"This is a different butterfly girl, idiot!" Inosuke yelled at his crow after saving Kanao. "Well, whatever. You look strong!"
Douma looks suprised at the appearance of his new opponent. "What are you?"
"Fight me, demon!" Then he read the markings in Douma's eyes. "Upper moon two? Hah! I'll become the beast hashira if I defeat you. Let's get this over with so I can reward that girl acorns!"
"That girl?"
"She's the reason why I can read the writings in your eyes!"
"Doesn't she have a name?"
"It would be disgusting to hear someone like you saying it."
-
Aoi regained her footing and followed her crow who was now leading her towards Upper Moon One. Her knees were getting weak and she was on the verge of crying.
I can't cry right now. Don't cry. Don't cry. I'll lose concentration again. Think happy thoughts. Happy thoughts like..
Kanao is still alive. I'm still alive. We can still live with Kiyo, Sumi and Naho waiting for us at home if Muzan is defeated.
Shinobu is the only hashira reported dead. That means the other pillars are still alive.
I can still fight.
Zenitsu defeated an Upper Moon.
"I shouldn't have told you and Tomioka-san. I've only worried the both of you."
Shinobu's voice rang in her ears but she did her best to keep her eyes dry. She was able to focus when her presence interrupted the intense fight in the next room.
Sanemi, Gyomei and Upper Moon One.
Everything was moving too fast so her eyes focused on the injured at the back.
"Genya!" She recognized him quickly and ran towards him in a hurry. The demon was too preoccupied fighting to pay any attention to its new opponent.
She held back a scream after seeing his condition. "Genya-"
He held a hand up. "Calm down. I'm alive."
"How are you alive?"
"This is how I fight."
She saw his demon-like eyes but didn't jump into any conclusions. Genya hated demons. He would never be one of them and Sanemi wouldn't have let such a thing happen.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm terrible with a sword and I can't do total concentration breathing. You already knew that, didn't you." His body began regenerating and she fell backwards, startled. "So I eat demons to get their skill."
Aoi answered with the only thing she could think of.
"..What the hell?" She rubbed her temples then bent to his side. "Why haven't you fully regenerated?"
"I'm not exactly a demon."
"So you don't need my help? Your injuries will be alright?"
"Yeah."
"Does Sanemi-san know?"
"Worry about me later." He said, pointing towards the mist pillar.
She rushed off to help Muichiro who was also in a similar, critical condition. "Pain killers." She mumbled before helping him swallow the small pill. Bandaging him was also rushed as they all wanted to help the others quickly.
"Um.." Genya pointed at the hair and broken sword on the ground close to Aoi. "Can you help me eat that?"
"Will the two of you manage?" She asked after helping Genya eat Upper Rank One's hair. She was eager to aid the two pillars in battling Muzan's strongest creation.
They nodded.
Genya's limbs were all reconnected to his body. For some reason, he said he would swallow the sword later on his own.
Aoi assumed he'd be saving it for when they faced Muzan.
"Genya, if I also eat demons, my arm can-"
"Don't even think about it. Please just help Gyomei-san and my brother you are now."
Before Aoi left, she heard Genya say, "I don't understand what you like about that idiot. He called me a shrimp for not being able to use total concentration breathing."
Who?
"Ice breathing. Fourth form." Hit the vital spots with your sword. "Hail."
The demon was good at blocking attacks from 3 pillars all by itself. Aoi was tossed aside just moments after her first direct hit on him. It was hard to balance herself with uneven limbs but she caught herself before hitting the wall.
Aoi wondered if she would be as strong as him if she became a demon. Just the possibility of that thought gave her goosebumps.
"You're interested, aren't you?" She heard Kokushibo's voice for the first time. It disregarded the other two hashiras just to get closer to her. "Your expression tells me that you crave power."
"Fourth fo-"
"Of course you'd want to get stronger. You don't stand a chance against me the way you are now."
"Dumbass!"
Sanemi yelling his "warning" gave her an instant to dodge the next combo of slashes that should've killed her.
"Don't you want your arm back? There's an easy solution for that."
The only reason Kokushibo moved away from her was the wind and rock pillar charging towards it.
He never said I was weak because he knows I'm not.
She glared harder than she already was and focused her strength on her arm, making it feel colder than the rest of her body.
One eye. That's all she managed to take from the demon and she already felt like her sword would break if she striked again. Her arm moved before she thought about the consequences of what she was about to do.
With the handle of the sword in her mouth, she gouged two eyes out; one with her thumb and the other with dagger under her sleeve.
The next thing she knew, her body is thrown across the room again, covered in blood from wounds that weren't just hers. The mist pillar caught her and placed her down on the ground where she dropped her sword and spat out a loose tooth.
