Helloooooooo! I'm so late, very late! I'm so sorry! I'm so busy with my shop and now the holidays! But here you have another one! :)
Hope you enjoy it like I enjoyed writing it!
Thanks for all the love! I thank you from the bottom of my heart you guys like my stories and wait eagerly for more chapters! This isn't over, I will be posting more! :)
Merry Christmas for all of you!
CHAPTER 5: THE PROPOSAL
Aoi Kanzaki closed the door of her private office and looked at the medicines scattered on a table, her eyes unfocused. She was too tired, but she had to finish her work. She frowned, the big predicament she was in coming to her mind. Nothing would change if she ran away or order the girls to not let the guy enter the state again. She sighed.
Well, not every day a guy proposes to you.
Yeah, like the big proposal, with a ring, flowers and all.
Sitting on her chair, she started to order the medicines. Two months ago, after a long surgery to deathly injured demon hunters, a strange man visited the state, demanding to see her. She had never spoken to him before, but she had seen him several times on her trips to the town. The man, who had invited himself into the house, grabbed her hands and shouted he wanted to marry her.
She couldn't speak. For the first time in years, she forgot the way to form words as she stuttered, blushing. The girls gasped and, like the demon hunters and Kakushi who had heard them, widened their eyes, waiting for her response. Then, the gears in her brain moved again, and she declined his offer. Unfazed, the guy made her promise (yes, made her promise) she will think about it.
"Please understand I haven't said yes!"
"I do! But you will change your mind!" He left the state, not before giving her the flowers, winking at her.
Yeah right, he did understand everything.
After that day, the guy visited the state repeatedly, asking her the same question until, with a vein-popping on her forehead and a sweet smile, she politely said she wouldn't marry him and that she didn't like him. Being that clear with him about her feelings reassured her heart and brain, however, that didn't stop the guy. He continued visiting the state frequently to watch her work.
He always commented about her management, the poor infrastructure and the lost potential the state had, criticizing her line of work. She felt he was studying her.
Most of those times she couldn't concentrate at all, his presence making her uncomfortable. Also, she was disgusted that her negative answers did not stop his eagerness and constant visits. The situation got on a worse level when his meddling uptight mother started to visit the state and, aside from the constant critics and judgments, she made the blue-haired girl try on, at least, ten silky kimonos per day. Aoi politely told her she won't marry the guy but the woman, stubbornly and kind of rude, said she was sure her son would charm Aoi because "who wouldn't want to marry my son?"
And that she must marry him because she was a doctor and the family blood needed one. Great, a marriage of convenience.
And because Aoi was getting old and was passing the marriage age (she wasn't that old! She only had twenty).
What kind of logic was that!?
The guy belonged to a wealthy, influential materialist family, terrific.
She was tired, honestly.
After some time of constant torture and invasion of her personal space, Aoi concluded that politeness wasn't going to take her anywhere. So, she would have to be a rude and unmannered woman and kick him out of the state. It didn't work. She had shouted at him, but the guy nodded, concluding her serious and strong character was what his family blood and line of business needed. "I have chosen my next wife well" he had said.
And at that Aoi, trembling a little due to the anger mixed with shock, surrendered defeated. She won't accept his proposal but will accept that she cannot stop him, not with civilized ways. She even had used her scary angry face, the same one she uses with a certain wild mountain man.
That was the best I-wont-put-up-with-your-stupidity-today face she had.
She needed a greater force, something stronger.
She stopped arranging the medicines, looking at a blank spot on the table. To be honest, the proposition had made her think a lot. Truth be told, she wasn't exactly thinking about marriage, well, not with him.
Aoi put the medicines in a box and looked at the window of the room focusing on the pale sky, a question lingering in her mind.
"What will Inosuke think if he knows about it?"
The blue-haired woman couldn't help but wonder about the guy who had been in her head since the day they had met and her eyes softened a little, remembering the time when they were both kids and stubbornly fought with each other for every little thing.
But, he wasn't the main reason she had rejected the proposal.
She wasn't thinking about marriage because she considered she had a more important duty with the state, with the demon hunters, with the girls, and with Kanao. She felt she'll be unfaithful to them, in a lot of ways. After Shinobu's death, Kanao and her made the promise to protect their big sisters' state, to take care of their little sisters, and provide help to the injured demon hunters.
How would she go with an unknown man and leave Kanao alone? Not when the girl was risking her life for them. Not when she was sacrificing her future for them. She felt she'll betray all her comrades if she left her work and the teachings Shinobu had been inculcating to her.
Betrayal.
Even if she wanted to deny it, the green-eyed guy appeared in her mind when she thought about the whole situation. She felt a soft jolt on her spine. Putting the box on one of the shelves the room had, she exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. That sinfully hot man who couldn't take anything seriously aside from fighting and eating. What will he do if he knows about this fiasco? That a boy had asked her to marry him. Probably, he'll make a tantrum. She liked him, yes, (she even loved him) but Inosuke was always thinking about fighting and risking his life. Even if he was a grown-up man now, she was sure settling down, have a family, and live in a house in the mountains were the last things he was thinking about.
But she also knew he loved her too.
But, well, she was aware (and was sure he was too, in his way) of the closeness and intimacy between them, the strange complicity they had it was like an unspoken feeling.
Aside from their sexual tension.
They knew each other for years. Inosuke was overprotective with the people he considered his friends and she was more than happy with that, but, at some point in their lives, she had turned to be special, she felt it and he knew it too. Even if they fought or insulted each other, they couldn't last half an hour without speaking. Plus, sometimes, she was sure he injured himself only because he wanted her to touch him and, usually, she had to repeat to herself she was a professional doctor before a young woman and indulge in her desires. Aoi was sure she will never stop blushing every time he exhibited his iron muscled body. Worst was, his senses were too powerful, and when he smirked at her, knowing she was hyperventilating thanks to him, she felt the ground was going to open and swallow her alive because she was a sinner.
It was unspoken chemistry, she knew.
From her part, well, she wanted to take him to her room and have her way.
From his part, she knew he ate her with his eyes every time he thought she wasn't looking.
But, for some reason, neither of them dared to take another step.
She smiled, wondering if he will come and try to kill the man who had proposed. She often liked to think he was like her prince charming, coming to her rescue in his big white horse. Well, to be more precise, in his big furry boar if it was up to him. She had dreamed of him countless times, him coming to her room and have his way with her body, telling her he was in love with her. In her dreams, he wore those western clothes she had seen in town one day and would be riding his big boar, and then, like a prince, he would knee in front of her, kiss her hand and, grinning cutely at her, he would tell her she must be the mate of the amazing Inosuke sama, the king of the mountains.
He would marry her and her fried shrimps.
Aoi giggled at the scene in her mind, mostly because Inosuke being a prince charming was beyond impossible as, even with all the years that had passed, the guy was still a wild unmannered brute. But hey! At least he could write and read now! He wasn't that clueless anymore and was learning about life and she was really happy about his change but also worried, it was like she was sending a kid to school, exposing him to strange people.
And women. Lots of lots of women who would want to have him for themselves.
She frowned, her jealousy making sceneries in her mind, and she pictured Inosuke with a random woman hugging his arm.
She groaned annoyed.
Over my dead body I'll let that happen.
A knock on the door startled her, "Yes!?"
Naho appeared at the door with a scared expression, and Aoi immediately knew what was happening.
"Masato's-san mother is here, again"
"With more kimonos?"
"With more kimonos" Naho sighed.
"Shit!"
Naho widened her eyes at Aoi's curse, then a smile appeared on her face. Aoi couldn't fool anyone, not even the little girls. While the blue-haired woman continued to curse under her breath, finishing arranging the medicines, Naho wondered if all the time Aoi spent with Inosuke was affecting the older girl and her refined and elaborated vocabulary.
She quietly hoped the beast breath user would come to the rescue.
