The Missing Sister

Who are You?

Ayaka pov:

   I draped my haori over my shoulders. It was the first time I wore the decorated haori given by my mother after a long time. Just as I was about to exit my room, I heard a knock on the door. Shinobu-sama slid the door open. She smiled at me. "How is your training goi-" Her eyes flickered to my haori and her eyes widened. "Where did you..." I lifted my haori. "Oh, this?" A glimmer of sadness flashed in my eye. "My mom gave it to me when she left me at the orphanage." 

 "Wha..." Confusion was written all over her face. Shock, maybe. Perhaps even... was that anger?

I tilted my head. "Never mind that. What may I owe this pleasant visit? Where is Rengoku?"

Shinobu snapped back to reality. She plastered on that sweet smile of hers and responded, "Ah, yes. Rengoku, I'm afraid, has gone to start training that is compulsory for all the Demon Slayers. He gave you permission to rest for today."

I blew out a breath. "There is no time to rest. I hear that a demon has conquered the sun? Does this not mean that there will be a great fight ahead?"

Shinobu nodded. She no longer had her sweet disposition as she told me, "Yes. We must have adequate preparation. Yet I believe you have trained enough. I understand that you need to rest today. However, there is a Demon Slayer that I am slightly concerned about. I would like you to partner up with him. His name is Aiko. He... is a consumer of demonic genetics. Every month from now on, he takes a drug that contains Nezuko's blood."

I took this all in, remaining as calm as possible. Aiko, huh? A partner... I never thought of teaming up with a fellow slayer in the fight. It would be a insightful experience, I suppose. "Of course. I would like to start training with him as soon as possible."

Shinobu sharpened her stare.

"I have another question." Her tone was on edge.

"Kocho-sama?"

She nudged her chin towards my haori. "Your mom... Who is she?"

I closed my eyes, a stinging pain making it's way into my throat. My voice sounded strangled when I said," I... don't know."

Shinobu frowned at me. I hardly see her frown. 

"You're a Kocho too, aren't you?" She asked me. I bobbed my head up and down.  She fixed her stare on my haori. "That haori you're wearing... "

I flick my head up. "Yes?"

Shinobu's glances at me for a second, that smiles and shakes her head. "Never mind."

But I can tell. I see her eyes flickering to my haori every few seconds, as if making sure of something. She trails her eyes through my features next. Her eyes are now fixated on mine, observing my foggy-looking pupils. "You hardly look like her..." She murmurs. "What?" I stitch my brows together. She looks away. "Nothing." Then she gets up. "I'll be back tomorrow and bring you to where Aiko is doing his compulsory Demon Slayer Corps training."

She opens the door and disappears behind it. "Goodbye."

I sit on the tatami mat, staring at the door in confusion.

Shinobu pov:

As I walk away from where Ayaka is, a roar of questions floods through my mind. Could she... be perhaps related to me? Ever since I was 4, I never saw my mother's frequently worn haori again.

Could she have given it away to her relative? But that was impossible. My mother did not have any siblings. Neither did my father. We had not other family except each other. So how... why...

Was Ayaka a product made from my mother? Did my mother... spend time with another man? Was that why Ayaka had such features that were different from mine even though it was now clear to me that she is my relative?

No. It can't be true. My mother was not that kind of woman. She loved my father with her heart and soul. So why... How...

I sighed. 

Who are you, Ayaka Kocho?