— blade

Then it pings again.

satoru: hellooo?

Fuck.

Was it too late to change your number and move to a different country?

You sigh, finally typing a message you actually send.

y/n: how long have you been watching the screen

Three dots.

satoru: like 10 minutes

You let out a silent scream, heart hammering in your chest.

This is the worst possible scenario – time to deflect.

y/n: why the hell did you have my chat open anyway

Three dots again…

satoru: princess I've been waiting for this moment for months

Your cheeks heat up with something other than embarrassment this time.

y/n: you're an idiot

You know he’d practically be able to hear your pout through that text. But then–

satoru: that guy you were dating finally fuck up?

You let out a small chuckle at his honesty. And yeah, fuck up was putting it lightly, but you didn't exactly want to get into how every man since Satoru had been a complete disappointment.

You sigh, biting the inside of your cheek to try and force back the smile that tried to form on your lips.

y/n: guess you could say that

Satoru was typing again, three dots appearing and disappearing. Maybe he was the one deleting the messages on the other side now.

You could almost picture him – that wide cheese eating grin, celebrating his prophecy coming true. You hated how right he was about the fact you wouldn't find anyone better than him.

The overly confident bastard he was.

But the message you received wasn't smug at all. If anything, it made your heart ache with that familiar comfort no one but him seemed able to give you.

satoru: did he hurt you?

You felt a tightness in your throat as you typed out a yes. It's not like you were ever in love with the guy – you hadn't really been in love with anyone since, well… since the man you were texting right now.

White haired, blue eyed, handsome Satoru Gojo, shining so bright he overshadowed everyone in his wake, including you.

But how could anyone else even compare?

satoru: are you ok?

You bite your lower lip, reading and rereading his text. Yes that guy proved to be an asshole, but what was really making your chest hurt wasn't that short lived situationship – it was how much you missed Satoru.

Missed his stupid jokes. Missed the way he'd easily pick you up and place kisses all over your face. Missed cuddling on cold nights, laughing at the dumb movie he chose, baking cookies for lunch when his adorable pout convinced you it was healthy.

What was the use of lying, anyway?

y/n: i just really miss you

There. You finally admitted the truth you had been trying to conceal for months now.

And his response came so fast you wondered how his thumbs could type so quickly.

satoru: ill be there in 10

You laugh – Satoru easily lives a half an hour away, but you fully believe him.

How did you ever think you’d get over Satoru Gojo?

(important) DO NOT MESSAGE YOUR EX – unless he is satoru gojo, of course

permatags @madamechrissy @mercipourleveninx @septembermoonchild @plaguecxlt @nanamitiddiechomper @kekeanna266 @amazedfor @dogggggggblog-kaye @literallyadarling @dawnsoblivion @chewiebee @iquitfindingausername @valberryboos @pwd54gr54 @raendarkfaerie @bbfawns @itimisu @sapph22

Iguro Obanai

„That was way too close,“ you mumble, allowing your body to finally rest against a nearby wisteria tree.

What a hell of a night. Countless killed humans, even more beheaded demons. It wasn’t until the sun finally rose that you finally made it out of here. Or rather the arrival of a certain someone who happens to be a hashira.

“I told you over and over to never leave me side. And you? You sneak out while I sleep to go on a mission like that without a backup.”

“My crow ordered me to do so,” you insist half-heartedly.

 Because deep down, you know that the story didn’t exactly lay out like this. To be exact, you were the one begging on your knees for a challenging mission without Iguro Obanai involved in it. And maybe it was in fact his crow that wanted to entrust this mission to him alone.

Why all this madness? Because your precious boyfriend can’t accept the fact that you’re capable on your own as well. Not as a hashira, not even remotely close to being as good as him, but still skilled enough to fight on your own.

At least that’s what you thought until today.

“You could have died, (y/n)!” he blurts out so suddenly that you flinch.

Your heart drops to the floor. After all those years of loving appreciating the man in front of you, you’ve never seen him like this. Handy shaky, forehead covered in sweat, eyes wildly furrowed. Yet…There is no man living on this planet who is allowed to raise his voice at you like that. Not for doing your job, not for giving it your all.

You squeeze your fists, frustration bubbling despite how drained you are.

“I know I could’ve died, Obanai. I’m not stupid. But you never trust me to handle anything alone. You’re always breathing down my neck like I’m some helpless trainee. I know I’m not a hashira like you and I think I’ll never be one, but stop treating me like a beginner. Why this urge to follow each and every damn step I take?”

