Stirring ever so slightly, you got up. You got up and looked through the window to see the sun was preparing to rise. It seems you didn't sleep for very long, but that was to be expected, you didn't have your incense sticks with you after all.
You didn't want to cause any trouble so you just laid in bed until the sun was up. A multitude of people came flooding in and thanked you once again as they kowtowed, they really seem to have a knack for apologizing.
"Aside from the injured at the clinic right now, is there anyone missing? If so, then please speak up," you asked, you had no time to check if there were casualties or not since you got poisoned. Thanks to that, you didn't even get to dream.
A young boy, who couldn't been more than 12 raised his hand, "My grandpa, the chief. He died defending me." Tears welled up in his eyes as he said this.
You couldn't help but pity him, he lost his only family and now he has to become the next chief since the former chief died. "Im sorry, if only I arrived earlier," you said, kowtowing to the boy. Though there was nothing you could've done since you knew late, you still felt responsible since it was your job to ensure their safety.
"Please don't that! You've already done is a huge favour by saving us!" he said, helping you up as you retrieved the tiny pouch by the side of the bed you slept in and pulled out a magenta colored incense stick.
"Then this is all I can offer. Write your loved one or loved ones name/s on a piece of paper and burn it in that incense stick before going to sleep."
You didn't know where those instructions came from but they were there in your head, it was a shame you couldn't do it on yourself.
You ready had that power anyway, so things were fine.
"Thank very much," he said, putting it away for now. "That aside, how are your injuries?" you remembered getting poisoned but you felt fine, in fact your body felt lighter than before.
"I feel fine." He nodded at your words, taking in a deep breath as he placed a hand on his chest.
"Thank goodness, that poison is native to this area so we know how to deal with it."
After a lunch, where you were guilt tripped to stay for, you headed home. It was still early when you arrived but you didn't get enough sleep in the village, so you wanted to rest. You lit up a few of your incense sticks, five to be exact, and waited a few minutes until you fell asleep.
......Sleep......
A young girl was in deep in the forest, crying her eyes out as she couldn't find the way home. She didn't know how long it's been but it was already nightfall and the sound of the distant howling noises and screeches scared her. She was to afraid to move, she knew nothing of this forest, she could easily get killed.
"Hey, are you alright?" She looked up, her face tear stricken, to see a young boy. She could tell he was about her age.
"No. I got lost and I don't know how to get out," she confessed to him as he squatted in front of her.
"Then let's go." He held his hand out to her but she was reluctant.
"I've been told to not follow strangers."
Even in a moment like this, if the boy in front of her looked nice, he could easily be someone wanting to hurt her.
"Oh, okay. In that case I'm..." he introduced himself. "What about you?"
"It's ......." she introduced.
"Well we're not strangers anymore then!" He smiled, offering his hand towards her once again. "So let's go, I'm pretty familiar with the place."
"Okay." Deciding to put her trust in him, she took grabbed his hands and helped her up.
"By the way, what are you doing here?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, isn't it common sense not to enter these kinds of places? Or are you stupid?" he asked, she stopped. He turned to look at the girl who had a pout on her face.
"Don't call me stupid! You're in here too!!"
"Well, at least I know my way out of the forest," he retorted, laughing at her cute pouty face. "I'm just kidding. My reason is probably worse than yours anyway. I ran away from my brother." The little girl made an “oh” noise.
"We don't have to go back then." His eyes widened as he looked at the girl and her proposition.
"What do you mean?"
"If you go back to your brother then he'll get mad at you, right? So let's just stay here. Just the two of us." The look on the girl's face was telling him she was serious about it.
He proceeded to flick her forehead as she took back her hand from him and nursed it as she squatted on the ground. "Owie!! That hurts! What's that for?!" she asked as the boy squatted too.
"Because of what you said. You can't just ask me to stay here with you. We just met," he told her with a frown before it turned into a smile. "But that thought was nice. Now let's go." They made their way out of the forest.
