OC x Rengoku Kyojuro [REMAKE]- "Thankful for you "

Chapter 12.

My eyes widen slightly and smile awkwardly at the girl in front of me.
"Excuse me? Are you Chō Hikari?"
"Yep. That's me."

I scratch the back of my head.
"Shinobu told me about you. I really admire your fighting style and ambitions."
She bows. I stop and stare down at her awkwardly. I reach out to her to make her stop bowing to me.
"Ah, please...Thank you. I'm nothing compared to the Hashira's or even Shinobu."
"I disagree."
She clutches her uniform and looks right through me. I flinch and look back at her.
"You are what I aspire to be."
She bows again.
"What's your name?"
"Kanao Tsuyuri."
"Nice to meet you!"

I extend my hand to shake it with hers. She's slightly taken aback and stops for a few seconds. She hesitantly gives me her hand and I shake it softly.
"It's nice to know people already are admiring me."
I chuckle playfully. Kanao looks down embarrassed, lightly blushing.
"You're a good kid, Kanao. I can tell."
I hold her hand and smile warmly. I soon let go of her and bow.
"But don't think so highly of me. The past version of myself is the thing I hate the most."
She looks at me puzzled and nods her head.
"Goodbye."
"Oh. Goodbye.."

She walks away looking down. I follow her with my gaze and tilt my head confused. Shinobu must talk about me a lot if a girl like her already heard about what happened. I don't understand why everyone thinks so highly of me, I'm a horrible person for what I believed in in the past. I turn to walk away from the garden but a loud and tipsy crow fly on my shoulder. It barely could hold itself up.
"Chō Hikari!"
"Ah. A talking crow..."
I awkwardly scratch my chin.
"You're my owner! My master!My mom!"
"Right. Who sent you after me? Was it Master?"
"Nope! Nope! No! Kyojuro Rengoku!"
My face lights up.
"What'd he send you in for?"
"He wanted to give me to you! Caw! He also wants to meet up at the front of the mansion. Go straight through the garden and take 3 left turns and then a right one and you should see the front exit! Caw!"
"Will do, hold on now!"
"Caw—"

Before the crow could make another painfully loud sound I dash through the garden and whoosh back into the other side of the estate.
"The hell!—"
I run past the Wind Hashira angrily holding a plate of mochi. He bites out of it angrily and starts to shout at me. His loud voice worn off as I ran through the hallways.
"And...a right turn."
I see the door and reach out for it. I slam it open and my gaze meets Kyojuro's. He was sitting on a bench patiently waiting with his crow.
"Chō! You sure are quick!"
I run up to Kyojuro and sit next to him on the bench.
"Hi."
"Hello to you too."
He smiles warmly.
"Why'd you need me here?"
"Are you familiar with the name Muzan?"
"Uh? Nope. Not at all."
"Oh. I thought your mother would've told you this already."

He furrows his eyebrows as he looks down with his arms crossed.
"Who's Muzan?"
"Personally, I like to call him the Demon King. He's the one who created the demon world we live in now."
I stop for a second and look away.
"Eh? What?"
"He's the strongest and first ever demon. Akaza, the demon we fought was an Upper Moon. One of his right-hand demons, per se."
"You're confusing me."

"Your mother should've taught you this when you were young. But no worries! I'm here to help!"
His face brightens up as he puffs his chest.
"Upper and Lower Moons are like ranks for demons! Upper Moon's are the strongest, going from 6 to 1. And Lower Moon's are the same but for weaker demons."
"I see."
I nod my head.
"And Muzan is the first ever demon that basically started this whole ordeal."
"So you guys hate him?"
"Of course we all do. I'd imagine you haven't developed your full-on hatred for him yet. I don't blame you, you've been clueless all these years."
"Does that mean there's a possibility that he's the one who turned my sister into a demon?..."
I furrow my eyebrows as I back away and my eyes go blank.
"There is a possibility, but that's very low. It's most likely that a random demon possessed your sister like that."
He puts his hand on my shoulder.
"So this is technically it's all his fault?"