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

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ³³

In the dead of night, all that could be heard was the chirping of crickets and the rustling of leaves in trees as the gentle breeze was ever present as it had been the whole week. The waning moon hung high above, along with the bright stars that seemed to dance in the night sky.

The gang slept peacefully in their tents, except for the part oni. He was outside of his with his arms crossed, sleeping while sitting upright, his snores were not nearly as loud as the other night.

However, one of the other members was wide awake. Only pretending to be asleep. Her eyes opened and her gaze immediately went to the front of the tent, seeing the oni's silhouette through the material. She carefully moved Ushi aside so she could stand and put on her shoes. She crept up to the opening and pulled it aside, stepping out into the cold atmosphere.

"I'm sorry..." She whispered while she watched the sleeping oni's face. She reached into her pocket and took out a piece of paper. She looked around for a place to put it and decided to tuck it between his folded arms.

Trust. There were very few people she trusted. However, none of them were around anymore...

She thought this was the best plan of action in order to ensure he would remain being around, as much as it pained her to do so.

With that being done, she looked around one last time before leaving the camp behind, disappearing into the night.

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Arataki mumbled tiredly as he awoke, eyes slowly opening. He yawned loudly and smacked his lips sleepily. "Ugh, my neck hurts..." He grumbled and raised a hand to massage it when something fell onto his lap. "Huh?" He picked up the object to see that it was a letter.

He opened it but didn't recognize the handwriting. He squinted his eyes, turning the page this way and that as he tried to read it. "Morning! ...Boss?" Mamoru greeted but was confused to see his leader trying really hard to read something.

"Need me to read it?" He offered, making Arataki drop his hands with a huff. "Fine." He held it up and Mamoru took it, clearing his throat as he began to read.

"Dear Half-Oni, I wasn't even sure if you could read but you could get one of your boys to do it if not..."
"Hmph!"
"...Anyway, I apologize for telling you like this. I know I said we would talk about it this morning but I gave it a lot of thought and I realised it's better if I... do this one alone."

Mamoru trailed off, looking up at his leader. He didn't understand what this was about but according to Arataki's expression, he knew exactly.

He sat there, slack jawed at what he was hearing. "Shortie..." He jumped from his seat and tore the tent open, only to see it was empty. The bed was made neatly and Ushi raised his head upon Arataki's intrusion. "Moo?" His shoulders dropped, "She really left..."

"Boss?" He spun around, his mind racing on ways to find her. "Keep reading! Does it say where she went?!" Mamoru was taken aback by his urgency but continued, "I'm sorry to leave you all like this. Without a goodbye. I'm such a coward, this was the best I could do."

By this time, everyone had gathered around after hearing the commotion to hear the end of the letter.

"I'm sorry Arataki. I'm sorry for not telling the truth from the beginning. I regret that I couldn't take you along but this is something only I can do. You are better off without me anyway... Thank you and your gang for making me feel like I was wanted. That I was needed. I felt safe, and that isn't something I say very often. And thank you, for being my partner...
Signed, Y/n."

Mamoru lowered his hand, glancing at everyone as the information sank in. "Shortie... You idiot!" Arataki kicked the seat to the side. "I wanted to help you..." He thought back to the previous day. Everything that happened under that tree. He was frustrated, angry, sad.

'Did it mean nothing to you...?'

His gang stared at him, not knowing what to do or what even happened. "Is Y/n gone? Did she leave?" Akira exchanged gazes between the other two. Ushi left the tent after hearing Arataki kick the chair, "Moo?" He plopped down in front of him, sensing he was in a bad mood.

Arataki's eyes traveled to the small bull and his gaze softened. He took a deep breath in to calm himself. "Sorry, lost my cool." He straightened his back and dragged his hands through his hair.

"Are we going after her or...?" Mamoru was still holding the letter with uncertainty. "No. She... She doesn't want us to." Their silver-haired leader dejectedly entered the tent, leaving his group lost and confused.

Genta angrily balled his hands at his sides, "...This is bull. No offense, Ushi."
"Hmph."
"BOSS!" He marched over to the tent, but was stopped by Akira.
"Whoa, Genta! What're you doing?"
"Can't you see he's making a mistake?! Let me go!" He forced himself out of Akira's grip and moved past him.

"Genta, you need to calm down. You might just make it worse!"
"Yeah, what exactly are you planning to do anyway?"
"I'm gonna convince him to go after her! It's so obvious they have a thing for each other. If he lets her go now, he might never see her again! I gotta convince him to find her."

The other two let Genta's word linger, before they looked at each other and nodded in understanding.
"Then we'll help you."

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