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"Ugh..."

She groaned.
There was so much pain all over her body. She could hardly move, hardly speak...at least she could breathe again, though.

"Damn.." she sighed, gritting her teeth and opening her eyes slowly. As light began to pour into her vision, she flinched, shutting her eyes once more and finding the dark far more comfortable to deal with. However, she knew she needed to open her eyes...So, she tried again.

Letting out a small breath as she opened her eyes once more, allowing light to flood into her vision.

She squinted.

Her hand moved to block her eyes from the light, but when she tried to move her arm, she winced in pain. In the pain, her eyes opened fully. That was a mistake. "Ow.." she huffed out, now feeling a slight headache coming along..

From her muffled ears, she heard the door opening to whatever room she was in...wait, a room?

"What the..." A glass shattered, making the woman flinch in her spot, trying to sit up and find the cause.

Was it Muzan?

Was he still alive?

Was the fighting over?

What happened?

That was also a horrible idea, as her arms gave out when she tried to hold herself up, and she fell back down against the bed with a small grunt. "Ow..."

"she-...SHE'S AWAAAAKE!"

The woman turned her head to the side, watching in confusion as a girl she recognised from the butterfly estate, named Aoi, stood in shock, eyes wide and a smile on her face.

Tears began to brim at her eyes before she sniffled and moved over to where (Y/N) lay in the bed. "im-..Im so glad you're finally awake!" The woman in said bed furrowed her brows in confusion.

"What...is going on...did we win..?" she spoke out softly, holding in a cough when her throat began to hurt from the sudden speech.

"You dont need to worry-"

A sudden crash sounded and the two females in the room flinched as the door was suddenly flung open, revealing a panting man at the door.

The white haired man let out a small breath before his eyes moved to the woman in the bed and he suddenly sighed in relief.

Sanemi soon returned to his cool and uncaring demeanour as he moved closer to the bed and looked away, crossing his arms over his chest and grumbling under his breath. "It's about time you woke up, damn idiot.." He huffed, rolling his eyes.

"Sanemi..." she mumbled out, staring up at him with wide eyes and letting out a breath she didnt even know she was holding in. all pain from the headache moved away and she shifted her thoughts to one question only.

"Is he...dead?" Sanemi raised a brow at her inquiry, all before he scoffed, letting out a small scoff.

"As if we would let him get away. Yeah, he's dead."

Time froze.

It was...all over?

All of the pain and sorrow in her life? The demon that had caused her so much fear and uncertainty- driving her to the edges of insanity- was gone?

She hated that demon. Dead, or alive, she hated him. She loathed him.

He was the reason for it all.

The death...the pain and the wounds...all of it.

She spent so many years trying to pull away from his hold, but each time she pulled away, his grip would tighten, pulling her closer and closer until finally...she gave in. she gave up.

It happened so many times.. She wanted to give in because of him. She wanted to cry and shout, and she wanted to kill him so, so many times...

Her body sat up and leaned back against the headboard of her bed.

She was always scared, so, so scared of what he could manage. Of what more he could do to her and so many others.

He had tortured her, killed most of those she had loved, made sure her life revolved around him and him alone- the fear she felt when she was around him, when she thought of him, when she merely heard his voice...It was....all over?

A tear fell from her eye, sliding down her cheek and jumping away from the skin of her chin as she looked to her lap, a small grin on her face.

Her hands fell to her sides, as if they were finally letting go. As if they were finally free from being in shackles and pulling against them for years. It was like all shackles fell from her.

She was free.

Sanemi watched her for a moment, all before a small smile made its way to his lips as he looked down at her.

He reached forward, his hand covered in a bandage to cover his missing ring finger as he moved to softly wipe her tear stains from her cheeks. "Try not to look too happy.." he smirked, chuckling softly.

She shook her head, her hand moving to his hand and wrapped around it. "Im-..Im sorry. I can't help it." she sniffled, chuckling breathily as she turned away from his gaze. His hand that cupped her cheek soon moved to tilt her head back up to look at him. He sighed, shaking his head.