His mismatched eyes snap to yours, sharp as blades.

“Because I can’t lose you!”

His voice cracks at the end, louder than you’ve ever heard it. Kaburamaru stirs nervously around his shoulders, leaving your heart pounding roughly against your ribcage.

You open your mouth, but nothing comes out. What is all of this about? This isn’t the first time he pulls you out of danger, not even the first mission you head in on your own. No, this has to be about something else…but what? He looks away first, teeth grinding under his bandages. The silence between you feels like glass ready to shatter.

Then, in the quietest, roughest whisper, Obanai mutters, “...Damn it. You ruined everything.”

Your brows knit, mind unable to follow a single word.

“Ruined what?”

He drags a shaky hand through his hair, muttering curses under his breath.

“I was supposed to propose to you tonight. After a calm mission, when you weren’t covered in blood and I wasn’t screaming at you. I had it all planned and-” he cuts himself off, shoulders trembling.

“But instead, I spent the night asking myself where the hell you are, imagining what I’d do if you never came back.”

Your lips part, eyes stinging. The way he looks at you with nothing but agony filling his eyes, how his hands tremble more and more with each word that leaves his mouth. You hate that you made him feel this way, but what caught you even more off guard…

Did…Did Obanai just say that he wanted to propose to you? Propose in the sense of asking you to marry him?

“Obanai...”

He finally faces you again, eyes fierce but wet around the edges. He rips the small box from his uniform pocket - scuffed now from the battle and him saving your ass, but still intact. He opens it with shaky fingers, revealing the ring inside.

“I don’t care if this is the wrong time or the wrong place. Marry me, (y/n). Please. I need you with me. Always.”

The world around you blurs, every ache and wound forgotten in that instant. Your hand flies to your mouth, a broken laugh slipping past your lips.

“You idiot,” you whisper, tears spilling freely now.

“You could’ve just said that instead of scaring me half to death.”

When you nod, his whole body sags in relief. You don’t even give him a chance to slide the ring on. Instead, you throw yourself into his chest, arms tight around him, feeling Kaburamaru nuzzle your cheek in approval.

“Yes,” you breathe against his neck.

“Yes, Obanai. A thousand times, yes.”

For the first time in what feels like forever, his arms wrap around you without hesitation, holding you as though letting go would mean losing you all over again.

“And don’t you dare to ever scare me like this again,” he mumbles into your hair.

“We both know I can promise you something like that…”

Akaza

The night air is cool against your skin as you haul the last bucket of water from the well. Your shoulders ache from a day’s work - market stalls in the morning, scrubbing clothes in the afternoon, cooking for your siblings in the evening. There is no room in your life for rest, no space for softness. Still, you force a small smile, knowing that at least your family is safe and warm inside.

The rope creaks as you set the bucket down. And that’s when you feel it, the shift in the air. Heavy, suffocating. Your skin prickles, eyes widen, every nerve screaming danger.

You don’t see him right away. He doesn’t make a sound. He’s simply there when you turn, standing just beyond the lantern light. His hair is bright against the darkness, his eyes glowing like twin suns trapped in a curse.

Your breath catches. A demon. Just like the ones your mother told you about in all those countless myths.

The bucket slips from your hands, water spilling into the dirt. He doesn’t move, but you can feel the violence twisted inside him like a storm about to break. His fists tighten, jaw clenching, and you know he means to end you, that this might be your last seconds alive on this planet.

Your knees almost buckle while your family’s faces flash in your mind. You think of your siblings crying when you don’t come back, the distorted face of your mother when she finds out. Who will take care of them, earn money for the next loaf of bread, who will take care of your younger siblings when you’re gone? Your mind races back and forth, tears now taking your sight almost completely. Is this is, the last few moments before you die?

 But then, nothing happens. The demon doesn’t lunge, doesn’t strike. He just stares at you, expression unreadable, chest rising and falling with slow, deliberate breaths.

The silence stretches. Then, as suddenly as he appears, he’s gone, a blur swallowed by the night. Your legs give out, and you fall beside the well, gasping for air. Who was that creature? Why did he hesitate? You never once heard a story of a demon who didn’t kill his prey, let alone didn’t even harm it.

