At some point, Kanae lost any sense of time. Yet, one thing was painfully apparent: the longer she sat beside the unconscious white-haired boy, the more restless she became. She might have known Sanemi for less than a few days, but he intrigued her. As surprising as it might have sounded, his scarred body seemingly unintentionally lured her in, captivating her attention. Even though most of these were undoubtedly caused by demons, some did not quite match the profile, making her wonder. Of course, Kocho had her suspicions about what or rather who could have stood behind these old wounds, but with how limited her knowledge of Sanemi was, there was no telling where the truth could lie. Keeping that in mind, she tried her best not to daze off, but this was inevitably a battle she had no hopes of winning. It would have been easier if the said boy, no … a young man, was awake.
After another minute or so, Kanae realised that sitting here was pointless, not to mention she was wasting precious time she could have – in theory – used wiser. As the dark-haired woman slowly rose from the hardly comfortable chair she had occupied for quite some time, Shinazugawa stirred, groaning in pain. Instinctively, Kocho leaned in, trying her best to verify what caused this rather abrupt change. Not that she was not glade with the white-haired man finally regaining his consciousness, yet the way this awakening manifested screamed loudly in her head with various, sometimes indescribable ideas. Considering what he had revealed the last time they 'spoke', it was highly possible that Sanemi could have relieved these unimaginably dramatic and graphic memories.
"Talk to me, Sanemi," the raven-haired demon huntress urged, keeping her voice gentle, quiet and warm. "What's happening?"
Expectedly, he did not provide any coherent response apart from yet another loud groan and extensive wriggling that left the bedding on the floor. Shinazugawa's eyes remained close-shut, matching the pain-twisted grimace that only further disfigured his scars-covered face, making it ironically demonic. Driven by her innate devotion to her patients and desire to take away pain and suffering when possible, she needed to act. With that in mind, she grabbed the man's wrists, immediately realising that stabilising him would prove more problematic than she had anticipated. This, however, was a rather reckless action, born of necessity, not a clear-headed thought. Before Kocho could even think about the next step she should take, the situation got even more complicated as Sanemi – absentmindedly – flipped her over, pinning her to the bed with his heavy and muscular body.
"Talk to me, Sanemi!" she repeated when the initial shock faded away, this time louder.
For the next few painful seconds, there was no clear response coming from the fellow demon slayer. Even though she tried her best to remain calm, this situation affected her more than she was willing to voice out. Perhaps in vastly different circumstances, she could have found some positives in her current occupation, but it was wishful thinking. As much as she would want to pretend Sanemi's weight was not an issue, she could not. His heavy body was slowly pushing her onto the mattress, making breathing difficult. With nothing better to do, she continued to speak, trying to reach him. That, however, did not seem as effective as she would have wished, resulting in a stalemate that lasted a while. It could have lasted even longer had Sanemi not started abruptly and energetically shaking his head as if furiously denying something. Pushing him off of her was unrealistic, leaving the girl with no other option but to watch the strange passage of events manifesting right before her lilac eyes. Yet, contrary to her expectations, the white-haired boy's eyelids slowly parted, concluding this absurd. Kanae wanted to say something, but she found herself unable to, as his eyes fully captivated her. These big, pale-purple irises, usually filled with confidence and irritation, were currently resided by a potent mix of hatred and fear – a mixture she hardly expected out of him.
"Kocho?" the white-haired man gulped loudly, practically jumping backwards. "I … I … I am sorry," he stuttered, casting down his sight. "I did … I did not want to attack you," he continued, his eyes glued to the floor.
As strange as it might sound, Kanae did not hold any grudge against her peer; rather, she pitted him. Even if she hardly knew anything about him, it was a pretty safe bet to assume his past was filled with pain and darkness. Perhaps … it was partially a reason behind this abrupt reaction, but as things stood currently, she had no way of knowing.
"I'm glad you finally woke up," the raven-haired girl replied, her voice cheerful and loud.
"I … I did not want to attack you … Kocho," Sanemi repeated, taking another step backwards, as if uncertain whether he could trust his body.
"Nothing happened," Kanae effortlessly lied, not wanting to worsen the situation. "How do you feel?" she asked, slowly sitting up.
