-▪︎☆♡☆▪︎-
HE CAN'T STOP STARING.
hikari just continued to smile at him, her eyes crinkled in the corners. muichiro could see her elongated fangs, a symbol of her excitement. her hands rest easy on her lap, her cheeks red. the sun has fully set, the room dark. nobody bothered to light a lamp, but they still see each other in brighter light than ever before.
"when did you remember that?" hikari asks.
"i had a dream on a mission." muichiro explains. "i was mad about something... but i forgot what."
"i was late." hikari answers. "you had been waiting on me, so you were pouting over it. i went ahead and did just that, and you forgave me."
muichiro hums, smiling softly as he looks down. hikari twiddles her thumbs nervously. she switches to swiping away a strand of hair, desperately trying to keep her breathing under control.
muichiro, of course, senses it.
without speaking, he rests his hand on hers. hikari tenses up, flicking her eyes to see the contrast in his skin tone, as compared to her. his nails are shorter, and colored a natural hue. hers are long and black, yet another sign of her demonism.
hikari calms a bit from her flustered manner, and muichiro's serenity returns once more. their breathing synchronizes to one steadfast rythym, their heartbeats lined up like drumline, working together to ring through the air.
hikari smiles softly at muichiro before locking their hands, and sending him a reassuring squeeze.
-▪︎☆♡☆▪︎-
it was sunny. hikari couldn't leave the room. however, she didn't let that get her down, even when muichiro ended up leaving to train.
"yoo-hoo!"
hikari gasps and runs to the door. she unlocks it before running back to the shadows, anticipation building up as she watches mitsuri enter the room.
"hello!" mitsuri rings out. as soon as she closes the door, hikari runs up to her, and hugs her tightly.
"guess what? the kamado boy is here!" mitsuri squeals.
"really?" hikari gasps. "where is he?"
"he went off to the woods i think, but we can visit him later." mitsuri nods. "for now, how about i braid your hair?"
hikari gasps and eagerly nods. "okay!" she runs to grab a hairbrush and some ties, handing them to mitsuri with a wide smile. she sits down in front of mitsuri, keeping her posture straight.
"so, anything interesting happen?"
"no." hikari lies. mitsuri gasps as she begins brushing hikari's hair, able to sense the lie from a mile away.
"ooh! tell me! tell me!" mitsuri giggles, wiggling in her seat. hikari blushes profusely, but she clears her throar nonetheless.
-▪︎☆♡☆▪︎-
"hey! what's the matter with you?!" tanjiro yells, grabbing muichiro's wrist. the mist pillar had just slapped a child, enraging the red-head.
"let me go." muichiro calmly says, not budging under tanjiro's grip. he punches the red-head in the stomach, illiciting a groan.
"why would you hit a kid?!"
"he wouldn't give me the key." muichiro deadpans. he sends his eyes to tanjiro's box, remembering that hikari's friend was in there.
he didn't remember her name, however.
"shame on you! how would hikari-chan feel about this?!" tanjiro says, utilizing the pillar's one weakness.
in response, the younger teen's face hardens. tanjiro's eyes widen in surprise as the blue-eyed boy steps forward, harshly looking at the fifteen-year-old.
"bring her up again, i'll snap your wrist." muichiro threatens as he snaps free of tanjiro. tanjiro grabs the child, who begins releasing a string of insults and curses.
"you're just worthless." muichiro deadpans. "you serve no true purpose. the only reason you exist is to forge swords for the demon slayers. in fact, this conversation is a waste of time, when i could be saving people."
"you mean smooching the dumb girl you snuck in." the boy grumbles. muichiro raises his hand once more, prepared to backhand the boy.
"oh-em-gee! hikari-chan!"
mitsuri's scream is heard throughout the whole village. tanjiro fights a smile, whereas muichiro just stares in confusion, his hand still lingering in the air.
tanjiro snaps back to reality, remembering muichiro's harsh words. he slaps the younger boy in a fit of anger.
"you were too cruel!" tanjiro scolds. "yes, they forge our swords. but they are a key part to our work! without the swords they forged, we wouldn't be able to slay dem-"
muichiro knocks out tanjiro, bored of his monologue that he wasn't actually listening to.
he turns to the boy, snatches the key, and takes off.
-▪︎☆♡☆▪︎-
as muichiro battles the mechanical doll, his mind wanders to hikari. tanjiro brought her up, and the mist pillar felt his entire body go through a factory reset.
ever since hikari told him what happened, it was like his life began to flood through whatever amnesic barrier his mind had set up. it was as though a hurricane full of memories had finally arrived to the coast, and the levees entirely gave out.
even when he made eye contact with tanjiro, muichiro wasn't fully there. tanjiro had noticed it, of course. the way that muichiro seemed to be seeing two things at once- the present, and the past.
he was caught in the eye of the storm. memories- the debris- could be caught here and there in a few quick glimpses. muichiro was spinning around, panicking at the sight of the storm around him.
he could see a boy in a dark yukata, his face displayed in a frown. he could see the calm gaze of the woman who once mothered him. red eyes of a father that died in an effort to save his ill wife.
he could see her yellow kimono. her green eyes always did stand out, even in the darkness. her eyes were like a star in the night, always glimmering. though she now felt light years away.
she was always there for him. she would comfort him when yuichiro picked on him, called him names, made him feel bad about himself. she was the one who cried with him when his parents died. she was the one who played with him by the babbling brook, the one who caught frogs with him, and vowed to marry him when she was older.
he remembered her telling him to look for the light in the dark. his mother and father had died. he couldn't see a way out.
but he remembered her hand in his. she told him that even in the darkness, light could still shine. dark was the night, a cold veil casted over the world. it consumed as it went on. but the stars shined on.
always find the stars.
that was what she told him. to look for the shine in the dark. he had to find that, cling to that. it was to be his key, his way to find happiness again.
