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There she was, her head raised high, spear dotting against the ground every time she took two steps, a gentle smile over her features as she walked through the Oyakata estate, moving to finally see Kagaya again after a few weeks, her chest pushed forward with pride before she came to a silent stop in front of the door.
“Kagaya, you crazy bastard-”
She gave out a small chuckle, standing next to the door and her hand reaching to grip the handle before a sudden wave of nausea crashed down on her like a wave. She could do nothing but stumble back a little, leaning on her spear for a bit of balance.
She released a huff, blinking with confusion and her lips falling into a confused frown. Why did she suddenly get this feeling? She was sure she wasn’t sick, and she certainly would know sooner, especially since she left the small get together a few moments ago, and before that, she was at the butterfly estate. She was sure she didn't catch anything that could make her feel this way…so why?
Looking back up at the door, her confused eyes narrowed and her brows furrowed. In any other case, a feeling like this would only wash over her when her senses were overwhelmed. That and-
She suddenly let her eyes widen, breath hitching at a realisation. She forced herself to stand at her feet, stumbling slightly, but she brushed it off, panic suddenly making its way into her features.
She would feel like this when she sensed something bad..
Her hand fumbled at the door, her teeth grit and her eyes full of determination, but if you looked deeper, you could recognise the all too familiar feeling of dread. Dread of what would happen if she opened the door- dread of what could happen….dread for seeing one of her closest friends in danger..
She gritted her teeth, finally forcing the door open before she stumbled through, into the silent room.
Her eyes scanned the room first, snapping all over to leave nothing untouched by her gaze, before her nose twitched, a scent making its way to her senses.
Blood.
She gasped, her eyes finally landing in the centre of the room and forcing herself to look down at Kagaya, who was resting on the ground. She slowly stepped towards him, brows furrowed, the tainted smell still detaining her senses before she saw what it was coming from.
(Y/N) suddenly raced towards him, eyes wide and hand outstretched to reach out to him. “KAGAYA!” She cried, falling beside his unmoving body, her hands fumbling as she watched a drop of blood slither from his lips, adding to the small pool staining the covers of his makeshift bed.
The halfling stuttered, eyes wide and mouth wide open as her hands slowly leant down to hold a finger just under his nose, her other hand wiping away the stray drop of blood. He was still breathing…but it was faint. So faint she hardly was able to catch on until a few moments had passed.
“AMANE!” She cried out, her voice desperate, cracking slightly as she called down the hall. “AMANE, HELP!” She noticed his curse had spread. His usually soft and warm hands were covered with peeling skin as veins popped out all around his arms. She looked at his face, her heart shattering as she saw the curse marks had spread all down his nose, his lips the only thing untouched by its cruel grasp.
Stumbling to take her haori off, she gritted her teeth, finally tearing it away from her body and hastily attempting to fold it. The fold was messy, parts of its edges sticking out, the material crumpled, and the layers uneven. But it was the best she could do for now.
She hastily lifted his head, her touch gentle, before she lowered the folded haori under his head, hopefully managing to let him breathe a little easier. “AMANE, PLEASE!” All she could think to do was grip his hand, cradling it to her chest, her eyes wide with panic and her teeth grit with annoyance that she didn’t know what to do.
She hadn’t been told anything on how to help him, only the basics of the curse. She knew Amane was the one to take care of him, and in case of emergencies, she was to call her name and keep him comfortable…but she was told no more. No more ways to help him, no more ideas that could help her be more prepared…she could only know to stay by his side.
“AMANE..please..!” Her voice slowly fell apart, no longer able to cry out to the woman. She was hurt. She didn’t know what she was doing and the man who gave her a second chance, the one who allowed her to change for the better..the man who was able to give her smile back..he was hurting, hardly able to breathe, bleeding from his lips, his curse burning at his skin…
And she could only sit there.
"What's the matter-" a voice- Amane's voice suddenly called, the halfling snapping her head back to stare at the woman with helplessness and panic. Amane didn't seem to understand the panic, but froze as soon as she saw the small pool of blood beside the halflings feet.
