To The Stars | Tokito Muichiro x OC

41 • Presence of the Dead

"Miss, please step back." Inori drew one of her swords, letting it glint dangerously under the moonlight. "That may be a normal demon, but if you get caught, it'll be troublesome for me."

The demon growled, staggering forward like a drunkard. Inori didn't even need to do any forms to decapitate it, letting it crumble into nothingness. She turned to look at the girl she had just saved. She's probably just around my age, how scary it must've been for her. Offering the girl a smile, she crouched in front of her. "Miss, are you hurt anywhere?"

"That...that was a...a...a demon."

Humming, Inori bandaged the scrape of her knee. She helped the girl stand, supporting her wobbly legs. She was somewhat surprised the young girl knew about demons despite the entire village being clueless about it.

"Yes, I see that you know of their existence." Inori supported her as they walked towards a pharmacy. "We call them man-eating demons because they eat human flesh and have monstrous strength. Their weaknesses are—"

"The sun and wisteria." The young girl's voice was small and quivering, but Inori could hear her as clear as day, and she was surprised that the girl knew so much. "I know...I...I saw them before...when I was four...I just...I didn't think I'd see them again after... after that night."

"I'm sorry." Inori unconsciously tightened her grip on the girl's shoulder. "Your losses are the results of our incompetence as demon slayers. Whatever you lost that night, I'm sorry."

"Demon slayer? You...you slay demons? No, no." The girl shook her head. "It was...it wasn't a demon slayer who...who saved me from that demon. It was my...my teacher. He...he killed the demon, but the children...the other children didn't survive, and...and he was accused of murder, so...but I was too scared...I wasn't able to say anything...I just kept saying 'it was him' and the adults, they...they think Sensei killed the others...Sensei wouldn't do that, he was the kindest person ever...aah, I'm sorry, Sensei, I'm sorry."

Inori rubbed the girl's back, looking at her in pity. The existence of demons and demon slayers were kept in the shadows. So, of course, people wouldn't know about them. She didn't know how many people shared the same fate as the poor girl's teacher. Still, she couldn't say anything, she didn't know what to say, so she just kept rubbing the sobbing girl's back until they arrived at the pharmacy.

"Ah, I never...thank you. Thank you for saving my life." The girl bowed just as Inori handed her to the pharmacy owner.

Inori looked back at the girl, smiling softly. "I'm just doing my job." Rummaging through her bag, she pulled out a small pouch of wisteria incense. "You should always carry a wisteria incense bag with you, at all times of the day. That way, no lesser demons will ever get near you." She placed the pouch on the girl's palm. "Though I can't say the same for stronger demons, I hope that it will still keep you safe."

"Ah, you don't have to—"

"Even though you're not someone with rare blood, wisteria incense bags aren't exactly rare within our corps." Inori waved her off, turning to walk away. "Our master has a whole forest of wisteria, and two of our pillars currently have their own wisteria supply, so sharing one or two incense bags won't be of trouble to us."

"Then, thank you. Thank you very much." The girl thanked her, bowing again. Inori nodded, deciding to head towards the next town despite there being no new orders yet.

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

Inori shielded her face from the pouring rain, feeling a sinking dread in her guts. Something was wrong inside this town, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong.