#read the kny leaks and had to put out my feelings

[imagine-your-party-hosts]

Dearly Beloved, Ch.2

Word Count: 2,404

Pairing: OC x ?

Rated: T

Summary: "I promise I'll be able to make you happy again!" His voice was booming and clear, with no hesitation. He reached for her cold hands, clasping them tight in both of his, holding them to his chest where she could feel his pounding heart. Every part of her longed to believe it and to hold onto something as warm as his hand for the rest of their lives; how long would that be? 

[Previous Chapter]

The three boys had been there for about a month now. Yukiko had been quiet; she was alone in the Flame Estate, finally taking a few steps outside when her brother came knocking. He asked her for a walk, and though she had not really wanted to, she agreed, if nothing else to get her mind off of Rengoku’s departure. 

“They’re almost done with rehabilitation training with the butterfly girls right now. They say they’re a handful!”

Yukiko jumped, immediately turning away from the Butterfly Estate they’d been walking past, yanking on the sleeves of her haori. “I didn’t ask,” she murmured, while beside her her brother tittered. 

“I can tell you’re interested. Why don’t you talk to them some more? You barely talk to anyone that isn’t me or Kyojuro-sama,” he told her, though she was already starting to walk away, her arms stiff at her sides. 

“They look like trouble,” she said under her breath, and Yukiya laughed, following after her. 

“No they don’t! They look like nice boys. I’m sure they’d like company that isn’t trying to give them medicine or dump tea on their heads,” he said. “The one boy with the big forehead, he’s even managed to do concentrated breathing all night!” She quickened her pace, though Yukiya had no problem keeping up. 

“I am busy!” she huffed out, coughing to keep her breath. Beside her, Yukiya beamed. 

“Doing what? I heard Kyojuro-sama got sent on a mission without you.” Yukiko kept walking, her head down, her hands clenched into fists. “I also heard those little boys’ crows talking. You know they’re getting sent to that train, right?”

Yukiko suddenly stopped, and Yukiya gently bumped into her back. Her shoulders were set, and the air around her was hot enough for their cheeks to flush. 

“I’m going with them,” she stated, and behind her Yukiya laughed, clapping his hands. 

“I figured you’d like that piece of information!” he said, though she was already moving again, a light jog that Yukiya only had to briskly walk to keep up. “I can go stall them, if you’d like?”

“Please!” she yelled out; it echoed through the whole headquarters, and from his estate, Sanemi glanced up into the air and could sense the trouble she was starting. 

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Yukiko had not baked in a very long time; the last time she’d slaved over cookies was when she was begging Rengoku every week to take her on as his tsugoku. He had no problem telling her yes, though every time she was getting dragged away by Sanemi for interrupting their meetings. 

She hated him. She hated running, too, though here she was, racing towards the gates with a small pink box of chocolate chip cookies clutched towards her chest. She hoped she’d not missed them yet, and that she’d have to run to the train station alone; Yukiya would never let her down, she thought. 

“Please wait!” she yelled out, skidding to a halt just outside the gates. The three boys were almost turned away, waving their goodbyes to the three small butterfly girls and to her brother, who stood against the gates with a smile. 

She kneeled over, hiding her bright red face to cough and catch her breath while the boys hesitated. 

“It’s that weird girl,” Inosuke attempted to whisper to the others. Zenitsu jutted his elbow out to hit him in his side, and Inosuke did the same. 

“Hazuki-sama, right? Is everything okay?” asked the one with the big forehead, and she sputtered, taking a big huff before she shot up. 

“Please let me come with you!” she said suddenly, jutting her hand out awkwardly, holding the small box of cookies to them. “I am not sure if you like them, but I baked cookies! Please accept them!”

“Cookies?” Tanjirou asked her, while Inosuke stepped forward and swiped them from her. 

“Yes! Chocolate chip!” she chirped out, her brother covering his face with his hands from the wall. 

“So many girls are cooking for us today!” Zenitsu sang out, stepping forward to take a cookie from the box, though before he could Inosuke took a bite, paper and all. 

“Come on, are you serious?!” Zenitsu yelled, attempting to rip the box back from him. 

“You’re asking to come with?” Tanjirou asked her, doing his best to ignore the two arguing behind him. Her face was still a bright red, both from running and from her outburst, and she stood straight as a board. 

“Please!” she said, much too loud for how close they were all standing. “Kyojuro left without me, and I can’t stand for that. I have to be on that train.”

