𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞

⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ✿ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

Loathing. That was a good word to describe this intense dislike. Not that I had much to go off, just his bird nearly blinding me and his rude comments. But first impressions did count, and he made a horrible one. Tokito was a pain in the ass, one that left me confused and frustrated. The mere thought of those stupid teal tips on his hair nearly made me want to strangle myself.

It wasn't even something I should be thinking about so constantly. His cloudy gaze passed through me like I wasn't even there! It was infuriating.

Maybe Kanao was right, I do tend to butt heads with someone now and again, then I get too fixated on it forget I have something to do. Which, right now, was to return home.

"Did I already pass the town?" My mumbles were kept quiet in case someone passed by and thought I was crazy for talking to myself.

Continuing my path, after realizing I was far past the town I usually saw on the way back, I finally reached home. A long afternoon soak and nap were calling my name. Except, I would get the complete opposite. All because of the short figure I saw in the garden.

Long dark hair, and teal tips. Was I not complaining about that just a few moments ago? Is it now a trend? I would dread the day I see everyone with teal highlights. At that point, I'd willingly let a demon devour me.

Of course, that would never happen. Only the Mist Pillar would sport such a ridiculous color. To be fair, I adored teal and mist before the encounters with him. Now, all it did was give me the urge to pull my own hair out.

With great reluctance, I approached the pillar. All because if I tried to sneak past him into the residence, Kanroji would give me an earful.

"Excuse me," I had to speak up; his gaze was so focused on the clouds passing above that he hadn't even realized my presence. "..Tokito?"

Nothing but silence. I watched for a long moment with dotted eyes, biting the inside of my cheek while rocking on my heels. The opportunity to escape had presented itself, I could freely walk away and tell Kanroji he just didn't seem to want to talk. Silently cheering, my foot moved to slip away, and then I heard a sigh.

The silent cheering turned into violent cursing.

"What's with that look on your face?" That empty stare again, all blank and not a thought behind those teal eyes.

But his words did remind me to fix my face, which was bearing an absolutely defeated expression.

"I don't have a look on my face."

"You did."

"Nuh uh."

Now it was his turn to make the deadpan. He made a sound between a scoff and a groan, all in annoyance, which fueled my smugness. Who knew I could get under his skin so easily with childish retorts?

"Why're you here?" Tokito voiced, as if this were his own estate.

My expression melted into confusion. "This is Kanroji's estate."

"What?"

Was this guy trying to get on my nerves? I cleared my throat, repeating myself, "This is the Love Pillar's mansion. My home."

"Oh, that's right. You are her pupil, crazy."

"Are you calling me crazy?"

"Nope."

"You totally are."

"Nuh uh."

Curse this guy! He was using my tactic against me. I could feel myself fuming. I wasn't crazy. Climbing over a wall wasn't crazy, putting up my life for a demon wasn't crazy, I wasn't crazy! My hands twitched to strangle him, and I would've. If not for Kanroji coming out.

"Y/n! Y/n!" She cooed, rushing over to entrap me in a bear hug.

My hands flailed, trying to claw myself out of it. "Kanroji!" It was strained. "I can't breathe!"

Her giggles were innocent, as if that embrace weren't an attempt on my life. "Oh? Tokito?"

I prayed she would make it a short chat and he'd be on his way.

"Why don't you come in for tea!"

The smug smile that spread on my features, hoping that Kanroji would send him away, melted into utter despair.

"Y/n, fix your face." She had to remind me. Again.

I would've been fine with company, despite my utter need for rest and a long salt bath. It would've been just fine, but the said company was Tokito. And now, all he was doing was glaring at me from across the table while I poured him tea.

Seriously, I'd been battling demons for the majority of my life, I've heard insults upon insults and seen such gruesome sights that still shake me up at night. However, the Mist Pillar put the cherry on top for making my blood boil. And I still had zero clue as to why.

It was his crow, probably; she was a hundred times worse than him.

