One hand was painted red, one arm was carrying the weight of an injured snake and two eyes were staring down death itself, and there was nothing Zenitsu could tell his legs to convince them move an inch. He was locked in place. Not by a spell, not by some trap, but by sheer and utter terror. He couldn't move; Kaburamaru was hissing furiously into his right ear, but-

How hadn't he noticed. The mansion. It was long out of sight. He'd walked away, walked for almost an hour. Of course, he was outside the wisteria tree limit. Why hadn't he - even the colors, they were different. It had been too dark, but he should've noticed. He should have noticed, damn it!

"Scared little slayer?"

The giant had a surprisingly skinny voice and Zenitsu would have laughed at the weirdness of the thin voice coming out of such a burly figure, if death itself wasn't trapped in his lungs, so all he could do was whimper with fright and stumble back.

"Don't worry tiny," the demon guffs. "I'll kill you and feast on you real quick. I'm real generous like that." He grins and then he's moving again; knees bent in a weird running formation and fingertips touching the grass bellow and he's off.

Zenitsu barely has breath between two blinks before he is; without much thinking, throwing himself under the arm swung at him to slice of his head and rolling back onto his feet a couple of steps away from the demon.

He doesn't even get the chance to calm his stammering heart down however, before a shadow falls over him again and pain blooms like burning stakes across his chest. Gasping he stumbles back; arm circling his torn open chest and eyes wide and swimming in tears.

He was going to die.

He was going to die, wasn't he?

Not a moment longer and he's again getting slammed with twice his weight across his chest and, he hears something snap, and then he's flying headfirst into the nearest tree in the area. Zenitsu has barely any reason or logic left in his brains at this point, the pain having washed it all away, but thankfully... Maybe it's instinct? He finds himself without thinking; swinging his body around and just in time protecting his skull with the back end of his right shoulder.

Gagging at the momentary throb of pain that writhes through his flesh, Zenitsu is up and running again long before his mind has even caught up to his body. Survival instincts mixed with sheer and utter fear coursing through his veins and it's all the blonde can do to keep a lid on his emotions as he runs and runs and screams at the top of his lungs for someone, for anyone to please come and save him. Gramps is the only name tumbling out of his mouth as he zigzags through the tall shadowy trees. But- "Obanai-senpai!" He once screams; blood and tears spilling down his face. "Obanai-senpai! Please!"

He doesn't know for how long he runs; he only knows that he's running away from the safety of the wisteria trees and away from the monster, and it both terrifies him and makes him want to run for all of eternity.

Zenitsu doesn't stop until he can't hear the chill inducing laughter of the demon anymore, and only then does he crumble under a tree and shakes with such lack of control that Kaburamaru eventually slithers of his body and just stares at his wide-eyed figure. Zenitsu doesn't care. He doesn't care because he knows he's going to die, and they are both going to die and no one will come to save them and he was bleeding, of course the demon would find him and – and – and he was going to die.

Grabbing at his hair with both fists, he tugs and tugs and chews his lips raw as waves of tears spill down his bruised cheeks. "I can't do this Kaburamaru!" He mumbles; voice stuttering in his throat and face so ashen and grey it makes the blood stand out stark against his skin. "We're going to die. We're going to die and I can't do anything. Oh God. Oh God. OhGodohGodohGod. Why did I walk away," now his ramblings aren't even above a whisper anymore; sounding both thick and terrifyingly thin. "Is this karma? Am I going to die because I lived and everyone else suffered and-"

Burying his head in his knees, his shoulders shake, and his clammed-up lips are barely holding back a sob.

A roar is heard in the distance and Zenitsu's whole body freezes. Holding his breath; eyes staring at his legs, he listens. The roar, it's drawing nearer and nearer and-

This... This was it. It was all over. He – he was going to die. By the hands of some lower ranked demon and fuck revenge. He hadn't even made it a month without gramps, how pathetic was that. How sad.

Another roar. This one much closer.

He hadn't even gotten the chance to apologize to Obanai-senpai. Why the hell had he been so mean in the first place? It's not like senpai wouldn't have saved everyone if he could. He had known gramps too and... He'd saved him right? So, with a hiccup Zenitsu buries his face even further into his knees. He'd walked away too far. No one was going to find him out here. Alone and afraid and soon to be dead.

Tears started flowing all over again and damn it. How pathetic.

A roar.

He flinches. At least he was going to reunite with gramps and Kaigaku-senpai and-

[NEVER GIVE UP]

It was as if an electric current suddenly jolted into every nerve in his body and sent it ablaze.

Gramps

[NEVER GIVE UP]

How could he just-

Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, Zenitsu tried to steady his erratic breathing. Gramps had said... He had said that it was ok to run away it was ok to cry but – to give up? Gramps had never taught him that and-

Raising a shaky arm to his eyes, Zenitsu rubbed away the wetness as best as he could and took a deep and steading breath.

It was only one demon. It didn't look all that powerful and he'd been training. Training with Obanai-senpai. He was going to be a demon slayer and avenge his family and make Obanai-senpai proud so, how could he lose here?

This was his story wasn't it? His mission. His life. What kind of hero died in the prologue?

"We're going to be fine Kaburamaru-san. You're going to be ok." Reaching out with a poorly wiped away red finger, he pets the snake head gently. "I'm not going to let you die. I'm sorry I scared you like that." If his finger is shaking as he does this, if his voice wobbles as he speaks, Kaburamaru doesn't let him know, only nuzzles into the palm of his hand and hisses. Almost as if to say-

Zenitsu grins; teeth coated with dirt and flecks of blood. "Yeah, I'll be fine. But-" Here he rises back up to his feet, using the tree as a support, knowing the shallow cuts running diagonally from his hip and up to his right shoulder are making his vision blurry, he tries his hardest to blink away the dizziness and sharpen his senses.

