sagittariusly | for whitesunatmidknight

After she had finished healing Zaruba for him, Kouga had asked her to stay at his mansion so she could rest. He'd told her she could stay for as long as she wanted.

Jabi was on her way back to Kantai the very next day.

She knew Kouga would understand her decision. Not that she had anything against the Golden Knight, or his new Makai Priest, or even Kaoru. But Jabi would be lying to herself if she didn't admit to feeling... something... in the pit of her stomach when seeing Kouga and Kaoru together. Jabi could feel the warmth emanating from Kaoru, could see that Kouga himself was basking in it.

She envied it. She envied them.

The closest she had ever felt that way was when she was teaching Rin - the one she had wanted and sworn to protect - and upon thinking of the child Jabi realized that, surprisingly, she did miss her student.

She had thought of leaving Kantai for good, even if Tsubasa had recanted his request to never see her again in his land. But after visiting Kouga, after encountering the man in the red mask, she'd changed her mind.

She'd be foolish if she were to choose to be alone now.

Threaded | Flat

After his first experience of using the DAN armour since his encounter with the man in the red mask, Tsubasa had been forced to tell his apprentices what was happening to him. They had been concerned for him but, just as he had trained them to do, understood that they must be prepared for any death at any time. He had reminded them that he could have been killed by a Horror and the outcome would be the same. Now he was going to have to give Rin the same explanation.

The first couple of times he had returned home wounded, Rin hadn't noticed. She was too occupied with her own training and he'd given instructions for others not to come near him while he was resting. Now, he was discovering that with each transformation the effects became worse. When Hyuga and Akatsuki had carried him home three days previously because he couldn't stand, he had managed to convince her that he had been injured by a Horror; but Rin wasn't a fool. She had heard about the curse. He was planning to take her aside at an opportune moment and tell her the truth.

Rin was going to want to know why he hadn't told her before and why he'd tried to hide the extent of his injuries from her. Tsubasa's answer was that until now she hadn't needed to know. She was lucky for any notice of losing her brother, and to have had so many years with him before this happened. Above all else she was a Makai Priestess and it was her duty to be ready for this. There was no need for theatrics. He would explain that he had been marked with the seal of destruction and that now, just as always, she should be prepared for him to die at any given moment.

As he wondered about when to speak to Rin, he thought that perhaps this might have been easier with Jabi there. Jabi hadn't entered his thoughts often since she left Kantai, except for him to observe with satisfaction that he had been right - Rin was warmer towards him and more likely to listen to him now that her mentor wasn't around. Tsubasa was aware that this might not have been the case if he had told her that Jabi was being sent away permanently.

for whitesunatmidknight

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