"Do you have a problem?" I pushed out the words through a clenched jaw.

Tokito was sipping on his tea as if he hadn't been giving me the stink eye. "Do you?"

"I asked you first."

"So?"

If Kanroji wasn't in the next room getting pancakes for us all, I would've jumped over this table and tackled him.

"You are infuriating, do you understand that?" So much for being respectful towards pillars.

He only rolled his eyes. "I could say the same about you."

"You hit me in the head with a pebble."

"For a good reason."

"I was trying to save my friend!" My hands had balled up, they hadn't moved, though. Even if I was itching to. It wouldn't end well, of course; the scolding from the higher-ups would leave an invisible scar of shame.

"Well, anyway, it shouldn't matter. Your big head absorbed all the impact, it shouldn't have hurt."

My eye twitched. For as pretty as he was, he had such a rotten personality. We could've made up and been friends, but no! He wanted to get on my nerves and insult my beautiful, thinly shaped head.

"Okay, well, it shouldn't have bothered you so much since you have no brain behind those thoughtless eyes to process it."

"A wordy insult doesn't make you clever."

"Oh, you think you're so cool."

"I am."

"You are so not!"

Okay, this was getting to be too much. I could hear Kanroji giggling in the kitchen. She liked these sorts of things. As the Love Pillar, she loved playing cupid and matchmaking whoever she could.

In actuality, she couldn't even confess to the man she'd been pining over for years now. Iguro, the Serpent Pillar, and she had been on countless dates. However, they can't seem to confess their feelings for each other that were in such plain sight. It drained the life out of me some days.

I wasn't going to let her think that this was some lover's quarrel.

With the most respect I could muster, I stood from the table, "Excuse me."

My head was pounding, or maybe it was my ribs. I couldn't tell at this point. The injuries littering my body weren't ever painless. Especially the torn muscle in my leg. That was the one that had shattered my confidence. Ever since then, I'd only been getting worse.

I was constantly hoping for some breakthrough, some realization that I wasn't this weak and that this torn muscle wasn't my downfall. All of Kanroji and Rengoku's training would go to waste.

"You look sad." A small chirp from my side.

My body had carried itself out to the garden, sitting on one of the stone benches, while I was swirling in my thoughts. This was my haven, surrounded by everything I knew. I could look at one plant and understand it down to the tiniest trait. That was how I liked it. Being able to understand didn't send my mind into a whirlwind.

"I'm alright, Hoshi."

I had given my crow a few scratches, and he started to demand food. A spoiled thing. But, I did get him a mango to eat up. There was a large tree of them in the garden, providing shade for the plants that needed it. Everything here was thought out thoroughly.

Now, all I needed was Kanroji repellent so she would stop killing the flowers.

"Yeah, you are totally crazy."

An irritating voice I couldn't shake from my head no matter how hard I tried. I couldn't even laugh to myself in peace.

"Oh, great, you followed me to insult me more."

Hoshi was prepared to peck his eyes out, just like how Ginko had attempted to my own. His wings were all spread, trying to intimidate Tokito. I had to poke his feathered stomach. "Calm down, birdie." At the very least, I didn't feel too bad about the smile on my face.

"Who made this garden?"

The question caught me off guard, but it was a question I enjoyed. Not too many people asked, and by not too many, I meant only Kanroji and Rengoku had ever asked. And that was because I told them to.

"I mean, I made the plans. The Kakushi brought in the materials."

A bit of silence; he was sort of just standing there, in the middle of the garden, glancing around. I was going to speak up again, question why he was here, but he got his sentence out first.

"It's well thought-out."

Is this guy bipolar? Or Was this a dream? I nearly pinched myself, but Hoshi was already pecking at my fingers; I didn't need to. This bird would always nag me if I didn't hold his fruit correctly; he was more than spoiled. It was my fault, though.

"I suppose—"

He didn't even let me respond.

"The flowers that need shade have shade. There are rocks to separate the plants that shouldn't interact. And the well is in a perfect spot that won't disturb the amount of sunlight any of them get."

