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homura (DarkMudkip/Jikkah)

Akatsuru hid her smile behind her hand, eyes coy. She had such an inappropriate comment but kept quiet with children around. Aoi, Kiyo, and Harue all left the two in peace and Akatsuru made a noise.
"I've seen your friends walking around with crows. Perhaps when you leave me, should you have one, we could ask it to exchange letters for us." She suggested, "I'll rub my wisteria oil into the paper for you~"
 
Ebisu looked back to Akatsuru when she spoke, smiling softly. “I’d like that, I’m glad that you liked the oils- they aren’t much, but they should also protect you from demons.”
 
With a lull in Mitsuri’s assignment, she wasn’t traveling around as much, her schedule quickly coming to a halt and leaving her in one place for the last week now. When things like this happened, Mitsuri’s kakushi were given temporary leaves, each one being allowed to go and rest on their own or spend their time however they desired.
 
Yuko used this available time whenever she had it to keep her sword fighting up to par. She never pushed herself too hard, but she did all in her power to keep in fighting form. She didn't want Mitsuri to face the difficult decision of picking between protecting the kakushi or fighting a demon.
 
Sanemi had been on the trail of a demon for three days, chasing it for miles. He had first caught wind of a demon causing trouble three days ago, and had found it on the second night, but had lost it when it had used human civilians as a distraction in a last ditch attempt to evade death at Sanemi’s hands. It wasn’t often a demon escaped him, in fact it rarely happened, so when it did, he was hot on its heels in an attempt to amend such a blunder. When he was finally almost upon the demon, it once again hid among civilians, slipping into the shadows to evade him- literally hiding in passing shadows, jumping from one to another like fish hopping from puddle to puddle. No matter, he knew that once the sun went down, and night was upon them, the demon would emerge fully in the safety of the night under the delusion that he would somehow be safer at night.
 
Yuko headed out of town into the woods to do her physical therapy and her light training. She liked the peace and quiet and found the area safe enough in the time she was here to do her work. She had no idea what had been chased into her training, or who had done the chasing.
 
It was dusk, meaning it was safe enough for demons to move, but there was still a risk of being seen or catching a stray beam of sunlight that would burst such a creature into flames; the demon Sanemi was chasing didn’t care though. He fled in terror, Sanemi close behind in an instant, just like a hunting dog after a wounded fox.
The Hashira had no way of knowing, however, that he’d be chasing the demon directly into the direction of Yuko.
 
The demon found Yuko rather easily - she was in the open after all - and moved to grab her. She moved out of the way as fast as she could, brandishing her blade. When she heard new movement, she looked and her eyes widened at the sight of Sanemi.
"Sanemi-dana..." She wasn't in her kakushi clothes, just in a simple training gi and hakama.
 
Sanemi’s wild eyes turned to an expression of horror as he spotted Yuko, now facing the demon he had just been chasing. “You idiot!” He changed how he gripped his blade, twisting midair to change direction. He slid to a stop just a bit away from Yuko, facing the demon with his pointed at the demon. “What do you think you’re doing, get back!” He barked.
 
"I'm the idiot?" She asked, but instinctively moved away, "I didn't do anything."
"C-Come any closer and I'll kill her!" The demon threatened. Yuko furrowed her brows in confusion and changed hands for her blade, to avoid putting pressure on her bad leg.
"You can try...I'm not a very easy kill, however.."
 
“That’s the fucking problem- you didn’t run away!” He took a step forward, gripping his sword tightly, veins bulging in his arms and eyes wild with anger. “Just what do you think you’re doing playing around with a sword?”
 
Yuko turned to glare, "Honoring the swordsmith who made it for me by training with it." She replied, "Will you not focus on your hatred for me for five seconds? There is something far more pressing to deal with."
"You're both insane!" The demon yelled before rushing at Yuko, seeing her favoring her leg. But even with her bad leg, she moved all her weight to her right leg so she could move out of the way, swinging hard and taking his arm as he passed.
 
Sanemi was like a whirlwind, moving almost too fast for one to see him properly. He closed in on the demon, blade angled to cut from hip to shoulder in a wide arch.
 
The demon was split like a tree and gave a wail as he tumbled to the ground, trying to reconnect himself. Yuko moved with a smooth stride, keeping her weight to one side as she moved to take the demon's head while he was down. He panicked and extended his nails to swipe at her, locking her blade as he put himself together.
 
Once again, Sanemi was fast at lightning, slicing the demons hands from his wrists, then using several quick swings to dismember the demon. One last strong swing and the blade severed the demons head from his neck, leaving the two of them in silence as Sanemi flicked the blood from his blade.
 
She heard footsteps approaching her before she was grabbed roughly by the shirt collar and pulled to look him in the eyes. “What do you think you’re doing?” He asked lowly. “Out here playing slayer like a babe freshly turned demon wouldn’t be able to beat you..!”
 
She scowled heavily and grabbed his wrist hard, tugging his hand back from her collar, "I am so sick of you acting like this. How old are you? Are you some child content with bullying those under you? Because the more you behave this way, the less I am inclined to listen."
 
“You aren’t a swordsman anymore! You can’t even put weight on your damn leg and you want to still play with swords!” He yelled at her. “Are you suicidal or just that stupid! Get it through your head, it’s over!”
 
"It isn't over!" She snapped, "Everyday, I can move a bit better! I can still fight despite everything! Look at you, a fucking Hashira and you had to get a cripple to help you with a demon!" She was so unbelievably angry with him, "I worked with you for so long, you know what I am and am not capable of!"
 
“You think you helped me? Take a good look at yourself, you hindered me. Out here on your own in the woods- a fucking cripple.” He sheathed his sword and turned. “Go home.”
 
She had had enough. She pulled her fist back and clocked him hard in the jaw, teeth gnashed in her anger. "You are the worst kind of human being!! No better than a demon yourself!! Fuck, to think I have such high regard for you!! To think, I love you!! I am working day and night to get better, to prove to you that I can still help humanity against demons, and all you can think to do is shit on my efforts! My injury wasn't your fault!!" She shouted, so angry that she didn't realize she was crying, "It wasn't your fault, Sanemi...! I know you well enough that you blame yourself, but for fuck's sake, stop...! Just stop...! I did this to me, not you...! I just wanted you to be proud of me...! And it cost me everything...!" She wheezed, face twisted in grief.
 
Sanemi actually stumbled back a bit from her hit, eyes wide in surprise, he had never expected her to hit him. He listened to her yell and scream and silence, the red mark on his cheek where he was struck only getting more red.
“Why won’t you stop?” His voice was quiet now, sounding exhausted as he stared back at her, but now his anger was gone, replaced with worry- a look she didn’t even think she had seen on him before. “Why won’t you stop putting yourself in danger?”
 
"Because I still have a duty to uphold..." She said weakly, "I still owe it to humanity to make this world safer...I help in my own way...I do what I can when I travel with Mitsuri-sama...if I were not allowed to help, Oyakata-sama would not have kakushi..." She hiccuped and wiped at her eyes, "I don't do it to make you worry...I do it because I owe it to everyone to keep fighting..."
 
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