//Promises//

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Yuugo stood in between the hulking form of an enraged demon and I, the creature's long claw-like fingers piercing into his body. The second demon towered over him despite the old escapee's tall height, both of their eyes full of rage and determination.

"Move, old man." The demon growled, it's voice a disgusting warble. "I'm going to eat them all. You getting in the way for a few more minutes isn't going to change that." He leaned forward, drool dripping from the bottom of it's mask "That one behind you is a Gracefield premium-quality, you know." Yuugo grunted, reaching his hands up to grip onto the demon's arms, digging his nails into the flesh preventing it from moving forward.

"I won't let you lay a single finger on her." His eyes narrowed. "Or any of them." Yuugo growled, licking the blood from his lips

"Yuugo-" I choked, tears brimming my eyes as I watched helplessly.

"Damn it-!!" Ray shouted from the distance, raising his gun to fire.

"DON'T SHOOT-!!" I screamed, finally snapping out of my shock. "If you shoot, Yuugo's wounds will-!!" MY voice faltered as I turned back to the man standing in-between me and the hungry demon. 'He'll die- He is going to die. But I need to prevent that happening. But what...' More tears spilled from my eyes '-what can I do...?' My eyes trailed to Norman's paper-bag-mask-wearing friend. "Norman, Zazie-!!" I yelled. Norman turned to me, his eyes widening in sudden understanding.

I glanced around me anxiously, needing another person for my plan. Lucas isn't here!! Then who can-

Isabella arrived behind me as I scrambled to my feet. "I understand the situation." She spoke with a reassuring nod. "Allow me to help." I nodded gratefully, bracing myself for what was about to happen.

"ZAZIE-!!" Norman yelled, pointing to the demon's arm from afar. Zazie understood the simple command, racing forward in an instant and slicing through the demon's flesh like it was butter, before killing it. I stepped forward immediately, grasping onto Yuugo to keep him from falling over and making his wounds any worse. Isabella came from behind and helped be brace his arms. I moved to hold up the demon arm, to keep it from drooping or moving, and jumble up Yuugo any more.

"Y/N, it's okay." Yuugo grunted as more blood spilled from his wounds, my arms trembling from the weight of holding him up, even with the grandmother's help. 

"No, it's not-" I spoke, my voice trembling, Isabella helping me to lay the man gently on the ground without removing the claw, or letting it push back through his chest, so it wouldn't cause him any further damage.

Yuugo smiled softly. "It's okay, Y/N." He repeated. "I don't regret it."

I blinked away the tears in my eyes as I grabbed the already-bloodied jacket from my bag and pressed it into the wound on his chest in an attempt to keep any more blood from leaving that area, although his shoulder and side were wounded badly as well. "I won't let you die." I muttered, although it was all I could do to keep from keeping my hands from shaking violently.

"Help her keep the claws from causing any further damage." Isabella commanded the nearby sisters as the Gracefield kids arrived nearby, watching with surprised and helpless expressions. "Yukko, go get a stretcher." All of the caretakers nodded in response, several of them bring towels over to press against the injuries to keep his wounds from getting any worse.

"Y/N," Yuugo spoke again.

My jaw clenched, my eyes focused on the task at hand "Don't speak. You need to save your strength."

" Y/N." The stubborn man repeated, reaching a hand up to my arm. "You saved who you needed to save, right?"

My eyes widened and I glanced to Isabella besides me. My gaze then hardened as I turned back to the wound, one of the sisters helping me to press a cloth against it as I spoke. "Yeah, I did. But you're one of those people too."

Yuugo's smile thinned, coughing weakly. "You've already saved me once, Y/N. That's good enough." I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off. "I'll be meeting them soon, you know?" He looked up to the sky, a longing expression on his face. "I got to live a little longer. I'm grateful to you for that." My eyes widened as I watched him speak. "...But I've been keeping them waiting for so long. It's about time I went and said 'hi', don't you think?"

I choked on my tears, trying to blink them away as I switched my jacket for a towel, the sisters tying off his arm to keep any more blood for leaving. 'Is what I'm doing wrong after all? Keeping him from meeting his family again?'

Yuugo sighed, still not done speaking, as he turned back up to the sky. "Take care of them, okay?" My heart picked up as he spoke, my eyes widening once again. "Jemima doesn't sleep well without a bedtime story. Dominic needs attention for his successes. Eugene... that little butt needs to stay out of my cookies." Another cough racked through his chest.

'No, Yuugo...' I gulped, hanging my head. 'You don't understand... I-' I nodded my head in acknowledgement of his request. "Yeah. I'll keep it in mind." I swallowed dryly, my eyes becoming determined once more. "But you're not dying."

"Y/N, in your words, 'I've been impaled'." The man tried to add some humour to the conversation. "-In several places." He finished with a dry, pained laugh.

