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“Were you scared during our last battle?”
The question had left Sumire’s mouth before she could think it through. Both she and Inosuke, the boar head-wearing demon slayer, had been more or less confined to 24/7 bed rest in the hospital ward in the west wing of the Butterfly Estate following their battle with Upper Moon Six. Even after Inosuke had regained consciousness a few days ago, having nothing but sterile white walls to stare at was agony , and Sumire finally decided to break the silence with an offhanded question. Or at least, with what she thought was an offhanded question.
Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect.
“Huh?! What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Inosuke roared, towering over Sumire as he leapt to his feet, steam billowing out of the mask’s nostrils. She couldn’t decide whether him keeping the mask on was better or worse at tempering his intimidation factor. “I’m not scared of anything! Anything! You hear me, Kunire?!”
“That’s not my name...”
Her weak protests went unnoticed. “I am Inosuke, King of the Mountains!” he crowed, jabbing a thumb at his bare chest with abundant pride. “Slayer of Ugly Demons! Being scared is for weaklings that get their heads crushed like grapes!”
Sumire slowly nodded along with his endless boasts, her half-smile fading with each bob of her head. He... He was completely right. They were full-fledged demon slayers, they shouldn’t be scared like they were five-year-olds with an imaginary monster in the closet. Being scared was for weaklings...
just
like
her—
“What do you think you’re doing up there?”
The deceptively sweet voice startled both patients, with the boar-headed one straight up toppling off his bed with a loud thump. Shinobu, the Insect Pillar, was poking her head through the doorway, her lips tilted up in a benevolent smile— but Sumire knew better than to trust it. Her hunch was proven correct a minute later when the Pillar carried on scolding, “I think you have been reminded many times to get proper bed rest, haven’t you? You know that the sooner you heal up, the sooner you can join your friends in rehabilitation training, right?”
“I know that! I’m not stupid!” Inosuke snapped, jumping back to his feet in a single spring. “I was just answering Kunire’s dumb question! What’s wrong with that, huh?!”
“Sumire-san?”
At the mention of her name, Sumire gave a guilty start and tried to hide under the sheets, but Shinobu caught her gaze before she could so much as move. “What question is he talking about?”
“It’s nothing, really! It’s not a big deal...”
“She asked what I’m scared of!” Inosuke hollered, and pointed accusingly at Sumire. “But I’m not gonna fall for a stupid trick like that! We were the ones who took down those wimpy Demon Moons, so what’s there to be scared of?!”
“Y-yeah. Nothing to be scared of,” Sumire laughed nervously.
Shinobu said nothing as her gaze slid between the stiff Sumire and the boar boy huffing and puffing off to the side. Then, slowly but surely, her smile stretched into something more... sinister was the only word she could use to describe it. The fear it inspired was unlike any demons she had faced before, even Upper Moon Six.
“Sumire-san asked that, did she? Oh dear,” Shinobu mock-sighed, cupping a hand to her face as she gazed down at Inosuke with a pitying look (despite being shorter than him). “It’s clear as day what she really meant, but you couldn’t understand her? Then again, I suppose it might be a bit too much to ask of you.”
Oh no.
Unfortunately, it only just dawned on Sumire what the Pillar was trying to pull at the same time it had set Inosuke off. “Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?!” he growled.
“Hm? Inosuke-san, it really doesn’t matter if you can’t understand her true intentions.” Shinobu’s feather-light laugh was the sound of utter betrayal as she ignored Sumire’s frantic motioning for her to stop. “She must’ve been testing you, but it should’ve occured to her that simple-minded boys like you simply can’t understand, so there is no need for you to worry about the matter anymore!”
The moment Sumire saw a throbbing vein on his clenched fist, she knew there was no going back.
“Please have a good rest!” Sumire swore that the Insect Pillar flashed a smile of shameless mischief her way before sliding the door shut, but there was no time to go chasing after her before she was pounced on by one angry boar boy.
“Kunire!”
“It’s... It’s Sumire, Inosuke...”
“What was that butterfly lady talking about? Tell me!” Inosuke demanded. “What are you testing me for?!”
“I wasn’t...” Sumire resisted the urge to facepalm, instead pinching her nose bridge to relieve the impending headache.
Counting up to three, she eventually deigned it safe enough to continue down this dangerous line of questioning.
“I wasn’t testing you anything, Inosuke,” she tried to explain, gently nudging Inosuke off her bed. Grumbling, he complied... partially, leaving his masked head up on the side of her bed like a dog. Adorable. “I just asked you because...”
Sumire hesitated, and glanced around to make sure they were truly alone before leaning down to whisper into the mask’s ear.
