lythea-creation

Writing fanfiction for different fandoms.

[lythea-creation]

Lythea's Map

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About me

Lythea | Born in 2002 | Female | Lesbian | she/her | Aquarius | Atheist | Multifandom | German | Creative Passionate Fangirl

Masterlists

All my work in one place. I'm writing for Marvel, The Hunger Games, Anime, Disney, Grey's Anatomy, Alrawabi School For Girls, Squid Game.

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I really appreciate requests and am happy to receive them, but please read my rules beforehand. That way we can all save us some awkward and annoying situations.

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I deleted my uploading schedule.

From now on I will just upload whatever I'm in the mood for or what you tell me you would like to continue reading.

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So if you wanna read the next chapter of one of my stories, just tell me in my asks. Then I'll be happy to upload/work on the next chapter.

Disclaimer

© all rights reserved ® in regards to my own characters and story ideas.

However I do not own the rights to any of the pictures, gifs and videos I am adding to my posts nor the characters and stories of the works my fanfiction is based on (e.g. Marvel, Harry Potter, ...).

[lythea-creation]

Healing - Shinobu Kocho x fem reader (Chapter 7)

Chapter 1

Previous chapter

warnings: pain, brace for emotional pain

word count: 3.305

--------------------------

“Love, how could you just face him all alone?”, I scolded Shinobu, although she was still unconscious.

I walked through the countless paths with her, treating some wounded slayers and beating some minor demons by only using my left hand and soft breathing techniques on the way.

It still felt like I was not doing enough.

I was still able to walk.

Should I not be doing anything to help kill Muzan?

But I could not just leave Shinobu behind either. Or take her into battle.

What if she got killed because of my carelessness?

I would never forgive myself.

That was a selfish reason though.

Compared with all the lives Muzan would take if he survived, Shinobu was a small sacrifice, just as I was.

But Shinobu was an important asset with her medical knowledge.

My thoughts did not matter anyway.

This was not a rational decision, but an emotional one and that was fine by me.

In the end I still managed to save countless slayers by beating about two dozens of demons on my way.

But to be honest I was actually too exhausted to do one more step by now.

I sat down, gently placing Shinobu on the ground next to me.

Despite my exhaustion I could not dare to fall asleep or lose consciousness.

That would mean death to both of us.

Nevertheless I told the crows to lead anyone with injuries to me, so I could take care of them.

The other Hashira were still fighting.

I had to do the most I could.

After the infinity castle fell apart the extent of the events was truly revealed.

The lives we had lost.

The injuries we had taken.

The price of annihilating the demons for good.

People with major injuries were immediately transferred to the Butterfly Mansion.

The support of the Kakushi was once again priceless.

I wanted to carry Shinobu home, but my legs were giving up on me.

Therefore we were both carried by Kakushi.

I used this chance to catch up on some rest, asking the Kakushi to wake me up when we arrived.

They stayed true to their word, giving me the chance to see my home in chaos.

Aoi was running the place like a pro, coordinating the incoming patients based on their injuries.

When she spotted me she came running over and enveloped me in a hug. “(f/n), you're alive”, she cried out.

“Shinobu and Kanao?”, she questioned, fear crossing her face.

“Shinobu's alive but in critical condition. I haven't seen Kanao for a while”, I enlightened her.

She simply nodded.

“I need an infusion to get me back on my feet, so I can help you”, I considered.

“You should rest”, she pointed out.

“You need every help you can get”, I shot back. “I wasn't able to keep on fighting. This is the least I can do.”

After my infusion and eating a proper meal I was not feeling better but definitely more stable.

My emotional state was a mess, but I could not let that hold me back.

I was currently in Shinobu's office, getting out all kinds of medicine and several bandages.

I needed to take care of myself before I could help anyone else after all.

So I decided to start with my hand, gritting my teeth while taking off the cloth Kanao had wrapped around it.

I had already assumed it but seeing it was making my heart feel even heavier.

My ring finger and pinkie were gone.

I took a deep breath and smeared an antiseptic paste on the wounds, specifically created to support the healing process as well.

Then I left the room with a bandage in my left hand, searching for someone to help wrap it around my other hand.

I found Sumi, her expression turning from relief to sorrow when she understood why I had approached her.

She did help me though.

Afterwards I handled the wound on my head.

Thanks to the painkillers I was able to use my right hand for assistance while inspecting the side of my head.

At first there was so much blood that I could barely make anything out.

But it did not take me long to recognize that my ear had also been cut off.

A deep sigh left my throat.

It was more of a cosmetic burden than anything else.

I was still able to hear, the inside must have stayed unharmed.

After all the lives that must have been lost during those battles I could not complain about feeling ugly.

Since most of my hair on the right side had been cut off as well, I decided to shave the rest off, too.

It would be easier to manage the wound that way and what did it matter now if the other half of my hair was gone as well?

I dealt with my ear the same way I did with my hand, except for the fact that I was able to bandage it myself.

Honestly I was not motivated to take off my uniform at all.

I did not want to examine my state any further and taking off my clothes would be tiring me out even more.

It was Shinobu's scolding voice in my head that reminded me to not take any risks that made me inspect the rest of my body.

Several cuts that had stopped bleeding long ago.

Dozens of bruises that would surely hurt as soon as my painkillers stopped working.

I prodded at my ribs, looking for any broken bones.

Luckily I seemed to be relatively unscathed if I excluded my hand and ear.

The blood loss and strain of the cold had most likely been the cause of my physical weakness.

If Shinobu was awake she would be furious at me for working in my state.

But she was not awake.

It was clearly visible that she was missing.

Her medical skills as well as her cheery attitude.

“How's Shinobu?”, I asked Aoi, although I could clearly see how busy she was.

I had to be selfish one more time.

“She's stable for now, but I doubt that she will wake up anytime soon”, she enlightened me.

“Where is she?”

“Still in the main room. I did not want to leave her without supervision”, she pointed out.

I nodded. “How can I help?”

I had no idea how long we were working for.

Only that my overexertion was thanking me with a pulsating headache and dizziness.

To be honest my memories of the past few hours were foggy as well.

I had run from one patient to the next.

My mind was not even willing to tell me whom I had treated.

Realistically I was at my limit.

In my current state I would do more harm than good and therefore decided to retreat to my room.

I let one of the Kakushi carry Shinobu there as well.

Every bed was needed.

That was the rational reason.

In reality I also wanted her close, to reassure myself that she was still alive.

Over the next few days I was busy treating patients while making sure to support Shinobu's recovery the best I could.

I changed her bandages, her laying position and moved her joints regularly.

Without Shinobu the Butterfly Mansion just did not feel the same.

We all tried to keep our heads up high and do our best.

At every corner I was reminded of the moments Shinobu and I had had together.

The fear was threatening to suffocate me during those times.

Sometimes I would rush back to our room to check on her then.

With every day that passed my concern rose, outgrowing my hair immensely.

By the time Shinobu finally woke up, my hair was already slightly fuzzy.

It had been about seven weeks since beating Muzan and the situation had settled down.

I was just treating one of the patients, changing one of his bandages, when Aoi rushed into the room.

“She woke up”, Aoi announced frantically.

I looked at her in shock and disbelief, the bandage falling from my hand.

Without even considering anything else, I ran to our room.

This was the first time since the fight against Douma that I was almost at full speed again.

Due to my speed I almost stumbled when trying to stop, having to grab onto the edge of the bed.

Her eyes widened when she saw me.

My body was fully taking over for me, wrapping her up in my arms.

I was sobbing by now, pure relief washing over me.

But when I pulled back and saw the expression on her face, I was feeling slightly anxious again.

“(f/n) ...”

Hearing her voice after all those weeks was honestly feeling like a miracle to me.

Until she continued: “You need to go.”

I shook my head, taken off guard by her words. “What?”

“I want you to leave”, she elaborated.

Anger was lacing her voice as well as her face.

“I don't want to see you”, she stated firmly.

Tears returned to my eyes.

A part of me was hoping this was all just a horrible nightmare, feeding off my biggest fears.

“Leave me alone”, she yelled at me, making me flinch away.

Naho, Sumi and Kiyo were frozen in place when I left the room.

Apparently they had wanted to visit Shinobu as well.

Had they heard everything?

It did not matter.

I retreated into Shinobu's office to cry until I was feeling numb.

Shinobu's harsh voice was etched into my mind, as well as her furrowed brows and small eyes.

For a moment I could not help but wonder if it had been a mistake to ask Shinobu for help years ago.

I could not bare losing her now.

Yet it felt like I already had.

Honestly I had hoped that her anger would slowly fade after killing all demons.

So why had the opposite happened?

I brushed off my tears and went to wash my face.

Afterwards I searched for Aoi and told her that I was going to continue treating the patients.

“(f/n), what happened?”, she worried.

She had never seen me in such a state before.

“I don't know”, I whispered, my head hanging low. “Can you take care of her, please?”

Aoi furrowed her brows as if she wanted to deepen the topic.

But instead of asking more questions she simply agreed.

I returned back to my duty, working on auto-pilot.

If I let my mind slip off and think for even a second I would break down again.

But when the night came around I was contemplating what to do.

Where was I supposed to sleep?

I could not help but check on Shinobu.

I was planning to only throw a quick glance, but when I saw her sleeping peacefully I quickly found myself watching over her for a little longer.

My sight must have been a shock for her.

Barely any hair and missing two fingers and an ear.

Was that why she had lashed out at me?

But that did not explain why she had been so mad at me.

I sighed.

Right now I was almost feeling more helpless than when she had still been unconscious.

I got back up and left the room, fearing that Shinobu might wake up and be upset about my presence again.

The only room that was unoccupied was Shinobu's office and that was covered in countless flowers, herbs and medical supplies.

We just had too many patients, even after all those weeks that had passed.

Therefore I settled on sleeping outside.

The most logical option was the bench that was surrounded by flowers, luring in countless of butterflies during the day.

The place where Shinobu and I had shared our first kiss.

I lied down on the grass.

After some initial struggles to fall asleep, I managed to get in a few hours before taking care of the patients.

Usually I had taken it slow during the morning. Had stayed with Shinobu a little longer, although she had only been sleeping.

That was not an option anymore.

“I'm not hungry”, I turned Sumi down once again.

“But (f/n) you need to eat”, she insisted.

“I need to make some more medicine”, I brushed her off, disappearing inside the office.

Days morphed into each other until a whole week had passed.

Shinobu was slowly getting back on her feet.

She had not approached me since our last conversation and I did not dare to either.

It was already enough that I was on the brink of tears whenever I saw her from afar.

“You two need to talk”, Kanao pointed out.

“It's not that easy”, I claimed.

“Because she sent you away?”, Kanao questioned. “I don't think she meant that.”

“I've been checking on her every night. I know how it looks when she's secretly awake. She's ignoring me”, I noted.

“So you're ready to give her up?”, she wondered.

“No, I … I just ...” I covered my mouth with my hand to keep the sobs down.

It was still strange to see concern on Kanao's face.

“The way she was looking at me”, I proposed. “There was so much anger and hate. I can't take her looking at me like that again.”

As more days passed Shinobu returned to her job, healing the patients.

It became even more evident then that she was ignoring me.

If she needed help with a patient, she would go and find one of the girls despite me being in the same room.

She was not even greeting me.

I had no idea where to spend my time anymore.

Shinobu had basically thrown me out of our room and had occupied her office again, where I had spent most of my time lately if I had not been treating patients.

This could not continue.

Hence I decided to look for another job outside the Butterfly Estate.

I needed to move out.

Losing Shinobu while she was right in front of me was too much to bear. The tension was suffocating.

Unfortunately I quickly realized that nobody wanted to take me in.

Why take someone with two missing fingers for hard labor?

Why choose a woman with a missing ear and stubbly hair when you could take a beauty?

There was no place for me anymore.

Risking my life while fighting monsters had apparently been the only thing I had been worthy of.

So there was only one option left.

“You want to return to your family?”, Naho questioned.

I had gathered the girls to tell them at once.

“I thought we were your family now”, Kiyo chimed in.

“They're right, (f/n). You're one of us now”, Aoi agreed.

“I'm sorry”, I uttered. “I can't stay any longer.”

“You can”, Kanao intervened. “You make your own choices.”

“I'm sick of this”, Aoi complained, grabbing my wrist and pulling me with her.

She burst right into Shinobu's office, taking the latter off guard.

“You need to talk. (f/n)'s planning to move back in with her parents”, Aoi declared and shut the door behind her, leaving Shinobu and me alone.

Shinobu turned back to her desk, mixing some ingredients.

“You aren't actually considering that, are you?”, Shinobu questioned.

She was still wearing her fake smile after everything that had happened.

“I'm not just considering anymore”, I clarified.

“You can't be serious”, she brushed it off as if she was scolding a child.

I balled my hands into fists, tears of anger and betrayal burning my eyes.

“I hate this”, I growled. “Why did you have to show me?”

“Show you what?”, she shot back nonchalantly.

It seemed like she did not even care about the pain she was inflicting on me.

“How it feels to be loved”, I mumbled, my voice giving out on me. “I would have been fine just dying out on the field without a second thought. Why do you have to torture me like this?”

The silence was as sharp as Doma's fans.

“Anything is better than this”, I proclaimed and headed for the door.

When my hand touched the door, she stopped me.

Her hand was holding mine now and I hated the way I wanted to succumb to her touch.

“What are you doing?”, I asked her apathetically.

I had to shut myself off.

“I can't let you go back to them. They'll treat you ...”

“How?”, I interrupted her. “Like I'm worthless? Do you seriously think what they could do to me would be any worse than what you've been doing for the last two weeks?

I trusted you! And you just pushed me away like it meant nothing.

You ignored me this whole time. Threw me out of my room. Made me feel like an outcast at my own home.

At least you always claimed this was my home, too.”

The smile on her face disappeared.

“It is”, she insisted.

“At least it was.”

“(f/n), I … I'm mad. I can barely look at you”, she stated, desperation lacing her voice.

I avoided her eyes. “I know I look hideous now”, I proposed.

“No! I mean …”

She sighed.

Her hand was still on top of mine.

“Since Kanae died all I wanted to do was kill Doma. I've been preparing myself for months, years honestly. But in the end I could do nothing.”

Tears were streaming down her face now.

“You had to protect me and look what it did to you. So many people died again. And I didn't even make a difference”, she proclaimed. “All that training, wisdom and anger for nothing.”

I was taken aback by her words.

“Do you seriously think that?”, I questioned.

For the first time our eyes met again.

The anger and hate I had seen had been directed at herself.

My appearance had only been the trigger.

The helplessness she must have felt …

I could relate to that.

“Kanao and I fought Doma together”, I enlightened her.

Shinobu furrowed her brows in confusion, not knowing where I was going with that statement.

