𝐇𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐬 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫(𝐅𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞)
𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐲: Aidan1213
𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞
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"𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬. 𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥,"
➹
Losing him before her very eyes were something that she never wanted to experience. Heck, losing him from the very beginning was something she never wanted when they joined the Demon Slayer Corps.
Those last words he breathed out to her when she was deployed to help aid him, only for her to arrive a tad bit too late. How her heart was torn to pieces before the fellow lower-ranked demon slayers as she knelt beside her older brother's dying body.
Cradling him as she begged for God to not take him away from her for he was the only one left for him. But in the end, she was greeted with his eyes shut as a sad smile appeared on his face, where he whispered to her those very last words.
"𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭. 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧. 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞,"
And that was the very first time they watched as she cried her heart out. Usually, she was known to always have a smile on her face no matter how difficult the situation was. Often she would run to meet her older brother once he returns home from a mission.
Often, she was seen hanging out with the other Hashiras whenever they weren't on missions. But losing her older brother right before her eyes had taken a toll on her. The usual expression on her face changed from a genuine one to a forced one.
She forced a mask upon her real emotions, to hide it from the rest of the public eye. For till now, despite those words, her older brother whispered to her, she continued to blame herself for being too weak.
Which result in the drastic change of the way she coped with stress.
THe Hashiras often stood by her side, ensuring she was alright. They knew all too well that she and her older brother were like two peas in a pod, adding on as if they were born, attached to the hip.
They had noticed how she was trying her best to keep a smile on her face no matter where she goes. Yet, they never knew how well she was able to hide her emotions as she continued to raise her nichirin blade up, sitting alone in her estate.
The sound of the blade slicing through the skin against her arm, where she watched as the blood started to drip onto the tatami flooring. Her pink-tinted lips parted as tears rolled down her face.
How she wishes to die right now.
But whenever she tried to kill herself, one of the Hashiras would miraculously appear. Which resulted in her aborting her attempting in committing suicide as she quickly kept everything away, ensuring no sign of her self-harm was present.
Day and night she would take drugs, little by little so that nobody would notice the drastic change in her. How she would stare at the pills against her palms, and soon popped them into her mouth and swallowing them down with a gulp of water.
Her pink-tinted lips would often tremble as she could still feel the faint warmth of her older brother's hand on her shoulder as if telling her to stop what she was doing.
But she couldn't.
She wanted to die.
➹
"[name], are you really not self-harming?" Tengen asked as he looked at [name]'s arms after he had pushed the sleeves of her haori up. He watched as she laughed and shook her head, how the sound coming from her was nothing but pure kindness.
No sign of anything else.
"Silly, Uzui-san! You know what a klutz I can be!" she scolded, and Tengen chuckled, believing what she had said as he placed a large hand on her head, ruffling her hair slightly. He then turned to look as Kyojuro and Giyuu were walking up towards them.
"Ah! [name]! Would you like to have some ramen with me and Giyuu?" Kyojuro asked, and soon Giyuu frowned as he took a look at [name], going closer to where she was as he placed a finger against her cheek.
"Tomioka-san, you know I dislike it when people touch me without warning," [name] pointed out and Giyuu let out a sigh as he pointed towards her eyebags.
"What's wrong?" he asked, and [name] tilts her head as she pulled the sleeves of her haori down, shaking her head as she flashed him a gentle smile.
"Nothing is wrong! I'm perfectly fine!" she pointed out as she quickly walked past them, and Giyuu started to talk to the Sound Hashira and Flame Hashira.
"Don't you think, she's getting more frail-looking?" Giyuu asked, but the duo could only shake their heads as they thought [name] was truly alright.
"She's alright! Don't worry too much!"
[name]'s eyes widened as she quickly ducked behind the tree, hoping that she wouldn't be spotted by the Wind Hashira and Serpent Hashira as they were walking towards her earlier on. She peeked out from behind the tree and let out a sigh, her pink-tinted lips no longer curled up as she turned.
Nearly screaming as the duo were right behind her. Obanai raised an eyebrow at her reaction, whereas Sanemi held his hand out to her, which she gently placed her hand in his. He pulled her towards them as he pushed the sleeves of her haori and uniform up.
And a scowl appeared on his face, whereas Obanai had to hold him back from going on a rampage.
"How much of a klutz can you be?!" he snapped, and [name] laughed softly as she shook her head, and Obanai could only have a gentle smile then behind his mask as he reached out and patted her on the shoulder.
"Have you been taking your medicine?" he asked, and [name] nodded her head, showing him a peace sign. But little did the Hashiras know that the medicines she took from Shinobu, she had switched them with the drugs that would kill her instead.
"Of course!" she spoke out, and she quickly took off running whereas Obanai had to try his best to restrain Sanemi from running after the girl whose body was filled with nothing but scars.
And how frail-looking she looked.
➹
"Mitsuri? Mitsuri!" and Mitsuri snapped out of her thoughts and she blushed furiously when [name]'s face was just an inch apart from hers and [name] let out a soft giggle then as she placed the huge tray of sakura mochis onto the side, and Mitsuri's eyes lit up upon seeing them.
