Three days had passed since you got back your bike.
Not a lot happened over the weekend aside from Thomas sending you a text message, asking if you wanted to hang out on Saturday evening. At first, you had debated declining since you were expecting to see Kanjigar by then, but after the trollhunter didn't show up on Friday either, you told Thomas that he could swing by your place.

With your father not being around, you had the whole house to yourselves. Thomas brought along some frozen pizzas, you provided an array of movies to watch and you spent the evening together. It was rare that you hung out like this and maybe it was because of how stressed Thomas' situation at home was but he seemed a little strange.
Insecure or uncertain, maybe? Well, he never was the confident type to begin with anyway. But still, there was something off about his behavior.

Then again, he probably just needed a break.

While watching one of the movies, your thin friend had asked you a question. It had been a casual, subtle question which you didn't think much about before giving a just as casual and subtle response, halfway focused on the movie still.

"It's fun to spend time like this, right?"

"Sure is, Tommy."

You didn't even remember it now but to Thomas, it had been a huge relief to hear you say that. One could say that to get your answer to this question had been the whole reason of him suddenly wanting to come over. Of course, you couldn't have known about the doubts growing in his heart at the time.

But yeah.
Other than hanging out with Thomas, nothing happened. And when I say nothing, I mean nothing. This also includes Kanjigar not showing up again.

It was a bit unusual of him to not attend to your meetings for four nights in a row.
Surely he was simply busy with his trollhunter duties. Maybe something happened in his hometown. Trollmarket did sound like a pretty damn wild place whenever he spoke of it and its inhabitants. 

You wondered if you should ask about Draal next time he came by again. After your unexpected encounter in the woods the last time you were with him, you hadn't really had the chance to learn more about his family.
What kind of person was Draal? Were they as alike as each other in personality as they were in appearance too? 

You had only seen a small bit of the crystal-spiked troll, which made you even more curious. 
How would he react if he knew about his father's nightly visits to your house? Would he like y-

"(L/n)! For ze last time just because you have gute grades, doesn't mean you can daydream in my clazz!"

The loud voice of Señor Uhl ripped you from your thoughts with his sharp accent like a owl rips unsuspecting mice off the ground to feast upon their flesh. He was looming right in front of your desk, his angry blue eyes glaring down at you.

"Now flip to page twentytwo and read ze first two paragraphz!"

"Sir, yes, Sir!" you responded in a joking manner out of instinct -the man didn't quite seem to catch the sarcasm- and quickly refocused.

Still having to deal with the mental whiplash this teacher had given you just now, you got up to stand while your fingers automatically moved through your textbook but turned a few pages too far. You let them flutter back again until you had a story of some kind in front of you. In Spanish, of course.

So in Spanish you began to read.

'Newspaper report on alleged hidden government facilities from 1932,' the text began.
It looked like an official article that had been reused to teach some very specific words to students.
Although it sounded more like a conspiracy theory no one believed anymore.

The part which you read was mainly just the introduction, explaining something about missing people cases skyrocketing and UFO sightings increasing in specific locations.

Of course, this was from 1932 where 'UFO' pictures looked like they were taken with a toaster who was in middle of having a stroke.

Once you read the last sentence out loud, you sat back down in your seat and heaved a quiet sigh.

Señor Uhl had moved back to the front while you read, where he mercilessly marked down every mistake on the blackboard. The chalk screeching with every line.

Granted, there weren't a lot of lines to screech for as you hadn't made many mistakes but it was still making your neck burn with embarrassment.

You could feel the eyes of your classmates on you. Some with amusement, others with pity.

"I don't know where you got thiz from but gnade dir Gott, it wasn't from me," the Spanish teacher from Austria said, sounding genuinely upset and slapping his pointing-stick against the blackboard to show off one of the mistakes.

You looked up, confused as to why he said that. Your Spanish was pretty darn good. What did you do wrong to make him so mad?

Once you actually saw what he was pointing at though, you immediately froze up.

In your state of surprise at the sudden interruption of your thoughts, you had mixed up the Spanish pronunciation of a letter with the Trollspeak pronunciation.

Before you could scramble to think of an excuse though, you were saved by the shrill ringing of the bell, announcing the start of lunch break.

