Gnaw
By SMYGO4EVA
Crimson eyes stared back at dark red.
Tanjiro did not step back, he did not falter.
His arms and legs were bloodied, lifeblood mingling with perspiration down his face and back. His teeth grit to the point of cracking, his heart pounding, and his body shook. His eyes never broke from the monster's gaze, right in front of him.
Muzan looked upon him with muted delight, a smile creeping across his pale features, his plum red irises burning, burning bright.
The metallic taste of blood coated his tongue, the demon hunter's blood, and it was all the more delicious, after all this time. The King of Demons was covered in precious crimson, his own and the boy Tanjiro's.
The name danced along his lips, and he knelt down to his enemy.
His enemy, cornered like an animal, in more ways than one.
Not moving from his spot, Tanjiro stood still, his rusted blade at hand, even as Muzan moved closer to him, his lips near his ear, whispering pretty, dark words to him.
Blood droplets fell, flesh sliced open, and poison coursing through him, Tanjiro held himself, just as Muzan let his hand stroke the boy's face, their shared blood marking him. His eyes widened, his breath quickening, and his heart pounded in his aching chest.
Muzan only chuckled at Tanjiro's growing horror, and he leaned in closely, his tongue darting out and trailing on the ridges of the demon hunter's mouth. Tanjiro froze, his heart skipping a beat, but he didn't draw his sword.
He couldn't, not with a burning ache within him.
Muzan's hands grasped Tanjiro's arms, the sound of the sword falling to the hard ground loud as bells, but he paid no heed. The creature in the guise of a man pulled the demon hunter close, no space between them, not anymore, and their mouths pressed to the other's.
Tanjiro tasted blood, a bile taste that was both his and Muzan's, and he could not pull away from the King of Demons. Something in his chest thundered, panicking, and tightened like a vice, just as Muzan dug his claws deep into Tanjiro's arms, dark red liquid trickling down.
He felt hot, warm, and pain slowly morphed into something else, something more, alive.
Muzan pulled away from Tanjiro, a tremor running through him. The demon hunter fell onto his knees, stunned, the fierce expression gone, with his mouth smeared with his blood, soaked and dark.
The King of Demons only laughed softly.