~Nobody Else~ { M. Tokito}

Chapter 27 - The Swordsmith Village { Pt 2}

Atsumi was pleased to run into Mitsuri on her second day in the village (not so much for the boy in the hotsprings). They gossipped about Atsumi's newfound friendship with Fumiko, among other girlish things.
She also saw Tanjiro—one of the three boys she met at Shinobu's estate—and his younger demon sister Nezuko. It was lovely to be with the two of them that day, and she grew to adore the young girl.
The next morning, she caught Tanjiro just as he was heading off for a walk.

"Good morning, Tanjiro," she said, jogging up to him.

Tanjiro returned the greeting with a smile as warm and bright as the morning sky. "It's Takahashi, right?" he guessed as they walked side-by-side.

She nodded. "And hey, you can call me Atsumi."

"Alright, Atsumi."

The two chatted as they got deeper within the trees, Nezuko butting in with a hmph! every now and then. But things halted when Tanjiro spotted somebody a little ways away from them.

"Huh? Is that . . ."

The person they both saw was Muichiro, standing face-to-face with a younger child. A mask concealed his face, similar to ones the other villagers wear.

Atsumi's heart lit up; they haven't spoken in quite a bit.
"Oh look, it's Tokito."

"Go away!" the child yelled. "I'm not handing over my key, no matter what!"

She carefully advanced toward them, but froze as Muichiro raised his hand and smacked the child across the face. It was loud. She gasped, standing in shock of the situation. The Pillar held the boy by his shirt, like some typical bully.
Tanjiro ran past her, yelling at the Hashira to let the boy go. He grabbed him by the wrist.

"Your voice is so annoying . . . Who are you?" she heard Muichiro ask in his monotone voice.

She carefully approached them, still staying behind the trees.

"What're you doing to a kid?!

"You let go," the pillar demanded. Atsumi had never heard him sound so cold before.

He then elbowed Tanjiro in the stomach, making her gasp. After staring at the box on Tanjiro's back, he reached out curiously to touch it, before getting his hand smacked away.

Muichiro observed the hand Tanjiro had slapped, giving him enough time to remove the kid from his grasp. He almost looked surprised by his quickness, now holding only a price of clothing.

The boy hastily explained that Muichiro was demanding a key from him, and that he wouldn't give it up even under torture. Muichiro responded crossly that he was just a dumb child who didn't know his place, debunking his spur-of-the-moment bravery.
He berated the significance of swordsmiths, stating that they were only good for making weapons.
"Come on. Key." He held his hand out. "Understand your place when you act. You're not a baby anymore, you know."

Tanjiro smacked his hand.

Muichiro didn't flinch. "What's this about?"

Tanjiro argued back at the pillar. "What about consideration!? You can't forget to be considerate here! That's just cruel!!"

"Am I being cruel? You . . ."

"Are correct!!" He defended the importance of swordsmiths, before being cut off.

"Sorry. I don't have time to talk about dumb stuff."
Atsumi gasped when the Hashira knocked Tanjiro out with a chop to the neck, falling to the ground with a thump.

"Tanjiro!" She ran over to his unconscious body, and Muichiro looked surprised to see her.
He went back to confronting the young boy.
He demanded the key from him, but he hesitated.
"B-but . . ."