Beside You || Mifune x Reader

Chapter 1 REWRITTEN

I slip out of bed, wearing clothes I never did intend to sleep in. Just a simple outfit I would wear around the house or out on a grocery run. Something to keep me warm in the slightly cool night air and still look like a normal person. My shoes barely make a sound, as I practiced a lot during my childhood sneaking around without making a sound. A special sneak attack technique, I called it as a kid. Now it serves the purpose of helping me sneak out.

I feel like a teenager, sneaking out without intentions of telling anyone. It does betray the trust between Mifune and I slightly. He had asked that I keep myself safe and stay inside until the potential threat is gone. I did agree to that. But it has been a week now and nothing has changed. No information surfaced. I am getting anxious to get out now.

I keep walking soundlessly through the halls. Once I get to the back door, I rush out. The surrounding forest is peaceful. Without the wind, there is only the sounds of soft thumps against the dirt as I keep a steady jog. The occasional buzzing of an insect passes by, only to fade off into silence again.

I continue walking. There is no set destination or goal in mind. Just the forest and me. Aimlessly wandering, I guess. I try to stay outside my own head and focus on the moment instead. This is the first ever time I have snuck out, I want to remember it. The warm summer air, the light from the smiling moon peeking through the canopy of trees, all of it. I run my hand through a bush and feel the soft touch of leaves as they pass through my hand. Even if I do not find anything noteworthy, this is a nice night out.

Against the expectation I forced myself to keep low, I hear something not too far off in the bushes. It must have been half an hour of walking, with a few twists and turns in my path. But distant chatter gets louder as I walk towards a slight glow peeking through the brush. My pace hastens, as does my heartbeat. As I get closer and closer I find myself wanting to call out.

"Hello?" A female voice responds. Nearing the edge of the woods that opens into a small clearing, I find a small campsite. Four tents create a semi-circle around a campfire. A small pile of collected wood rests near the edge of the campsite. Within the site are 5 different people. Three girls and two boys. All humans.

One boy with short brown curly hair and matching brown eyes sits next to a girl with short blonde hair and blue eyes. His arm is hooked around her and they remind me of my friend and her girlfriend. The other two girls are complete opposites of each other. One has long brown hair while the other is shaved almost completely. The one with long hair wears loose colourful clothing that look fun. The bald one wears black skintight clothes. The last of the group is really cute. Light brown hair and bright green eyes, he has a really nice smile as he looks over at me.

"Sorry, didn't realize there were other people around. Heard some commotion and thought I'd check it out." Not quite a lie on my part. But I need to sound halfway normal if I do not want them to be suspicious of me.

"Nah man, its all good." The guy with his arm around the girl says. He waves off my apology like it was nothing. No one seems wary of me at all.

"Hey, would you like, want to hang with us?" Asks the bald girl. "I swear we're not creeps or anything. Just wanna have fun."

I smile, delighted at their response. This was the best thing that could have happened. It might be a little dangerous, since these people could be anyone. But the flutters in my chest tell me to stay here. I will have to be back home before anyone wakes or and gets the chance to think of me as missing, but I have plenty of time.

"I can't stay too long, but I guess I could stay for a little while." I walk closer to the group. The cute guy pats the ground next to him.

"Take a seat, I don't bite." He winks at me. I immediately move to sit next to him. As I sit next to him, I feel his warmth radiate off of him. His hand that rests in the cool dirt is so close to mine. "So, what's your deal?"

"Oh, I am staying with my grandpa. He has a small cabin nearby." My lie had been rehearsed for a long time, in the event that I came across anyone. Though that was mostly my imagination. I never really thought I would ever actually run into people. It is completely believable. No one has any reason to doubt me.

"Oh, that's sweet. Hopefully you are having a nice visit," the girl with long brown hair says. "My name is Sara. This is Carrie and Scott. Ripley, and Mike."

She points to each person. I introduce myself and ask what rings them out to this area. It is a harmless question. Something I feel that would be ordinary to ask a group of people you never met before.

Conversation starts flowing and it picks up rather quickly. I can feel by whole body tense as soon as any attention is directed towards me. It fades quickly as I get more and more immersed in the conversation. They tell stories of their lives, explaining how they all met, and go off on tangents about something that was brought up. I may not have been part of any of it, but it was nice to be included and laughing with everyone else.

As it got later, everyone started to get more tired. And I needed to get back home. When I got up, announcing to the group that I needed to leave they invite me back the next night. They would leave day after that but apparently they liked my vibe and wanted to see me again. It was Mike that made the offer, but everyone else agreed. My heart almost skipped a beat as he asked me to come back again.

As I run back through the forest, pushing past tree branches and bushes that stick out in my path, my thoughts race with excitement. Everything about this night was thrilling. I found humans. And they were nice to me. Not only that, but they want to see me again. I should have done this before. Who knows that else I could have experienced. I am a witch. A damn grown woman and a witch, I can protect myself and see for myself what the world is like. The world is not just a scary place where everyone is actively hunting me. Hell, they had complete faith that I really was just visiting my grandfathers cabin.

My mind replays the whole night for me again and again as I continue home and sneak back in. As I tuck myself into bed to get a little bit of rest before the next day ahead, my mind settles on Mike. He was absolutely amazing. So funny and kind, protective of his little sister back home from what I hear, and very attractive. Everything about him is so endearing. All I want to do is to see him again. I have never thought about a romantic relationship of my own in a long time. I have no idea how something like that could even happen for me. But maybe, just maybe, this could be the start of something. Could this be what I have been looking for this whole time? Is Mike the reason I felt so compelled to go into the woods? And am I going to fall in love with him? Could that already be happening?