It felt like his heart was going to explode in his chest. She was in his arms again.
It was a revelation to be able to touch her once more. A homecoming that he had been starved for. He would have screamed to the forest in joy if they weren’t on a battlefield.
There was no time to revel in their shared embrace. Not when Izumi was still in danger from their enemy. His blood burned at the thought of how close he had come to losing her once more.
That spiked tail was sharper and harder than an iron blade. it would have cut through her with such ease. Her blood would have spilled as his turned cold. His stomach churned with puke at the thought. His hands itched to release their deadly flames, to punish. He couldn’t though.
Not when he needed to get Izumi to safety, without exposing the vulnerable hidden from the danger. That would force him to leave her with another.
His hold on her tightened at the thought. He couldn’t trust his life with another man.
“Kacchan?” she whispered, drawing his attention back to the world.
The tears in her eyes sliced at him. She continued to cry even though she was in his protection. Most would take it as an insult. Kastuki only felt pain at the sight. He wanted to soothe her; only time wouldn’t allow him.
“Shut the hell up! I need to think of a way to get you the fuck out of here.” He didn’t want to be harsh, not with her. Only the situation continued to grow all the more perilous as he found them slowly surrounded. It turned his tongue into a cruel thing towards her. That some of his people were dying at his feet didn’t help at all.
Their blood was warm and slippery.
The demons gave him wicked smiles, bloody from his people. They weren’t looking at him though. Their focus, their target was Izumi. They waited, knowing that Kastuki would die for her.
“Kacchan…”
“You’re going to have to trust me. This is going to be risky but I’ll stab myself with my own damned spear before I let one hair on your head be harmed. I promise you that, Izumi,” he whispered into her ear. He held her tightly in both arms for a moment longer.
Then he threw her as high as he could straight up in the air.
He thrust his hands out as the demons charged. His skin was slick with sweat as he dodged the barrage. His body moved without the need of thought; the forest had been skilled in honing him. His eyes never left Izumi’s form as it rose above all.
Her scream was a knife that sliced at his heart. One that he would make sure that he never had to hear again.
Explosions surrounded him as his sweat ignited. The demons burned at a touch of his power. He roared in victory, right into the face of one of those demons. It backed away but his flame devoured it before it could do more. Even then he continued to watch Izumi rise.
She should have started to fall, instead, she just kept rising higher and higher. It was like the sky didn’t want to give her up, having her float in its embrace. It was like it wanted to claim her from him.
He wouldn’t lose her again. Yet, he couldn’t jump that high, not without the help of a tree. There weren’t any close enough for him to even try on a battlefield.
He glanced at his hands for a moment.
There was something that he knew that he could try. He had used it successfully once because of her. She had always been able to bring out the best in him.
A note from an ocarina suddenly cut through the air and the battle then. The world fell quiet like it was afraid, even the demons stopped their attack.
Kastuki could have cared less, his eyes remained on Izumi.
Where she had been curled in on herself, her body slowly went limp. Her cute short hair suddenly grew impossibly long. It was unnatural as her flesh seemed to suddenly start to glow.
Inhuman screams filled the air from the demons, banishing the quiet that had fallen. Their skin blistered and popped, their screams became louder. They suddenly fell dead as the light grew stronger. Their bodies turned to red ashes as more and more died.
Kastuki barely noticed as Izumi seemed to continue floating beyond his reach.
Soon, he couldn’t ignore the fact that the demons were all gone and only his people remained. Some were bloody and broken, others unscathed.
“Kastuki!” Called Eijiro as he ran towards him.
Kastuki didn’t even acknowledge his friend, his concern growing more and more with each second. He watched Izumi as she continued to rise. He muttered to himself under his breath, “she needs to come down.”
Eijiro stopped at Kastuki’s side, only to mimic his chief in looking up. “Who is she?”
“Izumi,” Kastuki muttered softly before he shouted her name. “IZUMI!”
He could feel his friend’s eyes on him, questioning his sanity. He didn’t fucking care; his woman was floating away.
Or she had been until her body turned to look at him. He could barely make out her eyes, could barely seem them alight. Her body seemed to throb with power as red veins stood out on her all too pale, glowing skin.
“Izumi? I thought she was dead,” Eijiro muttered.
Those words were the first time that Kastuki looked away from Izumi to acknowledge his friend. His blood was hot with rage. It wasn’t the first time he had heard that; he was the chief, he knew the rumours.
Still, it enraged him that even his best friend had doubted him. He knew she had been alive, had told Eijiro so many times. “Shut the fuck up, Shitty Hair.”
Eijiro ignored his command and spoke once more. “How did she get up there? she is an Outsider, right? With these powers, she must be an Outcast as well.”
“Does it matter? She’s still mine and she can still survive in the Forest just like she did then.”
It was then that his heart stopped. The light was fading from her skin and she began to fall. Without a thought, his body moved on its own. His hands were under him, his sweat dripped from him. He was launched into the air as explosions filled the place he had been.
More continued to go off behind him, only for him to almost miss her. Her eyes were closed as she was falling to the earth.
His hand reached out to snag the cloth of her sleeve. Using the chance given, he pulled her towards him as they began to fall together. “You’re safe now, Izumi.”
As the ground rushed to meet them, Kastuki moved to take the impact. Only for them to stop an inch from it. He stared at the ground, floating in the air with Izumi. It only took him a moment to notice that her eyes were open again.
She stared at him, her eyes aglow and filling with tears.
“Why do I always dream of you?” she questioned softly. “I know you’re not real, that none of this is…but I can’t help being happy. I have missed you so much, Kacchan that I don’t want to wake up anymore.”
What? A dream? She thought all of this was a dream, that he was part of one? It was nonsense that she would think like that.
In punishment, he gently bit her nose. “I’m real, Deku and so is this world.”
It broke the spell that kept them in the air. He took the impact of the hard ground, never taking his eyes off her as he did.
“Deku? What does that mean?”
“Stupid, foolish, good for nothing…take your pick, it’s all the same with Deku.” He got up off the ground with her still in his arms. She tried to escape his hold but he wasn’t going to let her go that easy.
“I’m not stupid…just ill and I want you to let me down.”
“Not happening,” he told her bluntly. “Twenty years, I have waited to hold you again. I’m not letting you go if it kills me.”
She was stunned by his words as she should have been. She openly stared at him and looked so innocent as she did.
It took everything he had to not kiss her as he wanted to do at that moment. He knew that he couldn’t, not when they were out in the open. When they and his people were back with the rest of the tribe then he would.
He would kiss her and every inch of skin on her body. He would make her fall in love with his touch and his lips; he would show Izumi the man he was. “I’m going to make you love me.”
A blush burned across her cheeks at his words. “WHAT?!”
“You heard me. I’ll make you love me if it’s the last thing I do, Deku.”
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Chapter 3 Otherworldly Love Chapters Chapter 5