Phenomenon Breathing (Mitsuri Kanroji x Male Reader)

[Chapter Thirty-One]: Mitsuri Is My... Wife!?

"Carbon?" Y/N muttered, his eyes widened, completely frozen in place. He only stared at his twin brother, who was meant to be dead. But he was standing here, in front of him, holding a crate of milk. 

Carbon blinked at him in confusion. "Hey, are you good?" 

His eyes started to water, as he sprinted towards Carbon and pulled him into a tight hug, holding onto him so tightly that Carbon was in pain. "H-Hey...! You're— You're gonna break my ribs...!" 

"C-Carbon!" Y/N sobbed into his shoulder, unable to stop himself. 

"Some-Something's leaking onto my pants, I think you broke the bottles holding the milk, man!" Carbon complained, dropping the blue crate that had been in his hands. The glass bottles inside rattled, and there was the sound of pieces of glass moving. Carbon was right, a few of the bottles had broken. "What's up with you?!" 

Minutes later, although it took a lot of effort, Carbon was able to pry Y/N away from him and he said, "What's happened? Why're you so upset and acting like you haven't seen me in years?" 

"How... How are you... alive?" Y/N asked between sobs. "Is this... is this real? Or am I... dreaming?" 

"Well, let's see..." Carbon said, before pinching Y/N's arm. "I don't think you're dreaming, man." 

He looked at his hands as his tears slowly began to stop. "...But you died. This shouldn't be possible... this has to be a dream." 

"Man, you've been so weird ever since you killed that illusion Demon," Carbon sighed in annoyance as he placed a hand on Y/N's arm and dragged him down the hill with him.

"Illusion... Demon...?" Y/N repeated slowly. "...What?"

"Come on, man, Mother's probably making dinner," Carbon said, pointing at the setting Sun. "We don't wanna keep the ladies waiting." 

"Ladies?" he repeated again. "Mother...?"

"Did you hit your head or something?" Carbon asked him concernedly. "Do you have amnesia? Are you sure you're okay?" 

"I'm... fine, but... what are you talking about?" Y/N exclaimed blankly. "All of this... is just a dream..." 

"Well, it must be a good dream then," he shrugged, finding his twin's behaviour to be weird. "I'll have to ask Lady Shinobu to give you a check or something..." 

"How do you know about Lady Shinobu?" Y/N asked instantly, shocked. "You shouldn't know—"

"Hey, boys!" a familiar voice called out to them; Y/N froze again at the sound of his mother's voice. "What took you so long?" 

"Y/N, what's with you, man?" Carbon muttered to his brother, who was becoming increasingly harder to drag. He then turned to their mother and said, "Hey, Mother! Mind helping me? Y/N's being weird and emotional, I think something's happened." 

"Oh, are you all right, sweetie?" his mother asked him after rushing over, examining his face. "Your eyes are all puffy from crying..." She placed a hand on his cheek, and Y/N felt his body tensing up at her warm touch. It had been so long since he felt the caring and gentle touch of his mother... "What's wrong, sweetie?"

"N-Nothing..." Y/N said quietly, biting his lip and trying to not burst into tears again. 

His mother turned her head round to their home and called out, "Mitsuri!"

"...What?" he could only utter in surprise, as Kanroji, dressed in a floral kimono, exited their house promptly. His heart skipped a beat when they locked eyes; the way she was looking at him seemed different... "Why is she... here?"