“You didn't beat Doma. But your Tsuguko did. You passed it all on to us”, I pointed out. “And after beating him Kanao assisted in beating Muzan. I saved countless lives by using the medical skills you taught me.”

“I'm still mad at you for pushing me away like that. But don't you ever think your hard work and dedication didn't pay off. It's never just been about your physical strength”, I noted firmly.

I pulled her hand off of mine and opened the door.

Shinobu startled me by suddenly hugging me from behind.

“You're not leaving now, are you?”, she worried.

“Not today”, I assured her.

Her behavior had hurt me too much to just return to normal immediately.

But over time we managed to build a strong and comfortable relationship again.

It meant for both of us to work on our trauma and confide in each other.

In the beginning we had mainly been fighting with at least one of us crying in the end.

But somehow we pushed through, the anger and anxiety slowly fading away.

The Butterfly Mansion was now open for anyone in need of medical care as the Demon Slayer Corps had dissolved.

In the end Shinobu and I did get our calm and peaceful life after all, being reminded of our past by the occasional visit of former demon slayers.

The End

[lythea-creation]

Healing - Shinobu Kocho x fem reader (Chapter 6)

Chapter 1

Previous chapter

warnings:

word count: 1.997

-----------------------

We all stormed forward, intending to take Muzan out for good now that we were finally facing him.

But just as we got close a strange sound appeared and the ground vanished, sending us into a never ending labyrinth of doors, walls, windows and gaps that made us fall eternally.

I looked around, hoping to spot a familiar face, but it was useless.

So instead I focused on finding my footing, or rather firm ground under my feet.

I took a deep breath and chose the second form of Storm Breathing: Razor Storm, adapting it to be one horizontal slash that hurled me backwards against the nearest wall.

As soon as I had climbed up and taken an actual stance I heard someone scream out.

I ran over immediately, spotting several slayers fighting against almost two dozens of demons.

“Storm Breathing, Fifth Form”, I mumbled. “Tsunami.”

In the matter of a second I had slashed the demons into pieces.

“Thank god”, one of the slayers uttered. “A Hashira.”

“Stick together and don't lose your stance”, I instructed them. “I can't stay.”

With those words I went on.

I needed to find the other Hashira.

If such low level demon slayers were here it was not unlikely that all demon slayers had been gathered.

And that could only mean one thing. They were planning to slaughter us all at once.

We needed to combine our strength if we wanted to stand a chance.

If we mindlessly faced the upper moons on our own we would all die in vain.

“Yuki”, I called out.

I could only hope that my crow was nearby and able to help.

Unfortunately luck was not on my side.

I was calling out over and over but he did not show up.

So I kept on heading in the same direction, looking out for familiar faces.

Instead I spotted a demon with long black hair and a string-instrument.

Just as I was planning to face it, I heard the same sound as before and got hurled into another place.

That demon just now had to be the one trapping us in here.

If we managed to slay it, would this place disappear as well?

Maybe that was our only chance to beat Muzan as the sun was probably not going to rise in here.

But why had it teleported me here out of all places?

Was there an upper moon ahead of me, ready to kill me with no one to know?

I decided to take the risk.

Going on a hunt for the low demons would not make a difference anyway.

When had I started to think so highly of myself?

I shook all the thoughts off and entered the building, hearing and looking out for anything of importance.

Out of shock and surprise I stopped in my tracks when I recognized a familiar voice.

Shinobu.

Her tone was completely different.

It was lower than usual, raw.

Snapping out of my thoughts I hurried over to the sound of her voice.

When I entered the room she was in the first thing I noticed was the cold.

“Oh, how lucky I am”, a strange voice resounded. “Another beautiful young woman coming my way.”

Shinobu was crouching on the ground, holding her torso.

In the matter of a second I was next to her.

“(f/n)”, she called out weakly.

Her Haori was stained red, blood leaking out of her mouth.

“He's using ice. Don't breathe it in”, she advised me.

I sliced off a part of my sleeve, placing it around my mouth.

From the corner of my eye I was glancing over at the demon, wondering why he was not attacking.

“You're freezing up”, I realized when I touched her shoulder.

I wrapped my Haori around her.

“You need to get out of here”, I concluded.

She shook her head, tears reaching her eyes. “He killed Kanae.”

That one simple sentence shook me up.

But before I could even consider how to act, the demon had crossed the room and swung his fan at us.

Out of pure instinct I cradled Shinobu in my arms and used Storm Breathing, First Form: Dancing on Ice to avoid his attack.

There was no need to contemplate which forms to use.

If I did not go all out we did not have any chance to survive.

“Nobu, please leave the room and recover your breathing and body temperature”, I begged her.

She grabbed onto my wrist. “I won't let him kill you as well.”

“You need to trust me”, I insisted, putting her down right at the door and handing her a potion.”It will increase your body temperature.”

I had initially brought it to recover from using my ice forms.

I quickly rushed over to attack the demon before he would take initiative again.

“Oh, how wonderful”, the demon rejoiced. “Your speed is unmatched.”

Only because he had created the perfect environment for my ice forms.

“My name is Douma”, he introduced himself with a wicked grin. “Now tell me! What are you called?”

Instead of replying I went for his head, which he dodged.

“Feisty! I will truly treasure devouring you”, he proposed.

There was no chance for me to check on Shinobu without risking severe injuries.

I could only trust on her to retreat for now.

It was a fifty-fifty chance honestly.

I had no idea how much time had passed when I recognized Kanao's voice.

How ironic that us out of all people had found our way here.

“How's Shinobu?”, I questioned when Kanao joined the fight.

“She passed out”, Kanao enlightened me. “She's in a critical state.”

“You need to get her out of here”, I declared.

“You can't face him on your own”, she resonated.

As we did not have any time to discuss the matter, I gave in and accepted her help.

I used ice shields to parry Douma's attacks and give Kanao the advantage of moving freely.

From time to time I also used ice mirrors to deflect his attacks and make his composure scramble.

Meanwhile Kanao got used to his movements, managing to strike him when he was frustrated by my counter-attacks.

The fight went on for a felt eternity.

I knew we could not beat him without taking a risk.

So I took off my made-shift mask, getting in even more of the freezing air.

I made a hand sign to show Kanao that she had to land the final blow after I had created a possibility for her to strike.

I used the first form to get to Douma before he could react and then invented a new form: Freezing Sword.

I used the cold aura around Douma to freeze the blade of my sword and then plunged it inside him over and over again to freeze his cells and counter his fast regeneration.

I was faster than ever before which was seemingly pissing him off as his moves became less calculated.

He became solely focused on me as I pretended to go for his head, but instead sliced his arm off.

With only one fan left to strike his movements were more restrained.

In his anger he attacked me impulsively, giving Kanao the chance to go for his head.

He managed to regenerate his arm and grab Kanao's ankle, putting pressure on it until a cracking sound could be heard.

She cried out in pain, but did not falter in her form, cutting half of his head of.

I wanted to assist her in beheading him, but knew better than to underestimate Douma like that.

Therefore I continued going for his arms, legs and torso to weaken him significantly and slow down his regeneration.

Even after his head dropped to the ground I continued attacking him until he had completely evaporated.

Then I shifted my focus over to Kanao.

But when I was about to ask her if she was okay, my lungs began locking down.

I was coughing violently, pain taking over my entire being.

It was especially bad on the right side of my head and my right hand.

Right then I realized that the blood on the ground was not Kanao's.

It was mine.

Kanao was saying something to me, but I could not hear her over the ringing in my ears.

Her panic-stricken face was freaking me out.

I had never seen her like that before.

She was cutting off parts of her Haori, wrapping it around my head and my right hand.

Meanwhile I was trying to use regeneration breathing to improve my state.

I did not know how much time had passed, but I managed to regain control over my breathing.

“Kanao”, I rasped out. “Are you okay?”

She nodded.

“We need to take care of her”, I stated, glancing over at the door.

I placed my sword back into its sheath and took the whole thing into my left hand to use it as a crutch.

“What a pathetic sight for a Hashira”, I mumbled.

Kanao mirrored my move to support her probably broken ankle.

I was shocked at her angry expression.

“We just beat the Upper Two and are still alive”, she reminded me.

I send her a soft smile. “You did great, Kanao”, I praised her.

Then I stumbled over to the door and waited for Kanao to open it.

Using my right hand was out of the question.

Concern was etched into my body.

I was glad no other demon had come along and attacked Shinobu in her helpless state, but she was still horribly pale.

She had treated her wounds before passing out though.

Otherwise she might be dead already.

I checked her body temperature, relieved that it had increased again.

Then I took my Haori from her and pulled several small clothes from the pockets I had attached to the inside.

I opened one of the clothes to reveal several small pills.

“Take one”, I instructed Kanao. “It's for the pain.”

I handed her one and took one myself.

Afterwards I opened another cloth and handed Kanao yet another pill.

“Antiseptic. And it boosts the immune system”, I explained.

I made Shinobu swallow one as well after taking one myself.

“Now let's take care of your ankle”, I suggested.

Kanao took off her sandal and sock, revealing her twisted ankle.

It was swollen and in a weird angle.

“I'll relocate it”, I warned her. “On three. One.”

I quickly pushed it into place, ignoring the pain in my right hand.

Some of my blood was on her leg now.

If I did not have any medical knowledge I would be worried, but I knew that my blood loss was not alarming.

It seemed worse than it actually was.

I cut another part of my Haori off and wrapped it around Kanao's ankle to stabilize it.

It was not perfect by any means, but definitely better than nothing.

“How does it feel?”, I inquired.

She carefully put some weight on it.

“It'll do”, she assured me. “What about your hand?”

“I don't think I can grab my sword with it”, I resonated. “But I won't be of much use in a fight anyway. My whole body's feeling heavy from the cold and blood loss.”

“I will see if I can help”, Kanao decided.

I nodded while attaching my sword back to my uniform.

“I'll take care of Shinobu. Maybe I can help some wounded slayers as well. I still have some medicine left”, I considered.

I slipped Shinobu's arms into my torn Haori to give her some extra warmth and then pulled her up onto my back.

“Kanao”, I called out when she had almost reached the exit. “Please be careful.”

“I will”, she promised.

Then she was out of sight.

________________

Next chapter

[lythea-creation]

Healing - Shinobu Kocho x fem reader (Chapter 5)

Chapter 1

Previous chapter

warnings:

word count: 2.545

---------------------------

Everyone was glancing at me now.

My state made me feel even more unworthy of being here.

“For all of you who don't already know, there has been a fight against Lower Two”, he enlightened them.

Gasps and quiet mumbling could be heard.

“And (f/n) was the one to beat them”, he revealed.

The secret stares from earlier turned into wide eyes facing me.

“You all know what that means”, he alluded. “We have a new Hashira.”

My heart dropped.

What was he talking about? I had just been lucky.

“(f/n), would you please stand up?”, the master requested.

I obeyed out of instinct.

“Now can you please tell us what exactly happened that day”, he suggested.

“I ...”

I hated being in the spotlight. It had usually meant a beating.

“Master, I don't deserve this. I couldn't even save anyone.” My voice was low.

I could hear someone scoff. “Do you have any idea how many people would already be dead if that demon was still alive?”, Sanemi inquired.

“I could barely even face him. I was just lucky enough that he gave me enough time to develop a technique to beat him”, I proclaimed. “I don't even know how I did it. I just remember freezing cold temperatures and a clear mind like nothing I've ever experienced.”

“That sounds like you developed a new breathing style”, the master concluded. “And here I was thinking we were about to have two water Hashira.”

My head automatically turned to face Giyu.

“You described your breathing style as explicitly cold. What would you call your breathing style then? Ice breathing?”, the master proposed.

“Wow! That's so cool”, Mitsuri exclaimed.

“It did feel like it”, I thought out loud.

“Alright! You should all welcome our new Ice Hashira then. (f/n) (l/n)”, the master declared. “I expect you all to come along. Go and eat together!”

With those words he left.

What had just happened?

Before I could comprehend it, I was locked in a tight embrace.

“Congratulations, (f/n)”, Mitsuri rejoiced.

Just from her hug I could tell how strong she was.

“Mitsuri, you're hurting her”, Shinobu scolded her, prying me out of her arms.

“Oh no! I'm so sorry”, the girl worried. “Are you okay?”

The way Shinobu's hand was lingering on my arm told me that her jealousy had been louder than her concern.

“So you actually beat the Lower Two on your own?”, Sanemi questioned.

“I don't even know who spread the message”, I pointed out.

“So you're telling me you fought the Lower Two all alone and survived with your body intact”, he summarized.

“If you mean by intact that I won't have any permanent damage, then yes”, I remarked.

“Let's go and eat! We can still talk then”, Gyomei considered.

“I'm going home”, Giyu announced and turned to leave.

“Come on! Don't tell me you don't care about this”, Shinobu teased him. “I know (f/n) has a special place in your heart.”

“She failed on water breathing”, he noted.

“So what? Many people change up their initial breathing style”, Obanai reminded him.

“You're not leaving. It was the master's order to eat together”, Sanemi recalled.

“We're going to eat together?”, Muichiro chimed in.

I could not help but laugh.

“What are you laughing about?”, Sanemi raged.

“I guess I thought the Hashira were way more intimidating”, I confessed.

“You should work on your attitude then”, Sanemi shot back.

“I think I'll work on my breathing technique first”, I decided.

“I know a good restaurant we could go to. They serve the best food around here”, Mitsuri declared, excitement lacing her voice.

“Alright then”, Shinobu agreed and took my hand to pull me with her.

The secret part of our secret relationship had crumbled after a mere five days.

But considering the reactions of the Hashira when Shinobu took my hand, they had had no idea.

Well, except Mitsuri. She was screaming out at our 'gesture of love'.

A blush crept onto my cheeks at their attention.

It only deepened when Shinobu giggled at my behavior.

From the corner of my eyes I could see the smile on Gyomei's face.

I had been curious about him since Shinobu had told me how he had taken her and Kanae in after the death of their parents.

Everyone was talking on the way to the restaurant, the mood completely shifted.

Sanemi and Obanai were lost in a conversation.

Muichiro and Giyu were silent together while Mitsuri was bombarding Shinobu and me with questions, which Gyomei was listening to with a smile on his face.

“They weren't nearly how I imagined”, I stated on the way back to the Butterfly Estate with Shinobu.

“They are unique for sure”, Shinobu noted with her usual smile. “Are you sure you can take the whole way back? I could carry you for a while.”

I looked at our intertwined hands. “That's enough to keep me going”, I proposed happily.

In a different life we might always be this content.

I could not help but wonder what our life might look like if we had not become demon slayers.

The next morning I sneaked out into the garden with my sword.

Somehow I had to learn how to assess my new breathing style before the master decided to bombard me with my responsibilities as a Hashira.

“What do you think you're doing?”, Aoi questioned, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“I just need to work something out”, I claimed.

“That something's better not going to be your body”, she shot back. “You're not allowed to strain yourself.”

