VI

A week later

**Kokushibou's POV***

I woke up to the smell of stir fry, and what scented like pork.A fond smile fell on my face as I stood up and walked out of my room to the bathroom on my hallway to brush my teeth.

This had been going on for a week now, it was almost like.....our little schedule. I would wake up, after her because I didn't understand how she could wake up so damn early. I made a mental note to ask her about that later.The smell of something on the stove would hit my nose and I'd smile( much to my surprise), take care of myself and go downstairs. I would see her, in one of the dresses I bought for her, twirling something around in the pot and cutting up any type of vegetable she could.

The sight was............. calming, and it was something I looked forward to seeing every morning.

We always stayed two days before cleaning the house, and then after that, we would go to the shed and cater for the lily planted.

I didn't understand why, but I wished it would never end.

"Pig meat?" I ask once I was in the kitchen.

She gives an amused look, "Pork"

I roll my eyes at this and sit on one of the stools close to the refrigerator, "It's the same thing"

"At least English is the one thing I'm better than you at" She says and goes back to the stove, looking over at a pot on the wood occasionally. I folded my arms and watched her as she continued to cook, doing everything so easily.

For a moment, the scenery changed in my eyes. Instead, I saw my mother's long midnight hair by the stove, along with I and Yoriichi beside her on stools, trying to see what she was doing.

I closed my eyes and sighed, feeling my stomach churn. I felt guilt.

So much guilt, after what happened.

"Kokushibou?" Nakime calls out and I open my eyes to see her face slightly close to mine. Still, I couldn't see her eyes and I wondered......... just how beautiful they were, "Are you okay?"

I smirked a little and intentionally came closer to her, "Just fine"

"Then come eat" She says quietly which contrasts with her bonking my head with a wooden spoon. I grunted and rubbed the spot she hit.The nerve.Although, we had been behaving a lot more like siblings these days.

Constant squabbling( I never realized how much I loved hearing her argue about little things), petty fights when we were in the shed, and of course......bed time stories.I only did it once though, and she laughed at me throughout because she said I would make a wonderful father.

If only she knew.

I picked up my plate and she picked hers and we sat there in the kitchen, eating in silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, it was calming one.Where no words were needed, only the others presence.

"It's good" I mumble and she gives me a cheeky smile.

"A compliment from you must mean it's tantalizing"My nose twitches in playful annoyance, "Sarcasm doesn't suit you"

She only shrugs, "It's not my fault. I've never seen you cook before...."

I blink at this. Oh, that was true.She's been doing all the cooking. Voluntarily."Don't prepare breakfast tomorrow" I state and placed a piece of meat in my mouth, chewed and swallowed it, "Just stay put"

"Oh?" She chuckles and falls silent when she sees the determined look in my eyes, ".....Oh, you're serious"

"Yes" I nod and stand up, placing my dish in the sink. She's done too and she places hers in the sink, so I start washing them. My hair wasn't up in its usual ponytail though and I blew strands of hair from my face. A tiny smile morphed on my face when I felt her small hands touch my cheeks and pull my hair backwards. I felt her wrapping it up into a messy bun and the smile increased.I could sense she was standing on a stool, just to reach my head. It was the most adorable revelation to me.

My happiness only went higher when I felt her hand on my shoulder. It felt soft and warm, in contact with mine because I was only in a singlet. I normally walk around these days with it and she seems to have gotten used to it. I smirked, remembering the first time she saw in the sleeveless.

"Your hair is very soft" She says quietly as her other hand runs through it. I resisted the urge to lean into her touch.

"I wish mine was as soft"

I dried the plates from the sink and placed them on the rack. I then turned around and saw the look of disappointment she had, separating from my hair.

She was still on the damn stool. A coy smirk morphed on my face as I folded my arms, "It's hard to imagine you looking tall"

I chucked as she stuck her tongue out at me, "Use your words""Go to hell" She says, clicking her tongue and bonking my head once again. I grunted and rubbed the spot that was assaulted.In all honesty, she was the only one that could hit my head and still be alive."For someone with small hands, you sure hit hard"

She gave me a cheeky smile, "It's just as you said. I'd do great with offense"

I rolled my eyes and flicked her forehead, "Don't let it get to your head"

While she complained, I walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, grabbing my katana from where it was. I felt her looking at me, confused so I turned to her.

"Training"

She made a noise of realization and told me to have fun. I rolled my eyes as I walked to the door.

Fun? Subjecting my body to physically strenuous activities? Yes, very fun.

