Muichiro and Rui were very difficult to calm down as the rest of the people at the party chased after them. They had gotten hold of some sugar on their mission to have a good time, and Muichiro had eaten the lot while Rui matched his mood. Muichiro jumped across the seemingly never ending platforms while Rui tried to catch him in their new game of tag. Nakime didn't care, she had seen more childish things before apparently, Daki, Enmu and Douma all found it too entertaining to stop them, sis eyes was making a half-hearted attempt to stop them from wrecking the place while pink hair was going mad at "whoever let these kids in" so it was basically the most fun they'd had in years.
Right until Muichiro crashed right into the Michael j cosplayer.
Muichiro was lucky he wasn't knocked out again, that guy seemed hard as rocks. Rui was apologising for him over and over again Muichiro was on the edge of dying, he hadn't been this close to deaths this many times in a day since his demon killing marathon. Michael j must have been furious, even six eyed was trying to calm they guy down and saying "don't kill him" bit dramatic but still, Muichiro was thankful for the help. Michael j was still clearly not happy and he and six eyed ended up both leaving, clearly to get into an argument. Rui helped Muichiro get up "wow he seemed mad" Muichiro said "yeah, he gets like that sometimes, luckily I'm one of his favourites so he doesn't get mad at me" Rui said, clearly proud of that fact. Muichiro nodded "so let's hope we're not in trouble then, anyways what should we do next?" he said, getting up ready to run a mile if he needed to. Rui had to think for a moment "hmm, lets go see what pot gyokko's made!" and so Muichiro followed Rui down the paths of Nakime's house, it didn't take long before they heard what sounded like a riot.
In the latest part of the party house, it never seemed to end. The noise was everywhere, it sounded like someone was crying and another person was arguing. They followed the noise it led them to a door. Inside the door was two new people, Muichiro had never seen such ugly people. One person was on the floor crying and the other looked like a demon. Muichiro would have slayed both of them if he didn't trust Rui so much. The demon looking one smelled like fish, it was so bad Muichiro was almost blasted out the room, he even had an eye in his mouth, and tongues where his eyes should be. Muichiro had to resist throwing up while Rui walked over to them and asked "what you making?" to the fishy dude. The weird looking fish guy seemed occupied with a blob of clay "can you not see? it's a pot, this is going to be the most beautiful one yet!" Muichiro had a feeling he'd disagree on what this dude called "beautiful", but he stayed silent, because he knew this guy must be delusional and he didn't want to roast him to death just yet. The fish guy continued carving his ugly pot while Rui motioned Muichiro over to talk to the crying guy "this is Hantengu, hi, where are your clones?" Rui asked but before he could get an answer the man started screaming about how scared he was and ran off "oh wow, he really is a scaredy cat" Rui said "his clones are so much more fun, and one of them is my friend" Rui explained, Muichiro assumed his "clones" must mean his brothers, maybe they were even identical. Muichiro would have liked to see them, but it looked like they hadn't come, maybe next time though. They left soon after that, clearly, they weren't wanted there. Muichiro preferred the other lot, especially six eyes, he was nice even if he didn't talk much. After they closed to door, Rui grinned "what, do you have an idea?" Muichiro asked knowing that that smile must mean fun "lets go have a look at his other pots, we can have a competition, worst to least worst" Muichiro smiled at that "perfect" he said, and they ran down the corridor to the next available door.
The room was filled with pots and art, all sea themed and some had flowers painted on them "I think he likes the sea" Muichiro said "he even smells of it" Rui agreed. The rummaged through the pots, some of them had "sold" written on labels attached to them, some even had price tags "who on earth is buying this trash" Muichiro held up a misshapen vase with a sold tag attached to it. Rui shrugged "oh, wait, I think I've really found the ugliest" he held up a truly ugly pot "eww, definitely on the worse side" Muichiro nodded. They continued searching and showing off the most hideous they could find and eventually the came across a box filled with vases that made trash look like gold. Muichiro picked the first one up "wow, if id made this id of set it on fire" he then chucked it behind him and let it smash against the floor. Rui picked up another one "do you think he might secretly be blind?" he said while inspecting it "must be" Muichiro agreed, Rui too threw it behind him, not looking to see it shatter like glass. They continued until there wasn't a single pot left in the cardboard box. They were so busy laughing they didn't notice the door crashing open and only heard the shriek echoing through the whole house coming right from behind them.