And you see him again. He’s at the edge of the forest this time, half-hidden behind the trees, golden eyes fixed on you as you carry wood back to the house. Your heart races, but he doesn’t move closer. Doesn’t speak. Just… watches.

It becomes a pattern. Night after night, he’s there. Sometimes in the shadows of the road, sometimes crouched on a rooftop as if guarding something. Always silent. Always staring.

At first, fear coils in your stomach, but as the nights stretch on, something stranger takes its place: curiosity. Why hasn’t he killed you? Why keep returning?

One night, when your exhaustion strips away your caution.

“Why do you keep coming back?” you breathe into the silence of the night.

The demon’s lips twitch, as though he isn’t used to speaking. His voice is low, rough.

“I don’t know.”

It’s not an answer, but it’s the first thing he gives you before you start to notice more. The way he tilts his head when you laugh softly at your own clumsiness. The way his fists clench when you wince from lifting something too heavy. He looks at you not like prey, but like something fragile, something he’s afraid to touch.

You should be terrified. You should scream. You shouldn’t come here at night to begin with. Instead, you find yourself leaving the door unlatched, stepping outside when the rest of the house is asleep, just to see if he’s waiting. He always is.

You don’t even realize when you start to think of him less as a demon and more as him.

Akaza.

Tonight, though, he isn’t there. The space where he usually waits is empty and an unease settles in your chest. You shake it off, telling yourself not to be foolish and walk toward the well. The moon is high, silver light spilling across the clearing.

That’s when you hear it - the growl.

Your eyes widen in the humbling way. This doesn’t sound like Akaza, doesn’t feel like Akaza. No, this has to be something else. Or rather someone…

Before you can react, another demon drops from the treeline, its claws slicing across your arm. Pain explodes through you, hot and sharp, and you stumble back with a cry. The bucket clatters to the ground as the creature lunges again, teeth bared.

Terror seizes you. This is it. This is how it ends. This is what you get for walking around at night carelessly. Even though Akaza turned out to be the most charming and charismatic man you ever met, this certainly doesn’t apply to every demon. Akaza…What will he say when he finds out? Will he be sad, will he cry? You didn’t have the chance to tell him how you feel, though. Your life really ends without this one person you adore most knowing that you love him.

A roar splits the night, forces you out of your melancholy.

Akaza slams into the other demon with a force that shakes the earth. His fists move in blurs of violence, each strike shattering bone, splitting flesh. He is merciless, terrifying in his wrath, until the other demon lies broken and silent, nothing more than a stain on the dirt.

You sit against a nearby tree, trembling, blood dripping down your sleeve. When Akaza turns, his chest heaving, his eyes widen at the sight of you. For the first time since you’ve known him, he looks shaken.

“I was supposed to kill you,” he mutters hoarsely, kneeling in front of you.

His hands hover near your shoulders, shaking, but he doesn’t touch – not with his hands.

“That night I found you… I was going to tear you apart.”

Your breath shudders, the sting of your wound sharp with every movement.

“Then why didn’t you?”

His gaze drops, fists digging into the dirt.

“Because you looked at me like I wasn’t a monster. And I… I couldn’t take that away.”

Something inside you breaks at the rawness in his voice. You should push him away, you should fear him, but instead, your heart aches with every fiber for this man.

He swallows hard, lowering himself fully to his knees, as though in surrender.

“I can’t give you sunlight. I can’t give you a peaceful life. All I have is me, my fists, my strength, my cursed existence. But if you’ll let me, I will use all of it to protect you. To keep you breathing, no matter what stands in our way.”

His voice cracks, desperation bleeding through. His eyes meet yours, burning with something that terrifies and moves you all at once.

“Be mine. Even if it’s only in the dark. Even if the world tears us apart. Choose me.”

Your vision blurs - from tears, from blood loss, you can’t tell. Every instinct says you should refuse. That nothing good can come from binding yourself to a demon. But when you look at him, kneeling with his forehead nearly to the ground, trembling like he’s afraid you’ll vanish, you can’t say no. You don’t want to say no.

Your hand rises before you realize it, trembling as it brushes against his cheek. His skin is cool, but he leans into your touch as if it’s the first warmth he’s felt in centuries.

“Yes,” you whisper.

“I’ll be yours.”

Akaza freezes. Then, slowly, his expression softens; fragile, disbelieving. A smile ghosts across his lips, faint and trembling. He bows his head against your forehead, his body shaking.

“I won’t let anything touch you,” he breathes.