"Um, thank you!" She slightly bowed as he placed a hand on her head.
"Let's meet again, though I hope you won't get lost next time." He smiled at her as she pouted.
"I won't!"
"Remember to grow taller too." The boy grinned.
"I will! Just wait!"
......End of Sleep......
You woke up, you blinked a couple of times before extending your arm into the air, after a few seconds of that you placed that hand on your forehead as you thought about the dream.
"Who the hell were these kids and why can't I remember them?" It annoyed you to no end that you couldn't remember their names, but it annoyed you even more that it felt like it was important to you.
Deciding it was best if you forgot it for now, you got up and was surprised to find Muichirou, sitting on the porch. He was cradling that overzealous crow of his as you sat next to him, a distasteful caw came from his crow as she flew away.
"Why are you here?" you asked, cutting to the chase, the blank look on your face looked at the blue blooming Forget Me Nots.
"I don't know." he shrugged, sparing you a glance to see if your expression changed, but it didn't.
Wait...... Why was that important to him?
"You don't know?" you repeated, raising a brow as your crow, who you named Kuro recently, was somewhere in the background fighting with Muichirou's crow.
"When I heard you got back, something inside me told me go visit you, so I did, and so, here I am," he explained as you nodded. "So tell me, what exactly was our relationship in the past? I've done things I've usually never done before, feel things I never did before, so naturally this is no coincidence. When I heard your name it was like I was supposed to remember it, why is that?"
You merely shook your head. "I have no idea. It's the same for me, the feeling of importance I felt for you when I heard Oyakata-sama mention it. But just like your dilemma, I have no idea." You remembered when Kagaya briefed you a bit on the pillars before meeting them and your blank faltered for a quick moment when you heard his name, Tokito Muichirou. "The memories I chose to forget are becoming rather troublesome now." You clicked your tongue in annoyance, even if you wanted t remember you couldn't at this point.
"Well then there's no point. It's not something we can do about. Though I have a proposition for you." He turned to you, his face serious.
"Oh?" you hummed. "And what would that be?"
"Why don't we see each other as equals?" he said with all seriousness as you had to blink a few times. Trying to register what he just said.
"Equals? Aren't we already equals though?" you asked. Kagaya did tell you to get along with each other. "I mean, aren't we, the Demon Hunter Pillars, expected to work together?"
"That's different. A lot of us don't see eye to eye with the other person because of our difference in strength and personal goals." His face remained calm and blank as he said this. "You and I don't seem to remember anything. So that should be fine."
It took you a while to finally realize what he meant. And when you did, for the first time in a long while, you broke into a fit of laughter as Muichirou grew concerned that maybe the poison was still there.
"If you wanted to be friends then why didn't you say so?" You laughed, wiping a tear off your face.
Muichirou on the other hand, though forgot his memories and lack of emotions, became flustered a bit. He realized what he said and that was embarrassing.
"So, what do you say?" he tried to regain composure but he was still pretty flustered about it. "Y-you don't have to accep—"
As if you were another person, you took his hands in yours and gave him a big smile. "Sure!"
~~~
Fun Facts:
-The people were so worried about (Y/n) that all of them dropped whatever they were doing when heard she was awake.
-(Y/n) planned to decline the lunch invite, only to find out they already started the feast, so she couldn't really say no.
-Before, it only took a single incense stick for the girl to fall asleep, but she still felt sleepy so she experimented and found five to the perfect number.
-It actually surprised the girl when she remembered a dream, despite not having it for a while. The first thing she thought though was how stupid the girl was trusting the guy so easily.
-Muichirou actually felt anxious when he heard (Y/n) was poisoned and nothing more. It didn't show but he was indirectly asking about the girl's condition until he heard she went home, so he visited her.
-To this day, Muichirou gets flustered when he remembers the memory where he asked (Y/n) to be his friend in such an odd way.
-The fact that she could smile and laugh concerned her. After Muichirou left, she went to sleep thinking there was something wrong with her.