"Speech"
'Thoughts'
Sound effects*
Have you ever been in a sensory deprivation room before? I haven't, but given what I'm currently feeling right now - or lack there of - I can't help but assume that this is what it's like to be in one.
Darkness.
Darkness. Complete, utter darkness. I was floating, hovering in a field of reflectionless black. There was nothing, no sound, taste, smell or touch. It was peaceful at first. I felt like I was both nothing and everything at the same time, as if I was hovering in an empty void. Incorporeal and Ethereal. I felt like I was floating within a vast universe, yet nothing else existed aside from me.
As time passed, though, I recalled more of what I was...Who I was. As a corporeal being, and as a Human... I had hands, feet, a body, and long silky raven hair. I remembered what I looked like, and also...that I had everything I could ever ask for, and yet I was unhappy. The reasons for why I felt in such a way I could not recall. And yet - for some reason - I didn't want to. The only things I was willing to remember being some common knowledge of the world I lived in, information I've consumed, and a name. My name.
'Rei.'
I tried curling my fingers and toes. I tried flaring my nostrils, opening my mouth. I couldn't feel anything. There wasn't even the sensation of breath in my lungs or the beating of my heart. Fear took hold quickly, as I realised that the sensations that were supposed to naturally come to me weren't there.
I tried to remember. What it was like to breathe, to feel the sun's warm rays on my skin, to feel the natural warmth and ever pulsing sensation my heart gave off. But nothing. I could not feel any of those natural sensations currently in my body. It's as if I don't even HAVE a body. 'Am I...dead?'
Time passed. I could sense it like I could sense my own consciousness dying in agonising boredom, but I had no reference for the time, no way to know how much of it has passed by. Had I been in this disembodied state of non-existence for an instant or an eternity? I had no idea.
It was only when I felt a prickling pain on my leg that I jolted out of my boredom induced coma.
I had felt something. A piercing sensation on my calves. And a few moments later, I felt it again, only this time, it's 10 times worse. It hurt. It hurt like hell. But I didn't mind. The pain was proof. Proof that I existed outside my consciousness, and that I had a physical body.
Slowly, I opened my eyes, forcing myself awake, and yet my view was still darkened. Apparently, wherever the hell I was didn't have any windo or - given the rough ground I was laying on- any opening for the ligth to seep into this cave. But regardless, I had discovered something far more important.
I wasn't dead.
For a moment I was about to celebrate for feeling like I had a body once more. But before I could even begin to do so, the piercing sensation on my leg came back. something was biting me. What it was, I couldn't tell. But as my instincts naturally kicked in, I kicked Whatever it was that was eating me away from me.
The creature let out a whimper, as it stumbled to the ground, surprised that its meal was still alive.
My eyes began to adapt to the darkness, I squinted my eyes, trying to make out what the creature who had tried to eat my leg off was. It was a wolf. A young wolf cub if his size was anything to go by.
As I kept my eye on it - prepared to retaliate with a rock on my arm - It slowly limped towards me with it's head bowed low. Giving me a clear sign of it's submission.
Seeing this, I let my guard down. I could tell - for some reason - that the wolf cub had no intention of harming me, or...disobeying me in general. "W-where are we?" I asked to no one in particular, my voice coming out weak and raspy.
Looking around the dark cavern. I immediately tried looking for a way out, or - at the very least - find a source of water to quench my thirst. As if it had heard my thoughts. The small wolf cub before me let out a small woof, before running to an unspecified direction, looking back at me as if telling me to follow.
No longer seeing it as a threat, and having nothing better to do. I simply shrugged, before standing up - the pain in my leg having lessened significantly for some reason- and following the cub.
After following the small cub for a couple of minutes. We stumbled into an underground lake. The cave ceiling that should be covering it stopping at the lake's perimeter, with it's surface shimmering brilliantly with the reflections of the night-sky and hundreds of stars, shining like small specks of diamonds scattered everywhere.
I didn't know how long I was in that incorporeal state of existence, but I had forgotten how it was like to see other colors other than just different shades of black, even if those other colours are just white and silver.
Snapping out of my stupper - and unable to think about the water potentially being non potable -, I immediately rushed into the edge of the lake to scoop myself something to drink.
Only to spit it all out the moment it made contact with my tongue. *Pffffft* "The hell?" I whined in indignation. "why the hell is it salt water?"
Behind me, the small cub let out a small whimper. It's ears drooped down, giving it a saddened and disappointed appearance.
for some reason, I had the urge to apologise to the small wolf; patting it's small head that fit right into the palm of my hand. "It's ok buddy, It's not your fault." I said, trying to cheer the little cub up.
Seeing this, the small wolf stood up. walking closer to me. Pointing at me with it's muzzle, then the lake.
In response I looked back at the Lake water, where I saw my reflection. The face I saw was definitely still mine, just more mature, with sharper features and a different coloration than what I remembered from my memories.
My once tanned skin, had turned pale white - as if I had Albinism -, My once obsidian eye, now shined golden in the dark, and my once raven black straight hair, was now a lock of wavy pearl-white with auburn highlights, making it look messy and eye catching at the same time.
In the middle of my brief distraction, the small cub let out a small bark, as if asking if I was ok.
"Sorry little buddy, but I can't drink salt water." I said, as if the wolf cub would actually understand what I'm saying.
To my surprise. the small cub shook its head, before repeating its previous gesture.
"Wait a second, You understand me?!" I said in surprise and confusion. I knew some animal had a semblance of intelligence. But one not only being able to comprehend human speech, but also able to communicate is something I've never seen before.
The cub nodded before tilting its head. As if I was the strange one for not knowing it was capable of communication.
Barking at me, the cub gestured to the lake once more. It was desperately trying to tell me something, but I was unable to deduce exactly what.
