Tengen hiccupped as he downed another cup of sake. He swept his eyes over the table, seeing the flushed faces of his obviously tipsy or drunk friends. He had invited all the former pillars to celebrate the eight-year anniversary of the eradication of demonkind. One thing led to another and now the six of them were a group of drunk mess.
"But Tomioka-san is so cruel." Mitsuri wiped the tears that slipped out of her eyes, her words slurred as she leaned her head against Obanai's shoulder. "Tomioka-san smiles a lot now, but you didn't smile despite all our efforts back then."
"That's right." Kyojuro slung his arm around Giyu's shoulder, bringing both of them down to the table. His own face was flushed with alcohol. "In the end, nobody was able to make you smile. That was the first time we failed Oyakata-sama."
"What?" Giyu forced himself to raise his head, swaying until he eventually slumped back onto the table. "What are you talking about?"
"You don't remember?" Obanai, ever the responsible husband, made sure to limit his alcohol. "That unofficial Pillar Meeting we had in the Star Estate."
·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙
"Himejima-san, why did you ask us to gather outside of a Pillar Meeting?" Sanemi asked upon arriving at their meeting spot, which so happened to be the Star Estate. "What is going on? We didn't discuss anything last week that requires an unofficial meeting, and there's no recent news that requires one either. And why are we gathered here instead of the Ubuyashiki Estate?"
Gyomei didn't flinch even when the other pillars stared expectantly at him. "It is Oyakata-sama's will and not my personal whim for us to gather today."
His answer was enough to ease some of the tension in the air, but it still didn't give them the answer they were searching for. Though there was something much more important for them to address.
"Himejima-san, I don't think Tomioka-san is here yet." Inori looked around, as if expecting Giyu to hop out of the bushes or trees.
"You don't think?" Obanai scoffed. "Don't beat around the bush, Hoshizora. He isn't here. Even if he doesn't show up, I won't be surprised. That self-centered bastard will probably say something along the lines of 'it has nothing to do with me. Do whatever you want. I'm different from you guys' and ignore us."
"That piece of shit."
"Shinazugawa-san, those were simply Iguro-san's thoughts. Let's not act based on assumptions." Shinobu frowned, a little disappointed that such a baseless assumption could rile someone up so much. "Tomioka-san is probably misinformed of the time again, his crow tends to do that. We can just ask one of our crows to deliver the news."
"That is not needed," Gyomei said. "I deliberately asked Tomioka to come here fifteen minutes later."
"What?" Sanemi felt his eyes twitching. "What is the meaning of this, Himejima-san?"
"We're not making some kind of decision in his absence, right?" Shinobu asked, feeling mildly surprised.
At the same time, Tengen, who was lazing around the pond, laughed. "So, we're finally going to demote the Water Pillar who can't coordinate with others. It better be a flamboyant demotion."
"That's not good! I can't allow that to happen!" Kyojuro exclaimed, surprising the birds that were perched on top of the trees. "We cannot do such things behind his back. If you want to demote him, then do it in front of him directly. Don't you agree, Tokito?"
"I don't really care either way." Muichiro shrugged, not taking his eyes off the butterfly that landed on his nose. "I'm not that close with Tomioka-san anyway, so I'll probably forget soon. Why should I care what happens to him? That aside, Inori, what's this butterfly called again?"
"That's a bee."
"Oh...I see."
"Hang on. I have a better idea." Sanemi cracked his knuckles, grinning from ear to ear. "We don't have to fire him. I'll just blast him out of the corps."
"I agree." Obanai crossed his arms. "That guy has no sense of teamwork. We're better off without him."
"Eh? We can't do that!" Mitsuri looked around her fellow pillars, flailing her arms at loss. "Everyone has to get along!"
"Tomioka-san is still a pillar regardless of his attitude." Inori frowned, crossing her arms. "Even if you hate him, demotion is a bit too much. We still need the Water Pillar to maintain balance within the corps."