I kept the sarcastic comment to myself, knowing that it would lead to another squabble. I liked our arguments but today, I was feeling very tired.I didn't close the door though, when I heard her whine and mutter angry words from the kitchen. I disappeared and appeared behind her, looking over her head.

She had cut herself. Her pointer finger to be exact.And it was bleeding. No, that was an understatement, it was gushing out like a river. My protective instincts took over.

I grabbed her hand from behind, ignoring her surprised gasp, took it to the sink and turned on the tap, putting it under the rushing water. She looked like she wanted to protest, but fell silent and focused on her finger being rinsed from the blood.

I shut the tap off and brought her hand out of the sink. She tried to pry it out but I tightened my grip, not enough to hurt her more but enough to keep her still.My eyes narrowed when she constantly looked around, trying to focus on anywhere except me.

I huffed, silent, as I took her to the living room and sat her down on one of the mats, sitting along with her.

I went to one of the cupboards there and pulled out a first aid kit.

Muzan-sama told me it was there.Most of the lower moons were extremely weak.

I sat next to her and started dabbing the cut with some cotton wool. I didn't add a disinfectant on purpose, to see if the opening would clot.

It didn't. She was not regenerating.

I dipped the wool in the disinfectant this time and softly pat on the wound; she flinches, but simmers down when she sees the look on my face.

She still wasn't regenerating.I decided to speak for her, "You're not regenerating"

She didn't speak, and looked down to the floor.

I tried again, "Why aren't you regenerating?"

No answer.

I grit my teeth subconsciously and wrapped up her finger with a small bandage. She was hiding something. And that didn't affect me, what affected me was how she hid it despite it hurting her.Out of all the demons, she should be the one to regenerate the fastest. Hell, she could grow back an entire head because of the amount of blood Muzan-sama gave her.(A/N: Shouldn't you be familiar with that, Kokushibou? O⁠_⁠o)

Something was wrong, and I felt self control and regard for privacy fly away.

"Nakime"

She tensed and hung her head lower. It was almost as if she didn't want me to look at her, else I would read the entire situation.

I took a deep breath to calm myself down.

Why was I getting so worked up? She had the right to be private.

"It's nothing, Kokushibou" She says and looks up with a guilty smile, "It's just been a while since Muzan-sama gave me his blood so, it's starting to take its toll on me"

My eyes narrowed again, "You've gone days without Muzan-sama's blood before"

She tensed again and tried to pull her hand out of my grip but I wouldn't budge, "Everything's fine. I promise"

Silence fell between us again, but I didn't let go of her hand. My brain was screaming at me to just let it be, but the other parts of my body didn't agree, "Nakime"

"Kokushibou, it's fine"

"No, it's not fine" I return with a raised voice which shocks her. I don't think she's ever heard me shout before, "What is wrong with you? And don't lie"The look on her face was one of guilt, that suddenly turned into irritation.

"Kokushibou" She says slowly and tries to yank her hand out of my grip again. I tightened my grip again and she hissed from it.Nope, I'm not apologizing for that. That's on her.

"It will only get tighter from here, so I suggest you start talking" I say and she grits her teeth at me.

"I just told you that it was nothing, so why won't you let go of me??"

"If it was nothing, you would be regenerating right now, Nakime. Don't give me that bullshit" I hissed and internally cringed when I saw her frown increase.

"Why do you even care so much?! It's none of your damn business!"

Saying that I wasn't shocked by her screaming would be a lie, but I didn't show it. Or care for it right now. Her question sank in and I fell silent, looking down on her hand.

"I can't have you dying. There would be no one here to protect the lily if I wasn't around"

She only scoffed at this and gripped my arm with her free hand, "If you care so much about the lily, then go stay there with it and leave me alone"

"I'll do that once you start talking"

She almost growls at me and tries yanking her hand out again. I wanted her to stop struggling, it would only make matters worse. I was too deep to just dismiss everything now.If only she would just-

My eyes widened when I heard her release a small whimper.

I didn't hear that right, right?

My question was answered when I saw tears pour out of her face. I couldn't believe it. I went into full panic mode when she started choking and holding her stomach. I let her go and she immediately ran into the kitchen. I followed suit, shocked at the sight of her retching violently in the sink.

I immediately appeared beside her and held her hair out of the way, for her to vomit without getting it on herself.She went on for a while and eventually calmed down, while I rubbed circles on her back. However, when she stopped, she started sobbing again. The sound of her crying made my insides twist in ways I would never understand.

"Nakime" I say worriedly. She didn't answer me and continued to sob into the sink. I helped her up and sat her down on one of the kitchen stools, kneeling down in front of her.

