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nutellapanini · 2 years

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Link's Punishment and Subsequent Reward

Read on AO3!

-> Rating: Mature

-> Games: BotW, HW:AoC, MM, OoT, TP, WW, LoZ:HW

-> Words: 13,500

-> Relationships: Zelda/Link, Hilda/Ravio, other background relationships (one-sided Mipha/Revali, Lulu/Mikau, Adult!Saria/Adult!Mido)

-> Genre: Medical/Hospital AU, Best Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Smut, Eventual Romance

-> Warnings: References to suicide attempts, harrowing medical injuries/conditions

-> Additional notes: Forced crossdressing, lots of medical jargon and descriptions of procedures, very subtle islamic references/muslim character, mild smut

~Excerpt~

Link could always be counted on for his unusual gift of incredible reflexes, one of the few things that saved the team on numerous occasions in the workplace. She sighed in relief, closing her eyes. Tightening his grip, he yanked Zelda back up.

Unfortunately, the package that was Link also came with a stroke of bad luck that seemed to follow him everywhere. In the process of trying to pull Zelda to her feet in a suave-like fashion, he had yanked on her scrubs rather too hard. Somehow, her shirt had ripped down the front, causing the fabric to fall apart. She fell onto her back and caught the sight of Link’s face growing beet-red at an exponential rate.

Of all days, it was the least wise decision to wear her worn-out bra today.

---

A/N: Happy birthday @silentprincess17!!! Here is the long anticipated Medical AU ZeLink fic that I have been working on for almost a year now! I hope that it is worth the wait.

I decided to write a medical AU romcom-style fic since SiPri is an aspiring medical professional and Going Through It(TM) in med school atm. The hospital setting is based on the healthcare organisation in the UK, known as NHS (National Health Service). I tried my best to come up with diverse yet somewhat believeable patient cases. That being said, DISCLAIMER: take the medical aspect of this fic with a grain of salt, because 1. I didn't go to med school and 2. My knowledge of working life in the NHS is limited to things I hear via my eldest sister and medtwitter.

Shoutout to @softpromise for being my beta for this fic!

---

“Okay, so we typically begin the day with a morning ward round to assess the patients daily," Zelda explained, turning her head and gesturing to Beth and Colin, two keen medical students. The junior doctor responsible for the two students on placement, Shad, tagged alongside them. "Who do we have first… Tingle,” Zelda uttered as she flicked through various digital admission forms on her Sheikah Slate whilst speeding down the hallway.

A white-haired lady hastily joined her side, rushing to keep up with the nimble blonde. “Good morning Dr Hylia, Dr Sky." Shad nodded to her before she turned her attention to the younger members. "Hey kids, I’m Miss Shei, I’m Dr Hylia’s assistant!” Impa briefly introduced herself before turning back to Zelda. “Thirty-five, male, admitted last night after sustaining fractures on both legs due to his… balloon-popping? Also, his DNA test results have come back, ” Impa nattered, informative as ever.

“Yes, I remember now.” Zelda cleared her throat faintly. “Mr Tingle?” She approached Tingle’s bed, leaning close to the man dozing away. “Mr Tingle?” she asked again, this time successfully being able to stir him. “Good morning Mr Tingle. It’s Dr Hylia.” Tingle groaned, both from being woken from his deep sleep and the pain in his legs returning. “We have some new faces here, next to me is Colin and Beth, they're both medical students.” They both bowed their heads slightly in respect. “They will be shadowing me and others at Hyrule Hospital for experience if you don’t mind?” Tingle drowsily shook his head. “So, how are you feeling?”

“Anything but Kooloo-Limpah, I’m afraid,” he replied dejectedly.

“I see.” Zelda quickly scrolled down for the screening results. “I also have noted that you requested for an autosomal DNA test as you wished to find out if you were a descendent of fairies. I have your results.” Tingle visibly perked. “Unfortunately, we were unable to detect any relevant markers for fairy DNA within your sample.” To that, Tingle slumped back into his bed, not without a slight wince as he shifted his legs ever so slightly in the act, another sharp pain spiking up his limbs. “However, we did detect something else that I believe is more important for you-”

“Nothing is more important than that!” he wailed, whipping his head away.

“Mr Tingle, I can assure you that it really is important for you to know… Please? I can ask the others to leave if it helps.” The blonde doctor spoke gently as she moved to the opposite side of the bed to look Tingle directly in the eyes.

Perhaps it was her charm, her empathy, her pleading, or a combination of all, but Tingle (unsurprisingly) gave in. “It’s okay, they can stay. It seems important to my health. Go on.”

“We believe that the fractures you sustained weren’t entirely accidental. If you recall, we have noted a slow descent of your bone density. We diagnosed you with osteopenia earlier this year, however, it has seemed to worsen. Of course, with age, it is inevitable; usually, people in their late thirties start to see a decrease in their bone density. This is a risk factor for bone fractures.” Zelda paused, switching to the X-ray images on the screen. “Last night we conducted some X-rays to assess the damage. Fortunately for you, Mr Tingle, your leg fractures are only partial and not the whole length. But they are misaligned.” Zelda pointed the screen in his direction, circling the specific fractured areas as a visual aid. “So you don’t need surgery. We will need to perform a procedure called a ‘reduction’ - this means a doctor will put the bone back in place so it can grow back together. We can discuss the details when it’s closer to the time.”

Tingle nodded. “Will you be doing the operation, ma’am?” he asked sanguinely.

Zelda politely laughed. It wasn't unusual that every patient she encountered asked her if she would be responsible for their surgeries. “Unfortunately I’m not an orthopedic doctor. Rest assured, the doctor that will perform on you is excellent at what they do.” Zelda turned to Impa, a knowing smile on their faces.

They suddenly turned back to the patient when they heard a rather loud stomach rumble. Zelda looked down at her watch, frowning. It was currently 09:05, a little over 2 hours after all patients would have eaten breakfast.

“S-sorry…” Tingle mumbled bashfully.

“Mr Tingle, have you not eaten breakfast?”

“Not yet. I was asleep, maybe I slept through when they were serving it…”

Impa stared at Zelda with wide eyes, alarm written on the Sheikah's face. Zelda rose from the bed, fervently scanning the other beds. No cutlery, plates, or food leftovers seemed to be visible on the tables. There could only be one reason why:

Nurse Wild was late.

OF COURSE he was! It took all her strength to not rip her neatly-bunned hair out. At least once a week, Link slept through his alarms and was late for his shifts. Most of the time, there was another nurse around and they just about managed until he arrived. Because it was a Sunday, he was the only nurse scheduled until the evening. That would mean all the patients in the ward have gone without breakfast. Even more worryingly, some may have not had their morning medication. How could he be so relaxed about patient neglect?! Moreover, how had Senior Doctor Robbie not written Link up for his tardiness and held a disciplinary meeting yet?! This was so unfair!

“Please don’t be sorry. This is our fault, actually. The nurse this morning seems to be running late-”

“I’M HERE, I’M HERE!!!”

Link sprinted down the ward corridor, the slap of his shoe soles and the clattering of the food trolley caused everyone in the ward to poke their heads around and watch the scene unfurl. He left a trail of various cutlery and napkins as they tumbled off the wagon. Some mocking cheers could be heard across the ward, as well as some laughter from the male staff.

“Hmph! Speak of the devil…” Zelda pinched the bridge of her nose, facing away from everyone.

“GOODMORNINGEVERYONEI’MVERYSORRYIAMLATEBUTSUSTENANCEISHEREAND-oof!”

Link raced into the first room, slamming the trolley at full speed into Zelda in the centre of the room. She yelped, stumbling forwards. Link pushed the trolley aside and darted forward, lunging for her. Squeezing her eyes shut, she prepared to hit the floor, before a jerk of her scrubs collar stopped the inevitable.

Of all days, it was the least wise decision to wear her worn-out bra today.

Link froze in place, hand still gripping onto one half of her shirt. In the many years, he had known her, he had never seen her bare body. She always wore clothing loose enough to not reveal the true size of her breasts. They were… bigger than he had imagined. He found himself simply mesmerised by the way her cleavage gracefully bounced from the impact of her falling to the floor.

Behind them, the open-mouthed junior doctor Shad grabbed the two medical students and promptly covered their eyes. Impa, with her hand on her mouth in shock, ran around the room and dragged all the bed curtains closed, protecting Zelda’s dignity. Not like her dignity wasn’t already crushed; she had just flashed not only ALL the patients that were definitely awake now, but also the medical students on their first week of placement, the new junior doctor, Impa, AND Link. Her shift had barely started and she already wanted to dig herself a hole, crawl into it and remain there until she decomposed.

“Are you even going to help me?!” Zelda huffed, tugging the remains of her shirt from Link’s grasp, and wrapping the shredded fabric around her chest. Before Link was given a chance to help her, she had already got on her feet, one hand pressed against her back.

“I-I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there and-” Link stuttered. Zelda had already stormed off before Link could finish his apology. He stood in place, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck until Impa smacked his shoulder, snapping him out of his trance.

“Can you stop dawdling and get to work, please? You have patients to feed and wash!” the white-haired assistant nagged.

Zelda hurried down the corridor to the stockroom, where there hopefully would be a spare shirt to change into. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a bemused ward clerk sitting at her desk.

“For the record, they were a very nice set of-”

“Oh shut it, Hilda!” Zelda hissed, feeling her cheeks darken as she hurried to the stockroom door and slammed it shut.

Once inside, she exhaled deeply, feeling tears prick the corner of her eyes. Try as she might to blink them back, they threatened to spill out. With cloudy eyes, she wandered to one of the racks which held a few pairs of recently washed and neatly folded scrubs of various sizes (thanks to lead nurse Mipha’s compulsiveness to keep things neat immaculate organisational skills). She barely grasped it before she felt her legs give way immediately. She sank to the cold floor of the stockroom, knees tucked to her chest, head buried between her knees. Her fresh scrub shirt fell with her, nestled on her lap. She hadn’t expected to break down because of this - in the chilly stockroom, no less - but here she was doing exactly that. Sure, everyone seemed to be amused by it, but she certainly wasn’t. It was extremely inappropriate. The majority of the people present were men - no doubt some of them were straight-up perverts (Link wasn’t exempt from this) and would see her differently from this point onward. Goddess, had an official been present in the ward, there was a strong chance they wouldn’t have seen it as an unfortunate accident; they might’ve held a disciplinary for Link for sexual harassment. Link was never too good at explaining himself, he might make the situation worse and incriminate himself, leading to a hearing, potential dismissal from the job and-

She was spiralling. Her breathing became erratic, and tears started to spill from her eyes. She heard the door open. Great, someone can see the mess that she was. She didn’t want to lift her head to see who it was, lest it be the last person she wanted to see.

“Little bird.” Oh thank the Goddess, it was Urbosa. “I heard about what happened.” She closed the door quietly and crouched down, stroking Zelda’s head. “It’s not the worst thing that can happen. It’s quiet today, anyway. The news might spread fast, I can’t stop that. But if they make fun of you I’ll take care of that. I’ll make sure they really regret that.”

“I feel so humiliated…” Zelda mumbled.

“It happens.” Urbosa shrugged. “Didn’t I buy you a new pack of bras? Why are you still wearing that tacky thing?”

“Because it’s comfortable and it fits. I’m not gonna wear nice ones to work.”

“So do the ones I got for you, which are also everyday ones by the way,” she sighed. “Anyway, since all of this is Link’s fault, I say… how about we punish him for humiliating you?”

Zelda lifted her head, drying her eyes. “Is that really necessary?”

“It’ll make you feel better!”

“I suppose… but how should I punish him?”

“I’d say we humiliate him back…” Urbosa hummed in thought. She sniggered. “Got it.” The Gerudo patted Zelda’s shoulder, getting up.

“You’re not even going to tell me?”

Urbosa pulled Zelda to her feet. “Don’t you worry, little bird. Just leave it to me.” She winked, making her way to the door. Zelda followed suit until Urbosa stopped her. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” She gestured to Zelda’s partially naked state.

“Oh!” The blonde registrar wrapped the ripped shirt around her chest, blushing.

