‎‎

ch. 4

"You did it, Kara. I'm so proud of you." The intoxicating scent of blood filled the cold air. She shook violently, not from the cold but from a feeling that could not be described with words. Reality soon sunk in and her cheeks went damp, she shook her head in denial. It soon dawned upon her that the corpse in front of her would not move no matter how much she begged. "Master..."

He clicked his tongue in frustration. "What do you think you're doing? Get up." He grabbed her hand roughly but she wouldn't budge. He could see her face drenched with tears - this made him boil with rage. 'Why is she crying for something so useless?'

"Don't tell me you regret what you did, he was in our way. You did the right thing, so stop crying." He could not understand why she cared so much about a person whom she had been with for only 3 years when he had been with her for hundreds of years.

Karasu woke up to the blurry sight of the ceiling, she sat up and stayed motionless for a while before slowly covering her mouth "As expected, I should have killed myself long ago. These dreams are getting increasingly annoying." She sighed, looking around the room that was a blur to her beside her she saw a man, with a snake curled around his neck, sitting on a chair beside the bed.

"The snake hashira...?" The man opened his eyes, Karasu had a twisted smile, "Hah! The hell are you doing here?"

"Is that the first thing you say to your savior?" He shot back, glaring at her. Shinobu entered the room with a bottle of pills and walked to the bed, she reached out to give Karasu a glass of water and some pills. Karasu bit her lip, she snatched the glass cup away from the hashira and poured it on herself. The duo's eyes widened at the action. Karasu stepped out of bed drenched, she snapped her finger and changed her clothes - a worn out red haori and dress. Her hair was soaking wet, so she pushed her bangs back "Are you trying to kill me? Pills will mess up my insides."

"But the sun won't?"

Karasu paused, 'Found you, you little rat.' She walked to the one with the snake and placed her hand on his shoulder, leaning in "To think that the proud Iguro Obanai would resort to stalking just to get information, that's a bit sad. I mean if you wanted information, you just had to ask. Hiding in the tree can get quite, tiring." Iguro slapped her hand away and glared at the girl, "There you go, a frown suits you better than a smile."

Karasu walked past Iguro, purposely bumping into his shoulder. Before she could approach Shinobu, the hashira had already drawn her sword and was holding her at blade point. "The sword is quite nice isn't it? Keep it well or don't, either way I don't care. Anyway," Karasu abruptly grabbed the sword and threw it behind her, the blade piercing into the floor.

Shinobu glared at Karasu, which was a first for the demon who had only ever seen her smile. Iguro grabbed his sword and charged towards her at lightning speed, but his blade was halted by Karasu's hand. Blood poured out of both of her hands from stopping 2 blades with her bare hands. She smiled, "There's someone who might aid you in your research, her name's Tamayo. She lives in a hidden place. Tamayo is my dear friend, treat her well alright?"

After she was finished, her gaze shifted to Iguro who tried to release his sword from her grip. Karasu smirked before throwing the sword behind her to which Shinobu caught. "Take care, o mighty hashiras" Karasu mocked the two as she walked out of the room.

The demon walked along the hallway, creating a blood path the further she went. She walked out onto the grass and basked under the moonlight, her expression was dull and lifeless. Her eyes plain white replaced by bloody red ones that reflected under the sunlight like rubies. Karasu looked at her scarred hands that showed no ounce of regeneration, she then looked at the moon and whispered "匚ㄖ尺尺ㄩ卩ㄒ 千ㄥㄖ山"

Spirits whirled around her, stitching her wounds shut and clearing the blood. They giggled as they finished the last stitch, and disappeared into thin air. Karasu's consciousness slipped away from her body and she fell into a sleep, the rustling of the glass allowing her to sleep deeply.