Y/N's Pov

As I ran back to my home, since there were still a couple of things I wanted to check on before going to my next mission, the image of Shinobu just exploding in a blush after my kiss to her would keep popping up in my head, and every time it did come back, I wouldn't be able to contain my laugh.

It was nice seeing her in a different light, and as much as I had already seen her feel embarrassed, or as much as I liked seeing her as some kind of authority figure, I would also like to see that softer side of hers every once in a while.

Either way, a bit before sunset came over, I finally managed to get back home, and as I passed through town, I said hi to Mr. Takashi, visited some other friends that also lived around, and then went to check up on Mother.

Once there, I did something pretty similar to last time I came by. I got some incense to burn infront of her grave, I did my bow, told her a bit about what had happened recently to me, and, since I noticed that my little gift wasn't there anymore, I decided to take a couple of minutes to go and make her a new flower crown. It was a fairly simple one, as I only did a regular yellow and pink color with the flowers, since I didn't think I had time for anything else, but I still liked it.

After I left the flower crown again with her, I went inside the house to see how it was, and I was glad to see that it was keeping its shape. This was obviously thanks to the townsfolk, and while it was starting to get a bit covered in dust, I could easily tell that they were making sure that nothing broke or withered away too much, which was something to be thankful for.

I then went back down to town, and since I was starting to feel a bit hungry, I decided to buy something at Mr. Takashi's. I just some light lunch, like some onigiris and a bit of tea. While I ate this, Mr. Takashi tried to get a conversation out of me, and while I did wanna talk to him about everything that had happened to me so far, I wasn't able to spend too much time here, as it was starting to get dark, and I wanted to go back to Master's home as well.

Mr. Takashi was actually very understanding that I wanted to leave early, as he even packed some extra onigiris for the way, and sent me off. I thanked him for all of this, and once I was a bit far from town, I started running with all my might. This made it so that I got to Master's town in even less time than usual, and while this still meant that it was past sunset, I was glad to see no Demons around.

I still wanted to make sure, so I did a couple rounds around town to make sure. I also became curious about my next mission during this time, so I lightly exclaimed. "Hey, Karasu!" And after my crow came down to see me, I extended my arm, so he could easily sit there, and then asked. "When's my next mission then? And where?" To which he replied.

"There's been a confirmation that a strong Demon is living to the northwest of this town. Around 20 to 40 miles from here. You'll be joining some other Demon Slayers to take care of this situation over there by tomorrow afternoon. Don't be late." I had already gotten used to the idea of my crow talking, but I found his seriousness a bit funny, so I couldn't resist chuckling a bit.

He immediately got mad at this, and asked me if I even understood what I said, but after I managed to wipe my grin of my face, and with a fairly serious expression said. "I understood. I'll be there in time." He seemed satisfied enough, and flew away.

Since the mission was tomorrow as well, I didn't see any problem with staying here to sleep, so I quickly went to Master's old house. As I got closer to it, I could start seeing the multiple rooms hanging from the trees, and after saying 'hello' to all of them, I went up to mine.

Since I had left maybe a week or so ago, the place was still in a fairly good shape, though there were still a couple of things that made it seem like no one was around. For example, a bunch of stuff that I left outside right when I received my weapon from Tanya, and since I also received my first mission shortly after, I didn't have time to take them back inside.

As I got inside my room, I started looking around it, and even felt a bit nostalgic about the time I built this place myself. Looking back, I probably should've catched up sooner to the fact that Master wasn't really training me, and that he was rather making me work for him, but even though it came off a bit wrong at the time, now it only made me laugh.

Either way, once I was inside, I went towards the spot where I left my sleeping stuff, and gathered what I needed, which was pretty much only my futon and just a light sheet, as it wasn't that warm yet.

While at first, sleeping on bare wood like this one was pretty uncomfortable, over the years I got used to it, and I liked to think that the wood also kind of got used to me, making it more comfortable. I still wasn't entirely comfortable with sleeping on the floor in general, but all of this made it so I felt well enough sleeping here, and while it did evoke some bad memories from Master's passing, it also brought back some very good memories.

At first I mainly focused on the bad ones, but after spending some time at the Butterfly Mansion, looking over the girls and spending some time with them, and especially Shinobu, I was in a happy mood, so I was able to move on from the bad, and just cherish what memories I had with Master.

I was about to fall asleep, since my mind was so at ease, however, right at this moment, I suddenly remembered how worried was Shinobu about all of this. 'I should talk to her about this. I wouldn't want her thinking that all of this is still in my head. I should thank her as well. If I'm this optimistic is only because of her.' I also cursed myself for remembering until now, and not when we were together earlier today, but since there was literally nothing to be done right now, I just closed my eyes, and went to sleep.