"I do not feel any pain if this is what you are asking for," the wind-breathing user retorted quietly.
"That's good to hear," the raven-haired girl commented. "Was it a nightmare?" she inquired, carefully trying to switch the topic.
"I guess … you can describe it as such," he responded after a short pause, his left hand aimlessly ruffling through his snowy strands. "Kocho?" he called out, lifting his gaze to look at her lilac eyes.
"Do you remember what happened during that mission?" she questioned, interested.
"Unfortunately … yes," Shinazugawa said quietly, sitting on the floor. "I promised to tell you everything I know as soon as my memories would come back," he added, his voice strange, as if he was speaking to himself. "Eh … I always keep my word, so … sit comfortably, it might be a long story."
That was what Kanae wanted to hear. Finally, she would know what happened that night. Even though she had speculated about many possibilities, there was still a fair chance that something vastly different had occurred. Hopefully, it would provide some additional pieces of information, allowing her to finally solve the mystery she unwittingly grew to associate with the white-haired boy. That being said, she did not voice anything, situating herself on the bed's edge with her palms gripping into the soft material underneath. Considering the state in which he had been brought to Butterfly Manor, there would be a lot to uncover. And … frankly, she could not wait any longer; this matter intrigued her from the very start.
"I'm ready," the demon huntress said in a whisper-like manner, not fully trusting in her ability to control her tone at the given moment.
"Then … I guess there is no reason to prolong this," Sanemi commented, nervously scratching his nape.
Strangely enough, the blacksmith led him through many narrow passages across the settlement, only to leave it far behind eventually. As Sanemi's knowledge in regards to norms and regulations was rather vague – at best – he remained silent, not entirely sure whether it was normal for the smiths to stray away from the cities. That being said, the longer their stroll lasted, the worse the weather around them became. What a couple of minutes ago was nothing more than mild snow ploughing quickly intensified, severely obstructing the demon slayer's field of view. For a brief moment, he wanted to say something, but when it came down to formulating anything coherent, he could not come up with anything worth voicing out. Hence, Sanemi only gritted his teeth, making sure not to lose Shoji out of his sight. Yet, when he glanced at the man, he immediately noticed that he was struggling against the raging nature far more than the demon slayer. Perhaps it was the wrong thing to do, but he could not help but smirk, feeling slightly better.
The struggle continued for a few minutes—seemingly lasting an eternity—before the blacksmith abruptly halted and slowly turned around. His face was pinkish and wet, with some small snowflakes still melting against his skin.
"Please, come inside," Kiyoshi said, gesturing to his right. "I don't think the weather will be any better for a while."
At first, Sanemi found himself puzzled by the man's words, but he quickly realised his mistake. He followed Kiyoshi blindly, keeping his eyes fixed on the blacksmith whilst completely disregarding the surroundings. Normally, the white-haired demon slayer would have cursed silently, condemning his recklessness and stupidity, but now, it was not good timing. He did not respond immediately; instead, he tore his eyes off Shoji, taking a brief glance at his surroundings.
"It seems so," Sanemi retorted after a moment of silence. "But … it gives us time to speak about the village's situation," he added, finally inspecting the building's frame severely obstructed by the heavy snowing.
With nothing more to say, the blacksmith turned towards the building and entered it through a solid wooden door leading to a narrow antechamber deprived of any light. This, however, did hardly sway Kiyoshi, who simply extended his left hand into a pocket of darkness, retrieving something; then, in a span shorter than a few heartbeats, a small flame appeared, partially receding the shadows.
"After you," the white-haired boy felt a strange need to say.
Shoji lit a lamp without saying a word, then pressed on, sliding the ajar door to his right. Behind it, a moderately furnished room lay. Not that he suspected any danger, but after the previous fumble, Sanemi looked around, trying to memorise the hall in case he would need it in the future.
"Please, sit," the blacksmith broke the silence, pointing at the grey-coloured pillow beside a relatively small and low-situated table. "Would you like some water?" he inquired, quickly crossing the room.
"Would be appreciated," the white-haired boy replied, sitting on the pointed cushion.
