krg fic: home

[zarahjoyce]

Rating: G
Summary: "Take care of her, Kaito."
Notes: The requests for Kaito/Mai that I got have one thing in common: Kouta's dead. SERIOUSLY GUYS WHAT DID KOUTA DO TO YOU, LMAO.

Also every once in a while I get in the mood to write something sappy.

THIS IS ONE OF THOSE TIMES.


-


"You shouldn't have done that."

He peeked through the blinds quickly, breathed out a sigh of relief. They weren't followed. Good.

"We were running out of food," was her reply, and he could almost hear the belligerence in her tone. "What was I supposed to do? Let us starve?"

He shoved his hands in his pockets, marched past her. "Then you should have waited for me to come back!" He went straight towards the table, moved to pour himself a glass of water - but only air came out of the water jug. He cursed.

"We're out of water, too," she said forlornly, uselessly.

If he had the strength to crush the glass in his hands, he would have. Instead, he pushed it away from him, then headed towards the door.

Only her hand on his arm made him stop. "You can't leave!' she said. "You need to rest after that fight--"

"What I need to do--" He placed his hand over hers, tried to pry it off his skin, "--is to make sure we both stay alive."

A gargantuan task, that.

And they both knew it.

Ever since Kouta died, Zawame City lost its only chance at gaining its freedom - and paid a price it could not afford.

take care of her, kaito.

Now the city was overrun with Overlords and their underlings and humans, who once filled the city with music and laughter and dance - were now a mere afterthought. A rare presence.

He didn't know how many of them were left trapped in the city; just that he hadn't encountered anyone he knew, the weeks following Gaim's death. Fighting to prove his strength to everyone was now only a whimsical thought. It was all he could do to continuously fend off attacks that come his way.

It was all he could do to keep her safe as well.

take care of her, kaito.

"You're wounded," she insisted, gripping his arm tighter.

"This is nothing," he said, fighting the urge to wince. "I need to--"

"Kaito!"

She had nothing more to say, and he knew it, and he knew she knew it, too, but was too stubborn to acknowledge it as fact.

But she surprised him when she continued, tearfully, "I need to do something, too, to make sure we both live through this, somehow. I don't want to feel useless because I know I'm not. I know I can do something to help you, if you'd just let me."

She pulled her headband off and tied it around a tender spot on his arm. "I know Kouta made you promise to protect me," she said, softly, "but don't you think I have a right to make a promise to him, too? That I'll help you, however I can? This world is mine too, Kaito. This-- this is my fight, too." She looked up at him. "Since you're keeping me safe, then I'll do whatever I can to make sure I repay the favor."

He looked at her then, saw resolve burning bright in her eyes. But what could she do? She was not a rider; even if she was armed with the strongest determination in the world, it would not save her once an Overlord spotted her. No. She was safer where she was, now.

take care of her, kaito.

"Mai," he said, and she blinked, "by staying here, you are doing something to help me."

She frowned, but waited for him to finish.

He turned away and said, "You're giving me a reason to fight back, and come home."

To you.