Karma (Kimetsu No Yaiba x Reader)

Surprise- when you play with fire, you get burned

You remember once a friend grabbing your shoulder, eyes twinkling with mirth as they giggled. Fingers raw from the frigid winter wind that beat against them in the dark of a Friday night, both of you huddled under a bench and a poor police man who was tasked with finding two teenagers out past curfew skittering around the edges of your hiding place. Her breathe comes out in short puffs "Hubris will be your downfall."

You nudged her back and grinned, all teeth. "We'll see about that."

The throbbing pain in your abdomen seethes that she was right.

You used to imagine that waking up in a hospital would be a lot more.. energetic than this. Machines beeping and white lights blinding you as you blink and a worried parent grasping your hand with a muffled sob. A doctor would rush in and explain everything while the chaos was still settling in.

This is anything but. Sick dread fills your stomach before you even open your eyes, sleep and dirt weighing your lashes down as a sob presses against your throat. The Demon Slayers infirmary is dreary, bleaker than the one at Shinobu's estate with curtains drawn to block the harsh sun and scratchy sheets laid over you. With your arms tucked against your side under the blanket, you wonder how long you were unconscious for them to lay you so stiff. The thought of anyone moving you while asleep raises a burning in your chest that doesn't seem to cool down even as you attempt to ignore the feeling.

Your fingers ache as you twitch them, almost like pins were stuck in your arms and vibrating with every movement. Tongue dry and mouth sticky, a quiet groan slips through your gritted teeth as you pull on the bed beneath you, eventually managing to wrestle the pain to some other part of your mind so you can sit and slouch against the thin wall behind your pillow.

For once you are grateful no one enters to tend to your wounds, no pestering Zenitsu or Inosuke challenging you to some ridiculous challenge that would result in Tanjiro slapping his boar mask and turning to you with a gentle look, eyes pleading for you to slip back under the covers and rest a bit more. You don't know the extent of your injury's but you sure as hell know that the burning in your ribs and ringing in your ears is an indication that you look like shit. Suddenly, digging a hole to hide in and lick your wounds doesn't seem too embarrassing of an idea.

But you know you don't have that luxury, not since you met the Hahira's. Weary bones creak in complaint as you stumble onto tingling feet and wrap the thin blanket around you like a cocoon, vulnerability seeping through you like a rising tide through the beach. The halls of Ubuyashiki's manor greatly contrast the dreary infirmary hiding inside them, bright candles flickering as you slink past. Neat, cheery, calm and every fucking thing you've started to hate could describe the estate. It's almost blinding how different the world as you've come to see it and the façade Ubuyashiki paints to his 'children' are. How you used to see it.

Wooden doors creak open, revealing the veranda where Ubuyashiki sits. Cross legged with his back to you and the mid day sun illuminating his form. You can practically feel the smile that tilts his pale lips as you shut the doors behind you and slump against them, knees knocking against each other with a sound that resonates through your aching skull and pries a muffled grunt. "You finished half of your mission successfully."

A defeated chuckle trembles your chest, throat croaking. "You knew what was there, don't try pin this on me."

"I'm sure the little girl you failed to save would argue different." The retort you were planning on spitting dies in your throat as guilt claws at your stomach. Something pricks at your skin, the voice of Muzan crooning against your neck and actually agreeing with his rivals bitter truth. Anger. Blinding fury pulls you taught and wrings every little plan you concocted on your excruciating trek back to daylight. "The main principles of the Demon Slayer Corps state, save the innocent-" He finally tilts his sickly body to stare at you with dead, white eyes that pin you in place "And put everything on the line to defeat Kibutsuji." Oh how welcoming the idea of poisoning him becomes. You could do it too, he's sickly and frail and no body would notice it was you that slipped a little acid in his tea-

"You will join Rengoku on his next mission." Can you even argue back anymore? Muzan purrs yes but the numbness that holds you to the floor says differently. You don't want to argue anymore, arguing keeps getting you hurt and you don't know how much your body can take, how much your mind can take. Ubuyashiki smiles at your silence and takes it as acceptance, you suppose it is. "Be ready at dawn, you will meet at the front gate."

"Demon Hashira." Darkness wraps around you like a cocoon, wraps around your waist and pulls you into the only warmth you've felt besides pain in days. "Everyone sees it but you." Breath fanning against your cheek, he purrs. "Stop resisting, tell me everything and I'll take all the pain away." You feel wrong to lean into the vice like hold on you, but the sting in your tired eyes from tears that are begging to be shed as your body screams back that it doesn't have anything left to give feels worse, bone hollowing and soul aching as it carves whatever emotion you have left and pulls it through your chest into unforgiving hands. "I'll always listen, I won't turn you away."

You fight the urge to nod. Yes, please. Someone listen and just listen without you having to fear about a consequence. "Tell me everything."

You want to talk to Sabito again.

Muzan hums in satisfaction when you lean into his embrace, grip tightening and suffocating as you turn to face him. "I-" A grin nearly breaks his lips as you start, victory practically vibrating through his form and eagerness to rush you rolling over him in waves as you peer up at him through your lashes. "I will destroy you." The way his face falls at the bitter glare you pin him with is something you promise to always remember. "I may hate Ubuyashiki but I detest everything you stand for." His arms fall to his side as you step forward, forcing him to stumble back. "I will grab every poor soul you've twisted and you will listen as I kill them along with the horrid fantasy of immortality you pride yourself in. I will rip your ranks apart and burn your name into history as a weak, wretched little boy who didn't get his way so he threw a tantrum."

The little girls chocolate eyes staring into yours, Tanjiro's family taking you in and caring for you like you mattered. The demon that ripped Sabito apart and boasted. He did it, he made everything go wrong for people that deserved the world at their feet. Anger bubbles your skin and itches it raw as Muzan snatches your wrist and hisses through sharp teeth. "You are a petulant little child-"

"And you're a psychotic cult leader who got spoiled too much." You grab the black tie decorating his red suite and pull him eye level, breaths mingling as you both sneer. "Try to break me, I dare you."

His nails dig into the muscle of your scarred wrist, nostalgic in it's bone crushing embrace as he glares with a bitter smirk that reveals the predator he's been concealing in his attempts to manipulate you. He glares at you like he finally understands you and it's a horrid but prideful burn that makes him almost seem excited for the things to come. As if an arsonist was handed a lighter with guilty pleasure dancing around them and mocking, soaked in gasoline.

Muzan pulls you closer and your lips pause a hair away from his, he promises.

"I will."

The dreary infirmary greats you once again when you open your eyes and the high that jostled your bones crashes and burns as you stare at the rising sun through the thin curtains. Reality setting in with a bitter punch that winds you and sneers "Did you really think you're that strong? Look at you, submitting to the people who have done nothing but hurt you while you threaten the king of demons with false confidence. You're weak-" You tell that thought to fuck off before you can agree with it.

Body aching, you will yourself to stand. Force yourself into your uniform and out the estate to the red gate that looms over the serene garden with an ominous shadow. Kyojuro stands, waiting as you approach. A grin spread across his cheeks and eyes somewhat excited as he looks you over.

"We have a train awaiting us."