Chapter 18: Be happy for both of us !

'I have a bad feeling about this...' Standing on top of a Daisugi tree I felt my reasoning blurring and unlike my usual self, I was losing my calm. Just a blink ago I was about to jump and help the foreign guest since he looked at the brink of falling, and the next moment the field became empty like all this destruction was caused by some wild wind.

...

Yesterday, I got the report that a demon was lurking around at night and capturing whatever or whoever appeared after fall. Since I was away for the work Oyakata-sama gave me, I wasn't able to inspect the forest yesterday.

I decided to have a round of the forest near the middle of the night when I felt movement from the guest residing temporarily in our mansion. Ijichi Niriyama. 

Since the situation felt utter suspicious upon sensing him departing after nightfall, I decided to follow him first. Coincidently or not...he was moving toward the same forest I was thinking to inspect tonight.

The way he was moving, crossing such distance in such an efficient way, made me amazed. I have seen improvement at various degrees, even among us Hashira there's one who became a prominent pillar in two months after entering the corp. And I could dare to say, that Kiriyama-san was one of those prodigies who were destined to become a legendary figure.

Without having any proper mentor or way to train, he became strong enough to become Kanoe ranked slayer but in mere two days, I have started doubting my evaluation. He leaped in progress and absorbed whatever I taught him through various means.

Finally, in the deepest part of the forest, my pursuit came to a halt as I saw Kiriyama-san stopping all of a sudden. His breathing was so heavy and dense that I was able to perceive it from this far. Since I detected the upcoming demon and the way Kiriyama-san was preparing himself, I thought to remain hidden for time being.

It was the same as three days ago when I first saw this strange young man and today too his temper and intent toward something sturdier than him,  seemed the same. I had my guard at their finest as I knew the incoming monster was far stronger than the one he faced in the western forest.

*BOOM*

...

The battle was happening right in front of my eyes but I wasn't able to believe it. The demon which appeared right after the thunderous crash was a lower rank 5 demon, which I didn't expect to appear in the forest at all.

With my capabilities, it wouldn't be troubling to deal with it but I knew my new disciple would lose to it without getting a chance to fight back as his blade technique was still far from able to slash through the skin of ranked demons.

[A/N: Since this is a FF I changed the ranked demon a bit. Don't complain]

And as I expected he threw his blade after getting deflected mercilessly, but it wasn't something that surprised me. What made me baffled was his next move.

'Is he...trying to take that thing head-on!?' It was truly foolish of Ijichi-san to think of brawling with such a demon who possesses body strengthening and high regenerative. To fight with equal footing with a demon who has an advantage in the field, was utter naive of him.

._.

'Aarey? Where did they....' The violet-eyed Hashira was in a daze for some minutes as she saw the sheer strength of her new disciple which she was unaware of. And before she could have sped up in a slight panic to help him, he along with the demon just vanished from the battlefield.

'What just happened..' She came down and started looking for Ijin restlessly, as she knew in that condition he couldn't hold his ground for long. A slight irritation formed inside her as she regretted not jumping to help earlier.

Her eyes wandered in all the cardinal directions as her senses flared far more than a normal human's but to no avail. She found nothing like all she saw was her delusion.

'Hmm?' It wasn't more than 3 minutes after she saw Ijin disappearing from the face of the earth when his presence suddenly caught up to her senses. She turned her approach and not so long after found Ijin lying on the ground lifelessly.

Her eyes widened as she saw his condition and upon crouching down she found his breathing shallower than normal. Her heart shook violently looking at his bruised face and miserable condition. It was so long since she felt her heart in so much trouble nevertheless she didnt pondered on it for long before carrying Ijin on her back and drifting away.

She didnt sees the demon whome Ijin was fighting neither she cared about. For now, she wanted to cure him as soon as possible.

'Hang in there...Ijichi-san'

___...___

'Mm! Am I dead?' Ijin woke up after what seemed like an eternity with his body in a complete state of numbness. Even though he tried he wasn't able to lift a single bone of his body. His half-opened eyes told him that currently, he was in the safe hands, and it was enough for making him calm.

[Welcome back, host. ]

'Ah, lady. How long I was out. Ijin asked while keeping his eyes shut but the next words of the admin inside his head stretched his relaxed eyes to their widest point.

[36 hours ]

Ijin was baffled upon hearing such an absurd amount of time he took to sleep, more like he went to a semi-hibernate period. 

'One full and one-half day. I slept like a log when I should have been training for the mission. And not only that I wasn't even able to use the domain twice. Ha..hah..please tell me it's a lie.'

[Calm down host. It's not like you decided to rest for this long. And with your condition after that fight, I was fearing whether you would be able to handle the ghoul or not. But it all worked for good.]

A dry smile formed on Ijin's lips as he heard the over-optimistic system but didnt say anything. He knew crying over spilled milk would be no good, so he calmed his aching nerves and asked with a much calmer mind.

'Can you fill me with what happened after I fainted? ' Ijin still remembered how he beheaded the demon who was far from what seemed at first glance. If he had failed his domain formation then he had high doubts whether this first mission would have been the last.

[The lady of the mansion carried you after she saw you wasted in the forest. It seems she was being on watch for some time as you got picked not long after] 

Ijin was genuinely surprised and also relieved upon hearing how Shinobu kept on watch but didnt have enough strength to properly move his head, showing gratitude was still far-fetched.