Urbosa chuckled, exiting the stockroom and closing the door behind her.

~~~

Zelda entered the ward for her next shift the following morning, 15 minutes early as per usual. She grabbed her scrubs from the locker and promptly made her way into the changing rooms.

Just as she finished tidying her hair, she felt somebody tap her shoulder. She turned, happy to see lead nurse Mipha standing behind her.

“Dr Hylia, before the briefing Dr Naboris has asked to meet you in the mess.”

“Regarding?” Zelda slid her trademark blue hair clips into her hair.

Mipha bit her lip, trying her very best to hold in her laugh. “I believe she has something to show you regarding Link’s… punishment.”

Oh Goddess, she almost forgot about that. What could Urbosa possibly have up her sleeve? Begrudgingly, Zelda followed the shorter Zora out of the changing rooms. Although Zelda couldn’t kid herself by saying she wasn’t partially curious as to just what Urbosa had planned.

Mipha eagerly grabbed Zelda’s arm, hurrying her into the mess. Just before entering Mipha lifted her hand, signalling a thumbs up to who Zelda assumed to be the Gerudo inside.

Were they going to prank Link? It was April Fools tomorrow, so that wouldn’t be completely out of line. But prank him how? Link barely fell for any pranks; when it mattered he was surprisingly perceptive and quick-reflexed. Whatever it was, it truly had to be something completely unexpected.

When pushing the double doors, walking into Urbosa proudly holding up a skimpy pink nurse uniform was by far light years away from anything Zelda remotely imagined.

Zelda froze in stunned shock as soon as she opened the double doors.

“I remembered that my niece Riju wore this to her last Halloween party. I called her last night, thankfully she still had it. So I picked it up on the way to work.” Urbosa turned to the blonde doctor, smirking as she took note of her stunned expression. “I’ve taken the measurements and it should fit. Link will wear this tomorrow.”

“Link will never wear that in a million years.” Zelda crossed her arms. “Besides, how will you get that authorised to wear on shift? That is hardly appropriate workwear.”

“I’d personally beg to differ, Dr Hylia.” Mipha picked up her cup of tea and gingerly sipped it, a sweet smile planted on her features. “I’d wager that Link will wear it.”

“I’ll have to agree with Mipha here. If you really think Link wouldn’t, then I guess you don’t know him as well as you think you do. As for authorisation, I have already brought it up with Robbie and Purah. They’ll discuss it at the weekly ward meeting today.” Urbosa glanced up at the clock. “Almost 9 o’clock. Come, ladies, let’s head into the ward now.” The Gerudo doctor tucked the bag of clothes under a box of utensils and chugged the rest of her coffee. Mipha followed suit, washing her cup before rushing out of the mess.

Zelda rolled her eyes, following the girls out of the room. “Way to change the subject…” There was no way on Hyrule’s land that would be approved… Right?

She found that she was, in fact, incorrect.

In a blink of an eye, two hours had passed and it was time for the weekly ward meeting. All the staff on the ward had headed into the meeting room and pulled chairs from the corner of the room into a large circle.

“Gooooooood morning my wonderful brethren!” Robbie’s boisterous voice boomed in the room. The rest of the attendees mumbled a weak “good morning”, save for Purah. Who knows where those two got their eternal supply of energy from. “Let us get started.” He twirled a pen in his hand.

The weekly ward meeting seemed to proceed as usual; Robbie and Purah inquired about each new patient admitted that week, and reviewed check-ups of existing patients. That is until they reached the final patient.

“Alllllright!” Purah snapped one leg over the other. “How is our esteemed Revali Medoh faring?” she piped, glancing around the room.

Impa cleared her throat, rifling through papers. “We’re monitoring his wing injury at the moment. The X-rays show a proximal humerus fracture dislocation, so we have placed his wing in a plaster cast and a sling. We have also prescribed daily painkillers. Mr Medoh has also begun to receive daily exercises from Nurse Wild, however, is due to receive his session this morning-” Impa nodded in Link’s direction, not without scrunching her nose scornfully. Link averted his gaze; damn she is still mad…

“Speaking of,” Robbie abruptly cut off Impa, causing the Sheikah assistant’s eyes to widen as she turned to him. “I was informed of a rather unusual case concerning mighty Nurse Wild over here.” Robbie glanced over at Link, giving him a knowing smirk. “For those unaware, an unfortunate incident occurred between Doctor Hylia and Nurse Wild.” Zelda tried to hide her blush with her notebook. “Don’t worry, my dear, we will not speak of the event any longer,” Robbie assured her, causing Zelda to lower her notebook in relief. “Tomorrow is April Fool’s Day and Doctor Naboris over here has requested that, on behalf of Doctor Hylia, we have Nurse Wild don a particularly special uniform on this occasion as a form of punishment.”

Zelda rolled her eyes mentally. It won’t happen, it simply cannot!

“Well, I believe the bigger fool would be to pass on such a humble request.” Purah and Robbie clapped their hands. “We hereby grant Doctor Naboris permission to don Nurse Wild in the outfit to commemorate the unsurpassable April Fool’s Day!” they both yelled together. The room erupted into applause, the staff members undoubtedly excited as to what Link would turn up to work on the following day.

Zelda dropped her pen in shock. Surely they cannot be serious! It’s highly inappropriate workwear!

“And that concludes our weekly meeting. Terrific work everyone!” Purah jumped to her feet, clapping as she took her leave.

“Wait, but I don’t even know what I’ll be wearing?! I at least want to prepare for the worst…” Link whined, slumping forward.

“Perhaps you would be required to don a frilly pink dress.” Shad nudged Link, snickering.

“That’s what I am afraid of…” the Hylian sighed as he wearily stood on his feet.

Impa made to pick up the pen but Zelda beat her to it, snatching the pen off the floor, gripping it extra hard. She was about to walk out of the room in a huff when a gentle hand hovered above her shoulder.

“I had a feeling they wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to ridicule Link,” the darker woman commented.

“But Urbosa, surely you understand how ridiculous this all is?! Just how much did you bribe Doctor Robbie and Nurse Purah to authorise this?” Zelda snapped, earning a hearty laugh from Urbosa.

“Ridiculous as it may be, I still don’t understand why you would be so mad over being able to humiliate Link all day.” Impa folded her arms, a bemused expression on her face. “Trust me, all that anger will vanish the moment you see him wearing that ridiculous outfit. I’m already tickled pink just imagining his reaction!”

Perhaps Impa was right. They may have earned permission for Link to wear it, but would Link actually go through with it?

Guess she’d have her answer in 36 hours.

~~~

The moment Link walked into the changing room, he was met with a long black ziplock bag.

“Your uniform for today, Link.”

Link took the hanger from Urbosa's hands, inspecting it. These sorts of bags were usually used for expensive suits. Zelda wouldn’t make me wear a suit to work, would she? That didn’t seem like a real punishment; on the rare occasions that Link wore a suit, he loved it. Well, initially. Until the discomfort of the tight vest top, the top collar, and the tie kicked in an hour into wearing it. Not to mention, Zelda knew that he wasn’t too fond of suits outside very necessary events.

“A suit?”

“Wouldn’t that be too easy…” Urbosa muttered as she headed towards the door. That response had Link questioning just what in Hylia’s name was inside the bag. Link dashed to the toilets to change; there was no way he was about to make a fool of himself in front of his colleagues just yet…

The moment Link ripped open the bag, he found that it was the furthest thing from a suit. From what he could see, perhaps Shad's jest the previous day was right. Perhaps it was just a frilly pink dress. Sure, that might hurt his masculinity a little bit, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing. He nonchalantly wriggled into the dress, pausing as he noticed how rather short it was. Did they get the wrong size? He checked the label. Nope, it seemed to be roughly his size. Maybe they wanted to humiliate him by making him wear a short dress. That wasn’t that bad… hopefully. He emptied the rest of the contents of the bag, picking up what seemed to look like long socks but he soon figured out they were stockings. He slid them on with minor difficulties - stockings weren’t typically suited for people with built legs. Attached to them was a-

Garter belt?!

Link wasn’t quite sure what was more embarrassing: the garter belt, or the fact that he immediately knew what it was upon picking it up. Goddess… He slipped into it, attaching the straps to his stockings. Hoping that would be the most embarrassing item to don, he picked up the remaining pink article in the bag, a sort of cap. Funnily enough, it resembled one of those old-fashioned nurse caps. He placed it on his head and turned around to face the large mirror in the toilet to view his entire outfit.

As soon as he saw himself, it clicked.

They made me wear a slutty nurse outfit.

Link physically saw his beet-red blush expand across his face as he stared at himself.

They made me wear a goddamn SLUTTY NURSE OUTFIT!

Link was simply flabbergasted. They made him wear a slutty nurse outfit… because he was a nurse. He tugged at the hem of the dress, perhaps in a feeble attempt to try to elongate it somehow. This was definitely Urbosa’s doing; Zelda couldn’t come up with a humiliating plan like this. How on Hylia’s land was he going to step out of this room in this ridiculous outfit?! Part of him just wanted to remain locked in the toilet until the end of the shift and then sneak out. But he didn’t, for he was doing this for Zelda.

For Zelda.

With a heavy exhale, he unlocked the handle and awkwardly shuffled out, eyes cast downwards, one hand still tugging at the side of the dress. From his limited view, he noticed a distinct pair of chunky legs standing opposite him. A feminine guffaw erupted from her throat. Curses.

“Are you happy now?” Link spat, rubbing his arm bashfully.

“My fair lady, I’ll only be satisfied if your fair lady is,” the Gerudo doctor teased, looping an arm around his shoulder. “Come now, you don’t want to be late, do you Miss Wild?”

He groaned. “Here we go…”

As Link walked down the hallway of shame, he wasn’t sure if it was the paranoia but he swore he could feel eyes on him from all directions. People had briefly paused their conversations or posts as he passed various staff and patients through the hospital.

For Zelda. I’m doing this for Zelda.

Link kept his gaze to the various markings along the floor, mentally repeating the mantra in his head; it was his inner strength to keep pushing through despite his body wanting to do nothing other than to evade this situation. The dress was thinner than their scrubs and goosebumps formed on his arms. He rubbed his arms, feeling slightly shivery. Was the ward always this chilly?

Urbosa had left part of the way to head to the Gynaecology ward, yet Link wished she was there as some sort of protection. Still, he pressed on and sauntered over to the ward entrance. Only, he was met with almost all the ward members save for Zelda at the door.

“Give it up forrrrrr Nurse Wild everyone!” Robbie announced, inducing a cascade of applause and cheers that made Link instinctively want to crawl inside of himself.

Crossing his arms, he hurried down the makeshift red carpet and flung the doors open.

The dramatic increase in the noise originating from outside the ward alerted Zelda. Curious about the cause of the commotion, she turned the corner and, upon seeing Link, she instantly realised that 1. Link was the cause of it, because 2. LINK WAS ACTUALLY WEARING THE GODDESSFORSAKEN PINK SKIMPY NURSE DRESS.

The blonde registrar almost choked on her saliva. Her loud gasp caused Link to pause his walking. He recognised those black boots. Swallowing thickly, he trailed his eyes from her feet up to her face.

Link expected Zelda to burst out laughing, yet her jaw seemed to dislocate from her skull in raw, unadulterated awe.

"Well, you got what you wanted, right?" Link feigned false confidence and plastered the most Sidon-esque charismatic grin he could muster on his face. Placing his hands on his hips, he added "How do I fare?"

Once Zelda unfroze herself and managed to form words, she cautiously approached Link. "I… I… I can't believe you went through with Urbosa's ridiculous idea…" She walked a circle around him, inspecting the outfit.

He shrugged. “Well, if it makes you feel better about what happened the other day… then why not? Anything for you.”

Zelda blushed at that, temporarily averting her eyes. She was reminded of how Link never shied away from openly expressing his fawning toward her. Nothing prevented him from doing so, not even him in the least masculine outfit possible. Well, that wasn’t to say it looked dreadful on him. It fit him dimensionally at the very least.

Thinking about it, Zelda reckoned Link could very easily pass as a female at a mere glance.

Zelda cleared her throat, eager to evade the subject. “It’s time for our handover.” Turning on her heel, she hurried down the corridor.

Link caught the blonde registrar a few glances she cast at him whilst the night shift registration delivered the handover. Was it truly awful-looking on him? No, that couldn’t have been it or Zelda would have told him so; she always spoke her truth. One of her many, many admirable traits that Link tried to vocalise as often as he could.

Following the handover, their first patient for the daily ward round was Daruk. Link silently prayed that the large Goron was drugged up on enough codeine not to take note of his attire. Link partially hid behind some of the taller members of staff, but unfortunately, he wasn’t completely invisible.

The injured Goron attempted to release a guffaw when noticing Link’s futile attempts to hide, though this backfired when he felt a sharp pain in his diaphragm. Catching his breath, he added “That’s the most brilliant thing I’ve ever seen since coming here! Come out, little guy.” Link groaned, shuffling so he was within sight. “Did you lose a bet or something?”

“You could say that…” Link mumbled.

Daruk turned to Zelda. “Miss Hylia was it? Petition to have him wear that permanently.” He gestured his head towards the nurse.

“You can’t sign the petition,” Link quipped, gesturing to Daruk’s arm cast.

“How are you feeling, Sir Rudania? That was a rather painful injury, I hear!”

“Yes, well, I guess I pushed myself a little too hard with the training programme.” He sighed, wincing as even the slightest change in pressure on his diaphragm hurt. He added one too many volcano rocks to his weight lifting regime, causing him to sprain muscles not only in both deltoids but also in his pectoralis major. Tripping onto the large pile of rocks, he was left with painful shoulders and chest.

“It happens. Sometimes we push ourselves beyond our limit to achieve new goals, forgetting that these goals may be unrealistic or unattainable at times.” Link was reminded of the time Zelda had fainted whilst working as she agreed to too many shifts without a break. He chewed his lip.

