Forbidden Love | 炭治郎

18| flowers

"(Y/N)-!!" I called out her name as I see her body unmoving. The rest of the pillars had already taken care of Muzan, so I had no trouble reaching towards her. I break the lock that kept her inside, opened the cage door, and picked up her cold body in my arms. "(y-y/n). No... no no no no no! (Y/N)-!!"

I wrap my arms around her lifeless body as I cried. I was supposed to kill her, but she did it herself. She knew I couldn't bring myself to harm her.  "Why? Why couldn't you have just lived a while longer? I could've saved you in time if you just stayed with us a while longer..." I said in-between my tears. "What am I going to tell Nezuko and the others when we return? How are they going to react to find out that you're no longer in this world with us...?"

"Tanjirou, let's go," Tomioka's voice spoke up in his usual calm and cold voice. "I'll carry her back. Her breathing is small, but if she doesn't make it... then we can't do much..."

"B-But she stabbed her heart, right? She's only dead if she slices her neck, r-right?" My voice trembled, still holding onto a bit of hope that there was a way I could save her from the grasp of death. Tomioka remained silent and was avoiding any eye contact with me as I wiped my tears away to stop my vision from blurring. I laid a small kiss on (y/n)'s forehead and handed her over to Tomioka, who carried her on his back. Muzan was tied up and was also a lot weaker. He was tired out and had no strength left to fight.

"So (y/n) was right about being connected to Muzan..." I said in my thoughts and frowned. "She's dead now because of him, and he made sure of it too..."

Timeskip~~~

We had a funeral planned for her in case we couldn't bring her back. Inosuke refused to talk. Zenitsu as well. Nezuko had to take time for herself, and the same with everyone else who grew close to (y/n). Everyone expressed their condolences towards me since we loved each other greatly, but none of them could help with the pain I felt. It was almost like the pain I felt when I found my dead family, but it ached so much more. I still remembered how cold and lifeless her body looked when I held her. She looked like she was in great pain, but also somehow found peace from the thought of noo longer existing in this world.

"Tan..ji..rou...?" A voice of a girl spoke up. It was Nezuko. While we were gone, Nezuko had started learning how to speak, which was a relief but given how the situation has been, I can't express how much I was proud of her.

"Yes, Nezuko?" I replied, holding back the tears that wanted to fall from my eyes. Nezuko's eyes were filled with sadness, but she still kept a smile and handed me a Kikyou, a flower that meant endless love and honesty, and a white Tsubaki, meaning waiting. I smiled at her and pet her head. "Thank you, Nezuko. But I'm not sure about the Tsubaki since there's not much to wait for anymore..."

"...(y/n)...heart...beating..." Nezuko said in a soft voice, which was a bit strange since she would be talking louder. "...heart...beating..." She was gripping onto the sleeve of my haori and stood up, tugging on it and pointing in the direction (y/n) was in.

"Nezuko, you know I can't go there..." I whisper-yelled at her, but she persisted. I sighed, knowing I can't deny her, so I reluctantly followed her as she dragged me over to the room. Nezuko had a small smile on her face, but I couldn't explain why as I couldn't read her expression. Nezuko opened the door and I could see there were flowers everywhere in the room. (y/n) was laying on the bed in the middle of the room, surrounded by many types of flowers and could hear soft breathing coming from her.

I walked closer towards her and sat in the chair near the bed as I grabbed her hand, bringing it up to my cheek as I closed my eyes. Her hand had a slight warmth to it, but coldness was still visible. Nezuko sat down next to me and laid her head on the bed, falling asleep immediately after a few seconds. I smiled at her and did the same, still holding onto (y/n)'s hand as I drifted off to sleep.