Random Kny One Shots [Requests Closed] Soothing | {SaneOba}

Theme: Fluff

It’s a bit hard to sleep after you’ve been fighting demons all night, that was something Obanai discovered. Usually his lack of sleep only was partially to do with the demons, but mostly to do with his mind constantly flashing back to his past. But this time he was downright exhausted from fighting restlessly for several days in a row—in the day time he always had things to attend to—and now, when he could finally rest, his body wouldn’t allow him. So he’d sat on a hill he’d run up to—merely because he wanted to move—and waited for something to happen. Dawn was approaching and where he sat had nothing to shade someone with so he wouldn’t have to worry about a demon suddenly attacking. And so he sat. And waited.

He watched the horizon for a while and then the sun peeked out from behind the hills and he sat there, still, one hand stroking Kaburamaru’s head, the other propping him up. It was quiet, soothing, the only sound being the occasional bird or animal flitting by in the early morning. Obanai shifted from where he sat then heard something behind him and was quick to stand, one hand on his katana hilt, his eyes darting around him. 

But then he relaxed because it was just Sanemi, looking equally tired yet restless, trudging up the hill. 

“Hi,” Obanai said, settling down. 

Sanemi nodded. “Hey.”

They were quiet as Sanemi made his way up and then the two of them settled back down on the grass, their gaze fixed on the slowly rising sun. They said nothing for a long while, and Kaburamaru ended up falling asleep on Obanai’s shoulder. And still they sat, their eyes never leaving the hills where the sun colored the sky orange and pinks and yellows. But Sanemi grew restless from the quiet and eventually spoke up, shifting to look at Obanai. 

“When did you last sleep?” he asked, curious. 

Not having expected Sanemi to talk, Obanai flinched then pretended he had just been moving to get comfortable and said, “Yesterday for about 3 minutes, I think.”

“When did you last sleep properly?” Sanemi clarified.

“Couple days ago. Well, more like a couple years ago, but you know what I mean, no?” Obanai asked, turning to meet Sanemi’s gaze.

“Yeah. You should sleep today, then,” Sanemi said, sighing.

“Oh? When did you last sleep properly?” 

“Yesterday. I finished all my missions earlier than anticipated so I was able to get some rest before I was sent on my next so I wouldn’t overwork myself. At least that’s what my crow told me,” Sanemi huffed.

“Ah. I did try to sleep, but whenever I closed my eyes I had the urge to get up and run or just simply stay awake, so that’s out of the question,” Obanai said quietly, addressing what Sanemi had said before.

“I get that. Does anything calm you?” Sanemi asked, turning back to the sunrise.

“Not sure. When I sleep, I just do it from exhaustion,” Obanai admitted.

“What about before? Like, before you became a demon slayer.”

“Then it was from fear probably. Or more like the momentary abcense of fear, I suppose,” he said quietly.

“Fear?” Sanemi raised an eyebrow.

“Yes.”

“Ah.” He waited to see if Obanai would clarify, but when it was clear he wouldn’t, Sanemi cleared his throat and went quiet again. 

The silence was a little more awkward now and Obanai wished he’d never said anything. Then he decided to change the subject before Sanemi started getting worried or something about what he’d said. “Anyways, I doubt there’s much that might sooth me. Things I find calming are like when you fight or train and the whole worlds drops away, you know? I can’t currently think of anything else.”

“Does physical touch calm you? Or, like, singing? I don’t know, that’s what some people say,” Sanemi said, shrugging.

“What, you going to sing to me?” Obanai asked, laughing. “Can you even sing?”

“I’m offended,” Sanemi said, though he smiled. He shook his head and added, “well I can’t sing but whatever.”

Obanai grinned, though you could only see it through his eyes, and said, “Fine, then. But why do you even want to know?”

“Know what?”

“How to sing- No,” Obanai said, laughing at Sanemi’s reaction. “No, why do you want to know what calms me, I meant.”

“Oh- Because if you have things that calm you that means you can sleep easier when you’re calm or something,” Sanemi said absently, his eyes dropping from the sun as it started rising higher. “Is there really nothing you can think of?”

“Well, not that I’ve experienced and can think of right now, no.”

“That you’ve experienced?”

“You said physical touch or affection or whatever, and singing. I’ve never had those done to me so they might but if they do, I don’t know because I’ve never experienced it,” Obanai explained. “Right?”

“Right.” Sanemi knew there would be no good in questioning this, so he dropped it—for now—and continued. “Uh, well, I already can’t sing and I’m pretty sure Kanroji’s the only one you’d want any affection from so I don’t-” he paused, thinking he heard Obanai say something. “Hm?”

“I said, she’s not the only one who I’d want it from,” Obanai repeated, his voice still quiet.

“Oh?” Sanemi raised his eyebrows, curious. “And who might that be?”

He didn’t answer and kept his gaze away from Sanemi who sighed. “Fine, be it that way. Anyways, if there’s nothing that can calm you down then I’ll tie to the ground and have Kocho give me a pill to make you sleep.”

Thankful for Sanemi not pressuring him to say who, Obanai responded, “That wouldn’t be real sleep then-“

“Well your body needs sleep to, so, as long as it’s resting it’s fine.”

“True..”

Sanemi smirked. “Should I do it then?”

“Why do you really want to do it? What, do you have a kink of tying people down?” Obanai said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow and turning to look at him.