I groaned. “I know. It's just ...”

“Just what?”, Shinobu intervened. “That your promise to me doesn't count?”

“No, I ...” Countless thoughts were competing in my head, making it hard to give her a proper answer.

“You know what? I'm really tired of patching everyone up only to watch them harm themselves by training too early and too hard”, Shinobu declared.

Despite her harsh words her voice and face did not reveal any of her anger.

“Nobu, it's not like that”, I promised.

“What is it then?”, she inquired.

“I ...” Panic was beginning to settle inside of me.

I hated confrontations like this.

If my parents had taught me one thing, it was that there was never a right answer when the other person was angry at you.

I noticed the way Shinobu was pressing her lips together.

She was losing it.

She simply left without another word.

“(f/n)”, Aoi uttered softly, probably realizing how stressed out I was.

“I ...” I shook my head and ran off as well.

My mind was bombarding me with self-doubts now. Old voices resurfacing.

They were not mine.

Shinobu had been mad at me before, but usually it had been because she had been stressed out with work, not because of something specific I had done.

Suddenly anger overpowered me.

I was not sure what or who I was angry at, just that I had to get it out.

I was in the nearby forest by now and without thinking about it, I punched the tree in front of me.

The shock the hit sent through my body was just what I had needed.

So I continued until the voices stopped and my body was numb.

I only realized what I had done a few minutes later when the adrenaline left my system.

My healing ribs were aching, my fists burning.

I was horrified to see how bloody my hands actually were from the rough wood.

My hands were covered in callouses, but only on the inside where I was holding my sword all the time.

The back of my hand was not as tough.

I sighed, burying my face in my hands. How was I supposed to face Shinobu?

She would be furious that I had mindlessly hurt myself.

I gathered all my courage and returned to the estate.

But to my surprise I did not encounter Shinobu.

Therefore I wandered over to the storage of our medical supplies and bandaged my hands on my own.

At least I planned to do that before Kanao showed up and took the bandage out of my hand without saying a word.

She simply continued my work, bandaging my hands carefully.

I thanked her with a smile, which she countered with a nod.

When I was about to leave her voice stopped me: “Did you and Shinobu fight?”

It was still rare for me to hear her talk.

So I snapped back around without hesitation, surprised at the sudden conversation.

“I think she's really mad at me”, I confirmed her suspicion. “It's like she's avoiding me.”

“She went to Kanae's grave”, she enlightened me.

Shinobu rarely visited her sister's grave anymore.

Had I messed up that much?

I excused myself and fled into Shinobu's and my shared room.

Although it was barely noon, I slipped out of my dirty clothes and hid under the blanket.

I was feeling absolutely miserable.

Maybe I should have just stayed in bed today to begin with.

I closed my eyes and tried to keep myself from worrying even more.

It did not work.

“My, my. Are you asleep again?”, Shinobu's voice reached my ears.

I tensed up, fearing what was about to come.

I heard her taking off her Haori and sandals before I felt the small dip in the thin mattress.

She slipped under the blanket, pulling me close.

“You shouldn't make any promises you won't keep”, she noted softly.

I turned around to face her.

Her smile vanished and her eyes widened when she noticed my teary eyes.

“I'm sorry”, I whispered. “I never meant to. I … I'm just so scared. What if I can't use Ice Breathing again?”

“I feel like an imposter”, I confessed.

“We will find a way”, she assured me. “I will help you as soon as you've recovered.”

Shinobu stayed true to her words.

We found out several conditions for me to use Ice Breathing.

The main one was a low body temperature.

A clear mind, a lack of pain, an energy boost and my sudden change to a more positive mood had most likely been a consequence of my freezing state.

The downside was my state after.

Depending on how long my temperature was in a low state, I was suffering the aftereffects.

The pain of my injuries I had not felt before was going to hit me full force.

My lungs were on fire from the strain of the cold.

And both of that combined with my body trying to increase my body temperature to a safe level again by shivering and saving up on energy was making me pretty much immobile.

It truly was a mixed blessing.

So basically after all that training I found out that Ice Breathing was more of a last resort than a signature style.

Therefore I had to work further on my breathing style and cut down Ice Breathing to a single form instead of calling it a whole breathing style.

For weeks I experimented on different forms, combining all the knowledge and skills I had gathered over the past years.

To my surprise the key to my new breathing style was Zenitsu.

Essentially Thunder Breathing had been the last puzzle piece missing.

Combining mainly Thunder and Water Breathing, I invented Storm Breathing.

I also wanted to add in Wind Breathing, but had not managed to persuade Sanemi to help me out yet.

It was not like I had much time on my hands now anyway as the master was sending me from one mission to the next.

It was great to work on my new breathing style, but I was missing my family, especially Shinobu.

Sometimes I was gone for several weeks without seeing her.

Therefore it was strange when I was suddenly stuck at the estate without a single mission for two weeks straight.

It was shortly after that all Hashira were gathered at the master's estate for an emergency meeting.

We were supposed to train the demon slayers to stand a better chance against Muzan and his demons.

We were all expected to specialize in a certain area and since Shinobu was not participating I was focusing on first aid and healing.

My stage was combined with Sanemi's as there were always enough wounds to take care of after his training.

It was my luck honestly because after training I got to participate in a fighting training between Sanemi, Obanai and me.

After a while Muichiro also tugged along.

It was finally time to see if my Storm Breathing was actually effective.

And I could take a look at Sanemi's Wind Breathing, incorporating aspects of it right away.

Before training the slayers I would think about the best ways to incorporate what I had learned at night into my own fighting style.

That also led to me falling asleep whenever I had a free minute though.

In the beginning some of the slayers had tried to make fun of that and approach me while I was asleep.

Word had quickly spread to avoid that as I had caused several serious bruises, a dislocated shoulder and almost one decapitation in the process.

Due to my kind and empathetic behavior they had not feared me enough to remember my skills.

It did not help that they had pretty much no clue about my fighting style as they did not see it during training.

They all did not take my stage seriously, rather viewing it as a way to relax from the brutal training of the other Hashira.

That quickly changed when I cut their arm to cause serious bleeding though.

Afterwards I showed them how to stop the bleeding by a certain breathing pattern.

Whenever my actions were successful I gained more of their trust and respect.

Meanwhile I was exchanging letters with Shinobu on a weekly basis.

She had been reluctant to work together with Tamayo.

We had been talking the whole night after she had found out.

But by now her mindset had completely shifted.

Apparently Tamayo had been able to impress Shinobu with her knowledge and they had built a relationship of mutual respect.

It was not like I had the capacity to worry about her though.

I was still working on my new form when Yuki suddenly told me about an emergency meeting because the master was being attacked.

Of course I immediately hurried after Yuki who was leading the way.

But just as the estate was in sight I was hurled backwards by a huge explosion.

For a few seconds I was staring at it in shock.

Too late.

I was still too slow after all this time.

Anger overcame me at my own incompetence.

I jumped up the wall, taking in my surroundings.

The Hashira had been gathered.

Gyomei was already fighting in the center of the estate.

Kibutsuji Muzan.

This was it.

----------------

Next chapter

[lythea-creation]

Healing - Shinobu Kocho x fem reader (Chapter 4)

Chapter 1

Previous chapter

warnings: it's demon slayer ...

word count: 2.242

------------------------

I had been on a mission to kill a demon wrecking a town about five hours from the Mansion.

It was no big deal to be honest.

I spotted it immediately and slashed it just as quickly.

The real horror arrived a few minutes later when Yuki, my crow, told me to head further north to support other demon slayers on their mission.

“Can you tell me more about it?”, I requested while heading to my new destination.

“Apparently countless merchants and travelers have been killed in a storm that first occurred eight days ago. Several slayers have already been sent there, but we haven't heard back. So the master is calling for reinforcement”, Yuki explained.

It was unusual to not hear back from slayers.

Even if something happened to them, their crows would usually report it or call for help.

Maybe the storm was holding them back?

After about half an hour of running I could make out the storm from afar.

I had never seen anything like it.

It was definitely the work of a demon.

Despite my significantly improved skills I was wondering if I even stood a chance in there.

I abruptly stopped in my tracks, already feeling a breeze despite the distance to the storm.

“Yuki”, I called out.

He landed on my outstretched arm.

“I have a bad feeling about this”, I revealed. “I think as soon as you enter that storm you won't make it out until the demon is defeated.

I need you to inform the master and get more reinforcement. Better to be on the safe side.

And please let him call Shinobu as well.

If anyone is still alive in there we will need her medical skills above all else.”

“Got it!”, Yuki exclaimed. “Don't be reckless! I expect to see you alive when I return.”

I smiled at his concern and nodded, sending him off.

Then I took a deep breath and approached the storm once again.

The closer I got, the harsher the winds turned.

I spotted some demon slayers laying on the ground.

But when I checked for their pulse, they were all already dead.

I had never seen such a massacre before.

Sure, being faced with death was nothing unfamiliar, but not such high numbers.

The slayers were all drenched in water, making it hard to assess any wounds that might have cost their lives.

Most of them had several broken bones.

I shook my head.

I just needed to get going. Overthinking it all would not get me anywhere.

But when I was close to the epicenter of the storm I could not take one more step.

The wind was so strong that I was about to be blown away if I slacked off for one second.

Therefore I took a few steps back where the wind was slightly calmer and began using the tenth form of water breathing, constant flux.

As the speed and strength increased over time, I managed to withstand the stronger winds.

In the meantime I evaded several demon slayers flying my way.

I could sense the demon nearby and its aura was truly intimidating.

Nothing I had ever felt before.

I never stopped my movements, so I would not lose momentum.

By now rain was pouring down on me, drowning me in coldness.

“Finally an opponent who made it this far”, a voice resounded through the deafening rain.

I could not spot the source, despite frequently changing direction to make the demon out.

“It's been boring with all these losers, you know?”

I turned to the right, but could barely see anything at all.

The wind slapping the rain into my eyes was not helping the fact that the moon was barely giving any light.

“Yet you won't stand a chance if this is the best you've got”, the demon proposed, appearing right in front of me.

I could merely see a flash of blue clothes before it dodged my attack.

My speed was not helping me thanks to the wind changing directions all the time.

No matter how often I attempted to hit the demon, it was to no avail.

“You have quite a lot of stamina”, the demon noted. “But this is leading nowhere.”

He appeared behind me with a speed that matched the winds.

I barely managed to block his punch with a horizontal water wheel.

In hindsight that had been my biggest mistake.

I should have just taken the punch and continued my form because now I had lost my footing and was hurled through the air, crashing into the trees while losing all sort of orientation.

I unleashed several techniques to soften the impact, but it was only a matter of time until my body was going to give up on me.

Therefore I just gave in to the winds, letting my mind carry me away.

I remembered the days where Naho, Sumi and Kiyo had been gathering around me, excited to show me a new flower they had discovered.

I remembered the days where I had encouraged Aoi to keep fighting in her own way, where Kanao and I had trained together and I had turned it into a tickle fight.

Then Shinobu appeared in my mind.

The way she would laugh softly when I hugged her from behind.

The way she would curl up against me at night.

The way she would scold me after hurting myself by being too careless on missions.

I could not die.

For the first time in my life I cared if I lived.

I knew that they all cared about me.

I could not make them go through yet another loss. Especially Shinobu.

Hence I took a deep breath, assessing the state of my body.

It was freezing up, hypothermia a serious threat.

I focused more on my cold skin, the way my body was fighting to shiver.

Suddenly I realized that I was not feeling any pain.

My mind was feeling light and clear, like everything was happening in slow motion.

My breathing had changed to an unfamiliar pattern, my cold fingers firmly grasping my sword.

When my body hit the next tree, I buried my sword deep inside it, my legs clutching the trunk.

My sight was getting used to the scene, the images in front of me beginning to make sense.

And somehow I could not help the smile crossing my face.

Because for the first time since arriving here I felt like I stood a chance.

My senses were on high alert, showing me exactly where the demon was.

When the wind was turning in his direction, I pushed myself of the tree, using momentum.

It felt like my body and sword were freezing as I was cutting off the demon's arm.

All of a sudden it felt like I had control over the storm.

I was changing directions as if I was ice skating through the air.

My strikes did not feel as adaptable, but way stronger and firmer.

When I slashed my sword down at the demon it felt like I was burying him under a huge pile of snow.

I was faster than ever before, although I did not feel the strain of it.

While unleashing a series of attacks I wondered when I had ever learned them.

It felt natural.

And with a motion that reminded me of a pirouette on ice, I decapitated the demon.

His whining barely reached my ears as my focus was rather on the dissolving storm.

But when I took another look at the demon's head to reassure it was actually crippling, I noticed the sign on his eyes.

Lower two.

Now I understood why he had complained about meeting a Hashira, although I was not.

Had I really gotten that strong?

All of this was feeling surreal.

Until the demon had evaporated and I was about to check on the other slayers to see if anyone was still alive.

Within a few seconds the whole fight seemed to catch up to me.

I was overwhelmed by pain, my breathing absolutely ragged.

It felt like someone was about to crush my whole torso.

Just now I realized that my clothes were soaked in blood, which was a huge contrast to my blue fingers.

Apparently I had not imagined the freezing feeling.

I sank to the ground, gasping for air as my whole body was shaking.

I closed my eyes in a desperate attempt to focus on my breathing.

After a while I did manage to calm down and take slow, shallow breaths.

Whenever I tried to breathe more deeply, pain was racking my whole breathing up again.

Suddenly I felt a small weight on my shoulders, leading me to open my eyes again.

It took me a few seconds to recognize Shinobu.

Worry was etched across her face like I had never seen before.

She looked so frightened that I wanted to comfort her.

Yet I could not get a word out.

I could not even hear what she was saying.

I was not going to die.

That was all I wanted to tell her.

I would not dare to die in her arms like her sister had done.

Yet I could not fight the darkness any longer.

When I woke back up I was feeling weak.

Although it still hurt to breathe I could do so more easily now.

I carefully tried to move my fingers, assessing my state before doing any rushed movements.

My whole body was feeling stiff.

Reluctantly I opened my eyes, relieved how dark the room was.

I immediately recognized where I was.

How could I not after living here for so long?

I was in Shinobu's room.

Though it was rather our room by now.

I groaned when I turned my head, making out some fluid that was steadily dropping into my body.

“(f/n)? You're awake?!”, a broken voice startled me.

I had not noticed Aoi before.

She came running over to me, hugging me gently while tears were streaming down her cheeks.

“We were so scared”, she admitted. “You've been out for nineteen days. I need to get Shinobu!”

With those words she rushed out of the room.

A few seconds later Shinobu burst into the room, not caring to close the door as she threw herself at me.

She was full on sobbing against me.

I mustered up my strength and wrapped my arms around her, feeling guilty for freaking her out like that.

“I thought I had lost you”, she whispered. “How could you go there all alone? You almost died.”