It was a rare and intimidating sight for the young demon hunters to see the three infamous and "pillar monsters" together. The legend said they escalated the demon hunter ranks at flash speed, like monsters indeed. The youngsters looked at them with awe and respect as the three guys walked calmly inside the Butterfly state. Some of them greeted them politely, others lowered their heads and quickened their pace, others were just too nervous to talk to them. But most of them were looking at them in amazement as if they belonged to another dimension.
And as always, the attention made them a little uncomfortable.
The honest and kind Sun pillar, Tanjirou Kamado, chuckled uncomfortable, waving at some of his subordinates that looked ready to go to work. The Thunder Pillar, Agatsuma Zenitsu, commented about some whispers he was hearing while the Beast Pillar, Hashibira Inosuke, complained at them for slacking instead of training, but they were doing a damn good job admiring him.
"I'm hungry! Where the hell is Aoku?"
"It's Aoi-chan, pig head. After all these years, why can't you remember it?"
"Shut up, Monitsu!"
"Zenitsu!"
"Come on! Don't start you two!"
Inosuke scoffed, rolling his eyes, Zenitsu groaned annoyed and Tanjirou sighed, relieved they had shut up. The topic changed to the reunion Kiriya (ahem, Oyakata-sama) had made. They had talked about the remaining demons in the nearby zones. Due to Muzan's death, the demons' presence had decreased considerably but hadn't disappeared as some of them had freed themselves from his blood and still were going on a rampage. Although those demons weren't on Muzan level, the demon hunter organization was still fighting the horrible things, and the three of them had been at it for more than a whole year, without proper rest.
So a worried Kiriya had ordered them to rest. He had given them some days of vacation because he needed them in top form. After Inosuke complaints and Zenitsu cry of happiness, Tanjirou had dragged them to the state for revision, treatment, and a well-deserved rest. The red-haired always found himself surprised at how strong they had become, due to the fact they had been able to work for a year without being injured deathly (some dislocated bones, some light wounds but nothing serious that demanded them to be at the butterfly state).
Their feet stopped when they saw a beautiful tired Kanao (breathtaking away in the eyes of the red-haired, who smiled instantly) who was talking to the three growing little girls. They were discussing something he couldn't hear but smelled rather odd and by Kanao's face, it was a piece of shocking news. But the mystery did not last long as Zenitsu eyes widened at the recently heard gossip and he couldn't help but shout at the recently hot news.
"SOMEONE HAS PROPOSED TO AOI CHAN!?"
"HUUUUUUH?"
Tanjirou, Kanao, the girls, and Inosuke turned to him. Happy, Kanao ran towards Tanjirou and hugged him, welcoming him. She also had been called to Oyakata-sama's place but, because it was a pillar reunion, she had to control herself from her lovely sweet desire to hug her boyfriend/fiance every time she saw him. The redhead smiled contently at her, kissing her forehead as Kanao blushed at the sweet affection he showed. Zenitsu rolled his eyes and Inosuke tugged his yellow haori.
"What the hell are you talking about Monitsu!?"
Zenitsu opened his mouth to talk, but Nezuko appeared, running towards them and launching herself over Tanjirou. A year without seeing them was too much and, even if Nezuko (all human thanks to her bother effort) was now part of the Butterfly state girls, she still missed his brother and friends a lot. It wasn't a surprise the blonde guy broke when Nezuko hugged him, his hug longer than the one her brother and her "bosh" received. Zenitsu (after an inward attack) smiled, and he tentatively put a strand of her hair behind her ear, making her blush more. Their eyes were locked, shining in a lovely trance.
Broken by Inosuke, of course.
"What the fucking hell were you saying about Aoi, Monitsu!?"
Zenitsu rolled his eyes at his friend's lack of knowledge (and tact), but Inosuke couldn't care less. He was saying something about a damn proposal and, even with all the reading and study he had done in all those fucking years, he had to admit he still had to understand the context of some words. However, by the tone Monitsu had used, he knew it wasn't a good thing that someone had proposed to her. So if Aoi wasn't there to tell him what the fucking hell that meant, Monitsu or Gompachirou were going to tell him.
Just when Monitsu was going to talk once again, a sliding door opened, startling the recently reunited group. A tall uptight old woman, who looked like the old hags he had seen in the red district years ago, emerged. With critical eyes and hypocrisy in her features, she spotted them.
"Ohh! There you are, girls! I have been looking for you"
Inosuke noticed how the three little girls flinched at the venomous voice but turned politely at her as the woman, after looking at the whole gang with contempt, pointed the room. His eyes, and the eyes of the other young adults there, followed her long bony finger.
"I have finished with the kimono and makeup! You three should see how beautiful and ready Aoi chan looks for my amazing son!" The woman smirked, satisfied by the imposed fact Aoi will marry her son and there wasn't anybody who will complain about it. Not even Aoi herself.
Inosuke frowned, understanding every word the woman had said, his brain emphasizing the - ready for my amazing son -. Before the girls could move or say anything, he walked to the woman, to the horror of his friends. Tanjirou and Zenitsu tried to prevent whatever he would do but were stopped by Nezuko and Kanao. The blue-haired man passed the woman without greeting her and entered the room, ignoring her complaints about his impoliteness and everything else he gave a fuck about, and saw Aoi's frame, her back facing him.
She was wearing (for his point of view) a blinding to his eyes, brain-numbing, too sparkling orange kimono, and her hair was in a messy bun. Turning his head to the vanity that was on the corner of the room, he saw the scattered make-up. He knew about it thanks to his mission to the red district years ago and flinched at the memory (Uzui had scarred them for life, according to Zenitsu). Turning his head to her again, he noticed she was holding a mirror examining her face. With great surprise, he heard her curse (oh yes, she even was swearing) under her breath.
I must have been rubbing off to her. He smirked as she muttered his favorite monosyllable and he felt the rush of pride wash his body, the heat he knew so well when she was around him burned in his gut.
"Cursing, Aoku?" He snorted as she visibly flinched and straightened her body, her back still facing him. "Next time you complain about the amazing me being rude, I will make you remember this!"
When he approached her, she felt the warmth of his chest hitting her back. She gasped when he tugged at the collar of the kimono, the tip of his finger brushing on purpose the skin of the back of her neck playfully. "So, who's the old hag, and why are you wearing this fucking thing?" His hand came to her shoulder, feeling the soft bright silk under his calloused palm, and slowly slid it to her arm and pulled gently to turn her and face him. He widened his eyes when he saw her face.
He was prepared for it. From the bottom of his heart, he was prepared to be hit with a beautiful, breathtaking away girl in makeup, with soft peach lips and sparkling blue eyes, showing the sweetest embarrassed expression she often put around him.
Instead, he found a demon ready to kill anybody who'd cross paths with her. Not to mention the makeup looked as if Inoko, Zenko and Sumiko had been mixed into one.
His loud laugh was uncontrollable.
"HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA"
"YOU- YOU- YOU SHUT UP STUPID BRUTE PIG!"
"OH SHIT! YOUR FACE! HAHAHAHAHHAHAA"
Aoi pulled her hair, frustrated, "SHUT UP!"
"HAHAHAAHAH IT SUITS YOUR DEMON LOOK HAHAHA HAHAHA!"
"NOOOOOOOO!"
At that, the original Sumiko and Zenko peeked from the door with the little girls while Kanao and Nezuko tried to calm a displeased woman, complaining about the brute mannerism she had found in the house since the first day she had come and -
"- you are all young ladies! How you can live with all that unmannered boys and - STOP DOING THAT STUPID BOY!"
Inosuke rolled his eyes, snickering at the demon in front of him. The others flinched at the shriek the mistress had made when she saw the dark-haired man cleaning the face of an angry (but blushing) ready-to-kill Aoi. He clicked his tongue before giggling at the blue-haired girl. Telling her to close her eyes, one of his hands pulled up her chin as the other made his cleaning job with a handkerchief he had found in the vanity, both of them ignoring the loud woman. Admiring his job and the clean face of a calmer Aoi, he smiled proudly, inflated his chest, and grinned cutely. With his hands on his waist, he nodded.
