SUMMER BREEZE | t. muichiro

𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

( — SEVEN ; A CRUEL SIDE )

"KANATA-san," Tanjiro approached me, a smile wide on his face. I looked up from my book and returned the warm grin.

"I wanted to thank you for training me," Tanjiro stuck his hand out, which I shook with mine. "Your techniques really helped me a lot."

"Glad to be of service," I answered, still keeping my gaze and smile. I knew he was leaving for a mission with Zenitsu and Inosuke, both of which I heard arguing. Aoi mentioned their names and how much she loathed them.

"See you!"

"Mm."

When he left, I turned my attention to my book that I didn't notice Kanao had taken a seat beside me, swinging her booted feet forward and backward.

"M-Mila?"

I looked up swiftly and at Kanao, who had a light peach blush on her cheeks. She continued her feet swinging, and absolute silence fell upon us.

"Oh my kami, did you just talk to me without your coin?" I didn't care if Kanao looked at me strangely for speaking without stuttering now. I guess we discover a new side to people everyday. "Wow, what happened?"

"Tanjiro," she answered simply, a smile brightening her features, and for the first time, I could sense genuine happiness radiating off of her.

"Ooh~ Someone has a crush~"

"Mila!" Kanao squeaked out, rearranging her pink-and-green butterfly pin, the colors brighter than mine. "Please, I-I've seen you and Tokitou-san."

Now it was my turn to blush. I've realized how much I liked Muichiro, but I wasn't sure if I was ready to go that far again. Subaru died before I could confess my feelings, so it hurt. "Oh, hush. Do you want to try Mitsuri nee-san's sakura mochi?"

° • ° • ° • °

"AH! Kanao-chan came to visit! Kanao-channn!" Mitsuri squealed as she flapped her arms frantically, her blush adorning her moles under each her eyes.

I had raided Mitsuri's stock of sakura mochi, and Kanao assisted me in making some black tea for the both of us. Currently, Mitsuri was bombarding Kanao with hugs and kisses, and Kanao trying her utmost best to resist the displays of affection.

Meanwhile, I was zoning out. I was thinking of a hundred things, and Muichiro was all of them. I kept wondering if it was okay if I liked him. We were friends, yes, but I can't help but feel that him being a Hashira is widening the abyss between us, little by little.

He was the most precious person that I've ever met, and is one of the people that I want to protect. But what if he didn't feel the same way? Don't get me wrong, I'm not stupid, but with his stoic self...I just can't tell at all.

"Mila-chan, by the way," Mitsuri's voice snapped me out of my reverie. "Would you like to go to the hot springs in the sword smith's village with me?"

I agreed, but Kanao declined, saying that she had to focus on her current missions. With a wave and a thank-you for the snack, she left the estate.

"Kanao-chan's really nice." Mitsuri always pointed out people's good qualities. "Anyway, Mila-chan, do you want to train or should we finish this food first?"

"Train, please."

"Okay, let's go!~"

° • ° • ° • °

FEW days have passed by, and me and Mitsuri just bade a farewell to a certain Flame Hashira, Rengoku Kyojouro. He lost his life in protecting the people and demon slayers in the Mugen Train incident, and I can't tell how much tears Mitsuri shed for her former master.

I suggested that we go to the swordsmith village's hot springs to cool her mind, and she hesitatingly agreed. Tanjiro and Nezuko were — supposedly — going to be there as well, which was perfect.

The springs were wonderfully relaxing, and I swore that I could've lived in the shallow stone pool, if I wasn't such a busy demon slayer slash tsuguko.

"Thank you so much!"

The echo of a voice made my senses go into abrupt mode, and I looked over my shoulder to see Mitsuri coming up from the water. She met my gaze with a smile, and I returned it half-heartedly.

"I can feel my heart pounding, Mila-chan!" Mitsuri said happily, her cheeks growing bright red as she squeezed her own face with her fists.

"That was Tanjiro-san, nee-san," I reminded her jokingly. A joke or two couldn't hurt. "Do you like him?"

I laughed as I watched her get flustered, attempting to explain that her relationship with the crimson-haired slayer was strictly platonic, and that he was way too young for her anyway.

I glanced behind me; I could hear a sheathing of a katana. As far as I knew, the swordsmith's village could practically serve as a vacation hotel for the demon slayers who were either terribly lucky to find it, or were terribly lucky to be invited. Was there another slayer — besides me, Mitsuri, Tanjiro, and the scarred onyx-haired boy from the Selection — staying in the village? And who was it?

° • ° • ° • °

THE intriguing heights of the trees and their stick-straight postures were perfect for training, I thought, and I decided to test my haori. I had watched Shinobu-sama fly like a butterfly with hers — it wouldn't hurt if I did it too, right?

I darted through the trees with a steady speed and a lingering fear of suddenly falling, but overall, it was going great, until I heard three voices arguing in the woods.

I crept up to the safest distance, approximately three feet, and sat on the thick trunks of the maybe-pine trees. The wind carried the voices up to me, and I could clearly see that it belonged to Tanjiro, Muichiro, and a child swordsmith.

"You can torture me all you want, but I'm not giving up the key!"

Yeah, right. Torture is hell, and hell was living despite seeing the people I love die. This kid was all bark and no bite, and if he had to experience the same pain a demon slayer went through, I bet that he'd rather kill himself.

I saw Muichiro raise his hand up. . .

And slap the kid right across his face, that the sound made an echo that not even the breeze could fail to carry up towards me.