“I'm sorry”, I croaked out.

My throat was dry from the lack of water.

Shinobu's embrace lasted for a few more minutes until she helped me sit up and drink.

Now that she was sitting next to me I noticed the dark bags under her eyes.

The way she was struggling to keep up her smile.

“I'm sorry for scaring you”, I apologized again. “I promise I'll rest until you tell me I'm good to go.”

That was the least I could do.

Relief washed over me when she smiled. “You better.”

“How are you feeling?”, she wondered.

“Like a building crushed down on me”, I admitted, holding my aching head. “How are the other slayers? Did anyone else survive?”

Shinobu shook her head. “They were already gone when I arrived.”

I balled my hands into fists, avoiding her eyes.

I had failed miserably.

“If you hadn't defeated the demon, the nearby village would have been slaughtered as well”, she reminded me.

My eyes returned to hers. “Can you lay down with me?”, I requested.

Usually she was always resisting when I asked her as she was way too busy.

But today she did not even hesitate.

It took her only a few minutes to fall asleep against me.

I enjoyed her warmth and comfort, deciding to rest some more as well.

When I woke up once again Shinobu was still asleep.

It had been a long time since I had seen her sleep this deeply.

She had to be utterly exhausted.

I swore to myself to spoil her as soon as I was back on my feet.

But instead of doing that I was on my way to the master's estate two weeks later.

I was not back at my full strength yet and despite Shinobu's love and respect for the master I could see her anger at his request for me to come over.

As the master had wanted, she was accompanying me.

She forced me to take breaks along the way and carried some food and water for us.

At first she had wanted to ask a Kakushi to carry me, but I had refused.

When we finally arrived my healing bones were killing me.

My scars were pulsating with strain.

Unfortunately Shinobu noticed, but she did not dare to say anything while waiting for the master.

To my surprise we were not alone either.

Obanai and Muichiro were also here.

Soon later the other Hashira joined.

It was weird to be sitting alongside them to be honest. Especially due to the silence.

“My beloved children”, our master greeted us.

We bowed in his presence.

“You may be wondering why I have called you over”, he began. “And why (f/n) is joining us today.”

-----------------------

Next chapter

[lythea-creation]

Healing - Shinobu Kocho x fem reader (Chapter 3)

Chapter 1

Previous chapter

warnings: (mentions of) child abuse

word count: 2.364

-------------------------------

“What is up with you today?”, Shinobu wondered, wearing her signature smile.

“What do you mean?”, I shot back, assessing the poison in front of me.

“You're holding Tanjiro's medicine”, she recognized. “Although you're supposed to improve your knowledge of poisons. You're not assuming I would poison him, are you?”

I stopped in my tracks. “I ...”

I sighed, putting the medicine back in its place. “I got a letter today. My cousin is going to marry and she invited me.”

“And that's a bad thing?”, she concluded. “Why?”

“We were never that close. And I haven't seen my family since I left to become a demon slayer”, I proposed.

Shinobu stopped mixing some ingredients and placed her arm around my waist to pull me close.

I used this opportunity to sink into her arms, her familiar scent calming my nerves.

“I don't know what to do. After Rimu's death I just don't know how to face my parents again”, I confessed.

“You never told me what happened”, Shinobu reminded me softly, guiding me over to her desk.

She sat down on the chair, pulling me onto her lap despite my bigger height.

“I … There isn't much to tell. He had marechi blood. A demon attacked when I was supposed to take care of him while my parents were out late. The demon hurled me to the side to get to him, killing him before the demon slayers arrived”, I enlightened her apathetically.

I could feel Shinobu's anger radiating off of her. It was so intense that I had to suppress my urge to flee.

“He was ten at the time. I was thirteen. There was no way I could have protected him. I know that. But ever since then the relationship with my parents has never been the same”, I declared.

“Do you want me to accompany you?”

Her offer took me completely off guard.

“You would come?”, I reassured.

“Of course”, she claimed.

Four weeks later we arrived at my family's estate.

We had never been poor.

My father was the head of our family, his reputation well known in the nearby villages.

“(f/n), you actually came”, my mother greeted me, discontent lacing her voice.

Right now I was glad that Shinobu was always smiling.

“Yes, nice to see you again, Mother”, I proposed, bowing slightly to her. “This is Shinobu.”

“Well, nice to meet you”, my mother claimed. “How about you both come in?”

The atmosphere around us was rather tense and awkward. Despite the additional attention I was glad that Shinobu was by my side.

“My, my. I understand why you were hesitating to come now”, Shinobu noted when we were in my old room at night.

“I almost forgot how draining it is to be around them”, I remarked, taking off my haori and uniform.

“It was obvious that they aren't respecting you”, Shinobu pointed out. “How much I would love for them to beg for your help in the presence of a demon.”

The way she smiled while saying that only highlighted her words further.

I could not help but smile as well.

Over the next two days before the ceremony I realized something else.

Nobody approved my cousin's future husband either.

And after the ceremony when we were all celebrating together, she used the opportunity of my presence to make everyone forget how much they disliked him.

The whole evening I heard them say things like:

“He didn't let Rimu die.”

“He won't disappear in the middle of the night without a word.”

“He doesn't slack off on his chores like (f/n) did. He can take responsibility.”

When they handed out the wedding cake, they left me out.

I brushed it off when Shinobu mentioned it, taking a bite of hers when she offered it to show her my gratitude.

After my mother had told me to leave some food for the actual guests during dinner, I did not dare to ask for cake.

“She doesn't even have a real job”, my cousin whispered loud enough for everyone around her to hear.

“I bet she's just cowering behind the other slayers and getting praise for their success.”

I stood up abruptly, drawing all attention toward me. “I need to get some fresh air”, I excused myself and rushed outside.

“See? She's running again”, my cousin's words followed me.

My emotions were so worked up that I did not notice Shinobu until her hand touched my shoulder.

“Let's just go home”, she suggested.

I shook my head. “You heard what they said. They will think I ran away again.”

“What does it matter?”, she shot back. “If I had known how they are treating you, I would've tried to get you to stay home with me. You don't deserve this.”

“This is nothing”, I whispered, tears springing to my eyes at the memories.

“Back when I started my training I didn't even care if I could save anyone. I just thought it didn't matter if I died anyway. So it wouldn't hurt to try”, I admitted.

“My parents told me every day how much they wished I had died instead of Rimu. I hated myself and my life so much.”

Shinobu's smile had disappeared. Still a rare sight.

Her mouth was slightly agape. Her eyes wide.

“I thought I might be able to overcome some of that if I came here today. But it still hurts”, I proposed, my voice cracking.

I covered my mouth with my hand to quiet the sob that left my lips.

Tears began running down my cheeks uncontrollably.

Shinobu did not hesitate to pull me into a hug.

It took me a while to realize that she was crying as well.

“I wish you could have met my parents. They would have treated you well”, Shinobu uttered after a while.

“Just to make sure you know. I love having you around.”

I held her tighter as a response, my hand pushing her head against me.

“Thank you”, I muttered. “I think we have to go back.”

I let go of her and moved back to the others, but Shinobu got a hold of my wrist, stopping me in my tracks.

“If you have to go back … hold your head up high. Show them they're wrong! I want them to see the (f/n) I know and love”, she requested.

Somehow her words lit a fire inside of me.

For the first time I did not feel shame but rage at the way they were treating me.

“I will”, I promised her, taking her hand as soon as she let go of my wrist.

I took a deep breath before entering the room again, all eyes on us.

“It's not my fault Rimu died”, I declared, reassuring myself as much as I was calling everyone else out.

“None of you were there. You have no idea what happened. How terrifying it is to confront a demon. Who of you would have cowered away in fear?

I shielded him with my body. It's not my fault I didn't have the power and skills to protect him.”

Honestly it was feeling amazing to get it off my chest.

Shinobu was squeezing my hand to encourage me further.

“You think I'm still that weak? Like all of you?”, I questioned.

In the matter of a second I had jumped over the table behind my cousin, the blade of my sword against her neck.

“I don't have any reason to cower away”, I proposed, putting the sword back into its sheath.

“You all know nothing about me.

Why I ran away.

I … I have more scars from this place than any demon ever inflicted on me”, I revealed.

I glared at my parents.

My father immediately rose from his seat, approaching me without hesitation.

It took all my willpower to stay still as he slapped me, the sound reverting off the walls.

My glare at him did not falter.

“Why did you even have me?”, I wondered, keeping my voice calm and steady. Or rather apathetic.

Then I addressed them all again: “You can talk about me all you want. But I won't listen anymore.”

I appeared next to Shinobu again, gently nudging her toward the door.

“Have a good night everyone”, she exclaimed with her usual cheery attitude. “Don't eat too much! It'll be a pain to clean it all up when you throw it up again.”

“You poisoned them”, I confronted her on the way back to the Butterfly Estate.

“I wasn't going to let them hurt you without any consequences”, she pointed out.

I burst out laughing.

Seemed fair to me.

“This whole ordeal made me wonder though”, she declared.

“What?”

“Your scars ...”

“Yes. My parents beat me pretty much every day, telling me how worthless I was”, I confessed.

“A failure, a burden, a waste of space. Choose whatever you prefer.”

She halted, making me walk back to her.

“What are you thinking about?”, I worried.

“I think the dose was too low”, she stated casually. “Maybe I should add another poison.”

“No! Love, it's fine”, I tried calming her down.

“It's not”, she insisted. “I always knew someone must have hurt you severely. But not your parents. They need to pay.”

Her sweet tone was turning her words even more threatening.

“Nobu, I'm okay. I really am. Confronting them like that … I never thought I could do that. I just want to go back home and cuddle. Please.”

She sighed. “My, my. How am I supposed to say no to you?”

Her smile was softer now.

To my surprise Shinobu actually did drag me to our bed right when we returned, placing her arms around me and holding me close.

We fell in and out of sleep for a while.

It was uncommon for us to not be disturbed during the day.

Usually there was always someone in need of Shinobu's presence. And I was helping her treat the patients a lot.

But today nobody bothered to come by.

How had she done that?

I felt Shinobu's fingers against the hem of my haori. “May I?”

I nodded, letting her take it off.

My uniform followed.

She was being slow and gentle, nothing like the quick and messy hands when we found a small time frame in our day to hide from everyone's eyes and only feel each other.

When she was done undressing me I finally understood what this was about.

She began tracing my scars.

“I do regret my choice of poison”, she enlightened me. “It's not nearly enough.”

“It's the first time there were any consequences for them at all. It's progress”, I considered, placing my hand on hers.

She traced the burn wound on my stomach. “Did they do this as well?”

I nodded. “My mother made me trip while I was carrying our dinner. Then she punished me for spilling it by pressing the hot pot against my burn wound.”

Shinobu suddenly pulled her hand away.

At first I thought she was going to leave.

Instead she caressed the scar, leaving goosebumps on my skin.

“I love your cooking”, she confessed, kissing my stomach.

I smiled. “I know”, I assured her.

My eyes moved down from her eyes to her hand. “I hate my scars”, I admitted. “I know I shouldn't, but …”

I sighed.

“You're finally talking about them”, Shinobu noted. “That's a good first step.”

She pressed a gentle kiss onto the scar on my stomach. “I'll always listen”, she promised.

“You did know early on”, I remembered.

“I've seen a lot of wounds and scars”, she pointed out. “Which scar do you hate the most?”

“I'd rather say my whole back”, I mumbled.

She encouraged me to lay on my stomach, exposing my back to her.

I closed my eyes.

From my position I could not see her expression anyway. But it still made it more bearable.

Shinobu had seen my back countless times.

She had treated newer wounds on it. Her hands had traveled over my scars during more intimate times.

Yet this was harder.

The focus was completely shifted.

I heard her shuffling behind me until the bed dipped slightly again.

“Do you want to tell me about them?”, she offered.

“I think you can already guess”, I supposed.

“Looks like you've been hit with a thin object like a branch or rope”, she assessed.

“I hated this kind of punishment the most”, I recalled quietly, balling my hands into fists, my whole body tensing up at the memories.

“They'd tell me how worthless I am. Insult me with every hit.

Whenever I dared to speak up they punished me until I begged for their forgiveness”, I revealed, tears clouding my vision.

“That explains your flinching whenever I attacked you from behind”, she remarked.

“You noticed that?”

“Of course.”

I heard a noise behind me, after all those months working here unmistakable.

Shinobu had opened a container which was usually used for storing ointments.

A few seconds later she applied some onto my back.

Then she began massaging it, forcing my tense muscles to relax.

“You've truly made it far, (f/n)”, she proposed, moving over to pay some special attention to my scars.

“I'm sure it won't be long until you can match a Hashira in strength”, she claimed.

I did not know what to say.

Honestly it sounded crazy to me.

I had not had any goals when I had started my journey after all.

It was all thanks to her that I had made it this far. That I was even still alive.

But especially that I was enjoying it.

How ironic that I was faced with the cruelty of our job a few weeks later.

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Next chapter

[lythea-creation]

Healing - Shinobu Kocho x fem reader (Chapter 2)

Chapter 1

warnings: family issues ig, does that deserve to be a warning?

word count: 1.549

--------------------------------

From then on our relationship changed.

I got to know yet another version of her.

Although the next morning she was wearing her usual smile again.

I barely returned to my room as I always ended up in hers.

The girls knew about our relationship and were wholeheartedly supporting us.

Now I was feeling slightly guilty for the way I had treated them in the beginning.

But I was eager to make it up to them.

Cooking together, doing the laundry, treating the patients.

I was conscious to spend my time with them now.

They also taught me how to make flower bracelets and grow flowers with healing properties.

From time to time we would have pajama parties where we would gather in one of their rooms and talk til late into the night before going to sleep next to each other.

It made me remember the good moments I had had with my younger brother Rimu.

“I love seeing you with them”, Shinobu confessed one evening.

I felt the same way.

Shinobu was always stressed out. But when she was talking to Aoi, Sumi, Kiyo and Naho she seemed to be at ease.

I enjoyed those rare moments of true happiness.

Usually Shinobu was up late into the night working.

I had to persuade her to come into bed and get some rest, which mostly worked when I told her I would not go without her.

“My, my. You really are a handful”, she teased me, getting up and joining me regardless.

One night I woke up in an empty bed, wondering where she was.

That was when I discovered how she was checking on everyone sleeping soundly, as if she was afraid about their safety if she could not see them.

From then on I followed her on her night patrol whenever I woke up with her.

In the beginning she attempted to stop me, but she quickly gave in.

I assumed that she was secretly enjoying my company.

Fear and anxiety could make you feel incredibly lonely after all, especially when everyone else was peacefully asleep.

I also developed the habit of making her an herbal tea to calm her at night.

I loved the way she was taking care of everyone. Yet I had noticed that she was always forgetting about herself.

Hence I had decided to make that my mission whenever I was home.

