⌑ You closed your eyes so I could see ⌑ Kagaya Ubuyashiki

Act one : Chapter two : Return

Careful to avoid being hit in the face by leaves and bushes, you ducked and clawed away a path in front of you. It was more difficult to navigate your way back to the headquarters so late into the night, despite your tangled path being slightly lit by the small patches of wisteria blossoms, however, you did not want to wait any longer to see Kagaya.

"Maybe I should've just stopped at an Inn or something" You groan, dragging a coarse hand slowly across your face.

"Maybe travelling through Japan for 3 days straight without rest was a bad idea" You chuckled to yourself, stretching your arms to relieve the tension in your sore muscles

For the most part, you were usually blinded by your desire to protect and see your loved ones, which is why you made the impulsive decision to travel back so quickly. Not seeing your husband for two years and only conversing through letters does put a strain on one's heart, so you were more than eager to get back and engulf him in your arms and pepper him with kisses.

Pushing yourself off the tree that you were leaning on, knowing you will get rest soon enough, you gaze up at the flourishing night sky.

The world above was littered with thousands of stars, glowing brightly as if they were lighting a path for you. The Wisteria blossoms made it seem all the more magical, more enchanting

Thinking of the word enchanting made you stop again, an unnerving and sickly feeling forming in the pit of your stomach, thoughts that haven't left your mind once since you left for Europe swirled around more prominently as you got closer to home.

Kagayas curse...

He had been without you for so long you hadn't been able to take his pain from him, he can only take so much.

*first person pov*

My mind travelled back to the last time I had to be away for some time, and how he had been so unwell he had become bedbound for most of the year, unable to perform his duties as leader of the corp. Our poor children had to fill in for him while he suffered.

The guilt continues to eat me up, knowing that my being away caused him to be in so much unbearable pain.

Grasping the letter he had last sent me tightly in hand, I began to run again, hoping to sneak back into the estate and surprise him with my quickened return. The words of his letter would have fooled me, but the mark at the bottom of the letter proved otherwise

"My Wisteria Blossom, my health has been alright since you have left. I am able to move about easily and I am not in much pain. The children and our Kakushi are taking extra care of me of course, so there is nothing new to report."

"Now that it is summertime again, I have sent our children to the butterfly estate so they can help out in the medical wings with injured demon slayers. When you do return home, we can spend some much-needed time together and catch up on all we have missed. I have some exciting news concerning the new generation of Hashira, hopefully you will meet them all soon"

"Love faithfully, Aya"

The letter itself was not concerning, however his health condition did concern me as the doctors had said he would deteriorate a lot more soon. I was also suspicious of the fact that he may be lying to me to stop me being worried.
My suspicions were proven right, as at the bottom of the letter there was a slight blood splatter, and one of his repeating symptoms of the curse is that he would cough up blood.

Gripping the letter tighter than before, my knuckles turned white. Knowing that he was lying to me angered me, so I decided to speed up.

The wind was soon fluttering through the long violet strands of my hair, which shone in reflection of the pale moonlight. Soon I passed by a small yet familiar garden, one that held many memories for me and Aya.