Alright guys, here we are with chapter two. I've decided to release two chapters today, as chapter two is a little slow-paced, and from now on chapters will be released every other day instead of every three days.
Also, if you're wondering what Tamaki looks like because I didn't give a really good description of him, he looks like Loid Forger but more muscular and with a brighter yellow hair color.
Anyways, enjoy!
Tamaki and Mitsuri sat at a table for two in a small restaurant. Mitsuri stared at the menu happily, trying to decide what to eat.
"You know what," said Tamaki, feeling generous, "I'll pay for whatever you get."
"Are you sure? I eat a lot." Mitsuri frowned at him nervously. "I don't want to make you go broke."
"Don't worry. I have enough money." Tamaki patted his wallet confidently, as he had just refilled it the other day.
"Okay." Mitsuri took a deep breath. "Can I get everything on this menu?"
Everything!? Tamaki's insides churned at the thought of how much money he would be spending today.
"O-Okay." Tamaki stuck to his promise, regardless of how skinny his wallet would now become.
A few minutes later, the waitresses had to bring over three other tables to place all the food down. Mitsuri wolfed it down at incredible speeds, earning her a lot of stares from the people around them.
Tamaki cringed as he slowly ate his one bowl of udon. We're definitely attracting a lot of attention, he thought as he tried to keep his head low.
"Mitsuri, can you try to eat a little slower?" Tamaki whispered to her.
"Hmmm?" Her mouth was full of food, and she took a minute to swallow before answering. "But it's so good, I can't stand not eating it fast!" On the left side of her face, covering her left beauty spot, there was a smear of something.
"Uhh, Mitsuri, you have something on your face." Tamaki pointed it out to her.
"Huh? Where?" Mitsuri grabbed a napkin and wiped her face. "Is it gone?"
"Nope. Here." Tamaki took a napkin and wiped it for her. The minute his hand made contact with her face, she blushed a deep red and winced slightly.
"What's wrong?" Tamaki withdrew quickly. Did I hurt her?
"N-nothing. I j-just…never mind." Mitsuri hurriedly looked away.
Okay…I guess she's all right, thought Tamaki, a little confused.
After just about fifteen minutes, Mitsuri had consumed every single dish on the menu, the waitresses giving her shocked looks.
After they finished, Tamaki took his wallet and emptied it down to the last coin. "Huh, just exactly enough." He handed all of his money to the waitress, and he and Mitsuri left the restaurant, with one being completely full and one being completely penniless.
"Caw! Caw!" The sudden screeching of the kagusai crow scared Tamaki and Mitsuri as they strolled through the city streets.
"Kanroji Mitsuri!" it cawed loudly. "Utaka Tamaki! Report to the south side of the city!" It flew away hurriedly and Tamaki and Mitsuri glanced at each other.
"Fighting again?" complained Mitsuri. "But I just ate!"
"Maybe you shouldn't have eaten that much. A demon slayer must always be ready to be called, especially a Hashira." Tamaki lectured her sternly.
"I know, I know," sulked Mitsuri. "Don't be so hard on me."
Tamaki rolled his eyes. "I wasn't being hard on you!"
"You totally were!" Mitsuri crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at him. "Bleh!"
Tamaki sighed impatiently. "Whatever." Tendency to eat large amounts. Noted.
"Are you mad?" Mitsuri's voice became timid again. She pressed her index fingers together innocently and stared up at him.
"No," said Tamaki. That's kinda cute, he thought to himself.
Tamaki and Mitsuri traveled to the south side of Kyoto, as instructed, and quickly took down a weaker demon. It was now getting extremely late, and the two Hashira felt fatigued after a restless day.
"I'm so tired," muttered Mitsuri. She stumbled, her eyes barely open. Her knees buckled and she almost fell onto the ground, but Tamaki caught her.
"Hey, Mitsuri. Wake up." He shook her gently. It was no use. She was already fast asleep.
Sighing, Tamaki lifted her up and carried her in his arms. Falls asleep suddenly. Although this could be a one-time thing, I'll note it just in case. She snuggled against him comfortably as if they had known each other for much longer. Wow, I'm surprised at how fast she trusts someone, he thought. Where should I go? Hmmm.
There was a nearby house with a wisteria crest, so they could rest there. As Tamaki walked up to the door, he knocked on it. A woman opened it, and when she saw the two Hashira, she beckoned them inside.
"You can put her in the spare room," she said to Tamaki. "There's a spare bedroom to the right side over there."
Tamaki walked over to the spare bedroom and slid the door to the side. It was a little small, with a single bed. He laid Mitsuri down gently on the bed and found a soft blanket, placing it over her.
"Excuse me, miss, would you happen to have some bedding for me?" Tamaki asked the young woman as he walked back outside.
She frowned. "I'm sorry, I don't think so. You can have my bed, I'll sleep on the floor."
Tamaki held up his hand. "No, you can sleep on your bed. I will sleep on the floor in the spare room."
Tamaki settled down on the floor of the spare bedroom, using his haori as a pillow. The floor was hard and uncomfortable, but Tamaki was okay with it.
It took the Rumble Hashira a while to fall asleep, and his dreams were disturbing, filled with dark shadows, burning red roses and a high-pitched, shrill laugh that pierced his ears. He woke up in a cold sweat, feeling like he hadn't gotten a good night of rest. Mitsuri, on the other hand, looked like she had slept very soundly and woke with a satisfied yawn.
"Good morning Tamaki!" she cheerfully greeted him. "Did you put me here?"
"Yeah," said Tamaki, rubbing his eyes.
