Chapter Text
Muzan was angry with him. No, he was furious. Not only did he not kill the brat with the hanafuda earrings, he wasn't able to end the life of the Flame Pillar, Rengoku Kyoujurou...
Speaking of which. Akaza did not understand how the Pillar was still alive, according to Muzan's information which was unquestionable. Sure, he was toying with him in the beginning of their glorious fight, beacuse he wanted him to accept his offer, but at the end, he punched a hole in his solar plexus. Humans weren't supposed to..not die from an injury like that. Not to mention the countless broken ribs that Akaza left on the man, or the completely destroyed left eye.
But then again, Rengoku Kyoujurou wasn't an ordinary human.
Akaza felt a chill of excitement running up his spine at the thought of facing the Pillar once again. Even if Muzan mercilessly destroyed his cells and made him almost scream with pain because of his failure, he couldn't deny that he was pleased with the survival of the man that he faced a few days ago.
This feeling stengthened itself within Akaza for almost another week, and now, he did not know what to do with himself. He simply couldn't get him out of his head. Those flaming eyes, his perfect stand, the memorable techniques...He wanted..no, he needed to see him again.
Akaza quickly shook his head. What was he thinking? If Muzan looked into his mind, and found it full with the Flame Pillar, he surely would kill him this time...And yet here he was, thinking about searching for him, to see the man, instead of killing him on the spot? Well that's absolutely the worst idea that ever popped into his mind.
But Akaza was a brave man. Maybe it was a stupid decision, but he couldn't help himself. He hasn’t felt like this in a long while, and he needed to see with his own eyes, that Kyoujurou really survived.
And that’s exactly the reason why he was standing in front of one of the windows of the Butterfly Estate, where the people with the most life threatening injuries were kept. Or so he recalled from a person he overheard.
It was surprisingly easy to get here without getting caught, but he paid it no mind. After all, he knew that the Demon Slayer Corps thought that wisteria trees can keep even powerful demons away, so it was understandable why no one was here to stand guard. Although, it was true that wisteria makes most of the demons get away from the place, but that certainly wasn’t the case with the demon moons. The trees made an unpleasant itch in his throat, but it was nothing serious that he wasn’t able to tolerate, so he really couldn’t care less. Especially because he was standing right in front of the thin glass that separated him from his slayer.
Akaza opened the window soundlessly and stepped into the room carefully, to avoid any kind of bothersome attention. When he made sure that no one was able to detect him, he finally looked at the reason he came here in the first place.
Here he was, laying in the bed without realizing the danger in the room, right next to him. Akaza couldn’t help but smirk.
“Here you are, Kyoujorou..”
The Pillar was in a horrible state. He hardly was able to take a deep breath, his whole body was drenched in sweat, and judging by his constantly furrowed eyebrows, he was also probably in pain, which honestly was no surprise for Akaza.
Once again, he looked at the man’s body to memorize every little thing about him, and he couldn’t help but widen his smirk. Akaza didn’t think it was possible to survive an injury like that, but here he was, figthing against death.
“Maybe humans aren’t so weak, just as you said, right, Kyoujurou? Or are you the only extraordinary one? Well, it doesn’t really matter, does it?”
He was watching the exhausted, still sleeping Pillar for a while, just to make sure he was really breathing. Finally, ever so slowly, he turned around to get out of the estate. He only came here to check on the Hashira and to see that he indeed was able to survive Akaza, and that he did.
Needless to say, he was satisfied. Since Kyoujurou was alive, it was obvious to Akaza that they will face each other again in the future, although he also knew that that’s not going to happen soon. But it didn’t matter to him. Akaza was a patient man after all, and he had all the time in the world. He wished that Kyoujurou had that too. If only he accepted his offer…
Akaza has almost stepped out of the building when he heard a painful groan form the man in the bed. His eyes widened a bit at the thought of the awakened Pillar, and he quickly looked at Kyoujurou again. The man was still sleeping, but he constantly let out breathy and painful moans and groans.
Akaza waited. He didn’t move, he was just standing at the same spot for what felt like at least five minutes. In reality, it must not have been more then ten seconds.
He didn’t really know what to do. He came here for a reason, which he completed. He also didn’t want to stay here any longer then necessary, among all those slayers, even if literally every single one of them had weak fighting spirit. He surely didn’t want to bother with them, it would be a pain. And yet, he couldn’t make himself move away from the Pillar’s temporary room.
