walk steady on this cruel world's path

By: Aviantei

Part Twenty-Three:

"The Speed of a Lightning Bolt"

Given that we had a collection of thirteen Demon Slayers assembled, you'd think that even a large demon like this wouldn't be too hard to take apart, but we weren't that lucky. I hadn't realized it at first, given just how jumbled its appearance was, but this thing also had a hermit crab-like shell that was pretty damn tough, so guess where it was hiding its neck! Yeah, I wouldn't say this thing was anywhere near as dangerous as a Twelve Kizuki, but it could cause some serious damage to us in the time it would take to kill it.

Can we maybe drag this out until dawn? No, that's way too much time, especially since only a few of us have Total Concentration: Constant down! I gritted my teeth, slicing through another tentacle that lashed out towards me. The regeneration rate was moderate, but still more than enough to outpace our human limitations. We're going to need a powerful blow to bust through and reveal its weak point then.

"Everyone focus on defending yourself and keeping it from escaping into the water!" I ordered. "If you think you're going to take a serious injury, back off!" If we were consistent enough, we could maybe wear the thing down without sacrificing any of our numbers, though I planned to keep an eye on the others to prevent major injuries where I could. Still, it would be best if we could get a move on—so I sucked in an even larger breath than usual, feeling that same powerful rush of pure oxygen and energy that I'd pulled off the night I'd charged at the Upper Moon Three. "Go no Kata: Netsu Kairai!"

I knew jack crap about the structural integrity of shells, so I just aimed my form at an exposed spot on the demon's body. I made contact, but the majority of my force just rebounded back at me, making my arms buzz, and all I got for my efforts was a mere crack in the surface that sealed back up right away. I knew I didn't have as much raw strength behind me as other Demon Slayers, but I'd at least hoped that since the Netsu Kairai was the Thunder Breathing form with the most force behind it would have been able to do a little bit more than that.

One of the mouths of sharp teeth along the demon's shell snapped at me, and I twisted out of the way, keeping my curses to myself. While I couldn't remember who all had what, we had a pretty decent array of breathing styles among us—so maybe if we went in quick succession?

Worth as much as a shot as any, I thought, pulling back and prepping my aim. "I'm going to focus on clearing out the tentacles!" I shouted, taking advantage of my lung capacity to project (I hoped) loud enough for everyone to hear me amongst the commotion of the fight. "As soon as I do, I want you all to attack the same place over and over to break through." Two roars followed that statement: the affirmation of the Slayers and the anger of the enemy. I crouched low, launching myself up into the air high above the demon. "Roku no Kata: Dengō Raigō!"

Lightning exploded through the night, decimating most of the tentacles and even leaving a convenient scorch mark across the front of the demon's shell to aim for. Zenitsu moved first, his sword able to carve a shallow cut into the shell—and then there was such a bombardment of different breath techniques and effects that I couldn't even keep track of them all. I landed atop the demon's shell, switching over to the more targeted ranged strikes of Enrai to keep the demon's regeneration under control, and I only stopped when the demon's thrashing got too out of control for me to safely stay on top. Still, our strategy was having a decent amount of success, with cracks marking the demon's shell, and if we could just push a little further—

"Iwa no Kokyū—Ni no Kata: Tenmen Kudaki!"

It was Kei, the kid who'd been handling map marking duty, who managed to do it, her overhead Stone Breathing swing slamming down into the central point of the damage everyone else had caused and busting the shell apart, making the demon look even more like an eldritch horror than it already did. If I could have afforded it, I would have marveled at the sheer force packed into that tiny body of hers, but there wasn't any time for that as the demon screeched and attempted to retreat.

"Don't let it get away!" I called, dropping another Netsu Kairai right into the demon's path. Its skin was still tough, but nowhere near as impenetrable as its shell had been, but I could see that protection starting to regenerate already. The demon wasn't pleased at all with my interference, and I just managed to get my sword up in time to block a tentacle—though the blow still had enough force to push me aside, my feet kicking up rocks as I went. The demon was still crawling its way back towards the water. "Ugh—get back here, you son of a bitch!"

