Phenomenon Breathing (Mitsuri Kanroji x Male Reader)

[Chapter Nine]: The Mercenary

A couple of hours had passed since he had left the Butterfly Mansion to travel to Mt. Natagumo. It'd be a lie if he said that anything interesting happened; he had literally just walked towards the mountain during those hours. Nothing at all happened, making him incredibly bored. There was nobody to talk to and nothing to look at. 

There was a small sense of regret building up inside of him: perhaps he should have let Zion tag along with him. The man may have been extremely annoying, but at least things wouldn't be boring. But that feeling of regret vanished instantly, as he realised what he was saying. Why would he want Zion to tag along? That was stupid to think about. 

Although he didn't miss Zion, he was starting to miss Lady Shinobu quite a bit. It was only a couple of hours since he left, but during that time it had dawned on him that he may not see her in a while. Of course, he would never admit that he was going to miss her, or anyone else for that matter. That was just out of character for him. 

Y/N let out a sigh, as he sat down on a small, grassy hill. The colour's vibrancy was significantly tuned down due to the Sun beginning to set, but nevertheless it was still a somewhat beautiful setting. Seeing as he had been walking for hours with no break whatsoever, he was somewhat grateful that he decided to stop here. 

He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a cloth that was wrapped around some food. He unwrapped said cloth, revealing a few Sakura Mochi. It was supposedly Kanroji's favourite food, according to Lady Shinobu, so Y/N asked them if he could have some. He wanted to know how good they were; he trusted that Kanroji had good taste.

Y/N picked one of the Sakura Mochi and brought it to his mouth. He opened his mouth and was about to take a bite when— 

A sharp kunai suddenly zoomed at him from the left of him. Reacting quite quickly, Y/N unsheathed his Nichirin Blade with his left hand, as his right was holding the Sakura Mochi, and slashed right when the kunai got close, deflecting the small blade into the field of grass. He then glared in the direction of where it had come from.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Y/N asked, as a figure revealed themself. He didn't hear a single footstep from this figure; they must have been trained to be completely silent. Y/N didn't like the idea of having to deal with some sort of assassin, but it appeared that he had no choice. 

The figure reminded him of the Masked Demon, Overlord, from that Demon Town. They were masked, which had small, horizontal slits that revealed the person's bright emerald green eyes, looking as though they were glowing. Their entire body was covered by a cloak, which had a hood that was also covering their hair. However, there was a few barely noticeable spots where Y/N could see the colour blue. 

This assassin didn't utter a single word in response to Y/N. Instead, in a nimble motion, they swiftly unsheathed their own sword, which had been hidden by the cloak, and zoomed across the grassy hill towards Y/N, closing the distance between them within a second as a swooshing sound echoed for a split second. They swung at Y/N, who was barely able to react fast enough (he had to sacrifice the food) to block the attack with his Nichirin Sword. The sound of steel against steel filled the otherwise silent air. 

Now that the figure was close enough, he could see that the jet-black sword they wielded was made of the same steel as his, making it a Nichirin Sword as well. A blade made for slaying demons. And so, that raised the question for Y/N; what the hell were they attacking him for? He wasn't a Demon, last he checked. 

Y/N let out a quiet grunt at the immense pressure against his blade as the person pushed their sword against his; he could feel that this person was incredibly strong. Nevertheless, the figure was able to tell that things would get nowhere if they kept up like this, which led to them leaping above Y/N's head and simultaneously pulling their sword back to attempt another swing, though this one was aimed at the top of his head.