#sandshield

pale pink eyes settle on gaara as nezuko looks around, a muffled whine escaping her upon realizing tanjiro isn't present. where did he go? surely not far, but--

it isn't that she's scared of gaara, but a shyness takes hold as nezuko comes to realize the stranger is still staring at her. is he a stranger? tanjiro wouldn't have left her to continue to sleep with someone he didn't trust, so he must be okay, right?

gradually, she emerges from that box: a small form growing to true height and yet nezuko remains kneeling--trying to make herself seem small still, trying to make herself non-threatening.

though he watches, a curiosity nagging, ningyō does not approach. not yet, at least: it's difficult to tell how much he knows and how much is merely his own avoidant nature when the doll demon's expression gives nothing away.

"...i'm glad you're kind to her. aneue has experienced little of that, i fear. please do not give up on her."

"you always find me like this," a simple observation, standing bloodied before him--none of it her own. kokushibō opts against giving any further information than necessary lest gaara look at her with such pain and pity in his eyes: she never knows what to do with it.

to be pitied felt as if that sand of his were scratching away at her skin, the very flesh that the blood is vanishing into. it were ironic, in a way: she never shied away as that sand threatened her before in her knowledge that without the sun or nichirin, he could not truly harm her. she were terrible at protecting herself from nichirin, to begin with.

yet it is his gentleness that stings more than the sand ever had.

instead, a hand warped by great claws reaches out and moves to rest upon gaara's hair with surprising gentleness, despite all of kokushibō's viciousness. "--but i am glad to see you are still well."

he lays in a half doze; half burried beneath scorching sand -- shukaku in his most natural, powerful and mighty -- and lazy. the sun beats down mercilessly on grand form, and the beast does not trust the comfort, neither the simple pleasure of freedom. because the busy buzzing of chakras amalgamated at a single spot still irritates him, sunagakure was too close for his comfort.

he could move, of course he could, make another remote part of the vast desert his home -- this was shukaku's ancestral home. and perhaps it's menacing presence was threatening enough for the petty sand shinobi to build their home somewhere else. ( or they foolishly attempted to capture him again ) a revenge for a battle lost centuries ago; he'd burry their cadavers beneath a tidal wave of sand; beneath him, always beneath him.

the deity snarls, and the sand shakes with the sheer weight of it. unfortunately for him gaara had stopped being scared of him years ago and shukaku did not feel like teaching that brat a lesson right now. not because of what happened, not because spending time as the ten tails, complete -- and yet still unfulfilled, has taught him a lesson, not because gaara's, though ultimate fruitless, stand against madara uchiha for his sake made an impression on him. ❝ how honored i am for the kazekage himself to grace me with his presence. ❞ sarcasm and sneer seeps from him like an opened wound.

did he notice the surprise? if he does, tanjiro dutifully looks past it--too unfamiliar with gaara still, despite his eagerness to work alongside him. he didn't want to make him feel awkward, but he hopes beneath it all that gaara likewise feels a weight lifted from his shoulders.

he had a distinct feeling the other was shouldering too much.

but smile falls to a more serious expression as gaara requests that information, knowing as much as he can share will help. help everyone protect themselves, help everyone know what to expect to stay as safe as possible--

@sandshield 🌕 unprompted!

it were typical for others to run from her, if they weren't frozen in their fear--like a rabbit meeting a snake, to frightened to move for terror of her strike. even if kokushibō held no habit of targeting children, that didn't stop their fear upon finding themselves in death's presence.

but this one doesn't run. in fact, it were quite the opposite, "i feel no fear." why should she? she is death and the moon given form, there is little upon this earth that can threaten her.