Subject to Study (Naga!Brothers x Reader)

Chapter 39

The helicopter hummed as it followed the charted path over the vast expanse of dark ocean, the sound a little more muted than before as my feet felt the vibrations pulsing across the floor. The nagas had all balled up together again, sharing the remaining warmth that the heater had given off before it needed to be turned off.

I sat quietly in one of the seats attached to the helicopter frame, leaning forward and cupping my chin in my left hand as the moonlight poured through the small windows, the light interrupted as the rotor whirled through the air. The sounds the nagas were making told me that they were all asleep, Todo knocked out from the impromptu surgery while the others were probably still exhausted. It made me wonder if they had really slept while they were in their enclosures.

Stacy had fallen asleep in a safety rig strapped to the frame for stability so she wouldn't fall onto the floor if there was turbulence. I felt tired, too, but my mind was too busy trying to figure out what I would need to do on the island in order to survive.

It was definitely large enough to support a small tribe, with various sources of freshwater and plants that could produce nourishment when farmed correctly. The only issue was that I'd have to make every tool I needed by hand, and I wasn't exactly the crafty type.

A hand on my knee drew my attention to the outstretched arm of a naga, his coloration hidden by the shadows in the cargo bay. I removed the hand under my chin and placed it on top of his, giving a soft smile.

"Can't sleep?"

"...you should be asking yourself that," The voice was unmistakable, the low tone of Ichi's voice easy enough to hear despite the rotor hum above us, "You heard what they said, so why are you still awake?"

I slid down from the seat and moved closer to him, knowing that he couldn't come to me without shifting his weight around. His hand lifted from my knee as I sat cross-legged in front of him, "My mind can't seem to settle down, so I've just been thinking about things that I'd need to do on the island."

"You probably wouldn't need to do much...Jyushi seems happy enough to do everything for you."

"I know, but I can't eat the same things you all can," I watched as the moonlight waved over Ichi's face, the helicopter turning in its trajectory. He still seemed tired, but all of his attention was on me.

"The raw meat?"

"Mostly that, but I was also thinking of starting a small veggie or fruit farm for something I'd need," I let him reach out and touch my face, his fingers gently travelling from my forehead to my right cheek as his thumb pushed aside the eyepatch, "...it still looks bad, doesn't it...?"

"You shouldn't have gotten it in the first place," Ichi removed the eyepatch completely, his thumb ghosting over my right eyelid before pulling it open, "Will it...fully heal?"

"I'm not sure if it'll repair itself without surgery," The words left my lips in a whisper, sadness filling my voice as the tone was mimicked by the look on Ichi's face, "I just need to keep it covered for a few more days, but even after that I'll still be sensitive to light and glare."

"I'm sorry that I didn't act fast enough to save you," Ichi lowered his head towards mine, the eyepatch still in his hand as our foreheads touched, "I did the only thing I could, and I still don't think it was enough. If I was strong like Jyushi or had venom like the older three, then I could've been more helpful."

"You were more than helpful, Ichi," I leaned into him, "You were my hero that night."

"...I wasn't a hero..." Ichi started to pull away before I pressed my hands against his cheeks, holding his head in place.