She was not used to that and therefore resisted a lot in the beginning.

By now she was simply thanking me, her smile softening for a few seconds into one of fondness.

“What are you doing?”, Shinobu wondered as I was sitting out in the snow.

“Just thinking”, I proposed.

“Aren't you freezing up?”, she worried.

I shook my head. “I'm fine”, I brushed it off.

“You always say that”, she noted, sitting down next to me on the icy ground.

“I used to spend a lot of time outside back where I come from. Sometimes I wouldn't make it home in time and had to spend the night out in the snow”, I enlightened her.

“That must have been tough”, she considered, taking my hand in hers.

“Yeah ...”, I admitted, thinking about the way I would search for a slightly warmer place, curling up to remain my body heat as much as possible. “I guess it was a good preparation though.”

“Is that why you are out here? Are you thinking about your past?”, she wondered.

I nodded timidly, hating to admit it.

Shinobu did not know much about my life before becoming a demon slayer.

Honestly I was ashamed of it.

“Is it because of Rimu?”, she supposed.

She had faith in our relationship. Otherwise she would not ask about him.

“I never had a great relationship with my family”, I confessed. “But it broke completely after his death.”

I broke the short silence: “But that makes me appreciate the family I found with you and the girls even more.”

Shinobu rested her head against my shoulder, wrapping her other hand around mine as well.

She did not ask any more questions.

She knew perfectly well how much it hurt to dwell in the past.

A few weeks later Tanjiro, Inosuke and Zenitsu showed up at the Butterfly Mansion, in dire need of medical attention.

I assisted Shinobu in treating them, quickly growing fond of the trio.

As soon as they were back on their feet, I began training them, Shinobu teaching me how to motivate each of them most effectively.

Tanjiro and I helped each other to grasp an even deeper feel for water breathing while I managed to dodge Inosuke's fast and agile attacks.

Zenitsu was a different story though.

I begged him to teach me his thunder breathing, using all the puppy eyes and lack of physical distance I could muster until he told me all about it.

I was eager to learn about all styles to adapt my technique as it felt like I was not using my full potential with water breathing yet.

All the bonding only made it harder when they left for their next mission though.

I was also leaving from time to time, but leaving did not feeling as hard as being left behind.

“Don't worry! They'll come back”, Sato, one of our newer patients, claimed.

“That isn't exactly soothing”, I shot back playfully.

“I'll make you forget about their departure in no time”, he promised with a wink.

I rolled my eyes at his behavior while still keeping my smile.

He had been hitting on me since he had arrived four days ago.

For the next few hours while training him I had to listen to his praises for me.

How strong, fast and graceful I was. How my smile was even harder to dodge than my attacks. And so on …

“If you spent as much energy on training as you do chasing after her, you would surely climb the ranks fast”, Shinobu suddenly declared, a tense smile plastered on her face.

“You're too emotional”, she claimed, knocking him over with a swift kick against the back of his knees.

Her back was facing me as she was scolding him.

“You need to be ready at all times. After all you can never know when a demon might attack”, she advised him.

A clinging sound filled the air as I had met her sword with mine last second.

“If (f/n) went all out on you, she would snap your sword with a wooden one”, she taunted him.

“Now don't let his silly behavior throw you off your game, darling”, she pointed out, pulling me in for a passionate kiss.

Then she left as if nothing had happened.

Sato's and my cheeks were painted red, for slightly different reasons though.

I had not known how jealous Shinobu could be.

And how hot it was …

I took a mental note to tease her with it sometime. And to show her my incredible love for her afterwards.

Usually I was absolutely content with spending our time separately and yet together at the mansion.

Waking up with Shinobu snuggled close had quickly become a regular.

But most of the time she was only still by my side when I woke up in the night. Not in the morning.

I turned to face her, gently caressing her cheek to wake her up when I realized how hot her cheek was.

“Love, you're burning up”, I declared, all sleepiness vanished in a blink.

She slowly woke up, groaning as she took hold of my arm to hug it.

“You're staying in bed today”, I demanded.

That did the trick to wake her up. Protests began leaving her lips.

“I won't hear any of it”, I blocked her off. “Be a good patient and rest. I'll take care of everything. I promise.”

“(f/n), it's fine”, she claimed while sitting up.

Her dizziness was already detectable without her having to stand up.

“You're always mad when someone else overexerts themselves. So be a good role model”, I considered, pushing her back down into a laying position.

“Don't leave! I'll be right back”, I announced, soon returning with a cup of tea and some medicine.

She took it without any more complaints, seeming to enjoy the comfort of our bed after all.

“Don't go”, she complained, although she wanted me to take care of her patients.

“I'll come by every hour”, I promised. “Or maybe in thirty minutes.”

She gave in and went back to sleep.

After a whole day of doing Shinobu's job while trying to fulfill mine as well I was utterly exhausted.

Training had not even been an option.

In the end I stumbled into bed, almost collapsing on top of Shinobu before catching myself and laying down next to her.

“You're incredible”, I whispered, despite her being asleep.

The next few days it was clearly palpable how much Shinobu usually lightened up the mansion. How many small gestures she offered during a single day.

And when she was finally back on her feet I made sure to honor her for her efforts.

------------

Next chapter

It's been so long since I uploaded the first chapter. Honestly I just forgot to upload more.

How do you like the story so far?

[lythea-creation]

Healing - Shinobu Kocho x fem reader (Chapter 1)

summary: (f/n) isn't used to someone caring about her state. Shinobu though is tired of watching people hurting themselves without any regard for their health. Yet they did not consider they might help each other heal in more than one way.

warnings: This is a demon slayer fanfic. I think you all know you're signing up for some pain as seen in the series.

word count: 2.642

Author's note: Feel free to check out my Masterlists and make requests. No reposting please! Reblogging, comments and requests are always appreciated <3 If you like the story/my writing, please don't be shy to say it via comments or asks! It takes you a few seconds and might make my day. It's the best appreciation you can show to a writer you like.

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“My, my. What do I see here? Already up on your feet again”, Shinobu noted as I was training outside.

When I just continued on she added: “You shouldn't be.”

“Waiting gets people killed”, I stated, not stopping my pistol squats.

“There is a difference between waiting and resting though”, she claimed.

Suddenly she was in front of me, her hands on my shoulders.

Despite her reputation of being the physically weakest Hashira, her grip was surely leaving new bruises on my already tattered body.

“I need to treat your wounds. Come on in!”, she encouraged me with her usual joyful attitude that was obviously fake.

If I had one strength it was reading people.

Nevertheless I let her push me inside.

“Don't you have more serious matters to attend to instead of wasting your time with me?”, I wondered.

“This is my job just as much as killing demons is, you know?”, she enlightened me. “Although I do leave the minor tasks to the girls. But I could need a change of pace right now”, she admitted.

“Well, if I'm getting treated by the best, I should be back on the field soon, right?”, I considered half-joking.

“Only if you rest instead of reopening your wounds like you just did”, she scolded me, poking slightly at my bleeding waist to make me regret my choice.

How subtle …

I decided to listen to her to quicken the whole process up.

No matter how many times I ended up hurt at the Butterfly Estate, I made sure to remember resting.

Okay, maybe Shinobu had to remind me most of the time because I did not listen to Aoi, Sumi, Kiyo and Naho.

I did not mean to disrespect them. It was just my way of life, though Shinobu was rather convincing.

“How do you always end up getting hurt?”, Shinobu questioned while stitching a wound on my right shoulder.

“Not everybody received great training”, I pointed out. “Without learning total concentration constant here I would have already been dead several times.”

“Seems like your trainer was a fail”, she supposed.

“Guess you could say that”, I agreed.

After she was finished stitching up my wound, her fingers traced over the scars on my back.

I shivered.

“When did you get those?”, Shinobu inquired.

“A long time ago”, I recalled, suppressing the memories.

“They don't look like they stem from a demon”, she thought out loud.

“Are you done with my wounds?”, I changed the topic.

“Yes. But take it easy for now”, she requested.

“I will”, I promised.

She knew I was not going to break my word.

When she was about to leave I stopped her: “Shinobu! Can you … is there any chance you would teach me how to get faster?”

She was frozen in place at first, her eyes slightly widened.

Then her usual smile returned. “Of course.”

A few days later my lungs were feeling like they were on fire, my heart pounding crazily while my muscles were twitching.

It was my own fault for asking a Hashira for help.

Despite Shinobu's usual caring and protective nature toward me, she was showing me no mercy during training now. As if I had pushed a button I had not known the consequences of.

There was no way I was going to complain though.

I literally trained until my legs gave out on me.

“Seems like you reached your limit”, Shinobu remarked, smiling down at me. “Don't forget to eat!”

With those words she simply left. How was I even supposed to get anywhere now?

I sighed and closed my eyes.

Maybe I could just take a little nap on the grass. It was pretty soft after all.

But suddenly I was wide awake again, moving into a sitting position and pulling out my sword without a second thought, hearing the clang of metal on metal.

Just then I recognized Shinobu in front of me. Or rather on top of me as she was pushing me down while I was trying to stop her from cutting my throat.

I wanted to question her behavior, but had no breath left to do anything but hold her off.

Without any warning she jumped back again, hurling me back into a sitting position from the sudden loss of resistance.

“My, my. I didn't expect you to react so well, especially after training”, Shinobu claimed.

I was panting, my whole body shaking from exhaustion.

She patiently waited for my breathing to calm down again.

“So you were trying to kill me?”, I accused her.

“Now why would I do that? I was testing you of course”, she proposed. “If you want to become my Tsuguko I need to know more about you and your abilities after all.”

“You want me as your Tsuguko?”, I noted shocked.

“If you pass my tests”, she declared. “Today was your first. Of course you have to want it, too.”

“No way I would pass on this chance! I'll give it my all”, I exclaimed, jumping onto my feet out of excitement before crumbling back to the ground.

Shinobu chuckled at that.

“I'm sorry. I'm not strong at all”, I mumbled ashamed.

How pathetic could I be? Not being able to stand on my own feet despite having no injuries …

“You don't use any specific breathing techniques, do you?”, she inquired.

I shook my head.

“Surviving so many fights without breathing techniques. That's anything but weak, (f/n)”, she reassured me. “Who trained you then?”

I teared up slightly. So she did not think I was a failure then.

“I did”, I admitted.

She gasped.

“That explains your basic mistakes”, she stated. “We will start with them. And then I'll teach you some breathing techniques.”

Over the next six months Shinobu was training me almost every day.

I was basically a different person, my speed and strength unrecognizable.

I had put on a lot of muscle and stamina while also learning the basics about poisons and medication.

Meanwhile my relationship with Shinobu had also grown.

She had told me about her sister and I had told her about my younger brother. Nothing in detail though.

She was the first one I had ever confided in actually.

The first mission after my training had turned out completely different as well. I had only suffered a few minor cuts and bruises, nothing like the fractures and deep wounds I was usually greeting Shinobu with.

The latter was welcoming me with a true smile for once when she noticed this, instead of a passive aggressive one.

“This is a huge breakthrough”, she proposed. “If you continue your training you will rise up the ranks in no time.”

I could not help reciprocating her smile. “That's all thanks to you.”

“What? No! You achieved this. Without your prior skills you wouldn't have made such fast progress”, she pointed out.

I frowned at her.

“(f/n), I'm talking about all the times you gave it your all without knowing if it was going to do anything.

Your body was already in good shape, especially considering you didn't have a trainer. And your mental strength is unmatched”, she praised me.

“You're biased”, I concluded.

“Maybe I am”, she shot back with a sharp smile, making me chuckle.

I allowed myself to celebrate this small win with her.

We ate together, talking late into the night about everything that had happened while I had been on my mission.

The next morning Shinobu literally woke me up by attempting to kill me to “test my instincts”.

We were spending almost every minute together, under the guise of her training me or me wanting to learn some more about medicine and poison.

“You've come far already. I think we should start your poison training now”, Shinobu considered a few days later.

“Poison train... ? I wish I could ask if you were kidding”, I replied sighing.

“It might come in handy if a demon is using poison”, she resonated. “That would be an avoidable cause of death.”

“You don't have to win me over. I trust your judgment”, I enlightened her.

“I was expecting you to say that”, she proclaimed, handing me a cup with a questionable liquid inside.

“Will there be any side effects?”, I wondered, taking the cup from her and inspecting its content closely.

“It's a low dose. You may still experience symptoms like fatigue, headache or nausea. Worst case you'll throw it up again, but that's unlikely”, she explained.

“Great”, I murmured, downing the liquid in one go before I could overthink it.

“As long as you're able to you should continue your training”, she proposed.

I nodded, returning the cup to her.

We parted ways for once, but she checked in on me regularly, watching my training from afar.

A few months ago I would not have noticed her presence.

Now I could not help but do so immediately.

For once because my perception had improved significantly.

But also because I could not deny my growing feelings for her. My heart was beating like crazy whenever she was around.

When she was not, I could not stop thinking about her.

By now I was growing weaker, exhaustion washing over me.

The poison was definitely affecting me. Nothing to stop my training yet though.

About an hour later Shinobu joined me, appearing behind me without any warning.

“You're slowing down”, she noticed. “How are you feeling?”

Nauseous. Not due to the poison though, but because of her proximity.

“Heavy”, I stated instead. “Like I'm carrying an extra twenty pounds.”

She raised her brows at me.

“Okay. Maybe more like forty to fifty”, I admitted.

“Any pain?”, she inquired.

I shook my head.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Show me your breathing forms then. All of them without a break in between. Make it fluent”, she demanded.

I took a deep breath, pulling out my sword and choosing the right stance.

“Water Breathing, first form. Water Surface Slash”, I announced while performing it.

Minutes went by until I arrived at the last form: Constant Flux.

I was panting, sweat running down my face as my sword had stopped close to Shinobu's neck.

“Your training with Tomioka paid off”, she noted.

“I didn't dare to ask you back then. But why did you want me to learn Water instead of Flower or Insect Breathing?”, I wondered, putting my sword back in its sheath.

“I felt like it fit you better. Flower and Insect Breathing is branched off of Water. So it seemed like the logical choice”, she pointed out.

She might be right about that. My build was different from Shinobu's and Kanao's after all.

“Why …?”

Was it okay to ask her?

“Why did you take me in as your Tsuguko, although you knew I wasn't going to learn your or Kanao's breathing style?”

“You asked me”, she reminded me.

“To teach me about speed”, I recalled.

She sighed, leading me to a nearby bench where we sat down together.

“I never planned to take in another Tsuguko”, she confessed. “I didn't want to get attached to them again, only for them to die. I figured I wasn't suited for teaching. Kanao's the only Tsuguko of mine who's still alive after all.”

My eyes trailed over to her, noticing the tears in her eyes despite her smile.

“You don't have to keep smiling, you know?”, I noted, my heart aching for her.

Her smile indeed faltered for a second.

