Exhale. A cloud of smoke escaped your lips as you watched it disappear into the night. A cigarette, held between your two fingers, freshly lit. Leaning against the wooden railing of his front porch, you glanced at Sanemi, his face lit by the distant moon. A small flower was pinched between his fingers as he twisted and twirled it.

In the silence of the night, you stared at him with resigned yet yearning eyes, dulled over the years of trauma. Putting your lips to the cigarette and taking a drag, you’re reminded of when you both first met, both having become Demon Slayers at the same time. Tilting your head up an inch, you look up at the moon that shone light down at you as your lips part, releasing the smoke.

You had yearned for his love since you realized you loved him. Despite the way society viewed… people like you, the longing lingered.

Maybe it was the devil playing tricks on you, luring you in to sin, to love someone who’d kill themselves than even reciprocate a bit of your loving. Maybe it was temptation, the way you wished you were the sun that gently kissed his face, the moon that gave him light in the darkest times, the wind that caresses his shoulders at times.

Betraying your religion for him crossed your mind, and when it did, ate at it.

But all you needed was a safe place to love him, even in silence.

Now, content in admiring him, suppressing your feelings, a small smile spreads on your lips as you take another drag. Even if you couldn’t have the privilege of loving him, you were here with him. This was enough.