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spoopkook · 7 months

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NO. #1

"But now this room is spinning while I'm trying just to fill in all the gaps." | "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Summary: The Captain gets black out drunk at a party and remembers the last time that occurred.

CW: disassociation, unreality, delusion, multiple realities, mention of murders, deaths, the works

Words: 2,552

"Hey, hey, Captain? Captain, are you okay?"

"When did the room start spinning?" You asked.

"Captain?!" Mark looked concerned. His face looked funny all scrunched up like that.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Mark asked, holding up three fingers.

"Uum, eleven?" Your counting skills weren't the best right now. And neither were your eyes. Or anything else.

You lost consciousness before you could register what was happening. You wouldn't have known, but someone caught you before you fell.

…

You woke up. After catching up to the fact that you were now awake, you were in pain. Excruciating pain. The worst migraine ever. Aches all over. Oh and you were in a gurney. That was never good.

"Um hello?" Luckily someone was there with you. He never left your side after all.

"C-captain! I'm sorry I fell asleep…"

He seemed ashamed of himself. "Don't worry Mark. You didn't have to stay in that uncomfortable chair for however long…"

You cleared your throat. "How, how long was I out? I remember the party and the toast with the champagne… poker, and games, and oh my god didn't Damien do a keg stand?! Everything's blurry. I don't quite remember last night and I'm trying just to fill in all the gaps."

"Doctors! Celci! Get in here!" Mark called out the door.

"Um, Captain, your head might be in worse shape than just a hangover… there's no Damien as part of our crew and… there were no poker games last night?"

"You don't know who Damien is? But Maaaaark, he's your friend! How could you not kno-"

Then it hit you. Mark was dead. You remembered his dead body wrapped in that red robe on the floor.

"Nonononono…." You went into a panic, everything around you blurred.

"Celci get in here quick! We have a medical emergency!" Mark called out again.

…

"The Captain's unresponsive," Mark informed Celci.

"How long have they been like this?"

"They woke up just a few minutes ago and they seemed fine! Until they started talking crazy and now it seems they're disassociating or something I don't know!"

"Mark, calm down. Yelling doesn't help right now. What do you mean talking crazy?"

"They were trying to recall the events from last night, but it seems like they got black out drunk or something. They don't remember much… but then they said they remembered Damien doing a keg stand? And something about poker?"

CC couldn't put her finger on it but something about that name struck a chord with her.

"Did they say anything else about this Damien?" CC asked.

"They said I should know him because he's my friend?" Mark said, exasperated. "I don't know about you, but I've never met a Damien in my life. Let alone at last night's crew party."

"Okay. You stay with the Captain, let me see what I can find out."

…

Celci went to the server room. She had no last names and almost no clues, but she'd look anyway.

She typed in 'Damien' and millions of results came up. "Ugh this won't help."

'Damien and Mark' less results came up, but as Celci scrolled through it still seemed useless.

'Damien keg stand' nothing worth looking into popped up.

'Damien Mark party'

Now the results were getting interesting.

"Mayor Damien Whitacare has no comment on the death of former Hollywood star, Mark Iplier. Mark Iplier showed up dead at his mansion last Tuesday during a party with friends. Police have not released any information, but amateur news reporters, Jim and Jim, say they have evidence from the crime scene. The story continues to unfold…"

"Hmmm…" Whitacare where had Celci seen that name before?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was just Mark and the Captain. Mark and a very hungover and confused Captain. Did someone put something in their drink last night? Your behavior had Mark worried.

"You-you-you" your voice quivered as you pointed an accusing finger towards Mark. "You died, you're dead. Am I dead? What's happening?"

"Sshhh, Captain calm down…" Mark tried to soothe you by rubbing your hand.

"Don't touch me!" You screamed, still unsure if what you were seeing was real.

"Captain are you remembering the wormhole incident or something? I know we haven't really talked about it, but I know it must've been awful for you," Mark tried to calm you down.

"Wormhole? What are you talking about?"

"You-you don't remember?" Mark was close to tears.

