[ on hold. ] 𝙃𝙖𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 || ᴋɴʏ ʜᴀꜱʜɪʀᴀꜱ

◇ 𝒔𝒊𝒙 ◇

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(Name) stayed silent for a bit, Nezuko and the other two were also a bit shocked to see Rengoku act like it was nothing to him at all, like it was a normal occurrence whenever they have guests over. "Who's this Shinazugawa guy?" asked Nezuko, maybe they were in a misunderstanding and they wanted to clear that up. "The demon haunting you," answered Rengoku as his smile widened even more, "not to worry, he's nice." They were starting to think that his smile was a little eerie as soon as he says the demon is "nice".

"Ah," breathed out (Name) as she let out an awkward laugh, "I'm pretty sure you're playing a prank on us, Rengoku-san." Rengoku only stare at her in disbelief, "but I am not?" questioned the male as he was confused on why they thought about that, but then it clicked on his head. Humans... He just flashed them a smile before waving at them and walking away, saying that he has something else to do, but before he was fully out of sight, "I am not playing a prank on you, kids, I'm telling you the truth," said Rengoku before walking away from the kids until he was out of their sight.

They looked at each other and had the feeling that Rengoku's words were already more than enough to confirm all the horrors they've been experiencing in this castle. They decided to just investigate the entire house, even if Shinobu catches them, just so they can make sure Tanjiro is not here and leave immediately. "Let's split up, it'll be easier to find Tanjiro and investigate," said Nezuko as she is confident enough that her friends are courageous enough to wander off alone. "But, Tomioka-san says we should never wander alone," says (Name) as she remembered the words Tomioka told her, Nezuko let out a soft sigh as she stared at each of her friends.

"Okay, let's investigate by twos," says Nezuko as she held Zenitsu's arm, (Name) nodded at Nezuko and looked at Inosuke, who she was going to be with once they split up. "They're all awake right now so it isn't the best time to wander around," mumbled Zenitsu which perked (Name)'s attention, she turned her head to face the blonde boy and let out a small hum. "They may catch us red-handed, but if they actually are those dark non-human creatures, wouldn't that mean they're more active at night? Maybe now is the best time while the sun is high up in the sky," stated (Name), she wanted this to be over and just leave. They agreed with (Name)'s statement and set a time for them to meet up as soon as the investigation was over, "let's meet in my room 3 hours from now, if anything goes wrong, drop a call," said the girl as she kept her phone in her pocket, the other three followed suit. "If our phones won't work, run back to Inosuke's room since his chamber is far from mine," said (Name), they nodded at her and they split up. Nezuko and Zenitsu is tasked to investigate the current floor they are in while (Name) and Inosuke investigates the darker area on the other side of the stairs which is where they suspected the other resident's room were located, along with Shinobu's room.

Inosuke and (Name) slowly walked downstairs to head to the other side of their area, being careful to make any creak as they step down and up to the other set of stairs. It was awfully quiet and dark as per usual, "it's quiet and dark," whispered (Name), "just like when we last came here." Inosuke let out a hum of agreement, they were finally on that dark floor and could not see anything aside from a few painting and candles that were lit by the lights of the main hall from downstairs. They looked towards the direction of the way to Shinobu's room and did not see any light shining under any hole of a door, so they took this as a hint that Shinobu could either be asleep or not around.

They continued walking and carefully checking each room if there was anyone inside, (Name) opened one door that was beside Shinobu's and lit her flashlight inside, there was no one and nothing but a dresser and a queen-sized bed which was tucked with a white bed sheet and fluffy blankets and pillows. She closed the door after confirming that there was no sign of life or being inside, she looked towards Inosuke and saw him checking each room with the torch of his mobile device. "Any luck?" asked the girl softly, but it was loud enough for Inosuke to hear. The boy shook his head as a no before checking the room in front of Shinobu's, "I don't think any of the residents' room are in this floor either," mumbled Inosuke, "does that mean they slept out of this castle or something?" (Name) was staring at Shinobu's door, contemplating whether she should open it or not, fearing that Shinobu was on the other side of the door, either asleep or doing a creepy activity or she might've been expecting her to open the door so she can scare them away or scold them.

(Name) shook those thoughts away and let out a soft sigh, she was incredibly nervous and Inosuke can sense this, he stood beside her and leaned to listen beyond the door. (Name) observed Inosuke to see if there were any signs of Shinobu inside the room so they can just ignore and move on to the next door, Inosuke shook his head as a sign that there was nobody inside as he did not hear any sound or sense a presence, (Name) slowly opened the door and the room was dark, she flashed her phone's torch around the room and saw Shinobu's dresser, her accessories laid out on her bedside table, and her queen-sized bed, there was no sign of life and the two took this as a sign to enter.

The two stood inside Shinobu's room with the door closed, they decided not to open the lights so if Shinobu would arrive, she wouldn't suspect anyone breaking into her room. Inosuke and (Name) looked around the room and saw nothing suspicious, (Name) entered the bathroom that was inside Shinobu's room and saw how polished it looks, but because it was dark, it looked scary. "Nothing suspicious in the bathroom," said (Name) as she closed the bathroom's door and walked towards Shinobu's desk, she looked at her accessories, they looked beautiful and possibly more expensive, like it was worth a kidney or a heart.

"All her makeup products are high-class," mumbled (Name) as she opened her eyeshadow palette, she noticed a folded piece of paper tucked a bit under Shinobu's butterfly-patterned comb. (Name) opened it and flashed her torch on the paper to read its content, she called Inosuke over to check it with her. "Look at what this paper says, I found it tucked under Miss Kocho's comb," said the lad as her eyes scanned the letters encoded on the piece of paper.

"I got the boy, Shinobu.

I kept him in our attic, shall we turn him into a vampire or a demon? You can check him up there, he's unconscious right now though."

(Name) looked at Inosuke as the boy shrugged, they were very suspicious about this "boy" that the sender kidnap, the poor soul is surely suffering right now and they decided to go tell Nezuko and Zenitsu before paying a visit to the attic. (Name) folded the piece of paper and placed it to the exact spot as she found, like as if nothing was ever touched and they weren't there in the first place. She stood up and both of them were ready to leave, until they hear the door click. They inwardly panicked and immediately turned their phone's torches off, (Name) immediately hid under Shinobu's bed as she was glad the space was big enough for her to fit whilst Inosuke hid inside the dresser, quick enough for Shinobu not noticing.

While the two hid in their "hideouts", Shinobu turned on her lights and walked towards her desk, she opened the letter that was tucked under her comb. She read it out loud before folding it and looking around her room, "you can come out," said Shinobu which made the two nervous, "Iguro-san." Upon hearing the name, the two let out a soft sigh of relief and Obanai came out from his hiding spot; in the bathroom. (Name) and Inosuke saw this and panicked, it would mean that Obanai knew they were here and possibly knowing they were hiding, they wanted to just disappear right there as they were too afraid of what would happen.

"Hey, Kocho," said Obanai as he walked closer to her, "did you know that there are two kids hiding in here right now?"