Kimetsu One-shots

Crush(InoAoi)

Aoi hums as she folds the last of the dry blankets, placing it at the top of her wicker laundry basket. Picking it up, Aoi huffs as she begins to walk back inside the butterfly estate, ready to change bedding and clean rooms.

As she walked through the halls, she heard whispers around her from other patients. They weren't directed at her, but it peaked her interest nonetheless.

Walking into the first room she would need to clean, she saw it was empty. However just across the hall in the adjacent room, she saw a group of patients laying in their beds, three boys with similar jet black hair.
They were all sitting up in their beds, immersed in deep conversation as Aoi went to one of the unoccupied beds in the empty room, replacing the dirty sheets.

Their conversation becomes more audible as she tunes into it.
"Did you guys hear? Apparently that boar headed guy has a crush."

'What?'

Aoi frowns. 'They couldn't have meant Inosuke could they?'

Aoi thinks she's being an idiot. Even if they were talking about Inosuke, no way the rumors were true. He was incapable of those feelings, Aoi knew that.

She had spent a considerable amount of time with him when he stayed at the butterfly mansion, tending to his wounds that were almost always severe.

She worried for his brain.

He was always getting himself into dangerous, even deadly situations, yet he always seemed to laugh it off.

No way he was capable of liking someone in a romantic sense.

The words of one boy echo her thoughts.
"What? No way. That guys too much of a dimwit ."
Aoi frowns at the insult, but she has to agree to some extent.

Inosuke barely knew human emotions, he had only just learned about friendship and camaraderie, Aoi was sure he hadn't yet grasped the concepts of love and affection yet.

"No dude, I hear it's legit. Apparently it's one of the butterfly girls too."

That catches Aoi off guard, and she stumbles, squealing as she catches herself on the edge of the bed. She's chokes on air, her shock paralyzing her.

One of the butterfly girls?

Aoi thinks back to who it could be. Obviously none of the younger girls, and definitely not Kanao either. Aoi knows it's not her, as he's always teasing and making fun of her.

Then Shinobu pops into her head.

The beautiful insect pillar, one who showed Inosuke affection even when he didn't understand what it was.

Aoi felt her heart break a little. She hated to admit it, but she had mistaken caught feelings for the manic boy. She was an idiot, but she told herself she could live with them, knowing Inosuke would never be able to reciprocate.

But now it seemed as though he could. The rumor, it had to be grounded in some fact right? She was diving into the deepest pits of her fear, and she felt jealousy as well as deep sorrow swimming in her chest.

He was capable of love, but not with her.

She had told herself she could be fine with her love being unrequited. She rationalized it away by telling herself he was incapable of those emotions.

But now that the facade had fallen and the truth was exposed, she didn't think she could live with her feelings.

She began shaking, her hands trembling as she clutched the side of the hospital bed. She had fallen hard for the boy, mistakenly so.