𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍, kny

「九」

第九章

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[NAME] OPENED HER EYES SLOWLY AND YAWNED AS SHE SAT UP. She was still in the same place and leaning onto the same tree where she talked to Sabito last night.

'I must've fallen asleep here...'

But then, she realized something. She looked down to her lap. A white haori. She didn't remember wearing it when she slept. She ran her hands through the smooth fabric. It felt cold.

'It must've turned cold because it's been here since last night.' [Name] thought.

She stood up and straightened the piece of clothing, then bringing it up to her nose, trying to sense if there are any clues on who it belongs to.

There was no smell.

Weird.

She folded it neatly and walked out of the shaded area and saw Tanjiro, who was already training with his sword.

"Morning, Tanjiro." [Name] smiled as she walked closer to him.

Tanjiro seemed to notice her presence as his eyes who were filled with determination soon brightened up. He stopped, sheathed his sword back into it's case and faced her.

"Morning, [Name]!" He cheered, a big smile plastered across his face, "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," [Name] nodded, "How's your head?"

[Name] brought up her hands to Tanjiro, reaching out for his head to check if there are any wounds.

"There's nothing to worry about!" Tanjiro said, waving his hands in the air, reassuring his sister.

"Are you sure?" [Name] questioned, visibly concerned.

"Yes!" Tanjiro answered enthusiastically, "Besides, I have a thick skull."

"Yeah, 'cause you're stubborn."

"I'm not!"

"See," [Name] snickered, "Stubborn."

Tanjiro only pouted. He jokingly jerked his head to the side, as if he was angry with her. [Name] only giggled at his actions.

Something then caught his eye. A white haori, neatly folded, now resting on both of [Name]'s palms.

"You didn't tell me you have two haoris." He looked at the white haori, rather confused as he couldn't remember the last time [Name] had it with her.

"Exactly," [Name] repleid, looking at the haori on her hands, "I don't. I was about to ask if you have two, actually."

Tanjiro only shook his head, "It's not mines. Where did you find it?"

"It was draped over me when I was asleep, I guess. I found it on my lap when I woke up. I tried sniffing the scent to see if I could tell who it belonged to, I couldn't pick up any scent."

"That's strange."

[Name] nodded in agreement.

[Name] then looked down at he haori and looked up again. Her eyes scanned the place, looking for a place to put the haori on while she'll be busy training.

Tanjiro watched, a single sweat dropping from his forehead as he watched [Name] jumping from one place to another, looking at places and blowing their surface, inspecting for dust.

"H-hey..." Tanjiro spoke up, raising his hand.

"I don't want to get this thing dirty!" [Name] whined, "The owner must have worked so hard to keep it this clean!"

Tanjiro only smiled at his sister's words. She sure have learned from the Kamados a lot.

There's no use. Everything she could put the haori on was all dirty. [Name] sighed in retreat. As she was about to put the haori on a nearby dusty log, an idea popped up in her head.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Tanjiro asked as he witnessed his sister putting the white haori on her head as she took of her own and folded it into two.

"My haori is black, so it won't be noticeable if it's dirty." she explained. [Name] put her black haori on the log, and put the white haori on top of it, "This way, it won't get dirty."

After she's done, she put both of her arms on her waist and exhaled, proud of what she had done. [Name] then spin her heels abruptly as she drew her sword out, running to Tanjiro, pointing her katana at his direction, "Okay, now, training!"

"Eh?!" a shocked voice erupted from his lips as his expression changed from a soft one to a startled one.

[Name] started charging at Tanjiro as he blocked her attacks.

"What is the meaning of this?" Tanjiro asked, his brows furrowing with confusion, "Are you mad at me?"

"Nope," [Name] giggled, still continuing to charge at the red-haired boy, "I was planning to surprise you since just now, but I had a haori in hand."

"You're so cheeky..."

Well, obviously, [Name] just wanted to kid around before she had to undergo another energy-draining training.

After all the kidding has come to an end, the two of them started their extreme training. After training, the two then sparred each other—seriously, this time. Maintaining their Total Concentration state, the young Saito and the young Kamado charged against each other. Clashing of swords echoed on the empty location. [Name] managed to knock Tanjiro to the ground, both of them panting in exhaustion.

"N-nice one, [Name]." Tanjiro praised her throught pants.

[Name] rushed to her brother, grabbing his hand and helping him up.

"Are you alright? I hope I didn't go to far..."

"Yes, I'm alright." Tanjiro dusted the dirt off himself and smiled at the young Saito, "That was incredible!"

"Thanks!" [Name] replied, smiling from ear to ear as her eyes seemed to smile as well, "You're amazing too, you know."

The two continued to chit chat for awhile. They were having so much fun talking to each other, that they didn't realize a hand had grabbed the white haori, only leaving [Name]'s black haori behind.

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hi!! i'm back! since tomorrow's lessons (for the final examination) are quite easy, i think i'll take a break from studying for today. also, i decided to change the chapter to only numbers this time, since i always struggled in coming up with new titles for every chapter.

also, guess who the white haori belongs to. apparently, inosuke has a rival 🤭
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edited 12/02/20