"Thanks!" Mitsuri smiled. "I feel so energized! Hey Tamaki, we have the day off today, let's go somewhere!"
Mitsuri bounded out the door excitedly. Tamaki sat up groggily and pulled his haori over his uniform.
"Thanks for letting us stay here," he said to the woman who had given them lodging.
"You're welcome. Have a good day, and stay safe."
Tamaki followed Mitsuri out the door and found her standing outside, waiting for him.
"Hey, I know a pretty forest nearby, there's a flower-filled clearing that we can go to," she said.
"Okay, we'll go there," said Tamaki, having recovered from his sleepiness and also having no other ideas on where they could go.
"Yay!" Mitsuri happily skipped away.
"Wait up!" called Tamaki, but she was already out of earshot.
Man, she has so much energy, Tamaki thought. This is gonna be a fun day.
"Okay, we're here." Mitsuri stopped walking, and as Tamaki caught up to her, he was astounded by their surroundings. It's so nice here! The air was fresh, with a nice, gentle breeze.
Mitsuri noticed his wonderment. "Yeah, that's how I felt the first time I came here. When I was Rengoku-san's student, he often took me here to train."
"Oh, nice." This is quite a great place. Maybe I should come here sometimes and train.
A sudden thought occurred to Tamaki. "Hey, you trained under Kyojuro, right? Then how come you aren't a flame breathing user?"
"I…uhh…well, you see," Mitsuri began slowly, blushing with embarrassment. "I-I couldn't master flame breathing, s-so I created my own breathing style." Mitsuri looked away slightly. "I'm not a very strong demon slayer."
"You created a breathing style?" Wow. Tamaki looked at her sideways, impressed. "Don't say that about yourself, you're better than me. I didn't invent Thunder breathing."
Mitsuri blushed even more, her face going a deep shade of scarlet. "I didn't think you would be impressed," she said. "I thought you would have said I was an awful demon slayer."
"No, you're wonderful," Tamaki complimented her. "Your love breathing is quite interesting, don't insult yourself."
"You think I'm wonderful?" Mitsuri went even redder. "I've never had someone say that about me. Everyone thinks I'm weird."
Ouch. That must hurt. Noted. Noticing that she looked a little sad now, Tamaki put a hand on Mitsuri's shoulder. "You're beautiful and strong. Don't let anyone tell you any different."
Oh shoot! I said beautiful, didn't I? Tamaki blushed slightly, praying she wouldn't notice and holding his breath. Please don't think I'm perverted!
She didn't. "Th-thanks!" whispered Mitsuri, covering her face with her sleeves in embarrassment.
Tamaki took his hand off of her shoulder. "Ummm…you're welcome?" Phew.
Mitsuri glanced back at him, rays of sunlight shining down on her face in the late morning sun. "Race you through the forest," she said suddenly.
"Huh? What? Tamaki couldn't react fast enough, and Mitsuri took off running. Tamaki kicked his legs into action and ran after her.
He caught up with her easily, but decided to let her stay ahead.
"Slowpoke!" Mitsuri teased him. "I'm faster than you!"
"I'm not even trying!" Tamaki picked up the pace a little and passed her.
"Okay, show-off," Mitsuri said. "We don't all have-ahh!"
Tamaki spun around and saw her foot catch on a root. She tripped and flew into a nearby tangle of bushes. Oh no! Is she okay? He dashed back to where she was as quick as he could. "Mitsuri! Are you alright?"
"Ow!" she wailed miserably. "Thorns!"
Tamaki laughed, although inside he was super relieved that she hadn't gotten badly hurt. "Who's faster now?"
"Help," said Mitsuri, "I'm stuck."
Tamaki pulled her out of the bushes. She was covered in little cuts from the thorns. "Ow," she repeated.
"Do you need some first-aid?" Tamaki frowned. "You're cut all over the place. I can pull out the thorns for you." Okay, Tamaki, I don't think she needs you to pull thorns out for her, he thought, contradicting his earlier statement.
"I'm fine," said Mitsuri. "Can we go back to the clearing? You can pull out the thorns for me there."
Oh. Maybe she does. "Alright." Tamaki led her back to the clearing.
Once back in the open space, the Hashiras sat down. Tamaki pulled out all the thorns he could, but some were in slightly more intimate places, and he hastily refused when she offered to let him pull them out. However, she was recovering, the bleeding had stopped on most of the cuts.
"It's noontime," said Tamaki. "You didn't bring any food, did you?"
"No," Mitsuri's stomach growled. "I'm hungry."
"You're always hungry," Tamaki teased her.
"No I'm not!" said Mitsuri. "I just eat a lot when I'm hungry."
"Let's head back, then," said Tamaki. It's a shame that we weren't here for that long.
"Mmmm, okay." Mitsuri stood up. "Come on, let's go."
Tamaki nodded and followed her back to the city.
"Here you go." Tamaki held out a sakura mochi for Mitsuri.
She took it and split it in half. "Here, take some. Don't go hungry."
Tamaki was surprised, and extremely grateful. I didn't expect her to share food with me! "Thanks," he said.
They each ate their half of the sakura mochi quickly. "So what do you want to do now?" asked Mitsuri after they had finished.
"I have a mission," remembered Tamaki. "In ten minutes." The morning had made him forget all about an intel gathering mission he had been given on the walk back to Kyoto.
"Can I go with you?"
"No," said Tamaki. "This mission is for me only. It was fun hanging out with you, though." He smiled at her, genuinely meaning it. A warm feeling lingered in his heart.
She smiled back at him. "See you later, then."