"Kid, you can do Water Breathing, right?" Tengen grinned, pointing his finger at Inori. "Then you can replace him. You'll be both the Water and Star Pillar. The Mercury Pillar*."
Inori opened her mouth but closed it again, covering her mouth in slight amazement, and nodded rather reluctantly. "Okay, I'll admit that was a decent pun." She didn't think Tengen could make one normal pun, to be honest. His puns and jokes would, more often than not, end with Sanemi covering her ears, and Gyomei would cover Muichiro's. "But that still doesn't mean it's okay to demote Tomioka-san."
(* Mercury [水星] has both the kanji water [水] and star [星] in it.)
"Who cares about that asshole?" Sanemi scoffed, kicking a stray pebble. "Let's just kick him out of the pillars. We don't need him anyway."
Before the pillars could bicker any longer, Gyomei lightly clapped his hands. That action alone brought chills down the other pillars' spines, goosebumps running down their skins that left them too stunned to speak for a few seconds. Gyomei used the silence to sweep over the other pillars with his unseeing eyes.
"The reason why I gathered everyone here is not to fire Tomioka," he stated. "It's merely a wish that everyone would think of a way to make Tomioka, who is going to show up later, smile."
A few beats of silence passed through the garden as Gyomei's words slowly sank in, though it seemed like Muichiro was too busy following a butterfly that flew away to even care about the other pillars who seemed to have been frozen into statues, though he did wave his hand in front of Inori's face when he passed her.
"Make Tomioka smile?" Nobody could blame the incredulity and fury in Sanemi's voice. "Why should we do something so dumb?"
"Because Oyakata-sama wishes for it." Was Gyomei's simple answer, an answer that was more than enough to get the begrudging pillars to agree. "He said, 'It would make me very happy if I'm able to see Giyu smile from the bottom of his heart. Maybe Inori's garden can set the mood for him to do so' and thus, I gathered you all here."
"Well, if Oyakata-sama wishes for it." Inori could only smile wryly at the obviously displeased pillars, though it was just Sanemi, Obanai, and maybe Tengen. The rest either looked giddy like Mitsuri and Kyojuro, or indifferent like Muichiro and Gyomei. Shinobu seemed to be the only one who was thinking deeply.
Mitsuri beamed, flailing her arms with a squeal. "It would be nice if everyone could get along. I don't think I've ever seen Tomioka-san smile. I wonder what kind of expression he'll make if he smiles."
"Real question here." Tengen raised his hand before pointing a finger at Muichiro, who was still following the butterfly at the far corner of the garden. "Why did Oyakata-sama single Tomioka out?"
"That's true..." Shinobu could only nod in agreement. Tokito Muichiro, in her eyes, was someone who would always be in a daze. He never showed compassion or interest in anything other than Inori, Kagaya, and demon slaying. His indifference was enough to worry Kyojuro who liked to show his concerns in his own way, but it didn't seem like the Mist Pillar himself showed any signs of opening his heart for the Flame Pillar.
Yes, he was a good boy at heart, and Shinobu knew that his amnesia made it hard for him to sort his emotions out. Plus, he was still a child, and children did tend to act difficult. Giyu, on the other hand, was a grown adult with the social skills of a newborn baby, and even that was Shinobu being nice because even newborn babies communicated better than Giyu could.
"Muichiro can smile too." Inori huffed, crossing her arms because she knew he would always smile for her.
"Oh right, I forgot that Tokito can smile for you." Tengen grinned, about to tease her again. But before he could say anything else, Gyomei began to speak.
"I had the same question as well," Gyomei said. "However, Oyakata-sama said that as long as Tokito remembers his real self, he will definitely find his own smile. It may also be because he is not as reserved as Tomioka. Oyakata-sama feared that Tomioka would continuously force himself into despair, thus he wanted to see him smile."
Shinobu knitted her eyebrows together with a frown. She knew that the pillars had their own ways of doing things, even though it may be limited to her generation. With the exception of Kyojuro, Mitsuri, Inori, and herself, she knew that the pillars were not considered people who were close to others. Even then, the four of them weren't exactly the friendliest bunch in the corps either.
