𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 | 𝐤𝐧𝐲

遭 | encounter

~仕始める~

I had a very stubborn visitor, and he was determined.

I had never taken an interest in Tanjiro's family, in fact the entire experience seemed so nerve racking. Tanjiro finally had his first kid, a daughter, and he wants me to name her.

This has to be one of the weirdest and out of place requests I've ever been asked. An unreadable look sat upon my face upon reading the letter.

"What the hell... Why me? You're the kid's dad, you name it," I mumbled, last thing I wanted to do was travel.

Last night I found a grown woman beating her dog, so as a good citizen... I ate her. I couldn't take the dog home, Yushiro would actually kill me but I left the rest of her body there in case the dog wanted a piece. As casual as this sounds, I've been making monthly kills for decades now. Getting used to the killing was bound to happen one way or another.

I'd reflected on my actions and looked at Tanjiro's letter, he'd the most honest and kindhearted person I know and whenever he sees me he has to repress the urge to vomit. He can smell how I reek of death, I know it for a fact. Like I haven't seen him gag as soon as I get close to him, he knows it's rude and offensive. He knows the murders I've committed, but he's asking me to name his daughter.

I thought about it for a while, an ugly feeling of disgust for myself pooled into my stomach. Why was I like this, why was I such a monster? Insecurity began to eat at me, what a pain... What a pain...

Doesn't matter how many people I've killed, Tanjiro has only had about five short interactions. So, it's no wonder I feel so weird about this entire situation it's weird nonetheless! I wanted to give myself some time to digest and save my energy up for when Yushiro finally decides to move. I had every right to feel annoyed, I'd have to walk miles to get to Tanjiro's shack of a house to name his kid since he's too lazy to name it himself!

I took a deep breath, I had been on edge since air raids had been so frequent. Seeing all the others wouldn't be bad, and I get to stretch my legs too! Yushiro was across the room from where I was sketching something out onto a small canvas. He probably heard my mumbling, he threw his pencil at me to get my attention.

"The Kamado boy sent you a letter did he not? What's it say?" He demanded.

I snorted, tossing the pencil back to him, "Not telling you, you abuse me."

"Abuse? I'll show you abuse, what'd he write to you?" He stood up and sat next to me himself.

He scanned through the letter before grabbing the sheets of paper out of my hands and read through it himself instead.

"You're friends with some really weird people," Yushiro had commented with a scowl present on his face, "Do you plan to go? It's dangerous during these times, it was dumb of him to invite him in the first place, honestly..."

He clicked his tongue, maybe the thought of being lonely had scared him. How cute, I couldn't help but smile.

"I'll be fine, I'll make sure the trip doesn't last more than three days." I leaned my body against his, laying on him.

Yushiro had huffed at my reluctance, he must've thought I was being annoying. He had mumbled something unintelligible, most likely something snarky. I had settled into him more, and buried my face in his shoulder. Reluctance pulled at me, in the back of my mind I really didn't want to leave Yushiro.

I'm not sure where this feeling even came from in the first place, but it felt like a burden. A warm feeling spread all across my chest, getting just satisfaction out of just being near him. As if we haven't been sharing the same home for about two years and a half now. I don't have any regrets moving in with him, so what is this burden or stress that's been put on me? Is it from the invitation Tanjiro gave me?

"You're being weird again." His voice snapped me out of my daze, getting high on his presence.

I leaned upright, now sitting on my own. I must've been making a sad face since Yushiro began pinching at my cheek.

Saying something along the lines of, "Weirdo, such a weird girl."

This warm feeling in my chest... Could it be...?

~休憇~

Even though the home housed more than just people of the Kamado family, I dubbed it the Kamado house anyways. I had plenty of concerns for Tanjiro, how many children did he want? At least three, right? I know he grew up with a very large family and judging by his nature I had assumed he'd want many children.

Poor Kanao.

That wasn't my main concern though, he's living with four other adults that may or may not already have children or at least plan to have them. Their little shack was already crowded with just those four, children will make that even worse... I hope they'll last during these trying times.

It was the afternoon and I covered myself head to toe in kimonos with a long and thick umbrella to protect me from the sun.

For a gift, I had brought onigiri with salmon flakes and pickled plums inside them along with two heads of cabbage. The run was three hours, and I couldn't hardly breathe by the end of it. I wheezed as I went up the mountain, ignoring the bullets of sweat pouring down my forehead. I didn't know exactly where it was, I've only been here once or twice and there was a path for me to follow. Things weren't too hard to figure out, the little house was bigger than I had expected it to be, it still looked like a shack but a shack that was at least liveable in.

"A DEMON?? HERE, NO WAY THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE NO NO NO NO NO!!" A scream sounded from the small place, making me almost jump at the sudden noise.

Rattling and more yells of protest could be heard, clamoring and loud noises of movement. I stopped walking to wait for the loud noises to cease, I had a feeling this had to do with something about my visit.

I could only pray it wasn't going to be hectic... 

~終了~