“Well, lesson learned; I’ll try not to push myself so hard next time.”

“You won’t be able to for a while now!” Zelda light-heartedly teased, flipping over the charts. “How is the pain?”

“Those, uh… medication things that Miss Pinkie over there ad-administered me,” he gestured his head towards Link, causing the aforementioned man to roll his eyes. “They work great for a little bit, but it seems to come back. What I really don’t understand is why can’t I just have some Goron spice? It has always helped us with any illnesses or injuries. I can ask my brothers to source some for you guys if you don’t have any…”

Zelda couldn’t help a small smile crack. Tetra, the nurse specialist, paused in her tracks when overhearing the credulous comment of the injured Goron. “If I may…” Tetra commented, approaching the bed. Zelda gestured for the tanned nurse to continue. “I’m afraid that, whilst Goron spice certainly has its homoeopathic effects, it, unfortunately, will not aid much for sprained muscles. For minor illnesses or injuries, or in times where medication is unattainable, then natural remedies can be considered.”

“Alright, I’ll trust you. You do know this stuff better than I ever could.” That caused Link to utter an “As you should…” under his breath, earning him a direct jab into his stomach by Tetra as she passed him. The impact caused Link to yelp, clutching his stomach and bending at the waist.

“I assure you, Mr Rudania, that you are in the best possible care you can… have-” Zelda had to do a double-take when noticing a glimpse of Link’s boxers underneath his dress. She swiftly side-stepped so she was blocking anyone else from noticing, whilst subtly reaching a hand behind her blindly towards Link’s dress. She wasn’t sure why she was trying to spare the little dignity he had left; the reason why this happened at all was that her dignity had been slain.

“Dr Wild,” Zelda spoke just loudly enough for him to hear, but not the patient. When feeling the fabric, she promptly tugged it down. “Repeat a daily dosage of codeine for Sir Rudania.” She leaned back so her mouth was close to Link. “You must pay closer attention to that dress, it’s ridden up rather far- ”

“Oh!” At that, Link promptly straightened up, despite the lingering pain from Tetra’s elbow jab. He ran his hands over his backside to straighten the dress. Was he going to have to keep checking the position of his dress so often? He sighed, opting to keep his hands clasped and behind his back to be safe.

Their next patient was… Revali. Link braced himself; the admitted Rito had a particularly inexplicable distaste towards the Hylian nurse. Zelda gently roused Revali from his nap and once the sleepiness wore off he audibly squawked incredulously when noticing Link.

“Oh boy here we go-”

“What on HYRULE is THAT?!” Revali squawked. He looked the boy up and down, visibly repulsed, before turning to the registrar. “Surely this must be some sort of joke?”

They hadn’t quite anticipated that every patient would question it. They really needed to come up with a plausible explanation.

“For April Fool’s day,” Impa jumped in. “Plus it’s an intentional punishment for a personal affair between Dr Hylia and Nurse Wild.”

The Rito scoffed. “Well, it’s asinine. You were all begging me to entrust my health into your hands… How do you expect me to take this establishment seriously when you have the likes of him dressed in such foolishness?” It took all of Link’s energy to hold his tongue. Impa placed a firm hand on his shoulder to compose him. Even before admittance, Revali was being completely uncooperative and set the standards for a difficult hospitalisation. This was merely the cherry on the cake. “Though I must admit… it is rather healing to see him being humbled.”

It irked Link that Revali outright refused to refer to him as a member of staff, belittling him every chance he got. Link initially shrugged it off as the arrogant, self-proclaimed ‘Legendary’ Rito just being moody for being bed-ridden, yet when the microaggressions continued the longer he remained - never mind the fact that Revali was specifically targeting Link.

Link sneered at Revali. Much like you’re being humbled staying in that bed…

“Moving on,” Zelda interjected, sensing the tension between the two men. “We have managed to source an Ophthalmologist, a specialised eye doctor, to tend to your eye. This is Dr Lon-Lon.” She gestured to Malon who had recently arrived at the ward.

The redhead stepped forward, casting Revali a polite smile. “Hi, Mr Medoh. May I?” She gestured to the bed. As usual, Revali didn’t reply, which was code for him refusing to let anyone sit on his bed. She pulled a chair as close to the bed as possible. “I’m going to remove the dressing to inspect the damage if that’s alright.” With cautious hands, she gently peeled off the cloth patch on his left eye, revealing his eye injury. His eye remained swollen, red, and leaky with pus.

Link was thankful that he had an excuse to get away from Revali. He set to work and wetted a compress with warm water. After sanitising the area with antiseptic, Link handed her the wet, warm cloth which she used to wipe the pus away. She then added a few drops into his eye in order to dilate his pupils to examine his retina. The ultrasound and optical coherence tomography she had requested before her arrival revealed a retinal detachment as well as early signs of exogenous endophthalmitis.

“You were very lucky that the arrow only caused a retinal detachment and a mild infection. A larger hole and a delay into antibiotic treatment and you would most likely have had permanent loss of vision on your dominant eye.” As much as Revali hated to admit it, they were right. He initially disregarded medical help when it occurred, but if not for his fellow Rito warriors dragging him to the hospital whilst ignoring his pleas to not go, he would have wound up a dysfunctional Rito.

Their immediate priority after removal of the embedded arrow was to minimise and localise the eye infection through the administration of antibiotic treatment. Once the Rito learned that it was Mipha who could be thanked for her swift actions, he found himself tolerating this particular Zora nurse the most. She was the least off-putting of all of them; down-to-Hyrule, non-judgemental, intelligent, and skilled at healing.

“Can you describe your vis-”

“It’s still blurry, yes it hurts, on a scale of one to ten it is a seven, yes it still feels sore. Now, is it too much to ask to get some indication that these antibiotics are actually working?” Revali interrupted, exasperated. Malon turned to Zelda, sending her a ‘is this patient for real?’ look to which Zelda sent a "this is how he is” look back.

“If you’d given us a chance, we would have told you that the report we received from the lab from the recent sample we took reveals a lower Pseudomonas aeruginosa count.” Revali perked at the positive news from Zelda. “We will continue the antibiotic course, but we will add a phage alongside it to minimise the risk of the P. aeruginosa becoming resistant. Nurse Wild, if you can action that for his next dosage?” Link nodded.

“As for your recent in-hospital ulna fracture, fortunately, antibiotics and pain relief medication do not interact with each other so it is safe for you to take both. Though I suggest for the future that you think twice before challenging someone with a clear muscle injury to a duel of strength.” With that, Zelda concluded the consultation, the others following behind her. As soon as he was out of sight, she sighed.

“Was that too harsh?”

“I’d say not harsh enough!” Impa retorted. “He needs to be put in his place.”

“He is just so… unnecessarily difficult. The only person he seems to not be awful with is Mipha. How I wish I had her patience,” Zelda lamented.

Next was Ravio, Link’s cousin. As his anxiety was unpredictable, Zelda approached him with caution. “Mr Merchant. How are you today?” He visibly tensed up, one hand gripping the bed sheets, the other hand tugging his hood down. Link squatted beside him, grabbing his hand and holding it tightly; that always helped him relax, and then he’d answer any questions asked of him.

He’d almost had a full-blown panic attack when waking up immersed shoulder-downwards in ice water in the hospital. He was discovered unconscious atop Death Mountain by a Lorulean after suffering from a heat stroke during his pilgrimage. In addition to being in the unfamiliar hospital setting, he panicked, even more, when he realised he had been changed out of his usual full-length thobe to promote heat loss through passive cooling. Accidentally making eye contact with the female staff due to his lack of Rabbit Hood and realising he was exposed to them caused him to start thrashing about to try escaping. As soon as he realised Link worked here, he had managed to calm down. Above all, it was Zelda and her team’s priority to prevent another panic attack from happening, so they let him wear the mask. It also acted as his safety net; nobody could see his face and judge him.

“I’m… okay, thank you, sister. How are you?” Link chuckled softly at that. Ravio was probably the only patient that asked the question back. It was remarkable the complete opposites they’d both become.

“I’m great, thank you!” Zelda smiled. Despite Ravio not being able to see her, he felt her smile. He gingerly played with the bedsheet. In the corner of his eye, he noticed Link’s pink dress. Link saw his head turn twice as he did a double-take. He was thankful that the violet-haired man didn’t judge much; no jeering from Ravio!

“Mr Merchant, you will be really pleased to hear that your vitals have returned to normal and you are en route to being discharged later today.”

“God willing.”

“We will be keeping you in for a few hours longer to make sure you pass our checks, then we can authorise your discharge. Nurse Wild, please disconnect him from the intravenous drip and continue to provide him water over the next few hours,” Zelda instructed before setting off.

“They’re gone. You may unveil yourself.” With a relieved sigh, Ravio pulled his hood just enough so he could see Link’s eyes. “Morning.”

“Can I… ask you a favour, Link? I, um… well…” He slipped his hood back down and turned his head in the direction of where Hilda’s desk was. “The ward clerk. Is she..?”

“Lorulean? Yeah.” Link knew where this conversation was headed.

“Yes, yes, and… do you know if she is also..?”

“She told us she used to be religious when she lived in Lorule. I’m guessing she doesn’t practise as much now that she lives here.”

“I… I see. Nevermind then-”

“You should talk to her. She told me once that she would consider someone that practises if they share the same culture.”

Ravio’s bedside monitor began to beep as his heartbeat quickened. His breathing became harder at the possibility of even speaking to the woman who ticked almost all boxes of a potential partner.

“How so, though? She is a medical staff member, whilst I am a patient.”

“Not for much longer! I really think you should talk to her, Rav!” Link enthused, grabbing both of his hands and shaking them. “I’ll put in a good word for you too.”

After a long pause, Ravio finally gave in. He drew a long, shaky sigh. “Okay. Thank you for encouraging me, Link.”

“Anytime. Anyways, I need to get back to work. We’ll talk later, Rav.”

Meanwhile, Zelda and Impa made their way to the Gynaecology ward. They could faintly hear the cries of a Hateno woman in labour who Urbosa was currently tending to. Ruto, the midwife, noticed the Hylian ladies and eagerly joined them.

“Good morning!” Ruto greeted them.

“Oh, good morning Ms Floria. I’ll never understand how you remain so chipper despite such an intense environment.”

“Childbirth is a beautiful process. It’s all worth it to carry the newborn in your arms. Anyways, we should see my sister and Miss Faron. Particularly my sister. She woke up and is not doing so great.”

They found Ruto’s twin sister, Lulu, awake and sobbing uncontrollably. “Ruto, my husband! Where is he?! Is he awake?!” she wailed, hyperventilating. Ruto and Impa rushed to either side of her bed to console her. It probably wasn’t the best executive decision to place her in this ward when she was suspected to have fertility issues; the Zora couple had tried to conceive for over a year, however, Lulu had yet to lay any eggs despite their many attempts. It was uncertain as to who was infertile, but Mikau blamed himself for being the malfunctioning failure in their relationship.

“Mrs Aqua, I’m afraid that as of this morning, he remains in his coma. We are monitoring him at all hours and we can only have faith that he wakes up soon.

“I demand to see my husband!” Tears streaming down her eyes, she struggled against Impa and Ruto’s tight grips on her arms. “Please… There must be something you can do… I can’t lose him,” she sobbed into the crane of Ruto’s neck. The Zora midwife wrapped her arms around her head, stroking her.

“We are doing everything we can. I assure you the moment he is awake, we will inform you and make plans for you to see him.”

“But we need to take care of you too, Lu.” Ruto perched on the edge of the bed. “May we remind you that you fainted last night because you failed to take adequate care of yourself, despite your insistence on staying here? Mikau would want to wake up to you being well and healthy, I’m sure of it.” The tall Zora took her younger sister’s hand in hers. “Do you promise to watch after yourself the same way you watch after Mikau?”

Eventually, Lulu was soothed and her breathing became more regulated. Whilst she was there, they decided to make use of her time and conduct various fertility tests to address the cause of their stress. Zelda extracted a sample of blood from Lulu’s arm and requested a sample of urine from Lulu for the lab team to process. Once Urbosa was free, she would carry out the cervical screening test, ultrasound, and hysterosalpingogram.

Lulu requested that Ruto stay by her side, so Zelda and Impa moved on to their final patient of the morning ward round, Saria. She had undergone quite a complicated birth the previous night; premature, breech and eventually had to be delivered by a caesarean section. Against all odds, the baby seemed to be doing surprisingly well, yet Urbosa advised it would be in their best interest to keep both Saria and her newborn in the hospital for another week to monitor their health in case further complications arose. Her partner, Mido, was slumped forward onto her bed, dozing off whilst Saria delicately threaded her fingers through his ginger hair, her other hand cradling her baby.

“Good morning Mrs Faron,” Zelda spoke softly, not wanting to disturb Mido.

“Good morning Doctor Hylia. Oh don’t worry, he’s a heavy sleeper.” She chuckled wearily, ruffling his hair. “That makes the two of them.” She traced a finger along the baby’s face. “Doctor Hylia, is all well with my child?”

