"You are sure we'll find this 'Niten-san' you speak of in a place like this?" Kanae asked, sitting side-saddle atop Akai while Ritsuki guided him from a loose cord.

Passing through a withered and discoloured torii, the trio spared wary looks around, unable to help but feel unnerved by the decrepit state of the feudal-era houses that lined the streets.

"He is the only one besides two others back at Bizen who knows of my condition," Ritsuki says with a grunt as they begin to climb up the town.

"You refer to the two brothers from that night?" Kanae almost rhetorically asks.

Ritsuki responded with a nod, then turned to look a bit uneasy.

"About Niten-san," he began, "I actually can't guarantee we'll encounter him," he admits with a scratch of his head.

Kanae knits her brows as she tilts her head to the side.

"He only claimed that he'd be here when I came back. He said that he was 'homeless' and that 'the abandoned houses here don't have rent'. I'm not even sure now if he was messing with me or not." Ritsuki shakes his head as he reflects.

"How did you meet each other?" Kanae instead asks, perhaps probing for clues to find this person quicker.

"I woke up over there," Ritsuki pointed to a nearby open shrine with withered fences just like the rest of the abandoned town, "It was the first time it happened, the night I killed those two bandits... He found me passed out," he recalled as his expression fell somewhat.

"Did he happen to come by you while you were still... on fire?" She delicately asked.

"Hmm... no. He knew all about the rider though. As he put it, he had experience in dealing with people of my... affliction." Ritsuki stated idly with a shrug as they came upon the open shrine. The boy had brought them here as there was a cobbled basin of clear water for Akai to have a drink.

Kanae took the time to take in the withered offerings and dry leaf wraps that were discarded on a porcelain plate, presumably used to wrap some onigiri. The wooden base of incents with burnt tips, old coins and medallions, and a ripped drum with a faded Kanji on the face. She pouted her lips in thought.

Turning her attention back to the boy who was busy tying Akai's straps on the nearby withered fence, she made a rustle as she jumped off, causing the boy to turn up.

"Perhaps I'll have a look around for this friend of yours, Momota-san," she stated, "You've been walking the entire way haven't you? Why don't you rest here a moment and wait?"

Sparing no time for the boy's argument, Kanae practically vanished in a dash towards the heart of the abandoned town, leaving the boy to watch over Akai by himself as he began taking great gulps of the water inside the cobbled stone basin.

Ritsuki chuckled to himself at how such a dainty-looking woman was capable of such displays of strength and speed. He heard Akai pause mid drink, and almost turned around to look,

"I never said you could bring someone here," The boy suddenly heard the familiar voice of the man they had come to meet from behind him.

He was startled slightly that his hand darted for the blade on his hip as he turned on his heel, squaring up his body and arm in preparation for a swift strike, yet his poise and stance were yet casual.

"Also, you brought a girl? I never figured you were such a socialite." Niten-san looked mockingly unimpressed by the boy's actions. Sitting cross-legged under the ripped drum, the man was busy unwrapping some onigiri.

Setting the leaf wrapping aside on a nearby porcelain plate, he asked while taking a bite, "Oi, would you like some? I made extra..." he offered.

"Ah..." Ritsuki released a sigh and perked a brow, he nodded as he scratched his head, "Well I would have warned you, Niten-san, but I don't suppose you have an address I could send a letter to?"

"You want a rice ball or not?" The gruff man wagged the onigiri on his outstretched arm, prompting Ritsuki to reluctantly reach out for it.

Patting on the spot beside him, he gestured for the boy to take a seat.

"So, who's the pretty lady?" the man asked with an impish smirk.

"You were here the whole time. You could have asked her yourself before she dashed off..." Ritsuki said with a curt bob as he sat down, releasing a drawn-out sigh. Resting his head on the wooden corner post of the open shrine, the boy closed his eyes and rubbed his eyes gently.