Señor Uhl gave one last disappointed shake of his head, calling out the homework for tomorrow, and then turned to wipe the blackboard while your classmates were already halfway out the room. No one really liked to stay with the unforgiving teacher for longer than necessary.

"Seriously though, (Y/n), where did you get that from?," you heard Thomas giggle next to you. At least someone had found their fun in your failure.

Breathing out yet another sigh, you picked up your backpack and swung it over your shoulder.

"Come on, Toms, you can tease me during lunch too. I'm hungry," you deflected his question, not even sure if you could answer it. Well, you could. But he probably wouldn't believe the truth anyway.

Luckily for you, the little slip-up shook your tired brain into alert mode, which meant that you were able to pay attention a lot better. If only for the next hour or so.

It was an unfamiliar feeling to actually partake in class for once. And not just for you. Even Mr.Strickler, who you had in history after lunch, looked rather shocked when he saw you raise your hand and not ask to go to the bathroom but instead contribute something to his lesson.

However all good things came to an end eventually. 

Your brain was back in its sleepy state just in time for PE. It didn't really matter if you paid attention here though.
You were the fittest kid in class. No matter in how much denial Steve was over that. Being interested in martial arts and practicing teakwondo had its perks.

After completely obliterating half the class in a dodgeball game -you had made sure to throw the ball extra hard when it was Steve you were aiming for-, the schoolday ended.

You stuffed your sweaty gym uniform into your backpack and headed out of the girls' changing room, giving a silent goodbye wave to Claire and receiving a friendly grin in return.
You could've taken a shower here, in the separate room next door, but frankly, it wasn't the most clean or private place and you preferred not to be naked at school. Even if it was in the showers. Just a weird vibe in general.

Heading over to your motorcycle, you began unlocking it. Now that it was repaired and ready to go, you had took it to school on Friday and today. It was a lot faster, which meant you could sleep in a bit more, but you also kind of missed taking your bike together with Tobias and Jim. 

Maybe you'd switch back to your bicycle again?

Throwing a look over your shoulder toward the two boys, you shortly watched them bicker by their bikes before they looked over to you and immediately smiled.
You couldn't help the tiny smile that betrayed your usually so blank expression as you gave a wave and quickly hid the growing smile behind your helmet's visor.

You never would've thought you'd voluntarily exchange your sleek motorcycle with that rusty bicycle. Only to spend some more time with other people too. 
Near death experiences really do change a person, huh?

You pushed your bike out the courtyard, through the gates and to the street, slipped onto the leather seat to start the engine and drove off.

After leaving the school behind you, you headed back to your house through the city.

You were both excited and concerned to get there and wait for Kanjigar. After all, you had no way of telling if your blue troll friend would come by this time.

Once you entered your room, you quickly scattered today's homework on your desk. You had promised Kanjigar to always do your normal human tasks before you'd deal with anything trollish. Probably because he was concerned that people would notice if you suddenly went from a 'meh' student to a 'this kid is gonna fail in life' student. 

Either way, you forced yourself to sit through three pages of Spanish homework and then looked up a short video online for history. Something about immigration in the Roman Empire. Quite honestly, you didn't pay too much attention.

Staying up way into the night to wait for your horned protector wasn't really helping your already messed up sleeping schedule. 

Somewhere in the middle of the video, you had rested your head on your arm. You barely noticed when you began to fall asleep, eyelids drifting close slowly as the monotone voice moderating the video lulled you into comfort.

Only when your phone slipped from your hand and hit the desk with a loud bang, did you flinch upright and very much awake again.
To keep yourself from switching into dreamland, you got up and started walking in circles around your room, feeling the soft carpet under your feet while you let the video play from the last part you still remembered clearly. 
You had missed about five minutes and were done in a flash.

A curt look outside the window told you that it was already getting quite dark. Still some sunshine left in the sky but it wouldn't be long now until the moon would show itself and its starry companionship.

Quickly stuffing your things into your schoolbag, you grabbed a jacket, threw it over and bounced down the stairs to make your way onto the veranda. Specifically, to your comfy chair. 

Once snuggled into the cushions, you took a deep breath of the fresh night air and closed your tired eyes.
Hopefully Kanjigar would swing by tonight, even if only for a little bit. You were beginning to miss the big troll and his lessons.
While thinking about what he might be doing right now, you began getting sleepy and before you could stop it, you had drifted off into a light slumber.

