"If you two don't stop bickering, I swear I'll-"
"What are you gonna do? HUH?" Sanemi jeered.
"YEAH!"
'Sunshine, hold Makomo and Giyu back in their seats for me real quick.'
'Okay, Mama.'
I reached over, holding Sabito back as I slammed on the breaks suddenly, both Saenmi and Inosuke letting out a shriek. The car was silent when they sat back up, looking out their windows, embarrassed.
"Are we done?" I asked, calmly.
"Yes." Sanemi and Inosuke responded quickly.
I heard chuckles from Sabito and Tanjiro, Makomo and Giyu covering their amused expressions with their hands. "The hell do you guys think you're laughing a-"
I sent a sharp glare through the rear-view mirror, successfully quieting Sanemi. With a sigh, I finally put the car in park, and everyone climbed out. I smiled as everyone marveled up at the house, slowly pushing Sanemi forward and to climb the stairs.
As I went to knock, Tanjiro simply barged in and flopped on the couch, causing me to laugh. "I'm home, everyone!"
There were various replies of greetings, but I noticed Giyu and Sanemi freeze, smelling the air.
"Shinobu...?"
"Kanae...?"
Both of them muttered at the same time, glancing over to me. I raised a brow. "You know my girls?"
"You know our partners?" Both them retorted, realization dawning on me.
"Ohhhh," I shook my head at my stupidity. "Dear! Sweetheart!"
"Yes, Y/n?" The both asked, peeking their head out of the kitchen, eyes locking on their partners. "Oh, my god..."
Kanae ran from the kitchen, Sanemi meeting her halfway and sharing a passionate kiss. Shinobu all but leapt onto Giyu who held her tightly, hiding his- probably- tearful expression in her neck. I smiled at the scene, motioning the others to follow me as I picked Tanjiro's sleeping form up from the couch.
I quickly dropped Tanjiro off in his room, letting him sleep some more. Then I led the siblings up to the new floor, opening the door to a suit- smaller than Rengoku's, but still big enough for them. "This will be your suite unless Makomo moves to the floors where most of the girls sleep, which is right below the main one. The main floor is where the kids and I sleep, this floor is for new guests, but will probably turn into where most of the men will sleep."
"Thank you..." Makomo said softly, hugging me quickly before scampering off to a room.
I stood frozen for a second before I smiled, turning to Sabito.
"You're weird." He stated.
I rolled my eyes. "How flattering."
"No-" he sighed. "Not like that. I can tell you're powerful, but at the same time, I can't sense anything about you." I shrugged, smirking with my K-9's. His eyes widened before nodding. "Oh. That's why."
I laughed, patting his shoulder. As I went to leave, he caught my wrist and tugged me back. "Um, can I help you?"
"Thank you." He said honestly, kissing my hand before leaving the room, leaving me stunned. I need a vacation. I thought, shaking my head and leaving the room successfully this time.
As I walked down the stairs and passed my room, I sensed a presence. I opened my door, peering in and seeing Gyutaro laying on my bed. "Hey?"
"Oh, hi, Y/n." He replied, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.
"Why are you in my room, Handsome?" I asked, sitting next to him.
He shrugged. "I was exploring, and stumbled upon your room and the smell of blood..." I felt my blood freeze. Shit! I knew I should've cleaned that last night after Tanjiro left, but I was too dizzy after I coated it in- "A very strong, fresh scent of blood, at that. It smelt scarily fresh."
Gyutaro pulled out a familiar box cutter from his pocket. I looked away, hiding my face. You know nothing, Gyutaro. "At first I was like, 'Why does this have blood on it?', but then..."
Gyutaro pressed his palm into the top of my thigh, a sharp hiss escaping my lips. I bit my tongue, silencing the sudden noise and glaring at the wall in front of me. I'm not dealing with this. I got up to leave quickly, almost making it to my door before I felt Gyutaro grab me and pin me against a wall.
"Y/n..." I tried to force him off, but I felt angry tears forming and making my body go physically weak. Don'tcrydon'tcrydon'tcrydon'tcrydon'tcrydon'tcry- fuck I hate angry tears, but I'm not punching him. He just doesn't understand everything that's happening. "Why?"