“It must be tough to keep up this facade all the time”, I considered, staring up at the sky.

The sun had already set, a few stars sparkling up the dark.

How ironic that such beautiful visions could easily be printed red by a demon.

“How did you …?”

“... know that you're angry most of the time? I got a keen sense for that”, I proclaimed. “Got my fair share of experience.”

“You're right. It's making me angry how the demons are destroying everything precious to us without any regret. How they destroy lives in the blink of an eye”, she proposed.

I placed my hand on her arm, smiling at her. “But you also love the girls. You teach Kanao and me with utmost care. You treat your patients, acknowledging their individual needs and personalities.

Back then when I first arrived here, I trusted nobody. So I didn't care to listen to any of you.

But the way your bruising grip on me turned soft as soon as you treated my wounds … it changed something inside of me.”

She was not smiling at me now.

Her eyes wide, tears threatening to spill over as her hand was resting on mine.

“I felt safe”, I concluded. “For the first time in my life I felt safe with another person.”

“The first …?”

I avoided her eyes at her realization.

Usually I was not scared. I never cared if I lost my life in battle or did not manage to achieve anything. I had never had any expectations.

But this … being vulnerable in front of her. It was terrifying.

Shinobu gently cupped my cheek and turned my head back toward her.

Our lips were inches apart, making my heart race even more.

She was known to disregard the space of other people, yet I could not help feeling a tension between us. Like she was pulling me even closer.

Never mind! She actually was pulling me closer, stopping just before our lips touched and locking eyes.

A second later I felt her soft lips against mine.

Her hand moved from my cheek to the back of my head to push me even more against her while the other one was grasping mine.

I used my free hand to let it roam over her back, pulling her close.

I moaned when her tongue entered my mouth, greedily exploring.

After pulling apart I saw her panting for the first time.

I was not any better.

“You're right. I'm angry most of the time. But since you arrived here something has changed for me, too”, she confessed.

“Shinobu, I … I can't stay your Tsuguko”, I revealed.

She tilted her head slightly, waiting for me to continue.

Since I had called her out she was not wearing a fake smile anymore.

“It's been tough for me before. But after this ...” I pointed at the little space between us. “I can't just pretend it didn't happen.”

“You don't have to”, she remarked.

She leaned over to me, almost pushing me into a laying position in the process. “I'd be happy to repeat it anytime.”

One of her hands was resting on the bench to keep herself upright.

The other one moved to caress my cheek.

“Do you know how difficult it was for me to have you so close every day? See you train and follow my every demand. And the glances you threw my way …”, she noted, grinning down at me.

“You knew?”, I realized.

“You didn't seriously think I wouldn't notice”, she shot back. “But don't worry! Taking you in as my Tsuguko had nothing to do with it.”

She pushed herself away from me, getting into her initiate sitting position again.

“I doubt making out with you out here will do my reputation any good though”, she considered. “How about we take this to my room?”

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Next chapter

Where are all my Shinobu girls?

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Btw don't take the timeline too seriously.

[lythea-creation]

Fighting Fire - Andy Herrera x fem reader (Chapter 9)

Chapter 1

Previous Chapter

warnings: mentions of domestic abuse, violence, ptsd

word count: 1.100

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(f/n)'s PoV

When I returned home from work I noticed Andy's keys still in place, her car in the parking lot.

I could not help the smile at the possibility that she was already home, but was quickly disappointed when I realized that she had just run to work and forgotten her key.

With a deep sigh I made my way over to take a shower and get into some comfortable clothes.

Then I decided to start cooking as it should not be too long until Andy's shift was over.

Her tiny habit of playing Spanish music while doing chores apparently infatuating as I began dancing absentmindedly.

Just as I was finished preparing all the ingredients and ready to toss them in a pot, I heard the door ringing.

I hurried over to the door, opening it without paying another thought to it.

The smile on my face dropped as I was looking at my ex instead of current girlfriend.

Instinctively my whole body tensed up, ready to throw the door in her face.

“Why are you here? How do you even know where I live?”, I questioned, glaring at her.

“Is that any way to greet a guest?”, Kate shot back grinning.

“Leave! You have no right to be here”, I reminded her.

She attempted to make her way inside, but I blocked her way off.

“I don't like how you're treating me”, she noted, her brows furrowed.

I scoffed. “You don't like how I'm treating you? How can you even keep a straight face saying that after abusing me for months?”

“Abusing you? You can't be serious”, she brushed me off and kicked the door out of my hand.

Her reaction caught me off guard, allowing her to enter my apartment after all.

She closed the door behind her and pointed her finger at me. “You left me out of nowhere”, she accused me. “You ghosted me for months. I was trying really hard, (f/n). It's not my fault that you were such a lousy girlfriend.”

“Leave right now or I'll call the police”, I threatened her.

Ironically she took a step closer to me. “You don't have to claim to be brave now. I know your true nature”, she claimed.

Unfortunately my body simply reacted, retreating until she had cornered me against the wall.

I wanted to slap myself in the face for that. Where was my progress?

All of a sudden I was back in our old apartment, cowering in fear without being able to stand up against her and I hated myself for it.

My words were stuck in my throat as she placed her hand against the wall next to my head, trapping me further.

“See?”, she highlighted my thoughts. “You need me, (f/n). You're completely lost without me. This new life you've built up? It's a lie. You're trying to fool yourself into believing you have changed. But I know you.”

A smirk settled on her face when I did not reply in any way.

She leaned in closer, our faces barely apart. As I was staying unresponsive she captured my lips in a rough kiss, her body pressed against mine.

That finally made me snap out of my freeze.

I pushed her away as hard as I could, making her stumble a few steps backwards.

I wiped my lips with the back of my hand, holding onto the wall with the other. My heart was beating so fast that I was feeling slightly dizzy.

“Get out! I don't want to see you ever again”, I exclaimed.

In the matter of a second she had crossed the room again and punched me in the face.

I barely managed to catch myself thanks to the wall, my hand automatically moving to my aching cheek.

When I was feeling something warm and wet against my fingers, I pulled my hand back to look at it.

Great! Her rings had apparently broken my skin.

“How dare you?”, she growled.

Her stare alone was enough to make fear crawl up my spine.

While she was approaching me, my mind was replaying all the self-defense moves Andy had taught me. Yet I could not move a muscle. At least none to defend myself physically.

“What are you going to do now?”, I questioned, making her stop in her tracks. “Do you want to beat me up and force me to return to you? That won't work out, Kate. I'm not going to let you hurt me again.”

“You just did”, she shot back, obviously smug. “And I bet you'll let me again.”

To underline her words she took another step forward.

I dug my nails into my palm, begging my body to move, to execute what I had trained for.

“You think I've hurt you before? That was nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you now”, she threatened me. “You'll wish you had never left me.”

The ringing of the door bell took the danger off her threat.

“Is that your whore? That firefighter girl?”, Kate inquired, her voice dripping with disgust. “But if you're so close, then why's she ringing?”

“She forgot her key”, I mumbled and moved to open the door, but Kate stopped me by extending her arm.

“Where do you think you're going? We don't need her here”, Kate remarked.

“You're not ruling my life anymore”, I reminded her and continued walking despite her arm in my way.

Then I opened the door to Andy.

Her eyes lit up when she spotted me. But her features immediately darkened after seeing the blood on my face and then Kate behind me.

“Are you okay?”, she assured, her thumb gently brushing over the cut on my cheek.

I nodded, smiling to soothe her.

“Can you call the police, please?”, I whispered, quiet enough that Kate could not hear it.

Now she was the one to nod, getting inside and blocking the door while making the call.

“You bitch”, Kate cursed. “This will do nothing. You can't prove anything.”

“Then you have nothing to fear, right?”, I concluded casually.

Thanks to Andy being here now, I was feeling more confident to handle Kate.

The latter did not know about the security cameras I had placed in the apartment. I had her statement together with her violent behavior today to make my words more believable.

I was going to fight for my freedom, knowing that Andy was by my side to fight any fire ahead.

The End

----------------

That's it! Thank you all for reading and feel free to leave a comment below to share your opinion.

[lythea-creation]

Fighting Fire - Andy Herrera x fem reader (Chapter 8)

Chapter 1

Previous Chapter

warnings: past domestic abuse

word count: 1.025

----------------------

Andy's PoV

“I made a decision”, (f/n) proclaimed all of a sudden while we were eating breakfast together.

We were both having a long day of work ahead of us. Since we were assuming we would not see each other again today, we at least wanted to share our first meal of the day.

“Decision about what?”, I wondered.

I could not recall us talking about anything in need of a decision lately.

“I'm gonna go see a therapist”, she enlightened me.

“Uh, yeah … well … that's great!” My initial surprise faded to make room for joy, relief and pride.

“I've been thinking about it a lot. You know … I love that you're always there for me. And I wanna continue to confide in you. But we both know you can't carry this burden alone with me.”

“It's not a burden to me”, I interrupted her.

“I know you don't see it that way. I just want to be strong enough to give you the chance to rely on me as well. I wanna support you, too”, she confessed.

I had not even known that she had been worried about that. So much about confiding in me …

No! That was not fair. She did not need to tell me about every little thought. I knew she trusted me and that she came to me if needed.

“Okay”, I remarked. “Is there anything I can do to support you? Maybe pick you up from the appointments?”

“You really don't have to”, she tried brushing me off.

That was still one of her issues. Giving up part of her independence was hard for her. I got that.

“The appointments are most likely going to upset you. I just want you to be safe. Driving in that state doesn't fit to that”, I explained.

“Okay”, she agreed. “But only when you have time. No need to switch your shifts for that.”

“We got a deal then”, I declared, shaking her hand on it.

The sound of her laughter following was the best way to start the day.

“What's got you in such a great mood?”, Maya questioned shortly after I had arrived at work.

“What kinda question is that? We all know it's (f/n)”, Vic pointed out with a grin and a little teasing dance.

I did not even want to deny it. She was right after all and there was no reason to hide it.

“Is there anything I need to know?”, Maya questioned.

“I just like the way she's taking care of herself”, I remarked.

Telling Maya the details was not up to me.

“Oh, so she told you?”, Maya inquired.

“Wait, wha...? Did she ask you for help?”, I assumed.

She nodded, smiling proudly.

I scoffed, reciprocating her smile nevertheless. “I can't believe I didn't notice.”

“She wanted to surprise you”, Maya enlightened me.

“Worked out pretty well”, I remarked.

The siren interrupted our conversation, calling us off to a minor house fire without much damage.

Over the course of the next weeks a new routine settled in.

It was a huge process when (f/n) started therapy, the emotional roller coaster returning.

One time she told me about her sessions in detail, other times she isolated herself or even snapped at me.

After a while I joined one of her sessions and it felt like our relationship had evolved into a way deeper and steadier one afterwards.

Today however was supposed to be our little celebration. Pride parade was on, meaning we had a lot of work to do in the city instead of at the station.

(f/n) had volunteered to accompany us to share the experience with us.

Before meeting her I had always pictured myself as straight. Of course I had questioned my sexuality back in my teen years, but then I had brushed it off as the usual phase of getting to know yourself in puberty.

How wrong I had been!

This pride parade was special to me.

I had always been a supporter of the LGBTQ+-community. With Maya and Carina as my friends it had already gotten more personal.

To be honest it was feeling a little weird to acknowledge that I was more than an ally now. Especially due to some people of the community being very expressive and out of the box.

Somehow it also hurt more that random people showed up to protest against us.

But in the end we all had our own little party together at the station, celebrating in a more intimate and comfortable manner.

I was absolutely drunk by midnight, barely remembering what had happened after that.

“You don't remember sparring with Jack?”, (f/n) questioned the next morning, or rather noon.

“What?”, I shot back confused, my head killing me.

“Jack claimed that you were too drunk to stand a chance against him, especially after you fell off the couch”, she pointed out.

“I did what? You really need to stop me from drinking too much next time”, I claimed.

“Where's the fun in that?”, she teased me. “You asked me out like … four times and called out how lucky you were when I took you home.”

We both broke out in laughter.

“When I tried to remind you that you're my girlfriend, you were amazed how quickly you had won me over. You were actually really clingy”, she proposed.

I hid my face in my hands to prevent her from seeing my blushed cheeks. This was proof how badly I had fallen for her. Apparently my love for her had not faltered since the beginning. I had behaved like a teenager.

I could feel her hand on my shoulder, making me look up at her despite my slight embarrassment.

“I love that side of you”, she reassured me. “I want to get to know every side of you I can.”

I cupped her cheek with my hand and pulled her in for a soft kiss.

“I love you, too”, I whispered.

--------------------

Next Chapter

[lythea-creation]

Fighting Fire - Andy Herrera x fem reader (Chapter 7)

Chapter 1

Previous Chapter

warnings: mentions of abuse

word count: 1.539

------------------

(f/n)'s PoV

The New Year had been rolling in quicker than expected.

For the first time in a while I had actually enjoyed the holidays.

We had all celebrated Christmas Eve together at the fire station, exchanging past Christmas stories and playing games together, while eating cookies.

New Years Eve was not much different, except for the cookies.

Now we were all back to our busy schedules, although I did not mind it all that much.

Since Andy had officially become my girlfriend, life had gotten easier.

Day to day my doubts were fading more to the background and I could just enjoy being with her.

Stepping into station 19 that day months ago had been the best decision I had ever made.

I had not just escaped Kate, but gained a sense of belonging. People who truly cared about me and were supporting me any time.

It also worked the other way around, of course.

Whenever they needed help at the station, I jumped in.

Just like today.

We were doing the stocktaking for the clinic and since the team was also busy reacting to their siren, I had volunteered to help them out.

After all I was not working this weekend anyway. So why would I decline a chance to be around Andy and my friends?

“What would we do without you?”, Andy whispered into my ear before kissing my cheek.

I chuckled at her behavior, pulling her close.

My plan to kiss her was interrupted by the siren, making us groan in unison.

“I won't forget where we left off”, she promised as she was already running to the fire pole.

I smiled to myself and continued counting our medical supplies, writing it down diligently.

After a while I headed to the kitchen to grab myself a glass of water.

I figured Vic could need some tea. So I made her a cup and headed down to the reception.

Vic was down with a cold, not bad enough to knock her out, but enough to make her stick to the desk.

“You're an angel”, she proclaimed as I placed the cup onto the desk.

We both turned our head at the sound of the door opening.

While Vic greeted the person wholeheartedly, I felt my body tensing up.

Kate halted when she saw me, her frozen expression quickly replaced by a grin.

Vic immediately noticed the shift in mood, looking between us as if she could solve the riddle like that.

“What are you doing here?”, I questioned

My eyes were not leaving her frame for a second, ready to react to every tiny shift in her body language.

“I was just bringing over my smoke detector. For some reason it's not working properly anymore”, she claimed.

“You knew I was here today. How?”, I inquired.

