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3ʀᴅ ᴘᴏᴠ (◍•ᴗ•◍)
[Name]'s entire body was aching for hours on end when they finally stopped running. Small hands on their fragile head as they tried to stop the world from spinning like crazy.
They ran so far from the Entertainment District that they'd lost the scent of Nezuko and Tanjiro. They knew that the pair of siblings would try and follow, but if there's one thing they learned from various games of tag, it's that you should never run in a straight line.
So the child did just that, Swerving under thick trees, jumping under massive boulders and crossing over a large mountain. The journey only ending where they found a shack tucked away from any sunlight.
[Name] went in without hesitation and collapsed on the cold wooden floor, clutching their head so tightly that blood stopped flowing to their fingertips, giving their skin a ghostly color.
"I-I'm... alone..." Their lips began to quiver as the realization crept in. Their body curled up as tears slowly pricked their eyes. "I... should be feeling safe... but I..."
The dark shadows of the shack seemed to grow, twisting into horrible monsters of all shapes and sizes. The air thickened as [Name]'s breathing felt constricted, their heart thumped uncontrollably in their chest. Their childish body sore from pain all over, their vision blurred as the tears seemed never ending, this felt like a nightmare, one that [Name] wished they woke up from.
They had to do something, but they felt stuck in a pool of thick black ink, something felt like they were being held back, it all felt too real.
"Move. I-I have to keep going. But I can't move..."
Every time [Name] tried to blink away the tears, Obanai's seething eyes would flash in their head, glazing into their very soul.
[Name] shrinked away further, desperately trying to get his nasty heterochromic eyes out of their vision.
Their back hit the wall before they stared in the depths of the darkest part of the small room. It intensely deepened in shade as the murky shadow extended into the height of a man with a twisted nichirin sword, [Name] swears they saw a glint coming off of it..
Their small hands extended to their neck as they pushed themselves deeper into the corner. "No.. l-leave me alone!" [Name] managed to shriek in between desperate cries. "I'm sorry! I... I didn't mean to!"
The shadow manifestation ignored their wails and continued to stalk closer. A sadistic smile strewn across his bandaged face.
[Name] couldn't take their eyes off it. They gazed into his multi-colored eyes as he drew closer. [Name]'s mind was clouded with the words of his deadly promise, playing over and over like a broken record, a seemly neverending rhythm The shadow was a foot away, his blade raised to strike down a deadly blow.
The child hastily reached for the first thing they could touch with their shaky hands and quickly held it above their face, tightly shutting their eyes to brace for impact.
It was quiet in the cabin.
The shadow did nothing.
[Name] continued to silently sob for a while before slowly realizing that they were still alive.
They gradually opened one eye and saw that the shadow was no longer there, rather in a small window, the morning rays of the sun slowly rose into the room.
[Name] felt the texture of the item they grabbed, an item that they used to shield themselves from the shadowy beast. Taking the chance to glaze at it's appearance... It was an ichimatsu doll. It's features being porcelain white skin and pitch black eyes, along with silky black hair cascaded down her shoulders and onto her traditional flowery red kimono.
The child's breathing moderately relaxed as they gazed into the doll's eyes. Its presence made them feel more secure. They caressed the dolls cheek with their thumb, its porcelain face seemingly glowing with a soft aura.
"You're... alone." [Name] whispered softly as they gently stroked its hair. "You're... just like me."
The ichimatsu doll didn't respond.
[Name] wiped a stray tear from their eyes before tilting their head. "Will you... protect me?"
Again, the doll said nothing. Only smiling at the child with a soft smile etched across her features.
[Name] smiled back before they held the doll in a gentle embrace.
The longer they sat there holding the doll, the more the sun started to fill the shack.
"We have to hide." [Name] whispered as they slowly tried to stand up. Their legs were still trembling from both fear and pain so they had to lean on the wall for support.
"Mr. Sun doesn't like me anymore so we have to wait for Mr. Moon to come out." They told the doll as they dragged themselves to a cupboard with a sliding door.
They carefully slid open the cupboard and hopped inside. There was a large white futon wrapped up in the corner, [Name] sat down and rested their back against it. Sighing softly with relief for the first time since they ran away.
"When Mr. Moon comes back," [Name] smiled as they stroked the dolls cheeks. "we can play all night long!"
The doll smiled.
The child yawned before they laid their head back against the futon. "Goodnight dolly." They whispered as their eyes blinked to a close. "I'll.. think of a name for you... tomorrow..."