"W-wormholes don't exist. Are you trying out method acting or something?" You asked, Mark was talking nonsense and he was a talking corpse.

"W-wormholes don't exist?" Now Mark was extremely puzzled. "Captain, that's how we got here… to the new planet."

Suddenly, Mark got an idea. "Captain, what year is it?"

"What year is it? What type of question is…." You thought for a moment. "Well, it's 19-"

"NINETEEN??!" Mark responded. "Captain, it's 2083."

"What?"

~~~

"Ahh, Dorene Whitacare," Celci greeted the colonist at their new residence on the planet.

"And what do I owe the pleasure?" Dorene asks before taking out a plate of cookies. "You can have one if you like dearie."

"Thank you, Ms. Whitacare, but I was wondering if you knew a Mark?"

"Why that's the name of that head engineer isn't it? I don't like him, he always gets my title wrong."

Celci felt a sort of kinship that she couldn't explain with Dorene. It seemed to go further than just shared hatred.

"Well, yes, but do you know any other Marks?"

"Hmm. Good question," says Dorene.

"Or-or a Damien?" Celci asks.

"Now that's a name I haven't heard in quite some time…"

~~~

"Captain, who are you?"

"I'm the DA. I'm not reading scripts with you or improvising or whatever this is Mark. Who are you and please just tell me the truth."

"A district attorney?"

"Yes ever since the mayor promoted me. I don't want to be a part of whatever game or story this is, Actor."

"Actor?" Mark asked.

"You. Because you know you're the actor. Do you have amnesia or something?"

"No but I think you do. I'm not an actor. I'm your head engineer. You're the Captain. Of our ship the Invincible II? Any of this ring a bell?"

"Invincible II? After the first 'Invincible' went down they decided to make another one? Has no one learned from the Titanic?"

"Captain-"

"Would you stop calling me that! I told you I didn't want to be part of your story today, Actor. Go bother someone else."

"Well okay, Cap- I mean District Attorney. I think it's best if you rest for a bit and I'll just be out in the hall."

"Okay Mark."

~~~

"So Mayor Damien Whitacare was your great uncle?" Celci asked.

"Why yes, something like that." Dorene answered.

"Do you know anything about that news story? About the dead actor-"

"Only that he had what was coming to him."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He was playing with powers he couldn't understand. Things from beyond the veil. It manipulated him and ruined everyone close to him."

"Well uh, nice talking with you Dorene, but I have to check on the Captain," Celci clumsily left the conversation, feeling very uncomfortable.

"I'm sure you do," she said.

~~~

Mark and Celci bumped into each other, running away from their subsequent conversations.

"Hey, watch i-" Celci interrupted herself when she realized he came from the Captain's room. "What did they say?"

Mark rubbed his head where they collided before continuing, "that they're a district attorney? And I'm an actor… and that I'm…"

"Dead?" Celci asked.

"How did you know?"

…

"So let me get this straight, over a 100 years ago, some famous actor named Mark died at a party with this Mayor Damien and mysterious District Attorney?" Mark asked.

"And the case was never solved. The police tried to cover it up, blaming this crazy colonel or some blaming a detective who was there that night, but it doesn't add up. Who hired the detective to be at the party and why? Also the District Attorney, the Mayor, and some other guests disappeared that night. The chef, butler, and groundskeeper all told the policemen their stories, but…"

"But?" Mark asked.

"They all said something supernatural happened. They were all speaking nonsense."

"But why does our Captain think they're connected to this DA?"

"I'm not sure. There's a colonist on board who's a descendant of the mayor or something but I don't know."

"Who's a descendant of the Mayor?"

"Dorene Whitacare." CC answered.

~~~

"Hey Captain, are you feeling any better?" Celine asked.

"I told Mark I'm the DA. You can drop the act. I don't know why you of all people would play along with him though."

"Ok DA. And who am I?" She asked.

"You're all acting so weird! You're Celine! The seer? Mark's ex wife? Any of this sound familiar?"

Saying no would be a lie. Some part of Celci felt like she was somehow connected to all of this. She didn't believe in reincarnation and past lives, but… after what she'd seen in the wormhole, she does believe in multiple universes. Perhaps the Captain was remembering a universe so vividly, they were stuck in it mentally.

Maybe if Celci could remind them of the end of this universe when they were inevitably sucked into a wormhole they could break them out of it.

"Right. Right. Well can you tell me what you remember from the party?"

