𝕃𝕖𝕥'𝕤 𝕊𝕖𝕒 (FEM! Reader X Arataki Itto)

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ¹⁸

"-So she's really nice, and I feel a real connection with her through her work, y'know?" I wanted to die. He kept blabbering on and on about some lady in a magazine.

"Half-Oni, with all due respect... I don't even know who you're talking about and I've been zoned out for the past 20 minutes. Plus, I don't read that magazine." His shoulders dropped as his ego deflated.

"You don't...? Then you wouldn't get how I feel about her!"
"Wait, do you have a crush on this lady?" Well he should've said so to begin with then I would've listened. "Miss Hina is smart and beautiful and funny... She's perfect! Who doesn't love her?"
"Didn't you mention that you have never seen her before?"
"I saw a cardboard stand of her by the Yae Publishing House?"

I face-palmed, "How can you say she's beautiful if you've never seen her? Who knows, maybe the cutout is fake. Or maybe she acts differently in person, you know how celebrities are. Their whole personality could be a front."
"Are you on purposely trying to ruin my fantasy?"
"Not really. Just stating facts and possibilities."
"Whatever you say, Hater." He sped up and left me walking behind him the rest of the way.

Not long, I began to daydream and zone out again. I gazed around the scenery, admiring it in the morning sun. I spotted beautiful maple trees in the distance, their bright red leaves was easily the most distinguishable trait. I saw a fox between the tall grass for a second before it got spooked and ran further within the grass.

It's times like these where you forget what Inazuma is going through and see the land for it's beauty.

My gaze fell onto Arataki in front of me and suddenly thought something. "Hey, Half-Oni." He hummed as he kept walking. "Are there others like you around? You are the first oni I've ever met, so naturally I'm curious if there are more of you." He was silent for a moment before he said, "I dunno."

I tilted my head at him although he couldn't see. "Don't you have more family members that you keep in touch with? Extended family, even?"
"No. Not anymore." He stopped walking but didn't turn around. "As far as I know, I'm the only oni around here."

My brows knitted with empathy as I stared at the back of his head. Imagine being the only one of your kind... Or not even knowing if there are more of you. For all you know, you truly are the last one.

"Do you get lonely without having another oni around?" He looked down at his hand, presumably. "Not really. It doesn't actually bother me."
"It doesn't?" He turned around, a small lopsided smile present on his features as he shrugged, "It's probably because of my heritage as a crimson oni that I feel okay with being amongst humans only."

I caught up to stand beside him while looking up with curiosity, urging him to continue. "Your heritage?" He nodded and proceeded to walk. "Yep. Y'know, there's a story I was told a lot as a kid. The story of the Crimson Oni, and the Blue Oni. Ever heard of it?" I shook my head.

If you don't wanna hear it again, just skip until you see this banner thing.

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"Crimson Oni and Blue Oni were friends and Crimson Oni wanted to befriend the humans, too. But oni were known to be scary and some even ate people so obviously, the humans were afraid. Blue Oni, being his friend, had a plan to help him. He would pretend to be a scary, evil oni and 'terrorize' the humans and Crimson Oni could swoop in and chase this bad oni away and be a hero to the humans."
"Did they succeed?"
"Yeah! The humans accepted Crimson Oni and they became friends! But... when Crimson Oni returned home to Blue Oni, he was gone. He left a letter behind saying that he will stay away so that Crimson Oni can continue being friends with the humans... And so, the Blue Oni left so that Crimson Oni could be with the humans like he wanted..." He trailed off and gazed at the dirt he walked on.

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When he heard me sniffle, he snapped his head towards me. "That's so sad..." I said and sniffled again, tears forming at the corner of my eyes. "They never, ever saw each other again?!"

I grabbed him with both my hands on either sides of his collar, "That can't be the ending! Tell me it's ends differently, tell me!" I demanded and shook him back and forth as I cried.

He looked at me with wide eyes, shocked at my sudden switch. "Um are you okay? You're eyes look really dilated..." He noted and I let go of him, stepping away. "Huh? My eyes? Those aren't important! The onis... (Sniff) The onis! Those poor, poor onis!" I wailed and he was starting to get worried.

"Something's not right. Why're you so loopy?"
"YOU'RE LOOPY!" I nearly tripped on my own feet and Arataki was watching me in bafflement. "What's gotten into you, Shortie? You're never this loud..." I suddenly jabbed my finger at him, "I! Never liked your sstupid, stupid lavender melons! You'rrre not suuupposed to roast fruit!" I slurred.

"Ouch, harsh... Wait." Now that I mentioned it, he could smell something that smelled like lavender melons. "Huh? Is someone roasting lavender melon?" He turned around and saw strange blue smoke in the distance. He furrowed his brows in confusion, "That's..."

He heard a strange noise coming from Ushi and saw him stumbling around on his hooves. "You too?!" Ushi dropped onto his belly and mooed sadly. I held my forehead with my hand and swayed a little. "Now that you mention it, Halfer-oni... I am feeling a little dizzy..."

I stumbled over to him as he was looking at Ushi with concern. "Ittooooo~!" I whined and threw my arms around him for support. "Huh?! W-What are you doing?" He asked nervously.

"Carry me..." I said in a baby voice and began to slide off of him. He had to grab my shoulders to make sure I didn't fall over. "I uhh..." He glanced between me and the smoke, "I-I think that smoke is what's making you and Ushi loopy. I need you to stay right here so I can go check it out. Please stay and don't go anywhere!"

He planted his hands on both of my arms and lowered me to sit on the ground beside Ushi. "Stay." He said it like how you would to a dog. "Woof." I mumbled and fell over to lay on Ushi's roof. "Moo..."

"Uhhh okay... Okay! I-I'll be right back! Don't go anywhere!" He hurried off towards the smoke and left us behind, glancing over his shoulder worriedly as he did.

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