A Murder of One - Kimetsu no Yaiba / Demon Slayer

28

"Hey Akiko, how powerful are your eyes?"

Akiko looks left to her new friend and mother figure, Miyuki. The two are lounging on the engawa, the day a bit hotter than most. The small twinkling of the wind chime sings in the air, and Chiyo is holding Ayame to Akiko's right.

The two had come to visit, with Chiyo bringing Ayame in for a third check up this month ("She's like... Drooling more than usual???") and Miyuki tagging along just because ("I don't want to be left out. What if you guys forget I exist?!")

With no patients in her ward (for once in a blue moon) Akiko has decided to entertain the girls with something from over seas.

"It's called a popsicle. Dad taught me how to make some and shipped over a special cooling machine," Akiko explained as she handed out the icy treats.

So now the girls lounge in silence, listening to the wind chime and the birds tweet and Ayame's baby babble.

Until Miyuki's question.

"I dunno. How cold's your ice?" Akiko shoots back. Miyuki rolls her eyes, "No but like. You see stuff-"

"So do you-"

"Quit it."

Akiko quits it. Chiyo laughs. Ayame startles.

The two girls look between them at the younger one, her eyes closed as she gives it some thought.

"Well my nichirin tools are clear, and I can still see them. I have to clean the sharps myself now though, or the girls will cut themselves on accident. I dunno though, is that what you meant?"

Miyuki shrugs, "I guess. Genya mentioned something about how you took his measurements without a measuring tape or thermometer and stuff. And that you knew how many demons he ate, which, by the way, don't tell Sanemi."

Akiko rolls her eyes, "I don't have a death wish. Also, doctor-patient confidentiality, blah blah blah."

"Akiko, you tell me what's wrong with Giyuu all the time."

"Not out of kindness. I'm hoping you drop him when you realize how messed up he is. I don't know what you see in him Chiyo," Akiko says and Chiyo nudges her shoulder. Akiko holds her hands up in defeat, muttering a half assed apology that all three girls know is in no way genuine.

They're silent again for a moment, but Miyuki suddenly jumps up, her eyes sparkling like a snowflake under the sun.

"Y'know what'd be really cool?! If you could see the future!!"

Chiyo and Akiko stare up at her listlessly, both wondering how that would even work.

"I don't think that's what my eyes are for."

"Ok but you say that a person dies when you see one crow-"

"Because they do-"

"So isn't that the same thing?"

"She kinda has a point," Chiyo comments, shrugging her shoulders at the concrete evidence. Akiko shakes her head in disagreement.

"But wouldn't it be so cool though?!" Miyuki keeps going, a smile on her face as she finishes off her popsicle.

Akiko scoffs, "What would I even use it for? Seeing which demon slayer is about to come through my door and with what injuries- wait... that actually sounds really nice..."

"See?!!!"

"It'd be great for fighting," Chiyo comments, flexing her arm in thought as Ayame holds on like a monkey. "Then I could predict a demon's blood art or their next moves."