Archive of Our Own ^beta

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When Zoey gets hit she’s a bit surprised to find it doesn’t hurt. ‘Probably in shock’ she thinks as she falls to the ground, wind knocked from her. The wound on her back stings but doesn’t hurt as much as her throat and the maknae briefly wonders why that is before realizing she must have screamed in pain or in shock when she was hit.

The young girl quickly forgets about the sting in her back and the slight pain in her throat as her heart breaks hearing Mira’s desperate scream of her name. She knows her stoic friend with the tough exterior isn’t close enough to save her, she knows Rumi is even further. That was the demon's plan, she realizes now, to separate and overwhelm them.

The lyricist can’t help but smile a little to herself though, glad she got to see past that tough front Mira always portrayed. Thankful she got to feel Mira’s love even if it wasn’t nearly close enough to what she really wanted.

Zoey’s breathing shudders as she sees the shadow of a brute raising its club to finish her off. ‘I had a good run’ she thinks as she closes her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

If Mira’s cry broke her heart then the sound she hears Rumi make shatters it. The raw grief and pain in her voice in that one world, that simple no, it makes her flinch and leaves her breathless. Their ever strong and composed leader sounds so broken and she hates it. She wants to hold their reserved vocalist close and reassure her. Wants to do everything in her power to never hear that sound again.

 She doesn’t see the honmoon flash an alarming shade of red under her at Rumi’s cry. Too busy squeezing her eyes shut as she thinks of her bandmates. Thinking of their laughs, their smiles, and how much she loves them. Needing them to be the last thing on her mind before the final blow takes her away from them forever.

It never comes.

Instead she hears the fighting, angry and desperate, right on top of her. Slowly she opens her eyes to see what's going on and her breath catches in her throat. Rumi is there, fighting desperately to protect her. Zoey doesn't even get the chance to question how before she knows the answer.

Her unnie was covered in patterns from head to toe, glowing a bright angry red even through her clothes. Eyes glowing bright demonic amber, looking wild and feral as she fought off the hoards of demons trying to finish the injured maknae off. She’s not even using her Saingeom Zoey realizes, catching a glimpse of it on the ground, likely having been knocked away during the fight. 

Instead Rumi is using her fangs and claws as she shreds through the demons around them, and while logically the lyricist should question the how and why she has patterns, all she can think is how beautiful she looks. That is until she realizes the vocalist is using more than just her fangs and claws to protect her. She’s using her whole body as a shield, taking hits meant for the maknae under her, hits that if she wasn’t a… if she was just a human would have killed her by now.

She has to get up. She has to help her! As soon as she tries to push herself up though that stinging in her back turns to fire and pain shoots through her entire body as she collapses back to the ground. 

‘Well, most of her body’ her brain supplies unhelpfully as she slips unconscious. After all, she couldn’t feel her legs...

Chapter Text

Rumi knew she should have just released Golden. She knew Gwi-Ma would do something desperate to stop them after that shimmer of gold at their last concert. It felt like they were fighting the entire demon realm right now! How they were able to make a breach this big when they were so close to gold is beyond her. She’ll pitch the idea of launching Golden early to her girls after this fight, she’s sure they’ll agree after this bullshit.

Her train of thought goes violently off the rails as a scream pierces the air, making her freeze. ‘God please no, not her, never her’ Rumi thinks cause she knows that voice and she begs whoever's listening that it's not true.

“ZOEY!” Mira screams, voice desperate and panicked.

The hunter realizes just how far they’ve been separated and she turns quickly towards the last place she saw their maknae and her heart shatters. There she is on the ground struggling to breath, a demon standing over her, its claws slick with blood. Zoey's blood. The same blood that was rapidly pooling around the girl as a massive brute raises its club to finish the job. 

   To take away a girl who shined brighter than the sun.

 Rumi screams. It's a simple no, dragged out of her very soul. She doesn’t even realize her voice is laced with something else, something demonic. She wouldn’t have cared anyway. 

Just like she didn’t care about how the honmoon releases a pulse of red from her. Doesn’t care to notice how the closer demons that swarmed her evaporated, how others were knocked back around her. 

All she cared about was saving her personal ray of sunshine. Her Zoey.

