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rumalumasuns · 1 year

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"Each day I love you more, today more than yesterday, and less than tomorrow" (Rosemonde Gerard) - With Shu Yamino

Based (loosely) on Beauty and the Beast by Disney (for the first part y'all might wanna listen to this song for reference if y'all don't know it already lol)

Part of my Living in a Fairy Tale series

!- Reader is Gender neutral (if I made a mistake somewhere I apologize and I'll fix it as soon as possible!)

!- Mentions of shooting, blood, killing, obsessive behavior from antagonists, magic curses, gremlins

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, Shu Speaking

Original work by rumalumasuns, 5,175 words (it's long sorry haha), unedited but I will do so when I have time later :)

Once upon a time,...

There was a handsome, young prince by the name of Shu Yamino de Luxiem of the Kingdom of Ninisani. Shu was a peculiar prince. He wasn't like his oldest brother Vox, the Crown Prince, his older brother Ike, an infamous novelist, his younger brother Mysta, an acute detective, or his youngest brother Luca, the Captain of the Imperial Guard. Instead, he was a sorcerer - one with a high aptitude for performing curses.

Although his art was looked down upon by those around him, as curses were seen as taboo, his brothers didn't mind, and even supported him! Shu was a prince, and he could (within reason) do what he desired. His art wasn't useless either: with the help of his curses, many monster and demon subjugations went smoothly.

So, what went wrong?

As stated, Shu was a peculiar prince. It wasn't just because of his curses. Rather, he was interested in many peculiar things, including tales of sky dragons and fairies and mermaids, as well as unusual trinkets. While strolling through the woods, Shu stumbled upon something glowing within the bushes. His curiosity peaked, and he absolutely HAD to see what the glowing substance was, possibly bring it home for research.

Once Shu parted the bushes, he came upon a glorious, glowing piece of...excrement. AKA poop.

"Huh? Why is this poop glowing?" thought Shu, as he began to, without thinking, reach for the poop. Before he could get his hands on it, however, he was stopped by a screech.

"HOW DARE YOU! YOU DARE LAY YOUR HANDS ON MY PRECIOUS EXCREMENTOUS SUBSTANCIOUS???"

Shu whipped around in panic, even though he didn't even touch the poop. Behind him was an infuriated gremlin. It stomped its feet and roared in rage, waving its magic staff around. At this point, Shu was confused by such actions.

"But...but it's just glowing poop?"

"NO! IT IS MY PRECIOUS! FOR YOUR CRIME, YOU WILL PAY!"

The gremlin roared and hastily waved its staff around, chanting.

"WITH MY CURSE, ONE NEEDS TO FIND SOME-ONE WHO SEES BEAU-TY, IN EVE-RY-THING EV-EN IF IT'S THE WORST YOU'VE EV-ER SEEN! BUT WHO ON EARTH WOULD LOVE A BEAST AS HID-E-OUS AS HE? NO ONE, THAT'S WHO! AND SO THE NAR-RA-TIVE CEAS-ES TO BE!"

"Wait!"

But before Shu could stop him, the gremlin cursed the prince. A glow surrounded Shu, and all he could hear was the gremlin faintly cackling as his vision filled with white.

When his vision cleared, Shu found himself on a grassy cliff covered by a forest of tall oak trees that overlooked a small town. In a daze, Shu vaguely noted his location as he scanned a sign that was posted in front of the small town's entrance, showing "Petit Mura of the Kingdom of Ninisani".

".......What just happened??"

Shu gasped, then grasped for his throat, thinking it was weird that his voice came out in a much more low and gruff tone, only to retract his hand quickly after feeling not flesh on his neck, but fur. His eyes widened once he caught sight of his hand- er, paw. A paw with black fur. He then looked down at his clothes, now wrapping around his black fur-covered body. His shoes were gone, replaced with large black paws with sharp silver claws. Shu quickly looked around for anything reflective near his location and found a lake a couple meters behind him. Shu hurriedly ran to it to look at his reflection, and his eyes widened. His face now had a fuzzy snout and thick, pointy ears. The only things that could show that he was Prince Shu were his violet eyes and a small ahoge that was reminiscent of his yellow hair back in his human form.

"I'm...a panther beast? Well, cool, but I have to go back home. My brothers are probably waiting."