Walking towards the Lake, the cub then proceeded to jump in. and - to my surprise - without paddling with its legs, It effortlessly floated on the surface of the Lake.
"How the hel-" the words died on my mouth as I realised...the lake was Hypersaline. Its water contained so much salt that it became denser than my body. Still, despite the realisation that I couldn't drown on the lake, I still failed to see the point of what the cub was trying to tell me. "Ok I get that I'm more buoyant than the Lake water, but I still don't get the point" I told the small cub.
In response. The wolf cub proceeded to twist from its current position - it's back facing the body of water - and...play dead?
A long and confused "Uhhhh...?" came out of my mouth, before the small cub shifted back to it's original position, and it started paddling back towards me. It's muzzle gesturing at me.
It took me a while to get what the little wolf was trying to say, after all, it's not everyday you have to play the mime game with a sentient wolf cub. "Are you telling me you found me here?" I asked the wolf after a few seconds.
The cub happily nodded with a bark in response. His tiny little chest puffing up, seeming rather proud of either his previous accomplishment of saving me, or his more recent accomplishment of managing to successfully communicate with me. I had the feeling it was both.
Looking up at the large hole above us, I smiled. 'I'll finally be able to see the outside world again' I thought, before handing my hand out to the little cub - who I've decided to keep - and saying: "What do you say we get out of here?"
The wolf simply let out a small bark in response, before jumping to my chest and climbing up my head.
It had been a few days after I decided to climb out of the cave I woke up in. It had taken me a lot of wondering around before I could find any source of drinking water; but eventually, I had found a nice flowing river to drink clean water from and to follow back into civilization.
By the time I've decided to follow the river however, the sun had already began rising from the horizon, and I - in turn - had began to get drowsy after a whole night of walking around aimlessly in the forest.
And so, I decided to take a break on a near by miniature cave, evading the sun's rays for a more comfortable sleep, and the little cub staying up to guard me; before comming back out and resuming my search for civilization by nightfall.
It had continued like that for a couple of days, today being the eighth day we've been following the river. Me and the small wolf cub survived by hunting down little foxes and rabbits every night, only ever managing to catch one of either every two days or so.
The first prey we hunted was a small winter rabbit. It's light white-grey fur giving me a pretty good indication of the current season, which ment that right now had to be either autumn or winter.
I was too distracted to notice that in the beginning however, as for some reason - one I've decided to blame on my overwhelming hunger, accelerated heart rate and adrenaline -, I had an instinctive urge to eat the bunny raw as it was when I smelled a drop of its blood. And with nobody there to see me I would've given in to the urge to devour and eat the rabbit whole, but my little companion stopped me. Biting me in the wrist before I could loose my humanity and started acting like a rabid beast.
Since then, I had decided to leave the hunting to the little wolf cub - who I have dubbed Romulus - whiles I did the cooking; to avoid any future scenarios of me losing control and acting like a beast, before I could find out what was causing me to have such an urge.
Finally, after several days of aimlessly following the river, I had found it. 'A village!' I thought, as I began running towards it, Romulus still on my head. 'Finally! I won't have to sleep...in the open...any...mor-' I thought, as I collapsed in the snow, my hunger overtaking me, the cold winter weather finally getting to me.
when I came to, I was laying on a tatami mat, a thick layer of blanket covering me, with Romulus watching over me like usual - this time - besides an Irori.
"you're awake" said a rather old voice behind me.
turning my head to the other side of the room. I saw an old man. He had a kind wrinkled face, with ruby red eyes, a scar or a birth mark that had a crystalline like pattern on his cheekbone, his silver hair covered head having a bald spot on its top, and his long white beard giving off an impression of wisdom that came with his old age.
"Thank you for your hospitality" I said after getting off the tatami mat and bowing to the old man.
"Oh, how polite of you...umm"
"My name is Rei, sir" I said, easing the old man's confusion.
"Rei... Zero?... what an odd name you have" he said with a chuckle. "as for my hospitality. I assure you, it is nothing young man. it is only natural for an old man like me to help a struggling youngling when needed. After all, it's our generation's duty to help the once who will come after us as much as we can... even if it means our demise. Well that's how I see it at least. I've already lived long enough." He added jokingly.
"You're too kind sir" I replied, sitting up. "I promise I'll repay you, sir"
"No need" the old man dismissed. "Let's just get you back to your family, so they can rest easy knowing you're alive"
"So? what's your last name?" he asked. "I have a friend that has a lot of subordinates all over the country. I'm shure he can find your family in an instant if I were to ask his help to look for them"
I looked down to the floor. "I...don't remember, sir" i said.
"Oh...is that so?" the man replied solemnly. "Then do you have any plans on what to do from here on out?" he asked.
I shook my head. "my main priority up until now was to find a way back to civilization, but I've never contemplated what I was going to do afterwards"
Hearing this, the old man frowned. "do you have anything you want to do in particular?" the man asked.
I shook my head once more. "I'm rather fast, agile and pretty strong too. I could do manual labour for a living(?)" I said. My tone more inquisitive than what I had intended. I sounded like a kid asking what he could do to avoid being grownded.
"Do not limit yourself to such a low standard so quickly young man" said the old man. His tone lecturing, like a father telling his child what's good and bad for the first time. "Assess yourself a little better than that. look for attributes you have that might not be obvious at first glance"
"Like what?" I asked.
The man pondered for a couple of seconds, seemingly assessing me with his piercing dark gaze. for a second, I could actually feel a chill run through my spine despite being near the fire. "You were right. Your body seems to be more defined than I had expected. your body seems like it had been trained. maybe you were some sort of warrior before you lost your memories. But still, you're vocabulary seems to be quite extensive given your use of complex words such as Priority, Contemplate and Civilization (I don't know any Japanese complex words so please just let this slide) earlier, which implies that you were fortunate enough to have education beforehand. You could be a merchant, a composer, or a writer if you wanted.
