Always with You, like Lightning and Thunder

Disclaimer: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and all its scenes, characters, etc. based on it, including the soundtrack, etc. belong to their respective owners (Koyoharu Gotouge, etc.). Cover image by MHA_ABNa on Twitter. I'm merely writing this to entertain and I don't get any profit out of this.

Note: Some time ago, before last manga chapters were released, I was thinking that if the worst happened and Nezuko couldn't be human again, she and Zenitsu would still want to be together and I came up with this story. I hope you like reading it as much as I loved writing it!

Always with You, like Lightning and Thunder

For as long as he could remember, Zenitsu had been afraid of death. How many times had he cried and kicked, screaming in terror, at the prospect of a demon killing him? He had never believed he would live long enough to grow old. And yet there he was now, on his deathbed, an old man.

Nezuko-chan lay beside him, sleeping. Since he had fallen ill, she had watched over him day and night. He smiled as he looked at her. Despite her appearance as an old woman, she was still beautiful and as strong as ever. As a demon, Nezuko was immortal, but she had gained control of her body in an amazing way. She had managed to speak normally again and hide her fangs and nail length. And in the end, she had managed to modify her body to be the same age as Zenitsu. She could not bear to see him grow old while she did not. He had told her a thousand times that she did not have to, but Nezuko had insisted and year after year her body had changed at the same rate as his. Even though they had not succeeded in making her human again, she wished to look like one more than anything else. He sobbed with emotion as he remembered and tears rolled down her cheeks. Nezuko had made her intentions clear the day she asked him to marry her. Because oh yes, he had asked her a thousand times, but she was not ready yet. As they got to know each other, however, they fell more in love.

Zenitsu always treated her like a normal girl, even at first, when she couldn't answer or understand him completely. In his dreams, Nezuko was like any other girl, she didn't need the muzzle and could talk properly. She also genuinely enjoyed his company and always smiled at him, making his heart flutter. It was wonderful. He had waited for that dream to come true for so long... When she finally learned to say his name he bounced around the room with joy and asked her to marry him again. She blushed without knowing why and, as always, she could not answer him, but he was so happy that he did not care. He kept talking to her as usual, helping her remember words and phrases, bringing her flowers and taking her for a walk in the field where they were blooming. There Zenitsu could finally make her a crown of white clovers, just as he had dreamed. When he put it on her, Nezuko was so beautiful that the boy began to cry without being able to stop himself.

"Nezuko-chaaaan!" he sobbed. "You are so kind and beautiful, if I could spend the rest of my life with you, I would be the happiest man in the world!"

She blushed.

"Th-thank you, Ze-zenitsu-san!"

Zenitsu thought he would faint at the sight of such a cutie. He put his hand to his chest and dropped to the grass. Nezuko bent over him with concern. When he finally managed to calm himself, Zenitsu stood up and their faces were closer than they had intended. They had never looked at each other so closely. The golden eyes of Zenitsu were caught in the gaze of Nezuko's pink eyes. He could not take his eyes off them, despite the blush on his cheeks, he could not look away even if he wanted to. A lock of her long hair had parted from the others and was falling from her face. Zenitsu raised his hand, hesitatingly.

"Nezuko-chan... May I?"

The demon girl closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly to him, giving him permission without needing words. Zenitsu reached out his hand, shaking slightly, and placed the lock of hair behind her ear.