♪───Ｏ（≧∇≦）Ｏ────♪
You scratch the back of your ear: "That's the door to my room at my house."
"Yikes." Sekido clicks his tongue, "Well, let's go, then."
You deadpan at Sekido's behavior. Sekido opens the door, but on the other side, it was the hallway in the Butterfly Estate. You furrow your eyebrows and step forward.
"(Y/n) and Sekido," Tanjiro smiles, "Be safe."
"Yep! See you in 24 hours!" You offer your friends a small salute.
You walk through the door with Sekido close behind you. Right when the door closed, the door suddenly changed back to the normal sliding doors the Butterfly Estate had.
"So..." Zenitsu scratches the back of his head, "What... do we do for the next 24 hours?"
"Well! We could-" Tanjiro immediately stops.
What do they do for the next 24 hours?
You usually always had something for everyone to do. Whether it was drawing or listening to music, to cleaning or making food. Whenever they come to bug you, you always seem to know what to do so they wouldn't be bored.
Tanjiro wonders sometimes what his life would be like if Zenitsu wasn't around. Or if Inosuke wasn't around either. Or if YOU weren't around either. Each scenario was always so boring.
Now, they really did have to live without you, if only for 24 hours.
You've been gone for less than three minutes and they're already bored. They were just idling around in Sekido's room. Awkwardly.
——
"Okay, this is actually really awkward." You hiss.
For the last three pages, each panel was a different camera angle of the boys just awkwardly hanging out in Sekidos's dark room.
"This is really bad," Sekido laughs, "I feel like the rest of the time we're gone, it's just going to be them awkwardly hanging around."
——
"I'm gonna go outside..." Inosuke mumbles.
"Yeah, good idea," Tanjiro sighed in relief.
The three of them left Sekido's room and-still awkwardly and silently-walk down the halls to go to the backyard of the estate.
——
"Oh my God!" You cried, "Why are they moping around?! They're acting like I died! This is so uncomfortable!"
——
Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu were now outside, though they were sitting on the engawa in a circle, looking bored out of their damn minds.
Tanjiro was sitting with crossed legs, his elbows resting on his legs while he held his chin up in his hands. Inosuke was also sitting cross legged, though he was leaning back on his hands. Zenitsu was laying on his stomach in a star-shape position, his right cheek resting on the floor.
"So..." Zenitsu starts, "I saw a dead snail the other day."
"Ohh..."
"Oh, that's... cool, I guess..."
Tanjiro and Inosuke mumbled out, uninterested in the topic.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Inosuke starts monotonously: "I saw a cloud in the shape of a leaf..."
"Oh."
"Oh, nice."
Tanjiro and Zenitsu hum out, bored.
——
"Oh my God!" You groan, "Don't these people know how to entertain themselves?!"
"Well, to be fair, before you, they would always train. Now, they got used to having you around to help ease their boredom instead of training." Sekido supplies, "It's not even crossing their minds that they could train right now. It's nice to know they miss us this much, though."
"God, it's like watching a bunch of energetic dogs being depressed!" You shake your head, "This possibly can't get any worse."
——
"Hey! What's with the gloomy atmosphere?" Kyojuro grins.
"How not flamboyant," Uzui tsked, "If you're gonna mope around, at least do it flamboyantly."
"Hm."
"Hi."
"Hi, Rengoku and Uzui."
Inosuke couldn't be bothered to actually say hi, Zenitsu was too inconvenienced to say anything else, but Tanjiro was actually nice enough to greet them semi properly.
"Okay, seriously, what's with you plain people?" Uzui frowns, "And where's (Y/n) and Sekido? Are they inside?"
"Oh! I know!" Kyojuro brings his fist down into an open palm, "(Y/n) is usually with you all to keep you busy. (Y/n) and Sekido were supposed to leave this morning, correct? Where are they? Are they getting ready?"
"Right, we wanted to say goodbye before they left," Uzui smiles.
"They left five minutes ago." They all reply simultaneously in a bored tone.
The next panel cut to all of them sitting in a circle. The three boys were in the same position, now Uzui and Kyojuro were sitting in the circle. Gloomy lines decorated the panel.