The night itself was pretty peaceful, something to be thankful for with all the Demons just running around wild, and before I knew it, I had to get up. Thankfully, I had already gotten used to having to wake up early due to all my training, and while at first I was a bad morning person, now I could just stretch a bit, wash my face if it was a really bad day to wake up, and go on with my day.

After washing up a bit and making sure I looked decent enough, I went towards the town to look for some breakfast. I already knew of a couple places that I liked, so I went to the same Inn I went pretty much every day during my training, where they served some of the best Miso soup I've ever tasted.

Once inside, I was promptly received by a member of the staff, the daughter of the owner to be precise, and as I sat down on my usual spot, she simply said. "I get It'll be the usual, Y/N?" And after letting out a soft chuckle, I replied with.

"But of course." To which she nodded and said.

"Alright, be right back with it." She then turned around, while also winking her eye at me, which while I honestly tried not to pay attention to, it would still made me blush a bit, as I could only chuckle nervously.

After that, I just waited for a little while until my soup was ready, but once it was ready, I was surprised to see Mr. Tabe, the owner of the Inn and cook of the place, to be the one delivering to me. "Here you go Y/N. Some of my famous Miso soup. But I've gotta say, once my daughter told me you were back, I had to come see it myself. You've been on and off this last couple of weeks." His comments actually made me realize that I had, in fact, left the town more times this past few weeks, than I had done during all my time training together, which was a bit surprising.

Either way, I agreed with him on this, but as I also started eating my soup, he asked. "So, if you don't mind me, where have you being going to anyway? Is it to see a girl? Because if that's so, my daughter would be quite upset about that." Hearing this made me choke on my food. Not really the part about his daughter, since her feelings towards me were something she never hid pretty much from the beginning, but rather the thought that someone would care that much about mine and Shinobu's relationship.

It's like, aside from the other girls of the mansion, I didn't think that anyone would care, but now I realized that they would surely be some, and while I didn't really care about this, it somehow made me feel like I had some more chances with being a couple with Shinobu, and that made me quite nervous.

Seeing my way of chocking at his words, Mr. Tabe helped me a bit to ease it, as he tapped my back and gave me some water to pass all of it. Once I was better, he quickly said to me. "Apologies for that. I thought you already since, you know, she isn't the most reserved person on that regard." After drinking just a bit more water to be completely fine, I turned to look back at him, and that's when I said.

"N-No. It's alright. I did know. It's just that, I don't think I ever realized what it actually to have someone that likes you." By the expression on his face, I could tell that he was getting a bit excited, but I had to break the news to him before any misunderstanding arouse. "And while I do think she's pretty and all, I don't think I'm all that into her." He then looked surprised, as this was surely a first since his daughter was considered the prettiest in town, but I had to continue. "Now don't get me wrong, I can easily tell why everyone's head over heels for her. I do admit how pretty she is, but there's just this girls that screams at me more deeply. Both metaphorically and literally. At times, she can be mean and strict, but at others he's cheery and bubbly, and almost no matter what, she always keeps a warm smile on her face. There's just this feeling that makes me feel at ease with her, and even if there are 'better matches' for me out there, I think I could easily settled with her." I was expecting him to be confused by all my ranting, or maybe even annoyed by me rejecting his daughter, but I was instead met with a comprehensive gaze, which was far off from what I anticipated.

He then jut let out a light chuckle, and as he smiled warmly at me, he said. "It's alright I understand. To be completely honest, that's how I felt with my wife as well. There was this other girl that I met that was an amazing cook, even more than me, and her family connections would've made this place grow, but I simply found my wife to be funnier and easier to spend time with, despite the fact that her food was, and honestly still is, terrible." I found this sudden anecdote of his pretty fun, and I was specially glad that he wasn't mad at me rejecting his daughter.

After that, the two of us kept talking for a bit, and once I finished my soup, I got up, and started leaving. "Well, it was nice talking to you again Y/N, and don't worry, I'll see if I can explain the whole situation to my daughter, I doubt she'll like it though." I chuckled nervously at this, as it was easy to imagine how mad she would be, and even wondered if it was okay to leave him to deal with it, but I just assumed that it was alright.

I bowed at him for all of this, as I then said. "Thanks. That'll be a small weight of my shoulders. Also, thanks for the soup. It was as delicious as always." He then simply said that it was his pleasure, and after a quick goodbye, I walked away.

As I walked out of town, I asked my crow for some more detailed instructions and after setting on a path, I realized that it, unfortunately, took me away from the Butterfly Mansion, meaning that I wouldn't be able to say hi on my way by. It wasn't anything important to do, but I still wanted to do it if I had the chance, but seeing as I didn't, I just shrugged it off and went on with my way.

