a hollow perception (Fate/Zero × Demon Slayer)

fourth: a hollow perception - reminiscence

Kanao chapters will be revised when this fic is done. I'm not fully satisfied with her chapters, somehow.

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fourth: a hollow perception - reminiscence

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Live, Kanao. Live, and become human again... no—know what it is like to be human. That's my only selfish wish—from me, your sister, to you.

Live. Those words were the stamp to the blank soul of Tsuyuri Kanao. An intricate pattern, a delicate shape, an elusive ink to a hollowed, empty paper. It gave her a direction, a very vague one, as it presented a path forward. Face forward, never look back, however, never forget what you left behind. Someone used to say that to her, words that used to confused her, but now eventually understood.

Contradiction. Before, she never understood why people say one thing but say the opposite in the same breath. It doesn't make sense, she had thought, why people always do the opposite.

However, when she was asked why it doesn't make sense, silence was her response. She hesitated to answer. Was it supposed to be? she'd wondered. Was people supposed to do the opposite in the same action? The young Tsuyuri Kanao can't simply comprehend it.

But now, having grown into a young woman, with experiences battered to her, she finally understood. I lived, she thought, staring listlessly at the ceiling above her, still lying down at her bed. I'm still living, she corrected before she sat up.

Kanao's room was simple, or you might even say, empty. A bed she currently occupied, a desk and chair neatly tucked in the corner, and a luggage where she put all her folded clothes. She had no closet herself. Reasons: just because, she simply doesn't want one. Simplicity and minimalism was familiar, rooted from her childhood when she and her family had nothing.

When she finally snapped out of her sleepiness, she stood up. Washing, combing, grooming herself for the day, she went outside her room, wearing the classic head household garment: a pair of dark slacks, a ladies' dress shirt underneath her crisp black blazer. She usually wore casual clothes, however, for today, as Master Tokiomi had told her yesterday, they will be visiting someone today so she should dress properly befitting of her role. And so she did. It has been a while since she wore this one.

Kanao walked into the long hallway, passing the closed doors of the guest rooms. Her own room was at the end among these empty rooms, instead of the servant's room. Tohsaka Aoi had suggested to her that she should be along with other servants but she refused. She didn't asked Kanao why and simply accepted her reasons, reasons that this particular guest room was a place she was used to sleep, as Kanao had told her.

But if Kanao has to admit, she just wanted to be alone.

With a brisk pace, it didn't take her a minute to reach the study of Tohsaka Tokiomi. Kanao opened the door as she bowed when she entered. "Excuse for the intrusion," she said curtly, closing the door.

The occupant of the room only nodded, as he didn't raise his attention to her. Kanao noticed him reading something—in the paper in his hand and didn't dared to interrupt him. She went to the corner of the room, waiting to be prompted until then. With hands clasped behind her, straightened back and closed eyes, she stood idly in the shadow.

It has been a while since Kotomine Kirei 'broke his contact' with his master. However, this was obviously a front. Acting as a stealth messenger between master and apprentice, lurking in the darkness at night became her new responsibility. Although, not regularly, so as not to rouse suspicion from other participants of Holy Grail War.