𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒; 𝑻.𝑮𝑰𝒀𝑼𝑼 [✓]

t w e n t y - f o u r

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"i wasn't alone! taro was with me!" a young girl shouted as she pushed the man away.

"he's a dog! stop being so irresponsible and just leave this to the adults!"

"i'll do what i want! leave me al—"

"yae-chan!"

the young girl stopped yelling, turning to the familiar voice that had called out to her. "eh? ayumu?" looking behind the young boy, she noticed you, "[y/n]!" she said in surprised.

pushing the man away from her, she quickly made her way over to the two of you.

"what have you done now, yae?" you asked, raising a brow at the fifteen year old.

"i didn't do anything!"

"she went to the mountains alone again," a man spoke up from behind her.

"shut it!" yae snapped, glaring at him.

"[y/n]-san, would you please tell her to stop doing that, it's really dangerous," the man sighed, rubbing his temples.

yae was girl you met about two years ago on a snowy mountain. she was training to become a matagi hunter back then. her father would bring her to the mountains to train her. but about a few months ago, her father unfortunately passed on.

yae claimed that a bear was responsible for her fathers' death. which was far from the truth, she just didn't want to believe what she saw that night.

"it's good to see you're doing better now," you gave the girl a small smile.

"thank you," she nodded, taking a sip of tea.

it was snowing pretty badly, the temperature had lowered significantly due to the setting sun.

"yae-chan! do you like my haori?" ayumu interrupted, pointing at his clothing.

"yes, it looks really good on you," yae smiled.

"what about this?" he pointed at the back scarf that was wrapped neatly around his neck.

"it suits you really well," yae nodded, ruffling his hair.

"what are you doing here by the way?" yae asked, turning her attention back to you.

"i came here to return this to a friend," you replied, holding up a sword that once belonged to your father. it had been sitting in your home for years now. last night, you received a letter from your father's friend and so you came to see him.

"oh okay," yae stood up from where she was seated. "i don't want to bother you any further, so i'll get going n—"

"yae, you're not thinking of going back to the mountains are you?" you looked up at the girl.

"[y/n], i—"

"the sun has already set and going there alone is not safe, especially with the weather."

"taro will come with me," she replied, pointing to the dog seated next to her.

"yae, you're searching for a demon, the dog can't protect y—"

"it wasn't a demon [y/n]. it was a bear, i saw it with my own eyes!" the girl insisted.

"yae—"

"i'm sorry, but please just let me do what i have to," the girl apologised.

"i just want to avenge my father."

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"i'll see what i can do, please calm down," you spoke to the old lady in front of you.

"she's so stubborn! i keep telling her not to go into the mountains at night, it's so dangerous! not to mention she's going alone, she's just a kid! how is she going to protect herself?!" the lady cried, clearly frustrated with the girls action.

"[y/n], please go look for her and make sure she's alright!"

"uhm, i don't know if i can do that..." you felt bad for the woman in front of you. and of course you were worried for yae as well.

she was a stubborn and impatient girl, someone who makes reckless decisions without thinking about the consequences.

with a sigh, you made your way over to ayumu, "ayu, stay here with the lady okay?"

"where are you going?" he asked, "i'll follow you!"

"no no, stay here, i'll be right back. i just need to go return this sword and we can leave," you lied.

"aw, okay then, i'll wait for you!"

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"again?!" the man groaned in frustration.

"unfortunately..." you mumbled.

the group of hunters got ready to search for the girl. you tagged along. one of them offered you a gun, but you declined, not knowing how to use it.

and you knew that guns did nothing to a demon, you decided to stick with the sword in your hand.

you weren't an expert at using a nichirn blade, but your father did teach you how to use one when you were younger. that was about four years ago though, ever since he passed on, you never once picked up a sword.

"alright, we'll split up in groups of three," the man ordered. and with that, everyone went to search for yae.

you were with two other man who were armed. the snow was quite bad, obstructing your vision. the higher you went, the colder it got.

as you ventured into the mountains, you spotted foot prints along with paw prints. they weren't too obvious, but you could still see a trail.

"hey, i—" when you turned around, the two man you were suppose to stick with was no longer in sight.

"oh, well. guess i'm alone n—"

"up ahead! up ahead!" you perked up at the familiar voice of your crow. you looked up to the sky where you saw it flying down towards you.

"hitari, you followed me?" you raised a brow at the crow.

"yes! and i've found them!" it responded, flapping its wings.

"alright, lead the way."