Apparently, those vases were important. You'd have never guessed from the look of them. Now the fish guy was going mental and if the cowardly guy wasn't trying to hold him back, he'd have murdered them. Whoops. Muichiro couldn't care less about how mad some stinky dude was at him, but he had to cover his ears the yelling was so loud. Eventually the others arrived "I can't believe you destroyed his pots" Daki laughed, she clearly understood how amusing this was. Even Michael j arrived, he was useless, all he did was watch the drama go down. Gyyoko (fish guy) started throwing fish at them. Muichiro had no clue where he was getting the fish from, but he wasn't helping himself get rid of his nickname. Luckily the six eyed guy was there trying to defend the two of them, Muichiro had no clue where he'd gotten the sword from or why he needs a sword at a party, but Muichiro knew one thing, that must mean he also was a demon slayer. Either that or he was a lunatic, probably both. Muichiro and Rui took this as a chance to run, and that's exactly what they did. They ran through the weird halls of the house, jumping off walls when they needed to and half flying sometimes. Eventually they were fairly sure they had lost him. Somehow, they had managed to end up with Nakime, she was still calmly playing her biwa, ignoring all chaos the was surrounding her, Muichiro was starting to think she was optionally deaf to everything that wasn't her biwa. Muichiro sat down "lets stay here for a while, it probably safer" to that Rui nodded "nobody would mess with Nakime, not even Gyyoko" and he sat down beside him. Nakime started playing a nice tune for them, she was clearly not bothered by them. Muichiro and Rui relaxed while the waited to hear the news of what had happened, who had won the fight. It didn't take long. The six eyed guy showed up after a while "you don't need to worry about Gyyoko anymore" he said and then he just walked off "he didn't waste time" Rui said. He must have better things to do, probably research the most dramatic thing to bring to a party considering this time it was a sword, or maybe checking out cool sword facts, Muichiro wasn't sure, he had only seen him in one costume but he could bet this guy was the dress up expert, the eyes did look so real after all.
It took a while for everyone to get back to having a fun time after such a fight, Muichiro assumed there must have been a fight by the way they had left things, and he was glad the Gyyoko had clearly lost, Gyyoko was now his least favourite at this party. Daki came out of nowhere "that was so cool how you just wrecked Gyyoko's vases, I wish I'd done it first" she said "thanks Daki, I never liked him either" Rui said "I know he was so ugly" she agreed. Muichiro couldn't agree with her more. she clearly had a good set of eyes, even if she didn't give him the best sweets in her stash. Oh well, Muichiro never gave anyone his best desserts either. Muichiro didn't see Gyyoko again, he must have been so beat up he'd decided to hide his face from the rest of the world, hopefully for the rest of his life. Muichiro didn't Hantengu either, but he guessed the guy had gone crying somewhere else, or maybe he was scared of people.
Muichiro remembered something. This didn't happen often, so it must be important. "Wait, what time is it I need to get home soon or everyone's going to be worried" he said to Rui "I don't know" Rui shrugged "maybe Nakimes our best shot" Muichiro decided "Nakime, do you know the time?" he asked her "you'll have to ask someone else" she said "isn't there a clock anywhere" Muichiro asked "I've never seen one" Rui said "someone must know" Muichiro said. First person to go ask was Kokushibo, they found him sitting alone, he must be upset by the fight. Muichiro ran right up to him " Kokushibo, do you know the time?" he asked "no, but I know its almost time for me to leave" he said happily, or as happy as someone like him could get, he then stood up "I'm going outside, so you want to come with me?" he asked "yes, lets go!" Muichiro almost screamed "that sound so fun" Rui jumped up in the air, like he'd won the ultimate prize. Kokushibo didn't get why they were so excited, clearly but he let them follow him out towards a door that Muichiro hadn't seen before and then after the strum of a biwa he opened it and behind it was a stunning forest below a clear night sky. It was truly a beautiful sight. It reminded Muichiro of when he'd go hunting demons. despite that he found it very peaceful. He followed six eyes as he strolled about the woods, Muichiro couldn't tell if he knew where he was going. Soon they came across a small town, Kokushibo must have known it was there, otherwise he must be a very good guesser. Muichiro didn't know why exactly they were there, considering most the shops must be shut by this time, but he followed on regardless, who knows what could be there? did he live here? Muichiro had lots of questions that he didn't ask, he trusted that Kokushibo had a reason for visiting the place in the middle of the night.