So, Shu tried to undo his curse and go on his way, thinking that it would be easy since he specialized in curses. However, he discovered that he couldn't undo it. In fact, he couldn't do curse magic at all, besides summoning a couple shikigamis, which he lovingly called his Yaminions. Perplexed, but getting his priorities straight, he sent one Yaminion to the castle to let his brothers know that he was okay.

Shu then tried to think about what he should do next, but before he could reflect on his situation any further, his train of thought was halted by a small voice singing, coming from the town behind him. Curiosity, as always, got the better of Shu as he crept through the trees until he got to the edge of the cliff and peeped over, not wanting any locals to spot him and chase him away in horror.

"𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞…𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞."Shu observed the person singing as they sang about how they are stuck in a town with life that was too repetitive. They held a book in their hand titled Sorcery Through the Ages.

"They seem kind and knowledgeable...Maybe they're understanding enough to give me some help and shelter until I can figure all of this out..."

Shu’s main objective was to look at the townspeople and find potential people who could help him, including the person with the book. He continued to watch as the person went through the little town, as others (for some strange reason Shu couldn't fathom) began to join in singing. The song by the townspeople was filled with insults and praises alike: how weird the person was for reading such strange books, and how beautiful this person was despite their flaws - in short, the townspeople talked about how the person was nothing like the rest of those in the town. He also learned the person's name through the song: Beau/Belle (Beau or Belle depending on what y'all prefer).

Shu saw how they sighed at the townspeople who doubted them, and how they had to shoo two people - possible suitors of Belle/Beau - away before they went into their home.

After looking over the town for a little longer, Shu decided he needed to find or make a temporary shelter for the evening. He went to one of the nearby oak trees before asking his four Yaminions to help him build a treehouse (really just a wooden tent on a sturdy branch), climbing the tree easily with his new body, and eventually resting in his shelter.

His eyes drooped promptly after settling down, as he reflected on the day's events.

"... What a day...," said Shu, before his eyes closed, and slumber came to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shu was abruptly awoken in the dark by one of his Yaminions, who was frantically indicating to the ground. His ears perked up upon hearing rustles and cracks coming from below. Cautiously, Shu craned his neck out of his shelter to direct his vision downwards, where he saw an old man harvesting what appeared to be faintly golden-glowing acorns. Shu watched as the old man hemmed and grumbled about how peculiar his child was to always want these for their birthday.

Resolving to find a proper shelter, Shu slowly and silently shimmeyed (lol try saying that 5 times fast) down the tree. When he was a couple feet behind the old man, he carefully cleared his throat. The old man whipped his head behind in a panic, wondering who on Ninisani would be awake at this hour besides him. He didn't see anything besides the slight glimmer of Shu's amethyst, beastly eyes.

After Shu noted that the old man saw him, he opened his mouth.

"... Please don't scream. I would only like some assistance from you if that is alright?"

The old man pondered a moment before nodding his head.

"Come into the light, please," said the old man. Slowly, Shu emerged from his place in the dark to the dimly lit area that the old man with his faintly glowing acorns was in.

The old man’s eyes widened as he let out an audible gasp. Shu’s full panther beast form was shown to him, something he’d only heard about through the stories that his child read to him while he was working with the acorns. Unable to overcome his shock, the old man fainted.

Shu rushed to the side of the man.

“Oh no, oh no, please wake up!! I just wanted... to ask... for... help..."

Shu tapped the side of the old man’s face and shook his shoulders slightly, before sighing and looking around for a safe place to put the old man (as Shu did not know where the old man lived).

Eventually, Shu decided to bring the old man back to his makeshift shelter, and with the help of his Yaminions, he leaped up to the treehouse, carrying the old man on his back.

After securing the old man in place so that he won't fall even if he woke up in a panic, Shu sighed deeply, hoping that tomorrow morning he could have an actual conversation with the man. He assigned one of his Yaminions to keep watch before he fell into slumber.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫? 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮!… 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐬… 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬… 𝐎𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞!"

Shu's ears perked up upon hearing the sound of a person venturing through the woods. Lazily, one of his eyes opened, as Shu noted that it was now late morning. Beside him was the unconscious old man, whom Shu believed was the father that the person below was looking for.

