Demon Slayer Oneshots

☁️Zenitsu/Reader: The Rouge Ruse Part 10

Chapter 10: THE FINAL STAND

"There was some kind of explosion."

"Was it a kitchen fire?"

"No. We think it started upstairs."

"...What room was it?"

"Room eight..."

And with that, Zenitsu's feet were moving before his senses fully caught up to him. His mind raced as he sought out alternatives to the scenario he knew in his heart to be happening.

Somebody probably just knocked over their oil lantern, right? ...In... your... room... No. Anyone could have been in there for a routine cleaning or something. The Oiran's absence was just a coincidence too. You couldn't have been in your room when the explosion happened, right? He had heard your voice a short while ago while he was unconscious. You were right by his side! Zenitsu's hysteria was rising, and he knew why he was charging in at top speed: those explanations were nothing more than echoes of his denial.

"BUFF MICE! SWORD!" He screamed it loud, with no regard to any onlookers. He had to make sure Tengen's Ninju heard him wherever they were. Fortunately, they must've seen the explosion and came to seek out his whereabouts, for the familiar thing streaked across his vision as if it manifested directly from the floorboards, and he caught it without missing a step.

"Please! Don't let me be too late!"

As he ascended the side stairs the painted obi on the wall seemed to be pulsing, moving, just like the sigil had been earlier. When he first arrived here the mural's scarf only reached the second door, but now it stretched to six rooms. It had grown four rooms long! A number identical to how many girls had gone missing, and Zenitsu knew that was no coincidence. It grew as she feeds, he realized, and that thought alone was enough to make him break out in a cold sweat. In the past, it would have been more than sufficient cause for him to turn tail and flee, but underneath all that fear right now was burning fury.

He should have seen it, he lamented, the beast growing stronger. The day he walked in on the triplets, he hadn't counted the rooms wrong like he assumed. This was his fault, for allowing his selfish needs to get the better of him. Each second you spent in the presence of the Oiran put you in further danger. Zenitsu listened with more focus than he ever had before, and in that instant he could hear your fear, the sickening hum of the demon's predatory aura, readying itself to strike.

There was no subtlety in the mural's movements now, no attempt to stay hidden. This was a final stand. The Oiran knew she was about to be caught, and wouldn't cease her hunt until she was stopped. Sword in hand he couldn't wait for Tanjiro and Inosuke, though he hoped word of the raucous would reach them soon enough. Surely Tanjiro at the very least would have smelled the smoke. Either way, whatever the outcome it didn't matter now. He didn't care if they reached him in time, as long as he could reach you in time.

Through the windows to his right the orange air turned to purple as the last kiss of sun vanished below the horizon, his best hope fleeing from his side right when he needed it most. The cloud of smoke was more potent here, the sinister sound fiercer, and the determined blonde planted his feet, lifting his forearms to his face before rocketing himself through the barricade.

The resounding crash of broken wood filled the house, and upon regaining his footing he readied his stance to strike, only to falter in the face of what he saw. He was sure his heart stopped, and time seemed to slow beyond reason. Cast in deep shadow only the silhouette of you from the waist up was visible, held by some winding appendage of the demon. The entire bottom half of you was gone. Dead! You were dead!

'I was too late!' The despair was too much for Zenitsu, and he felt as though an endless black void was consuming him. His lungs burned from his inability to draw breath, and tears blurred his vision. He would never get to see your beautiful smile again, nor hear your sweet voice. He was about to collapse to his knees when-