Iron. The scent of blood, of rotting corpses. That's all she could smell as she stared down at the headless body below her.

She felt herself getting choked up, her throat closing on her as tears filled her eyes.

She let out heavy breaths as her shoulders and chest heaved up and down.

She felt bile rising in her throat at the sight of blue blood staining the burnt dirt ground.

The hands and legs of the body twitched every now and then because some of the nerves were still shutting down, and it made her want to throw up even more.

She fell to the ground as tears streamed down her face.

She was hyperventilating, it was a struggle to breathe.

Finally, she clutched at her head and knelt to the ground as a heart wrenching scream tore at her throat.

~~~

Y/N snapped herself awake with a strangled gasp. She clutched at her throat as she tried to find her breathing.

Shooting up in bed, she ripped the blankets off of her body and coughed violently into her hand.

The Chimera Ant on the ground was woken up from the noise, and sat up from the blankets on the floor. They looked at Y/N with a look of concern and fear.

They stood up, grasping at her shoulders and holding them tightly.

"Hey, are you ok? What's going on?" They asked.

Y/N's coughing ceased after a moment or two and she sat there in her bed, not meeting Pitou's eyes.

'Even though they're alive, I still can't stop thinking about...'

She let out a sigh, clutching the comforter tightly in her hands.

She narrowed her eyes a bit before closing them and inhaling a shaky breath. Exhaling, she looked up at Pitou in exhaustion.

"I'm fine, just a bad dream." She said.

Pitou's eyes narrowed at her in suspicion.

'Judging by her reaction, it wasn't a normal nightmare. Perhaps it was a memory?'

Pitou looked down at their hands, which was now intertwined with Y/N's, and slowly pulled away.

"Sorry..." They mumbled.

Y/N sniffed then shook her head, looking up at them.

"It's fine, you're just trying to help." She said.

Pitou looked off to the side, their ears pinned back against their head.

'I don't deserve this. I don't deserve the opportunity of helping you...' they thought to them self grimly.

Glancing at the clock on Y/N's nightstand, they sighed.

"You should probably go back to sleep, it's 5:00 in the morning." They said quietly.

Y/N nodded, though she didn't really want to fall back asleep after that nightmare of hers.

She sniffed again and reached for Pitou's hand, clutching it in her own.

"I know you don't sleep, or really have a need to, but..." She hesitated. "Could you... Maybe... Stay up here with me until I fall back asleep?"

Pitou felt themselves pause for a moment. Their chest felt heavy, and the thumping inside was faster. Their cheeks felt slightly warm, and they coughed into their free hand, overwhelmed.

"Um, I could, if you really want me to." They mumbled.

Y/N nodded. "I do. I'd feel alot more comfortable if I wasn't alone."

The Chimera Ant hesitated for a second before taking a deep breath, taking off the shoes on their feet, and crawling into the bed beside her.

They laid down rather stiffly, their arms and legs pressed to their body tightly.

Y/N sighed before patting their shoulder.

"Relax, ok? The bed and I aren't gonna hurt you." She said tiredly.

Pitou gulped before nodding, relaxing their body and leaning against Y/N ever so slightly, almost unnoticeably.

The girl beside them draped her arm over their middle, resting her forehead against their shoulder.

Their face turned a light blue in color as their heart hammered wildly inside of their body. They hesitantly wrapped a single arm around the girls shoulder, resting their cheek on the top of her head.

As Y/N slowly fell back asleep, a low rumbling began deep in their chest. They felt their eyes growing heavy as her warm breathing fanned against their neck.

They weren't quite sure what this feeling was, or why it was happening.

But, maybe that wasn't so bad.

~~~

Y/N stood outside her house Infront of the mailbox, opening it up and taking a few envelopes out of it. She didn't bother checking what was addressed to who, she'd leave her mom to do that.

Y/N went inside and into the kitchen, where her mom was putting plates in the dish washer and Pitou was downing their now third bowl of cereal.

She placed the stack of envelopes on the kitchen counter and turned to the cat hybrid at the table.

"If you don't stop eating that, you're really gonna regret it later. Cats are lactose intolerant, y'know." She said.

Pitou turned to Y/N and stared at her with wide, unblinking eyes as they picked up the bowl with their hands and drank out of it.

Y/N made a disgusted face. "You are a menace to society, why am I friends with you?"

Pitou placed down the bowl. "Because you love me." They said nonchalantly.

The girl rolled her eyes "you keep doing that and I'll drop you off at a shelter."

"Alright, enough you two." Livia demanded. "Y/N, these came in for you and I today." She handed the girl a white envelope with her name, and home address, along with a seal with the Hunters Association sigil keeping it shut.

"Why'd we get a letter from the Association?" She asked.

Livia set her own down on the counter, seemingly having opened it awhile ago. "Since Chairman Netero died, they're holding elections for who will be the next Chairman. Right now, I think it's between Pariston Hill and Ging."

Y/N rolled her eyes at the man's name. "Since when does Ging want to be involved in anything? I mean, not that Pariston is a great fit either."

The woman sighed. "I heard his son was involved with what happened in the Mitene Union, and got severally injured. He's being hospitalized, and they're not sure he's gonna make it."