She’s too far away, no hunter would have ever been fast enough, but she's more than just a hunter. Instincts she’s suppressed her entire life are embraced and accepted and suddenly she's no longer too far away and instead right where she needs to be.

Demonic claws catch the club on the downswing and Rumi lets out a growl. It’s the only warning the brute gets before its weapon splinters in the hunters hold and they’re cut down. The other demon who was distracted watching the blood drip down its claws smugly doesn’t even get a warning before they are run through. 

Rumi lifts her Saingeom defensively, letting out another low threatening growl as she eyes the demons around her, daring them to try it. She can feel her patterns spreading, can feel them pulsing with each beat of her heart but she doesn’t care. Zoey is the only thing that matters and she will protect her until Mira gets to them.

The demons around them had never been truly afraid of the hunters. Sure sometimes in the moment they were scared but they were always more afraid of the demon king himself. Right now though, looking at this hunter who had their patterns, looking at them with such hatred, they'd rather face off against Gwi-Ma himself.  That was never an option though so they attacked.

They never stood a chance.

Rumi fought them off easily, defending the wounded girl under her. When the blade was knocked from her hands the demons thought they had a chance. 

They were wrong.

The Purple haired huntress let her demonic instincts run wild, clawing, biting, slashing, and tearing. It didn’t matter what she did as long as she kept Zoey safe. Defense was harder without her weapon but she didn’t hesitate to use her body as a shield. 

She heard a thump under her and her heart stopped. Her gaze snapping downward towards Zoey and she held her breath desperate for any sign that she wasn’t…

There! A breath shallow and weak but there. Still alive, just a little longer Zoey, Mira was almost here. She had to be, the half demon wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold them off.

She didn’t want to think about how much blood was pooled around the young girl, about how she may not be able to hang on much longer either.  

“Rumi!” Mira’s voice calls, snapping her out of her dark thoughts. Looking over she sees the pink haired hunter making her way to them. Vaguely registering the fact Mira had collected her Saingeom and was using it to cut through a few demons before lifting up her own Gokdo and throwing it at her.

‘No please,’ Rumi thought as her heart aches, fear overtaking her as the Gokdo comes speeding towards her, ‘I’m sorry I never told you. I’m sorry you had to find out like this but I had to protect Zoey. I know it's what she trained you for but... Wait, why did Mira call out and warn me if she… the trajectory is off. Mira didn’t throw her weapon at me, she threw it too me!’

Mira has seen her now, all of her, and she still trusts her enough to give a literal piece of her soul so she can protect herself and Zoey. 

She snatches the weapon out of the air and gets to work, quickly beating back the demons and making space so Mira will have room to work once she gets here.

Chapter Text

When Mira heard Zoey scream her heart dropped and she quickly looked for the young girl who wore her heart on her sleeves. One of the 2 women who her own heart belonged to. The one who always thought she was too much but the self proclaimed problem child honestly couldn’t get enough of her.

She calls out desperately knowing there is no way she could get to her, to save her, knowing Rumi was even further. She failed to protect their youngest and now she's going to have to watch her get taken from her. Then she hears it, a cry that’s so broken, so desperate, so horrifying , it makes her flinch violently. 

“N̵͕̙̩̘̣̮̽̌͊̕̕̚OÒ̴͇̗̐̓OǪ̷̜̹̳̣̌͝Ö̴̬̘̲̥̏̉OỎ̶͚̳͇̭̫̈͛OÖ̷̻́̃͝!” It sounded like Rumi, but it sounded so wrong. 

Mira’s gaze snaps over towards their leader, watching as the honmoon ripples out in angry red around her, how the demons that had been closing in on her are eviscerated. How the further ones stumble back, some from the shockwave the honmoon just let out and others in genuine fear.

She watches as Rumi’s eyes, usually a calm composed brown, turn to a glowing demonic amber. Looking crazed, panicked and desperate, before she's enveloped in that same purple smoke Mira has seen countless times when a demon teleports.  

Mira’s gaze snaps back towards Zoey, hoping, no, praying to whatever god is out there that Rumi is there. That Rumi is protecting their girl, their Zoey, and miraculously one of them must have been listening. 

