs hanging over his hips.

"It's alright! Don't apologise Inosuke. We all over react sometimes, even me. Also.. I want to thank you for saving me."

"Hm? It was a low level shithead talking big game. You could of taken him out if trained enough."

"Well you may be right but, that demon was the one who.."

Her words would hitch as her throat began to swell, thinking back to the bodies that she remembered only a few days ago. It was a struggle to let the words out yet he did need to know. Inosuke was a big part of her life now and if she was going to share it with him as friends or as his mate as he likes to call her, Inosuke, had the right to know.

"Well he claimed to have killed my family. I don't have all the senses like you do so I couldn't tell if he was lying or not. But he said my family had a Machi blood.."

"Who am I Gonophachiro? He's the one with the nose. It's the only thing he'll be better at than me. Don't tell him I said that!"

Inosuke grunt while blowing angered breath from his nose that appeared like steam to her. But his temper was temporarily set aside as he heard ______ sniffle up as tears flowed down her face. He swiftly took her head into his hands to look down into her weeping ___ eyes, frowning at the sight.

"I don't know much about Machi or whatever the fuck it's called but I can get Monjiro to come up from his district to smell your blood.. Okay? That's the only way we will figure it out. Trust me! I'm the King! And the king never lets his followers suffer!"

Inosuke wiped away her tears with his thumbs as a helpful smile appear on his lips, encouraging her to feel better as he made his claim. He then lifted up his pinky to curl it around hers with determination in his expression.

"I pinky promise you that will figure this out together! And if it turns out that demon was a hot load of shit then I will make it my personal mission to hunt down the one that killed my mate's family!"

A chortle of pride wove itself into his promise, Inosuke never lies on a pinky promise nor does he ever break them as they were really personal to him.

"Okay.. Pinky promise. since your crow is completely terrified of you I'll make sure to strap the letter to his  foot."

"Good, cause I don't even know how to write anyways! Or read for that matter—"

The awkward silence hung in the air as he admitted to being completely illiterate to his young mate.

"Well then Inosuke, I'll teach you! Maybe we can start with some children's books and work our way up from there—"

"BUT I'M NOT A CHILD, I'M A MAN–"

"A loud one at that."

Inosuke pinched her cheeks with an annoyed look upon his face as she called him loud for probably the hundredth time. ______ began giggling, getting on his last nerve to where his cheeks burned pink as he let out a growl.

"Stop calling me loud! The king will punish you for those words!"

"Can't punish what you can't grab!"

Suddenly Inosuke would be knocked off of her as she began sprinting down one of the hallways, away from the dining area. He snarled before getting up to chase after her, growling before letting out a laugh. The two spent the rest of the night chasing each other around the house until they got tired.

______ was grateful that he was willing to help her figure out her family's murder. She'll have to write the letter tomorrow morning to this 'Monjiro' Inosuke went on about.