If we could just see the thing's goddamn neck, it wouldn't be that hard to take care of—but it almost was like a turtle, the way it had compressed itself even into its body and not just the shell. I guess I could try another Netsu Kairai now, see what I can rip apart—but I'm not even sure where to aim with what a mess this thing is, and it's even harder when it's running away. And—

"Where do you think you're going?!"

The demon froze. It took me a moment to figure out what the hell was going on, considering my current position didn't give me much of a view of the back end of the beach, but I recognized Michi's voice as he continued to shout, "Yeah, that's right! I'm a Marechi. You just gonna run away and pass out on the opportunity for this?"

Oh, shit, he cut himself, I thought, catching a glance of his bleeding arm as I moved. I was a spectacular influence, it seemed. Still, it wasn't a chance we could afford to throw away—people with Marechi were rare, but their blood was very tempting to demons, thanks to the nutritional value it had. Given the target they'd have painted on their backs, not a lot of Marechi joined the Demon Slayer Corps (or, if they did, they tended not to last very long), so Michi had way more guts than I'd given him credit for. "Keep fighting!" I shouted, charging in before the demon could recover enough of its senses to retreat again. "Don't waste the opportunity we just got!"

Chaos erupted from there, a fresh flurry of Breathing Techniques and general attacks trying to keep the demon from going anywhere. Michi kept his sword up with his good arm as he stepped backwards, trying to lure the enemy further inland, and there was a great shuddering from the demon before its head shot out like a released spring, the shape resembling a massive eel with sharp fangs protruding from its mouth. Michi held his ground, and I kicked off from the beach, the uneven footing upsetting my momentum enough that my sword just carved halfway through the demon's neck without securing the decapitation—and even the split second it took me to charge up a fresh attack felt like far too long to make a difference, no matter how much oxygen I pumped through my blood and how much my chest burned.

"Ichi no Kata: Hekireki Issen—Shinsoku."

I just caught sight of the yellow blur, had a way better view of the demon's head flying off into the sand with the force of the blow, and then got a clear and unobstructed look at Michi sinking down to his knees with a sigh of relief. Sure enough, the decapitation had done its job, and everyone cheered as the demon started to disintegrate—but I forgot all my priorities and glanced about the scene for one person in particular.

"Zenitsu!"

Making sure to sheathe my sword first, I launched myself at my kōhai in excitement, catching him in a hug. "What in the world was that? You've gotten so fast. You're incredible!" God, he just kept improving every time I blinked; Godspeed was more than an appropriate moniker for what he'd just pulled off. "Ah, I'm so proud of you!"

"Th-thanks, Senpai." He hugged me back, and I was close enough that I could feel his legs shaking. "Sorry. T-this one still takes a lot out of me, so please don't let go. Can you h-help me sit down?"

"Yeah, of course!" I eased Zenitsu down to the ground, and he exhaled, though I could catch the traces of his smile as I patted his head. "You did amazing, Zenitsu. Now—" I hopped up to my feet. "Good work, everyone! Make sure you patch up your injuries and help each other out! I'll handle reporting to HQ and calling Kakushi here, so you all focus on resting up!"

"Right!"

Given that the worst of the injuries we managed to sustain were the gashes that Michi and I had given ourselves and everyone else had far less extensive cuts and bruises, I was going to call the mission a complete victory. It just took a couple of Kakushi to patch us all up, and I took the time to give everyone I could a brief tutorial in how to use Total Concentration to help them heal in the future and encouraged them to try out Total Concentration: Constant before sending everyone to rest for the night.

In comparison to how some other missions could go, we hadn't been up too late, so it wasn't hard for me to wake up with the dawn like usual. There still weren't any signs of orders, so I resolved to maybe get on the road before HQ decided that I was responsible for this gaggle of Slayers for the conceivable near future. If I had to, I'd help them out, sure, but having so many admiring looks turned on me still felt a little undeserved. I hadn't done anything special with teaching them last night; this was basic stuff someone should have had the insight to tell them about way earlier!

