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"how could you... do that to me...?"
hotaru woke up in a panic, filled with an irrepressible sense that something had gone terribly wrong.
memories of her nightmares whispered to her, showing her all the other hashira dying horrific deaths, all because she couldn't save them.
if only she was stronger, if only she was braver...
if only she was like muichiro!
oh no, muichiro!! something had happened to muichiro!
hotaru couldn't explain how she knew, but whenever muichiro was in pain, she could sense it. it was like a sixth sense, like their souls were bound together. they truly were soulmates.
her heart beating faster than hotaru ever thought was physically possible, she rushed out of her room and down the corridors of the infinity castle, barefoot and in her nightgown. she had to get to enmu, she had to tell him something happened.
suddenly, she froze in the middle of a stairwell she was running down, a sudden realization coming to her.
enmu was very upset when she was thinking of muichiro, angry enough to storm out of the room, which he never did. and she had spoken frequently with him about how she missed her old life and the lover she had in it.
those nightmares were doubtlessly a byproduct of enmu's rage, coming directly from the violent thoughts he felt towards the hashira and the desire he had to see hotaru suffer. while hotaru was dreaming, she had felt a strange presence in her mind, almost as if someone was watching her, or as if someone else was occupying her mind.
enmu could create dreams, there was no doubt about that. but what if he could look into dreams and glean information from them? what if the presence hotaru had felt in her head while dreaming was enmu looking through her dreams, searching for muichiro? if enmu knew muichiro's full name and what he looked like, he could ask nakime to bring him to the younger man's side, and then kill him without muichiro even noticing!
oh, poor, poor muichiro! hotaru needed to hurry! she needed to save the man she loved before the other man she once loved killed him!
"nakime! nakime, please, if you can hear me, please appear! nakime!"
hotaru ran through countless corridors and down seemingly endless flights of stairs screaming nakime's name. her throat hurt from screaming so much, and she was getting a stitch in her side, but she kept on running until nakime appeared before her.
"what is it?" she asked hotaru, sounding bored.
"you need to take me to the human world, now!" hotaru panted, clutching her side and gasping for breath.
"you aren't in the right state to go anywhere, it seems," nakime commented, absentmindedly fingering the edges of her biwa pick.
"it's enmu! he-"
do i lie here or do i tell the truth? hotaru wondered. which would be best?
"-he went to fight the mist hashira and he needs help!"
nakime cocked her head like a curious dog, and hotaru cursed vehemently in her head.
she can tell i'm lying, can't she? she's going to summon muzan here, and then i'm going to be destroyed! hotaru panicked.
but, evidently, that was not to be.
"it's curious to me how loyal you are to lower one," nakime murmured. "you aren't just his protégé, are you? there has to be something more to your relationship."
hotaru chose to remain silent, not confident in her ability to speak kindly of enmu if she opened her mouth to talk.
thankfully, nakime was satisfied with lacking an answer to that question. she strummed her biwa, and hotaru's sword appeared.
"you'll need your sword to fight, since you don't know any blood demon arts yet," nakime said.
hotaru picked up her sword, and was sent out to the human world with one swiftly played chord.
she was teleported into a large forest with a clearing directly ahead of her, and she took off running towards the clearing. ahead of her, she could see the silhouettes of two men, one short and one tall. as she got closer, she could clearly see that the tall one was enmu and that the shorter one was muichiro.
muichiro appeared to be injured; he was swaying where he stood like a drunkard and he was pressing one of his hands to his stomach. enmu, on the other hand, had never been better. he was filled with fighting spirit and had an undeniable advantage. if they actually started fighting, muichiro would lose. and hotaru couldn't let that happen.
however, hotaru didn't have the strength required to win a direct confrontation with enmu. so she chose instead to play it safe and hide in the thick blanket of trees that surrounded the clearing. she gingerly crept closer to enmu with her hand on her sword hilt, ready to draw it and strike from behind at a moment's notice.
"tokito muichiro the mist hashira... you should just give up now! if you do, i might grant you a merciful death..."
"tamio enmu, lower one of the twelve kizuki... if i yielded my life to you this day, i couldn't even call myself human!"
enmu chuckled, obviously having fun playing with his prey. he opened his mouth and began to speak.
"blood demon art, whispers of-"
now's the time! hotaru thought.
she swiftly drew her sword and cried out, "moonlight breathing, form three: cross of stars!"
three crosses made of moonlight flew from her sword, going towards enmu. he turned around and made eye contact with hotaru before the crosses cut through his body, beheading him and cutting him into pieces.
"how could you... do that to me...?" enmu gasped, tears in his eyes as his body disintegrated into ash.
muichiro sighed deeply in relief to see his enemy dead before gasping in pain and collapsing to the ground.
hotaru rushed forward and knelt down by his side, taking her hands in hers and kissing him on the lips.
"i'm here for you," she said, fighting to keep her tears from flowing at finally reuniting with her lover. "i won't let anyone hurt you anymore."
"hota...ru..." muichiro gasped, smiling weakly before losing consciousness.
a/n: i'm just speeding through writing these chapters, jeez! i'm on a roll, and i'm proud of myself for it :)
the next chapter is going to be the last one! i hope you all enjoyed this short little book, and that it made you as happy to read as it made me to write!
stay safe and always smile! i love you all so much <3
