~Nobody Else~ { M. Tokito}

Chapter 11 - Your name, please?

he grass is fairly tall, standing at our waists as muichiro and i make our way east. I took extra time to appreciate all of the tall and magnificent sunflowers that stood much taller than us, and the greenery.
I'm surprised they're still in season with fall being on the horizon. But the closer we got to the civilization, the more dead the flowers looked, and the lower they stood.

As soon as we set foot on the premises, I could tell these people had been scarred by the evil essence that always strikes at night.

A low growl rumbled from the pit of my stomach, signalling that I should have a bite.
Searching for any possible candidates to assist me, my eyes landed on a couple. The young woman with her arm hardly holding onto the man who walked beside her.

I calmly stepped towards the pair with Muichiro right beside me.
"Hi, excuse me."
The man's brows knitted close together when I spoke.
" What do you want?"
I ignored his attitude and addressed the girl. "Do you know where we can get some food?"
" Y-yes, there's"- Just as she was about to answer, her supposed boyfriend/husband extended his arm between us.
"Go ask someone who cares. She's not talking to anyone, got it?"
The girl lowered her head, breaking eye contact from me.

Now he stood right in front of me.
" Now, get lost kid."
Something told me to stop wasting my time, so instead of power kicking this bastard in the crotch I gave him a fake smile and turned away.

"Sure thing. Stay safe, you two."

I won't feel bad if he gets eaten by a demon.

Author's POV

Atsumi ended up getting assistance from a much kinder couple that had just finished having a meal of their own with each other.

She ordered a small serving of rice balls while the mist pillar ate nothing.

"You're not hungry?" She wondered.

The boy shook his head in denial. "Not really."

Muichiro watched Atsumi resumed taking bites out of the balls of rice wrapped in seaweed. They looked so good.

Y'know, I haven't had breakfast today. I suppose I am rather hungry.

A seat away from the tiger pillar, a child happily chowed down on tempura. The delicious, flakey golden brown, deep-fried shrimp. It was a mouth watering sight to behold, and he could handle it anymore.

Screw it.

He was preparing himself to take an order, then began to have second thoughts.

Hmm. The sun will start setting in a couple of hours. My stomach shouldn't be so full while I'm jumping and running around.

In the middle of his daydream, a voice blocked his conversation with himself.
"Um, do you want some? You sure look like it." She smiled
Muichiro hadn't realized how deliberately he was icegrilling the girl's food. He blinked a few times, trying to clear his thoughts until speaking. But before he had the chance to reply, suddenly the plate with three remaining rice balls slowly slid in front of him.

In Atsumi's head, she didn't even know if he really wanted it or not and was now mildly panicking.

Oh God, what have I done. Is he gonna reject it? Does he want it at all?! How could I make such an assumption?!

"Thank you."
Broken away from her inner thoughts, she pushed out an, "Of course. No problem at all."

Atsumi happily watched him eat the food she had shared with him. She felt like that was the first step to getting closer to someone.

The two of them later on sat on top of a building as they waited for the sun to set. Atsumi took the opportunity to practice her total concentration breathing. Every one of the Hashira have already mastered it. Even Kanao, who is a very talented demon slayer due to being trained by the insect pillar, Kocho Shinobu.

Atsumi shuddered at the memory of her creepy smile, wondering if it was genuine at the least.

Time skip (Atsumi POV)

We watched patiently watched from out spot as the last bit of light disappear behind the mountains far out. My enhanced hearing picked up strange sounding footsteps down below.

"Do you hear that?" I asked Muichiro. He nodded.

We followed the sound, our hair rippling in the wind as we sprinted across each roof. Once grounded, I kept on tracking down the source of the animalistic footsteps, striding onward.

We both came to a halt. The sound had stopped? I strained my ears, trying to catch it once more.
"What happened?"
The boy's black hair swooshed past his young face at the abrupt stop.
"I can't hear it anymore," he said. " Listen."
We both listened closely to each and every sound of the night. Crickets. Leaves rolling over. Dripping?
My eyes followed the dripping noice to a dark space between two buildings. A pair of red, mischievous eyes flared back at me.

"There." I whispered.
Muichiro turned his head slightly to the side and paused. We exchanged a confirmative glance, our hands sliding down to grip the handle of our Nichirin blades.

I could still hear the hot breath of the monster inhaling and exhaling with saliva drooling from it's mouth full of fangs. The demon stepped out from the shadows. A human hand rested in it's jaws before being flung off to the side. Then crab crawled out into the open under the moon's light which castes a shadow over it's back.
I didn't hesitate to make the first move. A clean cut sent it's head rolling on the ground before turning to dust and fading away. Another slashing sound from behind told me that more demons had arrived. Whirling around, I saw that Muichiro was annihilating anything that came near him.
Jumping into the action, we wiped out the whole lot. The only evidence of demons was their blood spread all over the ground. I wiped some of it off that had gotten on my cheek.

I let out a satisfied sigh. Finally! We can go home at last and I can take a nap.

Leaf fall edged closer and closer, sending it's soon stronger breeze across the planes. I also took note of how the leaves change of color had already begun.

Ahh, fall. My favorite season.

But if not Autumn, then spring. At least spring isn't as hot as summer, when I can't comfortably go to sleep.

"It's getting cold." I heard Muichiro whisper under his breath.

Neither of us spoke for a while. But the silence was broken when he faintly said, "I'm tired," to himself. He then faced me and added, " I have to say, your strength is comparable to Mitsuri-san's. "
"O-oh, thank you." I was caught off guard by the.. compliment? " That means a lot coming from you."

I watched as he tilted his head up. Hundreds of stars floated across the deep blue night sky. Muichiro closed his eyes briefly, soaking in their magestic lighting, his mouth parted in amazement. "The stars are bright, aren't they?" I asked, trying to start some small talk in the midst of the cold night draft.

"Mhm."

Author's POV

A thought ran across the young pillar's mind. That's right! He had been wanting to know the leopard breath user's name.

This is a good time to ask for her name. I should know it if we're gonna keep fighting together this frequently.

Breaking the gaze she held onto the sky with her dark blue, almost black, pupils, Muichiro asked, "what's your name, by the way?"
"Huh?-Oh! It's Takahashi Atsumi."

Are you telling me he didn't know my name this whole time? Well I can't blame him. It's not like we're close in the first place.

"Hmm, Takahashi...Atsumi." He breathed in and let out a sigh. "Ok, then. I bet I'll forget soon, feel free to remind me." Atsumi giggled Internally at his lack of memory. "Sure thing."

Thank you for reading.

And if you want, leave any questions you have for a future Q&A.