Golden Keigo Takami (Hawks) x Reader | Kitsune AU

Chapter 15: A Rose Frozen in Time

y/n pov

"Good morning Momo, Ochaco." I waved over to the two girls while stepping through the doors of the cafe. Soon after I entered, they rushed over to give me a big hug. "Oh my goodness, we were so worried about you when you didn't return-"

I give a little laugh, feeling slightly guilty for worrying both of them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you both. I found Keigo and we went home since it was late, everything was okay!" The two nodded with the new reassurance.

Once the two went back to work, Keigo and I went and sat down by the window. I looked outside, the sunlight sparkling on the snow. I looked over to Keigo preparing to say something when I saw something that caught his attention. "What's wrong?" I asked quietly to him, looking in the direction he was suddenly interested in.

Hawks pov

As I watched y/n looking at the window, my thoughts and actions were interrupted by a voice. I heard someone mention something about the royal warriors, causing me to immediately turn an ear in the direction of the people. When y/n noticed, she asked me what was wrong to which I didn't say anything, just listened to what the person was saying.

"There's been a lot of commotion in the palace territories lately, I'm not completely sure why but I heard there's been clashing between the kings warriors and guards." I perked up to that, my eyes glancing down at my fingers as I fiddled with my thumbs.

I looked back up, immediately seeing y/n with the same expression as I, our eyes connecting as I flickered my ear in the direction of the two people, her immediately understanding.

"Really? I've heard that there's been a rumor about the king having a secret group of warriors who have been involved in the recent crimes in the town-"

I inhaled, my inner thoughts going wild as it was now not a hidden fact that the king had been apart of the recent thieving.

"This is gonna be bad if the whole town finds out about this.." I mumbled to which y/n was the only one that could hear. She nodded subtly while we continued listening.

Once we had enough, I stood up, sighing while fixing my clothes. Y/n followed suit, us both bidding the girls goodbye before leaving the cafe.

As we got to a decent distance away from other people, I groaned. "This just made my job a whole lot harder, it's bad news that people are aware of the corrupt situation with the kings warriors now!" Y/n grabbed my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze as we continued walking towards the library.

Once we arrived, I saw Fumiko exiting as we entered, her stopping to talk.

"I heard about what happened yesterday, thank you for saving the books while I was gone!" She bowed, showing her thanks as I replied.

"You don't have to thank me, I was only doing my job." I rubbed the back of my neck, grinning as Fumiko happily walked past us and down the staircase.

As we walked inside, I peered at the protected stack of books. "I'm glad they couldn't get their hands on these. It didn't take long for me to realize who the culprits were that were burning the pages in all of the books containing information about humans and spirits."

Y/n hummed with an unsatisfied look. "What horrible thing happened for the king to be so against the idea of humans and spirits interacting?" I shrugged, picking up the stack of books before smiling at y/n.

"Let's get these back to the house where they'll be safe, then how about we go on a walk in the gardens?" Y/n smiled brightly at my comment, nodding enthusiastically while walking beside me. My heart fluttered from her expression, now knowing she felt the same as I had for all this time.

y/n pov

As we both went back to the house, I felt more self aware than before, shrugging it off in the end. "I think it best we keep these books somewhere hidden." I say as I set my books I was carrying on a table. "I suppose it would be best." He replied as I watched him open a chest of sorts, setting the books in it. He clapped his hands, a smile adorning his attractive face as he turned towards me. "Now, how about that walk?" He lent his hand out to me and I gladly taking it as we left the house once more.

The garden was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen, especially with the snow. Cherry trees and wisteria trees dotted the property, fluffy piles of snow on them all. Patches of all sorts of beautiful flowers dotted planters as well as plants I hadn't seen in the human realm. There were so many nature filled areas along with a waterfall that poured into the river, and a few ponds here and there with koi fish swimming around. Parts of the water were frozen over as others had openings, the water inside glistening along with the snow.

Keigo led me down the bridge across the river, the waterfall better in view now as the snowy mountains behind it glowed with lanterns. The sun was hidden behind some clouds, making it appear as if it was the evening.

I eyed a vendor who was selling what looked like fruit baskets, Keigo immediately noticing as he let go of my hand. "I'll go buy us one, we can use it to make a fruit salad tonight." He smiled at me while disappearing towards the vendor. I continued down the bridge and towards a path full of rose bushes.

The feeling of magic was noticeable in the air, probably from the different types of flowers and plants that seemed to still be blooming during the winter weather. "It's not a surprise that someone had put a magic barrier on these beautiful flowers to protect them.." I mumbled to myself while touching one gently, poking it to where the small pile of snow on it fell, leaving the flower still intact and looking as beautiful as before.

I peeked on the other side of the bush, Keigo still busy with the vendor from a distance. I sighed, glancing to my side as I heard the crunch of the snow. With a new presence by my side, I felt conscious as I tried hiding myself by looking at the flowers.

Before I could walk away, a voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Lovely flowers, aren't they?" The gentle but hazardous voice startled me, as I only nodded. I peeked to the side, my stomach dropping as the same man from before was standing beside me. His piercing blue eyes making contact with mine for a split second before I looked away, frozen in place.

"Each one beautiful and unique, however unfortunately, not all of them stay that way. Danger is always creeping around beautiful flowers like this, and in a split second-" He lifted up his scarred hand, poking a flower, causing it to engulf in a blue flame, destroying it in mere seconds. "The flower is destroyed, never to be seen or appreciated again." His eyes glared into my own as he smiled with what seemed a kind expression. All of my senses were pointing to warning signals as I backed away slightly.

"You can try and run, yell for your beloved fox prince charming, but i've already casted a magic barrier enclosing us. Nobody can see or hear you besides me." His words were laced with something I couldn't quite decipher, it had a hint of sincereness, but also pure malice. He held the crisped flower in his hand, before dropping it, letting it flow to the ground until it was atop the snow.

"That's what'll happen to you if you stay here any longer, remember that y/n. Just consider this a warning from your dear, old friend. Wouldn't want any accidents happening, would we?" Goosebumps spread through my body as he whispered the last words beside my ear, before disappearing into thin air, the only thing remaining being the burnt flower on the snowy ground.

Not a second later, Keigo walked up to me with a cheery expression on his face. He swung the basket slightly while walking in front of me, his happy demeanor immediately dropping as he saw the sick expression on my face. He looked down, seeing the burnt flower at my feet. The last things I saw were the basket falling into the snow and two arms engulfing me as I fell into a darkness I didn't want to remember.