#A/N: "This chapter might be a bit "Disturbing" for some readers... maybe?"
--------
After getting dressed and finishing the food Akari had brought, Kagerou and Akari sat in silence.
It wasn't that they didn't want to talk. There was simply nothing that needed to be said.
Kagerou leaned back, his gaze drifting between Akari and the untouched tea on the table. Every so often, he lifted his kiseru to his lips, exhaling thin streams of smoke toward the open window. If not for the fresh air drifting in, the room would have been completely clouded by now.
Akari, meanwhile, sat calmly across from him, occasionally taking small sips of her tea, utterly unbothered by the smoke.
"...So," Kagerou finally broke the silence, "whose room is this? Yours?"
He glanced at her briefly. "Is it really okay for me to be here?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" Akari replied lightly. "You were sleeping here-"
"I didn't choose to sleep here," Kagerou cut in before she could finish, his tone sharp but controlled. "Don't say it like it was my intention, Akari-san. The words might sound the same, but the meaning isn't. Don't mix them up"
"Yeah~ yeah~" she waved him off. "Why are you getting so sensitive? Is this your first time?"
"Of course it is," Kagerou said flatly. "I'm fifteen, remember? And I don't even remember any of it"
He exhaled another thin stream of smoke, then looked straight at her.
"...No offense. I'm not saying I'm against whatever happened between us. What happened, happened," His voice was steady, deliberate. "But that doesn't mean I'm just going to accept it as it is"
He paused, choosing his words carefully.
"It's my fault for not remembering anything. I know that. But you can't blame me either, it was beyond my control," His gaze lowered slightly. "I don't even know why I drank that much last night. Maybe it was the atmosphere… maybe something else"
He looked back up at her.
"But if you remember it," he continued, quieter now, "then you were still conscious. Maybe not fully, but enough. You could have stopped it… and you didn't"
Akari didn't interrupt.
"I'm not asking you to forget it," Kagerou said. "If you don't want to, that's your choice. I won't interfere with that"
His expression hardened, not cold, but resolute.
"But there were no feelings involved. At least, not on my side"
"You can call me heartless if you want. I won't stop you"
He exhaled slowly.
"But in this case… there will be no responsibility"
Hearing his words, Akari fell silent.
There was a flicker of shock on her face, but not because of what Kagerou said. It was who said it. A fifteen-year-old.
For a brief moment, her thoughts drifted, unanchored. Is the one before me really just fifteen…? Then, slowly, a smile found its way to her lips.
"…I never asked you to take responsibility," Akari said at last.
She lowered her gaze slightly.
"I know I could have stopped it. I know that," Her voice remained calm, but honest. "I didn't because I was... lonely"
She looked back up at him.
"And you, your attitude, that quiet kindness hidden behind indifference, it reminded me of my late husband." She exhaled softly. "So I let it happen"
A pause.
"But when my mind cleared, I felt guilty too. Truly." She shook her head faintly. "Still, I won't ask anything of you. I never intended to"
Her eyes met his, earnest.
"I just want you to promise me one thing." "Even after this… please don't ever hate me. Okay?"
Kagerou didn't answer immediately.
He took his time.
He lifted his kiseru, inhaled slowly, then exhaled, smoke curling lazily toward the open window. And finally touching the tea that Akari served, only after taking a sip of his tea did he look back at her.
"…I'll never hate you," he said calmly. "That, I can promise"
"That's all I wanted to hear," Akari replied, her smile never fading. "Thank you"
Kagerou nodded once, then, finally, allowed a small smile of his own to surface.
"Now that everything's clear," he said, "I can finally leave without a burden in my heart"
"Are you leaving soon?" Akari asked.
"I should have left right after finishing my business last night," Kagerou replied, sounding noticeably more relaxed now. "But I'd already paid for the room. I didn't see the harm in staying one night longer." He paused. "…I just didn't expect something like this to happen"
"…Why not stay a few more days?" she suggested.
"I need to submit my mission report," he said. "So I have to return." Then, as if remembering something, he added, "Oh, and in a few days, someone from the Corps will come to see you. I don't know the exact procedures, but once everything's done, this ryokan will officially fall under the protection of the Demon Slayer Corps"
"I'll remember that," Akari said. After a moment, she asked again, "…So you're leaving now?"
"Yeah. I just need to grab my things from my room," Kagerou replied as he stood. "After that, I'm leaving"
"But your haori isn't dry yet," Akari said.
"Why did you even wash it…?" he muttered. Then he shrugged. "Whatever. You can keep it. Think of it as a souvenir"
He walked toward the shoji door. Just before he could open it, Akari spoke again.
"Souvenir?" she asked softly. "Does that mean you won't come back?"
Kagerou's hand paused on the door.
For a brief moment, he stopped.
Then, without answering, he slid the shoji open and stepped out, heading back to his room.
Seeing this, Akari didn't say anything.
She remained seated, her smile still there, but this time, her head lowered slightly, a quiet sadness weighing on her expression.
"…Who am I kidding?" she murmured to herself. "Just because he says he won't hate me doesn't mean he likes me"
She let out a soft breath.
"I'm just an older woman he met along his long journey. Nothing special"
She paused.
"…But last night…"
Her thoughts drifted, and all at once, a faint blush crept onto her cheeks.
Akari herself wasn't sure how it had begun.
After they returned to the ryokan that night, the cold, the atmosphere, the stillness, it all felt strangely fitting. The drinking started casually. Conversations about life. About the past. About loss.
Somewhere along the way, without either of them realizing it, the topics grew more intimate.
She didn't know who started it.
Maybe it was her.
Maybe it was Kagerou.
Most likely… it was her.
What she hadn't expected was how quickly he became drunk. She still didn't understand how or why, but suddenly, there was a kiss.
At the time, Akari was still somewhat conscious. She had intended to stop it.
But when Kagerou's lips touched hers...
The softness.
The faint, salty taste of nicotine clinging to him.
The warmth of sake on his breath.
Her thoughts blurred.
The alcohol changed him.
The calm, distant Kagerou became something rougher. More aggressive. And for the first time since her husband's passing, a man kissed her like that.
Not gently.
Not hesitantly.
Rough.
It wasn't that no one had ever tried to approach her before. She had simply been too busy, too tired to care.
The kiss deepened.
He was inexperienced, clumsy even, but somehow… that only made it more intoxicating.
Perhaps it was the sake.
Perhaps it was loneliness.
Perhaps it was both.
They didn't stop.
Somehow, they ended up in her room.
After that…
Only Akari and God knew what truly happened.
Even now, her knees felt faintly weak.
Remembering it all, Akari shook her head.
Doing something like that with someone so much younger felt forbidden.
And yet…
…addictive.
She inhaled deeply, steadying herself.
"I need to control myself," she murmured as she stood. "I should see him off"
And with that, she left the room.
---
A short while later, outside the ryokan, Kagerou stood ready to depart.
"Here," Akari said, handing him a bento wrapped neatly in cloth. "You can eat this along the way"
Kagerou hesitated for a moment before accepting it.
"…Thank you," he said. "I'll eat it"
"You better," Akari replied lightly.
"…"
"…."
"…I'll be going now," Kagerou said at last.
"…Yes," Akari answered softly. "Please be careful"
Kagerou nodded and turned away.
He took a few steps.
Then stopped.
Without turning back, he spoke.
"…I'll stop by sometimes"
Akari froze.
Then, her smile widened, brighter than before.
"I-I'll wait," she said quietly.
Kagerou said nothing more.
He simply continued walking, his steps steady, his thoughts already turned toward the road ahead, and the place where everyone waiting for him.