walk steady on this cruel world's path
By: Aviantei
Part Thirty-One:
Interlude: "Happiness Is Something That Everyone Wishes to Have III"
Shimizu's memory is nowhere close to perfect, but she gives the details she remembers and sends Tanaka back to Urokodaki-sensei's place, asking for her complete journal of notes. While she's waiting for that, Rengoku and Tanjirō make their ill-advised trip back to the Rengoku estate for the writings on Flame Breathing. Even if they know in advance that the book will be destroyed, it's still important to make that connection and assure Senjurō that things will be okay—and Shimizu doesn't want to risk something important getting messed up just because one arc happened to go for the better.
And the conclusion is that things do go for the better, because Shinobu mentions that Rairi should have no problem recovering to the fullest, provided that they get their bedrest and don't do anything stupid. The good news is that Rairi is overall reasonable (unlike a certain duo of Demon Slayers), so they don't argue with their recovery plan whatsoever.
"Don't worry about it, Shimizu-chan," Rairi says, noticing Shimizu's discomfort and moving to ease it, despite the fact that they're the one injured worse and in a hospital bed. "You were brave enough to try and do something. I just figured that I couldn't leave you to face that all on your own again." Somehow, Rairi thinks Shimizu's the one that made the biggest difference, without understanding just how much they did to save Rengoku's life. "I know what I did was reckless, but let's just all be grateful that things worked out, yeah?"
Even so, Shimizu feels like she needs to apologize because this outcome is all her fault. "I'm the one that asked if we could help Rengoku-san. If I hadn't done that, then you wouldn't have…"
But Rairi just brushes her off without so much as hesitating, because they don't mind. If they knew that Shimizu knew full well she was dragging them into danger, would that answer be different? For the time being, though, Rengoku suggested not spreading the information Shimizu had since that would put extra pressure and possible suspicion on her—and that's a little bit of a relief, too.
I don't want Rairi-kun to hate me for any of this. So please forgive me for keeping this a secret. I'll be sure to work with Tanjirō-kun and Rengoku-sama to keep you and everyone else safe from here on out.
In comparison to the others, Shimizu got very few injuries, so it's not that long before she gets back to active duty. Rengoku pulls a bit of his Hashira rank to have Shimizu sit down with him and translate her English Canon notes into much more readable Japanese rather than heading back into the field. Since Infinity Castle is connected to the BS that is Blood Demon Arts, there isn't much they can do to speed up the encounter with Muzan, but at least there's the opportunity to prepare for the Red Light District and Swordsman Village Arcs.
The latter is just a matter of bolstering the defenses on the village to prepare for the eventual arrival of Upper Moons Four and Five, so the focus then becomes preparing for the battle against Daki and Gyūtarō—which would be a bit easier to manage if Shimizu could freaking remember the name of the place they were hiding out at.
"Ugh, this is so dumb!" Shimizu shouts, flipping through her notes for what has to be the thousandth time. "I know that red light district had a Canon name—why can't I remember it?!"
"There's no reason to be so hard on yourself, Urokodaki, my girl," Rengoku says, observing his own Japanese copy of the Plot details. "It's been a few years since you arrived here, yes? The information you have provided us with is incredible enough. Knowing the abilities of the Upper Moons is a boon to help us when we fight, rather than going in blind. That will help us save plenty of lives as it is alone."
"I know, I know." Shimizu sinks down onto the table, the surface cool and comforting against her forehead. "It's just that we could save more people if I remembered the name of the place we needed to go." There were several months between Mugen Train and the Red Light District Arc—how many victims did Daki and Gyūtarō kill in that time?
Rengoku's large, warm palm pats against Shimizu's shoulder. "Worrying about what-ifs won't do any good, Urokodaki, my girl. Your notes mention that Uzui-san will be on the case in time. As soon as we catch word of that, we can sweep in to assist, and then the Demon Slayer Corps will have another victory on our hands." Shimizu peeks up from the table to see Rengoku's smile, looking as unflappable as ever, save for the new addition of the flame-patterned eyepatch that Shimizu hasn't gotten used to yet. "Until then, the best thing we can do is continue to face the demons we know of and to build our strength for the battles to come." Rengoku stands from the table. "Speaking of which, I was about to go do some training, since I'm still practicing adjusting to one eye. I know you're a Water Breathing user, but you're more than free to come along. Maybe you can help me figure out how to best train Kamado!"
