Tengu's bride | Giyushino

[2] ~ Bride of a Tengu

"Um, Mister Giyu? You do realise that your wife will be arriving today, right?" A young boy's voice disturbed the older man's daily nature watch.

The man hums in reply, which causes the boy to look at him weirdly. "I'll take that as a yes. I didn't really want to disturb you, mister Giyu, but don't you think it might be good if you make yourself look nicer to meet her? I'm sure any kind of girl would like to see that her future husband dresses nicely for her—at least that's what my sisters have told me."

The man raised his brow at the boy standing beside him and asked, "Is there something wrong with the way I dress?" He rests his hands on his hips.

The boy panicked and started waving his arm around frantically. "No! Not at all! But I thought since this is a special occasion, it'd be nice if you did something a little different with your appearance."

"No, I think I look fine. If she doesn't like me dressing like this, then that's her problem." He crossed his arms, watching as the wind lightly shook the leaves on the branch nearby.

"Well, I just think that you wearing only your yukata just feels a bit informal, and also, what about your wings? You usually bring them out." Giyu started mumbling something to himself: "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I said.. she might be scared if I dress like other tengu and summon my wings." The boy can see his ears turning red. "Ahh! I get it now! You're trying to look as normal as possible for her. Very considerable!"

The boy suddenly smiled at him, causing the man to frown at him. "Now that I think about it, you're talking a lot today, mister Giyu! Are you excited to see her? I know I am, and my family is too! My sisters especially, but I can see that you're also excited too."

The other's eyes widen, and his face turns red with embarrassment. The boy starts to smirk, "No! Of course not."

"If you say so!"

Giyu glanced at his watch tied to his clothing. "Isn't it time for you to go get her? I'm sure she must be near now."

"Ah! You're right! Don't worry, Mister Giyu, I'll bring her here with no harm!"

"I wasn't worried." Giyu raised his voice, trying to get his words to reach the boy's ears. The boy gave him a thumbs up in response.

"Sure thing!"

"Will I actually be married, or will I end up as their dinner?" She groaned, dragging her feet up the hill. She wiped away the sweat on her forehead and slightly cringed at the sticky texture on her skin.

The more Shinobu walked, the more tired she felt. As it was afternoon and the sun was shining down exactly on her, she rolled her eyes, feeling as if she's being mocked by whoever is living in the sky. She breathed out, realising that she'd been holding on to her breath this entire time. Being too stressed out does make her forget to breathe sometimes.

Her clothes dragged against the dirt, causing them to slowly turn brown. Her hair was messy from twigs and branches getting tangled while walking through an unkempt and overgrown forest. She tried her best to brush away any twigs left in her hair.

"What a mess... On the bright side, this place is an absolute beauty." She admired the scenery around her. She crouched down to the side to admire a little daisy. She was about to reach out her hand to touch the flower before hearing the sound of someone's panting.

She turned around to find a red-haired boy running towards her. Shinobu frowned.

'Is he running to me?' She thought.

As a matter of fact, he did.

"Are you Miss Shinobu Kocho?" The boy stopped and asked. Shinobu stood up from the ground before replying.

"Yes, I am, and you are?" Shinobu asked, eyeing the scar on his forehead.

"Oh, good! My name is Tanjiro Kamado!" The boy bowed down. "I'm here to take you to your new home!" He smiled brightly at her, and Shinobu gave him a smile too.

The two continued the rest of their journey, talking to each other to pass the time. "So Tanjiro..." Shinobu started. "You are a human, yes?" She silently cringed, hoping that she didn't step over any line that she couldn't cross.

"Yes, that's right. My family has been living on this mountain for many generations." Shinobu nodded along.

"Ahh, I see. Have you ever been down to the village?" She stared at him curiously.

"Of course! My family makes and sells charcoal for a living, so I had to visit the village then." Shinobu accidentally tripped over a rock, and when her face was about to meet the ground, Tanjiro managed to catch her before she could.

"Ahh, thank you." Her face turned red with embarrassment before quickly changing the subject. "I-I've never seen you before.." She stuttered, her face still red.

"But I have seen you once before, but you were a little busy talking with someone, and your parents are one of my customers too."

Shinobu's eyes caught a glance at his forehead again. "My apologies for asking this, but what happened to your forehead? The scar is such an interesting shape.. and colour."

"Don't apologise, Miss Shinobu. I got this scar when I accidentally burned myself while saving my brother from a boiling pot, and after I found myself associating with yokai, my scar turned into this shape." Shinobu nodded in understanding.

"If you'd like, I can make an ointment for your scar." Tanjiro raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I didn't know that you're a doctor, Miss Shinobu." Shinobu waved her hand to say no.

"I'm not, but I wanted to be one." Tanjiro frowned before asking, "Wanted? Don't you want to be a doctor anymore?"

"Well, since I'm basically married now—and to a yokai, no less—I think it might be a little too late." Shinobu shrugged her shoulders while Tanjiro shook his head.

"I'm sure you can still follow your dream once you settle in the village." They suddenly came to a stop.

"Speaking about the village, here we are!" He gestured to an archway excitedly. The archway was worn down and on the verge of falling apart. Shinobu looked beyond it to find a more messy forest. She squinted as her lips turned downward.

"Um.." She turned to Tanjiro with a confused look on her face. "Where is... "the village"? I don't get it. Are you playing with me?" She sent him a death glare, causing him to let out a nervous chuckle.

"Why don't you try to walk through it?" With that, Tanjiro walked through the archway and turned back to face Shinobu again. "Come on in!" He waved to her excitedly. He smiled so big that the corners of his lips might reach his ears. Shinobu grew worried that the boy might hurt his face from smiling too much.

Just then, Shinobu slowly stepped under the gateway to see a booming tengu village. Some villagers waved as they noticed her, while others just continued with their day.

"How?!" Her eyes widened in shock. "What kind of sorcery is this?" Tanjiro smiled awkwardly. "Um, Yokai's sorcery?"

"Oh dear.." A tengu approached them, her lips frowning as she stared up and down at Shinobu.

"What happened to you, sweetheart? Are you hurt in any way?" The woman asked, then reached out to grab Shinobu's hand.

"I-I'm okay, ma'am." Shinobu stuttered as she gave the lady an awkward smile.

Tanjiro stepped in after noticing her discomfort. "She must have had a hard time ascending the mountain; don't fret, Miss Hina; I'm taking her to her new home." Hina understood him before giving them a small smile and walked away, but not until after she gave Shinobu a cloth to wipe dirt off her face.

Tanjiro looked back at her again before taking her away to see her husband. Shinobu gulped nervously; her stomach started hurting from hiding her fear too long. The boy next to her tried his best to reassure her until they ended up in front of an estate.