What A Simple Mask Could Do - sanegiyuu angst

Chapter 2

3rd person pov:

"Ugh.." sanemi groaned, clicking his tongue under his breath as he chased after the demon. The henious creature shrieked, scrambling frantically to get away from the scarred male in the darkness of the night. It twisted his neck to evade a passing blade and swerved to the right, still screeching for help as it desparately shot out a series of venom. Sanemi sighed under his breath, picking up the sword he had thrown before following the demon that had hid itself in the alley way.

His feet were quick, but an onslaught of screams hasten his footsteps. He held in a breath, swear trickling down the base of his neck as he feared for the worst. The last thing he needed was another victim to fall at his feet, and he did not want that. He darted forward and turned another corner, anger boiling in his stomach when he saw the demon pouncing on top of a woman. He threw his sword, accurately hitting the creature by its shoulder before launching forward and grabbing the demon by its neck.

He yanked it harshly, pulling it away from the frightened female who scurried away frantically. The demon growled, swinging its uninjured arm which was effortlessly dodged by the latter. Sanemi clenched his fist, squeezing the demon's throat with an angry grip with his inner rage bubbling aggressively. He pulled out the sword - that was stuck in the creature's shoulder - and the demon shrieked, trashing widly in the iron grip as it sensed the deathly demise of its life. It cried louder, shrieking horribly with an ear-splitting sound before falling silent.

Sanemi dropped the lifeless body of the demon, kicking its head away whilst the crimson liquid gushed out of the clean cut of the decapitated body. The wind hashira flicked his sword and sheathed his blade, ignoring the incessant chatters and mutters of the dying creature as he made his way down the alley.

He sighed, staring at his blood stained haori before pausing when he felt a presence. He frowned, eyes staring into the abyss of shadows and clenched his sword when he saw a flicker of movement. He held a breath, inching forward as his grip tightened.

"Um, excuse me?" A female voice called out.

Sanemi flinched at the sudden sound and dived forward, ready to grasp whatever creature that was lurking in the shadows before pausing when he saw a face. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw the female and retractaed his hand which was a fingernail away from crushing the throat of the human.

He ran a hand through his hair, stepping back to allow a safe distance before staring at the civilian he had just saved.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned.

"I...I.."

"You should leave-"

"Thank you" she whispered, "I wanted to thank you for saving me" the female smiled, bowing deeply at the latter with a grateful smile on her face. Sanemi frozed, staring blankly at the female with his mouth agape.

How was he supposed to react?

The female giggled softly and bid goodbye at the scarred male. Sanemi was still silent, and his eyes followed the female as she ran out of the alleyway. He rose and eyebrow in confusion and his face was tontorted into a perplexed expression. He was a little bit surprised by the sudden expression of gratitude since most people would have normally ran away whilst screaming for dear life but that female was different.

"How odd," the scarred male sighed, ruffling a hand through his hair as he stared at the disintegrating pile of trash.

He couldn't lie, it felt nice for someone to thank him. At the very least, there were some people who cared enough to say a simple 'thanks' - although the number is quite meager.