Bloodlust I

[Takemikazuchi POV]

It has already been 2 days since Nagisa and I left the destroyed village. In these two days, I've been observing his behaviour closely, and it's evident that he's deeply scarred, mentally wounded by the horrors of the massacre.

He struggles to sleep, his senses heighten to the smallest sounds, always on high alert and sometimes, he just stares off into the distance with hollow eyes.

'The orphanage is still a day away and it's getting dark…' I thought to myself as I saw the sun slowly disappear over the horizon. Casting long shadows through the towering trees of the 'giant's forest'.

"Alright, Nagisa. Let's set camp here." I said to him. He simply nodded in response, and we began searching for a suitable spot.

After some time, we found a relatively open area amidst the dense trees.

First I investigated the surroundings to see if there were no dangers in the area, and after a while, I confirmed that there aren't.

After coming back to the spot we found I reached into a pouch on my side, retrieving a miniature tent we had been using during our journey.

This pouch was a specially designed space-storage pouch for carrying heavy loads for traveling among other things… they were also astronomically expensive. As it was only leant to me by Amaterasu for this mission… which I failed unfortunately.

{a/n idk if such a pouch exists in the danmachi verse, but as it is a fantasy genre with magic, I just assumed that it does exist but is just very very pricy}

'Hah… I'm going to have an earful from Amaterasu after I get back.' I thought to myself as I sighed in despair. It was inevitable, given the outcome of my mission.

I then felt a little nudge at my side which brought me back to the present, and then I saw Nagisa with arms full of firewood. And his Daishō that he refused to let go.

A small smile tugged at my lips as I patted him on the head and praised him.

"Good job, Nagisa. Now I'll gather some stones, and then we can start a fire." I said to him to which he simply nodded.

Yeah, I had noticed his emotional detachment, but who could blame him? Healing the wounds left would take time.

With an awkward laugh at his reaction, I started to get to work.

I assembled the stones and arranged them in a circle. I then placed the firewood Nagisa had gathered and put them in the circle with some hay and used flint rocks to ignite the hay catch, allowing the fire to spread to the wood.

And soon, a campfire crackled to life.

As I watched the fire start, I turned to Nagisa.

"Now that the fire is starting, I'm going to hunt something for dinner. Stay here where it's safe. I'll be back in two hours." His nod was all the acknowledgment that I needed.

And while smiling at him, I turned to the forest that was beginning darken with a bow and arrow in hand that I retrieved from the pouch.

'Hah, the pouch is so useful… but the cost. Why does everything drive around money.' I thought with a defeated look.

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[Nagisa POV]

As I saw lord Takemikazuchi disappear into the forest, I took a seat on the ground around the campfire.

As I stared into the dancing fire, I started to remember… that awful day that changed everything.

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| flashback |

The day began like any other, with the golden rays of the sun streaming into my room. As I slowly woke up, a young, beautiful woman entered my room, gently shaking me from my slumber.

"Wake up little emerald. It's time to wake up." She whispered softly into my ear.

As I couldn't fall asleep anymore due to the woman's nudging, I opened my eyes. Then I saw her. Long bright green hair and emerald eyes that mirrored my own.

"Hi mom." I said sleepily as I awoke and sat up.

"Come on sleepy head. It's time for breakfast." She chuckled as she left my room.

After a few moments of stretching and rubbing my eyes for the final time, I got out of bed and started to change into my outwear.

And after changing I went out of my room and descended the stairs.

At the table I saw my father, already eating his breakfast.

He had cyan-colored hair in a disheveled style, his hair reached to behind his back, and he had bangs at the front. His hair partied and tied into two buns on the right and left side of his head.

His eyes were coolly cyan with odly lightning-shaped lines connected to the bottom of his eyelids, and to top it off, he had a toned and trained body.

Walking towards the table I greeted him with great enthusiasm.

"Good mornin' dad!"

"Morning, little genius!" he replied with a smile, ruffling my hair. "You gonna join?"

I don't know why he calls me a genius but mom said that I could speak way sooner than the other children in the village and could understand topics at a way faster pace.

So everyone who knew of my ability, which was the entire village, hailed me as a genius.

"Of course!!" I replied as I took a seat beside him.

I began to eat my breakfast. It was the basic egg, beans, bacon, sausage, some tomatoes and toasted bread.

Looking at the alien breakfast Infront of me I turned towards my mother with a confused look.

My mom, quickly catched on what I was thinking started to explain.

"It's a common breakfast in the west dear. I know different from our usual rice dishes that we eat here, but it doesn't hurt to try something else from time to time." Mom said with a kind smile.

I nodded at her explanation, and slowly ate my breakfast.

Surprised by how good the food was, unconsciously I started to eat faster. And before I even realized, my food disappeared without a trace.

I quickly looked around to see if my food went anywhere or maybe fell somewhere but I couldn't find it anymore.

Both my parents laughed at my antics as they found my action cute.

"Do you want another plate Nagi?" My mom asked with a playful smile.

"Yeah! Can I get one more? But I don't know where my previous serving went." I replied sheepishly.

"It's okay dear." Mom reassured me." Here, just make sure they don't run away this time." Mom said as she gave me her plate with the warm smile she always had.

"Thanks mom!" I said as I began to eat again.

"Irene…" Dad said in a sad tone while his his expression turned slightly melancholic, but mom shook her head.

"It's fine Hajime… I'll get something else to eat…" Mom said with a slightly uncertain tone.

But before she could get up, dad gave her his plate and got up instead.

"Well, gotta go to work. This time I'm patrolling the north side. Nagisa, stay safe and stay by your mother's side. Bye honey." As he said his goodbyes and kissed us both on the cheek, dad left the house.

I didn't understand the underlying tension between my parents, so I focused on my food, determined not to let it disappear again.

"Alright, Nagi. When you're done, go wash your teeth." Mom said as she started to eat from the plate dad gave her with a nostalgic expression.

And after I was done with my plate, I went towards the bathroom.

I quickly brushed my teeth and then went towards the door and waited for my mom to arrive.

After a couple of minutes, my mom came.

"Are you ready." She asked.

"Of course!" I said excited to go outside.

And as I said that my mom opened the door, and what came into view was a lively village with kids roaming around and about, woman tended to their chores and taking their laundry to the town center to use the well.

Old folk opening windows to freshen the house and others paying attention to the children so that no incident can happen.

"Well honey, we don't have any laundry today so why don't you play with the other kids." Mom said but I then suddenly asked.

"Mom, why don't we have that magic washing machine those people in the center use?" I asked and mom looked quite taken aback by the question but still responded.

"Well, because magic stones are quite expensive, and we need those for the washing machines to work dear." Mom explained as she patted my head.

"Now go along now, have some fun. I'm also going to talk with some friends over there. Don't go too far and if you need just call me, okay?" Mom encouraged me and I nodded excitedly.

"Okay!! See you later mom!" I said as I quickly found my way towards the other boys.

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a/n

1505 words