“Not the night. No demon. Nothing.”

You close your eyes, letting yourself believe it, even if the world never will.

Because somehow, against all reason, you’ve chosen him. And in the shadows, he has chosen you as well.

Shinazugawa Sanemi

The ground drops from under your feet. One moment you’re shoulder to shoulder with the others, charging into Muzan’s domain, and the next, the floor twists, walls shift, and the infinity castle swallows you whole.

You land hard, rolling across polished wood, breath tearing from your chest. The lanterns hanging in the endless halls burn with a sickly glow, and the silence presses in like a weight. You’re alone.

“Shit,” you mutter, pushing to your feet.

Your blade is steady in your grip, though your pulse races in your throat. Alone or not, you won’t sit here like prey. You pick a direction and start moving, wary but determined.

The walls creak, sliding apart - and a demon lunges. You don’t think. You never do. You dash forward instead of back, reckless as hell, ducking under its claws to slash across its chest. It shrieks, staggering, but another swing catches your sleeve, ripping fabric and grazing your skin. Fuck, that definitely didn’t go as planned.

“Dumbass!” a familiar voice roars.

Sanemi crashes in from the side, his blade slicing through the demon before it can reach you again. Blood sprays, burning against the wood. He doesn’t even watch it crumble, he’s already whirling on you, eyes blazing, making you forget that you were worried about him a few seconds ago.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he snarls, grabbing your wrist and yanking you out of the collapsing wall.

“Charging straight into its gut? Are you trying to die?”

You wrench your arm free, glaring right back.

“What the fuck do you think I was supposed to do? Sit there and let it eat me?”

“Use your damn head for once! You could’ve dodged!”

 His voice is sharp enough to cut glass, his chest heaving with fury.

“Oh, forgive me for not performing like the great wind hashira!” you snap.

“You know, I was a little busy keeping my throat intact.”

His nostrils flare. For a second you think he might actually explode, but instead he drags a hand over his face, muttering a curse.

“Unbelievable. I get dumped in this hellhole, and instead of finding Muzan, the first thing I see is you, throwing yourself into death’s mouth.”

“And yet, here I am,” you shoot back, crossing your arms even as your heart still pounds from the fight.

“Still alive. Thanks for the vote of confidence, though.”

He steps closer, eyes narrowing, and you refuse to back away. The castle groans around you, walls shifting again, but you and Sanemi are locked in your own battlefield.

“You drive me insane,” he bites out, voice rough.

“Always so damn reckless. Always running your mouth.”

“Funny, I was about to say the same thing about you.”

The silence that follows is electric. His jaw works, his fists clenched at his sides. Then, suddenly, his expression twists - fury, frustration, something rawer bleeding through.

“Marry me, damn it.”

The words slam into the air between you, catch you off guard so roughly that you almost trip over your own feet.

You blink. Once. Twice. Still not a single hint that this is a joke.

“What?”

His face is flushed, veins in his neck straining.

“You heard me. Marry me. I’m sick of watching you nearly get yourself killed, sick of worrying if you’re gonna make it back. If I’m gonna go crazy every damn time you pull some stunt, I’d rather do it knowing you’re mine.”

His voice cracks slightly on the last word, but his eyes burn, unflinching.

Your mouth opens, but nothing comes out at first. The infinity castle hums around you, walls shifting, and still, his words hang heavier than the building itself. He…Wants to marry you? None other than Sanemi Shinazugawa, the man you fell for a long time ago but never dared to say out loud? The man who insisted on hating you until one fateful night, he couldn’t hold himself together anymore and kissed you out of no where? Marriage never seemed to be an option for the both of you, was never something you allowed to get into your head. Especially not like this.

Finally, you find your voice.

“That’s… that’s your proposal? In the middle of this fucking mess?”

He scowls.

“You got a problem with that?”

“A big one!”

You gesture wildly with your sword.

“You can’t just bark ‘marry me, damn it’ after chewing me out like some deranged guard dog!”

His scowl deepens, but his ears are red now, his boldness fraying at the edges.

“I don’t… I don’t know how else to say it, alright? I love you, you pain in the ass. And if we make it out of this alive, I want-” He swallows hard, the words sticking to his tongue.

“I want you with me. For good.”

Your sass falters, something hot and tight blooming in your chest. His confession is as graceless as it is raw, but that’s Sanemi, all rough edges, no polish, heart bleeding through the cracks whether he likes it or not.

