𝙠𝙣𝙮, 𝙨𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚

06. Hints

"Thanks, [name]. You did a flamboyant job in saving me," Tengen spoke out as he ruffled [name] who was seen sitting on the bed in the Butterfly Estate. She could only nod her head in response as her head was hanging low then. Her lips pressed curled up into a smile then as she had just woken up from sleeping for a whole month.

Again.

"If you hadn't reached in time, I think I would have to retire by then. Since he was practically aiming for my limbs," Tengen chuckled out, trying to cheer [name] up a bit too much. [name] then laughed a little in response, hoping that Tengen would leave her alone soon.

All she could remember then was the sadness rising within her back at the Red Light District.

"You were never that special anyway, [name]," Ryuu spoke out with a smile on his face, the smile she remembers loving it so badly and wish to look at it every night. Yet, there he was, pinning her against the ground as his supposed nichirin blade was stabbed straight into her shoulder.

His smile, soon turned into a smirk.

"What is it like? To watch your father perform seppuku before you?" he asked in a slight taunting voice and [name] could only bite her lips in response then as she tried her best to not lash out at her childhood best friend.

"Ah, right, you became the Shadow Hashira, right? I heard from the demon slayers I devoured that you had no choice but to take on the role. Even though you have yet to hone your skills to it's maximum," Ryuu added on, and [name] could only watch then.

"I have no business here actually. I just dropped by to see you," he said with a smile as he peered deep into her dark blue ocean eyes. [name] could only allow the tears she had kept within herself for far too long to flow down as Ryuu pressed the nichirin blade deeper into her shoulder.

"You're not as powerful as me, you shouldn't have taken on the role of being a demon slayer in the first place. Maybe then, your father might still be alive," he spoke out, and [name]'s dark blue ocean eyes could only widen then.

"Father treated you like he was your own..." she whispered out as she raised her nichirin blade with her less dominant hand and slashed upwards, causing Ryuu an injury as he had to pull his nichirin blade out of [name]'s shoulder.

"Shut up, your father never once saw me as his own. He only saw you, and found you much more suitable to be the Shadow Hashira," he muttered out, and [name] could only smile a sad smile on her face then.

"Wipe that fucking smile off your face! You always smile in such a situation, it ticks me off!" he spat out, only to have [name] continue smiling in response.

"[name]-san!"

"[name]?" Tengen called out and [name] slowly looked up to him. She then raised her left hand to rub her left eye as she smiled softly at him in response. Tengen then chuckled a little as he patted her on the head.

"The Kamado kid along with Tomioka came to see you earlier on to see if you had woken up," Tengen spoke out and looked at [name] who was forcing herself to smile in response. The door to the room she was resting in soon slid opened, and in came Shinobu who had a smile on her face.

"Morning, [name]," she called out.

"Morning, Kocho-san,"

--

"You know, Tomioka-san, Tanjiro, the both of you could have just waited for me outside at the entrance instead of being in my room and waiting for me to finish changing," [name] spoke out as she was standing in front of the full-length mirror that Tanjiro remembered it was from her old house then.