Cycle // Giyushino

oh welp

Kocho's POV:
"What now then?", I asked. "We should return back to the beginning of this confusion," Tomioka-san said. This man. He could have just said, let's go back to Aiyo-san. He didn't have to make it harder to think about. I just smiled at him and nodded.

⚠️Um ahead, there are descriptive writings abt dead bodies. Just so yk :)

Omniscient POV:
As the 2 demon slayers re-entered the restaurant, the atmosphere became very uncomfortable. It gave them unsettling feelings right away. "Aiyo-san! Are you there?", Tomioka shouted. No response. "Aiyo-san! Are you there?", he repeated again. Once more, no response. "Something must have happened to her," Kocho said. Tomioka nodded in agreement. As both of them walked further into the restaurant, they gripped their swords slowly. Who knows what can happen to them? Everything became very suspicious. Creaks from the floor and their ragged breathing can only be heard in this silent restaurant. In an instant, a thud was heard from above. Without hesitation, Kocho raced upstairs with Tomioka behind her. With a clear agreement, Kocho stepped aside as Tomioka walked right in front of her and kicked the door open. Their eyes shot wide open. Inside, many bodies were found. Dismembered bodies. Blood splattered everywhere. A monster, no, a demon was here.

Tomioka's POV:
"Oh gosh," I muttered. It was a horrifying sight. The bodies, I mean, the body parts were scattered everywhere. Upon the bodies were the bodies of villagers. Both men and women... and children. As I walked further inside, Kocho ran out.

I hoped she didn't ditch me.

I know she won't anyways. As demon slayers, this is what we prepared for, besides killing demons. We must compose ourselves and stay strong. Hearing Kocho's gagging in the other room, I assumed she had to do her business. In that case, I'll just do mine as well.

Kocho's POV:
I can feel tears forming... I can feel my stomach hurtling... I can feel my heart aching. Everything's aching.

Pain. Check. Despair? Hello, dear old friend.

To avoid causing any more commotion in front of Tomioka-san, I raced out of the room. I quickly ran to the stairway. I took a seat and took a while a breather. "It's okay, it's okay. Calm down. You prepared for this remember?", half of my brain said. "Yeah, we did. But guess what, this is our first time. WITHOUT KANAE-SAN DAMMIT!", the other half said. "THIS IS WAY WORSE THAN THE LAST MISSION. I-." An urge suddenly shot up through my whole body. With no thought at all, I let out a gagged and puked. "Oh no."  I quickly swiped my sleeve onto my mouth. Luckily, I hovered my head right over the rail before puking. S###.

Those lifeless and chopped-up bodies really triggered me. There were 10. Or more. Adult bodies dismembered and scattered everywhere. What really triggered me was the children's. They deserved better. "Who would do something like this?", I muttered. "Who would do something like this." "Oh wait, I know," I corrected myself. A demon, obviously. Well, this demon better is ready to taste my blade. This monster committed countless, unforgiving and immoral acts. It doesn't deserve life. These villagers deserve to be avenged. I composed myself, "fake" smiled, and went back to my comrade.

As I entered the room, Tomioka-san looked up to me (down to me y'know... cuz of height😹). "You, good?", he asked. "Yes, of course, why wouldn't I be?", I responded. "For sure?", he asked again for reassurance. "Yes!", I hissed. For a second there, I lost my cool. I responded again in a lighter tone, "Yes, I am sure."

I observed their bodies closely. It stinks. I wrapped my scarf around my nose and mouth so I won't have to inhale and smell the odor (It was cold and I brought an old scarf before the mission with me bc I get cold easily. An old one bc I know it will get lost or destroyed during my fight). It reeks, that's for sure. It's horrible as what I'm seeing. "Tomioka-san, I'll tell you what I see and think. I'm not really in the mood of listening to you." "Okay, go ahead," he said.

"It seems that they were dismembered with a knife or some sort of sharp and smooth object. You can see how clean the cut is from the torso joint to each limb from each body. Well, I can conclude that it's a demon for sure. No human can ever create such a clean-cut like this unless they are part of the Corps. I doubt that's the case," I concluded.

"That's a great assumption. It looks pretty accurate to me just from seeing this," Tomioka-san said. "I would like to add something. I assume that they were kidnapped first then killed here, explaining the blood splatter on the walls. Given from the expression and faces of the victims, this is of course a ruthless act." I obviously agreed with his statement. Great detailed but something bothered me.

"Something's wrong," I babbled. "We were just here and these stinky bodies magically appeared. Also, Aiyo-san isn't here too." "Then let"s find clues," Tomioka-san said. "I'll look here and you look there. If there's nothing here, let's investigate the restaurant afterward." I nodded. It took a few minutes until I found...

(edited 4/3)