I think a lot, every detail must connect and make a web with each other for me to be content with it. Just like the planning of the garden, everything was placed with intention and mindfulness.

The one thing I hadn't expected, though, was for someone to notice.

"You just now pieced that all together?" My voice came out a bit curious, naturally.

He paused. "No." And then, another pause. "I think I did it before. I don't remember." For some reason, there was confusion written on his face. Was he wondering why he had remembered such a thing?

"Okay, weirdo." I snickered, focusing my attention back on Hoshi. Though, I don't know what convinced me to start talking again. "So, what exactly were you doing? Kanroji didn't seem to be expecting you."

"The garden caught my attention."

"The garden?"

He nodded.

I hummed in acknowledgement.

Both of us opened our mouths to speak again, except my ears were even tortured more with the shrewd and intensely irritating voice.

"Mist Pillar!" Ginko. "There you are!"

She landed on his shoulder, fluttering her massive eyelashes and nuzzling up to him. For such an emotionless looking boy, he really seemed to enjoy her company. I can't think of another person who would.

"Looks like your babysitter is here." I patted myself on the back for that one.

Tokito stared blankly. "What's your name?"

You have to be kidding. My jaw dropped just a bit.

"You've been bickering with me this whole time, and you don't even know my name?"

"What's your name?" At this point, he was demanding it.

"Jeez." I stood from the bench, letting Hoshi finish off the yellow fruit, "Y/n L/n. You ought to remember it if you're going to pick fights."

He simply waved me off, but not in the 'see you later' manner, more like a 'whatever, bye' sort of manner. Tokito was so unbelievably sassy that it was starting to make my head spin. It almost boosted my motivation to train and surpass him just to shove it in his face.

And I wouldn't be his subordinate.

"Oh, this is so going into the letter I'm sending to Iguro." Kanroji provoked a shriek out of me.

"Kanroji!" I jumped, embodying a cat who'd just been shocked to its core. "You can't go around scaring people like that! And don't dare start spreading rumors, I loathe him!"

She only creepily giggled, "Enemies to lovers."

"You've read too many Western books."

I had to convince her for twenty minutes that I absolutely in no way had any sort of romantic feelings for anyone, especially the Mist Pillar. He was aggravating, his hair looked like seaweed! The only good part about him were those suspiciously well-cut bangs, besides that, and his snowy complexion, maybe his long eyelashes, besides all of that he was a nuisance!

Kanroji definitely wasn't listening, though. My denial only fueled her, even as I trailed behind her back into the house, listing the many reasons I couldn't even begin to fathom pursuing Tokito.

"He's a pillar, Kanroji. That gap in status would make me rip out my hair!"

"Psh, who cares about that? It's love!"

"I'm going to strangle you!"

Nothing ever got through to her when she had her mind set on something, especially these nonsensical love daydreams she conjured up out of boredom. All that Sakura Mochi had gotten to her head, and now it was infesting my life.

I wouldn't go anywhere near love for a long while. That depended on whether I lived to retire; that's the only exception I had to even interact with romance. Kanroji and I had paths before this that aligned. She had been judged for who she was, and so had I. However, of course, now Iguro had her heart, adoring her for who she was.

My trust in love hadn't been repaired just yet. She had more time than I to figure it out. And with my scatterbrained head, I would probably take much longer, if not forever.

"Anyway, since everyone gathered for a meeting today, I invited them for dinner!" There she went with her plans to try and get me courted.

"Don't you have patrol?!"

For the second time today, I was waved off. This was the one that concerned me, though. My hair was going to turn grey before I reached eighteen, and it'd be thanks to her.

However, it'd be nice to see Rengoku again. The pillars are all pretty busy since they are the main aspect of the demon slayer corps. Only short times like this, before night arrived and they had to go their separate ways, were they able to gather and be normal.