-▪︎☆♡☆▪︎-
"you have to do that." hikari smiles. "i know it's hard, especially when the sky is cloudy. you may have to push your eyes to their limits to find it, but i assure you, it's there, mui-chan. it's always there."
muichiro's glassy eyes suddenly rain a waterfall. hikari holds him tighter against her chest, leaning her head on his.
"rain, too. rain is hard. it may seem sad, despairing. it may feel like it will never end. but afterwards, a rainbow is born. after the chilling of the winter, when your bones hurt, and firewood and coal are necessities, the spring season brings abundant flowers. the cherry blossoms bloom again. carnations bloom wildly, exploding with life." hikari says softly. "do you understand? you need to always find the light, even in the darkness."
hikari sees the clouds part overhead. a smile creeps onto her face, and she picks her head up.
"see?"
muichiro opens his eyes. he sees her hand pointing to the hole in the sky.
within the hole, a sea of shimmering stars appears.
"the darkness bears the stars, muichiro." hikari says happily. she looks down, seeing muichiro's lips parted, his glossy eyes wide. "they shine down on you."
"even now, your tears shine, too." hikari says softly. "so, from now on, when you feel dark, promise me you'll look for the light."
"i p-promise." muichiro hiccups. he wipes his face, trying desperately to hide his pain. hikari pulls his hands away, holding them close to her heart.
"you don't have to hide your tears." she says softly. for once, muichiro sees her own tears forming, a line of silver trickling down her cheek.
she was right. tears shine, too.
-▪︎☆♡☆▪︎-
he never told her. he never told her that in that darkness, that pain when he was left alone, she was always the shine.
even when he forgot her, when his life was left blank, and his memories locked away, she was the shine. she was always in his dream, always the voice in his head telling him what to do.
it was her. she was the one who made him realize that even in the darkness, the stars shine on. and for muichiro tokito, hikari nara was the shining star.
-▪︎☆♡☆▪︎-
muichiro comes back to the room. hikari sits on the floor, writing something on parchment. he sees her hair done in two braids, clearly mitsuri's doing.
"hello, mui-chan!" hikari sings out. muichiro remains silent, unsure of his next step. hikari continues to write, humming to herself softly as she does so.
"did your training go well? i'm surprised you took so long!" hikari giggles.
"it was fine." muichiro nods. hikari puts the pen down, and finally looks up at muichiro.
"want to go visit whats-her-face?" he blurts out.
that was not his intent. at all.
"mui-chan, i need a name?" hikari chuckles in a light-hearted manner.
"your demon friend."
hikari gasps and stands up. "yes, of course! ooh, and we can visit tanjiro-kun as well! mitsuri nii-san said he was here."
"nii-san? when the hell did that happen?" muichiro snorts as hikari puts on her zori.
"while you were training!" hikari replies as she pulls on her haori. "she also did my hair. do you like it?" she says, holding up on of her braids. muichiro softly smiles and nods.
"yes. it's very pretty."
hikari follows him through the village, making her way with him to the kamado's. she gets excited just at the thought of visiting nezuko, a little pep in her step.
muichiro sneaks into the room. tanjiro is asleep on a futon, making hikari stop in her tracks. muichiro simply approaches him, and he pinches the older boy's nose shut.
at this, tanjiro finally awakes. he recognizes muichiro, but before he can greet him, hikari pops up, placing her head on muichiro's shoulder. they cheeks smush together as she smiles at tanjiro.
"hello, tanjiro-kun!"
"oh- hikari-chan?" tanjiro says a smile on his face. "it's nice to see you!"
"and you as well!" hikari smiles. she pulls away from muichiro, looking over at the box in the corner.
she just sits down next to it, not bothering to wake nezuko up.
"have you seen kanamori? he's my new smith." muichiro asks. the box creeps open as tanjiro and muichiro engage in a conversation, but hikari is all too distracted by nezuko.
"ah! hello!" she sings out. nezuko sleepily blinks at her, her hair also in braids. all at once, she erupts with life, and throws herself onto hikari.
"i missed you!"
"hmm, hmm!" nezuko happily hums. she pulls away before picking up one of hikari's own braids.
"yes! mitsuri visited me as well." hikari says. nezuko hums before crawling into hikari's lap, asserting her spot there. hikari begins petting her head, delighting the demon girl.
a meow is heard. one that is all too familiar. nezuko crawls out of hikari's lap as the latter gazes at chachamaru, worry suddenly ringing through her.
"hey, sweetie." she softly says. muichiro and tanjiro take notice, both familiar with who the cat is, and when it shows itself.
hikari's spine chills as her eyes suddenly sharpen. muichiro sees her catlike pupils, the way her eyes suddenly turn to a neon green, with a teal center, and neon yellow outline. her breathing sharpens as she turns to the door.
"get back." she says firmly.
from the door, an odd creature peeps out. he has strange horns, and a rather peculiar wart on hid head. hikari doesn't detect him as a demon, but it soon hits everyone like a ton of bricks.
"upper rank!"
-▪︎☆♡☆▪︎-
now it's time for a taisho era secret!
i hear mitsuri screamed so loud, everyone in the village was extremely startled. hikari was utterly embarassed, but mitsuri just continued to bombard her with questions.