To see who the person was, Shu looked out from his shelter, only to have his eyes widen in surprise as he saw the Belle/Beau from the day before now in the woods.

'They must be this old man's child...'

Shu then thought of a plan. Although he never wanted to bargain using someone's life, in this case, he had to if he wanted to gain even a slim possibility of the help that Belle/Beau could offer. So, he called out to them from the treehouse.

"You there! I have your father. I have kept him safe in the woods after I found him passed out. However, I will not release him yet."

Belle/Beau looked around for the source of the voice before spotting a faint outline of Shu's rickety treehouse near the top of one of the oak trees.

"𝐔𝐡𝐦… 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲, 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐭? 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭? 𝐈 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐧𝐨𝐰!"

"I'm afraid I cannot do that, unless you promise me something."

"…𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐬𝐢𝐫, 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫."

"That... well... I need some help and shelter. You see, I was cursed-"

"𝐇𝐦𝐦? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞?"

"I said I was cursed- darn it, why can't I say it??"

"…𝐒𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤, 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤."

"Th-There's no need for that! I... I'll come down. But first, may I ask if you have ever encountered mythical creatures before? Such as beastmen?"

"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐝𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧- 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬… 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐤, 𝐬𝐢𝐫?" asked Y/N in a suspicious voice.

"... Well, you're about to meet one, so..."

Y/N's face pulled into one of surprise before they quickly composed themself.

"𝐀𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭."

Y/N stared at the tree leaves, getting ready to use the book in their hand to defend themself, and waited. Eventually, they heard the rustle of the leaves and something heavy made its way down.

First, Y/N saw a black, long tail. Then, they saw pants and a coat. Eventually, all of Shu was shown as he made his descent from the top of the tree, and Y/N saw it all: a panther beastman with amethyst-colored eyes and their father on his back.

"𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫!" exclaimed Y/N as they rushed to his side, shaking him awake. Eventually, the old man awoke, dazed and confused as to why his child was shaking him so hard. Then, he looked around and slowly began to recall the events of the night before. Quickly, he stood up and shielded Y/N away from the beastman.

"What have you done to me?"

"Uh, I haven't done anything. I brought you back to my temporary shelter because you fainted after you saw me..."

"... Oh. Well, what do you want with us?"

"I only would like a place to stay for a couple of months. You see, I have a situation that requires me to find a shelter..."

"What situation?"

"I... I can't say. B-But! I will prove to you that I have no bad intentions. I'll cook and help you with things if you need it: I only ask that you provide me a place to stay for a couple of months. Afterwards, I will reward you greatly."

"Pfft- reward? What could you possibly offer us?" asked the old man with a scoff.

"𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞?" asked Y/N, with a glimmer of hope in their eyes as they clutched their book harder with their hands.

"Uhm, I don't know of other beast people than me, but I can provide you help with my curses, and my Yaminions."

"𝐘𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬?"

Shu then summoned four shikigamis, each swirling around him before tentatively going towards Y/N, who looked upon them with wonder. Noticing their child's excitement, the old man considered taking the beastman in.

"...Alright, we'll let you stay with us. But, if there is any funny business, just know that we will not hesitate to defend ourselves," said the old man, who moved his hand towards a gun that was resting on his hip. Shu nodded in understanding.

"I promise, no funny business."

After a moment of silence, the old man sighed before he motioned Shu to follow him. Shu, the old man, and Y/N went on a path that was covered, likely to prevent Shu from being seen by the townspeople, who would definitely try to chase him out of the town, or even kill him.

While walking, Shu ended up side by side with Y/N, who then turned to him and introduced themself.

"𝐈'𝐦 𝐘/𝐍 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞/𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮 𝐋/𝐍. 𝐀 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞/𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐦𝐞. 𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦."

"...I'll call you Y/N if that's alright?"

Y/N's eyes brightened before they nodded and smiled.

"𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞?"

"...I'm Shu. Shu...Kurano."

"𝐖𝐨𝐰, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦."

"Haha... do I?"

"𝐘𝐞𝐩! 𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜! 𝐈𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠!"

Shu watched as the person continued to praise him (unknowingly), feeling slightly warm inside. No one had liked his practice in curse magic, much less find it interesting. Everyone else besides his brothers feared or disliked it, even his own servants. But, not this person.