"Suppose that is true..." Niten spared a furrowed glance and became silent for a moment before deciding to comment on the boy's attire.

"That's a nice coat..." He says with an approving nod, "Barely any wrinkles, no tears. Is it new?"

"It's my father's, actually..." Ritsuki finally opened his eyes as his arms dropped, "Mother kept it wrapped somewhere away from the sun and moths. Father wore it on my mother's first and second wedding."

The latter half of Ritsuki's statement made the man beside him frown in confusion.

"You did say your mother's... first wedding?" he turned to face the boy who was smiling softly, perhaps foreseeing his distress.

"My mother was betrothed to marry the rich son of a merchant, so my father crashed the party and got himself into a big brawl with the would-be groom." The boy recounted with a smile, "He wore this haori for my grandmother. She didn't want her daughter to marry a mere dockworker, as she said. They never got along until her passing."

"They never do..." Niten shook his head with a chuckle.

"He wore the haori because he wanted to show them that he could wear the same clothes that they could; afford the same living standards, despite his lower occupation. Grandpa recognised his resolve, and he gave my mother a choice..." Ritsuki didn't finish but the conclusion was apparent from his shrug.

"You're mother chose well." Niten raised his onigiri and took another bite.

Ritsuki's eyes shifted to the man beside him, gobbling down the last onigiri on the plate. The boy looked down at the one he took and thought about taking a bite finally. He had forgotten he was even offered a meal.

"Alright, let's get to the point," Niten spoke up again and turned to him, "Why have you come? I'd hazard a guess and say you want my opinion on something. Perhaps something related to the pretty lady you brought over?"

"She gave me an offer." Ritsuki immediately responds with his mouth turned flat, "She's claimed that she is part of an organization that specializes in combating nocturnal demonic threats."

"Shouldn't she be trying to kill you if that's the case?" Niten rubs his stubbled chin in contemplation, "Of course, I assume she knows about your condition."

"She knows," Ritsuki's answer was immediate once again.

"Boy, she was that charming?" the man chuckled deeply.

"Niten-san..." the boy tilts and shakes his head, his expression even flatter than the beginning of their conversation.

"Right, right... he heh," Niten waves his hand and hunches forward slightly, "So, she found you and offered not to kill you or something?"

Ritsuki shakes his head and seems to contemplate an answer, his eyes wandering to the side.

"She offered me to join." The boy said after a light shrug, seemingly unable to come up with an alternate articulation of Kanae's offer to him.

"Join what? Her family? A club?" Niten playfully asked.

"Her organization." Ritsuki's expression never shifted, but his voice betrayed his growing annoyance.

"Ah, I assumed it was that, yeah..." Niten tapped his chin and nodded satirically, sitting straight up.

Ritsuki's expression finally turned to a frown as he brought his father's sheathed tachi up to attempt to smack Niten-san in the head. The man only laughed as he wrestled the sword back onto Ritsuki's hip.

"Please take this seriously, Niten-san..." Ritsuki urged, settling back down in his seat, "Don't be so dismissive. Do you believe she means me harm?"

Niten settled down as well and looked the boy once over before staring at his eyes, and with a grunt, conceded and gestured with his hand.

"Okay, I'll stop..." a slight tug remained on the edge of Niten's mouth as he spoke, "Well, we can't know for sure, kid." he began in response to Ritsuki's last question.

"But... nocturnal demonic threats..." he mulled over, "What organization specializes in that...? Did she give a name?"

"The 'Demon Slayer Corps' if I recall correctly," Ritsuki's expression softened as Niten finally seemed to turn serious.

"Yeah, I think I've heard of them... You hear her breath?" he suddenly asked to the slight confusion of the boy.

"Her breath?" Ritsuki reeled his head.

"Don't make me repeat." Niten closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Um, yes... yes, I think heard her breath..." Ritsuki sounded unsure, or perhaps he wasn't seeing the significance of Niten's odd and specific question.

