War (2)

"Why hasn't Kyojuro arrived yet?" Muichiro asked Tengen as he finished all of the candy that was given to him. They've been waiting for the Flame Hashira for about a half hour. According to Tengen, Kyojuro was given a puzzle similar to the one Muichiro was given.

"Can Kyojuro read morse code?" Muichiro inquired while sitting up.

Tengen opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. "I'm not sure."

Muichiro looked at the man next to him and was 92% certain he was a moron. They're Demon Slayers; why would they need to learn morse code?

"Well, you'd better hope he finds us like I did." Muichiro stated this.

"Wait, how did you find me in the first place?"

"I was drinking milk tea in a tree when I decided to go for a walk to find something to do. I saw you "sneaking" around on my way home."

"What's the deal with the air quotation? So you're saying I wasn't sneaky!?" Tengen exclaimed in disbelief.

Muichiro blinked unsure whether he should answer honestly or lie to avoid getting an earful from Tengen about how flamboyant he is.

It's happened so many times that Muichiro actually remembers it. One of the few things he remembers perfectly is his and Mitsuri's names. Another example is the forms for the breathing styles he employs.

Muichiro was about to crush Tengen's dreams when he sensed someone's aura. Tengen followed Muichiro's gaze to the side. They weren't surprised when Kyojuro appeared, smiling as he usually is.

"Good to see you made it, Kyojuro-san!" With a nod of his head, Tengen stated.

"Yes! Your message was difficult to decode, and by difficult, I mean impossible because I am unfamiliar with morse code!"

"I told you." Muichiro looked at Tengen, who was crossing his arms over his chest. The ninja tried, but failed, to maintain his smile. He sighed in defeat, followed by a frustrated groan. As a result, he did the only thing he could think of to get out of this situation. He changed the subject.

"Would you like to know why I summoned you both here?"

"Not at all."

"Of course!"

Tengen stood up and motioned for them to follow him. Muichiro just sat there making a metal not to go make more friends, while Kyojuro followed him. Some friends NOT like Kyojuro and Tengen.

If all of his friends were like those two, then they might get Muichiro killed before the demons do. And that is not a good thing.

Sometime Later

"Question? What are we doing in my room?" Muichiro inquired as he sat on his futon. When he looked past the panels, he saw Kyojuro and Tengen drinking tea from his tea set! He was serious about only a few things in his life, and one of them was that damn tea set. Let's just say he had to travel to eight different cities to locate the item.

"I haven't finished explaining the plan yet." Tengen drank another sip of his tea.

"That still doesn't answer my question about why we're HERE, in my ROOM. Do you want me to speak SLOWER?" Muichiro tried his hardest not to kick Tengen out, but it was clear he was doing so to build suspense. The Mist Hashira, on the other hand, was about to build his casket.

"Where should we have gone, hm?"

"Apart from my room, there are many other places. We could have stayed by the tree, for God's sake, but we didn't. Yet you made the decision to come here."

"I'm not sure, I just pick somewhere at random. Come on, now!" Tengen motioned for him to come over, which irritated Muichiro slightly. He sighed and walked over to sit beside him.

Tengen took the black box and slowly opened it, a golden light beaming up at them, preventing them from seeing what was inside right away. Muichiro deadpanned and slapped Tengen the back of the head.

"Wow, that was dramatic." Muichiro said. He took the box from the idiot and looked inside, only to see three cakes, one blue, one yellow, and one red. Each one was had no decorations except for some sprinkles.

"Explain." Muichiro lowered his gaze to Tengen.

"So, here's the plan..."

Five Minutes Later

"This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." Muichiro expressed his surprise with a puzzled expression.

"I think it's a great plan; shouldn't it be fun?" Kyojuro yelled a little too enthusiastically. Muichiro glared at him, silencing the Flame Hashira. Kyojuro's smile froze immediately, he sat down once more. He, like Tengen, didn't want to see Muichiro upset. He could tell it would be a frightening thing to witness.

Muichiro looked at Tengen, perplexed. "You do realize that if we do this, we could be fighting for the next decade? Only one side will win this if we live that long. Once it begins, there is no stopping it."

"I'm sorry, Muichiro-san, but you're being overly dramatic." Kyojuro deadpanned at the boy's antics.

