Why me? ᴷᴺʸ

임무 함께~ A mission together

"These are the cloths you asked for, Nezuko-san!" The small girl in braids handed them to her the next morning.

"Ah, thank you, Naho-chan!" Nezuko brightened as she received said articles, beaming when she noticed that they were just the right shade. "And these are perfect!" She couldn't help but gush as she sorted through them.

"Are you sure that you're gonna do it?" Naho fidgeted as she stood by the doorway. "I mean, Aoi-san and I can do it for you so you can focus on your training with Tomioka-sama." The girl offered to her in concern, and Nezuko was touched by the gesture. This girl was just too sweet and it reminded her of her younger sister, Hanako. In fact, everyone here in the Butterfly Estate had been so kind.

Nezuko patted her on the head.

"Sewing is a hobby of mine, you see," she revealed with a small smile. "So, this is no big deal, trust me. I'll be finished in no time." Though, she paused. "By the way, have you seen Inosuke? I know that he's around somewhere here in the estate but I haven't seen him much since we got here." She observed worriedly, wondering if the boy had already gotten himself into trouble and she kind of felt bad that she'd been too busy to look and check for him.

"Oh, he's fine! Shinobu-sama is making him help around with errands here." Naho informed her rather serenely. "Shinobu-sama has a way with words. And he's been a big help ever since! Even though he always gets into fights with Aoi-san. I think it's Shinobu-sama's way of making sure that he won't interrupt your training with Tomioka-sama," the girl had leaned forward to whisper to her.

Her brows furrowed, now feeling worse.

"She didn't have to do that!" Nezuko found herself protesting, now with the urge to find her friend.

"No, you don't understand, Nezuko-san!" The other girl shook her head vigorously. "Being a tsuguko is different. No one is allowed to interfere how and when a pillar is training his tsuguko. Not even the other pillars. Not to mention, I heard from Shinobu-sama that Tomioka-sama had never considered any successors before until you came. So, please understand." She explained to her matter-of-factly.

Until now, Nezuko wasn't entirely knowledgeable what it exactly meant to be a tsuguko. Even so.

"Then she didn't have to keep him away that long," Nezuko conceded with a sigh. At least, Shinobu had been sensitive enough not to do the same with Sumiko. "Tomioka-san and I don't train all the time, you know." She pointed out wryly.

"Of course! I'll let Aoi-san know right away!" Naho saluted before running off.

Some tsuguko I am, she frowned to herself.

***

On the fifth day, the fight with Tomioka had been intense.

She had been relentless in her attacks this time. It didn't take her long to notice that the faster she got, Tomioka always moved at a speed that was only marginally brisker than hers.

It was a puzzling move on his part until she realized that as he kept up with her pace, she couldn't really shake him off either. In a way, he was subtly teaching her. Making her footwork follow after his without her noticing, the accuracy of her swing and stabs increasing as she was forced to retaliate in a close quarter, and he always made sure his attacks left painful and lasting impressions on her body so she wouldn't repeat the same mistake.

Thankfully, Shinobu had always been generous with her medicinal balms for her bruises, it let Nezuko sleep peacefully at night.

Block, step back, left, push—her mind was simply reciting what she had been doing. She had been so focused on moving that when she'd finally landed a blow on Tomioka, she hadn't even noticed. He'd blocked the low slash that she'd aimed for his leg and her intuition had let her move out of a close call when he'd tried to elbow her weapon out of her hand. Instead of pulling back, she'd trusted the hum of her intuition, shifted on her feet, and slashed upwards instead.