That one, simple word broke me. Why? Because. My life is a shit show. It's the only way I know how to kill someone who's smarter than I am. I didn't speak to anyone for nine years- I had no one. I had me, myself, and I. I had nothing but my knowledge, and this was the only option that seemed to make sense. I couldn't go back to my family because I knew the consequences of my actions, and I couldn't bear the punishment that was waiting for me. I just wanted to give up, to die and not be remembered. I desired to be forgotten. But, when I found Nezuko and learned that my mother was torturing other demons the same way she did me, I knew I had to survive just long enough so they had a good life. I'd set them up for success, then disappear. That was the plan, and it still is. There were so many answers and reasons running through my head, but I decided he didn't need to know.
"You wouldn't understand." My voice was strained, simply trying to get him to drop the subject.
I probably would've fallen at how suddenly Gyutaro had released one of my arms, using his free arm to support my weight by pulling me against him. I went to shove him off, but when I felt him rubbing my back soothingly, I just gave up.
"Why, Y/n?" He repeated. "How would the others feel about this?"
"None of them would've found out because they all know better than to go snooping through my room." I shot back, voice muffled since my face was pressed into his neck to hide my angry, tearful expression. "Obviously you didn't."
"Obviously." He agreed, picking me up suddenly and walking us back over to my bed. He laid down, pulling me up so I was laying over his chest. "Why, Y/n? Please."
"Because, Gyutaro!" I snapped, sitting up as more tears freely flowed down my cheeks. "It's my fault for all of this. The experiments, the torture, the abuse, the neglect. Too much is going on, and none of you need to deal with it. None of you need to know about it. You all just need to enjoy the freedom you have now whilst I deal with the issue." Because I was a fucking coward and ran, so she's making other innocent demon's lives hell.
Gyutaro sat up with me, placing his hands on my thighs gently as I choked back a sob. "I should've just let her experiment on me that day instead of running. Maybe then, you all would've been spared-"
I felt Gyutaro press his hand to my mouth softly, shutting me up and surprising me when he kissed the back of his own palm. He pulled it away after a second, wrapping both hands around my back and pulling me back down on top of him. "Stop that. It's not your fault for anything that happened to us. Why would you even think that? You have no relation to that witch. What she does has no correlation to you. Just because you managed to escape that place, doesn't mean she wasn't already bound to experiment on us others. If she tortured you, abused you, neglected you, the chances of her moving to others is very high. It's the honest truth."
A frustrated sob left my lips as I dug my nails into his shirt tightly, feeling him rub soothing circles into my back. You don't fucking understand, Gyutaro. You know nothing of my correlation to that place, and you know nothing about me. "And I want you to know, I wasn't the one who brought it up. It was Rengoku. He smelt the cuts open in the middle of the night, and had Shinobu tend to them. Us three plus Tanjiro are the only ones who know, so if you wish to keep it that way, you need to try and quit."
"That's a lot easier said than done." I replied sharply, despite my exhaustion. Is he technically threatening me?
"I know, I know..." He cooed. "But I need you to promise me you'll stop. Please."
"I... I can't do that. I'll try, but it's not something that can be instantaneous." I'm lying straight through my teeth, but I don't care. I need him off my ass.
I felt Gyutaro nod before kissing my forehead and releasing a sigh. "I'm taking all the candles out, too."
"What? No!" I argued. "I love my candles!"
"I can't trust you to not abuse the scent now."
I rolled my eyes, about to retort when my phone rang. I pulled it out, seeing Morito had messaged me.
Mori: Y/n... I figured out what she did to Kuji...
Me: what??
Mori: (attachment)
I clicked on the image, reading over it with growing disgust and anger.
Experiment 003: Hakuji L/n
Species: human
Eye color: blue
Hair color: black
Whereabouts: basement
SUCCESSFUL
Experiment 003: Akaza (Hakuji L/n)
Species: demon
Eye color: yellow
Hair color: pink
Whereabouts: Unavailable Ward
Me: get his file and leave.
Me: i'm coming to get you.
Mori: Ok. (location available).
Me: wait!
Me: try and find any other person who got experimented on.
Me: ik one goes by the name Kokushibo now.
Mori: Got it.
Me: okay, I'm leaving now.