"I don't know how helpful I'd be with that, Rengoku-sama." Shimizu may be a higher rank than him, but Tanjirō is special; that's why he's the Protagonist, after all. In the end, he's going to be the one to defeat Muzan—if not on his own in battle, then in the realm of sheer willpower instead. With the direct guidance of a Hashira and the foreknowledge that the final Sun Breathing form is chaining the rest of the techniques together, he'll be capable of so much more when that time comes. "But you're right; I'll be able to help more people if I improve my sword skills. So I'm in your care, Rengoku-sama!"
"That's the spirit, Urokodaki, my girl! That kind of attitude is one of the many requirements to become Hashira!"
The months feel like they crawl around at a snail's pace. What was nothing more than a small transition in the manga now has to play out in real time as summer reaches its peak. Like the others, Shimizu returns to active duty once her translation project is complete. Every day, she keeps an eye out for any crow bearing a message that it's time, that Uzui's found his target and it's time to go, but it just doesn't happen. Instead, she gets regular missives from Tanjirō, exchanging the usual pleasantries and sharing new combat techniques he's learned during training; Rengoku, who every now and then asks for clarification on what Shimizu wrote down about Canon; Senjurō, who got attached to Shimizu in the short time she was the at the Flame Hashira's estate; and Rairi, who always asks for updates and then reports back on the new mentorship program they've gotten roped into creating to help out the lower ranks of the Demon Slayer Corps.
For not the first time, Shimizu feels a vague sense of guilt. In the years since she realized where she was, Shimizu has been focused on the larger losses: the Hashira, Genya—you know, characters with names and stories. Aside from the consideration she's given Rairi (a friend, who also just so happens to have connections to, hey, more Canon characters!), Shimizu hasn't thought all that much about all the people that must have died in the process. How many people lost their lives on Natagumo-yama, how many more are dying just because they're not trained enough?
I know these are real people. I know they're not just background characters and cannon fodder. I know that. So why haven't I ever thought about them before? Why haven't I ever thought that they were worthwhile to save, too?
As selfish as it was, Shimizu can't regret dragging Rairi into helping her at Final Selection. Without them, there's no guarantee she would have survived the fight against the Hand Demon, no way she could have made it in time to save Rengoku. Zenitsu seems overall happier, too, more confident. Rairi, it feels like, is the one making the changes, not Shimizu, which is all sorts of ironic considering Shimizu has the knowledge to make a difference.
Which is why, when the notification comes that Rengoku has heard word of Uzui's plans and the Red Light District Arc is upon them, Shimizu debates for several days on whether or not to invite Rairi. If Rairi is somehow the key to things changing, it might be better to bring them along. But in comparison to Mugen Train and Infinity Castle, the loss of Uzui's hand is minor in comparison to the death of Rengoku—but wouldn't having yet another Hashira in the mix be even better?
And what if that's not what happens? What if Rairi-kun gets involved and gets hurt even worse this time? What if they happen to die just because you were too afraid to handle things on your own?
No, she won't invite Rairi along. Rairi is doing important things, like helping out lower-ranked Demon Slayers and building a program to protect more people. Rairi is also important to Zenitsu, to Kaigaku, who already have so much tragedy in their lives—who might end up having even more soon. Shimizu won't take Rairi from them, not over something like this.
"It's going to be okay," she says to herself, folding up Rengoku's letter and doublechecking that she has everything she needs. "You're not by yourself anymore. Rengoku-sama, Tanjirō-kun, and Inosuke-kun know what's coming next, too. They'll be on the lookout, and everything's going to be fine."
And so, after about a days' worth of travel, their little group has assembled. Thanks to Rengoku's involvement, there's no need to stop Uzui from dragging literal children into the line of fire (sheesh, what the heck was that even about? Leave the baby butterflies alone). Instead, Shimizu and the Protag Squad come along as Rengoku's recommendations, and Shimizu does her best to look attentive though she already knows while Uzui explains what they're aiming to do.
Uzui intends to focus on gathering intel while sending the others into the brothels to investigate what they can. Somewhere along the way the conversation shifts to Uzui's concern over his wives, it taking a bit longer for the plural implications to register thanks to all that Japanese linguistic stuff, and Tanjirō flips through the pile of letters in interest, explaining a few characters here and there to a half listening Inosuke.
