"Thanks, [name]. You did a flamboyant job in saving me," Tengen spoke out as he ruffled [name] who was seen sitting on the bed in the Butterfly Estate. She could only nod her head in response as her head was hanging low then. Her lips pressed curled up into a smile then as she had just woken up from sleeping for a whole month.
Again.
"If you hadn't reached in time, I think I would have to retire by then. Since he was practically aiming for my limbs," Tengen chuckled out, trying to cheer [name] up a bit too much. [name] then laughed a little in response, hoping that Tengen would leave her alone soon.
All she could remember then was the sadness rising within her back at the Red Light District.
"You were never that special anyway, [name]," Ryuu spoke out with a smile on his face, the smile she remembers loving it so badly and wish to look at it every night. Yet, there he was, pinning her against the ground as his supposed nichirin blade was stabbed straight into her shoulder.
His smile, soon turned into a smirk.
"What is it like? To watch your father perform seppuku before you?" he asked in a slight taunting voice and [name] could only bite her lips in response then as she tried her best to not lash out at her childhood best friend.
"Ah, right, you became the Shadow Hashira, right? I heard from the demon slayers I devoured that you had no choice but to take on the role. Even though you have yet to hone your skills to it's maximum," Ryuu added on, and [name] could only watch then.
"I have no business here actually. I just dropped by to see you," he said with a smile as he peered deep into her dark blue ocean eyes. [name] could only allow the tears she had kept within herself for far too long to flow down as Ryuu pressed the nichirin blade deeper into her shoulder.
"You're not as powerful as me, you shouldn't have taken on the role of being a demon slayer in the first place. Maybe then, your father might still be alive," he spoke out, and [name]'s dark blue ocean eyes could only widen then.
"Father treated you like he was your own..." she whispered out as she raised her nichirin blade with her less dominant hand and slashed upwards, causing Ryuu an injury as he had to pull his nichirin blade out of [name]'s shoulder.
"Shut up, your father never once saw me as his own. He only saw you, and found you much more suitable to be the Shadow Hashira," he muttered out, and [name] could only smile a sad smile on her face then.
"Wipe that fucking smile off your face! You always smile in such a situation, it ticks me off!" he spat out, only to have [name] continue smiling in response.
"[name]-san!"
"[name]?" Tengen called out and [name] slowly looked up to him. She then raised her left hand to rub her left eye as she smiled softly at him in response. Tengen then chuckled a little as he patted her on the head.
"The Kamado kid along with Tomioka came to see you earlier on to see if you had woken up," Tengen spoke out and looked at [name] who was forcing herself to smile in response. The door to the room she was resting in soon slid opened, and in came Shinobu who had a smile on her face.
"Morning, [name]," she called out.
"Morning, Kocho-san,"
--
"You know, Tomioka-san, Tanjiro, the both of you could have just waited for me outside at the entrance instead of being in my room and waiting for me to finish changing," [name] spoke out as she was standing in front of the full-length mirror that Tanjiro remembered it was from her old house then.
They were seen seated on the tatami mat, with their legs crossed as they placed an elbow on one of their knees, resting their chins against the palm of it. Giyuu's crow was seen walking around and he could only watch as his crow bumped into the things that were placed in [name]'s room.
Tanjiro on the other hand had his crow perched on the top of his head and he was pecking Tanjiro's head harshly, yet, Tanjiro did not feel a single thing from his crow then.
Their eyes then watched as [name] proceeded to tie her hair up into a high ponytail. The way her long brown hair would follow through as she tugged it through the hair tie that she often uses ever since young. A small smile graced upon their lips as they couldn't help but let their hearts pound hard against their chest as they looked at [name] from behind.
They then watched as [name] turned to look at them, her ever so kind smile plastered on her face, along with her soft-looking dark blue ocean eyes that held nothing but kindness within them as well as she proceeded to walk to them.
[name] then sighed a little as Giyuu soon reached out to her haori and handed it to her, which she gladly accepted it, and Tanjiro did the same thing too, only handing her the nichirin blade that she uses.
Her father's nichirin blade to be specific.
They watched the way she slipped her arms through the sleeves of the haori and eventually tugging the collar to adjust it. They then watched as she grabbed hold of her nichirin blade, and soon strapped it against her white belt.
She then smiled once more as she bends down in front of Tanjiro and used two fingers to push his lips up. She then walked over to Giyuu as well, doing the same to his face too.
"Going on a mission with me means you must smile!" she said with a smile, and both Tanjiro and Giyuu could only smile then at how positive [name] was.
Yet, little did they know she was trying her best to not crumble.
"Let's go!" she said with a smile as she grabbed them by their wrists and pulled them up with ease. Giyuu's eyes then widened along with Tanjiro as they realized how strong [name]'s pull was as compared to before.
