Opposites - Inosuke x Zenitsu

26. Rain

Inosuke's Pov:

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"ZENITSU!!!!" I screamed, took a run, and was ready to jump down... if Tanjiro and Nezuko hadn't tackled me and held me tight. "Not Inosuke!!! If you jump down there, you'll die!!!!!!!" Even though I didn't want to admit it, Tanjiro was right. If they hadn't held me back, I would have slipped for sure and fallen.

But at that moment, I just couldn't think, and that's why I had some kind of nervous breakdown. I was just completely losing it, and I still tried to shake off Nezuko and Tanjiro, even though I knew I couldn't just jump down there. "LET ME GO! I NEED TO GET TO ZENITSU! ZENITSU!!!!!!!" But Nezuko suddenly grew by a whole 50 centimeters and simply sat on top of me. "Mhmhmhmhm!!" She screamed with an angry expression and pulled the mask off my head. They could probably see now how much I had been crying the whole time, but honestly, I didn't care. I also didn't care if I started crying again soon. Zenitsu was just more important right now! I didn't even dare to look down at the bleeding Zenitsu. I just couldn't bear to see my poor Zenitsu like that! I just didn't want to!

"INOSUKE!" Tanjiro shouted desperately and pressed my head onto the cold grass beneath me when I just wouldn't calm down. "I'm begging you! Stay calm! I know how you feel right now, but you have to calm down! We absolutely need to call Frau Kocho first! She knows about this, but we can't just go down there! We would only get hurt, and it wouldn't help Zenitsu either!!! So please, calm down!!!!" I buried my teary eyes in the dark green, cool grass. "Mhmhmh!" Nezuko did the same a second later, and I felt her getting smaller and lighter as she gradually got off me... albeit somewhat suspiciously. As if she expected me to jump up again and shoot down to Zenitsu like a maniac.

But by now, I had calmed down more or less and realized that it didn't make sense to completely lose it now. "W-what do we do now?" I finally asked with a trembling voice, looking at Tanjiro with tears in my eyes. "I-I'll go with Nezuko and look for Frau Kocho, and you-.. You stay with Zenitsu and check if he's still..." He didn't dare to look at me, Nezuko, and certainly not Zenitsu... and I think his eyes were slightly reddish. Not even Nezuko, who was always annoyed with Zenitsu (but probably has already forgiven him), looked very upset. I think, for a millisecond, even she risked a short sideways glance at Zenitsu, lying in a pool of blood, but immediately turned chalk white and looked pretty shocked.

I said nothing and just nodded. I just couldn't bring myself to say or do anything else. Suddenly, we heard rustling behind us, and shortly after that, the sound of footsteps. Startled, the three of us turned around and saw—

"Frau Kocho!" In the silvery moonlight, we recognized the silhouette of a (honestly, not really tall) young woman, whose lilac-violet eyes shone like two colored little flashlights in the dusky summer night. "Darn it..." she muttered almost inaudibly, rushed to the edge of the cliff, and looked down. "Is he still alive?!" I reflexively asked. She bit her lip. "QUICK! SANITARY DEMON SLAYERS!" The six groups of Sanitary Demon Slayers came running from all sides not a second later. They all carried first aid kits or stretchers. Just seeing that, that terrible feeling in me surfaced again... that fear... and uneasiness... Terrible... Damn it, I'm just so damn scared for Zenitsu!!!

Suddenly, we heard a threatening growl above us, and shortly after that, cold raindrops fell on my neck. "...Crap, crap, crap!" She cursed angrily, quickly looked up at the now clouded sky where no stars were visible anymore. Frau Kocho was now pretty hectic. "We can't just go down there so easily! If it starts raining now, we'll slip off! We can't transport all the medicines, bandages, and everything down the steep cliff! Especially if it starts thundering now! One wrong step, and we're dead! Besides—"

My throat tightened, and I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe anymore. Did that mean—... No. "W-WHAT?!?!?" "Stay calm, Inosuke!" Like a demon, Frau Kocho suddenly turned around, walked up to me, and held my shoulders firmly. Her eyes practically pierced my soul, and her fingernails dug into my skin. "That just means we have to find another way to get to him! We can definitely—" "BUT WHAT IF IT'S TOO LATE?! WHAT IF WE GET DOWN THERE AND HE—"

"WE DON'T EVEN KNOW IF HE'S STILL ALIVE!!! ZENITSU IS PROBABLY ALREADY DEAD, UNDERSTAND????????!!!!!!!!" I stared at Frau Kocho. Not only because I had never really seen her so aggressive and fiery, but also... "...W-what?!..." Frau Kocho seemed to have scared herself with her own words and let go of my shoulders, now covered in many scratches and bloodstains. "...You mean he could already be..." "Inosuke-... I-I mean-... I..." She couldn't look into my eyes, now filled with tears. "L-listen, Inosuke. I just-... HEY?!" Without further thought, I dropped my katanas and started climbing down the now wet stone wall, where more and more water droplets flowed down.

"INOSUKE! ARE YOU SUICIDAL?!?!" Tanjiro shouted in horror. However, I couldn't see either his or Nezuko's gaze since I had climbed down quite a bit. Maybe Tanjiro was actually right; Yes, maybe I was suicidal. But right now, I really didn't care about anything. And... even though it sounded extremely cheesy... I would do anything for Zenitsu.

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