sorry for the short one guys, its been a long couple of weeks but I wanted to give you guys something, so without further ado, let's do further into the world of these two broken souls. CHECK THE AURHORS NOTES AT THE BOTTOM!
When Ise woke up again, the sun was beginning to set, and he could smell food. He opened his eyes slowly and saw Shi-Shi there, cooking some fish. "Hey." He croaked.
"ISE! You're awake! Oh, let me get you some water." She shouted, before hurrying to get a water bottle from a nearby bag for Ise.
Ise scrunched his face, and spoke quietly, "A little louder maybe? I don't think that all the angels heard." Irina probably did, but that's a different story.
"Sorry." Shi-Shi spoke softly.
"It's okay. Just try to keep it down. Why are you here, anyway?"
"Tannin and I followed you after you ran away. Are you… are you ok?"
Ise paused. He looked at Shi-Shi and she could see his cool eyes, his worn out smile. And for once she could see past it, to a broken child with more problems than most grown men don't have to handle. She saw a kid who grew up way too fast, a child who skipped his childhood.
And then he spoke, just one word, but a single word that was filled with the weight of the world. A word that reminded her that in front of her was the Red Dragon Emperor, a being whose only job is violence, and yet, all he wanted was peace. A being that fought with himself everyday, and was always in agony. That's The voice that spoke "No."
"I- I'm sorry." She spoke softly.
"For what?" He asked, confused.
"That you're hurting and that I can't help." She spoke. "That you're in so much agony every day and that you have to carry your burdens because you're the only one who can. I just wish that maybe you could trust me enough to let me carry some of those burdens with you." She said, eyes down.
"No. It's not your fault. It's just a shitty situation. That's all. The only thing that you need to worry about is your training. You need to get stronger and worry about you, okay? I can take care of myself this time." He said softly.
"But Ise…" She trailed off.
"Just don't worry about it, okay? I'll be fine." Ise spoke sharply this time. His voice cut deep unintentionally, and she recoiled sharply.
"Okay. I just don't like seeing you so hurt." She whispered. She turned to walk away before Ise called out to her.
"Wait."
When she turned around, he began to speak. "There was something about the way Rias spoke… something about her tone of voice, her anger… It reminded me of my mom." He spoke, curling into a ball reflexively. "The reason you never see her home is because once you guys showed up and gave us all that money, she took off and left. You never had to see her like I did. Emma was the one who always saved me from her. You see, Mom would drink. And then she would drink some more and more. And when Dad wasn't home to see her explode, she'd explode at me. Screaming and hitting me until I was backed into a corner. And then she'd keep going. These are from her." Ise said, before turning around and lifting the back of his shirt. at first it looked normal, until the glamor lifted.
Shi-Shi gasped.
His back was a patchwork of scars, burns, prods and stings. She began to cry imagining the suffering that he must have gone through in order to get some of these scars.
Ise rolled his shirt back down and turned back around to face Shi-Shi. "These are my scars." He whispered, and yet it was an echo in their empty clearing. "These are my burdens and I will carry them for the rest of my days. Because I have to. Because these scars are my past and they will carry me to the future." His words were strong but his voice wasn't. It was shaky and quiet and it sounded scared.
"She was a monster." Said Shi-Shi.
"No. She was a devil. You didn't see her like I did, when she got mad, she got mad," he said. "When people were around she'd hide her temper but as soon as everyone left.
She walked up to him and hugged him, and the couple spent the next hour in peaceful quiet, nothing but the sounds of Ise's sobs and the birds to interrupt the silence.
It was unfair that the curse of the Red Dragon Emperor remained, that it would hurt what Shi-Shi was sure at one point had been an innocent little child. She swore to protect the man in her arms no matter the cost. But who could have guessed just how large the cost would be?
and this story is a slow burn, but there will eventually be real romance. the original version had them together 4 chapters ago, but that just wasn't realistic. they'll problems be together soon though. and thanks for not being assholes who start asking for updates the day after a chapter comes up... anyway, please review and I will see you guys next time on Dragon Bal... I mean Shi-Shi! Anyway, I've been thinking of a side project with Ise and Akeno as the main pairing. If you guys would like that make sure to drop a comment below! have a good day!