Salvation (Kakashi x OC) (Standalone)

25.2

Written: 8/20/24
Word Count: 2,065

This kid...

"What?" I was going to get whiplash from all the drastic changes of these topics. Why, oh why, did they have to come now, of all times? Why not after lunch on one of my days off, the sun high in the sky, me in comfortable pants?

"What is it you think you're going to accomplish by helping him?" they enunciated very slowly. Those owlish, giant eyes took up half their face. In them, there was only darkness, just like the shadows that had danced at my feet.

"Well?" Patty raised a brow. "Aren't you going to answer my new friend, Pride?"

Like I'd been shot through with a wild Chidori, I straightened up so fast, my sore back cracked in multiple places. Of course. The overpowered young master...like the president's fake son in Fullmetal Alchemist!

How had I not noticed it sooner? Those inky trails, grabbing hold. That impenetrable expression and cocky attitude...

"Oh, my god," I whispered, taking one step backward on instinct. I dragged Kakashi with me, my hands folding around one of his biceps. It took both hands to wrap around it and pull it toward me. Kakashi, never one to falter, allowed himself to be dragged away.

Pride just deadpanned me a look that made me think of those shadowy tentacles turning into rocky spikes. The kind that could pierce through armor. "We both know that's not going to do any good."

"Who is it?" Kakashi whispered to me, never taking his eyes off of the threat before us. His free hand snuck into the pockets of his baggy sweats. I could only hope he had some miraculous weapon there. Regular ones weren't going to cut it.

How do you defeat shadows? It was past sunset! There were more shadows than light. The streetlamps didn't move, and Pride was already avoiding their reaches.

How could I have been so stupid?

"Homunculus," I whispered rapid-fire, paring down the information to "need to know." "There's a fake philosopher's stone in his chest. Pull that out, destroy it, and he dies. Otherwise, he'll keep regenerating again and again."

"What are his attacks?" Kakashi kept pace with me as I pulled him closer to the streetlamp. Unfortunately, it was in the opposite direction of my apartment, but what good would going home and shutting the door do us now?

"Those shadows can basically take over your body and make you move the way he wants. It can get big enough to cover a city, and if he consumes you, he gets your abilities, too," I gulped, thinking about that maniac Kimblee. What a fitting end for two monsters to take each other out. Too bad only one of them had bit the dust.

What would happen here?

"Relax, kits," Patty scoffed. "Unless you're telling me you won't cooperate any further?"

"Cooperate?" I asked, voice pitching high.

We stood under the light of the streetlamp. A distance away, the protective circle Kakashi had created began sparking with electricity, their points connected by a wavy blue line. An explosion ready to go off at any moment. The charge seared the air, and I felt everything outside of that buzz fade away, disappear.

I swallowed, reaching down to grab the hand Kakashi didn't have in his sweatpants. I didn't know if I should touch him like that—what if he needed both his hands?—but I found I couldn't stop myself. Once I had broken through the wall of not wanting to touch him, I couldn't go back.

He took it silently, his bare skin rough with calluses. I wasn't the only one sweating, which made my worry sharpen and increase.

"Okay," I said, taking deep, settling breaths that made my ears pop. "You know what we want. You're the one who's not being clear. We don't mind helping with something that won't hurt others, but if—"