"Please- help him…!" (Y/N) gritted out, her voice almost a whisper, her chest feeling as though it was closing in on itself through every second that passed and Amane remained frozen at the door.
Amane snapped out of her daze, her eyes widening before she rushed towards the duo and fell to her knees beside the woman, her usually emotionless features morphed into panic. "Get a wet towel- now!" Amane huffed out, her hands moving around the man's covers, moving some out of the way, moving others to provide more comfort.
"Ofcourse!" The halfling spoke, standing to her feet and rushing out the door, her eyes giving the scene one last glance before she grit her teeth and made her way down the hall in a hurry, only a single goal on her mind…
Keep this man alive.
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"Oyakata-sama is very unwell."
The halfling's voice spoke out, the woman leaning against the grave of the former flame hashira, her forearms resting on her propped up knees, her head hung low, and her spear resting against the stone of his grave.
It had been a few hours after the incident and she had been kicked out of the ubuyashiki estate by Amane and some of the doctors on site. In the end, they had to call over five kakushi, and even Sanemi, who was on his way to speak with Kagaya, to get her out of the estate by force, not wanting to leave her friend behind in such a state.
She felt useless, unable to do anything good when it came to things like this. She wasn't able to help him through the curse, and she didn't know a single thing about medical care since she had never had to apply it to herself, she was able to heal after all…
By the time she was outside of the estate, she fell to her knees, Sanemi falling with her to make sure she didn't escape, his arms wrapped around her from behind to potentially hold her back if she ever tried to run into the building at any point.
She didn't cry, nor did she feel anything but fear and pain, she just sat there in silence, wide eyes staring at the doors of the estate that were slowly being closed in front of her very eyes.
She learnt not to struggle against the wind hashira, only letting Kagaya's name slip past her lips one last time before the thud of the doors was heard and the duo were left in silence.
After that, sanemi asked for an explanation, his arms still holding her back, but he only gained a small few words of context before he let her go and she ended up at Rengoku's grave not long after.
It seemed as though this place was the only place she could ever take a break.
"You should've seen it, Kyuojuro…his whole face looked almost unrecognisable…and his hands were so cold I thought they would freeze off…" The halfling returned to conversation, o lying receiving a small gust of wind carrying her hair as a response.
The halfling only sighed deeper, her eyes closing as her voice suddenly fell quiet. "I wanted to help…but I didn't know how.." she gritted her teeth, fists clenching and teeth gritting. "He was hardly breathing, and I had to hold my finger over his nose for a minute just to feel a single damn breath…I don't know how long he has left.."
She paused for a moment, but finally put her thoughts into words, her emotions into a sentence, and her soul's experience into letters. "That scares me, kyojuro…"
The halfling opened her eyes, her head falling back against the grave as she looked into the sky, watching the clouds float past through the gaps in the leaves. "He was the one who took me in…he saw I was screwed but he still did it anyway…he gave my life a purpose and he made me realise my motives to keep going…hell- even to just smile….I don't want him to go…" She intook a breath, breathing in the fresh air of the mountain and attempting to savour the silence.
She went silent for a moment, her eyes turning sad as silence took over the scene and the tune of the birds, as well as the gentle melody of the leaves made its way into her mind. "Hey…Kyojuro…?" She spoked, her voice soft and her head still pointed at the sky. "When he gets up there…could you take care of him, just for me?"
A sudden chirp of a bird snapped the woman out of her small daze, her eyes snapping towards the ground in front of her.she tilted its head at the bird, it's form jumping forward, towards her, it's head twitching in all sorts of directions before it suddenly jumped and began to fly at the woman, gliding to land on her shoulder.
She down at it, surprised, her body tense so that it wouldn't be scared of her. But even as she gently moved her head to stare at it, the bird didn't move from its position perched on her shoulder.
She took note that it was a small Robin, the red of its chest reminding the woman slightly of the hue in Kyojuros hair before she mumbled to herself. "You're a cheeky little guy, aren't you?"
