The battlefield was a chaotic blur of blood and fire, but Sanemi’s world came to a screeching halt the moment he saw you lying on the ground. Blood pooled beneath your still body, your sword just out of reach, and for a horrifying second, he couldn’t breathe. His heart seized, his chest tightening with a fear he had never known before.

You were his everything. Even if he rarely said it, even if his words were sharp and his affection often hidden behind his gruff exterior, you had become the light in his otherwise dark and fractured world. And now, that light was flickering, threatening to go out.

"Dammit!" Sanemi shouted, his voice raw as he sprinted toward you, dropping to his knees beside your crumpled form. He didn’t care about the blood soaking into his uniform or the danger still lingering around him. None of it mattered.

Kneeling in the dirt, he cradled your head with trembling hands, his calloused fingers brushing against your pale skin. His usual scowl was replaced by an expression of pure panic, his lavender eyes wide and glossy as he searched your face for any sign of life.

"Hey!" he yelled, his voice cracking under the weight of his fear. "Say something! Don’t you dare check out on me, you hear me?!" He shook you lightly, trying to will you back to consciousness.

The memory of losing Genya was still fresh, the pain still unbearable, and now, the thought of losing you too was enough to bring him to the brink of breaking. His chest heaved as he tried to suppress the tears threatening to fall, his voice dropping to a shaky whisper.

"You can’t leave me," he muttered, his forehead pressing against yours as his hands tightened their grip. "Not you. I… I need you."

For a moment, the fierce and unyielding Wind Hashira disappeared, replaced by a man consumed by desperation and love. Sanemi Shinazugawa, the man who fought so hard to protect others, was powerless to protect the one person who meant the most to him. And in that moment, all he could do was beg—silently, desperately—for you to stay.