𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞

⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ✿ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

The smell of sanitization was always unsettling. I adored the butterfly mansion through and through, every aspect of it felt safe. Except for the times when it turned chaotic. It was rare, but not impossible. Which left a chill down my spine in the aftermath. Clean beds, mopped floors, sponges everywhere, and then the smell.

My brain never stopped turning its cogs. At times, it was painful to be over-analyzing everything, others I was grateful to notice such small things. However, having your thoughts on full power every day and night was not peaceful in the slightest.

"You broke a rib? I'm surprised L/n." Kocho's voice drew me back down from my dissociation. "I mean, you did just come out of rehabilitation, but I wasn't expecting an injury this soon. Are you training enough?"

She earned a hum from me.

"I'm training. Maybe you're right, though, it's not enough." I didn't know why my strength had been slightly decreasing over time. There wasn't any particular reason I had to drive myself anymore, I was a tsugoku with a good rank. Did I not pass the bar already?

"The butterfly mansion is always open. Kanao is here currently, you ought to get some progress done." The insect pillar finished wrapping my new bandages and left to tend to her other patients.

A sigh couldn't be helped. I stood in front of the mirror, checking over the scars on my body. More specifically the new one on my back. The others I didn't mind so much, they came when I was learning. This one held more negatively though.

How could I let my guard down so easily? It was an absolute pain in the moment, but somehow more annoying now.

One by one the buttons on my uniform were back clinging onto each other. Maybe I should've told Kocho to loosen the wrappings, it was difficult to breathe. Or maybe this was her way of telling me to work on my breathing.

A training session with Kanao wouldn't be horrible. We used to clang wooden swords before her final selection. She's got a unique pair of eyes that can track movement like a hawk. I'm always impressed with her.

That uneasy feeling returned. If she had surpassed me it would be a problem.

Before any of my negative thoughts could entrap me into a spiral, a loud shriek put it in park. I had been wandering the halls to try and catch Kanao at her usual spots. But, the boohooing sounded oddly familiar.

"Pardon me." A courteous announcement before I opened one of the patient's doors. "What's with all the commotion—of course."

It was a guess I should've had before I even thought to come in here. There on the beds were Zenitsu, or at least, most of him. Either that shirt was too big or he had shrunken his limb.

Disclaimer, his limbs shrunk.

"Y/n! Oh, Y/n! Listen to the horror we had to go through!!"

I had to sit through a sob story. It wasn't sad, the thunder breather just couldn't pull himself together. They had gone into a mountain, which he butchered the name of, and had fought a family of spiders. Demons, of course. There was a lower moon residing within the arachnid-themed family, which the water pillar had defeated. Only after Tanjiro came into contact with it, though.

Why do I have to miss all the action? It's unfair.

"Now they are making me take this disgusting medicine! I'm going to die, Y/n!"

"You're not going to die. The medicine helps you, drink it."

We had to fight over the medicine for him to even consider drinking it. The kakushi ended up holding him down to force him to take it.

Inosuke was all the same, but now having a new idol. The water pillar, Tomioka Giyuu. Whom, oddly enough, everyone expressed some sort of hatred for. What did he do to make everyone that mad? Well, not Inosuke, at least. The beast continued chanting about how he was going to get strong like the pillar. Some strong motivation.

I needed something like that.

"Heh. Did you get injured again, M/n? Thought so. I'm already stronger than you." His smile was smug, and he looked way too proud of himself.

It only lasted a second before he was crying out with a near-broken rib again. This one really knows how to push my buttons.

"I didn't get injured again, you buffoon." I was sitting on the edge of Inosuke's bed while explaining. "My teacher demanded I come here to get my broken ribs assessed properly. Kocho is good at what she does. Also, did you two and Tanjiro depart after? Where is he?"

"Kamaboko? He got captured."

"Don't say it like that, idiot! The corps took him in for questioning because of sweet Nezuko!"

I blinked once, then twice. "He's on trial?!" The shout startled some of the kakushi. "There's no way he can present a proper argument!" My feet were on the floor again, pacing back and forth while I chewed my fingernail.

"They won't hear him out, not with a whole demon as his sister! Oh gods, they might kill her, or worse, kill them both!"

"Aren't you following one of those higher-up dummies? Can't you get into..whatever you're talking about?" Inosuke said as if it were nothing, disgustingly picking his nose while doing so. "You said yourself you believe her. Maybe she won't die if you say something, I dunno."

But, he was right, I could give him that.

"Training with Kanao is going to have to wait, then." Was I really about to do this? Barging into a pillar meeting could bring me the worst punishment. But, I had to protect those two. They were my friends. Family, if you must.

"Go save him, Y/n!" Zenitsu cheered, "You're the coolest, I know you can!"

"Let me know if you see that cool mismatched haori guy."

I nodded at the both of them before earning my confidence. There wasn't a choice, this needed to be done, and fast.

However, all of that confidence and pep talking on the way there vanished in front of the huge doors to the garden of the head of the demon slayer corps. My uneasy feeling returned and Hoshi laughed at me. I had to shoo him away multiple times before realizing the door was locked.

Nevermind luck.

