Babysitted by the Uchiha Avenger

Chapter 24

It felt like I was on fire.

As soon as my palms touched her paws, my entire body ignited. I almost retracted my hands before I remembered what was at stake. Gritting my teeth, I tried to focus on pouring my own energy into her. I hoped it stung as much as hers did.

She didn't so much as wince, merely kept her eyes fixed on me.

My arms ached. It took so much effort to keep them still, to keep my muscles from spasming, or giving up entirely. Out of nowhere, wind began to whip up around us, send my hair flying out in a million different directions.

Her fur didn't even ruffle.

You are weak.

I ground my teeth harder. "Shut up," I spat.

You are weak and your friends are going to die because of it.

She was taunting me, I knew. She was trying to get me to slip up. I shouldn't fall for it. Don't fall into her trap, Luce.

What a pitiful way to repay them for all that they've done, hm?

"Stop it," I gasped. My skin was blistering from the heat.

They saved your life, and now you can't save theirs. Pathetic.

And to think, some of them even love you.

My heart skipped a beat.

The demon winced.

It was only for a second. Barely noticable. If my senses hadn't been so heightened I may have missed it. But it was there. She winced. A little gust of wind billowed through her mane.

That's it, I thought. The strongest emotion within me right now is love for those guys. That's what I use. That's how I win.

I tightened my grip on the demon's paws, and filled my mind with every happy memory I had gathered that evening, every little thing that had made me fangirl like an idiot, every tiny ounce of love I felt, or saw, or wished for, and then, with all of the strength I had left within me,

I shoved all of those feelings down my spine, through my arms, and into the jinchurikii.

Hurricane-force winds battered her, sending her yelping and sprawling. I met her eye for one tiny, brief moment—

and then she was gone.