Opposites - Inosuke x Zenitsu

23. Last wish

Zenitsu's Pov:

How many hours had I been lying here?... Three?... Maybe five?... or was it already seven?... Was it the sky... or my vision that was gradually getting darker? Breathing became harder and harder, and I was now lying in a pool of blood that kept growing.

Let's summarize: The slope I was standing on collapsed, and I fell about 20 meters into the depths... but a few trees broke my fall... That's probably the only reason I'm still alive... But despite that, when I landed on the ground, I must have hit my head on a large stone, and now... now I was slowly but surely bleeding out, dying a long and agonizing death.

I couldn't even move anymore. All my joints felt like lead. Well... still time for a few last thoughts before I... well... finally die. How did I even get into this situation again?... Oh, right... I... I was... angry... and hurt... and sad because Inosuke kissed Aoi... But somehow... I don't know... I just can't really believe it... I mean... somehow... I can't, and don't want to believe that Inosuke would do this to me.

He was so... I mean, he seemed so incredibly hurt and broken after I said the kiss between him and me was a mistake... and reacted so emotionally when we finally got together... I mean... he had tears in his eyes... And we're talking about Inosuke Hashibira. How could he be so indifferent to me and our relationship if... Inosuke Hashibira almost started crying... I just can't believe it.

I don't believe that it's true! That's not right, wait... Even before they noticed me, didn't Inosuke want to push Aoi away, or not?... and... didn't Aoi press Inosuke against the wall?... When I realized that, a single tear ran down my cheek. I could hardly keep my eyes open, but somehow, I secretly wished that Inosuke, Tanjiro, and Nezuko would come, find me, and I would survive... but even if they found me here, far from the Butterfly Estate, it would probably be too late.

I kept bleeding from the deep wound on the back of my head, and besides, out of frustration, I had probably walked several kilometers. Until they found me, let alone bring me back to the estate to take care of me, it would take too long... Well... What will happen after my death?... Will the others take care of it?

Will Mr. Shinazugawa laugh about this stupid and brain-dead way to die? Will... will Inosuke care, or does he hate me now? Will he cry for me? Or am I completely irrelevant to him? If I had one last wish, I wish that Inosuke would cry for me. I just want confirmation that I wasn't indifferent to him, and that he still liked me... because... I love him... still... so incredibly much...

His silky hair that smelled like forget-me-nots... his strong, warm, well-built, comfortable body on which I could sleep so peacefully... His pink-red, beautiful, delicate lips that could kiss so incredibly well, tasting like freedom... His stupid jokes, which I laughed at so many times... his strong personality, which I admired so much, as I would never be so confident... The care, kindness, and affection he always conveyed to me, especially when I was in his arms... I loved all that so much about him.

And now? Now Inosuke would never hug me again when I cried. He would never boast about how strong he was again... at least I wouldn't hear that anymore. Although the sky was gradually changing from light blue to pink, yellow, and finally to deep dark blue to pitch black, my vision also became increasingly blurred. Maybe no one will find me... never... I'm so cold... I just want Inosuke to hold me now...

Suddenly, I heard an agitated chirping above me, and I immediately recognized where it came from. Blurry, I saw an agitated Chuntaro sitting on my chest, chirping wildly. Of course, I couldn't understand him, as always, but I was glad not to be alone anymore. "Oh... Chuntaro..." I whispered almost inaudibly and smiled faintly. "How nice... so I don't have to die alone after all... what... luck..." Then everything turned black.

-

Inosuke's Pov:

-

I had hidden in a small room somewhere in the estate to cry undisturbed. When was the last time I cried? I don't know... A long time ago. At least once, almost when I got together with Zenitsu. Then, however, I had almost cried out of joy. I didn't even know why I had been crying so hard for hours now... I mean, Tanjiro was right!

He's probably just sitting in the woods, thinking about everything. But... somehow I had a really bad feeling about this. What if something happened to him... or he... maybe never... No, as I said: he's probably just thinking about everything now, processing it all. And then later, he'll show up in front of me, and we can talk. I'll explain everything to him, and together we'll confront Aoi. I won't deny it: Right now, in this moment, I hated Aoi. I just didn't know how she could do that?! She knew exactly how close we were and what our relationship meant to both of us, and then she just kisses me?! What did she expect?!

Did she expect me to just kiss her back and fall in love with her?! What did she see in me anyway?! Why... I... I understood nothing anymore. Oh man, I'm just so incredibly dumb! If I had just run after Zenitsu faster, I would have probably caught him! Then I could have explained everything to him, and he wouldn't have run away!

If I hadn't been such an incredible idiot and hadn't slipped, I would probably have caught up with him if I had just tried harder! If I hadn't come with Aoi in the first place, or had insisted that Zenitsu come along! If I had... Suddenly, I heard an agitated chirping above me. It was Zenitsu's little sparrow... and it looked very upset! It flew around me all the time, chirping excitedly!

"What's wrong?! Where is Zenitsu?!?!" I asked, trying to hold back the tears. The bird flew frantically in front of me, chirping something, but I couldn't understand it. Only Tanjiro could. TANJIRO! "Come with me! We'll find Tanjiro! He can understand you!"

I shouted to the bird, put my mask back on so no one could see how much I had cried, and stormed out of the small room. I already knew where they were, so I ran as fast as I could towards the guest rooms and burst through the door.

As expected, Tanjiro was sitting on the bed with Nezuko, talking. Both looked very worried. The thing with Zenitsu seemed to bother them a lot. But now they both looked surprised as I pushed the door open so strongly that I briefly feared it might come off its hinges.

"Inosuke! Is everything o-" Tanjiro was about to ask, but then he saw Zenitsu's agitated sparrow, flying at him at probably 100 km per hour, and coming to a stop in front of him while chirping. "Chuntaro!" Tanjiro called out and formed a bowl with his hands on which Chuntaro sat.

"What... What-" Tanjiro listened to Chuntaro's fast and agitated chirping. I was at least as upset as Chuntaro, if not more, and I sensed something terrible. "What... Zeni..." Tanjiro turned pale, and he gasped for breath. "WHAT?! WHAT HAPPENED TO ZENITSU?!?!" I asked in shock. Tanjiro looked up. Fear was written all over his face, and it took him a second to compose himself: "H-Help... injured... Ze-Zenitsu is... d-dying!"