Because there she is, standing over Zoey, demonic patterns that Mira never thought she’d be glad to see glowing a bright angry red even through her friend’s clothes. Mira watches in shock as those patterns rapidly spread to cover Rumi's entire body. Watches as Rumi’s gentle beautiful hands turn to sharp purple claws. Watches as fangs become visible on her pretty face. Watches as she snarls and lashes out at the demons who hurt their Zoey. 

She should probably be scared, confused, hurt, maybe even betrayed seeing her friend with those patterns, but she is so fucking relieved right now that she can’t. Mira watches in awe as Rumi fights, as she loses her weapon and just goes absolutely feral protecting their little ball of energy.  She’s fortunate the demons surrounding her are also watching in shock. Watching in horror.

The first time Rumi uses her body to shield Zoey from a hit, a hit that should have killed the vocalist, Mira snaps back into reality.  A wave of guilt hits her as she realizes she froze up. ‘I have to get to them now!’ The pink haired hunter thinks as she moves like a whirlwind, easily dispatching of the stunned demons around her before rushing forward. Cleaving a path toward her girls, she struggles though, her Gokdo is better suited for medium range and these demons are too densely packed for her to get through them the way she needs to and that's when she sees it. 

Rumi’s Saingeom, laying discarded on the ground nearby. She can get to it and use it to get to her girls quicker. Then she can give Rumi her own weapon to better protect herself, to protect Zoey. She just has to hold off long enough for Mira to get to them.

The choreographer flinches as she grabs the discarded weapon. The Saingeom is a part of Rumi’s soul, strengthened and given form by the honmoon. Usually Rumi and herself are so closed off they can barely feel the other's soul when they have to use the other's weapon. 

Right now though Mira can feel everything. She can feel Rumi’s panic, her anger, her desperation to protect Zoey and it's so fucking overwhelming. Most importantly though, she can feel the relief that Zoey is still breathing. She struggles to maintain what's left of her composure as she calls out to her friend before throwing her Gokdo.

She regrets it immediately. 

 She can feel Rumi’s fear, thinking the weapon was aimed at her. It’s not even the fear of dying but the fear of leaving Zoey unprotected. 

She feels her regret. The way she wishes she had told them sooner. Regrets the way they had to find out like this.

The heartbreak, not because Mira had attacked her, but because she thought Mira was going to have to live with herself afterwards. 

She would’ve never been able to.

But what hurts the most is her sadness, thinking that Celine was right, thinking that despite everything they couldn’t accept her and they’d just do what they were trained to do. Thinking that they would put her down just like some rabid dog like everything else with patterns. The pink haired hunter nearly chokes realizing that Rumi wouldn’t have even blamed them for it.

  If they get out of this Mira is gonna gut that fucking witch like a fish.

Mira nearly collapsed as she felt all of Rumi’s emotions raw and exposed like that. It couldn’t have been more than a second but it was enough to make her understand everything. All the lies, all of the hiding. She wants to scream but before she can all of those feelings she felt are gone just as quickly as they had appeared. Replaced with confusion quickly followed by realization and understanding.

The way that she can feel the sudden flash of hope, of love, after everything else is damn near enough to drive her insane. She watches Rumi snag the weapon out of the air. The same weapon that just moments ago she thought was meant to end her.

Mira barely manages to suppress her own feelings before Rumi grabs the weapon. She would need to focus on protecting their girl and she knows she wouldn’t be able to if she felt Mira’s turmoil. It must have worked because all she can feel now is Rumi’s determination and desire to protect. That rage and hatred at the demons around them is back too and Mira hates how she can now feel how it is directed inward as well, even if only just. 

She has to ignore it for now though as she lets Rumi’s rage for the other demons fuel her to push through this hoard. Let’s the feelings of determination and protection guide her as she focuses on getting to Zoey. She has the most medical training out of the 3 of them because she couldn’t stand the thought of her girls getting hurt and being helpless to do anything. The rebel of the group could probably easily get a medical degree and maybe her good for nothing family would finally be proud.

‘Focus!’ Mira scolds herself internally. She has to get to her girls, the family that actually matters, and she needs to get to Zoey so she can stop the bleeding and- 

Fuck!