Tanjirou glanced down at her hands, clenched into fists. “He won’t be mad at you?” he asked her, and she suddenly grinned. 

“He knows me. He knew I wouldn’t stay put,” she told him, and he couldn’t turn down her beam, smiling back at her. “Please,” she repeated, though Tanjirou knew already he wasn’t going to tell her no. 

“You ran all this way, of course! We wouldn’t say no,” he told her, and Inosuke paused his arguing with Zenitsu to say, “We wouldn’t?”

“Thank you,” she said, bowing to them, though Tanjirou was waving his hands to tell her to stop. 

“Hey, hey, do you have anymore?” Inosuke asked her, stepping forward, and she deadpanned, staring at the destroyed box. 

“I made a dozen,” she told him, and he hummed in thought.

“Hmm. That does not sound like a lot,” he responded. 

Her lips twitched, like she was going to say something, though she instead turned away. 

“Thank you,” she repeated, bowing to her brother now, who instead laughed. 

“Get up! It’s what siblings do. I’ll see you when you’re back?” he asked her, and she held her fists to her chest, standing back up. 

“Of course!” she yelled, waving to him and the butterfly girls. “I’ll be back soon with Kyojuro! He’ll get an earful for leaving without me.”

She turned away finally, back towards Tanjirou, Zenitsu, and Inosuke. Her cheeks were still tinged pink, though she was rocking forward, finally taking a step towards them. “Let’s go!” she said, and after a pause she added, “... Please.” Kyojuro had been telling her to work on her manners to her elders, and she had no idea if they were older than her. They looked like kids! a voice inside her objected. 

She walked in silence for awhile with them, while they were still arguing about the cookies with Tanjirou attempting to quiet them down. She wondered quietly what she was doing; what would she have done if they weren’t going? Would she have gone alone? She didn’t want to think about it. 

“How long have you been in the Demon Corps, Hazuki-sama?” Tanjirou asked her, and she jumped slightly when she realized he was talking to her. 

“I told you not to call me that!” she objected instead, glancing towards him, though she immediately turned away. “I’ve been training for three years under Kyojuro.”

“That’s a long time!” Tanjirou remarked, and she only nodded her head, wondering if she was getting made fun of. 

“You’re a wonderful baker, Yuki-chan!” Zenitsu said behind them. He’d finally had a small chunk of a cookie that hadn’t been crushed by Inosuke, and was reveling, thinking of a small, stout Yukiko in an apron. 

“Thank you. My parents owned a bakery,” she said, glancing back at him. She gave a tiny smile when she saw how content they looked, Inosuke with chocolate smeared across his boar head and Zenitsu still nibbling at the small bit he’d gotten. “I’m sorry you didn’t get any. I’ll make more,” she told Tanjirou, and blinked at the large box on his back. “And - for her, if she can have any.”

“Shoulda moved faster!” Inosuke snapped, his hands proudly on his hips. 

“Thank you! I’m sure Nezuko would like that,” Tanjirou said, grinning at her, and she squinted as if she was blinded. 

“That’s her name?” Yukiko asked him, pulling on the sleeve of her haori, tugging it further down off her shoulder. “Nezuko-chan?” When Tanjirou nodded his head, she paused for a moment, biting gently down on her lip. “I… am sorry for what happened. I know the pity is probably getting old, but it’s true. If that happened to my brother, I don’t know what I’d do. I don’t think I could be as strong as you.”

Tanjirou hesitated at that, glancing over to her, though she still would not meet his eyes, gripping her haori in her palm. “Thank you. I’m sure you could, though. You look like you two care about each other a lot.”

She didn’t respond, only shrugging her pale shoulders. She had the same strange freckles there, small triangular shapes that looked like constellations on her milky skin. Tanjirou opened his mouth to ask her something, though she suddenly looked up, pointing forward. 

“Look, the train station!” she said, again too loud, though she was already taking a step forward and then back again. She looked at the three, almost like waiting for validation, permission to run forward; Zenitsu stepped forward, holding his hand out, and she actually took it, dragging him along. 

Tanjirou had been so distracted he hadn’t even smelled the difference in the air. Inosuke ran forward with them, and after a moment Tanjirou took off as well, meeting up with Yukiko and Zenitsu. She was looked up to the steam billowing from the train engine with a bright grin, while Zenitsu was looking at her and swaying from side to side. 

