#the__samsquantch

[tothemeadow]

Commisioned by @the--samsquantch​

Art originally done by @ y_yyyama on twitter

Agatsuma Zenitsu x OC

- Even after Momo has turned into a demon, Zenitsu still sees her as the wonderful human being she once was. - 

warnings: slightly NSFW (not explicit) 

words: 1.2k

-

“Gods, please, have mercy on us!”

“Mama, no!”

“You need to run! Go, get out of here!”

“Papa!”

The screams. Those damned screams that always haunt her dreams, creep in from the deepest crevices of her mind. They’ve been getting worse, Momo’s noticed – now that her memory is slowly coming back to her, she wishes it would just stay away. She doesn’t want to remember the havoc she wreaked, the countless lives she took, the blood she spilt.

After all, there’s no saving for the damned.

It’s at these blood-curdling moments when she thinks of him, the glorified beast that turned her into such a monster. She can still picture the three sets of eyes boring into her, her the deep voice telling her to try again. If only she had run away, saved herself, she wouldn’t have to suffer the way she does now. Someday, she’ll make Kokushibou regret everything he’s ever done – she swears it.

A light knock at the door stirs Momo away from her thoughts. A golden, fiery light floods the cramped space as the door to the wooden box cracks open; Zenitsu’s friendly face comes into view, then, his long ponytail swinging as he cranes his neck.

“Hey, Momo, are you awake?” he starts, voice soft. A smile slowly spreads over his face as Momo sleepily blinks at him. “We found a spot to camp for the night,” he continues, jerking his thumb over his shoulder towards the fire a couple meters away. “Tanjiro and Inosuke went to go find something to eat – hey,” he blurts, cutting off his own sentence midway, “are you crying?”

Hands flying to her cheeks, it’s only then that Momo realizes she had been crying. Wordlessly, she wipes them away, not wanting to worry Zenitsu even further. “Sorry,” she croaks, voice sounding rougher than usual, “must’ve been a bad dream.”

The expression on Zenitsu’s face softens. “Do you… want to talk about it?”

Even as he says it, Momo can sense the unease rolling off of him; in no way is he Tanjiro, and his track record of comforting others isn’t the best. Still, Momo appreciates the gesture. After another beat of silence, she nods her head. Zenitsu shimmies away, giving Momo enough room to crawl out of the box. Like Nezuko, her skin is painfully sensitive to sunlight; Urokodaki was kind enough to craft another box once Tanjiro explained that another nonviolent demon had joined his little motley crew.

A pang of guilt strikes her in the chest at the thought. Nonviolent, huh? While it’s true that Momo has committed herself to ridding the world of other demons, she isn’t entirely innocent. Once upon a time, she did kill humans. Hell, she feasted on their blood and bodies until she had her fill.

“Come on,” Zenitsu gently urges, extending a hand for Momo to take. He directs her over to the fire, then, promptly sitting on the ground and dragging her down with him. “Now you can sit as close to me as you want, you know?” he says, a delightful giggle following his words.

Granted, when Momo first joined the group, she often found Zenitsu’s clingy, flirtatious mannerisms annoying; now, though… well, it’s nice to know that someone still treats her like a human, not like some bloodthirsty monster.

The two of them fall into a silence, then, the crackling of the fire and lone crickets taking over. From the corner of her eye, Momo can see Zenitsu looking at her expectantly, his mouth pressed into a thin line. He’s waiting for me to say something, she realizes. Oh, if it only it was that easy.

“Hey, Nitsu,” Momo begins, drawing her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, “how come… how come you’re not afraid of me?”

“Am I supposed to be?” At that, Momo snaps her head towards Zenitsu, her eyes wide. Shifting uncomfortably, a light blush adorns Zenitsu’s face as he turns his gaze to the fire instead. “I mean, when I first met you, yeah. But you’re still a person. You think about what’s right and what’s wrong… You’re really kind, too, just like Tanjiro.” He turns back to Momo. “That’s enough for me. I like you a lot, Momo, whether you’re a demon or not.”

To Momo’s surprise, Zenitsu’s face turns bright red. “Wait, wait, don’t take that the wrong way! I mean, totally! You’re gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, and it’s not like I wouldn’t take your hand in marriage or anything-“

“Nitsu.”

Zenitsu clamps his mouth shut. Panic fills his eyes – he’s said too much. Momo sighs and reaches out toward him, a clawed hand patting the top of his head. Something that sounds suspiciously close to a whine bursts from Zenitsu’s throat. Just like that, the panicked gleam in his eyes disappears, only to be replaced by something more… loving.

“I’m sorry,” Zenitsu mutters. “Clearly something was bothering you and I made the situation worse.”

Momo shakes her head. “You didn’t,” she replies, her voice mimicking his tone. “That was really sweet, Nitsu. Thank you.”

Audibly gulping, Zenitsu draws himself a smidge closer. “You think so?”

If she has to be entirely honest, it’s kind of incredible to see Zenitsu acting this bold. Don’t get her wrong, Momo thinks Zenitsu is an incredible fighter, but his cowardice seems to overshadow his redeeming qualities. Still, something about the way he’s looking at her right now has her heart setting alight and a pleasant warmth growing in her belly.

It’s hard to tell who moved first; it just happens so fast that it’s hard for Momo’s heart to keep up, for her sense of reality to stay attached to her consciousness. Zenitsu’s weight on top of her is comforting, to say the least. He’s warmer than expected, his calloused hands running through the inky strands of Momo’s hair, brushing against the edge of her face and her horns. His lips taste of peaches, delightfully sweet and inviting. It nearly drives Momo to hunger, but it’s different from the bloodthirst she experiences.

“Momo,” Zenitsu groans, voice rich and throaty. She feels her insides squeeze at the honey dripping from his voice – the way he says her name is ethereal, and she’ll be damned if she couldn’t hear him say it like that again. “I meant what I said,” he continues, pulling away and pressing his forehead to hers.

He’s beautiful like this, ponytail curtaining one side of his face while the firelight illuminates the other. His golden eyes seem to glow, yet it’s difficult to see his irises past his blown-out pupils.

Momo swallows. “I know,” she mutters. “Just… Just kiss me,” she hurries, clutching Zenitsu by the haori and yanking him back into another passionate kiss.

He holds her close as fucks her, lips skimming over every inch of skin that he can reach, murmurs of how much he adores her mixing with their heavy breathing and the smack of skin against skin. This is what making love is like, Momo thinks. She feels safe, loved.

For now, the nightmares that plague her consciousness are a thing of the past, and it’s all because of Zenitsu.

“Thank you,” she murmurs as he lovingly kisses her neck, “thank you.”