"Ready like always, Aoku!" He looked satisfied, "I like you better like this!"
At his declaration, everyone froze, including the older lady. Grinning childishly at her, he pointed to the door with his thumb, "I'm hungry, Aoukishi! I want fried shrimp!"
Aoi blinked at him, confused and blushing. She nodded, "ok, ok, but first leave this room so I can take this kimono off!"
"And after that, I will check you," she looked at the hunters at the door, "all of you."
Inosuke grinned, nodded, and left the room, closing the doors behind him, sending daggers to the older woman with his green eyes as she killed him with hers. Get Aoi ready for his amazing son? Bullshit! The only amazing man she has to get ready for was him.
"There are more men than the last time I came here"
The man in question, Masato, red roses in hand, neatly dressed with a mix of occidental and oriental clothes, came to the state thanks to the insistent whines of his mother. According to her, a huge unmannered man was stalking his wife. Doubting her words, he looked around the place, seeing some guys doing some exercises. His face lit up when he saw his fiancee, running around the state, barking orders, talking to some people dressed in black about the critical condition of some new patients.
The guy narrowed his eyes, wondering why they were dressing like that and what kind of job did they do to be so injured. But, well, it wasn't his business. He focused on Aoi. She looked so perfect to be the next doctor of his influential family. Even if she wasn't from a prominent family, she was classy and well learned. She'll polish herself with my family. Smiling, not reading the bad of the situation, he called her and walked towards the blue-haired, who looked more startled than angry.
"As beautiful as always Aoi san!"
"Masato san! You should go! I'm busy here!" Aoi said, looking around the garden, instructing the Kakushi to take the wounded people to the recovery wing. Walking (more like running) towards that room, she felt the guy following her.
"I brought you flowers!" The guy smirked as he took her hand, stopping her, "how about we go to a quiet place to talk?"
Aoi, who was getting angrier by the second, turned to him, "I'm busy Masato san! These injured people need me! I won't leave them untreated!"
"But there are other nurses here!"
"I won't discuss this with you!" Aoi resumed her walk, wondering if the guy couldn't give a damn about injured people or he was just stupid.
"I just don't see the problem if you have more people here" he shrugged "they are your workers! You should learn to delegate these things, Aoi-san!"
Of course, he did not give a fuck about it.
"They are not my workers, Masato-san! And they too are busy!"
Aoi opened the door of the recovery wing with a loud slam and entered the room, deciding to ignore the guy who was complaining about the fact she won't pass time with him. He was even saying she was his fiancee and Aoi's eyebrow twitched with fury when she heard the f word. She had been clear with him, right? She had been so clear with him! Why must I suffer this? Just when she turned to him, to shout at him for being an insensible idiot and that she will never accept his proposal, a demon hunter shouted in pain, and her attention returned where it had to be.
She ran towards the man, ignoring everyone except the injured.
And Masato was dragged to the door and kicked out of the room.
Walking to the gate of the state, roses still in hand, Masato sighed. Aoi was the perfect doctor his family blood needed. She just had to learn about delegating work and order her workers. With his family name and wealth, he would turn the state into a hospital, and she would be the leader of it. They could make good money with that. Muttering something about business classes for her, he was bumped with a force that pushed him towards the floor.
Groaning in pain and opening his eyes, he saw a boar looking at him. Well, not a boar completely, a huge boar man.
"There is a huge unmannered man there! Go save your wife, Masato!" His mother's voice suddenly echoed in his head.
"Look where you're going, weakling."
"Inosuke! You bumped him! You should be the one to look where you are going!"
Startled, Masato focused on the red-haired and the blonde running towards them.
"You are not a demon hunter."
Masato, noticing the boar was talking to him, blinked. Was he a ghost? "Wha-what? Demon hunter? What's tha-? No! I'm a businessman!"
"Busi-what?" great, another word to check.
"A businessman!" Masato stood up with Tanjirou's help and narrowed his eyes at his aggressor. "What, no wait, who are you!?"
Somehow, the boar man gave him goosebumps.
"I'm the great Inosuke-sama for you!"
"You come from town, right?" Tanjirou's kind smile appeared, and Masato was blind by its brightness.
"Huh? Oh yes! I'm the son of the head of the town!" The smug tone made Inosuke frown beneath his mask.
"So what are you doing here, son of the mayor?" Zenitsu was equally irritated by him, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
"I came to see Aoi-san!"
If you would have super senses like Zenitsu hearing and Tanjirou smelling, you could have heard something like a grumble and smell boiling blood. The two friends flinched a little and gulped, looking at the man who continued talking, ignoring the threatening aura surrounding the place.
"I have come to see her! She's my fiancee, I was thinking to give her these flowers, but she's too busy!"
"Ohhh, so you are the amazing son!" Zenitsu couldn't help but mock the situation a little. He smirked, entertained, watching how Tanjirou moved subtly in front of Inosuke. The blonde stood on the side of the wild boar man to prevent any movement.
"Oh, you must have met my mother!" Masato, unaware that if he kept talking, he could die, laughed "she always tells that to the strangers! By the way, I'm indeed amazing, haha, I have studied with the best wise men in town!"
Inosuke moved one foot forward, and his two best friends gulped.
"I needed a wife to kept our family bloodline perfect. You three get it, right? My family needs a doctor!" he said confidently as the three guys listened quietly, surprised by his logic. "So, I met Aoi san on the apothecary one day and followed her here!"
"Fucking stalker," a murmur.
"What?"
"Nothing!" A gasp.
"By the way, you guys look like you could give a hand to Aoi!" The three men arched an eyebrow at the man who thought for a few seconds and then nodded. "Why don't you help her with those strange injured people so she can go on a date with me!"
"This is a clinic she should delegate the work to her workers. Besides, people die every day, don't you think so?"
"HOW ABOUT YOU FUCKING SHUT UP YOU DIPSHIT!"
If you had Kanao's eyes, you could have seen the annoyed frown on Zenitsu's face, the vein of anger on Tanjirou's forehead, and the quickstep he took to get away from his boar man friend. Without notice, Inosuke rammed the insensible guy to the nearest tree.
"There is a huge unmannered man there! Go save your wife, Masato!"
Masato lost consciousness with his mother's words in his head as the three pillars looked at him from inside the house, their faces showing their annoyance.
People deserve respect. He had crossed the line.
"Did I fell?" Two hours later, Masato woke up in the recovery wing, surrounded by injured people sleeping.
"Oh, you don't remember anything?" Sumi came carrying a tray with medicines.
"You fell and rolled to the big tree in the garden!" Naho said giggling, while Kiyo elbowed her.
"We found you unconscious there!"
"I remember a huge unmannered boar man!" Masato, still kind of confused thanks to the big hit he had received, tried to sit on the bed, but a numbing pain stopped him.
"You have a broken rib!" Sumi said, smiling, "and you hit your head hard!"
"Where's the huge boar man?" He said panicking.
"Ohh, him!" The three girls looked at each other with a concerned expression. Masato arched an eyebrow as Kiyo looked at him, "Did you really saw him? I mean, in your dreams?"
Masato, not remembering anything, nodded, and the three girls gasped, feigning fear and scaring the guy. As Naho, with a worried expression, told something to Kiyo in a quiet voice, Sumi came to him and covered him with the blankets.
"Just a dream, just a dream!" The three girls said, "don't think about him! He won't come at you while you are in this room!"
"Wh-who's not coming!?" He stuttered. The three girls eyes shined, he had bit the bait.
"If you behave, then the boar man monster won't come to pig assault you."
Masato paled, did the boar man really existed?
"You understand that what you did only makes this man stay at the state till his rib heal, right?"
Aoi crossed her arms over her chest and looked, with a dark aura around her, at the three men sitting over his knees in front of her, with their heads low, asking for forgiveness.
"And you two let him!"
