To Capture A Heart; Ryodari x fem! reader

3

And there you were, mounted on top of a stranger, blade pressed to his throat. He seemed to be enjoying this, a bit too much for your liking. People like me? What's that supposed to mean? 

While you were taken aback by the male's comment, you didn't have time to get in your head and overthink every word that passed his lips. You currently had the upper hand, and you were trained to kill any enemy. However, something stopped you from going through with it. Ryodari must've noticed this gleam of hesitation in your eyes.

"Aah, just gonna sit there?" he asked playfully, keeping his neck stiff as to not draw more blood on behalf of your blade. "Can't kill me, hm? Do it!" 

You swallowed audibly, not letting your grip on the tsuka of your katana falter. Though he had only spoken a few sentences, merely ten words, it was like they were stuck on a loop in your mind.

"Do it! Do it! Do it!"

Quickly you jerked your weapon away from him, but in doing so, it slit more skin, leaving a faint line of blood dripping down his neck. Without hesitation you stood, him following suit not long after. You held your katana in front of you, straight ahead and pointing at him. Ryodari grinned, lifting a single finger to rest itself on the tip of your blade.

"Couldn't bring yourself to do it? Such a shame," he mused, his lips forming a lighthearted pout. "I can finish the job."

With that, he knocked your blade to the side, almost hitting it out of your grasp. The peppy male swung his nunchaku left, right, left, right, in such a fast pace it all was blurry to the sight. You kept hopping back, dodging each swing by the skin of your teeth.

As you're avoiding attacks, aimlessly swinging your weapon in hopes of hitting his, Ryodari's skipping and dancing towards you with a bright smile on his face, as if there was no blood trickling down his neck.

With each swing, you could feel beads of sweat begin to trickle down the temples of your head, and strands of hair sticking to your skin. At this point, your actions were merely instinct, to the point that you were able to focus on other things and not worry about missing a beat. Both of you kept swinging your weapons, you hopping back each time the other came closer. This continued until your back hit a hard object.

Using your free hand to identify the source, it had been a building on the ship. Particularly, the medbay. This was mostly occupied by elders or thymia users who were falling ill, nearing the end of their life span. 

"Oh doesn't this make things more interesting, huh? You don't seem that scared. Why?" Ryodari hollered over the sounds of battle in the background. 

You mumbled a few curses under your breath, your arm still preventing Ryodari's nunchaku from grazing your skin in the slightest. Your exchange had abruptly suspended, stopping completely when a shrill whistle reverbated throughout the atmosphere. Ryodari froze for a moment, his gaze leaving you, and turning to look towards Skylos. All of the Skylos soldiers had been retreating, leaving Hagane and going back to their own ship. A surrender?

This saddened Ryodari, very visibly. His head whipped around to look at you, as he held his nunchaku at his side. You keeping your guard up, held your katana very stably, still. 

"I hope we can pick this up another time. 'Till then, darling," Ryodari called, retreating as well along with the others, after being sure to pick up the mask he flung off earlier. You kept your stance until you saw the Skylos ship float out of view, and your peers filing back to the main quarters to recover. Everyone seemed to be in pretty decent shape. Letting the katana of yours fall the the ground, making a swift clatter, you loosened up a bit. Your mind flooded with confusion. Everything that just happened, happened so quickly. 

Your erratic breathing slowed back to normal, as did your heartbeat. It wasn't long until Hirai had found you, the boy running up to check up on you. His green eyes scanned you, being sure you weren't harmed. 

"Y/N, you alright?"

"Yeah, just... Thinking about what happened. Why did they retreat?"

"It wasn't going anywhere, and if anything, they were taking more damage than we were. It'd been 2 and a half hours of meaningless battle, they probably just gave up."

"Two and a half hours?"

"Yeah."

Your eyes fell to the ground. It only felt like 30 minutes at the most. 

"Y/N, lets get you inside, so you can rest up. You look pale," Hirai commented, placing a hand on your head and patting it softly. 

"I wonder if they'll be back."

"Huh? I'm sure they won't. It'll just be a repeat."

"You're probably right," you sighed, following Hirai inside the medbay, after grabbing your katana and putting it back in its sheath.

---

"I hope we can pick this up another time. 'Till then, darling."