Zenitsu also has a letter in his hands, but he's looking at it without looking at it at all as his face flushes red. "Three wives, huh…?" he mutters.
"Yeah," Uzui says, "you have a problem with that?"
"N-no, not at all! I just—just—"
"Zenitsu-kun, you wouldn't happen to be thinking of marriage already, would you?" Shimizu asks with an almost too giddy grin on her face. Even without saying Rairi's name, Zenitsu knows just what Shimizu is getting at, and his face burns an even darker red.
"Oho!" Rengoku says, his voice echoing through the small room. "Are you already courting someone, Agatsuma, my boy?"
"What's 'courting'?" Inosuke asks. "Can you eat it?"
"No, no," Tanjirō says, "it's something you do when you're interested in someone else as a romantic partner. If you get married, it's because you want to spend the rest of your life with someone and make a family." Inosuke's face scrunches up, and there's a strong chance he's not processing at all what that means. Tanjirō leaves him to contemplate it and turns to Zenitsu. "I didn't know you were seeing someone, though, Zenitsu. Congratulations!"
"I'm not, I'm not!" Tanjirō tilts his head as Zenitsu flails, and Shimizu catches the latter's honey golden glare in her direction, to which she flashes back an unapologetic smile. "I'm just… There's someone…" Zenitsu sucks in a breath. "Aren't we supposed to be planning for our mission here?!"
The door to their room opens up to reveal a few members of the Wisteria House staff with a box of supplies that Uzui requested. "The blondie's right," Uzui says, dragging the box into the room with no visible effort. He pops open the top before tossing bundles of fabric at Tanjirō, Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Shimizu. "We don't got all day to waste. Come on, get changed, the lot of you."
Chattering breaks out amongst the boys, and it just gets louder once they realize what they're getting dressed up in. Shimizu takes a moment to register that she, too, has been given a disguise, which she didn't quite calculate for. It makes sense, considering that she's a girl—but will her presence throw things off? No, it doesn't matter, because once Shimizu sees Daki, she'll know, and that will be more than enough for Rengoku and Uzui to do what they need to do.
Shimizu excuses herself to another room, exchanging her Corps uniform for a kimono with a wave pattern that matches her usual haori (however the Wisteria House pulled that off). Uzui's disguise kit also included a small amount of makeup, including a cute little hand mirror, and Shimizu combines the new set with some of her personal stores. Day to day, she just uses the stuff for touchup, but she spends a little extra time on the details to make herself look appealing enough to get picked out by a brothel without much convincing.
The process of fixing herself up is relaxing, almost meditative, and Shimizu's calmed down most of her nerves by the time she opens back up the door to the room where the others are—though that serenity vanishes in a near instant.
"You've gotta be kidding me!"
Her outburst catches the attention of everyone else in the room (and maybe even everyone else outside the room), which gives her an even more direct view of the disaster of a makeup job that each of the lower-ranked boys is wearing. Shimizu had kind of hoped that was some sort of exaggeration done for the sake of a manga gag, but nope! It's somehow even more horrendous in person, and she marches right up to an also changed and so-handsome-it's-frustrating Uzui to grab right onto the front of his partway open kimono.
"Urokodaki, my girl—"
"Hey, hands off, trash—"
"I don't wanna hear that from you!" Shimizu shouts, stunning both Hashira into silence. "You spend all this time going on about how you're a god and other people are trash, and you can't even do a decent makeup job?" A vein pops in Uzui's forehead, but Shimizu plows on before he can retaliate. "Mister 'I-Used-to-Be-a-Ninja' over here can't even realize that he's got three pretty boys to work with and make their appearance look stunning. You should be ashamed of yourself!" Shimizu releases him and spins around to the Protag Squad, who all flinch when she points at them. "All three of you, clean your faces off right now! I'm going to fix you up before we go anywhere!"
They all comply without protest, though Inosuke is more than a bit twitchy when Shimizu runs the brushes over his face—but he's pretty enough on his own, so he doesn't need too much of a touchup to get anywhere. Shimizu makes sure to explain to Tanjirō how to reapply the coverup for his forehead scar while she does it, and he sucks up the information best he can while Shimizu applies enough cosmetic around his eyes to highlight their color. Zenitsu is last, and, being this close, Shimizu notices the faintest traces of freckles over his cheeks that are pretty adorable.