They soon followed [name] who walked out of the Shadow Estate, and down the pathway, heading towards the entrance of the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters. They walked past the former Flame Hashira, Rengoku Shinjuro, who then turned to look at the retreating figure of [name].
He had always wondered then when he first met Hiroto who brought in Ryuu and [name], he often questioned his friend back then.
"Why Ryuu? Why not [name]?" Shinjuro asked as he had arrived at the Shadow Estate to have a look at Kyojuro's training as his eldest son was training together with Ryuu, with [name] sitting outside on the patio with Senjuro as they watched the training going on.
"Ryuu is a special boy," Hiroto answered, and Shinjuro raised an eyebrow in response.
"Do you not see the detest look he has in his face whenever [name] holds the wooden sword?" Shinjuro asked, and Hiroto chuckled once more. Shinjuro then could only sigh at how cheerful and bright the Shadow Hashira was.
"What nonsense!"
And that's when Shinjuro realized, how much trust Hiroto had placed in Ryuu.
Only to be betrayed in the end.
Was it a good choice in making her train to become a demon slayer? He had watched her grown-up, and sometimes he would notice that she would hesitate to kill some demons when they were out on missions together with Kyojuro. But eventually, she would, and she would pray for their pitiful soul to be released.
Just like how Tanjiro was.
Shinjuro then felt a small hand holding his arm. He then looked and could only smile in response then at [name] who had done so as she had on a soft smile on her face. Something that she would often do back when she was much younger and wasn't a demon slayer.
She would often go up to him whenever she saw him in a daze and tried to gain his attention. Which she never fails to do so.
"Rengoku-san, you're wearing very little as always. Please bundle up if not the Flame Hashira might need to carry you to the Butterfly Estate," [name] said with a smile, and Shinjuro could only chuckle as he patted [name] on the head and turned to take his leave.
[name] then turned and faced Giyuu and Tanjiro who were waiting for her then. She smiled at them once more and they couldn't help but smile back at her. Giyuu then motioned for her to come closer, and she did so, only to have a giggle escape her lips as Giyuu placed a flower onto her ponytail.
"Tomioka-san, you often do this whenever we have joint missions," [name] said with a smile, and Giyuu could only chuckle in response then. [name] then noticed from the corner of her eyes that Tanjiro had on a slight pout, and she couldn't help but gently patted Tanjiro on the side of his face.
"Maybe when you're taller than me by a head, Tanjiro, you'll be able to put flowers into my hair," [name] spoke out with a smile, and Tanjiro could only continue to pout slightly in response.
It wasn't because he wanted to do it.
He just felt jealous when Giyuu did it to [name].
And [name], knew it all too well.
"Let's go!" she said with a wide smile as she linked arms with Tanjiro and Giyuu, tugging them together as they were seen leaving the headquarters. The Hashiras who were nearby could only shake their head in response as they chuckled then.
"Who do you think [name] is going to pick?" Tengen spoke out, and he proceeded to walk together with the other Hashiras towards the courtyard.
"She might not even be choosing," Shinobu pointed out, and Tengen's eyes widened.
"A poly relationship like me?!" Tengen pointed out.
"No... There is a high chance [name] will reject them both, given how she still is in love with Ryuu even after all these years," Obanai pointed out as he handed Mitsuri a cloth as the sakura-mochi haired girl had some crumbs on her face from eating a cookie earlier on.
"How do you know she is still in love with that fucking bastard?" Sanemi asked, and Kyojuro could only chuckle a little in response then as Muichiro's ears were covered by him.
"When [name] often slept at the Butterfly Estate, I would hear her mumbling Ryuu's name out, and she would often have tears rolling down her face," Shinobu pointed out, with a sad smile on her face as she remembered once [name] was crying badly the first time after she became the Shadow Hashira.
--
"My children..." Oyakata-sama spoke out as [name] had arrived together with Giyuu and Tanjiro as they were summoned by Oyakata-sama to have a short briefing before they depart for their joint mission the next day.
"It seems that near the South district, there are cases of a demon work due to how the sun doesn't shine in the town there," Oyakata-sama spoke out.
"Some of them reported the heavy smell of blood coming from different houses at night," Oyakata-sama added on and he slowly walked towards [name], and lifted her hand up, and gently patted it in his hand.
"[name], it is the work of Ryuu,"
"It's really very dark..." Tanjiro pointed out, snapping [name] out of her thoughts as she remembered what Oyakata-sama had said to them before they departed for their joint mission. [name] then walked ahead and noticed how empty the place was, despite the district stated to be as lively as the Red Light district.
[name] then got out her nichirin blade and wield it in her hand, pointing it upwards. Her eyes then could only widen at how much her nichirin blade was shaking, and she could only grit her teeth in response then, despite the smile on her face.
She then turned to look at Tanjiro and Giyuu, the soft smile still appearing on her face.
"Oyakata-sama is right, this is the work of a demon," she pointed out, and she smiled a little then as she felt the familiar scent of Ryuu who was nearby, but given that he has yet to step out and ambush them, [name] decided to leave it as it is.
She then pinched Tanjiro's nose and she shook her head a little, telling Tanjiro not to point out where Ryuu is currently. She then slowly opened her palm and drew the words she wanted to speak, allowing Giyuu and Tanjiro to understand what she was saying.
"This must be the place," [name] whispered out as she looked at the map which she was holding. They had decided to go ahead with a stakeout first before cornering Ryuu then. [name] could only bite her lips in response a little as she settled down in the room, and she noticed that Ryuu wouldn't be coming.
For wisteria flowers were everywhere in the house they were staying in, as arranged by the Demon Slayer Corps then.
"Why did Oyakata-sama have to tell me it's you...?" [name] whispered to herself as she sighed then. She then got up and went to find Giyuu and Tanjiro, only to smile a little as she looked at them glaring at one another.
"Hai, hai. Stop glaring, your eyes might roll out of their sockets soon," [name] commented, and Tanjiro immediately covered his eyes as well as Giyuu, believing what [name] had just said.
"[name]-san, do you have any idea on how to counter Ryuu-san?" Tanjiro asked, and [name] could only laugh a little as Tanjiro was still being respectful to Ryuu, despite the betrayal he had done to her father.
"Ryuu is far more superior in using the Breath of Shadows than me," [name] commented and Giyuu could only shake his head in response then.
"I don't believe in that. If he really was far superior than you, he wouldn't resort to turning into a demon and abandoning the position of being the tsuguko of the former Shadow Hashira," Giyuu pointed out, and [name] laughed a little.
"I have yet to finish my sentence, Tomioka-san," and Giyuu had on a slight blush as [name] poked his cheek a little then. He then grabbed hold of her finger in his hand and held it gently.
"As I was saying, Ryuu is far more superior in using the Breath of Shadows than me. And what he is superior in using is only the first three styles," she commented, and that caused an alarm in both Giyuu and Tanjiro then.
"Father has always stated, to practice the first three styles of the Breath of Shadows, once you have made it to perfection, then we can proceed with the rest," [name] commented.
"And he never once taught any of us the other styles after the first three styles," [name] said with a smile.
"Which means..."
"Which means, Ryuu might have a high chance of only having three styles with him. Unless he managed to create his own other styles, then we might have a problem," she continued with a smile, and that's when they realized.
She was dropping a huge hint.
"[name]/[name]-san..." they whispered out.
"It is exactly what both of you are thinking. I will need your help in guiding the innocent lives out of this district. I'll personally deal with Ryuu myself," she said with a smile, despite the bulging vein at the back of her neck.
"But what if something terrible happens to you?" Tanjiro asked, clearly worried about [name]'s well-being. Giyuu then winced a little when he saw [name] smacking Tanjiro on the back of his head, harshly.
"Tanjiro, is that how you should be speaking to a Hashira?" she asked, and Tanjiro paled a little.
"I'm sorry, [name]-san!" and [name] laughed a little in response then as she gently ruffled his hair, and soon placed her hand against the side of his face, caressing his cheek with her thumb.
"Don't worry about me, I'll do fine," she said with a smile.
"The sun should have set by now despite how the shadows in this place are covering the sunlight," Giyuu pointed out, and [name] hummed in response then. The trio then stood up as they made their way out of the wisteria house.
They continued to walk through the town of the district they were at a mission on together. They looked around and wondered then, why were people looking at them with such caution in their eyes. Then one lady pointed to [name], only to have her eyes widened at the words that uttered from the lady's mouth.
"D-Demon..." she whispered out, and [name] could only have her eyes widened then. She knew Ryuu was nearby, but he wasn't near the lady. So why did the lady point at her instead?
"T-That sword..." she whispered out once more, and [name]'s dark blue ocean eyes could only widen once more at the hint that the lady had given her. Gritting her teeth together slightly, she flashed a smile at the lady once more.
"T-The one who has been torturing us to give sacrifices..." she whispered out some more, and [name] could only have her eyes closed as she continued to smile then at what the lady had said.
Despite the slight anger boiling within her body, and Tanjiro for once, finally realized [name] was angry due to the scent she was giving off right next to him.
"Get ready..." [name] whispered out as she took a step forward towards the lady, only to have her dark blue ocean eyes widened as the lady was terribly afraid of her. She sighed once more as she took another step forward, only to open her mouth to speak with the lady who was trembling in fear right before her.
"Gomen, I'm not the demon you are talking about. Let's get you out of here first, okay?" she asked with a smile on her face, only to hear a slight chuckle coming from behind her. That's when [name] realized, not only did Ryuu managed to manipulate the light with his Blood Demon Art technique.
He was able to trick their senses into thinking he was far away from them.
When in reality, he was right behind [name].