It didn't take long for them to arrive in the centre of the town. Like Muichiro expected everything seemed to be shut, Muichiro couldn't see a single light on. What time was it? Kokushibo didn't look like he cared, in fact he looked like he was glad everything seemed deserted. What was he doing? Muichiro could only guess. The followed Kokushibo along until they came by a small house, Muichiro had a feeling this was what they came for. Kokushibo stopped right in front of it "I'm going in to eat?" he said and looked specifically at Muichiro, like he was expecting him to say something. Muichiro wasn't apposed to robbing people houses, if that what Kokushibo was worried about, he actually was a secret thief, mostly because he kept forgetting to bring his money anywhere and so he just stole whatever he needed. Muichiro nodded "I'll eat some too" he said, already planning his raid on the kitchen. Kokushibo smiled, and then all three of them went in to eat. Each with a different meal in mind.
The kitchen was full of delicious food, Kokushibo and Rui had ran straight past it, getting food from elsewhere, they must have a stash somewhere, made sense. Muichiro ate the lot of food, sadly smearing strawberry jam all over his face, he was just about to lick it off when Rui came in "oh, did you enjoy your food?" Rui asked, he was coated in jam too, these people clearly had a favourite food. Muichiro nodded, licking the jam off himself "it was so good" Muichiro was just liking the last off his fingers when Kokushibo entered "are you two full yet?" he asked "yep, I'm completely stuffed!" Muichiro said, six eyes nodded.
They went out then, mostly just to have a walk about the town, Rui even said he wanted to raid more houses until he found some cool things to bring back home to his family, Muichiro asked him about them, apparently he was the youngest and self-proclaimed strongest, so strong he could beat any of them in a fight. Muichiro had his doubts. Muichiro told Rui he couldn't remember his family. Rui burst out crying. Apparently, that was an upsetting thing to say, Muichiro tried to get him to calm down while Kokushibo started staring at them like he regretted ever leaving Nakimes house. It took ages for Rui to stop crying and by that time, Muichiro had forgot what had made him cry in the first place. Kokushibo had even walked off at one point, saying something about he needed to deal with something really quick, Muichiro betted he was secretly going to cry, he had already done it once today. Rui calmed down and immediately decided it was time to go back and ask Nakime for directions home. Muichiro agreed, he had had fun at the party, but it was late and probably time for him to go hunt some demons before going to bed. Maybe he could come back again another time.
Muichiro hadn't realised how tired he was, he was only a few minutes out of the town when he started noticing how heavy his eyelids felt and before he knew it he had shut his eyes, he was sure it was just for a second but when he woke up he was back in Nakimes house. Oh wow, it seemed like he just couldn't keep himself awake lately. He stretched first of all, hoping his nap hadn't been for too long. The first person he saw in front of him was Kokushibo he was staring down at him, with so many eyes it was hard for Muichiro to tell what he was thinking but he could tell he was a bit shocked. Muichiro stood up "sorry, I didn't realise I'd passed out again" he said and went to find Rui while the six eyes followed him around "Muichiro, there you are I got worried when you fell over again" Rui said happily, going to hug Muichiro "I think it happens often" Muichiro said, he wasn't sure as he couldn't remember how many times it had happened.
Rui started going on about how he wanted to see him again and couldn't wait for Muichiro to come visit him, apparently, he lived on a mountain. Muichiro didn't see any reason not to go visit Rui one day. In fact, he couldn't wait for the next party "I will get Nakime to get you next time we have a meeting" Kokushibo said from behind him "thank you, I can't wait, how often are they?" Muichiro asked, he knew he wouldn't be able to come daily "not too often" Kokushibo answered. Muichiro was fine by that, he did have important work to do, maybe next time he could even invite the Hashira. He knew they'd love it here.