~~~

"Hello, Mrs. Whitacare," Mark greeted.

"How many times do I have to tell you I'm not married anymore young man!"

"S-sorry Ms, Ms. Whitacare," Mark corrected.

It may have been the first time she reminded him in this universe, but they both remembered.

"About that… who were you married to before?" Mark asked hesitantly.

"That's none of your business boy!"

"Okay, uh sorry. Do you want to tell me about your great uncle Damien?"

"Here, I baked cookies."

She was avoiding the question, but Mark was still going to take one. "Sure. Thank you. Would you know anything about…" Mark paused for a moment. He was getting nowhere asking about Mark or Damien. He should go to the root of the cause.

"Sorry, I meant to say… what do you think of our Captain?" Mark asked.

"Well I think they've made a lot of mistakes. But they've been through a lot, and they're very strong to have gotten this far."

"Does the Captain remind you of anyone?"

"Why yes they do. Multiple people," Dorene answered.

"And who would that be, Ms. Whitacare?"

"Why, I need to get the cookies out of the oven. You can interrogate me some other time, Mark." Dorene got up and headed towards her kitchen.

"But you already had cookies…"

~~~

"Well, the gang was back together again! There was a toast by Mark himself of course, poker games, a keg stand, probably a fight or two… Honestly, I don't remember much. And I fell asleep around 1:30 am, but…" you said.

"Go on," Celine encouraged.

"Well I woke up the next morning and Mark was dead. His body on the floor. Out of nowhere. The detective turned it into an investigation. Said it wasn't an accident. Everyone started accusing each other. It was chaos. But you know the rest."

"I know the rest?" She asked.

"Because you suddenly showed up. I don't know why… maybe because your lover William hadn't come home? I don't know. But you are the master manipulator. You could turn everyone against me in a second. And then the ritual and the time…"

"What else were you doing in these days after the party?"

"Well I was helping the detective as best I could. But I didn't know who I could believe. My dear old friends or a man of the law or the staff… none of it added up. The colonel's eccentric but he wouldn't… he… William wouldn't…" it was all flooding back to you. The fights, the lightning storm, the gunshots. William shot the detective and then he shot… you."

"I-I I'm dead. He shot me and I fell off the balcony… how am I here?"

"Do you remember what happened next?"

What was happening. Was this another one of Celine's rituals?

"I… I was in the void. With the actor's corpse. And you and Damien… you said everything would be okay… you trapped me." You started to cry. "You walked away with my body and you just left me there!"

Mark walked in at the worst moment.

"And you! You! This is all your fault! It was all your stupid plan for revenge! We were your friends! How could you." You hit your fists against his chest until sobs crashed over you and you just leaned against him.

"Hey, it's going to be okay, Ca- District Attorney. You're no longer trapped. You're on a new planet far, far away from Earth and everyone who hurt you." Mark tried to comfort you.

"Is this another one of your lies?"

You ran out of the room. You ran out of the hospital. But they were right. This didn't look like earth. The plants were different. There were two moons in the sky. A memory of Mark, your head engineer, crossed your mind. He was in front of that glass window, holding a coffee mug and telling you about the new planet you've discovered. The ship… the- the warp core.

You felt the scar on your hand. The warp crystal. You were the Captain not the DA. Was it another universe you remembered? Or a past life? Maybe a little of both…

~~~

Eventually, Mark caught up to you.

"District Attorney?"

"It's alright. I know I'm the Captain now." You sat on a hill admiring the stars. They looked different than on Earth. You wondered if you could name a constellation.

"Do you know what happened?"

