𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒

♡–•–🎶–•–♡

"Rumi?"

"Unnie?"

Rumi couldn't believe her ears. It couldn't be. Ten years later, it couldn't be. She had left in the middle of the night and never looked back. Celine had told her that she had run away. She didn't want to be a pop star. She didn't want to be a Hunter. She had left and never looked back.

But as Rumi turned, her doubts were washed away. Standing on the edge of the roof, a helmet tucked under one arm, was her sister. And for a moment, it seemed as though no time had passed for her. Y/N was still the same as she had been when she had left. She was taller and looked more mature now, but as Rumi found her sister's eyes, she knew that there was nothing that had changed. Y/N was the same as she had always been. 

In a second, Rumi was on her feet, darting across the roof, and all but tackling Y/N, throwing her arms around her sister and squeezing her tightly as she started to sob, pressing her nose into her sister's leather jacket as she cried. Y/N was the one person who had never seen Rumi for the patterns or her voice. Y/N had only ever been her sister. Y/N had never told her to hide or cover her patterns. With Y/N, Rumi could break down and crumble into a thousand pieces, knowing that her sister would be there to pick up each little fragment and hold them close until Rumi felt ready to pull herself together. And Y/N would help her every step of the way. Rumi could cry, sob, weep, let her sorrow rule her life for a few seconds.

Y/N's choice to embrace Rumi was instinctual. As soon as Rumi had hugged her, Y/N had wrapped her arms around her sister, dropping her helmet to the roof and holding Rumi tight, one hand holding her sister's head to her shoulder, the other wrapped firmly around Rumi's waist as Y/N held her, her feet planted firmly on the roof as she allowed Rumi to fall into her, holding her up as she always had.

Rumi's voice was nothing more than a broken whisper as she cried against her sister's jacket. "Is it – is it really you, unnie?" Her fingers tried to find a place to grip. A loop to thread her fingers through, a ledge in a seam that she could cling to. Something. Anything. Her sister was back, and Rumi didn't want her to ever leave again.

Y/N pressed a kiss to her sister's hair, squeezing her a little tighter as she felt Rumi groping for something to cling to. "It's me, Rumi. I promise it's me." As her arms tightened around Rumi, Y/N felt her little sister's body start to ease as she absorbed Y/N's warmth keeping it close and tucking it away in her heart. She had doubted her eyes at first, but as she squeezed Y/N tighter and tighter, she knew this was Y/N. She smelled just as she always had, she felt the same as she had when they were younger, and her hug was exactly the same as it always had been. This was Y/N.

Rumi didn't know what to think. Celine had told her that Y/N had run away. Y/N had left without so much as a goodbye. She hadn't wanted to sing, she hadn't wanted to be a hunter. Rumi had wondered if Y/N thought of her as nothing more than an annoying little sister when she left, not even bothering to send a card for Rumi's birthday or call her to see how she was doing.

"Unnie?" Rumi didn't want to let go of Y/N and if anything, she clung tighter to Y/N as she felt Y/N's arms easing around her. "Why – why did you leave?" Rumi tilted her head as she leaned against Y/N, lifting her gaze to meet her sister's e/c stare.

Y/N sighed, brushing aside a strand of Rumi's lavender hair. "I'm sorry, Rumi. I didn't want to –"

"NO!" Rumi jerked back as if Y/N had burned her, slammed her hands against Y/N's chest, shoving the girl back into the railing of the building. "Why did you leave me?! You were everything to me! You abandoned me! You left me behind!"

Y/N's shoulders slumped, and for the first time in years, Y/N heard a whisper of Gwi-Ma's voice in the back of her mind. Her patterns rippled, the edges glowing pink, reminding Rumi that her sister bore the same patterns she did. It wasn't safe for her here, where Zoey and Mira could find her. They wouldn't even ask before drawing their weapons on Y/N. But still, Y/N didn't move. She didn't fear Zoey and Mira. She didn't fear death. Not when her sister looked like her world was shattering around her.

"I know."

"How could you do that to me?! I was your sister!" Rumi summoned a sword, holding it in front of her, a barrier between her and her sister. A representation of the wall Celine had instructed Rumi to build when Rumi had realised that her sister had left.

"You still are." Y/N didn't falter as Rumi pressed the sword against her throat. A single cut with the blade would be enough to kill her. But she refused to move. If Rumi hated her that much, Y/N would happily leave. She would lay down her life for Rumi, and if Rumi wanted to be the one to deliver the blow, Y/N would grant her that. After what she had done, Rumi deserved that much.