“Yes, I believe so. I will have to run through the details more closely with Doctor Naboris and Doctor Floria, but from what I can see, for a premature baby he seems to be better than expected.” Zelda paused. “Sorry, forgive me, this isn’t my usual department. Um, do you have… a name for him?”

“Fado. It means ‘determination’, and I think that suits this little guy perfectly.” She pinched his cheek.

“It’s a lovely name,” Impa commented. “We’ll leave you three be. By the way, many congratulations to you both!”

“Thank you, Miss Shei,” Saria replied faintly, feeling fatigued. After the two left, she rested her eyes, tightening her hold on Fado and Mido.

“Will you ever deliver a baby?” Impa asked Zelda whilst they made their way out of the Gynaecology ward.

“Maybe. If Urbosa really needs me.” For the longest time, Zelda had avoided any involvement in the labour department; her main fear was that seeing the process may deter her from bearing her children, if and when that time ever came. The blonde Hylian didn’t know if she was ever going to be ready to settle down.

“I’m sure you will do splendidly. You excel at everything.”

“Well, not everything I suppose.” She couldn’t deny that she was one of the best when it came to medical care in Hyrule, hence why Purah and Robbie offered her the daytime registrar position. But in all areas except her job, she had plenty to work on.

Their final patient was Midna - as her situation was extremely delicate, they had to move her to a separate room and kept as dark as possible. Keeping a hand on each other’s shoulder, they passed through the dark corridor one behind the other before carefully opening the door. Blackout curtains were hung over the window and door as extra precautions.

Midna lay in her bed, an eye mask draped over her eyes to protect her from the glare on the bedside monitor. Link was grateful for that; she would be the only patient today that wouldn’t see him. Tetra was already in the room, having just completed feeding Midna and administering her antibiotics. When hearing them open the door, she moved the trolley out of the way and allowed them to approach her.

“‘Morning Doctor.” The frail Twili wheezed. “Something is different about you today…”

Zelda blinked. Her heightened senses, despite her eyes covered, impressed the registrar.

“Your bandeau is absent. You have on a brassiere-”

“How did you-?” Her cheeks reddened, hugging her arms around her chest. The confused looks from Impa made Zelda realise that Midna was speaking in her native language - that Zelda had somehow been gifted with understanding; Impa suggested that a previous incarnation of herself knew it. She corrected her tone and continued to converse with the Leader of the Twili tribe.

Of all the patients she had encountered, she felt the sorriest for her. It pained the Hylian registrar to see the white third-degree-like burns across her skin due to overexposure to the daylight from the light world that had immediate repercussions. Whilst waiting for the dermatologist to arrive, the team had bandaged her burnt skin as temporary protection.

After completing the ward round, Zelda and Impa set to work on updating the medical records of all the patients they reviewed that morning: Daruk, Revali, Ravio, Lulu, Saria, and Midna. The introduction of the Sheikah technology by Robbie and Purah was remarkable; they had sourced a novel way of ‘digitising’ patient information to combat the arduous paper-based system. Through this system, they were also able to receive communications from the smaller medical clinics in various villages; a substantially more efficient system than having to wait weeks to receive urgent letters.

As Zelda tapped on the screen, updating the daily logs of each patient, Zelda caught Link from the corner of her eye. Despite being publicly humiliated by being forced to wear that thing, he still retained a sense of normalcy as he entertained the patients with the makeshift archery target. It was almost as if there was nothing unusual happening. Perhaps he became complacent?

The white-haired Sheikah noticed the lack of tapping on her right and noticed Zelda looking at him. “It’s kind of growing on me…” Impa leaned in, snapping Zelda out of her daze. She joined in and watched Daruk and Ravio cheering Link on.

“Just how long is he going to wear that?” Zelda muttered, trying her best to focus back on the task. In the distance, they could hear the faint increase of an Electroencephalogram monitor beeping. It sounded like it was originating from-

At once Zelda shot up from her seat, rushing towards the private room where Mikau rested. Impa followed Zelda on her heels. Link, upon noticing both ladies rushing down the corridor, joined them. Standing outside the room, they could see that Mikau’s eyes were wide open, tracing a few patterns on the ceiling.

He survived his drowning attempt and was finally coming to, after being in a vegetative state for almost a week. Thank the Goddess.

“Link, Impa, bring Lulu,” Zelda instructed her two colleagues. She quietly approached Mikau. “Hi, Mr Aqua?” Mikau’s eyes slowly moved to meet hers. “I’m Dr. Hylia if you remember. I’m one of the doctors that have been taking care of you during this time.” She adjusted his head so it was more comfortable for him to ‘face’ her. “We’ve been expecting your awakening for quite some time, especially your wife. We’re going to let her know that you’ve come and will bring her to you shortly. She’ll be so happy, so try to stay awake long enough!” Zelda looked up to the EEG monitor, which showed a short burst of slow-delta wave activity.

He was laughing. That made Zelda smile. Whilst they waited for Lulu to arrive, Zelda completed the routine consciousness checks. Since Mikau’s eyes were open, he scored a 4 - in comparison to the previous 1’s he was receiving. When she asked him a question, he made the faintest of incomprehensible noises, which scored him a 2. Finally, in response to her inflicting a minimal amount of pain, he demonstrated an abnormal flexion, earning him a 2. In total, that brought his score to 8, the highest score he had received.

A stifled sob caused Mikau to look in the direction of the door. Mikau turned his eyes - and his head ever so slightly towards his wife. Hot tears spilled down the length of her face as she couldn’t contain her joy. With newfound strength, she ran into the room, almost throwing herself onto her partner. Lulu sobbed into Mikau's chest, gripping his hand. By some kind of a miracle, his fingers eventually managed to clasp around hers, earning a delighted gasp from the female Zora. Zelda watched the two Terminal Zoras reunited, causing her heart to warm.

In moments like this, watching couples that loved each other so strongly as they made Zelda yearn for a relationship like that. Would she ever find a partner that she would love as much as they loved her?

"I'll give you two a moment." Zelda excused herself and ushered Impa and Link out of the room to allow the couple some privacy. As there were no other urgent matters to attend to, the team decided to start taking their breaks.

During their lunch breaks, the practitioners’ request for Ravio's discharge had been processed and subsequently approved, so next on their agenda was to prepare him for his leave.

"Now Mr Merchant, be sure to take care of yourself whilst on your pilgrimage. Please wear more heat-resistant clothing when approaching the Death Mountain region." She handed him a business card that Daruk had on his person of a Goron clothes designer. “I’ve been asked to forward this contact to you as a recommendation. They can make a flame-resistant custom full-length piece for you upon request.”

"Thank you ever so much Doctor. I shall contact them soon." Ravio pocketed the card. In the distance, he could hear a familiar click-clack of stiletto heels from the left striking the floor.

"I want to wish you much luck on your journeys and that you find what you wish to seek." Zelda noticed Hilda walking towards her with her belongings. "Oh, I do believe we have a special request from someone here to escort you to your home.” She flashed an impish grin at the purple-haired ward clerk. “Alright then, take care, Sir!” She merrily sped over to Impa, who was waving for her attention.

Ravio gripped onto his bag tighter, palms beginning to sweat as he heard the click-clacks pause in front of him and her feet were in his view. Oh, Goddess, it’s her, it’s her she’s coming, she’s-!

“I’ll help you with those.” Hilda stepped forward to offer her hand at his belongings. He maintained his sturdy lock on his assets. She’s just doing her job and helping me. Nothing else. After reasoning with himself, he released his grip and allowed her to carry the bag as well as her own. “Shall we?” She watched Ravio’s head as he seemed to hesitate for a little while. She looked down at his hand, which hovered in the air. With a cheeky grin plastered on her face, she impulsively grabbed his cuff and pulled him towards the ward entrance. He just needed a little push.

A heavy lump had formed in his throat ever since she approached him, yet he managed to squeak a ‘sister!’ as she continued to gently drag him through the hallways. This was the closest he had ever gotten to her, yet that was the first thing he ever said to her? Truly, Ravio, you are a right coward, he silently berated himself.

Is this normal?! Does she usually escort people out of the hospital- no, wait. Didn’t the doctor specifically state that this was a special request? Why would she go out of her way to escort me out? Perhaps, did Link put in his good word yet painted me as a feeble, self-pitying bastard that she felt bad enough to do this for-

She ceased her walking. They had reached the exit doors and were now outside. Ravio’s mind had been racing a million miles a minute with all that she was saying that he hadn’t even registered that they were now out of the establishment! “I’ll be taking you home - and I don’t want to hear any arguments!” She quipped. “You’re not well enough to travel on your own and you need rest.” She pulled him in the direction of the car park, towards her car. If Ravio had the courage to reject her offer, he could. But alas, he was unable to and so reluctantly accepted it.

“Link mentioned to me earlier that you displayed an interest in me with… marriage in mind. I was intrigued, to say the least, but not surprised given I had seen a glimpse of your distinctly Lorulean facial features when you first were admitted. Then, I confirmed it when I saw on your file that you were Lorulean. I never thought I would run into another Lorulean after I left that place. Yet, here we are, admitting patients from Lorule because they still haven’t worked out how to provide basic medical care. I wanted to escape from that environment because I grew tired of their backward ways of life. I craved the advanced life that Hyruleans had painted, and I vowed that I would never associate myself with another Lorulean for as long as I was here. But… I can see that you’re different. Link talks about you a lot, you know.” She looked to Ravio, who still kept his eyes glued to the ground. “He has never spoken ill of you. All the stories he shared of you were all positive. For the longest time, I couldn’t figure out why. All my life I had lumped all Lorulean men into the same rigid box. That is until you arrived in person. You never even once taunted Link today for the dress he wore. I can see you’re genuine and so vastly different from other Loruleans. That’s probably why I… decided to do- oh!.” She abruptly halted and realised she walked past her car amidst her rambling. “This way.” She guided him back towards her car. “What I meant to say is that, well…” She opened the door, ushering him inside. After placing both of their belongings in the boot of the car, she hopped into the driver’s seat. “This.”

Before Ravio could formulate thoughts, Hilda leaned and shuffled all the way into the passenger’s side, placing hands on the free parts of his seat. She turned her head and nudged his hood high enough so his lips were in view. What is she doing- She pressed her lips against his, sliding her eyes shut. At once, Ravio’s skin became red-hot as his mind caught up that not only did she propose to him, she was KISSING him! He turned his face away, breaking the kiss. She looked at him, perturbed that she perhaps had gone too far. Even kissing before marriage was a taboo subject in their culture.

“My answer is yes.”

“Wh-wh… What if you change your mind?” He breathed.

“So long as you are willing to support me through my journey as I return to my roots, I won’t. Till death do us part and all that.” Hilda pushed herself further onto his side and swung her leg over so that she was straddling him. Ravio nervously raised his hands to the rim of his hood and tentatively began to lift his hood. His emerald green hues met her crimson ones, and her eyes softened as her hands cupped his face. He was gorgeous. He wanted to cry, for her breathtaking beauty made him gasp. With his mouth agape, she took it as a prime opportunity to kiss him once again. It took a while for him to relax against her soft lips, closing his eyes and placing hesitant hands on her shoulders. Hilda retreated from his lips, resisting the overwhelming strong desire to deepen it, and clipped his seatbelt in before clambering back to her side and doing the same.

“May I… stay the night?”

