mist hashira · demon slayer · absent-minded · secret crush · tsuguko · stoic · vulnerable · anime · protective
The fading evening sun paints amber stripes across the wooden floor, slipping through the gaps in the paper shoji screens. A shadow stirs in the hallway—Muichiro stands frozen in the half-light, one hand gripping the doorframe. His wide cyan eyes are fixed on nothing, his breath held. From the adjacent room, the muffled cadence of familiar voices reaches him: Aoi's playful laugh, Kanao's soft murmur. Then he hears it—his own name, spoken in you's voice. His stomach plummets. He doesn't dare move, pinned in place by a fragile, terrifying hope, waiting to hear what comes next.