"Akao,"

Her petite figure kneeling by the window , turned her head to the soothing voice welcoming from the door frame.

"Oyakata-san , good morning,"

A graceful smile made it's way to his face , legs approaching her on her snow rain observing.

"Happy 7th birthday , i wish you a bright and promising future ," he opened his arms , letting the girls stare at him for a while before smiling carefreely , hugging him carefully.

"Thank you , Oyakata-san," Akao held back a wider smile by the the muffle of his kimono , before pulling back."Is Oyakata-san having a cold..? Because Oyakata-san's hands sure are,"

He chuckled.

"What do you expect..i'm not wearing any scarf or outer haori.Of course i am cold.Should we get the kotatsu then..?"he reached for her small hand , leading her through the sliding door as she spared last glances on the snowing view by the window.

He noticed her longing stare at the snow piles.

"Do you like snow?"

Her little turn of head and nod elicits a soft hum from his lips as he led her to the kotatsu table.

"But aren't you cold watching there alone..?"

Little Akao ponders a little , pulling out a clean kotatsu blanket before draping it over the big wooden table.

"No.I don't feel cold at all,"

Oyakata and Amane , his wife who just entered the room, laughed gently.

"How are you feeling , Amane?" Oyakata greeted for a while before finishing the kotatsu , replied with a sheepish smile and a nod.

Amane's 3 months pregnant now.

"Akao , no , you're cold , you just don't notice it.Look at the hot air you huffed out.." she huffed a hot air as an example , showing it to Akao who huffed out to copy her.

The moment Akao's invincible breath spit out nothing but freezing cold air , the both Ubuyashiki's hot aired breath hitched.

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🕊 T.S.O.T.I.P.🕊
❄ Chapter : 14 ❄
《 Kuroyami Shifuku 》
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Amane hummed as the memory flashed within her mind , pale fingers collecting the warm dry clothes by the hangers , hummings cut right there as she saw a kakushi ran in the house right that moment , panicking.

Her eyebrows raised , arms retracting from the hung laundry while bringing her legs to the side porch and entered rather in slight frantic confusion.Her stiffness dissolved when she saw her children setting up the long table for tonight's dinner.

"Is it ready yet , the food i asked you to take care of..?" Amane tilted her head , finding her gaze follow her children's pointed fingers to the hot secured dish on the wooden counter.

The door opened in a slow shift , revealing Oyakata , still with his everlasting calm thin smile.

"Is it done yet? Because seems like Akao's going to arrive earlier than we predicted," he elicits a chuckle , while his children nodded excitedly , hurrying their asses.

Akao has always been their babysitters since they were babies , helping Amane around even though she was just 8.Until they were 4, whwn the time Akao got for them started decreasing due to the increasing request of mission fullfill.

"She's coming early? What's the matter suddenly?" Their daughter Kanata tilted her head as she smoothed out the long kotatsu blanket.

Oyakata hummed , rubbing his chin.

"Well , she just discovered a new type of demon slayer,"

Amane blinked several times , profusely confused.

"New...type?"

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"I don't even think that's human anymore."

Muichiro retorted , being a pain in the ass like usual.But although she hated to admit it , the latter is right.

The little girl laying on her stomach, who growled inhumanely and tried to wriggle out of Akao's strong grasps doesn't look like decent human being.

Long black hair tied messily , ponytail tangling with each strands forming weird knots , bandaged wounds everywhere , calloused palms and feet , wild glares , and harsh movements.

Height around 152cm , age , unknown.

Gender , female.

Species?

Human..?

Akao clearly detected as a female human , but she decided to shook it away and straps the kids down the floor.

Can't she speak? Like , she growled the entire time.

"Hey , what's your name..?" Kiseki tried kneeling down , tilting her head.

The little girls hisses.

"At this rate im just going to assume she's an animal raised human , end of discussion," Akao muttered , and Muichiro shrugged."Looks like a pain in the ass."

Akao said nothing as she pulled out a mirror from her pocket and shoved it to Muichiro's face , before he hisses , pushing it back to her.

"Fucker." He whispers.

"I can hear that.Now suffer , you're going to help me tie her up." Akao breathed out , chopping the girl by her nape , making her grunt and fell unconscious.

He scrunched his nose.

"No."

Muichiro squinted his eyes sluggishly as he received a stodgy flat face from the older girl.

"....Fine."

How he actually agreed to , he didn't even know himself.He just gave in , somehow.

They both tied the girl tightly , straping her body before leaning her to the wall , while Kiseki dashed off to take care of the cake she baked at the kitchen.Akao watched how the girl's breath eventually calming down , fast asleep as her tense body loosens.

"Oh.She's a decent human girl , she totally could speak.Pretends to look wild , i see," Akao finally concluded , turning sharply at the choke Muichiro emitted behind her back."What,"

"Stop that , you look like a pedophile..oh yeah , i forgot," he scoffs."You are one."

An irk mark popped by her temple.

