Love at First Sight - Rengoku Kyojuro

Eyes like the Setting Sun

Upon seeing the man, looking into his eyes, and being caught by a set of muscular arms, she could only describe what happened in that moment as love at first sight.

Quite cliché, she was aware... That was all she could think of, though.

Her heart rate had skyrocketed, cheeks warmed to a scalding temperature, and she almost felt as if she would combust if she stayed close to him any longer than she already had.

'Ah, no, what am I thinking!? He's clearly part of the corps-!!!' she thought in a panic, snapping back to reality and breaking into a sweat upon sight of the blade tethered to his hip.

Regaining her balance, she quickly shoved him away, bowing as politely as she could and hiding her face.

"Sir, I-I thank you for your help," she stuttered, more afraid than anything at this point, "b-but I must go, excuse me."

With that, she ran away as fast as she could without being suspected, the back of her yukata flowing behind her in the wind. She really hoped he didn't follow her, no matter how beautiful of a man he was... No, her life was far more important than a silly little crush.

'No... Aren't I already condemned? Just the fact that a slayer went completely undetected and even got that close to me... I'm practically dead already.'

Now she was riddled with double the fear and doubt. Was she was even safe? She may not even wake up tomorrow if she went to sleep, on the off-chance he came and slit her throat in the night.

Even now, that person could simply come flying towards her, and she'd be beheaded within seconds.

Now looking around the town with increased paranoia, continuing to run towards the edge of town and ignoring the greetings of the townspeople.

What was important now was that she get home immediately.

Allowing herself to quicken her pace further once she reached the forest, she darted through the trees, coming upon her house shortly afterwards and rushing inside, slamming the door shut and blocking it with her decorative table.

...she doubted the table would do anything, but it was worth a try, at least.

Perhaps it wasn't too late to flee? Maybe she could gather a small bag of necessities and start over in a different town...

But that would be a pain. She liked it here. She'd spent ten years of her life in this town, even going so far as to build her own home from the ground up...

No, no, she was clearly overreacting. There was a good chance that slayer hadn't even recognized her as a demon, since she was a low-level one that didn't reek very strongly... She looked normal too, didn't she?

Running to the bathroom, she lit the lamp, looking in the mirror at her appearance. Normal black hair, hazel-green eyes, and normal-looking lips and nose.

The only differences in her appearance she'd noticed after being turned was that her skin was much paler, and her pupils were lightened to a milky grey-white... And her teeth were slightly sharper than the average human. Still, she surely didn't look too strange...

Letting out a gentle sigh of forced relief in an attempt to calm herself, she walked out and quickly downed today's ration of sustenance, a portion of blood she'd anonymously purchased from a donor. She had to make a special trip each week to get a hold of it, but her identity was kept hidden and she was able to sustain herself with just that.

At least she wasn't killing anyone, right?

"Yes, that's right... I'm normal, I'm a normal person..." she shakily told herself, staggering over to her bed and lying down without removing her setta.

The self-inflicted stress she'd experienced had made her feel extremely worn out, so she hoped that she would be safe and free of any further strain, quickly falling asleep after.

She really hoped she wouldn't have to relocate.