The Girl From the Taisho Era//OC INSERT//

ACT 1 CH 10

"I'll take my whiskey neat, my coffee black and my bed at three. You're too sweet for me." —Too Sweet, Hozier

♡︎

   WHEN I RECEIVED THE NEWS THAT THERE WAS A TRIAL, MY HEART STOPPED. I was worried that they had found out about me traveling with demons—and then it hit me that Tanjiro was also traveling with one, but more openly.

   I sighed and folded the letter, absentmindedly petting my crow. I was staying in the Butterfly Mansion with Tanjiro and some other slayers, but in a different room. I wasn't too injured but Shinobu insisted. 

   I could hear talking and movement in the halls outside. I got up and opened the door to my room..and almost immediately got run into by a person wearing a boar mask. Or was it a pig? Whatever. I wasn't going to dwell on it.

   The person stumbled back and then started yelling at me indignantly. "Hey! Who do you think you are, blocking the way of the great mountain king Inosuke?!" I just looked at him—I decided since he sounded like a male—with a flat expression and walked around him. He paused and I could hear the gears in his head, if any, turning. 

   "Hey! Stupid human, did you just ignore the great lord—" he started, trying to grab onto me. I turned around and put a hand on his shoulder. "Go train or something, pig boy..or whatever you are," I said in a deadpan while lightly shoving him away. His body language showed that he was pissed. He raised a fist to punch me but two sets of arms grabbed him from behind and dragged him back.

   I blinked at this. 'Huh.' I shrugged. Not my problem anymore. "Wait! Khumito-san, I'm so, so sorry! Inosuke is just really—difficult sometimes.." Tanjiro popped his head out from behind the masked guy—Inosuke, presumably—and gave me a reassuring smile. 

   There was another boy that I recognized for the third time. The golden-haired boy who I'd seen both at Final Selection and at the mountain. We locked eyes and he let go of Inosuke, throwing himself at my feet and wrapping his arms around my waist.

   "Oh please, beautiful goddess, marry me before I die?!?" He sobbed and whined while I tried prying him off of me. He was surprisingly quite strong. I looked down at him and sighed. "Look kid..aren't you too..ah..young to be worrying about getting married??" I asked awkwardly.

   "Ah, Khumito-san! Would you like to—oh my!" A voice brings our attention to Shinobu Kocho, the woman in charge of the Butterfly Mansion. "It seems as though you're busy." I kicked the golden-haired boy as gently as I could off of me and ran over to Shinobu. "No, I'm not! What is it, Kocho-sama?"

   She laughed a little at my enthusiasm and patted my shoulder. "Well, would you like to take a walk with me? I know it can get boring here." I gaped and blinked at her question before taking her hands and jumping up and down. 

   "Are you kidding?! A chance to hang out with you??" I made a little yay! noise and ran off to dress more properly, taking my katana with. I waved to Tanjiro and his weird friends as I passed by.

   I went to the garden in the back where Shinobu told me to meet her. When I went outside, a butterfly landed on my nose. I wrinkled my nose in surprise and it flew off a few seconds after. It was beautiful, with shades of blue running through the wings. I watched it go with interest and felt a light tap on my shoulder.

   I turned my head with a smile. "Are you ready?" Shinobu asked with her usual light-lipped smile. "Of course!" I nodded excitedly.

(ﾒ﹏ﾒ)

   "..too tight, too tight," I hissed into Rui's ear as he basically squished me. He was still grumpy over what had happened hours ago. I shifted uncomfortably in his arms.

   What happened was I had run into another demon when I was looking for food. We had talked for longer than I had thought, since Rui had come looking for me. The demon had tried to convince me to go with them to their territory, but Rui had pulled me back with his webs before I could even speak.

   I guess he cares more than he likes to admit.

   So here I am, in his arms with him crushing me to death. Rui kept muttering death threats to the demon while his webs wove thicker around my waist and chest, keeping me close to him. I sighed. Nothing to do..

ಠ_ಠ

   I returned to my lake and sat on the banks. The moon, I feel, looks with a watery eye. "Don't you agree?" I murmured to no one in particular, humming as the water rippled with the movement of the nighttime animals. 

   No one in particular. For the past few years. Thats the cruel reality of the world. 

   I scooped some of the water into my hands and watched it drip back into the lake. People are like this water. They become within your reach, only to drip and slip out of it as time passes. 

   That's my favorite metaphor. It fits perfectly in my eyes.  I wiped my hands and stood. I saw a flower, a beautiful blue one. The outside petals looked as if you turned a tarantula upside down, but many more legs, much thinner as well. The middle looked like the body. Altogether, it looked like an upside down spider with many, thin legs.

   I picked it. It was quite beautiful. I almost wanted to eat it. But that would be a waste of a flower that even I had never seen before. Though, I had. The red version was quite popular.

   I felt my mind be tugged back over to the girl. She had grown quite a bit, exceeding my expectations for her height. I believe she has forgot me though. She was indeed young when we met. Still, it couldn't hurt to dream.

   I hummed and walked back to the edge of the lake, the flower almost glowing in the soft light. I like the color blue. It looks good on butterflies, too.

❦

Words: 1072

   Another person 👀 

Idk I js need to get the plot moving so filler chap!!