find solace (belong) [KNY/BNHA]

[18] getting a grip (with this mask upon my skin)

The door had slammed open, revealing a girl who was out of breath, frazzled.

Sakonji could smell a faint scent of bitterness that didn't suit the former's calm and uplifting scent. He had felt it before, when he first met her. It was a sense of desperation, of loneliness. But even to Sakonji, the former water pillar with a strikingly accurate olfactory sense, he could only vaguely smell it.

It made him think that his nose was tricking him for the first time in a long while.

But seeing the girl before him now, as he was cooking a warm meal for the two youths for when they successfully descended the mountain, he knew that he didn't sense wrongly.

"I have returned." She had spoken with her heart turned inside out, wearing it on her sleeves. At least, to Sakonji, who had met and cared for so many children haunted by the past, he could tell that she too was thinking of something that wasn't of the present.

Urokodaki wasn't the type to assume, but he could only guess that whatever was bothering the masked girl in front of him so much so that it would be a constant scent, one that wasn't noticeable at first, but at times like these when something had triggered it, it was clear to say, it could only be something painful.

Like the loss of a family member.

Unlike Tanjirou, who wore his heart of gold on his sleeve, the girl had a mask covering the entirety of her facial features that would give even the slightest hint towards her feelings. Just like how Urokodaki wore a mask, both out of habit but also out of the consideration that demons have often made fun of his gentle face. So he opted to hide it behind a mask that was anything but kind.

Before the girl had arrived, Urokodaki busied himself with menial tasks such as starting the fire and tucking the demon girl, Nezuko, into a futon. He really didn't expect one of them to arrive so soon. But if he had to choose between the two teens, of which would complete his test first, he'd have to choose the girl.

The girl's black hair swayed with her movements as she took a step into the house before sliding down to the ground against the wooden wall right next to the door. She was breathing heavily as she brought her hands to her face to seemingly wipe at her eyes and forehead, only to realise that she was wearing something on her face that didn't allow her such actions.

The mask was crude to say the very least. It was painfully blank. There was nothing eye-catching nor special about the object, yet, it served its purpose.

Clearly, she had reasons to hide her face. Be it for security or for intimidation.

With how determined she seemed to be, Urokodaki couldn't bring himself to demand her to take it off. Especially given how even when she sounded as if breathing was a laborious and pain-inducing process, she made no move to remove the hindering object.

And that was fine, he wouldn't force her to do anything. Since she's completed the test better than he expected, he'd accept her as a disciple. And eventually, he'd make a mask for her, carve it out with his own two hands just as he has done for others many many times. He'll give it to her as a present for protection as his pupil, as well as the fact that his masks don't hinder one's ability to breathe.

Maybe he'd make a mask identical in shape for Char so that she could breathe effectively during training. But for now, he could only walk over and hand her a handkerchief so that she could wipe the sweat and dirt off her skin.

.

.

.

Everything was a blur. Colours, shapes, lines, sounds, sensations. It seemed as if the world was spinning endlessly around her.