“Ah-choo!” In the next day, Y/N got a high fever.

“Your temperature isn't going down…” Shinobu commented with a frown, putting a wet cloth on top of her forehead before sitting down on a chair beside Y/N's bed.

“I'm… Sorry-”

“It's to be expected, after you went out in the rain like this.” She nonchalantly commented while flipping through the pages of the book she was reading.

Y/N was too tired to be surprised, so instead, she weakly said with a small smile : “Haha- so you knew that I sneaked out-”

“Of course I knew, who do you take me for? Yuki and Kota's poor attempt to distract me was pretty cute, though.” Shinobu responded, slight giggling while her eyes were still glued to the book in her hands.

Y/N stared blankly at the ceiling, asking after some seconds of comfortable silence : “Aren't you going to ask what I went out for?”

“… I would be lying if I said that I'm not curious.” She delicately closed the book and settled it down on her lap. “But, I'm aware that there are many things in our head right now. I don't know what you went out for, but I'm sure you wouldn't do it without a reason. And also, I know that if I try to keep you from leaving, you will just do it secretly, so it's better for my heart if I know when you're going out instead.”

Just like everyone else, Shinobu had a pretty high impression of Y/N.

The funny part, is that this didn't make her happy at all. When someone is nice to her, she feels like she shouldn't get used to it. Since eventually, they will get tired of her too.

“You're reckless, but a good person nonetheless.” Shinobu completed, gently caressing Y/N's flushed cheek before going back to read. “Just don't go out in the rain next time, okay? And please don't open your wound again.”

“Okay! I love you, Shino!” It was the last thing Y/N said, before proceeding to doze off.

“Not in the way that I wanted you to….” Shinobu gloomily commented to herself, silently flipping the page of the book on her lap.

.

.

.

It hurts.

What hurts? You not being able to save them? Or you being unable to erase it?

Even if you could erase it, would you do it? You are already so far in the story, what would be the point of losing all of your progress for the sake of saving some children who weren't even characters in the anime?

Wow… you're such a bad person, Y/N.

I'm burning. It burns. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It burns. I'm so sorry.

But it suddenly wasn't hot anymore. It doesn't burn anymore.

There's… something cold on my forehead…

Her eyes slight opened, even though it was dark, she could still discern a figure in the middle of the weak moonlight illuminating the room.

“Haaaah, so irresponsible, leaving you alone with a fever like this- Why does it seems like your health gets worse every time I take my eyes off you?”

The strong fever made her eyesight all blurry, but this snarky comment and voice definitely belonged to Akaza.

Even so, there's no way he would be on her room, right? He wouldn't risk getting caught like this, and he certainly wouldn't take care of her like that, so this is obviously just a dream.

“I can't believe I have to do this, since when did I turn into your nurse?” Through her half-lidded eyes, Y/N could see him changing the wet cloth of her forehead to a new one, so that's why she suddenly stopped burning in her dream.

“You're so mean….Akaza.” She weakly said.

“Stop talking and go back to sleep.”

“You're really mean. You know what Muzan did to you, and to a lot of others, but you will still go to him anyway. So terrible.” Since this is just a dream, she might as well tell the dream version of Akaza what's in her mind.

He froze on the spot with her comment, it probably caught him by surprise. “… If you already know that, then why are you still trying to make me go with you anyway?”

In response to his question, she just smiled. “Because I am an idiot.”

Before losing consciousness again, she could hear something… is that a laugh?

.

.

.

“Phew, your temperature is back to normal-” Shinobu let out a relieved sigh as soon as she finished checking the girl's temperature.

“Oh, also, we are leaving tomorrow, if there's anything else you want to do at this village, it has to be today.” The butterfly commented before getting up from her spot. “I'm going to do a last check-up around here, your wound is stable, but if you're to get out, don't leave the temple, okay?”

Y/N nodded in response as she watched Shinobu leave the room.

If there is something she wants to do before leaving… well, there is something.

On a far away corner of the temple, around the garden, lays down two graves.

It took Y/N a while to find it, but she did it eventually.

Yuki and Kota would soon go look for her, so she needs to finish here before this happens.

“I'm sorry guys, I don't really know what kind of flowers you both liked.” Y/N commented, putting flowers on their graves.

“I only knew you two for two weeks, but you both will forever be in my heart, just like everyone else who’s gone.”

