[Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba] Stay With Me [GiyuShino]

Chapter Two: Second Chance

My head pounds mercilessly as I return to consciousness and I wish my skull would just explode. I didn't want to wake up. I sit up, welcoming the harsh pain that shoots from my brain down to my spine as I do. Blinking the haziness out of my eyes, I look around. I want to die, but I want to do it in a place that won't bother anyone. I almost get up to look for Tanjiro but then I register the sunlight coming in through the windows. The battle must be over. And won, if I'm back in the Butterfly Estate.

The Butterfly Estate.

A wave of grief hits me like a train, and I fall back onto the pillow. I never wanted to see this place again, not if she wasn't here.

The door squeaks open and I turn. It's probably one of those little girls. Poor things. They must be devastated.

But instead of a small, white-clothed child, a woman enters the room. I blink once. Then twice. Then I shut my eyes and bite the inside of my cheeks to stifle my sob.

I must be seeing things. This is cruel.

"Oh, Tomioka-san, you finally woke up." a voice says.

I must be hearing things as well. I feel like plunging my sword into my chest and ripping my body apart. This is too cruel.

A hand taps my shoulder, sending a small jolt of pain up my arm.

I didn't know it was possible to hallucinate pain. But it definitely can't be real. This hand isn't one of those little girl's hands. I know the feel of those fingertips too well. The hand feels the same as those hands that always bandage my wounds, that take away the pain and fix me, the hands that save me so easily.

I wish my brain would stop working so I didn't have to suffer through this.

"Tomioka-san, I know you don't like people, but it's rude to close your eyes when someone is talking to you!" the voice sounds annoyed.

The fingers poke my arm, the same way she always did.

I crack both my eyes open just the slightest bit, in hope that my visions, at least have subsided, that I'll be greeted with the face of one of the living, rather than the dead.

They haven't. I slap my hands over my eyes with so much force that it makes me feel like my head is bursting.

I hear the person click their tongue, the same way she always did when she tried to control her fiery temper. The soft hands cup my own and drag them away from my face.

"I know your injuries don't cause hallucinations, so don't try to use that as an excuse to get rid of me. I can't treat your injuries if you're being so difficult!" she fires, fake smile quirking to the left the way it always did when she was irritated.

Of course she would know everything about my condition. I'm not hallucinating. Kocho Shinobu is actually standing here, before me, her hands around my own.

"Kocho,"

It doesn't sound like my voice. This person's voice is breathless, disbelieving, full of emotions I never let show. I open and close my mouth, unsure of what to say.

"Huh? Tomioka-san, did you think you would die from those injuries?" she holds her hand to her mouth to contain her laughter. "You just hit your head on a tree trunk during your mission."

I let out a sharp breath. I remember that mission. I took it...exactly half a year ago.

"Oh, your head must hurt. Do you want a painkiller?" she asks, leaning closer to me to adjust the bandages wrapped around my head.

She finishes messing with the cloth and looks me straight in the eye as she pulls away.

My breath is sucked from my lungs for the hundredth time that day. Those eyes. Now I know for sure that I'm not hallucinating. No hallucination could ever have her eyes.

She lifts an eyebrow. "Ara ara, you seem confused. Maybe you hit your head harder than I thought."

My brain barely registers the words. My head spins dizzily, and I feel elated for the first time in what seems like forever.

I'm getting a second chance.

A/N: So what did you think? Please let me know in the comments! Thank you so much for reading! <3