𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 | 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐨𝐤𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐲𝐮𝐮

❄️ 09

A month have passed since the death of Kanae, everything went back to normal, but the pain is still visible.

As Kanae's Tsuguko, Shinobu took her place as a Hashira, taking Kanao as her Tsuguko. The two of you are also back on your regular missions, but this time, you took your missions roughly.

You might have hated demons before because they devour innocent people, but now that because of them, you lost someone important to you...You hated them as much as Shinobu hates them.

You tied your hair and clipped the butterfly hairpiece on the tie, your bangs falling off your forehead, before you wore the snowflake haori that your brother gave to you years ago.

You stared at your reflection in the mirror, high black socks under a blue shoes, your uniform different from the others because you were given a skirt instead of a pants, and lastly, you took your sword from the table.

(I edited this myself)

Taking the sword out, the arctic color of the blade which is meant for the Breath of Ice, with the symbols engraved saying "Destroy" and on the other side "Kill".

Once you got outside of your room, you went to the hospital wards after hearing a commotion coming from there, and you saw the master's wife Amane, along with the younger twins, Kanata and Kuina.

"Amane-sama," you called. "Is someone of you sick?"

After hearing your voice, the three looked at you and Amane smiled. "Thank you for you concern, but it isn't us."

She turned her gaze back to the hospital bed which you followed, revealing a young boy with long black hair with teal color on the tips of it. He's unconscious and has wounds and bruises all over his body. Aoi and Sumi are the ones aiding him.

"What happened to him?" You asked.

"A demon attacked him along with his twin, he killed the demon," Amane answered. "But his twin brother didn't make it."

You looked at the boy and can't help but to pity him. He looks so young and you could think that he's just around ten and already experienced things that he shouldn't have.

"How about his parents?"

"Their mother died in sickness, while their father died in an accident," Amane answered. "Oyakata-sama thought of taking him in because he's alone."

The boy's breathing is unstable while Aoi's forcing him to drink a medicine to keep his body in shape.

"Caw! Caw! Mission for F/N!" You were startled by your crow who suddenly appeared on the window of the room, even startling the family of the master.

"I apologize," you muttered before taking your leave.

You made your way outside and followed your crow. "Details, Tadeo," you said.

"Demon found in the village of Uchiko! Caw!"

"How long will we get there?" You asked.

"Before nightfall!" Tadeo answered. "A Hashira is coming with you!"

You tilted your head while walking quickly. "What demon are we gonna face? One of the moons? And who's the hashira?"

"Lower moon six! Caw! Serpent Hashira have already made his way!"

"Obanai onii-san?" You muttered.

After Kanae's death, you can't lie that you grew fond with him, after discovering that he's your cousin. Obanai at the same time didn't expect himself to talk to you although at some point, you reminded him of his other cousin who despises him a lot after the incident when he was younger.

He'll always visit you and comfort you everytime you remember Kanae, and he always makes you happy.

He also opened up to you and told you about his past which caused the reason why he wears the bandage. Obanai once hesitated about that but you told him that he can trust you, so he removed the bandage that covers his lower face, and thought that you'll judge how he looks.

"With or without this scar, it's a good thing you escaped. Whatever happened before is not your fault...Onii-san, even though this scars resembles of something worst, it's still beautiful."

At first, he thought he'll hate you because you came from the clan where his reasons to hate women came from, but he didn't. And instead, he thought of protecting you.

He can't help but to still blame himself for the death of those women back then, which made him to think that he could atleast change something by keeping his last relative alive, and protect her at all cost.

"He didn't even wait up for me?" You muttered.

"He rushed earlier!"

Like the crow said, it was almost nightfall when you arrived in a village that called Uchiko.

It's not that kind of lively in this village and you can hear sobs from nearby, in every directions. You already felt bad for them and thought it's because of those demons.

"What's the motive of the demon?" You asked Tadeo while looking around.

"Young children! Caw! At the age of ten and below, many disappearing every night!" He answered.

You nodded. "I see. Can you lead me to where the hashira is—"

"Why are you here?"

"Oh, speaking of," you muttered and turned to your back. "I'm the slayer who's going to help you here." Obanai just stared at you before sighing.

Residents are staring at the two of you, probably because of the swords on your waists. But of course, the two of you just ignored them.

He started walking and so you followed beside him. Then suddenly, his snake, Kaburamaru, crawled his way to rest on your shoulders which made you giggle.

You noticed how heavy the air is, and you know that the guy beside you doesn't feel good.

"Is there something wrong?" You asked while looking at him.

He didn't answer for a few seconds before breaking it. "This place...is where I...grew up."

to be continued.