"NO! You don't get to call me your sister! Not when you left me!"

"I'm sorry."

♡–•–🎶FLASHBACK🎶–•–♡

Rumi woke to an empty bed beside her, and shot up in an instant. She glanced around at the room, searching for any sign of her sister. Had Celine called her out for an early training session? It wasn't the first time Celine had done that. Celine always wanted to train Y/N from dawn until dusk, drilling her every waking moment to make sure that she would be able to hold her own when she finally had to face the demons. But Y/N was supposed to have the day off today. Y/N had promised that they could go look for frogs and fish in the creek and go to the town to get the stuff they would need for a picnic. She shouldn't have been up so early.

Scrambling out of bed, Rumi left the room, heading off in search of her sister. 

There were only a few places Y/N would be so early in the morning. She might be in the kitchen if she couldn't sleep the night before, or she might be outside, watching the birds that had built a nest in the tree right beside their house. There were a few times when Y/N had gone to visit their mother's grave in private, wanting to talk to her mom alone for a bit, and Rumi knew better than to bother her sister when she needed a few moments to herself. 

Y/N was patient, but she wasn't perfect. Rumi had learned that when she had gone in search of Y/N and had found her sister crying at their mother's grave. She had tried to comfort Y/N, but had only ended up angering her. Y/N had apologised immediately, repeating her apology day after day until she was sure Rumi knew that she loved her and that she would never snap at her on purpose.

But Rumi couldn't find Y/N anywhere in their house. And Y/N would always return to the house by nine. She never wanted Rumi to worry about her. So, Rumi sat on the balcony, listening to the clock inside as she flipped through one of the storybooks Y/N had gotten her for her last birthday. Y/N's birthday was in a few days and Rumi had no idea what to get her. Celine had suggested a necklace, but Rumi wasn't sure Y/N would like that.

The clock continued to tick by. Nine. Nine fifteen. Nine thirty. Ten. Ten thirty. By eleven, Rumi was growing anxious. She had abandoned her storybook at ten, and had sat still for the last hour, watching the path that led to their mother's grave. Where was Y/N? Had she lost track of time? Had something happened?

Fearing the worst, Rumi shot to her feet and ran in search of her aunt. "Celine!" Celine was easy to find. Rumi found her sitting in her room, drinking tea quietly as she watched the sun through the window.

"Celine," Rumi explained, close to tears now. "I-I can't find unnie!" The tears started to fall and Rumi wiped them away, trying to stop them from falling, but they only continued to fall, one after the other, until rivers ran over Rumi's cheeks. "I can't find unnie!"

For a moment, Celine said nothing. Then, she sighed, turning to Rumi. "Y/N is gone."

Rumi's tears stopped instantly as her blood turned to ice. "Gone? What do-what do you mean?"

Celine turned away from Rumi, taking another sip of her tea. "Y/N didn't want to be a Hunter. She ran away."

In that moment, Rumi learned what it felt like to have your world shatter and crumble around you.

"She didn't say goodbye..."

♡–•–🎶FLASHBACK🎶–•–♡

Rumi could hardly see as the tears started to fall again, running like rivers over her cheeks. "Why? Why did you leave?" Her grip on her sword began to falter, and even as she tried to strengthen her hold on the weapon, it slid from Y/N's throat, falling to the roof beneath their feet and disappearing as Rumi's anger started to spark and die, fading into the hurt that lingered beneath. "You didn't say goodbye." 

Y/N watched as Rumi crumbled, falling onto the roof, her hands resting on her lap as if she were still holding her sword. She was unsure if Rumi would want her company, but when Rumi lifted her tear-filled gaze to Y/N, Y/N couldn't hold herself away and she fell beside Rumi, throwing her arms around her sister and pulling her in for a tight embrace once again. Rumi clung to her sister, sobbing openly into her shoulder as she gripped at the leather, threatening to tear it as she groped for a solid hold on her sister. Realising that Rumi feared her leaving, Y/N tightened her grip on Rumi, pulling her into her lap and squeezing her tightly to reassure her that she wasn't going to disappear. Not again.

"I'm so sorry, Rumi." Tears began to fall from Y/N's eyes as she whispered apology after apology. There was nothing she could do to make up for this. 