Y/N stilled for a moment, before scoffing. "Why would that hobo care in the first place? He's the one that abandoned the kid, then expected him to go on a wild goose chase to find him."

Livia sent her daughter a disapproving look. "What is your deal? Yeah, Ging's not the greatest, but you shouldn't bash him like that."

The younger girl rolled her eyes. "Maybe I wouldn't need to if he wasn't such a sad excuse for a father. Every kid deserves to have a good one, atleast."

It was silent for a few moments, before Livia sighed.

She placed a hand on Y/N's shoulder, rubbing it with her thumb affectionately.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so insensitive. I know it's been hard these past few years without your dad."

Y/N just shrugged off her mom's hand, turning her head away, a look of indifference on her face.

"It doesn't matter. Forget it." She turned around, not facing her mom.

"I'll go to the election, I don't really care. When is it?" She asked.

Livia hesitated before answering.

"In a week." She said.

Y/N nodded, before walking to the front door and leaving.

Pitou stared at Y/N as she left, a frown on their face.

Their ear twitched.

"Is she ok?" They asked.

Livia sighed, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"I know she puts up a touch act, tries to be intimidating, but she's incredibly sensitive. She lost her dad when she was eight years old, still hasn't been able to cope with it. She feels for other kids who don't have their dads or any other parents in their lives."

A guilty look came across Pitou's face.

"Back when she was still in the NGL, I found her when she was sick. Had she stayed out any longer, she would've died. At the time, I don't know why I did it. I didn't have any concept of empathy, or any other emotion besides my bloodlust. I found a picture in her bag, of you and her, and a man. Was that her dad?"

The woman walked over to Pitou, placing a hand on their shoulder.

"Yes, it was. And, it doesn't matter why you helped her, all that matters is that you did." Livia offered them a smile.

"You act alot more human than you give yourself credit for, Pitou.  don't forget that."

Pitou stared up at her, before nodding and standing up from their chair.

"I'm going to go find her, see if I can help."

Without waiting for a response from Livia, they walked out the door.

Quickly picking up Y/N's vanilla and lavender scent, they followed it to the park.

"Wow, she sure can walk fast..." They mumbled.

They entered the park, and immediately spotted Y/N on a bench, looking rather solemn.

As they were about to approach her, they spotted Anita walked up, holding two cones of ice cream.

Their ears picked up what the pink haired girl began to say.

"Hope you like strawberry, they only had two other flavors, and I know you don't like vanilla or chocolate."

Y/N took the cone lazily. "It's fine."

Anita took a seat next to her, giving her a concerned look.

"Is everything OK?"

She just shrugged.

"M'fine. I have to vote in the election for a new chairman."

Anita pursed her lips, seeming to hesitate about something.

"Can I tell you something?" She asked.

Pitou didn't know why, but a sinking feeling gnawed at their stomach.

Y/N side eyed the girl, before nodding.

"I... I have a crush on you. I have for awhile. I know now probably isn't the best time to tell you, but I wanted to get it off my chest before I chickened out."

Y/N stared at the girl before smirking.

"Yeah, I know. You haven't exactly been subtle."

Anita gazed at Y/N, a hopeful look on her face.

"Do you... Feel the same way?"

The smirk on her face was quickly covered by a frown, as she turned away from her friend.

"No. Infact, right now, I don't have romantic feelings for anyone."

A sad look came upon Anita's face.

"I'm sorry..." Y/N said lowly.

The pink haired girl took a deep breath before standing up and smiling sadly.

"It's OK, you don't have to apologise for the way you feel, or what you don't feel, that's not your fault. But, um, I should get going. I'll see you later." She turned and walked away, immediately catching sight of Pitou.

Y/N appeared to see them, too, and they looked away, uncomfortable.

Anita finally walked away, and Y/N took the chance to walk up to them, ice cream melting onto her hand.

"How much did you hear of that?" She asked.

Pitou glanced up at her, then looked away again.

"All of it."

Y/N sighed, shoulders dropping, before giving her ice cream to some random kid walking by, then placed a hand on Pitou's shoulder, leading them away.

"Let's go, I gotta mentally prepare for this whole election thing."

Pitou gazed at her from the side, and their ears picked up on the sound of her heart. It sounded sad.

They stopped walking suddenly, making Y/N stop, too. She turned back to look at them, an eyebrow raised.

"You OK-?"

Before she could finish speaking, Pitou quickly pulled her into a hug, a deep rumbling coming from their chest and vibrating throughout Y/N's body, making her feel warm inside.

"What are you doing?" She asked, slowly.

The cat hybrid just closed their eyes.

"I'm not good at this whole comforting thing, and I'm not good with emotions, but you seemed sad, so I wanted to cheer you up."

Y/N's breath hitched inside her throat,  her eyes widening a small fraction.

She blinked away the tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes, never would she admit that she was touched starved. Not in a million years. She especially wouldn't admit that Pitou's hug was the most comforting thing she had ever felt in her life.

Taking a shuddering breath, she wrapped her arms around the Chimera Ants waist, and rested her forehead against their shoulder.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she relaxed into the hug.

Damn them for making her feel so soft.