Hearing the old man's words, a certain memory of my past arose. It was me. a younger me. talking. begging to a woman whose features I could not distinguish. "0#π please! Just let it slide just this once! they were just kids. I'm just a kid! Others said it's natural for kids our age to make mistakes"
"No! means no, Rei. you are to cease contact with those lesser kids this instant! you've already had enough exposure to social norms, and have learned enough socialisation skills. you should be fine only concentrating on your studies from here on out. you are the only child your £@#π and I were able to have. So you need to do this to excel in the future!"
"Who give's a shit about what he wants! what about what I want!? I don't give a shit about excelling. All my life, all I ever tried to do was please 0#π - hoping that you would get better - and yet you demanded I do more than what is already considered prodigal with everything I do, to achieve things that are way out of my grasp, to either be the perfect son-trophy or die trying just to impress that horrible man you call my £@#π!"
slap* "don't you dare disrispect me and your £@#π. what do you think we brought you into this world for, huh?
Those memories I chose to not remember resurfaced in that moment. And finally, for the first time since I woke up, I finally understood why I instinctively chose not to remember the memories of my past. I had either been a horrible son, or I was raised in an unfavourable environment that lacked any sense of normalcy or happiness.
"Are you ok Rei?" asked the Old man's worried voice. "You went pale for a second there
"Yes I'm fine Mr..."
"Nemoto Isai" the man replied kindly.
"Foundation and Talented man" I mused. "And You say I'm the one with the odd name"
The old man chuckled, followed by a loud boisterous laughter. "Just so you know, I am a trainer who has trained and cultivated the talents of numerous aspiring warriors wanting to make a name for themselves. so I'd say it's a rather fitting name"
"Warriors?" I asked.
"Yes, like samurai and such" the old man replied.
It was my turn to laugh. "Samurai?" I said amidst my laughter. " Sorry Nemoto-San, but who the hell still wants to become a samurai in this day and age? Is that still even a job?"
The old man mearly let out a sigh. "You're right. nowadays most people would rather just move to the big cities to find new jobs there. I can't really blame them if they have a family to provide for. Besides, it's only natural that people keep up with the changes of the world. You know, I heard that in the big cities, there are giant steaming metal beasts that transports people from one side of the country to the other within only half a day! can you believe that?"
"You mean a train?" I replied curtly.
"You've heard of it" asked the old man.
"Of course! even if I can't remember if I've ever been on one, it's still a pretty common mode of transpor-"
"Sensei, I'm back!" Yelled a voice from the outside.
A short green mop of spiky hair came into view, followed by the face of a girl with cerulean blue eyes - looking no older than 17 -, but with a lean body suggesting intense training and physical conditioning, which is made more evident due to her only wearing baggy hamaka pants, wrapped from ankel to lower knee with leather leg-wraps, and fastened to her hips by her green Haori - which normally would be worn over her sarashi that are covering her...mature features-. In other words: she was basically wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and bra in the middle of winter.
"Ohhh, so the pretty boy is up" she said after seeing me sitting opposite to Nemoto. "Gisei Hana, future Hashira for the Kisatsutai(Demon Slayer Corps). nice to meet ya!"
And with that statement everything made sense. The house, looking like it wasn't built by a licenced architect, the village not resembling anything like a modern day town, the lack of electricity, and Mr. Nemoto not knowing what a train is despite them being known all around the world. I was no longer in the old world where I had black hair and and raven eyes. I was now in the world of Kimetsu no Yaiba.
I decided to stay at Mr. Nemoto's hause - which turns out - to have his Dojo stationed right behind it.
Day turned into weeks and those weeks turned into months. Before I knew it, I had been living in that household for over a year. A year which I had spent living my life normally, or as normal as a guy who's only ever awake at night that is.
In my long stay at Mr. Nemoto's Dojo, I had learned more about the history of the Nemoto household, and I had gotten much closer to both Mr. Nemoto and his apprentice.
I found out that he was once a powerful Kinoe on the verge of becoming a Hashira himself before his retirement. It turns out. The old man once had a family. With a supportive wife and two children.
He had a young energetic boy - the elder of the siblings - , who inherited most of his mother's features and his father's character and talent, and a younger daughter, who inherited most of her father's features and her mother's meekly and shy demeanour. He cherished his wife and both of his children dearly, to the point where he had offered the two kids a position as his future Tsugukos, given that he was already on the brink of becoming a Hashira himself, only needing to slay 14 more Demons to officially obtain the title.
His elder son accepted his father's offer, and started his training for Core breathing. A style that focuses on the fundamentals of breathing techniques, never specialising on a certain aspect to allow the user to modify it as they pleased - making it extremely versatile during combat -, and allowing users to develop their own style in the future. The elder son excelled at his father's teachings, seemingly becoming a prodigy in the art.
The other child - the younger daughter - however, refused her father's offer, stating that she was to meek to become a demon Slayer, and that she could never bring herself to harm another person regardless of whether they were a demon or not. instead, she wanted to become a sword Smith.
Aiming to learn how to fix broken Nichirin blades, so that she could help her brother and other Kisatsutai members that had broken their weapons to return in the feild as fast as possible, whilst waiting for their replacement swords.
She too - Like her brother - was seemingly a prodigy with her chosen profession, managing to get an offer to be taught by a man of the Swordsmith Village itself named Tetsuido and the Swordsmith Village chieftain himself. Both prominent names in the Kisatsutai, having forged powerful signature weapons for numerous Hashiras.