She smirked. “I thought you’d never ask.” She turned the ignition on, reversed the car, and drove out of the car park.

~~~

Accompanying Zelda, Link, and Impa in visiting Midna this time was Lana, a dermatologist called from overseas to attend.

“It is Doctor Hylia speaking again. I think you will be pleased to hear that your dermatologist is finally here in person. She will be examining your burns.”

“Perfect,” Midna croaked. Link helped to adjust her bed so she was sitting up. After Lana introduced herself, the blue-haired doctor got to work. It came in extremely handy that she was a sorceress as well as a dermatologist; she summoned light within magic walls that provided a barrier between her and Midna, that allowed her and the others to see the affected areas whilst causing no photosensitivity to the patient herself.

Midna had already been informed that the moment Lana would arrive, they would begin debridement and skin grafting without any further delay. Once Lana completed her full examination, she communicated the detailed plan of action concerning the surgery to the staff as well as the patient. Zelda decided to stay back to assist with the operation. Impa and Link left to attend to the other patients.

Mipha had arrived early for her evening shift. A young Goron and a Zora slightly taller than her were on either side of her, holding her hand. “Good evening Nurse Mipha.” Impa greeted her, turning to the other Zora that shared the same burgundy skin as she did. “Oh, is this..?”

“Good evening, Miss. I am Sidon, dear Mipha’s younger brother.” Link and Impa simultaneously ‘ahh’ed “I wanted to come before visiting hours close, to visit Uncle Daruk and Uncle Revali,” Sidon stated, his big eyes looking between Impa and Link curiously. “This is my friend!” The young Zora let go of Mipha’s hand and energetically ran to Yunobo’s side, slapping his hands on the Goron’s shoulders.

“Oh, hi. I-I’m Yunobo Rudania. My dad’s name is Daruk Rudania and I want to visit him too! I wanted to cheer him up with some of his favourite food called Prime Rock Roast.” He fidgeted with the handles of the large bag he carried.

“Oh, oh, we also got some food for Uncle Revali! His nephew Tulin said that Uncle Revali likes nutcake, so we tried to bake one for him earlier on. I really hope he’ll like it!” Sidon started to rummage in the bag.

“Well, that’s very kind of both of you to bring food for them. I’m sure they will be really grateful!” Impa stated, rubbing little Yunobo’s head. His face warmed at the touch. “My name is Impa, and this is Link.”

“Sister, why is he in a dress? Is it for April Fools?”

“Ah…” Mipha looked to Link for an answer. He nodded at her. “Yes, precisely Brother. He wanted to bring some fun to work today.”

“Why didn’t you wear something? We could have stopped at the apparel shop and picked a getup for you!”

“Well, to be frank, I forgot all about it. Come, let’s give Uncle Daruk and Uncle Revali their meals before they get cold!” With each child holding her hand, she guided them towards Daruk and Revali’s beds. Before they walked away, both Sidon and Yunobo shouted “It was nice to meet you Impa and Link!”

“They’re so adorable,” Link hummed.

“Who knew Daruk actually had a son…” Impa muttered.

“Dad!” Yunobo passed the bag of food to Sidon and began to roll toward Daruk, who was undergoing physiotherapy exercises.

“Yunobo..?” Daruk turned his head, attempting to stretch his arms as wide as he could to catch Yunobo as his son rolled right into his arms. “Oof!” he groaned, feeling the impact on his sore chest. Daruk crashed backward into Renado, the physiotherapist who bolstered the large Goron to prevent him from falling.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry Dad, I forgot!” He cried, hugging him tightly. “I’m really sorry!! Did it hurt a lot?”

“It’s alright, Yunobo. Actually, I’m the one that should be sorry. I know I haven’t been home with you to feed you and spend time with you. I’m really sorry about that. You must have been so lonely.” He stroked the young Goron’s head.

Yunobo shook his head. “Don’t be sorry, dad! It’s not your fault that you had to be here. Actually, I’ve been staying at brother Aji’s house, and today I’ve been with Sidon!” Yunobo grinned at the Zora who was unpacking the food on Daruk’s bedside table.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you, Sir. I hope you are peckish, for I’ve been told you are particularly fond of this ‘Prime Rock Roast’, so we brought some.” Sidon greeted him politely.

Daruk guffawed. “Is that so? Thank you, boys. I’ve been craving this ever since I got here!” Renado and Yunobo assisted Daruk to sit down on his bed. Yunobo brought the roast to Daruk’s mouth and fed him; Daruk chowed down on it surprisingly fast.

“Wow, you must have been super hungry! I hope you enjoyed it. I made it.”

“Wait, you made this?” Daruk almost choked on his last mouthful. “This tastes delicious! I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Yunobo squeezed his dad. “We’re going to see Uncle Revali now, so I hope you have a good night’s rest.”

The young boys approached Revali’s bed with hesitation. They were both aware of Revali’s dislike of Daruk. Sidon gently tapped the Rito’s shoulder. “Uncle Revali?” Revali slowly roused, registering only the distinct colour of burgundy skin.

“Mipha-?” Revali started, sputtering once he realised that Sidon was definitely not Mipha. He coughed to cover his misrecognition. “Ugh, don’t tell me this hospital has children working here too!” he spat.

“We… don’t work here, Sir. I’m actually Mipha’s younger brother, Sidon, and this is Yunobo, Daruk’s son.” Revali’s demeanour seemed to change at Sidon’s introduction and he sat up. So this is the boy Mipha had mentioned and spoke so fondly of.

Yunobo’s voice cracked. “Sorry to disturb you, Uncle Revali-”

“Don’t call me Uncle!”

“Oh, s-sorry. Um, w-we made some nutcake for you. Tulin gave us the recipe. I hope it’s… okay.” He drew the box out of the bag and gingerly placed it on the Rito’s bedside table.

Revali inspected the cake. “Well it’s missing its characteristic rise like a cake should have, not to mention this cake is best served hot and it definitely is not that.” Revali censured, making eye contact with Link behind them, who mouthed a very distinct ‘What the fuck’ to him. “But I suppose it’s satisfactory enough to have a taste. Later, though. Now go home, kids. I need my rest.” He dismissed them, snuggling into the bed and shutting his eyes.

Yunobo and Sidon side-eyed each other, unsure of how to take their leave. “Well, um, goodnight Uncle Revali, and I hope you enjoy the cake when you have it.” They both slowly backed away before running back to Daruk.

“I told you two not to call me Uncle…” Revali mumbled to himself.

The moment they were out of sight, Revali pulled the table close and found himself pecking at it every so often, quickly finishing it. Not half bad, considering they’re non-Rito and children.

~~~

It was nearing the end of the day shift. Midna’s skin graft surgery extended to well past the end of Zelda’s shift, so Zelda was obligated to stay until it was complete. Not that she would have left anyway; she almost always worked overtime. After the handover for the late shift was complete, Link sauntered over to the mess to wait for her. He realised how hungry he was - unfortunately the dress lacked much give and so he was unable to eat as much as he usually would during his lunch break. Link decided to head out and grab some food for both of them whilst he lingered around for her.

Whilst Link was out, Zelda had finally completed her shift. She was knackered, maybe even more so than usual. She walked into the mess to grab a drink, noticing Link’s bottle and ordinary clothes on the table. “He’s still here?” She practically flopped onto the sofa once it was in her sight. She laid her head back on the headrest to merely rest her eyes for a few moments. I’ll head out in a few minutes.

Link had returned to the mess, a paper bag in his hand, to Zelda snoozing with her head tilted back. “Zelda?”

“Oh, Link. Sorry, I must have dozed off there…” Zelda rubbed her eye, registering Link’s dress. “You’re still wearing that garb? I thought you would have ripped it off the moment the shift was over.”

“Well… the deal was for me to wear it until you deemed us to be even on the humiliation see-saw. Since you were still in the theatre, I wasn’t able to ask you.” Link shrugged. “Anyways, I got us some food. You’re probably really hungry.” Link shook the paper bag with a greedy grin plastered across his face.

The honey-haired boy pulled an individually wrapped bag from within the large paper bag, containing a neatly packaged bowl and a small box. “I got us gourmet meat and rice bowls, and I saw they were also selling fruitcake today so I had to get a slice for you.” He handed the bag to her. She didn’t know if it was from exhaustion or the fact that despite working the same shift Link waited for her and even brought her favourite dessert, but she began to feel tears prick the corners of her eyes. She took the bag; in doing so, her hands brushed against his.

Did she just feel her heart palpitate then?

“Link,” she breathed. He turned around, face dropping as he recognised her ‘I’m close to bursting into tears’ face. “We were on equal footing when you accepted to wear it, even for a single minute. So why did you agree to wear it, and for this long?”

“You know why. I said it earlier.” Link set the bag aside and joined her on the sofa, his face flushing as his eyes danced around the room before looking into her jade-green eyes. “I’d do anything for you, Zelda. If your minute of humiliation meant that the only fair solution was for me to humiliate myself the whole day… then I would endure all the taunts, teases, laughs, and discomfort in a heartbeat. Because you’re worth all that trouble.”

Hearing that opened the floodgates she tried to hold back. Warm tears rolled down her eyes as her lip wobbled.

Zelda knew Link loved her, she already knew this. So why was it only hitting her this very second? All these years, he remained by her side in unmitigated devotion. While he slacked in some departments, he never slacked when it came to his sincerity towards her; he worked tirelessly to relentlessly display his adoration despite never having his feelings reciprocated.

Or so he believed.

Of all people, it would just be so incredibly easy to be with Link romantically; no introductions, dating or courting necessary. He’s been her best friend since childhood, and she very much valued him for being there for the majority of her life. She relied on him for being the one absolute constant when everything around her changed. In all honesty, she had thought about it. But she always pushed away the idea of acting upon her feelings in the name of prioritising and protecting their friendship. What if getting into a relationship disrupted this?

But… what if not being in a relationship resulted in the downfall of their relationship? What if Link eventually gave up - if that was even possible - and found someone new, replacing Zelda with someone that reciprocated the affection he craved? If she caved in and dated him, being with him practically guaranteed a lifelong partner, and then he would have no reason to leave her side.

Perhaps it was time to give it a chance.

She flung her arms around his shoulders, nestling her head into the crane of his neck. He felt a wet patch forming on his dress. He stroked a hand on her back, soothing her. He knew it must have broken her heart to hear such affectionate words when she was unable to give him the one thing he desired of all-

“I love you too,” Zelda gasped.

Link immediately ceased stroking her back, his hand limply hovering in the air.

WAIT- Did he hear that correctly? He didn’t- he couldn’t have- surely he must have been imagining that… RIGHT?

He felt every cell of his body freeze up, mouth agape in stunned silence as the colour from his skin drained.

Zelda wiped her tears and shimmied herself off Link. “Link, LINK. Hear me out!” She slapped her hands on his cheeks, pinching them and shaking his face. “I know this is so sudden and out of the blue but I truly mean it. I-I have feelings for you too and I want- I want to be with you. I’m serious!” She let go of his cheeks, gingerly tucking her fingers behind his pointed ears. He was in utter disbelief. How could she possibly convince him that this was genuine? Perhaps if she…

“I, um… I was thinking earlier of how to reward you for going through that punishment. Would this work?” Nervously, she wetted her lips briefly before drawing her face close to his. She awkwardly craned her neck and leaned in until she closed the gap between them with an ineptly positioned kiss.

Being the kiss virgin she was, it was an unusual sensation and she wasn’t even sure if she was kissing him correctly. His lips were slightly dry - she thought she had gotten him into the habit of moisturising his lip; perhaps not.

Colour returned to his face, his cheeks blooming scarlet as rushes of blood gushed into every extremity of his body. The moment he processed that holy Hylia, his one and only was kissing him, he moved against her lips, causing her to break the kiss. His eyes were wide open, his blush extending to the tips of his ears.

“Was that bad?” Her eyes darted between the calm waters that were his eyes. He blinked. Okay, he’s alive. Mouth still agape, he slowly shook his head. Zelda craved the feeling of her lips locked on his; she found herself drawing in for another kiss. Her body moved on its own accord as she crawled back on him, swinging a leg over so that she was now straddling Link.

Goddess, his body felt ablaze with every touch of Zelda: her warm thighs pressing against his bare legs, her hands cupping his face, the feel of her breasts touching his chest, her tongue slipping into his mouth - it was an exhilarating rollercoaster that sent Link into sheer euphoria. The years of pining for who he believed to be his soulmate, all being worth it for this very moment. His feelings had been accepted, requited, and reciprocated; he wanted to treasure this.

She noticed his hands begin to draw towards her hips but hesitated. Even now, he remained overly respectful of her? You don’t need permission, silly! She snatched his hands- causing Link to jump - and slapped them at her waist. He held her waist firmly as he began to roll her hips on his lap. It still felt surreal and he dreaded the thought of him waking up and realising that he was in yet another of his endless fantasies where he ended up with Zelda.

Zelda was acutely aware that they were both still in their scrubs - well, in Link’s case, the equivalent of scrubs. She needed to change- an indecent idea popped into her mind… undressing in front of him? The thought made Zelda blush hard. The blonde doctor knew Link would have happily accepted a mere kiss as a reward, yet she felt a raging desire to give him more. She began to feel arousal blossoming below her pit and she wanted him to fulfil that.

She pulled her lips from his, a small string of saliva drawn between them. Her hands drifted from his face down to the top button of her top. “My, I didn’t realise I was still wearing this. I know you only saw a glimpse, but I feel you… deserve a closer inspection.” She whispered with an effort to sound seductive in his ear, her hands moving accordingly and opening each button.

“Ah~” Link bashfully covered his mouth with his hand as she pulled away to allow him a better look. Her bra was pretty. Her cleavage was pretty. He found himself entranced in her bosoms, ogling them. Zelda gently grabbed his wrists and rested his hands on her breasts. Link began to fluster, side-eyeing the door to the mess. He could never have conceived that Zelda would be the one to act improperly in the workplace.

“N-not here.” Link pulled her shirt closed. “What if someone walks in?”

“The evening shift has just started. Nobody’s going to come in,” Zelda murmured. “T-touch them,” she pleaded, resting her head on his shoulder.

Hesitantly, Link slid his hands under her shirt, cupping her breasts. They were warm, larger than he expected. As per her request, he began to slowly massage them, the hot breath of Zelda on his neck unlocking an uprising between his legs as she began to pant-

The sounds of footsteps drew close to the door and they both froze. Link instantly pushed Zelda off him, scrambling for the folded blanket at the end of the sofa and throwing it on her. She hid her top half under the blanket, frantically buttoning up her shirt underneath. She lay on the sofa, pretending to be asleep.

