Snake in Water - Kimetsu no Yaiba

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Uh oh. This was definitely not good.

Of course someone like Iguro could get lost on his first day. The halls of the Ubuyashiki Estate were practically identical, the swirling corners mixed with the simple but probably priceless wallpapers along with the fine papers used for the shojis, the polished wood beneath his tabi socks practically making his head spin with the expenses of the entire place, especially after looking at the mansion from the outside. The shingles on the roof looked to be ancient, probably bringing their price way up to be replaced, along with the fine cement used on the outside and not to mention just how guarded the place was with kakushi and wisteria.

His destination would be the courtyard, his crow Yuuan explained, where he would meet with the Oyakata-sama to further talk about his new role as a hashira before the next Hashira Meeting in two weeks, where he would be officially introduced to the other current seven hashira.

Iguro didn't really know how he became one, until other slayers told him that the demon he defeated revealed her kanji as Lower Three before she disintegrated. The four Demon Slayers accompanying him testified to say that he really did do it all by himself, earning him the rank of hashira practically overnight.

Now, only to find the courtyard. He couldn't disgrace himself more by being late, he had yet to atone for his sins, to purify his blood and possibly give him a chance for a good afterlife. Until he slayed as many demons as it took for him to draw his last breath, he wouldn't be clean.

Kaburamaru's cool scales slithered onto his neck from his shoulder, providing some reassurances towards his friend. Iguro still felt so, so dirty. All the blood in his veins needed to be filtered out for him to even feel slightly better.

"Excuse me?" A voice jumped Iguro out of his thoughts. He looked up, the yellow and aquamarine of his eyes meeting ocean blue.

"Um-" Iguro couldn't figure out what to say. What if the guy knew exactly who he was, the boy trapped in the basement with a disfigured face and a slaughtered family? What if Iguro was so filthy that the man would tell him to just leave the Demon Slayers, that he could never atone for his blood and to die in shame? Would he look at Kaburamaru strangely, ask all sorts of questions about the snake and try to poke at him?

"You're in the way." Iguro looked around, finally noticing that he had stopped right in the middle of a closed doorway.

"Oh, ah- sorry." Iguro slid to the side, allowing for the guy to open the shoji.

"Why're you just standing there?" Was this guy not going to tell him off? He'd been slacking, lazy, same as his family just sitting around and sacrificing newborns to a demonic entity for easy money. He was just as bad as them. It was in their blood.

"I- I was going to the courtyard." Iguro looked away from the empty sapphire eyes, staring him down. Kaburamaru's red eyes stayed on Iguro the entire time, leaving two pairs of eyes studying him, his face, his eyes, his bandages.

"This your first time here?" Iguro nodded slowly and decided to steal a glance, where he saw the guy had tilted his head slightly to the side, as if it was just a casual conversation. What did he want from Iguro? Was he inspecting the bandages wrapping his face, wondering what kind of sheer ugliness was hiding beneath?

"Oh. Do you... need help?" He offered, poker face not changing in the slightest. What thoughts was he hiding? Was he going to show Iguro the door to leave the Ubuyashiki Estate and tell him to never come back? With that expressionless mask, Iguro could very clearly imagine him listing off reasons why Iguro could never fulfil cleansing his blood as if it was a grocery list.

"Sure." Iguro gripped his shaking hand, forcing it to stay still as the other Demon Slayer led him back the way he came. Shoot, Iguro should probably thank the random stranger for wasting his time on a dirty person like himself.