𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 → kny x m! reader

09. | good night

He remembered the time when he nearly died in the cold.

It had been an unforgiving winter, with the temperature plummeting every minute, and a bitter chill settling upon the land of Japan. The young [h/c] haired boy, barely even seven, had ventured outside of the mansion to search.

What for? [Y/n] could never remember.

But the small child in [Y/n] had done it to appease his mother. To receive barely a sliver of the love she had for his brother. How naive he was, to even think he deserved such a thing.

The sun had slowly dipped beneath the horizon, and his surroundings became a cold labyrinth of shadows. The chill penetrated every layer of his clothing, and [Y/n] began to feel the panic welling up inside.

His finger and toes had felt numb, each step became a struggle for him as exhaustion settled in.

He fell backwards and the moon stared at him from the dark skies.

Naive and childish [Y/n].

"[Y/n]!"

What use was there to struggle?

"Where are you?!"

Why does he even bother?

"[Y/n]! [Y/n]!"

Mother doesn't care about him. Neither does Father.

As the frigid temperatures had taken their toll on him, he had felt his strength waning, and his life slipping away like the fading light.

Just when it seemed he might succumb to the freezing embrace of nature, a familiar figure appeared through the haze of snow and shadows—his brother, Hidesato.

He had tears in his dark eyes as he rushed to [Y/n]'s side, breath ragged and cheeks tinged red from the biting cold. Despite the overwhelming cold, Hidesato had lifted [Y/n] onto his shoulders, determined to carry him to safety.

He had wrapped his own coat around his shivering brother and held him close, shielding him from the chill as they navigated their way back to the mansion. A thin expression was on Hidesato's face as they neared the mansion, poison begrimed his gaze as it fell to the figure of their mother.

[Y/n] had lost consciousness soon after.

Barely awake, he saw how the attendants tried their best to help his body recover from the cold soon after. His father's voice felt so close to his room, and explosive shouts of his brother's name reverberated in his eardrums.

He closed his eyes shut soon after, and an echo of a slap sounded from the corridor.

"Why do you look like that, Muzan?"

His usual wavy black hair was now a dark brown, and the contours of his face had shifted to make way for an older and wiser cover. It was still a handsome look, albeit [Y/n] still liked his regular features much better.

Red eyes glinted in amusement, "Oh? You found me out so quickly."

"How are you even here?"

"I sneaked in, with this as my cover."

He strolled forward and planted himself next to [Y/n]'s side. "It's something I discovered recently, our ability to shapeshift."

A pair of [e/c] eyes gazed softly at Muzan, the man clearly relishing in the excitement of their newfound ability.

"Shapeshift? How do you do it?" he asked, voice tinged with curiosity. Next to him, Muzan had changed his face once again, something akin to a more feminine look.