Giyu and Muichiro, in particular, were expressionless. Though the latter has a soft spot for Inori. Gyomei, Sanemi, and Obanai weren't exactly likable either since they tend to instill fear within others. Tengen, despite not being cold or overly arrogant, tended to do things at his own pace too. Even Inori was picky when it came to who could accompany her on her missions.
If people were to just glance and not analyze too deeply, they would find that every pillar got along decently well, some more than the others, but still overall well. It may just be their sense of responsibility as the literal pillars of the Demon Slayer Corps, but they got along fairly well as fellow allies, and that was enough.
But Giyu was different. In Shinobu's opinion, he was too reserved. Additionally, he was a man of few words, so he was easily misunderstood. His lack of communication skills caused him to get into fights with Sanemi and Obanai almost every time they had to interact with each other. There were even times when he got into conflicts with Tengen and Gyomei.
However, the worst fight he ever got into, in Shinobu's opinion, was with Inori. Shinobu remembered how tense the atmosphere was during that Pillar Meeting. She didn't hear the full argument, but from what she heard, Giyu mentioned something about her ability to see the dead, and that was the crossing point for Inori.
Shinobu didn't even know how a discussion about training programs and patrol regions ended with an argument about the dead, but she speculated that Giyu must've said something along the lines of how it was none of his business, and Inori had to insist that he was a pillar, and thus, it was part of his business. Giyu probably mentioned one of the dead by accident, and that led to a conflict. There was no screaming, but it was enough to garner the others' attention.
It was a shock because Inori was someone who understood what was beneath the skin. She knew most of their pasts, so she knew why they acted the way they did. She knew their reasons and while she didn't justify all of them, she understood where they came from, and she knew how to mind her own business. That was partly why she got along with everyone. So, it was unthinkable for her to argue with someone.
Shinobu knew that both sides were probably in the wrong, and Inori herself admitted that she was overreacting, but that argument just made Giyu's image in the other pillars' eyes worse. And while both Giyu and Inori resolved their argument the next day, neither holding a grudge, the memory of that tense atmosphere still made Shinobu choke on her own breath. It was understandable that Kagaya became worried.
So basically, Oyakata-sama wants us as fellow pillars to show more concern for Tomioka-san who has isolated himself. Shinobu concluded. But Himejima-san said things at face value. The others are bound to misinterpret Oyakata-sama's wish.
"We just have to make Tomioka smile, right?" Kyojuro beamed, his loud voice slightly stunning the others. "This is Oyakata-sama's wish, so I, Rengoku Kyojuro, will definitely do everything in my power to assist."
And there's the misinterpretation.
"Rengoku-san, I don't think—"
"I will work hard as well!" Mitsuri cut Shinobu off, face flushed with excitement. "I also want to see Tomioka-san smile and furthermore, this is Oyakata-sama's wish! I will do anything for Oyakata-sama!"
Shinobu felt someone tap her shoulders just as she was about to open her mouth again, turning her head to see Inori with a wry smile. The Star Pillar shook her head, and Shinobu instantly knew what she was about to say.
"Let's just leave things be for now."
"Inori-chan...but they're misunderstanding the whole situation." Shinobu gestured towards Kyojuro and Mitsuri who were brimming with excitement. "At this rate, I fear that they'll just make things worse."
"They mean well. Let's watch first."
Shinobu turned her head to watch the interaction between Kyojuro, Mitsuri, and Obanai unfold. The Serpent Pillar took it upon himself to join in the fray just because he didn't like seeing Kyojuro acting so close to Mitsuri. The irritation of the task must've made him forget that Mitsuri used to be Kyojuro's tsuguko before she went independent and created Love Breathing. With Obanai being riled up and acting without thinking, the situation just became a literal problem.
