"Hanahaki Disease (花吐き病) is a fictional disease in which the victim coughs up flower petals when they suffer from one-sided love. It ends when the beloved returns their feelings (romantic love only; strong friendship is not enough), or when the victim dies."

Bloody hydrangeas. Blue as dark as the night sky. Torn petals and tarnished flowers. Sore throats and raspy voices.
Her lungs were blooming, blue hydrangeas blossoming deep in her chest. The garden was ready to burst at any moment.
A yearning for love. Joined hands and beating hearts and chests tending a fire, not a garden. Stolen kisses and hidden alcoves, quiet nights with wild fervour. Loving embraces and brushing cheeks. Her heart felt like an empty, dark well desperate to be filled, desperately calling for him and his voice and his touch. Her calls were rejected, unanswered, unheard.
She was never supposed to fall in love. In a world of high stakes and demons, the last thing you were meant to do was fall in love.

Shinobu made it to her room just as the coughing fit began, muffling her mouth with a nearby cloth to minimize the sound. She felt as though her lungs were about to spill from her body with every cough and began wondering if today was the day the sickness would finally claim her, if today she would finally throw up a whole flower instead of a dozen buds.
When the fit finally subsided, she pulled the cloth away, spitting out the all too familiar petals onto the floor.
Blue hydrangea petals, the same midnight blue of his eyes.
It humiliated her.
She knelt on the floor and gathered the petals into a small pile in her hand. She would have to burn them again later, lest anyone discover her secret plague and embarrassingly overwhelming feelings.
She had been trying to figure out a cure for months, but between one thing and another, new battles and new victims with new wounds and scars, she hadn't come up with anything.
Familiar anger seeped through her, heat rising in her chest as she grew furious with herself. She slammed her hand against the floor.
Damn you, Tomioka!
It was his fault that she was like this. It was his fault that this damned disease had reached her, turning beautiful flowers into festering wounds deep inside her body that would never heal, flowers that would eventually rise up and claim her until she was nothing but a blooming corpse. She hated him. She despised him!
And as much as she didn't want to admit it, she loved him.
Her body coughed up another petal. Just to spite her.
Why was this happening to her? Her, of all people, who had shown constant resilience and strength and had defied all odds with her small size, who had the ability to heal entire armies of demon slayers and create antidotes in mere hours. Out of all the things that could possibly claim her, it wasn't a monstrous demon or a violent human— it was an incurable disease caused by an unanswered love.
Why did it have to be him? The silent water pillar who stayed away from people and never spoke unless spoken to, the stoic fighter consumed by his past tragedies and deep fears— why did it have to be him?
More petals found their way into her throat, forcing her body to attack itself once more as she threw them up. Bloodstained petals littered the ground— clear evidence of her shame and longing for love in a world that didn't allow for such luxuries.
"Shinobu, leave the demon hunters. I know you're working hard, you really, really are, but maybe you're better off... I just want you to obtain happiness like any normal girl would and live until you turn really old. That's...enough for me…"
Kanae had told her to find love once, long ago. She had told Shinobu to stay away from the demon slayers and be a normal girl with a normal life, to fall in love and marry and build a family of her own. Shinobu rejected the idea immediately, but even more so after losing Kanae. She swore to get her revenge against the demon that killed Kanae and never even thought about finding something as trivial as love in the process.
Then she just had to meet the new water pillar, the eternally-brooding Giyuu Tomioka who spoke to no one. The other pillars began ignoring him as soon as he arrived, believing him to be cold and pretentious and holding himself above all others in terms of skill.
Shinobu, on the other hand, saw herself in him. She recognized the cold emptiness in his eyes and understood his silence; he was grieving, just like her. Where she masked the pain of her loss with a plastered smile, he chose silence and solitude.
And she teased him for it, perhaps a bit too harshly at times, but they got along well enough. He respected her and she respected him, albeit in her own way. Regardless of how she made fun of him, she knew she could trust him with her life— he was a skilled fighter, not that he would ever admit to it. She was the only pillar he spoke to and worked well with, as the others often complained about his cold silence during their joint missions. She knew how to deal with him and tried to avoid pressuring him to speak when he didn't wish to (though sometimes her frustration could get in the way) and filled the silence with her own mindless chatter.
And then somehow, along the way, she had fallen in love with him.
Hanahaki. That's what the disease was called, the one that claimed her lungs and filled it with dark blue flowers. It was the curse of unrequited love and could only be cured by being loved in return.
She was doomed.
"Shinobu-san, there's someone here to see you in the infirmary!"
The calling voice finally stirred her from her thoughts.
"I'll be right there!"
Shinobu wiped her mouth clean and swallowed the final petals that were threatening to free themselves. She gathered the other petals and disposed of them under the paper in her wastebin before making her way into the hall.
She composed herself on the way to the infirmary, setting her now signature smile and clearing her throat.
"How can I help—"
Her words faltered after she opened the door, finding a familiar pair of blue eyes looking back at her.
The back of her throat began burning.
"T-Tomioka-san," she said, hating how she stuttered his name. "Is everything okay?"
He nodded, then pointed to his arm. "I was injured."
"Ah! Yes, yes, of course, take off your haori and sit on the bed."
He followed her instructions as she gathered her things. Her back was to him, but she could still feel his gaze on her, forcing blood to rush to her cheeks in a way she hated.
When she turned around, she was greeted by his scarred arms and watchful eyes and although she expected it, the hint of a petal found its way to the back of her throat.
She carefully treated his wound, fighting back the burning petals in the process. Her hands moved of their own accord, her mind too far away to properly guide them.
She had done this a million times before. She could do it again. She knew how to treat a wound and would not be fazed by being in close proximity to him. She was better than that—
Giyuu silently wrapped his hand around her much smaller one, humming to himself as he rubbed them softly. "You're very tense, Kochou."
She opened her mouth to shoot back a witty retort, but all sound died in her throat as she began coughing terribly. The gauze fell from her hands and she lost her strength, falling to her knees as the petals warred with her resistance.
Not now, anytime but now, not while he was here—
Giyuu rose up in alarm and was quick to join her on the ground. "Are you alright?" he asked, his voice rising in a way that was unfamiliar to her. The alarm made something in her heart leap and she just hated how sensitive he was making her.
When the petals found their way onto her tongue, she swallowed them back down, the taste awful and bitter against her taste buds.
"I do hope this doesn't turn into a cold," she said, laughing off the incident once she recovered. "It would be terrible timing!"
"Are you sure you're alright?" He took her arm and helped her off the floor.
"Goodness, Tomioka-san, I had no idea you were so concerned about me."
"Of course I am," he said softly. "I care about you, Kochou." He said it nonchalantly, not a single ounce of hesitation in his voice as he settled back into the chair.
On the outside, she was a perfect picture of calm, her smile bright and unwavering despite the tension in her body. On the inside, on the other hand, her heart was thundering, screaming, roaring like the sea within her chest. She knew he cared for her, after all, they were friends (though she would never admit to it out loud, not when it was so fun to tease him), but he had never said it aloud. Considering how quiet he was all the time, she never expected him to, never hoped for it and never planned to ask him to say it.
But he did.
Cleaning and wrapping his wound was torturous; his body was so close, a comforting warmth radiating from him so much so that her body wanted to reach out and touch him beyond the pretence of healing him. She wanted to feel him and know him beyond what words could convey.
She had felt his warmth only once, during a mission some months ago. They had finished their task, but the sudden onslaught of pouring rain and the late hour stopped them from making their way back to the base. They reached the nearest village around midnight, hair and clothes soaked. The inn was nearly full, with the only thing left being a room with a single bed.

