Starry Eyes - Inotan College AU

Opening Thread

Inosuke POV

I can't fall asleep. I stare blankly at the ceiling and all I can do is wonder how the world could be a cruel as to do this to a star like Tanjiro.

The realization that those beautiful eyes will only stare blankly at me now makes me feel sick. I want a miracle, but I can't get my hopes up with nothing to support them. Besides, the universe only has so much luck for us. Hope is just that: hope.

My head turns to look at his sleeping form and all I can see are the bandages. The bandages that won't do anything. The bandages that cover up what can't be undone.

I want to find that bastard who hit him. I want to make them feel the same pain that twists through me right now.

I finally drift off, thats my last thought.

I'm in a bed in an unfamiliar room. A nightstand sits next to me, and two other identical beds, but other than that, the room is strangely bare. The nightstand has some sort of medicine on it, but nothing else.

I hurt all over, and my throat feels bruised and sore. "Hello?" I try to call, but it comes out as a raspy whisper.

Someone stirs in the bed beside me. I look over to see Tanjiro opening his eyes, looking over at me.

"Inosuke?" he mumbles, then his eyes grow wide. "I CAN SEE!"

"Huh?!"

"Oh, wait..." he sinks back into the pillows, looking dejected. "It's just a dream. This is the place I always see when I'm asleep. The Butterfly Mansion." He says this more to himself than me.

A thought hits me. "Are we both conscious?"

He jolts up. "Huh? I thought you were just in my head-"

"Me too, but we both know what was going on in the real world, so..."

"This is weird," he says confusedly. Then he smiles wide. "But I can see, so I'm not complaining!"

A knot forms in my stomach. "I'm sorry Tanjiro. I should've come with you... or been nicer while you could..."

He stands and walks over to me, taking my shoulders and looking in my eyes. "Don't you dare blame yourself for this. This was the way the universe planned it. Now, when I wake up, I'll be blind again, so please let me make the most of this."

I nod and he just sits there for a few minutes, taking in my face.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm memorizing your face. I don't know if I'll have this opportunity again."

"Oh," I say, and wait while Tanjiro scans me from head to toe. Then, he straightens.

"Let's go do something."

"Like what?"

"Like go outside and look at the sky."

"Ok."

Before we walk out, he stops by Zenitsu's bed and studies him, then sees Nezuko's room in the hall and does the same. When he's satisfied, we walk out into the courtyard and he stares up unblinking at the brilliant blue sky.

We walk all around, looking at everything we wouldn't have given a second glance before. Trees, flowers, grass, even just rocks. Nothing is boring when it's the last time you'll ever see it.

After a while, we lay side by side in the grass and he takes my hand. "I don't want to wake up."

"Me neither."

"Hopefully this isn't the last time this will happen. But I'm not going to get my hopes up."

"Mm."

He rolls over to face me. "I love you, Inosuke."

I'm startled. I don't know how to react, so I just say, "Yeah... I- I love you too, Tanjiro."

He smiles and kisses me, then pulls back and looks into my eyes, still grinning. "If this is the last time I'll ever see, this is what I want to be looking at."

So we sit like that for minutes or hours, until the inevitable comes. I blink and when I open my eyes again, I'm in a chair in the hospital, neck aching from the awkward position and staring at Tanjiro. He's still asleep for a few seconds after me, and before he wakes, I see a soft smile on his face.

•        •        •

Tanjiro POV

I wake to nothing.

One minute I'm staring into those beautiful emerald eyes and praying I don't wake, the next, I'm in a hospital bed, knowing I might never see those eyes again.

And it hurts.

It hurts like nothing I've ever known, like I'm dying, like there's nothing left in life.

Until someone walks over and takes my hand, and I can tell it's Inosuke from the rough feel of his palm.

There might not be a lot left for me, but as long as he's still here, I have a lifeline.

I lift the hand to my face and press it to my cheek, tears rolling down my face. It still hurts. But I know he's taken some of that hurt for himself.

Me and him are connected, by fate or our own decisions. I know for sure because in our dream, I looked down from his eyes for a split second,

And there was an opening thread

From my pinky

To his.

869 words
Song: Always, Forever by Cults
- Madzzzzie_the_frog ✌︎('ω'✌︎ )