Don't Leave (Kimetsu No Yaiba)

Candy 10

Somewhere in a forest, an abandoned house. Meanwhile...

The team had done their work, but found no leads other than claw marks and unidentifiable corpses on the ground and the floor. The sky was getting darker, and the sun was setting. It wouldn't be long until night time, the time which demons come out to eat. Due to this, the team was forced to go back to the Headquarter to be on stand-by for any night missions. Muichiro sighed as he walked beside Himejima, "this is a drag..."

Himejima turned to him, having to bend a little to rest his hand on Muichiro's head, "stay positive, young boy." He said gently, like a priest, "I'm sure we'll get to capture the Butterfly Demon."

"It's been a long day." Muichiro complained without expression. "My feet are getting numb too."

"Then let me carry you on my shoulder." Himejima scooped Muichiro to up and let him sit on his shoulder. The young Pillar immediately bursted into red as the other Pillars giggled in glee. Himejima didn't care though, all he cared was the child; typical him, big body and big heart. Muichiro couldn't help but yell, "hey! This is embarrassing!"

"You should be grateful, young man." Himejima smiled, but then, tears began to flow down his cheeks, "a child like you should train and live healthily. So, you must accept my help in order to stay fit. I'll have your feet massaged later, because tomorrow... we'll be roaming around until we find that Butterfly Demon."

"Kukuku..." Shinobu chuckled, "what a great enthusiasm. I like it. And I have to admit that today has been a pretty fun day." She spoke, then turned to Kanao, "what about you, Kanao?"

"I'm honored to help." Kanao replied politely.

"Eiiiikk~!!" Kanroji squealed with excitement, and hopped to Kanae. Kanroji hugged Kanao with love, and patted her head happily. "Kanao-chan is so cuuute~!!"

Sanemi sighed as he stretched his arms up to the sky. He asked Kanroji curiously, "geez, lady. How can you still be so energetic after a long day?"

"My stamina lasts for five days." Kanroji replied with a grin, "one day is nothing to me. Haha."

"As expected from the Love Pillar. Hahaha!" Cheered Tengen, "as flamboyant as ever!"

𝗞𝗔𝗪! 𝗞𝗔𝗪!

Everybody glanced up to see a crow hovering above the trees, flying in circles. Every Pillar immediately stood in silence as they opened their ears to listen. The crow exclaimed, "alert! Alert!" It said, "Kibutsuji Muzan and the Water Pillar is fighting in the Headquarter!"

Rengoku flinched in horror, "Kibutsuji —"

"—Muzan?!" Iguro continued.

In a blink, the Pillars were out of the crow's sight. They had dashed away and headed straight to the Headquarter in full speed, no stopping. Their hearts rose in fear and panic as they worry about the greatnesses. They dashed through trees, hopped from branch to branch, and jumped over bushes and rocks, rushing to their destination. To their home.

***

The sky had gotten darker, Tomioka flew from the Headquarter's roof and crashed his back on the garden heavily. He coughed out blood as he lied on the ground with a sprained arm and a broken rib, accompanied by bruises on his face, neck, body, arms, and legs. Basically, Tomioka was already beaten up into a pulp.

Not moving, Tomioka desperately gasped for air. Muzan watched his enemy from the top of the roof. "Aahh~ the smell of hatred and despair." He said, breathing in. "You must've really cared about that Sabito person, huh?" He grinned evilly and swiftly plopped on the ground, few feet away from Tomioka. "A bond which you cherish had ended up destroyed. Poor you."

Muzan reached Tomioka's side and stepped on his stomach, "you're very interesting, Tomioka Giyuu. You know what? The seat of the Second Upper Moon Demon is vaccant. Why don't you join me?"

"Tomioka-san!" Shinobu dashed towards Kibutsuji Muzan with her sword out, and pierced her blade into the man's chest. However, unlike normal demons, Muzan was immune to poison. He smirked, and smacked Shinobu harshly to the side that she got thrown meters away from him. Tomioka gasped, and traced his vision to where Shinobu landed; on the bark of a tree. He winced, fighting the pain as he began crawling his way to his friend. "K-Ko..chō!" He muttered hoarsely, before he heard a familiar voice calling for him.
Tomioka glanced to the right.

"Giyu!" Rengoku called, followed by the rest of the Pillars. Then, Himejima threw a huge, spiked, metal ball to Muzan. Muzan pattered a few steps back, before his waist was impelled by Sanemi's blade, along with Muichiro's blade to his head, and Kanao's sword to his stomach. Meanwhile, Rengoku carried Giyuu on his shoulder and headed for Shinobu who was having a difficult time standing up. "Shinobu!" He exclaimed, "get 'em to safety and look after 'em."

Shinobu fidgeted, "but what about you guys?"

"You sprained your leg, and Tomioka won't last long." Rengoku sharped, before he smiled and assured Shinobu, "don't cha worry. I'ma bust him out of our greatnesses' territory."

Rengoku handed Tomioka to Shinobu's arms. The Pillars stared at each other's eyes for a while, before Rengoku stood up with a smile, and bowed politely, "I'll count on you, pal." He grinned, then joined the others in battle. Shinobu watched the man stepping into the war zone and began clashing his blade bravely like a warrior. Shinobu then snapped out of her mind, piggybacked Tomioka, and sprinted down the forest in haste. She headed for the Butterfly Estate where Tomioka can instantly be treated.
Don't die... I still have a lot of questions to ask you regarding this morning.

Shinobu had reached the city which was located down the mountain, somewhere below the Headquarter, not so far away. She passed people by, not caring about their thoughts and their attention that was glued on her. Shinobu passed a little girl, then almost crashed to an old man, before she began to see purple flowers, and aura gliding around her.

"W-What?" Shinobu halted and glanced around, only to see nothing but purple.
Left, purple.
Right, purple...
Shinobu glanced to the left again, then to the right —
"Come with me, mistress..." said a demon woman with brown hair tied into a bun, purple eye, wearing a beautiful purple kimono. "Come with me, and I'll save him." She spoke with her most gentle, assuring voice. Beside her was a little demon boy whose hair was peppermint green in color, staring at Shinobu with a frown.

<To Be Continued>