To The Stars | Tokito Muichiro x OC

65 • Dread

"Caw! Muichiro, you have a mission! Let's go!" Ginko suddenly flew in just as the firework show ended, perching on Muichiro's shoulder as she glared at Inori. The Star Pillar responded to her glare with a mildly venomous smile.

Her smile turned into a beam as she waved. "Good luck on your mission. Let's train together the next time we're free again."

"Yeah. See you later." Muichiro gave her a hug before walking in the other direction, completely ignoring Ginko's overzealous yet disgruntled cawing.

"Looks like Ginko still hates me. How cute." Inori stretched her limbs, looking up at the starry sky. The stars are pretty tonight, it seems like heaven is on Orihime and Hikoboshi's side tonight. She smiled. Good for them.

Deciding to stroll around, Inori found herself standing in the middle of another much crowdier grass field. She let herself lie down on the grass, still gazing at the stars glittering against the dark sky. One day. She internally promised, reaching her hand out as if trying to grab the stars. One day for sure, I will help you go there too. No matter how much pain I have to endure, I will definitely bring an end to both demonkind and your regrets.

"Caw! Inori! Emergency! Emergency! The patrol team needs help! You need to help them! Quick!" Kanamaru suddenly landed beside her, cawing so loudly that it attracted a few curious glances. But Inori didn't care about that, immediately rushing off to follow Kanamaru.

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

Inori felt her eyes widening at the sight of her fellow slayers, most were writhing on the ground with deep cracks and burns all over their bodies. She wasted no time crouching down beside them. "What happened here? Where's the demon?"

"Ha...Hashira-sama!" One of the slayers gripped her sleeve. "I'm sorry. We're sorry...he...he went to the next town. I'm sorry...we couldn't do anything...sorry." Tears streamed down his face as he blubbered out apologies.

Inori hastily surveyed the fallen slayers. They're still breathing. It's labored, and most are on the verge of death, but I wasn't too late this time. She wrenched her bag off her belt. I can still save them and go after the demon. Cracks and burns, it's most likely the traitor. I have to move quickly.

"Can you move, uh—"

"Matsumoto."

"Matsumoto-san, you're probably the only one who can move right now." Inori propped him to a sitting position, hastily unpacking the entire content of her bag, and spilled medical supplies and vials all over the ground. She covered the bleeding cracks on his face, shoving her entire supply of medicine and bandages into his palm.

"I need you to treat the others. They're still alive right now, but just barely. This is a medicine that should be enough for first aid treatment. Use it and treat their injuries. Tell the ones who can move to help you." Inori kept her voice under control, no sign of her internal panic evident. "I will go after the demon. You stay here and wait for the kakushi to arrive. Use your breaths to slow down the bleeding if you can. I'm counting on you."

Inori didn't wait for a response, immediately sprinting towards the next town. The sky was beginning to turn from black to navy, the first telltale sign of the incoming dawn. The sun will probably rise in another hour or so, that's still enough time for a demon to destroy an entire town. She gritted her teeth, putting more strength into her legs. Faster. I can't be too late, not when hundreds of innocent lives are on the line.

The demonic presence—one, there's only one? But why does it feel weird?—in the town was so disgusting that her stomach twisted. Still, she followed her crow, rounding the corner into the middle of the street. Gyomei's words rang in her ears—"If we find the traitor, kill first, interrogate later, or never."—and she drew her swords.