I made a noise halfway between a sob and a chuckle. "Shut up, Yuugo. I'm not letting you die, even if you're okay with it." Yuugo frowned, turning up to the sky, an bittersweetly-amused expression on his face. My eyebrows scrunched together and I swallowed several times. "I don't care if it's selfish. I... I... I don't think I could handle having you die on me." I swallowed dryly. "I'm sorry..." I murmured, shoulders trembling, as the tears really began to fall for real. "But please don't die on me. Please don't die." I begged, my shoulders sagging, his blood seeping through my fingers. "They couldn't- the children couldn't- I couldn't-"

"Okay, Y/N." Yuugo smiled, raising a shaky hand to wipe away one of my tears. "I understand. I'll do my best to stay alive for you. And for them." His eyes flicking towards the Gracefield kids. I nodded my head gratefully, staring at the ground. 'Sorry, Yuugo... Sorry I'm keeping you from seeing your family again...'

"In return, Y/N," Yuugo wheezed out, and my eyes met his, breaking away from my thoughts once more. "I need you to promise me-" I nodded frantically, in an attempt to keep him from speaking any more than necessary, as a knowing look came over his face."I need y-you to promise me that you'll be here while I'm out of it, at least."

I nodded, tears spilling from my eyes again. 'When did he...' "Yeah." I took a hiccuping breath In an attempt to steady myself. "But in return, I need you to promise me." I raised my eyes from the ground to look the man in the eyes. "You need to promise you'll stay ali-"

My eyes widened as Yuugo's hand dropped to the ground, leaving a streak of blood on my cheek, before I could even finish my request.

"Step back." Isabella spoke as she arrived with the proper medical care and a stretcher. I stared at Yuugo as his eyes closed, his irises turning dull. My heart skipped a beat as the man fell unconscious.

"Yuugo-" I stuttered out, tears beginning to brim from the corner my eyes again. "Yuugo, wait-"

"Back away!" Isabella repeated, louder this time, although I could barely hear her over the sound of my own breaths. The Gracefield caretakers began to load Yuugo's unconscious body onto the stretcher.

"Wait-" I exclaimed, reaching towards him. "I still need to-" More tears slipped down my cheeks, my breathing picking speed. "He didn't promise me-!!"

"Leave it to us-!!" Isabella ordered, beginning to help carry Yuugo away while the other sisters treated him as they moved.

I spun to chase after them, but a pair of arms held me back. "Leave it to them, Y/N. He'll be okay." Ray tried to quietly reassure me.

I whipped around to him, eyes wide. "But he-!!" More tears spilled from my eyes, turning my cheeks and eyes red and raw. Ray's eyes widened at the sight. "I can't-" My face contorted into pain, my eyebrows drawing together as I tried not to sob. I leaned over, clinging onto Ray's arms as I rested my head into his chest, tears falling to the ground below. "I can't lose him!! Not again..." I choked, squeezing my eyes shut. "He..." I looked back up to the ravenhead, catching him by surprise. "He won't die, right?!" I asked frantically, my grip on his arms tightening.

The ravenette's eyes widened for a moment. "I..." He gulped before quickly glancing to the side. "I don't know..."

I sobbed and dropped into a crouch slowly, my hands sliding down Ray's arms, my tears falling onto the green grass below. "Sorry." I murmured after a moment of thought, wrapping my arms around my knees. "That was unfair of me to ask."

Ray soon followed into a crouch, followed by Emma. "I'm sure he'll survive in the end, Y/N." She smiled thinly, rubbing my back before pulling me into a hug, resting her chin on my head. "I'm sure..." The ginger girl almost sounded as if she was trying to convince herself just as much as she was me. "He'll definitely..."

"Yuugo..." I heard the quiet murmurs of one of the younger children as they stood nearby. "He's going to be okay, right?" I then realized the position I was in. Being comforted again. I took a deep, shaky breath, as I pulled away from Emma's hug, wiping my tears quickly as I rose to my feet.

I walked over to Alicia, Jemima, Rossi, Christie, and the others. "He'll be fine." I patted their heads with a reassuring smile, crouching in front of him. "He-" I swallowed the lump in my throat, my smile becoming strained. "He promised me, after all."





-----3 days later-----

"Make sure you get some sleep soon, Y/N..." Ray murmured as he left the room, turning to face me once more, his hand clutching the door handle.

I nodded my head in response, trying for a smile despite my tired eyes. "Yeah." Ray pursed his lips for a moment before exiting, turning off the light and closing the door quietly behind him.

I turned back to face Yuugo's bed, where the man in question lay silent. His heartbeat monitor beeped steadily, his chest rising and falling as he took in shallow breaths. Alas, he showed no signs of waking up. Or getting better.

In the three day's since he'd fallen unconscious, everyone had come and gone from the room to visit him, and presumably to keep an eye on me. I hadn't showered since then, and I admittedly hadn't been sleeping much either. I promised I'd be there while he recovered, after all.