Things were seemingly going well for Mr Nemoto. until the day he was sent to his expedition to kill his 49th demon that is. He had left his two children at home. Both were preparing to leave home on their journey to follow their dreams of becoming a Demon slayer and a Swordsmith respectively, when disaster striked. A fairly recent uppermoon demon had wondered into his town and attacked his family.
His son - being the courageous swordsman that he was - tried to fend off the demon to let his mother and sister escape, despite knowing that he was no match for the monster before him.
He had given the fight all that he had, short as it was. Managing to actually decapitate the demon at the cost of his left arm. At the sight of the demon's fallen head, the boy let his guard down; celebrating his victory over such a foe, despite the early end of his career.
His celebration was cut short however, as his chest was pierced from behind. His still beating heart pulsing right in front of him, before the demon pulled its arm back, eating his heart like some sort of fruit.
despite facing defeat and certain death, the boy couldn't help but to let out a small smile, consoling himself from his defeat with the thought of him at least having succeeded in buying his mother and sister enough time to escape.
His final thoughts of a triumphant death was immediately squashed however, by the arrival of both his sister and mother to the battle feild - both dragged by a pink sash of sentient obi -.
His family cried out in horror as the demon he had been fighting move to face him and took his ruby red eyes. "Fighting you was a major pain, so I'll be having these as compensation" she said, eating it like candy, whiles the young man continued to scream out in pain.
"Did you know that when one of your senses are destroyed, the others get heightened to compensate?" said another demon. Its voice more masculine than the other.
As Mr. Nemoto's son remained kneeling on the ground, powerless and too weak to even scream and curse the demons, his lifeblood continuing to gush out of him - forming a puddle of red bellow him. He could hear the demon's devouring his family, arguing which one gets to eat who.
"No, you take the old hag! she's too old and wrinkly now. After all, a beautiful being such as me can only eat beautiful things with soft young and tender skin." Said the female demon.
"Fine" Yielded the gruffer voice of the other demon. "I'll eat the old hag. In exchange tho, I get to eat pretty boy over there as well"
"Sure thing. I'm already getting full anyways"
The demons then proceeded to eat Mr. Nemoto's already dead son. only leaving his wife partially eaten and still barely alive for when Mr. Nemoto arrived witnessing the disaster.
With her last ounce of strength. Mr. Nemoto's wife told him of the tragic event. How his son fought bravely till the end, how her and his daughter was eaten, and how she wanted him to stop being a demon slayer, and live a normal life. Trying to protect her husband from the same end her and her children had suffered.
Mr. Nemoto complied to his wife's last wishes. He retired from the Kisatsutai, giving up on his dream of becoming a Hashira, and tried to turn over a new leaf by moving to another town. But despite his wife's last wish to cut all ties with the Kisatsutai. He could never give up his love of swordsman ship. Deciding to open a Dojo to help the future generations of young and aspiring demon slayers by giving them all the tools necessary to survive.
It was a couple of decades after this that he met a young lost girl who ran away from her family in the woods. She was covered in small cuts and bruises when Mr. Nemoto had found her. she looked frail and skinny, her eyes sunken like she hadn't slept for months.
When Mr. Nemoto tried to bring the girl back to her family, the girl fought back with all her might, fighting like some kind of cornered rabid animal, and managing to impress Mr. Nemoto with her swordsman ship skills. It was then, that Mr. Nemoto offered to teach her as his disciple. Only later finding out that she was the daughter of a rich merchant who was arranged to marry a man decades older than her and that she had never even met.
Refusing to go along with her parents' wishes, she ran away to follow her own dreams and teach herself to become a fine swordswoman. Later ending up in the woods with nowhere to go, where Mr. Nemoto would later find her.
The student and teacher grew closer as time passed by. With Mr. Nemoto teaching the girl everything her parents should've in their place, and treating her like his own blood; the two eventually becoming something more akin to a father and child, rather than a student and teacher.
I too - along with Romulus -, was treated as part of this family. Although finding out that I physically couldn't be awakened during the day was a bit strange for the two hosts. They eventually relented when they woke up the next day, with me having already cleaned both the entire house and the Dojo spotless during the earliest hours of the morning before the sunrise.
I didn't want to just leach off of Mr. Nemoto and his student, who I had gotten close enough to call by her first name: Hana, After she found out that I was actually capable enough to keep up with her and became her sparring partner before dinner. Personally though, I think she just has a hidden sadistic side to her, given that I'm always beaten to the ground everytime we sparred. Me only managing to get a few hits in before crumbling to the ground.
My days in the Nemoto house would go as follows: Wake up and Spar with Hana before preparing dinner, wash the dishes and fix my bed whilst my two house mates prepare to go to bed, either play with Romulus or go out to visit and help out in some shops that are open 24/7, start cleaning the house and the Dojo, cooking breakfast for myself and the other two - me eating mine and washing my plate -, before waking Hana up for her morning routine and going to bed, right as the sun begins to rise.
The year that I had been a part of that household passed by like a short dream. Hana was now preparing to leave for the final selections and Mr. Nemoto has now fallen ill. Apparently, the continuous overexertion he put his body through, along with his constant use of total concentration breathing in his youth without properly maintaining his lifestyle after retirement caused his body to slowly deteriorate. (Little did I know that the actual reason for his sickness was actually because he managed to awaken his mark just before his retirement)
"I'll be off tomorrow sensei. Rest easy, I'm shure I'll pass the final selection. You're the one who trained me after all." Said Hana to her sleeping master. "Take care of him for me" she added, whiles giving me a solemn smile.
"Are you shure you can't stay until the old man passes?" I asked.
