Ever heard of the Hanahaki Disease?
!Manga Spoilers Ahead!
They are pillars, powerful and mighty, meant to hold up the sky and calm the trembling sea. But are they truly strong?
Pillars must chain themselves to their duty, forever bind themselves and their lives to the sole reason why they existed, to slay demons.
Pillars must climb the tallest of mountains and steepest of hills. They must stand up when they fall down and learn to fight to protect others with their own lives.
Pillars bathe in the blood of their enemies and reek of death after taking countless lives with their bloody hands. They hold their blades as tight as they can as they watch their loved ones fall prey to demons. They struggle and yet they never crack. They fight on through the bitter tears and pain, their grip on their sword never faltering no matter what.
Venomous hate burns through their veins and yet they keep silent and endure it. They persist, even when their body screams in agony and blood gushes from all the wounds that have piled up through the years. They keep standing, even when their soul begs for them to give up.
Their heart clenches as they remind themselves that they cannot dedicate their lives to anything other than slaying demons.
They are the strongest of the strongest, meant to die for humanity the moment they are born.
She loves him but they are Pillars, Pillars who are forbidden to love.
The moon rises as Shinobu coughs up a single blue petal stained with blood. The blue that she loved so much, the color of his eyes. She smiles bitterly and clenches her fist, any day now she will have her revenge against the one who murdered her sister. She could not afford to die right now.
Her lungs were blooming, the blue flowers' roots extending deeper into her chest. Unrequited love, pulchritude yet so sorrowful.
She never expected to fall in love with him. But now that she had, the fire in her chest burned brighter. She yearned to tend to the flames of love, not a growing garden ready to burst and take her life any second, her flames snuffed by the overflow of blue flowers.
Her death, planned until every last detail only to be altered by these blue flowers. She could no longer breath without catching a faint whiff of wisteria, no longer breath without coughing up several bloody petals.
Tonight was her final one. She looked longingly at the full moon in the sky as she approached the humble house that the water hashira called home.
"Konbanwa, Tomioka-san," She said quietly, for once not a trace of a fake smile on her face.
"Kochou," He greeted her, deep blue eyes glinting in the soft moonlight and complimenting his sharp features.
He opened the door all the way to let her inside, neither saying a word as both took a seat on separate cushions.
"Have tea," He said and pushed a cup of cold tea towards her.
She accepted it without a word but did not take a sip, the petals threatening to come up again. She attempted to swallow them and winced uncomfortably when they refused to go down.
"Kochou, you seem tense."
Her body acted on its own accord and a strained smile tugged at her lips, "Ara~ ara~ I never thought I would witness Tomioka-san try and start a conversation─"
Her words were left unfinished as she broke into a coughing fit. She desperately tried to stop the flowers from coming up, but a few petals managed to escape from her mouth and onto the tami mats anyway.
"I apologize for soiling your floor─" She started weakly, tears of embarrassment and frustration leaking from the corners of her eyes.
"Calm down," Giyuu muttered and handed her the tea.
She took it from him with trembling hands and lifted it to her mouth. Her hands shook and the cup rattled along, finally ceasing when it crashed uncontrollably to the floor.
She coughed again, the petals joining the shattered china on the tami mats.
"I'm sorry," She whispered through gasping breaths and hot tears, "I'm sorry,"
Her small hands found their way around her body like a defensive shield.
Damn him for being able to break her so easily.
She heard Giyuu mutter a few ineligible words as a full flower tumbled from her throat, azure staind scarlett with lingering blood.
A pair of strong and unrelenting arms wrapped around her fragile figure, "Kochou, we are going to survive."
We were going to survive. He told such beautiful lies.
"No, I'm not going to," She choked out tearfully, "but promise me you'll live on."
"Kochou─"
"Promise me!"
"Yes, I promise you, I will live on."
If Shinobu's ears didn't deceive her, there was a slight tremor in his voice when he said those last two words.
Live on.
...
She knew she wasn't when Douma successfully punctured her lungs. Blood spilled out of her chest and unmistakable blue flowers from her mouth. She fell to her knees, something that a Pillar was forbidden to do, fall.
"Stand up." Her older sister's voice echoed through her mind.
"I-I can't."
"Stand up, Insect Hashira, Kochou Shinobu."
Kanae's words brought her back on her feet with blood and petals gurgling from her throat. She turned towards Douma with more burning hatred.
He was the one who had ruined her life
She gave him everything her small body could muster, pinning him to the ceiling with her deadly sword before they fell back down.
Her back slammed against the ground, the impact vibrating up her spine. Regardless, she smiled, her body coughing up one last bloodstained flower as if to mock her.
Douma wrapped his disgusting arms around her, a far cry from the embrace that she shared with Giyuu the night before.
"Oh my!" Douma wondered out loud, then laughed sadistically, "Might this be that pathetic disease you humans get? Tell me, little butterfly, who stole your heart before I did?"
She didn't give him Giyuu's name, his ears were unworthy to hear it.
"Go to hell!" She screamed as brief images of Giyuu flashed before her eyes.
Dazzling blue eyes, dark hair and pale skin. The prince that haunted her dreams and who brought back all those bittersweet memories.
She remembered him for one last time as her body merged with Douma's, blooming into the beautiful garden that it hosted, sapphire blossoms the color of the night sky.
Her consciousness faded after she faintly heard the door open and saw Kanao rush in.
"I'm sorry," she thought one last time as a crow announced her death to those who were still alive to hear the news.
She wasn't able to see Giyuu's icy mask crack for a split moment as he recalled that one night amidst the rising adrenaline of the ongoing battle, her hidden confession that he might have been able to return.
"The moon is quite lovely tonight, isn't it, Tomioka-san?"
"It is," He whispered, but she was no longer there to hear it.
They are Pillars, the strongest of the strongest, meant to hold up the sky and calm the trembling sea. They are Pillars, forever forbidden to love.
YOU ARE READING
Demon Slayer || Ship Oneshots
Fanfiction[Requests Open] A unedited collection of (un)romantic short stories brought to you by my obsession with Demon Slayer ships. [illustrations do not belong to me, credits to original owners]
