𝙆𝙉𝙔 𝙭 𝘿𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙣! 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

Chapter Eleven

"Inosuke!"

The name rang a bell, and your mind instantly went to Kotoha's late son. The two of you went pale as you turned to face a young boy who was wearing a headpiece which looked like a boar's head.

"Inosuke...?" Kotoha asked in a voice below a whisper as tears welled up in her eyes.

"I- It's a common name!" You desperately tried to comfort her. "Please don't cry!"

Feeling the eyes all on you, you turned to humans who were giving you perplexed looks. "What are you looking at?! Are you surprised that demons have feelings too?!" You asked angrily then turned to console the demon.

The humans looked dumbfounded as they observed you comforting her instead of starting a fight with them. "What are you still doing here?! Leave!" You snapped at them.

"Not before you fight me, demons!" The masked guy said, whipping out a couple of chipped dark blue swords.

"With those?" You scoffed, giving him a judgemental look as you observed the blades. "I'm surprised that you were able to survive with such a piece of junk."

"Huh?!" He fumed, pointing his swords in your direction. "I'll send you to hell with this piece of junk!" Saying that, he launched a fierce attack towards you but you effortlessly avoided it.

"You're weak... what rank are you?" You asked which seemed to get on his nerves even more. "Shame... demon slayers these days are weaker than ever."

By that, you charged towards the demon hunter and pierced through his upper body using a sword that you occupied from a deceased swordsman, then pinned him all the way up on a tree.

Just then, his headpiece fell off revealing a feminine looking face and familiar green eyes along with shoulder length black hair. "Could it be...?" Your eyes widened as you observed his features.

"Inosuke!" The other boy panicked as he pulled out a black sword and initiated an attack towards you. "Water breathing, second form! Water wheel!"

"How old are you, boy?" You asked, ignoring the attacker as you easily dodged his attack. "Fifteen? Sixteen?"

"Huh?! None of your business!" He snapped, dislocating his joints then pulled out the sword, landing perfectly on the ground.

You stepped a little closer to him in order for you to get a better look at his unmasked face, and after some time, Kotoha approached him as well.

Without a word, he swung his swords in your direction, but you avoided the attack while protecting Kotoha just in time.

"That's–" You paused before you could say something that you might regret saying, mentally scolding yourself for jumping to conclusions.

"The sun will rise soon." You told Kotoha. "Let's go... Whether they live or die here it doesn't matter." Saying that, you grabbed her hand and ran away to seek refugee from the sunlight.

-

You stopped once more by Kotoha's old house as it was the nearest place you were able to go to considering the time you had left until daybreak.

Since you visited from time to time during the past fifteen years, you've renovated the house and cleaned it every time you've gotten the chance to in order for it to become more suitable for living in.

As for Kotoha, she no longer minded staying there for a while after accepting the fact that her husband and mother-in-law would never come back.

"Nee-san... what if that Inosuke was my Inosuke?" Kotoha asked, looking through the old photos of her child. "I hope he's alright..."

There was no denial that the demon hunter you encountered looked a lot like Kotoha, but you couldn't afford the consequences of Kotoha realising that this kid might be her own, so you just brushed it off as some kind of misunderstanding.

"Kotoha... I'm sorry, but this child is certainly not your infant from fifteen years ago." You denied as you took the pictures away from her. "Please... I want you to continue living, don't hold onto the past."

"See? You have centuries ahead of you, you can't live forever in denial of what happened." You added, with a worried look on your face. "Let go of the past."

"That boy... he looked a lot like my Inosuke." She explained, burying her face in her palms. "But... then why did he not recognise me?"

At that moment, you pitied her more than ever seeing how she was missing her child terribly even after all those years, but you weren't willing to risk your status in order to investigate whether or not that demon slayer was her son.

After all, his job was to kill your kind and if you were to associate with him, you would lose the respect of the other demons and get killed by Muzan himself.

-

The night came by in no time and as you were getting ready to leave, Muzan's voice echoed in your head, making you freeze in your place. "Join lower moon one at his site, the mugen train." He said in his usual monotonous voice. "Leave your sister behind, she's merely a distraction."

Saying that, Muzan destroyed some of your cells which took awfully long to regenerate. "That boy with hanafuda earrings got away again thanks to your stupid sister distracting you."

"Nee-san!" Kotoha rushed to your side frantically as you collapsed to the ground. "What happened?!"

"Kotoha..." You said weakly, holding onto her arm, seeking support. "You have to return to the temple... I won't be able to... I have another mission."

"Will you be okay on your own?" She asked worriedly as she helped you to your feet.

"Mostly... Lower moon one will be there." You reassured her. "I won't fight alone."

"You said the same about lower moon four then ended up fighting alone in the middle of that forest!"

"Well... a mission is a mission." You muttered, looking away, secretly hoping that the kizuki on the mugen train was brave enough to face a hashira.

"Come on let's go!" You smiled, reaching for her hand as you left the house. 

After some thought, you figured out that it was safer for you to personally escort her to the temple, not wanting her to run into demon slayers or get lost. "I'll drop you off at the temple if that makes you happy." You said, and she half-heartedly agreed.

Once you reached the temple, you were greeted by the servants. "Yuki-san! Welcome back!" They beamed with joy. "The founder was waiting for you!"

"I... uhm... I just came to drop my sister here, I have to go again." You said, forcing a polite smile. "Please inform Douma-sama that I won't be back anytime soon."

"But Yuki-san!"

"I have to go now... please take good care of my little sister."

Saying that, you walked away and you were soon out of sight.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

Word count: 1146 words

-',✎ A/n: I hope you enjoyed reading! :) I try to update as soon as possible but sometimes I decide to switch things up the last moment. I hope you understand!