Before he started planning his next visit, he had to plan a way to get home first, he didn't know they way from here, and where did his crow go? She must be harassing another crow or something. Actually, Muichiro must have lost her when he was flung from the tree. Well, she must be having a nice break then. He asked Kokushibo about it "how am I going to get home?"
"I'll walk you" he said. So Muichiro trusted him, it wasn't like he was a demon or anything, so he followed Kokushibo out another door that seemed to just appear out of thin air, they were in a forest again but Muichiro didn't recognise anything, like it was a different area of trees, but they had left the same house, Muichiro didn't bother question it much, it was just an odd house, and he'd probably forget it soon anyway.
Kokushibo didn't really seem to know where he was going, Muichiro followed him regardless, assuming he'd at least be brought to somewhere that he'd be able to get back home from. Maybe he was going to the demon slayer headquarters. He could stay there for the night. He was sure he'd done that before.
It didn't take long for them to come across something a bit different. A train station. Muichiro realised that Kokushibo must want to drop Muichiro off closer to his actual house. Kokushibo went up to the ticket seller and talked for a minute with him, the ticket seller actually looked quite scared, he must have found the costume a bit too realistic. Kokushibo handed him the ticket and then they boarded the train. Muichiro couldn't remember if he'd been on a train or not, but either way it was fun, with the nice lights and as soon as it took off, he felt just how fast it was going as he watched the station go flying backwards. Muichiro didn't know much about train rides, but he was sure something was off when Kokushibo stood up and invited Muichiro to come with him, he was sure you were supposed to sit on the train until it stopped. Kokushibo still lead him out the cart and for a second time that day Muichiro was almost sent flying through the air. He still followed on, with his faith in his new friend making him feel safer than he probably really was. They climbed up a creaking ladder up to the top of the huge train, Muichiro struggled to not lose his grip and go flying backwards as the wind slapped him in the face. how did Sanemi do this? Muichiro had almost died multiple times from wind alone today. Still, he followed his six eyed friend, who had just led them to a familiar face.
Enmu stood on the train, not struggling half as much as Muichiro to not get blown away, but he still stood there stiff as a rock only turning his head to look at them "Muichiro, I wasn't expecting to see you so soon" he said, clearly happy about it. Muichiro was thankful to see him too, this meant that there was at least someone who would know if the train could take him directly home "Hi Enmu, is this your train?" he asked "oh, yes, isn't it beautiful, I love it so much, let me tell you all about it" Enmu started off, sadly he was cut short by Kokushibo who wasn't in the mood for listening to an hours talk on trains, maybe he'd already heard this before. Kokushibo interrupted him with "we need to get Muichiro home now, he's been out way too long" Enmu did seem a little disappointed but still as soon as Muichiro told him his address he knew the quickest route by train "we'll be there in no time, just let my alter the route a bit" he said confidently as he hoped down into the weird, complicated looking room. He pressed a few buttons and pulled a few leavers and withing a few minutes the train went flying around a corner at full speed. Muichiro counted this as another near death experience and prayed he wouldn't forget to never ride a train with Enmu as the driver again. Ever. Somehow Kokushibo didn't seem fazed "don't worry just, getting us on the right track" Enmu called from the control room. As if he hadn't just nearly sent him shooting off the top of a train. Enmu still continued on, sending the train around sharp corners every once in a while, almost derailing it at least five times before the train abruptly stopped. Muichiro almost went flying forwards, but he was lucky enough to be holding tightly onto the train, his life did depend on it.
Muichiro jumped off the train and fell down onto the platform, he almost collapsed as soon as his feet touched the ground, he had only just noticed how light-headed the whole journey had made him. Both Enmu and Kokushibo got off as if they did this every day. Muichiro hoped there would be a better method of getting home next time, otherwise he'd have to find a way to walk, that or he'd need to urgently find the secret to surviving a train ride without getting dizzy.
He waved goodbye to Kokushibo and Enmu as the train departed, and they disappeared. He was close enough to his home that walking would take no time. He checked the station clock quickly before he left.
He'd been at that meeting all night. It was nearly morning now, and he'd only set off yesterday afternoon. He could hardly believe he'd spent well over twelve hours just at one party. Time does pass when you're having fun and Muichiro couldn't wait for the next one.