"Shin, concentrate on your whole surroundings. Remember to keep your mind calm." Sabito told me while walking around me with a wooden katana.
I had asked him to teach me the Eleventh Style and I haven't made any progress with this yet. It may not be done yet but it won't hurt to learn something useful as this.
If I had to be honest, I would say this style is really broken since it can block a certain amount of attacks. And when there is three of them together? Now that's really overpowered.
"Ow." I muttered out when I felt something hit my head softly. I saw Sabito tapping his wooden katana on his shoulder a few times.
"Concentrate." Sabito scolded me and I did as he told me.
I tried to concentrate on my surroundings and kept my mind calm but nothing was coming out. I just heard the wind, leaves rustling, and everything else you can hear around nature.
"Hmm... I can't do it... Or more like, I can't feel it coming out." I said with a frown.
This move is starting to annoy me... If I just knew how it works, then this wouldn't be that much of a pain in the neck. But alas, the world is not that easy for you.
"Well, it's not completed yet after all. It's not going be that easy to do it." Sabito told me with a smile. I frowned more in annoyance and swung my wooden katana back and fort since I was bored.
"If it helps you, my father told me this. Water can change into any form." Sabito told me and I stopped swinging my katana.
Oh yeah. Sakonji did say something like that in the anime. I completely forgot about that. How did it go... Place water in something and it will be a sphere? Place water in a box and it will be a square? Something close to that.
"Any form... Water...?" I muttered out while trying to remember what the Eleventh Style looked like.
Becoming one with the water. That's what Sakonji told Tanjirou to do when he kicked Tanjirou in the lake. So if I think this correctly, Giyu spread himself until he was the size of a pond?
Sounds ridiculous but it should kind of make sense in this world. Or at least in my brains, it makes sense.
One with the water... Spreading myself to my surroundings... Keep my body relaxed and my mind calm...
It wasn't that hard to 'spread' myself to my surroundings since I have a few styles that are the same topic as this one.
I could feel something coming out or appearing but wasn't completely sure. It felt like the whole world was calm and peaceful. Lull is a perfect name for this.
I felt something come near me and I subconsciously hit(?) it away. I wasn't sure what deflected it but it definitely came from me. I didn't feel myself move my katana at all. It was like the whole... atmosphere? Or whatever you call it around me deflected it itself.
I turned to look at what was coming at me and saw Sabito with his wooden katana thrown away from him. He looked surprised at something and I was also surprised.
Did I just... complete the style by accident? Something that looked so difficult was completed this easily? I feel like something is messing around with me.
"Shin... Did you just...?" Sabito asked or at least tried to ask me. He was too speechless and I was also speechless that I only nod my head.
"I... think I did it by accident..." I answered honestly. I pinched my cheek and Sabito looked at me strangely.
"Please tell me this is not a dream." I told Sabito and he patted my head.
"I can assure you that this is not a dream." Sabito told me with a big smile. I couldn't help but also smile too.
Damn it... I feel so happy now. The feeling of doing something great and helping others really is the best feeling. I felt Sabito ruffle my hair this time and I slapped his hand away with a frown.
"Stop that. You are messing my hair." I scolded Sabito and started to fix my hair.
"Sorry. But I enjoy doing this to you." Sabito told me while chuckling and helped me to fix my hair.
"You may enjoy it but I don't. Do you know how hard it's to get a hair like this?" I continued and Sabito finished fixing my hair. His smile told me that he was still amused.
"Then if I fix your hair for you, will you forgive me?" Sabito asked me.
"Umu. Then you are forgiven." I told him with my arms crossed. But then I remembered what we were doing.
"Stop distracting me and let's complete this style. Giyu will be surprised when he sees this." I scolded Sabito again but this time I chopped his head.
"But first, I need you to learn what I just did." I added and took my time explaining.
=====
"Caw caw! Kochou Shin, Urokodaki Sabito! Mission! You two have been given a mission!" my and Sabito's Kasugai Crows screamed above us. They eventually stopped flying and used us as their platforms.
And just like usual, my crow landed onto my head. I felt kind of annoyed since Sabito's bird landed onto his shoulder. It will be a long time until I'm going to get used to this stupid bird.
"I wonder what kind of mission it is that need two Hashiras." Sabito said curiously. He rubbed his crow's beak from under with his finger.
"Or I have to show you an example as your senpai." I said with a smirk. I crossed my arms and raised my head a bit to show my superiority. Sabito laughed a bit at me and I frowned a bit.
"Why are you laughing?" I asked and stopped my superiority act.
It wasn't like I didn't hate seeing others laugh but when somebody is laughing because of me, I want to know why.
