Don't Leave (Kimetsu No Yaiba)

Candy 8

Tomioka stared at the letter. He couldn't move; not even a flinch. Everything around him turned silent before a voice brought him back to reality. A sweet and a gentle voice of a woman.

"Tomioka-san?" Called the voice. "Tomioka-san?"

Tomioka glanced around in shock, only to find a familiar pink haired woman standing in front of him with a frantic expression. It was Kanroji. Tomioka let out a small sigh while he sweated, but managed to keep calm. "What?" He asked, quickly going back to his stoic face. Kanroji pursed her lips, worried. "Are you okay?" She asked. "You look distraught."

"No. It's nothing." He replied monotonously, then hid the letter behind his back.

"I-I see.." Kanroji lowered her head. She was sure something was wrong, but since Tomioka was being defensive, she decided to let it slide. "The others have done their tasks. We are planning to take a break for a while, then move to a nearby forest."

Tomioka raised a brow. "Why a forest?"

"Tengen's crow said that there is an abandoned house full of corpses and it was believed to be a demon attack." Kanroji explained. "A mother, and four children. All dead."

Tomioka said no more. He turned his back on Kanroji, then began walking. "I'm not joining."

"Sorry?" Kanroji fidgeted.

"I said," Tomioka sharped, turning back. "I'm not joining. I have some other things to do."

"Eeehhh~?!!" Kanroji exclaimed, standing in shock. She suspected that it has something to do with the letter since Tomioka was holding onto it the whole time, she wanted to read it so bad, but feared that it may be impolite. Kanroji decided to ask instead, "i-is it related to the letter?"

"None of your business." Tomioka looked away, and continued to walk. "Besides, I'm not like you guys."

Kanroji frowned, watching the man go as she stood in place. Tomioka has always been a cold person. Not that he mattered to Kanroji, but she always wonder what would he be like if he wasn't so distant. She had tried making him laugh, she had tried making him feel comfortable around her. But all that failed in matter of seconds.

Tomioka walked further and further, until he could not be seen. He was not interested in the mission anymore. He was more interested in figuring out who the butterfly demon really is; his own mission. He wanted to go back to the Headquarter, just like what his teacher advised him to. But this time, he'll be sneaking in.

No Pillar is allowed in the Headquarter's Hall of Data; the place where the great oyakata-sama keeps his soldiers' records, and other important information and secrets. Looks like I'll have to break another rule. How shameful... Tomioka could almost gag at himself, but there was no other choice.

***

Tomioka finally reached the Headquarter's front yard where he could see the oyakata-sama lying on his bed, talking to the twin sisters. They have never left his side, and those two are extremely loyal; more loyal than a dog. Tomioka gulped in nervousness, because he has never done anything like this before, nor that he has ever planned to betray his greatnesses. "I'm sorry..." he murmured, and silently dashed through the garden without a single noise. He swept through rooms, and eventually reached the Room of Records.

Here it is... Tomioka furrowed his brows, tensing. He slowly slid the door open, then quickly glanced left and right before stepping into the darkness inside the room. The Room of Records was clean despite of it not being visited very often, and as expected from the oyakata-sama hating 'mess', every bit of information and data was tidy. Even though there were thousands of stacks and shelves of files, it would take Tomioka no more than 10 minutes to eventually find your file.

Tomioka scanned the shelves; noticed that there was a rank and an alphabet on top of each one of them.

"Kanae Kocho would be..." Tomioka looked around, "rank: Pillar, first alphabet of her name: K —"

𝗗𝗥𝗥𝗥...

"The demons have become more dangerous now..." said a white haired, young girl with a red ribbon, entering the Room of Records as her twin sister holds the door open for her. Tomioka was already hiding behind one of the shelf, controlling his breathing, sweating underneath his kimono jacket.

"What should we do, Hinaki?" Asked her sister as she left the door open, letting light into a small part of the room.

"I'm sure the oyakata-sama has plans in his mind, Nichika." Replied Hinaki. She then looked at Nichika's green ribbon, barely clinging on her hair. She stepped up to her, then fixed it. "You should be more careful on your appearance. We have a lot of visitors every now and then. You don't want to look untidy."

Nichika stared at her sister, then smiled. Hinaki simply stepped back, then turned to the room. She sighed, "now... where is that file? As I remembered, the mistress' file should be in rank Pillar, alphabet K."

<To Be Continued>