That's right. Y/N, besides everything else, is still a demon slayer.

If she immediately breaks down the moment someone dies, she would be a pretty sad excuse of a swordsman, right?

“I'm sorry that I couldn't do more for you. I hope you both can forgive me someday.”

There's no going back now. Now, they will forever be just a star in the constellation of her memories.

If Y/N could, she would stay more, but a raindrop fell right on the tip of her nose.

She promised to Shinobu she wouldn't go out during the rain again.

Doing a last polite bow to the two graves, she silently left the garden.

It's done.

“Y/N! Here! We thought you would be bored staying in your room all day, so we brought this to you!” Yuki ran up to her while she was on her way back to the room.

What she was holding on her hands was…

“Shiro?” Y/N confusedly said, gently taking the bird away from the kid's hand.

“Huh? This bird is ours? It was pecking your window, so we captured it!” Kota nonchalantly said.

“Yeah, it's a very special friend.” Y/N commented, gently caressing its neck. “Thanks for bringing her to me!”

Though, Y/N was a bit worried. Since every time Shiro is there, something big happens.

Except, nothing happened this time.

Y/N went back to her room while expecting the crow to fly off like always, but after she laid down on the bed, the animal settled on her lap and slept right there.

“Huh?” She was a bit surprised, but let it rest anyway.

After this, nothing really eventful happened, Y/N expend the rest of the day in her room, Shinobu brought some books to entertain her, and Shiro didn't move a muscle from her lap during the whole time.

Honestly, she could sneak out and try to insist more to Akaza for him to come with her, but she was too tired to do so.

'It probably wouldn't work out anyway….' She dozed off again, she's been doing that a lot recently, but it's only to be expected since she can finally sleep in peace after two weeks.

“CAW!” And she harshly had her sleep interrupted with a peck on the face.

“Ow! What the hell, Shiro!?” Y/N angrily exclaimed, sitting up in bed to notice it was already dark again.

It's always weird when you close your eyes after a tiring day, and when you open them again, a long time has already passed.

“You want to go outside?” She asked, letting out a tired yawn.

“Caw! Caw!”

“You really should learn to open windows or something, you know?” Y/N said, grumpily getting up from bed and walking over to the window, harshly pushing the curtains and coming face to face with a basketball.

Both froze from shock, Y/N quickly recuperating from the surprise and blurting out : “Akaza…. don't tell me you really are a stalker-”

“Stop misunderstanding things.” He sighed, easily climbing the window and invading the room.

“Wow- When did you get so bold?” Y/N asked, crossing her arms and arching a brown.

“You're the last person to complain about boldness.” He nonchalantly said back, is it Y/N's impression, or did he suddenly get immune to her ironic comments? He isn't even getting mad at her anymore!

He probably noticed her confused expression because he suddenly cleaned his throat and asked : “Are you okay now?”

“Yeah, why the sudden worryings, though?”

“And your shoulder? It's a pretty bad wound-”

“Wow, now tell me something surprising-”

“Then, I will let you 'kidnap' me.”

Y/N's eyes went wide in surprise for a second, before she suddenly broke down in a loud laugh.

“Hahaha! When did you learn to make jokes? Now that definitely was surprising!” she exclaimed, hugging her stomach.

“I'm serious.”

“Haha-” She stopped laughing. “Wait, what?”

The girl stared at his dead-serious expression for a while, before slowly raising her hand and pinching her cheek. “I'm not dreaming-” She said to herself.

After this, she started to walk in circles, talking what was on her mind out loud. “I mean, that was what I wanted, but I didn't expect that I would get to that part! What should I do!? I don't think I can carry two boxes on my back- No, more importantly-”

She suddenly turned to Akaza again, him immediately stiffening when she suddenly walked up to him and grabbed his shoulders with a scared face. “What should I do about the others?!”

“What?”

She started to shake him. “They let it go in the first time, but now it's different! If they discover you, they are definitely going to kill me! I will have to cut my stomach open and all of my organs will seep out! AAAAAH-”

Akaza didn't understand her panic at all, confusedly tilting his head and saying : “If they are going to kill you, then shouldn't I just kill them first instead?”

“Haha! Good joke!” She smiled, but her grip on his shoulders suddenly got harsher. “But starting today, you're a good demon! Good demons don't kill people.”

“How will I eat then?”