'This is nice,' thought Shu, as he continued to converse more with Y/N. Through their conversation, he found out about how Y/N moved to this town when they were little, and grew up being told how unusual or strange they were for being interested in peculiar things.

"Me too, I'm like that also. Growing up, the people around me thought I was weird, haha."

"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐈 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧!" laughed Y/N.

Y/N then talked about how they recently were constantly bothered by these siblings who were infamous in town, Gastro and Gastria LeGuem, who tried to court them and show off to them.

"𝐈'𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 '𝐍𝐎'! 𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭? 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝?"

"Not at all, they sound like tough people to deal with."

"𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞."

Little did Y/N know, Gastro and Gastria were obsessed with Y/N. They both knew Y/N's habits, their favorite foods, and their three sizes - and they wanted to know more. They wanted to make Y/N theirs (to share, they weren't sure yet but they figured they could battle it out). So when Gastro and Gastria detected a new presence entering the L/N household, they became on edge.

Just after Y/N helped Shu settle in, they heard a frantic knock on the house's front door. Y/N peeked out from the little window in Shu's room, only to groan when they saw Gastro and Gastria outside.

"𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐭? 𝐈'𝐦 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦."

"Why are you looking for your soulmate?"

Y/N turned from the window to look at Shu.

"…𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐚𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬. 𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞."

"That... sounds so amazing! I've never heard of something like that."

"𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮."

The two smiled at each other for a moment, until loud banging came again from the front door. Y/N groaned again, muttering curses under their breath.

"𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐢, 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦."

"Alright, good luck!" Shu gave Y/N a thumbs-up as they left the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~downstairs~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭?" said Y/N in a slightly harsh and frustrated tone.

"MY LOVE! I am so happy you could grace us with your presence," said Gastro, who bowed deeply and tried to reach for Y/N's hand to give them a kiss on it, before he was pulled away by his sister.

"YES, MY LOVE! We came to make sure that everything was okay in this household. Is there someone who came to visit? Your house smells... different. Musky. I do not like it."

Y/N sighed.

"𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞. 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲, 𝐧𝐨, 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭."

"I SEE! Well, Gastria, I guess it is alright then. Will you, Y/N, let us into your house for a moment? I would like to give my greetings to my future father-in-law," said Gastro, as he began to force his way into the house.

"𝐍𝐨! 𝐆𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮!" and with that Y/N slapped Gastro out of the doorway. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞!"

The door slammed in Gastro and Gastria's faces.

"...Brother, something is not right. Y/N clearly lied to us just now."

"I know, sister. It is obvious that Y/N loves us."

"Well, there's that, but I clearly sense another presence in there. It is not our future father-in-law, but it is definitely male."

"*Gasp* No! Well, we just have to kill him off, don't we sister?"

Gastria grinned maliciously.

"Yes brother, we do. Let us go get our guns ready."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple months passed, and Y/N thought that these might be some of the best months of their life. During that time, Y/N and Shu got to know more of each other, and Y/N did not see the LeGuem siblings at all. They were satisfied, thinking that they finally got rid of the siblings once and for all.

Y/N and Shu read books together, discussing the content, and Shu talked about his adventures and encounters with peculiarities. There were the occasional admiration speeches from Y/N whenever the topic of curse magic was brought up, as it related to Prince Shu.

"You know, you're really an odd one Y/N. N-Not in a bad way or anything, but in a good way! It's just, don't you think curse magic is scary or weird?"

"𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝? 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐝. 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰?"

Shu's chest felt warm. Lately, he kept getting these warm feelings whenever Y/N expressed their interest and acceptance of Prince Shu and his curse magic (well, because it's about him, obviously). He had a feeling he knew what this warmth meant, but he decided to push it to the back of his head for now.

"Alright you two, come and eat some breakfast," said the old man. The old man had been observing the interactions between his child and Shu, and while he was at first afraid that Shu would do something, he found Shu to be quite helpful and kind. Much better than anyone else in the town (besides their town's librarian, who always had books to share with Y/N). If only Shu wasn't a beastman...

His train of thought was interrupted by someone bursting through their door. Shu whipped his head up, only to make eye contact with the LeGuem siblings.

"AHHHHH Y/N MY LOVE! YOU ARE IN DANGER! I KNEW WE SHOULD HAVE INVESTIGATED SOONER!" exclaimed Gastro, looking at Shu in rage and in disgust as he started to raise his gun.