They stripped down to their underclothes to avoid getting sick and she was grateful for the dim light of the candles. Her cheeks were on fire the entire evening, not from shame, but from their close proximity and his startlingly appealing build that became all too obvious in his drenched clothes.
With sore backs and aching muscles, they both settled into bed a little past one in the morning, bodies as far from each other as they could manage in the small bed. They bid each other good night and it wasn't long before he drifted off to sleep, his breathing slowing down.
Shinobu couldn't fall asleep, her mind and body far too aware of the one that lay next to her. It got to the point where she finally threw her dignity away and turned, surprised to find Giyuu's peacefully sleeping face waiting for her. Taking her chances, she pressed her cheek to his chest and settled beside him. When he didn't stir, she sighed and closed her eyes, finally falling asleep with a real smile on her face for the first time in years.
They had woken up the next morning with blushing cheeks and stuttered apologies, but Shinobu knew better.
They shared a calm breakfast in the morning on the dock of a nearby lake surrounded by the noise of twittering birds and the sharp smell of cherry blossoms and lotuses in the chilly morning air.
Shinobu liked the way he looked under the pale gaze of the moon, cool and serene, but his eyes were brighter in the sunlight— his face stunning against the glimmer of the lake they sat beside, not to mention that the way he looked at her made her heart thunder in her chest.
Like he saw past her facade. Like he knew every dark part of her and understood her and her pain the same way she recognized it in him when they first met. His silent understanding was worth more than a million words.
She coughed up the first petal later that night.

