Sacrifice--Hozuki x Reader (Hoozuki no Reitetsu)

Chapter 13

Hozuki couldn't concentrate. For the first time in his whole life, he couldn't concentrate. He kept finding himself staring at the wall deep in thought, and whenever he tried later to recall what he had been thinking about, he always reached the same conclusion: her.

He should just forget her—the smile she wore whenever she saw him, her tiny giggle when she held a koala...he should be able to, so why couldn't he forget it? Push it to the deepest depths of his mind, and string her up on Izanami's doorstep with all the other villagers? And even if he couldn't bring himself to hurt her, he should at least be able to put her aside long enough to focus on work.

"Hmm..."

Hozuki flinched, and looked up to see what had interrupted his thoughts. Nasubi stood in front of his desk, a finger on his chin, and a puzzled expression on his face.

"I feel like I've forgotten something..."

Hozuki wished he could say this was an uncommon occurrence.

"Is it something related to work," he asked, "or can it wait until later?"

Nasubi frowned. "I don't know..."

Hozuki decided this was just another example of Nasubi being Nasubi, and turned back to his work. What had he been doing again?

"Aha!" Nasubi shouted, once again pulling Hozuki away from the papers. He turned, and pointed at him. "It was something having to do with you, Hozuki-sama!"

"With me?" Hozuki echoed

"Yeah..." Nasubi furrowed his brow. "It started with L...leg, limb, Lawliet..."

Just Nasubi being Nasubi. Hozuki once again tried to remember what he had been doing, only for Nasubi to shout.

"I've got it!"

Nasubi reached into his pocket, and pulled out a crumpled envelope.

"Letter!"

He grinned, and handed it to Hozuki.

"Your girlfriend was here about two months ago," he explained. "She was waiting outside your office, but she ran away for some reason when I asked what she was doing. She dropped this, so I thought I should give it to you."

Hozuki looked down at the letter. If it was about two months ago, Nasubi was probably referring to the day she'd told him she was Shion. He had wondered why she'd been there.

He clenched his fist. That was Shion. He had to forget her.

"No," he said with just a bit more bite in his voice than he'd intended. "Take it back—"

But when he thrust the letter in Nasubi's direction, he found the little oni was already skipping across the room, head in the clouds, and before Hozuki could so much as stop him, he was out the door.

Hozuki glared at the letter one more time, and hurled it into the trash can.

~o0o~

"Hozuki-sama? Excuse me, Hozuki-sama?"

Hozuki snapped out of his thoughts, and his eyes came into focus on a piece of paper. It lay on his desk, covered in a multitude of squiggles--the result of his pen having gone rogue while he'd been thinking.

He moved his arm so the sleeve covered it, and looked up to meet Oko's gaze.

"Yes? What is it?"