You stare at him, then snort.

“You’re a nutcase, you know that? Scolding me one second, proposing the next.”

He bristles.

“So what’s your answer?”

You let him stew for a beat, just to watch the way his eye twitch oh so annoyed. Then you smirk, sliding your blade back into its sheath.

“Fine. Yes. I’ll marry you, you stubborn, hot-headed bastard.”

Relief floods his face so quickly you almost laugh. He tries to mask it with another scowl, but his shoulders sag, tension bleeding out of him.

“Good,” he mutters, voice low but firm.

“About time.”

The castle groans again, a door sliding open to reveal another endless hallway. You sigh, drawing your blade once more.

“Guess this means we better survive long enough to make it official.”

Sanemi steps ahead of you, sword gleaming in the eerie light and glances back with a smirk that’s half feral, half something softer.

“Damn right we will. You’re stuck with me now.”

You roll your eyes, but your heart races for an entirely different reason as you fall into step beside him. The infinity castle can shift and scream all it wants; nothing could drown out the fire in his voice when he said marry me.

And nothing will keep you from saying yes again once this nightmare is over.

Uzui Tengen

The first thing you notice is the quiet. No clash of blades, no shrieks of demons, no groaning of broken bones. Just the hush of summer air rolling over the grass. You sit with your knees pulled to your chest, head tilted to the sky.

There was a time when you couldn’t bear to look up, too many nights replaying fire and blood behind your eyelids, too many shadows that reminded you of the war you barely survived. The scars are still there, inside and out. They may never leave.

But you’re alive. Somehow, so is he. Despite all odds, the two of you made it out of the entertainment district arc back then.

“Oi.” Tengen’s voice cuts through the silence, brash as ever.

“You trying to ignore me, huh? That’s unflamboyant behavior.”

You turn and there he is. He still stands tall, broad shoulders casting a long shadow over the grass. But the empty sleeve where his hand used to be and the patch over his eye are impossible to ignore. His smile is wide, loud, everything he wants the world to see. But you’ve learned how much effort it takes him to keep it there.

“You’re late,” you tease, though your voice softens at the edges.

He grins, crouching down until he’s at your level.

“Late? Perish the thought. A man of my caliber is never late. I arrive precisely when it’s time to make the world gasp in awe.”

You raise a brow.

“And what exactly am I supposed to gasp at tonight?”

His grin sharpens.

“Glad you asked.”

He snaps his fingers, and as if on command, the night sky cracks open with light.

The first firework bursts into a bloom of color, red and gold spilling across the darkness. Another follows, then another - glittering trails, starbursts, showers of sparks raining down like meteors. The entire field shimmers in their glow.

Your breath catches, eyes sparkling in every imaginable color.

“Tengen…”

He leans back on one knee, watching your face rather than the spectacle.

“You told me once you wanted to see fireworks. Said you’d never gotten the chance.”

His voice is still loud, flamboyant, but there’s a rawness underneath it you don’t get to hear quite often.

“So I figured, why not make your first time unforgettable?”

You blink rapidly, torn between laughing and crying as the sky blooms again and again.

“You really… you did all this for me?”

“Of course I did.”

His grin wavers, just for a second.

“After all the hell we went through… after how close I came to not walking away at all…”

He exhales sharply, rubbing the back of his neck with his remaining hand.

“Truth is, I’ve been terrified. Not of dying, I made my peace with that a long time ago. But of leaving you behind. Of not saying what I should’ve said.”

The fireworks thunder overhead, bathing him in crimson light. His voice drops, barely audible over the bursts.

“You’ve seen me at my weakest. I lost an eye. I lost a hand. And you… You carried more than your share of pain too. You’ve fought, you’ve suffered, and yet here you are. Still shining. Still here. And every damn day, I thank whatever gods are listening that you are.”

Your throat tightens.

“Tengen…”

He takes a breath and moves closer, until the heat of his presence pushes away the night chill. His hand trembles as it cups your face, not from weakness but from something far rarer in him.

Fear.

“I’m not the perfect man,” he admits, voice breaking.

“Hell, I’m not even half the man I used to be. But if you’ll let me… if you’ll have me… I’ll spend every flamboyant second of the life I’ve got left making sure you feel brighter than these fireworks.”

