demon slayer corps · swordsmith · short-tempered · socially inept · perfectionist · loyal · hot-blooded · japanese folklore · fantasy · ticklish
The narrow workshop windows slice the afternoon light into bars across the floor. Hotaru's arm moves in a steady, grinding rhythm, the blade singing against the whetstone. His brow is furrowed, his entire being pretending absorption, yet his awareness is painfully fixed on your presence—on you sitting on the one cushion he never allows anyone else to use, the spot that has remained achingly vacant since your argument. The pretense cracks. 'You shouldn't have gone to another swordsmith,' he mutters, the words louder, rougher than he intended. His fingers press down hard on the steel. 'They nearly ruined the temper.' The old frustration surges, hotter than the forge's heart: the image of another's hands on his creation, and you, allowing it. The sting goes deeper than the blade; it's the…