Any gender!reader with temperature problems in that one scene where they hide in the deer from the weather?! maybe some heartfelt words or something from ogata!! That may be out of character, but I’d like to see where it goessss :3
⋆｡°✩ Ogata x GN!Reader ❄️ WC - 2,002
I couldn't find a pic that matched the fic so bear with me lol. Anyway, this is Gender Neutral reader x Ogata! It's a little reader-centric :3 I tried to make it as in-character as possible while giving some meaningful dialogue? I hope it came across as such! Anyway, enjoyyy!! Sorry if it's bad, this is my 2nd attempt at writing a fanfic ever haha, I'm still stealing Tumblr formatting from my friend 😭
You've always had trouble keeping warm. This itself wasn’t anything new to the team. Once on a particularly cold night, you’d convinced Sugimoto and Asirpa to dogpile on you so that your fingers literally wouldn’t freeze off.
This was the sort of “agreement” you three had. You and Sugimoto had been longtime friends so it wasn’t exactly difficult to persuade him to agree to this, and Asirpa enjoyed the warmth of the two of you.
Long before those two, you’d keep warm with animals instead. Every night you’d slink into your parent's farm with a blanket and pillow, squeeze yourself between the herding dogs and sheep and pray that you’d wake up the following day without a ball of fur in your mouth.
It wasn’t often that your prayers were met. Sugimoto often teased you about this, remarking that it made you smell like a barn. Your parents weren’t particularly proud of this quirk either.
Rarely did you get a good night's rest without something extra to keep you warm. Blankets weren’t enough- something else always had to fill in that creeping emptiness that you’d begin to feel as your fingers blued and your heartbeat slowed.
When the group began to expand, not only with the addition of Shiraishi but Tanigaki, Ogata, and the others, you stopped sharing a sleeping place and began freezing yourself once again.
Even though you got to stay somewhere nicer every now and then with Hijikata taking charge, you still felt cold. Nothing in the world could quell it.
The cold wasn’t just a lack of warmth. It was the kind that crept into your ribs and made you feel like a ghost among the living. Like you didn’t deserve to feel their warmth anymore.
Having to share a space with other people meant that you couldn’t request extra blankets without looking greedy, and while you did care about your own well-being a tad bit more than your reputation, getting on people's good side seemed to be something you should keep in mind.
Speaking of which, you never could tell which side you were on with Ogata.
You’d known Sugimoto well enough to practically finish his sentences for him- it wasn’t hard to work with him. Asirpa, despite her stubborn nature, had taken quite a liking to you as well. Shiraishi was simple enough to cohabitate with. Though he was a definite oddball he had a somewhat functioning brain on his shoulders and you two could get along just fine.
The difference between Ogata and those three is that they know how to express themselves while Ogata does not. Or rather, he chooses not to.
You’d first met him during his fight with Sugimoto, of which you’d witnessed the entirety of. He didn’t greet you then, of course- too busy fighting. He was striking; his figure haunted you ever since. You’d thought that was the end of it, till he showed up again and proved you wrong.
The sound of sniper rifles had pleased your ears since. In a sort of sick way, you wanted to see him again- even if it meant another fight. You thought about it at night in your tent, dogpiled with the others.
You thought about it during fights, getting disappointed when the soldier's faces didn’t match his.
It’s the kind of delusion that somebody has and doesn’t expect to be entertained. The saying ‘be careful what you wish for’ rang in your ears every time your thoughts made their way back to him.
Your wish was granted when you saw him again after the fiasco with Edogai’s skins, where he decided it was a great time to greet you.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Ogata Hyakunosuke,” he said, stretching his hand out in greeting.
You stared at him incredulously.
“I know who you are,” you stated flatly, struggling to keep your composure.
“Is that so?” He replied, keeping his hand outstretched.
“You fell into a river with my best friend and broke your chin. You don’t remember that? I feel like that was pretty significant.”
At this he frowned, his hand finally reeling back as he understood you weren’t going to greet him.
“Holding a grudge? Over that?” His tone was light, almost amused. But his eyes didn’t match.
You shrugged him off and continued what you were doing, ignoring his uncomfortable lingering presence. A poor attempt at ignoring the deafening beating of your heart.
Since then, he’d made it a point to linger behind you no matter what you did. You weren’t sure if he was guarding your back out of some sort of misplaced affection or aiming for it.
You told yourself you didn’t care. That the only reason he lived in your head was because he was dangerous- something to be feared. But the truth was harder to swallow- it wasn’t the fear that kept you up at night.
It was the memory of his voice. The way he looked at you like you were prey. Or maybe a puzzle to be taken apart and solved.
Once, while talking to Sugimoto, you looked away for just a second. There Ogata was, watching. Not just watching- studying. The way someone reads a sniper scope. You froze. He didn’t look away.
A cold prickle danced down your neck.
You turned back to Sugimoto and pretended not to feel the heat blooming in your cheeks. You pretended not to miss the weight of his stare when it was finally gone.
If Sugimoto noticed, he certainly didn’t speak on it, though you could feel his palpable disapproval.