I made my way to the entrance of the inn, at least hoping to stretch my legs a bit and eat before running for the goddamn hills, only stopping when the door swung open ahead of me. "Oh, Senpai, you're awake!" Zenitsu smiled; it seemed that the early morning habit from our days under Sensei's care hadn't left him, either. He adjusted the items in his hands, tucking a small bouquet of wildflowers into the crook of his arm and holding out a neat-wrapped package that I assumed had onigiri in it based on the shape. "I was actually just coming to see if you wanted to eat breakfast together. I got you some fresh unagi!"

"Well, when you're offering that…" Eel had to be my favorite option when it came to seafood, and Zenitsu knew it. Given that we were in a fishing town just sealed the deal—and as if there was any way I could turn down the opportunity to eat a meal with my kōhai. "I'm sure the beach is nice now that there's not a demon in it. Let's go eat over there." Zenitsu agreed, and I pointed at the extra load in his arms as we set out together. "You said you were coming to get me, but are you sure you weren't trying to impress someone else with those?"

Zenitsu's cheeks flushed pink. "It was a gift!" he shouted, scattering petals from the wildflowers in the crook of his arm. I held back my giggle at his expense. "When I was out picking up food, there was this little kid, and they recognized I was part of the group of 'monster hunters,' so they gave them to me. They said we got back at the monster that made their dad go away…"

"Ah…" How many families had lost someone important here? How many people had we not saved since we only killed the demon last night? Swallowing those pointless questions down, I smiled at Zenitsu. "Well, it's a good thing you got those, though. You're the one that beat the thing."

"T-that's just because I had everyone else helping! You were the one who kept the whole thing together, Senpai. I'm sure we would have panicked without you." The one problem with Zenitsu's earnestness was that I had to accept his compliments at face value; as such, I could feel the tips of my ears heating up from embarrassment. Lucky for me, though, the sight of the sun rising over the beach caught Zenitsu's attention, and he gasped. "There we go! Come on, Senpai!"

Zenitsu sprinted off ahead of me, and I chased after him. After a bit, we found a ledge looking over the water that wasn't too uncomfortable and settled down, munching on our onigiri. Fresh caught and cooked was the way to go, and Zenitsu seemed just as pleased by the salmon at the center of his breakfast, too. I'd have to for sure stock up from rations here before heading out, no doubt.

"You sure that I pulled things together last night?" I asked as I polished off the last of my breakfast. His mouth still full, Zenitsu settled for nodding in answer. I shrugged, drawing a knee up to my chest as I stared out at the waves, thankful that this place wasn't too messed up from our battle. Kakushi did good work, man. "I dunno. I feel like I was just scrambling to keep up the whole time." If this was how I handled a somewhat difficult mission, what could I do in the face of the Plot—assuming I was even around to do anything about it in the first place?

Zenitsu swallowed, reaching out to tug on my sleeve. "That's not true, Senpai. The whole time last night, I could hear it. Yeah, you were worried, but the core of your sound was calm." He glanced down to his lap. "I could hear you, so that's how I kept my cool long enough to do something."

"I doubt that." Zenitsu glanced up at me, fiddling with the little bouquet of flowers atop his legs. "I mean, it's because I knew you'd back me up that I could fight without worries. You just keep improving. It's incredible. Is that Shinsoku a stronger augmentation of the base form? Like pushing the Total Concentration further with a heavy focus on reinforcing the thighs?" Zenitsu nodded; while it sounded simple in theory, he must have kept pushing harder to make that level of speed possible. "I bet if you combined that with the Rokuren, you'd be unstoppable."

"Oh, I don't know about that…" Zenitsu said, though his expression and giggles told a very different story. Why, yes, your senpai has noticed you, I thought, patting his head. "Even with Total Concentration: Constant, I tend to tear myself up enough that I can't do Shinsoku more than once, so it's kind of a last-ditch effort for now."