The door opened, and Link crossed his legs, strategically draping his arms over his lap in an attempt to cover his erection. “Oh, you’re still here, Link?” Mipha inquired, sauntering towards the cupboard of mugs.

“I, erm, y-yeah!” He turned to Zelda, noticing her dormant position. “I’ve been trying to wake up Zelda because I brought some food for her, but it appears that she is completely comatose.” He nervously chuckled, hoping the burgundy Zora bought his improvisation.

“She pushes herself too hard. Maybe it’s best for you to transport her home?” she suggested, summoning water from her fingertips into the pot of ginseng tea.

“Ah, yes, probably!” He shoved his keys and Zelda’s bag of food back into the larger bag, placing it on top of Zelda as he slipped an arm under her legs and her back. He scooped her up, impressively effortlessly. He kept her close, making sure that Zelda was definitely covering his boner. “Thanks, Mipha! Have a good shift!!” He bowed to her slightly. Mipha held the door open for him as he rushed out. He’s awfully flustered…

He darted down the corridors, his mind racing as he replayed the images of Zelda heaving against him, the roundness of her lumps in his hands. Underneath the blanket, Zelda could feel something poking her in the side. Could that be…? She bit her lip, a tad jealous that her arousal had dissipated due to the interruption yet his hadn’t. Zelda rested her head against his chest, feeling sleepy once again. At least Link will be transporting me.

The honey-haired boy slumped her on the seat of her Master Cycle. Crud, the keys! Our clothes!! Making sure that Zelda was balanced, he ran back into the hospital, collecting both of the clothes and belongings - it took some time to find hers and he thanked the Goddess nobody caught him in the female changing rooms.

By the time he had arrived back, Zelda had fallen asleep again. How can she sleep in such a situation?! Surely, she was mocking him. He swung his leg over, straddling the seat. It was highly uncomfortable to sit whilst his… personal problem had remained unresolved. He considered taking care of his bodily need here, yet the thought of pleasuring himself outside and in public, no less, made him feel shameful, even if it was dark outside. Their houses weren’t too far; he’d drive Zelda home, then drive himself home and then take care of it. If he could endure it that long.

He started the ignition, placing his feet on the side rests, hands gripping the handles. The ignition woke Zelda up. Link was about to drive off, when he felt Zelda snuggle against his back, arms wrapping around his waist. He felt his heart flutter.

“Let me stay at yours tonight and I can help you with your intimate… matter,” she whispered, placing a kiss on the nape of his neck. Link felt a shiver down his spine. “Since I’m your girlfriend and all.”

In all of the panic, Link barely could fathom the fact that they were now a couple. His heart pumped with ecstasy. He was excited to turn a new chapter of their lives as he entered a relationship with the one he yearned for. It would take a while to get used to considering Zelda as his girlfriend and cross that barrier from friendship to love - it put him at ease that Zelda was in the same boat of inexperience. Pressing down on the handle pedals, Link wheeled around and sped towards the exit, eager to reach home as fast as possible.

Zelda hummed contently, clutching his waist tighter, closing her eyes as she felt the evening breeze through her hair. It felt as if they were on clouds; she wished for this feeling to last longer than fifteen minutes.

But, she was sure that she’d experience many more moments with her new partner, as they would explore their newly established relationship step by step.

First on their agenda: pleasure Link.

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dyaz-stories · 4 years

Text

Out of The Woods — One: Acceptance

It’s here!! You guys might remember this post of mine, and that is what this story is based on! I had planned to have everything done by Inukag week and... yeah that didn’t happen, but this is chapter one, the next ones will be based on prompts, though I definitely won’t have them all out this week. Let me know if you want to be tagged for this specifically (tagging everyone just for the first one) and I hope you’ll enjoy this first one!

Thank you so so much to @sweetchcolate for being my beta for this chapter, you helped improving the final result so much and you’re amazing ❤️

Tagging: @shinidamachu @sailorbabydoll92 @sweetchcolate @clearwillow @zelink-inukag @cstorm86 @digital-art-monster @danycontreras90 @redflamesofpassion @lost-amidst-the-stars @eternalnight8806-3 @desiree239 @keichanz @ashleys-canvas @mustardyellowsunshine @meggz0rz @contacting-u @ramen---boi @superpixie42 @kazeinori @disgruntledbeast

The full moon shone high in the night sky, its soft light falling on empty streets and tightly shut windows. The villagers laid restless in their beds, waiting for the morning to come, pretending nothing would be happening tonight, pretending that they didn’t know about the white form dashing through the trees in the forest, pretending they hadn’t left him an offering that was far more than they had ever expected to pay. Pretending that the moonlight was enough to repel the darkness.

In the forest, things looked very different. Even the midday sun hardly pierced the thick foliage, and the moonlight barely reached the ground. Unlike the village, the forest was full of life and movement, even at night. Small demons, animals, owls and bats… It was like they knew the humans wouldn’t venture in here tonight, and they intended to make the most of it.

Sometimes, however, the noise was interrupted for just a moment. Silence fell brutally on the trees, as a flash of white appeared, only to vanish just as quickly, letting the animals resume to their lives as though nothing had happened. The silhouette stopped in front of a clearing, sniffing the air, as it checked its surrounding. Once it was satisfied, golden eyes focused on a bag laying on the ground. Good. Relief overtook it for just a second, before resolve flashed in its expression, and it jumped in.

The action was only a matter of seconds. The form jumped in, easily threw the bag over its shoulder, paused, only long enough for an exterior observer to discern red clothing underneath long white hair, before he ran away, just as fast. A blink, and you could have missed it.

It didn’t stop until it had reached a small river. There, it took north, going up stream, the sound of bare feet on rocks barely audible over the brook’s whisper. Finally, the shape slowed down as the banks of the river started to rise to form a small ravine. After one last glance over its shoulder to make sure it wasn’t being followed, the white shape disappeared behind the rocks.

As it walked to a small wooden hut by the lake that had formed there, the moonlight revealed a definitely humanoid shape, an impression that was only disrupted by the two triangular ears on top of its skull. He unceremoniously dropped the bag onto the grass, only to freeze when a yelp came from the bag.

Slowly, he knelt down next to it. The moonlight caught onto claws, and they briefly shone in the dark as he prepared to open it.

Kagome didn’t regain consciousness until she was moving. She remembered the men, showing up in her house, dragging her out as she asked, begged, for an explanation. She remembered Mo, the leader of the village, telling her that he was sorry, that this was for the best, for everyone. She remembered the pain exploding in her temple. She remembered hitting the ground. And nothing after that.

She woke up, disoriented, unable to see, terror coursing through her veins, aware that someone was moving with her at full speed. Her stomach immediately protested against the up and down movement, and made it all the more difficult for her to fight her first instinct: to scream. She dug her teeth into her lower lip in order to keep from making a noise. Trying to calm herself down, she took a few quick breaths. That, however, only fueled her panic as she realized with horror how hard breathing through the cloth was, but she somehow managed not to have a complete meltdown. She could breathe, after all. It was just difficult. She focused on that for a moment, and used that to consider her situation.

It wasn’t easy to form coherent thoughts, not with the fear that was infecting her system, and certainly not with the fact that she could feel the youki of the person carrying her. Her reiki was always under control, and she had never had any problem with it, but as it was, it took everything she had not to let it spike. If she did, it could have disastrous consequences.

She swallowed, and forced herself to focus. What did she know? The men of the village had knocked her out, but clearly, she wasn’t with them anymore. She closed her eyes, both to calm down her breathing and to try to remember Mo’s words.

“I’m really sorry, Kagome,” he’d sighed, shaking his head dejectedly. “If there was any other way, I would choose it, but you’re the village’s priestess, and I know you understand why you must offer yourself in this situation.”

“What are you talking about?” she’d asked, tensed, not aware of the gravity of the moment yet.

Her eyes shot open as his words finally came back to her.

“I’m sorry,” he’d repeated. “I believe what we need right now is a virgin sacrifice.”

‘The situation’ had to be a reference to whatever lived in the forest. From what she’d been told when she had joined the village as a priestess, only a couple of weeks ago, in replacement for a distant cousin of hers who had been murdered, everyone believed it was a god that they had angered. They made regular offerings to it, once a month, on the full moon. And tonight was…

Gods. She was tonight’s offering.

She had just realized it when she felt herself falling, and let out a cry of protest when she hit the ground. She closed her mouth shut, but the damage was done already.

The silence that followed was excruciating. She felt the bag being lifted as though she weighed nothing, and she knew that it wouldn’t be long until it was open. Concentrating her reiki in her hands, Kagome prepared for a fight. She would not go down easily. She knew herself, knew her power, and she didn’t doubt that she would be able to take out a demon, even without her bow, if she had the advantage of surprise.

But, as she prepared to deal it a death blow, knowing that she wouldn’t have another chance, she hesitated.

Maybe she was being unfair. Maybe it was her fear speaking, and not her reason. Her work was not to inflict death. It had never been, and in fact, she had always held strong beliefs against that practice. Kagome knew that gods and demons could often be reasoned with, and that they would rarely go out of their way to attack humans unless provoked.

It was stupid, not to kill the demon instantly. An act of folly. It was taking a chance on something nonsensical.

Kagome took it anyway.

When the bag was finally pulled down, she held back her power, only sending a flash strong enough to make the demon jump back with a surprised growl. Sharp pain to her cheek told her she’d been hit, but she didn’t care as she stared at the supposed god that terrorized the village, and all she found was…

A young man. No older than herself, probably under twenty. Sure, his hair was white, his eyes seemed like liquid gold, and the dog-ears on his head weren’t human, but other than that— He was practically a boy. Skinny, almost to the point of being called scrawny, and his entire body tense as a bow string.

Kagome slowly lowered her hands, though she didn’t disperse her reiki just yet. The man kept growling as he glared at her, claws in evidence. His eyes moved over her clothes, a priestess’ garment, and the growl only became louder.

“What the fuck are you doing here? Where’s my food?”

Fear was soon replaced by anger, and Kagome shot him a death glare that would have made most men cower. He didn’t react to it — she hadn’t expected him to. Clearly, he was not ‘most men’.

“Oh I’m sorry, am I not a sacrifice satisfying enough?”

“Sacrifice?” he repeated with a frown. “The hell sort of sacrifice are you? Am I supposed to— eat you?”

People didn’t eat other people, did they? He couldn’t say he was tempted, even if she smelled a lot like fresh meat.

“No, I’m—” Kagome rolled her eyes. She had not expected to have to explain that part of the situation, and now it was weirdly uncomfortable. “They said they needed to make a— a virgin sacrifice. To appease you.”

A puzzled look appeared on the man’s face, and for a second, Kagome really feared that she would have to explain to him what a virgin sacrifice was. But then, his eyes widened in understanding, and, much to her surprise, his cheeks heated up. He glanced away from her, blushing and clearly embarrassed, which only made her feel more awkward.

“K-keh! So there’ll be no food this month?”

The question took Kagome off guard, yet again, and she was starting to realize that she really did not like that sensation. Why was she always one step behind? Something was wrong here.

“I… suppose not.”

For a few moments, there was only silence. He was crouching and glaring at her and she was trying her best to assess the situation, now that her fear was mostly gone, but she still was far from having enough information. First things first, then. Clearing her throat, she asked him about the thing that had been on her mind ever since she had felt his aura.

“You’re… not a god, are you?”

His lips curled to reveal his fangs, and his growl, which had stopped when she’d mentioned being a virgin sacrifice, picked up again.

“Are you making fun of me?”

His voice was defiant, and Kagome didn’t doubt that he would have attacked her if he hadn’t feared her powers. She swallowed as she looked him over once more. His youki was extremely powerful, so she had assumed he was a demon from the beginning, but now that she was looking at him, there was only one explanation that made sense. She hadn’t even considered it before, but the ears spoke for themselves.

“You’re a half-demon,” she said slowly.

“Gotta problem with that?” he snapped.

“Everyone believes you cursed the village,” she said, shaking her head, just trying to understand. She didn’t know how such a mistake had been possible. She’d only ever met Kikyo a few times, but based on what she’d heard about her power, there was no way she wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. Maybe, maybe, she would have believed him to be a full demon, but she doubted even that.

“Sounds just like those assholes to blame their problems on me,” he mumbled bitterly. “Been blaming me for their priestess’s death, too.”

That caught her attention again.

“You’re Inuyasha?” she asked.

He almost jumped when she said his name, before focusing back on her. His eyes were shining dangerously, and Kagome resisted the urge to lift her hands defensively in front of herself. She didn’t want to risk escalating the situation.

“How would ya know that?”

“I was told that, on her deathbed, Kikyo said you were responsible for her final injuries.”

She watched his face crumble. The shock in his eyes, the way his lips fell. He whirled around, turning his back on her, but his reaction told her everything she needed to know. Having seen that— she couldn’t believe he had anything to do with her cousin’s death.

“She said that, huh?” he asked, voice sounding a little too loud and too clear. “Sounds just like that bitch. Keeping me her dirty little secret and stabbing me in the back last second. Nothing surprising about it.”