“Can you keep this a secret, Inosuke? I’d rather if no one finds out about this. Please, Ino? You’re the only one I can trust with this,” Sumire added with the best honeyed smile she could muster.
It worked like a charm.
“Of course, Kunire! I can keep secrets better than anyone else!” Inosuke bragged, and Sumire sighed in relief. He pounded his fists on the ground. “Come on, hurry up!”
‘Yes, hurry up, Sumire. It’s not like you can make yourself look worse after that fiasco in the red light district.’
A tinge of bitterness climbed up the back of her throat, but Sumire forced it down as she spoke, “Do you... remember the battle with Upper Moon Six? How you got poisoned with the scythe?”
Inosuke perked up. “Yeah! The mantis boy! He tried to stab me through the heart, but I was too smart for him!”
Sumire nodded, and clasped her bandaged hands together to hide the trembling. “Yes, and... I thought he had killed you for good when I saw you lying there, not moving, and all I could do was stand there and watch. I couldn’t force myself to protect you guys when you needed it the most... I couldn’t protect you , and you got hurt so badly because of that...”
The trembling spread from her hands all throughout her body, to the point that even Inosuke tilted his head upon seeing it. “It’s not even the first time, too,” Sumire murmured, a hollow laugh slipping past her lips. “Every time someone needs me, I turn useless... I couldn’t stop you from getting hurt, I couldn’t even save...”
Something bloomed in her heart. Guilt? Anger? Sumire couldn’t identify it; only struggle to keep her expression neutral as the painful sensation extended like gnarly vines, wrapping around her heart.
“I-I asked because I thought y-you might’ve felt the same way, but it was stupid of me to even think that!” Sumire blurted out, her eyes starting to sting. Inosuke hadn’t moved an inch since she first started talking, those bulbous eyes of his mask staring straight ahead with its glassy gaze. What was he thinking? Surely nothing good. There was no way he could think well of someone as weak as her. “Y-you’re so brave and tough, a-and you even continued to fight after getting stabbed and poisoned! What did I do? Nothing! I did nothing to h-help and—!”
“Kunire?” Inosuke called out quietly.
A whirlwind of emotions enveloped her.
=0=
Inosuke watched in silent confusion as Kunire hunched forward, burying her face in her bandaged hands as tremors took hold of her shoulders. She was obviously trying to hide her emotions from him, but nothing could escape the Great Inosuke’s eyes! So why was she trying? He could easily see a growing wetness seeping through her fingers, and her mouth curling downwards into a frown—!
... Oh.
His elation fled as quickly as it had come. Inosuke felt himself deflate, staring at Kunire with an unfamiliar helplessness. Why was she crying? Sure, that flashy Pillar guy got his arm and eye sliced (but none of his friends did, much to his internal pride), but he was still alive! It wasn’t like when Googly Eyes died protecting them (Inosuke frowned under his mask at the reminder).
The more he thought about it, the more he didn’t understand, and the more it made drove him mad . The only one who could help him understand was the butterfly lady (and he didn’t want to approach her if he didn’t have to; she was scary) and Kunire, who was too busy crying and trying to hide said crying.
‘What should I do?!’ he thought in frustration. Gonpachiro would’ve probably suggested training, and Monitsu would’ve
burst into tears, screamed or asked Kunire to “marry” him (whatever that meant). ‘I’m supposed to be Lord Inosuke, and what kind of lord can’t help his minions?! C’mon, think!’
After a brief pause, a lightbulb lit up in his head.
“Kunire!”
She looked up. Her face was completely devoid of the pain she’d been exhibiting, or fear, or... anything. It was like she hadn’t been crying at all just a minute ago. The sight made Inosuke squirm internally, but he couldn’t freeze up now! “Let’s go out! Just the two of us!” he said. “It’s night out now! We can go starwatching!”
“... I know what you’re trying to do, and I appreciate the effort. Really,” Kunire insisted with that too empty smile that he hated. “But I’m honestly fine. You don’t have to bother with me anymore, I’m not worth the effort.”
Inosuke froze.
“Don’t have to bother”...? Why? Because she didn’t think he was capable of helping her? Was that it? When the insulting insinuation had sufficiently sunk in, anger bubbled up like a spring well before unleashing in a single, aggravated roar. The only other occupant jumped. “You don’t think I can cheer you up?!”
Kunire’s jaw dropped, obviously in awe. “Huh?”
“I’ll show you! I’ll bother you until you can give a real smile, just watch me!” he crowed.
He had the perfect plan.
=0=
“I-Inosuke? Ino?”