“By sleeping.”

“Huh?”

“Don't worry, you won't even miss human meat!”

He sighed. “We will see about that, but back to the concern of your friends killing you-”

“AAAAH! THAT'S RIGHT! What should I do?!” She started to panic again.

“Is it really necessary for them to know about my existence? I can just be your hostage in secret then.”

Well, it's not like it would be hard for someone like Akaza to conceal their presence, but-

“Can you not refer to yourself as my hostage? It's a bit embarrassing-”

“Why? You were pretty confident about kidnapping me a while ago, even saying things like you wanted me to be yours and all-”

Her face exploded in red. “That- That was because of the circumstances! I was- Anyway, just stop!”

Y/N could tell by the smug grin on his face that he wouldn't stop.

“Jeez, what's up with your sudden change of attitude?” She commented, sighing loudly.

“…. After thinking a lot, I think that I understand now, the reason Daki left with you, and why Muzan was so worried.”

“Is that so? And what is the reason?”

“You're an idiot.”

An irk-mark appeared on her head. “Hah?”

“But you're what people call a 'loveable idiot', so, I guess it's an advantage to you.” He shrugged, Y/N didn't know whether he was trying to provoke her or not.

“I don't know if the title of 'loveable idiot' is something I would want to have-” She sweat-dropped.

“Well, you got me, didn't you? So, you have to take responsibility for it now.” He smiled, though you could see the dark aura around him.

Y/N, who didn't even notice the dark nature of his statement, only smiled brightly and said : “I say the same then!”

To be honest, Y/N was feeling nervous. Why is he being so nice to her all of a sudden?

The title of idiot really fit her, since she didn't even use her pea brain to remember the conversation she had with 'dream-Akaza'.

                        『••✎••』

“Do you really need to go?” Yuki said, her expression fearful.

“I'm sorry Yuki, but Y/N need to be properly taken care of now, I'm sure you can understand, right?” Shinobu gently said, patting her head, she nodded sadly in response.

“Don't be scared, Yuki, Kota, you are all safe now.” It was Y/N turn to reassure them.

“Thanks for being our friend.” Kota said, different from Yuki, you could see that he was doing his best in holding down the tears.

It was quite hard for them for to leave, even more because the people of the village got quite attached to them and often tried to convince them to stay, but obviously, they couldn't do that.

“I will be leaving now, but I promise I won't ever forget you guys.” Y/N said, hugging them for the last time before turning to leave.

Shinobu, Giyuu, Kyojuro and Y/N silently walked away.

“Are you guys feeling this strange sensation?” Shinobu asked. “There's a chill down my spine.” She hugged herself.

That means that Akaza is near. Y/N was a bit surprised, so he really was serious in this 'secret hostage' thing? Wow. She would have to try her best to not let a smile show.

“Y/N!”

They stopped in their tracks when they heard a scream coming from the distance.

Yuki ran up to Y/N, tackling her into a hug while crying loudly. “You know! When I grow up, I want to be a cool swordsman just like you! And then- sniff- I will help a lot of people too by killing monsters!”

In response, Y/N crouched down to her eye level, gently cleaning her tears. “You don't need to worry about that because when you grow up, me and all the others will already have got rid of all the monsters.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. No one will have to die anymore. You should focus on thinking about something else you want to do from now on.”

Yuki nodded weakly in response. “Okay… okay-”

“I promise I will visit one day, so be sure to take care of Kota until there. He will probably take care of you, too.”

“I will! I promise.”

“That's right.” She patted the kid's head. “I will be taking my leave then.”

She got up as they all started to leave again, she waved goodbye to the kid with a smile as she slowly disappeared from her sight the more far they got.

That's it. The mission is completed.

It was far from a perfect finale, but it's over.

Even so, Y/N will keep going. To save more people. To live up to the memory of those who are gone, and most importantly :

To protect the place were Yuki and Kota will grow up in.

       •────────✦❅✦────────•

[ aaaaaa its over! Finally! Was it a good ending? I'm so sleepy right now- it's like, 3:00 AM to me-  Nonetheless, I hope this 'filler' arc was a good experience for you that are reading!

I feel like my writing improved a lot since I started, so now that we will be moving on to the swordsmith arc, I really hope that the quality will be better than the red-light district arc was!

I hope you have a good day/night! Now I'm going to sleep- ]