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Muichiro's pov

I moved closer to the door but before I could do anything, I felt a strong grip on my shoulder that sent shivers down my spine.

“Get away from the door, Muichiro” Tanjiro said with a cold voice, his breath hitting the back of my neck. I gulped and got into another room that still gave me a clear view of the door.

Tanjiro opened it and a mailman walked in, giving him a package before leaving. Tanjiro seemed excited about that which.. made him forget to lock the door.

“Come on, I've got something for you” he smiled and I nodded, pretending to follow him at first before sprinting towards the door, opening it and rushing outside.

“Muichiro!! Come back!!” I heard behind me, Tanjiro's loud footsteps getting closer to me with each passing second.

It was heavily raining, making it hard for me to run due to how slippery it was but I managed to get far enough to rest for at least a minute.

I heard him calling out for me, screaming and just running around like a maniac. I was never so scared before, it was like my heart was beating in my ears, each beat getting louder and louder.

I knew I couldn't stay here longer if I wanted to get away so I began to run again towards a nearby forest which was the shortest way to get to the other side of the town where my parents lived.

It was still a long way there but it was still a bit of a shortcut. With each step I felt myself getting more afraid “what if he finds me..? What will he do? Is he gonna kill me? Even if I get away, he knows where I live! He goes straight there!”

I stopped running, the lack of air in my lungs and the panic made me nauseous. I dropped on my knees, gasping for air desperately, tears filling my eyes.

It felt like everything was falling apart, why do I feel this way even though I escaped? This is what I wanted and now that I finally did it… why am I sad..?

“Muichirooo!! Come in, I know you're here! Come out before I get more mad!”

I hid in a bush, covering my mouth to silence my ragged gasps and sobbing.

“I am giving you three seconds.. we can sort this out normally, you'll come back and I won't do anything.. if I find you and you'll refuse..”

I heard him chuckle.

“You'll see for yourself..”

This made me even more afraid to come out, I couldn't help but think that he's lying, that if I come out now he'll hurt me anyway.

“Three..”

My whole body was trembling, I couldn't calm down, it was so hard to breathe but I knew that I had to keep my mouth covered.

“Two..”

I felt like I was gonna pass out, the panic was overwhelming and I couldn't seem to calm down no matter how hard I tried to calm down my breathing.

“One..”

The place felt silent, I only heard a couple branches that cracked under Tanjiro's feet.

When I thought that it was over, I pulled my hands away from my mouth and finally let out a long exhale.

Suddenly, I felt the hot air on the back of my neck again, making my heart stop.

“Found you..”

Tanjiro's pov

Muichiro pushed me away and backed far away from me, clutching his chest with his hands as he was desperately trying to catch his breath.

“Tried to run away, huh?”

I chuckled and moved closer to him. He shook his head and backed away more, crying hysterically by now “l-leave me al-alone!” He yelled out.

I just stared at him with a big grin that spread from ear to ear. Muichiro just turned away and began to run away.

“Go on! Run! It'll be more fun like that..”

Muichiro's pov

I ran through the woods, the sound of Tanjiro's loud footsteps being clearly hearable. I didn't want to get caught, I couldn't bear the thought of getting out back into the dark basement with no light, food or entertainment.

My legs carried me deeper and deeper into the forest before I realized “where am I..?” I thought to myself and looked around quickly, seeing no sign of the town nearby.

I looked behind me quickly to see Tanjiro far away from me which gave me time to decide where to go. I decided to turn right, knowing that I can then turn again and just run back which seemed like a good plan but.. Tanjiro was thinking faster.

Not even couple seconds after he was just couple meters behind me, soon jumping at me and pushing me onto the ground “caught you~”

I began to sob harder, pushing and kicking him, trying to get away from me but nothing worked. “Shhh.. calm down, kicking won't make me less mad” he said with a big grin on his face.

I kept sobbing, waiting for the worst to happen but he just kept staring at me which terrified me. “Why did you run away? I thought you loved me” he said, chuckling at the end.