——
It got worse.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" You groan in irritation, "I can't-I don't want to read anymore. I'm taking a shower, then I'm going to sleep."
"Can I still read it?" Sekido asks.
"Yeah, go ahead," You nod as you get off the bed.
——
"What do we do now?" Uzui mumbles.
Kyojuro, the poor baby, only shrugs his shoulders in a depressed manner. This morning, he was so excited to see you. His father and younger brother were a little put off because he was just so energetic-more than usual, anyway.
The Flame Pillar was hoping that he could give you a parting kiss, but you and Sekido had left earlier than anticipated.
And it would be rude to say he only came here for you-even though that's exactly what he did-so he couldn't just leave. Besides, now that he's here, he could wait until you got back so he could maybe give you a greeting kiss instead.
Uzui came along because he wanted to ask you to bring back a flamboyant souvenir, and so that he could remind you how amazing and flamboyant he is so you would want to come back. And so he could pull Sekido aside in secret and tell him to keep you safe.
But no.
You both just had to leave five minutes before they arrived.
Diabolical.
"Oh, my. What happened here?" Shinobu's voice rang out.
"Mm..." Was everyone's instant reply.
"Is no one going to tell me?" Shinobu's words were laced with something malicious, as if they didn't tell her, they would face disastrous consequences.
"Sekido and (Y/n) had just left," Kyojuro sighs, "Uzui and I didn't make it in time to say goodbye. So, I'm just... going to wait here for their return."
Everyone else hums in agreement.
"Rengoku, I'm surprised you're letting this get you down! It's so out of character for you, you're always so energetic," Shinobu smiles, a plan formulating in her head, "Well, I'm sure that (Y/n) would be hungry once she returns, I doubt she has any American currency to buy herself any food. So, I think I'll-"
"-Well, since I'm not doing anything, I don't mind preparing her a feast for when she returns!" Kyojuro shoots up from the floor, "I can prepare the food instead, Kocho! Does Sekido eat human food? I don't know, I'll make some for him just in case!"
"Wha-Wait, I'll help!" Tanjiro stands up quickly, "I mean, I'm the son of a coal burner, cooking is practically heat checking!"
"Well, I don't have anything else to do, I guess I'll help out," Zenitsu pushes himself off the floor.
Uzui and Inosuke grumble in agreement as they get up as well.
"If (Y/n) knew we were just moping around, she'd probably find us pathetic!" Kyojuro chuckles.
——
Close. Sekido thought.
——
"No," Tanjiro hums, "She'd probably leave us in secondhand embarrassment and find the silence uncomfortable."
——
There you go.
——
"Well, what kinds of food does she like?" Kyojuro asks.
"Hispanic." The replies from everyone were instantaneous.
"His-She's Hispanic?" Kyojuro grins as he marches back inside, "While I don't know any Hispanic dishes, I'm sure we can all figure something out!"
——
No you can't.
——
Everyone else follows suit, leaving Shinobu to think of a way to minimize the mess that will be sure to come.
"This will be easy!" Kyojuro declares, "Just follow me, I know what I'm doing!"
The next panel cuts to the kitchen up in smoke while Uzui and Shinobu try to put the fire out. Everyone else was shunned outside back to the engawa.
"You said this was going to be easy." Zenitsu says.
"I also said I knew what I was doing." Kyojuro points out, "I didn't believe me, why did you?"
——
Jesus Christ. Please just wait for us to come back, you guys can't be trusted alone.
——
The next panel had Tanjiro sulking on his hands and knees.
"As the son of a coal burner, how pathetic." Tanjiro whines.
"What did you even do to cause the fire?" Inosuke asks.
"We tried to boil some water, but the water caught on fire." Kyojuro and Tanjiro spoke in unison.
——
What the fuck guys.
——
"How did you-do you mean the pot?" Zenitsu asks.
"The water."
"Water can't catch on fire," Inosuke groans, "That's not even possible."
"So, the pot is completely fine," Uzui came outside to update the others, "But the water.... almost looks burnt? How did you two manage to do that? You had one job."
They all look at Kyojuro and Tanjiro who were both ashamed.
——
Okay, but why are you making the food now?
