Blissful [Shinazugawa Sanemi]

Chapter 1

November 29th.

It was his birthday, but Sanemi doesn't have any intention to wake up from his futon. Still dressed in his demon hunter uniform, he didn't bother to wash himself before going to sleep last night.

Since when did he start acting like this?

Day after day, all he does is kill demons and go to sleep, sometimes even skipping meals. It's as if he doesn't have any will to live anymore. What keeps him going on was the thought of his younger brother.

Protecting his younger brother is more important than anything else.

Even more important than anything concerning her.

Sanemi turned to his side, his eyes half opened. He saw a small decorative plant of blue and white flowers on top of his table.

Sanemi shut his eyes close and buried his face on his pillow.

He shouldn't have looked at those flowers.

And now, he's reminded of the first time he spoke with her.

•••

It was an ordinary day for Sanemi. He woke up at noon and didn't bother to cook lunch, so he decided to eat at any place he could find. He was walking through the streets when he saw a familiar face standing by a tea shop.

The young man in striped haori noticed Sanemi's stare and he turned around.

"Hey, Shinazugawa."

Sanemi nodded at his friend, Iguro Obanai. He walked toward Obanai, stopping right beside him. Looking at the tea shop sign, he asked, "What are you doing here? It's unusual for you to eat out."

"Well..."

"Miss! We don't have anymore sweets to sell!"

"Eh?! You ran out of dango already?!"

"You're the one who finished them all!"

"Kanroji, huh?" Sanemi asked and Obanai replied with a sigh, facepalming. He was accompanying Kanroji Mitsuri, who went out to eat some sweets. In just a few minutes, the love pillar already finished everything in the shop.

The girl with pink and green hair walked out from the shop, looking dejected with her shoulders slumped. She sobbed, "They were so tasty, it's too bad I can't eat anymore..."

"Don't worry. You can come back to eat again anytime." Obanai assured her.

The girl nodded a few times and her eyes moved to Sanemi, "Ah, Shinazugawa-san, good afternoon!"

"Yeah..." Sanemi mumbled.

"It's so rare to see you like this! We only see each other at the pillar meeting!" Mitsuri chirped excitedly at Sanemi, who was getting annoyed by how cheerful the girl is. Not to mention it's hard to look at her because of her... uniform.

Sanemi had to avoid looking at Mitsuri. He looked away and found another familiar face in the distance. He narrowed his eyes at the person. Noticing this, his fellow pillars also followed where he was looking at.

"Oh, that girl..." Obanai mumbled.

"You know her?" He asked Sanemi and Sanemi shook his head. Obanai raised a brow at him, "Then why are you staring at her?"

"Is it a crime to stare at someone?"

"So you admit you're staring at her."

"... Tsk." Sanemi clicked his tongue. He recalled the day she saw that certain girl and how she was bruised all over her body. "I saw her like... A few days ago? I only saw her once, that's all. She's... Rememberable."