9 Daki

Stopping in a small village near Yoshiwara, Kiyomi found a hotel owner who was kind enough to lend her a room for some wild animals that she had hunted during the day.

Settling down in the room, Kiyomi did not let down her guard. She knew that in the world of Demon Slayer, demons are everywhere, and her run-in with a demon when she first crossed gave quite a heavy impression.

Laying on the bed with the wooden sword by her side, Kiyomi closed her eyes to get some light rest.

...

A few hours later, Kiyomi suddenly opened her eyes, took her wooden katana, and rushed out of the hotel.

The wind was blowing against the silky light-chestnut brown hair of hers as she swiftly ran towards a noodle shop.

Arriving at the shop, she sees the shop owner, who was a middle-aged bald man. His eyes have turned dull, as he mechanically washed the dirty dishes that were in the sink.

Frowning, she held the wooden katana in her hand tighter. She has sensed a weak demon lurking somewhere near.

"Hueheehehehe.. another dish has delivered itself to me.. how wonderful!" An irritating laugh reverberated throughout the air.

Not responding to the demon's provocation, Kiyomi stood right where she was.

Emerging from behind the show owner, a fat demon with no visual difference from that of a human walked towards Kiyomi.

The only difference between this demon and normal humans was that he had an abnormally distorted stomach and many bloodied sharp teeth.

"Oh, man! It's a beauty too! Lucky me!" With a hideous expression, the demon recklessly lunged himself towards Kiyomi.

Staying calm, Kiyomi waited for the demon to get into her attack range.

"Ha Ha! Come here, little girl! I'll rip you limb from limb!"

When the demon got close enough, Kiyomi did a standard horizontal cut towards the head while dodging the lunge of the demon with ease.

With blood gushing out of the stump left on the demon's head, Kiyomi was just about to launch another attack before she was dumbfounded at the disappearing body of the demon.

"Wha-What?! How come my body didn't regenerate?! That sword wasn't a f*cking Nichirin sword! You little Sh-"

Scratching her head, Kiyomi first hung the katana back onto her waist.

'I suppose that the moonlight is just a reflection of the Sun, and technically, I did slash him with a sun-infused attack? Or maybe I somehow infused some characteristics of the breath of the sun into the breath of the moon?'

Demons can only be killed by decapitation using a special sword, the Nichirin Sword, otherwise known as the color-changing sword that was made with materials that absorb sunlight.

The only other method is to let the demon sunbathe, or use the breath of the sun, the original breathing technique, which was shown when Tanjuro unknowingly killed a demon.

The noodle shop owner, who woke up from his illusions saw the disappearing body of the demon and the fairy-like figure of Kiyomi, who was still thinking about the reason why the demon just died.

Surprised and startled, the noodle shop owner rubbed his eyes.

When he opened them again, Kiyomi's shadow was nowhere to be seen.

"Dear God! I must be hallucinating!" Still somewhat skeptical about what he had just seen, the shop owner decided to take a good rest.

Back in the hotel, Kiyomi started packing her belongings and set out towards Yoshiwara once again.

...

At noon, Kiyomi looked at the bustling streets of Yoshiwara. The stall keepers were yelling loudly, trying to attract customers, and the entire street was filled with a festive atmosphere.

Remembering her goal of earning money, Kiyomi quickly ducked into a secluded alleyway.

"Such a shame, I really liked being in my adult form." Changing back into that of her five-year-old self, she unhurriedly walked back onto the main streets, taking the mask off of her face.

Looking around curiously at the ancient Japanese, entertainment, foods, and architecture, she gradually reached the red light district.

Here in the red light district, countless prostitutes wore colorful and beautiful clothing.

Slowly walking through the streets of the red-light district, Kiyomi received a lot of intrigued gazes.

Ignoring those gazes, Kiyomi continued to wander on the streets.

Arriving in front of the Tokito house, Kiyomi recalled the Entertainment District Arc of the anime.

'This is the one. Hopefully, my memories didn't give up on me. Meeting Upper Moon six right now would be a disaster.'

The Tokito house, If she remembered correctly, was the one where Tanjiro was assigned to when the sound pillar took them to investigate his wive's disappearances.

The famous Orian of this house was Koinatsu, a kind, and gracious person, readily thanking her subordinates and awarding them with candy for a job well done, as well as smiling at their happiness.

She was well known and very popular among the workers of the Tokito house.

Standing in front of the receptionist desk, Kiyomi waited for someone to come by.

After a short while, a beautiful woman with several attendants surrounding her briskly walked past her. This woman is Koinatsu.

Koinatsu is a beautiful woman dressed as an oiran with her hair having multiple hairpins. She wore an elaborate kimono being black with light square patterns and with the folds of her obi at the front. The obi shows several branches of a blossom tree.

She, who was attracted by Kiyomi's age, dismissed the attendants and walked up to her.

"Little girl, what are you doing here? This isn't a place you should be in. Are you lost?"

Kiyomi looking at the woman who had a similar kind aura to her, just like her mother, knew that she had come to the right house.

"Hello, big sister! My name is Kamado Kiyomi, but you can call just me Kiyomi! And I'm not lost, I'm here to find a job so that I can help my family! My family already agreed with me too!" With a cheerful expression, Kiyomi put her acting skills to the test, pretending to behave like how a normal child would behave.