…

There were no dreams that you remembered when you were awoken by a hushed whisper and a poke to the cheek.
At first, you didn't really understand what was going on, groggily cracking open an eye and sitting up to get a grip on your surroundings and situation again.
Another poke to your cheek followed after you didn't move for a bit, which shook you awake more.

Now with both eyes open, you turned your head and looked around for the source of the poking. You didn't need to look far as your (e/c) eyes were instantly met with a pair of yellow ones.

"Ah," it slipped from your lips, "Kanjigar! You're back!"

The pleasant surprise of seeing your trollish mentor woke you up fully as you got out of the chair to stretch your sore limbs, having been cramped into the cushions for who knows how long.

Excitedly smiling, you faced the blue troll but your joy was dulled when you saw the somber look on his face.
Something was up.

"Is everything ok?" you asked, noticing how Kanjigar flinched slightly at your worried tone.

He averted his eyes, stepping back from the veranda. 

"(Y/n), you have to listen to me," he began, still not meeting your eyes as he turned his back to you and walked to the middle of your backyard, "I need you to do something. Something you won't like."

That.. didn't sound good.

Anxiety crept into your body, slowly eating away at your insides. Whatever this something was, it was serious.

Moving to the stairs to follow Kanjigar further into the backyard, you didn't move your gaze from the large troll's back. Carefully, you circled around him so that you were face to face again, peeking up to him. He still didn't meet your look, his eyes closed into what you could only describe as a pained expression.

Unsure of what to do, you waited for your guardian to continue. It took a while of him visibly fighting with himself before he did.

"I.. I'm not sure how to explain this to you in a way that you would understand so I'll just tell it to you straight," Kanjigar told you, one of his stony hands shortly brushing over his chest, where you noticed the amulet in it rhythmically glowing.

It was unusual to see it stuck to his skin without him wearing the silver armor.

You weren't too sure but you thought there was a faint clicking sound coming from it too. Almost like a timer of some sort.

When you looked back up to his face, you finally met his eyes again but frankly, you wished you didn't.
He looked so.. pained, so vulnerable and exhausted.

It hurt to see him like this.

Before you could say or do anything however, the trollhunter suddenly hardened his expression and straightened his back, using his bulky body to loom over you.

The rising moon cast its light onto him but this time he didn't have that same wonderful glow you always saw on him. This time the light made him appear cold and distant.

For a second you wanted to believe you had only imagined that unmeasurable suffering in his eyes. But you didn't get that far because his next words completely wiped your mind into a blank state.

"You have to forget me. Me and all that I've taught you. Every meeting, every conversation, every lesson. Just… Everything.
Pretend it never happened. Live a normal life as it was meant for a human."

…

You were staring at him, desperately hoping he'd crack a smile and laugh about it like it was all a bad joke. Like he didn't just seriously tell you to forget him and the world he showed you.

But he didn't.

He didn't smile.

He didn't laugh.

He only stared back at you with an expression void of emotion.

He was dead serious. 

A wave of feeling rose inside of you all of a sudden. Sadness, disappointment, fear, disbelief.

"How can you just expect me to forget you like that?" your voice was but a whisper, quivering at first, stumbling from your lips and floating to the ground like the ash of a burned out fire.

You were the one to break eye contact now, casting your eyes onto the grass between you as you couldn't stand looking into the face of the one who you thought would never leave.
Without your consent, your hands balled into fists and your body shivered as a second wave of emotions rushed in. It was anger. Rage even.

"How can you be so selfish!? You want me to erase you from my life like some kind of unwanted memory?? You- You can't just- just tell me to forget everything!" 

Yelling loudly now, you were painfully aware of how accusing your tone was but you couldn't control it. Not with this much heat in your chest, burning it up and consuming your body from within at an alarming rate.

"I can't ever go back to a normal life! Never! Not after you came in and taught me the truth! Why- Why would you want me to forget that!?"

Kanjigar didn't respond to your desperation, which only fueled your confusion more. Doubts that had always been there but had been pushed down up until now arising.

