As Things Should Be

-33- Courage

(Man, one day these people will be happy again... maybe... some of them...) 

If Inosuke had a moment to be completely, earnestly subjective; the pots were pretty. They were intricate pieces of ceramics that had been crafted with skill and painted incredibly well. They were painted with all manners of natural wonders and delicate patterns. They were reminiscent of a different time when Inosuke had been surrounded by luxury and intricate beauty. Hell, knowing his Father's past life, Doma may have had some of the damn pots laying around the cult for decoration.

Inosuke, though, didn't have that moment and so thought those pots were pretty damn nice when they were smashed into tiny, bite-sized, shards. They were nice to break and they made a pretty satisfying sound as they shattered and bled.

It also really ticked off Weird Fish Guy when he broke the pots, so that was a bonus.

"STOP IT!" Upper Three shrieked as Inosuke turned another pot into razor-sharp confetti.

"Make me you fucking loser-" Inosuke finished his taunt right as he found said Upper Moon in front of him, sprouted from another pot, hand reaching for him. Now, Inosuke didn't listen most of the time, but he did remember Gyutaro and Daki sitting him down one day and explaining that he should never let weirdos touch him, especially demons.

He twisted his spine in a way that probably would've made his Dad have an aneurysm but dodged the hand.

"Oh YOU -" Gyokko snapped as he tried again. Inosuke rolled out of the way, his breaths coming a little faster.

There was a shatter far off as Mr-Flashy-Flamboyant broke another pot and, from the feel of it, saved another swordsmith. The Sound Hashira was never far but would stray time and again, just as Inosuke did, to break a pot. 

"Hang on Hashibira!" he called and Inosuke just barely glimpsed him before he had to dodge again. He tried to lash out with his swords and found that they bounced right off the hardening scales on the bastard's flesh.

But Fish Face is still missed!

"Too slow!" Inosuke cackled as he took off running into the woods.

This felt... off. He knew he was playing with fire (well, no he was taunting a fishy weirdo but that's what Akaza would've called it) but things were starting to get... risky.

His skin was prickling with unease as his senses warned him of the impending apex predator. He was getting Upper Three angrier and angrier and that meant, pretty soon, the demon was going to snap. 

Demons weren't patient creatures - or so Gyutaro said - and getting them mad usually meant weaker ones got ripped apart, tormented, or in Inosuke's case, he'd probably get just get munched on.

Oh, who was he kidding? He was Lord Inosuke! He can't die! 

He weaved between the trees, dodging more fish creatures and a conglomeration of spine attacks that tore branches from the trees and pierced clean through some trunks. All the while Gyokko was jumping pot to pot trying to get his grubby little hands on the King of the fucking Mountain!

"You can't run forever! You'll get tired at some point! You'll mess up somewhere!" Gyokko cackled into the woods.

Inosuke couldn't sense Uzu - no - Izu - no - Uzzi? no. Uzui! He couldn't sense Uzui nearby anymore, but he wasn't immensely surprised. The pots were a priority and Inozuke could probably keep this up for a bit -

SHIT

Inosuke leaped above a sudden attack as a smaller fish creature charged from the bushes. That one too was turned into inedible sushi as Inosuke hit the earth and tried to sense where the nearest pot was.