At the same time, Sanemi started to stomp away from the garden. "Tch. If it's for something as unimportant as this, then I'm going back." He gritted his teeth, clenching his fists at the absurdity of the situation. "If you want to play around, then go play around on your own. I'm not joining in this dumb activity."
"Shinazugawa, are you trying to go against Oyakata-sama's wish?" Gyomei called out, causing Sanemi to stop in his tracks. "If you are prepared to trample on Oyakata-sama's order, then leave at once. I will not stop you. You are allowed to do as you wish."
Inori inwardly cringed at the calm yet coercive tone. She knew the second Gyomei brought up Kagaya's name was the second when Sanemi wouldn't turn back. The Wind Pillar respected their master too much for that. Her thoughts were proven correct when Sanemi gritted his teeth in restrained anger, turned around, and stomped back to sit beside her on the soft grass.
"Then, everyone please put your heads together on what to do to make Tomioka smile," Gyomei said, sweeping his blind eyes over the circle of pillars again. "However, I am not skilled in bringing smiles to other people's faces, so please don't mind my inability to help and express your own ideas."
Shinobu sweatdropped. Amongst the nine gathered pillars, the one who most likely could make Giyu smile was either Kyojuro with his infinite optimism, Mitsuri with her endless brightness, or Inori who knew the right button to press to get the reaction she wanted. The other pillars were hopeless, some more than others, when it came to putting smiles on people's faces.
As they exchanged ideas, Shinobu was more than prepared to detach herself from reality.
·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙
"Pardon my intrusion."
"Yo, Tomioka." Tengen looped his arm around Giyu's shoulder, guiding him into the garden where everyone was gathered. "Come in. Come in. We're going to have a flamboyant arm-wrestling contest to decide who's the strongest pillar."
"But we don't have any new pillars." Giyu's expression was a mixture of a deadpan and confusion. Nobody could blame him since the busy pillars were gathered, unofficially, just to conduct something as unimportant as arm wrestling. "We already did that when Hoshizora and Tokito got promoted."
"Well, we decided it's time for a flamboyant evaluation."
Inori and Shinobu exchanged glances before sighing in unison. The first plan, Tengen's plan, was to have an arm-wrestling competition and deliberately let Giyu win, though Inori doubted he would feel happy even if he won.
"We all lost to Himejima-san, so you should flamboyantly challenge him, Tomioka."
"Excuse me, I'll be taking my leave." Giyu, snapping back to his senses, turned and was more than ready to leave. Inori couldn't help but facepalm at the situation.
Shinobu hastily grabbed his haori sleeve before he could step out of the gates, smiling her usual smile. "Ara, ara, Tomioka-san. You're as unsociable as ever. Improving the friendship between pillars is also important."
"Then, the rest of you can improve your friendship on your own. It has nothing to do with me."
"If you go back just like that, the others will think that you're too afraid of Himejima-san and ran away like a coward. Are you alright with that?" Shinobu smiled when Giyu narrowed his eyes. She knew that he was unexpectedly competitive despite not liking meaningless fights, so she used that to her advantage. "Good luck, Tomioka-san. I'll be cheering for you."
Shinobu watched as the match unfolded. Tengen had called out Gyomei's name, silently implying that he needed to find a way to somehow lose. She sat down beside Inori on the grass again, smiling in despair. "Inori-chan, out of ten, how bad will this end?"
"Eleven."
·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙
"Uzui-san, what is the meaning of this?" Shinobu lowered her voice as best as she could. She discreetly gave Inori, who was distracting a blank-looking Giyu with some snacks, a thumbs up. "I thought the plan was to let him win? Forget losing to Himejima-san and you, he ended up losing to Rengoku-san and Shinazugawa-san whose physiques aren't that different from him. Barely winning against Mitsuri-san and beating Inori-chan, Muichiro-kun, Iguro-san, and me won't make him smile. This is just the same as our last arm-wrestling competition. There's no change whatsoever."
"But Himejima-san won, so there's no way I can lose, right?"
"Himejima-san as well, what were you thinking?"
"I...didn't know this contest had that kind of purpose."