"No. I know he'd want to see me become a demon slayer before he dies. He told us so himself." she said with a mirthless chuckle. "If I don't go now, his suffering would only last longer. His body is now frail and old. Even the doctor couldn't find out how he's still alive. I can only hope that he will finally go to rest when I come back home an official member of the Kisatsutai."
Having clearly lost the argument, I could only convince her to bring Romulus with her as an extra precaution for the exam, before promising her that I would take care of her father figure whiles she was away. Little did I know, this would be the last time I would ever see her and the old man together.
On the fifth day of the final selection, Mr. Nemoto's condition seems to have deteriorated even further, as he began coughing uncontrollably all day long. His fever seems to have risen and his breathing started to become more and more shallow. all signs of his impending death. That night, the old man began coughing up and throwing up his dinner, along with a concerning amount of blood?
"Just hold on a little longer, old man" I said whiles gently patting his back. "Hana's gonna pass the selection, I'm sure of it."
"I know" *cough* "she is" Said the old man, struggling to suppress his coughing fit. "I just..." *cough* "don't know if..." *cough* *cough* "I can.." *blaargh*. The old man before me let out a retching noise, as he began to throw up even more blood, and I immediately got him to his bed before telling him I was going to town to find him a doctor that could help expand his life, even if it's just for a few more days.
I immediately dashed off the house, faster than I ever have before. Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was because Mr. Nemoto's life was on the line, or maybe just the fact that I've never pushed my self to run as fast as possible before now. But one thing was certain, I was determined to make shure the two student and teacher that took me in as their own would meet one last time, and have a chance to give their proper farewell.
As I arrived at the center of the small town, I was immediately greeted by the countless people whose shops I helped out. But given the urgency of my situation, I ignored every single one of them, focusing my tunnel vision on the clinic I've visited countless times to help me find out a way to wake up during the day.
"Dr. Nobasu!" I yelled, as I slammed open the door to his closed clinic.
"Wha- What the hell brat! be more careful with-"
"I need your help! Mr. Nemoto is..."
The Doctor immediately stood up, grabbing as many viles, elixirs and injections he could, before putting them into his emergency aid kit, not even bothering to make himself look more presentable. "Let's get going, brat"
I immediately grabbed the man and slung him on my shoulder like a sac of rice. There was no time for formalities, the old man needed help as soon as possible.
The Doctor seems to have noticed my worry and concerns regarding the old man, as he stopped himself from pretesting for being handeled like that.
As we got half way to the old man's house however, I felt a tinge of rage comming from the back of my head; followed by an extraordinary amount of worry and pain, which made my concerns for the old man grow even more exponentially.
'What the hell is happening?' I thought, as I began to speed up even more, the Doctor slung to my shoulder letting out a screm of fear due to the sudden increase in speed.
As we got closer and closer to our destination however, a voice suddenly came to me, Followed by an overwhelming sent of blood and Wisteria surrounding me. 'Help Hana' said the voice, sounding weak and pained.
'Must protect...from enemies...' It said once more, before a sudden realisation came to me. It was Romulus! I was hearing his thoughts somehow. which also ment that... "Hana is in danger" I blurted out, as I was now suddenly put in a position with even higher stakes than just getting Dr. Nobasu to Mr. Nemoto in time.
On the one hand, I could let Hana and Romulus be, and focus on the task at hand. I was confident in their abilities to handle what ever enemy they might face, whiles the old man seemed like he might pass any second now. But on the other hand, Romulus said "enemies", which means that they were facing multiple opponents, and that they were being ganged up on by multiple demons with the same or higher level as them, putting them on a rather unfavourable situation where their victory - or even simply just their survival- would depend on whether they could hold on long enough until the sunrise.
I was split between the two choices, mainly due to the fact that whoever I chose to leave be might die. But it was at that moment that I remembered my very first conversation with Mr. Nemoto. "It is our generation's duty to help the once who will come after us as much as we can... even if it means our demise." That. Along with another thought of Romulus' echoing in my head was what pushed me to make the decision that I, to this day, don't know whether I should regret or not.
As I let down the Doctor, instructing him on how to get to Mr. Nemoto's hause from here on out and vaguely telling him that there was an emergency elsewhere, I immediately made a B line towards Mt. Fujikasane - Where the final selection was being held -, hoping that I would get there in time to save my friends.
We were lucky enough to live close to the site of the final selection, it only being a day and a half's worth of travel by foot. Even more luckily for me, is the fact that - for some reason - my physical abilities seem to have spiked even further from their already above average levels a year ago, and I managed to get there just before the early morning sunrise.
The site that greeted me was like that of a nightmare, blood splattered everywhere, Romulus struggling to get up whiles leaning on a tree; And Hana... Her right leg torn from the knee down, a diagonal cut reaching from her left shoulder to the right side of her waist, and her left eye gone and out of it's socket. But she was alive, the slow rising and falling of her chest giving me comfort and keeping me sane. Preventing me from giving in to that animalistic bloodlust I felt the first time I hunted for an animal to eat.
Demons were lined up along a part of the perimiter of the protective barrier of Wisteria that was supposed to be keeping them confined within the mountain. 'How the hell did you even get yourself into this situation, Hana!' I thought, before looking further behind the demons, and noticing how exactly they came to overcome the wall of Wisteria. There was a portion of the wall of flowers whose trunks were cut and damaged, which - in time - caused it's flowers to rott and open up a hole in the barrier.
A snickering laughter came from Hana's direction, as I immediately snapped my head towards her body, where I found a demon standing on top of her munching on something.
The small strand of sanity that has been keeping me calm and collected was instantly broken when the demon standing over her put its foot on her head. "What, You want some?" He said, offering me Hana's right leg after taking a bite off of it. "Just kidding! I ain't giving you jack shit. We've been stuck in this damn place for ages. We ain't gonna share no food to someone from the outside who had the luxury of eating as many humans as he wants, whenever he wants"
"Why on earth would you even think of comparing yourself to me" I said in a growl.
