To The Stars | Tokito Muichiro x OC

09 • Shared Happiness

"Whatever anchored you to the land of the living will weigh you down like shackles." And being shackled would make people weary, especially if they were dead and had been shacked for years or even centuries and millenniums. "I don't really understand it myself because I've never been in that situation before, but I do know that being stuck in the living world as a dead spirit is exhausting. That's why I'm more scared of dying with regrets than death itself."

"That's very sad," Kiyo commented with a frown. "I hope they can go to the stars too."

"Can they still go to the stars though?" Naho asked Kiyo, though it was obviously Inori who answered.

"They can go to the stars when they let go of their regrets." She didn't elaborate any further, topics about life and death were too heavy for a lunch conversation.

"Oh, right. You never told us the name of your breathing style." Aoi changed the topic, bringing the excitement back to her training progress.

"I call it Star Breathing." Because she loved the stars, and because the stars were her objective. "It's supposed to have thirteen forms, twelve named after the most well-known constellations and one final form, though I currently only have five forms."

"Really? I want to see."

Lunch continued with Naho, Sumi, and Kiyo begging to see her forms while Aoi scolded them, though Inori merely smiled and promised she would show them after lunch. She had seen Aoi practicing Water Breathing, so she wondered if she could finally see a familiar breathing style in real life. Lunch has never flown by so fast.

"Inori-chan, just a minute," Shinobu called out just as the last of the girls left the dining room. Inori paused mid-stacking the plates to look at the Insect Pillar, who was rummaging through her pockets. "I want to give this to you." Taking her hands, Shinobu placed the item on her open palms. Inori choked back a sob at the gift she gave her.

A butterfly hairpin.

"But I'm not—"

"You don't have to be my tsuguko or live here to wear this." Shinobu took the hairpin and pinned it on the side of her head. The soft turquoise and dark violet butterfly wings matched her eyes perfectly. "I think of you as my little sister, and I'm sure the other girls consider you their sister too. Besides, you have pretty hair, it'll be a shame if you don't decorate it."

Inori flung her arms around Shinobu, causing the older girl to stumble back as she practically buried her face into the pillar's chest. For the first time since Muzan attacked her family, Inori was crying out of happiness.

Shinobu hugged her back, patting her back as she continued to mumble out her gratitude. "You should head out now. Kanao and Aoi are probably washing the dishes. If you're quick, you and I can spar. I'm sure the girls are waiting for you to show off your breathing style."

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙

"Inori-san! Shinobu-sama gave you a hairpin too!" Kiyo squealed happily, circling her arms around Inori's elbow as she lifted the little girl with ease. Naho and Sumi pouted, watching Inori lift Kiyo as high as her height allowed her to.

Shinobu giggled at the girls, gently pushing them towards Inori. "If you really want her to lift you up too, you should just go and ask her," she whispered with a wink.

Naho and Sumi leaped onto Inori, Naho dangling on her other arm while Sumi climbed onto her back. Inori stumbled but managed to lift all three girls who were squealing in joy.

"You know, this is kind of heavy." Apparently, the three girls never had someone who could carry all three of them at once before—sans Kanao, but they were too scared to ask her to carry them since Kanao would just flip her coin—so they were beyond the moon. Inori didn't really mind. She had danced for days with heavy robes and jewelry before, she could carry three little girls for a little while. But even she would drag her feet when asked to carry them while they kept jumping and moving.