~Tomoe X Reader: Book One~

27. Mizuki

(The poll will forever stay open, but for now this one is in the lead, so I'm going to be cranking out as many updates as I can for this one. One more question, if anyone would be interested in answering: Should I separate this into books in a series, or continue on one book until I hit the 200 chapter limit? I'm leaning more towards splitting it up, because sometimes long books, however good, can get boring... anyways, back to the story ^^)

The first sensation you were aware of was a hand in your hair, and your sluggish thoughts drifted  to Tomoe, this must be him, but when your hearing finally began to not sound as if you were under water, the slightly feminine tone to the voice you recognized as Mizuki.

Your eyes opened slightly, and you could see a fuzzy blur of a wooden ceiling, before you released a low groan and brought your hand up to your head.

"God fu-"

"(Name)!" You heard Mizuki exclaim, and immediately another hand slightly lifted up your shirt. You felt no pain, the wound was like a distant memory, and Mizuki heavily sighed with relief.

"It's healed... thank the gods..." he whispered breathlessly, and you felt his weight press down on you as he enveloped you in a half-embrace.

You pushed your tired eyes all the way open, his hair was in your face and it was hard not to choke on it.

You patted his back, trying to signal the end of the hug, and he pulled away, and you saw that his light green eyes had filled with tears.
"(Name), I'm... I thought you might-"

"Chill." You interrupted him. "Near-death experiences are a normal thing nowadays. Besides, I wasn't bleeding that-"

You shot a glance down at your clothing, which was notably soaked.

"Oh. Apparently I was..."

Mizuki swiped some of his tears away, but they were just replaced.
"Kurama's..." His expression changed immediately at the name, and he tilted his head so his eyes were in shadow.
"Kurama's talons have a sort of venom that..." Mizuki brought his hand up to cover his face, and his voice grew stronger, laced with a disturbing amount of bloodlust. "It begins to destroy your white blood cells, as well as many of the other needed wound repair fuctions. Peach pills simply fast-forward the healing process, and with the venom there, the first one of the two we had left did nothing. In order to heal you, we had to transplant blood with healthy white blood cells and components into your body."

Your now-sharp eyes shifted to the bedside, where you finally saw it. It was a tray that had a multitude of blood-covered syringes and a needle and medical thread, as well as a few towels that were also slightly blood stained.

Mizuki finally tilted his head back up, his white lashes were almost closed, his facial expression riddled with exhaustion.

"Neither I nor Tomoe have human blood, if we transferred ours, it would kill you..."

You propped yourself up on your elbows, suddenly feeling a small twinge of fear. "Mizuki..." you enunciated slowly.

"Where did the blood come from?"

He shifted his gaze to the ground.
"In the netherworld, pure, untainted human blood is sold... as a beverage. It wasn't... hard... to find what blood type you needed."

Your eyes widened in horror, but... at least Mizuki hadn't killed anyone himself... no, this was just as bad...

You suddenly felt as if there was poison in your veins.

"If I had had to kill one of the humans, I would, but I don't think you would have been supporting of that idea."

You shuddered a bit at his words, and the shikigami brought his hand up to cup the side of your face. His hand was warm.

"If it helps..." he said softly, and his voice was mesmerizing. "You can find comfort in the fact that Kurama is being taken care of as we speak."

You furrowed your eyebrows.

"Uhm... hell no. Kurama's an asshole, but he still doesn't deserve death."

Mizuki was beyond surprised, and his jaw went slack. "B-but..." he stuttered.

You reached forward and gently grabbed a fistful of Mizuki's shirt, wanting to get your point across but not hurt him.

"Hun, I'm going to need the location that this all is taking place."

He put his hand on your shoulder to push you back, but you were ready.

"Stay," you hissed, and Mizuki immediately froze at the divine order, releasing a small whimper that sounded disturbingly like a moan.

I had almost forgotten he's such a masochist.

"Your orders are getting... much stronger... (Name)..." he said between pants, and you felt slightly disgusted.

"Now tell me." You commanded, and Mizuki nodded.

"Tomoe went to Kurama's house... mansion... whatever it is..."

Mizuki stood and scrambled to grab a small square of sticky notes and a pen from the counter.

He scribbled down something, then handed it to you. It was an address.

"Tomoe only left... when he was certain... you were safe... so not too long ago..." Mizuki whined, his voice fading to a low mutter. "He's going to kill me for this..."

You reached over and patted Mizuki's head.

God, his hair is so soft-...

"It will be fine. I'll be sure to defend you. You were just following orders, after all."

Mizuki's cheeks had flushed. "Stay safe."