The bird only gave a small tweet at her words, seeming to agree. Truth be told, it looked like the bird was smiling. She didn't really think birds of any kind could even think of doing that, but when she looked into its gentle eyes, she saw joy, the same joy that he held…."Huh.."
She extended her other hand out, her index finger outstretched, and it only took the bird a second to jump onto her finger, its small talons digging into her finger, but in the sense it was ticklish.
She slowly leaned closer, to get a better look at the bird with a tilt of her head. She slightly flinched back, however, when the bird suddenly released a small tune, flapping its wings, almost excitedly at the woman, who only blinked with confusion.
"What are you, a damn bird whisperer?" A sudden rude voice called out. Her body tensed slightly, but the bird remained on her finger.
She looked up, to her left, and her lips fell slightly. "Shinazugawa-san.." she hummed out, staring up at him, expecting his voice to let out another rude remark, but she was surprised when he didn't.
The man slumped down beside her with a small grunt. "That one handed bastard told me you'd be here." Both the head of the bird, and the halfling tilted to the side as he propped his arm on his knee.
"So you were searching for me, then…" She spoke put, the bird flying away from her finger until it landed on her head, tweeting out a small tune.
"Yeah." The man spoke, watching the bird with a raised brow before he brushed it off with a small shrug and spoke once again. "You've gone soft. Tell me why."
"Wouldn't have thought you'd care for any of that, especially when its to do with me." The halfling spoke, her brows furrowing and the bird on her head twitching to peck under its wing.
The man only scoffed, glaring small daggers at her before he looked away from her and spoke once again. "I want to know." His eyes turned back to her, her hand raising to knock his curled index finger against the scar on her eye gently. "And surely, you shouldn't get scars, so what the hell happened."
(Y/N) gritted her teeth, eyes narrowing as he put his arm back to his side. "It was simply a demon, nothing more, nothing less."
"Well, it'd have to be Muzan himself to damage you like that, so I'll take him as your answer." He scoffed, staring at her from the corner of his eye with his usual look at her. "But then that begs the question; how in the hell did you encounter him and get away with it?"
The bird suddenly launched off the halfling's head and swooped down to peck at the man, but before it could make its way very close to him, the woman gently captured it between her two hands and pulled it to her chest protectively before hesitantly speaking. "I went after the upper moon six by myself, about to kill her off as well, but then he appeared out of nowhere and almost killed me. Happy?"
The man scoffed, eyes narrowing, almost suspiciously. "No. You're part demon, for all I know, you were conspiring with him." he gritted out, his gaze sharpening.
The bird in the woman's hand suddenly began to squirm angrily, likely wanting to attack the man. "Use your head. I'd never even think of joining him, and you know that. Just sounds to me like you have trust issues." The woman shrugged, keeping the bird steady in her hands.
"I don't have-" He gritted out before controlling himself and only giving her a glare. "Just control that new pet of yours- whatever the hell it is."
The conversation came to a close, but he didn't leave, instead scoffing to himself before he pulled down on the womans head and forced her to lay on his shoulder. She remained silent, eyes widening slightly as she blinked in surprise, the bird staring up at them confusedly.
"Just remember to at least try to stay alive. Even if you've got soft, I still want a training partner. Everyone else is too weak or too annoying."
"I'll keep that in mind."
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Tashiro Secrets!
. Since she can regenerate, (Y/N) has never needed to understand basic medical information!
. One time, Sanemi attempted to train with Kanroji, and he ended up leaving half way through their small session because he simply found her too loud..
. Rengoku's grave now feels like one of the only places that (Y/N) feels safest. The only reason she still talks to his grave is in case he can hear her words from the other side. She doesn't want him feeling lonely, after all!
Also! A small sketch I did of what I see (Y/N) as!
This is in no way telling y'all what I think you guys should think of her as, especially if you're using your own OC's, but I just wanted to show you how I see her so you can try to see my thought process when writing this story!