To The Stars | Tokito Muichiro x OC

14 • The Final Selection

Inori stared at her reflection, taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart. Tonight was the night of the Final Selection, and she didn't know whether her heart was beating rapidly out of excitement or fear since she was grinning and sweating at the same time.

"Inori? Are you done yet?" Muichiro peeked into her room. Inori shouldn't be surprised, she knew from the start that Muichiro was a genius, but the fact that he would be coming along with her after just one month of training still baffled her.

Still, she flashed him a smile. "Yeah, let's go."

Inori skimmed her hand over the two swords strapped to her dark purple hakama. Kagaya had lent Muichiro a sword for the Final Selection, but Inori borrowed hers from Shinobu, who was more than willing, and Sanemi, who had threatened to slaughter her if she so much as chipped it. Inori originally asked Sanemi first because they happened to bump into each other, but he only had one spare sword, so she borrowed the other one from Shinobu.

They bid goodbye to the Ubuyashiki family before making their way towards the Butterfly Estate. Muichiro initially wanted to head to Mount Fujikasane immediately, but Inori wanted to go with Aoi, so he agreed to take a little detour.

Muichiro spared a sideway glance at Inori, noticing her tense expression and quivering fingers. "Are you scared?" He looped their hands together on impulse.

Inori gripped his hand tighter, and Muichiro realized just how clammy her hand was. She gave him a smile, wry and tense. "Is it pathetic of me to say I don't know?" She asked with a grimace. "Because I don't know if I'm just impatient to cut some demon heads or scared I'll end up dead."

You won't. Muichiro squeezed her hand. "Don't worry," he assured her. "You faced one of the Twelve Demon Moons and escaped Kibutsuji Muzan without any proper training. I'm sure you can deal with some weak and hungry demons."

Inori laughed. It was laced with anxiousness, but it was a laugh, nonetheless. "I can't believe you remember that, and I only told you once."

I don't know either. Muichiro didn't give her a verbal answer, he only smiled softly as he stared into her mismatched eyes that no longer looked so tense. I just don't want to forget anything about you.

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙

Muichiro watched disinterestedly as Inori tried to calm a nervous Aoi down. He didn't understand the butterfly girl. Kanzaki, was it? The Final Selection wasn't a game for weaklings who couldn't even stop shaking. He didn't understand why she didn't just stay and become a helper like Kocho told her to.

"Inori? What are you doing?"

Muichiro stopped in his tracks, looking back at Inori who was picking the wisteria flowers blooming along the road, Aoi was looking up at her with wide eyes.

"Inori, what are you doing?" He asked dumbly, tilting his head to the side in confusion. Does she like wisteria? No, he remembered her telling him she loves lavenders. Maybe he forgot and she actually liked wisterias. Then again, Inori loves the color purple, so maybe that's why she's picking wisterias.

"Picking wisterias," Inori answered, stuffing the wisterias into a small pouch. "So I can make some wisteria poison in case I need it." Muichiro raised an eyebrow, but did not question her. From all the time he spent with Inori, he knew just how chaotically creative she could be and had gotten used to it.

They reached the halfway point, passing through the gates to see many people already present. Inori didn't even try to remember their faces. But one of them, a boy with a kitsune mask, stood out. Ah, this must be one of the fox children that's always killed by a mutant demon in the Final Selection. Inori remembered the group of children in fox masks who would teach her the Breath of Water. They told me I'm not allowed to touch that demon since it was for the foxes to kill, but I should at least warn him. But before Inori could take another step, two voices broke the silence.