𝙆𝙉𝙔 𝙭 𝘿𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙣! 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

Chapter Four

Glancing at the ingredients present in the cabinet, you realized that you were missing a few ingredients for your new experiment. Although you hated the outside world, you had to go collect the missing plants.

"Douma-sama I–" You froze in your place as soon as you saw some humans crying their hearts out as they went on explaining their sob stories. "I'm sorry, forgive my interruption." You bowed apologetically and left.

"Great... now I'll have to go alone." You let out a heavy sigh and put on your wintry cape.

"Yuki-san! Where are you going at this hour? It's freezing outside!" Kotoha called for you as you were about to leave.

You turned to look in her direction, trying to make up some excuse. "It's because some plants can only be collected on a freezing winter night." You lied.

Just as you went to leave again, you wondered if it would be okay to ask for some company. "If it's not much to ask..." You muttered looking away. "Actually nevermind."

"Okay, I'll go with you." She said, smiling knowingly. "No one likes to go alone especially when it's dark outside."

"How did you–" You were speechless by her ability to see through your unbothered expression. "Maybe she's not that stupid after all."

"I know how scary it is to travel alone at night!" She explained. "I've heard scary stories about people who went missing after leaving alone at night!"

"They might be just fairytales parents make up for their children to not stay outdoors past sunset after all." She added as you both left the temple. "But even as we grow up, these stories still affect us, right?"

"Yeah!" You nodded in agreement, although you had no clue what fairytales she was talking about. "Humans sure have a wild imagination."

"Yuki-san, do you believe in demons?" She asked as you stopped by a tall tree.

Eventhough you heard her question, you decided to ignore it and went ahead to climb the tree. "Woah! I had no idea you could do that!" Kotoha exclaimed; much to her surprise, she wasn't expecting that someone as sophisticated as you was capable of climbing trees easily. "Be careful! You might–"

You winced in pain as you lost your balance and fell all the way to the ground. "Yuki-san!" She hurried to your side with a worried look on her face, but you just stood up like nothing has happened, your cuts and fractures regenerating almost instantly.

"My kimono is ruined." You sighed in disappointment as soon as you saw some of the fabric ripped apart. "I'm so embarrassed to be seen like that!" You quickly covered up the ruined part of your outfit.

"The most important thing is that you're okay..." Kotoha said, giving you a supportive smile. "She fell down a tree and all she cares about is her kimono being ruined? I won't be so quick to judge... Maybe it has a sentimental value to her."

Just as you continued looking for the remaining ingredients, you stopped in your tracks upon hearing the sounds of swords sheathing. "We have to go!" You whisper-yelled, the colours draining from your face.

Once you two started running back to the temple, a group of demon slayers blocked your way and cornered you. "No way... how am I supposed to fight with Kotoha-san around?" You panicked.

"A demon with a human?"

The demon hunters stared at you in disbelief as you held out a protective arm over Kotoha.

Suddenly, someone swung his sword in your direction, so you collected yourself and dodged the attack. "This was too close!" You gritted your teeth.

"Leave!" You told Kotoha, but she wasn't going to leave you in such dangerous situation.

"Why are you attacking her?! What did she do to you?!" She stepped in the middle of the fight.

"Please step aside, this so-called friend of yours is–" Just as one of the demon slayers was about to explain, you attacked him, shifting his attention to you.

"I said leave! I can't hold a fight while protecting you!" You yelled as you avoided one attack after another, and finally, she ran away.

"Swordsmen?! Why?! Could it be the demon slayer corps? I've heard about them! It must be them!" Kotoha thought to herself as she reached the temple, out of breath. "But why? Could it be that... no it can't be... Yuki-san is a kind person who've been there for me since I came here!"

"Kotoha-chan!" Douma called for her. "Have you seen Yuki-chan? She's nowhere to be found!"

"She's... in the middle of a... fight... with... swordsmen!" She replied, gasping for air between words as she leaned against the doorframe for support.

"Woah! She left without me? That wasn't expected!" Douma said, grinning cheerfully as his eyes sparkled with excitement. "She's becoming stronger day by day!"

Kotoha was left dumbfounded by Douma's reaction as she was expecting a rather worried reaction. "But Douma-sama... She might die! It's dangerous!" She explained in an alarming tone, but he didn't seem to care one bit.

-

After an hour or so, you came back, drenched in blood which mostly wasn't yours. Behind you, you left a trail of blood dripping from the sharp ends of your nails and fangs.

You weren't really experienced with fighting, but you thought your way out of that fight, not having enough strength to attack, but a brilliant mind to defend yourself.

"Yuki-san!"

The servants rushed to your aid as soon as you walked in. "Should I get the medic?! Are you okay?!" They all started throwing questions your way which made you feel overwhelmed.

You've never felt so humiliated in your life, standing with a ragged outfit and messy hair infront of everyone; you just wanted to cry, but your emotional strength was your only respectable quality at this moment, so you couldn't just give in for the sake of your emotions.

"What are you looking at? Everyone leave if you please!" Douma said, waving his fan dismissively and making everyone leave at an instant. "I never thought the day when you fight on your own would ever come, but time proved me wrong!" He said excitedly, but you weren't listening.

"I look like a mess!" You cried, running to your quarters, and there you had a total breakdown in silence over how messy you looked.

"Yuki-san...? Are you in there?" Kotoha asked anxiously. "What happened?"

"Leave." You said, trying to keep your voice steady, then rushed to the washroom to clean yourself and change into something better.

After some time, you changed into your favourite dark blue kimono, adding a hairpin which matches what you were wearing. "This should do." You thought to yourself as you looked in the mirror, admiring yourself.

"Yuki-chan! Why are you ignoring us?" Douma asked from behind the door.

"Sorry for the wait." You said as you slid the door, looking between Douma and Kotoha. "I'm okay, there's nothing to worry about."

"I know! It's Kotoha-chan who's worried!" Douma said as he got up to leave. "Well then! My cult duties aren't over yet, so I better get going!"

"I'm this close to scaring your followers away." You sighed. "They're so annoying... well... most of them." You said, shifting your gaze to Kotoha; compared to the other members of the cult, she was the one you grew most familiar with.

As soon as Douma left, Kotoha turned to you, her heart pounding in her chest. "I have a question..."

"Are you a demon?"

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

Word count: 1268 words

-',✎ A/n: I enjoyed writing this chapter tbh too much events but still I think it turned out just like I wanted :)