One week after Rengoku's Death
Aoi was the one to find him in the training yard, back against the tree. His mask was on his hair but not on his head. His face was tucked into his knees.
Aoi was hesitant to speak, knowing he would probably give an outburst that would draw attention.
But his shaking was what had her kneeling to him.
"Hey, Inosuke?" She sits on her knees. He peeks from his arms before going back to his position.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
She gets no answer.
Then Inosuke is moving his knees to the ground and he starts repeatedly smashing his head in the ground.
"KUSO, KUSO, KUSO-!" He starts to leave an imprint on the dirt.
Aoi panics, going to grab his shoulders to stop him.
"STOP INOSUKE!!" She pulls him forward.
Inosuke falls into her lap and doesn't struggle as she hooks her arms under him.
"Why did you-?!" She starts but she feels him start to tremble and her uniform starts to get stained.
"I'M WEAK!!" Inosuke without his mask was so feminine but she thought at this moment he was more like a broken young man. His tears pooled and blood dripped from his forehead. She couldn't take the sight.
"BAKA!!" She snaps at him and he narrows at her, still not making any attempt to move.
"Ahhh? Who are you calling Baka?" He is tilting his head, tears slowing and she moves to pull on his ear. She gets a growl of protest.
"Baka!" She is shaking but Inosuke watches her and his annoyance recedes as she starts to cry.
He escapes her grip and she is the one having an outburst.
"Oi, oi, stop ." Inosuke was trying to stop her, forgetting his own grief and taking hold of her shoulders.
Aoi then sinks into his embrace and he freezes, her tears reaching his bare chest.
"You aren't weak!" She proclaims and grips at his pants leg, before punching him in the leg. He doesn't wince as it was that impactful like her next words.
"You are so much stronger than you think!!" She hiccups.
"So much stronger than me. You cursed an Upper Moon. I couldn't even move in a single demon's presence."
She looks up and something comes to his mind at her next words.
"You are fearless and strong Inosuke, don't you forget that." She chokes up and he slowly brings his arms around her.
—
Inosuke was crying, his ankle hurt and he was far from home. The sky was bright and he thought he heard some boars on the edge of the forest and had gone to chase them. Eager for more playmates.
He had gone too far and fallen in a ditch. Now he was scared half to death at the bones that are sticking out of the ground. His young heart was panicking for the first time cause he knows the bones are human and he silently cries. Never had he been exposed to something to this scale.
"INOSUKE!!" He could hear off in the distance, a woman calling for him. He curls more in on himself. Inosuke was too scared to cry out loud enough for her to hear him. To take him away from the sight before him.
He can feel the sun go and the temperature drop. A thunderstorm was coming and would definitely make it impossible for his mother to find him.
Soon drops of water were coming down, getting his clothes wet and he could only shake from terror.
The rain is harsh when he hears someone move on the wet ground, crouching before him.
"Inosuke." His name being called doesn't reach him.
Inosuke only whimpers when he is picked up. He keeps his head down, tears streaming down his face as he tucks his head into a shoulder, red fabric getting soaked with his cries.
"Shhhh." A hand is stroking his back as he trembles.
" You have nothing to fear, Inosuke. Not when I'm here." He can feel fingers run through his hair and he can only clutch more to the one who holds him shirt.
The voice he can't recall keeps talking to him as they move from the ditch and bones. Back to the forest where his mother can be heard again.
" Be fearless Inosuke." Were the only words he keeps in the back of his mind.
—
Inosuke remembers the comfort that Aoi had given him that day and he was going to be strong for her. Make sure she was safe from now on.
Even if it meant fighting someone that was clearly faster and stronger but not nearly as great as him
The man with white hair had studied Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and him before he then agrees to let her go in exchange for them.
He nearly roared at the slap to her ass but Inosuke had to jump to catch her. Aoi wrapped her arms around his neck and not moving till the former shinobi was done and ready to leave the Butterfly Estate.
Soon he was on another damn mission with a Hashira.
—
Ten years ago
Kotoha was crying when her husband walked from the forest with Inosuke in his arms. The poor boy was clenching his shirt and hiding his tears from his mother.
"Inosuke!" She met them halfway and Inosuke only peek over his shoulder before hiding his face again. A hand reaches his back and Kotoha tries her best to ease Inosuke's fear.
"Where was he?" The rain was harsh and the storm getting worse, her husband was still calm, though troubled.
"He fell into that ditch, spraining his ankle, and saw...." Her husband trails off as Inosuke tenses up, clearly not wanting to be reminded of the sight.
"It doesn't matter now." Her husband smiles lightly.
"Let's get out of this rain."
YOU ARE READING
Prodigal Son
Fanfiction"Of course, I have to be strong for Mama!" The demon boops his nose. "Good. Keep getting strong till you can beat your old man." He hopes that day never happens. Inosuke smiles and nods eagerly. Douma sets him down and kneels for a moment more. His...