His hand then trailed around her cheek to run through her hair and pull her head closer so he could rest his forehead against hers for a moment. He let out a breath before he softly moved to pinch her nose with his other hand and he leaned back. "Next time, try not to fall asleep, huh?" he scoffed.

Just then, another voice entered into the scene.

Giyu.

"She's awake?" he inquired, stepping into the door as a hopeful glint made its way into his eye.

When he met her eye, however, he let a small gasp fall from her lips. He moved further into the room, and when he made it to her side, he wrapped her arms around her gently, pulling her head to his chest and leaning his forehead against her hair. "Thank god.."

He was so gentle in his movements, even as Sanemi watched them both with a small smirk, his hand moving back to his side to cross his arms over his chest.

Giyu soon leaned away from her and sighed in relief as he looked down at her. She huffed out, turning to the two men and tilting her head. "Can I know what on earth happened when I was out?" Her eyes moved back to the door and furrowed her brows. "Where is everyone?"

The duo suddenly paused in place. They turned to each other, then back to her.

Sanemi began. "We killed the bastard, but.."

Giyu continued. "We, uh...lost a few of our own.."

She paused. "Who...?" Dreading the answer, she questioned.

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The woman looked down at her palms in the bed she lay in. The two men had left a few moments ago to carry on with their own business and recovery. But, they didnt leave before telling her what she had missed. She had been asleep for five weeks.

In total, all but two of the remaining hashira were left, and she had missed their funerals.

Gyomei.

Mitsuri.

Obanai.

Muichiro.

Shinobu.

Tanjiro had turned into a demon who could defy the sunlight not long after Muzan had passed, but by some miracle, he had survived and was now in full recovery.

There hadn't been a single sighting of a demon in weeks.

And, finally, Ubuyashiki's son was taking over the estate and the lead role of the demon slayer corps.

The woman wiped the tear that fell from her eye and chuckled bitterly. "Even after the grave...you still haunt me.." she huffed, all before she broke down into more tears, hunching over to hide her face in her hands and cry.

She just cried.

For the hashira, her family, her friends, the kakushi who risked their lives, and even for Akaza..

Her shoulders shook as she continued to weep.

God, it felt good to finally cry after so long, but the reason behind her tears made her feel far from good.

It made her feel dreadful.

All of those memories of her friends were now reduced to just that- memories.

She promised herself she would protect these people- that she would sacrifice herself for them if need be, and yet...she is still alive, and they are not...

They were gone..

She couldnt help but feel her anger grow at this feeling- this pain.

She hated the feeling of pain. For such a familiar feeling, she should be used to it by now, and yet...it still burned her to her very core inside.

"AGGGH!" With a cry, she threw her arms at anything she could hit.

Her first landed and pounded onto the wall, leaving a small dent and crack.

But, something felt odd..

"Owowowow....shouldn't have done that....should not have done that..!" she groaned, moving to hide her bleeding knuckle in her chest and wince at the feeling as blood began to pour from the wound.

But, even as tears began to stream down her face, she froze in realisation of something.

She looked down at her new wound, brows furrowing and lips parting in surprise when she realised...

It wasn't healing.

She waited a minute.

Then another.

Then five.

"A-...Aoi!" she called out, wiping her tears as the girl, after hearing her call, opened the door and peeked her head through.

"Is there something wrong?" the girl inquired, tilting her head and closing the door behind her as she stepped through.

"I-...I have a question..."

"Go ahead."

"How long...did it take for my wounds to heal when I was out?"

The young girl moved closer to the woman in the bed, pursing her lips in thought. However, just as she was about to respond, her eyes travelled and stuck on the bleeding wound on her hand.

She gasped, quickly taking her hand into her own. "What happened-!"

"Aoi.." (y/n) interrupted, eyeing the girl. "How long did it take?"

"A-about the same as a normal person- a few weeks. Now, what did you do?"

The world seemed to freeze as she heard that, her eyes widening.

"A-...a few weeks..?"

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