Opposites - Inosuke x Zenitsu

8. Aoi

Zenitsu's POV:

The next few days were... well, not great. Nah, just kidding; they were hell on earth. After we woke up from sleeping under the tree for a few hours (or rather, the others slept, and I stared at Inosuke like a maniac), we got up, put Nezuko in the box, and started walking.

Okay, truthfully, Tanjiro did everything, and without his suggestion to get up and head back to the Butterfly Estate to make sure it wasn't completely burned down, Inosuke and I would probably never have gotten up again.

On the way, Tanjiro told us how he had been stopped by a copy of the first demon, and the actual demon had pretended to be him. When he tried to chase after us, the demon nearly tore his left arm off, so he had to tend to that first.

And when I say "us," I mean just Nezuko and me, because Inosuke had been trailing behind us a few meters with vacant eyes. I have to admit, I had never felt so guilty. Since the incident with the impulsive kiss, he hasn't spoken to me! He hardly speaks at all now and seems... off. By the way, the Butterfly Estate survived, and Mr. Rengoku is in bed with an internal injury.

But what's fascinating is that even the room that was ablaze not too long ago survived! When we looked inside, we saw the three little girls who had cleared the room of ash and dust. A few mattresses and nightstands were slightly burnt, but they were quickly replaced. Within just two days, the room looked as good as new.

However, as I mentioned, something was definitely wrong with Inosuke. Right now, I was sitting with Tanjiro on my bed, discussing all sorts of things, while Inosuke lay silently in his own bed. There was a knock on the door, and shortly after, it opened.

"I'm just bringing you your dinner," Aoi said as she entered the room, balancing a tray with three plates, three cups, and a teapot. She carefully placed it on the nightstand and poured some steaming tea from the teapot into each cup.

Then she looked up and noticed Inosuke, who was staring at the ceiling with an empty gaze. "Oh... Hello, Inosuke!" She suddenly became very shy and a faint smile appeared on her lips. "Hi," Inosuke replied quietly and curtly.

She stood by his bed for a moment, just smiling at him. Inosuke, however, didn't even glance at her. "You... you look really good today," Aoi finally said, playing with the ends of her hair. If looks could kill, I would have just murdered Aoi. I didn't know why, but I somehow felt myself growing slowly but surely angry.

"Thanks, Aoi," I said, trying to sound as composed as possible. Aoi suddenly turned to face me and looked at me with a sort of accusing gaze. "Yeah, uh, you're welcome," she replied, her tone indicating that she wouldn't mind giving me a death glare with her gaze as well.

I wasn't going to take that lying down, so we exchanged glares, our looks clashing like electric shocks in the air. "Yes! Thank you very much, Aoi!" Tanjiro finally said after a few seconds, having been watching our 'death glare battle' in surprise the whole time.

This brought Aoi and me back to reality, and I think we both silently agreed to a temporary draw. "You're very welcome, Tanjiro! If you need anything else, just come to my room!" she replied, smiling at Tanjiro. Then she turned around and headed to the door. But before she closed it behind her, she gave me one last look that said, 'Next time, I'm going to kill you, jerk!'

Damn it! I had done it again! It wasn't the first time I had gotten slightly aggressive after Aoi talked to Inosuke. But why?! I mean, I had kissed Inosuke on pure impulse, only to then destroy him internally, and I had come to terms with NOT having feelings for Inosuke anymore, if I ever really had them. NOT.

Maybe I was still a bit affected by the kiss and Inosuke's sudden change in personality. Oh, by the way, I returned his mask to him... if you could call it that. The day before yesterday, I had approached him with the mask and said, "Hey... uh... Inosuke. I have... your mas—" But he completely ignored me and walked right past me. "Uh—" I finally stopped when I saw his eyes, which were now only faintly green and staring into emptiness.

At some point, I had simply placed the mask on his bed, but he hadn't worn it since the kiss. On that same evening, I had a terrible nightmare. I was lying in the middle of a guest room at the Butterfly Estate. Everything was on fire, and more and more beds and nightstands that were scattered around the room were gradually catching fire. But the worst part was that I was bound by heavy iron chains and couldn't move as the flames crept closer and closer to me!

It was scorching hot, and I tried to breathe, but I only coughed up smoke. I tried to scream for help, but I couldn't catch my breath. Panic gripped me as the flames continued to advance towards me, turning every piece of furniture into rubble and ash. Tears streamed down my face. "I-I-In..." I gasped almost inaudibly, but there was no one there to help me. No one would come and-

WAIT! IN FRONT OF ME SUDDENLY STOOD INOSUKE!!!

"Inosuke!!! Thank goodness!!!" I exclaimed joyfully with a smile. But then I looked at him properly, and my excitement faded abruptly; his eyes... they were completely empty. "Hello, Zenitsu," he said, his voice icy. I saw a golden key in his hand and felt a glimmer of hope; "I-Inosuke! You-you have the key to my chains! Please—" Before I could say anything else, he tossed the key into the fire.

My world shattered. "INOSUKE! WHY?! WHY?! HOW—" I cried out in desperation as tears streamed down my face, but I fell silent abruptly when he looked into my eyes. He looked more lifeless than I had ever seen him, and if I didn't know he was alive, I would have mistaken him for a living corpse.

"Don't play with my feelings." He said calmly and softly. "Die for it." He whispered finally.

I screamed in despair, but I could barely hear myself anymore as the ominous crackling of the flames resounded loudly in my ears. The last thing I saw was the inwardly dead Inosuke turning away and whispering almost inaudibly, "Goodbye, Zenitsu." Then I was finally engulfed by the raging flames.