"Kya! [name]-chan knows me best!" Mitsuri squealed out and engulfed [name] in a tight hug and [name] could only laugh softly as she gently patted Mitsuri on the head, only to frown a little then when she noticed how the braid behind her head was loosened.
"You can start eating, I need to go grab something," [name] said with a smile and Mitsuri nodded her head eagerly as she started to eat the sakura mochis that [name] had brought out for her, and soon savoured the sweet treat with a wide smile on her face.
Her light green eyes widened when she felt her braids getting loosened on either side of her head and she turned around a little, only to blush furiously as [name] had loosened her hair. She noticed how [name]'s pink-tinted lips had hair ties placed between them as she used a comb to comb through her thick hair.
"[name]-chan is tying my hair! How thoughtful of her!" Mitsuri squealed to herself, only to cause [name] to giggle slightly as she could hear Mitsuri squealing instead, causing the Love Hashira to blush furiously in response.
"Ah, Mitsuri. Your hair has gotten longer," [name] pointed out as she started to part her hair into three sections and proceeded to braid the back one first. Mitsuri could feel how [name]'s delicate fingers were tugging onto her sakura mochi coloured hair.
Yet, she could only wonder why was [name]'s fingers having a hard time tugging through her locks than the day before. She turned to look, and her face flushed red when she noticed how [name] was smiling at her gently.
"What's wrong?" she asked in a soft voice as she quickly braided the Love Hashira's hair and eventually placed her hands together tightly as if applying pressure as she felt a surging pain through her chest.
She breathed in and out slowly, which Mitsuri noticed and the next thing [name] knew was herself being carried up in her arms and the Love Hashira took off running with [name] in her arms, heading towards the Butterfly Estate.
"M-Mitsuri?!" she called out.
"Shinobu-chan! Shinobu-chan! [name]-chan is having difficulty in breathing!" Mitsuri's voice echoed through the Butterfly Estate and she soon placed [name] down in Shinobu's office.
"Hm... [name]...? Are you feeling alright? I heard from Uzui-san and the others how the cuts on your arms have increased. You sure are being a klutz despite being a Hashira," Shinobu spoke out and [name] could only laugh as she rubbed the back of her head.
"I'm alright, Shinobu... There isn't a need to worry about me," she whispered out as Shinobu started to check her vitals, and soon the Insect Hashira frowned slightly.
"Is the medication not working? You seem to be weaker," she pointed out, and [name] waved it off as she placed her cold hands on either side of Shinobu's face and squished them gently.
"Don't worry so much. I'm fine, I just need some rest, that's all," [name] whispered out and soon she felt someone hugging her from the side, which she turned to look at Muichiro who had done so. She smiled gently as she placed her hand on the top of Muichiro's head, ruffling it slightly.
"Himejima-san said if I appreciate someone, I should hug them and make them feel better," Muichiro spoke out and [name] frowned a little, before laughing as she turned to look at Himejima who had bumped his head as he tried to enter the office.
"Himejima-san..." [name] whispered out as she reached out and placed a hand onto his head the moment he bends down, and [name] couldn't help but laugh as she was the only one able to do so to the gentle giant.
Nobody else other than Oyakata-sama could do this to him.
"[name], I heard you are getting more injuries and seem to be losing strength as well," Himejima spoke out, and [name] laughed it off as she swatted her hand as if he could see. Shaking her head did she let out a soft sigh.
"I'll be fine once I get another round of good rest," she spoke out.
➹
Her pink-tinted parted as she poured the pills out of the envelope, counting the number of pills present on her palm. The amount of dosage she was about to take, was sure to kill her as she felt the throbbing pain her heart.
"Don't do it," his voice whispered out.
"I'm tired," she whispered back to nobody in particular as she popped the huge amount of pills in her mouth as she drowned them with water, swallowing into her system did her vision start to blur.
Her pink-tinted lips parted as she felt her body weakening at a fast pace as she fell onto her back, only to feel someone holding onto her. She could hear shouts, she could hear someone trying to get her to stay awake.
"GOD DAMN IT, [NAME]!" Sanemi yelled out as he held [name] in his arms, whereas the other Hashiras were present in the room. They wanted to surprise [name], hoping it would make her feel a little better than before.
Only for them to arrive at a horrible scene.
"[name]! Wake up!" Sanemi yelled out as her eyes started to slowly close. Their eyes widened as her hand slipped from where it was, landing harshly on the tatami flooring as her pulse started to slow down.
Shinobu tried to attend to her, trying to find ways to flush out the medication from within her body. But nothing was working, for [name] wasn't responding.
"Damn it!" Obanai cursed as Tengen had a deep frown on his face. The Hashiras noticed her behaviour, but why was it that none of them took a step forward to help her out?
"Damn it, [name]... Damn it all..." Sanemi whispered out as Muichiro knelt beside [name]'s cold body as he held her hand in his. Mitsuri stayed by Obanai's side as she buried her face against his shoulder as she started to weep.
Himejima was mumbling soft prayers as Kyojuro tried his best to remain positive. Yet, he was breaking down soon as tears rolled down his face as he turned to look at Giyuu who was crying silently.
"𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐮𝐬,"
they whispered out.
But it was too late.
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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐝