Purple Lotus [Kimetsu no Yaiba]

~Forty-Six~

"Well, if you insist." Houko spent no time in charging at her, going for the kill. Tsubasa was quick to dodge his direct attack and countered with one of her own. She easily slashed off one of his legs, which was quicker than your average demon but slower than a Kizuki demon to regenerate. Once it did, he laughed. 

"You feel like a cornered mouse, Tsubasa!" he exclaimed. "You're scared, aren't you? That you can't fight without your gift? That you're powerless without it? Am I right?"

You sure wish you were, Tsubasa sneered in her head. She was giving off that feeling on purpose, she could do so. 

Tsubasa had had her gift for the entirety of her life. So of course at some point in time she'd met someone capable of fooling her. Luckily for her, that someone just so happened to be the Water Pillar. He could make his mind go completely blank on command if she was in the area, which was why he could still be around her even if she was better off in solitude at the time.

She also learnt on her own to change the way she felt on command, just in case she met someone with a gift similar- or in this case, if someone had stolen it- to hers. She could very loud and blatantly think one thing so they'd read her mind while secretly formulating a completely different one in the depths of her thoughts.

So, in summary, Tsubasa had basically already won.

If I go at him from behind, I can catch him off guard! she thought and he read her mind. Houko smirked, knowing her plan and readying herself. Tsubasa dashed at him, disappearing from sight for a moment before reappearing behind him. He was ready and blocked her attack with his arm. The sword and his forearm clashed with sparks flying everywhere until she jumped back and retreated.

Tsubasa his her triumphant grin. Now that he believed he could predict her, she could set her actual plan in motion. People and demons were predictable indeed. 

I already tried attacking from behind, he won't believe I'll do it again. So now's my chance! Houko read the girl's mind and almost laughed from how stupid she was being. The same attack twice? Pathetic. He readied himself again. Tsubasa ran at him again, disappearing. He got ready to block an attack from behind but felt himself getting slashed from the front instead.

⁘•⁎Striking Tide!!⁎•⁘

"What the..." His torso was sent flying and he struggled to regenerate his bottom half. "You were supposed to attack me from behind!! What was that!?" he asked, both angered and agitated. 

"Oh, I changed my mind last minute," Tsubasa giggled. "Sorry, I'm quite indecisive." Okay, go in for the kill. I'll cut off his head this time  with Water Surface Slash!

She's going to try and behead me, Houko thought in panic. I have to find a way to counter it or I'll...

⁘•⁎Water Wheel!!⁎•⁘

Tsubasa cut off all his arms and legs, smirking as he looked at he in shock. Just how was she thinking of one thing but then doing the exact opposite!? The demon was dumbfounded. But then it clicked in his mind... the exact opposite. As long as I keep reading her mind, I can tell what she'll do by guessing the exact opposite of what she's thinking!

Thinking he'd found a golden plan, Houko pieced himself back together with new found energy and drive. No way was the Emotion Pillar going to get the better of him this time! At least, that's what he thought.

Tsubasa took a stance again. Houko was ready to read her mind and figure her out for good. Now, I'll just.... 

That was it. The thought didn't finish. Tsubasa's mind had gone completely blank! Houko couldn't even figure out the opposite of what she planned to do because he didn't know what she planned! The demon panicked again. He couldn't use his Blood Demon Art on her because she no longer had a gift to steal. What was he to do!? "Emotion Breathing, Fifth Form:"

⁘•⁎Embodiment of Anger.⁎•⁘

A red mist pooled around the demon and wrapped around him as though they were chains. They became tighter and tighter until they were digging into his skin and cutting through it, all the way from the tips of his toes to his neck. Finally, Tsubasa struck the final blow and his head went flying off from the both pressure that the mist put on his neck and the sheer strength the girl put into her swing.

"Did you really think you could defeat me using my very own gift?" she asked, glaring at him as she stepped on the dismembered head with more force than she intended to. "Honestly, the fact that I could beat you without it. You reminded me why I used to hate it so much before."

She crouched down, looked directly into his eyes with a glare that was sure to give even the demon nightmares, and she tsked. "You disgust me. Go to hell."

It was then and only then the the head finally disintegrated. While usually the girl would say a small prayer for the lost soul, she was too angry at him to even so much as say a proper goodbye. When the last of the black dust disappeared, a bright light appeared and struck Tsubasa right in the chest, sending her flying backwards.

"Tsubasa!" Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke ran to her at full speed. The girl sat up, slowly, and smiled.

"A blissful cloud, a brick wall set on fire, and an elephant really needing to pee," she beamed. "That's what you all feel like."

"Does that mean," Zenitsu was excited as well. "You got your gift back, Tsu-chan!?"

She nodded with a bright smile. "AAAALRIGHT!!!" Inosuke yelled at the top of his lungs and threw her high up in the air in triumph. "I KNEW IT!! I TOLD YOU MY BRAT WAS STRONG!! THE STRONGEST!! NOT STRONGER THAN BE BUT STILL!!!"

*-*-*-*-*-*

"You're sure you're okay?" Giyuu Tomioka asked as he was once more watching from afar as the girl sat in her hot spring. "You didn't get hurt?"

"I'm fine, Nii-nii," she yawned. "You honestly thought I wouldn't be able to handle a demon just because me gift was stolen?"

"I didn't. You thought that."

"...Oh.... Yeah, I did think like that, huh," she shrugged. "Inosuke made me realize otherwise though, so I managed it alright in the end. After all, I'm not just a Hashira for the title."

The Water Pillar didn't fail to notice how her face visibly lit up at the mention of the boar's name. He really did make her happy, it seemed. And she, him. Though the ravenette was reluctant to accept their new relationship, he put aside a tiny amount of his distaste of the boar, for Tsubasa's sake. 

"Don't go around losing your gift again. You could end up getting killed," he said, emphasizing his worry for her. "Maybe it isn't best to travel with the Kamado kid and his friends. You always have been better working on your own, save for when you're with Rengoku. Why don't you go back to that?"

"If you're trying to separate me from Inosuke Nii-nii, tough luck," Tsubasa countered with a smirk. "I could of course comply with your request.... As long as I go for missions alone with Inosuke. Would that be more to your liking?"

Giyuu just sighed. There was no use trying, the two were glued to each other. As far as he was concerned, the boar should have been on his way there to 'protect' her from nightmares or whatever lame excuse he always gave. "No, it's fine."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

~✨Blu<3✨