𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍

PART FIVE; THE PROCESS

𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 ー muzan kibutsuji

𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 ー kokushibo

THE next morning when (Y/N) awoke, Kokushibo was gone, but she expected that. Considering she only ever saw the demon at night, she assumed that he was either busy during the day sleeping or doing something else, or the sun was lethal to him. Whichever it was, she didn't care, for she needed no explanation.

Besides...

Outside of whatever this is, our lives don't affect each other in the least.

Rolling up her futon and putting it away, (Y/N) ate breakfast before packing up her belongings and moving along on her way. She didn't particularly know where she was going, only that she wanted to find a small village where she could be alone.

That was all she ever really wanted.

Peace.

Tranquility.

Silence.

After living her entire life bowing to the whims of others, of taking the mental abuse of her parents, she felt she was entitled to such serenity.

Finally, after five days, (Y/N) found herself in a snowy pass that was just a few hours journey away from a small village located at the base of the mountain. And there, almost hidden in a grove of trees, stood an abandoned house that still stood strong against the raging weather outside. Taking that as fate, the girl slid off her shoes before entering the small house and promptly shutting the wooden shutters of all the windows. Moving further into the space, she then gathered what charcoal she could find to light a fire in the sunken hearth of one of the main rooms.

After rummaging around some more in the abandoned space, she found two zabutons which—after dusting them off—she set out, folding her legs underneath her whilst sitting on only one.

The other lay across from her.

After a rather tasteless lunch of dried meats and fruits, (Y/N) rolled up her sleeves and started to clean. Considering there was a stream of clean water not even five paces away, she filled up several buckets, and with a rag, started to wipe down the floorboards which thankfully hadn't begun to rot. There were a few holes in the roof that she had to fix with whatever materials she could find, but all in all, when she was done only a few hours later, she nodded with satisfaction.

Glancing upwards at the still light sky, she knew that she still had time to travel down to the nearby village and gather additional supplies.

Before leaving, she surveyed the house, finding that it had an attachment where wood was piled up on the outside, a large door made of iron set into what looked to be smooth grey stone. Grunting as she pushed open the door, she poked her head inside the small containment and was surprised to find more lumps of black charcoal.

Whoever lived here... made charcoal.

    I can use that.

    Closing the metal door and cringing from the screech of the hinges, knowing that she would have to purchase some oil to fix that, she then began her descent down the mountain with both the supplies and money that she would need to purchase goods and make trades. The town wasn't large by far, but it looked to be advanced enough that many were wearing kimono of fine cloth and silk, and electric lines ran from house to house to heat the homes and provide light.

    Snow still littered the ground and fell from the sky, however, unlike in the mountains, it wasn't as vicious or biting.

    "Good afternoon," she greeted to the vendor when walking into one store, browsing through the shelves of goods and pondering what was necessary to purchase immediately before anything else.

    Deciding on rice, several spices, dried meat, dried fruits, cooking utensils, a fresh futon and pillow, more cleaning supplies, storage containers, knives, a shovel, rope, bamboo-woven bags, tatami mats, and other small knickknacks that she would need starting out in her small house, she then spoke to a few of the townspeople and asked about their situation regarding coal production, distribution, and purchases.

    And what she found was favorable.

    Considering that no one made coal of their own due to several different problems, but the coal that they had to purchase from the neighboring towns was highly expensive and had to be used sparingly which didn't bode well during the winter months—a current predicament, in their case.

     Hm...

    If I sell coal bundled from in between fifty to one hundred pounds at a lower cost...

    That will be very advantageous for me.

    Returning to her small house hours later, by then night having cast upon the sky, she wasn't surprised when sensing a familiar and deadly presence within the home. Knowing that it would be easy for someone like Kokushibo to find her, she didn't comment on his sudden appearance despite having traveled several miles from where they had last interacted and from where he disappeared.

    "You were gone for quite some time," the demon commented when he locked eyes with her, having kneeled down on one of the zabutons in front of the fire lit in the sunken hearth—considering she had extinguished it when she left, she realized that he must have relit it for her again. "Where did you go?" Flicking his gaze to the various food products and supplies, he then continued, "You must have gone to the village at the base of this mountain."

    "I did," (Y/N) answered curtly as she began to store her food and slide them out of sight, then moving on to rolling and setting out the tatami mats that would cover the worn wood.

    "Is this where you plan on residing?"

    "Yes... and I'm hoping this is where I will live for the rest of my life," she murmured as she worked.

    Kokushibo felt silent after that.

    He didn't think that (Y/N), overwhelmed with the feeling of inferiority and hatred, would so easily be able to shed all of that for a new life. For if he truly thought about her situation, he was reminded all too much of his own, and wondered how both her and him could turn out so differently.

    His fingers brushed against his katana.

    Glancing up at (Y/N), at how she smiled ever so softly whilst completing her home, he then realized the difference between her and him.

    She held her head high.

    He hadn't.

つづく | to be continued