Gotta mention those to Rairi-kun later on… Oh, what I wouldn't give to have my phone to share a picture, too; they all look great!
Shimizu's one regret is that she doesn't get to sneak in another quick teasing comment to Zenitsu, but she's overall proud of her work. "Well done, Urokodaki, my girl!" Rengoku says, clapping her on the back once her hands are empty of brushes. "You're quite skilled at this."
"Oh, it's just a lot of practice." And YouTube tutorials. All those hours spent watching videos seem a little less like a depressive waste and a little more like a practical investment of her time. Uzui still looks disgruntled, but he's nodding, which is good enough for Shimizu. "Now that we're all ready to go, should we head out, Uzui-sama?"
No wonder Rairi sasses off to their superiors so much. It's a little satisfying to see Uzui look a bit humbled for once.
In comparison to all the anxiety that came with worrying over Mugen Train, the Red Light District Arc is a joke. A few nights after she gets taken in by a brothel, Shimizu hears the name of Daki's oiran disguise, Warabihime, and she passes the name onto the Hashira via Uzui's ninja mice (and he can train mice to be ninja, but he can't do a decent makeup job? Maybe his wives handle that stuff for him). With a known target, it's simple to plan a coordinated attack when everyone's prepared for one demon to split into two, for the oncoming challenges of Gyūtarō's poison and Daki's obis.
Is it a clean sweep? Not in the slightest. Tanjirō still breaks his sword, Shimizu gets a fresh wound in her stomach that's lowkey threatening to spill her guts over the streets of Yoshiwara, and everyone else is exhausted and scrappy as all hell, but they survive. That's two Upper Moons down without any major character deaths, though Uzui's left eye still doesn't get out of things unscathed.
Shimizu does feel a little guilty about that one, but that's still a small loss in a much bigger picture, since he won't have to retire with his arm still attached. Heck, Rengoku offers to be depth-perception practice buddies in the aftermath. The point is that everyone manages to make it okay, which means that now they just need to wait for the next arc to kick in. It seems that no amount of foreknowledge is about to stop Tanjirō falling unconscious from manifesting his Slayer Mark the first time, but at least Shimizu knows that he'll be okay in the long run, which is a nice load off her mind.
Oh, and he's the one who broke his sword this time. Better him dealing with Haganezuka than her—Shimizu already took one for the team after Mugen Train, and she's still kinda traumatized.
Her own injuries will also recover, though she gets put on bedrest until she's good enough to head back out into the field—again. The one real good thing about that outcome is that it makes it much easier to keep tabs on Tanjirō and for Rairi to come by and visit, them arriving within the week of Shimizu sending out the update letter she promised. No surprises that Rairi's expression is worried when they arrive, though relief mixes in once they see Shimizu, alive and well.
Shimizu raises a hand. "Hey, Rairi-kun."
"Don't you just 'hey' me after you got into another fight with an Upper Moon!" Rairi says, attempting to be stern—but Shimizu can see the smile twitching on their lips. Behind Rairi is another Slayer that must be their new mentee, Michi, who gives a polite bow but stays on the sidelines while Rairi settles down into the chair beside Shimizu's bed. "How many times is this now that we've crossed paths because of a serious injury of yours?"
"If you don't count the spider poison, it's only twice." Rairi levels Shimizu in an unimpressed look, and she acquiesces, adding a third finger to the other two she'd already had raised. "Fine, three times, but in a little over a year of active duty, that's not that bad."
"I guess when you put it like that…" Rairi still doesn't look happy about it, but they pat Shimizu's arm anyways. "Well, either way, I'm glad that you're safe. I just wish I had more time to stay around and talk with you, though. Michi-san and I still have a mission assigned that we need to get to…oh, but I can always spare the time to come see that you're okay, Shimizu-chan!"
For the first time since they've arrived, Rairi smiles, bright and uninhibited, and Shimizu finds part of her own worries slipping away. It was well worth it, keeping Rairi out of the Daki and Gyūtarō fight, so there wasn't a chance of them getting hurt, too, because Shimizu would never want Rairi to vanish from her life. "Well, you know that I'm always glad to see you, Rairi-kun. If you can, don't be a stranger, okay?" Nodding, Rairi pulls their braid over their shoulder, fiddling with the end, and Shimizu notices the sparkle of the barrette's gems under the lights. "Oh, that's nice; is it new?"