"He got on your nerves" Zenitsu and Tanjiro admitted.
Aoi could understand them. Guiltily, she thought Masato deserved the beat up, but not when the last thing she wanted to do was tend the guy, or see him, touch him or hear him talk about the so-called date they would have. She was tired of his horrible speech about how she should delegate her "employees," study business, and make more money for his family. She had to put him to rest with the injured demon hunters, and she was running out of beds for the love of god.
And out of patience.
She had been clear with him, dammit. Why was he still insisting?
She sighed.
"By the way, the girls have prepared another room for you three." She made a sign for them to follow her.
"Privileges of being a pillar?"
"More like, no beds on the recovery wing. You three need more sleep and rest than treatment." She said, showing them a room at the end of the corridor of the big house.
"If you need anything, you know your way through the house already. I will come to check you up frequently and give you some revitalizing meds."
"Please just rest, sleep, wander around, eat, but DO NOT FIGHT OK!?"
"Yeeeeeeeeees"
Aoi was going to leave when Inosuke took her arm.
"Oi, why that weakling says he is your fiance?"
Aoi winced at the words, blushing. She knew he would look for her and ask her what was going on, but she wasn't ready yet. She still hadn't solved anything. Turning to him, some questions came to her brain. Had he understood? Did he know what that word meant? Would he kill the guy for thinking about marrying her? Would he fight him for her? Would he hate her? She saw, with the corners of her eyes, when Tanjirou and Zenitsu flew out of the room to leave them alone.
"He said you are his fiancee! And, from your face, I don't have to know what that fucking means to know it's bad!"
"I-"
"Don't try to deceive me, woman! The great me knows everything around me!"
Aoi widened her eyes when he let her go and turned to go to a room she knew very well.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"I'll give him a fucking lesson!"
As tempting as his idea was, she didn't want the guy to end up half-dead in the recovery wing. Aoi stopped Inosuke successfully, hugging him from behind. It wasn't something she hasn't done before, but she didn't do it often. Usually, she did it when she wanted to prevent him from leaving the state still wounded or when he wanted to go to make some chaos. And Inosuke always, always, stopped. He screamed, yes. He cursed, of course. He shouted her to stop stopping him, obviously, but he never moved, not to mention he didn't free himself from her soft grip.
Even if they both hadn't said anything, they liked to feel each other warmth.
Secretly, he liked the feel of Aoi's soft body against his own hard one.
"Ok, ok, just stop," she nuzzled her face on his bare back, and he blushed. Her grip got tighter around his waist, and he focused his eyes on her hands over his abdomen. Then, he looked at her over his shoulder. "I will tell you, but please don't think bad of me, ok?"
When she let him go, Inosuke turned to her, crossing his arms.
"I decide what I think!" His expression softened, "but believe me, I'll never think bad of you, Aoi."
Aoi blushed, starting her story, "Well, this happened some months ago-"
He will never think badly of her, of course not, he will never fucking think badly of her. The one he would think badly about was the stupid awfully asshole who had dared to do that kind of proposition to her. Marriage? Mating? Live all their life together, with that old hag who dressed her in all those strange clothes. Have kids? The asshole was daring to want to take her away from the Butterfly State without her consent. He wanted her to leave her sisters, her friends, and, of course, leave him behind. The dark-haired man frowned. Nobody messes with Inosuke-sama and his people. He needed to fucking understand something, Aoi was not his fucking fiancee, not his fucking property and he won't let her leave the state and him.
Yes, him.
So, of course, the guy needs to leave now. Aoi explained the situation to him, a thing that took her a lot of time. They talked about the marriage/mating thing, family, kids, and what it meant, aside from the bond they will get. She told him, what a proposal meant, and why Masato (aka the weakling) was saying she was his fiancee. She was so angry the old hag had come to turn her into a flashy woman, telling her she had been passing the marriage age, and after venting a little her frustration, she had left to attend the demon hunters. She had made him promise he wouldn't cause any problem and he would behave and rest, but he was restless and anxious.
Aoi will definitely touch the weakling to treat him. What if that guy touches her?
That put him on fire.
"I should have killed him instead of breaking some bones..."
His blood boiled, and he sat on his bed, looking at the door frowning. It was past midnight time, and he couldn't sleep. He turned to Monitsu, who snored loudly, then to Gompachirou, who was sleeping quietly. The weakling must be sleeping too. He groaned as he left the bed and walked to the door, frowning.
It was very late even Aoi should be sleeping.
Sighing, he left the room in search of food. Eating would make him sleepy. In his way, he thought about everything. Marriage was something serious, right? Aoi had told him, and he remembered that years before, in one of the books he had been reading, he had learned about it. It meant living together, had meals together every day, bathing together, sleeping together, and have kids together. It meant mating or, like he had learned before, have sex.
He frowned, he wasn't sure he could give all of that to Aoi.
Sadly, he realized he could die any day, and what if he left her alone with kids?
Shooking his head, he groaned. Crap, for a moment, he had doubted himself. Just before he could recover from the blow his brain had given to him, he spotted the girl walking to him, with a book in her hands as she was muttering something. She had been working till late, and she looked like she just had finished checking the injured demon hunters. Inosuke frowned, walking to her, he took her from her waist, making her squeak, and pulled her up.
"Youuuuuu, why aren't you sleeping!?"
"The same I could tell you."
Inosuke walked as he carried her from her waist to her room. Looking up to him, she complained about she still had work to do and that he should carry her more delicately. He scoffed, telling her she should sleep a little. The situation was weird for both of them, but they dismissed the feeling, too occupied in fighting each other. Entering her room, he put her on her bed and ordered her to sleep. Staring at him standing there, with his arms crossed over his chest, she blushed a little. He was waiting for her to lay on the bed and get inside her covers.
"What are you doing?" She muttered.
"I'll watch you till you fall asleep, then I'll go," he said, "I know you'll go to work if I leave!"
Aoi blushed, "I have to change clothes to sleep, Inosuke."
"Go ahead."
"In front of you?"
Inosuke, realizing what he was doing, blushed and turned around, looking to the wall, "do it, I won't let you leave this room."
Aoi blushed more but complied, and the blue-haired guy gulped when he heard the rustle of clothes.
What the hell was he thinking!? It was a bad idea waiting in the same room for her to change her clothes. She was naked behind him! He just had to turn, give two or three steps, and he would be on her, having his way with her, who, for some reason, was taking her damn fucking time to change her clothes. Inosuke heart started to beat so hard and fast he was getting hot. He then frowned, remembering once again the marriage talk. If they marry, he wouldn't have to turn around while she changes her clothes, right? Would they have to leave the state too? He clenched his teeth, imagining her changing her clothes in front of the fucking weakling, who thought saving the life of people dying was annoying. Fucking idiot. Inosuke swore that even if he dies, he would never let him touch her. He would hunt the weakling down, even in his nightmares, the weakling won't be able to sleep ever again in his damn fucking life and -
"Mmmm, Inosuke?" He jumped when her voice called him, "I'm ready. You can turn around."
He looked over his shoulder before turning to her. She was wearing the white kimono she always used to sleep in and was sitting under the covers, looking at him. He sighed, sitting on the floor.
"Good, go to sleep."
"Aren't you going to sleep?"
"After you." He smirked like he was winning a battle. "When you fall asleep, I will go to my room. That way, I'll make sure you sleep instead of work."
"They are injured, you know."
"And they are already alive, thanks to you, they won't die."
Aoi smiled sweetly at his words, knowing he meant everything he had said. He always told her she was an awesome doctor, and each one of those times, she felt a warmth inside her heart. As an impulse of the moment, she moved and patted the part of the bed beside her.
"How about you sleep with me?"
Widening his eyes, Inosuke looked at her in silence. It was the first time she had made that proposition, and if he accepts, it will be the first time they would share a bed. Honestly, he wanted to hold her, but he didn't have the confidence. The marriage talk had done struggles to his brain and will.