It did not take Kiyoshi long to return with a transparent bottle filled half-way with some liquid – presumably water – and two wooden mugs.
"Tell me, when did these occurrences start?" Shinazugawa asked whilst the man was preoccupied with filling the cups. "From what you have mentioned, only a handful of the settlement residents can sense this disturbing aura."
"A couple of months," the blacksmith replied, halting briefly. "When it started, many folks considered these occurrences accidents. After all, it's exactly unheard of children going missing in woods or slipping from the slopes," he added in a pained voice.
"Safe to assume it only got worse from that point onwards?" the demon slayer commented, taking a small sip of the offered drink with rigid hesitation.
"Yes."
"Did anything of importance happen around the time these 'accidents' started surfacing?" Sanemi questioned, downing the mug's content in one go.
"Define importance," Kiyoshi remarked, sitting on the table's opposite side.
"This can be many things," the white-haired boy replied lazily. "A foreigner coming into the village, someone dying – things like these," he added, placing the mug on the table's face. "The more you can tell me, the quicker I can do something about this painful situation."
"I … I think one of the Christian priests passed away around that time," Shoji stuttered, as if uncertain whether he should speak about it.
"Christian priests?" Sanemi asked, raising his brows. "What can you tell me about them?"
"There were two of them," the blacksmith started slowly, hesitation filling his voice. "They came here a little over two years ago, preaching about their religion. To this day, I don't know which one of them died; I knew they were siblings, but you couldn't distinguish one from the other."
"I find it hard to believe that they would stay if they were nothing but a nuisance for you," the demon slayer commented. "There must be something more to it. Tell me," he demanded, fixating his gaze on the man.
"You're right," Kiyoshi sighed heavily. "They helped us a lot. As you might have noticed, this village hasn't prospered for a while. These priests provided us with medical support, and they taught the children. They also earned their stay helping with wood gathering, various constructions and many more," he continued with some fondness filling his voice.
"But something has changed, has it not?"
"Yes, since the priest's death, many things have changed," the man agreed, energetically nodding. "The other sibling stopped appearing publicly and seemingly started avoiding us, only to disappear over the night a couple of weeks later."
"Where did they stay?"
"They had a relatively small temple built outside the village on the mountain's slope," Shoji retorted, filling the mugs once again. "They called it 'chapel' or something like that," he added, shaking his head slowly. "All I know is that nobody has visited it since the second priest's disappearance."
"Perhaps it will be a good place to start the investigation," Sanemi commented, accepting the refill. "You mentioned something about them providing medical help for the village. Where can I find these people?"
"Most of them still live around the settlement," the man remarked, cupping his jaw. "However, some were sent away."
"What do you mean by 'sent away'?"
"The priests claimed they could do nothing for them here; hence, they organised a transport deeper into the mainland," the blacksmith replied after a short pause. "They said that some of their colleagues could potentially help."
"They paid for the transportation from their pockets?"
"I do think so," Kiyoshi nodded. "I haven't heard anyone saying anything else. These two were very popular amongst the villagers."
"Has anyone returned?"
"I don't think so. But … considering what they said about their conditions, it isn't surprising."
"I will visit this 'chapel' you mentioned earlier as soon as the snowing ceases," the demon slayer announced. "If I can not find anything of use there, I will ask you to lead me to the people these priests helped."
"Fine."
Author's notes section:
The main focus for me remains the rewriting of "My home is where my heart lies". That being said, I know fully well that this process will be long and painful for me, so in the meantime, I will be dropping smaller updates of various stories.
Hey, here's the preview of the next chapter. This time, I want to return to the plot line that I started two chapters ago. I expect this piece to be finished by the end of this week.
Ok, I finally managed to get this piece done. Unfortunately, you will have to wait till the next chapter for the big reveal, but I will try to priorities it. For now, please enjoy the chapter.
Please note that the dialogues written in italics are thoughts.
As always, I would like to thank you for everything. See you soon :)
Changelog:
[2024-10-29] - A preview was released.
[2024-11-05] - A major update was applied, and the final revision was released.
References:
Crazy Lixx - Little Miss Dangerous
Ice Nine Kills - A Work of Art
End of the author's notes section.