What the fuck is she going to use to stop the bleeding? It was stupid hot out today so Mira’s only wearing a crop top and a skirt! Zoey’s wearing shorts and a tanktop that’s probably already soaked through, and Rumi is wearing a…

Rumi’s wearing a long sleeve dress shirt! It is not as heavy as her normal coats and they had teased her for it earlier and now Mira is pissed knowing why she insisted on wearing it, on always covering up.

She’d be willing to go topless if she had to in order to save their precious girl but she knows Rumi is wearing one of her sleeveless turtleneck crop tops underneath. So she opens up a bit, letting the near feral hunter know through the weapon connected to her soul what she was thinking, letting her know they have to stop the bleeding and that she needs her overshirt or they're gonna have to risk a public indecency charge and half naked pictures of Mira going viral.

She knows Rumi understands when she feels a flash of panic. The hunter, having been conditioned to constantly hide her patterns, knowing that taking the overshirt off meant exposing them. Embarrassment quickly overtakes said panic though, realizing her patterns were already exposed and Mira makes a mental note of the faint flustered feeling Rumi gets thinking about her topless. 

‘Later, Zoey first’ Mira thinks before having a dam near gay panic attack as Rumi takes a second to literally rip her shirt off. Taking another moment to beat back a few demons before quickly moving to press the shredded top to Zoey’s back.

Mira is close enough now to hear their maknae groan and she feels the twinge of sympathy from her feral guardian before her attention returns back to the swarming demons. It feels like forever but she soon manages to break through the last of the demons and into this bubble of protection Rumi has created. She wants to comfort her friend and reassure her but she has to focus on Zoey right now.

Mira goes pale as she finally lays eyes on their little ball of sunshine. There is way too much fucking blood…  

Chapter Text

Mira does her best to focus on the task at hand, to ignore the blood as she moves over towards their girl. Quickly setting the saingeom aside and applying pressure with Rumi’s overshirt with one hand as she searches through it with the other. The Purple haired hunter always carried a small first aid kit in her coats and jackets. She'd carry little things for them too if they needed but she always had a first aid kit. 

“I have the pockets for it.” she would say with a shrug. 

Mira flinches as Zoey lets out a pained groan from under her. Freezing momentarily as she feels the Feral hunter with blazing patterns turn her protective glare onto them. Hears the low snarl before Rumi realizes it’s just her and turns her focus back to defense.

The stoic hunter breathes a sigh of relief as she finds the first aid kit. She dumps its contents quickly on the maknae’s upper back, not wanting to dump it on the dirty ground, and quickly looking at what she has to work with to stop the bleeding as much as possible while continuing to apply pressure.

There was more than she expected but the butterfly bandages, gauze, adhesive tape, and the small scissors are the only really helpful items. Zoey is already unconscious so she can't even take the pain killers and Mira isn’t worried about the antiseptic wipes right now. She’d clean the wound properly once they get home before properly stitching her up. Plus seeing how much blood there is she knows the bandaids are basically worthless.

It’s not a lot but it is more than she was expecting to be able to work with given the small size of the kit. Pushing aside the useless items the hunter mentally prepares herself to stop the bleeding as much as possible. To keep as much blood as she can on the inside of the small girl’s body.

There was already too much outside of it.

Mira pulls Rumi’s overshirt away and her breath catches seeing the 3 jagged tears in the back of Zoey’s shirt. Quickly bracing herself for a sight that she knows is going to give her nightmares she lifts the blood soaked shirt up to inspect the wounds. Seeing the damage exposed makes her want to scream out in agony on Zoey’s behalf.

She had been optimistic with the supplies she had but looking at the 3 large and deep lacerations on her lower back she knows she doesn’t have enough. ‘I’ll have to use those bandaids after all’ Mira thinks bitterly before focusing on the task at hand. Doing everything in her power to ignore the pained sounds coming from the girl under her. Ignoring the way each one threatens to rip her heart out. 

Zoey would probably say she was “locked in” or something goofy with the way Mira was hyper focusing on the maknae. Ignoring the swarming demons around them. Ignoring Rumi’s sharp looks whenever Zoey cried out. 