"Huh, this? No, I've had it for a while, since my birthday." Rairi's already peach colored cheeks tint redder in a blush. "Kaigaku picked it out for me…" Shimizu's eyebrows raise, half out of surprise that Kaigaku has decent taste, half out of the way Rairi's reacting, with that small little smile and embarrassment mixed together on their face. Before, Shimizu was apologetic that Rairi happened to show up while Zenitsu was out on a mission, but maybe it's for the best if Rairi's…crushing on Kaigaku? Shimizu's about to ask to be sure, but Rairi's already digging into their pockets. Before Shimizu knows it, she has a small cloth bag in her hands, and Rairi's fingers linger over hers. "Speaking of gifts, though, I did pick this out for you! Just think of it like a get well/early birthday present, if you gotta, okay?"
"Oh, okay, thanks—"
"Rairi-san," Michi says, looking to the clock in the room, "we should get going. We still have a lot of ground to cover before it gets dark."
"Right, right, I'm coming." Rairi pats Shimizu's hands one more time, a noticeable warmth lingering after the touch. "Write to me again whenever you open up the present, okay? I wanna know what you think. Get well soon, Shimizu-chan!"
Shimizu has just enough time to get out a farewell before Rairi and Michi have vacated the infirmary, and soon Aoi's there to help swap out Shimizu's bandages, which gives her plenty of time to think. Rairi's letters have been pretty standard as of late, with no real hints of romantic endeavors of any kind—but that reaction wasn't the sort you have when just talking about a gift from your kōhai. Or maybe they were flustered about giving Shimizu a gift instead, but that's nothing out of the ordinary, either. Friends can get each other presents, so maybe…
Get a grip on yourself! You can just ask, anyways. Besides, if Rairi-kun likes Kaigaku-kun, that's their business, though it is a little unfortunate for Zenitsu-kun… Even with the logic that their love lives are sort of Shimizu's business as a friend, it doesn't change the fact that she doesn't like the idea. She tries to pin down what the cause is, though. Is it because of how Kaigaku was in Canon, the decisions he made? No, that doesn't sound fair, because Shimizu knows that Rairi trusts him enough to help with the mentorship program. Is it because it'll hurt Zenitsu's feelings if he finds out, the idea of him enduring that heartbreak? Again, no, because focusing on that brings a feeling more akin to faint disappointment for her friend and not…whatever this other sensation sinking into her chest is.
Aoi finishes up Shimizu's bandages with the finesse from extensive hours of practice, and Sumi, Kiyo, and Naho all show up bearing lunch along with a few snacks and the regular doses of medicine. Shimizu settles into chatting with the girls, enjoying the extra company and their calming presence as a nice distraction from her thoughts—at least until Sumi perks up, points at Shimizu's bedside table, and asks, "What's that, Shimizu-san?"
It's the little fabric bag that Rairi left behind, still closed with a drawstring. Shimizu was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost forgot about it, and she pulls the package into her lap. She didn't notice before, distracted by the touch of Rairi's hands on hers, but the fabric is soft and silky—something of quality, with a pretty ocean pattern on it. "Rairi-kun dropped me off a gift. Wanna see what it is?"
The girls all nod their interest, their eyes sparkling, and Shimizu grins as she undoes the drawstring. Inside the bag is a piece of paper, which she pulls out first, finding the familiar shape of Rairi's calligraphy on it.
Shimizu-chan,
I saw this design and thought of you. I dunno if hairclips are your thing, but I figured this could maybe help keep your bangs out of your eyes while fighting demons if you like it.
Rairi
Sure enough, whenever Shimizu reaches inside, a small hairclip meets her fingers. It's not an intricate or complicated design by any means, but the simplicity keeps it elegant, and the deep purple shade compliments Shimizu's hair and attire well enough that it'll be a good fit. Kiyo runs off for a hand mirror, so Shimizu checks her reflection and clips her bangs to the side, thinking about what makeup options this will give her and the moment of warmth that comes from hands touching, from the simple happiness of receiving a gift from someone you care about.
Oh. I don't like the idea of Rairi-kun crushing on someone else because I'm jealous.
"Shimizu-san?" Naho asks. "What's wrong? Do you not like it?"
