ʟᴇꜰᴛ ʙᴇʜɪɴᴅ//ᴋɴʏ (ᴀᴜ)

E i g h t e e n

Kota's POV

I pull my haori away from her grip, and stand there, unable to answer. 

"Kota. Answer me." She said with iciness in her tone. "Did you escape? If you did, how? I know you were not trained."

Wow. She goes straight to the point. I inhale deeply. She waits for me to say something, but I run away. 

"Hey!" I hear her yell, but I ignore it and keep running forward.

I spot Tomioka-san and dash over. "Tomioka-san."

He turns his head and sees me. "Kota. Ready to go home?"

I nod, wanting to get out of here as fast as possible. In the corner of my eye, I can see Yasu. She's stepping closer by the second, so I grab Tomioka-san's wrist and pull him to the gate.

"Let's go. I'm hungry." I lie and open the gate. He steps outside and I follow him. My gaze meets Yasu's before the gate closes.

I need to get myself organized. Just to be clear, I still think of Yasu as a friend. But she saw me with the uppermoons and probably suspects that I made a deal with them. She might interfere with our plan. I can't let that happen, because... It all became clear now.

I am scared to be killed.

I never thought of that before, but I am scared to die. 

"What do you want to eat?" Tomioka-san's questions snap me out of my mind. 

"Oh, uh... some onigiri will do." 

He nods, and steps into the kitchen. Wait, we're here already? I walk slowly to my room, examining the walls. When I enter my room I change into my Kimono. I'll ask if I can go out to town today.

"Come eat," comes Tomioka-san's voice. I walk over to the kitchen to find two onigiri just for me.

"Thank you for the food," I say and start nibbling. He turns around and sees me in my kimonos. "Oh, I was wondering if I can go out to town today." I ask carefully, seeing him eye my clothes. 

He thinks about it for a second. "I will let you go if you take your katana with you in case of an emergency."

I nod, happily chewing on the last bit of my food. After swallowing a big bite, I drink some water and grab my katana. "I'll get going now."

"Also," he says holding out a patch. "Bring this with you."

I grab the patch from his hand, and examine it. "What is it?"

"Wisteria."

Wisteria? I examine it one more time and shove it into my pocket. "Okay."

I run outside to the front yard and wave. He just watches. I dash off into the streets, making my way toward town.

--------------------

After a few minutes of running, I reached my destination. It's now dark outside. I scan around the area to see if Akaza is here. I wonder if he forgot about the letter.

I feel someone tapping my shoulder, and I look back. It's a man I don't know. I back away a little.

"Where are you going, young lady?" He says, his alcoholic breath choking me. I step back again. "It's not very polite to ignore someone older than you." He grabs my wrist and starts dragging me away.

"Get that nasty hand off of me!" I yelled, trying to kick him which only resulted in losing my balance. I tumble and fall to the ground, and my arms twist. 

"Disgusting old hag!" I shout again. I'm helpless at the moment. Then someone familiar comes to my rescue.

Boar guy.

He kicks the man's face with his foot, knocking him out. I scurry back and rub my arm. It's not broken, thank God.

"Thanks.." I mutter, getting up. 

"HAHAHA! THAT'S RIGHT, PRAISE ME!!"

I groan as I regret thanking him. I roll my eyes and start walking away.

"HEY! WHERE YOU GOING?" He shouts, running up beside me.

"Walking away from you."

He adjusts his boar mask. "HOW RUDE! I SAVED YOU FROM THAT MAN!" 

"Can you stop yelling?" I plead, my ears nearly deaf.

He scoffs and crosses his arms. "NEVER!"

I decided to change the subject. "Why are you in town?"

"BECAUSE I HEARD THERE WERE FOOD HERE!!"

I groan. Seriously?

Suddenly an idea popped into my head. "I heard there was a demon around here somewhere... a lowermoon."

This gets his attention.

I sigh, playing along. "Of course no one is going to behead a lowermoon, are they?"

"I WILL! WHERE'S THE DEMON??" He jumps up, getting ready to run.

"Are you sure? Well, if you insist. I heard it was over there," I say pointing towards the other side of town. 

He runs off, leaving clouds of dust behind. I grin mischievously and walk away. Plan success. All I have to do is find Akaza...

"Hey." I hear a voice behind me and yelp forwards. I turn back and see Akaza holding a letter. He then sniffs the air, and frowns. "What do you have that smells so bad? I can't stand it."

"Oh, uh..." I dig into my pocket and hold out the patch. "This?"

He backs away. "Please keep that away from me. What's even in it?"

"Wisteria."

"Oh. That's why. Gimme that." He snatches the patch away from me and throws it into the distance. "Now I'm good."

"You're scared of some Wisteria?" I snort. He groans and tosses me the letter.

"You still have that smell around you, so I'm off. Bye." He plugs his nose, and disappears. I firmly hold the letter in my hand, and start heading back. I open the letter and read it, raising up high into the dim moonlight. 

Kota dear~!

I'm glad you're doing well. Make sure to be careful~!! Also, Muzan-sama answered your question! He said you can kill demons, but they can't be one of the tweleve kizuki. You also mentioned that you made a breathing style? I'm so happy~! It's also similar to mine! Here's a hairpin I made for you!!! Stay safe, and keep reminding yourself that the hashiras are bad people :(

Love, Dad!

I laugh silently at the little sad face he drew at the end of his letter. I miss him. I pull out the hairpin and examine it. It's the shape of a snowflake. I carefully pin it on my hair, and smile. I hug the letter and quietly open the door to Tomioka-san's home. I glance around before tiptoeing across the hall.

"Wait." Comes a voice from the dark. I freeze. Shivers run down my pine. It's Tomioka-san. I turn my head and see him almost glaring at me. "Let me see the Wisteria I gave you."

My hand falls down into my pocket, searching as if it was there. I shut my eyes and hoped it would pop out like magic. I know it wasn't going to happen.

What do I do?