A few hours passed, and I was beginning to lose the battle against sleep, barely even able to keep my eyes open. Before I knew it, I was nodding off, my breaths slowing down as I finally fell into sleep.

"Isn't it about time, Y/N?" The familiar voice sent shivers down my spine, the sweat on the back of my neck turning cold. 

I was now standing up, face-to-face with none other than 'him'. My fist clenched and I stared at the never-ending daylight sky below me, my feet causing ripples across the surface as the moon shone from up above. "I need... a few more days... just a few more..." I refused to face the demon as I tried to keep the helpless quiver from my voice. "...Then I'll implement the promise."

He sighed in disappointment, which soon dissolved into a fit of giggles, becoming his childlike form once more. "I see. Alrighty, then~"

"Wait." I raised an eyebrow, my eyes narrowing in suspicion and worry. "How can I see you right now? Don't I need to come to you first-"

The demon god laughed, his form warping once more. "It's a se~cret. Then, see you later Y/N."

"Wait-"

"Bye-bye~~"

-----

There was a rustling of blankets followed by a suppressed hiss of pain. I groaned slightly in my sleep and shifted a little, my face sore from resting in the same position. "I see you kept your promise." A voice chuckled quietly.

My face contorted, fear suddenly spiking in my chest. "Not yet..." I mumbled deliriously, before waking up and snapping out of it, rubbing my eyes tiredly as I sat up, preparing myself for another tiring day of nothing-.

"Hey, Y/N." Yuugo was sitting up in his bed, a small smile on his face. I blinked a few times, my eyes slowly widening.

"You're-" I whipped around in surprise. "I'm still asleep...?"

Yuugo laughed before wincing in pain, grabbing onto his chest as he did so. "I'm afraid not." His jaw clenched as he sucked in another pained hiss.

"You- wait-" I stood up immediately, looking about frantically. "You should lay down-" I helped the man back down into a resting position again as he groaned quietly. 

I exhaled as relief washed over me, collapsing backwards into the chair that I had been inhibiting for the past few days. "I don't mean to alarm you," Yuugo hummed in amusement. "But your eyes seem to be secreting this strange, clear, liquid."

"Oh, shut up." I sniffled, wiping my eyes. "Someone's cutting onions again." I choked, leaning forward and laying my head onto Yuugo's bed, crying tears of relief softly. After a while, Yuugo rested his hand on my head, petting it gently.

"Y/N, I brought you breakfast-" Ray opened the door before pausing mid sentence. "Oh." He muttered in surprise, the platter in his hand drooping as he tried not to drop it in surprise. His face broke into a cheeky smile as he walked forward and set the platter of food on the foot of the bed. "Good to see you're up, old man." He grinned before turning to face the doorway. "I'll- I'll go tell the others-" He murmured, discretely wiping tears from his face as he left.

"I SAW THOSE TEARS-!!" Yuugo called after him, as loud as he could without causing himself a lot more pain.

"IT'S THE ONIONS, YOU BASTARD!!" Ray yelled in response as he walked briskly back throughout the hallway.

Within the next 5 minutes, everyone else was in the room, the younger kids bursting into tears, hugging the man as many others murmured, "Thank god." I 'd stopped crying shortly before that, my face all smiles. 

"By the way..." Ray began after a few minutes of reuniting. "When are we going to implement the promise?"

My smile faltered for a moment. "A day from now..." I answered with a smile.

The children all grinned. "I can't wait!" They clamoured excitedly.

"But Y/N..." Emma's voice faltered, along with my smile, as she brought up the question everyone'd been dreading, Yuugo's eyes flicking to mine with that unwavering expression that seemed to read right through me.

"What about the reward?"

-----

See...? It wasn't so bad after all. At least after a little time. I told you so.

NGL was not expecting to write this much angst. I mean, I wasn't planning on having Peter Ratri die, until someone suggested it. Blame them. I'm not that big an *sshole, so I wont be giving out names, LMAO. Yuugo, on the other hand... let's just say I've been planning this since at least the Goldy Pond arc. Wait, no. Back then I was planning for Ray to be in Yuugo's position.

But then I remembered that Yuugo is big dad. And Emma's parallel between Yuugo and Isabella.

Either way, Yuugo was originally actually going to die, but then I'd already had Peter die, and then there's,,, what happens next...

In short, the only reason why Yuugo survived (in the book) is because of both Y/N and Isabella's interference and quick thinking. The reason why he survived my angst hurricane is because I'm a massive 🐱

Anyhow, rereading those chapters of Isabella's death had me sobbing. A lot. I could never hope to write something that... powerful? Yeah, we'll go with that.

Anyhow...uh... good luck for...uhm... the future chapters... I guess...?

ILY BEBSSSS 😪💅😩💖🤩

2800 words~~

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