Take things in strides.

That had been your received instructions ever since the devastating blow of your last mission. Leaving you wounded, weak, & most importantly, home-bound.

Home was a funny term to use. You lived in a small hut off of the branch of the campus estates. A rented home, per your request of not wishing to bunk with the men of the demon slayer corps. For Kanao stayed at the Butterfly estate, & your lover, Aoi, was often hunkered down there too...

You were outnumbered, & uncomfortable with the default sleeping arrangement.

So you situated yourself in your own shack. A small cabin, with a wood stove, a furnace, & an outdoor bath, concealed by the several-feet tall bamboo fencing around the perimeter for privacy...Your teenage life was good, you would've said.

But home, wasn't any of the sort of materialistic property you rented out, each & every month,

It was quite far from that, admittedly.

Perhaps, a short girl, with blue hair, extensive knowledge, & tired, navy eyes.

Your chest rose & fell with every slow breath you took. Morning light eagerly pouring through the sheer-curtains beyond your full-sized mattress. A weight on your chest, & a hand on your bandage-wrapped stomach.

Butterfly clips, plaster & clay, lied aimlessly, painted, on your mahogany nightstand. Along with two ribbons, wrapped around one another, & ready for use, at another hour of the day.

A slender body, cradled soundly against the sore grooves of yours.

Aoi.

Aoi had made it a mission to accompany her lover in your healing process. For crying out loud, she practically lived at the hut now. Her shoes at the door, her blankets messily splayed over the foot of the bed, her robes & nightgowns tucked, neatly, away & into your wardrobe,

Who would've thought such an impatient, & antsy girl, had such an eagerness for closeness in her shifting slumber?

"Aoi.." You called out, softly. Her pale skin a contrast to her hair, whilst you gently tucked her bangs out & away from her furrowed forehead. "Aooooii..."