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

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ⁵⁸

"Is everyone alright?" I called out to make sure while we were stuck between a half run and half jog. I failed to notice that the place was suddenly empty as we rushed through the lounging area.

"Yeah, but that jerk could've ruined my handsome face!" Arataki complained as he rubbed his jaw. "Allow me." Sangonomiya lifted her hand and a small fish made of water was conjured. It swam through the air and into Arataki's face. Miraculously, his wounds were healed. "Whoa. Thanks!"

Taking a sharp turn, I was heading towards the stairs but stopped abruptly, causing the other two to almost bump into me. Below, something didn't seem right. "Damn it..." I cursed when I saw men dressed in the Fatui uniform. A few of them were taller and dressed similarly but carried large weapons with them. They looked like they were searching for something.

"They're lookin' for us. Or, probably you." Arataki said as he looked at the girl beside him. I ducked and ushered the other two to do the same when I spotted one of them gesturing upstairs, where we were. I hoped they didn't see us but we couldn't stick around to find out. "Either way, let's go!" I grabbed Arataki's sleeve, as he was the closest, and rushed to the west wing where I knew another exit was.

The air began to grow thick and black particles were floating in the air as we neared our destination. Not long, we could see that a fire broke out at the end of the hall, cutting off the majority of the west wing and smoke continuously bellowed from the area, suffocating us.

"Aw c'mon! Whys everythin' that can go wrong, goes wrong?!" Arataki remarked in frustration and coughed into his elbow. This fire was intentional, it had to be. They're trying to cause chaos so they can get to Sangonomiya.

My eyes landed on the group of people that were trying to get past that the fire, presumably to get to the separated ones on the other side judging by the cries from both groups. "I'll handle this." Sangonomiya stepped forward and raised her hands, slowly moving them in sync in a circular motion. She used her Hydro Vision to put out the large fire rather easily. As a result, the smoke thinned out and allowed us to breathe more easily.

"Remind me to never get on Fish Lady's bad side." Arataki whispered to me after witnessing her ability. However, the fire had already done much damage and the ceiling looked as if it would collapse at any second. "Move it, people!" Arataki shouted at them to hurry. The three of us ran through and ushered the people to safety on the other side, just as the pillar gave in.

I turned to make sure we got everyone but noticed a hazy silhouette through the smoke. Someone was about to be crushed by the falling ceiling!
  "Look out!" I ran over and tackled the person out of the way just in the nick of time. "You're safe no—" I looked up to see that blond guy from earlier. "M-Milady!" He seemed way too happy to see me. "Seriously? You of all people?" I quickly got off him and dusted my clothes off. I got my furisode dirty for this...

He sprung up and deeply bowed to me. "I am forever in your debt, Milady!" Unlike before, he seemed much nicer towards me. I smiled awkwardly at him,
"Suuure... Don't mention it." I turned around, moving on and ready to forget he ever existed. But he ran ahead of me, stopping in front of me and bowed again, "I could've died! And you saved me from my terrible, terrible demise–"
"No seriously. Don't mention it." I said through gritted teeth, annoyance and irritation permeating from my tone.

"Shortie! You okay?!" Arataki jogged over to me, worry written all over his face. "Yeah I'm fine. Did everyone else make it out alright?" He looked behind him briefly before turning back to me, "Think so? That priestess lady is helping them evacuate. We should prolly help out, too."

He only then noticed the man, giving him a suspicious glare when he caught him staring at Arataki with uncertainty. "You again..." Arataki was about to say something else when I placed a hand on the man's shoulder, "You should evacuate with the others." I told the gentleman, hoping to get rid of him swiftly.