The demon is still drawing near. He was close now. Too close.

"I need you to hide Kaburamaru-san. You can't come with me."

The snake doesn't seem to like that idea at all, but Zenitsu is determined this time and his friend seems to sense that, because he puts his head down and hisses softly. "I'm sorry," the blonde mutters in apology; scooping the snake up and lifting him to the nearest branch; wincing as he does so. "I wish I could hide here with you too. I really really do."

With his friend securely hiding behind the leaves of the enormous tree, Zenitsu finally takes the time to look over his injures; they are painful, but his speed had allowed the wounds to be shallow at best, and with another steadying breath, he finally circles his hand around his sword hilt and drags it out.

Balancing the sword between his palms he shifts on his feet. The only thing he hadn't let himself look at was his ear. He knew that - shaking his head, he banished that thought to the back of his mind. Some of it was still there, that's all he could focus on right now, so-

He could do this.

Till Obanai-senpai came to his rescue. Till Kaburamaru was safe. He could do this.

So his legs move this time, and he is running.

Not away from the danger, but towards it. Towards the demon who'd promised him death.

Still, no amount of diluted bravery was going to make him confront a psycho demon head on, so with a determined glint in his eyes, he crouches down low and pushes off the ground with all his might; hanging in the air for less than a split second, before he descends down on a treetop, pulling himself behind its shadows to await his hunter.

The demon doesn't disappoint. Showing up just a second after Zenitsu had disappeared in the leaves. "I can smell you baby slayer," he whistles. "Come out so I can eat you!"

Zenitsu doesn't want to. He's scared. He can't hide that fact from himself. Not when his body is still vibrating with barely contained terror and his sword is clinking to its hilt because of his shaking hand, and yet, the demon is almost directly below him. Failing to act now would be-

He doesn't want to, but then gramps warm smile flashes through his head and it slowly morphs into the mutilated corpse of the man he once knew.

Teeth clenching to the point of creaking, the grieving boy drops down from the sky, sword swinging down in a sharp motion and mouth drawn into a sneer of hatred.

Reckless for sure, but when he brings down the sharp side of his trusted blade at the demon's neck, all he could see was red. Red blood, red rage, red vengeance.

Red.

The demon screams and it almost tears Zenitsu's eardrops apart. Listen. Obanai-senpai had said. Time and time again. Even flicking him harshly on the forehead whenever he caught him slacking off, well now that needed skill almost burned his ears out permanently. And the blonde is quick to swallow down the bile swimming in his throat as he shuts all his senses down and jams the sword even further into the demon's neck.

"Cut," he hisses; tears already leaking from both corners of his eyes. "Cut damn it! Please cut."

But it doesn't and again, he's gripped by the scruff of his neck and flung headfirst into a tree. It's all Zenitsu can do to grabble for his sword and thankfully drag it out of the beast's neck but that costs him his focus and he slams harshly into the tree.

The world tilts out of view for a second and then comes back.

Thank God.

Chopping someone's neck halfway did make their aim and strength slightly off.

Zenitsu doesn't have enough time to contemplate that fact however, not when claws are darting for his face and he blinks in panic; swinging himself behind the tree and ducking with a scream as barks fly everywhere. Tree now cut in half.

"Think you can take me brat!"

No, not really.

"I can and I will!" He screams at the top of his lungs; his eyes as wide as two dinner plates. "Please don't kill me!" He follows that declaration up with; throwing himself again out of the way. His speed being the only thing saving his uncertain and highly unguaranteed life now. "Please demon-san! Please!"

Why did he even think he could do this?

Running behind another tree, he climbs as high as he can. Only to jump into another one when it too was torn in half.

His only chance was gone, so what could he possibly-

[NEVER GIVE UP!]

"I know!" He screams. Why couldn't gramps just leave him alone!

He was going to die. Die die die die die.

But-

Pausing on top of a branch, Zenitsu stares at the terrifying being below him and thinks.

"If I'm going to die anyways," he mutters; tears still not having stopped falling. "Then I have nothing left to lose."

Blinking down at his sword his lips draw into a thin line and he tries to pull out all the flecks of bravery left in his barren soul and concentrate. "Listen," Obanai-senpai had said. "Never forget to listen. If you do, you will be able to predict their moves long before they do them."

'Listen.'

Closing his eyes he does what he'd been doing all these days. But better. More concentrated. More focused. It was as if anything and everything in the entire world had just vanished and he was only left with his own erratic breathing and the wheezing sound of the demon. He could hear him.

Hear his blood thirsty thoughts. Hear his body movement, his heartbeat, his toes curling and uncurling, his-

Zenitsu could hear everything.

Dropping down from the tree, he lands gently on the ground; eyes still closed, his sword pointing at the beast's chest.

"Let's finish this."

The monster laughs and charges, but Zenitsu is ready for him this time-

It was as if he knew what the demon was going to do, before he did it and he acted. Sliding out the way of the grab, he brought his arms down and sliced at the arm. It wasn't fully cut off, but the demon mustn't have expected it, because it howled and drew back. Zenitsu didn't let it; closing the gap between them quickly and swinging his sword outward.

It barely missed the demon by an inch. He swings again. This time catching the monster on the flank. Zenitsu's movements are slowing down with each swing; blood loss making him more and more sluggish, but he had this. He could do this and finally finally he-

"Enough of this!" The demon growls, and suddenly it is as if the air itself is vibrating with tension. The blonde pales. No, it couldn't be. No

Power surges through the giant and with a cruel tilt of his lips; something Zenitsu is barely able to catch as his eyes fling open in horror, the demon spreads his arms open and shouts.

"Blood demon art: Dancing illusions!"


I love causing Zenitsu pain. I can't seem to help myself. Poor child