Blood.

Red stained white hospital sheets, red stained hands, red stained floors. The thunders roared through the pitch black sky, and yet the screams of help sounded ten times stronger than them. They held their hearts on their fists, running to get every single blood container they had, any needle or drug that the lead lady needed. She had everything under control. She needed to be in control. She couldn't let a person she cares so much for die.

If it weren't for the tears that were blocking her view, she would've been able to move faster. She didn't. It cost the patient to lose more blood. It was her fault again.

Shinobu told herself to get it together. She silently pleaded her older sister to help her just this once, yet her hands kept trembling uncontrollably. She let out tired breaths as she did everything she could in order to save the patient.

To save you.

The only sounds she was able to hear were the cries of the little girls who waited outside, drenched in crimson blood. The trail that your body had left being dragged inside the estate was still there, yet they tried their best to clean it up despite their lack of strength, between whimpers and sobs.

She wanted to ask for help, but there wasn't any time left. She wouldn't be enough. She wasn't good enough. It was all her fault. And now another one of her dear sisters was going to die.

It began raining down outside, the cold air came into the estate like a bang, just when the doors had swung opened abruptly. The girls held their breath and tears, clenching the mops now coated in red.

Muichiro stood in the door's frame, supporting himself on it due to having ran there. His long black locks were dripping down the rainwater, sticking to his face just like his clothes weighted and were glued to his body. He barely caught his breath before walking further inside the estate in a rushed pace.

"Where's... where's [Y/N]?" he asked, his voice broke in the middle of the sentence.

At first glance, the girls were unable to identify if what they had seen roll down his cheeks were raindrops or tears, yet the pain that his eyes reflected was enough for them to know.

They kept quiet. Shinobu needed to focus in order to save you, and Muichiro's presence would make everything worse.

"Is that... her blood?" his breathing stopped, eyes widened entirely as he stared blankly at the pools of blood that he knew were too much for a normal human to lose without losing consciousness.

The girls refused to speak. Naho hesitantly raised her head, meeting nothing but damaged blue eyes.

"What... happened?"

They held themselves closer, noticing how the boy had lost the little sanity he had left. His breathing came back, becoming fast and uneven. The person that once never lost his cool was now losing his head right in front of them.

"What the hell happened?!"

The girls shut their eyes tight when they heard him raise his voice.

"Tokito-sama—!" he heard, and that voice immediately made him turn his head to the left "you came right away"

He looked at her with pure coldness, and a hint of scorn. "What happened to her?"

"Ah," Aoi's eyebrows furrowed, her lips going downwards. If it weren't for the fact that she could feel and hear his pain, she would've simply rushed back inside so Shinobu had more hands to work with "...I take it you know of her illness, right? The kakushi reported to us that during her mission tonight, she fought against a demon whose art compromised her lung condition. Though she defeated the demon, her body couldn't take it. She strained her lungs so much that one of them collapsed, she also broke six of her ribs while pushing her lung capacity, they pierced her flesh as well, hence all the blood around"

Muichiro's heart stopped. His shoulders sank. His eyes were clouded with tears. The little strength he had on his legs abandoned him, forcing him to kneel on the blood-coated floor. His pupils were fixed on his hands, now covered in that very same blood. The blood of the woman he swore to protect.

It was his fault. He should've insisted on being next to her. He should've been there to protect her. He was the cause why she distanced herself and ended up like that.

He didn't even feel the three warm pairs of hands that rested on his back in an attempt of comfort. Aoi sighed as she stared at the girls trying their best to calm his broken spirit. She swallowed her tears before they were even able to spill. She turned around and returned to help the insect pillar save your life.

Muichiro became a soulless body after he had heard those words. Thirty minutes passed, and he didn't move an inch, not even the muscles of his face.

The girls dragged him to a chair the best way they could. They tried to dry the river of tears that came flooding from his empty eyes, but it was impossible. They kept coming, as if he was being stabbed over and over, and all over again.

Two hours passed, unchanged. The rain outside, the chaos inside. Mitsuri came in like a mess of tears, wearing her normal attire instead of the uniform due to having that night free. When she noticed Muichiro's state, she felt something inside of her break. She sat next to him, unable to mutter any encouraging words since the sadness kept her voice from leaving her throat.

The water pillar didn't waste another hour in appearing as well, he barely had a chance to process the information before heading towards the butterfly estate immediately. He sat next to Kanroji, burying his face behind his hands. He almost never showed any emotion, but that night he felt as if he was going to lose someone who had openly cared for him even for just a second.

Gyomei came too, an hour later. His presence put everyone more at ease. It stopped raining, but the dark clouds remained. Everyone sat around in a circle to start a praying chain, holding hands and closing their eyes. Everyone except Muichiro, who at that time, had yet to even flinch a little.