She looked drained. Was this the reason why she wasn't regenerating?

My body moved on its own as I reached out and cleaned the tears from her cheek.And then I noticed, her tear drops were only flowing down one side.

Normally, when people cry, tears would flow out of both eyes. And even if it didn't, it would eventually.

I waited a little, to see if another trail of tests would come down her right cheek.But nothing came.

She gagged again and I immediately pulled her into my arms. She started retching on the floor, behind me. I didn't even care that some of it got on me. She wasn't eating. She wasn't eating any of the foods she cooked. I didn't even want to know for how long this had been going on.

She calmed again, shivering a bit but she stayed still in my arms. I pulled her away from my shoulder and tried to wipe some of the vomit from the sides of her mouth when some of her front bangs parted to the side.

She was coughing but that wasn't what caught my attention.

She had only one eye?

It seems she noticed I was staring because I saw her look up(for the first time in my life) at me and then start crying again.

***3rd POV***

Oh no.

Nakime started sobbing as she shook out of Kokushibou's grip and stood up, running out of the kitchen.He heard the door close and that brought him back down to earth.

That was why she always covered her face.What ridiculed him now was how she just ran out. Guilt finally etched on his face, he realized he shouldn't have pried.

Nakime was on her bed, tangled in the sheets.

Her pillows were wet, from the tears that constantly poured out of her eye.He had seen her. Without her bangs covering her eye.

Another sob came out of her as she hugged a pillow tighter. She knew he thought of her as a freak now.A one-eyed freak.

She tried to keep it from him. From everyone, so badly. It was only Muzan that had seen her like that.She was afraid he wouldn't look at her the same anymore.And just when things were going okay.

Her mind started wandering around, fueled by her sadness and fear.

∆∆∆"Where is our box, honey?"

The bald man shot up from his relaxed state on the chair he was on. Nakime sighed as she made out another bottle of sake in his hands, "What happened to 'it will be the last time?' "He rolled his eyes and hiccuped, "Don't start again, woman"

Nakime closed her eyes and breathed in. The stench of alcohol made it hard to not get angry, "I'm not here to argue with you. Show me where the box is, I need to buy some supplies"

He scoffed and rested into his chair, not bothering to answer him.

Nakime glared and walked to him, snatching the bottle of sake.

"Hey, you ugly bitch! Give that back!" He hollered and she flinches. The last thing she wanted was for him to get aggressive, she had a show this night and she didn't want her boss asking her how she got bruises on her face.

"I'll give you back when you tell me where our savings box is" She says calmly, as to not spike him.

It did not work and before she could raise a hand to protect herself, a sharp blow hit her cheek.She fell to the ground, the bottle of sake shattering once it hit the ground too.

That only angered him more.

"You see what you've done?! That was my last bottle, you whore!"

"Honey" She whispered out, holding her face to calm the ringing in her ears, "Please, where is the box?"

He only hissed at this and slapped her again, before he knelt on top of her, "You wanna know where the money is, you desperate bitch?! I used it! I needed my sake and I bought as much as I needed. You can't even say thank you for me trying to win us back more at the pub!"

Nakime choked once his hands wrapped around her neck. She knew that he had gambled half the money( and lost it) and then used the rest for sake. He was lying, and she wanted to cry.

She had been saving that money since January, and they were in August.

He didn't even do anything to help with their bills. She managed, and paid for everything. Every single thing.

"Ungrateful piece of shit" He snarled, tightening his grip, "You think our money is only for your stupid concerts?!"

She was starting to pale, and she was already pale to begun to ring. Another slap came, harsher than the last and she was sure he had left marks.

Her ears rang and she couldn't hear anything, only seeing the horrendous look on her husband's face as he continued to degrade her.

Their rent was due. She was going to use that money to pay for it, and use the rest to buy clothes.Clothes for him because she cared.

Her eyes landed on her biwa a few feet beside her, and something inside her snapped.

Hands were bitten, kicks were thrown.

And the rest was a blur.

The only thing she remembered was her breathing heavily on the floor, with the bloodied body of her husband beside her, biwa lodged in his skull.

∆∆∆∆

Nakime cried as the memory played over and over in her head.

She didn't like it. She didn't like remembering his death, and the death of the rest that followed. She felt like a serial killer.

She hoped quietly. She looked at the door, hoping that maybe Kokushibou would walk through the door, telling her to come back for breakfast.

That it was a dream.

That none of it ever happened.

Her hopes were crushed when she heard footsteps and she looked outside, seeing Kokushibou walking out of the house and out into the streets.