᪥𝒯𝓇𝒶𝒸ℯ𝓈 ℴ𝒻 𝒲𝒾𝓈𝓉ℯ𝓇𝒾𝒶᪥

Machi

「Remember to come back before it gets dark!」

Two children waved at the woman and laughed at each other before running into the woods.

———

"Tanjirou." Ichirou shook him. "Wake up. We gotta go, it's nighttime."

"Huh? Oh." Tanjirou sat up, rubbing his eyes.

Ichirou smiled slightly. "Come on." She turned to the demon. "Nezuko, you can walk if you want, it's only two demons we're dealing with."

Nezuko nodded, and followed the two out of the room.

The five of them walked out of the house, up the path to a few abandoned houses outside the town.

"It's that way." Ichirou pointed to her old home. "One is there. The other is in the house to the right. Inosuke, Zenitsu, you take the right. It's a smaller house than mine, and you would get lost. Tanjirou, Nezuko, you come with me."

They all split up, despite Zenitsu's complaints with being paired with Inosuke.

"Hey, Ichirou?"

"Yeah?"

"You... I can smell guilt. It's coming from you."

She stiffened. "It's nothing."

"Ichirou, really."

"It's nothing," she repeated. "We're here."

They stopped outside the house. Shuffling could be heard inside, and though it was faint, it was definitely there.

Ichirou grabbed the hilt of her sword, pulling it out of the sheath.

Tanjirou did the same as they both walked in.

Almost immediately, the demon attacked them, causing the three to jump away from each other.

"Ichirou!"

Feeling a presence behind her, Ichirou turned and blocked the other demon. "What the hell? They didn't say there were two here!"

The demon who attacked Ichirou stared at her before running down the hallway.

"Tanjirou, can you handle this one yourself?"

"You go ahead!"

She nodded, quickly running down the same hallway. She came to a stop at the corner. The demon was cowering in a corner.

"What the..."

It looked up at her, and she caught a glimpse of a silver charm on its wrist. Before she could react, it lunged at her.

"I'm hungry... it hurts."

Ichirou jumped out of the way, running into a wall. "Oh, come on!" She ran to the end of the cramped hallway, which led into a garden.

"How long has it been? He said he'd bring something." The demon walked out into the garden. "I haven't seen this place."

Ichirou hesitated, watching him look around the garden.

"It feels... familiar."

"Of course it is, you've been living in my home!"

He paused. "No. I've... never seen this place. I remember it. Like a dream."

"Demons don't have dreams."

"Machi? Was that the name?"

Ichirou lost her patience at that word, combined with the charm seed seen earlier. "That's it!" She charged at the demon, ready to slice it's head off.

He backed up, only to trip on an overturned cobblestone from the path.

"Where the hell did you get that bracelet, and how the hell do you know Machi's name?" Ichirou yelled, standing on the demon's chest.

"I..."

Ichirou raised her sword.

"Nikko, wait!"

She froze, staring in shock. "Nikko? I... how?"

"Ino... Inoue. Inoue Ichirou. We- we used to play here all the time."

"Machi?" Ichirou let her arms drop to the side. "No, you- you died." She stepped off him. "You died a year ago, there was a funeral."

"I'm sorry," Machi mumbled, staring at the ground.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why didn't you listen? I told you not to go out at night. You were all I had left after they died. I told you to stay inside." Ichirou knelt down besides her old friend.

"I..."

"You didn't believe in demons, but now you are one. I can tell you've eaten humans, but you're too soft to kill them."

"The other one has been bringing me scraps."

Ichirou sighed. "I... I still need to kill you. I'm so sorry."

"Don't cry."

"I'm not."

Machi reached over, careful to not scratch her with his claws, and took off her mask, revealing glistening, pale-green eyes. "You're still my best friend."

Ichirou stood up, grabbing her sword. "I'm sorry, Chi. Water Breathing, Fifth Form: Blessed Rain After the Drought." She swung the blade quickly, unable to look away despite what she'd just done.

"Don't be sad, Nikko. You were always happy." Machi smiled.

Ichirou reached out and grabbed Machi's bracelet. "I hope you don't mind."

"Take it."

She unclasped it and held onto his disintegrating hand. "I hope I can meet you in another life. I want you to have a peaceful life next time you're reborn."

"I love you, Nikko."

Ichirou turned to where Machi's head was, only to see it was gone. Looking back at her hands, the only thing left was the bracelet she'd given him before she left. "I could've done better."

•~•~•~•~•

Tanjirou sighed in relief as they walked out. "I'm glad that's over with, aren't you, Nezuko? It was harder than I thought."

"Hey, Tanjirou." Ichirou put her hand on his shoulder. "Let's go."

"Right!" Tanjirou followed her, with Nezuko close behind him. 'The scent of wisteria is stronger now, but I can still smell grief over it. What happened to you in there?'