Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru [DISCONTINUED]

99: You Won't Believe This False Hope

"I think (F/n) was planning to kidnap me again, and when he saw Sekido, I think he wanted to kill him," You start to tear up, "And I Sekido told me to go through the tear without him. So I did. And..."

You pull your left sleeve back.

"The mark isn't here anymore and I'm really worried about Sekido."

Shinjuro frowns. It's... been a while since he has had a woman in his life. He's not exactly sure what he's supposed to do or say to comfort you. Shinjuro wasn't going to just tell you to suck it up or to tough it out.

He's been making the effort recently to be more kind, and you were a nice kid yourself who hasn't given him any reasons to be rude to begin with.

Plus, Shinjuro is sure Kyojuro would have his head if he was the reason for your crying.

"Isn't the mark's visibility determined on the physical distance between you two?" Shinjuro asks, "Maybe he's just far away."

You shake your head, "It's different this time. Before, I was just constantly aware that... that I wasn't alone. It's weird but before I was never that lonely. But now, I can't feel Sekido with me anymore."

Shinjuro thinks back to the first time Kyojuro had ever explained your situation to him.

Kyojuro had briefly mentioned a concern that it reminded him of Fairytale stories about Soulmate marks.

At the time, Shinjuro thought it was silly.

"Um..."

Shinjuro is not good with women; he awkwardly pats your head a few times.

"There, there."

You blink.

Oddly enough, it helped.

"Kyojuro left for a mission a few days ago, Senjuro is outside training," Shinjuro provides, "Your friends, Kamado and the others..."

"Kamado and Hashibira are in a coma. Agatsuma was well enough to go back into action about a week after that big mission they went on with Uzui."

You try to fight back tears but it was pointless.

"Are they at the Butterfly Estate?" You ask softly.

"Both Kamado's and Hashibira, yes. Agatsuma is on an assignment right now. As for Uzui..."

Shinjuro really didn't want to make you more upset than you were with everything going on, but it wouldn't be fair to lie to you.

"No one has seen or heard from him since. Not even from his wives, either. We don't know if they're alive, since Uzui was severely injured as well. At least from what I've heard."

You lower your head and hide your face in your elbow. You're trying your best to not make a sound, but it's not like crying into your sleeve would make you silent.

You know that Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Uzui would eventually be okay, but it's that nagging feeling in the back of your head.

What if they're never going to wake up? What if Uzui is dead? What if Sekido is dead?

Just the possibility that something is different and is going wrong, it's enough to make you emotional.

"I-I have to go find Sekido," You whimper, "I can't just-so much went wrong, I can't lose him too."

Shinjuro doesn't know what to say or do. All he can do right now is awkwardly pull you in for an awkward hug. Awkwardly patting your back like the awkward man he is.