walk steady on this cruel world's path

By: Aviantei

Part Nine:

"Two Storm Fronts Colliding"

It was late winter, and, with every breath, puffs of steam formed around my mouth before scattering. I'd gotten my latest mission assigned a few days ago—one that could be boiled down to "monster in the woods," if you wanted the tl;dr version—and, after all the usual travel, I was almost there. The cold air bit into my lungs, but all the practice with Total Concentration: Constant had started to pay off, and the sting felt a little less prominent. Still, once this mission was over, I was going to find myself a place with a warm bath and get some proper feeling back into my bones.

"Rendezvous, rendezvous!" Tadashi cawed from ahead of me. Sure enough, if I squinted, I could see the shape of another Corps member standing before the forest in the distance. While Slayers could perform solo missions, whenever so many of them went missing in the same area, Headquarters would sometimes send in pairs or even teams. You would think, so we didn't drop numbers like flies, lower-ranked Mizunoto would pair up with someone higher up to get practical experience, seeing as there were no guarantees their first opponent would be something they could handle, but I still didn't make the fucking rules! If I ever had a face-to-face interaction with an active Hashira, maybe I'd dump my complaints on them in my next level of mouthing off to people far higher ranked than me.

For the time being, though, I had a mission to take care of, and I sprinted over the last bit of distance, avoiding any slush on the road. It had snowed here, and the sky was coated so thick in clouds that there wasn't a speck of direct sunlight anywhere, despite it being late afternoon. As I got close enough, I slowed down to a jog, making my way to my fellow Demon Slayer. Tadashi perched on a tree branch, cawing at some other crow nearby.

"Hey, there! I'm your teammate for this mission." In response to my greeting, the Slayer started to turn. "It's nice to meet you. I'm—"

"Rairi-senpai," he said.

I started, stalled, and stammered, "Kaigaku."

The forming smile froze on my face. Sure enough, it was Kaigaku who'd turned around, wearing the standard Corps uniform without any extra adornments. The black-sheathed katana at his hip would have blended into his uniform had it not been for the white tsuba and the golden adornments on the hilt in the same triangle patterns as mine.

We both stood there in awkward silence for a good while. The last time I'd seen him had been back in the orchard at the end of summer—though I'd wanted to, I'd never had the opportunity to swing back by home after that. I'd written, yeah, but, whenever Tadashi came back with responses, just Sensei and Zenitsu had ever replied. And they'd been able to at least let me know how Kaigaku was doing, up until he'd left for Final Selection, passed, and never came back.

He hadn't even responded to my note of congratulations, and I knew Tadashi had delivered it. That had been three months ago.

So, yeah, crossing paths with him was awkward, and there was no real buffer to ease the tension. I'd gotten his name out, but I couldn't figure out what was supposed to follow that. It's nice to see you, as if we hadn't fought before? Congrats on passing Final Selection, also as if we hadn't fought before? Whenever I tried to think of something that acknowledged the situation, all I could come up with was, Have you fixed that attitude problem of yours yet?, which wouldn't help matters in the slightest.

In what was nothing short of a miracle, I didn't say the most combative thing possible. The major downside, though, was that I also didn't say anything at all.

"We have a job to do," Kaigaku said, turning on his heel to turn back to the woods ahead of us. "Let's get going."

Right, our actual job. Saving people from demons was way more important than whatever disagreements we'd had. I nodded, catching up to Kaigaku's side. "We should check out the area before it gets too dark. It's already going to be hell enough as it is." I'd managed to fight through plenty of different conditions after over half a year on the job, and snow had no doubt become my least favorite. It was awful for stealth, abysmal to navigate in the Corps' idea of practical winter footwear, and had a nasty way of soaking through your socks, no matter how resistant the fabric was. "This cloud cover could be trouble, too."

Kaigaku hopped over a log, grunting what I recognized as an affirmative reply. "Let's make it quick, then. You take east, I'll take west."

Splitting up was risky; with the sun covered up, a demon could survive without disintegrating to pieces if it chose to move about in the day, and this was an enemy that had caused the disappearance of several other Demon Slayers. But there was also no way the two of us could cover the whole area by nightfall if we stuck together. "Sounds like a plan. I'm pretty sure there's a river running through here. Meet back up in the middle by dark. Send your Kasugai Crow after me if you find anything."

"Right," Kaigaku said, and then he was off, his rapid footfalls crunching through underbrush and splashing through wet piles of snow. While it was best for us to move faster right now, I couldn't help but think that he'd been rather quick to suggest splitting apart. Was it worse that I was projecting my desire to not be around each other longer than necessary onto him or that I was relieved he had suggested it so we wouldn't have to fight our awkwardness the whole way?