Two in the morning. Mitsuri fell asleep on the waiting room, to which Giyuu had covered her with his haori. He sat on the floor far away from the others, drinking his fifth cup of coffee that evening. Gyomei put the girls to sleep, even though they refused to, he had convinced them by telling them that you would be mad if you knew that they were forcing themselves to stay awake longer than necessary. Muichiro remained unresponsive, staring blankly at nothing in particular.

Three in the morning. Giyuu was dozing off, but the feeling of doors opening startled him awake. He stared at the purple-eyed woman who had just come out of surgery with fear. Muichiro snapped, standing up immediately, his eyes full of heartbreaking hope.

"How... how is she?"

Shinobu's look was downcast, her fists clenched and trembling. Her legs failed her, making her almsot drop on the floor, her hand flying to her mouth to cover it before a loud sob could escape. She felt her heart weight too much for her chest, as if it was going to explode. The water pillar hurried to hold her, noticing that she was breaking down right then and there. She had gone through the worse. Your life was on her hands. She felt your blood, she felt your life slipping away from her fingers. She didn't have a second to breathe or hesitate.

Her cries were muffled by her hand, she tried her best to compose herself again, but it was harder than she thought. She didn't have the strength to stand up anymore.

"Are you listening?! How is she?!"

A couple of small tears hit the floor. She tightened her hold on the yellow and green-patterned haori sleeve, wrinkling the fabric in an attempt to gain strength for herself.

"She is... alive" she muttered, stumbling against her own words, "[Y/N] is alive"

『 °*• ❈ •*°』

The ticking of the clock, the gentleness of the rain, the drops of the serum on its holder: those were the first sounds you were able to hear when you were conscious again. One second, everything was black, and the next, white. The sensation of the soft sheets against your pained body came to mind. And then a warmth that you knew too well, over your cold, pale hand.

It was difficult to speak. Your throat was sore, your eyelids felt heavy and urged you to go back to sleep. Outside, it was dark as well.

Your head turned slowly to stare at the mist pillar, who slept soundly next to your bed, holding your hand. You managed to smile briefly before tears began welling up. The anguish of standing at death's door hit you like a train, and suddenly you felt so, so much grateful of being alive.

"Please come back... come back to me" he muttered softly on his sleep, and your lips attempted to form a smile.

You knew that he must've been worried. Your skin looked so pale, you could barely breathe and your muscles didn't have enough strength to lift a finger. The dizziness begged you to go back to sleep, to rest, to make the pain go away. And yet, you refused to do it when you saw his hand twitch slightly at the minimum movement of yours.

Heavily, his eyes began opening. The moment they caught a glimpse of your river of tears and tired eyes, he jolted up. His face became a worried mess, as he instantly reassured the hold of your hand on his and desperately looked for any signs to be alarmed at. You could have a relapse at any second, and he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he didn't notice the signs first.

"Are you feeling okay? Does it hurt too much? Can you breathe properly? Is it difficult, [Y/N]?" Muichiro asked, hurriedly, caressing your wet cheek.

Your lips quivered, parting themselves open to utter your answer. Your throat was on fire, burning, and it felt as if water would feel like acid raining down if you attempted to drink it to ease the pain.

"I love you"

It was all you managed to say. It wasn't perfect. It sounded choked and it hurt to say them, but it was all you wanted and needed to say.

Muichiro felt as if he was going to melt. His shoulders relaxed, his eyebrows lowered, his worried expression softened. He was confused, at a loss of words. He looked at you completely puzzled.

"What...?"

"I love you" you repeated, tears streaming down your eyes due to the crushing pain you had put your throat through.

He had heard correctly.

His entire world changed in a single instant, with words that sounded as fragile as they were heavy to his ears. It was as if a storm inside him finally stopped, as if everything was utterly calm. His heart was beating wildly and it was the only sound he could hear other than the delicate sounds of your breathing.

"Ah..." overwhelmed, Muichiro felt a warm liquid slid down his now reddish cheeks.

Your head turned slowly at him, and with the little strength you had, attempted to squeeze his hand, yet nothing came out of it. "D-don't... cry" you struggled to say.

Tears kept forming and falling from his wide eyes. It broke him to see you like that. It broke him even more now that you had just said that you loved him. He shortened the distance to press his lips against your forehead, lovingly, tenderly, holding so much unspoken meaning that his heart wasn't able to properly express.

"I'm sorry" he muttered, resting his forehead on yours, eyes closed. He wanted to kill himself for letting you say that even though he knew how much it must've cost you to speak. And he felt guilty that, amidst the horrible situation you were going through, his heart found peace and he began feeling alive. It was just those words, those which he had longed to come out of your lips, to finally be able to hold you without a care in the word. It was those delicate and piercing words, which he had wished to say to you as well; and he finally could, without the clinging fear of losing your love, communicate them, wholeheartedly, infinitely and unconditionally.

"I love you too"