Falling | s.shinazugawa

two

The constant silence of the woods irked you and you couldn't help but be paranoid. Your mind is running hundreds of miles an hour. To distract yourself you decide to talk to him. You cough to get his attention. He turns to look at you.

"So what's your name?"

"My name is Sanemi Shinazugawa," he says softly he's seemed to have calmed down 

"What's yours?" His voice is more soothing now.

"l/n y/n" you whisper.

You can't seem to shake the feeling that someone is watching you. You seem to still be on an adrenaline rush, you could still feel your heart beating out of your chest. Sanemi seems to notice your panic and tries to help you.

"Hey, I think someone or something is watching us." He slows down and crouches down.

"We're gonna hide up this tree, are you okay with that?" He looks at you with worry in his eyes, as if he's genuinely worried about your safety.

You let out a shaky breath and nodded your head. He climbs the tree quickly and grabs your hand, taking you up the tree

"It's safe up here and I have the advantage if a demon comes, now you need to stay quiet and hold on," He says as he keeps climbing higher up the tree.

a demon passes by, it's not looking up. You feel your breath get caught in your throat, suddenly you feel like you can't breathe. This must all be a dream this can't be happening right now. You look down and your hands and see that they're shaking.

"We shouldn't make any noises or movements, it could hear us," He says in a whisper as he sits up higher in the tree.

"Hey, take a deep breath...I know this seems scary, but you won't die as long as I'm with you, don't worry"

He's sitting against the tree and looks at you, he gives you a reassuring nod, and this makes you feel safer. You take a deep breath and follow him up the tree. While climbing the tree you can't help but notice how attractive he was. You catch yourself, how can you be thinking about this right now? This should be the last thing you should be even thinking of. You both stay up in the tree for a while, eventually when the sun starts rising.

Sanemi whispers to you "I think we're safer here now, do you think you can hop down?"

You nod your head. You notice his hand is a little sweaty still, but he's not as scary as he used to be, this might be the kindest you've seen him.

"I'll go first to make sure it's safe"

He hops down lightly and goes in a defensive position, looking around for demons

"Come on, it's safe to hop down, no demons that I can see"

You start to head down the tree being careful not to misplace your foot. You feel relieved that the sun was up, you had survived. But that also meant that it wasn't a dream. You finally reach the end of the tree and brush off your kimono. Now that you're both on solid ground, it seems that the forest is more empty than you thought, and it's much quieter than before

"I feel like this is too quiet like something is wrong,"  he says as he looks around.

"But at least it's safer now. Where did you come from when you first found me? Why were you here"

He seems genuinely curious about why you would be here, so late at night, in such a dangerous place. You turn your head and rub your arm. You'd have to explain what happened to your family and relive the moment once again. You let out a shaky sigh and return to his gaze.