"Y/N, SWEETIE, LEAVE HIM TO US. GO HIDE WITH FATHER-IN-LAW!" said Gastria in a shrill voice, as she grinned and cocked her gun to Shu's chest area.

"𝐍𝐨!" exclaimed Y/N, as they pulled Shu to the side just as the first shot was fired. They took Shu's paw and urged him up the stairs, as the old man threw some plates at Gastro and Gastria to distract them.

Once Y/N and Shu got in his room, Y/N brought out a bag of emergency supplies for Shu.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞! 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞-"

"But what about you!" asked Shu, as his paws enveloped the hand he was holding.

"𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞! 𝐆𝐨!" said Y/N, as they opened up one of the back windows and pushed Shu out. Shu landed on his feet paws before he turned to look back at the window. He saw Y/N motioning frantically to the road they took when they first brought him to their home. Although Shu didn't want to, he eventually sprinted down the road, not looking back. His speed as a beastman allowed him to quickly get back to the area he was in before: the forest on a cliff overlooking the town.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple days passed, where Shu was lazily living a solitary life in his treehouse, worrying about Y/N, when one of his Yaminions, which he sent to watch over Y/N, frantically floated to him.

It made motions on his paw, crumpling up like origami and animating with its paper form who he assumed to be Y/N getting brought to a stake a burning.

He sat up with a start.

"They're going to burn Y/N at the stake?? But I thought Gastra and Gustrio or whatever loved them?? What happened? What about their father??"

The Yaminion crumpled up into a different scene and showed Gastro and Gastria beating up the old man, who kept trying to protect Y/N from them before Gastria raised her gun and shot him in the head. Y/N fell to the floor, shouting curses at the siblings, before clutching their father to their chest. The siblings left Y/N with their dying father in some room, and locked them up, as Y/N continued to cradle their father as he slowly died. He said something to Y/N, then went limp. Y/N sobbed silently over their father's corpse. The Yaminion then went back to its original shape.

"...So, just because they refused to like the siblings back, the siblings killed their father and now are going to kill them? WHAT?" Shu stood up, enraged, and resolved to help Y/N, even if it meant getting killed. Y/N was one of the only ones who believed in and accepted him, even as a beastman and Shu was willing to finally acknowledge what he felt for them: love.

He jumped down the tree, his Yaminions floating after him, as they rushed towards the town. Dusk was approaching, meaning Shu did not have much time left to save Y/N.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When he got to the entrance of the town, Shu sent his Yaminions to find where Y/N was placed for preparing for the "burning ceremony". Lately, Shu had found that he could perform a little bit of some other magic as long as he used their elementary spells (level 1 and 2 spells). So, he used his level 2 spell of cloaking with the shadows to be able to sneak around town and find the siblings who were causing all this trouble. If possible, he wanted to deal with them before they could harm anyone else. People in the town were milling about, lingering around the stake that Y/N was going to be burned at.

"I heard that they were a witch who enticed a magic beast to come into town for a while before the LeGuem siblings caught on and saved us!"

"Oh, bless those siblings! They are always such a help when it comes to the big hunts."

"Yes. They're also so charming! It's about time that Y/N got their retribution for rejecting such amazing people so often."

Shu scoffed internally at the gossip from the people he passed by.

'The siblings aren't charming, they're crazy!' thought Shu. 'You can have them, just leave Y/N alone!'

After a couple minutes of searching, Shu found the LeGuem siblings in a pub, as the people within sang praises of them for protecting them from the "witch" Y/N and for being so good-looking and strong.

Shu waited for the siblings to come out, before he revealed himself, much to the horror of the townspeople.

"IT'S THE WITCH'S COMPANION!"

"SAVE US, GASTRO! SAVE US GASTRIA!"

The siblings smirked at the desperate cries of the siblings before they pulled out their guns and started shooting at Shu. Shu called upon his level 1 wind magic spell "Deflect" and was able to make the bullets go around him and stop their motion. Gastria became uneased, as she never had to deal with an opponent who used magic, while Gastro growled in frustration, disliking Shu's move. He began to recklessly shoot at Shu, and the bullets began to go toward the townspeople. In a panic, the townspeople scattered away to their houses, screaming.