She held his gaze for a moment before sighing, telling him that if he didn't want, she wouldn't push him. Worried she was feeling rejected, he stood up, walked to her, and got into the covers, lying beside her. They both looked at the ceiling. Aoi gulped, looking at him with the corners of her eyes. With his long hair and profiled factions, he looked more mature and sexier, the open shirt making her nervous.
"Is cramped here," he said, feeling her arm touching his arm, the side of his thigh touching her thigh.
Marriage is, having a bigger bed, huh? I prefer the futon. We'll definitely have a futon.
"You are a big man now," she said, turning to lay on her side. "This bed is small for two."
"Prefer a futon."
"Next time, I'll prepare a futon." She smiled sweetly.
He looked at her and slowly moved, getting on his side. Without thinking twice, he pulled her from her waist to his chest and hid his face on her neck. "Like this, we both fit." His lips brushed the skin of her neck.
It was the first time they passed from flirting subtly to touch so intimately, but it felt so natural and right.
Aoi smiled, hugging him. "I missed you so much, Inosuke." She whispered in his ear, her body glued to him as she cuddled more in his embrace. "It had been a very long year without you."
"Ah, don´t tell me about it." He too smiled against her neck, his lips kissed her neck, lightly, as his arms pulled her more to him, "I too have missed you so much, Aoi."
Soon both of them, tired, fell asleep in each other arms.
"AOOOOOOOOOI SAN!"
Aoi moved as she cuddled more against the warmth she felt.
"AOOOOOOOI SAN!"
She groaned, hugging the hard pillow, and tangled her legs around it. The bare skin of her chest made contact with her pillow, and she moaned quietly.
"This is her room, right? She is my fiancee! I have to enter and see if she's ok!"
Aoi groaned, feeling her pillow moving, pulling her close and tickling the sensitive flesh of her breasts (and nipples).
"You can't! Masato san, please, you are injured! You shouldn't move! Please go back to your bed!"
Ah, Masato is here, right? She nuzzled her face against her hard, warm, and comfortable pillow. Why was Masato there?
"But it's midday!" He said. "Why is my fiancee still sleeping?"
Ah, it's midday, huh-
"MIDDAY!?"
Aoi sat abruptly, panicking. She looked around her room. Midday! Damn, I have lost the whole day! Why have I been sleeping till late!? She then looked down and noticed her kimono was practically open. Her breasts were in full display, and she blushed.
"Oh my!" she said, arranging her clothes she saw Inosuke. Feeling her soul leaving her body, she almost shrieked. He was snoring, sprawled over her bed, shirt unbuttoned exposing his washboard abs and V hipbone. She blushed, remembering everything. She had felt so comfortable sleeping in his arms that she had been sleeping till midday, and apparently, they had moved a lot because both of them looked like they had a rough night.
We only slept!
Unconsciously, she passed her hand over his face sweetly. He had only hugged her, and she was sure he had been kissing her neck before falling asleep. They had been so tired they had fallen asleep immediately after they hugged and closed their eyes.
"Too bad," Aoi whispered, leaning to kiss his forehead, before listening to Masato's voice again.
Why haven't the girls wake me up? Knowing them, they already knew he was inside her room. She frowned. She didn't care what Masato thought, but she wanted to avoid the drama because she was feeling very rested. However, before she could do something about the situation, the door opened, and a bewildered Masato entered the room, with the three girls behind him.
"AOI SAN IT'S LA-"
He halted when he saw the girl with another man on her bed. The silence filled the room, and Aoi widened her eyes slowly, waiting for a shout that was taking too long to come. Finally, he opened his mouth to say something when a big book Aoi had on her nightstand flew against him, hitting him hard on the face. The force sent him to the floor, knocking him out.
"Shit, it's too early for your shouts Samato."
"Inosuke! How about you stop trying to kill him!?"
"Come on, woman! He won't be killed by a book!"
He left her bed and stretched, looking and feeling very well-rested. He even was shinning. He arched an eyebrow noticing it was midday, and he had slept the whole morning. His senses told him that it was because he had shared a bed with Aoi and grinned. Turning to the blue-haired girl who was blushing madly at the inquisitory eyes (and smiles) of the little girls, he grinned quietly, then he grabbed the unconscious guy and pulled him over his shoulder.
"I'll dispose of the garbage."
"Inosuke..."
"Yeah, yeah, I will only take him to the recovery wing." Walking to the door, he turned to her and smirked playfully, "By the way, It was the best sleep of my live, Aoi!"
The hearts the girls were making with her eyes and the "aww" they shouted made Aoi blush with embarrassment as she yelled at him for being an idiot, and he left her room grinning. Great, he has to be a flirt at the worst moment.
While walking, Inosuke looked at the unconscious guy, and he noticed he was bleeding from his nose.
He grinned more.
"Fuckin' weakling."
"Ohhh! So I fell from my bed," Masato again had a memory loss, his voice sounding strange because he had a broken nose.
"Yes!" The girls smiled at him, giving him some food. "You tripped with your sheets and fell!" Naho said while Kiyo giggled, and Sumi elbowed her. "You landed with your face, Masato san!"
"Ohh! That's why I lost consciousness!"
"Yep!"
"Ahh, maybe that was why I had this strange dream about Aoi san being with another man in her bed."
The girls were aware that Masato thought Inosuke's presence in the state was a dream. Well, he hadn't met him without the green-eyed guy trying to kill him. Slyly, the girls had been playing with the poor businessman since the day before, discovering the great Masato was superstitious. Their constant story about the big boar-man monster that haunted the state at night was making the man paranoid.
"Maybe, it was the huge boar man monster," Sumi said, smiling darkly.
"Wha-What!?" a panicked Masato almost choked with his food.
"Of-of course! Yes, yes, remember Masato san, there is an entity in the state, the boar man who comes for you at night, like a monster!" Kiyo continued. "He is the spirit of the mountain king! He will hunt you down at night if you leave your bed!"
"Mo-mo-mountain king ghost?"
A creepy smile appeared on the little girl's face. "It starts appearing in your dreams! Then he appears physically in front of you, demanding a sacrifice!" Naho said, "Like, delicious food!"
Masato started to sweat cold as he asked if he had to pray for the soul of the ghost. The girls nodded.
"But well, it's a dream anyway!" Naho said, giving him his medicine, and Kiyo and Sumi took the dirty sheets, like nothing was happening, ignoring the guy who was getting pale. "Maybe that dream is telling you something."
"Li-Like what?"
"Like Aoi-san isn't for you."
Masato frowned and touched his bandaged nose, recovering a little from the fright. "Well, even if there isn't love, I will marry her!"
At that, Kiyo looked at him surprised. "You don't love Aoi san?"
"Love is not for business, my family bloodline needs a doctor, and Aoi has the looks and the know-how!" He then widened his eyes. "Wait! Do you think my dream is a message from the mountain ghost god!?"
His nervousness appeared once again, but the girls were already angrier with him.
The three girls stopped what they were doing while they narrowed her eyes at him. "Oooh, we really think so!"
"Ah, by the way, Masato san?" Sumi said, smiling evilly (an art that Shinobu had passed to all her sisters) "Your medicine will be bitter from now on!"
"Eh?"
"You had a broken nose, remember?" The little girl said, "you have to behave, or the boar man ghost will haunt you down."
Masato gulped, surprisingly believing there was an entity who would punish him if he doesn't behave.
Well, that wasn't far from reality.
An older woman was walking through the corridors of the state. She was muttering something about the impoliteness and the brutishness of the people inside the house. How could this have happened? Her baby, her poor baby, had been hospitalized! Never in his life had he been hospitalized, and now her baby shared a room with people he didn't know, who, judging by their wounds, had a strong desire to die. How could they injure themselves like that!?
The door of Aoi's office opened up abruptly, making the blue-haired girl jump startled. For the third time in the day, the woman had come to demand more things from her.
"Aoi san! Why aren't you taking care of your husband!?"
