Imawoikiru
By SMYGO4EVA
Kusanagi was used to being alone. He had to get used to it after his family had passed on, being taken by death's cruel hands. He was a loner, and he did not want to hurt anyone if he were to come close to people and they figured out who he really was, a fighter who would stop at nothing until the mission was done. He preferred it that way; if he was on his own, he had nothing and no one to worry about.
Souma was someone who had always fought on her own for a long time before encountering any kind of help. She was used to being the independent sort. There were times that she worried that when she did ask for help, it would make her seem weak in the eyes of others. And yes, there were times when she got lonely, and wished for the companionship of another, but all feelings, the motion passed and she moved on.
When they both became demon hunters, they both were paired up with protégés who liked to turn the tide when it came to what was fair and what was the duty of the hunters. Their partners, Ryuuoh, who was paired with Souma, and Yuzuriha, who was paired with Kusanagi, were young, lively, outgoing and embracing life to its fullest, working to become stronger just as their masters were and becoming capable hunters as they were.
Ryuuoh and Yuzuriha wanted to get close to Souma and Kusanagi, but in many ways they couldn't, with the bond of master and protégé being too great and not enough to gain the trust or fear of their true selves. They had suffered as much as anyone, so they wouldn't want to connect with another and be hurt again. If that happened, they would break in two, in mind, body and soul.
The loneliness was like a poison to them, seeping into their bodies and tainting their blood, destroying them from the inside out until there was nothing left.
Kusanagi and Souma hated to be alone and yet they knew that they had to be. Control over their own destinies had been taken from the moment they had been a part of this existence. Kusanagi wanted to live, yet he knew that he would have to stay clear of ones who would want to see him fall. Souma wanted to live, but her own limitations, or what she believed to be her limitations, stopped her from doing much else.
Their lives were not their own to live.
Both Souma and Kusanagi knew that they had no choice but to embrace their fates and to take the tides of life willingly, the life that seemed to be the ebb and flow of just living in loneliness. Even if it was killing them, it was the only reason that they were still alive. So from then on, as strong fighters, they both knew that they had to fight the darkness that were the power-hungry demons. In the midst of their lonely paths, they would fight for what they believe in and they make the most of the present, before it would be too late.