Mirrors | T.Muichiro X Reader

♡ | 22 - Frostbitten | ♡

Some time passed, and yet Y/n still saw no sign of Muichiro.

With a nervous breath, she realised what she had to do. He had clearly gotten himself lost, and every second spent out in the storm was a step closer to a slow, snowy death. Gritting her teeth, Y/n pulled open a window. Icy wind instantly whipped at her face, pricking thousands of tiny, hypothermic needles into her skin. Taking control of her breathing and flexing her muscles, she focused her body warmth into her hands and feet to protect them from frostbite. One swift jump later, she landed in the snow outside the inn.

"Come on Mui, where are you..."

She began wading through the white, trying to feel infront of her. It was no use... everytime she opened her eyes, the whites of her eyes froze. But when she closed them again, her lashes stuck shut. This blizzard was impossibly thick!

"MUI!" She called, her voice being blown into oblivion. "MUI!"

"Y/n?!"

Is that him? Where did the sound come from?... I have to find him quickly!

A few metres away, Muichiro was stuck in the snow. His eyes darted around, trying to find anything in place of the thick snow surrounding him.

Where am I!? Where did the inn go..? Shouldn't it be right here?

Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

Is this a hallucination..?

He looked right, then left. No matter how many times he scanned his surroundings, Muichiro simply couldn't tell where it came from. Desperately, he called her name too.

"Y/n! Is that you..?"

He began striding over to where he thought she was, his voice almost drowned out by the constant wind.

This is bad... If she's out here too, we could both end up frozen!

"Oh thank god!" At the sound of Muichiro's voice, the mirror hashira was relieved. Y/n reached out for his hand, unable to see infront of her. Her heart leapt as she thought she felt something touch her, but her fingers were growing numb already...

"Are you holding my hand?!" She yelled over the wind. "Where are you? I can't feel a thing!"

If I'm this numb... What about him? He was out twice as long as me, is he already hypothermic?

Muichiro could sense her grabbing his arm tight, even though his skin had no feeling. Digging his nails into her to stop himself from being swept away was his only method of keeping them connected in the fierce tempest that was trying to rip them apart.

"Yes, I'm here!! Where are you!? I can't see you!"

"C'mon! Follow my voice!" She pulled him towards her, trying to transfer any body heat she had left to him.

Y/n had to force down the panic bubbling inside her. Muichiro's fingers were like rocks, hanging heavy and senseless from his slowly dying flesh. He wasn't gonna be able to hold on for long...

"I'm going to try and walk us back.. Keep hanging onto me.." Her voice was getting weaker due to the cold.

"Where can we go? Shouldn't we dig in?"

"There's an inn this way, only a few paces! I already got us a room, it'll be warm in there!" Her teeth chattered as the wind howled. She made an effort to squint... she could just about make out Muichiro next to her. He was almost doubled over, and when she looked at his fingers... Oh god, his fingers!

"MUI? YOU'RE GOING BLUE!" She looked down at her own hands. They were purple... but that was okay. First they go purple, then blue... then black. Once a limb goes black, it's never the same.

She looked behind her. Judging by how long it took her to find him, the inn was only a few paces away. She would be able to see it if it wasn't for the snow... She gulped.

Don't hesitate! Just do it! Do it for Muichiro!

She gritted her teeth and pulled off her haori, wrapping it around Muichiro's hands. Immediate chills struck her bare skin as the cold found access to the little heat she had left.

Please say I'm not too late to save his hands... The icy air whipped against her bare skin like needles, but she was focused on Muichiro. Even as her chest was stabbed with cold and her throat ripped by pressure, she focused on him.

You can make it Y/n... She willed herself on stubbornly. It's only a few paces...

When Muichiro realised that she had given him her haori, he couldn't help but smile at her (despite the situation).

"Thah..." His teeth chattered, as his speech was slurred because of the cold.

Sluggisly, they kept on moving towards the inn, only metres away from reaching it. Muichiro's legs felt weak and his heart was pounding, but he kept going. Y/n's determination fueled his spirit, bring back some warmth to his freezing heart.

Both hashira yelped in shock as they burst through the door of the inn, panting. Y/n fell to her knees, gasping for air, and Tokito's hands fell limp at his side. The owner of the inn instantly began screaming orders to people, and many things happened at once.

...

"Here, drink this." A girl gently brought a cup to her lips. Y/n gulped down the warm tea gratefully... She felt her raw throat sting and contract at the heat.

Next to her sat Muichiro, who had his hands dunked in a bowl of warm water. Everyone in the room was watching his hands, wondering if Y/n had done enough to save all of his fingers... The warmth of the tea and the water was comforting for Muichiro but the sight of his numb hands caused him to feel uneasy.

He watched attentively as his fingers twitched in the warm water, and began to regain feeling... The skin was slightly red and raw in some spots, and that worried him deeply. Purple blotches had replaced the blue toned hue now, and strange white dots littered his skin.

He glanced over at Y/n, who was silently watching with him.

I feel bad.. What if I lose fingers? It's almost guaranteed in a situation like this. Would I still be able to wield a katana?

His mind ran through the possibilities of what could happen, but he forced himself to stay positive. The medicine girl saw the fear in both their eyes.

"Hey now, this is good!" She exclaimed as she peered at Muichiro's blistered hands. "Your flesh is thawing... I expect you will be just fine! It's lucky you two made it out at all, having all your limbs still attached his nothing less than a miracle! You two are clearly trained in survival skills.. Plus, you had swords!" She raised an eyebrow at them. "Just... who are you exactly?"

Y/n and Muichiro looked at eachother, minds racing. Demon slayers weren't recognised by the govenment... They couldn't tell her the truth. Usually, Y/n would have answered with some witty excuse... But for some reason, no words came from her, and Muichiro was forced to answer in an awkward tone:

"Aha... that's a long story."

...

A/N: Hiiii! Dramatic chapter, ik 😗 I hope you liked it, I just wanted to ask if any of u guys have seen the Barbie movie and what your opinions on it are? I saw it in cinemas the other day and idk how to feel, it's kinda weird but has a good message imo! Anyways, hope you're having a good day! Ly <3

Chapter 23 will be published on 03/09/23

1281 words