A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next FIVE chapters are up on my Patreon for early access!

What movie could they have possibly watched? Or rather… what movies~

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As the credits roll and Fatal by RZA begins to play, Rumi leans back while Zoey leans forward, the younger hunter looking between her and Mira with big, wide expectant eyes.

"Ehhh? So what'd you guys think?!"

In the end, they had wound up using Mira's room for the impromptu Movie Night anyways. Which technically wasn't a Movie Night at all considering it was still close to midday when they started and pretty much early evening now that they were finished.

It also wasn't just one movie… no, Zoey had ambushed them with the entire Blade Trilogy, basically demanding that they watch all three movies back to back to back. So… they had. And now they were done and of course Zoey wanted to know what they both thought. Rumi mulls over her own feelings while Mira just shrugs and gives her honest opinion in that very Mira way of hers.

"The visuals were dated, but then the movies ARE old. Still, it made it a little difficult to get into. The choreography was pretty good though."

Zoey groans and rolls her eyes.

"Ugh, you're so shallow sometimes Mira! It was a masterpiece of its time! They did the best they could with what they had!"

Mira just shrugs.

"Yeah, I said that didn't I? Look, I can't just pretend it looked amazing when we live in the middle of the 2020s and way better-looking movies are coming out every other month. Even better-looking vampire movies, in fact. Sinners, ever heard of it?"

Zoey just puffs out her cheeks and crosses her arms over her chest. She can't exactly deny that Sinners looked good, after all. Instead, she turns to Rumi.

"What did you think, Rumi? I know you; you definitely focused on more than just the visuals like this brute!"

Rumi slowly nods.

"… I can see now why you were throwing out all of those comparisons and references before. Honestly, it was interesting to see a half-vampire fighting vampires like that. It… did end up resonating with me more than I was expecting."

Zoey smiles so brightly and Rumi wants nothing more than to bask in that smile forever. But at the same time, she can't quite hold her tongue.

"Still… I don't really get why Trinity is Celine's favorite. It was definitely the worst of the trilogy."

"Agreed. Celine has terrible taste."

Rumi shoots Mira a look for that sniped comment, but there's no real heat to it. Zoey just laughs and shrugs.

"Yeeaah, I really don't know either. Maybe she just likes Ryan Reynolds? That's a whole thing; there's actually a surprisingly large subset of movie goers who will love any movie where Ryan Reynolds pretty much plays Ryan Reynolds. It's why Deadpool has been so successful."

Mira gasps in outrage.

"You take that back! Deadpool was great!"

Rumi catches it where Mira does not… the glint in Zoey's eye that lets Rumi know that Mira might be walking into one of their cute maknae's traps.

"Except you and Rumi haven't even seen Deadpool & Wolverine! If you did, you guys would already know about Blade!"

Cringing, Rumi feels like she has to jump on the grenade there.

"Sorry Zoey, but to be fair we were really busy with work at the time…"

Letting out an audible 'harumph', Zoey rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest. Then, she gets a glint in her eyes as she looks at Mira.

"Well at the very least, you liked the Infinity War Saga, right?"

"Of course! The MCU has become utter schlock in the last five years, but it was great when we were growing up! Awesome choreo, violent fight scenes, good use of music! Pure Cinema!"

And so Zoey pounces.

"Well look at it this way! Blade walked so that the MCU could run! If it wasn't for Blade, then we probably would never have gotten Iron Man in the first place, and if we don't get Iron Man, then we don't get the Avengers or the entire Infinity War Saga!"

Mira pauses… before slowly nodding.

"Damn. Alright, fair enough, you've made your point."

Rumi finds herself nodding too even as Zoey preens happily. She did like herself a good Marvel movie, after all. They were perfect films for just turning your brain off and cuddling up on the couch with your girls. Until suddenly they were more than that and the three of them were holding each other and sobbing happy tears as big honking portals opened up behind a bloodied Steve Rogers holding a half-destroyed shield.

Him summoning Mjolnir to himself and whispering 'Avengers… assemble' while all the other good guys had been arrayed behind him never failed to hit Rumi right in the heart. Ten years of movies, all culminating into that one amazing moment.

