Random KNY one shots

Soothing | {SaneOba}

Theme: Fluff

It's a bit hard to sleep after you've been fighting demons all night, that was something Obanai discovered. Usually his lack of sleep only was partially to do with the demons, but mostly to do with his mind constantly flashing back to his past. But this time he was downright exhausted from fighting restlessly for several days in a row—in the day time he always had things to attend to—and now, when he could finally rest, his body wouldn't allow him. So he'd sat on a hill he'd run up to—merely because he wanted to move—and waited for something to happen. Dawn was approaching and where he sat had nothing to shade someone with so he wouldn't have to worry about a demon suddenly attacking. And so he sat. And waited.

He watched the horizon for a while and then the sun peeked out from behind the hills and he sat there, still, one hand stroking Kaburamaru's head, the other propping him up. It was quiet, soothing, the only sound being the occasional bird or animal flitting by in the early morning. Obanai shifted from where he sat then heard something behind him and was quick to stand, one hand on his katana hilt, his eyes darting around him. 

But then he relaxed because it was just Sanemi, looking equally tired yet restless, trudging up the hill. 

"Hi," Obanai said, settling down. 

Sanemi nodded. "Hey."

They were quiet as Sanemi made his way up and then the two of them settled back down on the grass, their gaze fixed on the slowly rising sun. They said nothing for a long while, and Kaburamaru ended up falling asleep on Obanai's shoulder. And still they sat, their eyes never leaving the hills where the sun colored the sky orange and pinks and yellows. But Sanemi grew restless from the quiet and eventually spoke up, shifting to look at Obanai. 

"When did you last sleep?" he asked, curious. 

Not having expected Sanemi to talk, Obanai flinched then pretended he had just been moving to get comfortable and said, "Yesterday for about 3 minutes, I think."

"When did you last sleep properly?" Sanemi clarified.

"Couple days ago. Well, more like a couple years ago, but you know what I mean, no?" Obanai asked, turning to meet Sanemi's gaze.

"Yeah. You should sleep today, then," Sanemi said, sighing.

"Oh? When did you last sleep properly?" 

"Yesterday. I finished all my missions earlier than anticipated so I was able to get some rest before I was sent on my next so I wouldn't overwork myself. At least that's what my crow told me," Sanemi huffed.

"Ah. I did try to sleep, but whenever I closed my eyes I had the urge to get up and run or just simply stay awake, so that's out of the question," Obanai said quietly, addressing what Sanemi had said before.

"I get that. Does anything calm you?" Sanemi asked, turning back to the sunrise.

"Not sure. When I sleep, I just do it from exhaustion," Obanai admitted.

"What about before? Like, before you became a demon slayer."

"Then it was from fear probably. Or more like the momentary abcense of fear, I suppose," he said quietly.

"Fear?" Sanemi raised an eyebrow.

"Yes."

"Ah." He waited to see if Obanai would clarify, but when it was clear he wouldn't, Sanemi cleared his throat and went quiet again. 

The silence was a little more awkward now and Obanai wished he'd never said anything. Then he decided to change the subject before Sanemi started getting worried or something about what he'd said. "Anyways, I doubt there's much that might sooth me. Things I find calming are like when you fight or train and the whole worlds drops away, you know? I can't currently think of anything else."