“Understandable, you did go through quite the ordeal yesterday”, Hikaru turned to the right of Mia, observing the readily prepared breakfast. “You know Mia, for a while now the Captain has been staring at your breakfast… Honestly, I’m surprised that he hasn't pounced on it yet”.

Mia instantly fully woke up, aware of the food-eating monster that was dwelling in the same space as her.

She looked over at the meal; a piece of toast, two eggs, and a glass of water. She smiled, knowing it wasn’t Hikaru’s five-star cooking, but she still was thankful for it.

Mia pulled the fine-linen blanket to the side and edged closer to her early morning meal, her stomach rumbled in preparation and her mouth slowly watered at its home-y smell.

–

A few minutes passed and the plate was empty, only crumbs remained.

Mia took a final sip from her water and turned to the others, “are we heading out right away?” She asked.

“Ah, we’ve got to get going as soon as possible… I’m not particularly fond of being late, and I have to make a report about the Ako incident right after we arrive”. The Captain hurriedly packed various things and trinkets into a bag.

“Where’d you get all that stuff from sir?”

“Well, while you were passed out, an elder of the village came by to thank us. Now usually we don’t accept gifts for hunting beasts, but… He was quite persistent”. The Captain thought back to the small elderly man, aggressively pushing the various gifts into his hands. “That was a bit ago and I thought that you should get some more rest anyways, so I chose not to wake you”.

“I see”.

Mia looked around again, seeing Hikaru looking out of the window, his stern facial expression unchanging.

More minutes passed and the three huntsmen were almost ready to leave, each fully dressed, their equipment in check, and their minds calm.

“Oh!” The Captain corrected his posture, now in a complete professional stance. The tall white haired man turned to Nomi’s mother, his face having a less than happy expression.

“Ma’am, I-We have one last thing to speak with you abo-”

“I know”, the woman said calmly.

“Huh? But-”

“You were about to tell me that my husband was dead right? I already had the feeling… You can see all around us, this village isn’t wealthy, we do as much as we can to get by… And my husband knew that, he knew that by leaving the village to get help, that he’d be attacked. Some wives would be resentful but… I’m proud of him”.

“You’re proud?” Hikaru turned to the rest of the group.

“Yes. My husband was always doing the wildest things for the village, always to help it and help us. Don’t get me wrong I am sad that he has passed… But I’m also happy that the last thing he did was find the people who would save us”. She mingled her fingers through her hair, dragging loose strands behind her ear. “He was a good man, I’m happy that I married him”.

The room had a wholesome yet sad vibe, Nomi began sobbing into her mothers dress, and Mia had a trickle of tears go down her cheek.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“Well, your husband was a good man”, the Captain gave a reassuring smile and turned to the door, “Mia, if you have any final words to say, say them now”.

Mia nodded and walked over to Nomi and her mother, “I promise that if anything happens to you two that I’ll come running as fast as possible, I won’t allow anything to harm anyone from this village”.

Nomi turned to Mia, sniffing up snot that caked her upper lip, “promise?”

“Promise”.

The young girl jumped into Mia’s arms with an adorable smile.

“Thank you big sister!’”

Their hug lasted only moments, but those moments would be embedded into Mia’s heart for many years to come.

With the Captain and Hikaru now outside Mia soon followed. She turned back to see the two thankful smiles, returning her own.

Crrrrrreeeekkk-thud

She closed the door behind her, happy and proud.

–

Minutes later, Nomi and her mother were enjoying their time back together, hugging with tears in their eyes, truly appreciating their familial love.

“Oh, Nomi… What’s this “big sister” thing about?” Her mother asked, stroking her young daughter's hair.

“Umm…”

The answer to that question, as well as future questions and conversations in that home, would remain unknown.

–

Now, Mia, the Captain, and Hikaru have left Nomi’s house, each was proud of their accomplishments in this mission, each was prepared for their future endeavors.

They walked down the now bustling street, receiving praise from the village-folk around them.

Mia turned and looked to each side of the street, returning waves and smiles, she was basking in the praise of those that she saved.

She looked ahead of her, to Hikaru, who looked rather uncomfortable.

“Oi Hikaru, is something up? You’re acting all fidgety…”

“I was thinking the same thing…” The Captain added.

“Well… I was just regretting…” He awkwardly paused between groups of his sentence.

“Regretting?” Mia asked, confused.

A silence followed.

“REGRETTING NOT HUGGING NOMI LIKE CRAZY BEFORE WE LEFT! AGHHHHHHHH! I’M SO STUPID! SHIT! SHIT! SHITTTTTT!” He stopped walking and screamed in the street, alerting villagers around him.

Mia and the Captain both looked at him with disgusted expressions.

The lieutenant dropped to his knees and punched the ground, tears of regret(and other emotions)filled his eyes.

“Oh…” Mia looked at him stone-faced, questioning if his position of lieutenant was a mistake. “I should have known it’d be something like this”.

“Maybe I can go back, one last hug… It’ll be fine right? I was fighting for her sake… IT’LL BE FINE RIGHT?!”

He turned and started to haul ass back to her house, but was stopped via the Captain grabbing his collar.

“We don’t have time for your weird fantasies, let’s go”.

–

The three continued walking, now nearing the edge of the village, each of them carried a different state of mind. Mia; happy and joyful. The Captain; calm and composed. Hikaru; depressed and more depressed.

“Are you sure we won’t need to pick anything up on the way there, Captain… Captain?” Mia dawned a look of confusion. She looked at the Captain, who had stopped in his tracks.

“Hikaru," he said.

“What? Can’t you see I’m still wallo- Wait a minute”, his crestfallen tone instantly vanishing.

Mia looked at both of them, swinging her head sharply in their directions, “what? What?”

The Captain squinted his eyes and put his hand to his forehead to shield them from the sun, “Why are those two here?”

–

For the moments that followed there was a mixture of curiosity and confusion that drifted between the three huntsmen. The Captain and Hikaru stood silently, focusing their gaze on the two mysterious figures approaching. Mia on the other hand, was completely lost, a million miles away from knowing what’s going on.