Instead, once again, he went closer to him and made his way right next to his bed to look down on the expression the man held.
He was in much more pain then before, Akaza could easily tell. Maybe a nightmare, he thought, but when he gently touched his forehead with his hand, he realized that the man before him was quite literally burning up. A fever then.
Akaza furrowed his brows. He really shouldn’t be here anymore. He knew that Rengoku Kyoujurou wouldn’t die from a fever, when he was able to survive Akaza’s deadly punch. So why was he still standing before him? The demon didn’t understand, but he felt a familiar feeling within himself that told him that he should stay here and take care of the Pillar. He should be here until he’s alright, and then watch the fireworks togeth-..
He shut his eyes for a moment and shook his head. That’s arguably even more stupid of an idea than coming here to see the Pillar. Why would he want to see the fireworks? And why would he help him in the first place? They were enemies, although Akaza wished they weren’t. He wanted him as a partner for eternity after all.
He took a deep breath and then slowly let it out. He looked around the room and detected a cloth next to the bed, on the nightstand. He picked it up and then went to what he thought was the washroom, and there he let the rag absorb some water.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this..” he whispered to himself, while he was heading back to the slayer. He then carefully pulled down the blanket, and took a look at the man’s body. It was covered with numerous bandages, not so suprisingly. All of them were almost soaking wet from blood, mostly around his torso. Also not so astonishing.
But even so, the man’s body seemed so perfect to Akaza..Sadly, he didn’t have the luxury of time to gaze at the numerous scars burried deep within him, or the beautiful continuously clenching and unclenching muscles that enveloped the Pillar’s whole body. He didn’t have a lot of time before Kyoujurou’s possible awakening, so he had to hurry.
He looked back at the man’s face to make sure that he was still sleeping. He definitely was, although the painful groans never stopped leaving his mouth.
Akaza a bit reluctantly, but ever so carefully placed the cloth on his face to wipe off some sweat, then he gently pried off the bloody bandages from the Hashira’s half destroyed body, including the one from the left side of his face. His eyes immediately went to his missing eye, then his solar plexus, to examine the damage.
When he caught sight of the bloody mess in Kyoujurou's body, caused by his brutal punch, the demon felt an emotion inside him that he wasn’t necessarily able to name, but it made his heart stop for a moment. It wasn’t a good feeling, so he tried his best to simply ignore it.
Instead, he began to clean the Pillar’s eye, his hands, legs, chest and stomach. He was so gentle with his movements that it surprised even himself.
He needed to wash the rag a few times to get rid of all the blood, but after some time, he managed to clean Kyoujurou’s whole body, except his nether regions.
Although he was careful during the process, he was also amused that the man did not wake up. Of course, he was also grateful for it, since the slayer most definitely would ask him why was he doing what he was, and he doubted that he would be able to answer, because even himself had no idea. Perhaps he just wanted to fight with him again, and for that, Kyoujurou needed to get better as soon as possible, but that didn’t necessarily explain why he was cleaning him and trying to lower his fever.
He sighed soundly, then picked up the bandages on the nightstand. He didn’t know how it was possible, but he was able to expertedly utilize them, while gently holding up the slayer’s body with one of his hand. He didn’t want to think about how he knew how to do something so..human.
After he finished taking care of Kyoujorou, he took a glance at his face again. His facial expression softened somewhat, and Akaza felt proud of himself for that. Then he realized what has he been doing for the last twenty minutes.
“Fuck..” he facepalmed, but realized that he didn’t really feel guilty for helping the slayer, even though they were sworn enemies.
“I need to make sure that Muzan-sama doesn’t catch on to what I have been doing with you..” he lifted his hand above the Hashira’s face, but instead crushing his head like he should, he tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. The man’s locks were beautiful just like the demon remembered, it blazed just as hot and bright as Kyoujurou himself.
“You are really dangerous Kyoujurou, you know that?”
Then all of a sudden his wrist was caught by the man’s hand. His eyes widened a bit, but he realized that the slayer was still asleep, so it was only probably his instinct, although he was getting more conscious by the minute.
“Ah, I missed your bravery and unshakable spirit..Sadly I cannot stay here any longer it seems.” he then started whispering in the man’s ear.
“Hurry up, so we can fight again, Kyoujurou..”
Akaza then slowly retracted and went out of the mansion, before the injured Hashira fully awakened. He ran into the woods with a smirk on his face, and a slightly faster beating heart in his chest.
“I will make sure we meet again soon..”