lunaris | akaashi keiji

𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎

The first thing that registered in your mind when you opened your eyes was that you were dreaming.

You were back in the cemetery uphill, wearing your mother's same, old cherry blossom kimono. When you tried glancing at the view of the city that you usually saw this high up, darkness that stretched on for miles greeted your vision instead. It was like the cemetery was the only place that existed in your dreamscape.

Instinctively, your eyes flickered to the vague direction where you remembered your parents' graves have been marked. But instead of seeing the worn tombstones you've regularly been visiting, you saw Akaashi's familiar, demonic form in its place. Suddenly, you weren't in the cemetery anymore, but in the forbidden forest where you first found him.

Dead trees loomed over the two of you much more menacing than they had been alive. Instead of the blood you've witnessed firsthand, the wilted leaves pooled around the clearing. Despite the significant changes in the scenery, it was like the scene replayed the same way. When Akaashi turned around to affix you with his chilling, ruby-eyed stare, he still seemed to be feasting on something in his hands.

But this time it wasn't an unidentifiable carcass.

It was a very human-looking forearm, lopped off at the elbow. Your heart surged in your chest, and you could feel your blood running cold beneath your skin when you caught sight of the familiar bell charm that enclosed the slack wrist. You were too petrified to take a look at the sleeve of your kimono, but at the corner of your eye, you could see the crimson fabric becoming dyed into a darker shade from the spot where you feared your arm must have been missing.

Akaashi darted out his tongue as he licked a single drop of blood that trickled from a cut on your fingers. The bell chimed from the abrupt motion, and the sound rang so loudly in your ears, you winced.

"Foolish, foolish, little human," Akaashi whispered in your ear, and you barely had time to wonder how he appeared behind you so abruptly.

Because the moment you opened your mouth, blood spilled from your lips as you felt him plunge a hand through your chest.

———༺♥༻———

"Fujimoto-san, what are you doing?!"

"She's been blighted! This is the only way to purge the negative energy that's infested her body!"

A crash. Shuffling footsteps. Rage. "You will not exorcise my granddaughter because she is not possessed."

"Amatsuki-sama—"

"Please remove yourself from my home immediately." A pause. A shaky breath. "We'll discuss this come morning."

You knew better than to announce that you were awake when you regained consciousness. The dream you had just now threw your mind into a haze. But the familiar feeling of lying on a futon with a soft pillow beneath your head, and the warmth of your grandmother's hands as she gently caressed your arm—still, thankfully, attached to the rest of your body—drastically helped in anchoring you back to reality. When you were sure that Fujimoto, who must have been in the same room, has left, you fluttered your eyes open; squinting slightly at the harsh light that razed your vision.

Your grandmother looked more disheveled than you've ever seen her. The lines of worry were etched onto her aged skin, as she stared vacantly at the tatami in contemplation. But when you managed to call out, "oba-san," weakly, her gaze snapped your way in a split second.

"Thank the gods," she whispered, sounding too relieved for comfort as she felt for your temperature. "Your fever still hasn't gone down... (Name), what did you get yourself into?"