"Shut the fuck up and fight some demons," I said to myself, then I breathed and ran off in the opposite direction.

I don't know if HQ had planned things whenever they sent two Thunder Breathing users to cover a large area, but it was a good idea. Again, our techniques and Breathing Style emphasized the legs, a lot. When put up against a user of another style with the same relative experience level, we Thunder Breathing users would outstrip them in a competition of pure speed every time.

So I covered my half of the woods at an overall good clip. Given the cloud cover, I'd half expected to run into our target (because what mission of mine didn't have something obnoxious happen in it?), but all I crossed paths with was the local wildlife. Kaigaku didn't send his crow after me, so I assumed he was having the same luck I was. At least we'd be familiar with the area whenever night fell.

As much as it had already felt like evening for the entirety of the day, it was getting darker now, signaling sunset. Grateful that Tadashi was still nearby to help me back in the direction of the river, I headed towards the rendezvous point a little later than I'd intended to. Things were awkward enough as it was; I didn't need Kaigaku getting extra pissy at me for running late on top of that.

Around the time the light hanging over the world stopped being a washed-out brightness and a little more of a deep gray, I could hear the sound of flowing water—about the one good thing about this day so far. If, you know, I could consider getting backup with the most awkward contender right now something "good." At least it was better than being in the forest alone.

Soon enough, I reached the riverbank. The flow of water was thinner here than where I'd noticed it earlier, though it was still an almost ominous band of darkness without any moonlight to brighten it. Tadashi cawed from further down river, and I kept a wide berth from the running waters. Being soaked to the bone in winter was not my idea of fun, not by a fucking long shot.

I think this is kind of close to the south end of the forest? I guessed, not trusting my sense of direction in the slightest. Kaigaku should be on this end of things, too. I hope Tadashi can sense him or something. While I still had no idea of how it worked, I was convinced the Kasugai Crows had some sort of magic homing system or another that let them do their job without issues.

I kept my eyes peeled, and soon enough I saw movement in the dark. Instinct kept my hand on my sword, but Kaigaku's silhouette became visible soon enough. Relieved, I enhanced my jump to clear the river in one go, closing the distance between us. "As you can guess, I had no luck finding anything," I said, unable to keep the complaint from my tone. "I guess we'll just have to patrol and see what we find in the dark?" Kaigaku stayed quiet. Though I hadn't been expecting a sunny response, Kaigaku's lack of an answer was irritating. "Come on, Kaigaku, this is no time to be stubborn—whoa, fuck!"

Dodging backwards, I almost slipped on the snow as I avoided the flash of Kaigaku's sword. I blinked a few times, as if that would change the sight before me, but nope—that was still my kōhai with his blade drawn. "What the actual hell?!" I shouted, using a nearby tree to steady my footing. "I don't care if you want to test yourself against me again, but you're not a little brat in training anymore. You can't just pull out your sword on another Corps member in the middle of a mission and expect to get away with it, especially against me!" It was against Corps rules for Demon Slayers to draw their weapons on each other unless there was a decent reason—and, as Kaigaku's senpai, I was even less tolerant of him pulling shit like this.

But Kaigaku's expression didn't change much from what I could make out in the shadows, and he charged forward without any hesitation. Deciding to use my breath for more important things, I kept my curses in my head instead as I worked on countering his blows. Kaigaku and I hadn't ever held back our skill level when sparring before, but there had always been the reminder from Sensei not to do anything that could cause death or permanent injury—an agreement that was being broken right now by a certain little asshole.

Our swords rang out with the sound of clashing metal as they collided, and I could feel the vibrations all the way in my cold and somewhat numb fingertips. Kaigaku had grown a bit taller yet again, increasing the gap between our heights. His sword form had changed a lot, too, and, while it was still at a level I could follow along and counter, it was a drastic shift from my expectations. He'd even changed the dominant grip on his sword, the ambidextrous little shit, which further threw off his already annoying and tilted form from the one I'd trained against for so long. Growling, I knocked his blade aside, managing to kick him in the gut afterwards. Kaigaku stumbled back, not so much as grunting, and I clicked my tongue, rushing to attack in the opening.

"Why don't you be a good kōhai for once in your life and knock it the fuck off?!"

I aimed my blade to catch on his arm enough to make him drop his sword without causing permanent injury. There was a chance that he was under the effect of some Blood Demon Art, and, even if he wasn't, I wanted to disarm him, not dismember him, tempting as that second choice felt. The Nichirin blade of my sword made quick work of the Corps uniform over his left shoulder and the flesh underneath, and his hold on his katana slipped. However, the reprieve from that didn't mean too much, because his other hand snatched out to catch onto the end of my braid, the painful yank that followed causing a burning pain at the base of my skull.