I missed that feeling of normality. The laughing and giggling I had shared with those three boys and Nezuko. It filled me with a sense of warmth, like those cold nights when I still had my mother and father near. When we'd get to use the bear skin as blankets, it was bliss.

My mind began to wander off while I set the table, ensuring everything was neat and the plates didn't have some mysterious cracks on them. Some of the Kakushi that tended to the Love Mansion were a bit clumsy.

"Y/n! I think there's someone already here!" Kanroji's voice rang from the kitchen, she had already begun to prep the feast with the Kakushi.

I pushed out a reply and trotted over to the entrance, where I saw the Serpent Pillar. It wasn't entirely unexpected, but to be fair, Kanroji had barely sent out the notice for dinner maybe twenty minutes ago. No one was supposed to show up for a handful of the afternoon.

"Someone's eager to see Kanroji." I had to slip in a tease, this guy was head over heels in love with my older sister. And it was fun to see the expression on his face before he slapped the back of my head, "Ow!"

"You are lucky no one protested for your punishment as well, L/n. Apologize."

Iguro was one of the pillars I could respect; even if I've had no training time with him, he was absolutely strong. His accuracy with his nichirin blade was enough to make a grown man sob. At least, a grown man with a love for swordsmanship. Anyway, I profusely apologized in the least shameful way possible.

Just simply promising Kaburamaru some live prey, which I wouldn't have to fetch myself because I had a trusty Kasugai Crow. Who would take a bit of convincing, but still.

Now that the table was set, all three of us, plus a few Kakushi, were in the kitchen cooking. Most of the food preparation was for Kanroji and me. Now and again, we'd have small competitions, like the one Inosuke, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and I had back at the Wisteria Mansion, just to see who was improving their palate.

I was getting unbelievably close to her record of dishes and was absolutely determined to break it tonight. That was one thing that still motivated me; Kanroji had this infecting sweetness that kept driving me. As long as she stuck around, I think I'd make it.

"Hey, Iguro." The Serpent Pillar and I were working on the rice balls. "Why does everyone detest Tomioka?"

Apparently, the Water Pillar's name was some sort of forbidden word from the way he was now glaring at me. "He always looks so miserable, it irks me." The reasoning wasn't all that well, but then again, my own reasoning for detesting the Mist Pillar wasn't all that good either.

"Is he invited as well?"

"No. Nobody enjoys his brooding presence."

If I had to deal with Tokito, then everyone else was going to have to deal with Tomioka. As horrible as that sounded, and I made sure to apologize in my head a few times to the Water Pillar, I was going to invite him.

Once the rice balls were finished, I left Iguro to finish up with Kanroji, just so they could be alone. As well as allow me to write a letter to the Water Pillar in hopes of him showing up. A perfect plan without flaws. Another pat on the back for me.

"Hoshi!" This bird only wanted to respond when he was in the mood to. I had to walk all the way out into the garden, only to find him drowning himself in the fallen mangoes, which I would also have to clean up before everyone got here. Perfect.

After a bit of convincing, I managed to get my crow away from the fruit. "I need you to deliver this to the Water Pillar. If you do it with the utmost speed, I'll make you some candy." Birds weren't meant to have sweets, but I needed a good bribe.

Hoshi didn't even wait; he snatched the letter out of my palm and flew away.

The crow had been with an attitude ever since I received him after Final Selection. But we were inseparable. He had been my first ever pet, and one that could talk at that. younger me would've passed out from excitement. I was never allowed pets, my parents believed them to be too much work. Especially on top of their lives as merchants.

Vegetables, fruits, herbs, and different flowers. That is all we sold. We couldn't afford too many nice things, just enough for us to be comfortable. I got to help, and that's where my knowledge of flora grew. As well as haggling and merchant talk, but among all the skills I learned when I was younger, the fascination for poison was the deadliest.

I had gone back inside the manor once more, reaching my room to collect a fresh uniform and towel to go bathe before everyone arrived. Currently, I smelled sterilized like medicine, all from the time I spent at Kocho's place.

Which circles me back