Of course, normal children would still be playing with toys at her age, happily going about their childhood.

Like many others that are soon to be revealed to the surprising talents of Kiyomi, the woman was astounded at the mature girl.

"Well... Kiyomi, since you are so determined, how about I take you in as an Intern? I'll take good care of you. You can learn how to play with the musical Instruments, and once you get good enough, you can entertain the guests."

As the kind woman she is, Koinatsu decided to take her in as an Intern.

"But big sis! I'm already very good at the koto, and I have composed some of my own music! If you have a koto around here, I can show you!"

"Really?" Replied Koinatsu, slightly skeptical.

Still smiling kindly at Kiyomi, Koinatsu gently took Kiyomi's small hand in hers and took her to a room filled with different Instruments.

"Here we are, go on, you can choose from any of them to play with."

Putting her hands on the delicately crafted koto, Kiyomi thought of the different pieces of music she had in her mind.

Deciding on the piece of music she wanted to play, her hands started to dance on the strings.

With each pluck and strumming, a beautiful melody that brought a serene setting to the surrounding sounded in Koinatsu's ears.

Closing her eyes, she could see herself in a beautiful garden, full of blooming sakura.

The wind gently caressed her face as the flower petals drifted with the wind.

"Big sis? Big sis!"

"Eh?" Waking up from her stupor, Koinatsu looked around.

"Big sis, you have been standing there for five minutes already!" Kiyomi pouted.

"Oh my! I'm sorry sweetheart, your music was wonderful. It was very pleasant to hear, and I must admit, you are amazing at playing the Koto."

Hearing Koinatsu sudden compliments, Kiyomi felt a little blush spreading on her cheeks.

Seeing Kiyomi's shy appearance, Koinatsu laughed, reached into her Kimono, and took out a piece of candy, and handed it to her.

"Here you are, little girl. I will call someone to get you ready for the performance tonight, you won't be showing your face, so don't worry about being seen."

"Really? I can start working today? Thank you so much ms...?" Pretending to not know her name, Kiyomi asked for Koinatsu's name.

Realizing that she still hasn't introduced herself yet, Koinatsu quickly gave a quick introduction of herself.

"Oh! How rude of me! My name is Koinatsu, but you can keep calling me big sis if you want sweetheart."

...

The time of the performance came, and Kiyomi was sitting on the stage, behind a large veil that shielded the audience from seeing her.

But although the veil could mask her appearance, it could not mask her small figure.

After that night's performance, rumors that a small talented girl has appeared in the Tokito house.

Some say that her music could make people hallucinate.

Others say that she was a fairy reincarnated as a human.

But there was one thing that remained constant, the girl who played the Koto was extremely young.

The rumors spread like wildfire, and within a week, everyone in Yoshiwara knew of the rumors, and even some people who were outside of Yoshiwara knew.

Many came to the performances of Kiyomi, and all who came left with content and satisfied expressions on their faces.

"You did a great job Kiyomi! Here's your salary for this performance! And it also comes along with some free candy~!"

In the changing room, Koinatsu handed out two bags to Kiyomi, one filled with yen, the other filled with candy.

Happily receiving the bags, Kiyomi quickly took out a piece of candy and stuffed it into her mouth, putting the bags into a wooden box she bought to carry things.

"Arigatou-gozaimasu!" Thanked Kiyomi, whose mouth was filled with the sweet taste of candy.

Remembering something from the bottom of her mind, Koinatsu took out a small light purple pouch with a floral scent, held Kiyomi's hand, and placed the pouch gently onto her palm.

"Right, you are leaving today aren't you? I can't believe that it has already been half a year since you came stumbling upon the Tokito house. Here's a good luck charm I made myself, it will keep you safe during your trip home!"

Looking blankly at the pouch in her hands, Kiyomi couldn't help but give Koinatsu a farewell hug.

"Thank you for taking care of me big sis! I'll definitely remember to come and see you!"

Feeling the sudden hug from Kiyomi, Koinatsu couldn't help but wrap her arms around Kiyomi as well.

She sees Kiyomi more as a daughter than just a musician working under the Tokito house.

Feeling sentimental, the two waved goodbye as they parted.

Taking out the pouch from the inside of her haori, Kiyomi brought it to her nose and took a whiff.

"Wisteria?" Smelling the flower that was a deterrent to weaker demons, Kiyomi was surprised to smell wisteria in the pouch that Koinatsu gave her.

Not thinking too much, she set off for the most neighboring village.

Leaving during the evening, Kiyomi saw that the sun was about to set, and sped up her pace to the nearest village.

The sky had completely darkened just as she reached the entrance of the village, everyone has already cleaned up their stalls, and went home for the day.

The empty streets and the bright moon in the darkened sky caused goosebumps to appear on Kiyomi's skin.

Walking on the eerily quiet streets, Kiyomi's premonition became stronger and stronger as she suddenly felt someone appear behind her.

Turning around in an instant, she spotted a young woman with long black hair and sharp lime green eyes with long eyelashes. Her silvery hair fluttered under the night sky.

Kiyomi's eyes dilated with extreme fear, "Daki.."