"I'm not sure. I was so stuck in this other reality. All the multiverses we went through and lives we've lived… I guess it was bound to happen and scramble my mind eventually."

"Let's hope it doesn't happen again. It was kind of scary," Mark admitted.

"Yeah… do you remember past lives?"

"Yeah. Quite a few. Most I'd rather forget."

"We really screwed stuff up with that wormhole huh?"

"I screwed stuff up," Mark said.

"No. We did. I was the Captain. I was in charge and I…. I played with my crew, the colonists I was supposed to protect, I played with you like toys. Like your lives were nothing more than dust on the wind."

"I built the warp core. I'm the whole reason all this happened in the first place."

"You were trying to fix my mistakes."

"That you didn't make!" Mark argued.

"Because I lost your trust. I lost everyone's trust. I was a poor leader. Now enough dwelling on the past. Let's run this colony as best we can, okay?" You asked.

"Yeah," Mark agreed.

"And I promise to never get that drunk again."

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xxlady-lunaxx · 7 months

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The purple will kill you | {ShinoGiyuu}

Theme: Angst

Note: There were more to the req (like the ship (she picked eventually) and the 'angst' part) but this one was the one that explained most of it so-

Shinobu sighed, taking in the small bit of wisteria poison then waiting. She laid down, resting her mind and body. She'd been taking a little too much at a time recently so it was affecting her body. She was tired. She closed her eyes and pulled a nearby blanket over her, drifting off to sleep.

When she awoke, there was someone next to her. She turned her head and saw Giyuu, sitting on a chair, seeming to be asleep. She moved to get up and Giyuu woke up, suddenly, and looked over at Shinobu.

"Hello," he said quietly, pushing his hair out of his eyes to meet her gaze.

"Tomioka-San? What are you doing here?" Shinobu asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She sat up and let the blanket slide off of her body and onto her lap.

"You said to come back so you could check my stomach for any lasting damage last week. I forgot to come by earlier so I decided to go today. Kanzaki let me in. I was looking for you and you were here, sleeping, so I was waiting," Giyuu explained.

Shinobu blinked. That was a lot of words coming from Giyuu, whom she rarely heard speak. "Right. How long have you been here?" she said, leaning against her arms.

"About an hour. I had nothing to do and figured I could rest while waiting," Giyuu said simply.

"Oh, alright. Well, sorry for making you wait. Let me get some water and I'll check your stomach," Shinobu said, starting to get up.

Giyuu nodded and stayed in his seat, watching Shinobu as she went over to the counter and put away her things, then left to get water. He scanned the room then let his eyes drop to his lap.

Shinobu came back after a minute with a glass of water in her hand. "Okay, can you lie down please?" she said, taking a sip then putting it down next to her.

Giyuu complied and lay down on the bed Shinobu had just been sleeping on. He moved the blanket to the side and let Shinobu come forward.

"I'm going to unbutton the top of your uniform, if that's okay with you," she said, going over to where Giyuu lay.

He only nodded and let his haori fall off his shoulders to make it easier. He flinched slightly when Shinobu fingered at the collar of his shirt and she pulled back. "Sorry, my hands are cold," she apologized.

"It's okay."

Shinobu nodded and unbuttoned his corps uniform, until she got to the belt, where she paused. "It might be easier to take this off but I suppose that would be a little, ah, uncomfortable for you. I'll leave it unless there's a scar running lower than your stomach," she said.

"Alright." Giyuu closed his eyes as Shinobu examined his stomach, running her fingers down where she remembered the wound being. He opened his eyes when he felt her cold touch on a particularily sensitive spot. He saw her leaning over him and he watched carefully, noting how her hair fell from her face and obscured his sight of her. Then he saw something on her collarbone, though only for a second.

Shinobu leaned back and saw his questioning gaze. "What is it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I thought I saw something on your neck," Giyuu murmured. "It was purple, I think."

"Huh? I don't remember getting a bruise there," Shinobu said. She got up and went to a mirror that was leaning against the wall. She unbuttoned the top of her uniform and moved it to the side, pressing her fingers against the purple mark. "That's.. not a bruise," she said, confused.

