"Upper moon six?"

Iguro clicks his tongue from beneath his mask over and over again, irritated that he has to answer Akiko's plethora of questions.

"Yes. Other kakushi are on their way, but we've been deployed second," he leaps through trees and Akiko can start to see Tokyo now.

Pillar transportation is truly the way to go.

"Wait, so who was deployed first-?"

A sudden explosion from Tokyo's red light district causes shockwaves, throwing the two off the trees and down to the ground. Birds cry in a panic and swarm away, and the dirt floor beneath the two shake so hard that Akiko is afraid the trees would unroot and fall onto them.

Akiko's vision blurs, her body aches, but she forces herself to stand with wobbly legs. Iguro yanks her back up and onto his shoulder, snatches her bag, and they're off again.

But her heart almost stops and her eyes desperately narrow into the city when Iguro answers her previous question.

"Uzui Tengen, Agatsuma Zenitsu, Hashibira Inosuke, and those Kamado siblings."

---

Throughout all the rubble, Akiko can't find her fiance. She's made aware of the crowds of citizens that were evacuated out of the city, and she can only assume that it was thanks to Uzui.

They walk around in confusion and shock, few crying over the loss of their money and going so far as to curl onto the ground. Maikos and oirans have smeared makeup and some are hardly dressed; Akiko assumes they were woken from their sleep and thrown out.

Akiko takes it upon herself to start giving orders, watching Iguro jump away to look for the demon. Kakushi are right on her tail too, so she makes sure that they set up a med tent and look after the injured citizens, quickly leaving right after to look for the demon slayers that she's been assigned to save.

"Goto is in charge of triage," Akiko nods her head to her favorite kakushi, and he points to himself with wide eyes.

It hurts to scramble over broken buildings and glass, and Akiko has to watch out for herself in fear that the demon is still alive or that she'll slip and fall into broken shrapnel. Her bag is being dragged by her side, bumping into her legs and forcing her to catch herself from tripping.

Akiko continues to scan the mess, almost cursing at herself for being unable to catch sight of a six foot tall behemoth.

It's when she hears crying that she feels relief.

Someone is alive.

She stumbles through the wreckage, climbing up a fallen building as the crying and shouting grows louder. Once she's atop the building, she finds Uzui with his three wives.

"NOOOOO! DON'T DIE! PLEASE DON'T DIE TENGEN-SAMA!!!" Suma hollars at the top of her lungs, her face a wet mess as Hinatsuru finishes wrapping his head wound.

"Please back away from the patient," Akiko states calmly, laying her bag by his feet and pulling some gloves on.

"Wh- Who are you?" Hinatsuru asks, but shakes her head upon seeing Akiko pull out some tools. Her scalpels and syringes are enough for them to understand, though they have to squint as they originally thought Akiko pulled out air.

"Demon poison! The antidotes aren't working!!" Makio grasps Akiko's sleeves.

Suma continues to cry, "You're so cruel, gods! So cruel!!"

Hinatsuru wipes the tears from her face as she watches Akiko pull out a few vials and beakers, quickly mixing the liquids in an attempt to cure their husband.

"I don't think there's enough time, so I have some final things to say..." Uzui coughs out. Akiko rolls her eyes at his dramatic self, angrily muttering under her breath that he'll be fine.

"Up until now, I've lived-"

"IF YOU LET TENGEN-SAMA DIE, I WON'T BE PRAYING TO YOU GUYS ANYMORE! I WON'T EVER FORGIVE YOUUU!!!"

"HEY SHUT UP FOR A BIT! TENGEN-SAMA IS SPEAKING!!"

"Both of you, be quiet...!" Hinatsuru glances between Akiko and the two other wives, but Akiko seems to be in her own world.

Her hands fly across small vials of strange liquids, some form of a label scribbled across the glass surface that only Akiko can seem to read.

Akiko doesn't even notice Makio shovel rocks into Suma's mouth, instead noticing that the poison has circulated to Uzui's tongue and he is unable to speak. She yanks his tongue out of his mouth with some clear tongs, and he doesn't even react. Akiko furrows her brows, adding another liquid into the mix.

"You... You work well despite the noise..." Hinatsuru smiles weakly, but Akiko stays silent.

So Hinatsuru finds it best to just get Suma and Makio under control, rallying them to stay silent and picking rocks out of Suma's mouth.

When Akiko smiles and holds her finished beaker up, declaring herself finished, Nezuko pops up.

"Oh! Nezuko! Thank goodness you're alive! Do me a favor and- wHY DO YOU HATE ME?!"

Akiko's patient goes up in flames.

Makio takes it upon herself to drag Nezuko off her husband, yelling and screaming at the girl for starting the cremation so early. Akiko can't help but stare at her burning patient in shock, soul leaving her body and suddenly forgetting how to treat third degree burns.

"Hold on," Uzui voice snaps Akiko's soul right back into her body, and she finds that the flames didn't burn Uzui's body at all.

In fact, Akiko can't see any poison flowing through her patient's body.

"The poison's gone," Akiko states, and not a second after do all three wives throw themselves onto Uzui.

Akiko can't help but smile softly at the display, tucking the syringe filled with the antidote back into her bag.

"Akiko!" A familiar voice calls, and Akiko's heart flutters with excitement.

"Tanjirou! You're- NOT OKAY," she can see a large puncture wound from beneath his jaw, blood pouring from his head wounds, and even more blood coloring his eyes.

Tanjirou offers her a smile, "I'm fine-"

"Don't start with me and sit down right now."