“Look! Kyojuro’s somewhere on that,” she said to Inosuke and Tanjirou as they caught up, pointing towards it, while Inosuke slapped her hand away. 

“Don’t point at it!” he told her, while the same time she yanked her hand away and said, “What the hell?!”

“It’s the lord of land! Right now it’s asleep, but be careful!!” he said, and she hesitated, glancing away from him back to Zenitsu. 

“It’s a steam train,” he said blankly.

“Maybe it’s the guardian deity of this place,” Tanjirou suggested, and she blinked from Zenitsu to him. 

“Maybe this was a mistake,” she thought aloud, while behind her Inosuke took a running jump to the train. 

“Stop it, you’re embarrassing us in front of Yuki-chan!” Zenitsu yelled, running forward to grab hold of Inosuke and pull him away. Her brow was furrowed, looking back up to the train in thought, again wondering why she was here, when she heard a whistle and jumped when Zenitsu grabbed her instead. 

“It’s the police! Come on, run!” he told her, and she hesitated, though still let herself get pulled along with the others. 

“I hate running!” she called after them, and Zenitsu yelled, “I’m sorry!!” back to her. 

Once they’d rounded a corner and Zenitsu let go of them Yukiko huffed, falling down onto her bottom onto the ground. 

“I’ve ran so much today,” she was panting out to herself, ignoring the three boys talking in the back. “This better be worth it, Kyojuro.”

When she heard the train whistle she glanced up, before turning back to Zenitsu looking for the police still, and after a moment she jumped up. “I have to go, I’m sorry!” she told them, though Inosuke was already running ahead of her to fight the train. 

“We should go, too!” Tanjirou told Zenitsu, running after them, and he sputtered before taking off as well. 

“You run so fast!!” Yukiko yelled up to Inosuke as he jumped on. She swallowed, before she sucked in a breath and did the same, grabbing hold of the railing and pulling herself over. 

“You just don’t run fast enough!” Inosuke told her, reaching over with Tanjirou to help pull Zenitsu up as well. 

“I don’t!” she agreed, and she finally laughed when she saw them tumble down together. She was grinning brightly as she reached down and helped them up, her eyes twinkling and dancing. “Kyojuro’s somewhere on this train! You’ll help me look, right?”

Her hair was getting blown in her face, even with her bangs pinned back with a bow, and Tanjirou couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped him. She shook her head wildly, reaching to grab her hair and pull it back, though she couldn’t hold it all back and it still swung wildly around, whacking Inosuke in his face. 

“What is it? Don’t laugh!” she objected, though she herself was laughing loudly, even as Inosuke squealed and pushed her hair away. 

“Of course we’ll help you look!” Tanjirou yelled instead back to her, over the wind that was whipping her hair back and forth. She hesitated, staring up at his pretty, kind eyes, before she smiled, reaching forward and placing a hand to his shoulder. 

“Thank you!!” she shouted back to him, squeezing his shoulder. “You have pretty strong shoulders, carrying around that box all day, huh?”

She was close enough that Tanjirou could smell the firewood in her hair that was brushing against his nose. Even with everything around him, hickory was all he could smell, triangular stars were all that was in front of him. 

“Thank you!!” he repeated her words; it was all he could think to say. She finally met his eyes; hers were an icy blue, blanketed by long, dark eyelashes that fluttered briefly when she realized she was staring. She lifted her hand from his shoulder quickly, reaching both her hands to hold her hair back, pulling it away from Tanjirou. 

“Let’s go find Kyojuro!” she called to the three boys, stomping her feet. “... Please!!”

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“Where’s your sister?”

Yukiya glanced up from his book; he’d heard Sanemi’s loud footsteps long before he threw open the door, but he figured he might as well enjoy a few more quiet moments before he was disrupted. 

“Isn’t she a little young for you?” Yukiya asked, leaning back in his chair to look at the Wind Pillar, who only rolled his eyes. 

“I don’t like that brat in any kinda way. There’s a reason she was told to stay.” Sanemi told him, folding his arms across his chest, and Yukiya shook his head, turning away back to his book. 

“And there’s a reason she went. A piece of advice, you probably shouldn’t actively be pissing off your healers. Is that all you want? Because I’m not giving you my blessing to date my sister.”

#kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer #kny #demon slayer x oc #kny x oc #tanjirou kamado #inosuke hashibira #original character #my writing #read the kny leaks and had to put out my feelings