Butterflies? Or something telling me to run away? || GiyuShino

Chapter 14 | Reciprocate

Because I love him, and I will do anything to save him.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It came as a surprise to the both of them that they would be battling an Upper Moon today.

He knew that Kocho had always had immense hatred towards all demons, but in particular Upper Moons, since most of them didn't seem to show any regrets in becoming one, and it almost felt like they voluntarily decided to be a demon. But most importantly, because her one and only sister was killed by one.

Looking at Kocho running next to him with a light smile on her face, he suddenly feared that tonight would be the last time he would ever see her smiling face. The mortality rate of demon slayers was sky high when it came to fighting Upper Moons, he thought back to Kocho's sister Kanae. She was by no means weak, being the Flower Pillar at the time, yet even she died while fighting an Upper Moon.

Would Kocho face the same fate? He hoped not, but somehow Tomioka had a bad feeling about this. There was a nagging feeling within him that he had unfinished business with her, he needed her to live so that they could talk once the battle was over.

As they reached their destination, they slowed down a little. Maybe they both knew that today could very well be their last.

"Tomioka-san" Kocho spoke for the first time since they left, which was quite rare.

"Let's have a chat after all this is over" She smiled sweetly at the male next to her, echoing what he had just been thinking.

"Then don't die Kocho" Straightforward as usual, she thought to herself.

"You too" She laughed lightly, Tomioka suddenly felt the urge to pull her into his arms. He was suddenly scared of letting her out of his sight, as if she would suddenly just disappear.

But they ended up parted ways early on, just as they did last time to find the location of the demon.

❀❀❀

He really trusted her, perhaps even a bit too much if he was honest with himself. When he heard Kocho's conversation with the Lower Moon saying she had faith that even if she died, there was no way the demon would be able to get away, he suddenly felt that it was his duty to protect her and live up to the amount of trust she had in him as a fellow Pillar.

To put it simply, he never thought anyone would be able to trust him so much and truly believed that he had their back.

From his observation of her, if she didn't trust that he could finish off the demon even if she died, there was no way she would protect the boy without hesitation. After all, to her there was probably nothing more important that killing demons and making sure to keep innocent loses at a minimum. She would've thought that if sacrificing one life meant that she would be able to kill the demon and save several others, then she would do it even if that one life was her own.

As he reached an opening, his movements came to a halt as he heard the conversation before him.

......

Tomioka always believed that he wasn't dense, in fact, he knew that Kocho harboured some sort of feeling towards him. He didn't know however, what the nature of these feelings were. Was she just caring for him as friends, did she view him with familial love like he was part of her family, or was she simply just looking out for him as co-workers. He didn't know.

But he was grateful that someone as talented as her, was willing to associate with someone who merely got lucky and survived the final selection, then somehow managed to become a Pillar.

Therefore, it came as an extra shock, when he overheard her conversation with Upper Moon 2, the demon who killed her sister.

"Let's make a deal, Shinobu" The demon smiled in amusement and had the audacity to sit down as she was struggling to even stand