At Nightfall, An Akaza x Reader

27. The starless sky

You walked through the forest alone, nature singing loudly for an audience it doesn't know. Your eyes traveled around and observed the trees with a bit of confusion. The place looked familiar yet you couldn't place it in your mind.

You pushed the leaves out of the way and found yourself stepping onto a path coated with a layer of snow. The first thing that caught your eye was how gray the sky was. Not a single star glimmered through the thick blanket.

You found yourself standing in a clearing that blossomed with spider lilies with your every step despite the freezing temperatures.  Your gaze was glued to the sky until you heard a familiar voice call out to you.

"You there! what is your name?"

When you turned to face Akaza, the ground beneath you gave way and sent you plummeting into a sea of red. Frantically, you struggled to stay afloat. In your struggling, your face was grabbed by your chin and pulled up to meet crimson eyes. "Y/N, don't you dare disappoint me."

You took in shaky laboured breaths as your muscles tightened with the constriction of demon blood within you. You couldn't move or look away from him, fear riddling your body as you were rendered weak.

When you awoke, you woke with a start. Your chest heaving as you scrambled to make sure you were intact. The only thing that was out of place was the spider lilies that surrounded you.

"Ugh...." You rubbed your face. You didn't sleep often, it was a means of passing time usually, building strength and endurance sometimes. You did it when you didn't have orders and when Akaza was out. But when you rested, you occasionally had a slurry of  what you believe were past memories and current fears.

It took you a moment to calm yourself and get out of bed, your bare feet padding against the tatami mats. The sun had just recently gone down, yet you were already certain your husband was not coming home tonight. 

Or so you thought.

You bristled when you found yourself being held from behind and your neck being kissed. "Y/N, I have returned," he murmured before resting his chin on your shoulder. "Have I startled you again?" He inquired, noting how you bristled in his hold.

"Akaza," you mused as you tilted your head to look into those golden eyes. "Welcome home." You turned yourself and hugged him tightly. "Let's go on a walk." You wanted to get away from the house for a bit, and away from what was plaguing your dreams.

"Of course," he nodded as he gently stroked your hair, a bit perplexed when he found red petals there.

He took your hand into his out of habit and begun to walk before noting the you-shaped bed of flowers. "Y/N, what is that about?" He gestured to the flowers, causing you to pause and look at them.

"Oh... it's nothing, just sleeping." You brushed off as you kept walking. 

"Y/N." He stopped you by holding your hand firmly to prevent you from going any further. "I don't like when you hide away from me," his eyes seemed to glint as he was clearly bothered by you trying to move around the issue.

You huffed softly as he pulled you in closer, like being near him would make your thoughts and worries all the more prevalent. "There is nothing to be said, okay?" You tugged your hand away from him as best as you could, but the action simply removed your hand from your body.

There was a moment of stillness as you took in the fact he was holding your now severed hand. Silence lingered in the air, save for the sound of your blood pouring out onto the ground. Eventually you turned on your heel and began to walk out the home, shaking your arm until a new hand sprouted.

You were well aware he'd follow after you, you knew him too well not to know this. Yet you still walked.

You walked and you walked until you were at a flower shop, though it seemed pretty abandoned. There was a slightly worn paper sign on the door that read "out of business, closed for good." You crossed into its garden and removed your shoes, mindful of the wisteria tree that grew in the far reaches of the land. It seemed the previous owner was very fond of forget-me-nots.

Akaza was in his right to be concerned, resting in a flower bed was not a normal occurrence for you. Yet you still wished he'd leave it be. You traced your feet against the soil and long forgotten flowers in a half hearted dance.

Slowly the garden bloomed as you used your technique, venting out the discord in your heart.

You felt that something was coming, you had been living too easily too long. The constant looming of eyes seemed particular strong on you now more than ever.

Perhaps it was time you challenged an upper moon. You've sat comfortably at lower one for quite some time now, but you still felt you weren't ready for that, not yet.

You sped up your movements to try and drown out the building anxiety, which allowed the flowers to grow more rampant and vibrant.

"Y/N."

The voice brought you to a stop as you slowly opened your eyes.

You looked at the garden that was full of flowers and took notice that the ones nearest to you were all spider lilies.

As you looked up, you saw Akaza standing there, his expression devoid of a distinguishable emotion. You decided then you'd tell him what was wrong.

"Akaz-"

Dok!

The sound of a Biwa being plucked rang in your ears as you quickly realized that your dream was a premonition. Your eyes constricted as you felt the ground slip open beneath you as the earth was replaced with a door. You reached out for the other demon as if he'd stop you from falling. But the moment he registered where that noise had came from, you had already fallen through.

He scrambled to the opening that disappeared as soon as it had came.

You were gone.

An: Damn, double upload. Check out DecaramelizedOnion 's Douma x reader! Their Y/N's flower shop had a cameo here haha