{THE EMPTINESS YOU LEFT} Tengen Uzui x Fem!Reader

19. موت

Makio and Suma begin walking around the town, letting you follow behind quietly as you peer up and down alleyways for anything out of the ordinary. The five of you have split up into two groups, hoping to find something else about the demons or the so-called ceremony.

Uzui wasn't happy that you were told to stay in the village. And he was even more pissed when Makio and Suma dragged you off, leaving Uzui and Hinatsuru behind. He didn't want to see you go off without his protection. He had a bad feeling that something bad was going to happen, and he still needs to learn to have a bit more faith in his new apprentice.

"God, I'm starting," Makio's stomach grumbles as you walk past a closing food stall.

"Me too," you nod your head. "Can we stop for something?"

"Don't see why not," Makio shrugs. "Let's look for somewhere that's still open."

Just then, you hear a loud scream and the three of you take off running in the direction of the sound. More screams follow, leading you to a man lying on the ground half-eaten by a demon. Your whole body shakes at the sight, forcing you to flashback to the way you saw your sister devoured by Doma. "Shit," you whisper to yourself as you freeze in place.

You watch as the demon stands up and walks right up to you. "Hello," the demon greets you in a friendly manner.

Your eyes widen as you watch the demon wipe blood off its chin.

"You look a bit shocked," the demon smiles. "You shouldn't be, pretty human."

"Y/N!" Suma shouts at you, trying to pull you back. But before she can get to you, Makio reaches out to the swords attached to your back and runs straight at the demon.

Time freezes for you. You aren't even aware of Makio as she slices the demon left and right until it's nothing more than a pile of ashes on the ground. You just blink slowly and feel Suma grab onto your arm and lead you away from the scene.

"Y/N," Suma says softly as the two of them sit you down on a bench.

"What the hell was that?" Makio pants, returning your sword just before a swarm of people forms around the three of you, thanking Makio.

"I don't know, Makio," you shake your head, only to be drowned out a moment later by the crowd cheering her name. "I-I'm sorry."

Makio sighs before turning to acknowledge the crowd. But to you, it's all just background noise. The only thing you can focus on is trying to piece together what just happened. You let that demon approach you like it was nothing. You stood there in place and didn't move. You froze. Why?

"Y/N," Suma shakes your shoulder gently as Makio leads the crowd back toward the dead man in the street, asking them to bring him to a place where he can rest properly. "We should go and find Master Tengen and Hinatsuru."

You shake your head. "No. I can't...."

"You can," she insists, pulling you to your feet. "It wasn't your fault. He'll understand."

"He'll just say 'I told you so. I told you that you weren't ready for this'," you sigh as you slump over onto your friend. "Suma, I can't believe I just froze like that. I could have stopped that demon. Maybe I could have even saved that man's life."

"That's not true," she tells you, shaking her head. "You can't blame yourself for having a reaction to your first real encounter with a demon while knowing what you know about them. It's okay."

"No it's not and you know it," you shake your head. "Suma, why didn't I do anything?"

Suma turns to face you and watches closely as your eyes begin to swell up in tears. "Why didn't you do anything, Y/N?" she asks softly.

"I don't know."

UZUI'S P.O.V.

"It's not a big deal, Lord Tengen. Y/N is in good hands with those two. You shouldn't be so worried about her," Hinatsuru tries to comfort me.

"I don't need her to become a hashira. I just wanted her to survive, Hina. Now she's a liability. What if she freezes like that in the middle of a battle? She could die. And, I can't have that."

"Isn't that what she's supposed to be learning?" Hinatsuru sighs. "She's going to mess up. She'll freeze from time to time, but she'll learn."

I shake my head. "It's one thing for her to freeze during practice- to forget a skill for a moment where the worst that'll happen to her is that she'll get knocked on her ass- but out here? This is serious. This isn't some game. It's not a training exercise. It's not something she can just learn on the spot. If she freezes up in a battle, she could be killed."

"Worst case scenario, Y/N could be killed. Best case scenario, she freezes up and gets a lecture from you," Hinatsuru laughs softly, causing me to turn and face her. "Lord Tengen, Y/N looks up to you. She wants nothing more than to make you proud, so I don't think it would hurt to show her a bit of kindness. Even if she's not strong enough. Be proud of her when she comes back, no matter what happens. That's all."

"Hina, I can't. I-"

Just then, the three of us turn our heads to face the direction of a commotion in the distance. There's screaming and yelling, but we can't quite make out what is happening. We begin to make our way toward it, but before we get there, we see Suma running and calling my name... and she has Y/N in tow.

"Shit, what did I tell you, Hina? She's a liability," I whisper before stepping forward.