After the chaotic invasion on the Asahikawa 7th Division and the rescue of Shiraishi a fierce windstorm swept through the plains you had escaped to, dropping the temperature lower than anyone had anticipated.
Your hands become numb within just a few minutes. Asirpa's quick thinking gave you hope for a moment as you prepared to hide inside the deer that had just been taken down.
"Will you be alright alone in there?" Sugimoto asked. "You know, I’d be fine taking my own deer. You could share one with Asirpa."
Only four deer had been downed, and there wasn’t enough space for everyone to have one. It was clear that Asirpa would be the one who needed to share her space with someone else, taking into account her size.
"I d-don’t want to be a burden," you mumbled, your teeth chattering. "I’ll be fine. You and Asirpa should share one."
Sugimoto opened his mouth to argue, clearly aware that you were not fine, but Shiraishi had run off with Asirpa chasing after him to catch up.
He quickly returned on his own though and with Asirpa absence Sugimoto quickly set off to find her, leaving you shivering in the cold with no hope but to crawl inside of the deer and pray that wouldn’t be the last thing you did.
The deer stunk of blood and guts, and it was already losing heat. You couldn’t stop yourself from trembling. Your breath came in ragged huffs, puffing white in the air like smoke from a dying fire.
Your fingers had long since lost their color- it looked as though you were a corpse. You huddled, knees pressed to your chest, but it did nothing to keep the chill from climbing up your spine. The hide barely shielded you from the wind anymore.
You curled into yourself tighter, pressing your face into your sleeve. You told yourself you could make it till morning, that you weren’t going to die.
You began to feel like that was a lie.
Your body wouldn’t stop shaking. Your jaw ached from being clenched so hard and yet still the cold crept in deeper. It felt personal- malicious. Like it knew what it was doing. It wanted to pull you under and take you out of this world so quickly that no one would even notice you were gone. Not in this storm- not in the body of another creature who was too weak to keep even itself from dying, and who you expected to stop you from dying as well.
How dare you demand warmth from something that had long since gone cold.
You bit your lip hard enough to taste iron.
It wasn’t supposed to be this cold. You weren’t supposed to be alone.
For a long time you sat there in silence. Thinking. Weighing. Not just the decision– but what it would look like. What it would mean. What it said about you if you came crawling to him.
And what it said about you that you wanted to.
There were other options- you could go to Shiraishi. You could resign yourself to your fate and sink into the cold grip of death. But Shiraishi wasn’t warm- he wasn’t Ogata either. And you weren’t going to let yourself die. Not like this.
Your breath shuddered out of you in a small, broken sound. And then, you began to move.
You pushed the hide aside and staggered out into the cold, barely keeping your balance on half-frozen legs. You weren’t sure what guided you- instinct, desperation, or something far uglier. You just knew where you were going. Knew exactly where he was.
You didn’t have to question if you arrived at the correct deer- you knew you had. It was like your mind remembered him better than it did warmth.
Thankfully, his deer was much larger than the others. Large enough to fit two, perhaps.
Your stomach twisted in anticipation. Had he meant for this to happen?
And still, you called for him. “Ogata.”
The flap of the hide shifted slightly. Not enough to invite you in- just enough for you to catch the glint of one sharp, catlike eye.
“What happened to your deer?” came his voice, low and unreadable. But you heard it. The edge of amusement underneath.
“It’s cold,” you bit out.
“Mm,” he hummed. “And you want something warmer.”
The pause dragged, long and deliberate. You felt yourself sinking into the earth.
Then, he shifted again- just a slight shuffle to the side. Enough room for you.
You hated how you moved anyway. You hated how slow your limbs felt as you lowered yourself into the space beside him, how your breath shook when the flap sealed shut behind you.
Inside, the air was still. Stale, almost- but warm.
Your body moved on instinct, curling in on itself, trying to steal whatever heat you could from the space. You didn’t dare look at him. But you felt him. Right there beside you- quiet and unflinching.
“You should’ve come sooner,” he said eventually, as quiet as a whisper.
You turned your face toward him. “What?”
He didn’t repeat himself. Didn’t look at you either.
But his meaning lingered, heavy in the silence between you.
You should’ve come to me sooner.
You shivered again, this time not just from the cold.
A long stretch of silence followed. You could hear his breath, feel the humidity against the back of your neck, slow and steady. The faint brush of his cloak against your side.
Then- his hand. Not on yours. Not comforting. Just there. Resting near your hip. Close enough to make you tense. Close enough to feel deliberate.
“You came here because you needed something,” he said.
“I came here so I wouldn’t freeze to death,” you shot back.
He made a soft sound- half laugh, half scoff. “Not the same thing?”
Still, when you didn’t pull away, his hand didn’t move.
It didn’t wander. Didn’t grab.
Just stayed. Heavy and certain. Like he was staking his claim.
“You don’t like me,” he said quietly, almost lazily. “But you still came.”
He was watching you. You could feel it- like a weight.
“I didn’t have a choice,” you muttered.
“Mm. That’s what you tell yourself,” he said, then turned his head, the words brushing so close you could feel his breath on your ear:
Credits to @hermes-obsessed for being my editor on this!
