Moonlight

Fifteen

For Sara, life as a Pillar was busy. Compared to when she was merely rank Hinoe, she now had to constantly patrol and go on missions. All the demons she fought were much stronger, and she would often be quite tired at the end of the day.

Two months had passed, and Sara was called to another meeting with the other Pillars. This time, when she arrived, she was surprised to see someone else already waiting. She immediately recognised who it was from the way they stared up at the clouds.

"Muichiro-kun?" Sara was quite happy to see him, "What are you doing here, and... you're a Demon Slayer already. How are you? Are you-"

Sara was cut off in the middle of her sentence when Muichiro turned to her. He wore a blank, bored expression on his face and looked at Sara. His aura wasn't exactly cold, but it wasn't kind either.

"Who are you? Oh, right, Yuhiko. I'm a Hashira... what did I do to become one again? I can't remember." Muichiro spoke with a flat, neutral tone and turned away, continuing to gaze at the clouds.

"Oh... congratulations. Muichiro-kun." Sara also turned away, slightly hurt. She didn't fail to notice the way he used her last name this time. She had no resentment for Muichiro, but he seemed to be so... cold towards her.

Perhaps it's his memory. Thinking about it, Sara felt a little guilty. Is it because I didn't visit him for so long?

Sara never had time to visit him. Well, she did, but she spent that spare time to train. The fact that Muichiro had forgotten her for the second time since their first encounter showed how she might have been neglecting him.

She was surprised, however, that Muichiro managed to become a Hashira in such a short amount of time. Currently, she was the youngest of the Hashiras, but Muichiro was a few months younger than her. Now that Muichiro was to become a Hashira, she would no longer be the youngest.

She saw it as a good thing, though. Maybe Shinazugawa can find someone else to pick on. But she instantly regretted the thought as she had it. She really didn't want to see Muichiro get bullied by Sanemi.

To be honest, the boy would have handled it just fine. However, in Sara's eyes he was somewhat like someone she wanted to protect; especially from this cruel world.

꧁☯︎︎꧂

A couple more months went by, and Sara tried to rebuild the trusting friendship she used to have with Muichiro. They both turned fourteen, but Muichiro still treated her like a stranger, no matter how hard she tried.

Unfortunately, she sucked at social interactions in general, so her attempts to talk to him didn't work too well.

They used to chat freely - whether it was under the stars, or under the sun. She would tell Muichiro about her day, the missions she went on, and eat with him. For some reason, now Muichiro felt less comfortable to be around. His aura changed, and he didn't even seem to hear Sara when she spoke.

Eventually, Shinobu noticed that Sara always seemed to be more upset. The Insect Hashira didn't know the exact reason for it, but she thought it would help to take the younger girl's mind off her troubles.

"Sara-chan, wanna accompany me on a mission? I was told to go with Tomioka-san, and I'm not sure if I can survive with him for an entire mission!" Shinobu smiled at Sara, who deadpanned at Shinobu's matter-of-fact voice.

"Shinobu, is three Hashiras really necessary? It would be better for me to go on a solo mission. Besides, Tomioka-san is a really skilled swordsman, and so are you."

Ah, Sara-chan. That's not what I meant by "surviving". Shinobu kept smiling. "The more the merrier, Sara-chan! Let's go!"

Without giving Sara any time to object, Shinobu sprinted off to the place where they would meet up with Giyu. She glanced behind quickly, and was relieved to see Sara following close behind.