Forbidden Love | 炭治郎

08| regaining trust

I groaned in pain as I opened my eyes. I was on the ground. My wounds were healing and Nezuko was petting my head as Tanjirou held me in his arms. I tried to push him away as I was ashamed of myself, but he held on. His forehead was dripping blood and he had cuts all over his body, as well as Nezuko's.

"I'm so sorry..." I whimpered as tears slowly filled my eyes, gripping onto his uniform as I repeated myself.

Tanjirou gently stroked my hair as he gave me a gentle smile, caressing my cheek with his hand with a rare delicacy as if he was handling porcelain.

"You don't have to apologize," a teardrop from his eyes fell on my cheek as he continued smiling through his pain, "I know you just did it to protect us, so please don't apologize in such a heartbreaking voice..."

I gently smiled at him. "I promise to explain everything to you guys once we're all in a safer area."

I looked up and saw a flash of light in the trees and quickly wrapped my arms around Nezuko as the thing landed around 5 feet away from us. I looked over and saw it was the Insect Pillar, Shinobu Kocho. She had a mischievous, evil smile on her face as she stared at us.

"Dear, would you mind moving? I don't want to slash your head off when I'm trying to slash theirs." She grinned, clearly talking to Tanjirou as she can see my wounds heal quicker than an average human can.

"I'm sorry but I can't do that-!" Tanjirou exclaimed, holding onto both me and Nezuko.

"Hmph, I guess I'll have to slice yours as well since you won't cooperate with me when I was being so nice." Her aura grew cold as she came dashing towards us.

I bit my hand until it bled and in the blink of an eye, a shield was formed around us, causing Shinobu to stumble back as I groaned from the pain flooding into my hand.

Blood Demon Art: Blood Shield

To use this demon art, the demon user bites into their left hand until it draws blood, creating an indestructible shield around them and the people they wish to protect. Consuming blood while the shield is activated will increase its time and strength. The shield can withstand any attack being inflicted, but it also slowly drains the user's energy the more time passes.

"(Y-Y/n)-! You didn't need to do that!" Tanjirou exclaimed as he held my bloody hand.

"I-It's fine, Tanjirou. I'll be fine after a few minutes..." I licked the blood off my hand to help the shield last longer as Shinobu kept trying to get closer to us, but the shield prevented her from doing so.

I tried controlling my breathing as my body grew tired. This was my first time using a Blood Demon Art, even though I've had them for a while and knew how to use them.

Time skip~~~

I was sitting on my knees with my arms tied behind my back as I was forced to sit next to Tanjirou. Zenitsu and Inosuke were both in the infirmary after being found with many wounds and were both unconscious at the moment. Nezuko was in her box to hide from the sunlight, but she was wide awake as she can sense everyone's mixed emotions, especially with the tense atmosphere. Then, Sanemi came up to me and stabbed his sword into my shoulder, making me shriek in pain as I tried to push him back, but he dug his sword in deeper, causing the pain to grow even worse. I finally kicked him off and use my teeth to rip the sword out of my shoulder as I grunted in pain as Tanjirou stared at me with mixed emotions as I threw the sword off to the side. My breath was shaking as I tried to control it to heal, but Sanemi wasn't done. He grabbed his sword off the ground and cut his wrist, letting the blood drip in front of me. He was trying to make me show that I was like any other demon they've encountered, but I denied it and looked away. Besides, his blood smelled terrible as it lacked nutrients even if I were to go after his blood.

"Stop trying to make me have your blood," I huffed in anger as I glared at him, "I don't like human blood and I prefer human food to be more pleasant for my appetite."

After a while of not having blood and just eating onigiri for some time, my body got used to human food, reducing the gagging I feel every time I consume the food, and now refuses blood that's not my own. Sanemi wasn't satisfied with my response and then took it into his own hands to force his blood in my mouth.

"H-Hey-!!" Tanjirou exclaimed as I kicked Sanemi once more and spit out the blood in my mouth.

A feeling of nausea came over me as I sat down, staring at the blood puddle on the floor as I tried to keep myself steady.

"(Y-Y/n)-! Are you okay?" Tanjirou asked as his eyes filled with worry and some anger.

"I'm fine, Tanjirou... just- feeling nauseous is all..." I said as Tomioka came over to help me stand up as he untied the rope around my wrists. "Th-Thanks, Tomioka..."

He nodded as I rubbed my wrists and quickly embraced him before rushing over towards Tanjirou, who was still on the ground. I untied his ropes and wrapped my arms around his neck as I buried my face in his shoulder as I felt myself relax, being embraced by him, his warmth, and his scent. We both then got sent to the infirmary and got our wounds treated. They were all cautious of me but soon warmed up seeing how I had no intention to harm anyone. Zenitsu and Inosuke both avoided me, since it may have been they don't trust me the way they used to after I haven't told them I was a demon the whole time we were all together. I'm just hoping I get them to trust me again after the issue is resolved.