——
"Wait." Zenitsu frowns, "Why are we making food now? They come back tomorrow morning."
Everyone was now ashamed and slightly embarrassed at their eagerness to impress you and Sekido for your guys' return.
——
Okay, that's it, I can't read this.
Sekido shakes his head.
I wonder if there's a chapter where we come back?
Sekido went to the chapter index, but it doesn't go further than the one he was already on, Chapter 77: 24 Hours Without (Y/n) And Sekido.
That is very ominous and could mean two things.
One: They're all going to die and the manga ends there.
Two: The chapters haven't appeared because they haven't happened yet.
Sekido hopes it's the latter, rather than the former. Not that he himself had any real desire to keep living, but dying kind of sucked too.
Sekido is curious about how it would work if it was option two. Would it automatically update? And who made this manga?
"What happened?" You ask while getting out of the bathroom.
You had your bra and underwear on with your haori to try and give you some decency. You were drying your hair with a towel.
"Dude!" Sekido's voice cracks as he drops the phone on the bed to cover his eyes.
"Calm down," You roll your eyes and sit down in the bed, "Why does it look like you're thinking? Thinking can't be good for you."
Sekido hesitantly removes his hands and makes the effort to not look at you.
Respectful ladd.
"This manga... it's made by Gotouge. It's not a spin-off either." Sekido hands you the phone.
You go to the very first chapter to see the cover art. In the picture with Tanjiro and Nezuko, the title reads Kimetsu no Yaiba. Underneath the title, it said, Created by Gotouge Koyoharu.
"When I went to the official Kimetsu no Yaiba page, this was the link provided that let me download the manga. The other one didn't exist when I looked for it," Sekido explains, "I was only able to download it because you had it saved in your file history."
You can feel your heartbeat speed up in slight panic: "Wait... wait, so you're saying the manga that I'm in now, it's the official Kimetsu no Yaiba manga?"
"It seems like it," Sekido replies.
"Wait, no. That doesn't make any sense. Then people would realize that the girl in the manga is me. My friends, my family-wouldn't someone have said something? That a girl that went missing is now a manga character?"
"I don't know, (Y/n). All I know is that this is basically a rewrite for the other manga," Sekido says, "But, I actually don't think this manga is completed. It's not showing me any more chapters, and the latest update was Friday on the 12th."
What the fuckkkk-
"Great. Great!" You drop the phone on the bed, "My only comfort to being in that damn world was knowing what the hell was going to happen. Now, the manga is different and-"
"-Most of it isn't different," Sekido cuts you off, "It's just, now you're in it. The events are still the same, but the outcome is different because you're an added variable."
Sekido continues, "I mean, when Akaza went to tell Muzan about us, and that he couldn't kill a Pillar, Akaza still lived."
"Yeah, but now we're targeted by Akaza and Muzan." You recite from the new manga, "If we weren't royally fucked then, we are now."
"And, what does this mean for me?" You ramble, "Does this mean I'm not actually real? Does this mean I'm just living the life of a character already written out for me? Do I actually have any free will? Or am I just following the plot? Is it my character supposed to be aware? Is that my design?"
"I-Okay," Sekido takes the phone from you, "I'm not gonna lie, when I first found out that I was part of a fictional world, I freaked the fuck out. I was depressed for a literal 3 years until I finally accepted who I was."
"You have to realize, even if you are fictional, or if you are the most real person, you still have a life of your own. You still have emotions that only you experience in your own way," Sekido goes to the chapter index and shows it to you, "Look, it stops at chapter 77 because your future isn't written out for you yet. The manga isn't completed, so you can still decide your future for yourself."
"Ugh," You start to nudge Sekido off the bed, "I don't wanna think about it anymore, or I'll start crying. I want sleep."
Sekido gets off the bed, "Alright. It's pretty late, so we should head to sleep anyway."
You throw the towel on the floor and start to wrap yourself with the thick blankets. Sekido walks to the door and turns off the lights. He goes over to the other bed and lays himself down under the blankets.
"Sekido."
"What's up?"
"You promise me that you actually care about me... and not because you're supposed to because of the manga?"
"I promise."
"..."
"..."
"Good night."
"Good night, (Y/n)."