Sumire didn’t like the way Inosuke was staring at her so intently. She liked it even less when he started guffawing and talking to himself with the energy of an escaped madman. Had the demon’s poison finally affected his mind?
“Maybe you should lie back down, Ino,” Sumire said gently, reaching out to ease the boar boy back down. “I’ll get Aoi-san to check up on—“
Without a word, Inosuke wrapped his arms around her waist and threw the stunned Sumire over his shoulder.
“—WAH!”
Her cries of terror went ignored as Inosuke barreled out of the room, and down the hallway with the recklessness of a stray cannon, nearly bowling over the butterfly girls in his mad dash. “Kiya! Inosuke-san!”
“OUT OF MY WAY!” Inosuke bellowed, leaping over a speechless Aoi. “THE KING IS COMING THROUGH! GWAHAHA!”
“Inosuke-san? Is that Sumire-san with you?!” Aoi shrieked, the laundry basket tumbling out of her arms, but she barely noticed as she tried to give chase (but in vain). “Put her down this instant! Both of you are still injured!”
“Inosuke, please go back!” Sumire tried to plead with him.
But it was as if all of their words were bouncing off his thick skull as Inosuke burst through the front door, his wild laughter shattering the tranquil night air. All she could do was scream as both of them soon became black dots shrinking down the dirt path.
“INOSUKEEEEE!”
Inosuke finally dumped her onto a field of springy, soft grass after what seemed like hours (he was surprisingly gentle about it, too). It was only once her head stopped spinning that Sumire dared to roll onto her back, taking in deep gulps of air to steady her racing heart.
Inosuke flopped right next to her, wriggling out of his mask with an immensely pleased expression.
“Inosuke! Why did you do that?” Obviously not sharing his joy, Sumire shot a (half-hearted) glare at him. “You’ve gone and upset the hospital staff, and... and you dragged us out here in the middle of the night without our swords?!”
With a snort, Inosuke suddenly threw down their swords between them— still in their sheaths, thankfully.
‘Oh. When did he... You know what, maybe it’s better I don’t ask.’ Sumire shook her head and gave him a rueful smile. “Sorry, Ino, that’s my bad. It’s good thinking on your part to bring our swords along, even I forgot.”
She chose not to mention the fact that it was because he had functionally kidnapped her.
“Of course I remembered!” Inosuke huffed with indignation— although, judging by the pleased vibes she was getting from him, it wasn’t entirely sincere. “If we got hurt again, the butterfly lady would get mad at us again! She’s... She’s scary when she’s mad.”
Sumire held in a giggle. After all that was said and done, it was rather funny to see the self-proclaimed “Lord Inosuke” cower at the feet of the smallest Pillar.
A comfortable silence fell upon the duo. Inosuke had his arms crossed behind his head, eyes trained on the sky above them... When it became clear that he wasn’t going to explain himself, Sumire decided to take matters into here own hands.
“Ino? Why did you bring us out here?” she asked. Rolling to her side, Sumire propped herself up on an elbow as she eyed Inosuke.
His peaceful expression immediately scrunched up into a frown. “It’s obvious, ain’t it?” he barked.
Sumire blinked.
“We’re here because you like to starwatch! I remembered you said that it calms you,” Inosuke said. “So if I brought you here, that you’d feel better!”
Her eyes widened. Absolutely no hesitation in his answer... Letting out a small snort, her gaze softened. “Is that so?”
Inosuke gave an affirmative nod.
She giggled. “That’s very thoughtful of you,” Sumire said quietly, patting his head. “Thank you, Ino.”
Despite the dim lighting, she could see a red tint creeping onto his cheeks even as he began kicking up a fuss. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Just giving you head pats. It’s the least I can do after all the trouble you went through for me.” Sumire tilted her head. “Why, do you want me to stop?”
“No! Keep doing it!” Inosuke punctuated his point with a growl as he forcefully shoved his head under her palm. Laughing, Sumire let herself flop back down, eyes drifting up to the clear night sky as she absentmindedly ran her fingers through his hair.
Inosuke was right, even if his method was a tad extreme— this was calming. Stars splashed across the blanket of darkness above, twinkling away without a care in the world as they stretched into the horizon, far beyond what her measly human eyes could see. Out of habit, she began seeking out any constellations that she knew of, her mind wandering...
“So do you feel better?”
“Huh?”
“Do you feel better?” Inosuke repeated impatiently. “You said that you liked starwatching because it made you calm, right? So you can tell me why you were asking that dumb question!”
“Ah...”
Right, she had completely forgotten about that. Uncertainty gnawed on the edge of her conscience as two conflicting ideas fought against each other... but ultimately, one won out.
