"(Y.N.)! Where have you been?!" your mother yells storming towards you. She looks ready to slap you, but just yanks the bag of food out of your hands and pulls you into her embrace.
You take a deep breath, feeling very tired now that the adrenaline was gone, and mumble a "sorry, mom."
You can feel her lip quivering against your cheek, and ignore the warm liquid that's beginning to wet your hair.
After a couple of minutes, she wipes her face while still holding you and says, "Well! You've been gone for a while, so I'm expecting the best bread 'ole Tsukino had to offer."
You grin as you respond, "the very best, just for you, Madame."
She rolls her eyes as she picks up the bag, and inspects what's inside.
You close the door in turn, looking critically outside to see if anything is out of place, and if there's any signs of movement.
"Mom, do you mind sleeping in my room tonight?"
Your mother doesn't respond. At first you think your attempts to try to be casual are being ignored, but after a quick glance you realize they go unnoticed since they have fallen on deaf ears. Your mother's face is white, and in her hands she clutches The Seed with a deadly grip.
"What's," she starts, but immediately she has to take a gulp of air.
"What is this doing here?" she asks.
Her eyes stay trained on the box, almost as if she's afraid that, if she takes her eyes away, a monster will appear in her hands instead.
You go over, wrapping your hands around hers, and pull it gently away.
"Mama, do you want me to make you some tea? You don't look so well."
Your mother was not born into the hunter life, and had only been exposed to it in the past couple of years when you moved to this small town. Your father's friend Toga had been sent on an assignment here, and after a long stretch of quiet from his side, your father decided it was time he come and help.
Your mother didn't know you had been training for this type of situation since you were 7 years old. She thought you just liked to be "fit like your papa."
She thought some of the things you did were a bit excessive, but she understood that you were a competitive person, and didn't like being told that you couldn't do something. It just made you want to fight against that notion even more.
Your father told you all about the monsters that hide in the shadows since you were a little girl, but he also told you how to fight them so that they could never hurt you- "Or your mother."
Those days seemed so far away...
You help your mother gently rest herself on the sofa, and give her embroidery material, careful not to let her poke herself with the needle.
Once you see her start moving her hands without hurting herself, you quickly head to the kitchen and rummage around until you finish making your mother's favorite lavender and green tea mix.
When you get to her, you instinctively purse your lips at what you see. Your mother, in her nervous state, made the image that's been plaguing her for the past couple of months: your father's death at the hands of long, fanged, monster.
It's a crude image, and doesn't come anywhere close to the horror that is vampire, but it's clear enough.
"Mama," you murmur soothingly. "I brought you your tea."
She smiles at you, but her eyes remain blank.
She takes small sips as you rub small circles on her arm to help sooth her.
You can tell she's done with her tea once she starts turning it round and around.
"Who did you meet today?" she asks.
You feel yourself bristle up, a slight flush coming over you as you remember the annoying mahogany haired boy who took your pocky.
She doesn't look up at you however, and thankfully does not see your expression as you try to find an answer. Before you can say anything however, she stops and stares turning the cup and answers herself.
"Oh... You met one of them..."
You can't have your mother knowing that though so you immediately throw out a lie. A half lie, of course. You don't want her to worry.
"No, mami! No. I-I... I met a boy."
She looks up at you, hope shining in her eyes.
"Is my little pumpkin finally interested in someone in this town?" she asks, a small hint of teasing shining through.
You smile at her and respond, "No~. What happened was there was a boy. He was about my age."
Your mother stops you there to curtly remind you that you're 18. "That's not exactly a child anymore, is it?"
You grimace at her words but continue. "Anyways. He was running along by the forest. I didn't know why, but I noticed that he had the box in his hands. I made him give it back, and that's why I had it."
She nods, but it's clear that she's unsure whether to believe you or not.
"It was getting too dark to go put it back now anyways," you add quickly.
Making sure the Seed was always in its spot was something you father ingrained in you years ago. But it was out of bullets, and you needed to make sure it was clean and polished so the next person that would need it wouldn't have trouble when using it.
But your mother didn't need to know that, so you added what would've gone through her head to rid her of her worries.
"Do you mind if I sleep in your room, tonight?" she asks.
It's clear the conversation is over, and you're glad of that. You hate lying to your mother, but sometimes it's for her own good.
It's never easy to lose a loved one, but it must've been so much harder for her to watch her husband and her brother be killed before her eyes.
It did hurt you too, but you had been prepared for this kind of occurrence years ago. Your father never wanted you to falter if you needed to protect your mother.
With a gentle smile, you pull your mother to your chest and say, "Yes, mami. It's ok if you sleep in my room."