I keep a demon

Chapter 31

"Is everything fine, Y/n san?"

Kiriya asked her concern. This morning, when he had his morning walk in the family's zen garden, he thought that he was having the same dream from the last night. He finally saw Y/n with his mother headed to his father's room.

He got what he prayed for a long time, but maybe God forgets to bring the smile with her.

Even with that distance, Kiriya could tell that she's in grief. So what he wants to do next is at least talk to her once she comes out of the room.

"Ah, Kiriya sama. Long time no see." She greeted him and smile weakly. "How I wish everything would be fine but you know... the world tends to have its own way."

"Yes... It surely has." Kiriya said. The family curse is his bedtime story, the parents always remind him of what lies ahead. Judging from his father's condition, his turn to replace him will probably come in no time.

Y/n looks at the young boy sympathetically and didn't ask him any further. He also wishes for her to just forget about what he said.

He escorts her to the front gate, passing his little sisters who play around there and remind them to not causing any ruckus.

"Thanks for visiting my father, Y/n san." He thanked her.

She nodded her head and said something that she's unaware has slipped from her mouth. "Is there any point to live a little longer than your dear one has..."

"Excuse me?" Kiriya is confused by her words but realizes that she looks taken aback by how she unconsciously said that. He simply laughs when she apologizes to him repeatedly. Though he was quite baffled when she out of the blue asking that question, he already got his answer and he wants to share it with her.

"Some might said that it will be pointless, it will be too painful to carry on with the loss. But as for me, even if it will make me sad to watch all the people dear to me dies one by one, I wish to live longer so I can tell their stories and their memories will remain forever."

On the way home, Y/n think about what Kiriya just said, such a wise words coming from the boy who is way younger than her. Of course, she hopes that there's nothing that happened to Douma, she wants to grow old with him who trapped inside his youth body.

Y/n takes a different path and walks to where Giyuu's house is. Ignoring the fact that it's getting hard for her to keep her eyes wide open. She is already adjusting her sleeping times to match Douma's and when she suddenly back to her old routine, she terribly having a sleep-deprived, she can't sleep a bit and spend her night with her eyes wide open.

She finally saw Giyuu's dojo style house but she can't take it anymore, the next thing she knows is she falls into a deep slumber.

---

It was too comfortable.

A soft pillow and warm mattress. She blinked her eyes to open it but only manage to do it halfway, she could see Giyuu's figure in vague but then closed it for the second time. Giyuu would wait until she does have enough sleep, he won't go anywhere. He doesn't need to train Tanjiro at the moment, and he still has a few days until he has hashira's training.

"Even after so long, your habit for making me worried is still unchanged." He murmured, "And you literally freaking out the neighborhood."

Y/n slowly turns her head and yawned. She could see the darker shade of the horizon from the window behind Giyuu, she must be asleep for a long time that enough for her to carry on the rest of the day. "Seem so, but I'm fine. Unscratched, just having a little jetlag."

"Is everything really fine, Y/n? I'm not going to talk about the last letter you sent which sounds... halfassed?" He's not too sure about how he referred to it. Her reaction looks so priceless and he starts to regret it.

She laughs, unsure if she listens to the old friend Giyuu or not. Plus, the last letter is written by Douma who claimed to have his blood, sweat, and tears in it. "Where did you learn those words, Giyuu? You're adding your vocabulary."

"Iguro and Shinazugawa taught me."

"Really? How was it going!" She urged him to spill everything, thinking that he finally befriends a few hashiras. If it's true then she will be happy about it.

"Oh, ok. After the meeting conduct by Amane dono is done, Shinazugawa and Iguro said that I don't understand my position as a hashira and told me to stop being a halfassed man." Giyuu said. He seems unbothered with it as he keeps talking about what happened during the meeting to her.

Y/n sadly looking at her old friend but he convinced her that everything is fine and he didn't feel hurt at all as long as it's not coming from her mouth.

After having dinner together, Giyuu walks her home once she feels way better than before and during the trip to her home, he did say that he's going to train Tanjiro when he finished training with the other hashira.

Giyuu immediately going home after he meets Y/n's grandma, he finds it was too hard dealing with her. He knows that the old lady has a hearing problem but it's getting more difficult to talk to her than before even if he raised his voice louder. Plus, she seemingly loves to pretend to not hearing at all just to see his awkward reaction, so the best thing he can do is avoiding get in contact with the old woman too long.

"Y/n, I thought I saw Giyuu kun just a moment ago. Where is that boy now?" Asked the grandma of The Wisteria House. She just turns her back for a while then finds no Giyuu's around.

"He went home already." She said. Grandma stood there waiting for the answer and she repeats it much louder. "He went home, grandma." She shouted louder. She notices there's a two empty cup on the table when she reaches the living room. The house rarely got a visitor even from before she left to live with Douma and somehow to have a visitor nowadays is become quite odd.

"Grandma, did you just have a visitor?"

"Oh, yes!" She laughed. It's been so long since she has one and it makes her happy when there's a people come to visit the house. The old lady opens the cupboard to retrieve something. "A handsome gentleman is coming here like an hour ago. He said he forgets to give you this the last time he met you."

"To me?" Y/n looking at her grandma frowned but once she saw what she get from the cupboard, she was completely baffled. She remembers that she left it in her room at the temple.

The flower looks beautiful as always even though the water inside is slightly cloudy. She starts to regret why she has to pass out and spending the day sleeping at Giyuu's place and let the opportunity to see Douma again slips between her finger.

"Such a unique man, some might choose roses or any well-scented flowers but he goes for lotus." The grandma hand over the flower and chuckle. "I asked him if he is a friend of yours and he answered that the terms of 'friend' are simply understatement as he believes that you and he are closer than I thought."

Y/n grinned widely, she almost can't believe that she can restrain herself from getting too emotionally touch and start weeping on the floor. Forget the fact that he didn't reveal himself as her lover, he is smart enough to indirectly hints at their relationship's status.

It is so sweet of him to drop by at the house and instead of murdering the entire resident, he apparently has a little chat with her grandma.

Though it will be quite risky for him to stay longer inside the house, he probably perfectly fine and adjusting his regenerate ability to work faster than her grandma could notice before his body starts to melt or bleed.

"The flower comes with this. I don't read it, promise, but you better invite that man sometimes. What's his name again?... Oh, yes. His name is Douma... It's such a pleasure to talk with him again."

The grandma hummed happily and Y/n clean up the table and wash the cups. It is pretty hilarious to hear what her grandma said about Douma, that demon had plotted a murder on her before and now he acts so friendly. Douma surely changes a lot to the good side and she starts to miss him again.

In the middle of the night, she sits near the pool like she used to do at Douma's temple. Leaning on the wooden pole with her hand holds the letter from Douma. Debating herself whether she can do what he wished for or not.