After Endgame it had kind of all gone downhill, but that also happened to be around the same time they officially debuted anyways, so watching those kinds of movies had completely fallen to the wayside for Rumi and Mira. Only Zoey had really kept up with the space and she was STILL trying to get the two of them to watch Guardians of the Galaxy III and Deadpool & Wolverine.

"Fuck I'm hungry. And sore. Can't believe we just laid here and watched Zoey's old people movies for six hours."

Of course, even if Zoey had walked logic circles around Mira, that didn't mean the dancer wasn't still going to take the piss out of their lyricist every chance she got. Zoey squawks at the 'old people' comment, but Mira is already up off of the bed and dancing out of the younger woman's reach with a smirk on her face.

"Let's get some more food sent up, yeah? C'mon girls, I'm feeling Itaewon corndogs for dinner."

"Sure! Should we invite Jinu, do you think?"

Mira pauses and then looks to Rumi with a knowing smirk.

"I don't know… SHOULD we invite Jinu?"

Squawking and going red faced, Rumi waves her hands.

"W-What do you mean by that?! We don't have to! In f-fact, I'd rather spend the rest of the evening just with you g-girls!"

Mira and Zoey exchange knowing glances as Rumi fights down her blush. But finally, they both just shrug and seem to drop it for the time being. Rumi knows better though. They're just lurking, waiting for the right opportunity to strike…

…

In the end, Itaewon corndogs are exactly what they end up having, among other things. As they're chowing down on their meals though, Rumi can't shake it… the feeling that this day's been… too easy. At least after what had happened that morning anyways. Ever since they'd been ignoring their problems. No… more accurately, she'd been the one ignoring her problems.

Swallowing a bite of food, she finally breaks her silence.

"Do… do you think you guys will ever be able to forgive me?"

Mira and Zoey both look at her, Zoey's eyes darting between Rumi and Mira. Because all three of them know that it's not a matter of forgiveness for Zoey. She's already on her way to forgiving Rumi for everything, more than likely.

No, the question, even if it wasn't worded that way, is mostly directed towards Mira. After all, it was Mira who Rumi had asked to kill her earlier today. It was Mira who she'd begged for death.

Letting out a sigh, Mira puts her food down and focuses on Rumi.

"… You know, I've been picturing it in my head all day long."

Rumi blinks in confusion and Zoey doesn't look much better, both of them furrowing their brows. Mira shrugs a shoulder as if to downplay it even as she explains.

"Hurting you accidentally, I mean. With my gok-do. All it would have taken is one misstep in battle. One little slip up, one tear of your clothes. If I'd seen your patterns without knowing what you were, would I have hesitated? Would I have caught myself? Or would I have stabbed first and asked questions later like Celine taught us?"

Shuddering, Rumi bites her lower lip, staring down at the table.

"… Tch. Of course I'm going to forgive you, Rumi. I love you and no matter how mad I am right now, I think I'll love you and Zoey for the rest of my life. We're stuck with each other whether you like it or not."

Sniffling sounds come from Zoey, prompting Rumi and Mira to look over in her direction. She manages not to cry just yet, but her lower lip is wobbling.

"R-Rumi… do you still… does any part of you want to die, still?"

It's like a punch to the gut, causing Rumi to sharply exhale all the air in her lungs. For a long moment, she can't even speak. But she needs to. She knows they need to hear her response.

"I don't… I don't want to die. I really don't. I like being alive. I like being here, with you two. I just… don't think I could ever forgive myself if I hurt either of you. So if the choice was between my life and your happiness, or your health, or your safety…"

Rumi trails off, not finishing the sentence. But then she doesn't have to. Mira growls, slamming a fist down on the table.

"Well it's not! It's NOT a choice between those things, okay? Our happiness, health, and safety might as well be directly tied to yours, Rumi! If anything happens to you, it hurts us just as bad! And if we lost you… I don't know what would happen to us! I don't know how much longer either of us would be able to go on."

Rumi shivers at the implication. Zoey suddenly reaches out a hand and Rumi takes it, giving the younger hunter a watery smile. Then, Mira reaches out with her own hand so Rumi takes that one too. Only, where Zoey is holding on tightly… Mira squeezes down hard.

