Work Text:
He remembers.
He remembers going all out on Muzan, hoping they could make, at least, a scratch on the demon.
He remembers Gyomei and Sanemi screaming his name as he lands on the ground, unable to stand up. And everything hurts.
He remembers Giyuu, and the pure terror flashing in his eyes for just a second. Ha, he never liked the guy that much but they were comrades, they were in this together. He didn’t want to see that look on his face.
He remembers people screaming and running. He remembers hoping Tanjirou was alive and safe. He wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone, but he believed in the kid. He believed he could do it.
And above everything else, he remembers her voice. The desperation, the anger, the hurt that filled her voice as she screamed his name, pleading him not to die. Her voice telling him that she didn’t want to hold him back.
There’s no way she would have held him back. She was stronger than him. In every way.
He remembers her tears wetting his face, as she held him in her arms. Her voice was gentle and sad. She was asking him to please stay with her. But he couldn’t. It was too late.
He remembers closing his eyes after looking at her for one last time, wishing to meet her again in their next life.
In this lifetime, he grows up to a lovely family. His parents love and support him and his two little brothers look up to him; he’s a hero in their eyes.
Everything is different this time. This is a world without demons. He doesn’t have to worry about someone’s life being taken away right in front of him. He doesn’t have to fear losing his family and those he cares about.
And some things, he thinks, can’t change. Like that one time he found himself adopting a snake.
And of course, falling in love with Mitsuri Kanroji.
The first time he sees her, she’s carrying multiple bags in her arms, laughing at something a girl, who looks exactly like Shinobu Kochou, just said. Her smile is still as bright as he remembers.
Her hair still pink to green, however, is tied in a high ponytail. She doesn’t have the three braids so characteristic in her. But it looks good on her.
But to be honest, what doesn’t look good on her?
The second time is for just a minute. He sees her and in the next moment, she’s gone with the wind. He can’t remember what she was wearing or what she was doing. He only remembers her hair down, as long as ever. And the glint in her eyes that seems to never go away.
The third time is when it happens. He isn’t paying attention when he turns around the corner and runs into someone. He looks from his phone to apologize but his words get caught up in his throat and won’t come out.
It takes a few seconds until he hears her voice.
“Obanai?”
The melodic sound coming out of her mouth. The way his name has never felt this way before. The crystal clear surprise in her voice. The brightness in her emerald eyes as she looks at him and tries to reach out, her tiny hand coming up slowly to touch his left cheek as if wanting to confirm he’s not an hallucination.
He can’t keep his eyes off her. He doesn’t want to. Not now. Not ever.
“Obanai, are you...?” She trails off, her hand now hovering over his face, waiting for his approval. He only nods once before he feels the warmth of her palm on his skin.
“Mitsuri...” he says, and oh, how many times he wished to say her name out loud again.
They stay like this in the middle on the sidewalk. People stare at them while passing by, but they don’t pay attention. They are in their own little world where only them exist.
Obanai could spend the rest of this life, and every life after this one, getting himself lost in the sea of her eyes.
After what feels like ages, she takes her hand off him and instead covers her face with both her hands. He sees her shaking a little as the giggles grow in volume and turn into a full out laughter. Vibrant and contagious. He smiles.
“I can’t...” she says between breaths, “I can’t believe you’re here. I was looking for you but I could never see you around.”
“I did,” he confesses without thinking about it and breaks the eye contact. Her gaze becomes intense on him and he feels the heat come up his cheeks and the tips of his ears.
“You did?” she asks, curiosity and maybe a little playful annoyance in her words. “You saw me? And didn’t come to say hi?”
He knows she’s only playing but he can’t help but feeling a bit embarrassed. “Ah...” he whispers while scratching the back of his neck. “I didn’t want to intrude and I wouldn’t know what to say, you know?”
She smiles and takes his hand. She intertwines their fingers together. “Whatever you said, it would have been alright.”
The warm air hits his face and for the millionth time, he can’t help but smile. How he wished a lifetime ago to be able to feel the air against his bare face, with no ugly scars carrying around his awful past and all those things he wants to forget.
In this life everything is alright. Everything is perfect. Everything is what he always wanted.
“Are you okay?”
He turns his head to the left to see Mitsuri looking up at him with confusion clear in her eyes.
“Yes, why?”
“I just realized you tend to zone out and smile and I want to know why.”
It doesn’t come as a surprise to him because he’s actually aware that he does that. But he never thought about it. He never had to give anyone an answer.
“I guess,” he starts, the tips of his lips curling up a little as he sees Mitsuri turn around fully to face him and listen to him. “I always think about my past life. You remember yours, right?” she nods at her question and for a brief moment he wonders how she remembers their last minutes together in their previous life. He shakes his head and continues. “Anyways, I had a horrible childhood and I always thought it was somehow my fault, the cursed blood flowing through me as a constant reminder that I wasn’t a good person and I didn’t deserve anything.”
“It’s not worth it to tell you all about it now because it’s in the past, isn’t it? It’s no longer a part of me. It doesn’t haunt me anymore the same way it did before. And when I met you, I felt that maybe I was born into this world because I had a purpose, that maybe I could have a better life. I saw you with your big, bright smile and I guess I couldn’t help it.”
Mitsuri’s features twisted into a small frown over her eyes and her lips were sealed in a thin line during Obanai’s monologue.
He thinks that's the expression she makes when things get serious, worry written all over her face. He wants to erase that worry off her. There’s nothing to worry about now. They’re safe.
“Couldn’t help what?” She asks in a quiet voice.
It takes all his strength and bravery to say the next words. He had wanted to say them for a long, long time and now he has the perfect chance.
He did promise himself he would do it. He can’t back out now.
“Falling in love with you.”
Mitsuri doesn’t react. She just stares at him and Obanai starts getting a little bit scared that she’s going to reject him, which it’s fair, he thinks, she doesn’t really have to return his feelings. Maybe she was never interested in him, after all.
But, please, let her reciprocate my feelings. We can have it all now, he thinks.
He tries to stand up but gets stopped by Mitsuri’s fingers curling around his wrist. She yanks him down again and takes the moment he tries to understand what’s going on as her opportunity to cup his cheeks and press her lips to his.
It’s a small kiss and it doesn’t last more than a few seconds but it’s all they really need for now. A promise sealed with no words.
“Please tell me you still feel the same way,” she whispers in the space between them, her breath warm against his mouth.
He nods and wraps his arms around her waist as she puts hers around his neck, pulling him into a tight embrace.
He hides his smile in her chest.
His filthy blood was purified. He was reborn as a human being in a world without demons.
And he finally told her he had always loved her.