THE PRICE OF WAR [Taka x Reader]

II. My Home

The goblin camp was a small and disorganised bunch of tents distributed here and there. You all dismounted and started to unload the carts one by one, until you had build your own camp up. You noticed the ashes of a bonfire and you looked for some branches to light it up again. You rubbed two sticks to each other and obtained a small flame which quickly turned into a fire. You then sat down as you took a deep look at the flames and rubbed your hands.

"Hi"

You turned around and he sat next to you cross-legged. His hair was messy and his face was coloured by the reflection of the bonfire.

"Hi..."

"How are you?"

His gaze shook you and your skin froze in spite of being a span away from the flames.

"Fine..." you mumbled.

"Sure?"

"Yes..."

"Good"

The silence became huge. You felt really uncomfortable.

"What about you...?" you shyly asked "How are you?"

"I guess I'm fine too..." he answered after some seconds.

"You guess?"

"I've really missed you these days..." he whispered as he looked at your hand and hold it softly.

You felt your heart stop and melt.

"Me too..." you smiled.

You stayed like this for some seconds, enjoying the moment. A shy smile appeared on your face as you felt his fingertips caressing the back of your hand. He hadn't forgotten you. And as much as you tried to ignore your feelings, you hadn't forgotten him neither. But that feeling suddenly flew away when you raised your look and saw his expression.

"Taka, what's wrong?"

He was completely serious, as if he was upset. He moved his hand away.

"What's wrong?" you asked once again.

"I think we should talk about... Us, I guess"

"Fine... " you frowned.

He sat in another posture, this time bending his right knee and leaning on it. He was clearly uncomfortable.

"I can't keep doing this..." he said.

"Why?" you asked in a thin voice after swallowing.

"I think it's time we talk about Hatsumi"

You looked away and stood in silence. You remembered Toru mentioning that name. And you also remembered how piercing his words were.

"She's your wife. Is that true?"

"What did Toru tell you?"

"Is she?"

Your look made him startle.

"No, she's not" he abruptly said.

"Then why did Toru say that...?"

He sighed.

"Do you really want to know it? Because it'll hurt you"

"I don't care" you automatically said.

His look became tender and sighed again. He began to speak some seconds later:

"Hatsumi and I have known each other ever since we were born. Our parents are good friends so we basically went to school together, played together and grew up together. In Mizumura, when a girl turns 20 years old, their parents start looking for a good husband for her and arranging their marriage. In Hatsumi's case, her parents didn't thought it twice. At first, Hatsumi and I were against that decision, because we had basically grew up together as siblings, but when both families reach an agreement, nobody can object. I kept being against it for some months, until one day... I confessed to Hatsumi"

"But..." you slurred.

"I know, but the feeling of being engaged to her made me think things twice and little by little I started to feel something different than just friendship... Then I realised I had fallen in love with her and suddenly the idea of sharing a live together in the same house, having children... It made me really happy. So when she said yes, I was the luckiest man alive..." he smiled.

"What happened then?"

"Everything was going fine, or at least that's what I thought... Until one day, I went to her house. Her parents didn't seem to be home, so I came in. But then I heard her laughing in her bedroom..."

He closed his eyes for some seconds and looked back at you.

"Damn..." he smiled as he stared at your watery eyes "This is why I didn't want to tell you about this!"

"I'm so sorry..." you said as you wiped a tear.

"That was years ago, you don't have to worry about it"

"But what happened after that?"

"Well, after I... Found out about what had happened, I was devastated. I felt sad, angry, disappointed, betrayed... She tried to explain herself, but there was nothing to explain. She apologized thousands of times, crying, screaming, kneeling down, begging me not to leave... But I did. I told my parents about it and instead of doing something actually useful for me they told me I should forgive her because "a woman's heart is unpredictable" and because she was probably "feeling insecure about the wedding" and therefore she needed some time to assimilate it. But I couldn't forgive her. She played with my heart and broke it. She betrayed me, my childhood friend, the love of my life... All I wanted was revenge, I wanted her to suffer as much as I did because of her. She kept begging for forgiveness day after day, but I kept rejecting her. Then the war reached our kingdom and I had to join the army. I didn't even say goodbye..."

"Taka..." you murmured as you held his hand.

"It's been four years since that..." he said after some seconds.

"You all have been four years away from Mizumura...?"

"No, last year we were lucky and we came back for some days, but I kept not wanting to see her... Even though we are still engaged"

You looked away.

"Now everything makes sense"

"Are you angry?" he asked.

"No, you told the truth so I'm not angry.... But what am I to you then?"

He chuckled and placed his chin softly on your shoulder.

"My home"

He gave you a small kiss before standing up.

"I..."

But he had already left, leaving you speechless and with many more questions than before.