Conqueress of Demons - Demon Slayer x fem! Xiao Reader

Chapter 27.5 - Sound Pillar Tengen Uzui (2)

A/N: Sorry for disappearing for like a whole month🙇🏼‍♀️ I was really unmotivated to continue this but now I'm feeling motivated again. Please forgive me 🤞🏻

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The next morning was quite warm, the sun was shining and the table was decked with the usual food. Inosuke, Tanjiro and Zenitsu sat next to each other, mindlessly eating their breakfast. Y/N wasn't present. She was walking through the halls of the butterfly estate, on her way towards the infirmary. Holding a plate of food with one hand and a cup of tea with the other, she entered, immediately greeted by the sight of the pristine white bedsheets, neatly arranged on each of the infirmary beds. And in one of them was the flame pillar. His eyes lit up as they fell upon her, a smile pulling at his lips.

„Y/N. Good morning."

He was almost as cheerful as usual, yet his voice held a tinge of something else. Sadness? Anxiety? Kyojuro let out a soft sigh as Y/N placed the food on the nightstand of the infirmary bed.

„Thank you. I.. heard you and young Kamado visited my little brother and.. my father?"

Y/N simply nodded, sitting down on a small stool next to the bed.

„Yes. Can't say you're like him, though."

Her voice was cold, a scowl taking over her features as she remembered how Shinjuro had treated them. Kyojuro tilted his head with a weak smile.

„I'm.. glad. I guess. He isn't a bad person. He always worked so hard and.."

„Stop."

Y/N interrupted him mid-sentence. Kyojuro's eyes widened, glued to her lips.

„Don't. Don't excuse his behaviour towards you and your brother. Even if he went through something, that is never an excuse to treat your own kids like this. Abuse isn't justified. Never."

Kyojuro's breath hitched. It felt like a chain was wrapping around his heart, slowly squeezing it. It was painful. Admitting to himself that his father wasn't a good person was painful. It was his father, after all. The man he had once looked up to, that was once his role model, that had once raised him and Shinjuro with so much love and care. Everything could've been different. They could have been a happy family, if his mother hadn't died so early. Kyojuro bit down on his lip, eyes cast down.

„Maybe you're.. maybe you're right. I shouldn't justify his behaviour. Not towards Senjuro, nor towards me."

Kyojuro swallowed heavily, nails digging into his palms as he sat up straight in the infirmary bed. He had never thought about it, not in this way. Abuse. A strong word. A word that left a disgusting, bitter taste in his mouth. He had always just tolerated his fathers behaviour towards him, simply continuing to smile and nod. But now it felt like all the emotion he had been repressing was resurfacing. Kyojuro had given so much, trained so hard. Yet he never even got a small smile from his father. Not one kind word. He flinched as he felt Y/N's hand on his cheek, wiping away a tear he hadn't even realised was falling.

„You're crying, Kyojuro."

Her voice was soft and comforting, like the caress of a butterfly's wing, yet it steadied him like a rock in the surf. The man looked up, forcing a sad smile.

„Seems like I am. I don't usually cry.."

Her eyes. Those gorgeous golden eyes. Cold, yet filled with sympathy. Kyojuro reached up, placing his bigger palm over hers, leaning his cheek into her touch.

„I haven't thanked you yet, you know? For saving my life."

Y/N pulled her hand back, almost bashfully.