"For the tenth time , your physics literally screamed GIRL , so please consider shutting up before you reached your perfect sourish stage and turned to a real bitch," Akao sighed deeply , walking over to the window frame where Shiro landed upon to accept the strolls by Shiro's foot.

"Hm..Shiro , tell Oyakata-san that i'll bring someone unexpected right before dinner," A pat on it's head sent it flying high to the blueish sky , against the light snowing."Let's just say...a new type of demon slayer," her eyes shifted to the bundle of rusty black sword which she confiscated along from the girl when the girl jumped upon her at the attic.

"Hey , Muichiro , i'll be off , okay? Tell Kiseki i left to Oyakata-san's residence," Muichiro witnessed how she put on her haori and sword , and circled her typical scarf around her pale neck , pulling it up partly to cover her nose.

"Take care,"

The paperdoors slided , bumping to the doorframe gently as the cold breeze slipping in cut entirely , the room wrapped in soothing warmth instantly like it was before.Muichiro consumed the peaceful silence dawning upon the room , before turning back to the tea he prepared , sipping it reluctantly.

"..hm,"

____________________________________

"Grrr...!!"

Akao almost wobbled as she landed at the nearest tree , finding slight twitching and then sudden wriggles from the tied girl by her arm.

"Yeah yeah , you can stop pretending that you're unable to speak now , i know you could," Akao stared at her coldly , in a piercing way which she rarely wears except in missions.That glare of course sent cold numbing shudders along the wild girl's spines , her fears poking amongst her vain tries to bust free , all written by her wide red orbs.

"Now , i'll be taking you to Oyakata-san's household , and before i say some shit about you and cook your body for dinner , spit out your name," Akao jumped once again , not bothering to look at the girl who looked at her tied body like it has betrayed it's mind.

Akao waited.

Really waited.

"Kuroyami..."

And honestly , she is an impatient lady.

But behold , the look on her face by the time she looked to the younger girl by her arms.

"....are you...fucking asleep?" Akao's voice rolled out her mouth like a cold mentally deteriorating bomb , actually making the sleeping girl flinch in her not so peaceful dream now.

Sleeping through Akao's darkening glare is just living a hellish torture dream in your sleep.

"You know what? Never mind , Kuroyami.Get a fucking good sleep , then i'll wake you up right when your beheading punishment starts," That was only meant as a possible outcome thoughts , but sent the same effect as the glare nonetheless.

Her gaze slithered away to the rowing dark trees imbued in white cold pile of snow , fluttering under the breeze as she jumped past them.The wind could actually pierce her skin and freeze them , but being the ice pillar she is , she kinda have resistance to cold substances or such.

Akao looked to the girl balling up in her arm.

Is she getting nightmares over my glare or...ah , stupid me.

Akao stopped by a tree again and undone her scarf , wrapping it around the girl's neck hastily before carrying her bridal style as she curled up under Akao's warm touch and haori.

Yeah , she's just a human.

By the time she reached the residence , Akao were seen by a certain kakushi who put a lot of attention upon the messy girl Akao brought , listened to her short explanation before dashing in to inform her whereabouts and the uninvited guest.

"Masayuki-san , you are now allowed to enter," the kakushi popped up behind the fence , nodding giddily as Akao gave her a small nod of gratitude.

If only Akao knew , the kakushi dashed to the backyard , dissapearing among the bushes while squealing.

A soft inhale went up her nose as she breathes in the warmer air , sandals left by the porch while the paperdoors slided open by itself.

Behind the paper doors , right in the middle of the room , by the kotatsu , Oyakata sat kneeling with his usual soothing smile--fingers kneading over a small tangerine he just peeled.

"Akao , open your mouth,"

His whitening eyelashed fluttered upwards as he lifted his chin up to face her.Eventually the small tangerine left his hand thrown to Akao's open mouth.

Oh , sweet.

Akao found his delicate hands patting the empty space next to him and for a second Akao contemplated whether the spot was meant for her or for the stray girl.

Well meh , whatever.

She sat next to Oyakata-san , laying the girl gently on her side as she kneeled , waiting for his further instructions.A soft laugh left his lips while she wondered how long has it been since she lastly heard that laugh.Akao had to admit , her shoulders slumped calmly , eyes half lidding as his laugh rang in her ears.

What made Akao inhale a sharp breath in surprise in the following moment was a pat landing on the top of her head.Fingers burying deep to her scalp ,  lightly massaging and ruffling her skin.

"Happy 16th Birthday , Akao," the words crept in her ears like a tranquil melody, and she could hear the proud smile beyond those words."May you be blessed and protected always , and achieve your dreams soon,"

"I love you,"

That three words were not somekind of words that could dismantle the atmosphere , Akao knew what he meant so well.

He's trying to be a great substituting , supporting dad.

And he did a great job at that...

Akao leaned to the touch and showed a mere smile of happiness under the shadow of her bangs as she looked down.

"I love you too , Oyakata-san,"

The comforting silence were suddenly broken by a surprising thud from the opening door , revealing the five children you knew so well.