"Am I a burden to you!? Am I too much work!? Is that it?? Am I just.. some dumb task you don't want to do anymore?"
Your outburst had lost its energy, your voice once more growing quiet along with the raging storm inside of you burning itself out.

As you were staring intently at the ground, you didn't even take notice of the hot tears spilling from your eyes, blurring your vision and falling down your cheeks.

An antagonizingly long silence spread itself in your garden, suffocating you.

Neither of you could look the other in the face.

Then, finally, Kanjigar took a deep breath and his rough voice spoke.

"… Yes."

That's all he said and if you hadn't been in such an overwhelmed state, you might've noticed the pain in his voice.

His confirmation of your fears only drove you further. It shattered something fragile deep inside of you. Something you had been so careful to protect.

Why? Why would he do this?
What was he thinking?
Was he trying to hurt you?

A new emotion steadily began to take root in your system, taking over your thought process even though you knew you shouldn't let it. But you couldn't stop it as hate bared its ugly fangs.

You wiped away tears with your sleeve, only for more to take their place, and turned away from the blue trollhunter, your eyes staring off into the distance with a sharp glint.

Who was he to treat you like a pet he didn't want anymore? It wasn't your fault. Nothing of this was your fault.
So why did you have to pay for it?

With a voice akin to a poisoned dagger, you hissed out words you'd regret for a very long time.

"You're worse than Bular. At least he doesn't hide that he wants me gone."

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw how the tall male flinched visibly, his whole body momentarily losing its strength.

"You want me to forget you?" you asked challengingly, still glaring into the darkness. You couldn't look at him, "Fine. I will. Now get out of my sight. Leave and never come back."

Kanjigar didn't move at first, which prompted you to give him one last verbal push, not knowing how much longer you could keep this up.

"I never want to see you again… But I guess that's exactly what you were aiming for."

You heard the trollhunter mumble a defeated 'yeah' as he got into motion, walking past you with heavy steps. Those same steps that you used to enjoy feeling the vibration from.
That you waited hours for to hear come towards you every night.

Brushing past you, Kanjigar walked to the fence of your backyard, stopping one last time but you didn't turn around or look back.

A softly whispered farewell reached your ears, twisting your guts and stabbing your heart.

Then, you heard the familiar creaking of your fence as he pulled himself over it one last time, soon followed by the slowly departing sound of his footsteps.

It wasn't until you heard only the wind in the trees that you broke out of your frozen stance, dropping to the ground and slapping both hands over your mouth.

They did little to muffle your cries.

---

All that Kanjigar could do was keep walking forward, even though it felt impossible.

It tore him apart that it had to end like this. That he had to lie to her to help her. Even if it meant tearing her apart as well. 

He never wanted to do it. Not to her, not to Draal or Blinky or anyone.
But what else was he do to, when his amulet began signaling his end? 

Lifting a hand to brush over the glowing amulet again, he heard the clicking loud and clear.
It started off slow and kept increasing with time.

Growing louder, pushier.

It was that same intuition he felt when he knew how to summon Daylight on his first day of being the trollhunter that told him what it meant.
His time was running out and his amulet was warning him.

So, what else should he have done? 

He couldn't have left without a last goodbye, without making sure she'd stay away from trolls and all the dangers they brought. He owed her at least that much.

Even though it tore him apart. 

The trollhunter ignored the salty drops running down his face as he went to follow his destiny. 

He knew where Bular was hiding now.

And it was time to confront him.

One last time.

-----
-----

Surprise!! I thought about waiting until Saturday to upload since that's the day I usually do it on but I couldn't wait the whole week after finishing this chapter on Sunday haha

I hope y'all are excited 'cause I sure am!
And I also hope that I was able to write a fittingly emotional scene for once as I don't do them very often -v -;;

From now on, we'll be following the show -to some extent- so I'm going to have to rewatch the first part and plan out where our dear traumatized (Y/n) will be fitting into. Ofc we can't forget about Thomas' predicament either.

There's much I have already set out but also lots to work on still.

Hopefully you've enjoyed my book so far and will continue supporting me! Thank you all for the votes and follows ^-^

I also thought about doing something like a little art contest but Idk how many people would be interested in participating -v -;; the prize would either be I draw you something in return or I write a one-shot with whatever you want.
So let me know if you're interested!

-Jade