With the mirror still showing her reflection, Shimizu sees that she's frowning. She shifts to a smile and shakes her head. "No, no, I ended up thinking about something else. I like it a lot. Does it look good?"
All the girls nod, chipping in their own compliments, and Shimizu entertains them until they head off to tend to their other duties—and then she has full reign to flop back onto the bed and consider what she's realized.
Shimizu has never been anything even close to straight, so she's not surprised by this outcome. What she's more surprised about is that she knows the exact extent of danger that's going to be present in this world, and yet her heart still insists on developing romantic feelings. Is it better or worse that she's fallen for a non-Canon character in terms of fanfiction tropes? Oh, wait, that doesn't matter, because she's landed in the middle of some stupid love triangle/square/shape from the underworld, where Zenitsu also likes Rairi, but Rairi might like Kaigaku—and who knows how the heck Kaigaku feels in the middle of all this. The idea of the character Shimizu remembers caring enough about someone to form a romantic attachment seems almost funny, but that barrette also couldn't have been cheap, so maybe…?
Since rolling onto her stomach and screaming into her pillow is going to aggravate her still healing injury, Shimizu settles for pulling her pillow over her face and groans. Who likes who shouldn't matter in the slightest, not when the end from Canon is so, so close, but maybe, in the aftermath, if Shimizu and Rairi both survive…?
If you want to have anything even close to that, then you need to do your best to make sure everyone gets through Canon okay.
Rengoku still has all the information on the other Upper Moons to help out with Infinity Castle, and Tamayo will get even more blood to work with once Nezuko is immune to sunlight. Tanjirō also understands that Muzan will attempt to infect him to become a demon at the end of that fight, so things will work out, so long as Shimizu helps things along. She can't eliminate all of the risk of fights, so people may still die against the Upper Moons, but maybe there is a tragedy she can prevent.
Regardless of if it's romantic or not, Rairi-kun does care about Kaigaku-kun—and they and Zenitsu-kun don't deserve to lose Kuwajima-san, either. I don't know Kaigaku-kun well enough to help him, but I'm sure that Rairi-kun can do it. Just…how do I convince them without breaking their trust?
Getting Tanjirō, Rengoku, and Inosuke to believe her was easy, considering the whole deal with Akaza. And Rairi might believe her, too. But how much of a betrayal of trust is it that Shimizu has known about the oncoming tragedy this whole time but hasn't ever decided to mention it to someone that she's close friends with—that Shimizu dragged Rairi into the danger of Mugen Train just because she didn't want to face it alone? Will Rairi hate Shimizu once they find out the secrets she's been hiding?
If they hate me, it's fine. They still deserve to know.
Shimizu sits down with some paper and a brush, trying to figure out what to even write. If possible, it would be easiest to just write it all down—the time travel, the anime, the future—but letting something like that be in the (still reliable but nonetheless very still interceptible) claws of a Kasugai Crow seems like it could be asking for trouble.
If the enemy found out we have someone who created a massive information leak like that…
That would paint a target on Shimizu's back—and maybe even Rairi's, too. The best she can do is send a letter, asking to see Rairi soon, and hope they can have a long talk in person to settle things. Leave a hint to keep in touch with Kaigaku under the guise of trouble brewing after the death of two Upper Moon Kizuki. Pray that, somehow, things will work out for the better.
Shimizu ties the letter to Tanaka's leg, sends him off, runs her fingers over the hairclip in her bangs, and starts to write anew on a fresh piece of parchment.
Dear Rairi-kun…
Shimizu gets placed back on active duty before Rairi has the opportunity to stop by again. They do both end up at Butterfly Manor in the course of duty—but always at different times. If Shimizu has to wait until Hashira Training to warn Rairi, it's going to be too late, and she panic writes a request to Rengoku to do something so the two of them can talk.
Tanaka takes off without argument into the sunset, and Shimizu pokes at the remains of her dinner as she worries her lower lip. It's already been a month since the fight against Daki and Gyūtarō, which means soon it will be time for Tanjirō to take care of the Swordsmith Village Arc. A lot of heavy defense measures from the Corps is stacked on that end (Rengoku proposed a Hashira defense of the village to Oyakata-sama, who agreed), so missions handling regular demons are more frequent than ever to fill in the gaps. This is the first evening in a while that Shimizu hasn't had any work to take care of, and she's looking forward to just collapsing in a nice cushy hotel bed and praying that she gets a response from Rengoku tomorrow.
