It was an odd sight, a Hashira hugging a demon while crying, but Leyona understood.

Not really, but she could imagine.

The clearing was silent for a moment, Casin holding Toru's shirt and staring at it, looking lost, before Michiko  got up, sucking in a wheezing breath before walking over to her friend, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. 

Leyona glanced up at the three crows sat on a branch previously took off, cawing out the words of Toru's death. She kept her brown gaze on them, until they where barely visible against the inky black sky.

The thirteen year old exhaled slowly, before looking back down at Michiko and Casin, the latter staring up at the Flame Hashira unseeing, tears threatening to spill over.

"We need to get to the Butterfly Mansion."  Leyona broke the silence, it was suffocating and she honestly didn't know what to do with herself, watching a man grieve while his friend comforted him.

Two pairs eyes swung to look at her, red and blue respectively. The girl shifted on her feet, until Casin slowly nodded. "We do. We need a healer, and to bury Toru."

Mentally, Leyona questioned how they where going to buy someone who had become ashes, but kept that thought to herself.

"I'll leave you to it, then-"

"Oh no, your coming back with us." Michiko said sharply, her eyes sharpening as Leyona tried to leave. "Your coming back, and explaining why you stole that haori."

Leyona frowned, before it  dawned on her. "Yeah, no. I didn't steal this. Murder, probably. Breaking some law I didn't know existed? Yeah. Stealing? No."

Michiko wordlessly looked down at Casin, who was clutching a a silver ring and staring at like it was his life force. She frowned slightly, before looking back at Leyona. "You still have to come back. Aoi...." 

Michiko could tell by the way Leyona flinched that she had struck a nerve.

"Aoi's been looking for you." Michiko finished. That was true, Aoi had been sending Naho, Sumi, and Kato into almost every town near the estate, with the sole purpose of searching for the missing girl.

Not to mention she had sent two of the Hashira out as well.

Leyona remained quiet for a moment. "Maaya won't want to see me. Not after what I did to her." She said, looking away. Michiko's heart sunk like a stone, what was this girl, thirteen?

She should be going out, spending time with friends, maybe getting a date. Laughing at festivals, fooling around, not this.

Not doing this bloody work, killing and risking her life every night.

She didn't deserve this guilt, that her fellow swordswoman's condition was her fault, even though it wasn't.

Maybe Leyona had to be told that?

Kami, what would Kanao say?

"Maaya's condition isn't your fault." Michiko said, dragging Casin up to his feet with one arm, and letting him go. "Come back, I'm sure Aoi's gonna be even more worried when you don't come back."

Leyona shook her head. "Sorry. Tell Aoi I'm sorry. Tell Maaya that as well." Before she vanished, quick as the wind. 

Michiko sighed, having half the mind to go running after her, but decided against it. She had a grief-stricken Casin here,  and Leyona was right, they needed to see a doctor right away.

With one final glance towards where Leyona had disappeared off to, and she tugged Casin away.

Leyona  finally stopped a little ways from the town, breathing through her nose and out through her mouth. All her instincts were screaming at her to go back, go back t Michiko and the others and back to the Butterfly Estate, but she just....couldn't.

She had, actually, found her sword, and kept noticing that over the days it kept getting dark and darker. Now it was a dark indigo, and she frowned.

Kanao had told her about a black blade once, saying that Tanjiro had wielded it and had nearly killed Muzan with it-the woman had gotten a blissful look in her eyes when she had talked about that, which made Leyona suspect that something was going on between the two-but she rarely thought about it now.

She didn't have long to ponder on her new blade colour when a click sounded from behind her.

The slayer whipped around, to see a man, no older than thirty, holding a gun. He has black hair that swept just above his grey eyes, and was wearing a dirty old demon slayer uniform.

Hold on, demon slayer uniform?!

"I thought I told Kiriya I would shoot any demon slayer who stepped near my cottage again?" He said, in his voice low and hurtful.

"Wow, don't you have a stunning personality." Leyona snapped back, readying her blade.

Hiari was, understandable, confused, and worried.

He had expected Leyona to be back by now. Heck, even Ai was back and she took a long while to kill demons, often just toying with them before killing them.

"I told you we should have left her behind." His sister grumbled, leaning against a tree with her arms crossed. Hiari stared at her, eyes wide with shock. 

"Leyona's a good slayer! She's probably on her way back, right.....now."

Nothing happened.

Then, a shrill scream of pain came from the west.

"'Leyona's a good slayer'" Ai said, mocking Hiari, who looked offended.

Hiari shook his head, before taking off, Ai soon following.

Shattered Legacy Secret

Casin and Michiko became fast friends at their first hashira meeting, since they both became them at the same time.