Aoi, who had been very rested the whole day, even happy, calmly arranged her papers and smiled. "He's not my husband, madam, and I've been doing my best taking care of him."
"By injuring him, of course!"
"No madam, he has injured himself." Never in her life, she will tell her that her almost lover, boyfriend, or whatever he was, had hit him two times in a short period of 24 hours and has broken his bones. The girls' idea of lying to them was the best she had heard. "Besides, at the moment, I have patients in a worse state than him."
After the book accident/incident, she had been constantly harassed, not only by Masato but by his mother too. The woman wanted a VIP treatment that included a set of silk sheets and a pair of big comfy feather pillows, all provided by her, of course. Also a private room, Aoi had to do her best to explain she had no space. Besides, she wanted the chef of their home to go to the state and cook for his son exclusively. Adding the fact she demanded Aoi's attention the twenty-four hours of the day, insisting her son was his future husband and she had, no, must fight for the well-being of her son because he almost died.
Aoi resisted the urge to laugh at the woman, thank god.
She, instead, once again, refused the fiancee and wife tittle and recommended a very well known clinic in town where he could be in peace in a single room. But, the woman told her, repeatedly, he was her future husband, and it was her job to cure him and what kind of clinic was the state if it didn't have a single room or a VIP room.
So, Masato stayed in the state sleeping in the recovery wing. He was sharing it with a lot of injured demon hunters, and they were in awe (and kind of displeased) due to his silky sheets and comfy pillows. Aoi had heard that the hunters were betting how long the conceited one would last.
"By the way, madam, I'm tired of telling you this, but I'm not going to marry Masato san, I have someone I love."
The woman, who looked at the blue-haired girl like she had said something in another language, laughed in her face. "You are delusional, Aoi-san!"
"How come you don't want to marry my son and our wealthy family!?"
"Because I already have someone!"
"That boy with the dark hair?" The woman, this time, included Inosuke in her response as she said with a mocking tone, "What can he give you? Wealth? Money? Status? Nothing of that, I presume. My son, instead, he can give you all of that. He even will transform this place into a real hospital! How is it possible you don't have a VIP room!?"
An angry Aoi frowned. Messing with her was something but it was the first time this horrible woman spoke about Inosuke and the state. Before she could shout at her telling her Inosuke was a million times better than a stupid conceited boy and his billion silver coins, the woman gave her back to her, and walking to the door she snickered at her and her so-called stupidity. "Think about your future girl, that boy can't give you the security my son can". She left the room, leaving a trembling angry Aoi.
What Inosuke could give to her was more simple and more daring than that.
She loved him for who he was, and she felt safer and happier in his arms. Aoi trembled a little, a tear falling from her eyes. Why can't they leave her alone to be happy?
She was tired and secretly hoped Inosuke would come to hold her.
Too bad she had sent him to town with Tanjirou to buy some supplies and to prevent a massacre because one thing was sure if he saw her cry, or heard what Masato's family thought about her, hell was going to get loose.
And he would turn into the devil himself.
"I heard you hit Masato san with a huge book, Inosuke."
The beast user looked at his redhead friend as the kind guy smiled, handing him a tray with freshly made onigiri. The blue-haired man nodded and grabbed one. As he took his mask off, eating in one gulp the onigiri, Tanjirou sat beside him. The two of them looked at the pacific town, noticing people were finishing their duties, closing their businesses. The two friends were taking a break before returning to the state, eating in an onigiri shop.
"They guysh wash beingsh a nuishance"
Tanjirou chuckled. "So it's true you slept with Aoi san."
Inosuke silence gave Tanjiro his answer as he smiled again, looking at the sky. The orange color it had was beautiful, "You have been very distracted today Inosuke, even Zenitsu has noticed it."
"Bullshit"
"You've worn your mask backward all day!"
" "
"You have called us by our correct names!"
" "
"And, worst, you hadn't eaten since lunch!"
" "
"Sooo..."
Tanjirou is the most patient, that's why he had been chosen by Zenitsu, Kanao and Nezuko to go to the town and talk to him. All of them knew the beast breath user trusted the redhead more than anyone else. Tanjirou waited for his friend while focusing on the orange sky, guessing the reason he was so distracted. Inosuke was a simple guy, and going around circles about complicated things wasn't something he would do.
"Marriage is something difficult, right?"
"More and less"
"I will have to stop fighting and start to work, right?"
"Well, you get paid with this job, so I don't think money is an issue here."
"Kanako is a demon hunter, so you don't have to stop fighting." Inosuke sighed, looking at his feet, forgetting once again the onigiri. "Aoi, she is a doctor, what if something happens? What if I leave her with a kid or in an empty house?"
"What if I can't give her what she deserves?"
Upon hearing his train of thoughts, Tanjirou frowned. It was something so uncharacteristic from him, the doubting, the fear.
"Well, you are very strong Inosuke, you won't die easily," Tanjirou said. "Look, Kanao and I, we are together, we are going to marry one day, but not now, and we accepted this because we know and feel killing demons is something temporary now." Tanjirou smiled sadly, thinking in his own situation, "Kanao, she understands that, I also understand it." The redhead smiled at his friend, "we are fighting, yes, but the main fight is over. We won the war, this fight is the cleaning up part, the final part, something smaller."
"Aoi san, she'll understand too, better, she trusts you!"
Inosuke grabbed an onigiri, "Will she wait till this is over?"
"You have to talk to her, but you really should do what your heart is telling you to do." Tanjiro smiled, "I bet she will be happy to know your true feelings and thoughts!"
"Besides, you aren't like this Inosuke, since when you doubt yourself?"
The guy got quiet for a while. He couldn't take anymore the proposal thing, the marriage topic, the guy who had proposed to Aoi and followed her everywhere, and his lack of action about the situation. Sincerely, he always had thought nothing would change, and they always would be in their flirting game. But the scandal about she was the fiancee of a weakling and the shared night they had, had changed everything as he felt his body itching and desperate for her touch, for her to be near him and never left his side. He craved to mark her more than anything, to tell the world she was his, to tell the fucking weakling he was deluding himself if he thought she was going to marry him.
He was a simple man, a simple guy, not someone who thinks carefully about things and does nothing.
So, fuck everything! Inosuke sama will make his move! The patience wasn't his forte. He won't wait anymore, either waste more time playing in a game that isn't for him. If he wanted, he took it. He will follow the advice and do this in his own way.
He was a physical kind of guy.
Inosuke response was a childish "the mountain king is not doubting about anything idiot Santarou" before bitting the onigiri he had in his hands. The redhead laughed at his nickname, noticing some sense was getting inside his friend's hard dull skull.
When they returned to the state, just when the night was starting, the two guys found an injured Masato cornering Aoi, telling her why she should marry him. The mother, who still was in the state, was shouting at the little girls for not doing their job and that they should be taking care of her son instead of treating other people because her son would be the next major. After all, she was paying them for the treatment, which was complete bullshit as Aoi hadn't asked for a penny from them.
Zenitsu frowned at the lady. He was standing in front of the girls protectively, listening to her nonsense, and wondered if she was senile. Nobody would treat those little hard worker girls like that, not while he was around. An angry Kanao was hugging them, and Nezuko, who was fed up with the woman, answered to her, pointing her rudeness and unpoliteness and, "Who the hell has to ask you for money?"
"Why don't you leave this place and take your son with you!?"
Aoi, who looked like she was having the worst day of her life, even if she had had a great morning, was not shouting but talking firmly at the insistent guy. She told Masato, once again, she won't marry him because she was in love with someone else.
At that Inosuke, who was getting angrier by the second, blushed slightly, his boar mask hiding his face. Turning to Tanjirou, he noticed the redhead was getting angrier as the little girls started to cry. Turning to Aoi again, he didn't miss Masato's response, which sent him on fire.
"Aoi san, really, besides me, who else would marry you?
