Growth and Malady

16 - Kokushibo/Rui

Starting off in Kokushibo's POV

Mini Timeskip (few hours)

The sound of inhuman screeching made my ears tingle as I approached my house. Neighbors and passerby eyed the front door with apprehension, obviously disturbed by the noise.

These demon slayers...

I slid the door open and stepped inside, instantly greeted by a headbutt to my stomach. Letting out a small oof in surprise, I retaliated by throwing Inosuke to the floor unceremoniously. He hit the ground with a thud, springing up just as fast.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR???"

A unimpressed expression crossed my face. Zenitsu came running from behind the couch, body-slamming the boar. I just watched as the two scuffled for a second, and the blonde apologized loudly to both of us. Eventually I pried the two apart with my free hand, as I was growing tired of the noise.

"Remind me what happened here?"

"Inosuke's been acting like this all day- I don't know why and I can't get him to calm down!"

"Well sort it out quietly, I'm going to go see Muzan. No interruptions." I glared at them sternly before continuing to the back of the house where Kibutsuji's room was.

"Why are you carrying flowers??" Inosuke grunted, staring at the spider lilies suspiciously.

Without answering him, I rapped on Muzan's door lightly with my knuckles, slipping inside when the man uttered a quiet greeting.

"Kokushibo. Why didn't you tell me when you got here?"

"I've only been home for a few minutes. How've you been holding up?" I sat down next to him, smiling faintly when he leaned his weight on me instantly.

"As well as I can," Muzan growled.

My mouth formed a frown, and I reached down to pull his blanket up around his shivering body. "Better?"

He paused for a moment before admitting, "Slightly."

"Well maybe this will cheer you up." I moved the blue spider lilies into view, watching Muzan's face as his eyes widened with an emotion I didn't recognize.

"You brought those?" Muzan lifted one hand to touch the petals gently. More cautiously, he turned his head to me and asked: "You're okay with me-"

I covered his mouth quickly.

That Zenitsu can hear us, remember?

'Oh. Can he hear our thoughts as well?'

Yes.

'Then, just answer without me finishing.'

If it keeps you alive for longer, then yes, I'm okay with it.

Muzan tilted his head questioningly.

We'll talk more when the little slayers leave.

Switch to Rui's POV and rewind to just before the end of chapter 15

(I'm sorry for any confusion here- )

I dashed through the trees, trying my best to put my fear behind me.

Everything will be alright, I'm sure.

But what if- no, no no no. Just keep moving.

Using my webs as a boost, I leapt over a large rock, landing in the pine needles below. The spider lilies weren't far from camp, I realized, the odd terrain was what made it seem like a long way. I steadied my breathing with a deep inhale and exhale, taking a moment to examine my appearance. To my distaste, my hands and forearms were still covered in dried blood. This... isn't great, I thought.

Testing my ears, I listened for any sound of running water. The closest water still sounded a long ways away, and I didn't want to be alone with my mind for any longer than I had to. Rolling my eyes, I began to pick off the thin layer, which wasn't very effective.

As I picked, my impatience grew, driving me to curl my finger violently, summoning white threads that sliced clean through both my arms. I winced and held back a yelp, kicking leaf litter over the severed limbs. They'd disintegrate soon, I just didn't want to look at them. I turned my gaze back to the trees, reminiscing about times when I had slept carelessly among the boughs with a sibling or two. Such memories made me sick to the stomach after a bit, so I emptied my head and simply existed while the wounds closed up.

It took longer than I had anticipated for my arms to regenerate, but when they did, I set off again to get back to camp.

As I approached the clearing, a slow breeze blew the scent of two people towards me. Sakura and Kinoe are the only ones here. I turned, walking around the edge of the clearing confusedly, trying to catch a scent of the other two leaving. Where- oh! Here!

A mix of Hinoto and Tanjiro's scents led away from the camp in the direction that I had run in when I fled.

I expected Tanjiro to chase after me, but not Hinoto. A smile worked its way onto my face. That's sweet of him...

Feeling energized by my small discovery, I began to track Hinoto's scent; he was the one I needed to talk to.

After a few minutes of walking, his trail wavered, then bent away from it's original path, almost like he'd lost sight of me and tried to figure out where I'd gone. I kept walking alongside the trail for a bit, picking up my pace a bit so I would get to the end quicker. Now his scent was beginning to spread out, moving one way, then the other.

You're not exactly helping me right now...

I took a moment to pick out the least stale scent, following it as the path evened out once more until I was walking in a straight line towards the sound of water. I know where this is going.

Emerging from the tree-line, I spotted the huge tree-stump and it's matching trunk, which lay strewn across the river like a bridge. On top of the oversized log was Hinoto, sitting cross legged as he stared down into the shallow water.

Maneuvering my webs into a good position above him, I raised myself up into the trees to walk across the thin strand.

I'm a bit out of practice, I thought as I teetered to one side, righting my balance just before I fell. Once I was confident I wouldn't fall, I put one foot in front of the other, walking across the web like a tightrope until I was standing above Hinoto.

Jump down. Just do it.

Before I could move, his eyes caught on my shadow. He looked over his shoulder, surprise and relief filling his gaze when it locked with mine. Suddenly full of confidence, I leapt down, landing gracefully beside him.

Hinoto stood and without a word, pulled me into a hug. His arms wrapped around my back from under my arms, leaving me with no other choice than to put mine over his shoulders, linking my hands behind his neck.

For a moment we shared the silence comfortably, tucking everything else behind a temporary barrier. Hinoto was the one to break it, whispering to me the words: "Are you okay?"

I rest my head on his chest, letting a quiet "I think so," escape me.

"Good. I don't care about anything else as long as you're happy."

I tilted my head up so I was looking into his eyes and he into mine, presumably so I could say something in return. Apparently, my heart had other plans.

In the moment, I didn't know what possessed me to do so, but I took one look into Hinoto's pretty eyes and kissed him.

Yes, I am leaving you with that ending, dear reader.
Now you will have to wait for me to publish the next chapter, which will be tomorrow. >:)