"What's that supposed to mean?" replied a different voice near the wall of Wisteria.
"Aren't you a demon too?"
"He certainly smells like one?"
Added some other demons
Not bothering to respond, I immediately dashed towards the demon atop of Hana before kicking him away towards the others and carrying her towards Romulus.
I didn't know why I didn't respond to what the other demons before me just said. Maybe I already knew somewhere deep down within me that I was one, or maybe it was the compleat refusal to acknowledge what they were saying. I didn't care though. Because regardless of who or what I was, in that very moment, all I could see was red, bloody crimson red and it was all directed toward them.
The pupils within my golden irises turned into slits, as my body began to undergo a subtle and slight change, making me look more feral. My hair started to grow longer, past my shoulders, reptilian like scales started appearing around my eyes, forearms, and legs, my finger nails started turning into claws, and my canines grew larger and sharper, almost resembling those of a vampire. 'They were right' I thought, as I began tearing up, drool dripping from my mouth. Sad, heartbroken and yet Eager to kill, no, devour them. 'I really was... A demon'
To my surprise however, I felt a small callused hand hold mine, preventing me from losing my mind and destroying everything in sight. "You're...not...a...demon" Hana said with blood pouring out of her mouth. "Not...to Us"
And just like the last time I almost went rabid, I was snapped back into reality. This time with a transformation that reverted me back into a more humanoid looking demon. "Stay here" I told her, whiles lowering her hand. "I'll be right back"
With my conquering of my bloodlust for the second time, I had entered a state of compleat clarity. I was no longer even thinking of fighting, rather, It was like I was observing someone else - who knew exactly how I needed to move - take control over my body. It simply moving on its own, like It knew exactly what I wanted to do.
Kill the demons and protect Hana.
That's all my body did. Or - at least - what it was trying to do. There were simply too many of them to keep at bay, and they all had different abilities which made figuring out how to deal with them individually more complicated than necessary, not to mention the fact that more and more of them keep showing up.
During my struggle against the ever increasing wave of demons trying to escape the mountain, I received a vision - or rather - a memory. From... Romulus?
It was his memory of how he found me, floating in that underground lake. this time though, I could see what exactly it was that the cub saw.
At first, he was falling into the cavern, but the lake where he had landed, no, the entire cavern was different. Glowing red and blue vines covered the dark cavern walls, making it seem like the cavern was covered with the veins and arteries of a gigantic ethereal being. Said vines converging on the hypersaline Lake, covering it enough to the point where the fallen cub had just simply walked on its surface towards my sleeping form, not even realising there was a body of water underneath him.
I was laying in the middle of the lake of red and blue. Vines spread all throughout my body. On my chest stood what seemed to be a blooming spider lily. It's colour, rather than It's traditional red, was a gradient of glowing saphyre and ruby, it, like the vines all over the cavern, glowing ethereally in the sunlight.
As soon as the sunlight from the setting sun stopped hitting its petals however, the plant on my chest started coiling up towards my body, before compleatly sinking within my chest and dissipating throughout my insides, as the vines all around the cavern walls and the Lake began to crumble into dust.
Romulus fell into the Lake, before realising that he wouldn't drown regardless if he swam or not. Looking back at me, the cub decided to bite into my leg - Accidentally drinking some of my blood in the process -, before dragging me throughout the cavern, looking for eather a way out, or someplace else to eat me.
As someone who didn't read the manga, and have only gotten to the second season of the anime, I couldn't understand the significance of the memory that was shared to me. But luckily for me, I knew someone who does...I hope. "Romulus!" I yelled out, before kicking away a demon who was trying to charge toward Hana.
The wolf looked up, seemingly hoping that I had a plant to get out of the stressful situation.
"When you drank my blood is when we got connected wasn't it?!" I asked, or rather, shouted to the wolf who just nodded in confirmation. "Does it come with anything else or what?" I added whiles picking up a demon by the ankel and throwing it towards its other two companions.
I seemed to be holding the line, yet, for how much longer I couldn't tell. I had only been fighting for half an hour, but I already felt exhausted. Small bruises and cuts littered my pale body, them slowly healing due to my being a demon, the problem however, laid with my multiple bone fractures and broken ribs, which made every single one of my movements more sluggish and causing agonising pain. I could only hope that the sun would start rising soon. otherwise - screw me and Romulus - I wouldn't even be able to get Hana help in time.
Seeing as the wolf didn't seem like it could give me an answer, I yelled out a curse of frustration, as I was about to go charge the demons before me once more having no other choice but to by more time. "Damn it Remus!" I yelled, accidentally saying the name of the brother of the historical figure I name the wolf cub after.
Like a flash of lightning. A purple light erupted from Romulus, before leaping towards my hand, now no longer a wolf cub, but a small hand held sythe.
Just like what had happened to my body when I started fighting, my mind seems to have re-entered that clear mental state, where my body instantly knew the basics of how to use my new weapon, and how to use my blood demon art(how the hell am I only finding out about this now) in conjunction with it.
Seeing this, the demons before me took a step back, out of worry of what I had just done. Which was probably something that they've never seen before.
In response, I began slowly spinning my improvised Kusarigama made by Remulus' weapon form and my blood demon art - which I used to make and give the weapon chains -, as I began walking menacingly towards the demons, who - in retaliation - began charging towards me.
I threw the Scythe like weapon towards them in an arc, making shure to extend the weapon's reach as much as possible using my new blood demon art: coagulation; causing the deamons in front to get caught by the chains, which then used them as a pivot for the Scythe that spun around them, decapitating or bisecting every other demon within the weapon's circumference.
