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

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ⁴⁹

"Damn it..." Arataki cursed as he was trying to dry his hair but his horns were in the way. The towel kept snagging on the tips. Usually, he would have Granny Oni help him with his hair back home.

"Hey, Shortie? Can youuuu..." He trailed off when he saw that the room was empty. "Shortie?" He did a 360 on the spot but she wasn't there. "Moo." Ushi mooed to get his attention and huffed in the direction of the door.

"She left? Why?" He walked to the door and peeked his head outside, wondering if he should go look for her. Ushi exhaled loudly and got comfortable again. "Yeah, guess you're right. I'll wait a little longer."

*        *        *

He was laying on his bed, hands on his stomach while he stared at the ceiling and his leg bounced impatiently. It has been exactly 5 minutes.

"I'm gonna look for her." He sat up and grabbed a few things before he made his way to the door with long strides. Ushi huffed in exasperation and went back to sleep.

Arataki hurried down the steps, skipping the last two. He was wasting no time in finding the girl. He stopped dead in his tracks when he smelled food. Simultaneously, his stomach growled. He didn't realise how hungry he actually was.

He spotted a few food stalls lined up on the side of the street and there were people still around despite the late hour. "Could she be there?" He made his way over and looked around. It was difficult to search for her when the smell of food distracted him. He would get sidetracked and end up staring for too long at a stall before catching himself. "Focus! Gotta find Shortie."

His ears perked up when he heard a female's voice that sounded a lot like her. "I'm sorry, I'm actually here with someone." He swivelled his head to the side and spotted Y/n. She stood with her back to him so he thought to sneak up on her. That's when he saw that she wasn't alone.

"Oh c'mon, they ain't here right now..." The man had this gross smirk on his face and Arataki tilted his head in confusion. "Is that a friend...?" His eyes went to Y/n who was holding a bag in one hand but the other formed a tight fist behind her back.

His brows furrowed as the man raised a hand, clasping his fingers around her forearm. She took a step back and looked visibly revolted by the man. In that moment, Arataki knew this wasn't a friend.

Y/n POV

"Please let go of me." I said coldly and pulled my arm out from his grasp. "Don't be like that, I can show you a good time~" I wanted to be civilized about this and tried to reason with him but this man just wouldn't get the hint. He showed up out of nowhere after I bought the food for me and Arataki.

"Let me try again, I just thought you were pretty and decided to spark up a conversation. No need to be rude if I found you interesting." I rolled my eyes, "Not interested in you. Please leave me alone."

I turned to leave but he stepped in front of me, grabbing ahold of my wrist once again but with a firmer grip. "Don't walk away from me!" I glared at him, getting ready to punch his lights out, "I'm going to give you until the count of–"

Suddenly, another large hand grabbed the man's wrist. I felt the presence of someone behind me and recognized the hand instantly. I tilted my head to look behind me, only to see Arataki glaring at the man with a deep scowl.

"Hands off." He said lowly, the deep tone reverberating against my back and sending shivers down my spine. That look of anger he had made my heart feel like it was beating out of my chest even though it wasn't directed at me.

The man let go of me, but not out of his own volition. Arataki had a crushing grip on the man's wrist that was considerably smaller than his. "W-Whoa man, let go!" I was too stunned to move and felt Arataki's other arm snake around my waist in a protective manner and pulled me against him, my back flushed against his chest.

"Leave. Or I break this." He spat, barely holding back his anger. The man's eyes widened in terror and tried to release his wrist from the oni's merciless hold. He let go, making the man pull back. "Y-you freak! Stay away from me!" He swiftly sauntered away without looking back.

"You okay?" His tone softened when he spoke to me, leaning down a little to get a look of my face. I lowered my head to hide it and could only nod. "Cool." He released his hold on me and I turned around to face him. I probably shouldn't have since my face must've been completely flushed.

He still had a worried look on his face, his eyes examining me to see if I was hurt anywhere. "Sorry if I scared you..." He said when he noticed my hesitancy.

"N-No, I'm not scared! Just a little surprised, is all... I'm fine. Promise." I reassured him. "I-I was out buying this." I squeaked as I held up the paper bag filled with street food but struggled to look at him.

The smell reached his nose and his eyes widened, "Oh, sweet. I was just thinkin' that we should grab some grub. But uh not here. Let's head back." He said as he glanced in the direction where the man ran off to, anger flashing in his eyes. "O-Okay."

Just a minute ago, he looked like he was about to murder the guy. Now he was back to being the big softie I know him for.

I peeked at him as we walked side by side. He still seemed on edge but when he caught me looking at him, his shoulders seemed to relax. "You sure you're okay?" He asked again and I nodded.

"What about you, you okay?" He seemed confused when I asked him the same question. "Of course I'm fine, I wasn't the one being grabbed by some jackass."
"I meant, you haven't rested in a while. I saw that you looked tired earlier. Let's call it a night after we eat, sound good?"

He nodded with a grin, excited to finally get food in his stomach. "By the way, I wasn't sure what you liked besides candy so I got a bunch of sweet stuff. I got dango, taiyaki, takoyaki, even some meat buns to balance out the sweetness." I opened the bag and searched through the items while naming them out loud and Arataki's mouth began to water.

"You're gonna have to wait till we get back~" I teased, closing the bag and holding it away from him with a sly smirk. "Hey! This is the thanks I get for saving you?"
"I could've handled– I mean, thank you." He scoffed, "That's more like it!" I playfully rolled my eyes, "Let's hurry and get back. I'm starving." I said to change the subject.

"Alright! Let's go!" He ran ahead of me and I shouted after him, "Hey! I'm the one carrying the food! It won't matter if you get there first!" He spun on his heel, running back to me. "You're right." He threw me over his shoulder again and I started to scold him like I have multiple times before but my complaints reached deaf ears.

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I decided to leave the April Fool's chapter up cuz it's kinda funny and I can be reminded of my stupidity :D