A Crow's Call

Part 14 - The Stone Hashira

...That man always reminds me of the man that ruined my life.

Yet I have to face him.

I got a little patched up at the Butterfly Mansion, as Shinazugawa-hashira did hurt me.

- Your wounds are light, yet you should rest for a while. - Proclaimed Shinobu-sama.

- Rest assured, I will. I'm almost going to be a hashira.

- That's wonderful, Kagome-san, keep up the good work, you deserve it. - She was scrambling around in her medicine cabinet to treat the other patient in the room who didn't have so much luck with Shinazugawa-hashira's training.

***

The next few days I spent resting, until a very familiar owl flew up to me one stary night, while I was enjoying the night's air.

Dear Yuki,

Our last visit was, I can't lie, very pleasurable, however I am still in the need of your smell, your voice, your eyes, your opinions that always make me realise whatever's bugging me. Yet however much I wish to meet you, I am busy, but that did not keep me from writing to you. My mind is at peace even at the thought of you.

I'm asking you to write back, with whatever you want to talk about.

Yours faithfully,

Muzan

Oh, that romantic man, writing to me in such a way. I had to write back, I can't leave him with his thoughts alone, can I?

Dear Mr. Kibutsuji,

What do you think about how I will address you? It fits you well. I am currently taking a break from training as by Miss Shinobu's request. I would also love to feel your arms around me, to smell your scent. I would love to decorate your porcelain skin with kisses. If only you were here, my love.

Yours faithfully,

Yui.

I gave this letter to the owl and in a blink of an eye, it left. Not long after I received another letter.

Dear Yui,

Please do not call me that, you are making my face flush with the colour of my blood in a public space, so please don't. It's a relief that you find my skin complexion beautiful. As for your free time, I could cease all my work and meet with you, to fulfill all our needs, just tell me.

Yours faithfully,

Muzan

Isn't he ever tired of being so cunning? Jeez, he's practically forcing me to send a letter back, I have to.

***

As I arrived at the location Muzan wanted to meet me, the strung of a well-known biwa spreaded through my ears, the empty space, and before I knew it, I had got into the infinity castle.

- My my, what a sight - I heard his voice from behind me, but when I turned to see him, he was gone. Maybe playing that little trick where you tap someone on their shoulder, then quickly go to the opposite direction to make them think they made it up?

He wasn't the type to pull those tricks, but my hand still reached behind me. I guess he hadn't expected it, so before he could get away, I quickly grabbed his tie and made sure he wasn't going to run away this time.

- What's the matter? Don't you want to show me your beautiful face?

- No ma'am, just playing a little game - His politeness was what's going to be the end of him, in a good way. - Could you please let go of my tie?

- And what if I won't? Will you fight me?

- Maybe... or maybe I'll just... - He grabbed me and bear-hugged me, his breath landing on my neck - ...sink my teeth into your arterie and drink your blood? It would be quite the treat. - His tongue traced down my neck, then I felt something sharp, just like his teeth.

- If you do it, so will I. - I got closer to his neck, panting on the vein.

He pulled away, yet kissed me, and let me go.

- Mr. Kibutsuji, are you really scared that I'd drink your blood? Who knows, maybe I'll become an even stronger demon than you?...

- Forget about it, both the strength and the nickname.

- What's wrong, Mr. Kibutsuji? I thought you liked when people call you like that. -  He hugged me again.

- Don't.

The infinity castle, however infinite, didn't make an impression on Muzan. Maybe since he saw this for almost every day and it's grown on him, yet for me, it's beautiful. Sadly I can't jump around and explore, because of my injuries that I can't overlook.

My day... or night... I can't really tell in here. Anyways, I spent my time in a room with Muzan, talking, listening to him talk about chemistry. I really don't understand it very much, but it seems interesting. I just love how cute he looks while explaining it to me.

***

My injuries have been healed and I can continue my training. The last one and then, I'll be deamed worthy of the hashira title. But now I have to face the man called Himejima Gyoumei.

Tanjiro says that his training is the hardest, how they have to push a boulder through the village and stand under a waterfall.

It was amusing to hear people around me fall under the waterfall and call me unnatural. It wasn't long before I could try to push the boulder.

It was really hard to even get it to move at all! This thing looks like what killed the dinosaurs and I'm just supposed to move it?

Luckily Oyakata-sama had stopped giving me so many missions, but I still had some, which made this even harder.

I figured out I needed a rhythm, not just to push it mindlessly. After a couple of days struggling, I finally got it to move.

The village people were surprised to see me, not because they didn't know about the training, but because I was the first one to push it this far.

I can see the finish line. Just a couple   more...     steps...      More...       pushes...

• Tanjiro's POV

- This rock is insane, I can barely move it!

And then I saw Mr. Himejima carry a well known friend of mine, Yuki, on his arms. She seems to be passed out, but I couldn't see any blood.

- WAAA! MR. HIMEJIMA! WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?! - I shouted.

- Namu abida butsu, my poor child. She was almost there, but passed out of overworking herself. Impressive, really. I may even let her pass.

- H-HOW?! How did she even manage to move it?

- You may ask her that when she wakes up, in the butterfly mansion.

***

• Yuki POV

I woke up in what seems to be the butterfly mansion, with shinobu walking around me.

- What did I say about overworking yourself? - said shinobu with her ever so light tone.

- I have this feeling that if I don't hurry, I'll lose my chance...