Fluttering Lotus Petals

Chapter 9: Tangled Roots

Being a demon came with a very accurate internal clock. Once the sun had set, a sense of calm washed over [Name]. He whisked himself and Rengoku out of the lotus lantern to find themselves in the Butterfly Estate.

"Oh!" a gasp was heard from behind them. The two men turned to see Kocho Kanae seated at her desk, katana leaning on a leg of the table. Happy tears flowed down her face at their appearance. "Rengoku-san, the crows said that you had died..!"

Rengoku chuckled sheepishly. "Haha! Sorry about that! The crows can make early reports sometimes! We should let everyone know that I am in fact safe and sound, all thanks to [Name]-kun over here! See you later!

Still laughing, Rengoku pulled a startled [Name] along with him, racing along the halls. "Shinobu-san!" [Name] cried out for help while being dragged along.

The lithe woman came running with a hand on her blade on instinct. She gasped at the sight before her and giggled. "[Name]-san, you know very well you could stop Rengoku-san without trying too hard. I think I'll let you stay there for now."

Oh. Right. He forgot about that. [Name] stood up and suddenly, Rengoku was the one being dragged along. He carefully set the human on the ground before brushing himself off. "Rengoku-san, you go ahead. That man is bound to be upset at Akaza, and he will summon me in a matter of minutes. I will meet up with you all once I return."

"Right! Then I shall go on! Thanks again!" He ran off to tell the other members of the Corps and disappeared. [Name] could still hear his thumping footsteps from the hallway even though his figure was already gone from view.

In the span of a blink, [Name] returned to Kanae's office. "Kanae-san, will you let Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke that I have demon business attend to if they ask? I most likely won't be returning for a couple of hours."

She nodded absent mindedly and returned to her research. Grasping his lotus lantern, he glanced at the door briefly before climbing out the window and unfurling his wings. With one powerful flap, he shot off into the air.

It should be any minute now, [Name] thought. Seconds after this thought, a biwa sound was heard and a door appeared in front of him. He knew better than to charge into the doorway with full speed so he slowed down to a stop before continuing.

The door led him to a room in a house, covered wall to wall in bookshelves and an unmistakable chill inside. He landed on his toes in front of Kibutsuji's child form and sank down into a bow. On the other side of the room, right in front of the balcony window, knelt Akaza, evidence of Kibutsuji's anger painted on his body.

Speaking of Kibutsuji, he radiated such a presence even in the disguise of a child. He never failed to intimidate those below him.

Soon, Akaza was dismissed.

Hide, [Name]. The humans are coming, Kibutsuji instructed the hooded demon telepathically. [Name] shrank into the shadows of the bookshelves, waiting for the humans to leave. He pretended not to hear Akaza's anger and cursing from outside the house.

Once the humans left, [Name] slowly emerged from the bookshelves.  As usual, Kibutsuji was still fuming as he picked up the book he had dropped. [Name] didn't need to be told what to do. Like a clockwork, he browsed the shelves before pulling out a book.

The two stayed in silence for multiple hours, both pouring over the various books. [Name] didn't dare initiate a conversation, even though Kibutsuji would most likely leave him unpunished even if his mood had soured. He seemed to calm down after about half an hour.

When the clock struck midnight, Kibutsuji snapped his book shut, drawing [Name]'s attention away from the words he was reading.

"Dismissed," Kibutsuji announced.