To The Stars | Tokito Muichiro x OC

13 • The Pillar Meeting

"Good morning, my children. Is the sky blue today? How are you?"

The pillars were all kneeling in front of the porch, but Inori was kneeling a fair distance away from them. Tengen made sure to keep his distance from Inori, but she also made sure to stay near Tengen just to spite him though.

"The sky is blue with lots of clouds today. The pillars and Hoshizora-sama are already present, although Uzui-sama looks like he's in pain." Shinobu coughed loudly while Mitsuri had to bite the inside of her cheeks to stop herself from laughing at Kuina's report.

"Is that so? Are you okay, Tengen?" The Sound Pillar glared at Inori who responded by sticking her tongue out, earning more coughs from Shinobu and muffled laughter from Mitsuri.

Tengen cleared his throat. "Yes, Oyakata-sama. I am flamboyant as always."

"That's good to hear." Kagaya smiled. "Now, come inside. We shall start the meeting."

Seated in the living room of the Ubuyashiki mansion, Inori felt slightly out of place since Shinobu and Mitsuri beckoned her to sit between them, right where only the pillars were supposed to sit. Though she didn't get much time to wallow in nervousness.

"I will tell you the basics of Inori's ability first," Kagaya said, starting the meeting. "Inori used to have the ability to communicate with dead spirits, although she seemed to have lost it when she woke up." He would let Inori explain the details of her ability herself since that held no relevance to what was about to be told.

"A doctor who died during the Heian era told her about the Blue Spider Lily, that was the same doctor who turned Kibutsuji Muzan into a demon." The pillars perked up at that, wondering how and why a doctor decided to turn someone into a demon. "She was captured, but managed to escape from Kibutsuji Muzan. And she managed to give us some information regarding the upper moons and Kibutsuji Muzan himself."

"What happened to the doctor?"

"Muzan killed him," Inori answered Sanemi's question. "In the first place, he didn't mean to create a demon. He was just someone who wished to cure diseases with an herb that he created, which was the Blue Spider Lily." Because he wanted Muzan, who was a sick human back then, to live just a little longer.

"Right, what about the Blue Spider Lily?" Tengen snapped his fingers, moving on to the next problem they had miraculously managed to evade but not destroy. "Where is it? We must quickly and flamboyantly destroy the flower before Kibutsuji gets his hands on it."

"I believe it doesn't exist," Inori answered simply. "The Blue Spider Lily is a flower that the Heian doctor personally cultivated, and Muzan had killed him in a fit of rage. The reason why Muzan has never found the flower despite searching for centuries is because nobody knows how to cultivate it aside from that doctor, and now me, who was told how to by the doctor himself."

"You'll be able to keep your mouth shut, right?" Sanemi gritted out, glaring daggers at Inori who stared back at him indifferently.

"Shinazugawa-san, that's a bit—"

"You don't have to worry." Inori cut Shinobu off. Her voice was laced with deadly venom, and her eyes shone with intense hatred toward the demon who murdered her family. "I was ready to die back then, and I am ready to die in the future. Muzan will never get what he wants so willingly, nor so easily."

She couldn't say he couldn't get his hands on what was in her head. After all, it was only thanks to her being so weak and so spiteful that he didn't try turning her into a demon. If he had turned her into a demon, and he had succeeded, she didn't think she would be able to stop him from getting what he wanted.