"Oh, Kiriyama-san. You woke up." He didnt has to turn his head or see her with his eyes, before identifying who this voice belonged.

"Kocho-san. I-" His breathing got stuck in his throat as her face suddenly appeared right in front of his eyes only some inches apart.

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He held himself somehow being so close to her as he saw deep inside her beautiful eyes which were glimmering with...anger?

"It seems you had a tough battle huh. But as I remember I didnt say you to go anywhere and injuring you inside this mansion to this extent can be possible for me...then why Kiriyama-san is so miserable at the moment?" She looked upward signifying her deep thoughts but Ijin was well aware of what her words meant. He felt sweat dripping down his forehead as he saw the lady of the mansion, in not so pleasant mood.

"K-Kocho-san...I-I can expl-urgh". Suddenly Ijin felt a drastic amount of pain on the left side of his body. 

The woman visibly frowned as she saw the pain he was going through before she stood back and took something from the table beside the bed.

" Here...open your mouth Kiriyama-san." She fed a painkilling potion before she checked on the thermal pads, acupuncture needles, and bandages. To be precise Ijin was thoroughly broken from the exchange he had with the demon.

Ijin's face was sweating in pain with his heartbeat fastened than before, but still, he tried to not let it out, resisting himself to not look more pathetic than he already had. 

"It's okay for you to let it out Kiriyama-san. The way you have received damage,  I am surprised how you still could be conscious." Kocho helped him to drink some water as she wiped his sweat. Ijin wasn't in any mind to shy away or say anything cheeky so he replied to what came into his mind.

"I have something to accomplish Kocho-san. I can't relax before it finishes...and I think you understand my sentiment better than anyone." There wasn't any reply but Ijin knew what face Shinobu was making right now as he felt the sheet beside his arm being clutched hard by the lady.

"I am thankful for what you have done. I owe my life to you so if anything I can do, please honor me to fulfill it." Ijin stated in his most sincere voice as he felt what Shinobu had done for him was more than what he had received from anyone in his past life. He wasn't used to people's kindness but it doesnt means he could not appreciate it.

"Something I want huh..." There was a gist of strange emotion in her tone as she suddenly did something which Ijin couldn't have thought of even in his dreams.

He suddenly felt warmth on his right hand on the same side the beautiful was sitting on. He could feel its smoothness along with the marks her hand had received due to the struggles she have went through. Kocho picked his hand and intervene their fingers most delicately.

She held his hand as she stared at his side profile and how he was trying to turn his eyes toward her but was failing miserably.

A soft smile formed on her face as she whispered something that she also might be embarrassed to think about in the future.

"If it's something you can do for me then I ask you to be happy Kiriyama-san, for both of our shares.  And if possible....please don't get hurt like this again...I-I dont like it. Anyway, I spoke too much, please rest well."

As she said the warmth disappeared from Ijin's side as he stared aimlessly at the ceiling while thinking about what just happened and trying to register and repeat every single syllable that she whispered.

'Admin....you sure I ain't dead...?'

____________...____________

For the next two days, Ijin used up all his time to recover completely as he didnt want a single hinder in the main event on the mountain top.  His limbs were healed at a frightening pace as well as his broken ribs and torn muscles.

On the seventh day of his coming to this world, he was fit and healthy and already continued his training with the module the ladies of the mansion provided him.

He didnt communicate with Kanao much as he always felt awkward around her but knowing her past, he felt bad for her. Rest of the time he used to play with the three muchkins and increase his breathing sustainability.

Shinobu majorly was out of the mansion because of her duty as Hashira and even being inside she didnt talk with Ijin much. He might have taken it otherwise but the way she steals her eyes away, he knew she was damn embarrassed about the thing she said.

He didnt pursue the matter as he didnt got have the time for it. Before he knew the night of the tenth day already arrived. For him, these ten days were so short yet so eventful that he surely would not be able to forget them for the rest of his life.

Currently, he was sitting on the bed while gawking outside of the window while reminiscing various things as a slow breeze caressed his face which was back to its handsome state.

'It feels sad to leave such a beautiful place....but I can't afford to live here.' It would be a lie to say that Ijin wasn't missing his family and friend since the day he faced death from an inch close.

People generally say, a person sees their life flashing when death knocks on the door, but for Ijin he only saw his family at the time he felt like losing himself as except for them he didnt has anything else worthy to remember.

[Quite emotional huh]

'Oh hey.  How have you been?'

[...I am good. You okay right? It's the first time you asked me about my well-being]

Ijin raised his brows but didnt comment as he leaned forward and dropped on the bed.

'Hey lady. Will I ever be able to come back here in the future...I mean sure for any kind of meaningful reason.' The hopes he had of his childish wish were equivalent to zero but still, he expected some miracle. But the upcoming answer extinguished all his hopes and flared another kind of expectancy. 

[There is a chance host but dont raise your hopes. If by any chance you get to enter this world again then something terrible might have happened to the people belonging to this plain. So it's better you dont come here again]

"..."

_____________...__________

A/N: Next chapter would be the end of the Demon slayer arc. It's short and probably the future arcs also would be. I dont want to drag something for long and get it boring. Of course, I won't rush things either.

Now for Shinobu, then he won't take her. I told ya not all waifus would be taken by him. And isn't it natural for Shinobu to not fall for Mc in so short period? I mean taking her personality into account that hand holding was pretty much OOC already.

Anyway, drop a comment if you enjoyed the chapter.~

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