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

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟹𝟺: 𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝙶𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚏𝚒𝚜𝚑

"C'mon, Fukurō-san! Do a twirl!" Ichigo cheers, re-braiding her midnight hair as Fukurō had come out of the bathroom. Fukurō, who was tugging anxiously at the obi* sash around her waist, averted her gaze as she slowly spun around. Ichigo's repetitive cheers and attention-bringing acts made her feel a bit embarrassed.

"Oh? You let your hair down as well?" Minorikoji comments, his uniform belt keeping his haori in place to hide his katana. "It's nice, Kazekachi-san." He smiles, before taking a look at Genya. "Don't you think so as well, Shinazugawa-san?" He taunts, waiting for his response. Minorikoji didn't quite trust him yet, especially from the stunt he pulled back in Final Selection. But shortly after he didn't sense any aggression towards his good friend Fukurō, he became quite curious. For now, Genya's answer would determine Minorikoji's trust.

"..." Genya had no response. It started to become more consistent of the amount of times his face would start overheating at the slightest conveniences. Minorikoji nudges Genya, making the red-faced boy surprisingly shoot him a glare. 

Minorikoji expected a bit more than just a grunt, but observed Genya's face with interest. Was.. Was he blushing? At what? Or maybe... at who? Fukurō, or Ichigo? Maybe neither of them, and Minorikoji's eyes were playing tricks on him.

"The place where the demons were located is right around the corner, isn't it? I think we're good to go." Ichigo places Fukurō's hand in her own, taking Fukurō off guard. Why were they being so nice to her? ".. Hai."  She had answered, eyes still trained on her held hand.

* * *

"What's so special about this? It looks like any other town!" Ichigo muttered disappointedly under her breath. In reality, all of the other group members thought the same thing. Except for Fukurō. She had never seen other towns other than her own. But she didn't speak out, instead only admiring the area silently.

"Well, this place is still attracting demons either way, because of the handful of gatherings of people and events that take place." Minorikoji shrugs, "I think we should stall in the crowd, probably lay low for a while. Don't you think?"

Fukurō nods. That was a pretty good idea. After all, townspeople would probably freak out and go into panic if four teenagers started asking them about man-eating creatures, let alone the fact that they would eventually be carrying weapons to exterminate these creatures. 

"By the way, it was a really good idea to leave our katanas with our Kasugai crows. Thanks for the idea, Fukurō-san!" Ichigo pats Fukurō's still shoulder softly, wondering why she was so tense. 

Genya frowns, pushing past Minorikoji roughly. '.. I just wanna get this shit over with.'

* * *

Loud chatters and conversations boom all around them, fiery lanterns suspended over stalls and  edges of roofs, illuminating the town from the night's dark mist.

Ichigo dashes over to a particular stall, completely stranding the statement of 'laying low'. Waving her hand around to catch the other three's attention as she points to the swimming goldfish in the rectangular pool. "Guys! Look! It's Kingko Sukui*!"

Minorikoji makes his way over where Ichigo stood, followed by Genya and Fukurō. The brown-haired girl kept her eyes to the ground, only relying on the movement of the sight of their shadows and legs to locate them. Although she raised her gaze to glimpse at whatever Ichigo was ogling at, her eyes lowered again.

"How much to try it out?" Minorikoji asks the stall-holder, hoping it wasn't much. "For newcomers, it's free! No charge, except for your amusement! All of the games here are!" The stall-holder answers, shoving the poi* scoopers in Ichigo and Minorikoji's hands, looking at the last two as he holds two more scoopers in his hand. "You two going to play?" Ichigo asks, tapping her fingertips on the paper poi* carefully.