A/N: so, I'm in serious pain right now. I can't even move without feeling pain in my legs 😅🤣 but hey, that just gives me more time to write, right lol?
Enjoy, lovely readers~!
No one had known Tanjiro was given the cells Muzan had left. It saved the boy from death, but at the cost of his mind. Was it worth it? It was sad, really. Nezuko was turned back into a human... only for Tanjiro to be turned demon unwillingly.
Muzan really enjoyed the irony of situations. It was sick.
Right after Muzan's death~
You were at your limit, if not already past it. Your body was tearing itself apart with each movement you made, so of course Kyojuro told you to stop.
The fight against Muzan was finally over... a deep sigh left your mouth as you practically collapsed into Kyojuro's chest, being held upwards by his arms. He chuckled and fell backwards onto his butt, holding you close to his chest. He pulled his haori around you, your body feeling colder than normal.
His scent filled your nose, mixing with the smell of your own blood... but that didn't matter. As long as it was Kyojuro. As long as he was with you, by your side.
"You had me worried, (Y/N)... I thought I had lost you, don't ever leave my side again." He whined, his head leaning against yours as you chuckled sweetly. "From now on, and for the rest of eternity, (L/N) (Y/N)..."
"Oh, Kyojuro..." you touched his face and tilted your head back to pull him down to your lips. You missed this, you missed him. Breaking the sweet kiss, you spoke once more, "We made a promise, after all."
Your bright toothy smile seemed to brighten his mood, a replica of it appearing on his face as he coughed a bit.
The wind blew his hair softly, the sun outlining his beautiful face wonderfully, making your heart thump faster and louder. It wasn't long before your face turned bright shades of red. Trying to hide it, you hid your face in his chest, gripping his uniform tightly.
There were only two things on your mind.
Kyojuro.
And how many people you lost today.
Tears began to soak his top, his eyes widening at your sudden mood change. "What's wrong? Are you hurt-?" His booming voice called worriedly.
Before you had the time to answer, a loud crash sound made it's way into your ears. With a small sniffle, you pushed your way out of your lover's grasp, stumbling around the corner.
You stopped in your tracks, eyes widening in disbelief.
You thought people would be able to hear your heart shatter from all the way over here. Both Sabito and Giyuu were fighting Tanjiro. Zenitsu and Inosuke also joining...
Why? Why were they fighting him?
You had the answer to your question already. It was clear. He wasn't Tanjiro. It was a demon, the new demon king.
"No..." you mumbled, grabbing your sword and walking towards the fight slowly. "This... can't be real. It can't be-"
Tanjiro noticed you and began to attack, much like a wild animal. There was no humanity. It was like a cornered beast. Tears fell from your stoic face once again, denial evident as Kyojuro turned the corner to watch Tanjiro skewer the side of your face, waist, and thigh... but what was more frightening was the fact you didn't even flinch.
You just kept walking towards him.
With each step, more anger welled up inside you.
With each step, the grip on your sword got more intense.
With each step, more people turned to look at you.
"Why....?"
You understood. He thought he was the alpha. The strongest.
"That simply isn't true. If you were really Tanjiro... you'd know I was stronger than you." You angrily growled, the ground beginning to crumble from his immense power.
You heard Nezuko's voice, but even she was stopped.
Only a few of the pillars had seen you so angry before. Only a few had felt the menacing aura you had when you did get angry.
"You should give up now, Tanjiro." You warned, Kyojuro running to stop you before you got more injured, but it didn't help.
You weren't listening. Completely focused on Tanjiro and the danger he was now. He was a threat now. A threat to your surviving friends and family.
As you got closer, Tanjiro only seemed to back away.
You raised your sword into the air, pointing it towards the bright blue sky. Small clouds formed beautiful shapes, only to be tainted by your growing anger.
The only thing that stopped you from slicing Tanjiro was Nezuko's voice mixed with Kanao's and Shinobu's.
You hesitated for a moment, Tanjiro taking that time to strike, his sharp claws entering your chest. You gave a surprised expression, dropping your arm as you leaned forward while watching blood track down his arm and drip off of his elbow.
It was strange.
'Where's the pain?', you asked yourself.
Why didn't you feel anything? Why was there no sting or pinch? No sharp tingling feeling when you inhaled?
The next thing you knew, you had drove your sword through his abdomen while you began falling forward towards the demon, only to be caught by Kyojuro, his bright flames lighting his path up.
'Caught by flames...' you thought as it seemed like everything around you was surrounded in the warm embrace of his sweet flames.
It didn't explain why you no longer felt the pain that should exist. Were you dying?
That couldn't be true, not after so much suffering. You had to live. For Michikatsu. For your mother and brother. You had to live to prove your father's decision wrong. You had to live to be happy.
All you wanted was to stay with Kyojuro.
You watched his lips move, not hearing what he said. You couldn't. You couldn't hear anything, even as the bright blue sky shined down on you, shadowing his face as he called something loudly to you. You could guess what he was saying, but couldn't hear. It all sounded muffled and drowned out.
You felt something warm touch your cheek, looking up to see Kyojuro's eyes closed tightly with tears flooding his face, falling off his chin from several different areas.
Why is he crying?
Your gaze shifted to Tanjiro who laid motionlessly on the ground. He no longer looked like the demon. Instead, he had normal human limbs and nails. His eyes were closed, but you could tell he would be just fine.
The corners of your mouth twitched upwards as you noticed tears escaping your eyes now. You didn't feel any pain, but somehow, you felt like you should be crying.
A shadow covering you and Kyojuro from the sun, Michikatsu standing tall in front of you. He bent down and smiled, his face returned to normal with only one pair of eyes instead of three.
Kyojuro and him shared a few rushed words before you cuddled into Kyojuro's chest, him picking you up and running somewhere.
You weren't dead, nor would you die.
That was the fact that death had to accept. You would not be a victim of it until way later in your life.
But death didn't matter to you right now. What mattered was that the war was over. Really over, and not somehow prolonged.
You closed your eyes and focused on the gentle raising of Kyojuro's chest as he ran somewhere.
Slowly, his heartbeat began flooding your ears. Could you finally hear again?? You wondered if it was a sign death had finally accepted your refusal.
The loud sounds of the rushing kakushi and other minority injured corp members started to infiltrate your new found hearing.
But the thing that stood out to you the most was Kyojuro's sweet talking. Had he been speaking the entire time? Come to think about it... he was also making weird faces... was it to make you smile?
You chuckled softly, Kyojuro looking down to see your soft gaze. The color had returned, relief flooding his system immediately.
You had just seemed so lifeless before... he couldn't bear it. He thought he was going to lose you... for real that time... right in front of him... but the color in your cheeks returned, your (e/c) orbs staring at him affectionately.
"For eternity, remember?" You whispered and wrapped your arms around his shoulders, placing your head in the crook of his neck, nuzzling it sweetly.
You couldn't help it... but eventually your fell asleep in his arms as he took you back to the butterfly estate along with the other injured demon slayers.
A/N: ayy, I'm kinda sad... I only have 4 more chapters planned for this book... anyways, that's the end of the war!! Hope you enjoyed this chapter~
Be safe and healthy!
Until next chapter ❤❤