Still determined though. That much was obvious when I tried standing on my tippy toes to see through one of the circular windows. The sight wasn't the best, all I was able to see was an unconscious Tanjiro on the gravel. There had to be some way in here.

The sound pillar's recognizable voice then filled my ears. "Bummer, I heard he was traveling with a demon. I was looking forward to seeing someone more flamboyant."

Mercy wasn't going to play a role in this trial, not with all the higher-ups. So, like the absolutely contagious idiot I was right now after being influenced by other contagious idiots; I tried climbing the wall. Anyone could only imagine how awkwardly painful it was. Thank the gods the pillars were more focused on the struggling demon-hauler than the struggling wall-climber.

Someone strike me down. This is the stupidest and most embarrassing idea I've ever lived to have. And still, somehow, I feared there were more stupid decisions to be made.

One of the very few kakushi that were in the meeting took a handful of the red-haired slayer's head, forcing him to bow towards the pillars. "You're in the presence of the pillars! Show some respect!"

So, now that I was in the gardens, after finding the best way to climb back down. Which, definitely wasn't Uzui pointing it out and losing it. Definitely not Rengoku helping me down from the awkward position, and definitely not Kanroji scolding me in front of all the pillars for even being here in the first place.

However, when I explained my side of the story, it didn't do bull crap. It made me an accomplice in trying to keep Nezuko hidden from the eyes of the corps.

Why did I ever listen to those two idiots?

"We should punish L/n as well if she was affiliated with him." Uzui looked down at me.

Gods above, give me the strength to not snap back at my superior. I had to take a deep breath to even start thinking about the situation at hand. Either the sound pillar wanted to bully me or he was serious, knowing Uzui, you could never tell. Although, Rengoku did give me a reassuring smile.

At least I knew I had two pillars on my side. Just, not exactly on Tanjiro's.

"No! She has nothing to do with this! She didn't even know Nezuko!" Tanjiro defended.

Then Kocho decided to take control, which gave me room to worry less, she was much more civil. Most of the time. "Going on missions as a demon slayer with a demon. You are aware of that, right? What's your story?"

Uzui put his hands on the hilt of his swords, "No need to ask."

"The demon you speak of, she's.. she's my younger—" His own coughing had left him gasping for air. From the distance I was at, I could tell his jaw was broken, where the impact came from I wasn't so sure.

The insect pillar of course wanted answers to her question. "L/n, do you have that mixture I gave you at the mansion?"

"Oh! I do." It snapped me out of my frown and panicking over how many possibilities there were of the way this situation could turn out.

For now, I focused on what was right in front of me; handing over the bottle filled with medical water that was meant to numb to Kocho. That only meant I had to go back to the butterfly mansion and retrieve more. Broken ribs weren't painless, even as a student to a pillar.

"It's a good thing she's here, Uzui." The insect pillar took a jab at the flashy male, to which he held his hands up in surrender. She may be small, but she wasn't a pillar for no reason.

"She's my younger sister!" He took his chance to give his story after receiving the medical water on my behalf and with Kocho's help.

Kanroji fidgeted beside me, her hand going to cover her parted lips as the news of the demon being Tanjiro's sister hurt her heart. "I don't think we should be acting on our own. Shouldn't we wait till he shows up?"

She earned both Uzui and Rengoku's hum of approval. While I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in my stomach. Where was the wind pillar? He should be the one out of the nine of them hammering the trial till it breaks.

Like magic, I had predicated it once again.

"My sister will fight by my side! So please—" His protest and defense protecting Nezuko crumbled to bits when Shinazugawa walked in. The terrifying aura even gave me pause.

He held a box in his hands, specifically Nezuko's box. Two nervous kakushi were behind him, begging for him to set the box down, "Well, I see you have some fun brewing here. Is that the moron who's been hauling around this demon here?"

Now that I was here, watching this all unfold, maybe I should've stayed at the butterfly mansion. Trained with Kanao or rested until my ribs were healed. I wasn't fit to be here. To make this grand decision on whether or not this girl could live as a demon, to trust her brother would find a cure and end this cycle of misery.

Kocho turned to the wind pillar, keeping the scene playing. Her gentle smile disappeared without warning. "Shinazugawa, please don't act out of line."

The white-haired male completely ignored her, his piercing purple gaze focused on Tanjiro, "Say what you said again, kid. She can fight as a demon slayer? You know what we call that? A TOTAL DELUSION YOU MORON!" As irrational as Shinazugawa was, not even this much was expected.

The sharp sound of a nirchirin blade against a scabbard echoed throughout the grounds, then wood being broken. More terrifyingly, split.

My body instinctively inched forward. Her poor groans were muffled inside the box, but it was enough for anyone with good hearing to notice. It made my heart twist. No one was going to stand up for these two, at least not with the information they had.

But the words were caught in my throat. When I said no one, it was myself included. Why was it so hard to do what was right? What needed to be done?

More hesitation just kept everything going. Tanjiro struggled but managed to break out of the hold the kakushi had him in. His hands were still tied, and he skidded on the gravel to go face-to-face with the wind pillar. It took more than guts to go up against someone that scary.