"Yes ma'am."

Uzui barks a laugh as Tanjirou quickly plops himself down into a seiza position in front of a seated Akiko, hands on his knees as he looks down guiltily.

"Boy well aren't you whipped!"

Tanjirou blushes furiously as Akiko wraps his head wound, finding that his veins aren't coursing with poison.

"But Akiko-!"

She gives him a terrifying glare, but he tries to reason with Akiko anyway.

"I can't be at ease until I confirm the demons are gone!" 

"Hilarious. Mouth shut or else."

Akiko clicks her tongue, going back to rustle through her bag while muttering curses to herself.

When she turns back around, a new roll of bandages in hand, she sees a bloody Zenitsu and Inosuke, but no Tanjirou nor Nezuko.

"Akikooooo!! I can't seeeee!! Help meeeEEeEeee!!"

"You're rotting in hell with my fiance after he bleeds himself out."

"FOOD!! FOOD!!"

Akiko bitterly starts her work on Inosuke, considering he's the most injured at the moment. Zenitsu continues to cry beside her, asking for a measly bandage. She tosses one in his general direction, and he only catches it thanks to his ears.

She hates how his organs are a mess right now. She can see that his heart is misplaced and a good few other vital organs are moved to where they shouldn't be, but it's a good thing he was able to save himself this way.

It's just more work for Akiko, but she'll have to save that for when she goes back to the estate.

When Akiko looks up to grab another roll of bandages and some antiseptic, she sees that Iguro has finally found the group.

He seems to be verbally attacking Uzui, and the three wives looked both tired and pissed at the Snake Pillar.

"I should praise you or something," Iguro delivers his final blow, and Akiko can see multiple cords snap.

She turns her attention to Zenitsu instead, wiping the blood from his eyes and proclaiming him cured. Miraculously, he believes her, and the two work together to pick Inosuke's body up and look for Tanjirou and Nezuko.

Akiko sees them before Zenitsu can hear them. She points to the two siblings, who are looking up into the night sky with a solemn look on their faces. 

Zenitsu begins to cry out for his friend, leaving Akiko to deal with Inosuke by herself. She nearly drops under the weight of the meathead, calling out for Zenitsu to help her. It's Nezuko that moves to carry Inosuke over to her brother, her demon strength coming in handy.

But rather than allowing Akiko to help his injuries, Tanjirou brings her into the group hug, everyone crying their hearts out and thankful that they get to see the sun rise together again.

Akiko sighs in distress, her body itching to wrap Tanjirou's jaw shut, but she allows for everyone to cry. Akiko chooses to wipe Tanjirou's tears away, cupping his face in her hands as she rests her forehead against his, and he can smell her relief.

Heart overwhelmed, Tanjirou begins to pepper Akiko's face with kisses. He kisses the lids of her eyes and both cheeks and he kisses her temples as well. Akiko allows for her fiance to gush over her, a light smile on her face when she can see that he's thankful to look into her eyes again.

"I missed you!" Tanjirou cries, and Akiko can't help but laugh.

She's so tired, but just listening to her fiance's voice is enough to fill up her severely depleted battery.

God he looks like he's been through Hell and back. Akiko doesn't want to ask what happened. She's too afraid that it'll elicit an awful reaction from her fiance.

"And I've missed you too," Akiko chooses to say, allowing for Tanjirou to relish in bliss. She wipes a few more of his tears away, heart aching the least bit when she sees that his tears are mixed with the blood in his eyes.

He's so happy just looking at her. Tanjirou can bear the pain for Akiko another time over, though she would never allow him to do so. And Akiko knows that he's trying to stay strong for her, but Tanjirou needs to heal now.

"But I need to help you," Akiko continues, but Tanjirou shakes his head.

"Please help Inosuke and Zenitsu first," Tanjirou chokes out, forcing back the blood in his mouth. Akiko knows that her fiance is stubborn and won't listen to her, but she's already done all she can for Zenitsu and Inosuke under her current situation.

"Tanjirou," Akiko begs, hand softly caressing his cheek. She can see the rise and fall of his chest lessen by the second, and Akiko hates that Tanjirou can smell her panic.

"Please, please let me help you. I need you to lay down, alright love?" The words flow like honey out of Akiko's mouth, ensnaring Tanjirou to listen to what she says. He nods his head, hiccuping to try and cease his crying. Akiko softly asks for everyone else to move out of her way, and they oblige, continuing to cry in each other's arms.

She helps to gently lay his head down, grabbing rubble to elevate his legs. Zenitsu, Inosuke and Nezuko watch from the sidelines, holding each other. Nezuko makes some concerned muffled sounds, and Zenitsu holds her tighter to reassure Nezuko that Tanjirou is in good hands.

Akiko's fingers move quickly to stop the terrible bleeding from Tanjirou's jaw. He winces at the stinging feeling of the antiseptic, and Akiko apologizes under her breath. A thick paste is applied to his jaw, and Akiko shuts his jaw with a clean roll of bandages.

A sudden feeling of fatigue hits Tanjirou like a train, and Akiko can see his eyes flutter.

"Tanjirou, love, you have to keep your eyes open for me," there's urgency in her tone of voice that Tanjirou barely picks up on, but the sound of her voice and the warm darkness battle it out in his mind.

In the end, Akiko isn't able to save Tanjirou from losing consciousness.

—-
thanks for 10k!
my friend (@thunderandrainclouds on tumblr!!) drew a scene from this chapter!!