When Ice Melts

Chapter 4

The chirping of birds is what causes the slow opening of colorful eyes. A white ceiling lit by the sunlight of morning comes.

Douma feels so heavy, more so than after any training he did to be a slayer. The Hashira closes his eyes and tries to breathe deeply, feeling everything.

He was so numb, his left leg felt weird, and his hand-

A rainbow eye opens and looks at his hand. Clutching his hand was Kotoha. His sweet Kotoha who was sleeping with hair spread everywhere. He brushes her hair away with his free hand and caresses her cheek, red from crying.

"You are an idiot." Douma looks up and can't help but grin.

There at the doorway with a fresh IV pack was his fellow Hashira Hakuji. He had become a slayer when his fiancée's father was turned into a demon and he was forced to take him into the sun, fighting him barehanded. The man has since married and his wife was doing well, a hostess at a wisteria house when Hakuji was out on missions. The Hashira had experience being a caretaker so he would help the kakushi and other medics.

Hakuji changes his IV before speaking again.

"You've been out for two weeks now." Douma looked at him, surprised.

"That's the worse I've been through-" Hakuji snaps at him, eyes glaring at him a curl of his lips shows sharp fangs that he makes fun of sometimes.

"That's the worse she has been through with you." Hakuji corrects, gesturing with his head to Kotoha.

"Each time she hears you get hurt or are heading back from a long mission, she is at the door ready to receive you. Don't you care about how she feels when she sees you not taking care of yourself?" Douma blinks before resting his head to the side, his thumb rubbing the back of her hand.

No... he didn't really think about it. He had always been excited to see her that he didn't think about how she thought when she would batch him up after each mission.

"She's been here every hour for a fortnight because of you. THAT was after the ten-hour surgery we had to do on you. There was a moment your heart stopped and I had Gyutaro dragging her out as I did chest compressions." Douma thought more. That explained why his chest felt sore, Hakuji definitely made sure to crack his ribs to get his heart going.

"Surgery?" Hakuji sighed, before tugging the sheet away from his leg.

"Oh." Douma studied his leg... what was left at least.

"Your dumbass did save lives but you did it with sliced calf muscles and poison going through your system. Then you sprinted from wherever you were and landed, breaking the bone and exposing it to the poison. We were lucky the sun rose when it did." Hakuji was explaining it all as he looks. Most of his leg was gone passed the kneecap.

"I ordered a prosthetic to be made with your measurements and you being you, you'll be up in the next month or so."

Douma looked up, his hand hooking under his thigh, grinning up at Hakuji. "You think I can commission for a sword leg?"

Hakuji was unamused by this.

"Don't think about continuing to be a slayer." The chirping of birds goes quiet for Douma.

Then he laughs.

"Maybe I will." He finally had a good excuse to leave and he took out a lower moon so he was fine with the days of slaying demons on a regular be in the past.

The small hand that held his curls tighter.

Cause now he had a future he looked forward to having.

"Douma..." Kotoha shifts her head, only for his clutched hand to leave hers to hold her cheek.

"Good morning Kotoha~" Hakuji makes his exit as he knew what was about to unfold.

Emerald eyes snap fully awake and look up to see rainbow ones open for the first time in fourteen days. They soon are filled with tears again and Kotoha launches herself onto the bed, hugging the man that caused so much worry for her.

"DOUMA!!" Her cries shake her form as tears stain his gown. Douma can't help but smile, stroking her back.

"It's okay, I'm okay." He pulls her back and wipes her tears with his thumb. Kotoha sniffs watching tears come to his eyes, looking at her. "You're okay."

He had never run so fast and probably never will again. His very form was faster than any horse as he sprinted that night, his heart pounding in his chest at the thought of finding her dead at the feet of the Kizuki.

He should be the only one to ever get hurt.

They hug once again.

Guess in the end, he forgot that the stress and worry for others can emotionally bring anguish and hurt.

"Please." Her fingers curl into his gown as she holds him tight. "Please never make me worry like that again."

Douma looks at his leg again, shifting the stump as his arms become firmer around her.

"I promise." He cradles her before they sleep for the day, both properly resting when Hakuji comes back with Koyuki, Ume, and Gyutaro.

—
Douma would go through some exercises before he got his new leg, without the sword he had jokingly asked for.

Hakuji would hold his torso while Gyutaro and Ume watched their master get up for the first time in nearly a month.

His new leg was perfect.

Kotoha cried seeing him walk and then choked when he stumbled. She is kneeling with him, about to help him up when he takes her hand.

He is smiling up at her in the next moment, adjusting his stance to have his good knee up. Ume had her mouth covered as she watch the scene.
"Kotoha, will you marry me?" The Ice Hashira would receive his answer in the form of a hug and a cry of "YES!"

Gyutaro let his head fall back when they kiss.

"Finally, the old man did it."