"Then what is it?" Giyuu asked, curious. He sat up, his haori slipping off his arms.

"I'm not sure," she said, examining it more closely.

They were silent as Shinobu continued pressing on it, trying to figure out what it was.

"It's not something that got on me, it won't come off, but.." Shinobu paused, looking at her fingertips.

"Hm?"

"There's a little purple powder-ish thing that comes off onto my fingers. Let me try to wash this off, one minute," she said, turning back to face Giyuu. She went over to the counter where her water sat and picked up a towel from a cabinet. She poured a little water onto the tip and patted at the purple on her skin. After a minute, she went back to the mirror and saw that her neck still looked exactly the same, though the towel was very purple where she'd wet it. "Huh.."

Giyuu got up, buttoning his shirt again. He pulled his haori back on then walked over to her, looking over her shoulder to see the towel. "You sure it's not some weird pollen from a flower, or something?" he suggested, tapping the towel with his finger.

"No, pollen isn't usua-" Shinobu started, then stopped suddenly.

"What?" he said, confused why she'd stopped.

"...The wisteria!" she said, pivoting on the spot and turning her gaze to the counter. "I've been taking in wisteria poison for nearly a year or so now. It might be that." She stalked over to the flask she'd used to drink the poison from and examined it. "You said pollen from a flower and reminded me of this. It's almost the exact same shade of purple so it might be it," she said, thinking.

Giyuu moved to stand next to her and Shinobu put down the towel. "I must've been taking in too large of a dose recently, as I'd thought. I don't think it'll be too effective on me, because all I feel right now is a headache, but maybe I should tone down the amount I ingest," she said, sighing.

"You've been drinking wisteria poison?" Giyuu asked incredulously.

"Well, yes, because I'm not strong enough to cut off a demon's head. Poison might do the trick, so.." Shinobu explained. "Right now it's about 600-700 times the lethal amount of poison, and that should be enough to defeat an Uppermoon. With a little time, of course."

"An Uppermoon?"

"The demon who killed my sister," Shinobu said, her tone darkening.

"Ah. But won't the poison kill you first?" Giyuu pointed out, motioning to the purple blotch on her collarbone.

"Well, if I'd been being more careful with it, no. I already have a lot of poison circulating through my blood, and my body's gotten more used to it. I have to take in smaller doses though, and with all the stress going on I suppose I've been too careless." Shinobu dropped her head into her hands, a helpless sigh leaving her. "If I take an antidote, I'm afraid it'll put back all the work I put into drinking the poison. I'm not sure, though, because I'm the first to have done this before."

"Why.. Why not let someone else do it for you, then?" Giyuu said, his voice low, quiet.

"Because there's not enough time for experiments! Why do you care, though?" she said, looking up.

Giyuu went quiet and didn't answer, so Shinobu let it go, standing up straight again. She went to go wash the towel but Giyuu stopped her, and she paused. "What?"

"Go rest, I can do this," he said.

"I-" Shinobu started, but seeing his stern gaze made her back down. "Fine, but don't move around too much I still need to have a more proper look at your stomach. And I did see the few cuts along your hands. Don't push yourself. And don't touch the poison-filled containers in the left cabinet."

Giyuu nodded. "Okay. Now go rest."

Shinobu grumbled but did as he said, going back to the bed to lay down. She pulled the blanket over her body, encasing the warmth close to her. "I'm only sleeping for a couple hours, I still have a mission today—though it's a little closer to here so I don't have to travel during the day time."