"You...didn't know?"
"Namu..."
Shinobu facepalmed, sighing so loudly that she was sure her sister could hear her. She could feel Tengen placing his elbow on her head, and for once, she understood why Inori kicked Tengen every time they met.
"Kocho, don't get angry because you're at the bottom of the league again."
"I'm just baffled. I won't get angry over something like this."
"But you have no strength at all." Tengen shook his head. "Don't you think you should train more? What's those thin jelly arms going to do? You're even worse than the kid."
"Shall I call for Inori-chan and have you repeat that?" Shinobu smiled despite the veins popping out of her temples. "It's not as though one only depends on raw strength in actual battles."
"Don't worry, Shinobu-chan." Mitsuri bounded over, her hushed voice full of motivation. "I may not look like it, but I'm actually really good at making people laugh. Leave it to me."
Mitsuri tiptoed towards Giyu, snickering to herself. She didn't even register the panicked look Inori gave her before she started tickling Giyu. As someone with little siblings, she knew that tickling people would make them laugh. She did it with her little siblings and even to Inori once, and it never failed. Mitsuri just forgot that Giyu was an adult male who was not in the slightest bit ticklish.
"Ah...I'm...I'm so sorry!"
As expected, not only did Giyu not smile, but he even looked repulsed, or traumatized. Mitsuri suddenly came back to her senses and scampered away. Her face was redder than the roses in the garden as she ran past him and tackled Inori to the ground. Mitsuri buried her face in Inori's lap, depressed and embarrassed.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I really want to disappear right now. Inori-chan, please let me disappear." Mitsuri felt so ashamed that she cried into the younger girl's lap, crying even harder when Inori draped her haori to cover her seemingly burning head and patted her back rather awkwardly.
"Tomioka! Is that heart of yours even humane!? Do you even have a shred of humanity in you!?" Obanai crouched beside the crying Mitsuri, not knowing what to do, so he let Inori do her thing. He was so furious that his voice shook and veins popped out of his temples. "How could you trample on Kanroji's praiseworthy efforts!? I will never forgive you for the rest of my life!"
Inori shot Shinobu a panicked look when Obanai grabbed the handle of his sword, all thoughts of making Giyu smile thrown out of the window. Fortunately, Kyojuro chose that time to slam the door connecting the garden to the estate open. Nobody knew when he had left the garden or why he returned with a pair of glasses perched on top of his head, but Inori and Shinobu felt both dizzy and relieved at the sight of Kyojuro.
"Tomioka! Have you seen my glasses?" Kyojuro stomped towards Giyu. "I was looking for it, but I can't seem to find them anywhere!"
Rengoku-san, you don't even use glasses. Inori felt like her estate had been turned into a daycare for childish adults. What made you think it's a good idea to use glasses? What are you even trying to achieve?
"It's on your head." If possible, Giyu looked even more terrified. "Rengoku, not only have your eyesight gone bad, did your brain go bad too?"
Kyojuro's facial expression froze, causing him to look like a smiling statue. A few beats of awkward silence passed before Kyojuro found his voice again. "Nope! No matter how many people there are, there's no way to make Tomioka smile!"
Shinobu took a deep breath, moved to sit beside Inori, and proceeded to bury her face into the younger girl's shoulder with the loudest sigh Inori had ever heard Shinobu make. "Rengoku-san, I can't even...do you even wear glasses in the first place?"
"No! I can see things clearly even from fifty meters away. This was something I bought for the sake of making Tomioka smile!" Kyojuro exclaimed with a bright smile, not even bothered that his plan messed up so badly.
"You have to admit, Shinobu-san, that's actually sweet of him." Inori sweatdropped. She felt incredibly awkward as she sat on the grass with Mitsuri still sniffling into her lap and Shinobu leaning against her shoulder, forced to watch the disaster of making Giyu smile unfold.