"Ah, thank goodness! You're a Corps member, right?!"
Shimizu looks up, catching sight of another Demon Slayer who's out of breath and in tears, their auburn bun in disarray. They look at least a year younger than Shimizu, and her protective instincts kick in. "Yes, I'm a Corps member. Are you okay? Did you get hurt on a mission?"
"No, no, I'm fine, but—" The Slayer takes in a shuddering breath. "I—I was on a mission, with a higher ranker as my mentor but we—we ran into a demon too strong, and he told me to escape, and I couldn't do anything… Please, please go help him; I'm not strong enough on my own!"
Dear Rairi-kun,
I know that I already said that I wanted to meet in person and talk, but I needed to write this as a backup. The truth of the matter is that I'm a time traveler! Surprise?
Well, it's a little more complicated than that, but what you call it doesn't matter. Either way, I know some things that will happen in the future—up to a certain point at least. Remember when I told you about the Hand Demon during Final Selection? How about when I asked if you trusted me before we got recruited by Rengoku-san before the Mugen Train mission? That's because I knew what was going to happen, and I hoped that having both of us there would help change things.
You helped save Rengoku-sama, Rairi-kun. If it weren't for you, he wouldn't have made it through that fight. Please don't doubt that.
But talking about the past isn't what's important right now. Instead, I want to make sure that you're prepared for the future.
By the time winter is over, the Demon Slayer Corps will have defeated Kibutsuji Muzan. However, this will not be without sacrifices. I don't know if we can make it through these fights without anyone dying, but I hope what knowledge I have will be enough to at least save a few people. Which is why I need to apologize to you.
If I could have acted sooner, maybe a piece of the future wouldn't have been left up to chance. I should have trusted you in advance—but I can't change that now. All I can do is make sure you have access to the records I left behind so that you can help where you need to be. I'm certain that if there's anyone who can make a difference, Rairi-kun, it's you. I've seen evidence of that for myself. When you read over my notes, I'm sure you'll understand.
Of course, I would have preferred to share everything with you in person. But if you're reading this, then that wasn't possible, because this…
"Oh," Shimizu says, and she can't help the sad smile that forms on her face—because she should've expected this, because she deserves it for foisting off her problems on others, for not facing things sooner. "It looks like not even Rairi-kun could save you—
"Kaigaku-kun."
…is my last will and testament.
[Author's Notes]
Me, in the early stages of planning this fic: Oh, that would be rude.
Beta Noiz, not even knowing what I was planning: Paige, no.
All and all the piles of thanks to KloanaDreams, gg (Guest), batmanuchiha, F-A-R-1, Knidew, Excitable Spren, EpicMan58, jojbonner, Helia7, lleh, jmckenzie89, ILikeFoxes828, TangentWalkler, Neopolitana, Revanrex, Flamingtortila15, Kyuubi gear, InsidiouslyInspired, DuckTapeDictator, GIOJO42069, Shini-428, La banane et ses plumes, ruggle, Torres Stormer, Destraiker, and Titania031912 for the favorites, follows, and reviews! My numbers have? Kinda been ridiculous thanks to you all? Also I await all your angry comments after the ending of this chap, haha.
I have been sitting on this chapter for ages, too, so I'm very curious about the sort of reactions it will get. As you may have guessed, this is a critical turning point in the story, and we're gonna start hurtling ourselves into the fourth and final act from here on out. Do let me know your theories on what's gonna happen from here on out; they very much fuel me.
It's time for a Taishō Era Secret! While it's not required by any means, a lot of people in the Corps respect the Hashira to a point that it's common to refer to them as '-sama,' which is a term of high respect. Shimizu picked up this habit from conversations with other Slayers and Kakushi she chatted with between missions. Kaigaku, on the other hand, is really good at showing respect (read: sucking up) to people whose good side he wants to get on, which is why he uses this honorific with the Hashira.
If Canon Zenko can have freckles in that one sketch that Gotōge did of her, then regular Zenitsu can have them, too, and you can't stop me. They are pretty faint, though, so you have to be extra close to see them.
Next Time: Your regularly scheduled Rairi POV. Please look forward to it!
-Avi
[01.29.2022]