"Yes, I know Auntie." A woman crossed her legs, peering out the window of the train to gaze upon the fields that surrounded her destination. Most of the land outside of the district was used as farming and agriculture, but the inner city would be her new home. "I'm sure he'll be fine. I'll tell him to call you when I get there."
"(Y/N)! I don't trust that lady! I don't care if she's his doctor!" Her aunt screeched over the phone, and she could imagine the woman slamming her fists against her coffee table, or whatever unlucky surface was producing the aggressive banging noise in the background. "Why did they need to take my poor baby away?! 'Relocate' my ass! Why did he agree?! He doesn't even respon-"
The rant was cut off by a beep from her phone, and (Y/N) glanced at the message that appeared. No wifi, huh? She stuffed it back into her pocket, sighing and leaning back against her seat. Thankfully, she was the only one in the train, so it would have been the perfect time for a light nap and catch up on some well needed sleep, but before she could even close her eyes, the announcements chimed above her. "Next stop, Kimetsu."
The steel locomotive that fed into the city was one of the only ways past a thick barrier of flowering vines, which quickly swallowed up the view from the windows with a forest of wisteria trees. Her jaw dropped, and she rested her head against the glass to watch the purple blooms pass by. "Woah..."
Finally, the trees broke away, revealing the quaint city nestled past the wisteria. From what minimal research she did, the city actually had a wisteria problem since the resilient plant flourished in the sunny town and quickly spread around the outskirts. While the plant was dealt with inside the area of the city, the maintenance gave up when it came to the gorgeous infestation that surrounded it since it was outside the city's jurisdiction. Rather than getting rid of all of it, they just prevent it from spreading to the crops outside or the land inside. Because of the constant pruning and upkeep, there was only one train station that connected the city to the outside world, and they only came in the morning or late at night. As a night owl, it would have been easier to take the night train, but she needed to get there before her stuff did.
Shuffling her bags over her shoulder, (Y/N) stood and moved to wait by the doors, gripping the pole to keep herself stabilized as the train slowed to a stop and opened its doors to the empty station. Lugging herself off, she took a moment to look at her surroundings. The station sat at the edge of the wisteria groves, giving her a rare sense of tranquility. It would have been better if her cousin could have picked her up though, seeing as she didn't know how to get to his place, but nice to know that he was still a little pain in the ass.
"Alright, alright... I know the address, so it should be fine," she lied to herself. "I mean, I'm not completely lost or anything. I can just ask around!"
Exiting the station, she made her way into the winding streets of the town. She should be thankful she only brought the bare minimum and not all her stuff on the way up, it would have been a hassle dragging everything over there. The town itself resided on a mountain and was split into two villages spread inside of the wisteria ring. She knew that the one she was in currently, and the place her cousin resided, was the Town of Swordsmen and was the larger of the two, circling most of the base of the mountain. Higher up on the other side of the hilltop sat the Town of Swordsmiths, and from what she heard, they had great hot springs. But relatively, she had no clue where she was. Somewhere downtown? Who knew? "Hey lady, are you lost?"
Pivoting on her heel, she turned to face the man that seemingly appeared out of thin air, long hair tied in the front with two ribbons, bloodshot eyes, and a sweater to top it off. He didn't seem that trustworthy, to be honest, but he offered help. "A little. Can you point me to where the Sakkaku Clinic is?"
His eyebrows furrowed and the man ground his teeth together. "Too old."
What. "E-excuse me??"
"Useless hag!" The young adult ran off, and someone bumped her arm, an exact duplicate of that guy from before, a twin?? Was this some prank?? Another man ran past, rudely shoving her to the side, sharing the same features?! This had to be a glitch in the matrix or something, until she saw her bag clutched in the arms of one of those tricky bastards.
"Wha- Hey! Get back here!" (Y/N) grit her teeth, chasing after them as they ducked through the alleyways, splitting off one by one through the back alleys shrouded in shadows. In comparison to the streets drenched with light, the tall, tightly compact wooden buildings and uneven terrain they were built on seemed to soak her in uncertainty. Shit! Which one had her stuff?! Her best bet was just following a triplet that she swore jingled with her stuff, but that didn't seem to help her well, they've definitely done this before, they've explored those alleys thoroughly, and she knows the second she stops, she's gonna find herself lost. "Give me back my stuff, you piece of shit-shits? Pieces of shit!"