"You look funny with a crow on your head." Sabito told me and pointed above me with his shaky hand. I shook my head quickly and heard the crow fly away with a few screams.
No wonder he was laughing at me...
I cleared my throat with a cough and ignored the laughing Sabito for now.
"Anyways, if this mission needs two Hashiras, we should be prepared for something dangerous. Worst case, we could be fighting against one of the Twelve Moon." I told Sabito seriously.
Not that I have to worry about the Lower Moons but if we meet one of the Upper Moons then I should concentrate on escaping and saving others.
I know that we won't meet any of the Upper Moons but with my luck, anything can happen. For example, a nine-tailed beast appearing out of nowhere or suddenly two meteors falling from the sky!
...
Yeah, not really but still. Screw the mission. Lives of humans are more important than a mission where we have to fight against one of the Upper Moons.
"Do you think we will meet one?" Sabito asked me and let the crow on his shoulder fly.
"Hmm... Maybe someone from Lower Moons." I answered and remembered a certain full black wearing Lower Moon.
Kukuku. Next time I see him, I will cut that head off from him.
"But we won't know that if we keep staying here." I added and followed the flying crows.
=====
Humu humu... A city, I see. Bright like in anime and tons of people walking around here. I'm starting to become a little bit nervous now...
But speaking about cities, I wonder if this is the city where Muzan lives. Or Tamayo. I want to meet the latter and not the former, if possible. My stats are not ready for the last boss at the moment.
Since Sabito has traveled around Japan in the past year he is leading the way around this city of... I forgot the name...
But I wonder what kind of demon is hanging around here with tons of people. It's either a demon that wants attention or a dumb demon that doesn't know how to stay quiet. Why else would this place need two Pillars?
"What should we do now?" Sabito asked me since I am the senpai in the Pillar missions. But he is the senpai in this city...
"For now, let's find a place where we can stay until night comes. If we don't find anything at night, we will search the next morning for something suspicious." I told the plan and Sabito nodded. We stood in our places and stared at each other as we were waiting for someone to lead.
"Eto... Sabito... You have been in this city before, right?" I asked and broke the awkward silence between us.
"Yes?" Sabito answered with his head tilted. Since he doesn't show that many emotions, it kind of hard to understand him.
"Then do you know where the inn is?" I asked another question and wanted to frown but kept my smile.
"Yes." Sabito answered once more and still stood still. I think we are gathering attention to ourselves by standing still...
I finally let out a sigh and placed my palm on my face. Who would have thought that Sabito is... dense? If that is the word for him.
Sabito finally realized my meaning and laughed nervously while scratching his neck.
"Gomen..." he told me and I couldn't help but laugh a bit.
"No, it was my fault for not telling you properly." I told to confused Sabito. It's not my fault that I find this a little bit funny.
=====
All right. Now that we have our own base in this city, we have to wait until it's night time and start our mission. We could always begin our searching now but something tells me that we should begin at night.
Or maybe it's just me being lazy...
I took a sip of the tea I was given by one of the innkeepers. I haven't changed my clothes into comfortable ones yet since I will be leaving soon, but it doesn't hurt to drink or eat something before we leave.
Sabito had gone somewhere and didn't tell me where. I wonder if he couldn't wait and started to search without me. Judging from Sabito's personality, it could be possible.
Drinking all the tea in my cup, I stood up and took my katana that was wrapped in purple cloth. I looked outside the window, just in case I won't waste my time by going out, and didn't see Sabito.
Did he really start without me? And I thought we were friends...
I checked my uniform's pockets and confirmed that the medical stuff and such are there before I left the inn.
Good thing I started to learn the basic knowledge from Shinobu. All the books in her room were also useful.
Kukuku. I wonder if Shinobu notices that I borrowed her books for one year when she comes back. Even if she will, I'm sure I won't get into any trouble.
It wasn't like I read her recipes for the poisons and how they are made or anything at all. I only read books about medication and all.
But still, I wonder where Shinobu got all the books from? She couldn't have brought them to her room since I was most of my time there and could have seen her at least once or twice.
Meh. Shinobu has her secrets just like I have mine. I will ask her when I get the chance.
I have been wandering around the city for a while now and I still haven't seen Sabito anywhere. My first guess was searching empty places and I haven't seen anything suspicious or strange.
There were some stalls like udon stall or takoyaki stall. If Mitsuri would have been here, she would have bought a few for herself and me.
The second guess was dark alleys. The kind of places where Muzan would smash heads like watermelons to let his stress out. If I am unlucky, I could maybe see him and then run away as fast as I can before I die.
The first dark alley I found didn't have anything strange. It was completely empty and it led to some buildings. Almost every alleys' were like that. Some of them did have some drunk people and some couples walking past but no Sabito.
