Fandom: Enn Enn no Shouboutai / Fire Force.
Pairing: Shinmon Benimaru x fem!reader.
Content: Feelings are still on edge despite some stray thoughts.
A/N: Feel free to ASK or reblog for tag – in fact: always reblog <3 Thanks to those who have already <3
9. Ashes
… Reader ...
Sticking to your designated room (the same as last time), you do little to engage anyone for as long as you can that day, but when your stomach starts rumbling, you decide it's time to show a bit of goodwill and help out in the kitchen.
You find Konro there and quickly get put to work, washing the vegetables before cutting them according to his wishes. The two of you work quietly, Konro radiates a calm that soothes your frazzled nerves and he doesn't ask any questions.
Come to think of it: Benimaru had also been strange non-inquisitive but maybe both know that it's because you don't have a lot of answers to give other than where you've been – the incident with the infernal, or demon as the captain called it, has been too weird for your brain to wrap around. Maybe, I just imagined it? A pure coincidence where the fiery creature followed its own whims. Yeah, nah. But you’re not ready to accept he alternative.
Heavy footsteps are nearly drowned out by the chatter of a pair of twins who are trying their best to secure a chance of being swung through the air by whoever they are accompanying. Benimaru. You don’t bother looking when the trio enters except to shoot a smile at the girls who fall silent, staring at you with wide eyes.
The men mumble a quiet greeting to each other which doesn’t prevent a certain captain’s stare to burn into your back and it stays there as you rinse and chop the green onions. It stays while your knife makes short work of the renkon, working the root into thin slices.
“Some of the neighbouring women decided you needed to extend the wardrobe available to you,” Benimaru sneers as you reach for sweet potatoes, “maybe there’s something you can use.”
Finally turning to face him, you find him leaning against the table with a stack of clothes next to him. Some of it looks awfully gaudy, but clothes are clothes.
“That’s kind of them,” you concede (and mean it), “I’m sure there’s something useful. As long as it fits I’m not picky...as you know.” He bristles at the thinly veiled insult to his own style which you’ve unwillingly had to adopt for a while.
“Hmhrm!” Konro tries to de-escalate the situation. “Maybe you’d like to wash up and change before dinner, [Y/N]? Go ahead, there’s time.”
Thanking him, you grab the bundle and leave the kitchen.
... Benimaru ...
Sometimes, he really would like to punch the older man who is now telling Benimaru wordlessly to go after the girl. It’s not that Konro’s wrong: they need answers and the sooner the better. With a sigh, the captain pushes off and stalks down the hallway.
“Hey, [Y/N]!”
At least she stops and waits, though it looks for a second in the dim light that she rolls her eyes. “Yeah?”
The colourful bundle in her arms separates them like a shield. Splashes of pink and yellow, and he can’t help but wonder what she’ll look like when wearing something else than his clothes. If he’d like it at all. Stop it.
“What were you doing there?”
Benimaru doesn’t have to explain what he means, she knows. “Oh, I decided to have a picnic, y’know?”
He didn’t mean to do it but she’s so infuriating. One moment he’s trying to start a conversation and the next he’s got the woman shoved against the wall, pinning her shoulder against the wood as a low growl (a growl, damnit?) rolls from him. Any person with a sense for survival would be cowed, scared of the sudden anger. Not her. She just look at him with a cocked eyebrow and a smirk that makes no sense.
“This isn’t a game!” Again the growling. “You disappear for weeks only to turn up in the middle of a combustion scene. You order a freaking demon around!”
Finally, her face contorts into a mix of fear and anger. “It’s not like I chose to be there. And for the record, I didn’t ord-”
“I. Saw. It.” The words are nearly spit at [Y/N]. “I don’t care where you’ve been, but you got a target painted on you and I need to know what I’m dealing with here if I’m supposed to protect you -”
“I never -”
“- ooor protect my people.”
He must somehow have broken through the stubbornness because she hesitates, eyes flicking across his face as if searching for something before she finally slumps in his grip. “I was trying to get away, I really was and yes...I could have run along...ignored what was happening...”
“But you couldn’t leave the woman there to die?” She shrugs despite the hold and Benimaru lets go, suddenly ashamed of his outburst. “You knew...?”
“No! And I still don’t believe it,” the girl protests. “They’re supposed to be more...uhmm...”
“Aware. Intelligent.”
They both nod in the silence.
“I just...I thought if I could distract it...” [Y/N] sighs again. “Hunger. Souls. That’s all the infernals ever scream about but this asshole...well, you heard it, I guess.” The bundle of clothes is tugged a bit closer to her chest as if for comfort. “I never considered they could get full enough to slow down, to want to take their time to...to...”
Half of what the girl is saying doesn’t make sense until Benimaru begins to entertain the idea that she understands the wailing of the burning terrors. She doesn’t realize. Apart from a few disciplined infernals (very, very rare) none of their screams ever meant anything to him, Konro, or anyone else. Even demons rarely speak, according to the few recollections of witnesses. What are the odds it would listen? Close to none, making this a freak occurrence – curiosity trumping primal blood thirst...he hopes.
“You can’t get involved in combustions while staying here.” Thankfully, she doesn’t object and Benimaru tries to smother a sense of guilt. “Lie low. Don’t attract attention. People here’ll have your back, but gossip can’t be avoided. Anyways...dinner’s almost ready.”