"Hey , isn't that cheating , Oto-san?" Kiriya , the only son muttered into almost a pout , leading the bunch of his sisters to attack , pulling Akao to a big hug--consider it a big hug although it's only by 6 year olds."Big group hug to celebrate Akao-san's 16th birthday..!"

"Damn,  you guys are no longer light to carry..." Akao muttered basically to herself as they buried their heads to her warm figure , a sigh leaving your lips."But yeah , thank you...um..wait Nichika , what's that ?"

Akao casted her gaze upon a big bowl Nichika brought in her arms with a not so subtle victorious smirk.

"Blueberries,"

To mere people it sounded just like a common one word spouted by a 6 year old , but to Akao , it sounded like a marriage proposal.

"...Nichika , i love you too,"

The offended gasps the others created were hilarious.

"That's sneaky , Nichika."

"I have a gift too--"

Let's just say the dinner were one of the best bonding days she had in her entire life.

Here's her home.

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If they said grandma's house was the place to satisfy their hunger and made their stomach swell , well the "grandma's house" to Akao's case is Oyakata-san's household.

Barefeet swaying from the high porch , arms propped up supporting her body ,and young blue orbs staring to the distant sky.Her red hues looked like a mere speck of dirt compared to her beautiful blue ones , but there's a glint of envision dazzling from it if you stare directly at it.

Amane sat next to her in the pleasant environment, beautiful blatantly dark obsidian orbs which descended by genes to her overall pretty children staring at Akao's loosening face muscles.

"How is it , your life in Winter Estate going on , Akao?"

The hum hollering from her tongue were nothing but a undecribable yesn't.

"It's fine...im just losing a few braincells for babysiting two kids," she remarked , fascinated by Amane's elegant laugh following while recalling the last gaze Muichiro sent her shortly before she left the estate.

Go back quick.

"Have you felt...something weird lately..?" There's a weird tone lacing the divergent tittle tattle from the ones Akao just had a few seconds prior , making her somehow clench in anticipation and worried tramp.

Akao peered concisely at the mother figure whose white hair strands blew to the side upon the cold breeze , eyes distantly staring at the darkness guarding the untouched forest.

"Because you're a female teenager , and if you happen to feel something weird , you're free to ask me for advice," Amane simply complied , as if reading Akao's mind.

..Female teenager problem , huh..?

And yeah , although Akao was provided with books and intelligent teachers , sex education were something decided only for Amane to teach along the way , because she takes Akao just like her own daughter and there's no way she's gonna let other people taint her innocence in a wrong way...that can be used as advantages.

Simply put , Akao lacked sex education.But at least she was told about d*cks and things she was not supposed to do , so for the mean time , that's fine.

"Oh well," Akao rubbed her chin , following Amane's gaze along the edgelines tracing the tree shadows."I fainted this morning,"

"Fainted? Rare of you.Were you exhausted from you know...the night disguise mission..?" Amane collectively fluttered her eyes as she blinks , recalling the pact Oyakata made with Akao.

"I don't think that's the case..." Akao felt her ears ring for a second. Was she imagining things? Akao kept muttering."My head buzzed , ears rang noisily , heart beating rapidly , and I'm pretty sure my body felt like it was in...flames," Akao finished rather intrigued.

She's the ice pillar.Feeling her body in sudden flames? What a weird  sensation to bear.

Akao looked to the side to see Amane staring her up and down with wide eyes.

Did i say something wrong..?

"Akao," Amanes orbs dilated.

"Did you have a dream of someone calling you names?"

Akao furrowed her brows in confusion.

"I don't really remember."

"Did you see yourself in the mirror..?" That question rolled out down her tongue like a breathless desperate attempt,  warm breaths evident by the hot air puffs bluffing around her pale face.

Her confusion was at itself highest , body turning rigid while Amane's desperate gaze stuck something to her--something that she couldn't point out to her disdain.Yet despite her confusion , she recalled.

She did stood in the bathroom , slumping to the doorframe as the flames took over.

There's a mirror in that bathroom.

That's when the buzz came back , her head stinging in pain as she massaged her forehead , lips bitten.

It was just a second , but she definitely saw it.

Her eyes were mostly turning red.

"Akao...akao..?" Amane breathed out , putting her hand over her shoulder in a desperate attempt to calm Akao down.

In the middle of her frantic shake , Akao looked up and pressed her lips to a thin smile.

I might not know much about teenager female phase , but i knew for sure eyes that turned color were not one of the puberty symptoms.

"I'm okay , i was just tired , my head's poundin--"

"Akao-san!!"

Kiriya barged out with a huff , clenching on her sleeves.

"Kuroyami-san woke up!!"

Akao prepared a defending stance , eyebrows rocking.

"Kuroyami...?"

"Kuroyami Shifuku..!"Kiriya bit his lip , pointing towards the door.

"The wild girl!"

Oh great , she shares her name to Oyakata-san but slept during my speech.

Oh wait , she DID tell me her last name.

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