Moonlight

Twenty-One

Sara relaxed, feeling Muichiro's warmth, but then, realising what was happening, she immediately pulled away.

Crap.

She had let someone see her in the vulnerable, upset state that she never showed to anyone. Not even Shinobu.

She averted her eyes from the Mist Hashira, staring down at the ground, her expression unreadable. However, she didn't tell him to leave, so he stayed.

"I need to bandage my hand." She muttered, looked at the bloody mess that was her fist, which was still clenched.

Muichiro sat there in silence whilst she bandaged her hand, though it was still bleeding. He had noticed it; the way she suddenly changed back to her usual demeanour the moment she had calmed down.

The silence continued between them until Sara turned her head when she felt a familiar presence approach. Tanjiro.

"Yuhiko-san!"

Muichiro scowled at the boy as he approached, though Sara didn't know why.

"Kamado-kun." The girl acknowledged him with a curt nod.

"I wanted to thank you for protecting us that day. Zenitsu and Inosuke asked me to pass on their thanks as well. We're forever grateful to you."

She shrugged. "You would have survived even if I didn't show up. You guys aren't weak."

Tanjiro's eyes glowed at her indirect compliment, then turned serious again. "Also, don't blame yourself for Rengoku-san's death. His younger brother Senjuro sent his regards. You protected all of us until the end, that's all that matters."

Sara averted her eyes, giving the slightest nod, but inside she felt a pang in her heart.

Shit, he had to bring that up again.

"Oh, and I saw you fight and well... I was really amazed. You're amazing, Yuhiko-san. I was thinking if you could be willing to... train me and my friends, perhaps?" He looked away nervously. "Only if you're willing to, of course. You're a Hashira, so I wouldn't want to waste your time."

"The Hashira have pressing matters to attend to, we can't afford to waste time on members of lower ranks." Muichiro told him coldly.

Sara glanced at Muichiro in surprise, whilst Tanjiro's shoulder slumped in disappointment.

"Is it so? Oh..."

"No, it's fine. I'll train you, Kamado-kun." She said quickly.

Tanjiro's eyes lit up. "Really? Thank you, Yuhiko-san!"

Sara nodded. "We'll start tomorrow. You should recover fully first."

And with that, Tanjiro hopped away cheerfully while a not-so-happy Muichiro looked at her.

"Why would you train him? He's rank Kanoe." He asked, his voice monotonic, but with the slightest hint of saltiness. Not for the Ice Hashira, but for the other boy.

"And why did you instantly tell him I won't train him?" She replied coldly.

The boy looked away, a guilty shadow in his eyes. Though he remained silent. He disliked he idea, but he didn't know why, and Sara's point was completely valid so he couldn't argue.

The raven-haired girl sighed. "More people are going to die, Muichiro-kun."

The boy stiffened, remaining quiet because he didn't know what to say.

"The Hashira's numbers have already narrowed down to nine. Sooner or later, we're going to need more swordsmen to fill the blank spaces."

Sensing that the conversation had ended when the boy still didn't reply, Sara slowly got up to leave.