Before Aoi could react and slap the insistent Masato, the huge boar man appeared in front of him, blocking his way. The moon made his shape look imposing and threatening as the eyes of his mask shined. His presence and the loud grumble he made were the only things Masato needed to shut up. The surprised guy blinked two times, remembering the stories Kiyo, Sumi and Naho had told him about the huge boar man, the mountain ghost deity, who had appeared in his dreams and would come to pig assault him at night as a monster itself. Noticing it was already nighttime, he paled before a panic attack invaded him.
"THE BOAR MAN IS REAL AND HAS COME FOR MEEEEE!"
"WHAT THE-"
His shriek made the whole house silent as his mother gasped, horrified by the scene. Her wonderful son was sweating cold and trembling. He had fallen on his knees and has started to pray an unknown mantra, to the surprise of Inosuke and Aoi, who were speechless in shock. Knowing there was a man beneath the mask and remembering the huge man she had unpleasantly met before one or two days ago, she tried to reach her son, but an angry Tanjioru came to her, smiling like a calm serial killer.
"Would you please stop insulting these little girls?" The woman flinched at the sweet venomous voice, "They always do their best for the injured." Ignoring whatever she was going to say, Tanjirou passed her as he hugged the three little girls, smiling at them and his friends.
"OH PLEASE BOAR MAN! SPARE ME!"
Masato, still on his knees, was begging for forgiveness, telling the omnipotent deity he only wanted to have a wife but, if the ghost of his boar glory self wanted, he would give Aoi to him as a sacrifice, for him to spare his life.
Sumi, who recovered first from the shock of being yelled at, shouted at Masato that they had angered the mountain king god and that he should leave the place. Aoi, understanding what was happening, sighed behind a very pleased Inosuke, who was enjoying the kneeling and bowing the guy was doing, smirking under his mask when the guy said he could have Aoi.
"I, THE MOUNTAIN GOD/KING/GHOST WILL OVERLOOK YOUR DISRESPECT!" Every adult in the room rolled their eyes. "BY SPARING YOUR FUC- YOUR LIFE! HAHAHAHAAHAHAH!"
"THANK YOU! THANK YOU, MY LORD!"
"YOU SHOULD WORSHIP ME AND KISS THE GROUND I'M STEPPING ON AND ADMIRE MY GLORIOUS SELF!" Inosuke pointed to the ground and then himself, "BUT THIS SACRIFICE IS SAVING YOU!"
"YES, MY LORD, THANK YOU! THANK YOU!"
"JUST LEAVE ASSH- WEAKLING! DON'T WORRY! MY GLORY SELF WILL PROTECT YOU!"
While a crying Masato bowed his thanks, the mother was shocked her son was so stupid. Before she could complain, Masato pulled her from her hand and ran away from the place, once again shouting, asking forgiveness. Inosuke, very well aware of the dangers of the night, followed them quietly, knowing that a real demon could attack them on their way back to their house. Before leaving, he felt Aoi's forehead on his back, and he smiled, muttering an "I'll be back soon."
Looking at the night sky and at his shadow disappearing behind the people who had just left, everyone in the state had only one question in mind, what the hell had happened?"
"The amazing son was the amazing idiot," Zenitsu muttered.
As the night wore out, the incident resolved, and the unwanted people expelled, Aoi finished her day with a long bath and a laugh that came from the bottom of her heart, scaring even herself. She had been dealing with the incessant guy for months, and it had only taken a childish tale from the girls and Inosuke's wildness to sort out everything. She sighed, smiling. As soon as Inosuke returned, he went to eat something and then told her he was going to take a bath because he had killed a minor demon.
Aoi knew Inosuke was planning something, but, well, she was more than relieved Masato had left. She felt she would have another well-rested night, knowing the guy wouldn't come to her anymore.
A well-rested night...
Inosuke and the kisses on her neck came to her mind. Blushing, she finished her bath, dried her body, and put on her white kimono. Walking to her room to sleep, she discussed a bit with her brain to tell Inosuke to come back to sleep with her or not. Opening the door or her room, she halted when she found him sleeping in her bed.
"Inosukeee," she face-palmed her face as she closed her door. Getting closer to him, she looked at his sleeping face, noticing he was snoring. Aoi sighed, leaning to him. His long dark-blue hair was sprawled out beneath his body, as his shirt was open, exposing his body. He smelled like soap, and she grinned, understanding he had gone to take a bath and had come immediately after to her room to wait for her.
Aoi gulped. She passed her hand softly over his abs, his chest, and neck. Suddenly, she felt a tug on her waist, and she gasped before landing over him. Her hands got on each side of his face as she felt her chest over his bare one. His arms were curling around her waist, and she felt his fingers wander over her covered skin. Blinking at his grinning face, she blushed, noticing he had caught her touching him.
"Hello sacrifice."
"I- I- I'm not a sacrifice!"
Inosuke laughed, and she swore his laugh was the sexiest sound she had heard in her life. Moving them both, he turned them so she can be beneath him. Aoi blushed and gulped, feeling his predatory intensity as he licked his lips.
"You know, before the weakling recognized my superiority," Aoi rolled her eyes and then grinned, one of her hands came to play with his hair, "I have been thinking, a lot."
"About what?"
Nuzzling his face on her neck, Inosuke continued, "You know, I don't want you to marry that guy or any other one who would dare to make that proposition to you so, what about you marry me instead?"
Aoi, who was distracted by his affection and his hot body over hers, widened her eyes. He looked at her like it wasn't a big deal what he was saying, and she closed and opened her mouth a few times before she could talk again.
"Do-Do you know what you are saying?"
Inosuke frowned. "Yes, I know! Look, if you don't want-"
"NO!" Aoi surprisingly found her strength and rolled them, so she ended straddling him, and he looked at her surprised. His hand instinctively came to her thighs as the kimono was opening little by little due to her movement. The new position made both of them blush as he could feel her warmth, and she could feel his member hardening.
Bearing the urge to roll her hips over his, she continued the conversation, which, definitely, was more important than what their bodies were crying out for.
"Do you really mean what you are saying?" She said, caressing his bangs, and he saw how her face was changing to a panicked one. "You know, you are not saying this just because you don't want me to marry anyone, right?" She smiled sadly, "Eventually, we will have to live separately from here, or if we live here, we will have to share with everybody and -"
Inosuke shut her up with a sudden movement of his hips, his hard member hitting her sensitive core, and she gasped loudly, he grinned. "I have come with a plan! You live here, I go hunt demons, it's something temporary so I'll come back safe and sound, maybe you'll have to heal my injuries, anyways, we'll live here while the demons still exist, you don't have to leave anybody, and I like here!"
"This is the safest place in the world for you!" he paused and added, "the safest place while I'm not here!"
Aoi looked at him like he was a strange creature saying something that had no sense, and at the same time had all sense in their world. It was his simple logic.
"And when this is over," he continued making her nod at him, she felt his thumbs making circles over her thighs, "we would go to our house," he grinned, "I prefer the mountains, but we will go wherever you want."
Aoi nodded, feeling her whole body hot but her heart shouting, loving each word he was saying, understanding that, in his own way, he was telling her to wait for him. "So then, you love me?"
Inosuke blinked and grinned childishly, his hand left her thigh going to her back and slowly went up to her nape. He pulled her down till she was inches away from his face. "Yes, I do," he said slowly and licked her lips as she shivered from the desire that action lit in her. Too happy and overwhelmed by the whole situation, simple logic, and feelings, she sighed and smiled.
"How about you, Aoi?" He whispered to her, "You think the same?"
"YES! I, I accept! I will be your wife Inosuke!" she said as he grinned widely, "I do! I love you too, more than anyone else!"
She felt his lips grazing hers, and she flinched, her reaction causing him to have an urge he couldn't describe. He growled quietly, and she couldn't help but lean towards his face, and he opened his mouth, kissing her.
