Moonlight

Fourteen

Slowly, Sara followed her crow to the clearing where the Pillars would meet. When she arrived, she saw that three people were already there. Kyojuro and Mitsuri waved to her excitedly as she approached, and another figure towered over them.

Sara's eyes widened when she realised how tall he was. He seemed to be at least seven feet tall, and his hands were clasped together in a praying position. There was a scar across his forehead, and he had a necklace made out of large red beads.

"Young Yuhiko! What brings you here today?" Kyojuro gave her a beaming smile. "Becoming a Pillar?"

Sara wasn't entirely sure, so she shrugged her shoulders in reply. She looked at the tall Demon Slayer again, hiding her curiosity, but wanting an introduction from him.

"Ah, is another swordsman joining our ranks today?" The praying man turned his head in Sara's direction, but not looking her in the eyes. "We are in need of talented swordsmen like you. Namu amida butsu..."

The girl bowed respectfully, yet keeping her guard up. "Yuhiko Sara, rank Hinoe." She trusted him of course, for he was a demon slayer. However, she also knew that not everyone in the corps would be friendly, particularly the tougher ones.

"Himejima Gyomei, Stone Pillar. Nice to meet you, Yuhiko."

Stone Pillar. Noted. Sara eased up a little. Judging by his introduction and respectful manner, he seemed friendly enough.

"Sara-chan! How are you these days?" Mitsuri gave Sara a cute smile and gestured for the girl to sit beside her.

Again, Sara shrugged. "I just recovered. I'm Fine I guess."

Mitsuri was about to reply, when a new voice spoke from behind them.

"Who is this brat? And what is she doing here?"

Sara slapped herself for not noticing the presence on the tree. She turned in the direction of the sound, and she saw a male in a striped haori, with heterochromia eyes and a snake wrapped around his neck.

"Ah, Iguro-san, this is the girl I was telling you about!" Mitsuri ran up to face the man with the striped haori. "Meet Sara-chan, please be nice to her!"

"O-oh, I see." Iguro stammered. He narrowed his eyes at Sara, as if he was analysing her closely. "Doesn't look promising, but I'll comply if you say so, Kanroji."

Sara didn't fail to notice the way he suddenly became flustered when Mitsuri spoke to him. She didn't like him and his attitude so far, but she introduced herself respectfully nonetheless. "Yuhiko Sara, rank Hinoe."

"Iguro Obanai, Serpent Pillar."

Growing uncomfortable as Obanai continued to study her with narrowed eyes, Sara turned away and walked to where Mitsuri had already sat back down. Not long after, another unfamiliar figure approached, followed by Giyu, Shinobu and Uzui.

"Oi, who's this girl?" The unfamiliar guy with scars covering his body walked up to her with a threatening expression. "D'you walk to the wrong place by accident? Get away from here, this meeting is for the Pillars to attend."

He seemed to be in a bad mood for some reason, and it got worse when Sara remained calm and completely unfazed by his words.

"Yuhiko Sara, rank Hinoe." She faced him with a deadpan expression. "I was called here by Oyakata-sama, so I'm in the right place. Don't go making quick assumptions, I would have thought the Hashiras would consist of somewhat smarter people, but it seems I was wrong."

"OI, WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?!"

The man tried to punch her, but Sara quickly dodged to the side and instead managed to land a kick in his side, sending him sprawling on the ground.