Fleeting Shadows (KNY x OC)

-1

Gentle creaks echo as a girl walks out to the back of an estate to practice her forms. Evening is fast approaching with the sunset leaving a promising view to welcome the moon and the stars. Averting her gaze from the view, she steps down a small set of stairs that lead to the mini training grounds of the estate where a lone but beautiful maple tree stands magnificently in the middle. Fall finally decided to come around and the leaves soon changed colors dramatically, decorating the foliage with speckles of red and deep shades of orange.

She can't help but smile softly upon looking up at the tree, her eyes mirroring the same, warm colors of the leaves. They come off delicately as a gentle breeze carries them off in the air and she giggles as one happens to cling to her face. She blows off it off and proceeds to pull out her scabbard from its place against her waist. Her sword makes a low ring as she unsheathes it, the ash gray blade glistening against the pale moonlight the moment she held it up.

She takes a brief moment to stare at her reflection on the blade and the contrast of the warm color of her eyes and the cold shade of the blade can never be any more solid than it already is. She quickly looks away and breathes in steadily; the sound of her inhaling filling in the white noise of her surroundings.

Shadow Breathing. Sixth form-

With the hilt of her blade secured within her grasp, she pushes her right leg back and swings it around with grace and force, allowing her entire body to follow suit and twist in the air. With how raw power is built up in multiple rotations, the wind from her movement gathers up a few, maple leaves from the ground as her blade makes sharp whirs within the twist, leaving a noticeable divot on the ground as a result of the slick, downward slash of her blade that is more than proof to signify the lethality of the form she has executed.

Shadow Breathing. A derivative of Flame Breathing that emphasizes the user's agility, reflexes, footwork and most importantly, gained stealth. The only known user of this style is its creator- the weilder of the ash gray nichirin blade- Sayomi Takashi who bore it upon failing to meet a few of the standards of the Breath of Flames; however, her creation proves to be just as deadly as the style it was derived from.

Furthermore, one notable aspect of it is that the user herself is entirely the opposite of how others perceive the breath style and the user to be- gloomy.

"That was... a really clean execution, Sayomi!" A familiar, enthusiastic voice praises and this catches her off guard for a fraction of a second, the balance she had achieved prior to the unnanounced praise lost to her. Standing in the doorway is none other than her closest friend and 'master' as she is his tsuguko, the Flame Pillar himself looking buoyant and genuinely impressed by what he saw.

Flattered by the compliment of her superior, Sayomi fails to hide a ridiculous smile and blush. She wonders if Kyojuro has ever caught on to her flustered reactions whenever he does or says something that sets her heart alight.

The two go way back as Sayomi's late elder brother, Akatsuki, and Kyojuro had been best friends in the years before the latter became a Hashira.

The boys had fought as Kinoto back then...until Akatsuki's unfortunate demise, which led a heartbroken yet determined Sayomi to take his place as a swordswoman; with Kyojuro training her as a promise to Akatsuki to protect her from then on, thereby producing a bond that has solidified through the years, and though they won't admit it to themselves, transcended into something more.

She rubs the base of her neck as her cheeks redden all the more, internally cursing herself out for wavering this way. "Kyojuro! Well, it wasn't much but thank you."

Surprisingly, Kyojuro is considerate enough to allow her to address him informally as they have always been comfortably close; nevertheless, that doesn't excuse Sayomi from ever getting a taste of his strictness when the situation calls for it.