“Love you?! I-I could never love you! I-I wanna go home I-I wanna go back to my parents!!” I cried out, kicking him into his stomach but he didn't even flinch.

“You miss your parents, huh?” He asked and I nodded, sobbing “pl-please d-don't hurt me..” I said and he stood up, grabbing my wrist and pulling me up as well.

“We'll go back to my place, I don't give a shit if you miss them, you're mine, don't you dare try to run away again or call out for help”

…

Once we got back to Tanjiro's house, I expected him to beat the shit out of me and push me into a basement again or worse but.. he didn't.. he just locked the door and went to hide the key.

I went to the living room and just sat down on a couch, being… happy.. not because I got caught but because  he wasn't hurting me..

Tanjiro's pov

“Stay calm Tanjiro.. if you do anything, he'll be scared, you need to act nice.. even if he tries to escape..”

I thought to myself while sitting on my bed, taking deep breaths to calm myself down. “He said that he misses his parents.. tsk, bullshit, he only needs me.. his parents are abusive as- well.. me too, but at least I act nice!”

“If there's no one he can go to when he tries to escape.. he'll stay here..” I thought and a smile appeared on my face “you're a genius, Tanjiro..”

Muichiro's pov - three days later

I woke up in the middle of night, hearing loud banging and screaming coming from another room. I looked to my right, not seeing Tanjiro anywhere so I decided to go take a look.

It was dark all around the house, making it hard for me to move around without bumping into stuff. The screams were coming from a basement, it sounded like a female and a male.. both letting out loud muffled screams of terror.

I peeked inside the basement where there was a small light turned on but still not enough for me to see everything so I slowly walked downstairs, my heart pounding out of my chest.

When I got down to the basement, I carefully looked around, my eyes widening when I saw them. “Mom?! Dad!?” I yelled out and ran over to them.

Both of their heads shot up, my mother's eyes filling up with tears almost immediately “Muichiro?! Thank goodness you're okay! W-what are you doing here?!” she yelled out.

“I-I got kidnapped b-by my classmate! I-I couldn't es-escape!” I cry out, wrapping my arms around her while sobbing. She couldn't hug back because her arms were tied behind her back.

“He got us too, fuck.. I told you to go to the gym! Just look how fat you've gotten! A highschool kid literally beat you!” my mother yelled out at my dad who immediately yelled back at her.

I tried to stop them but without success. Not even a minute later, we heard footsteps coming downstairs. My mother managed to pull me closer and I hid behind her, knowing what's about to come.

Tanjiro soon came downstairs, his eyes immediately moving towards me “hah.. I was just about to wake you up” he said and moved closer.

“Get away from my son!” My mother yelled out, moving more in front of me to hide me. Tanjiro's face fell and forcefully pushed my mother away so he could get to me. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me up.

“Let him go!” She yelled out again.

“Awh come on, don't act like you care, you are the one who abused him for years just because he was the cause of his brother's death, no?”

Both of them looked down, clearly ashamed of their actions. It's always like that. A person doesn't know how much they love someone until they are so close to losing them.

“Now come on, Mui, just remember the times they hurt you, how they neglected you, made your life hell.. don't you want to do the same?”

“N-No!” I yelled out, backing away from him “let them go!”

His expression hardened, saying “now that they know you're with me, I can't let them go.. they'll tell everyone” he said and walked over to a table, picking something up and putting it behind his back.

“Right or left”

I looked at him with a worried look, not knowing what he means by it “I-I don't wa-”

“Right.. or left”

“..left..” I said softly and he grinned. He threw the object he had in his right arm across the room and showed me the one he had in his left one.

It was a large knife, sharp and shiny.

“Now tell me.. right.. or left..?”

He's not carrying anything.. what does he mean by that..

My eyes widened when I realized..

My parents..

Mom on left..

Dad on right..

...

Word count : 1723