Mira lets out a shaky breath once she realizes she’s out of supplies. She’s managed to slow the bleeding at least, but there’s nothing else she can do for her now, not here. Grabbing the tattered overshirt Mira presses it to Zoey’s back again before pulling her shirt down over it. Hoping that will be enough for now, her gaze slowly turns to the demons still swarming them.

Rumi had her chance to rage. It’s her turn now.

She grabs Rumi’s sword, the saingeom overloading her senses with her teammates' emotions once more but it doesn't disorient her this time. Not when she's feeling the same fucking thing. 

 Rumi’s desire to protect her girls consumes her own thoughts daily.  She doesn’t have the words to tell them how much they mean to her and everyday she wakes up with the fear of today being the day she fails to protect them. 

Today was that day.

The anger and hatred she feels from the near feral woman is second nature to her. She has been weaponizing it long before she could summon a spirit weapon. Her rage and hate also directed inward but not at Rumi. 

Never at Rumi. 

She lets out a guttural war cry, no words were spoken, just a scream as she lets out her built up emotions and lashes out. She feels Rumi’s fear and panic, worried that something happened to their maknae but then she can feel her shock and confusion and Mira knows that she can feel her own emotions through the Gokdo she wielded. Her walls were down now and Rumi can feel how despite the patterns she doesn’t hate her, that she still wants to protect her. 

Mira looks across the battlefield and locks eyes with her friend. Her friend who’s been hurting and suffering in silence, hiding from them. Taking a breath she opens up even further. 

Letting the purple haired hunter feel her understanding, her acceptance, her love. Letting her know that this doesn’t really change anything, letting her know she's still her Rumi. 

When she feels Rumi’s gratitude and love through the blade in her hand she turns her focus onto Zoey. Letting the hunter across from her feel the worry and panic, but most importantly her desperation to get their girl out of here.  

She nods in understanding, amber eyes glistening with unshed tears as they both let the rage come back. Letting the flames of their combined fury forge their shared love for Zoey into a weapon more powerful than the honmoon itself. Their desperation turns into determination. Their desire to protect makes it easy to focus on the same goal.

Get Zoey the fuck out of here.

The 2 hunters… The 2 souls… Move and act as 1.

It’s more beautiful than anything Mira has ever choreographed. 

Rumi moved like a vengeful spirit, her demonic side unleashed and no longer held back by the need to defend goes on the offensive. She’d vanish and reappear at any opening she could find. Using Mira’s crescent-shaped blade and her own claws to cleave through massive groups all at once. 

The demons were so disoriented from trying to keep up with the purple haired force of nature that they were completely caught off guard by the pink haired bulldozer. They tried to focus on her, rallying together to try and overwhelm the human hunter but every time they did Mira would smirk, Rumi would appear, and then they'd both vanish. 

The injured hunter lay forgotten by the servants of Gwi-Ma as it quickly became a fight for survival. Their beautiful Zoey never left the minds of the hunters though, a watchful eye always looking out for her.

To put it simply, Mira was an immovable object next to Rumi’s unstoppable force and the demons were caught between them.

Chapter Text

The half demon lets out a small sigh of relief as she watches the honmoon stitch itself back together. Finally having defeated the onslaught of demons which had spilled out of the breach. Her relief is short-lived though as she turns to look at Zoey’s crumpled form. 

Still breathing thankfully and now that the honmoon had stitched itself up, Rumi could already see it working to stitch up their youngest. It was a give and take after all, they protect the honmoon and the honmoon protects them in return. The stronger the honmoon the faster it can heal them.

That’s why the golden honmoon can heal her. Can fix her. Once it turns gold the honmoon will have the strength to remove these disgusting patterns and make her- 

“Rumi! That’s enough!” Mira snaps suddenly, making her freeze. Turning slowly to look at the taller hunter she realizes with slight horror that she still held her own saingeom. Rumi knows her walls are still down and flinches realizing Mira felt and heard all that.

Mumbling a quick apology she quickly tries to put up her walls again. Retreat back into her shell as Zoey would say. The thought of the injured maknae shatters the fragile walls she had started to put up. They had to get her home so they could take care of her. She was already starting to move toward the prone girl before Mira clears her throat to get her attention.

