Ice Breathing/氷の呼吸 (A Demon Slayer Kanzaki Aoi Fanfiction)

XXII

Aoi had been feeling a weird sensation from her throat. It was warmer than the rest of her body. No, it felt like it was burning unlike the rest of her.

Inosuke and Kanao's alarmed looks, despite being just as beat up as her, started to worry her as well.

"What?!"

She held her neck, searching what seemed to cause their distress. Inosuke guided her hand to the exact spot that was bothering her earlier. "What is that..?"

"Describe what you're seeing." She uses her doctor-like tone to brace herself for the worst.

"Your neck's turning black. The color's coming from a darker area where your hand is right now. Did something happen in your last fight?" Kanao asked.

"No, I didn't even notice because everything was happening so fast.."

"Why do you have his blood?" Yushiro arrived and the look on his face confirmed Aoi's dreadful hunch.

"That's impossible!" Inosuke yells, acknowledging he was a demon but not lunging at him because he also seemed concerned about Aoi and he was carrying Zenitsu.

"It's possible for an Upper Moon to turn regular humans into demons with that monster's blood." He rubbed his temple and asked, "If you were really injected with his blood, why aren't you in tremendous pain right now?

"She doesn't feel like a demon either." Inosuke added.

"I don't think you have anything that should've delayed the effects."

"Then!" Kanao cut in with a hopeful tone, "It's possible that the cause of this isn't Muzan's blood."

Aoi instinctively remembered the medicine that was given to Nezuko when Muzan's name was mentioned.

I'm not even sure if I'll turn. I need to save it.

Another reason also stopped her. She knew it was horrible to even consider.

And If I become a demon, I can regenerate my arm.

"I don't understand what's going on." She admits, "But as of this moment, I'm human and I feel fine. This isn't our problem right now so let's not get worked up over it."

Inosuke looked upset, like he could predict what she was about to say next.

"If I do turn into a demon, I'll try to remember who our enemy is. If I start attacking humans, whoever's closest will just have to kill me."

Yushiro was the only one to agree. "Understood."

A loud sound erupted in the moving rooms and he dropped Zenitsu on the ground. "If you're still human, you can handle these three, right?"

Aoi nodded and he left to find Nakime.

While Kanao tried to wake up Zenitsu while Aoi went back to bandaging Inosuke. He wouldn't stop staring at her neck.

"Tanjiro made us promise something like that too."

"You said his name right!"

He ignored her and continued, "That if one of us turned into a demon, we had to make sure to kill that person so no one else would be hurt."

He held her hand, looking troubled because he didn't know what to say next. He settled with, "You're both not thinking."

What was even more unexpected for Aoi was that she turned her hand so she could lace her fingers with his.

"I know it's not as easy as it sounds."

They hadn't been together since he confessed to her.

She missed him.