"Was it odd?" The man continued.

"Niten-san-" The boy sighed, perhaps fearing his hops of a serious discussion was unfounded.

"Hush, save the questions for later. Did her breathing sound odd, even a little bit?" Niten bent forward, closer to the boy. His expression conveyed to Ritsuki how this line of questioning might not necessarily be fruitless.

"Um, I suppose? I'm not sure what you're implying,"

Niten turned up his head.

"These demons that they fight; they burn in the sun?"

"Perhaps we should-" Ritsuki paused, "Wait... yes, she said that... they couldn't expose themselves to sunlight so that's why they're only active at night."

Niten's expression remained unchanged for a moment before a shadow of a genuine smile emerged on his face.

"What?" Ritsuki asked tentatively.

Ritsuki adjusted the strap that held his father's tachi on his hip and nodded, satisfied with it.

"You've had your fill?" He turned up with a smile and moved over to remove Akai's straps which were tied securely on a post beside the cobbled stone basin.

He heard a small gust descend with a figure to his left and he turned his head to see that Kanae had returned with a rather sombre look on her face.

"Please excuse me, Momota-san, but it seems you don't have the most sincere of friends."

"Ah, it's nothing to fret, Kocho-sama. He was just behind the altar," Ritsuki gestured with his thumb to the open shrine behind him, "he came out right after you left."

"Oh my, was he really?" she asked with a tilt of her head. Ritsuki felt she sounded a little doubtful for some reason.

"I discussed your offer over some Onigiri he had brought, and... he said the choice was up to me." Ritsuki gestured with an open palm to the porcelain plate which she noticed before, still holding the same dry and withered leaf wraps.

"He didn't have an opinion?" She softly probed, keeping a keen eye on the young man's expression as he spoke.

"In his words, he didn't want to meddle," Ritsuki said with a chuckle.

Kanae turned her eyes back to the porcelain plate in contemplation for a moment. Eventually, she decided to trust Ritsuki's word for now.

"That's too bad... you brought me all this way." She laments with a shake of her head.

Ritsuki only responds with a low hum, seeming to share her dismay.

"Make haste to Hyogo! Make haste to Hyogo!" a hoarse and unnatural voice suddenly came from above the trees.

Ritsuki reached for his blade but Kanae was quick to keep him steady, her palm pressed down on the tachi's pommel, keeping it sheathed.

The boy spared a confused glare at her before his attention was drawn by the voice once more.

"A demon has been spotted in the mines near Wakasu. People have been found with their bones missing!" Ritsuki found the source of the voice. Perched atop a branch was a crow, screaming to them and punctuating his words with the sound of his flapping wings and feathers.

"Don't be alarmed, Momota-san." Kanae spoke softly, getting his attention back as she dropped her hand from the tachi's pommel, "He's with the corps. He's been following us from Bizen."

Ritsuki turned between her and the talking crow a few times before his expression suddenly brightened.

"Ah, he's how you spied my fight with the bandits." He realised, to which Kanae merely nodded with a soft giggle. He turned his head down and readjusted his father's blade.

He heard the crow descend from the branches and perched on Kanae's outstretched forearm.

"Make haste to Hyogo! Make haste to Wakasu!" he repeated his previous caws.

"Oh my, Momota-san, this seems quite urgent." She gasped, her expression turning quite anxious, but still obviously in jest.

His brows knit slightly when both the crow and Kanae seemed to turn to him, both looking almost expectant. His mouth hung open for a second.

"Wakasu is a day's travel on foot," he stated, already knowing she wanted him to accompany her, "but Akai could make the trip in six to seven hours."

"You'll come with me to Wakasu?" Kanae rhetorically asked with a bright and playful smile.

"The choice is up to me," Ritsuki responded with a reserved smile of his own.

"Make haste to Hyogo! Make haste to Wakasu!" the crow on Kanae's arm shouted once more.

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