Disappear like the Mist (Act III)

You stood by the seashore of Watatsumi Island, feeling the evening breeze through your skin and the sand on your toes. You slowly walked closer to the sea to have at least your feet touch the water.

You had just snuck out from the inn that the general had provided for you and Itto to stay in for a while, and so now you are quietly enjoying the serene evening view of the island without any disturbance. It's not everyday you get to come here and let yourself have fun.

"Maybe I should try to invite Heizou to come with me here next time... I'm sure he would love the view here.." You muttered to yourself while you gazed up at the sky.

"Hmm.. Yes, I would definitely love to come over and watch the view with you, y/n~"

"-!?" You turned around to see a familiar redheaded figure standing right behind you as you came face to face with those alluring pair of Olive eyes with your e/c ones. You instantly felt your blood rushing quickly to your face. "H-Heizou!?—"

The detective suddenly leaned close to immediately cover your mouth with one hand and his other hand used as a support for your back to prevent you from falling down. "Shhh" He hushed you while he slowly removed his hand from your mouth as soon as he was sure that you wouldn't make a sound.

"You might cause unwanted attention if you suddenly raise your voice, y/n~" He whispered in your ear, making you flustered even more.

"Wh- what are you doing here...? I thought you were.." You whispered as you slowly trailed off from your question, expecting that he would figure out what you were about to say.

"I came here to see you, of course~"

You were dumbfounded and you couldn't respond to him.

"Hey, n/n..?"

"n/n??"

"y/n!???"

You opened your eyes and the first thing you saw was a pair of fiery-red eyes, looking at you in full concern.

"... Huh..?" You realized that everything you had seen a moment ago was all just a dream.

"Oh, thank goodness! For a minute there, I thought you might never wake up! Your face is completely red so I thought you got sick or something... But are you alright though??" Itto took a deep breath of relief for a moment before he tried to double check on your well-being, then you just slowly sat up from your futon, assuring him that you're alright.

"I'm alright.. Don't worry.." You turned your head to look at the window as you could already see the sunlight passing through.

By the the time you and Itto finished eating breakfast, you both got out of the inn, he stretched up his arms as he bathes himself under the sunlight.

"So, n/n my pal, what are we planning to do today?" He turned to look at you.

"I'll be continuing my investigation outside the village, there's a couple of places I need to personally investigate" You took out your notepad from your bag.

"Wait, hold on- I and not We?? What happened to sticking together?? Don't tell me you're planning on going by yourself!"

"I don't think you'll be able to withstand the boredom.." You sweatdropped as you tried to explain. "Besides, this investigation might take longer than yesterday so I'm concerned that you won't be able to handle it"

"Hah, you underestimate me, my compadre. Besides, having an extra hand helping you out will make things easier for your job and who knows what kind of dangers might be out there, you need someone strong as me to protect you after all. Am I right or am I right??" He slicked back his hair in confidence as you could only let out a chuckle.

"Alright, alright.. Cmon, let's go" You then started leading the way to head for your first destination.

***

You both soon arrived a certain seashore. The one that you saw in your dream.

You were kinda disappointed that meeting Heizou on this specific spot is all just a dream. You then just quietly sighed at the thought and wished that it was real.

"You seem to be down, n/n. Is something up? Did you not sleep well? Are you still hungry? Or..." He then suddenly gasped which slightly startled you and made you turn to look at him in confusion. "I knew it! So you ARE sick!" He pointed at you with an assuming look.

"I'm not sick!" You immediately protested as you roamed around the area and something caught your eye. "Hm?" You went over to look at it and crouched down for a closer inspection.

There was a bunch of burnt wood, someone must've camped out here and put out the fire before leaving. You could tell that it was still recent as you could smell a faint scent of smoke coming from the wood.

"Someone was just here.." You muttered as your oni companion went over to look at what you're inspecting.

"Perhaps someone was having a BBQ out here and immediately ran off when he heard us coming?? That sneaky lil dude is trying to hog all the BBQ to himself, I bet!"

"No.. The scent of the smoke is already this faint.. They must've left around half an hour before our arrival.." You corrected him as you stood up and look around for any more clues.

After roaming a while on the beach, you both headed for the higher ground of the island which was already a grassy area with a couple of plants and trees around. Right from where you both are currently standing, you can see the beautiful view of the island's center-most area that seemed like a basin with a huge seashell right below and huge waterfalls surrounding it.

"It's so beautiful.." You stopped to appreciate the view for a moment.

"I know right? Man, I was thinking of bringing the gang along here for a picnic next time" Itto stood beside you while also looking at the view in awe.

"Yeah, you might wanna work on earning more mora first, otherwise you and your gang won't be able to come here that easily" You chuckled and continued walking.

"Wh- hey!!" He immediately followed.

After a few minutes of walking, you were suddenly stopped by three ronins.

"Stop right there, if you know what's good for you, drop the goods and scurry off" One of them said in attempt to threaten you both.

"Oho, 3 against 1? That doesn't seem fair now, is it? Well- not that it would change anything because I, Arataki The one and Oni Itto will take you lot down!" He stepped in front of you as he stomped one leg and crouched down, like a bull that is prepared to attack.

"Uhh...what do you mean 3 against 1? What about.. " You pointed at yourself while looking at your oni companion.

"Heh, you don't need to worry n/n, these guys are nothing but small fries. I can easily take them all down" He prepared his Claymore and placed it over his shoulder.

"Don't get cocky!" The ronins began charging at Itto with their katanas as the latter charged in as well to retaliate their attacks.

The battle went on for a short moment as you were only standing aside to watch your companion take down the three ronins with ease.

By the time the battle finally ended with Itto being the Victor, he placed his Claymore back on his shoulder with a proud grin on his face. "HAH! How do you like that! You can never outmatch the strongest, the bravest, the handsomest, one and only Arataki The one and Oni, Numero Uno Itto!"

You sweatdropped upon hearing Itto's self-proclaimed compliments getting longer each time but aside from that, you were glad that you have him as company. You thought that you might not be able to handle the three ronins easily by yourself.

"That was awesome, Itto!" You complimented as you approached him.

"I know I'm awesome~" He proudly said.

While Itto was getting distracted for a moment there, little did he know that one of the ronins on the ground had something up their sleeve and suddenly threw soy beans at him. "Take that!"

"-!? Itto, watch out!!" You warned him a little bit too late as Itto wasn't able to dodge it.

"Gah!? Beans!?" His guard was completely lowered that the ronin stood up and immediately tries to take the opportunity to attack. You then immediately rushed in to interrupt it, although it resulted to both you and the ronin to fall off into the waterfall.

"Y/N!"

The last thing you saw was Itto's horrified look as he wasn't able to grab you in time.

[???'s POV]

It's only been 2 days since I got here and there isn't much to investigate. I sighed at the thought of my lack of progress as I fiddled the tip of my bangs.

"Man alive, it seems that this case might take longer than I had anticipated"

As I was about to take my leave from the area and try to check the higher landforms on this island, a sudden splash could be heard from behind.

"Hm?" I turned to look at the water and tried to inspect the source closely.

As I finally got to take a closer look, my eyes widened upon seeing a familiar figure slowly sinking underwater, which made me act upon impulse to save her.