THE PRICE OF WAR [Taka x Reader]

XV. The Bird

Hatsumi's face turned pale again.

"I beg your pardon?"

You reached into your cleavage and showed him Taka's necklace. Hatsumi clenched her teeth.

"I know you recognized this when we talked at the party. And I don't blame you. I'd also wonder what a woman like me does with my fiance's gem hanging from her neck"

Hatsumi opened her eyes.

"How do you know that?"

"In the same way that I know that your name is Hatsumi and that Taka is someone as important for you as he is to me"

"So it's true ... I thought he lied to me saying that he fell in love with you"

"Have you spoken to him?"

"He told me that you are everything to him, that he cannot live without you and that I was no longer anyone to him. Do you understand what it is to see you with the gem he gave me?"

"I understand... But this is a decision that he must make"

"He already took it, a long time ago. When he decided to break my heart the first time. Then he returned to Mizumura, and he didn't even deign to look at me. That was the second time. And the third time was the other night, when I had already decided I didn't want to know anything else about the matter and suddenly I saw that gem"

Her voice had started to shake as some tears streamed down her face.

"I'm sorry to fall in love with the man who has done you so much harm" you replied "But it is not my fault. I met Taka in the worst possible time and place. But at the same time I thank all the gods for having been like that. I'm still alive thanks to him, and thanks to him I discovered who I am. I owe him everything. But now the question is whether to continue risking my life for a future with him that war can take from us from one moment to another... "

Hatsumi brushed a lock of her face, worried.

"Let's toast, then, to the man who has broken our hearts so many times..." you mocked and raised the cup ready to take a sip of tea.

"Stop!" Hatsumi suddenly yelled at the top of her lungs.

She jumped up and threw your cup to the side with a swipe, spilling the tea all over the room and breaking it into a thousand pieces. The kettle and tray also flew to the other side of the room. That gesture left you petrified for several moments until Hatsumi began to cry uncontrollably, collapsing on the table.

"What... What happened?" you whispered.

But she was unable to articulate a word.

You tried to calm down and seeing that she wasn't even able to get up, you put a hand on her back.

"Hatsumi"

"Forgive me...." she sobbed.

She repeated the same words over and over without consolation.

"I'm despicable..." you managed to understand.

"What happened?"

"My God, I'm a monster..." she sobbed as she sat up and looked at her hands.

At that time you understood everything. That beverage she had served you wasn't tea. You stood up and smelled the kettle. It certainly didn't smell like tea.

"It's hemlock..." she mumbled.

You turned around.

"Why?"

"Please, listen to me..."

"I'm leaving"

"Please, listen!" she shouted as she uncovered her face "Loving has been and is the only crime I have committed! How can someone be repudiated or singled out for following the dictates of their hearts? I loved Takahiro, but I knew that he would never love me with the same force. He was looking for something else, something I never knew how to give him. It took me a long time to realize it. No matter what I did or say, he seemed happier when I wasn't on his side. He wanted freedom, so that's what I gave him!"

"He told me he loved you. That you were the love of his life, and you betrayed him"

"I saved him! I set him free from myself, so he could be happy without regrets!"

"Why should I believe you? You've tried to poison me"

She tried to regain her composure and managed to relax her gestures.

"Have you ever been so in love that you don't realize how much you hurt the other person?" she asked you out of nowhere "Like a colourful bird that you keep caged so he can never escape and stay by your side?"

For the first time, her face expressed complete sincerity. She was no longer hiding behind a smile.

"I don't know..." you replied, still tensed.

"Takahiro came to see me yesterday. I've never seen him like this in my life. The war has changed him so much that now he's only sure of one thing"

"Of what?"

"That he loves you with all his soul"

She spoke those words with a deep sadness that made your heart shrink.

"I'm really sorry, Hatsumi"

"No, I'm the one who must apologize. I opened the cage a long time ago, so my bird will never come back. I'm sorry I haven't learned it until now..."

You turned around, ready to leave. You slided the door but stopped at the doorstep.

"I've been in the battlefield" you said still turned around "I have looked death in the eyes and I know that someday she will come after me. I'm carrying the weight of a power that weighs more every single day that goes by. But nothing scares me as much as losing another loved one..."

Hatsumi stared at your back, carefully listening to your words.

"But if that's the price I have to pay... If that's the price of war... I'll do whatever it takes to get all my friends back home. But above all... I promise to protect him. With my power, with my katana, with my body if necessary. It's the least I can do for this village and for you"

Hatsumi's eyes started crying again.

"I promise you that Taka will come home alive no matter what"

And with that being said, you closed the door and put on your shoes while it started to rain.