Shu didn't pay any mind to the screams as he started to make attacks of his own, summoning level 2 fire spells to burn the clothes and hair of Gastro and Gastria, leaving Gastria bald and Gastro's shirt in smoldering tatters. The siblings yelped as they continued to reload and shoot at Shu, though their attempts were futile. Shu would've won if it weren't for the fact that Gastro and Gastria directed their attention to someone behind him.

Gastria and Gastro cackled in madness, before shooting at Y/N, who had a yellow outfit adorned with gold, probably for the burning ceremony.

"NO!" Shu sent a gust of wind to direct the bullets away from Y/N, who held their father's gun in one hand and a shield in the other. They would've been fine even if Shu didn't do anything, but Shu didn't care. His priority was to protect them.

And he did, at the expense of his own protection. Laughing harshly, Gastria pointed her gun at Shu.

"For Y/N's love!" she exclaimed before firing her remaining two bullets into Shu's chest.

"For our love!" exclaimed her brother, who followed suit and gave Shu bullet wounds in the leg and arms.

"𝐍𝐨!" cried Y/N, as they aimed their gun and shot at Gastria and Gastro's hands. As they practiced with this gun a lot with their father, all of Y/N's shots met their mark, leaving Gastro and Gastria to scream in pain and leaving their hands immobile. Their guns left their hands and flew to the ground near Y/N, who then crushed them using the shield in their hand.

Shu's Yaminions flew from behind the shield (as they were there reinforcing the shield in case any bullets came for Y/N). They hit the back of the necks of the LeGuem siblings, knocking them unconscious, before quickly going to Shu.

Y/N followed them and ran to Shu's side. They gasped at the multiple bleeding wounds he had, and his Yaminions, who once frantically floated around Shu to try and save him, were now drifting to Shu's side and fading away.

In a frenzy, Y/N ripped off a part of their sleeve and applied pressure to the wound bleeding the most, gasping as tears formed in their eyes.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲- 𝐨𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐢𝐭'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲, 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝-"

"Y/N..."

Y/N looked over at Shu in shock, tears streaming down their face as they continued to try and staunch the bleeding.

"… 𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐒𝐡𝐮?" replied Y/N shakily as they continued to apply pressure.

"... I love you."

"𝐒𝐡𝐮, 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰!-"

"Y/N... I'm afraid I'm running out of time."

Shu chuckled weakly, his smile strained and pained, and he looked upon Y/N and placed a hand on their cheek, slowly wiping away a tear.

"I love you."

Those were Shu's last words before he closed his eyes.

Y/N sobbed, as they desperately clutched onto Shu's hand, and looked at Shu, his clothes now soaked with blood.

"𝐌𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨… 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨, 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞. 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒, 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄!"

Y/N's tears fell onto Shu's face as they looked upon him, before letting out a quiet sob as he remained unresponsive.

Then, they remembered something, and hurriedly took off their pendant made out of the wood of the glowing acorns and placed it over Shu's heart. Y/N then started chanting.

"𝐌𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐈 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐞. 𝐁𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞! 𝐒𝐨, 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐌𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞!"

Their pendant glowed and Y/N saw the bullet marks in Shu heal as the bullets popped out from his body.

It was silent after the pendant stopped glowing. Y/N held their breath, eyes trained on Shu's chest for any breathing movement.

After a couple moments of dead silence, Y/N was about to lose hope before Shu gasped suddenly and sat up. He pawed at the places where he was shot, only to find that he was completely healed.

He turned to look at Y/N, who had tears streaming down their face before they hugged Shu fiercely, muttering "𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐓𝐚𝐳𝐮𝐦𝐢-𝐬𝐚𝐧" and "𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲!"

"You... you saved me? With your acorn pendant? But, you were supposed to use that for your soulmate..."

"𝐒𝐡𝐮, 𝐈 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞."

Shu looked at Y/N with shock and disbelief.

"Are you sure? I thought you wouldn't like me since I’m this way and all..."

"𝐎𝐡, 𝐒𝐡𝐮…"

Y/N shook their head before gently holding Shu's paw.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐧𝐨, 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐈 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞. 𝐉𝐮��𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮."

Shu felt his heart stutter before he brought the hand that was holding his paw to his chest, bringing Y/N closer to him. The two seemed to have the same desire, as slowly they began to get closer and closer. Y/N placed a hand on Shu's face, making him lower himself until the top of his snout was now below their lips.

