|| 𝒀-𝑶-𝑲-𝑨-𝑰 || 𝑲𝑵𝒀 𝒙 𝑶𝑪 ||

Chapter 20: Rui

{Kanao's POV}

I flinched at the contact of her hand and mine. Looking back at her, I noticed that she had placed the bandages besides her before reaching her hand up to the back of her head. Watching every movement that she's making, she swiftly took off the cloth that covered her eyes. The gray cloth slowly floated down as I saw her eyes closed. Suddenly, she slowly opened her eyes.

I stared her for a moment before looking away from her. "Your eyes are pretty..." I muttered as I heard her hum. "What did you say, Kanao?" The red-eyed female asked me as I shook my head in response. "Hm.. Okay then." She dismissed as she continued wrapping her head with the spare bandages. I let out a quiet sigh as I looked around the area.

Taking in the scene in front of me. I quickly noticed a specific patch of blue-colored flowers in the distant. Looking back at the other, as I quietly stood up and walked towards the flowers. Gazing at the flowers in front of me, thinking about how these would look great back at the Butterfly Estate. I crouched down to get a better look at the flowers, not noticing the other glancing at me before at looking somewhere else, butterflies started fluttering around me.

After a few minutes of admiring the flowers and the butterflies, I felt something heavy on my head as I lifted my hand up to feel a flower crown placed on my head. Carefully removing it, I turned around to see the girl looking at me with the cloth once again covering her eyes. "I never actually introduced myself properly, I'm Rei Tamotsu!" Rei introduced.

{3rd person POV}

Kanao stared at the older girl fora second before looking down at the handmade flower crown. "Do you like it?" Rei asked her, only to receive a small nod. "I could teach you." Rei suggested as Kanao kept staring at the headdress. "If you'd like, of course!" She quickly added while flailing her arms around. Out of nowhere, mist started surrounding them, making Kanao stand up.

"It's alright, Kanao." Rei reassured the girl by putting a hand on her shoulder. The girl turned around, silently agreeing as the mist started fadding away to reveal a dark figure in the shadow, sending small shovers down the younger slayers' spine. Rei, somehow, managed to keep Baku from draining too much of her energy. 'Greetings, Rei-sama.' Baku greeted as he slowly walked towards his keeper. "Hello to you too, Baku." Rei greeted back as she stroked the yokai.

Kanao felt a little bit uneasy due to how an unknown creature be this close to a human. The older female seemed to notice the younger's uneasiness due to how far she seemed. "This is Baku, Kanao. He isn't a demon, a yokai to be precised." She explained to the unsure female. All of a sudden, Baku tensed as he faced Rei. 'It seems like burgundy hair here,' He paused.

'has encountered a member of the Twelve Kizuki.' He privately told Rei as her red eyes widened while her mouth parted slightly. She hummed, 'Alright then. Thank you, Baku. You may go now.' She told him as he rubbed against her leg before fading away. Rei turned her body towards Kanao, "I need you to find any slayer that might still be alive. Do kill any demon that stand in your way."

{Rei's POV}

I sprinted as fast as I could, away from Kanao and the lake. Upon realizing, I abruptly stopped in my tracks as I summoned Bakeneko. 'Yes?', 'Could you find the location of Tanjiro and the Twelve Kizuki?' I asked him as he ran off for a bit before coming back. 'Apparently, they're both at another part of the river area with the father demon. It also seemed that there was another demon, a female.'

I nodded in thanks as he faded away. Running towards the area, quietly passing the river fight with Inosuke trying his hardest and the father demon hitting him.I glanced as them before successfully passing them and towards Tanjiro's direction. Once I had successfully reached them, I jumped up towards a tree as I sat on the highest branch. "You're wrong." I heard Tanjiro disagree.