Chapter 20: Prologue

I felt stronger,

I could feel the temperature around me drop,

I could split a mountain in half.

I was currently heading towards a shop Mitsuri had invited me over to eat some some mochi. I've only tried Sakura and Green Tea mochi so I didn't really know what to expect.

Entering the shop, I spotted Mitsuri and she waved towards me.

"Tokan-chan!~" Mitsuri yelled over to me. She gave a bright smile and I swore another sun grew. I had to squint my eyes a bit.

"Hello Mitsuri, thank you for inviting me out." I said.

"It's fine it's fine, you've only tried Sakura and Green Tea mochi right?" Mitsuri asks.

"Un, that's all." I said.

"That's a shame, I'll order all kinds of mochi for you to try." Mitsuri said putting her hands together.

Soon the table was filled with all kinds of mochi. Black Sesame, Red Bean, Mango, and Vanilla.

"This sure is a lot of mochi Mitsuri." I said.

"It's fine, I'll finish it if you can't!" said Mitsuri.

I couldn't complain. I knew Mitsuri could finish it and I kind of envied it, being able to eat so much yet can be so flexible. Simply unfair. The mochis were good, out of all of these. The mango was my favorite one, but Sakura Mochi stands at the top of my list.

Mitsuri was talking and I listened while I ate, it was always like this. I never really had much to talk about and Mitsuri could come up with interesting stuff that I would listen to. It was the same until she asked me something.

"Hey Tokan-chan, what do you think of our next fight?" Mitsuri asked.

That caught me a bit off guard, I didn't know how to answer.

"I don't know Mitsuri, anything could happen. We fight, we die, we die fighting. I'm not sure how to answer you Mitsuri-san." I replied.

"I see. Tokan-chan, did you get any new missions?" she asked.

I haven't gotten a mission in a week, before I would go on missions to test my profound strength against demons. I haven't come across a single one of the Twelve Kizuki, only regular demons.

"No I haven't, but I have a feeling I was going to get a mission soon." I said.

This was an intuition, there was a slight tingling sensation of my instinct telling me it was going to be quite dangerous.

"I see, I know you're strong Tokan-chan but. Be careful on your next mission." she said.

"Yes." I replied.

With that, our hang out came to an end. Out of all the flavors I tried, my favorite was mango but sakura mochi stood at the top of my list. No mochi could ever beat that. It was almost sunset and I needed to check up with Shinobu.

"Alright Tokan-san, you're healthy and all your injuries are healed. Your body has improved a lot." said Shinobu.

"Thank you." I said before leaving.

My heart ached for a second but paid no attention to it.

Leaving, I heard yells from the entrance.

I went over and spotted Aoi getting carried, Tengen getting attacked by the 3 little girls, and Kanao surprisingly trying to pull get back Aoi. Moments later, Tanjiro and his friends arrived and they seemed to argue over something.

I walked over and heard Tanjiro yell my name.

"Tokan-san!" Tanjiro said.

"Hey Tanjiro, what's happening?" I asked.

"We have to go on a mission with Tengen-san." said Tanjiro.

"Brat! Don't use my flamboyant name that casually!" yelled Tengen.

"Hmpf." said Tanjiro.

"Don't hmpf me brat! Oh Tokan, perfect!" said Tengen.

He disappeared from his spot and then felt a pressure coming from behind. I dodged it making Tengen miss.

"Hello Tengen-san." I said.

"You were able to dodge me, the Former Shinobi Tengen Uzui! You're flamboyantly strong." said Tengen.

"Thank you." I said giving him an unimpressed look.

"AGH! You and Kanao are basically the same, whatever. Come on a mission-" before Tengen could finish.

My kasugai crow yelled, "Tokan-san! Tokan-san! Head South! A demon has attacked a village!"

"It seems I have to go Tengen, thank you for the invite but you could invite Tanjiro, Inosuke, or Zenitsu. Now I'll be taking my leave." I said.

I started walking away from them and stared into the horizon.

This was my first mission in a week and my instincts were screaming danger.

I wonder if I'll come back alive.