Suddenly she started laughing. “Why would I care?”

Saying I was uneasy would be a huge understatement.

“I think you should go”, Vic suggested.

“What? Why? I didn't do anything”, Kate resisted. “Aren't you supposed to serve your community?”

“Leave the smoke detector and return later to pick it up”, Vic instructed her.

“You know what? Forget it”, Kate raged and stormed out of the station.

I was still frozen in place, staring at the door in fear of her return.

“Hey, it's okay”, Vic soothed me.

She was standing in front of me, but not touching me in any way.

Instead she opened her arms in a silent offer.

Her embrace was calming and giving me strength and confidence at the same time.

Since meeting her I had always admired Vic for her emotional intelligence and strength.

“How are you?”, she asked me after a few minutes, after letting me go and making sure I sat down.

No 'Are you okay?', but the sincere question how exactly I was feeling. An invitation to let go.

“Thank you”, I whispered.

She placed her hand on my shoulder with a smile. “You're family now. Of course, I have your back. We all do.”

Her words were taking off the lid of bottled-up emotions I did not know I had.

My tears started streaming with no prior warning.

Vic crouched down in front of me, leaving her hand on my shoulder until I had calmed down again.

“That was Kate. My ex”, I enlightened her. “She …”

Why could I not bring myself to say it out loud? That she had abused me.

Vic's hold on me was slightly tighter for a few seconds, her jaw clenched and eyes shut.

Apparently I did not need to say it out loud for her to get it.

I quickly wiped my tear stains away when I noticed that the team was returning.

“Do you want the others to know, so that we can send her away if she ever shows up again? Or do you want me to keep it to myself?”, Vic wondered.

I shook my head. “I dunno yet.”

She nodded at my answer, accepting it without another word.

The others were luckily too invested in their conversation to acknowledge us as they were passing by. Except Andy.

Her smile faltered when she got a proper look at me.

“What happened?”, she worried, approaching us instead of following the rest of the team.

“Kate was here”, I simply stated.

Vic moved aside to give Andy some space to take my hand and cup my cheek.

“Did she do anything?”

Her eyes were scanning me for any sign of an injury. I was sure she had noticed my red eyes long ago.

“Vic sent her away”, I proposed. “I'm okay. Just a bit unsettled to see her.”

The tension in Andy's body faded at my words.

“Okay”, she mumbled. “Is there any way I can help?”

“You already are”, I mumbled, placing my hand over the one that was cupping my cheek.

I smiled softly at her before letting go of her and standing up to retreat to one of the bedrooms.

My mind was spinning with countless thoughts, memories and possible future scenarios molding into an invisible nightmare.

I was trying to focus on my breathing while my heart and mind were racing.

A knock on the door snapped me out of it.

To my surprise it was not just Andy, but also Maya.

“Can we come in?,” my girlfriend questioned.

I nodded, wondering why she had brought her best friend.

“I love you”, Andy proposed.

Despite the situation I could not help my genuine smile.

“And I think it's time for you to get professional help. You don't have to work through this on your own”, she considered.

Professional help? Why was she bringing that up now, in front of Maya as well?

The latter decided to chime in now: “Andy didn't tell me anything specific about your situation. But I had my suspicions way before Andy did. You know … it took me a long time to see that I was abused. By my father. He had been manipulating me for so long that I couldn't see it. I almost destroyed myself and all my relationships before accepting help. I don't want the same to happen to you.”

“You were …? I had no idea”, I stated.

“I just want to offer my help. If you want to get in touch with a good therapist or just to talk to someone who understand, I'm here”, she noted. “Just think about it.”

With those words she left Andy and me alone.

“I hope you aren't mad at me ...”

I interrupted her: “Why would I be mad at you?”

“Overstepping, I guess?”, she assumed.

I shook my head. “No, of course not. I appreciate it.”

We laid down together and I let her hold me. It almost made me cry again. Apparently I was way more emotional than I had always thought.

“Kate isn't my biggest fear”, I admitted.

“What is it then?”, she inquired.

“Losing you. And with you all my friends because they were yours first. I'd be all alone again”, I pointed out, shivering at the mere thought of losing everything I had just built up.

“Not even talking about the fact that I wanna stay with you for as long as you let me. But the others won't leave you because of a break-up. Well … as long as you don't turn into a bitch”, she joked. “They wouldn't have to choose sides. You'd still be welcome here.”

“I still can't believe how much my life changed in the matter of a few months”, I considered.

“It's because you've been working really hard for it”, Andy reminded me. “You earned it for yourself. And you definitely deserve it all. Especially me.”

Her grin underlining her last statement was making me laugh before diving in to kiss her.

The siren was interrupting our make-out session though.

After a few more minutes of collecting myself, I made my way back out to continue my work.

Kate would not keep me from living my life anymore.

---------------

Next Chapter

[lythea-creation]

The Price Of Family - Draco Malfoy x sister reader (Part 5)

Part 1

Previous Part

warnings: mentions of abuse

word count: 806

-------------------

(f/n)'s PoV

By the time Bellatrix allowed me to retreat to my room on the first night at her place I was utterly exhausted.

First the train ride, then settling at home, the fight with my family and ending up here. It had all been way too much to handle.

Honestly I was scared.

This had just been the first day of weeks ahead of me. How was I supposed to get through this?

At least I had my own room. The only positive thing I could picture right now.

As I was laying in bed waiting for sleep to overcome me, I was thinking of Fred and George.

I imagined how my holidays would be if I was spending them with the twins instead of my aunt. Exact opposites.

I could not help but smile when I considered us pranking their siblings. Enjoying the homemade meals of their mom. Sitting together, talking and laughing until late in the night.

Afterwards Luna popped into my mind.

Spending my holidays with her would probably blow my mind. Every day I would hear of a new crazy enlightenment on her side.

We would go on little adventures, daydream while watching the clouds pass by.

I decided to picture those little dreams every night before falling asleep, to look forward to my next school year.

My time here had a deadline. I only had to make it through the next few weeks and I would be free for a while.

I was clinging to that hope as I was drifting off to sleep.

However my sleep did not last long.

Two tiny hands were shaking me awake.

I was drowsy with sleep, trying to recognize the creature next to me. It was another house elf. Knowing Bellatrix they probably had no name.

“Hey. What do you need?”, I wondered sleepily.

Instead of answering the elf bowed and disappeared again.

I was wondering about their strange behavior, but fell asleep again soon after closing my eyes. The exhaustion was working well apparently.

Nevertheless it did not take me long to wake up again by the same source.

That happened over and over again, no matter how many times I asked the elf what was up without getting any reply.

By the time morning came I did not want to get up.

My motivation was low anyway, considering my situation. But now I was almost more tired than last night.

I could barely grasp a clear thought.

“Good morning”, Bellatrix greeted me enthusiastically. “How was your first night?”

“Fine”, I lied.

There was a knowing grin on her lips, but I would not play her little game.

My whole body was heavy, my elbow and cheek probably bruised. But that was nothing I was not used to. From time to time Father had tried to discipline me, too, after all.

“Are you hungry yet?”, my aunt inquired.

I had not been aware of it, but after going to bed without lunch my stomach started growling at the mere thought of food.

So I nodded.

“The house elves are ready to serve you at any time. But only if you treat them properly. I had a talk with them, making sure they got the message”, she enlightened me.

Rage was burning its way through my body. Why would you hurt anyone, especially without any reason?

“It's not that hard, dear. This is just about proper language. Stop the requests and start the demands”, she proposed.

I snapped my fingers to call a house elf. This was not going to end if I did not start it.

In the matter of a second an unfamiliar house elf appeared in front of me.

How many elves lived here?

“I want you to bring me some food”, I enlightened the creature.

It was feeling wrong to talk down on them instead of crouching down, my words sounding too harsh in my own ears.

The elf bowed their head in front of me, but did not move.

“That's no order”, Bellatrix pointed out.

I sighed in frustration. This was nonsense!

But there was surely worse ahead of me and I could not endure all of this on an empty stomach.

“Go and bring me food”, I ordered the elf, my voice calm despite my words.

They did not move.

Bellatrix scoffed at my meek demand, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“Go and bring me food”, I repeated, my voice stronger this time.

Finally the elf vanished.

“So you're able to learn after all”, Bellatrix noted.

Her words were scaring me. What if she changed me without me noticing, one bit at a time?

From that moment on I decided to deny her.

I did not make an order to her elves again.

------------------

What do you think about this part?

btw I'm not taking the canon timeline too seriously in case you haven't noticed yet.

[lythea-creation]

Fighting Fire - Andy Herrera x fem reader (Chapter 6)

Chapter 1

Previous Chapter

warnings: none

word count: 1.081

-------------------

Andy's PoV

After our talk (f/n) and I were beginning to get more relaxed around each other again, teasing around and having fun.

At the same time we had somehow reached a turning point.

We were now also vending to the other if we had a tough day. No matter what happened at the station my first urge was to tell (f/n) about it.

I was also continuing her fighting training now. Hence she was coming over to the station several times a week after work.

Despite my desire to talk about it, I had not told anyone at the station about (f/n)'s past relationship. It was up to her to do that.

I was also keeping myself from pressuring her.

I pulled back when I wanted to kiss her. I kept my touches short and subtle.

Yet the others could not bite their tongue, teasing us non-stop.

They grinned at us when we were cooking, laughing and dancing together.

They encouraged us to finally get it together when we ended up too close for way too long.

And worst of all they were always bringing her up when she was not around.

I had asked (f/n) if she wanted me to tell them to stop. But apparently she did not mind.

So I was the only one going crazy, trying to laugh their remarks off.

Maybe because I was yearning for her so badly.

By now Christmas time was rolling around and we were all busy setting up decorations at the station, Carina and (f/n) helping out as well.

I noticed how close the two had gotten since (f/n) had started working at Grey-Sloan.

There was a small pang of jealousy whenever Carina was the one making her laugh instead of me, but all in all I was glad that (f/n) was back at making friends.

Seeing her happy always made my heart flutter in the best way.

“You've fallen so badly for her”, Maya noted.

Obviously she had caught me staring.

I groaned in frustration. “I know.”

I was way past the point of denying anything.

“Is she still closing herself off? Because it doesn't look like it when I see you two together”, Maya proposed.

“No. We talked and are finally back to being comfortable. I just don't want to pressure her”, I confessed.

“It's been months”, Maya reminded us. “Few of your relationships even lasted that long.”

I faked to be hurt by her statement.

"Just saying", she added. “I'm glad you finally found someone. I just hope it all ends the way you want. You deserve it.”

“Thanks, Maya”, I replied softly, pulling her in for a hug.

“Are we interrupting?”, Carina questioned with a smug smile, arms crossed in front of her chest.

(f/n) was standing right beside her, mirroring the Italian.

“Never”, Maya uttered while letting go of me and approaching her wife instead.

“We were just gonna get more decorations”, (f/n) enlightened me.

“Sure. Come on! I'll show you where you can find them”, I offered.

She did not need to be told twice.

“I love being here”, (f/n) stated on the way. “It's always so lively and positive. The best place to improve your mood.”

“Or to go crazy”, I joked.

Her laugh was echoing off the walls. “I know, right?”

I took a look at the rest of the boxes, trying to find the one with most of the decorations for the kitchen. Of course it was on the top shelf.

I managed to pull it down, but it would have fallen if (f/n) had not supported me last second.

“Thanks”, she remarked with a chuckle, taking the box from me.

Since beginning her training with me she had gotten pretty strong, considering how easily she was carrying the box.

After watching her walk off I got another box for myself.

It was insane how much decoration you needed for such a huge place.

I joined Jack for decorating the reception.

Luckily it was a calm day, although I did not dare to say that out loud.

We managed to finish decorating without any interruptions.

In the end we all gathered in the kitchen due to the smell of the Christmas cookies Carina and (f/n) were baking together.

Looking at it all, the room had a different aura. The decoration was beautifully set and slowly the Christmas mood was settling, combined with the smell, laughter and Christmas music in the background.

From time to time we had to head to an emergency after all.

When we returned (f/n) and Carina would have another bunch of Christmas cookies ready, knowing how quickly they would be demolished.

Close to the end of the shift we were called to a car accident that was physically and mentally draining.

Fortunately everyone survived. But the shift definitely ended with a bang.

I decided to take a shower before heading home, knowing that I would skip it if I waited too long.

Then I made my way to another cookie to get the energy to make it to my bed.

To my surprise (f/n) was still in the kitchen, hurrying over to me before I could make it to her.

“You look exhausted”, she worried.

“Just tired”, I assured her. “I thought you would've left by now.”

“I was waiting for you”, she admitted, a soft smile adorning her face.

How could I not reciprocate it?

She placed her arms around my neck, the closeness making my mind go crazy.

“You know … I think we've waited long enough”, she whispered. “I never managed to catch you in the right moment.”

What was she talking about?

Her smile widened as she signaled me to look up.

A mistletoe.

“I hung it up there”, she clarified.

I grinned at her, still slightly in disbelief.

“You mean it?”, I reassured, not wanting to be rejected again.

“Absolutely”, she promised and pulled me in for a kiss.

It was gentle and slow in the beginning, like we had all the time in the world.

But the longer it lasted, the deeper it turned.

I …

“Finally!”, Vic screamed through the whole building. “Guys, you're missing out!”

(f/n) pulled away with a blush, hiding her face in my neck.

Meanwhile I could not help but laugh.

I was definitely gonna make sure to lure (f/n) under this mistletoe whenever she was around.

-------------------

Finally! What do you guys think about the story so far?

Next Chapter

[lythea-creation]

The Price Of Family - Draco Malfoy x sister reader (Part 4)

Part 1

Previous Part

warnings: angst, mentions of child abuse, yk umbridge

word count: 718

---------------------

George's PoV

I had really been looking forward to school this year.

Pretty ironic considering that Fred and I both did not enjoy the strict atmosphere all that much.

But this was our last year and I could not wait to be finished.

The break had been torn between awesome and horrifying.

The situation in the wizarding world was escalating, the mood absolutely tense and gloomy.

Therefore and for the fact that we were finally adults, Fred and I had used the permission to use our magic at any time for our advantage to prank our family and the members of the Order of Phoenix.

Who could blame us?

Now we had been all ready to establish our brand of joke articles and meanwhile finish our education to actually get started on the life we wanted to live.

Well, that had been the plan.

But there were two major things standing in the way of enjoying our last year, except the final exams.

Firstly there was a pink psychopath taking over the school, who was also known as Dolores Umbridge.

She made us break our personal detention record for the first two weeks back at school.

She somehow managed to bring down the mood even more than it already was with the controversy of Voldemort glooming over our heads.

Every attempt to make the other students laugh and cheer them up resulted in more pain for us.

Of course we still persevered. The day they took our ability to bring light to the people would be the day we lost a huge part of ourselves.

