The village smelled like earth and woodsmoke. Fresh bread and wet dirt. Nothing like Germa’s sterile halls.
But that’s not why Ichiji was tense.
I could see it in his jaw, the rigid set of his shoulders, the way his fingers kept twitching near the hem of his shirt like he didn’t know what to do with his hands. Like they’d never learned to fidget, but something new inside him wanted to.
He shouldn’t have emotions. None of them should, and yet, there he was beside me, trying not to look like he was feeling.
I didn’t speak as we walked past the old well, the schoolhouse, the blacksmith’s forge. I didn’t have to.
Because just behind us, about six paces back like the world's most obnoxious perfume, was Niji.
Whistling.
Lazily strolling like he had nowhere better to be. Occasionally chatting up villagers with that charming little fake smile he wore when he wanted people to underestimate him. But every so often, I could feel his eyes flick to us and stay there too long.
“You think he suspects?” I murmured. Ichiji didn’t look at me.
“He suspects something. He always does.”
Of course he does...
We passed a small cart of apples, and a child waved to me. I smiled, automatically, and waved back. Ichiji’s breath hitched. Barely. But I caught it.
“What was that?” I asked under my breath.
“Nothing.”
“You’ve never made that sound before.”
“It’s nothing.”
Uh-huh...
It wasn’t. It was something. Warmth. The flicker of some raw, alien feeling he didn’t have a name for yet.
He was obviously terrified someone would see it. Someone lanky, blue and oozing with douchebaggery.
Just up ahead, we slipped into a narrow path behind the bakery. The baker’s son was off in the fields, and the delivery crates cast deep enough shadows to give us a breath of privacy.
Ichiji’s hand dipped into his pants pocket. Swiftly, he pressed a folded slip of paper into my palm with the precision of a man placing a landmine.
“Coordinates.” He said, voice low. “Where my dad's men have been starting to excavate. No doubt they've already caused structural compromise. It'll be quick, but undetectable.”
This will...
“It'll collapse the island from the inside.” I breathed out in a whisper, the information he had already told me before really starting to hit home for a second time around.
“Yes.”
I swallowed the burn in my throat. “Your father’s-.”
“He’s a monster.”
That stopped me. Ichiji never made statements like that. His voice was never tight like that. I looked at him, and for a half-second, there it was.
A flash of something in his face. Guilt. Regret. Fury that wasn’t cold or calculated. Just real.
There's something unsettling about him acting human...
And then, of course, Niji appeared. Right behind us, rounding the corner with a crooked smile and an apple he’d definitely not paid for in his hand.
“Well, well,” He sang, head turning from my face to Ichiji’s too-wide stance. “this looks private~”
“We’re discussing the wedding.” Ichiji said flatly. “You’re interrupting.”
YOU ARE READING
GAMBIT - Vinsmoke Ichiji x Reader
Fanfiction"Most of all, I hate you because I think of you. Often. It's disgusting, and I can't stop." For twelve years, Princess Arden (Y/N) of Fell Wilds had known she was to marry Prince Vinsmoke Ichiji of the Germa Kingdom. It was her duty, to ensure the l...
