Akatsuki: The Second Act (Magi Ja'far X Fem Reader)

Chapter 14

Ja'far

What the heck, Sin?

I seeth silently as I trudge back to the palace and wash the dirt off of myself with the frigid water still running in the bathrooms.

This isn't the first time he's come up with something insane, but he could've at least warned me first before (y/n) came barging into my room! He didn't even tell me that we're leaving tomorrow!

My tirade continues, punctuated by the quick, sharp steps of my (now clean) shoes in the corridor leading to my room. Let's just get this day over with. Thoughts about finally collapsing into bed flood my mind even before my fingers touch the doorknob.

The door swings open to reveal (y/n) sitting on the windowsill, dipping a towel into a basin of water that rested on my desk. She looks up at me, her eyebrows quirking above her (e/c) eyes.

"Uh...w-why are you looking at me like that?" I stutter. She gets up and walks towards me, and suddenly I'm ready to bolt back up the corridor in case she's going to do drag me into something crazy again. Lightly, her bandaged fingertips brush the hair off of my forehead.

"Your cut's bleeding! Don't tell me you forgot to be careful with it while you were washing up!" she says. My eyes shift away from hers. I had forgotten. She grasps my hand and guides me to my chair. "I know you're exhausted, but at least let me take care of that cut before it gets infected."

Drawing the bowl closer, she dips in a clean towel and begins to wring it, but stops when she sees the look on my face. "What?" she asks. "Don't worry I'll make this quick so that you can go to sleep soon."

"No, I'm not worried about that. I'm worried you'll try to drown me in that basin or strangle me with that towel or something."

"What! Of course not. I'm not that crazy."

"Well, how about that time you made me jump out of a window to save Irie? Or, hey! Remember when you slapped me with a tree branch less than an hour ago?"

She snorts, then bursts into a laugh that makes her shoulders quake and lights a spark in her (e/c) eyes. Strangely, I can feel the annoyance and anger caused by the night's events drain away, leaving only faint dregs .

"I didn't make you jump out of that window, Ja'far. You decided to jump after me on your own."

With gentle swipes, she cleans the blood off of my forehead before applying a disinfectant that stings enough to make me wince slightly.

"I'm sorry," she murmurs, her (e/c) eyes downcast.

"Huh? It's fine. It just stings a li-"

"No, I mean that I'm sorry for sparring with you tonight. I didn't realise that you didn't know about the tests Sinbad set for me. The others knew so..."

Well, Sin's not going to be the only one to feel my rage tomorrow.

Her fingers smooth a plaster across my forehead, and only then do I realise that her own hands are covered in plasters.

"Don't worry. I just got a few splinters, that's all," she says, noticing the concern that my face betrayed. "Anyway, I think you should be more worried about that." Her hands move towards my leg, where she's noticed something pale and reddish marring my skin, something that looks like some kind of wound sticking out from under my knee-length pants.

"Wait, no! Don't -"

Too late. She's already rolled up the cloth to reveal the stitch-shaped scars that ran along my leg, starting just below my knee before snaking upwards and disappearing into my pant leg. I stiffen.

(Y/n)'s (e/c) eyes widen in shock, then turn to steel. She turns away. "I'm so sorry. I can't believe I just-"

Angry. She's angry at herself.

"No," I reach out and grab her hand. I want to tell her that it's okay, that I know she'd never do something like this on purpose. But instead, the words catch in my throat, strangled by my own unease at what just happened.

We stay like that for a long while, her hand in mine, a thick silence lingering in the space between us.

Until finally, she gets up, collects the basin and towels, and goes. A wraith, a shadow slipping out the door.