But from time to time I had to hold Fred back from being too reckless and get us expelled close to our graduation.

Secondly (f/n) had suddenly stopped talking to us.

When we had approached her she had just told us to leave her alone and then left without another word.

So we had tried another way. Uniting over a prank.

We hexed her drink to turn her skin purple.

But instead of laughing and planning how to use it more efficiently, she glared at us.

“What's up with her?”, Fred wondered.

“She's definitely changed”, I agreed.

But why?

“We can't just let her off the hook”, Fred decided.

I suggested to talk to her again.

But when that did not work out, Fred took it into his own hands and introduced our new products to her. By using them on her.

Despite that she still refused to acknowledge us.

Until we all ended up in detention for breaking the rules.

For once (f/n) was actually just a victim and not our accomplice and it was making me feel guilty.

She did not seem like the cunning and passionate girl we used to know.

Since the school year had started she was wearing a poker face, barely talking to anyone at all.

She was hiding behind her books, apparently keen on getting good grades instead of standing up for her beliefs and having fun.

“(f/n), I'm sorry”, I proposed once we had left Umbridge's office.

In contrast to her I was holding my slightly bleeding hand to alleviate the pain.

“Just stop pulling me into your shit”, she mumbled and turned to walk off.

But Fred grabbed her wrist to stop her. “What's wrong? You're off”, he pointed out.

“We're worried”, I chimed in.

“What's wrong with you? This is your last year and you're throwing it away for some stupid pranks. I'm not like you. I'm planning on actually graduating next year”, she proclaimed.

“What happened?”, Fred insisted.

She forcefully pulled her arm away. “Do whatever you want, but leave me out of it.”

Her words were sending shivers down my back.

This was not (f/n). Her voice was so cold that it was painful to witness.

How could one person change so much in the matter of a few weeks?

“We need to do something”, Fred stated after (f/n) had left.

“I know”, I remarked.

My twin sighed, moving his hand through his hair. “I don't know what to do though.”

“I only have one thing in mind. But I'm sure you won't like it”, I enlightened him.

“What is it?”, he inquired.

“Let's talk to her brother.”

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In honor of my hp calendar showing the twins for february.

What do you think about the story so far? Do you have any suggestions for the next parts?

Next Part

[lythea-creation]

Home - Kohaku x fem reader

summary: (f/n)'s been traveling her whole life, no place to actually call her home. Little did she know that her one year in Japan would actually turn into thousands.

warnings: none

word count: 1.367

Author's note: Feel free to check out my Masterlists and make requests. No reposting please! Reblogging, comments and requests are always appreciated <3 If you like the story/my writing, please don't be shy to say it via comments or asks! It takes you a few seconds and might make my day. It's the best appreciation you can show to a writer you like.

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The first few seconds back in the light were actually dark.

It was so bright outside, my eyes not used to the light, that I could not see.

When I was finally able to perceive my environment I recognized a familiar face right in front of me.

“Ukyo?”, I wondered.

He explained the whole situation to me.

That humanity had been petrified and over 3000 years had passed. That they were trying to rebuild society, get back every single person that was still petrified and that they wanted to face the people behind the petrification on the moon.

They had decided to wake me up for my language skills as they were about to sail around the world to gather materials and establish societies there.

It was all a lot to take in.

Luckily they all granted me the time and space I needed while preparing for the long journey.

At some point I decided to help them out and got to know them all.

But I was still mainly talking to Ukyo. He was the only thing that had stayed from my old life. Hence he was giving me a sense of safety and stability in this new, unknown and ever changing era.

But on the ship all of that changed.

He had to be observant of our surroundings at all times, meaning that he did not have any capacity to talk to me.

Therefore I was standing alone at the railing, watching the endless blue of the sea.

“Hey”, a soft voice ripped me out of my thoughts.

I had not even noticed Kohaku approaching me.

“I think this is the first time I'm seeing you without Ukyo”, she noted.

I could not help but smile. “This obvious, huh?”

She chuckled slightly. “It's crazy to consider that you all had a life before this”, she proposed. “Life in this stone world is all we've ever known.”

“I can't imagine. It sure seems peaceful though. To live in a world where you don't have to rush all the time”, I thought out loud.

“I guess you could say that. But life's become more exciting since Senku joined us”, Kohaku proclaimed.

“That's not hard to imagine”, I declared. “You don't have any chance to get bored when he's around.”

“How do you know Ukyo?”, Kohaku questioned.

Her words took me off guard.

“We lived next doors. What a coincidence, huh? I was only supposed to stay in Japan for a year. But now it's been thousands”, I realized.

“You're not from Japan?”, Kohaku inquired shocked.

I shook my head. “I've been traveling with my parents my whole life because of their job. So I don't really have one place to call home. I figured why not continue that lifestyle. I didn't expect to end up on this ship though.”

Her eyes were glowing with awe. “You must've seen so much then”, she pointed out.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that”, I agreed.

“Can you tell me?”, she requested.

I could not help but smile at her excitement.

So for the rest of our journey I told her about my life. Well, when we did have any time for that anyway.

She also told me about hers which was almost the exact opposite.

I enjoyed listening to her and I loved the way she was intensely focused when I was telling her of places that were most likely long lost.

On a particularly stormy day out on the sea we were all rushing around to get back to safety.

I ended up dripping wet and decided to change clothes before I returned back to the deck.

“What song is that?”, Kohaku wondered, startling me to no end.

“What?”, I mumbled back.

“Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you”, she apologized, sending me a timid smile and placing her hand on my shoulder.

Her touch was making me yearn to get closer to her. But I resisted.

“No, it's fine. My head's just in the clouds sometimes”, I admitted with a chuckle.

Her smile grew into a grin for a second and then into a bright smile as she was taking her hand away.

I was missing her warmth already.

“I was just asking about the song you were singing”, she returned back to the initial topic.

“Oh, I was singing?”, I questioned.

Now she broke out into laughing. “Pretty much all the time”, she enlightened me.

I could feel the heat rushing up to my face. “I didn't even notice. Is it annoying? My parents couldn't stand my constant singing. It was driving them crazy.”

“I love your singing. Can you teach me some of the songs?”, she suggested.

“Of course”, I agreed abashed.

Now that we had talked about it, I noticed how she was often stopping in her tracks when she caught me singing.

Sometimes her eyes would close for a few seconds before she realized and got back to her work.

I started singing her favorite songs when she was around and ended up singing with her almost every day. Although she did persuade me to sing on my own most of the time.

One night we fell asleep on the deck like that. We woke up cuddled against each other, a blanket protecting us from the rash winds out here.

I wondered who had seen us like this and been considerate enough to bring us a blanket instead of leaving us or waking us up.

When Kohaku woke up as well, I could not help blushing as I was feeling her body against mine.

Meanwhile she simply smiled at me, still sleepy.

She did not make a big deal out of it. But she did get more comfortable being close to me.

She started placing her head on my shoulder or playing with my hand when I was talking to her or singing for her.

She was getting me my rations of food, so I would not have to wait in line.

I also caught her taking a glimpse at me every so often while we were working.

Nevertheless I could not actually consider that she might be having the same feelings I had.

My mind was telling me that she was only interested in me because of my life in modern civilization she had never had the chance to experience.

Yet another part of me was aware that there were way more people than just myself who could tell her about the old world.

Senku had way more knowledge. Ryusui more adventures to talk about.

And I barely knew about the lives of the other people on the ship.

“What are you thinking about?”, Kohaku inquired.

The smile on her face was making my heart flutter and my mind go numb.

“Nothing really”, I brushed it off.

She joined me at the railing, my eyes up at the stars shining above us.

Well, I was trying to look at them but the clouds were not willing to let me see them.

I could feel Kohaku's fingers brushing against mine on the railing.

“It won't be long until we arrive. I can't believe we've made it this far”, she stated.

“Okay, I can believe it because of Senku, but it's a lot to take in”, she corrected herself.

Her chuckle brought a smile to my face and before I could overthink it I took a step closer to her, our shoulders bumping softly into each other while my hand landed on hers.

“Sometimes I still can't believe that so much has changed”, I confessed. “But right now I'm glad to be standing here with you.”

Her eyes were wide as she was turning around to face me.

“Thank you for getting to know me”, I proposed.

It was hard to say it out loud and at the same time it was so easy with her.

Suddenly Kohaku closed the gap between us, her lips landing on mine.

In that moment I was sure that in this new world, I was finally going to find my home. With her.

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My first Kohaku Oneshot! I'm pretty excited about it, i dunno.

I was always thinking that I'd be bringing music into the stone world if i was there because i just can't stop singing. It's like breathing. So i at least wanted to write about it.

I hope you liked. Feel free to make suggestions for more Kohaku works.

[lythea-creation]

Fighting Fire - Andy Herrera x fem reader (Chapter 5)

Chapter 1

Previous Chapter

warnings: mentions of abuse

word count: 1.198

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(f/n)'s PoV

I did not like how things had turned out lately. I knew that Andy was not content with the situation either. Somehow we had lost our easy playfulness along the way and I hated that.

So I had a little surprise for her today after work.

I was home before her, at my place this time, and made her favorite food for dinner.

When she opened the door, with her own key by now, she appeared upset. One more reason to cheer her up.

“Hey, Andy! You hungry?”, I greeted her, taking her jacket and then leading her over to the dinner table.

As soon as we were both set, she started a hesitant conversation, the food still untouched.

“Actually I wanted to talk to you”, she broke the silence.

The tone of her voice was making me anxious.

“Did I do anything wrong? I know I've been a little set on doing the chores. But I'm working on it. Look.”

I handed her a sheet of paper which contained a plan for doing the chores to divide it evenly.

“You were worried about it?”, she wondered.

“Of course. I want you to feel comfortable”, I stated.

Suddenly she had tears in her eyes.

“I'm sor...”

She interrupted me: “Do you feel comfortable?”

Her question took me completely off guard.

As I was too baffled to reply she continued: “Because it doesn't seem like it anymore. You're always so cautious around me nowadays.”

“I know. I … I didn't mean to”, I admitted.

It was just getting harder every day not to love her, but loving her scared the hell out of me.

“I've been through a lot, you know. My life pretty much consisted of losing the people I loved, one way or another. It's just … I don't want to lose anymore because I can't commit. I'm fully in. And I know you want to be, too. I can feel it. But there's just this barrier between us that we didn't even create. And I want to tear it down together. If you want to”, she proposed. “I can't lose you, (f/n). Why are you pushing me away?”

She was sincere about it. The desperation and tears in her eyes were telling me. My gut was telling me. It hurt to believe it. That the truth Kate had worked hard for me to believe might be wrong. That there was someone who truly loved me. That I was not repulsive.

Suddenly I felt Andy's hand on mine. Her touch was always so gentle and warm. Such a huge contrast.

“I didn't want to make you cry”, she pointed out.

Her voice sounded raspy, strained by her own emotions.

I quickly wiped my tears away, feeling guilty for making it so tough for her.

“It's not you, Andy. Or maybe it is. But in a good way”, I enlightened her.

She smiled softly at me.

The food was long forgotten.

“It's just so hard and it shouldn't be. Kate fucked me up so badly”, I confessed. “It feels like she put my heart in chains and every time my feelings for you grow, my heart gets bruised by the chains, trying to break free.”

Andy stood up and led us over to the couch, pulling me into her arms.

There it was again. I loved it when she was holding me. Yet it felt like I was about to burn her up. Like I did not deserve her and this was all a sick joke to her.

“It's okay”, she soothed me. “I won't leave unless you want me to. What did Kate do?”

I knew that it was an offer, not a demand to answer her question.

Despite all the ways my body was resisting, I really wanted to give myself a chance to trust Andy. I did not want Kate to control me for the rest of my life.

Moving out and breaking up with her had been the first major steps to move on. But there was still more work to do.

“It's just so much. I don't even know where to start”, I realized overwhelmed.

Andy was tracing lazy patterns on my back, which was surprisingly grounding.

“She slowly pulled me out of my life. Persuaded me to stop working. Instead expected me to do all the chores. I expected myself to do all the chores because that was the only work that was left for me to do”, I recalled. “Whenever she wasn't content with my work or I hadn't been fast enough, she insulted me. Sometimes yelled at me. Or got physical.”

Andy's hold on me grew slightly tighter. “She hit you?!”

Her voice was shockingly calm, still in disbelief.

“At first it was mostly emotional, but yeah in the end she hit me pretty much every day”, I revealed.

“Is that why you wanted to learn how to fight?”, she wondered.

I nodded against her. “I was sick of being a punching bag. The time at the station reminded me of the life I wanted to live.”

I looked up at her.

She seemed to be lost in thought until realization struck her face. “Wait! The day we first met in the clinic. Did she do that?”

“You still remember that?”, I noted.

“Of course! Something about you drew me in right away. I asked Carina about you afterwards, but she told me you had fallen against a table. That much I already knew”, she remembered.

“It wasn't a total lie. Kate may have pushed me though”, I alluded.

Andy's jaw was tense. She was most likely fighting hard to contain herself. I knew how impulsive she could be.

“I want to trust you, Andy”, I proposed. “I really do.”

“I get it”, she assured me. “And you must be scared to try it. But it's different from before.”

“I know you ...”

“No this isn't about me”, she interrupted me. “You're stronger now, (f/n). Despite all the odds stacked against you, you managed to break free. Even if I was a danger to you, although I'm feeling the urge to throw up by even considering hurting you, you could leave me anytime. You did it once. You can do it again. You deserve to believe in yourself again.”

Her words were drawing me in.

“She's manipulating you”, my brain attempted persuading me. “She wants to give you a sense of control to lull you in.”

“Shut up!”

Only when I looked up at Andy's furrowed brows and her glassy eyes I realized that I had said that out loud.

Immediately I shook my head. “Not you”, I clarified. “My brain's driving me crazy.”

“It's okay. How about watching a movie and eating in front of the TV today?”, she suggested.

She was giving me more time to think after waiting for months.

I did not feel like I deserved her. Yet there was nothing more I wanted than to be with her.

Maybe a movie was a good choice for now.

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What do you think about the story so far?

Next Chapter

[lythea-creation]

Kohaku - Dr. Stone

I'm currently watching the new season of Dr. Stone. Well, I'm at the last episode of season 3. So I'm actually just gonna start the new season soon. (Hadn't watched season 3 until now).

And y'all can't tell me that I'm the only one who can't get Kohaku out of their mind. I mean ... she's cute and strong and empathetic and kind and smart ... (I could go on and on about this).

Now I just want to read some wholesome stuff about her, especially x fem reader. But I can barely find anything at all and it's so frustrating!

Is anyone with me?

I guess I'll have to write for her myself. (Which i kinda always end up with)

So if you feel like me, please let me know. I'll consider uploading my writing for her if you're interested. She definitely deserves more love. Suggestions for oneshots or scenarios with her are highly appreciated!

I just had to rant about it.