Inori scanned her garden, realizing that only Shinobu and herself were left to try. Muichiro was feeding her fish without a care for the situation. Sanemi was playing around with the beetles he found in her garden without a care either. Gyomei admitted that he could not be depended on for the 'make Giyu smile' endeavor. Obanai was brimming with hatred and would've unsheathed his blade had Inori not coaxed Mitsuri to grab his sleeve.
"Inori-chan, can Tomioka-san even smile?"
Inori sighed. She knew, of course, what could make Giyu smile. But all of them involved mentioning Sabito or Tsutako's name, and she didn't want to do that because it could backfire and end up with him and her having a screaming fest at each other. She wanted to make Giyu smile from something that didn't involve what she shouldn't have known.
But she wasn't particularly close with Giyu either. They talked every now and then, but she didn't hang out with him as often as she did with Muichiro, Shinobu, Mitsuri, Kyojuro, or even Tengen. He didn't bother training with her like Sanemi and Obanai often did either. Even Gyomei, who was so busy and uncomfortable around children that she limited herself to only interacting with him when she needed him to help her train, was someone she hung out with more often than Giyu.
She wouldn't mind calling him a friend, but they were more like coworkers than friends. They only talked when they had their semi-annual Pillar Meeting or were given a joint mission. Outside of that, she could count on one hand the number of times they had an idle conversation. Simply put, Inori knew almost nothing about Giyu, nothing other than what Sabito and Tsutako had told her.
"I got it." Shinobu suddenly stood up. "Inori-chan, I know what can make Tomioka-san smile. Come here with me for a bit."
Inori gently pried Mitsuri from her lap, leading her into her kitchen. She let Mitsuri wallow in embarrassment with a few plates of snacks and Obanai for company before following Shinobu. The two walked across the garden towards Sanemi, who was crouched under a tree.
"Shinazugawa-san, Shinazugawa-san." Shinobu smiled as she crouched beside Sanemi, Inori following suit with a puzzled expression.
"Hah? What?" Sanemi placed the stag beetle he found back to the ground, turning to glare at the two girls with hostile bloodshot eyes. Though he knew the glare wouldn't work on them. They had forcibly treated him enough times for them to get used to his glares.
He was proven correct when Shinobu leaned forward to whisper in his ear, making sure Inori could hear her. "Tomioka-san likes to eat salmon daikon."
"Oh, right." Inori recalled the time she was nearly blinded by his smile. "He smiled once after eating that. Maybe he can smile again."
"So? What does that have to do with me?" Sanemi glared at their smiling faces as if he wanted to kill someone, preferably Giyu.
"Shinazugawa-san, think about it," Shinobu said, "Tomioka-san will most likely smile if he's offered salmon daikon. So please invite him to eat salmon daikon with you."
That alone was enough to make Sanemi stand up and shout, "Hah!? Why the hell do I have to do shit like that? Why don't you two just invite him your—"
"Shinazugawa-san, it's all for Oyakata-sama," Shinobu cut him off with a smile while Inori was also internally wondering why they couldn't just invite Giyu themselves.
Expectedly, Kagaya's name was enough to render Sanemi silent. Shinobu used that chance to speak again. "Shinazugawa-san, if you successfully make Tomioka-san smile, do you have any idea how proud and happy Oyakata-sama will be? He will definitely smile at you and say, 'thank you, Sanemi. You are such a wonderful and amazing child'. Don't you want to make Oyakata-sama happy?"
Inori bit her lips to stop herself from laughing at the aggressively gentle way Shinobu was manipulating Sanemi. She decided to add in her own fun. "Please, Shinazugawa-san? For Oyakata-sama."
Sanemi clenched his fist. He turned his head to the other side, coincidentally seeing Giyu's unreadable expression. Irritation turned into fury as his mind immediately interpreted Giyu's expression as someone looking down on others. But despite his hands that shook, and the throbbing blood vessels near his temples, Sanemi took a deep breath and pointed his finger at Inori. "Fine. But I'm keeping that stag beetle."
"Of course." Inori beamed, clapping her hands. "I wish you luck, Shinazugawa-san. Please do your best."