Kagome watched his back, silently. She didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know where she went from here.

“I’m Kagome, by the way,” she said, awkwardly.

That snapped him out of whatever emotion he was feeling, and he turned around.

“I didn’t ask,” he growled. “So ya said ya were— a sacrifice? Were ya okay with that?”

Her lower lip started to tremble, as it finally dawned on her what the men from the village had been willing to let happen to her. Whether they expected she’d be killed or— It would all have been horrible for her. The worst part was that she was pretty sure she could have been guilted into accepting it.

“Well, that’s humans for ya,” the half-demon said with a shrug, able to tell what the answer was from her silence.

Kagome forced herself to breathe in, but it didn’t help. She had been called to the village. They had asked for her presence, and she hadn’t thought much about it. She travelled a lot, usually going where she was needed. When they had called for her, she had assumed they wanted someone powerful, given what was living in the forest. She hadn’t doubted their intentions at all. Did they know then? Had they planned this all along? Did they think of it whenever they saw her walking through the village in her robes?

Inuyasha cleared his throat, right before she lost herself completely in questions she didn’t have any answers to, and she looked at him, blinking the tears away.

“What are ya gonna do now? Going back? Are ya gonna tell them that I ain’t a god and I haven’t cursed their village?”

He was trying his best to sound detached but, judging by his previous reaction, he did count on the offerings of food, which meant he did care about what her answer would be. She wanted to give him something, she did, but she didn’t know what to tell him. Even if he hadn’t killed Kikyo, he had injured numerous villagers who had ventured into the forest. She couldn’t find it in herself to feel bad for them right now, but he was still very much dangerous, even if he looked so young and normal. He could probably feel her reiki, and that might be why he hadn’t done anything to her yet. He might very well be waiting for her to lower her defenses to strike.

“I don’t know,” she admitted regardless, voice weak. “I can’t say I really want to go back there.”

The silence that followed was heavy and uncomfortable. Kagome wrapped her arms around her knees, pressing them against her chest, and finally let the reiki dissipate in the air. She would be able to summon more energy if needed, but it didn’t look like it. For now, at least.

“I guess ya can sleep here,” Inuyasha finally said, reluctantly. “’s not much, but it’s warmer than outside, and demons don’t come here.”

She could understand why. The air was infused with his youki, clearly marking the place as his territory. It made sense that other demons wouldn’t want to challenge him.

“…I think that would be for the best,” she said.

His reaction was less than enthusiastic. He sighed, obviously considering retracting his offer, then pointed at the hut with his chin.

“C’mon.”

Kagome pushed herself up, wincing at the sudden wave of pain that shot through her head, where she had been hit. If Inuyasha noticed it, he didn’t show it. In only a few large strides, he was in front of the hut, pushing the curtain that served as a door.

“You comin’ or what?”

Well, even if he didn’t kill her, he was pretty insufferable, Kagome decided as she followed him, walk a little wobbly.

The hut consisted of one room, with no furniture whatsoever. In a corner, there was some straw and what looked like a blanket, laying directly on the earth, and that was about it. It was not, by any means, comfortable, and Kagome found herself almost horrified at the thought that he lived here. These conditions were definitely not good.

“I told ya, it ain’t a palace or anything, but unless you wanna sleep outside, you should get your ass in here.”

Inuyasha’s annoyed voice — though Kagome was pretty sure she detected a hint of shame in there as well — finally got her to step in.

“You can sleep there,” he said, pointing at what was probably his bed.

“But what about you?” she questioned, concern filling her voice despite the fact that she wanted nothing more than to collapse on there to soothe her throbbing head.

In the darkness, with the only window in the hut being the sole source of light, she missed the suspicious glance he shot her. When he didn’t find anything in her behavior that should keep him on his guard, he merely shrugged.

“I’ll be good. I’m not like you humans, my body can handle a lot more.”

Kagome accepted his explanation, too tired to object that demons, while more resistant, still needed sleep.

“Well, if you’re fine with it…”

The only response she got was another shrug, so she slipped under the blanket and did her best to wrap herself in it. As expected, it wasn’t pleasant, but it was better than nothing. She watched as Inuyasha went to sit against the wall opposite her, putting as much distance between them as he could in this small space, and closed his eyes. She hesitated a second before rolling around, turning her back to him. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest decision, as she wouldn’t see him coming if he attacked her, but she knew she’d hate it if someone watched her as she slept.

Even with her exhaustion, sleep wouldn’t come to her, and the pain did not help. After a while, she rolled over again, attempting to find a better position to sleep. When she moved, she saw his eyes opening. It lasted less than a second, just long enough for her to see a golden flash, but it told her that he was keeping track of her actions.

It seemed that he was as weary of her as she was of him. The thought was almost reassuring. She wouldn’t attack him, unless he did first, and if he felt the same, well, they were both probably safe.

And with that thought, Kagome was finally able to find sleep.

When she stepped out of the hut in the morning, Kagome at least felt a little better. Her head still hurt, and the cut on her cheek stung, but she assumed she would be okay. The first thing she did was to examine her surroundings, something she hadn’t been able to do when she’d arrived at night.

There was something surreal about being here, in the middle of a forest she’d been told was inhabited by dangerous monsters since she’d arrived, and to see that it was, actually, a really normal place. The sun was shining bright in the sky, the birds were chirping in the trees. Today was looking like a beautiful day.

Looking around, she realized the hut was by a lake, in an enclosed area surrounded by cliffs. There was a small waterfall just a little further, making the river the only easy way out, though she assumed Inuyasha had other ways. The scenery was idyllic, in stark contrast with everything she’d imagined about the forest. Sure, she could feel youki all around her, even with Inuyasha’s so present, and she couldn’t forget that this place clearly wasn’t inhabited by humans, but it was all so… peaceful.

She heard a noise above her, and was startled when Inuyasha simply jumped down from a cliff. He landed with a grunt, and she took her chance to examine him as he pushed himself back up as though he hadn’t fallen from at least ten meters.

She hadn’t noticed in the night that he was dressed entirely in red, and that was not the only way he looked very different in the daylight. He went from a mythical being to— a person, simply put. She noted his sharp jaw, the hard glint in his eyes, the frown that she doubted ever left his face. When his eyes turned towards her, she glanced away quickly, then berated herself for her reaction. She hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Hey!” Inuyasha yelled at her, “I got some food for ya!”

Joining her, he hastily handed her some fruits.

“It ain’t much, but ’s all the forest gives at this time of the year,” he explained.

“It’s fine,” Kagome replied, forcing herself to smile. “Thank you for that.”

A look of suspicion passed on his face, and he had to bite back a comment. He didn’t like her behavior, not one bit. People were never nice to him. He definitely expected her to try some shady shit. Maybe she wanted something from him. He couldn’t figure out what for the love of him, but that would explain that ‘virgin sacrifice’ story she’d told him. After all, he’d never asked for that. Surely, those guys weren’t twisted enough to get that in their mind without any suggestion?

Keh. All things considered, he wouldn’t put it past them.

Humans couldn’t be trusted, after all.

“You should try to wash yourself,” he said bluntly as she bit down on a pear. “You reek.”

In fact, she smelled like animal blood. That was why he hadn’t been able to tell she was in that bag. Which was definitely weird and—

“Excuse me?” she protested, eyes wide. “I’m so sorry I didn’t have time to wash myself before I was given as a sacrifice, you—”

Was she insane? Did she think that, just because she was a priestess, there’d be nothing he could do to her?

“Whatever, wench,” he growled. “Should probably take care of your clothes, too, ‘cause it ain’t any better.”

Kagome didn’t think she’d ever been so insulted. It took a lot of her self-control not to shoot some reiki at him. She tried to tell herself that he had helped her so far, and that it was probably a bad idea, but damn if it wasn’t tempting. She folded her arms on her chest, self-consciously tightening her clothes around her.

“And what am I supposed to wear then, you pervert?”

The way his eyes widened as color rose to his cheeks his face told her that he had not considered that difficulty.

“That’s not what I— Ah, fuck.”

He quickly got rid of his haori and pushed it in her hands.

“Just get it done. I’ll be— around. Scream if a demon starts eating you alive or— something.”

With that, he was gone, and Kagome was the first surprised when she felt a grin lift the corner of her lips. She’d been told before that she trusted too easily, clearly she had, and perhaps this was another one of those situations, but Inuyasha just seemed weirdly… inoffensive. She didn’t doubt that he could be dangerous, however it was also strangely easy to forget.

Shaking her head, she walked to the lake, and found a place where she would be hidden by rocks to take off her clothes, before taking a deep breath and plunging in.

It was the middle of spring, and the water was biting cold, which didn’t stop her from immersing herself completely. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Inuyasha was right about her needing a bath. She didn’t think she reeked — jerk —, but she didn’t think she smelled great either. She took the time to rub her body energetically, then to rinse and disentangle her hair. She was almost done and was about to start working on her clothes when she felt a disturbance in the forest’s youki.

She only had the time to look up before a giant centipede, with a woman’s chest and head, came out of the woods, screeching in a high-pitched voice. Instinctively, Kagome tried to reach for her bow and arrows, only to find them missing. She didn’t have time for anything else, so she moved as though she did have them at her disposal. With only her mind, as the Centipede was closing in on her, already opening its mouth wide enough to swallow her whole in one bite, she shot a reiki arrow.

The shot was unfocused, difficult to maintain, and it wasn’t nearly as efficient as an actual arrow would have been, but the creature was close enough that there was no way she could have missed it. Fortunately, purification was her strong suit, and the Centipede was destroyed in an inhumane scream.

Kagome remained there, trembling, frozen in place, unable to comprehend what had just happened. She was still immobile when Inuyasha burst into the clearing, jumping in the water in front of her, fully clothed.

“What the hell was that? What—”

His eyes widened and he spun around, though not quite quickly enough for her to miss the blush forming on his cheeks. Kagome slowly realized, while staring at his back, puzzled by his reaction at first, that it was because she was naked. That finally got her to move, and she wrapped herself in his haori, hands shaking so hard that she had to try several times before she made it.

She forced herself to breathe in. She’d fought and killed demons before. Sure, this time she’d been taken completely off guard, and she didn’t have her weapons here, but still. She’d been through worse. She couldn’t let this affect her that much.

“Wash your clothes,” Inuyasha ordered, though the effect was undercut by the fact that his back was still turned to her. “I’ll be closer, ‘kay?” Then, after a moment of awkward silence, he added “Good job on that one”, and took off as fast as he had the last time.

Kagome didn’t even have it in herself to protest his manners right now. She started to wash her priestess garment, with regular movements that she had done a hundred times before. Still, the Centipede’s scream kept replaying in her mind, and she couldn’t seem to shake off that horrible feeling she’d had when she had realized that her bow wasn’t there.

Despite all her efforts, her hands didn’t stop shaking.

Inuyasha watched the woman from above. Seeing his haori on her shoulders made him feel— weird, to say the least. He hadn’t expected her natural scent to be so pleasant for his nose, and he knew his clothes would definitely smell like her afterwards. Right now, though, the aroma from the mix of their scents was having more of an effect on him than he’d have wanted it to. Stupid demonic instincts…

It would probably only get worse if she chose to stay. He didn’t have much experience in that domain, because he hadn’t been in contact with many dog demons, or not for a long time, but it was likely he’d start to consider her part of his pack. Which meant he’d feel protective of her. Get attached to her.

He sat up with a growl at that thought. He knew he should have wanted her to leave, if only to avoid that. She was human, after all. She wouldn’t have the same instincts as him, and judging on how easy it had apparently been for Kikyo to stab him in the back, he didn’t have many hopes for that one.

Keh. He couldn’t believe Kikyo would have done something like that to him. He’d— Fuck, he didn’t know if he’d loved her, not when they’d spent so long openly distrusting each other, but saying that, on her deathbed? She’d really done him dirty.

And it sucked, because he hadn’t been able to mourn her. He’d been preparing himself to meet her, in the clearing when they found each other, when it had happened. It was like a refuge for them, a place where they just— sat, next to each other, and talked, ignoring their differences. She spoke a lot about not wanting to be a priestess anymore. He listened, mostly. Let her daydream out loud about a world where they’d both be simple humans. Normal.

It had almost made him want that, too.

But Kikyo had died, and the villagers had tried to kill him, almost succeeding that night, because they’d taken him by surprise, and he’d been all alone once more.

He swallowed, risking another glance at the new priestess. He should have gotten rid of her as soon as he’d realized she was a— a person. Should have made sure she wouldn’t be able to guide anyone to this place, and shouldn’t have looked back. However, even though she clearly viewed him as a threat, judging by that first shot of reiki she’d fired at him, she hadn’t commented on the fact that he was a half-demon. Her gaze had lingered on his ears, but outside of that, she hadn’t shown she was even aware of the implications of his status, something humans were usually very keen on reminding him.

That had gotten him… curious. Not hopeful, he didn’t do that anymore, but if she proved to be somewhat interesting, if she could dull the loneliness, even just a bit… Let’s say he wouldn’t be opposed to her presence.

