Road to Hashira

-03-

 (Demons.) Tomioka Giyu, was on high alert as he surveyed the current situation of the spring light festival. Everything seemed to be normal, except for Giyu, who's not very fond of such occasions, everything seemed to be very bright and unusual for him. 

He carefully inspects each person as he silently strolls the street. Despite his suspect appearance with his deep blue uniform, a katana lodged at his waist, and his absurdly mismatched haori, nobody seems to notice him as either everyone seems to be having fun by themselves or simply because Giyu is that quiet, like a dead plant.

(This place... nothing seems to be unusual here. Would a demon really appear in such a well-lit and extravagant venue? Perhaps, maybe my crow has made yet another mistake with the information? No, I must be aware at all times. There are no exceptions when it comes to demons.) Giyu takes a deep breath until someone pokes and tugs at his hoari.

"To-mi-oka-san... Tomioka-san!" Giyu was surprised with this awfully familiar voice. He peeks over his shoulder but it seems he really had to turn around to get a full view of this petite person's face.

"Kochou..." He replies coldly, before turning his head away, somewhat carefully looking for traces of demons.

"Wooohh, your voice truly is colder than the spring night's gentle breeze." She teases.

"What do you want, Kochou?" Tomioka barely looked back at her.

(What the hell is with this person? It's not like I came here just to annoy him! He barely even noticed my change of style, er, why am I even expecting?!) "Are you that dense to be carrying your sword around in a place like this?"

"Demons. Kochou."

(He can't be serious.) Shinobu fought back laughter at Tomioka's straightforward manner. At the very least, this man was as earnest as he was honest. "That explains it. As I would never expect to see you in a place like this. You're as afraid of these lights as demons are to the sun."

This time, Giyuu glances down at her. "I... am not afraid of anything..."

Shortly, Masachika arrives while chewing on ohagi. He quickly notices Tomioka. "Ah, eh, Tomioka-san?!" Formally, he bows to the higher ranker despite being older. "How nice to see you here! May I offer you some ohagi?" Tomioka blankly stares at the ohagi, then at Masachika. (Eh, w-what could this person be thinking?) Masachika looks over to Shinobu who also had a blank, straightforward expression. (Are these two close? They share the same expression quite a lot though.)

Then, Tomioka simply walks away from them, without a word. "Ah, please take care, Tomioka-san!" Masachika bows once more before Tomioka disappears within the crowd. "Shinobu-chan, what was that about?"

Shinobu was still looking at the direction Tomioka went, seemingly wondering what was in his mind at that time. Did he notice her and Masachika being close together? Shaking it off, Shinobu responds to Masachika, "Kumeno-san, should we call it a night?"

(Where could it be? Where are you, demon?!) While Tomioka kept on surveying the area from a distant shroud. A young girl comes up to him shyly.

"Um, excuse me sir, may I ask why are you standing here?"

Tomioka was perplexed with this sudden encounter. "I am-..."

"Here, please take these and have a wonderful night!" The young girl hands Tomioka some sakura mochi, which is a well favored sweet during spring. Tomioka could barely say a thing when the girl drifts speedily away from him and to her friends who seem bewildered with the girl's kind gesture to such a mysterious man.

Tomioka could still hear a bit of their chattering.

"He's pretty cute, right?"

"I bet he's a looker, despite looking so gloomy down there."

"You should've coaxed him into talking more!"

Tomioka couldn't make sense out of their chattering, but he looked at the sakura mochi in his hands and felt grateful. Shortly though, he spies a figure in an elegant white kimono who comes up to the girls with auspicious manners and a charismatic behavior. The girls seemed to enjoy his sudden company and proceeded to walk alongside this person. Tomioka, out of instinct, decides to trail after them.

(Should I rush in? No, there's too many people. However, something is really off about that guy. Am I overthinking?) Giyuu soon finds himself a little bit outside of the festival, yet he continues his pursuit. Until one young girl breaks away from her group and is continuously led by the man in the white kimono and a decorative fox mask mounted on his temple. It was the same young girl who gave him the sakura mochi, yet more so, she seems out of it, as if vexed by an uncertain spirit. 

Not only her, but soon other young girls showed up at the outskirts of the village all together with a man wearing a kimono, and they headed for a shady hill thick with green foliage and a nauseating fog.

Tomioka strongly believes in his stealth ability so he can be relieved that the demons, he now calls them, haven't noticed him yet. Now that they are far from everybody else, Tomioka figures this may be the best chance to save the girls, but he is severely outnumbered, and appearing too soon may lead to casualties both for him and the girls. However, he finds one pair straying too far away from the rest, and so he decides to take them out one by one.

Tomioka dashes for his first victim. "Water breathing, first form - Water surface slash!" He instantly beheads the demon from behind, fortunately the girl beside him was more of a foot shorter so he was able to safely execute the cut. He grabs the girl who seemed to be too much in a daze she could barely stand on her own. 

(Was that it? These demons may not really be that strong at all. Their only specialty is some kind of toxic mist that attracts and disorients their victims. Still, it is also weird how a number of demons group together and more so work together.)

Suddenly, Tomioka catches wind of an incoming object. He throws the girl on low grass and dodges backward. (A needle?!) He readies his sword and assumes a stance.

"How rude of you to disturb our cozy night of the first spring. Have you no manners, no? Perhaps, never had someone to stroll dearly with you below the moonlight gazing upon you with blessings of love?" The demon has now fully revealed his ominous looks with blood-red eyes, sharp fangs and claws, and a set of red dots resembling flowers lining each side of his temple down his chin. He drives his long, layered hair backwards as he mocks at Tomioka. He fires more needles out of thin air and Tomioka immediately dodges and blocks.

(So this demon has more abilities than the previous. The previous... ) Tomioka suddenly felt a sting down his spine so he immediately rolls forward and slashes up at the demon behind him. "Water breathing, second form - Water wheel!" Now, he finds himself between two opponents. One with a full head, and the other headless and now split into two.

"Impressive, at this level, you must be a high ranker within the corps?" The other demon bites his lip. Tomioka simply dashes at him with his katana. "Not much of a talker, no?" To Tomioka's surprise, the demon barely moved and he slashes at him from the shoulder down to the abdomen. "Yes, yes, you're very skillful. I felt that!"

Suddenly, right after he slashes this one, more needles appear from behind the demon's split body, and Tomioka is forced to step back. (What's going on? The first one I cut did not crumble into dust, and this one barely minded that he got sliced!)

The demon at his feet laughs at him to scorn, "Heh, I guess you've figured out that much, haven't you, demon slayer?!"

Tomioka grits his teeth.