Kaigaku pulled with way more force than I'd expected, and I was surprised that my hair didn't come ripping out of the scalp as he wrenched me down and tossed me away. I tumbled across the cold and wet ground, scraping my face across some vindictive rocks before colliding back first into a tree trunk. I grunted, or at least made a sound close to one as the wind almost knocked straight out of me, but I was able to see it.

On the back of Kaigaku's uniform, the kanji for Destroy was reversed.

I didn't know what that meant, but I at least now knew the two most important things—

Number one: That was not my kōhai.

And number two: Because that was not my kōhai, I didn't have to hold back to kick its ass.

"Kaminari no Kokyū—San no Kata: Shūbun Seiraiii!"

With a howl, I launched myself off the ground in a series of connected slashes that spiraled around my opponent. It tried to block, sure, but it couldn't keep up with the speed of the technique augmented with Total Concentration: Constant, and I tore it to ribbons as a result.

Unlike cutting through a demon or a person, the resistance that caught onto my blade was negligible. The shape of Kaigaku's mirror image was hollow as I sliced it open, the whole thing deflating like a balloon with the air let out. I watched it for a few moments, as if expecting it to pull itself back together and attack me again, but the pieces melted away, the same way a demon would upon its defeat.

I took a moment to check for any other enemies. "Blood Demon Arts are such fucking bullshit."

And then a loud boom echoed from the distance, and I blinked spots out of my eyes from the flash of light that seared straight through the darkness. Unless we'd gotten a freak storm out of nowhere, that had to be Kaigaku pulling off a Thunder Breathing form, and I bolted in the direction I thought I needed to go, kicking up debris behind me. My night vision pulled itself back into a workable state, and, within a few minutes, I crossed paths with Kaigaku on the riverbank. He had his sword drawn, where I could see a pattern along the blade in the shape of a thunderbolt, stretching from hilt to tip—one that hadn't been on his mirror image's sword. Both of us out of breath and with messes on our faces (me: blood, him: dirt), we stared at each other, and I was sure that we were sharing the same paranoid thought:

What if that's another fake, too?

I forced my drying mouth to speak: "What's the last thing you said to me back home?"

Kaigaku shifted, looking almost nervous, but still answered, "You should have better things to do than cling to home, Demon Slayer-sama," in a subdued voice that was a stark contrast to the venom he'd said those words in before. I exhaled in relief, though the sentiment still stung a bit. Kaigaku's eyes narrowed, my reaction not even close enough to guarantee I was who I was claiming to be. Anyone could fake a positive response. "What are the rules if I want to spar with you?"

"Once a day, in the afternoon, after Sensei's training, five days a week max, not on rest days." My answer made Kaigaku relax at last; unless this demon had a way to read into our memories, those were things it couldn't have known about us. And, well, if it could read our memories, we were so beyond fucked that keeping our vigil up right now wouldn't have even made a difference. For the moment, we both sheathed our swords, though we each kept a hand on the hilts for quick access. "Did you fight one of those things, too?"

He nodded, and I grimaced at the idea of a replica of me drawing my sword on Kaigaku. "It's a mirror, though. I could tell when it tried to hold its katana in its right hand. Plus, if that was you and you came at me with swordplay that sloppy, I'd kill you just the same."

"Nice to know that you'll always be looking out for me," I said with more than enough sarcasm to bury the sinking suspicion that we might just be in over our heads. "It must've seen us while we were scouting and copied our appearances. It doesn't seem to replicate our skill level, but if it can make a bunch of those at once, we might not last 'til dawn." Kaigaku's eyes narrowed, though I couldn't tell if it was over his distaste of our odds or my assessment that we might lose. "I am very much open to ideas right now."

"It's not invincible, and those things aren't that tough. The main body needs to be somewhere. We're going to have to look for it." I agreed with that sentiment, yeah, but the how was the tricky part. Kaigaku stepped closer, his voice lowering. "It'll be most effective if we can lure it out. One of us goes off, fakes a loss, and either gets dragged back to the main body or has the main body come to them."

Understanding that he was trying to keep quiet so anything watching us couldn't hear, I hissed back, "But if we separate, it'll be hard to recognize each other if we need to regroup." Sure, separating made it more likely for the enemy to target us. And we had enough history together that there was a near infinite well of things we could ask about as security questions, but the time it could take one of us to get an inquiry out could be more than enough for the enemy to get an advantage on us. Hell, if this demon could look like us, all it would have to do was make a doppelganger appear as a hostage, and that would make everything confusing. I couldn't say the same for Kaigaku, but if I thought he was captured and in trouble, I would make some stupid decisions if it meant he'd be safe. "We could use a code word, but that would be easy enough to fake. We at least need to have a strategy to handle that."