"How long will it take to heal?" Giyuu asked, removing her from her thoughts of that night.
Her fingers were still against his arm, tips just barely brushing the freshly applied gauze. "Oh! Um… no more than a week at most, though you'll need to replace the gauze once a day or so. I'd be happy to give you some to take."
She reluctantly removed herself from his side to fetch a roll of gauze, only to be stopped by his gentle voice.
"I can just come back here and have you do it."
Her heart skipped a beat. "S-so blunt all of a sudden! Hmph, you don't even ask if it will inconvenience me in some way." She huffed and crossed her arms, looking away from him.
"Would it?" he asked innocently.
Even if it did, she would make time for him despite the inevitable and endless coughing she would go through later.
"Since you asked so nicely, I suppose it wouldn't. Very well, Tomioka-san, you win. Return here tomorrow and I'll check your wound again."
As she watched him fix his clothes, a surge of petals burst into her throat, nearly choking her as they forced her to cough them out.
He was quick to her side, patting her back to aid her, but although the gesture was kind in nature, she wanted to scream for him to stop.
Don't help me, don't force them out, please don't see—
Don't you get it? The more you help me, the worse it gets.
"I'm fine," she insisted, though her strong coughs hardly made it believable. "Just go, I'll see you tomorrow."
"But—"
"Don't fight me on this, I'm fine, I'll see you tomorrow."
She felt his warm hand reluctantly leave her back before he headed to the door, looking back at her in suspicion. Not knowing how much longer she could keep the flowers down, she shooed him out until finally, he left her alone.
Finally giving in, she let the petals work their way up, gagging her until she finally spit them out.
"I hate you," she said to no one, not even sure who it was meant for. If she meant it for him, it was a lie.
She wished she could hate him. Her life would be much easier if she did.
She recalled her hidden confession, said in a dark forest as adrenaline rushed through their blood.
"The moon is beautiful tonight." Words said in the flurry of battle as they raced to an unknown destination to fight unfathomable foes. She had said it knowing that the meaning would be lost to him and sure enough, he never said a word about it (not that he ever said a word about most things). She had done it only weeks after the initial petals appeared, though they were still light and did not interfere with her daily tasks yet.
Now they were stronger and grew more powerful with every attack on her lungs.
Her mother would tell her and Kanae about beautiful folk tales where princesses fell in love with princes, or nymphs of the forest who fell for spirits of the ocean; each story made love sound like something beautiful and serene, like a cherry blossom tree immersed in spring wind.
Folk tales spoke of love being beautiful, but this was anything but. Spilled blood and flower petals were not beautiful. Neither were the nightmares that kept her up at night, the ones where she lay dying and saw him just out of reach. Nightmares of a hand reaching through the dark abyss, shooting out of an ocean of shadows, desperately clawing for salvation— that was how her heart felt as it yearned for him.
Ultimately, it was a fruitless effort; her struggles would go ignored and her cries would remain unanswered.
Love me. Save me from the hell my heart inflicted upon itself. Don't leave me here all alone.
Was it even possible in this life, as they were? Or was she completely doomed, fated to be killed in battle or by the flowers that were filling her lungs?
Deep in her body, hydrangeas bloomed for him. Deep in her throat, they blossomed for him and would continue to grow until they claimed all of her.