"I need to hear it, Rumi. I need to hear you say you understand how much we need you."

Blushing at Mira's forcefulness, Rumi swallows thickly and nods.

"I… I understand."

"… Good."

There's a long pause before Rumi cracks a hesitant smile.

"… Some motherfuckers are always trying to ice-skate uphill, huh?"

And then, because neither of them laughs, instead just staring at her with wide eyes and open mouths, Rumi swallows and shrugs.

"It's me. I'm motherfuckers."

That's what breaks them, in the end. Mira first, funnily enough. She throws her head back and laughs uproariously, which in turn causes Zoey to go into a full blown giggle attack. Rumi just smiles until they both realize she's not laughing, and then all of the sudden she's being tickled from both sides until she IS laughing.

Finally, what feels like an eternity later, they all calm down and finish their food, which has only gotten slightly cold during their impromptu heart to heart. Then, Rumi surprises even herself with what she says next.

"Tomorrow. I'll tell Celine you know tomorrow."

Both Mira and Zoey freeze at that. Rumi just smiles weakly, partially wanting to take it back already, but also knowing she can't.

"Just… try to have some grace with her, I guess? If… if possible."

Groaning, Mira runs a hand down her face.

"Seriously Rumi? You know you're the one who has every reason to be the angriest with her, right? This is your life we're talking about here. Not only did she risk us accidentally hurting you in the heat of battle, but she's also the reason you have so many walls up. Hell, she's the reason you never went to the bathhouse with us!"

Rumi blinks while Zoey suddenly squeals.

"Ohmygod you're RIGHT! Wait, this means we CAN go to the bathhouse together now! Unless… Mira is right, right Rumi? You DO want to actually go to the bathhouse with us… right?"

Hesitantly, Rumi smiles and nods. She's always wanted to go, of course she has. And they're both right… now she can. They can all go to the bathhouse together because there are no more lies between them.

"… Alright, executive decision time. You're sleeping with us tonight, Rumi."

Huh? Rumi furrows her brow in confusion, even as Zoey lets out a gasp of excitement.

"Yessss! Rumi cuddles! This will be the best night EVER!"

Mira just smirks.

"I have a big enough bed for it. Zoey and I share it all the time, in fact. And you're more than welcome to join us."

Mira and Zoey had been sleeping in the same bed together? Rumi knows she shouldn't be jealous, especially when she was being offered the same opportunity. Especially when she was the one who had always had to demand her own private dressing room while Mira and Zoey got to share one.

At the same time though…

"Won't it get a little… hot though?"

Both Zoey and Mira give her strange looks at that, before Mira's eyes flit down and she suddenly huffs.

"Not if you take off that damn sweater and change into a t-shirt or sleeveless top, Rumi. Fuck, I should have told you to take it off when we were watching those movies. You've been sweating this entire time, haven't you?"

Rumi blushes, prompting Zoey to gasp and whine.

"Ruuumi!!!"

Finally, Rumi gives in. She has no other choice, even if she still doesn't like the look of her patterns. She loves her girls more and she wants… no, she needs to make them happy. She needs to start making up for all the years she lied to them.

Things progress quickly enough after that. They each take a shower and when Rumi absently comes out of her room covered up again without even realizing it, Mira just points wordlessly, sending her back to change into just a sleeveless top and some shorts that she honestly hasn't worn in years. It's the least clothing Rumi has ever worn in the penthouse, really. She feels exposed, but at the same time… kind of free.

They pile up blankets and pillows from both Rumi and Zoey's beds onto Mira's, and then Mira sets about making them a sort of nest. It's not quite a pillow fort despite Zoey advocating hard for one. Mira shoots her down though, not wanting anything that might fall apart on them in the middle of the night.

Instead, she designs a truly comfortable cocoon, one that Rumi finds herself in the middle of as Mira and Zoey lay on either side of her. It feels… nice. Really nice. Maybe a little too nice, especially when they're touching her patterns directly.

… Jinu was right. He'd known they would accept her, patterns and all. She needed to remember to thank him at some point. And… and talk to him, maybe. Privately. Because she was still feeling a certain sort of way around him…

"You know… we should give Bobby a raise."