And then he drops to one knee fully, bowing his head before you in a gesture you’ve never seen him make. His shoulders shake as he lifts his gaze and you realize he’s fighting tears.

“Marry me. Not because I can dazzle the world. Not because I can still fight or brag or stand tall. Marry me because when I’m with you, I don’t feel broken. I feel whole.”

The fireworks roar above, a brilliant cascade of light, but you hardly see them anymore. All you see is him - this ridiculous, flamboyant, larger-than-life man, stripped bare in the only way he knows how.

Tears spill down your cheeks before you can stop them. You laugh shakily, pressing your hands to his face.

“You’re such an idiot,” you whisper, voice cracking.

“You think I care about an eye? A hand? You could lose everything and I’d still say yes.”

For once, Tengen is speechless. His breath hitches, his wide smile faltering into something softer, rawer.

“Yes. I’ll marry you.”

The grin comes back then, blinding and messy, streaked with the tears he can’t quite hold back. He rises up, pulling you into his chest, spinning you once with reckless joy. The world blurs - sparks above, warmth around, his laughter loud and cracked in your ear.

“You hear that, universe?” he shouts to the sky.

“She said yes! Yes!”

You bury your face against him, laughing and crying at once.

“You’re going to wake the whole world!”

“Let them wake! Let them all see how damn lucky I am!”

He sets you down only to cup your face again, kissing you with the force of a man who refuses to do anything halfway. The fireworks thunder one last time, a grand finale exploding into the night.

When he finally pulls back, his forehead rests against yours, his voice dropping into a whisper.

“You’re my light. Always have been. Always will be.”

The sky goes dark, smoke drifting from the last firework, but it doesn’t matter. Your world is already burning bright - flamboyant, fiery, and forever his.

Hashibira Inosuke

The forest is alive with sound. Cicadas buzz around you in a mess of cries, leaves rustling, the snap of branches under your feet. You’re panting, heart pounding, but you don’t dare stop. Not when Inosuke is somewhere behind you, crashing through the undergrowth like a wild boar.

“Stop running, you coward!” he thunders, voice echoing through the trees.

You duck behind a boulder, pressing a hand to your mouth to smother your laugh. Only Inosuke would call you a coward after he’s the one who challenged you to a chase through the mountains at midnight.

“First one caught has to marry the other!” he’d declared, standing bare-chested under the moon with all the seriousness of a war general.

You’d raised a brow, even though your heart almost flew out of your chest.

“That’s… that’s not how marriage proposals work.”

“Shut up! That’s how it works now!” he barked.

Then he lunged, and you’d barely had time to sprint before he was hot on your heels.

Now, crouched behind the rock, you grin despite yourself. Only Inosuke would think to propose by turning it into a hunt. Only Inosuke would make it feel… oddly fitting. The two of you share each other’s companies for quite some time now. After the horrors you’ve witnessed inside the infinity castle, you weren’t able to spend a single night without him anymore. For some reason, this boy makes you feel safer than anything else. Just the thought of spending the rest of your life with him…

A sudden crash to your right. He’s close. You bolt again, weaving between trees, your laughter spilling free this time.

“You think you can escape me? I’m the king of the mountain!” Inosuke hollers, and then he’s vaulting over a log, landing beside you in a spray of dirt.

You squeal, deviating left, but his hand shoots out and catches your wrist. He yanks you around, momentum pulling you both down onto the mossy ground. You land in a heap, him half sprawled over you, his boar mask twisted from the fall.

“Got you!” he crows triumphantly, chest heaving.

“You’re mine now!”

You glare up at him, breathless and flushed.

“That’s not-! You can’t just…Inosuke!”

He rips the boar mask off, eyes blazing with wild joy.

“I can! I caught you fair and square! That means you have to marry me!”

“You’re unbelievable,” you huff, shoving at his shoulder.

“What if I don’t want to marry a maniac who tackles people in the dirt?”

His grin falters, confusion flashing in his eyes.

“You don’t want to?”

The question is so raw, so startlingly vulnerable, that your heart stutters. For all his bluster, for all his wild declarations, Inosuke still doesn’t really understand how fragile human connections can be. To him, everything is straightforward: win a fight, claim a victory, hold onto it forever.

You soften, brushing a leaf from his hair.

“Idiot. Of course I do. But maybe you could’ve asked me instead of chasing me through the woods like prey.”

He blinks, processing. Then his grin bursts back, brighter than the moon overhead.