A major battle was on the horizon. They would be up against upper moons, one of which she was positive had been responsible for Kanae's death.
Shinobu pumped her veins full of flowers to join the ones in her chest, turning her small frame into not just a lethal weapon, but an entire garden. One set of flowers would lead to her demise, but she would be the one to decide which of them ultimately took her life.
Her mind drifted to the blue eyes that haunted her dreams, to the black hair and sweet smile only seen after a plate of salmon daikon. Her fate would be decided tomorrow, but for tonight, she decided she would indulge in her forbidden fruit.
The night before what would be her fateful battle, she slipped out of the estate under the cover of night and left behind nothing but a single azure petal.
She was nimble on her feet as she raced to him, her heart's pounding growing louder the closer she got to her destination, to him and his eyes and his warmth. Her mind was empty of everything but the constant rhythmic echo of his name, over and over like a drum whose beat kept her moving through the darkness of the night.
Tomioka-san…
Giyuu—
Her body obeyed every command because it knew, it knew she wouldn't survive the week. It knew that by this time tomorrow, she may be, could be, would be gone.
She coughed full flowers now, whole hydrangeas falling from her throat. Even if she miraculously survived tomorrow, she wouldn't last long…
Her coughing began just as she reached his place, lungs drowning while her throat was on fire, heart storming and yearning for the person just behind that door.
Her hand reached out on its own accord, every move attuned to his presence.
Whole hydrangeas slipped off her tongue and she wanted to break down into tears. She fell to her knees in front of his door, a shivering, weeping, miserable mess. She had never been this emotional, not since losing Kanae. The damned flowers were destroying her inside and out.
Her chest ached and her lungs burned and her heart slammed and her mind screamed.
"Tomioka-san…" she whispered, voice breaking more with every syllable.
"Kochou?"
In her breakdown, she hadn't heard the door swing open, or hear the footsteps approaching her. She didn't realize his presence until she heard his voice and saw his tall shadow looming over her.
Shinobu's eyes went wide and she looked up to find his concerned eyes looking back at her, endlessly blue.
She commanded her body to stay quiet, to keep the flowers away just for now.
Her gaze turned pitiful, every facade falling off her face in an instant. She sniffed and wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her kimono.
"The moon is lovely tonight, isn't it?"
Please love me, just tonight, just once—
His gaze moved to the sky and he nodded silently. "Yes. It is." Eyes returning to her, he asked, "Would you like to come inside?"
She just barely stifled her gasp. "Yes… that would be nice."
He didn't ask about her tears, or why she was at his door in shambles. He only pulled out a chair for her and poured her a cup of tea. They spent most of their time in comfortable silence, only interjecting to speak of the upcoming battle as her body calmed down, though her still-pounding heart maintained a mind of its own.
The moonlight was the only thing illuminating the room, making him appear like the elegant prince of a folktale, all dark hair, pale skin and stunning eyes.
"Can I ask you a question, Tomioka-san?"
He silently nodded.
"Have you ever fallen in love?"
He paused, hesitating before speaking again. "That's not something we can do, not as demon slayers."
You didn't answer the question. "Oh, well, you're not wrong, but it creeps up on you, doesn't it? You can't control that kind of thing."
His blue eyes looked at her in suspicion before he sighed. "We have to try. We're pillars."
She'd expected the answer, yet still felt a minuscule crack in her heart. "Always so serious. This is why no one likes you," she said, attempting to laugh things off.
"But don't you like me, Koucho-san?"
Everything in her froze at the seemingly casual comment. She was grateful for the darkness that hid her eyes; she was positive that her entire heart was visible in them, as though everything she felt for him was out on display.
"D-don't flatter yourself so much, Tomioka-san! I...I merely tolerate you, that's all."
He tilted his head to the side and she fought the part of herself that found it cute. "But you came to see me in the middle of the night. Doesn't that mean you like me at least a little?"
He had her there.
"Well...okay fine, I like you. A little."
He smiled gently. "I'll accept that."
He stood up and took her empty cup to begin clearing the table.
Why did it have to be this idiot?
"I think that was the first time you've ever teased me," she said aloud, regretting it instantly.
He shrugged his shoulders. "I learned from the best. Will you be staying the full night?"
She looked to the side, away from his silhouette, which had become illuminated by the moonlight again, like that night in the forest.
"If that's alright with you."
"Okay. Do you mind if we share the bed?"
Do you even know what that sounds like—
"Since when are you so forward? Careful, you might make me think you like me too," she said with a giggle.
"I've always liked you, Kochou-san."
"You're too casual about these things." Please say it again.
"I don't see why it has to be serious. I like you."
She gulped and looked at her hands in her lap, cheeks warm.
He left briefly to change clothes, leaving Shinobu internally screaming in the kitchen. She buried her face in her hands as a stinging began in her eyes.
What would their lives be if things weren't the way they were, if they weren't pillars in a land invaded by demons and could simply be Giyuu and Shinobu, two young people just living life?
What would they be if they were just two people from the same village? Would he finally be in—
"Let's go to sleep," Giyuu said, reemerging in a kimono.
They settled into his bed, facing each other with a small distance between them. As he made himself comfortable, her eyes followed the natural lines of his body— the curve of his lips, the angle of his nose, the edge of his collarbone, admiring him for what could potentially be the final time.
Finally, her eyes found his and a shiver nearly ran through her as their gazes locked. His eyes were as intense as the ocean and now, they were staring right at her.
Her breath caught in her throat as she admired every detail of his icy beauty from up-close. She had bridged the gap between them, subconsciously drifting closer until her body was nearly pressed against his.
He said nothing.
Her small hand rose to touch his cheek, cupping his face gently. He sighed softly at her touch and made no move to stop her when she brushed some of his hair from his face.
For the first time in a long time, none of her moves were calculated or thought about— for once, she guided herself on impulse, with her heart taking lead instead of her head.
Her hand fell to his arm before she burrowed her face in the warmth of his chest. The last time she had done this, he had been fast asleep, but now, he was wide awake. Had he made a single movement or said anything asking her to stop, she would've done so immediately, but he only watched her in silence.
She pressed her hand over the steady beating of his heart and closed her eyes.
"Good night… Giyuu-san."
A beat of silence passed between them, his shoulders tense for a moment before his arms descended around her. "Good night, Shinobu."
Her heart soared, but was quickly laid to rest by her fatigue as she fell asleep, safe, warm, and happy.