 Rumi hesitates before turning back to look, a bit annoyed honestly, before seeing Mira holding her sword in a reverse grip, the hilt pointed towards the half demon while the blade was pointed away. The lead singer flushes as she realizes she still had Mira’s own weapon, the gokdo usually felt heavier in her hold but seeing the pulsing purple patterns along her arms she can guess as to why it didn’t. 

The half demon shuffles over and gently takes her weapon as she presents the gokdo. Mira however doesn’t release the sword when she tries to take it, she ignores the slight hurt because it was valid. Pretty smart to not trust the demon with 2 spirit weapons and leave yourself unarmed honestly, so she loosens her grip on Mira’s weapon-

Only to let out a soft gasp when Mira’s free hand wraps around her clawed hand. Tightening the singer's hold on the piece of her friend's soul firmly. She glances up at the pink haired hunter, both a little nervous and confused, before meeting her intense gaze and gasping more audibly as she feels it.

Feels Mira’s soul as the stoic hunter opens up to her. 

“Mira wait-” Rumi says with a gasp as she tries to pull away “w-we have to get Zoey home” she protests weakly as she tries to put her walls up. Tries block out what Mira was feeling.

“We can both see the honmoon helping her. I’m trusting it to take care of her while I take a second to take care of you” Mira says firmly. “Look at me Rumi.” she orders before continuing “Look at me and feel what I’m feeling because we both know I’m shit with words.”

The half demon whimpers but hesitantly does as told, fearing the sting of rejection now that the fight is over. She had felt Mira’s acceptance and love during the fight and she wants to cling to that for a bit longer. She knows deep down Mira was only accepting her because they had a fight to win, only loves her because she had saved Zoey. She knows it’s selfish, but she rather Mira just takes care of her like she does every other demon, before she has to feel her anger and betrayal. Her hatred. 

Reluctantly she meets the taller hunter's intense gaze again and opens herself up, resisting the urge to throw up as she feels it. All that hatred and anger pouring out of Mira’s soul. She knew it was coming but she still wants to sob as she feels it directed at… not her? Wait, how can it not be directed at her? Who else could it possibly-

Celine. 

She can feel Mira’s anger at the woman who trained them. Feels the way Mira hates how Celine raised her. The betrayal she feels realizing their mentor looked them in the eyes and told them everything with patterns was evil while Rumi was right there. Mira was pissed at the way Celine thought so little of them, thought they’d be good little soldiers and just put Rumi down like she had trained them too. Her anger at how all of Rumi’s silent suffering wouldn’t have even been an issue if Celine didn’t keep them in the dark and just told them.  

Rumi can’t fight the sob of relief that escapes her. Mira wasn’t angry at her, she was angry for her.  She doesn’t feel the way the pink haired hunter pulls her ever so slightly closer, how she rested her forehead against hers. Doesn’t even see her do it as her vision blurs with tears as she feels Mira’s sadness.

She was sad that Rumi had suffered so long alone. Sad that her friend felt like she had to hide and couldn’t trust them but was understanding of why. Disappointed in herself for not realizing she was hurting. Upset with how little Rumi thought of herself.   

The patterned girl wants to argue. Wants to rid Mira of the guilt for not noticing. Wants to defend Celine. Wants to justify her self hatred. However the flash of irritation she feels from the other woman, not at her but her thoughts, is enough to shut her up. After all, as much as she can feel Mira the other hunter can feel her too. 

Rumi nearly crumples to the ground as she feels Mira’s true thoughts and feelings. The overwhelming love, not just for her but Zoey too. How that love makes the woman's hatred of Celine look like an inconvenience, a mere footnote, in comparison. She can feel how Mira is embarrassed by just how much she loves them, how she's scared of it. How she has to resist wrapping the both of them in bubble wrap and locking them away somewhere to keep them safe. The fear of not knowing how she's supposed to live without both of them by her side or if she’d even be able to. How she wants to mesmerize and kiss every single one of Zoey's freckles whenever the maknae smiles up at her and how she has to struggle to stop herself. 

She can feel the way Mira wants to do the same with her patterns right now.