Rumi broke, her arms falling from her sister's back. "Why did you leave me, unnie?"

Pulling away, Y/N brushed aside another lock of Rumi's hair. "What did Celine tell you?"

Rumi inhaled a shaky breath. "She told me – she told me that you ran away. She – she said you didn't want to be a –" The word caught in her throat as she lifted her hands to wipe her tears. But Y/N's thumbs were there before her wrists, gently wiping away the tears, absorbing the sadness and hurt from her sister and drawing it into her own body.

"A Hunter." Y/N sighed and lowered her head. "I suppose that's a part of it." She lifted her gaze so Rumi met her gaze. "But there's a lot more to it than that, Rumi."

Rumi's expression nearly broke Y/N. "What do you mean?"

Y/N cupped her sister's cheeks as Rumi grabbed her wrists, still fearful that this was nothing more than a dream. She hadn't left to go on stage. She hadn't left the venue. She had fallen asleep in her changing room. This had all been a bad dream.

"Celine told me to leave."

Rumi's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "What?"

Pulling away from her sister, Y/N stripped off her jacket, dropping it to the roof to reveal her bare arms, that were almost entirely covered in patterns. "I didn't want to be a Hunter, and I didn't want to cover my patterns." Y/N met her sister's eyes again. "I told you that I met Appa when I was little. Just a few months after you were born."

Rumi nodded, confused where Y/N was going with this.

"He told me he loves us. And ever since then, I've refused to be ashamed of who he is." Y/N took Rumi's hands, holding them tightly. "He may be a demon, Rumi, but he loves us."

"How can you be sure of that?" Rumi pulled her hands from Y/N's, a pink glow rippling across both of their patterns. "How can you be sure it wasn't all just a lie from Gwi-Ma?"

Y/N's shoulders sagged. "I don't know for sure, Rumi. But I doubt Gwi-Ma would do anything that could make it harder for him to whisper to us." She lifted a hand to rub it along Rumi's forearm, just as she did when Rumi was a child, curled into her older sister as storms and winds battered their house.

"But why did you leave?" Tears poured from Rumi's eyes. "Didn't you love me?"

Y/N sighed, running a hand across Rumi's head, her thumb caressing her hairline. "Hey."

Rumi wiped her eyes, finding her sister's warm and loving gaze waiting for her. The sight of them made her stumble.

"Never doubt how much I love you, Rumi." Leaning forward, Y/N pressed a kiss to Rumi's hairline, her lips lingering just long enough for Rumi's mind to fall into a memory. "I have always loved you, and I always will."

A memory of being lost in the woods, far from their home, trapped in the crook of a tree as the rain fell around them. Y/N had said the same thing then, and had given her forehead a kiss. It was one of the many memories Rumi clung to when Celine told her that Y/N had left her behind.

Y/N cupped Rumi's cheek. "I love you more than anything in this world. I don't expect you to forgive me. But you need to know," her thumb wiped away another one of Rumi's tears as she pressed another kiss to Rumi's hairline with the words, "You're my everything."

♡–•–🎶–•–♡

Y/N knew as soon as she returned home that she wasn't alone. The entire feel of her apartment had shifted, as if something were lurking in the shadows, just beyond her sight, waiting for her to take the last step through the doorway to seal her in a trap. But by now, Y/N knew who it was. She sighed, taking the last step into her apartment and swung the door shut behind her, tossing her keys onto the counter before heading to the kitchen to make herself some dinner.

"You could just knock on the door like a normal person," she said, pulling out one of her cutting boards before heading to the fridge. "It's unsettling when you hide in the shadows."

She was answered by the familiar silence of her apartment. Y/N wasn't the sort to host lavish parties or entertain guests. She preferred holding people at a distance, knowing that her world was a little too dangerous for people, even if they were ignorant of what her sister, Mira, and Zoey were keeping at bay. Even without knowledge of the Honmoon, it was dangerous. But there was one – besides Bobby – who had managed to break through Y/N's apprehensive front to invite himself into her apartment, lounging in the dark space until she returned from her errands.

The first sign that she wasn't alone was a warm breath against her neck. It was the sort of warmth that starts off pleasant, but the more you endure, the more you start to feel ill. Aches and chills come after ten minutes, and after another ten, you're flat out on your back, unable to move as your vision begins to swim with a fever. Or at least, that's how it would have felt to anyone else. But Y/N's demon blood helped her resist. He was just like her after all.

