Leyona cried herself to sleep that night.

All the things that happened over the previous day suddenly crashed down on her. Sobs wracked her body, tears flooding down her face. Her parents, the demon, her brother, the boy, the fact that she was going to be a demon slayer.....everything just came flooding down. She clutched the ginger stuffed cat, which was named Salmon, closer to her chest. Her mother had given to her when she was young, and she had never been able to sleep without it, even as an teenager.

Shoving her face deeper into the stuffed toy's sparse fur, rubbed clean from years of love and affection, she tried to muffle her sobs. Why? Why her? Other people lived on that mountain as well. Why did the demon attack her family? Why why whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy

Kanao was woken to the sound of crying, and for a brief moment she wondered if the past twenty years had been a dream and she back at her 'parents' house. After looking around, she came to the conclusion that that wasn't the case, and then looked for the source of crying, thinking it was Aya. The poor girl had cried every night since Kanao had picked her up. 

Surprisingly, it was Leyona. Clutching a stuffed ginger cat that was worn and a bit old, tears were streaming down her face. Kanao couldn't help but feel of struck of.....pity? Was that what this emotion was again? She was sure it was, as the woman stood up silently and went to go comfort her next student. Kanao had strived to be just like Shinobu, an older sister figure to all the girls at the Butterfly Estate. Leyona was one of them now, even if she wasn't aware of it yet.

Kanao lightly placed one of her hands on Leyona's back, wanting to provide some sort of comfort to the girl, who suddenly tensed before flipping over, eyes wet with tears. Her eyes widened, before wiping away the tears quickly. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that." She mumbled. "I'll head to bed now." Dear Kami, in that moment all Kanao could see was Shinobu. How many times had she walked in on Shinobu silently crying while making poisons or writing?

"You don't have to say sorry. Crying is a normal thing to do." These words seemed to strike a nerve in Leyona, as her already tight grip on the stuffed cat tightened even more. "No it's not. Crying is a sign of weakness." She spat, and Kanao shook her head. 

"Crying isn't a weakness. If anything, it's a sign of strength."

"The hell? No it's not! Crying is.....crying is...." The girl couldn't seemed to find an excuse to put her feelings into words as she shook. Tears once again welled in her eyes, and Kanao did the one thing she could think of, the one thing both of her older sisters had done for her when they lived.

She hugged her apprentice, rubbing soothing circles on her back.

At first, Leyona tensed up, and for a moment Kanao feared that she was going to pull away, but she didn't. Instead, she broke.

Tears and loud sobs sounded from the browned-haired girl as she cried into Kanao, and the woman simply let her. She didn't care that her student was dampening her uniform or that she had probably woke up Aya, the only thing that mattered was that she was allowing herself to be vulnerable, just this once. That was all Kanao asked from her.

She'd be as good as an older sister to her as both Kanae and Shinobu had to been to her.

Cat stood across the clearing, a fond smile on her face as a sleepy Aya soon joined on the hug. She waved to Kanao, nodding her head in the direction the woods. Kanao gave her a closed eye smile, which Cat took as a yes. The demon picked up her stuff and left.

She couldn't remember most things about her human life, only three memories, but they didn't really bother her that much. She had been a demon for hundreds of years, it didn't matter if she remembered her human family or not. Besides, their all dead anyways.

Cat would be going onto her next mission while it was night time and she could walk without feeling like burning from the inside out, which was how she felt during the day.

Cat's mutation worked surprisingly well, despite looking stupid. The ears made her hearing range far beyond the average demon's, and her tail helped with balance when fighting. It had worked in her favor.

She ran, footsteps barely making a sound against the ground. The demon didn't use breaths, but taking down her fellow demons wasn't hard. Just go fast and don't bother putting on a flashy show and you'd be good.

Her crow had told her to go east, towards another mountain. Seriously, what was up with all the mountains? Besides from that, it was a powerful one, hopefully a Upper, but knowing her luck probably not. Keeping an eye on the moon, she continue to run, hand on the hilt on her sword. Demons could jump out at any moment.

Her mind drifted back to Leyona and Kanao. Had someone held her that way when she was human? A pang sharpened in her chest, and Cat sighed as she tried for the first time in decades to remember any face, whether it be friend or foe. Once again, she only the same three memories:

A hand holding chopsticks over a bowl of blackfish, her voice complementing the person who made it.

A fishing pole in the water, a laugh of excitement as she reeled it in with a massive fish on the end.

Laughing as she waved away someone on a boat, unable to make out the face.

It was frustrating, the fact that she had no idea who any of these people where. That's why she stopped thinking about it, she didn't want to be in an endless cycle of torture for something that she couldn't fix. Of course, she could jump into the sun....but then that would leave the corps with one less Hashira and she couldn't do that to them, after them accepting her.

Cat wished she could give her condolences to Leyona, but didn't know how. 

There was always a but. Always.

But she couldn't remember their faces

But she wouldn't understand

But she was a menace to society

It was terrible. But Cat endured.

Shattered Legacy Secret!

Leyona has never felt any feelings for boys, only girls. She never acted on it, though.

Wow! Two chapters in a day. Even I'm surprised. This is just filler, just to have a wholesome moment between Kanao and her students and a bit of Cat's character. Hope you all enjoyed!