░『Zephyr』░(KNY OC STORY/ KNY OC X KNY-OLD/DISCONTINUED)

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟼: 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗

It was day four of the Final Selection trail. Every day had the same schedule, which balanced out a few responsibilities pretty carefully.

Ever since Fukurō witnessed Minorikoji defeat the koi demon, she didn't make that much of an attempt to single-handily kill every demon they would come across, and left him to gain a few kills himself. Despite his frantic protests, Minorikoji took the risk to decapitate demons with his own hands. Each battle would usually take a rather long duration of time, so when the two were spared a few moments of calm, they would feed their hunger with whatever they could find. Fishing was the most common method.

On their first search for a food source, Fukurō would tread through ponds cautiously with sword in hand, ready to stab a couple fish for their meal for the day. Unfortunately, Fukurō learned that Minorikoji was very picky. He did not like fish at all, constantly complaining about the taste. 

Well, Fish wasn't Fukurō's favourite food either, and she would much rather pick a handful of raspberries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but she wasn't as picky as Minorikoji, that's for sure.

".. So, what foods do you like?" Fukurō would ask with a disappointed sigh, picking the slippery creature off of the tip of her sword. "Hmmm... Western-style pancakes. I'd rather have those." Minorikoji answered, groaning as he laid flat-backed on the ground. "So much better than fish. A lot better."

Holding the dead fish by its tail, she points it to her whining friend, "Do you.. Really think there are 'pancakes' here, in the middle of the goddamn mountains?" She says, "Go get some sticks. We're building a fire, and you will eat the fish when it's cooked. If not, you'll find a food source by yourself, while I enjoy my already cooked meal."

Eventually, Fukurō did in fact... forcibly... persuade Minorikoji to at least swallow a bite or two, and sooner or later, Minorikoji did in fact overcome his pickiness to the finned animal, going as far enough to be the one hunting it in the water on his own. Yes, maybe he let one or two swim away, but he tried.

At night, each person would take turns sleeping and patrolling, just so they could fend off against demons even while getting a shut eye. Fukurō had no problem with the arrangement, since she was already accustomed to chopping off a demon's head like it was the leaves of a radish. But although she was glad to finally get a few more hours of sleep, she couldn't help but peek through her eyelids if Minorikoji was alright being alone until she fully woke up. Sure, she trusted him, but she still wanted to check.

They both met a couple others who attended the trial, a female and a male. Minorikoji had tried to convince them to join their group, most likely because he wanted to do less of the labour to survive for a few more days. Meanwhile, Fukurō was soundlessly praying that they would politely turn it down so that she wouldn't have to talk with two more Minorikoji's. The boy, who was named Toshi, declined the offer, stating he was fine on his own. Sadly, They found his half-eaten corpse stranded a few hours later after beheading the demon who was hunched over him. While the girl, who the duo were unable to get the name of, ran off before they were able to even whisper a word to her.

So it was just Minorikoji and Fukurō once again, until day five.

* * *

"This area's pretty empty. I thought we would have run into another demon by now..." Fukurō states with skepticism, tapping her index finger on her hip impatiently. "Mhm.." Minorikoji yawns, stretching his arms behind his back. "It's your turn to stay up, right?"

"..Hai." Fukurō looks from her left to her right, and looks back at Minorikoji. "Go patrol around, see if there are any of them lurking around this area. I'll patrol farther just to be sure."