Sanemi shook his head then stopped midway and said, “Why, as a matter of fact, I do!” He grinned, obviously just joking. (or was he-)

“Wow, and would I be so lucky to be the prey of your pleasures,” Obanai said, the corner of his mouth perking up in a smile.

“Oh yes because I’m ever so horny,” Sanemi said, his voice pitched into one as if said like it was a fact, though he was fighting to keep a straight face. 

“No, the horror!” Obanai said, bursting into laughter at the way Sanemi’s face was contorted in an effort to keep it looking serious. “Okay, but all jokes aside, I’m down for that as long as she lets me keep several sleeping pills for future use because there’s no way I’ll be able to sleep normally, to be honest.”

Sanemi nodded. “Understandable. Though it’s not healthy to sleep with merely pills, so..”

“Neither is it healthy to not sleep at night and risk your life day after day for years until you die, but hey we can’t all be perfectly healthy,” Obanai said. His tone was a joking one but nothing about this was humorous. He sighed and leaned back, petting his still sleeping snake.

They were silent again and Sanemi noted how there was a light breeze now and how much higher in the sky the sun was. Most people would be awake by now, getting ready for their day. And here they were, Sanemi trying to convince Obanai to sleep. Or more trying to find a way he could sleep. 

“Iguro,” Sanemi said suddenly.

“Hm?”

“Who was the person you said that you would also allow to show you physical affection,” Sanemi asked, eyes narrowing. He had a suspicion on who it might be, and he was unsure if it was true and how, if it was, he felt about it.

“Uhm,” Obanai said hesitently, suddenly averting his eyes. “Uh..”

Deciding the way to find out who it was, without making Obanai say directly their name, Sanemi said, “Who is she?”

“It’s.. it’s not a she,” Obanai mumbled, not catching onto the way Sanemi clearly was on to him.

“Oh? Do I know him?” Sanemi asked, feeling that his suspicion must be right. 

“You.. uh..” Obanai was reluctant to continue and he stopped talking, still looking anywhere but at Sanemi.

Then, feeling this was taking too long, Sanemi blurted out, “Is it me?”

“N..No!” Obanai said, a little too loud. Kaburamaru awoke with a start and the Serpent Hashira made himself busy with calming the poor snake.

“Iguro, I’m not going to judge you if you tell me who it is,” Sanemi grumbled.

“Fine, fine,” he said. He paused for a moment as he adjusted Kaburamaru’s position around his neck, then said, “Yes.”

“What?”

“To.. to your question. If it’s you.”

“Oh.” Sanemi had thought so, but he was still surprised at this and almost forgot to respond. “Well. Well then, that’s nice.”

“You said you wouldn’t judge me!” Obanai protested.

“I’m not! What am I supposed to say to that anyways?” Sanemi huffed.

“Okay, true..”

“Yes.”

The Hashira went quiet, unsure where to go from there. Then Sanemi said, his voice low, “Do you.. do you still want me to, uh, to help you sleep?”

Obanai, trying to make the air less awkward, said, “As long as you don’t sing, sure.”

Sanemi laughed. “I won’t sing. But alright then. Come.. come here,” he said reluctantly, patting the spot directly next to him.

“Okay.” Obanai moved over to sit next to Sanemi then said, “Now what?”

“Uhm. Here, uh, lay down on my lap.”

“Your lap?”

“Fuck this, what am I supposed to say?” Sanemi grumbled.

“Okay, okay, chill,” Obanai said, amusement laced through his voice.

Sanemi rolled his eyes but said nothing as Obanai made himself comfortable. Sanemi then proceeded to run his fingers through the locks of Obanai’s dark hair, watching Kaburamaru shift in this position. 

“Iguro?”

“Yes?”

“Close your eyes,” Sanemi ordered.

“What? Fine..” Obanai closed his eyes, letting his body relax slightly as Sanemi caressed him.

“Would you fall asleep better if I talked or if I was quiet?” 

“Probably if you talked. Don’t shout though,” Obanai warned.

“Of course. Okay, well, I’ll just tell you about my last missions, I guess,” Sanemi decided, leaning back slightly, using his free arm to prop himself up. 

Obanai agreed and concentrated on his breathing as Sanemi began. He found it was quite.. calming, as Sanemi spoke in a quiet tone, the way his hand brushed Obanai’s hair, the warm gaze of the sun, just.. all of this was a kind of calm he hadn’t felt in so long—or maybe never—and he embraced it, finally letting sleep take over his exhausted body. 

When Sanemi noticed Obanai had fallen asleep, he at first continued talking, not wanting the sleep to be broken. But eventually he stopped and smiled down at the Hashira. He could see how much more relaxed Obanai was and he was content, himself, that Obanai had been able to rest a little now.

Then he realized he would be stuck in this position for a long time, or until Obanai woke up because no way was he going to  be the one to wake him up. Sanemi sighed, and waited, as the sun rose high in the sky, illuminating everything beautifully. The sky was clear and the breeze was sweetly soothing. 

{Word count: 1852}

Watch me fail dreadfully with my endings 💀

I kept writing Sanemi’s name wrong I’m sobbing (I wrote Sanei, Sanmi, Senim, etc..) 

Oh and more was the part where I wrote “as Obanai made himself comfortable” I first accidentally writing “as Obanai made himself lovely”

I’m still confused how that happened 💀

Btw this was all the wheel’s choosing ✨ It chose SaneOba, sunrise, and comfort ^^