His tone was laced with desperation, but all that was able to be heard was pure rage.  "WHOEVER HARMS MY SISTER ANSWERS TO ME!! I DON'T GIVE A DAMN IF YOU'RE A PILLAR OR WHATEVER!"

The wind pillar retracted his blade from the box that now had a hole in its place. The sword now coated with very pungent demon blood was swung just once in a quick manner to rid it of the metallic red, "How very nice for you." Shinazugawa hadn't a care in the world for Tanjiro's protest.

I watched as the water breather's face contorted. If his voice didn't carry enough of his anger, his face displayed it as well. He'd begun a pained scream, one that summed up all of his struggles since his life had changed for the worse. Since his sister had become what we strive to eradicate. Tanjiro wanted change, we all wanted change, but for very different reasons.

Was there a peaceful way to go about this?

A wise person once told me there was always another way to go about it. I'm not sure if I can trust that anymore.

Out of nowhere, the Water Pillar's voice cut off any other noise, "CEASE THIS! THE MASTER WILL BE ARRIVING SHORTLY!"

We were all taken aback by this outburst. He was the silent type, water didn't need to speak so often, it rushed and turned and bent but never broke. It was understood and respected, however, as time passed I knew more about the pillars. No one exactly minded him too much. It was as if he wasn't even a part of the team. Which, made me terribly sad.

My rushing thoughts were completely blown away when my eyes finally registered the sight in front of me.

While Shinazugawa and everyone had been distracted by the sudden shouting from Tomioka, Tanjiro took it upon himself to save his sister since no one else was. He got himself into the air, feet pushed off the ground despite weakened and gaining the literal upper hand to headbutt the wind pillar.

I snorted. Not even a laugh, not a snicker, a full-on snort. Could I have embarrassed myself anymore today? No matter, there was an entirely different thing going on.

Nezuko's box tumbled to the ground as Tanjiro's headbutt did more than just simple damage. Shinazugawa raised his head, and there was a nosebleed. Kanroji nudged me, and now we were both trying to contain the fit of laughter that wanted to escape so desperately.

We both had to apologize to who was staring. Everyone, basically.

"Damn you.." Shinazugawa slowly rose to his feet. "Cheeky bastard."

The Serpent Pillar had a nice view of the whole ordeal from up top of the large tree in the garden. "Tomioka's outburst must have been a distraction, but that boy still managed to get a blow in."

Well, thank you for the obvious analogy. I could've said that.

"If you can't tell the difference between good and bad demons, then maybe you shouldn't be a pillar at all!" Tanjiro was getting bolder and bolder with every word leaving his lips. It oddly encouraged me. He was protecting Nezuko, and, no one was protecting him.

I said to myself those boys were family, even the she-demon was family. It was family before all else.

Shinazugawa held his head, which I could only guess was pounding. "You no good little.." He pawed at his blade that was lying on the ground, "I'LL DESTROY YOU!"

That was no threat, it was a promise.

He raised the nirchirin sword to the boy's neck. Then, and only then did time feel like it completely stopped. Everything was getting closer, and I couldn't stop my feet from moving if I wanted to. It was as if I was acting on will, and will alone. For once, acting beyond orders was justified for me.

I wasn't going to let the future die right here. So I ran. Kanroji's panicked voice drowned out, and my arm slipped past the hold Rengoku almost had me in. They had their best intentions for me. But, my priorities were somewhere else.

My hands moved to unsheath my blade, the hilt burnt against my palm as I slid against the pebbles and rocks. One thing I knew now, is that my knees were going to pay the price later with all the scratches and burns. However, I did make it on time to prevent Tanjiro from getting beheaded right then and there.

Immense pressure was pushed down on my blade. This was nothing but a test of strength. My hands were already sweating and slipping by the moment, how had I gotten clammy this quick?! I felt my teeth clench and pushed all my focus into my hands and feet, poured every ounce of oxygen I had into focus. Just like Rengoku taught me.

"Kanroji. Get your student before I chop her to pieces." Shinazugawa spat through his own tightened jaw.

"Like you'd ever!" When it came to being a swordswoman, I was more than unsure about my ability. I'd always been unsure about my ability, in fact. Not just when I was a beginner. Today was different, I was motivated. I had something to protect, something that changed my views just like the love and flame pillar had.

I managed to push his blade to the side, it nearly cut me on the way down to the ground. Only taking a lock of hair with it.

"As Kocho asked." My voice stayed firm. "Don't act out of line."

Shinazugawa was close to raising his sword again. The only thing that saved me, besides Kanroji and Rengoku being ready to take action, was two calm voices that turned everyone civil once more and into soldiers.

"The master of the mansion has returned." 

There was just enough time to get Tanjiro to sit up, and a few reassurances in, "You'll be just fine, hold fast."

He nodded and thanked me quickly before I was back at Kanroji's side, kneeling and waiting for the master's appearance.

"Good morning to you all. The weather is strikingly nice today. Perhaps with a blue sky? Finding ourselves in this semi-annual gathering with all the same faces brings me joy."

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

word count 3192

edited 1/9/25