“So that’s a yes?”

You laugh, unable to help yourself.

“Yes. It’s a yes.”

Inosuke throws his head back and whoops, the sound loud enough to scare birds from the trees.

“Ha! I knew it! I knew you couldn’t resist the strongest, most amazing, most fearless-”

“…most insane,” you interrupt, smirking.

“- most flamboyant fighter!” he finishes, ignoring you.

He leaps to his feet, dragging you up with him in one strong pull.

“We’ll be the strongest pair ever! No one will beat us! Not demons, not humans, not anything!”

You shake your head, still laughing as he puffs out his chest like he’s announcing to the world. But then his hand slips into yours, clumsy, uncalculated. You blink, looking down at your joined hands, then back up at him.

His grin softens just slightly, enough for you to glimpse the boy beneath the wild mask.

“I mean it,” he mutters, quieter now, though his voice still vibrates with conviction.

“You’re mine. And I’m yours. Forever.”

Something hot twists in your chest. You squeeze his hand, smiling back.

 “Forever.”

He beams, then immediately yanks you against him in a crushing hug that nearly knocks the wind from your lungs.

“Good! Then it’s settled!”

The forest rings with his triumphant laughter, your softer giggles tangled in it.

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His instructions were too clear to ignore.

„Stay right where you are, got it? If I catch you out there, I’ll beat the shit out of you. Promise it, jerk.”

“Fine, I promise. Even though I know you’d never beat me.”

“Don’t count on it.”

And even though you couldn’t help but pout at his rough tone, you did exactly what he told you and waited for him at your estate. After all, he told you it will be over after this night, that he won’t be a demon slayer when he returns.

You believed him. How could you not, given the fact that your fiancé is none other than the wind hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa? The man you always despised but ended up loving instead. The man who seems as cold as ice on the outside but treats you like a princess when no one’s watching. Never in your life, you imagined quitting your work as a demon slayer to become a housewife. Not in a million years, not for a single person on this planet, you would’ve gave up your independence.

Until that jerk came around.

“Don’t worry, (y/n). I’ll kill enough of them fucking creatures for both of us.”

And you believed him. God, you believed every single word that white-haired maniac said. But somehow, you ended up breaking your own promise.

You went from changing into your sleepwear to finding yourself free-falling without ground in sight within the blink of an eye.

Out of instinct, you hold onto the little knife you always keep on your body for dear life, eyes scanning around the area with no real aim. You’ve never seen a place like this, never felt a more overwhelming aura. After years of slaying demons, the stinging smell in the air alone is enough to send a shiver down your spine.  

“What on earth is that place?”

Like you have to ask that question. Your stomach drops below your knees, you can’t help but swallow hard against that tension that builds up deep in your throat. That’s exactly what Sanemi was talking about earlier on, the final battle. And you’re falling straight in the middle of it.

It‘s been years since the last time you’ve held a sword, years since you’ve actually found peace with leaving this part of your life in your past, years since that overwhelming sickness haunted after you. And yet, you have no other choice.

The air is thick with screams, smoke and the stench of blood. Just before you have time to realize it, your body slams into the ground harder than expected, your ankle twisting beneath the impact with a merciless snap. You cry out, barely having time to gather your bearings before a monstrous shriek rips through the darkness.

A demon charges at you with teeth like pointy blades and eyes burning with starvation.

Your fingers fly to your waist, ready to meet the handle of your tiny knife that’s still better than nothing.

Gone.

Your knife, your only defense, is missing.

Panic swells in your chest as you scramble backward, dirt caking your hands, adrenaline drowning your thoughts. The demon lunges. You squeeze your eyes shut. No, this can’t be happening. You can’t just die out here, not like this. Did you really lose your knife like a lousy beginner? What would Sanemi think if he saw you here like this? Would he be sad, disappointed even? Both of you met during your times within the corps, he learned to love that wild and reckless side of yours. What would he say, seeing you standing here with your glossy eyes squeezed shut, desperately grabbing onto the air where your knife would have been?

“I’m sorry, Sanemi…”

You wait for it. The stinging pain of teeth digging deep into your flesh, the lights in your head slowly but surely getting dimmer.

But it never reaches you.

THWACK.

Instead, a gust of wind explodes past you, slicing the demon’s head clean off. Its body crashes beside you with a wet thud. Did you just…dream that? But you didn’t do anything, you didn’t see anyone earlier. There’s no way someone was able to reach you that fast.

