Greed and Despond (Ban x Sin!Reader)

98

I awoke early that morning, groaning as the barely risen sun shone through the window. It was bright and irritating, waking me up far earlier than I had intended to be up. I grumbled, knowing I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep after being fully conscious. I sat up, groaning and clutching me torso, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I looked down, finding several scars below my wrapped chest. Five in total, all pale impersonations of my skin.

I sighed, pressing my hand against the heart beating in my chest. It had healed completely, and was functioning as it normally did. My other hearts... their states were questionable. Hearts, unfortunately, can't be healed back to life. We had yet to see whether that was the case with some of these.

Because Ellie had begun healing all of us so quickly, she may have saved a few of mine. I'm still not sure. Even after three weeks, it was questionable whether I was going to make it out with more than one.

There was a small heartbeat in my lower abdomen, so one of my hearts was hopefully going to come back. I predicted three or four, but no more than that. Estarossa's Rebellion swords were hefty in terms of damage. I knew that as soon as the first one was punctured- it hurt way more than it should have. 

I climbed out of bed, standing up. I stretched my arms upward, flinching lightly at the pain that ensued. I stretched out anyway, before sighing and leaving the room. I walked down the halls, moving slowly down the stairs before reaching the main bar room. Ellie and Hawk were setting up. As soon as she caught sight of me, she rushed over.

"(Y/N)! What are you doing? You're supposed to be resting!" Ellie huffed, pushing me toward the stairs. 

"Oh, please," I grumbled, shooing her off. "I can't go out fighting right now- the least I can do is save the patrons from your terrible cooking. You're a great sous chef, but you're terrible at your own recipes."

She frowned, knowing I was right. Hawk interjected. 

"Let her help! I want some decent scraps anyway," He huffed. 

"Heyyyy," Ellie whined, turning and staring at Hawk. She turned around and looked at me, quite obviously hesitant. I raised and eyebrow, smiling at her. She sighed, "Fine... but please don't overwork yourself."

"It's cooking, hun, not training," I chuckled, walking over to the kitchen behind the bar. 

She smiled, looking at me worriedly as I made my way over, tying the apron around my waist, being sure that it wasn't too loose or tight. When I turned around, still finding Ellie looking at me, I waved my hands in the air in a line. The words 'Stop Worrying So Much' appeared, the writing made up of flames. 

She sighed, smiling at me all the same. She rolled her eyes, flipping the 'open' sign so that it was showing, not that it did much. Most of the patrons were unsuspecting Holy Knights, or those who knew where the bar was at all times. 

The day was rather uneventful- about what I expected for a bar hiding out in the Forest of White Dreams. Patrons who came in were Holy Knights I actually recognized, mostly from the fight with Hendrickson. They all recognized me, though. It actually kind-of shocked me, how often people walked up to the bar to thank me. 

Almost every single one of them came up to me personally, saying they looked up to and respected me for my sacrifices. There was a guy who said his kid wanted to be me when they grew up. I don't know how word got around about me, but I had a sneaking suspicion it had to do with Ellie. Whenever anyone thanked me, she didn't make any eye contact. 

I made food all day, and I actually enjoyed it. It was relaxing. I liked mingling in the kitchen and tasting food and serving people, seeing them beam because they had actually gotten good food. It was very rewarding, seeing their faces when they tried the food and were happily surprised with the taste. I definitely wasn't as good of a cook as Ban, but...