Muichiro shrugged and walked outside with the box. "Let's go, it's not my fault if one of you dies."

"That's what I'm talking about; let's also make a flamboyant entrance!"

"Be quiet."

Sometime Later

Mitsuri and Shinobu were with Gyomei Himejima, the Stone Hashira, in the Stone Estate. They were gathered around a kotatsu table on the floor.

"Thank you for having us, Himejima-san!" Mitsuri said in a cheerfully tone.

"It's not an issue, Mitsuri-san." Himejima shook his head in disbelief. "I was going to ask how Muichiro-san and Tengen-san are doing. I heard they battled Lower Moon 3."

"Yeah! And Mui is fine; he said that the demon was quite weak. Tengen, who I only spoke with briefly, said he was fine as well."

"That's great. How has your day been going, Shinobu-san?"

Shinobu gave the Stone Pillar her usual smile. "So far, everything has gone swimmingly. I made some poison and assisted a few injured slayers. That sort of thing." Shinobu informed the two then drank some of her tea.

Mitsuri returned to her mochi eating, but the door opened causing her to stop. Shinobu and Mitsuri looked over, but Himejima didn't bother because he had already detected the person approaching from this direction. He also sensed someone else a good distance away moving quickly.

"Mui?" Mitsuri said this while staring at Muichiro, who had just entered the estate. Muichiro was sweating lightly, but his breathing was still steady. He took a look around before slowly closing the door behind him.

"Oh hello, Doll, and-" Muichiro blinked as he realized he had forgotten the other two's names. There were few things he could recall. He'd just call Mitsuri Doll until he could think of a better nickname.

He asked Tengen for nickname suggestions. Let's just say he'll never, ever ask that man for suggestions again.

"Shinobu."

"Himejima."

"Yes, yes, yes. You can keep talking amount yourselves, just, uh. Please disregard my presence. Just pretend I'm not here, you know." Muichiro gave them a thumbs up and looked around the room. The other three Hashiras were completely baffled as to what the boy was up to.

Muichiro darted around the room until he came to a halt in front of the kotatsu in the middle of Mitsuri, Shinobu, and Himejima. He put his finger to his lips as he looked at the three before crawling under it and fixing the cover so it didn't stand out.

'Hmm, why did he hide his presence the moment he stepped foot into this room?' Himejima was the only one who seemed to notice this. Mitsuri was about to speak with Muichiro about what he was doing when the same door Muichiro had come through opened.

She looked over, Himejima and Shinobu also followed suit. Muichiro was already facing the door. He was also listening to what was going on. He was very good at concealing his aura, sound, and almost everything else.

"I-Iguro-san?" Shinobu stuttered as she tried to hold back her laughter.

Iguro stood in the doorway, his face almost completely covered in what they think was cake. He still wore his mask and had his snake, Kaburamaru, wrapped around his neck.

Mitsuri sat on the other side of the table from Iguro. Muichiro turned quietly in the direction of her aura. He pecked under the cover up as he looked up at Mitsuri.

The Love Pillar attempted and failed to control her excitement. This was one of the cutest things she had ever seen, in her opinion. She has tried to take Muichiro places to dress him up, but he has always run away.

"Ahem." Iguro swallowed and cleared his throat. "Have you seen a shit—I mean Tokito? I'd like to have a CHAT with you."

Mitsuri looked down at Muichiro, who was looking up. He smiled for a split second before his face returned to normal. He wasn't a cold hearted teen who never smiles, he smiled at least once every week. Only when Mitsuri was there but it still counts.

"Nope! We haven't seen him in a long time! I only saw him this morning before he vanished, as usual!" She stood up and rushed over to Iguro, yelling at him to leave the room. "Well, Iguro-san, we'll see you later!"

Mitsuri shut the door and returned to her previous seat.

Muichiro emerged after five minutes and sat between Mitsuri and Shinobu. He hummed and took a look around.

"Why am I here again... oh yeah." He snapped his fingers and taking some of Mitsuri's mochi.

"Would you mind telling us what happened, Muichiro-san? Before you forget." Shinobu inquired.

"Huh? Oh, sure. It all started like half an hour ago."