And now, the third and last guess... Is this place in front of me...
Red Light District...
Nonono, even if Sabito is older than me, there is no way he is here. There is just no way... But he is a healthy young teenager so it's not a big surprise if I suddenly see his familiar head out of nowhere.
I crossed my arms and nodded in agreement with my mind before walking away. But I stopped when I saw a familiar pink head in the Red Light District.
Why must I jinx everything with my thoughts... Or is someone playing with my life without me knowing? If somebody is, then this is not funny at all.
Okay, thirteen-year-old body, it's time to stop your hormones for a while and stop Sabito from doing any indecent without me knowing.
Kukuku. If I see him doing something indecent, I will tell Sakonji and Makomo about this. Or maybe just to Sakonji since Makomo is too young to understand about this.
I noticed that Sabito's head was going far away from me and I quickly followed him before I lose him. I got some strange looks from some adults but none of them dared to ask me anything.
I feel like this is much more embarrassing than shouting out loud about my sister complex. But I have no time to think about others and need to concentrate on Sabito and maybe on sudden demons.
I tried my best not to look around myself since this is my first time around here and was a little bit curious. But as I thought about Kanae and Shinobu's reaction about me looking around this place or just being in this place, got me completely concentrate on following Sabito.
Why must I suffer like this...
=====
Great... I lost him... How the heck did I even miss him when his colorful head stands out so well!? And where the heck am I!? It was all colorful and bright around me and now it's dark and gloomy.
I ruffled my head with one hand in annoyance and looked around me. It was a simple dark one-way route and I could see a bit of the light coming from where I came from. A few bushes and trees around me.
...
Now I really want to know how the heck did I come to this way when I tried to follow Sabito... It's already night so I think Sabito went back to the inn and is maybe waiting for me. Or he is searching for me as I did to him...
Meh. No time to think about all the mistakes we did and time to make my way back to the inn. Maybe we will pass each other and keep repeating this until it's morning. That would be hilarious.
I sensed something above me and quickly jumped behind. A familiar spear was hit on the ground and a crater was made. Two red glowing eyes were glaring at me and a grin appeared on my face.
"Oya oya, what is this I see? Another failed surprise attack." I taunted the demon in front of me. I saw him grit his teeth and his glare growing up more.
"We meet again, kozo. This time I will kill you!" Ongyo-Ki roared and lunged at me at fast speed. I don't know if that is even his full speed but in my eyes, it wasn't that fast.
Ongyo-Ki swung his spear diagonally, aiming at my torso. With my eyes completely concentrated on Ongyo-Ki's spear, I ducked it and quickly took out my katana from it's wrapping.
I aimed at Ongyo-Ki's arm that held the spear and this time I got a proper hit. The arm fell down with his spear and I continued my attack.
Ongyo-Ki had his eyes wide and quickly jumped behind. He held his empty arm and the hole closed. I felt a smirk appear which made the demon in front of me angry once more.
"Finally got a proper hit on you." I said and threw his spear behind me so he couldn't get it.
"Lucky hit. Won't happen again." Ongyo-Ki scoffed and took a martial art stance. One of his legs was behind him and other in front. His arm was behind his big body so I couldn't see what he was preparing properly.
With another fast speed, his fist passed right next to my head. He was faster than last time and I wondered how heavy his spear was.
I heard rustling from my sides and something moving behind me. With a quick look, I saw three Ongyo-Ki's attacking me with their spears.
Since when did he summon one behind me? I could understand the two from bushes but what about the one behind me.
'Zen Shūchū, Kaminari no kokyū, Shichi no kata: Chidori Nagashi(Full Concentration, Breath of Thunder, Seventh Style: Chidori Stream)!' all the four Ongyo-Ki's got hit with my defensive style. It didn't stop them all from completely moving. The ones in the air were still coming at me with their spears ready. Only the ones on the ground couldn't move.
I tried to jump away quickly but the first Ongyo-Ki, in front of me, grabbed my body with his big hand and I couldn't move away.
"Hahaha! This time I will have your head, kozo!" he shouted and I prepared for the worst. I let my guard down. I didn't expect him to get this strong in one year.
I tried at least to free myself with my katana but my small hands couldn't reach Ongyo-Ki's arm.
Damn it! I'm not dying here now!
A blur appeared next to me and the next thing I see is Sabito slashing Ongyo-Ki's arm off before grabbing me out from the attack.
The two Ongyo-Ki's in the air smashed the ground where I was with their spears and a huge crater appeared.
"Who are you!?" Ongyo-Ki demanded from Sabito.
"Me? Just a Hashira passing by." Sabito said and held his katana in front of himself.