FAILURE. | rui x reader

viii.

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You arrived in what looks like a traditional Japanese drawing room. A set of sliding doors to her left, decorated with traditional painting of a crane drinking from a well. The view of a zen garden could be seen outside, it was nighttime and the only source of lighting she had was from a small lantern hung above her head and the moonlight. A solitary cherry blossom tree in the midst of the ashen soil made the whole space looked more vibrant. A lingering smell of wood filled the space around her, as you breathed in deeply, savoring the rich scent. A luxury place such as this, you never had the chance to encounter, much less place yourself in the midst of.

You are still on guard, despite the fatigue seeping into your bones, too tired to question the situation you are in. Even if you try to escape, then what? You have only your left arm to aid you in future labor, to add matters worse, you can't feel both of your legs, stuck into a sitting position. You doubt you can even move.

Muzan sat in front of you, gracefully sipping his tea from an intricately decorated Yunomi cup. You didn't know when he changed his form into a man and his clothes. European attire clashing with the traditional tea room. You realize there was a cup placed in front of you, but dare not to reach it. "Have you finally finished your observation to this room?" He asked you, as you grit your teeth in embarrassment. Though his words did not insinuate it, he looked at you condescendingly, scoffing at your reaction to the lavishly decorated room.

"Please, help yourself. It will speed your recovery, and help you fill your empty stomach. An antidote to the spider's poison had been given to you. Minutes if the antidote had not processed into your system, you could have been dead." Muzan informed you with the same tone, acting as your holy savior, with the snobbish tone he took.

"I did not put anything that would harm you into the drink." Muzan offers in a more neutral tone. With trembling fingers, you finally reached for the cup, and, shaking, brought the heavy cup to your lips. It tasted bitter and with the burn in your tongue, winced a little from the heat.

"Why did you bring me here? I was fine dying before you decided to heal the poison on my arm." You regained your sarcastic tongue back, after filling your stomach with the warm tea.

Muzan looked amused. "Are you really?" He directed a question at you. As much as you didn't want to answer the obvious question, you nodded your head anyways, too tired to play his game of charades. Muzan seems to not like small conversations either, so, smiling, his pearly fangs glinted in the full moon.

"You are a marechi, a very valuable one at that. I was planning to eat you, but with the poison, you're going to taste really bad. Though, I already handed an agreeable punishment for the boy who tainted you blood with his poison." You winced at the insinuation. Though Muzan did not directly spoke his name, you felt cold fear seizing your veins at the image it portrays in your mind. Red sclera found your own-

You snapped back into reality, finding Muzan looking at you, bored. "Are you done? I'm quite fed up with the constant fear you had each time I mention him."

"I would rather you fear me, after all isn't that the logical thing to do, progenitor of the demons and all?" Muzan glanced at you, chin resting in one of his hands. You were surprised at the gesture that shows the quite- human emotion that he displayed. "No?" He answered his own question, whilst looking at you for affirmation and smiling. He knows that showing a positive attitude annoys you somehow, so he kept grinning madly throughout your conversations.

"Then what use do I have for you? If your plan is to turn me into a demon, I would have to refuse."

A rich, velvety laughter came from the man's lips. He does not age from the last time you saw him at the orphanage. His skin is as pallid and smooth as the first time you met. And his eyes, holding the same sinister amaranthine hue. It makes you aggravated. A sigh founding its way to your lips, you didn't know what's so funny. "You are the reincarnation of a man I had met more than a thousand years ago. He brought me back to life with a very rare flower. However, he retired from his life soon after curing me, and I now had no chance to recover the species. This newfound discovery will definitely honor his memories, and so I wish for you to aid me in finding this flower."

The way he sugarcoated his words make you sick, honoring another person's memories is definitely not a Muzan way to do things. And retiring? You almost laughed out loud at the absurdity. There is a high chance that the man died, most likely by Muzan's own hands. It creeps you out how he sounded as if he read straight from a script, the usage of languages mixing and quite- clearly messes up your head.

"And if I refuse?"

"You will die, by my hands and your flesh will be eaten by demons who desire power above all. Nonetheless, if you chose to cooperate, I will bring Rui back to life." Shivers racked your spine after hearing the name, rather than the fact that you were going to be eaten by demons. "Afterall, don't you want to know why you always felt fear every time you heard his name?" This piqued your interest, biting your lips at the quite the dilemma you were in.

Curiosity, would indeed be mankind's downfall.

"I want you to promise me one more thing." You said after a beat of silence, eyes rising to meet the slitted catlike irises of the man.

"I believe you are in no position to negotiate." You looked at him sharply. Muzan was desperate to find about the flower, you may be his only hope to recover it. It also would not hurt to push the boundaries more... Would it?

"-although, it would not hurt to hear what you propose." Muzan added to his sentence quickly, eyebrows drawn in an irritated fashion. You were right, you value more than anything right now, Muzan seemed to believe the theory behind genetic or past life memory, though you admit that you cannot recall anything about a flower in your life now. And perhaps, would never remember the memories of your life before.

"If I do find the flower, I want you to spare Kamado Tanjiro, the boy who wore the hanafuda earrings." Muzan grits his teeth, your words irked him so. You were sure he was going to disagree, killing you at the process. Yet if this all goes to plan, you may be helping the only friend you knew your whole life.

"I agree to your terms." This surprised you. How can he so easily accept your proposition? And without hesitation at that? Muzan checked his watch, which you didn't notice he wore before he checked it.

"Now, then, I believe you need time to rest, discussions and leads to the flower can be discussed in later times." Your eyes grew heavy. "You said you didn't put anything weird in my drink." Your words are slurred.

"I never said that, I only made it clear that I did not put anything that would harm you into the drink. A small dose of sleeping drug won't hurt you." He smiled at you, amaranthine hue stared at you menacingly. The negotiations and the gravity of the situation faded into inky blackness.

God damn, you were so tired of being unconscious against your will.

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