She never learned about the flurry of thoughts running through his mind, or of the light brush of his lips at the top of her head, nor did she realize that Hanahaki was eternally ruthless— it never listened to its victim's commands to keep the flowers at bay, and Shinobu hadn't coughed a single petal since entering Giyuu's home.

Douma punctured her left lung with ease, leaving her breaths short and uncertain in a way that had almost become familiar to her. Blood poured from the wound alongside the unmistakable flower petals, mocking her and her fragile emotions as Douma taunted her.
For a split second, she almost wanted him to finish her off, to free her from the pain of this damned disease that burned as it spread through her body, filling her poisoned veins.
Pull yourself together.
Kanae's voice echoed through Shinobu's mind.
Stand up.
"I c-can't—"
That doesn't matter. Stand up, Insect Pillar, Shinobu Koucho.
Kanae's words brought Shinobu back to her feet. With blood and petals gurgling in her lungs, she turned to face Douma's sadistic smile with a new vengeance.
She had been right: there was no way she was going to survive this, but she would be damned if she didn't take this monster down with her.
She gave him all she had, striving to deliver the finishing blow before he could land it on her, pinning him to the ceiling before they fell back down together.
His disgusting arms wound around her and he praised her for lasting as long she did. His embrace repulsed her, but she was far too weak to push him off her.
"This foolishness is what makes humans so fleeting, yet so wonderful. You are now worthy of being eaten by me."
In a haze, she imagined Giyuu in his place; she thought of his warm body pressed against hers in the middle of the night and those impossibly blue eyes looking down at her, then the faint feeling of his lips at the top of her head. In that fleeting moment, she imagined a domestic life with him, one with endless teasing and chaste kisses and laughing children— things that other girls her age either had or wanted.
Her back slammed against the ground, the impact reverberating throughout her body. Regardless, she smiled to herself, her body coughing pathetically one last time to release its final petal.
"What's this?" Douma wondered aloud. He gasped, then laughed. "Goodness, is this that little disease you humans get? Tell me, little butterfly, who won your heart and left you all alone?"
Cold winters where Giyuu wrapped her in a blanket and held her for warmth, wide grins when he returned home, comforting hands over growing bellies and a lifetime of salmon-daikon-smiles.
She didn't say his name aloud. This demon didn't deserve to hear it and know.
"Are there any last words you want to say? I'll listen to you."
Now was not the time to think of the life she could have had, or of the unrequited love in her heart. Now was the time to finally let her anger return in full force, to let it consume her as she finally avenged her sister and all the other women this monster had hurt and killed.
"Go to hell!" she yelled.
She faintly heard Kanao arrive and call out to her. Using her final bit of strength, Shinobu gave the signal.
I'm sorry, Kanao, for leaving you behind. At least now you have the others… you won't be alone anymore.
I'm sorry, Kanae, for not being able to survive this. But don't worry, he'll be gone in no time.
…You wanted me to find love, right? I found it; it's just a shame that it didn't find me.
She watched as Kanao and Inosuke took over, fighting Douma in a frenzy. Shinobu anxiously waited for the poison to begin its work, not wanting to go anywhere until she knew he was defeated, not until Kanae was avenged.
During the fight, Shinobu heard one of the crows reporting her demise.
So it really is over. Will you miss me, Tomioka?
From where she was, she couldn't see him momentarily waver, his true feelings cracking through his icy mask for a few seconds as he continued his journey to battle.
Douma's face began melting as the poison from her body finally took effect, beginning to reduce him to nothing as Shinobu watched on, her eyes wide and mouth in a knowing grin. Her plan had worked.
He suddenly began heaving, falling to the floor as his clones fought against the others. Shinobu's eyes narrowed. This wasn't meant to be an effect of the poison—
He began coughing heavily, grabbing at his neck as he forced out long, winding stems of blue hydrangeas, their sapphire petals and buds scattering across the ground.
"What is this?" he hissed.
Her hand went instinctively to her throat, but she no longer felt the burning pain of the flowers.
She watched Kanao and Inosuke finish him off, ensuring that he was completely destroyed. Shinobu held his head in her hands, taunting him just as he did to her. In his final moments, he seemed to flirt with her and she crushed his head with the small hands he had mocked during their battle.
With a shaky breath, she closed her eyes and waited for whatever was supposed to happen, praying that it wouldn't just be an endless darkness like everyone feared.
"Shinobu!"
Shinobu's eyes burst open and she found Kanae standing in front of her, long hair waving in the wind as she smiled at her.
Shinobu felt herself on the verge of tears, this time choosing to let them fall as she ran to her sister, leaving a trail of blue petals in her wake.