Giyuu nodded as he took the towel out to wash.

~~~

When Shinobu woke, Giyuu was sitting next to her, looking very fretful and tired. The second her eyes opened he sighed with relief and said, "Kocho..! You're awake! The purple has spread. It's very bad now."

Shinobu blinked wearily, confused. When she spoke, her voice was raspy and thin. "What purple..?"

"The purple from the wisteria," Giyuu said, looking even more worried at her question. "There's a little on your hands, especially the one you touched your neck with, on your neck it's covered almost all of it, up your chin, and some on your cheeks."

"Oh..?" she whispered, turning her head slightly.

Giyuu carefully took her arm into his hands and lifted it to show her. Her sleeve was rolled up and her haori was off. Shinobu blinked, staring at the purple. "It's pretty," she said, her mind elsewhere.

"It's not, not in this case. Kocho, this isn't good." Giyuu shot up, dropping Shinobu's arm. "Oh finally, Kanzaki, please. Here."

Aoi had come into the room—though Shinobu hadn't heard—and was bustling forward, a wet towel in her hand. She bent over Shinobu, draping the towel over her forehead carefully. "Shinobu.. You're in a really bad condition. You've been sleeping for a long time," she said.

"How many... hours?" Shinobu asked, coughing. "I need to.. my mission.."

Giyuu, who was standing next to Aoi, looked away. "I attended to your mission. You don't have any until—or.. or if—you recover. Kocho, you've been asleep for nearly a week," he said quietly.

Shinobu shot up suddenly, immediately falling into a coughing fit right after. Aoi made her lay back down and she did. Once she recovered from the coughing, she managed to say, "A week..? Why.. how..? You're still here.."

Giyuu nodded, the worry creasing his face becoming more pronounced. Aoi sighed. "He's been by you the whole time, besides on his missions. When you didn't wake up after around—what was it?—five or so hours, he tried waking you up. You hadn't moved much since you'd fallen asleep either, so you staying asleep made him worried and he came to me. He's been here as much as he could and helping me."

Shinobu's eyes widened slightly, not having expected that. And from all people, it had been.. Giyuu? It was quite endearing to hear that, if she was being honest. She smiled then winced at the motion. "Hurts to move," she murmured. "Kind of."

Aoi nodded and quickly got back to work. "I'm going to give you the antidote for the wisteria. Unfortunately, I couldn't give it to you until you woke up because it required you to drink it and it was already hard enough making sure you were still well nourished in all of what happened to you."

Shinobu moved her head forward, attempting to nod without having to move too much. "Thank you.. Aoi. And.. you too, Tomioka.."

Giyuu nodded then went to the door and opened it. Kanao stepped in, looking worried but as if she didn't know what to do. She pattered over to Shinobu and crouched next to the bed. She said, "Are you okay?"

Shinobu shook her head. "I don't think I am, Kanao.. But I.. appreciate your concern."

Kanao looked down. "Tomioka told me you were taking in poison. Why didn't you let me do it instead? As a Hashira, you're far more important in the act of defeating the demons.."

Shinobu sighed and waited a beat as Aoi adjusted her pillows so she was propped up. "Kanao.. The Hashira's jobs are to protect everyone else. Not to protect only ourselves. We risk our lives for you and we're willing to get ourselves killed if it keeps all of you.. alive. So.. no. I didn't tell you.. because I feared you might try it as well.. and because I'm the first to try it. As you can see.. it hasn't fared well for me, so.. it was good I said nothing." She turned her head slightly to look at Kanao with grim expression. "I'm sorry, Kanao.."

Kanao bit her lip but nodded quietly. Giyuu was silent the whole time, unsure if he should say something. Aoi was in the back, getting something ready. She went over and broke the silence by saying, "Alright, I think I've got everything ready. Kanao, Tomioka, would it be okay if you two stood outside while I tended to Shinobu?"

Both whom Aoi addressed nodded and headed to the door. They waited silently as they stood just staring at the wall opposite to them.

Giyuu's heart was thumping loudly in his chest. He was nervous. Would Shinobu heal? Aoi had said that if this went on for too long, Shinobu might die. He didn't want her to die. As much as she teased him, he cared for her dearly. Even more than he cared for the rest of the Hashira if was being honest.

(I'm tired I think- I read "He cared for her dearly" as "he cared for her daddy" 😭⁉)

If she died.. Well, he wouldn't know what he would do. He hope this antidote would work. He hope with all his heart.

