XVI

***Kokushibou's POV***

I groggily opened up my eyes when I felt something touch my nose and move away quickly. A wry smile pulled at my lips and I decided to stay still for a while, knowing I'd eventually catch her in the act.By the way the breeze was quietly brushing by, I knew it was evening time.

My allegations were correct as I felt her shift her weight again, and lean forward. I immediately wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer, locking our lips together. It didn't take her more than a few seconds to recover and respond.The next ten minutes was spent kissing gently and passionately, wrapped up in each other's arms.

Until she pulled away.

I opened a pair of my eyes and rose an eyebrow. She only gave me a little smile and started sniffing the air. The way her little nose bopped slightly made me smirk but I hid it when she looked at me again,"Do you smell that?"

I give her another confused look and shake my head. She smiles and pinches my nose, making me glare at her."Use that nose properly, Koku." She says as she wriggles out of my grip. I narrow my eyes a bit, not liking the loss of her soft and warm body but I still took a solid sniff of the air.

Now I could smell it, guess I couldn't when she was on me.

Cooked flesh.

She gives me a concerned look, wondering if Yoriichi was in the kitchen,"I'm going downstairs." She whispers and stands up, pulling on one of my haori and rushing out of the room.I sigh and stand up, stretching a bit and tying up my hair in its usual ponytail.

Staring out of the window a while, I saw a few kids and their parents a good distance away from the house. I could tell every detail on them because of my heightened senses. They all looked happy. United.Free. And most importantly, happy.

I continued to watch them until they left my field of vision. I then walked out of the room and went downstairs, not being so used to the sight in front of me.Yoriichi and Nakime were on the mats, in the living room, laughing at something I didn't know and eating. Well, Nakime was eating.

Yoriichi can't....eat.

I was shaken out of my thoughts when Nakime saw me and called me over. I internally sighed when Yoriichi's eyes glittered and he turned around to see me.

"Aniki." He smiles and I glare at him.

I still walk over and sit next to Nakime, taking the plate she hands to me. "Yoriichi made it." She whispers and I raise an eyebrow, looking at him. He only smirks and rests his chin on one of his hands.

"That's.....really nice of you." I mutter and narrow my eyes at him, "Really nice."

He smirks and gives me an innocent look, that I wasn't buying.

"I'm not hungry."

"Blasphemy." He says and I scowl at him.

"What did you put in this?" I ask and he smiles.

"What did you think I put in it?"

"Poison."

"I'm not evil,Aniki."

"Don't bullshit me."

He chuckled a bit and Nakime looks at the both of us, "Kokushibou, I'm sure there's nothing wrong with it. I ate the same thing."

I look at her for a while before sighing and eventually taking a bite. She smiles at me, a beautiful one that I'd do anything for, to see.Yoriichi blinks, with a teasing smirk, "Wow Nakime, he just folded. I wish he listened to me like that."

"Oh I will, when pigs fly." I mutter and he rolls his eyes, muttering something I couldn't possibly care about. The rest of the evening, we all talked and I had to admit, Nakime seemed really comfortable with Yoriichi.He even told her how he's been in the infinity castle for an extremely long time which shocked her, since she basically controlled everything. He purposefully left out his relationship with Muzan-sama, for reasons I think I'm aware of.

It was a few minutes after one o'clock, I could tell by how bright the moon was shining. We were taking a little stroll, in a shrub filled forest that we had no problem navigating through. She was walking in front of us, picking up a few flowers and such, probably to plant later.Yoriichi and I were a few feet behind her, watching her carefully. If we see any movement, we are not hesitating.

"Something tells me you're a lot more smitten than you think." He speaks up and I glance at him. He smiles and folds his arms over his haori,"The way you look at her, the way you act around her, even the way your body responds to her..." He pauses a bit and looks at me, "You didn't look at Usagi the same way...."

I tensed a bit, when he mentioned the name of my wife.(A/N: I know in the manga, his wife's name remained anonymous. So I can't just write nothing there, I had to put something. Bear with me, my loves 🖤)

"Sorry to bring that up." He mutters and I give him a small nod."It's fine. You have no ill intent behind those words." I answer and he smiles a little.

"I'm happy for you." He says again and I look at him. He returns my look, "I'm happy seeing you this happy. I'm happy you're actually smiling and getting to share something with a loved one."

He looked at me again when I placed a hand on his shoulder. I managed to give him a small smile and he grins, "See? Proving my point exactly."

"You are the most annoying person in my life." I mutter and he chuckles.

"What are siblings for?"

I chuckled myself as we both stopped, seeing Nakime squatting and picking up some herbs. I admired how modest, yet beautiful she looked under the moonlight until Yoriichi nudged me playfully making me look at him.

"Hey. Relax yourself, Aniki. Can't you wait until you get home before eye raping her?"He says cheekily and I immediately smack the back of his head.

He winces and pouts at me, "Mean."

"I'm about to be more mean if you don't shut the fuck up." I growl lowly and he raises his hands in defense.

"Damn. I won't say stuff like that again... sheesh." He groans, rubbing the spot where I hit. He then smiles fondly, glancing at me.

"I guess, I won't feel too bad leaving now."

I immediately look at him, wondering what the hell that meant, "Yoriichi?"

He smiles at me but our conversation was cut short as Nakime walks to us and pulls us to sit on the forest floor, so she'd put some flower crowns on our heads.We didn't get a chance to speak after that because he was basically glued to her.

Those words continued to echo, as I wondered what he meant by that statement.