Sacrifice--Hozuki x Reader (Hoozuki no Reitetsu)

Chapter 12

Hozuki remembered the girl named Shion. It was strange, he thought, that he would remember her. All the other memories of that time had long since faded into tiny snippets—the glares and sneers, the cold eyes that stared as they dragged him from his hiding spot, and the smirks—the ones they thought he didn't notice—that betrayed the fact that they were all too pleased with themselves for getting rid of him.

With only snippets of memory and lingering rage to prove that time had ever existed, Hozuki was surprised he still remembered her name. In hindsight, he'd probably liked her even then, in his own childish way. He remembered the warmth of her hand holding his, and the way her voice trembled when she spoke those fatal words.

'I don't want you to leave...I'll miss you.'

Those words stabbed at his heart, and he made the very impulsive decision to stay. He expected it to end badly—how could it not? What he didn't expect was for her to betray him. He remembered how she'd apologized with that tearful expression, and trembled with guilt throughout the ceremony...yes, Hozuki hated her more than any of the others. He hated that she betrayed him. He hated that ugly crying face of hers, and he hated the fact that, in all honesty, he couldn't hate her.

~o0o~

To (F/N)'s surprise, Hozuki didn't come after her. She waited for him to do so, but a day passed, then a week, then almost a month. During that time, she didn't see him at all. She didn't even leave her house. She just laid in bed with her face buried in her pillow, wishing everything would disappear.

One day, there was a knock on the door. (F/N) ignored it. Then, there was another knock. When the person once again got no response, they just walked inside—no point in locks in heaven, after all.

(F/N) heard footsteps echo through the house, coming closer to her room. She didn't bother to look up from her pillow. She knew the intruder would be one of two people, and fortunately, it seemed to be the less deadly option.

"Have you been here this whole time?" Hakutaku asked. "You haven't been to work lately, so I thought I should check on you. Looks like I made the right call."

(F/N) gave no response. She felt his weight on the bed, and scooted over just a little so he could sit comfortably.

"You told him, didn't you?" he continued. "I told you it wouldn't go well. That demon bastard's not going to forgive you for something like that. He—"

"Did you come here just to criticize me?" (F/N) asked.

"It does sound like that, doesn't it? Sorry. I guess I just—"

He hesitated, and (F/N) turned her head to peek at his face. He wore his usual carefree smile, but there was something a little more melancholy about it than usual.

"Ah, never mind. Anyway..." His expression turned serious. "He hasn't hurt you, has he?"

(F/N) shook her head. "I haven't seen him at all."

"That's...probably a good thing."

There was a long silence, and Hakutaku sighed.

"I said the wrong thing again, didn't I? Look—" He stood, and grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet. "Get dressed, get bathed, and eat something. Then, let's go out somewhere. You'll feel better, I promise!"

(F/N) didn't have the energy to argue, and she didn't want to. Maybe what she needed were a couple hours of not thinking about Hozuki.

~o0o~

Hakutaku took (F/N) to Heaven's market under the pretense of having some things he needed to shop for. So far, they'd been there for almost an hour, and he hadn't bought a single thing for himself.

"I'm curious about something," he said as they stopped to try some free samples at a sweets shop, "if the demon bastard's no longer interested, why haven't you reincarnated yet?"

(F/N) hesitated. Reincarnate. Why hadn't she thought of that? She should have been eager to rush to the reincarnation office then and there, but she wasn't. She didn't want to move so much as a finger. Why?

"I think..." she murmured. "I mean, I died, got my memories back, got dumped...I just don't want any more sudden changes. I'm tired of that, and I want things to stay the way they are for a while."

"Hmm..." Hakutaku tapped his chin, "I guess that makes sense, but if you're going to continue living here, you need to fix that." He pointed to her face.

(F/N) frowned. "What?"

"That," he repeated. "Your frown. What's the point of continuing to live in heaven if you're going to spend the whole time moping? If you're going to do that, you might as well reincarnate."

"That's...actually a good point."

He grinned. "Hey, my life's philosophy is 'if you have forever, you might as well enjoy it.'"

"Is that philosophy the reason why you're so...you?"

He chuckled. "That's certainly part of it."

(F/N) smiled. "Thanks, Hakutaku-sama. I feel a lot better now. I think you're right. I'm going to do my best to be happy in this afterlife of mine."

She turned around, and ran right into Hozuki's chest.

It took her a few moments to process exactly what happened—both that it was him she bumped into, and that she wasn't hallucinating. When everything finally came into focus, her blood ran cold.

"I...I..."

Hozuki stared at her. He was just as stunned as she was, but what would happen when that shock wore off?

Then, someone grabbed (F/N)'s arm, snapping her out of her daze, and Hakutaku stepped between them.

"Oi, demon bastard!" he snapped. "Get out of here, and leave her alone!"

Hozuki scowled, and (F/N) flinched. She didn't know what she expected to happen, but she certainly didn't expect him to simply turn his back and walk away, club propped on his shoulder.

"That's exactly what I intended to do."

For a moment, (F/N) stood frozen. Then she pushed Hakutaku aside, and ran after him.

"Hozuki-kun, wait!"

She knew it was a bad decision. There wasn't anything she could say to make things better, and Hozuki wouldn't give her a chance.

"If you know what's good for you," he said without turning around, "you'll never speak to me again. Understand?"

(F/N) froze. Every bone in her body wanted to go after him, but she remained where she was, watching helplessly as he walked away.

"(F/N)-chan..."

Hakutaku's voice snapped her out of her daze. She tried to take a step, but her legs shook, and she collapsed to the ground.

"Hey, (F/N)-chan!"

Hakutaku caught her, and she let herself lean on him.

Am I...crying?

She lifted a hand to her cheek, and stared at the salty droplets that came off onto her fingers. When was the last time she'd cried? She couldn't remember.

Her breath came out in short, painful sobs, and she gripped Hakutaku's shirt as he rubbed her back. Before, she could at least imagine that Hozuki might not hate her, but after that, there was no doubt in her mind. Why had she gone out with Hakutaku, anyway? She should have stayed in bed.

She really did want to stay in the afterlife, but how could she do that if he was there?