Secret of the Spider Lily

Chapter 9 - Getting Lost in Thought

The training session with Tengen ran incredibly smooth the next morning. Yuki managed to keep pace and dodgeed against his attacks, and even managed to get a few hits in on him. Yuki did eventually lose to Tengen, getting herself disarmed.

Tengen offered her a hand to help her up, a beaming smile on his face, "You put up quite the fight, Yuki" I'm quite impressed you managed to get this strong in such a short amount of time!"

"Heh, thanks Tengen. I've been working hard." She thanked, taking his hand to be pulled up.

He pulled her up with ease, soon leaning down to pick up her blades, "I think you should get patched up before we all head to our meeting. I got a few good slashes on you."

"Yeah, I was about to head there. Thanks again for the help Tengen." She beamed, before beginning to walk away. She turned back around to face Tengen, a smirk on her face, "By the way, I want a rematch once I become a Hashira. Then it would be a fair fight."

Tengen let out a boisterous laugh, walking up behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Come find me again once you became a Hashira then. Then we'll be able to see who's the better dual-wielder."

Yuki laughed, before walking to the med bay. She was becoming a lot more confident in herself, and in her abilities, which only brightened her spirits more.

Her stay in the med bay didn't last long, since she only had a few cuts and bruises. Shinobu was quickly able to patch up all her injuries, before heading off to her meeting with the rest of the Hashira.

Yuki saw the corridors of the Butterfly Mansion were mostly empty besides for a few people still walking around. She wanted to continue training on her own, but knew she needed Giyu or Shinobu's supervision. With the both of them in their meeting, training wasn't an option to keep herself busy.

She decided to go out and take a walk around the mansion's grounds. The weather was nice for that time of year, the sky being bright and clear, rather than the usual rain clouds that would litter the sky. The arm was warm, but a slight breeze made the air seem cooler than it actually was. She enjoyed the contrast, walking around the grounds for hours.

Once she returned, she went to sit on one of the benches to rest her legs. As she sat there, she looked out at the empty training grounds, having memories of Kori and her mother training in their background. The memories made Yuki's heart heavy, wishing she was still able to sit out and watch her family. She wished she could have been the one training with Kori out there. She wished they could be Demon Slayers together.

She wished she could have that experience with Kori, but with her still missing, she didn't know if that would ever be possible. Unknown to her, tears had started to pour from her eyes, her memories flooding her and hitting her like a brick wall. Her mind raced with all of the possibilities of what could have happened to Kori.

As she sat there crying, she didn't hear the door to the mansion open, nor did she hear the person who had walked out. She got startled by a light tapping on her shoulder, quickly wiping away her tears. She looked up to see Rengoku standing beside the bench, his expression filled with worry.

"Are you alright Yuki?" He asked, sitting beside her on the bench.

"Oh, hey Rengoku," she said solemnly, "I-I'm alright. I just have some things on my mind."

"Are you sure? You're crying. Are you positive everything is ok?"

Yuki put on a fake smile the best she could, "I-I'm fine Rengoku, really! I-I'm just having a rough day is all. I-It's nothing I can't bounce back fro-"