Kaigaku snarled, baring his teeth—but then his face lit up with an idea. "I got it," he said, reaching to his neck and leaving me in the dark. "Undo your collar."

"What are you on?"

"Do it, or I'll do it myself." I scowled, deciding to trust my kōhai, though he sure sounded like he was pulling shit out of his ass. It wasn't too long after I'd popped open the top button on my uniform that Kaigaku's fingers slipped into the opening, and I realized through the fresh wave of cold that he was winding something warm around my neck. His hands worked quick, fingertips once or twice grazing across my skin, and he was close enough that I had no trouble hearing his murmur: "That thing it makes is just a shell. It just replicates what it can see on the surface, plus it's a mirror. So if you have something under that, we can use it as a signal."

Kaigaku finished his work, pulling back. I raised my hand, finding the shape of his magatama pendant resting by my pulse, the weight pressing against the left side of my neck. "What about you?" I asked. Kaigaku frowned, and I sighed. "It can't just be me running around with a safety net." I shrugged my braid over my shoulder, unfastening the clip from the end and reattaching the side with ornamentation to the inside of his collar. Kaigaku's swallow tickled against my fingers, and I closed up his jacket. "I'm impressed. You've learned how to wear a shirt the right way since I last saw you. I'm so proud."

"Fuck right off," he said, and I couldn't help but grin. Kaigaku stepped back, glancing out into the dark. "If you think that's impressive, wait 'til I show you how much I improved since you left home, Rairi-senpai."

"Oh, I'm sure. Just don't be surprised whenever you realize I'm still ahead of you, my precious kōhai." And then I cleared my throat before raising my voice to a shout: "If you think I'm going to stick around with you in this death trap, then you have another thing coming! Stay and die if you want; you're on your own!"

"Sure, be a fucking coward!" Kaigaku shouted at me as I retreated into the trees, noticing what I was doing and playing along. "You're a goddamn disgrace to the Demon Slayer Corps. I don't need someone like you to beat this demon!"

And with a plan and an understanding between us, Kaigaku and I set our sights on the dark and split up.

[Author's Notes]

I dunno why, but I love making characters be super awkward with each other.

Thanks go out to Behold That Man, ILikeFoxes828, shadowdark7, olakeace3225022, GreenLadyBugThing, LioPyro7890, Konami-kun 2000. Baperben, katonxlyx, liquid squids, luffymonky26, Talyson, CompuBob, ForgetThisName, alice-chan8, Juliahkamila761, Shadowcreeper, Greatest Guy, and Kvid for the reviews, favorites, and follows since the last chapter! You've all helped make this fic my second most favorited, and that's just wild to me. We're not even a fifth of the way into everything. You guys are all super amazing, and I appreciate you all so much!

ALSO: MUGEN TRAIN. I thankfully got to see it both subbed and dubbed and I had a blast. May you all get the opportunity to watch it soon and safely! Heheh, it makes me excited to share later fic events with you all~.

It's time for a Taishō Era Secret! Several Final Selection events happen throughout the year, though there are at least a few months of break in between for people to collect more demons to use. This is a duty that is either left to the Hashira or those of Hinoto/Hinoe rank. Kaigaku participated in the most recent Final Selection; Zenitsu will test in the next one, at the end of winter.

Kaigaku's ambidextrousness is self-taught; while he was living on the streets, he witnessed a few people be in trouble after their dominant arms got broken. Thus, he decided to teach himself. After several years of practice, he's just as proficient with his left and right hands, and he can wield his sword both ways, too (a fact that caused Rairi no shortage of annoyance in sparring matches). Rairi is left-handed, and has done next to no training with using their right, save for what Kuwajima taught them. Zenitsu considered learning how to use his non-dominant hand, but focusing on how to refine the Hekireki Issen got priority. Kuwajima knows how to use a sword with both dominant hands, but Kaigaku is more proficient at it from extended practice.

As of right now, Rairi writes regular letters to Shimizu, Kuwajima, Zenitsu, and Kaigaku. The letters that go back to home are sent as one, but Rairi does plan to send Zenitsu separate letters once he joins the Corps. Tadashi works super hard, and Rairi gives him treats when ferrying mail. Several more characters will get added to their pen pal list as the story goes on; take your guesses as to who!

Next time: It's way too cold for this shit, let's kill this demon already, and forcing Kaigaku to talk about feelings. Please look forward to it!

-Avi

[04.24.2021]