After running around the same paths over and over during the past few weeks, as I kept going from Master's house, to mine, then to the Butterfly Mansion, it was nice to see some new environments, and especially the father and farther away I got from the town and towards the west, more new places I saw. Most of them were of course forests, hills, and even some rice plantations. There were also a couple towns I noticed from afar, or by the signs guiding to them, but since none of them were my main objective, I just ignored them for the time being.

In the end, I managed to get to my destination a bit before sunset, and while it did make me a bit tired, I was able to hold myself for the job. Looking around, I saw that the place was a pretty big forest, with just a few lumber towns around, though according to what Karasu said, there would also be a couple 'bald' spots inside the forest, which seemed like they weren't natural, so they were probably the Demons fault.

Just when I was infront of the forest, I started looking around, mostly as to see how big it was, and since I couldn't see an end or a beginning from either side, I could easily notice just how big it actually was.

I was a bit surprised by this, but before I even decided if I should go in, Karasu came down and said. "Don't go in just yet, you idiot. Your group is waiting for you by the east side of the forest. Over there." He then pointed towards the direction I was supposed to go with his wing, and after thanking him for that, I started walking.

While I went towards the spot that Karasu told me about, I kept looking at the forest, to see if maybe I could notice something useful, but aside from seeing that a lot of the tree were pretty big and robust, probably enough to bury someone with just one log, there wasn't much. This at least meant that I could probably jump around pretty easily, as I also realized that they had few branches.

I tried looking for more useful stuff, but at least from the outside, I couldn't see anything, so I instead increased my pace, and got with the rest of the group faster. As I closed in on them, I stretched my arm to call out for them, and as they returned the wave, I could finally realize who they were. "Chugi! Jujun!" I exclaimed, as I recognized both of my teammates from back at the final selection and got closer to greet them once again.

Once I was with them, I clapped hands with the two of them, as a greet for it being quite some time since the last time we saw each other, however, just as I was done with them, I heard a third voice that made me feel a bit excited. "Hey, don't forget about me!" And as I turned around, I saw Tero being here as well.

After the initial surprise went away, I smiled of simple joy, as I then walked closer to him, and said. "But of course I would never forget you!" And after his hand as well, I said in a bit of a snarky tone. "Still cowering behind trees?" Something he found a bit fun, and after letting out a light chuckle, he replied to me.

"No. Not anymore at least." He then changed the way in which he held hands onto a more formal one, as he told me. "What you said to me last time was really useful. I was too focused on my surroundings, and how a veteran was way more powerful than me, that I didn't get to see how much I had grown myself." I was quite surprised due to this, but as I catched up to it, I returned the hold properly, and after we shook hands, I said.

"No problem." We then separated, as Chugi and Jujun came closer to talk to us.

We were just having a light chat in between all of us, when another Demon Slayer, who I didn't know at all, got closer to us, and asked. "What's this supposed to be?" And by the way Chugi and Jujun reacted, I could see that he at least had some form of authority over here.

"A-Apologies. It's just that Y/N helped us during the final selection, so we greeted and old friend. That's it." The guy then took a look at me, and after inspecting me for a second, he jut scoffed, and told us to come, as he was about to give us briefing of the situation.

I was confused by Chugi and Tero's form of acting, so I asked what was up, and that's when they told me. "That guy's named Kanshu. According to our crows, he's already a veteran of rank Hinoe." I was quite surprised to hear about someone so high on the rankings, especially since I hadn't met anyone that was even above Mizunoto just yet, and then, Jujun finished with.

"He seems to be taking charge of the operation or something."

Chapter End

Taisho Era Rumors

At first no one really thought that much about Y/N once he came to hos Master's town. Some didn't even know that he was living there at the beginning, however, around a year after he started training, Y/N also started having some more free time to wander around town, meaning that he also started meeting the townsfolk. The first ones to notice were the girls of town, as not only did the training make him look pretty attractive, but there was also something mysterious about him that made them feel attracted. In the end, he became one of the most popular guys in town, despite the fact that he never noticed or even cared.

Alright, we're jut in line for the next arc, and I hope you guys are excited about it. I'm personally really glad, not only because I was able to continue with the story, but also because I was able to bring back some of my characters from the final selection, to which I feel a bit attached, since they are some of my first OCs that aren't just self inserts,

Either way, I hope you guys are looking forward for this new arc, as well ass more character development and even more struggles, Yay!

As always, please leave down any feedback you may have, if there any suggestions from your part I would also like to read them, and finally, if you have any other kind of silly thoughts as well, they are just as welcomed.

With all of that out of the way, I can only say, thanks for coming, and see you next week.

Keep going, and SET YOUR HEART ABLAZE!!!