Reincarnation

› thirty-one: ice.

❝do i still taste of war? can you still feel the battles on my skin stitched across my back am i still rebuilding bone by fragile bone?❞

— what does forgiveness taste like? (r.n.)

———

“Focus, (Name). Focus…” you muttered to yourself, taking a deep breath of the cold air of the early morning, squeezing your eyes shut.

The more you said that word, however, the more your mind became jumbled. Your thoughts always went back to what you had read in the journal—how you’re related to a demon, the Upper Moon One no less.

Obviously, he wasn’t considered as a part of the Tsugikuni family as soon as he had turned into a demon—he discarded that name and gave himself an alias.

He doesn’t consider himself a Tsugikuni, nor does his own family.

Moreover, your grandmother had changed the Moon Breathing Techniques after centuries of using them…was it really that easy for her? To adjust and use new techniques?

Considering it was Grandmother, you knew she was fine with it, as long it kept the Tsugikuni family name clean.

You wonder if the journal has the previous techniques, knowing that each of them had all the same information.

I’ll look after finishing with the meditation. I need to get this out of the way…

Opening your eyes, you shifted your gaze over to the journal in front of you, eyeing the hand gestures and notes scribbled beneath them.

“Namu Amida Namu Kanzeon, Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.” You whispered, following the hand gestures that you had memorized—countless times you had to repeat this, and you still couldn’t feel anything.

Were you supposed to feel anything in the first place?

“Ugh, this is so shitty…” You huffed, shoulders slumping as you rubbed your eyes.

“So, this is where you’re hiding, huh?”

You looked up at the sound of the voice, blinking out the stars in your eyes as you watched Inosuke approach.

The corners of your lips quirked upwards, eyes softening at the sight of him. His presence already made you feel calm—your frustrations fading away.

“I’m not hiding, really. This is where I’m supposed to meditate. Himejima-san says he likes this place and comes here for his meditation.” You explain, resting your head on his shoulder as soon as he sat down beside you, his back pressed against a tree.

“Why aren’t you training with us? This is some lame and shitty training.” He grumbled, setting aside his mask.

“Oyakata-sama wanted this. I think it’s because he’s aware of Tsukina, knowing that intuition of his…”

“The boss is aware of moon lady?”

You shrug. “Well, I told him about it. He was visiting the graves of fallen slayers, and I was there as too. He told me you and I have some sort of otherworldly presence. So, I told him about the Legend of Tsukina and Kemono.”

“Hah? Then how come I don’t have this training?!” He complained, frowning heavily.

“Kemono…he hasn’t been awakened by you yet. I’m not sure why. It’s written that not they aren’t always awakened in each generation they’re reincarnated in. Or, maybe you’re time hasn’t come yet.”