Perhaps it was because he wanted to fulfill Kagaya's wish, to see his father figure happy and proud of him. Or maybe his big brother instinct just wanted to spoil the girl he thought of as a sister. Either way, Sanemi approached Giyu and opened his mouth.
"H...hey, Tomioka." His voice was trembling in rage, sounding higher than usual. His smile was also crooked and looked more like a grimace. Sanemi didn't need a mirror to know that his face looked like crap. Still, he gritted his teeth and continued on. "La...later...do you want to eat some salmon daikon to...together?"
Inori honestly felt touched at the amount of effort Sanemi was displaying. She didn't expect him to go so far but she guessed she should have, considering how much the Wind Pillar respected their master. Still, she couldn't help but be amazed at his effort. After all, his anger was clear to anyone with a functioning brain.
"No."
Though it seemed like Giyu's brain had malfunctioned some time ago.
"I had salmon daikon just now."
Shinobu actually banged her head against the tree, taking deep breaths as she prayed for Kanae to bestow upon her the patience she needed.
Inori herself had walked away as fast as she could, completely ignoring the obvious sound of Sanemi's rupturing blood vessels. She went to sit next to Muichiro, laying her head down on his lap. She smiled at the confused expression Muichiro gave her.
"Mui, shall we watch the clouds?"
They ignored the birds that flew away, as well as Sanemi's beast-like howl that echoed in the air.
"What's that cloud called again?"
·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙
Giyu dropped the sake cup, his mouth hanging agape as soon as Mitsuri and Kyojuro finished their drunk explanation. "That was Oyakata-sama's order? Tanjiro said that Shinazugawa just really wanted to have salmon daikon with me."
"Hell fucking no." Sanemi slammed his own cup to the table with a growl. "I wouldn't even talk to your annoying ass if it wasn't for Oyakata-sama."
Tengen laughed, falling to his back as he continued to wheeze. "The best thing is that the very next day, the kid was seen carrying a cart full of ohagi to the Wind Estate. Were they all for you, Shinazugawa?"
"Don't know. I forgot." Sanemi would never admit that after he was stopped from pummeling Giyu to death, Inori felt guilty for forcing him and ended up buying tons of ohagi. He would never admit how he smiled and got teased as he drowned in his favorite food.
"But, man, just what did you fight the kid about?" Tengen asked the question that's been plaguing his mind. "We're all discussing something back then, and she suddenly sounded so angry. It was flamboyant but creepy at the same time. Your argument with her was what probably pushed Oyakata-sama to make us make you smile."
"Argument? I don't think we argued." Giyu swayed in his seat, recalling all his interactions with Inori. "Ah. Back then...she told me I needed to start acting like a pillar, and then I told her that just because she knew Sabito and my sister doesn't mean she has the right to act like a medium. I think I hit a nerve when I said that."
"You don't say? Man, you're dumb as fuck." Sanemi downed another cup, pouring more sake into it. "Hoshizora's going to play medium once and never bring it up again, especially if you ask her to. In fact, she hates being a medium or some shit. She wants to know people from her own observations and not some story the dead told her. You calling her a medium just pissed her off the damn borders."
"But you two made up and get along so all's good!" Mitsuri pumped her fists into the air, downing another cup even as her words slurred to the point it became hard to understand her.
"I think it's about time we stop drinking." Obanai took the cup out of Mitsuri's hand, placing it at the far end of the table and out of her reach.
Mitsuri continued to giggle even as her head slumped on the table. Her blurry eyes focused on a picture framed on the wall. It was a picture of Tengen and his wives, but Hinatsuru was carrying a little girl who looked eerily similar to a certain deceased Star Pillar. It took Mitsuri a few seconds to realize that it was a picture taken when Inori was turned into a child years ago.
Inori-chan, Shinobu-chan, Muichiro-kun, and Himejime-san...are you all watching us? Mitsuri giggled again, snuggling into Obanai's side. We're all smiling right now.
·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