Inosuke did go through all that trouble just to cheer her up. It wouldn’t be fair if she continued to freeze him out like this.
After shifting around to make herself comfortable, Sumire took a deep breath. “So... I want to make clear that I wasn’t trying to test you or anything like that. Friends don’t do that to each other, it’s a bad thing to do.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “Yes. I was just...” She exhaled slowly, her face gaining a blush herself. “I... I wanted to know if you were scared like I was during... during the battle with Upper Moon Six. That’s it.”
“Why?”
“That’s... I...” Her face twisted into a grimace. “... It was for a completely selfish reason. If you had said that you were scared like I was, I would’ve felt better about myself. That I wasn’t the only... coward.” The last word came out as a whisper.
The silence that followed was deafening.
“I-I’m sorry!” Sumire immediately said, her face now completely hot with shame. “I wasn’t thinking, I know! It was just a moment of... I shouldn’t have said that! All of you were so amazing out there, and I was stupid enough to let you get hurt! I couldn’t move fast enough! I know what I said was wrong, and I, I have no excuse for it! I’m really sorry...”
Sumire, finding herself unable to bear seeing Inosuke’s sure-to-be negative reaction, trained her eyes on the starry night instead.
“... I...”
Sumire braced herself.
“... I don’t think you’re a selfish person at all!”
Her eyes flew open in shock.
Inosuke had flipped onto his front, glaring at her with those piercing green eyes. “You’re not selfish! Because if you are, you’re calling my other friends selfish, too!”
“Eeeh? Tanjiro-san and Zenitsu-san? Wh-what do they have to do with this?” Sumire stammered.
“Because they said the same thing a long, long time ago!” Inosuke said triumphantly, as if he took pride in such a thing. “They share meals with other people because it makes them happy knowing other people are happy! Just like you! You want to know that I’m scared so that you’ll feel better!”
“What? That’s not the same thing!”
“It is!” Inosuke insisted. “They wanted to share their feelings! You wanted to share your feelings, too! It’s not selfish!”
Sumire stared at him, mouth drifting open in shock. If that had come out of anyone else, she would’ve thought they were making fun of her. But his voice was nothing but pure, unadulterated sincerity. He genuinely believed in his analogy. He believed her .
“B-but still, I could’ve done better,” she murmured almost on instinct. “If I had moved faster... Or swung my sword a little sooner, I could’ve...”
Inosuke barked out a “Bah!”, grabbing her arm as he shot up to his feet. “So what?! Who cares about ‘What if’s?” he growled, stamping his feet a little as Sumire gawked at him in astonishment. “All we have to do is keep going forward! If you think you’re a coward now, then I’ll help you train it away until you’re confident in yourself again!”
Sumire stared... before she pulled Inosuke into a sudden hug. He squawked, but she did not let go, nor did he attempt to wriggle out of her grip.
“Thank you,” she murmured, her breath tickling his thick curtain of hair. “I needed that.”
“I... O-of course! You’re one of my loyal minions, it’s my duty to look out for you!” He had a light shade of pink dusting his cheeks as she pulled away, his lips pulled into a pleased grin. He pumped his fist into the air. “So let’s go train now! Train until we get rid of our weakness! Let’s go, Sumire!”
She placed her hands on her hips. “Oh, so you do know how to say my name correctly?” she asked in an amused tone, cocking an eyebrow.
“Of course I do, Kunire!”
Sumire sighed, but a small smile appeared on her face nonetheless. Inosuke could be a bit much sometimes, but honestly speaking, she would not have him any other way. “I think I’ve had enough of star gazing for one night,” she said softly. “Shall we go back to Shinobu’s place now? We wouldn’t want to worry her any more than we already have.”
Inosuke was all for it — he apparently didn’t like the “itchy grass” much — and after a bit of shifting, Sumire found himself on his back, arms and legs locked around him as he held their swords. “Make way for the King and Queen, you ugly demons! Or we’ll cut you down!” he bellowed, knees bending in a crouch.
Sumire smiled, nodded, then frowned in the span of two seconds. “Wait, what do you mean by Quee— WHOA!”
They were off in a flash, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake as Inosuke sped down the dirt path. Sumire barely managed to cling on for dear life as his maniacal laughter rang endlessly in her ears. It was a wonder that no demons attempted to jump them at any point of their journey back, all the way until they came face-to-face with Shinobu’s twitching smile, and even as most of her scolding was directed at the kidnapped (Inosuke), Sumire couldn’t help but feel a thrill of fright running up her spine as the Pillar turned on her next.
But you know what?
It didn’t bother her as much now. Not with Inosuke by her side.