Their first kiss was desperate and thirsty as they started it with a hunger that surprised her. Their free feelings, their new status as an engaged couple, and the years restraining themselves made them have almost an orgasm just from kissing. They felt so good indulging in their desires and feelings they couldn't take their kiss calmly. Aoi moaned in his mouth as she rolled her hips against his, feeling his hardness. He growled, turning them around again. He put his tongue inside her mouth, and one of his hands moved to the back of her thigh, hooking her leg around his waist.
The new position made her gasp as he ground his hard erection against her directly. Inosuke noticed, with a great delight, that beneath the white kimono, she was naked. He smirked sensually, biting her bottom lip and then sucking it. Aoi felt his hardness directly on her wetness, and she couldn't hold the mewl that came from the bottom of her throat. He was making her crazy with want. He thrust one more time, she moaned loudly, and he bit her neck and collarbone.
"Aoi," the bluish haired guy whispered her name in her ear, and she, blinded by the lust, pulled his white shirt, trying to take it off him with all the strength she could muster. Inosuke, not staying behind or being undressed, opened her kimono completely, eager to free her bare warm creamy body from the cloth prison. He salivated at the sight of her naked body, flushed by their passion.
"Inosuke!" The blue-eyed girl ground her hips again over him, making him hiss before he grabbed her hips, stopping her. "Take this off! Now!" She tugged his pants and shirt, and he chuckled, leaning over her and biting a nipple, pulling it gently.
She moaned, pulling his hair.
"No."
His tongue made another marvelous thing with her pink mound, and when his hand pinched the other one, she arched her back against his body, feeling him rolling it between his fingers.
Disheveled and with clouded eyes, she heard him say, "I like seeing you, for once, impatient." She moaned.
"I'll make you crazy all your life, Aoi."
Aoi groaned, feeling only a pleasure she couldn't describe. How could she be so desperate? Why was she losing control? She was sure she would soon be like an animal in heat. She wanted to feel him, all of him. She was not satisfied with only the feel of his hard erection against her clit and his tongue on her breasts. Grabbing his head with both of her hands, she pulled his face to her face, his mouth to her mouth, to kiss him hungrily.
"In-Inosuke, please, I-ahh-I need you," she whispered against his lips.
Desperate, she unhooked her leg from his waist and pulled off his shirt, caressing his body with her hands as he kissed her. Breaking the kiss, his hands came to her lower lips, feeling her wet and hot. Growling satisfied and proud, he licked her body from her navel to her collarbone, passing his tongue between her breasts and finishing in her mouth as his fingers pressed her clit slowly and deliciously.
"Oh my god!" Aoi rolled her hips against his fingers, "Ino-Inosuke I- ah - I-"
Bitting her hipbone, he straightened, and finally, his patience ran out when she tugged him from the hem of his white pants and stroked his hardness. He groaned when he felt her going inside his pants, her hands being lusciously warm. Deciding the teasing was over, with a speed that passed as inhuman, he took off his pants and opened her legs widely, stroking her clit with his thumb before entering her.
"You are so wet," his sexy voice doing wonders to her body as she responded to him with a sexy moan.
Aoi, lost in the pleasure, grabbed him by his hips and pulled him to her. Inosuke stopped midway and leaned to her face, kissing her sweetly. The blue-eyed girl, lost in the pleasure mixed with pain, smiled against his lips at the sweet affection, reassuring him she was alright. He entered her slowly, aware it was the first time for them both.
He stopped, feeling his everything was inside her, and he groaned throatily. He felt drunk. The feeling of their first time plus the way they were losing control but at the same were giving into each other were intoxicating him. He inhaled deeply, she was tight and was sucking him but damn, he loved every second of it. Leaning to her face, he kissed her lips, her chin, and neck, trying to convey all the things he couldn't put into words. He was marking her. He was putting an invisible shield on her that shouted, "Back off fucker! She is mine!" Samato and anyone else who thought they had a chance could go back from where they came, for fucks sake.
His jealousy and possessiveness, once again, overcame him.
Feeling her move her hips, he noticed Aoi was already desperately moving against him, and he grinned at her. He easily set a tempo, speeding up his thrusts. She hooked her legs around his waist as he increased the force too, hitting her deeper, making her shout. The bed rattled wildly, crashing repeatedly against the wall, making the wooden floor creak. Aoi moaned loudly, digging her nails in his hard skin, caressing his built back, going lower to his buttocks, squeezing him. He bit her neck in response, licking her earlobe, not changing the fast pace he had set. Thrusting into her in the right way and finding her sweet spot, he was rewarded by pleadings that were music to his ears, making him growl. She grabbed his face and pulled him to her to kiss him.
"I will be your fucking husband all your whole life," he whispered in her ear as he pinched a nipple.
"Yes!" Aoi shouted, hugging him by the neck, biting him.
"E- ah shit! Everyone will know you are mine!" He sucked her breasts, leaving red marks over her pale skin.
"Yes! Inosuke Yes!" She cried in pleasure as she kissed him, a tread of saliva between their tongues. His possessiveness was turning her own wildly.
"Fucking bastards!" Blind by his jealousy, the pleasure, and her voice, he pressed her clit with his fingers and went in circles over it, still thrusting into her.
"Oh god, Inosuke!" Aoi arched her back and came. Her loud cry indicated her orgasm was strong. Inosuke didn't stop his thrusts even if she was coming down her high. Her nails were digging in his back, making red marks. She moaned loudly at the pleasure, and soon she had another orgasm. The tightening of her walls making him hiss in bliss. "Oh shit!" He came after her orgasm, inside her, and groaned, bitting her collarbone this time and liking the marked skin.
He kissed her passionately as his white seed was sputtering inside her. Smiling to her, he kissed her forehead and nuzzled his face on her neck, trying to calm his beating chest. After a silence to regain their breaths, he moved. He was about to get out of her when she stopped him, "wait no! Stay like that, I - I like it." She whispered.
Inosuke smiled, and without separating them, he turned her so she could rest on top of him. Grabbing the blankets, he pulled it over their bodies, hugging her from her waist. As one of his strong big hands caressed her back, he bit her ear, making her purr while she kissed his chin and neck.
"I'm yours now, Inosuke," she giggled while he caressed her hair. "You are a possessive one," she said, knowing the next day she will have to hide a lot of bite marks.
Grunting sarcastically, he rolled his eyes at her giggle. "I don't want another Samato here!" He whispered like he was shouting. "Besides, people have to know you are already engaged," he said, pulling her to his lips. She felt goosebumps as he kissed her firmly, dominating her. "This is my proposal to you, Aoi."
She smiled widely, feeling safe in his arms and knowing she will be more than happy with him as her husband.
"I love you."
He grinned childishly. "Me too."
Leaning over him, she kissed him for the thousandth time in the day, knowing he will never get tired of her lips, her body, and her heart.
"You really have done it, pig head!" Zenitsu, blushing, dark bags under his eyes, looked at Inosuke with narrowed eyes.
"Not my fault your ears are so sensitive." Shrugging, Inosuke chuckled as Kiyo was making a ponytail for him. "Nobody else has heard us!"
Zenitsu scoffed, jealous of Tanjirou's sacred sleep. Not even Nezuko and Kanao had heard them! He was sure those girls were heavy sleepers like his best friend, something that was strange if you considered their jobs. Kiyo, who was not understanding the whole conversation, thought that if the blonde was complaining, Inosuke must have made a very loud proposal. Dismissing what the guys were talking about, she patted the blue-haired on the shoulder. "Ready boar man, mountain god!" She said, giggling, "Keep your hair in that ponytail, and it won't be a problem!"
Before Inosuke could comment about her job, they heard Masato's voice, and the green-eyed groaned annoyed.
But what he said took them all by surprise.
"He- Hello, girls? Aoi-san? I brought some goods to the mountain king deity!" Masato said, with a bow, "I was thinking to make him a shrine at the skirts of the mountain.
As Zenitsu laughed hard and Inosuke ego inflated like a balloon, Aoi sighed, knowing her husband won't let this be forgotten. He wasn't even dead, and he already will have a shrine to be venerated.