She can feel her legs give out under her because deep down it's what she’s always wanted. Something Celine could never do for her, never being able to even touch the patterns on her skin. Something she couldn’t even do herself, always eyeing them and herself with disgust. Mira can see all of her now and she still loves her. 

  Mira catches her and keeps her steady as she finally tries to use her words and Rumi can feel how honest she is.

“I don’t care that you have patterns,” the dancer claims. “I’ll admit I'm curious but it can wait,” she says, releasing her hold on Rumi's clawed hand only to caress her face. Forcing the half demon's tear soaked eyes up to meet her own watery ones.  

“The only thing I care about right now is having both my girls with me. If you hide yourself away, distance yourself from us, from me, leaving me alone to worry about you both, it will break me.”  Mira says "Promise me you won’t hide away, that you’ll be there for me and Zoey”    

“I promise” Rumi gasps out and she means it, she’ll never hide away from Mira again. 

“Good,” Mira sighs in relief, “We’ll talk more later, but for now let's get our girl home.” she says.

Chapter Text

Rumi wants to feel guilty for how long it took them to get Zoey home. She knows realistically it's been less than a minute since they closed the breach. Her soul to soul with Mira only took maybe 30 seconds at most, and she was able to teleport them home afterwards. They’d probably still be looking for a car to steal right now otherwise so she really shouldn’t feel that bad.

She had teleported them directly into her room so they could use her bed. Their white couch was out of the question with the amount of blood and she didn’t want any of Zoey’s plushies to get ruined which removed her bed as an option. She could have brought them to Mira’s room but Rumi had her own first aid supply stashed here from having to deal with her own injuries in private thanks to the patterns. 

She ignores the way Mira’s eyes flash angrily in clear understanding once the supplies were presented to her.

“Go get some blood bags, she lost a lot and I don't like how pale she still looks,” Mira instructs “and get a bag of saline, I doubt she’ll be waking up soon” she continues quietly, focusing on Zoey now that she trusted Rumi not to hide away. Part of her doesn’t like how well Mira seems to know her. She totally would have hidden, locked herself away and pretended not to exist. She would have thought it was for the best, part of her still thinks it is but she made a promise and she intends to keep it. 

Rumi ignores those thoughts and quickly runs to get those things, ignoring the familiar twinge of guilt at the mention of the blood bags. The girls had been so happy and relieved when they found out they were all compatible but Rumi had insisted on keeping her blood separate. She knows it hurt them at the time but hopefully they'll understand her reasoning now, being half demon and all. 

Shaking her head, she quickly focuses on her assigned task. She would have liked to be more hands on but she still had demonic claws and she wasn’t even sure if they'd go away yet. Mira was basically their medic anyways and Rumi can’t help but smile slightly thinking of all the “Nurse Joy” jokes Zoey loved to make whenever Mira was forced into this mindset. 

She quickly returns with her bounty and some additional supplies she wasn’t sure that she had stashed. Unable to stop the gasp that escapes her as she freezes, staring down at the exposed wound on Zoey’s back as Mira works to clean it and remove the mess of band aids she had applied previously. 

“Good your back,” Mira says, derailing the train of regret that was pulling into the half demon's mind. “Come take over cleaning this while I get ready to stitch her back up.”

“W-Wait! Mira I dont know if thats…” Rumi trails off looking down at her claws.

“Rumi you’re going to have to help me hold the wound closed while I stitch her up anyways,” Mira says flatly, continuing before there were any protests. “I trust you Rumi. Zoey trusts you. You’d never do anything to hurt us” 

Taking a shuddering breath Rumi sets down the supplies she retrieved “o-okay just… let me just wash my uh… hands first” she mumbles, casting a glare down at what were supposed to be hands as she moves towards the bathroom.

“Fine, but don’t look in the mirror” Mira says, as she makes use of the blood Rumi brought her. 

“What?” Rumi asks, deeply concerned.

Mira sighs and turns to look at her with a surprisingly soft gaze, “Rumi you basically went full demon to save our girl and I know you. I know you a lot better now than I did this morning and you're going to freak out if you look in the mirror. I need you here and focused to help me help Zoey first. I’ll help you through the inevitable panic attack while I look at your own injuries but she has to come first right now.”

