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

ACT 1 CH 15

"I think I'm all the things I hate." --Messiah, Crawlers

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   ARASHI ARRIVED AT THE VILLAGE AND COULD IMMEDIATELY TELL THAT THINGS WERE VERY OFF. For one, it was bone-chilling cold, and two, it just reeked of demon. Whispers were everywhere and voices filled the air. The strange part about that was the fact that the owners of a few selective ones sounded young. This village was inhabited by elderly folk. And the young voices seemed to be coming from somewhere in the south.

   Arashi followed the noise until she stood in front of a cave. She distantly wondered if there were multiple demons holed up in here like the last time. She stepped in with her katana out. 

   She looked around and followed the voices until she saw two figures huddled against a wall. She blinked, her arm going to her side. She recognized those two.

   The two demons looked over at her, one looking quite defensive while the other's face lit up. Kumo tried to get up, but tumbled back into Rui. Rui glared at Arashi. "What are you doing here, Hashira?" He hissed. Arashi's eye narrowed. "I'm..here to kill demons?..what else??"

   Kumo squirmed in Rui's hold. "Rui, let me go! I want to go over!" Rui grumbled a protest but let Kumo go. Kumo barreled towards Arashi and tackled her. Arashi fell over with an 'oof' and laughed. "I wasn't expecting you to be this excited to see me again." She patted his back.

   He got off of her and immediately apologized. "Um!" Kumo fidgeted nervously. "I just wanted to thank you for helping me." He smiled and tugged on her sleeve like a child. Rui looked disappointed as ever, giving Arashi warning looks.

   "Oh, well.." Arashi didn't know how to really speak with someone she had saved, that someone having survived out in the wild without any demon slayers killing them. Though, two of the Twelve Kizuki out in the wild is a bit strange considering they were together. "You're welcome."

   Kumo smiled and then turned to look at Rui. Lower Five's sour expression dropped at the notice that Kumo was glaring at him. He looked away and slowly crept closer. "Ah..thanks for letting me and Kumo live, but I still hate you guys for coming into my territory and slaughtering my family."

   Arashi shrugged. "I understand that." She gave him a smile. "I just hope you don't lose Kumo too." Rui let out a displeased click and pulled Kumo back to him. "Shut it." He got an idea; Arashi could tell. "Hey, there's another demon hiding out in the lake.." he gave her a sly smile.

   "Lake?" Arashi's brow furrowed. Rui nodded, and so did Kumo. "Yeah, she's nice." Kumo pitched in. Arashi hummed thoughtfully. "I'll..go look at it. You guys stay safe, okay?" Kumo blinked. "Ah--you too!" Rui mumbled something along the lines of "yeah," and gave her a side glare as she left.

   Arashi left the cave and stood outside. She listened for the sounds of water and headed in the general direction. She walked through the sparse trees, noticing the way they were seemingly frozen in their dead state of winter. She frowned. She didn't like how unnervingly cold it was.

   She kept her gaze on the ground. She looked up once she reached the lake. What was strange was the lake was not frozen. At all. She stepped onto the small, broken dock and knelt down. Her hand twitched for her katana.

   Arashi couldn't see anything wrong with the water. She huffed and stood up. Still, she felt drawn to the water. She grumbled with herself and looked around before dipping a hand into the water. She brought it out, shaking her hand and watching droplets fly off. She wiped it on her haori after a moment.

   Another strange thing about the water was the fact that it was warm. It should be cold and partially frozen in this weather.

   Arashi heard a soft noise behind her. She turned around but was weightless before she could look. The water came closer and soon, she was enveloped in warmth. She couldn't fight the feeling of darkness creeping up and succumbed helplessly.

~

   Mizu stood on the dock, hand on her hip. She sighed with a hint of irritation and turned to the person next to her. "She was going to freeze with you near her," she explained, tugging on the end of one of her ponytails.

   He snorted. "Well, you could've at least let me whisk her away somewhere else where she wouldn't freeze." He observed the ripples with mild interest. "Humans are so interesting," he chuckled, straightening. Mizu gave him a look. "No, I'm not letting you take her there."

   He shrugged. "Her loss." He looked at himself in the water and scrunched his face up. Mizu studied him. He was an interesting one. But she didn't like him too much.

   "Have you ever considered moving to a village where there isn't just old people?" Mizu inquired. "They have no flavor at all. I'm sure you know that." He made an 'ehh' sound. "Depends on the person. The women taste good!" She sighed in exasperation and shook her head. She waved her hand, the lake water swirling idly.

   He gasped and poked at it. "Wow~ That's so cool. I didn't know you could do that." Mizu swiped her hand in front of her, and the water splashed him in the face. He sputtered and wiped his face off. They both knew he let it happen. As to why, she couldn't tell.

   All of him just seemed so..fake. She didn't know how to feel about him. She looked away and stepped onto the water's surface. "I'm going in now. I hope you'll have found a new city or something by the time she's awake." Mizu felt the water start to swirl up her legs and drag her in. "She's a good one. I want her alive a bit longer."

   He watched her leave and sighed dramatically. "Moveee??~ Fine, for you, I suppose." He pouted and left with a huff.

~

   Giro and Nensho were on okay terms today. He was nicer to her ever since they had accidentally came across her parent's house. She was inside of her residence with Nensho. He was idly swinging his katana around, trying to get her to join him in training.

   "Nensho, I've told you I don't feel like it," she mumbled. She looked up at him from her spot on the floor. "Tired?" He asked. Giro nodded and groaned, slumping against the wall. He snickered and shook his head. "Pleaaase?..Just one sparring session. And I'll leave you alone about it."

   It was about five minutes of back and forth before Nensho gave up and sat next to her. He grumbled something and tugged the scarf down from over his mouth, allowing himself to take in some fresh air. Giro looked over at him. He had only really done this with her and Arashi.

   Speaking of..

   "Have you heard from Arashi recently?" Giro questioned, fiddling with her haori sleeve. Nensho looked over. "Actually, no. Have you?" Giro shook her head. He shrugged. "Eh, she'll be fine. Anyway, can we please spar?" He pleaded.

   Giro smacked his arm lightly and got up. "Fine. But then I'm napping." Nensho followed her with enthusiasm. "Yes! You can go sleep the day away afterwards, don't worry."

~

Giro and Nensho mention after years