"Incorrect, Kōhai. I think you mean it's a super cool finishing move." Zenitsu laughed, his smile warming my heart like always—my crops were watered, my skin was clear, life was great, just look at this precious baby! I poked at his forehead, grinning. "Besides, if you keep practicing it, I'm sure you'll up your endurance. So just keep doing what you've been doing, alright?"

Zenitsu nodded, determination in his expression. "I'll do my best, Senpai!"

"Good." I gave him one more ruffle of his hair, but Zenitsu's hands were too occupied with the flowers in his lap to push me away. With practiced ease, he twisted blossoms and stems together into a chain. "And thank you," I added, my voice softer. "For standing up for Kaigaku where I couldn't."

"Of course! We're family, after all. I know if you didn't have to worry about favoritism, you would've stepped in." Yeah, and maybe left Michi with way more than a bruised cheek for his troubles. "And, well, Michi wasn't wrong about him, but it was unfair to say that Aniki would die. I mean, even without the First Form, Aniki's strong. And, like, if not being able to do just one piece of Thunder Breathing means he wouldn't be able to stand a chance, what does that say about me?" I frowned at the thought, and Zenitsu scrambled to backpedal. "No, no, no, don't worry, Senpai! Both of us are going to be fine, I promise! Um, uh—" He looked back down to the flower crown he was constructing. "Here, Senpai, let me know how to make one of these—!"

He passed me a few blossoms, then started to talk me through the steps. Glad for the distraction, I followed along with his instructions. I managed to do alright, but was no doubt a little awkward at first. With both of us pulling from the same bouquet, neither of us had enough to make a full crown, though Zenitsu showed me how to connect the ends anyways. "That's pretty good for your first try," he said as we held up the results of our efforts.

I stuck out my tongue. "You're only saying that because I'm your senpai," I said, though it wasn't that bad of an effort. I'd gotten pretty good at it at the end; just the start was a bit crinkled. "Well, if you think so, I guess you'll just have to wear it, then."

I pulled his hand onto mine, pushing the bracelet-sized flower crown onto his wrist, the multicolored blossoms pairing well with the bright orange of his haori sleeve. Zenitsu himself flushed a bit, but then he sucked in a breath and said, "Then you get to take this!" his own ring of flowers ending up resting on my head.

Blinking, I reached up to the blossoms but left them in place, smiling. "I guess that's fair. Thanks, Zenitsu."

"No problem, Senpai." Out of flowers to mess with, his fingers fidgeted together, and I was just about to suggest that we head back towards the inn to check in on the others when an all-too familiar squawk of a crow ripped through the peaceful morning air—and since Zenitsu had Chuntarō, there was no doubt that the message Tadashi was bearing was for me.

"Rairi, Rairi! Report to Headquarters! Oyakata-sama has requested your presence!"

[Author's Notes]

And we quickly wrap up the sea demon mission, mostly because we needed a time skip and transition into what's going on next. This is still the "Rairi is Dragged into Corps Bureaucracy" Arc, so yup. Tho this mission does also introduce a couple of people who will be important later on, too!

Thanks to ILikeFoxes828, Neema Amiry, Anon11202, gg (Guest), Khilel, Agoge, DragonKnightHD, salports779, MWxDOMINATOR, AmaterasuFujimoto, Shiroikage, Milanwal, SoulCinder King of Souls, alhaz2806, Xasimosa, Nube2013, OtakuJunior, KFSC, KKZ, and UzuRunner for the faves, follows, and reviews! We did cross that 300 fav mark with flying colors, so I'm just kinda elated over here. New art of Rairi featuring Tadashi up on my Insta (aviplotbunny) to celebrate.

Even if the new season is Mugen Train recap, beta Noiz and I have been having a lot of fun watching it together. Based on the Rengoku episode, I wrote a new small scene for the Mugen Train arc that I would've included in the original run if I'd known about it at the time. That's included as a mini bonus after the author's notes, so check it out!