Rumi wants to protest but all she can do is nod dumbly, tears already filling her eyes again as she heads to the bathroom. She is really starting to dislike how well Mira knows her now but at the same time it fills her with a comfortable warmth. It takes a lot to focus only on her claws hands and not look up at the monster she knows will be in the mirror but she manages. 

Mira offers her some gloves when she returns which she does put on. No, she totally didn’t just put 3 on each hand to try and conceal her claws. Yes, she definitely does still have circulation in her fingers. The pink haired hunter just rolls her eyes though, conceding for now and letting Rumi take over cleaning while she preps the needle and thread.

The lead singer of the group focuses her attention down onto the maknae. She feels horrible and mumbles apologies as she tries to be as gentle as possible while she works. 

It should have been her. Not Zoey.

She should have protected her girls better.

“Babe stop it, you’re spiraling again,” Mira says casually.

Rumi looks up in surprise, glancing at Mira’s hands to confirm she wasn’t still in possession of her saingeom again before her words register “B-Babe?!” 

Mira just smirks and gives a half shrug before coming over, “lets get our baby girl patched up so she can get some rest.”

Rumi takes a breath to clear her thoughts once again before nodding. Wincing at the pained noises Zoey was making as they worked.  Whispering apologies and reassurances to comfort the Maknae under them. 

Her mind had started to wander back towards her guilt and regret before Mira spoke up. “Would talking help? To distract you from spiraling? It usually helps Zoey whenever she gets upset” she explains softly.

“I don’t know…” Rumi admits softly. “What would we even talk about?” she asks, not missing the way Mira’s gaze flicks to her patterns, not with disgust or anything, but obvious curiosity.

“We’ve been on vacation the last few days yet you've seemed tenser than usual,” Mira redirects after a moment. “Did you maybe want to talk about that?” she asks. 

Rumi sighs “I’ve been fighting an internal battle with myself. Part of me wanted to release Golden as soon as we got home from the world tour. The other part wanted to give you guys the break you deserved.” she admits.

“You deserve a break too Rumi.” Mira says after a moment. Her eyes narrow at the look of disagreement that crosses Rumi’s face but she’ll ignore it for now. “Why are you so eager to release Golden?” She presses 

“You mean beyond finally sealing the honmoon and saving all of humanity?” Rumi half jokes before mumbling “I think you already know…” 

“The golden honmoon can’t fix you Rumi” Mira says a bit coldly as she finishes stitching up the first gash. The half demon's gaze snaps up to protest only for the words to die in her throat as she meets the taller hunter’s gaze. “The golden honmoon can’t fix you because there is nothing to fix,” she says firmly. “But I'll humor your stupid opinion for now and ask why you think you need to be fixed?” Mira says a bit softer.

Rumi looks away embarrassed, thinking a moment before answering “so I can be free.” 

“Free from what?” her friend asks gently.

“The lies. The secrets. The fear” Rumi rambles a bit as her vision blurs.

“Fear?” Mira gently pushes while continuing to tend to Zoey. 

 “The fear of losing you both… The fear of you looking at me the way I look at myself…” Rumi admits before letting out a sob. Shaking her head to try and clear her thoughts and vision with little success.  Mira was a bit stunned and didn’t get the chance to respond before the purple haired woman continued, “These lies and secrets, they keep me in chains. The fear strengthened them whenever I thought about breaking free, of letting you in. Kept me from being myself. From being free to do what I want.”

“And what is it you want to do?” Mira asks, finishing up the second smaller gash.   

“I wanna go to the bathhouse!” Rumi sobs, fully breaking down now “I want to share a dressing room with you guys and just hang out before shows. I want to cuddle on the couch and snuggle after nightmares. I want to not have to wear long sleeve shirts or jackets or whatever every single day, especially on hot days and don’t even get me started on photoshoots!” she babbles. Only stopping when Mira gently cups her face and makes her look at her.

Mira coos softly as she looks at Rumi. Cradling her face with her bare hands, having discarded the gloves to comfort her, and wipe away tears with her thumbs as she smiled softly. “Guess what tiger?” 

“W-What?” Rumi mumbles, blushing faintly.

“You’re free now.”