And then you hear it - his voice.

“Are you out of your goddamn mind?!”

You crack your eyes open. Sanemi’s standing over you, blade in hand, face redder than the blood soaking the ground while he stares down at you. His white hair is wild, his veins bulging, his lavender eyes glow with a fury that chills you more than the demon ever could. Suddenly, your near-death experience fading into the background.

“I told you to stay put! I told you!” he roars, grabbing your arm and yanking you to your feet, almost lifting you off the ground.

“I didn’t-!” you start, but he doesn’t let you finish.

“You promised, (y/n)! What the hell were you thinking?! This isn’t some damn training exercise. This is war!”

His voice cracks slightly and with it, so does your heart.

“You could’ve been killed!”

You’re about to snap back, because yes, he’s right, but his tone still stings and it’s absolutely not your fault you ended up here - until you see the way his hand trembles on your arm. He’s not just angry. He’s terrified. What does all of this look like from his view? Like you decided to go against your promise, like you don’t give a damn about his worries?

“I don’t even know how I got here,” you reply quietly, hand clutching his wrist in order to stop yourself from shooting back at him.

“I changed into my sleepwear, and the next thing I knew, I was falling. I think someone sent me here.”

Sanemi’s eyes narrow, his eyes dart around the area. The fallen slayers, the chaos as far as the eye can see. Those aren’t the demon slayers who agreed on accompanying the hashira on their mission. No, some of them aren’t even able to lift up their sword correctly, get whipped from this earth without even putting up a real fight. You can see the moment it clicks, the moment he slowly but surely starts to realize what’s going on.

"...No," he whispers.

"What?"

“It’s not just you.”

His voice is lower now. Dead serious.

“Everyone’s here. Even slayers who already quit, the rookies who fight like trash... Some of them shouldn’t even be able to fight anymore.”

You swallow thickly.

“You mean…?”

“They dropped every last one of us into this hellhole. They want a final purge.”

Sanemi releases your arm and runs a hand through his hair. He’s trying to stay calm, to think like the hashira he is. But when his eyes meet yours again, that cool command vanishes - replaced by raw fear. This is not a place for his fiancé. Didn’t he promise you that he’ll get home save, that the two of you will live a peaceful life after tonight? What if…what if something happens to you? What if he won’t be able to save you?

No. He can’t let that happen. There’s no way in hell that he’ll let a demon even touch you.

“I’m gonna say this once, and you're gonna listen for real this time.”

He steps closer, resting both hands on your shoulders, firm but shaking. You can’t help but rest your hands against his chest. Usually, his steady heartbeat is what lures you to sleep at night. But his heart is racing, your nerves are tingling and you know there’s only one way to make it out alive.

“You don’t leave my side. Not for a second. Got it?”

You nod, but his eyes blaze harder.

“No. Say it.”

“I won’t leave your side.”

“Again.”

“I won’t leave your side, Sanemi.”

He pulls you into his chest so suddenly you gasp. His arms wrap around you like armor, almost too tight and yet not tight enough. Out of instinct, you wrap your arms around him, crawl your fingers into his back in a desperate attempt to steady yourself. When he cups your chin and presses his lips against yours, you fail to exist for a moment. He brushes over you like he tries to memorize you like a map, like you might vanish into thin air if he doesn’t keep you close. Over and over, his mouth clashes against yours despite the ringing of destruction somewhere far away in your ears, holds you so close to him that you can feel his heartbeat vibrate right through you.

“You don’t get to die here,” he growls into your parted lips. “I gave up everything so you could live, damn it. I’ll carve a thousand demons apart if I have to, but you’re getting out of this with me. You understand me?”

Your fingers curl into the back of his haori. You can feel his heart slamming against your cheek while you press yourself even harder against him.

“Then you don’t get to die either,” you mutter into the fabric.

Sanemi’s silence is heavy until a low chuckle escapes his lips.

“…I won’t. Not if you're watching. After all, dying in front of my fiancé sounds like trash.”

Another demon scream erupts in the distance. Sanemi grabs your hand and though your knife is lost, he places one of his spare blades into your palm.

“Let’s go, princess,” he mutters, trying to mask the shake in his voice.

“Time to survive this nightmare.”

Together.

Tags: @chilichopsticks @hellkaiserinphoenix  @ynackerman9499 @keepghostly @beatrexworld

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