"But I'm not a normal person."

Y/N rolled her eyes, stepping away from the intruder without batting an eye as she grabbed two cups of instant ramyeon from her cupboard. She wasn't in the mood to cook anything extravagant. Not after the night she had just endured. She had been planning on collapsing on her couch and watching a new movie, but apparently, those plans would have to be put on hold for the time being.

"I know." Y/N grabbed a kettle from another cupboard and filled it with water before plugging it in and pressing the power button. Finally, she turned to face the intruder. "So what brings you to this side of the Honmoon now, Jinu?" She crossed her arms as she watched Jinu lean on the island that separated her kitchen from her sitting room.

Jinu had first appeared in her life a few years before, a few years after she had left Celine and Rumi behind. She had been in university when they had met, hunched over a textbook in the library, when the handsome ebony-haired man had sat down across from her, watching her unabashedly as she tried to focus on her notes.

♡–•–🎶FLASHBACK🎶–•–♡

"You're a demon."

Y/N scoffed, scribbling over a line of her notes with her red pen, correcting the notes that she had made in class. People didn't normally call her a demon when they met her. Normally that was after she had rejected them without so much as an apologetic look. She had no partner in her life, no romantic interest, as she held herself apart from the majority of the student body.

"Not a very nice way to start a conversation." She didn't bother giving the man the time of day as she flipped a page in her textbook. She had an exam the next day and she wasn't about to be distracted by amber eyes and dark hair. He could have been the most handsome man in the world, but Y/N valued her studies far too much for her to be distracted by any physical assets this man had.

"But it's true. I've never met a demon who shows their patterns so openly."

That made Y/N pause, her pen stilling over the edge of her notebook. Slowly lifting her gaze, Y/N watched as the man's appearance flickered, revealing patterns decorating his skin. They were nearly identical to Y/N's, though they had encompassed nearly all of his skin, while Y/N's patterns had yet to spread to her face. The demon's human appearance returned a moment later, but Y/N continued to stare as he lounged in the chair across from her, swiping one of her extra pens to fiddle with it absentmindedly.

"Did Gwi-Ma send you?"

Y/N wasn't a Hunter. She had left that world behind when she had refused to hide her patterns. As a child, she loved to sing, either singing with her mother, or teaching her sister the songs that her mother had taught her. But since she had left Rumi and Celine, Y/N had shut her voice in a box and had refused to sing. She didn't know how her voice might interfere with the Honmoon if she were to sing, and she didn't want to risk damaging the only barrier between the humans and the demons. She might not be a Hunter, but she was a protector at heart. Her mother had instilled that in her when Rumi was born.

The man chuckled, a single edge of his lip curling as he spun her pen between his fingers. "No." He suddenly stopped spinning the pen, holding it in his fist as he lifted his line of sight to meet Y/N's. "I've been watching you for a while, Y/N."

Y/N was unbothered by this. "A stalker. How flattering." She sighed. "What do you want? I have an exam in a few hours, and if you're only going to bother me, you can leave."

She was rewarded with a chuckle that almost sounded patronizing. "You're cute."

"I know."

Another chuckle. A single beat. "Well, I guess I'll leave you to study then." The man got to his feet and turned his back to her, tucking his hands into his pockets. But before he left, he turned to her with a strange expression. "Jinu."

Y/N stared at the man for a moment. She knew what Celine and Rimu would say if they knew she was even considering giving a demon her name. But they weren't here. Celine had cast her out for owning her ancestry. "Y/N."

Maybe Y/N should have been warned by the fact that the demon, Jinu, already knew her name.

"I know."

♡–•–🎶FLASHBACK ENDS🎶–•–♡

Jinu had become a constant presence in her life since that meeting in the university library, popping up in her apartment unexpectedly whenever the desire struck. Sometimes, he would bring his fanged tiger with him, which always meant that the six-eyed bird was not far behind. And when Jinu couldn't come to bother her, he would send the duo in his stead.

The demon took a seat at the island picking up Y/N's phone which she had left on the counter. "I was bored. I thought I would come say hi." He tapped the screen of Y/N's phone and frowned when he realised that Y/N had her sister's music playing. "You haven't gone to talk to her?"

Y/N smiled, not looking at Jinu. "Actually, yes. I just got back from seeing her." She plugged in the kettle before turning to grab some vegetables from the fridge. "Why do you ask?"

