At Nightfall, An Akaza x Reader

35. Meet again

You crumpled in on yourself as you continue to sob, even in death. You were alone. All alone with no one there.

"I failed, I'm a failure," you whimpered quietly.

"Excuse me."

You looked up over at the familiar yet unknown voice.

A petite girl stood besides you. Her hair was black and pinned up, the kimono she wore was pink with white dots up until the bottom, which faded out into blue with snowflakes. She smiled at you softly and watched as you stood up.

"Who are you?" You asked quietly, being cautious of her despite the lack of threat.

"That's complicated. My name is Koyuki but I'm also... You? But not at the same time." She explained to you, taking your hand walked you a little before you were both looking at her memories.

You were struggling already to wrap your mind around what she said. You looked at the dojo you were brought to, recognizing it somehow.

"Before Akaza was a Demon, he was Hakuji, my- our fianceé."

You turned and watched as the black haired boy ran in, "Koyuki!" You then found the girl laying behind you both, drowning in her own blood.

"We were poisoned and died. The same day, Hakuji became Akaza." She sighed quietly.

"So, my whole life, falling for Akaza, that was just you?" You muttered, pained by the thought this wasn't even your decision.

She waved her hands and shook her head, "Oh no, no, no! Not at all" she took hold of your hands, "everything you went through was your own experience. I had no hand in it. It was simply by chance that you even met him again. You are, or were your own person, I just lived vicariously through you and your decisions."

You relaxed a little at that, "I see..." You murmured, "so why are you here now?"

Koyuki took a breath, "because now you get to choose. Will you go or will you wait for him? If you choose to leave, we will no longer be linked. If you don't, and you wait for him, I'll return to right here" she gently pressed her finger to your chest.

Ah. So it was essentially deciding whether you wanted to be with Akaza even after death. What even lied for you if you chose not to wait? You couldn't be sure. What you did know was that you'd be all alone again, and truly never see his face one last time. "I'm going to stay."

The human smiled before she nodded and flickered away.

"Would he even want to see a failure like me?" You murmured, wringing the bottom of your haori in your hand.

"Since when did the Akatsuki family raise failures?"

Your eyes snapped up and met with the one who spoke. He looked so much like you, even donned the haori you used to wear so much- the one with the embroidered koi.

"Hide?"

You were surprised that you knew his name. Then it hit you, your life before Akaza. This is your brother.

Your changed features began to fade away as you ran to him, tears streaming from your eyes as you leapt into his open arms and hugged him as tight as you could. Beside him stood another man,

He held you close, chuckling sadly. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you, Y/N. I'm so proud you managed to live without us."

You shook your head as you clung to him, "I'm sorry I didn't get back in time to help you and dad."

You yelped as the other person hugged you both and looked to him. The stark white hair and blue eyes also being very familiar. "Fuyuhito?" You murmured, surprised he hadn't passed on yet but you still opened up your hug to include him.

He nodded a bit, "I wasn't going anywhere without Hide again," he explained, sensing your confusion.

You nodded slightly before holding onto them tight again. This moment reminded you of a time when you were younger.

Hide was out late, and you couldn't find him in town so Fuyuhito went out to find him. They were gone until daybreak, but you didn't sleep a wink. When they came to the house, battered and exhausted, you leapt into their arms, just as you did now.

Slowly, you managed to pull away, drying your eyes as best as you could. "Are you ready now, Y/N?" Hide asked, his hands folding in front of him.

"Ready? For what?" You murmured. Fuyuhito clasped a hand on your shoulder and pointed towards the darker side of the void.

"To go there."

Right, even if you were exempt from what you did as a demon, you had a pretty bad track record as a human too.

"We'll be coming with you, of course!" Hide tacked on after. Though he was surprised when you shook your head.

"No, I can't go, not yet," you sighed. "You guys should go that way, as well," you pointed towards the light. "I'll be fine. Maybe we'll even meet again."

Hide was baffled, "why? I'm not going to leave you alone again!"

"I won't be alone! I promise," you smiled before you began pushing him and Fuyuhito towards the light. "I won't let you guys get dragged down by me!"

They turned around and dog piled you. "NO!"

"We're sticking together now as we used to!" Fuyuhito huffed, "you're not dragging us down, we choose to stay with you, Y/N!"

Tears budded in your eyes at this. Sad laughter leaving you, "you guys were always so stubborn."

Hide gripped you all close to him as you laid on the ground, "of course, we're all we have."

You shook your head, "but I really can't go yet. I have someone I need to bring with me."

-

Even after his head was cut off, Akaza wouldn't stop. He had to get stronger, this wouldn't end here. He had to keep going.

You saw his headless body flicker in the void, he was trying to keep going even after being decapitated? Was that even possible?

You ran as fast as you could to him, carefully not to trip before you took hold of his hand to stop him from moving any farther. "Akaza please! Stop! You don't have to fight anymore!" You begged him.

He didn't even seem to register your voice. "I can't, I have to get stronger."

You screwed up your face with frustration, "why? Why do you have to?" Then he was gone again. You tried to wrack your brain as to why he couldn't accept defeat, then you realized it.

You said he'd kill Kamado Tanjiro. He was trying to fulfill that last requirement from you because he couldn't stop you from dying a poor death like he vowed.

The next time he appeared for you, he was knelt on the ground, seemingly torn between identities.

You pulled him close to you, shaking your head, "it's alright, Hakuji! You don't need to fight any more!"

Akaza took a breath before tears welled in his eyes as the dark blue markings faded from his skin and the pink from his hair. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry Y/N," he held onto you tight, as though he'd lose you again. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"No, it's alright, I couldn't have asked for a better husband," you insisted, holding him up just as tightly. "Let's go, my love. Hopefully we meet again."

And together, hand in hand, you moved on into the afterlife that awaited you.