A moment full of tension passed, before Y/N put their lips on the top of Shu's snout, giving him a gentle kiss.

Shu felt his face grow hot, as his tail started moving around in happiness and wrapped around one of Y/N's legs.

Y/N pulled away, a satisfied grin on their face before it turned into one of shock as Shu's body suddenly started to glow a blinding white. In a panic, thinking that the acorns didn't do their job and now Shu was going to go away from them, Y/N reached out for him with one arm, while the other arm covered their eyes.

"𝐒𝐇𝐔!"

But just as quickly as it started, the glow ended as well, leaving not Shu the panther beast, but Shu the human sorcerer prince.

"…𝐒𝐡𝐮?"

Shu's eyes were closed, as the light blinded him as well, before he slowly opened them.

"...Yea?..."

"𝐘𝐨𝐮… 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧?? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝? 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭, 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥?"

"Uh, huh?" Shu looked down at himself. His shirt was loose and in tatters, though all his articles of clothing were able to shrink back along with him. In place of his paws were his pale hands, and he was barefoot.

"I, I'm back! I turned back into a human!" exclaimed Shu, before looking at Y/N who was confused.

"I was cursed, but I couldn't say this to you at all. But now, I'm back so... I-Is it weird?...," asked Shu shyly, as the silence afterward stretched longer and became slightly awkward.

Slowly, Y/N walked to Shu, before hugging him.

"𝐈, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐮. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝," said Y/N in gentle joy, as they gripped onto Shu tighter with their arms.

Shu, still in slight disbelief over his sudden transformation back into a human, hugged them back tightly. He lightly started sobbing.

“Thank you…thank you for loving me.”

Y/N grinned.

“𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐧𝐨𝐭, 𝐡𝐚𝐡𝐚.”

After they broke apart from the hug, Y/N looked at the side of Shu’s face as he held onto their waist, pulling them into his side. Shu looked in the distance, towards the direction of the castle where he had to go next. Y/N smiled at him in understanding before looking at the same space.

Together, they reveled in the peace that they earned.

Then, Y/N broke the silence.

“𝐁𝐮𝐭…𝐒𝐡𝐮…𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐞…𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝.”

Shu froze before turning to look back at Y/N, horrified but laughing at the same time.

“NOOOOOO- I mean I love you, but NOOOOOO-”

Their conversation continued filled with giggles, happiness, and love.

And they lived happily ever after~

The End.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Epilogue:

“SHU!!!! YOU’RE BACK!” shouted Shu’s brother, Mysta, who was sobbing loudly, face flushed and with tear stains down his cheeks as he ran to Shu.

“SHUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!” exclaimed Shu’s other brother, Luca, who ran excitedly to Shu, passing Mysta, and gave him a big bear hug, not noticing that Shu was holding someone’s hand.

Ike was descending the stairs of the palace entrance in a much more calm manner, although his excitement and relief were shown through his fast walking strides towards Shu and his face showing a wide smile.

Vox was right behind Ike, laughing in relief at the sight of Shu, while also noting the presence of the person standing behind him with mild interest.

While Shu was staying in Y/N’s town, he had been regularly corresponding with Vox through his Yaminions, so Vox had a feeling that this person was this Y/N Belle/Beau L/N who was mentioned in Shu’s letters. Vox was happy that they were both safe, especially after the LeGuem incident. The LeGuem family happened to be a small barony that supported the town that Y/N was in. They were now stripped of their title, with the LeGuem siblings being put in the imperial prison on the outskirts of Ninisani.

He watched in amusement as Ike managed to pull Luca and Mysta off of Shu before asking the person next to their brother to introduce themselves. The person proudly introduced themself as:

“𝐘/𝐍 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞/𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮 𝐋/𝐍, 𝐒𝐡𝐮’𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫 :)”

“…..WHAT?!?!?!?!?”

Vox chuckled to himself.

Things were going to get even noisier in their Palace de Luxiem.

#sorryforthedelayhopeyalllikedit:)#nijisanji en #nijisanji en x reader #nijisanji en boys #nijisanji en boys x reader #shu yamino #shu yamino x reader #shu x reader #luxiem #luxiem x reader #luxiem x gender neutral reader

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