Before the Scythe's chains could run out and impale itself to one of the demons trapped by it, I decided to pull on the sharp chains, causing them to rub against the wrapped up demons and rip of their skins, before the end of the chain - which held the Scythe - ran through them as well, bisecting them in the process.
As the small sythe that was Romulus came back to my hand, I dashed off towards the remaining deamons who still hasn't been scared off by the stunt, before slicing them into pieces one by one, pulling back the ones who managed to slip from me with my weapon's extendable chains, before either tearing them apart, using them as a meat shield or throwing them into other incoming demons. It was a blood bath. A massacre. A one sided battle which scared off the rest of the demons who were originally trying to escape their prison.
I stood there. Exhausted, in pain, but victorious; as every demon around me have been bisected, and I proceeded to cover every single piece of demonic body with my blood, which I then proceeded to coagulate into a state harder than steel, for they would most likely attempt to reattach themselves to the rest of their demonic bodies if left unsupervised, before piling them all on top of each other to block the breach in the circumference of Wisteria. Keeping them and the other demons within the mountain in place until the sunrise.
My body hurt, and given my inability to even stand up straight, I knew I wouldn't be able to get Hana back to Mr. Nemoto's house in my current condition, and that's why I prompted for the next best option. Asking the nearby Kakushi for help.
As Romulus approached the group of Kakushis whiles carrying Hana in his back and dragging me with his fangs, a group of 3 slayer stood before us, gesturing for the Kakushi to stand back.
"We need help" I said looking up to the slayer in the middle. "There was a breach in the Wisteria barrier, and the demons that kept trying to escape attacked us. We held them back, but my friend...she's in critical condition, please...help us" I added, struggling to keep awake due to the rising sun. Now that I've found out I was a demon, I should've been afraid of the imminent sunrise, but in that moment, my only concern was to get Hana some help.
Fortunately for us, the slayers didn't ask any further questions before carrying me and Hana off of my Wolf companion, and putting us on a medical bed, before pulling us both into an improvised clinical tent, with rooms seperated only by large cloths to give the current patients and medics some sense of privacy.
It was to my surprise to hear that during this particular exam, a Hashira - the insect hashira - was also being stationed here to help the Kakushi with healing any injured participants. Apparently, this was due to one of the participants being her Tsuguko and younger sister. 'So, this is also Tanjiro's final selection huh?' I thought, before a shadow began looming over me followed by a: "Moshi Moshi~"
"Are you ok?" added the sweet gentel voice of the petit woman staring above me.
"Yeah, I'll be fine" I answered, my eyes barely open, before turning my head towards the loud and frantic room of my friend a few meters away from me. "Tend to her first. I'll disappear in a few seconds anyways"
"Well that's a rather pessimistic thing to say~"
"Not really" I replied malinconically, already having seen the small opening on the corner of the tent's roof, guaranteeing that sunlight will reach me eventually. "I'm just stating facts"
"But still... are you seriously telling me that you'd risk not getting treatment in time, just for an ever slightly better chance of someone else - who would inevitably be stuck in a bed after this - to survive?" Argued the Hashira.
"Hashira-sama please!" I Yelled in desperation. "My friend is in a far more critical condition than I am"
"Judging by the multiple fractures and broken ribs that are currently puncturing your lungs, I don't think so" she retorted.
Not knowing how to convince the woman before me I could only beg her with my pained voice. "Please. She has to meet someone, one last time. I on the other hand, have no one to leave behind, nothing to lose. I know that as a doctor, the most logical course of action is to treat the one with a higher chance of survival, but please, just this once, go for the one with the lower chance. I'm begging you"
To this, the Hashira could only let out a sigh before nodding and walking towards my friend's room. "I'll do my best, but please...don't get your hopes up"
"That's all...I could...ask...for" I replied, before falling into a deep slumber.
[With Gisei Hana]
The were countless Kakushis tending to me as I drifted in and out of consciousness due to the anesthetics. Some focused on the stump that was once my right leg, some were giving me a blood transplant, some were checking for any other internal injuries, some trying to patch up the wound on my torso, and some trying to clean up clotted blood on my eyes socket, to prevent any infection.
I was about to lose consciousness once more, when the Kakushis seemingly stopped working, and made way for a small woman, dressed in the traditional Kisatsutai uniform, covered by an elegant white Haori with butterfly wing like patterns and a purple butterfly hairpin that kept her hair tied back.
"One of you go to the other tent where this patient's companion is. Start the initial treatment and Keep him alive until I get there" The small Hashira ordered before putting a medical mask on and slipping on her surgical gloves, as she began to treat me and my injuries, which she did so elegantly and skillfully, as if she was playing an instrument rather than operating on a human being.
"You're friend is a very persistent young man you know" she said, after around half an hour of operating on my body and instructing the Kakushi on what to do to assist her.
'My friend? Who the hel-...' "Rei!" I suddenly blurted out, almost sitting up from the medical bed, before immediately being pushed down by the small Hashira.
"I guess you're just as hard headed as he is" she said in a light, almost joking tone.
Feeling the anesthetic about to kick back in, I immediately grabbed the Hashira by the collar of her uniform, before pulling her towards me. "Listen, you need to get my friend somewhere where the sun's light doesn't reach. And no matter what he says, he is NOT a demon. you understand me!" I said, trying to make shure that they wouldn't har my friend, no, my brother, whiles we were both out. "He save me. He is the only reason why I managed to survive this long, without him, I would've been dead long ago. without him, the demons would've escaped the mountain and attacked many other innocents. So before you try to kill him without even giving him a chance...just keep...that...in...mind" I finished, before falling back unto unconsciousness.
[With Shinobu]
As soon as those words came out of Hana's mouth, a loud shriek could be heard from Rei's side of the tent.