~~~

Aoi let them in a while later. Shinobu was sleeping now and in different and more freeing clothes. They'd refrained from having her change until she was awake since it would be a lot easier and so they would know if they were hurting her on accident by scratching her clothes against the purple parts of her skin.

Both Giyuu and Kanao noted how Shinobu—where her skin was normal—was less pale and she looked a little more peaceful in her sleep. Giyuu felt better upon seeing this and was confident the antidote would work. Aoi said that Shinobu had to take it every day when she woke up and some hours after that. She asked of Giyuu and Kanao to make sure this happened because, though she'd told Shinobu, she was sure the Hashira would forget in her state of mind.

And of course they agreed to help. And they did. The next few days went by in a blur as Shinobu started getting better. The only worrysome thing was that the purple marks on Shinobu weren't fading or getting less. They weren't increasing though, so that was a relief. Nevertheless, Giyuu worried about this on his missions and as he trained and ate. He would ask Aoi about it constantly but she had no answer.

And then one day something happened.

Giyuu was with Shinobu, helping her take her daily dose of the antiserum. They were talking, a small and aimless conversation just to fill the silence. Shinobu decided she wanted to stand, and Giyuu was worried she might fall so he asked Aoi if Shinobu could and, to his surprise, Aoi decided that as long as Giyuu was holding up Shinobu it would be fine.

And so the two Hashira awkwardly tried finding a position Giyuu could hold Shinobu up and help her walk. Eventually, they settled with Giyuu positioning one hand on Shinobu's waist and one on her shoulder. She walked slowly, no wanting to bump into something. Then she reached up to a cabinet—the left one which, as Giyuu recalled, held the wisteria poison.

"What are you doing?" Giyuu asked, raising a hand to stop her.

"I need to get something from here." She swatted at Giyuu's hand, insisting she could do it herself.

"I can get it for you," he huffed.

"No, it has to be handled in a certain way and I've been doing this for years," Shinobu said.

"Then tell me how," Giyuu said crossly.

"It's hard to explain and easier to show. Just let me do it, for gods sake, Tomioka!"

"Fine! But if you get hurt that's your fault!"

"Deal." Shinobu opened the cabinet door again and fumbled with the things inside of it for a minute then found something in the back. She started to take it out then found her hand was stuck. She pulled it out carefully and then said, "Got it."

"What was it?" Giyuu asked, peeking over her shoulder.

Shinobu smiled and looked up at him. She started to speak but then something started dripping from the cabinet. Both of them turned their attention to it and saw a glass bottle with purple liquid seeping out of it. "The fuck-" Shinobu said, confused. As she spoke, some of the liquid went into her mouth and she swallowed instinctively. "Oh shit."

Giyuu grabbed the bottle, his arm slung around Shinobu's shoulders protectively. He put the bottle on the side counter and wiped his hand on a spare towel next to him. "That wasn't too much of the poison, so you should be okay, right..?" he asked tentatively. turning back to her.

Shinobu shook her head, her hand clamped onto her mouth. "Fuck," she whispered.

"What is it?" he asked, starting to get worried.

"Tomioka, that was the extra concentrated poison I use to kill demons," she breathed. "Get Aoi now."

Giyuu nodded, putting Shinobu down on the bed and shouting to Aoi. She came almost immediately, looking worried, a dough of bread in her hand and her apron on. "What happened?"

"She.. she accidentally ate some of the- Nevermind, get the antidote to the wisteria now!!" Giyuu said urgently.

Aoi complied, not asking anything. She discarded the dough, figuring that bread wouldn't be important right now, and went through a drawer quickly. Giyuu rushed back to Shinobu who was clutching her stomach and mouth. Tears pricked her eyes and she started coughing out blood.

Aoi went over and poured some of the antidote in the cup Shinobu usually used. She went to their side quickly and helped Giyuu feed it to Shinobu who was struggling to swallow it through her coughing. Then they waited, their throats tight with worry.

Shinobu felt she could barely breath, and she tried all her might to swallow the antidote, panic filling her lungs. She coughed again and she was vaguely aware of Aoi going to get more of the poison neutralizer. She swallowed whatever they fed her best she could, her hand going numb. It wasn't working. It wasn't fucking working.