When the battle was over, Giyuu was too weak to stand, let alone think. He didn't want to think.
"The Insect Pillar, Shinobu Koucho, is dead!"
In the rush of adrenaline he sensed as he ran headfirst into battle, the announcement hadn't completely sunken in when he first heard it. His head understood the words, understood that Shinobu was gone and that she had lost, but their true meaning hadn't had time to set in until now.
He winced from the physical pain and the one he suddenly felt in his chest. He could faintly feel her finger poking against his shoulder and hear her voice chirping in his ear.
"Miss me already, Tomioka-san?"
The pain took over and he finally collapsed. He didn't want to think about her. He didn't want to think about the aching in his chest, the familiar hollowness that was felt when he thought about his sister and Sabito.
Koucho, I—

His body crumbled from underneath him as he lost consciousness.

Giyuu knelt before the shrine honouring Shinobu.
He had spent his day visiting the shrines and graves of his fellow pillars that had fallen in the final battle— so many of them had been lost— and saved his trip to the Butterfly Estate for last, when the moon was nearly at its peak. Her shrine was in the room that used to be her bedroom, right next to a door leading to a cherry blossom tree outside. A small vase holding white chrysanthemums stood next to one of the candles.
He was silent for a few moments, thinking about her endless teasing and poking to get his attention and of the final night he spent with her, when he found her weeping by his front door.
Her eyes had been wide and shiny: a glimmering purple under the moonlight, her voice shaky as she spoke to him.
"The moon is beautiful tonight, isn't it?"
Giyuu's ears perked up. Her voice sounded clear as day in his mind, each word crisp with the same emotion she had originally said them with. He squeezed his eyes shut in regret. He didn't know what she meant back then, but now…
Now it was too late anyway.
He eventually found the bloody flower petals by his doorstep, dark blue where the crimson hadn't stained them. They were the same colour as the ones he'd seen in her office's wastebasket.
He carefully placed the blue hydrangea into the vase alongside the chrysanthemums, the colour a sharp contrast from the pure white. It was the darkest blue flower he could find.
A breeze brushed through the room from the open window and a butterfly flew in. He watched it with curious eyes as it landed on the newly added flower, then on the back of his hand.
As he brought it closer to his face, its purple, iridescent wings fluttered before it lifted off to land on his nose.
He tilted his head thoughtfully. "Is that you…?"
The butterfly twitched its wings in response.
He closed his eyes and thought of the tiny girl who could take on hordes of demons with her poisoned blade and who nearly killed him on more than one occasion, but who he could trust his life with completely.
The signs pointed to her feeling something more for him and while that was a luxury he didn't dare to entertain, he knew that deep down, at least at some point— especially that final night— he loved her too.
He wondered if he'd find her when he died, whether it be in the afterlife or their next life. He hoped he would be able to see her again, to hold her and apologize for not understanding her words sooner.
She would call him an idiot and pout and poke him until his arm went sore.
He smiled to himself. That didn't sound so bad.

In Japanese, the phrase "tsuki ga kirei desu ne?" (The moon is beautiful, isn't it?) is another way of saying "I love you," which Shinobu says to Giyuu in ep. 18 of the anime! We'll never know if she actually meant it in this way, but it's an interesting thing to think about. Thank you for reading!