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"Ne, Onii-chan, you look pretty in it. You'll wear it everyday, right?" Sumi asked, perched on my lap, her hands lay on my shoulders as she stared at me, waiting for an answer.
Kanae, Kanae Kochou. The girl who saved me, slavaged me from slavery, from my family, and gave me a new one. I remember what it was like when she took me to her home and treated my wounds, gently one by one, careful not to hurt me. I remember what it was like when she introduced me to Shinobu, her younger sister, for the first time, and taught me everything I know today. And I remember when we saved Kanao from that scullery man on that bridge just when he tied her and sold her to strangers she had never seen before- and she was barely fed at all. She was malnourished , and sickly- covered from head to toe with dust, dirt and bruises.
I remember Kanae taking her home and cleaning her up, taking care of all her wounds, feeding her just the way she did to me when she saved me. She named Kanao after her, and she changed it to "Kanao" in hopes that se wuld smile often and be happy. Looking back, I wished I had spent more time with the one person I owe all of my life to, the one person who found me, - a complete stranger- and loved me as though she had known me her entire life. She was 16; only a year older than I was. And when she left she was 17. One day she had held me in her arms, comforting me with her gentle words and making sure I knew I was meant to feel safe in this new home, and the next, i was foreign to her touch. Wherever life and comfort is, death and anguish trail not far behind.
She was laying on Shinobu's arms, her head on my lap, and she was bleeding continously, the sticky velvety red substance drooled out of her, and she was struggling to keep her eyes open. I remember how we pleaded her, begged her, that she stayed a little longer for the kakushi to come and take her, and how she in turn, pleaded and begged us to stop being demon slayers and rest easy without having to face this end the way she did. Shinobu's face was covered in ashes and in tears, smudged everywhere on her face, streaking down to her chin and blurring her vision. Shinobu was struggling to breathe, and her heart was pounding so loud and so fast even I could hear it.
I remember her taking Kanae's haori off, taking it, and giving me another one of them- Kanae had a wardrobe filled with her butterly patterned haoris- and holding my hand, telling me to cherish it as though it were my life. Of course I cherished it, it was the only thing I had left of her. Kanao took her hairclip, Shinobu took one haori, and I took the other, the rest of Kanae's belongings had been given over to Aoi and kept for the other girls for when they grew up.
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"(Y/N)-san! You have visitors outside your gate- Kyojuro-sama and Mitsuri-sama, would you like me to let them in?" Aoi popped into my room just as I was tidying up.
"Oh? Kyojuro-san's here?" I asked. Kyojuro rarely came to visit us, much like all the other pillars, except Mitsuri who comes to visit us- visit Shinobu, every other day.
"Ne. Would you like me to take them in?" Aoi asked, impatient and eager to welcome the guests.
"Oh, yes. Please welcome them, I'll be down in a bit," I smiled.
Aoi left as soon as I admitted the guests, and I dropped everything and followed after her, my blankets lay on my bed as messy as 'messy' gets, sprawled awkwardly as I left it alone to entertain my guests. I wonder what they're doing here- Just a visit, perhaps? Or did Oyakata-sama assign a new mission or a new-found area to patrol?
I wondered along as I walked through my corridors, accompanied only by the rhythmic sound of my footsteps and the sound of the wind blowing my haori as it brushes against the walls like feathers on a bird's body. I never paid attention to the noises around this house- especially not when I'm walking all alone- because I choose not to mind anything such minor things; and yet the only thing that stayed with me were those very same noises that comforted me when my house sounded like a graveyard. And when I was truly alone-not when everybody was simply asleep late into the night- it was the shadows and silhouettes that looked out for me, and sometimes they were complemented by the cawing sound of the crows.
Sometimes I just don't appreciate the small things enough.
I walked into the front of my house, where the wooden stairs of my little porch creaked on every movement made, and the garden filled with a diversity of fluttering butterflies, of all shapes, sizes, colors and species. At night the fireflies come and play around, flickering, bright, neon yellow lanterns contained on insects the size of quarted my fingers. And the fireflies would play in my garden like a playground all night, from when the sun sets until it rises, and when the stars appear and when they fall. Touched by the silver arrays of moonlight, braids of light dancing through the fence, and through each and every one of our windows. The fireflies would play all night before they leave, only to come back the following night.
I was greeted by a tall man, with fiery red and bright yellow locks of hair, as though his hair were on fire, the colors all from the palette of their inferno, splashed on the canvas of flames. His hair was long, falling down to below his shoulders, parted in the middle and then pulled back and tied. He was a rather tall man with a muscular build, a bright and flashy smile displayed on his face, showing off his pearly white teeth- and although his smile was his most noticeable feature, he had a very attractive face, thick eyebrows that lay on top of his swirly red eyes, not filled with anger, but to the brim with passion.
Beside him was a girl -much smaller in size compared to that hunk of a man- and a lot shorter as well. She had her hair parted in three thick braids, getting thinner as it goes down. It was a fiery, soft shade of pink and a bright shade of green, complemented with five clumps of hair laid on her face like a fringe, her eyes are bright as the summer green grass, a mole under each of them. She wore the type of uniform similar to Kanao's, wearing a skirt instead of the usual baggy pants, but instead of the usual covered top, Mitsuri ad her chest area uncovered and exposed.
"Ara ara, Kyojuro-kun! What brings you here?"
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