|•| 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚂𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 |•| 𝕂𝕟𝕪 𝔽𝕒𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟

XXIII

   At the yard, Kiyomi and Inosuke readied to duel and used wooden swords. Inosuke used two wooden swords, while Kiyomi used one.

   Inosuke charged at Kiyomi and swung his sword, but Kiyomi blocked it with her sword and pushed him. He landed easily and charged again.

   "Graahahahaha!!", Inosuke laughed as he swung his swords over and over at Kiyomi, who easily blocked them.

   Kiyomi decided to jump back and ran towards Inosuke again, she inhaled sharply and exhaled slowly as she swung her wooden sword, hitting Inosuke in the stomach.

   Inosuke got angry and attacked her again.

   "Breath of the Beast, Fang of the third: Rip and Devour!", Inosuke swung his swords at Kiyomi at a fast speed, but she managed to dodge it by jumping high and used a form.

   "Breath of Winter, Fifth form: Pretty but Deadly", She swung her sword to Inosuke as snow came out from her wooden sword and hit him, but it didn't hurt.

   "Haah? That wasn't painful! What did you do??", Inosuke exclaimed confusedly.

   "Yeah, it was poisonous. But it's like regular snow for humans, the poison only works on demons.", Kiyomi explained while slashing at Inosuke again, only to be blocked by his two swords.

    Inosuke swung his swords and did another form.

   "Breath of the Beast, Fang of the First: Pierce and Extract!", He ran towards Kiyomi and swung his swords, but Kiyomi still blocked it with her sword. He didn't stop and kept pushing his swords, finally breaking Kiyomi's sword.

   "What?! No fair!", Kiyomi pouted as she backed away from Inosuke.

   "Haha! I win! I'm the strongest person of all!", Inosuke boasted.

   "You didn't defeat me yet! I can use my fists!", Kiyomi said as she stanced, ready to punch him.

   Inosuke slashed at Kiyomi, but she dodged it and backed away from him.

   Kiyomi ran towards Inosuke again and tried to punch him in the face, but he bent his knees and dodged the punch. Kiyomi noticed that he bent his knees, so she jumped on top of him, tackling him on the ground.

   Kiyomi took the chance and took Inosuke's other sword, now she has a sword while Inosuke only had one left.

   "Hahaha! Finders keepers!", Kiyomi giggled and ran towards Inosuke who was still at the ground. He immediately stood up, took his only sword left, and blocked Kiyomi's attack on time.
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   Not too long after, they broke both of their swords, so here they are, wrestling at each other like they were children fighting over a candy.

   "I'm- ugh- gonna win!- agh", Inosuke said, struggling to hold back Kiyomi, who was choking him with her feet.

   "No- ugh- I am!", Kiyomi disagreed, also struggling to hold back Inosuke from pulling her hair while she choked him.

   Aoi was walking by, carrying bedsheets, but she stopped and sweatdropped when she saw Kiyomi and Inosuke wrestling.

   "Excuse me, but what are you both doing?", Aoi asked.

   "We're dueling!", Kiyoki smiled.

   "Aren't you supposed to duel with wooden swords?", Aoi said.

   "We broke them!- gah- so we decided to wrestle - ow my hair!", Kiyomi replied, still struggling.

  Aoi looked at them for a moment before going back to her duty. She was somehow not amused.

   "Agh!", Inosuke grunted as Kiyomi gasped when she saw that she pressed her nails on his arms too much.

   "Oops- I'm sorry, Inosuke!", Kiyomi apologized. She sat up and took Inosuke's arm.

   "Hey! Our fight wasn't finished! This is nothing!", Inosuke argued.

   "I surrender, you win. Now let me heal this.", Kiyomi said, trying to calm down.

   "Hahaha! I win!", Inosuke yelled in victory.

   "Please stay still! I can't focus.", Kiyomi said seriously. Inosuke huffed in anger as he gave in.

   Kiyomi closed her eyes, deeply breathed, and when she opened her eyes, her mark appeared as it glowed with her eyes. Inosuke was clearly shocked and kept looking at Kiyomi.

   "... There, it's gone.", Kiyomi closed her eyes again as the mark disappeared and her eyes no longer glowed.

   "Haah?! What kind of trick was that?! Teach me! How did you heal it?!", Inosuke said, surprised at his arm that had no more wound.

   "Only I can do that...", Kiyomi lied with a smirk.

   'Only winter users can use that. His wound was a little painful, though...', Kiyomi thought, guilty for scratching him.

   "Let's go back. Please don't tell anyone about that, Inosuke.", Kiyomi said as she went back inside. Inosuke stopped for a moment before also going back inside.
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   During the week, Kiyomi spent her time with Wolfie and her parents while she waited for Tanjiro to recover.

   Ten days later...

    "Hello there. We will guide you to the village since Oyakata-sama gave his permission.", A kakushi greeted

   "Very nice to meet you!", Kiyomi and Tanjiro said in unison as they bowed.

  "My name is Kamado Tanjiro. This is my friend, Takahashi Kiyomi. I hope we can get along.", Tanjiro introduced.

   "We cannot give you our names since I am serving as your guide. But nice to meet you. Okay, here.", The other kakushi said as she gave Kiyomi and Tanjiro blindfolds and earplugs.

   "What are these?", Tanjiro said.

   "These are blindfolds and earplugs. The village is hidden, that's why there are kakushis guiding us.", Kiyomi said, putting on her earplugs and blindfold.

   "And also, I heard your sense of smell is very good, so here, nose plugs.", The kakushi said, putting the nose plugs on Tanjiro.

   Tanjiro and the kakushis talked briefly before he put on his earplugs, while Kiyomi was humming some music since she couldn't hear.

   "He's kinda heavy...", The kakushi carrying Tanjiro complained.

   "She's very light, like a feather.", The kakushi carrying Kiyomi said.
 
  "Yes? I'm sorry but I can't hear you!", Kiyomi said.

   "It's nothing.", The kakushi shook her head. Kiyomi knew it was a no and continued humming.

   Whenever Kiyomi and Tanjiro got passed over, they always thank the kakushis, making them all fuzzy inside and would sometimes blush because of Kiyomi patting their heads.

   When they arrived, Tanjiro and Kiyomi's blindfolds and plugs were taken off, finally seeing the beautiful village.

   "Woooaaahh!!", Kiyomi and Tanjiro exclaimed in awe.

   "Those are amazing buildings!", Tanjiro beamed.

   "Yeah! And I heard there was a hot spring nearby!", Kiyomi beamed.

   "Yes, there is. You'll see a large house when you turn left there. Make sure to greet them first and foremost.", The kakushi explained.

   "Okay!"

   "Well, we will be taking our leave now.", The kakushis bowed as Kiyomi and Tanjiro bowed back.

   "Thank you so much!", Tanjiro thanked.

   "Thank you for your hard work!", Kiyomi smiled, patting the two kakushis' heads.

   Meanwhile...

   "Hm? I hear someone saying thank you. I feel my heart pounding here!", The love hashira, Kanroji Mitsuri, exclaimed.
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   To Be Continued!