Charred Love- Rengoku x Reader

10: Painful Greeting

Although the moment only lasted for 8 minutes, it felt like an eternity. The pain you experienced was unbearable, you wanted your life to end right then and there.
"Give me my antidote!" Shinobu restrained you as you tried to scratch her face with your rabidly growing nails. Your changing body wasn't normal, you briefly looked at yourself and noticed your hair grew longer and changed to an unnatural shade of  light blue.
"Y/N! Please hang on for a moment! Shinobu might have something to calm you down!"
Kyojuro took your hand in his, he looked at you with worry as he squeezed your hand tighter.
"Kyojuro, what's..... happening to me?"
You turned your head towards him, he frowned in response. "I don't know, but whatever you did in Mountain Natagumo.... must've resulted in this."
Tears threatened to fall down his eyes, he didn't want to kill you, you both had gone through so much together, he can't lose you.
"Alright Y/N, I made an antibiotic to help, it contains wisteria flowers and other medicine that fend off demons. I'm thinking this will work, but I need your consent. Do you want me to put this in you Y/N?"
You aggressively nodded your head, you were willing to do whatever it takes to make the pain go away.
Following your words, Shinobu inserted the needle into your arm. The pain only lasted a few more minutes until it subsided.
You calmed down and sighed of relief. Your body was sweating all over, was this what a demon slayer is all about? You surely did not sign up for this.
"Y/N! How are you feeling? The wound on your neck is disappearing!"
Kyojuro smiled with joy, he thanked Shinobu for using the antidote on you.
"Kyojuro, I have no idea how long this is going to be effective for, I'm afraid this might not be the last time."
Shinobu glanced at your tired figure, she noticed how your demon-like attributes didn't disappear. You still had long nails, an unusual hair color, and your skin looked paler, like you had been sick.
Shinobu touched your lips and gently lifted your top lip to see your teeth, there wasn't anything that stood out to her, they were normal looking teeth.
"I guess the blood we saw in her system was mainly hers, whoever demon's blood got into it though must've been powerful for her to react this way."
Kyojuro made eye contact with Shinobu and nodded his head, he turned back and saw you sleeping.
"Whether she turns into a demon or not, my feelings will never change.... I can only hope for the best."
Kyojuro took a deep breath and held your limp hand.
Shinobu stared at Kyojuro for a moment, but then decided to leave the room and the two of you alone.

                              ——————————

A few weeks have passed since you've "supposedly" turned into a demon. Your physical appearance has changed drastically, you can't count how many times you've been mistaken for a demon. You didn't stay in the hospital for long because after the transformation, your wounds quickly healed.
You also managed to finish your rehabilitation training before Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu. They were unfortunately still bedridden.
Before you left to go on another mission, you said your goodbyes and wished them a speedy recovery.
Although everything seemed to improve again, you hadn't seen Kyojuro since that day. You hoped he didn't change the way he felt about you, and if he did, at least you figured he'd tell you something about it.
As you walked in the forest, you stared at the ground. The smell of wet grass filled the air, crickets chirped, the noises from a waterfall echoed in the trees. For some reason, you felt different, you never bothered to stop and listen to nature and now all of a sudden your doing it.
You looked at your pale hands, your nails were long and an entirely different color than a normal human.
Tears dripped down your face and onto your arms, lightly staining your black uniform.
You thought to yourself, ' I can see why Kyojuro would never want to look at me again... I'm not the same Y/N he met 3 years ago.'
You frowned as the tears began to overflow, you knelt down on the ground and grabbed the dirt and moss below you.
"Dam you, Demon! I hate you!"
Sobbing, you tilted your head up towards the sky,
"Why didn't they just kill me?"