𝒟𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓂𝑒? [[Inosuke Hashibira x (fem) reader]] (complete)

𝟛𝟛

Your POV

You returned with a basket full of wood, trudging along in exhaustion

It was a long way back from where you came, especially since you decided to stop and get water on your way back

And now you can barely breathe. You're ready to just throw these things into a fire and lay down somewhere

You open the door and set the basket aside, wiping sweat from your forehead

I should've asked someone to come with me...ah well, it doesn't matter.

You close the door behind you and start towards the back, ready to go to sleep until someone stops you

"Hm? Oh! Inosuke!" You smiled and tilted your head at him

He's wearing the boar's head now, so you can't read what he's feeling

"Open your hand." He says

"Pfft, okay jerk" you laugh, holding your hand out in front of him

He dropped something in your hand and you fumbled to catch it, nearly letting it slip to the floor

"WHAT THE—this is...a rock?!" You look down at the mineral in your hand. It didn't really look like an ordinary grey hunk of rock; it was smooth and white. It must've come from a stream

"That's you." He said

"Me?" You smile, holding back a laugh

"Yeah see?" He points at the rock in your hand "it's small, but angry. I like it because it looks cool. You could make it hit somebody too, and it would hurt."

"I'm a rock?! How can you even tell that it's angry?"

"BECAUSE LOOK AT IT."

You raise an eyebrow at him briefly before allowing yourself to laugh

He seems to stiffen at your reaction

"That was adorable Inosuke. Stupid, but adorable" you say, a smile still lingering on your face "I'm gonna keep it."

"Stupid?!" He mumbles

You reach up to pat his head "don't worry about it"

You then walk off into the room to go to sleep. It's hard work living without people taking care of you, but it's a relief to not have much to do.

I don't want it to end. These demons...they'll have to drag me away from my friends if they ever want to get near them again

❄

It must be late November. You can tell by how cold and short the nights have become. The cool autumn breeze comes and goes randomly, so you can never tell when it'll be cold anymore

You found out in this time that the estate which you and all your friends are currently living on, was an abandoned property in the woods which was a short distance from the village.

Why Tanjiro chose this place, you had no idea, but it doesn't concern you enough to pry.

Eventually, your blade did come, so you spent your afternoons trekking far out into the woods nearby with Inosuke and looking for stray demons to destroy

But aside from the occasional straggler, there are no missions. Not a single one.

In the beginning, it was peaceful. You got to live with your best friends, eat good food, and train together all of the time

Your group had even begun taking up new hobbies out of boredom. Inosuke has finally taken a more lax approach to reading, and Tanjiro seems to enjoy being outside and experimenting with crops.

Thinking about it now though, it's sort of eerie. Almost too quiet.

It feels as though something might occur at any moment

"Look," You gasped when the two of you emerged from the trees, overlooking the village from the same incline you'd arrived at months ago

You plop down on the grass, pointing at the sky

Inosuke jabs a bloodied hatchet into the ground and sits beside you eagerly, following your gaze

"eugh, that's fucking creepy. I don't like it." Inosuke grumbled at the explosions of light with a shudder

"Fireworks?! You think fireworks are creepy?" you look at him in astonishment

"Fire is fire. All fire is dangerous." He huffed "Don't worry, I won't let it touch you."

"You idiot--" you mused "Didn't your parents..." you trail off, remembering not to bring it up

"Actually, nevermind" you say

Inosuke perked up to hear you "my parents..?"

"Well, yeah" you're reluctant to say anything now because you don't know if he will be offended "it's just, you told me about your life before you got here and I'm confused. You must have had a real mother"

"Even if I did, she didn't want me. And it doesn't matter." He put his head in his hands, looking down at the village

"Why wouldn't she want you?"

"I don't know, maybe I did something back then."

"But you were a baby..." you frown "even if you did do something, which I doubt would happen, she'd forgive you. Young ones don't know any better"

"There's no way for me to know how she felt now..."

Inosuke, who's facial features were illuminated by the soft glow of the fireworks, looked over at you with teary eyes.

I've never seen him cry...

"It's better if I just stop thinking about it."

You lean against him, wrapping one arm over his shoulders

"I understand, but...didn't you say that your name was written on your clothes?"

He nodded

"I'd like to think thats enough to know. That she cared" you added

He thought about it for a moment

"If that's true, then you have to hear the same thing"

You paused

Momentarily covering your mouth with shock, you began to panic when you realized what he was implying "How do you know about that?"

"Because of what Mon-Zenitsu said. I remember it now"

"ZENITSU TOLD YOU?!" You clench your fists

"...yeah?" Inosuke blinked

He wiped his eyes with his fist "it's the same for you. If I didn't do anything wrong, then you didn't either."

You tensed "you don't think I'm...a coward?"

"What? Hell no." He looked down at you as if you'd said something absurd "you've got more balls than all of us combined"

"I don't know about that" you smile slightly, amused

"I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true. hell, even if you were one, I wouldn't mind. You have brains and that's more than I can say for some."

You laugh into his shoulder "Inosuke! Stop it"

He gives a satisfied sigh and relaxes again "all that stuff about the past...it doesn't matter anymore. We're different now so why worry"

"I guess you're right,"

"Yeah, I'm always right."