Jinu lifted her phone. "You're listening to her music."

"Is that a problem?" Y/N returned to the counter to start preparing the vegetables.

"No. I guess," Jinu paused, eyes fixed on Y/N, "I'm just curious." He set the phone down again, his fingers drifting away to tap out a musical beat on the counter.

"Curious about what?"

"Why don't you ever sing?"

Y/N's hand stilled, the knife poised over the cutting board. She hadn't expected Jinu to ask that question. They had known each other for years now, and though Jinu often interrogated Y/N for every little detail about her life, he had learned not to push about certain topics. Specifically topics that revolved around Y/N's family. The topic of her abandoning her sister was off the table, obviously. The topic of her mother, don't even try it. Her aunt? Jinu would be asking for a slammed door in the face. But he had never asked her about her voice before, or specifically why he had never heard her sing.

Y/N could understand why Jinu was curious. She was Rumi's sister, the daughter of a Sunlight Sister, and the daughter of a Hunter. She listened to various music almost non-stop, and often found herself swaying her hips to the beat of a song, her body singing while her lips remained locked. In all the years she and Jinu had known each other, she had never uttered a single musical note to him. It was only reasonable for him to ask.

Jinu watched as Y/N set the knife aside, waiting for an answer. Sometimes, it took her a while for her to weave words into an explanation, especially for things like this. He wouldn't rush her. He never had, and he wasn't about to stop now, especially if the topic was so sensitive for Y/N. Instead of pressing, he rose from his place at the island and headed to the living room, where flopped down onto one of Y/N's couches, grabbing one of her throw pillows and tucking it against his chest.

"I stopped singing when I left Rumi and Celine." Y/N scraped the vegetables from the cutting board into the bowl. "Rumi was the Hunter, not me." She turned away, setting the cutting board in the sink, careful to lean it against the edge so it wouldn't fall into the mess. "I don't know how my voice would affect the Honmoon. So I decided that I wouldn't sing until the Honmoon turned gold."

Jinu had been fiddlng with a loose thread on one of Y/N's throw pillows, but at the mention of the Honmoon, he paused. If the Honmoon turned gold, he would be locked in the demon world for all eternity. He would be condemned to a life of eternal torture, suffering for the rest of his cursed existance with Gwi-Ma's never ending whispers tormenting him. And he would never hear Y/N's voice.

Ever since they had met in the university library, Jinu had wanted to hear Y/N sing. That yearning had only strengthened after finding out that her sister was the famed Rumi, the lead singer of Huntrix. If Rumi had a voice that was capable of hypnotising thousands, he could only imagine what Y/N's was like when she sang. He had never outright begged her to sing, but he was nearing the end of his tether, especially now that he had found out that she had sworn to keep her voice a secret until the Golden Honmoon severed the tie between the humans and the demons.

Jinu left his place on the couch, tossing the throw pillow aside, and made his way into the kitchen, standing at the end of the island as he watched Y/N continue cooking. He had never asked her to cook for him when he came to visit, but she seemed to do it instinctually.

"Did you sing when you were younger?"

Y/N sighed, resting her lower palms against the edge of the counter as she pushed herself off, turning to stare at Jinu. "Why are you suddenly so interested in whether or not I sing, Jinu? You've never asked before." She turned back to the fridge, and Jinu followed, unwilling to let Y/N escape the conversation.

"I'm curious. The whole world has heard your sister's voice. What about yours?" He took a seat on one of the stools by Y/N's counter, leaning back so his elbows rested on the countertop. "Didn't you ever want to sing? Did you ever want to be a Hunter?"

Y/N's glare snapped to Jinu in a second. "I don't want to talk about it, Jinu." She slammed the fridge door shut and headed for the stove.

Jinu sighed, his head falling forward in defeat. "Will you ever tell me?"

"No."

Jinu wasn't about to accept her answer without a fight, but he decided to pull back for now. There would be other days when Y/N might feel more open to sharing. Maybe after the Saja Boys made their first public appearance.

♡–•–🎶–•–♡

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞: I am absolutely obsessed with this movie. I haven't been able to get it out of my head since I watched it, and I am having so much fun writing this story.

So I have a few more ideas for stories, and I'm just wondering... Would anyone be interested in more stories for the characters in this fandom? If you're interested, please comment below! (If I do choose to write more stories for the fandom, they would be posted after I finish this story.)