Rengoku's pov
"A round of applause for the newest heir of the Tsugikuni Family, Natsumi Tsugikuni!"
We heard as I turned my head towards the star celebrant of this celebration, I couldn't believe my eyes at the sight before me it was just too good to be true
'Wait.. Isn't that Michikatsu's Daughter? What's she doing here? Why isn't Yoriichi with her?' I thought as I tried to stay calm on this situation
It doesn't seemed like the Oyakata-sama notices her presence yet, but it does looked like Suiren and the others were already aware of what's going on..
"What the hell is she doing here?" Suiren growled as Kaze and Kibisii tried to calm her temper before she could attract too much attention to herself
"Calm down, you'll make a scene" Kibisii warned, making Suiren grumble angrily as she crossed her arms and behaved herself
Seeing that Demon child was one of the most unbelievable things we could have ever imagined, after all she was reported to be dead since the day Yoriichi left the Demon Slayer Corps..
"I wonder.. Just how in the world did that kid even get in here? I don't think, I see Yoriichi around that's for sure.." Kaze whispered as we casted a suspicious stare towards Natsumi
I couldn't help but feel a bit concerned about Yoriichi's whereabouts, it wasn't like him to leave his own niece when his brother himself was absent..
'What is Natsumi even doing here? Did Yoriichi abandoned her? Did she kill him? Or perhaps..' I thought as thousands of questions started flooding my mind like a tsunami, that I barely noticed the time
"What are you doing here?" A gentle little voice asked as I was snapped out of my thoughts and back into reality, only to see Natsumi standing before us with a dull look in her eyes
"We were invited to attend the ceremony.. Congratulations on your Succession Ceremony, Heiress Tsugikuni.." Mistress Ubuyashiki congratulated as Natsumi merely gave a silent nod in response
"Natsumi!" We heard as Natsumi gave a small sigh before turning towards the Oyakata-sama with a sad little smile on her face as she spoke with him one last time, before leaving..
"The Moon shall rise no matter what you do.. When the time comes an eclipse will appear to find its missing sun, should you accept it's offer only then will you prosper.. Never forget it, Master Ubuyashiki.."
'What did she mean by that?' I wondered as began to pondering at the thought for quite awhile throughout the celebration..
"We should head back, my son.. It's bad for your health to be out in the open for too long" Mistress Ubuyashiki stated as she ushers the Oyakata-sama towards the carriage along with the rest of us
It was already getting late and it would be bad if Suiren and I weren't back in time for patrol duty, especially when demons could attack our headquarters at any time.
One Painstaking Trip Later, At the Demon Slayer Headquarters...
Suiren's pov
'What the-!?' I thought, staring off towards the bloody gates of the Demon Slayer Headquarters as the raging flames burned brightly from within the base
"What the hell happened?!" Kaze exclaimed in horror as Kibisii gritted his teeth and immediately took charge, ordering us to try our best to put out the fire while he goes off to find any survivors in the area
Kaze and I, both nodded our heads in agreement while Rengoku was left the task to watch over the Oyakata-sama once more while we sealed with the fire..
It took us precisely 4 hours just to put out the fire and about an hour or two to treat the injured, I couldn't believe something like this had happened during our absence
I knew we shouldn't have bothered attending that Succession Ceremony, if only we'd bothered to come back sooner none of this should have happened.
Kaze's pov
"Hey, Rengoku.. Do you think it's possible that Demon Kid did this?"
"No, what makes you say that?"
"It's just a hunch.. She could have been tricking us with that Succession Ceremony, you know?"
"But she is still a young child.. She may have been a Demon but she isn't like the others.." Rengoku uttered, making me tilt my head in confusion at his words
'What did he mean by that?' I thought as I started pondering over at the thought, not bothering to ask Rengoku about it instead..
"..ze? Oi, Kaze!" Suiren called as I snapped out of my thoughts, only to catch her glaring daggers at me for not paying attention to the Oyakata-sama and everyone else
"Were you even listening!?" She exclaimed as I started to awkwardly scratch the back of my head and apologize for my ignorance
"Why you-mmhp!"
"Go find anything you can salvage at the Main House, gather everything and meet me at the back of the house afterwards.." Kibisii ordered, cutting off Suiren from running her mouth for once
"Well, why didn't you say so?" I sneered towards Suiren before heading off towards the Main House, I didn't need to be told twice of the situation, it was clear to me that the Oyakata-sama ordered everyone to evacuate, even if Kibisii or Suiren didn't bother to mention it..
'It does make sense.. This place is too damage to be of any use to us..' I thought, searching the Main House from top to bottom for any salvageable document to gather
By the time I was done gathering everything, I immediately headed off to the back of the Main house to meet up with Kibisii, only to find him waiting there with a couple of carts along said him
One cart was completely filled with salvageable belongings from all of the Demon Slayers in the Organization, while the other cart was completely empty and had enough space for me to use on the stuff I was carrying
Seeing just how much stuff I was able to salvage, Kibisii went ahead to double check my work just to make sure that there was nothing left that would give away any evidences to the authorities about the existence of the Demon Slayer Corps
By the time we finished, Kibisii and I immediately headed off towards the backup base that the previous Oyakata-sama prepared for this kind of situation.
Meanwhile, At the Tsugikuni Clan Estate..
"Sleep well, Natsumi.. You have a busy day tomorrow" Lord Tsugikuni uttered softly towards Natsumi as he quietly slid the shoji doors shut and returned to his room
'Finally.. He's gone..' Natsumi thought as she rose from her bed and carefully rummaged her hand through her pillow
"Got it.." she uttered as she brought out a nearly burnt notebook from her pillow and smiled in relief at the sight of it, before hiding it under a loose floor board underneath her mattress..
It wasn't Natsumi's intention to steal from the Demon Slayer Headquarters while their host wasn't around, yet what she saw at the their Base wasn't something she expected to happen
Natsumi never imagined Michikatsu to be there but what surprised her the most was the sight of Yoriichi hiding amongst the bushes as he watches his beloved brother slaughter his former comrades
The sight of Yoriichi made Natsumi shed tears from her eyes, she didn't know what to believe when Kibutsuji took Yoriichi away from her but seeing him alive was anything that she could ask for
Natsumi could care less of the consequences and ran up towards him, trapping him in a tight hug as she repeatedly called his name from behind
Yoriichi didn't know how to react but the moment Natsumi saw the look of confusion in his eyes, she felt her heart shattered into a million pieces, not only had she found Yoriichi but she had also found out that he was living his life as a Demon, one another Kibutsuji's control, no less..
"I'll make you pay for taking my family away from me.. Someday, you will suffer my wrath.. I'll make sure you will feel every single drop of pain you had inflicted on me, Muzan Kibutsuji.." Natsumi silently swore from the bottom of her heart as slowly closed her eyes and went to sleep.