"I'll be alright." She said, trying not to throw up. She'd seen a lot of sickening things as a doctor already but she's never had her thumb in someone's eye socket.
Muichiro left her to rejoin the fight, more determined because he had a plan with Genya now.
Aoi was also ready to go back in when her crow suddenly flew in front of her. "Kanzaki Aoi! You're needed somewhere else!"
"What?! No, I have to stay here until-"
"Hurry! Hashibira Inosuke and Tsuyuri Kanao have defeated Upper Moon Two! Hashibira Inosuke and Tsuyuri Kanao need medical attention now!"
Genya, who was hiding nearby, overheard and had the same hopeful reaction as Aoi. "You should go."
"What about that other guy? I haven't done enough-"
Genya helped her stand. "You're needed somewhere else."
She took another glance at the demon who already regenerated the three eyes she just took away. Still, she noticed the considerable damage it received from the other pillars while momentarily blinded.
"I just got here. To leave all of a sudden.."
"We'll handle it! We definitely won't lose." Aoi noticed Genya's shaking hand, tightening onto the demon's blade. "Go."
There was a new bad feeling she couldn't shake off. It wasn't a new sensation. Every day, she already assumed she'd lose someone important. Right now, she wondered how critical the state of Inosuke and the others were.
She had just lost someone she saw as a mother. She didn't know where Giyuu, who felt like a father to her, was.
It felt like it would be a mistake to leave Genya and the others but if she didn't rush to help the others, a new uneasiness would start to grow.
"You're like a sister to me. I'll see you again later"
For some reason, that last statement from him was what urged her to make a decision.
She reached for his hand to give it a squeeze before leaving.
Whoever is in charge knows what they're doing. They know that Genya and the others will win this fight.
Still, the look they gave one another felt that they both acknowledged it could be the last.
"Aoi!" Kanao dropped Inosuke to embrace Aoi when they reunited. "You're alright."
"Kanao.. You both defeated an Upper Moon!"
As much as she didn't want to, she had to peel away from the embrace to assess the condition of the two.
They were both crying so much but Aoi tried not to join them by countering her negative thoughts with positive ones.
Shinobu is dead.
Inosuke and Kanao won against the Upper Moon that killed her.
Shinobu is dead.
Tanjiro, Giyuu and Genya are alive. Are they?
"Kamado Tanjiro and Tomioka Giyuu have defeated Upper Moon Three!"
She felt as if her body became significantly less tense after hearing the news. The crows sang obnoxiously in unison but she almost wanted to join them with how she felt.
While she bandaged the two, her vision began turning. It wasn't that bad so she ignored it. She assumed it was because her emotions were mixing badly.
She noticed Inosuke intently looking at her with his eyes a bit sore from crying.
He didn't look relieved to see her at all.
"What's that?" He said, an unusual tone in his voice as his hand reached for something on Aoi's neck.
"What's what??"
Kanao looked at where Inosuke was pointing and whatever calmness that was left in her eyes was replaced with panic.
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Note: Here's a small preview for a short compilation of oneshots I'll be making soon for an unusual pairing that I really like. This pairing has a normal age gap and the reason I like it is because of the gaiden, the drama CDs, and a lot of well-made fanart on Twitter.
🍡🔥
Kanroji Mitsuri wanted a husband but a lot of men rejected her no matter how much she tried to change herself.
When they said her hair was too strange, she dyed it black.
Her appetite seemed endless but she chose to eat fewer than she usually would, making herself dizzy.
Her strength was abnormal so she pretended to be weak.
After what seemed like the 11th time she was left by a man she thought would love her back, her energy was completely drained.
She was starving on the way home to her empty house. Her family members were still alive but it was her decision to live on her own.
They would only be disappointed with her constant failures to find a husband and she would just feel envious that she wasn't normal like her siblings. Had she been, maybe she would have already found a partner like them.
The weather contrasted her feelings, the bright sun felt hotter than usual and the heat adding to her hazy mind.
She passed by food vendors but kept walking as she already promised herself that she wouldn't eat more than 3 "normal" portions a day.
She must've swayed too much while walking because someone grabbed her shoulders, as if steadying her.
"Ah, sorry."
He was walking the opposite direction but he knew what could've been the csuse of her lack of balance while walking. His own father, someone who drank a lot, always walked like that.
However, when she looked up at him, he realized she looked far too young to be an alcoholic.
"Are you alright?" He asked, placing the back of his hand on her forehead. She would usually react during a scenario like that but she was far too drained.
Her temperature seemed normal but her eyes were dazed, like she was staring right through him and off to the distance.
Before she fell unconscious, the last thing she saw was his unusual hair color that looked like a magnificent fire under the sun.
(To be continued on 苺ワイン)