A Weird Feeling

'Let's get to work,' Yuu already had a plan in his mind as he followed the people who were talking to the cult members.

A few days later, on the east side of the town, A woman wearing a purple-tinted gakuran uniform with a white belt and hakama pants under a butterfly-patterned white Haori than faded into mint green and pink towards the cuff and hem.

She walked down the busy road making quite a few people turn back as her waist-length black hair fluttered in the air, with arched ear-length bangs on either side of her face along with pale blue and green butterfly hairpins on both sides.

'This must be the place,' The woman thought as stopped in front of a small tea house before walking into the shop with a small gentle smile.

The interior of the tea shop would have likely been simple and unassuming, with tatami mat floors, sliding paper doors, and minimalist decor. The shop would have likely had a small counter with seating for customers, as well as a few small tables and chairs.

The woman looked around with her large pale violet eyes that were slanted to the side.

'There,' Her eyes glittered as she found the ones she was looking for and walked towards one of the tables in the corner where two people wearing the same uniform but with white Haori were sitting there talking, they were a guy and a girl respectively who looked about the same age as her.

"Hello, Kase-kun and Shiro-chan~," Her soft yet enthusiastic voice reached the two as they looked over in complete shock.

"K-Kanae-sama," The girl named Shiro stood up from her seat.

"K-Kocho-sama we were just about to come out of the town to greet you," Kase also seemed to panic and he had a good reason, She was...

'Kocho Kanae-Sama, The Flower Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps,' Kase had heard about her ever since he had joined the corps last year, She is one of the strongest people in the whole organization.

'She is so beautiful, and she also remembers my name even if I have only met her once,' Kase was swooning inside; he had been to the Butterfly estate a few times in order to receive treatment after a mission, and he happened to meet her while she was looking after the patients.

"I just happened to arrive half an hour early since I didn't want you guys to wait and besides you don't need to do something troublesome like that," Kanae smiled brightly making the sit down again.

'S-She's…So kind,' Both Kase and Shiro were moved to tears, she was a Hashira while they weren't that high up in the ranks and there was no need for her to be so considerate of them, but she was that way regardless.

"Shop owner, can we have three sencha (Green tea) and two servings of Wagashi (Japanese confection usually served with green tea, they are good,)" Kanae looked at the old lady at the counter.

"Just in a bit young lady," The old woman smiled gently looking at Kanae, as soon as she walked in, the shop seemed to have brightened up to a whole new level.

"Thank you," Kanae said as she looked at the two in front of her again.

"So, what did everyone find out about this incident?" Kanae asked.

"There has been a number of people of both gender have gone missing from the village, the people have found the missing men's body the next day but they've been unable to find a single women's body yet," Kase said as his face became grim, This trend has been repeating for over a month now and nearly 50 people have gone missing, 30 female and 20 males.

Of course, this was reported to the police and the government but they can't find anything no matter how much they search.

"What about the demon slayers who went missing here, did you come into contact with any of them?" Kanae received a report that said nearly 20 demon slayers were sent here.

"…We haven't found anyone yet," Shiro said as it confirmed the death of the 20 demon slayers who came here before them.

"So, the same thing happened to them," Kanae's smile left her face for a bit as she had hoped the missing female demon slayers were alive since none of their assigned crows made it back.

And the people of the village found all of the male slayers' bodies the next day, Their bodies just like the other men were either impaled or sliced in two. Both Kase and Shiro knew that it will bring this kind of reaction from Kanae, but they can't hide information from her.

"Here are your Sencha and Wagashi," The only waiter in the shop came to the table with two plates in one hand and one tray in the other.

This brought the three people out of their thought as the guy placed the plates on the table before giving each of them a cup of tea.

"Oh, Thank you," Kanae's fingers brushed the waiter's hand slightly while she was taking the cup.

"Please notify me if you need anything more," The guy said as he walked away.

"Hey kid go and take orders from those ladies in the middle," The shop owner said and the waiter nodded going to the table he was asked to attend.

"Kanae-Sama did something happen?" Shiro asked a little concerned.

"Ah, No let's continue, How much do we know about the demon currently?" Kanae asked as her previous smile came up again.

Since there were currently 15 demon slayers in the town, they should've found some information in the past 3 days they were here.

***

5:00 A.M. April, 1911.

On the west side of the town, Kanae was walking around the empty streets keeping one hand at the katana on her waist. She had checked a few houses around the area but couldn't find anything.

"This area is really completely empty," Kanae muttered, she had seen this area is full of people during the day but it was eerily empty and silent the entire night. It would be a normal night if not for the lack of people in the houses.

She had heard it from Kase and Shiro that all of the people on the west side of the town vanish at night and since this area is where most of the cult members live, the other people in the town didn't come here often.

'This is the house at the edge of the west side,' Kanae entered the last house and closed the door behind her, this house was way bigger than the other ones.

The other demon slayers haven't entered this place yet since they were only ordered to observe, their job currently was to make sure no civilian walked into the west side while Kanae is searching for the demon.

"There is no one upstairs as well," Kanae looked through the first and second floors once again to find no one there.

The only place left now was the basement, Kanae walked down the stairs being on high alert as she picked up the heavy scent of blood stopping in front of a sliding door.

She could feel her skin prickle in uneasiness but she opened the door quickly ready to draw the katana perchance she is attacked but she wasn't, her widened at the scene in front of her.

"Ara~ What do I owe to have such a lovely visitor?" A man looked back seeing Kanae and his rainbow-colored eyes shined while his lips formed a gentle yet graceful smile.

But it was wrong, the whole situation was, The thing that made it all wrong was the blood on the man's lips with a dead woman's corpse in his hand from which the pale golden-haired man seemed to have taken a few bites from her body.

'Those are the town woman and female demon ...slayers,' Kanae's thoughts slowed down as she saw the bodies of the women hung from the ceiling by their hands fully naked, just like how humans do to the animals they kill. The room felt unusually cold to her.

"You look quite sad, I can help you if you want," Kanae's hair stood on end as the man reached in front of her trying to reach for her face, but thankfully her body reacted and she evaded by moving to the left before turning her body, using all of her weight to generate more power as she drew her katana aiming at the man's neck.

Flower Breathing Sixth form: Whirling Peach.

SLASH* SPLASH*

"You are quite strong, But this makes saving you even more rewarding," The man smiled regenerating the hand that was cut off by Kanae and healing the cut made on his neck.

'Upper rank 2,' Kanae read the words etched across the man's eyes.