To The Stars | Tokito Muichiro x OC

16 • Impasse

Inori stayed silent, looking at him with a blank face. She then hummed before turning back. "Well, it's fine, isn't it?" She shrugged. "Even if your mind forgets, your body still remembers. Doesn't that mean there's a high chance your mind can remember too? And even if it can't, you don't have to worry." Turning her head, she flashed him a grin. "Just live the present as you want to live, and let everything else fall in place. Nobody will judge you for forgetting and if they do, I'll kick them for you."

"Even Uzui-san?" Muichiro's lips tilted into a rare smile, though it probably looked like a smirk.

Inori grinned again, wider than before. "Especially Uzui-san."

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

Muichiro thanked Tetsuido, then left, leaving the elder man sighing in concern. But in truth, Tetsuido needn't worry because Muichiro knew that there was someone who understood and accepted him for who he was.

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

Inori stretched happily, loving how her body felt lighter after taking a bath in the hot springs. Muichiro had refused to join her because he wanted to get his blade, so they decided to meet up later. Humming a random tune, Inori skipped down the stone steps.

"Giyu...mission...Giyu...are you ready?" Something landed on her head, poking it. Inori halted in her steps, reaching up to grab whatever it was.

A kasugai crow. Inori held the crow in both hands, watching it quiver and shake. Must be old too. "Giyu...mission...head north...north," it cawed softly, fluttering back to peck at her head.

"Um, I'm not—"

"Kanzaburo!" Giyu suddenly came out of the trees, showing more emotions than Inori has ever seen of him. His worried expression turned back to his usual stoic face as soon as he saw his crow nestled on a familiar someone else's head. "I'm sorry, my crow is old."

"Ah, it's fine." Inori waved him off. "He's actually very charming, quite the opposite of you." She didn't mean to insult him, but her phrasing made it seem like she was, and Giyu paused in his tracks for a few seconds.

Inori gently handed the crow back to Giyu. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask this since I first saw you, but do you perhaps know someone named Sabito-san? Your haori reminds me of him." She knew the answer, of course, and while Inori really wanted nothing to do with playing medium, Giyu's self-hatred pushed her to do it.

Well, she would consider this as her repaying all the things Sabito had taught her.

Giyu froze at the mention of his dead friend's name. He relaxed upon remembering her unique ability to talk with the dead. "Why?"

"Just wondering," Inori answered, running her fingers through Kanzaburo's feathers. Sabito, along with his friends in kitsune masks, were children who died when they were around her age, so she got along with them. "He just told me to punch his best friend who made him worry even in death if I ever meet this friend. Of course, I told him to just possess someone and punch the guy himself."

Inori chuckled to herself. "He's a poltergeist, you know," she told the Water Pillar. "That means, unlike normal spirits, he can hold some objects. He nabbed a sword from Mount Sagiri and tried to teach me swordsmanship." Though all that happened was him being berated by the other dead spirits for bringing something so dangerous into her home. "So, if he wanted to, I'm sure he would've been able to slap you himself."

Giyu suddenly remembered that Inori could only see the dead who died with regret. Did that mean Sabito died with regret? Did he regret saving me? Did Nee-san also die with regrets? "What did...What did Sabito regret?" He asked the girl who suddenly stopped rambling. "And have you met someone named Tomioka Tsutako?"