There was footsteps. Shinobu was suddenly very aware of every sound around her. Giyuu's loud and panic breaths, Aoi's shouts of fear, and footsteps. Then Kanao, worried whispers. Aoi telling her briefly what happened then going to get more of the antidote. Shinobu couldn't see. She felt little to nothing. But she could hear. And for a moment there was silence. And Shinobu felt she should say something if she really was going to die right now. For a stupid accident.

"It's not working," she rasped, her throat parched despite the amount of blood she was coughing. "I love you all," she whispered. She could barely hear now. Was she even saying this? Or was it her imagination. No matter. She would speak until she died. "I'm sorry," she continued, barely managing to get these words out this time. "Don't try drink.." she paused, feeling she could barely speak now. "Don't drin...k.. wisteria.." she managed, choking on her blood.

There was a flash of pain, a flash of light, Giyuu and Aoi and Kanao all standing by her, panicked, crying out something, she heard shouting, she heard breaking glass, she felt the blood all over her body, saw it on Giyuu, felt someone's hand on her shoulder, holding her hand, a glass cup to her lips, and then she felt nothing. There was nothing.

Shinobu Kocho was dead.

~~~

There was crying. Sobbing, shouting, breathing. Loud breathing. Giyuu felt Shinobu's hand go limp in his and he couldn't believe it. He didn't want to. How did this happen? How had he let it happen. Shinobu had been weak already from the wisteria already in her body. Even that one drop of poison had sealed her fate. And Giyuu hadn't protected her from it. One fucking drop and he'd failed.

Aoi had dropped one of the cups. It had been glass. Glass on the floor. Blood. There was blood everywhere. All over Shinobu. On Giyuu. Shinobu's blood was thick from the poison. Giyuu felt sick to the stomach and he choked on his tears, trying not to vomit.

He was crying, he knew. He made no sound but he was in pain. Nothing like how Shinobu had experience though. Nothing like what she'd had to go through. He wished he could turn back time and replace Shinobu with himself. He should've been the one to drink the poison not Shinobu.

Fuck this. Fuck the world. How could he have done this? How could he have failed so badly?

Giyuu shook and someone placed a hand on his shoulder. Aoi. Aoi was keeping herself as calm as she could—though tears poured down her cheeks and she was trembling. She had Kanao wrapped in a one-armed hug and she was comforting Giyuu. He was so immature. These two had been closer to Shinobu. Kanao had known Shinobu for most of her life. Giyuu was the eldest of the three here. He had to help them not have one of them help him. He shook of Aoi's hand and said, quietly, "I'm sorry, I wish I'd prevented that. I.."

He didn't know what to say. He never knew how to comfort before. But Aoi understood and she nodded, trying on a small but forced smile. "It's okay. You did nothing wrong."

Giyuu nodded, though he didn't agree. He turned to move away from Shinobu. From her body. Her dead body. He shuddered. But then his gaze spotted the flask of poison sitting on the counter. What had killed her. He feld dizzy and his head spun. He placed his hand on the bed to steady himself. He breathed deeply, trying to ignore the scent of blood hovering in the air.

As Shinobu had died, he'd heard her vaguely say "I'm sorry." She'd said quite a few more things as well, but that one had caught his head. Why had she said sorry? None of this was her fault. None of it.

{Word count: 3687}

crazy ikr ;-; I didn't realize I would get so many words out of this 💀

And now my totally scientific research that I totally was doing has been proven..; When I get requests I put more effort into them/write more.

SO GIMME REQUESTS PLEASE 😭 (me who only gets reqs of part 2's (those I suck at since idk what to write next for them most of the time) and even then not that many ;-;)

anyways, to da wonderful person who requested this, I hope it's alright because I kinda got off track with the angst until the end so sorry bout that </33

and sorry the plot is a bit uh goofy or smth like it speeds through it too fast so sorry again TvT"

BYEEE ♡

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