He’d been alone for almost as long as he could remember. The memories of his mother had been fading, and he now tried his best not to think about it, because he couldn’t take that her face wasn’t as clear in his mind as it used to be. He clung to her scent, which he still knew, but he didn’t have much else, and when that’d be gone— He’d have nothing left. He knew it was stupid, to try to make new memories, hadn’t worked well with Kikyo and wouldn’t work with that one either, and yet he couldn’t help but try.

He could take being alone, had for years. He couldn’t take not having a single good thing, a single good person to remember. He just couldn’t.

Down there, the priestess was done with her washing and had laid her clothes on a rock, waiting for them to dry, and he decided that was his cue to go back down.

She jumped when he landed next to her. In other circumstances, he might have found that funny, but right now, he was just satisfied with her reaction. She should be afraid. This place was deadly, and ignoring it wouldn’t do her any good. If she was on her guards, it was all for the better. As long as she didn’t zap him with her reiki, at least.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, frowning, when he didn’t talk immediately.

Yeah. Fine. Just, there was this weirdly childish part of him that liked to imagine that she wouldn’t remember she was supposed to choose whether to leave or to stay today, and that she’d just end up… Well. Staying.

Like she could fucking forget something like that.

“’s all good. You?”

She shivered at the question, but quickly caught herself.

“I’m… fine. I didn’t think a demon would come here. Your youki is pretty powerful. I thought it would keep them at bay.”

“It usually does,” he replied, shrugging off her concern. “Could be ‘cause they smelled the blood, or ‘cause you’re a new smell. Some find reiki… tasty, I guess.”

She threw him a horrified glance, and he took offense at that.

“Calm the fuck down. I don’t eat people. Would be shit if you taste as bad as you smell anyway.”

Kagome rolled her eyes, reminding herself that she should not waste her energy on getting offended because this jerk implied she would taste bad. It just was not worth it.

“Men at your village did that?” he asked, pointing at the injury on the side of her head.

She had done her best to clean it, and she didn’t think the wound was infected. It still throbbed painfully, and it couldn’t possibly look good, but there was not much she could do about it right now.

“They did,” she replied, mouth dry. “They knocked me out before… You know.”

He did, and it still didn’t sit right with him. He wondered if they just wanted to get rid of her and were hoping he would do the dirty work for them, or if there was something else underneath it all, but he just couldn’t come up with an answer.

“So? You gonna go back there or what?”

She flinched, suddenly snapped out of her thoughts, and Inuyasha cursed himself. He was supposed to approach the subject carefully — or, ideally, not at all — and that just wasn’t the way to do it. Especially since he had this irrational wish that she would stay.

“Well, I clearly can’t for the moment,” she said, finally. “My clothes are drying, and I don’t think I feel well enough to travel. But…”

Inuyasha’s ears had perked up, which was pretty pathetic in his opinion, but at least she hadn’t noticed. That wasn’t definitive, not by any means, but it was something, right? If she stayed for a few days, he could perhaps— pretend. Pretend she was something for him that he could never even hope for. Pretend that, maybe, she didn’t feel sick and disgusted from being in his presence.

“But?”

“I just— I have nothing here. I’m not talking about the food, you can clearly find those things, even without the offering—” Inuyasha felt his chest swell with pride, as his instincts to provide for his pack kicked in. “—but there isn’t much I can do about the creatures here. I mean, I barely took down the Centipede, and you and I know it’s not the most dangerous thing to live in those woods, not by a long shot. Not to mention I don’t have herbs to take care of my wounds, or…”

“I know where herbs humans like grow,” Inuyasha interrupted her. “Can’t help you with picking them, don’t really know the difference between ‘em, but I can take ya there. I can go steal stuff from the village, too, but if you’re talking ‘bout your bow, I don’t think I’d make it to the temple. That’s usually under heavy guard.”

Kagome frowned, but nodded.

“I suppose I could learn to focus my reiki without it. It’s doable, in practice. If you know where herbs grow, that would be great, though.”

Inuyasha couldn’t help but think that there was something weird in the way she spoke to him. He was vaguely aware that it was because she talked to him normally, without calling him a monster, a half-breed, or an abomination every sentence, but there was something other than that. He couldn’t identify it as respect — he hadn’t been faced with it enough — however he could hear the underlying kindness in it.

That definitely played a role in him letting her stay, in walking her to the spot where herbs grew, later in the day, and in waiting around to make sure she wouldn’t get in trouble. It was rather nice, to have someone talking to him like that, he wasn’t gonna complain, that was for sure, and yet…

There was also something worrying about it. If she kept it up, it would probably get harder to endure the way others spoke to him, so, when he recognized it for what it was, he told himself he shouldn’t get used to it.

But fuck if he didn’t want to.

Days passed. Kagome was healing slowly but, though she appreciated not feeling pain every time she got up anymore, the idea was more worrying than pleasant to her. Every time she thought about it, and about going back to the village, she felt a pit in her stomach. She hated it. She had always lived to help others, devoted herself to it body and soul.

And they had betrayed her so easily.

She didn’t think she would be able to change her behavior, even after that. She knew herself well enough to be able tell that if someone was in danger, she would jump in without a second thought. She spontaneously took action for others. It was just who she was, what she did.

Now though, the thought of doing this for them was actively sickening. The thought that they would use her, would take advantage of her again, and the knowledge that she probably wouldn’t be able to stop them— it hurt in so many ways. She didn’t want to be the type of person who couldn’t trust. It was— She believed people were good. Maybe not entirely, and maybe they hadn’t always been, to her and to others, but all in all, she thought everyone deserved her help, her kindness. If they talked to her about their issues, she wanted to be able to listen to them and to believe them.

The idea that she might not be able to do that anymore was soul-crushing.

Inuyasha, as it turned out, wasn’t of much help when it came to her moral dilemma, and she hated that he had been the first recipient of her new-found mistrust. He didn’t deserve that. Clearly, he had been through enough already.

Not that he had talked to her about it. In general, they didn’t talk much. She’d tried to engage in some conversations, but he’d shrug her off quickly, take off in the woods, or close his eyes, leaning against the wall of his hut. She knew he could probably still hear her, because there was no way he fell asleep that fast, but she got the message, loud and clear.

It didn’t mean there was no communication between them, though. It wasn’t much, and he certainly didn’t make any grand gestures, but if she mentioned something, he’d make sure she would get it. It generally manifested in food, but he also stole some items she’d brought up. She knew she should have said something then, but she hadn’t found it in herself to berate him.

“Thank you,” she’d just said, genuinely grateful.

“Keh. If it can get you to stop talking my ears off, it’ll have been worth it.”

But she was starting to be able to read him, and even if his arms were folded on his chest, and he was frowning, she knew that when his ears perked up that way, it meant he was happy about the attention.

It was the cutest thing ever.

“You shouldn’t put yourself in danger by going to the village, though,” she’d added, genuine worry piercing in her voice. “I can make it without these. I really don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”

As most of their conversations, it had ended abruptly, with him rolling his eyes and growling “Whatever” before running off in the forest, and she’d let out a long sigh. Just once, she would have liked not to feel like a complete nuisance when she talked to him. Was that really too much to ask?

It wasn’t even like they could avoid each other completely, otherwise she would have given him as much space as he wanted. Instead, they lived together, in a really small space. He had taken to sleeping regularly outside, and when she’d voiced her concerns, because she really, really didn’t want to push him out of his living space, he had vaguely replied that he did that before she was here, that he liked sleeping in trees, and that she was overestimating her own importance.

Another extremely fulfilling conversation.

So Kagome had done her best to use the same language as him. She couldn’t be as silent as him, because she was the type of person to express herself vocally, and not with growls and grunts, but she could pick herbs and fruits, even if she still didn’t stray far from the hut, and she could kill small demons. So that was a start.

She did her best to pay attention to him silently, to avoid scaring him off, which wasn’t simple for her. It was obvious that he was used to a rough existence. There was no hidden softness in him. Whether in his body, all muscles and bones, or in his behavior, he seemed to treat everything with the same harshness, including himself. It was that very harshness that came out when he was talking to her. That became a lot easier to accept once she realized that it was just who he was and that it was very likely that he hadn’t received anything else.

She wanted to show him something else.

That turned out not to be such an easy task. He always pushed her away when she tried to show him kindness. She didn’t know if he just really didn’t like her, or if it made him uncomfortable for some reason. She didn’t want to impose anything on him, she just wanted him to know. Not everything needed to be so hard all the time.

When she was coming back from picking fruits, she found him knees deep in the lake, and chest bare. It wasn’t the first time, and she was pretty sure he had caught glimpses of her naked as well. Normally, she would have been uncomfortable with it, but her attachment to privacy had greatly diminished recently, so she just watched him from the corner of her eyes, absent-mindedly noticing his toned chest.

She heard him groaning in annoyance as he attempted to untangle his hair. His claws seemed to be doing a pretty good job at that, but it still looked like an unpleasant experience. She winced in sympathy for him, and then the idea hit her.

“Do you want me to brush your hair?” she asked, words leaving her mouth before she had really decided whether or not it was a good idea.

The look he gave her told her that it definitely wasn’t one. Yet, because she just didn’t know when to quit, she insisted.

“You got me a brush, remember? That would be a lot easier, and I would actually see what I’m doing.”

Inuyasha glared at her, and Kagome swallowed. She was pretty sure that was an argument she’d just lost. It was obvious, from the look in his eyes, that he was doubting her. Well, it would just be another failure to add to her list. No big deal, fine, whatev—

“Okay. But if you try anything funny, I’ll tear off your hand.”

“That’s great!” she beamed. “Just give me a second to get the brush!”

He was still eyeing her suspiciously when she came back, and she wondered what he thought she would do. Beat him to death with the brush?

She sat on a rock, and he took place between her legs, back turned to her. He tilted his head, and she got to work, an inexplicable grin forming on her lips. His hair was surprisingly smooth and silky between her hands, and it was a pleasant feeling underneath her fingers. After the first tense minutes, Inuyasha started to relax. His shoulders fell down, and she heard him taking in a deep breath, followed by a long exhale.

Her movements were slow, careful. Soft. Evidently, he didn’t mind the treatment.

“Can I touch your ears?” she asked, curious, after a while. She had wondered about them since she had first seen him.

“Don’t pull on ‘em,” he mumbled back, voice almost slurred, as though he was falling asleep.

She decided to take that as a yes. Hesitantly, she reached to take one in her hand, and let out a small exclamation when she found it feeling like real fur. Not just that, but it was pleasantly pliable, and she had to actively resist an urge to play with it.

Don’t, Kagome, she told herself. She didn’t want him to push her away again.

But Inuyasha didn’t say anything as she massaged them. Instead, he let out what she thought was a contented sigh.

“So,” he said, still with that half-asleep voice, “your injury’s better. Are ya, y’know, going back there? Have ya made your mind ‘bout that?”

Kagome froze and let go of his ears. She cleared her throat awkwardly as she took back the brush and got back to taking care of his hair.

“I’m in no hurry,” she admitted, voice small. “Why, do you want to get rid of me that bad?”

She had intended to say it as a joke, but it sounded desperate instead.

Inuyasha’s long silence after that only made her feel worse. If he was trying to find a nice way to say it, it was more than she had expected. She thought she would only receive bluntness in response, but she could take him at least not wanting to hurt her feelings too badly.

“…nah,” he said, so low she almost missed it. “Y’can stay a while longer. Or a lot longer. I don’t mind.”

That almost had her dropping her brush.

“Really?” she asked in disbelief. “You told me I was breathing too much of your air.”

“Didn’t mean that.”

“You said if I hurt myself when picking fruits, you’d me get eaten by the wolves.”

“I wouldn’t have done that.”

“You—”

“Ugh, fine, go, see if I care!” he finally exploded, standing up and stepping away from her.

He found her with a bright, wide smile on her face, and his heart skipped a beat.

He didn’t know he was capable of making someone smile like that.

“I’d love to stay,” she said softly. “I just didn’t think you’d want me to.”

“Well I told ya. I don’t care.”

“Actually,” she grinned, leaning forward, “you said you didn’t mind.”

“I meant I didn’t care!”

“Right.”

“I don’t care! I fucking mind if you’re going to be like that!”

Then Kagome bursted out laughing, and Inuyasha felt like he couldn’t breathe simply from listening to her. The laugh flew high in the sky, losing itself between the clouds, and Inuyasha felt lucky from having been there to witness that. Hearing her laugh. Certainly felt like an event in and of itself.

“Thank you,” she said, simply.

“Keh. You’re welcome.”

When she pushed herself off the rock to get up, he held out his hand for her. He didn’t know why he did, certainly couldn’t find a good reason, but he did anyway.

She took it without any hesitation, ignoring the calloused palms and the claws. This time, he felt like he could finally breathe, like she was injecting air directly to his lungs.

He could get used to that feeling.

#inuyasha #inukag #inukag week #kagome #kagome higurashi #my writing #out of the woods

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