𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮 || Akatsuki no Yona

Midnight

toxic tŏk′sĭk

Capable of causing injury or death, especially by chemical means; poisonous.

•••

"I love you so fucking much, Jae-ha! You have no idea!" I yelled. A pair of tears raced down my cheeks.

When I cry it's never a trickle and it never starts in my eyes. It begins as a feeling in my chest and sadness in my brain. The leaking water is only a blessed release, it's one way my body chooses to cope and I guess it's a way to communicate too, whether I want to or not.

"You do?" Jae-ha questions, a little surprised.

It's a little funny, how a small kiss or confession can make you develop ginormous feelings for a person like him.

There was a time in my life when I expressed my feelings in a true way, but we can't go on like that, right?

We can't keep bawling like babies and throwing tantrums like toddlers; we do need to get a grip on our own minds. But there is a balance, a point of virtue, that I passed so long ago.

Every negative emotion is buried before I can even feel it, making me passive and weak. Everyone loves me for my smile and twenty-four-seven happy disposition, meanwhile, every other feeling is crammed into my chest.

The problem is, that space is getting so full, so much harder to ignore, and the disparity between my outgoing personality and inner pain is so difficult to bear. I wish I'd learned to get these emotions out instead of bottling them up; there is no "healthy release" when the internal pressure is this high.

How do I defuse this bomb without triggering the damage I seek to avoid?

"I said I did, so I guess I do..." I mumbled, embarrassed from yelling in front of Jae-ha. "Don't make me say it again."

We stood in silence, processing what had just happened because now, I knew I had screwed up.

What was I thinking? Confessing to a dirty-minded bastard?! Am I crazy?

I had probably met this guy a few months ago, and when we did meet, we didn't exactly like each other.

"I'm going to bed..." I quietly said and began to walk away. I could feel Jae-ha's eyes on me as I sprinted down the hill and over to the tents Hak and Kija had set up.

Of course, I wasn't going to sleep, I just wanted to be alone. There was some awkward feeling in my chest. It wasn't sadness or pain, it was embarrassment.

It was true, I did love Jae-ha, but being around him now was weird. We both felt the same way about each other, so why was it like that?"

•••

None

"Yona was beautiful last night, wasn't she?" Jae-ha smirked, hoping Hak heard him.

"Yes..." Kija blushed. He had to admit, Yona's dance was beautiful.

"The miss is always pretty!" Zeno exclaimed.

"Yona's dance from last night was... how should I put it? It was a sword dance that looked reminiscent of tragic love." Jae-ha said. "I wonder if she's experiencing tragic love? By the way, putting five guys in a tent together is overdoing it, don't you think?"

"Then go outside, droop eyes." Hak murmured.

"Hak, shouldn't you have slept with Yona?" Jae-ha asked.

"Bears won't come out here." Hak sighed.

"Bears aren't the only danger. You won't be able to hold yourself back after-"

"Wow! What a marvelous morning, it's a morning of hope!" Hak laughed as he elbowed Jae-ha in the face.

"Mister, you about knocked Green Dragon's jaw out," Zeno said with a smile on his face.

"Only almost?"

Hak opened the tent doors (?), revealing several girls who began to hug him while squealing and screaming, "we're going to die!" Of course, they were going to die. They're farm girls who haven't even been on the battlefield before.

"It's about time to get up, guys..." Yona mumbled, noticing the girls on Hak. "Take your time..."

"Wait, wait!" Hak squirmed around.

"It's fine! Since it was a festival, you can cut loose! I'll ask Himari to practice with me today." Yona walked away, a little annoyed.

•••

Himari

I only got a few hours of sleep. Was it because I went to bed late, or was I just uncomfortable? I wouldn't know. I looked around, listening to the sound of footsteps.

Lots of footsteps. I turned my head in the direction of the loud marching until Yona yelled at me.

"Himari! Why didn't you sleep in the tents?" she asked. "Never mind that, there are Fire Tribe soldiers!"

I groaned in annoyance. "Really? So there's going to be a war or something now? Why are they even in the Khai Empire?"

"What's more, it looks like they wander around here a lot," Yona says. I saw Hak and the others walk over to us. "I thought for sure the Khai Empire's soldiers were coming..."

"Before, I heard a rumor that the head of the Fire Tribe was buying weapons from other countries," Hak said.

"But how can our country's soldiers stride into an enemy's so confidently?" Kija asks.

"What are we going to do?" I smirk.

"It's unsettling that the border's defense is loose. Shall we watch them from afar for a little longer?" Yoon suggests.

"Hey, since when did those soldiers start coming here?" Yona asks.

A few women who had followed Hak answered her question. "Let's see... since when, I wonder? They've been spotted occasionally for a few years now. Lately, they've been wandering around more and more frequently. Oh! From that point on, it's the border. You shouldn't wander around there for too long."

I hear a gasp from Shin-ah. "Yona, quiet. I see soldiers."

"What?" Jae-ha sets down a few buckets of water and hides behind the bushes. The rest of us do the same.

"They're coming from Kouka, but they're not Fire Tribe soldiers..." I observe. My eyes widen. "That's Lord Hazara from the capital! Why is someone like him coming from Kouka?"

"What on Earth's going on? It's hard to think relations with North Khai are suddenly unrestricted." Yoon says.

That's when I realized it. And I realized exactly what we had to do.

"We need to go back to Kouka." I immediately say.

•••

Words: 1063

This chapter was pretty short.

It's about 200 words less than normal, but I haven't had as much time to write lately.

Thank you so much for 4K reads! It's hard to believe that it's only been a few days and I'm at 4.3k reads!

If you enjoy this story, please consider voting or commenting on feedback!

Have a great day/night ( ' ∀ ' )