"Make me, whining crone!" They leaped over a chain link fence, landing with a heavy thud and dipping back out into the streets as she haphazardly clambered over to follow them, but by the time she toppled her way onto the sidewalk, he was much too far for her to catch up. Thankfully, there was someone over there! Right where that thief was running!
"Hey! Stop him!" (Y/N) pleaded with the last of her breath, before realizing that the boy she just asked to tackle someone was definitely a young teen, and they would have no chance to do so, until the redhead proved her wrong. Sliding a foot back, the boy launched forward, the broom he used to sweep leaves from the concrete curb a moment ago now his weapon. His hanafuda earrings chimed behind him, and with one swift strike, the man was down. "Holy crap that kid actually got him..."
A few more people hurried out of the building that she just noticed to be a bakery, and one younger girl reached a hand towards her to help her up. (Y/N) didn't notice until she looked up, but the gentle teenager had a loaf of french bread in her mouth. "Mmmhph mmh?! (Are you alright?!)"
(Y/N) feebly took their hand, lifting herself up with a soft thank you tumbling out of her lips as she caught her breath. In front of her, the young boy held out her bag with a bright smile. "Is this yours?"
"Yes, that is mine..." She gasped, taking her bag out of his hands and smiling the best she could at her savior. "Thank you..."
"I'm Tanjiro Kamado! Are you new here? You have a bit of an accent." The boy tilted his head, and (Y/N) glanced at the large scar on his forehead, one that looked like a burn scar, before returning her attention to his question.
"Nice to meet you, Tanjiro. And yes, I just moved here, name's (Y/N)." She finally managed to stabilize her breathing, glancing back at the bag stealer as he was tied to a chair for the police to come pick up and deal with. Actually, wait! "Oh! Sorry, but could you direct me to the Sakkaku Clinic? It's run by a woman named... uh..."
"Sakkaku Clinic? Oh, I know where that is! That's... really far uphill." He pointed up the road. "It's up that way, and you go until you see the place Mr. Kuwajima and Mr. Urodaki play board games. Mr. Urodaki picked up some bread rolls earlier, so you should be able to smell them."
"Mhmm...? I don't know them?"
"And then you turn left and go through a few houses..."
"Uh." She hasn't mastered the art of walking through walls, but so be it.
"Turn right at the tracks, and you should see the clinic!" He grinned, but (Y/N) remained clueless. Was he perhaps... the type that was horrible at instructions? "It's a really far walk, are you sure you need to go there? Do you need help?"
It would be nice to have an escort when she still had little idea where she was going, but she couldn't bother them any longer. Bowing softly, she hurried to go off on her way up the road. "Nonono, it's okay! Thank you again!"
Following his instruction, (Y/N) hiked up the road, bag tightly gripped and trying to wrap her head around his riddle of an instruction. She doesn't know what half of his instructions meant, but seeing as she was sleep deprived and just ran through a maze of alleys, she was too tired to try to figure it out. She'll just ask the next person she runs into. Unfortunately that means more wandering, but at least she got to admire the town around her. While her original town had modernized heavily, this quaint city kept the traditional look, slightly raised structures with wooden beams and thatched roofs, they lined the paved streets and walkways in neat little rows, each house a little higher than the rest as the road continued upwards. At some points, the continuity would break for a street or walkway lined with a grey brick wall for pedestrian passing, and she didn't really know which she was supposed to turn at. Actually, in the distance, is that a railroad on that end? It would make sense for such a big town to have it's own internal transportation system. Would that be the tracks that boy talked about? Distracted with trying to decipher Tanjiro's message, she didn't notice the footsteps behind her. "(Y/N)?"
Her eyes widened, and she turned to the owner of the voice, just as surprised as she was. Before her stood her younger cousin, "Yushiro."