"Just tell her," Masachika suggested. He nudged his elbow up against Sanemi's arm.
Sanemi had quite a large crush on Kanae, the current Flower Hashira. It was pretty obvious—So obvious that Masachika had already figured it out a while back.
"No way in hell! She probably doesn't even like me back. I mean, come on. She's way out of my league. She's super pretty and kind. While I, on the other hand, am the complete opposite of her!" Sanemi vented. He thought of various excuses for why Kanae would probably not like him back.
" 'Blah blah blah.' That's what you sound like, Sanemi." Masachika rolled his eyes, dismissing the reason Sanemi spat out.
"Hey! Didn't I say that you can't and can NOT call me by my first name!??" Sanemi shouted, getting annoyed by Masachika's teasing. He sighed softly and tried to maintain his composure again.
"Hmph.. Maybe I will listen to your advice, Kumeno.." He mumbled, lowering his head down. His cheeks turned a slight hue of pink just thinking of confessing to Kanae. "What would she say? Would Kanae say that she liked him back? Would Kanae say that she wasn't interested??" These thoughts ram through Sanemi's head like crazy.
"Oh?" Masachika smirked teasingly at Sanemi. "Anyways.. We're here." The two boys stopped at an empty mansion for their shared mission. Once they've stepped inside the abandoned estate a faint scent of a candle being lit could be smelled.
(A "Signs From the Wind" reference if you couldn't tell 😘
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. . .
Two years had passed since the battle between Masachika, Sanemi, and one of the 12 kizukis. Sanemi still hasn't emotionally healed up from the intense experience. Losing his friend in that battle, along with other comrades he had in replacement for Masachika had scarred Sanemi, which left Sanemi with a rough and cold attitude.
One day, Sanemi was brought by a Kakashi to the Butterfly Estate. Sanemi was badly wounded from his mission. He was taken in for obvious reasons and placed to rest in a room filled with laid-out beds.
The girl with that long straight virgin hair, along with those iconic pink and green butterfly hairclips, came into the room and lit it up. Her aura quickly overcame the depressing and gloomy mood.
"Greetings, Shinagawa!" The girl spoke softly. Her delicate smile and her beauty had brought ease to Sanemi's nerves. He slightly blushed at the goddess who had stolen his heart. Immediately, the girl noticed more large scarred slits that were engraved on Sanemi's arm, which she could tell were made by a Nichirin Blade. "Shinazugawa. We've talked about this." She said with disappointment in her voice. Seeing her upset expression made his heart drop as he remembered the promise he made to her.
"Yeah. So you see Kanae.." Sanemi started. He had forgotten the compromise he swore he would do, which was to stop cutting himself in battle. Kanae smiled and chuckled at his sudden awkwardness, immediately alerting Sanemi that Kanae was teasing when she was frowning. She thought of how cute Sanemi was right now.
"I'm just kidding. However, I am very disappointed in you, Sanemi. You promised me that you would stop.." Kanae expressed. She gently caressed her delicate hands against Sanemi's rough and large hand.
"I'm sorry," Sanemi responded, having a soft expression that made him look sorrowful. Though, he wasn't sorry. In battles during his missions, he would purposely or accidentally cut himself to use his rare blood to his advantage.
"It's alright, Shinazugawa. But please stop cutting yourself."
"Yeah, yeah." Sanemi huffed. He knew well that he would not follow Kanae's promise since he needed to use his blood as an advantage in battle. "Let's just get this examination done.."
. . .
During the examination, Kanae and Sanemi caught up on each other's lives and talked about various things. When it was over, Kanae had to leave immediately—as her Kasugai Crow delivered a message claiming that she must go on a mission. Seeing Kanae leave the room made Sanemi's heart throb in pain. Though he knew that their work of demon slaying should be their first priority, he couldn't help but feel a bit jealous as the Demon Slayer Corps took Kanae away and sent her off on a dangerous mission—a mission that led demon slayers wonder on what they were about to enter.
. . .
A girl with pigtails and two bright blue butterfly hairclips came into the room, holding a tray full of food for Sanemi. Her posture was poor—she slumped over the food with her head down; probably to hide the tears she was producing. But why was that? Why was she trying to cover her teary eyes? Even more questionable, why was she crying in the first place?? Her grip on the tray tightened, so tight that Sanemi could hear her fingernails scratch the metal tray, and her shoulders twitched as if she were going to break down.
"Uh, Aoi?" Sanemi said out loudly. He felt concerned for Aoi as she had never acted like this before, or atleast infront of him.
Aoi sniffled the snot clogging up her nose as she tried responding to Sanemi "Sanemi.." She spoke in a quiet voice. "Kanae.. Kanae.."
"Kanae, Kanae what?" Sanemi grumbled in annoyance. What was Aoi trying to say? And why wasn't she just spitting it out? Why did she have to stutter like that?? "Fucking freak.." He thought for a split second. Aoi placed the metal tray of food on top of Sanemi before explaining herself.
"She.. Didn't make it.. The demon she faced was really strong.." Aoi sobbed, crying on the rim of the hospital bed.
The news shocked Sanemi down to his core. Kanae died??
(Bro I made this like last year and why tf are there so many timeskips 💀)
