𝙠𝙣𝙮, 𝙨𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚

05. Sneak

"Where's [name]? I thought she would come and send me off before I head for the Final Selection," Ryuu spoke out with a slight pout, and Hiroto could only chuckle then as he patted Ryuu on the head. His eyes held nothing but pure sadness then as [name] wasn't there to send him off.

Only to hear running footsteps. He turned and his eyes widened then as [name] ran up to him, and Hiroto could only shake his head in response. Ryuu then noticed the bento box that [name] was carrying in her arms, and she panted a little as she stood before him with a wide smile on her face.

"[name], you came!" Ryuu called out with a smile, only to notice the flushed look on her face. He then quickly dropped his sword down and pressed a hand against her forehead. His eyes then widened as he looked at Hiroto.

"[name] was down with a high fever, but she insisted on sending you off despite many of my threats," he commented, and Ryuu could only sigh as he hugged [name] tightly then.

"Gomen, [name]. I hope you didn't push yourself too much," he said with a smile, and [name] shook her head as she ushered the bento box into his arms.

"Come back soon!" she said with a smile as Ryuu took the bento box from her and gave her a hug, turning his back on her as he proceeded to walk away. Hiroto chuckled then as he easily picked up his daughter, and the duo watched as Ryuu walked further away.

"Ryuu..." [name] whispered out.

"Ryuu..." and Tanjiro's eyes could only widen then as he was sitting beside [name] who was tucked in the bed which she resided in the Butterfly Estate once more. Her face was flushed red as she breathed in and out deeply, clearly, she was having a terribly high fever.

"Ryuu-san... You've always been calling out to him the entire time, [name]-san..." Tanjiro whispered out as he had on a sad look. He then grabbed hold of [name]'s hand in his and caressed the back of her hand gently with his rough fingers.

He remembers clearly when they were much younger, he would often travel with his father to visit their family and give them the coals they had ordered. Only to have [name] often sticking to Ryuu, and never to him whenever he was around, despite the number of times he was able to visit them.

He remembers how much [name] relied on Ryuu back then, and all he could think about was how important Ryuu was to [name]. And to now know the fact that Ryuu had betrayed the Demon Slayer Corps, hence, causing her father to perform seppuku.

Tanjiro felt a deep hatred for Ryuu.

[name] groaned slightly as she felt her hand to be a tad bit too warm. She slowly opened her dark blue ocean eyes only to realize that Tanjiro was right beside her. A smile on her face then as she realized Tanjiro was holding her hand.

"Good morning..." she whispered out, and Tanjiro could feel his heart pounding hard against his chest at the way [name] had spoken to him despite the sleepy look in her eyes. [name] could only smile a little more as she looked at Tanjiro who was in a daze, and then she sighed.

"What are you doing here? Do you not need to train with Rengoku-san?" [name] asked, and Tanjiro scratched the back of his head a little before digging out from his uniform and looked around. He then carefully placed a bag of sweets into [name]'s hand, and [name] could only laugh a little in response.

"I saw it yesterday, I remember you always loved these so I got them for you," Tanjiro explained and quickly ushered [name] to hide it. She shook her head with a smile on her face as she stuffed it under her pillow, just in time as Aoi opened the door to bring in a tray of hot food.

"Good morning, Akane-sama," Aoi spoke out, and [name] smiled a little in response then as she sat up properly as Aoi placed the tray on the table before pushing it against the side of it, and [name] turned and dangled her legs as she sat behind the table.