The Tragedies of Life {A Genshin Impact OC Story}

Chapter 29: Always With You

"I'm pretty convinced you can find your way home from here." Ataru said, giving Kinoko a small smile. Ataru, Sethos, and Kinoko finally made it to the fork in the road that led to Gandharva Ville when Kinoko went to the right.

"Right, yeah." Kinoko felt a pain in her chest when she thought of confronting Wanderer.

Sethos grinned. "C'mon, you got this! Show him how much you care!"

Ataru and Sethos left, chattering along the way. Once their voices were out of ear-shot, Kinoko turned to the right. She made sure to walk as slow as possible. The closer she got to her home, the more nervous she felt.

Kinoko opened the door to her house, grabbing Wanderer's clothing that he had given her. She had scrubbed it clean of the blood until it hurt too much to be touching anything of his. Leaving her house, she turned and walked to the familiar ladder.

The first floorboard of her hideout squeaked as she slowly walked across the platform, seeing Wanderer sitting at the edge of one of the branches. "What are you doing here?" He asked, a cold and distant look on his face. He didn't acknowledge her.

"I think...we need to talk." Kinoko said, feeling as if everything inside her was hurting with indescribable pain. She was nervous to be doing this, her voice barely above soft spoken words.

"About what? I ruined everything." Finally, Wanderer looked at her, seeing how helpless she seemed at speaking. "It's over." He said sharply, looking away from her.

"It's not over. You ran away, and I had no choice but to leave because I was hurt." Kinoko took a few careful steps toward him, watching as he stood up.

"It wasn't running away. My stupid mistakes led to all this. I'm a monster, and monsters don't get to keep the ones close to them." Both of them stopped for a moment as it started to pour.

Kinoko didn't care about the water soaking her. "Yeah, and I forgave you for that. You aren't a monster." She took a step closer. He took a step back.

"No, don't forgive me. I'm just going to mess it all up." Wanderer backed away just until he was a few feet away from her. "Why the hell would you forgive me?"

"Because I love you!" Kinoko shouted, tears forming in her eyes. Now everything has turned silent. "Over everything else, I love YOU. Now you can turn away from me, you can leave me, but you need to know that I never left you. I never will." Her hands started to shake. "I don't care what you did in the past! Do you not think I have my own sins? The reason I threw myself in front of you, was because I love YOU. I can't bear to see you hurt, even if it wouldn't have killed you. I would never forgive myself if I saw you broken before me."

Wanderer stared at her, motionless. His eyes were wide in shock. He didn't seem to know what to say. Kinoko continued, "Look me in the eyes and tell me that you're going to leave me, that you don't love me too. SAY IT. If you do, then I'm wrong, and I will spend my eternity alone."

An arm slipped around her waist. A hand cupped her face. A pair of lips met hers. This time, it wasn't to calm her. This time, it wasn't a kiss or parting. This time, it was raw, and real, and Kinoko loved every second of it. She wrapped her arms around him, not leaving an inch of space between them. "Koi..." She whispered, pulling away to catch a breath before they kissed again.

"That name you gave me. It symbolizes romantic love in Inazuma. I never told you what it is or what it meant, because I didn't quite understand why anyone would call me that, and I liked being called something that wasn't 'evil'." Wanderer's lips tilted up into a small smile, a genuine one. "I love you." He murmured, pulling Kinoko tight into his chest. "I'm sorry for leaving."