A Kakushi came running towards us screaming in fear, with tears running down her masked face. "Help! somebody Help! that patient, he- He's a demon!"
My eyes widened, before I looked back at my recently passed out patient, who was spewing nonsense - or so I thought she was - until a few seconds ago.
"Please lady Hashira! kill him now!" the Kakushi said whiles kneeling before me, begging for my protection.
"What are the basis of your diagnosis?" I asked, still disbelieving whiles looking down at my subordinate on the ground.
"M-maam! He had claws for nails, his canines were sharp and elongated, his eye were slit when I checked his retnas, and most importantly, when I made an incision on his chest to fix up the rib that was puncturing his lung, the wound immediately closed before disappearing! all of which are clear indications that he is a demon"
"Only one broken rib puncturing his lung?" I muttered under my breath. "He had multiple of those when I checked him"
"what should we do, lady Hashira?" said one of the Kakushi currently operating on Hana.
"You keep operating on this patient, I'll go check on the other one" I said, before walking out the small room and removing my masks and gloves.
When I arrived to my first patient's room, I immediately drew out my sword, whether to defend myself or eliminate the boy, I still wasn't shure.
He had appeared kind, gentle and caring when I spoke to him. He had no bloodlust, no malicious intent towards me, the other medics, or the other patients in the clinic. He just seemed...at peace.
Stealing myself for the potential confrontation, I slowly approached the bed. Before noticing the sunlight peeking out a small tear in the corner of the tent.
At first I was rather hesitant to fulfil my duty due to my earlier patient's words. I already felt exhausted trying to carry out my sister's will, and I didn't want to admit it, but the truth was, that deep down, I was secretly hoping that I had finally found it, what my sister wished for, what I had wished for.
A proof that the dream that I had inherited from my sister wasn't just a fools delusion, as everybody said it was. I had hope, for the first time after years of nothing but vile and deceitful demons, that my sister's final word wasn't just a wishful,fancy fairytale that would never come true. But I couldn't risk it. Not when the lives of every patient and Kisatsutai members in the clinic depended on my decision.
If this boy was just another regular and ordinary demon, then shure, I would've taken the risk of not killing him right away, since I could easily dispose of him if he turned out to be just another deceitful demon. But the problem was however, the fact that he wasn't.
According to the reports of one of the demon slayers that went to check on the breach of the Wisteria barrier before the sunrise, the breach was covered up with a pile of around 40 or so demons, covered by hardened blood that seemd to be as hard as steel. Which the young demon slayer found out after trying to hack at it with his Nichirin sword.
Inching closer and closer to the boy, I slowly raised my sword, steeling myself to stab the boy in the heart with my Wisteria poisoned sword, for the sake of everyone currently in the medical tent, I would not, could not hesitate. But I did so anyways, not being able to give up on this small ray of hope before me, to the point where I decided to drop my blade and - instead of killing the boy myself - proceeding to push the boy's bed closer to the small ray of sun in the corner of the room instead. it was all up to fate now. Whether I would give this boy a chance or not, all dipended on whether or not the sun's ray could reach him.
As the ray of ligth slowly started to reach his bed and I began losing hope however, I could hear small continuous flaps of wings that seems to have circled our medical tent, each flaps seemingly increasing in volume and frequency, and at the same time dimming the sunlight that was about to reach the young demon boy before me. "What is hap-?"
"Lady Hashira!" barged in one of the demon slayers ment to be guarding the tent. "Outside! The- There's a murder of crows outside! All gathered here in behalf of the Master himself!"
Before I could even ask for the young slayer to elaborate, a small crow squeezed itself into the small opening in the tent's roof, essentially blocking any sunlight from reaching the inside of the tent. "The Demon boy is not to be harmed!" It exclaimed with a caw. "He is to be taken care of and escorted to the Ubayashiki estate, effected immediately!" *caw* "Our murder will cover the sunlight from reaching him! And the master's children along with the Hashira shall escort his guest to his home as protection to anyone who might harm him!" *caw*
I looked around, confused, flabbergasted and my mouth agape as my violet eyes landed on my patient's sleeping form. To not only manage to pique Oyakata-sama's interest and be welcomed as a guest to his home, but also make him go through so much trouble just to ensure his safe arrival...
"Just who is this boy?"
[In the Ubayashiki mansion]
"So he was your latest apprentice, huh Mr. Nemoto" I thought, as I faced my head towards my garden, no longer able to see its beauty, but still remembering it perfectly, as I began picturing it in my head with my memories, making shure to add every single minimal detail.
I had already dispatched my best and fastest Kasugai Crows to the scene. Hopefully they'll reach your boy before Ms. Kocho can do anything drastic to him. And if he really is as pure, kind and caring as you wrote in this letter of yours, then we might finally have another trump card against Muzan that the Kisatsutai has been waiting for for almost 500 years.
Worry not good sir, for I will do everything within my power to make shure this last gift you have left us won't be wasted. "Thank you for everything you've done and given for the Kisatsutai until now, Nemoto-Sensei."
A/N: Hey Reih here, School is finally almost over and I can finally work on some of the projects I had in mind during the whole year, but I couldn't work on it, so I decided to make a short one-shot to practice my writing skills and get back into making them. I had a fun time making this and I hope you had a fun time reading it as well.
[IMPORTANT]
As you can probably see by reading this one shot, I left a lot of things unresolved, making it more of a prologue more than anything. That's because I see a lot of things I could do with this story if I decided to continue it, so If you want me to make a series out of this then pls share this to a friend to increase the amounts of follows and favourites, and leave a comment saying you want a chapter two to motivate me enough and take this one shot more seriously and make another chapter to turn this into an actual story.