Rumi glances over to Mira, even as Zoey hums from her other side.

"Yeah… but he'll never say yes to it. He always turns them down…"

"That's why we start big and let him talk us down to something smaller. We can say he's getting ten percent from now on and I bet you anything he'll accept five instead if we frame it properly. Then, we just raise it again in a few months."

"You're evil, Mira. I love it."

Rumi giggles at their interplay and when both of them turn their eyes in her direction, she smiles and nods.

"I love it too. Let's do it."

This… Rumi could have had this all these years. This closeness. This trust. This honesty. She hates to admit it, but Mira is right… she is angry at Celine, even though she's trying her best not to be. Tomorrow… tomorrow they'll tell Celine everything. And they'll see how she reacts and what comes next.

-x-X-x-

"No…"

Celine had been in a frenzy of research ever since returning to the Hunter's Archive earlier in the day. She hasn't eaten anything in hours; she hasn't stopped reading for a single second. Four hundred years of history… and not all of it had even made it to the modern day intact. Some of the records had been lost to this or that historical event. The hunters had not always had life as easy as they did now.

But… the texts from the earliest generations of hunters were their most valuable and treasured. The First Hunters because they went into detail about how they created the Honmoon, and the Second Hunters because their insights into their own training were invaluable for connecting with recalcitrant and difficult trainees even now in the twenty-first century.

Celine had always been proud to be able to trace her lineage back to the Second Hunters. Back to Ahri in particular. But while she'd read all of Ahri's writings about being trained as a hunter by the First Hunters, she hadn't read much of the writings beyond that training. Everything after Ahri became a full-fledged hunter in her own right and her and her girls took over the mantles of the Chosen Three, Celine had never really bothered with before.

It's here, in these writings, that Celine finds the truth, no matter how badly she wishes she didn't.

My Soul and Heart both agree with my conclusions. My brother was taken by Gwi-Ma all those years ago when I was just a child. I've spoken with my mother at length and though she is older now and her memory fades with each passing day, she remembers clearly our momentary change in fortune back then.

The Demon King must have come to my brother at his lowest and offered him a deal… one that my brother accepted. His voice became that of a songbird overnight and suddenly we were no longer ignored, no longer shunned. But of course, like everything Gwi-Ma touches, it was a poisoned chalice. And eventually, we were separated. And Jinu was lost.

My Soul and Heart both agree that Jinu is a demon now and trapped in the Demon Realm. Our teachers agree as well, but caution that there is no hope of saving him. Even damaging the Honmoon to bring him back would do nothing good, for he would still be marked and owned by Gwi-Ma for all eternity.

I know I cannot risk the Honmoon for my brother. I know I cannot save Jinu from his fate. But I have still done what I could, in the end. My Soul and Heart stood with me. Our teachers showed us the way. And so today we performed a ritual to hopefully send my brother some aid.

Convincing Guardian Spirits to watch over a demon is no small order. My Soul and Heart knelt beside me as I pleaded and begged for just over nine hours. In the end though… my prayers were answered. They let me see them for a moment, before they disappeared beneath the Honmoon. Straight out of a Jakhodo Painting, a blue tiger cub tumbling end over end and a black and white magpie watching over him.

I only received a glimpse of them before they were gone, but somehow I know… I know they will watch over my brother where I cannot. And I will have to hope that will be enough. I'm sorry I could not do more, Jinu.

It was proof. Not the proof Celine wanted, but proof all the same. Jinu was who he said he was, a demon with guardian spirit companions sent by his little sister, her ancestor.

… Fuck.

-x-X-x-

A/N: Womp womp, Celine. Womp fucking Womp. Also, yes Jinu already stated in an earlier chapter that he created Derpy and Sussie. Guess what? No he didn't. Hah, what a dumb dork he is, amirite :3

Also, it dawns on me that some of you might be too young to get the reference. The ice skate uphill line is from the movie Blade, said by the character Blade. That's why Rumi says it here lmao.

Feedback is GREATLY appreciated, every comment helps me shape a story like this one!

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