It's time for a Taishō Era Secret! Zenitsu learned how to make flower crowns as a kid, and it's something he kept up with as he got older. While at first this was so he could make them for girls he wanted to impress, nowadays it's more that the skill's just ingrained in his head, so he does it every now and then. It's a nice way to help calm his nerves when he can get to it. He made a bunch of crowns for Naho, Sumi, Kiyo, and Nezuko while at Butterfly Manor as well!

Next Time: Oh, god, how did I get dragged into this; who is this not-so-lost, not-so-sassy child; and Kaigaku Status: Imminent. Please look forward to it!

-Avi

[11.06.2021]

walk steady on this cruel world's path

By: Aviantei

Mugen Train Anime Bonus

"Rairi-kun… Rairi-kun, you should wake up."

Since we'd been on so many missions together, I'd gotten used to Shimizu being the one to wake me up—but that didn't make me get any less flustered from the experience, especially whenever she was so close. She was just too pretty, dammit! If nothing else, my embarrassment made my heart race, which helped wake me up, so job accomplished.

I adjusted from my position on the wooden train seat (of course cushioning of any kind would be considered a luxury in the Taishō Era, but that didn't mean I couldn't gripe about it), stretching out the cramps from my shoulders. While we'd boarded the train earlier in the day, it was almost evening now, the sky starting to tint to orange on the horizon. There was still time until a demon would likely be out and about, but it was probably in my best interest to be alert and awake before then.

"Thanks, Shimizu-chan," I said, and she smiled before settling back into her seat. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I realized I should also take care of myself in general. "Um, any chance there will be a stop where we can get food before nightfall, or…?"

"I'm so very glad you asked!" Rengoku said from the seat across the aisle. Unlike Shimizu, I didn't think I'd ever be able to get used to the Flame Hashira's presence, in no small amount because he was so damn loud. "I purchased plenty of bentō beforehand, so feel free to eat however much you want!"

"…I'm sure I'll regret asking, but why did you even get so many bentō in the first place?"

The theory that Kimetsu was a series where every powerful character was super quirky in some way was becoming more and more likely. Case in point: the massive stack of bentō that Rengoku had brought along with him, taking up the seats before him. That didn't mean I wasn't going to eat one, but like, what was this dude even thinking? Could he pack away that much food on his own? Oh, wait, anime logic, of fucking course he could.

Despite my faint disgust I thought should have been radiating off me, Rengoku seemed nonplussed. "Last night, I fought a demon that was terrorizing trains as well. It had impacted the sales of a stand selling bentō, so I decided that I'd buy them all to help after I defeated the demon! They are tasty, after all. Here! Both of you try some!"

With a bentō shoved in my face, I didn't have much choice in the matter. Plus I was hungry anyways, so might as well put a dent into Rengoku's awkward purchasing decisions. Then again, the Hashira made bank anyways, so what he wanted to spend money on was his business.

Shimizu had cracked into her bentō first, and her expression lit up as she took the first bite, making her extra adorable. "You're right, Rengoku-sama. It's super good!"

"Right? I'm glad you understand." And then, with Rengoku taking his own first bite, he declared: "Tasty!"

…A process that continued for every single bite taken.

Yup, powerful characters are weirdos, understood. Still, free food was free food, and I wasn't about to complain about that. And, as it turned out, even if Rengoku was providing some unconventional background noise (Super Not Chill Beats to Eat Train Bentō to), it was pretty damn good.

"Senpaiii!"

I could cross this experience off my bucket list, even if the rest of the night wasn't going to be anywhere near as simple.

Bonus Bonus:

"Senpaiii! He's trying to steal my dinner!"

"You're not eating fast enough, so give it here!"

"Here, Inosuke-kun, there's plenty, take one of these instead!"

"You should eat more, Mizoguchi! Here, have more!"

"It's fine, Rengoku-san, I've had plenty!"

"Don't be silly—eating enough is essential to becoming a Hashira!"

...I'm just not allowed to eat in peace ever, am I?