Crraack!

Suddenly Kamereon heard the sound of metal breaking and his eyes popped open to see that the tip of the girl's blade had broken off and was now lodged in his neck.

"Wh-?!" She uttered with shock and confusion, now staring at the broken weapon in her hands.

"The hell, Shinomori?!" Tengen exclaimed after he'd emerged from the smoke cloud and seen the aftermath of it all. "I thought you said you treated your nichirin well! Why is it broken?!"

"I-I don't know!" She replied tearfully.

"Hah," the demon let out a short sudden breath, startling her. He then started laughing with relief which slowly became more maniacal as he pulled the point out of his neck and tossed it aside.

She tensed up in response and froze, giving Kamereon the perfect moment to attack and he took it. Fortunately for her Tengen was there to pull her out of danger while simultaneously blocking the strike with his own nichirin.

"Finally. Now I see who you really are…Hashira." The demon uttered with an excited smirk after noticing the special inscription on the blades. "I'm offended that you've been holding back on me, but that won't be happening anymore. I shall kill and eat you first, then have the now defenseless girl for dessert."

"I'm not totally defenseless!" The brunette argued with wavering determination. "My weapon may be broken but not my spirit! I can still behead you with this!"

"Not interested. You can wait over there until I'm done with the hashira." Kamereon replied bluntly before pushing her aside and going for her companion.

Fuyume stumbled backwards and watched as Tengen easily and flawlessly blocked and dodged every one of the demon's advances. In fact that was all he was doing as even now he honored their agreement. If he wasn't bound by it he could've beheaded their enemy easily by now.

Suddenly she was beginning to question her purpose and life choices up to this present moment in time. She fell to her knees, feeling a little dejected as she stared at her brother's broken nichirin in her hands, wondering if that choice she made all those years ago was the right one. She felt herself withdrawing into a mental darkness when all of a sudden she heard Tengen's voice calling her back.

"Oi, Shinomori!" He yelled irritatingly and her head snapped up, giving him her full attention. "You said that your weapon may be broken, but you still believe you can sever his neck with it, right?" - she nodded hesitantly in reply - "I'll help you if you need it. Just get over here so we can finish him off before he gets on my…last…nerve!" He then aimed a kick to push the demon away for a minute but his foot went right through him.

Fuyume stood quickly but from that moment onwards time seemed to slow down for her.

Their enemy had pulled another fast one on them, creating a fake to keep the hashira occupied while the real version snuck up behind him. Tengen seemed to notice the real one and was starting to turn towards him but all it looked like to her was what the last moments her brother might have experienced before his death.

She remembered at some point during her training that he had told her to put her own safety above his, but the mental image of Taeru was stronger and now started to overlay against her traveling companion. She could no longer just sit by and watch so she quickly jumped between them without another thought.

Fuyume winced as she took the full force of the attack. Kamereon's claws punctured her stomach and the force of his swing shot her back and she rammed into the nearest tree.

Her ears were ringing from the impact but she could still hear Tengen yelling her name before her body fell limp to the ground. She tried to move and get up, but the pain quickly enveloped her body and her vision was beginning to fade.

The rain started again heavier this time but it was too late. The demon had already had a taste of her blood left on his claws and he wanted more. He ran towards her unconscious body, no longer able to control himself but Tengen beat him to her.

"Oh, no you don't!" He shouted, sounding enraged as he sent the demon flying back with his strongest kick yet. "She's still got some fight in her, so lay off!"

He then swiftly knelt next to her and started to urgently shake her awake. Luckily it didn't take much effort to do so before she started to stir. Gently he lifted and sat her up, leaning her against the tree. She groaned in pain, coughed up some blood, and then slowly opened her eyes.

She noticed him there and started to avert her gaze, but she was startled into looking back at him when her shoulder was firmly grasped. "How could you pull such a reckless stunt?! Have you forgotten what I've taught you?!" He nagged angrily with slight concern.

"I…remembered your rules…" she said apologetically. "But…I saw…I saw my brother, and that's all I could think about. I'm sorry…I'm…" She trailed off, wincing tearfully.

His grip softened but he continued firmly. "Still, you've forgotten that I'm a hashira. I could've easily blocked or dodged that attack." - he paused and took a moment to examine her wound, seeing that it looked pretty deep - "Do you think you'll be able to finish this?"

"I-I think so."

He thought for a long moment but ultimately trusted her judgement. "Okay, take your time to use recovery breathing to stop the bleeding. I'll hold the demon off 'till then." Tengen instructed, then continued reassuringly for good measure. "And don't worry about me. I can hold my own."

Fuyume simply nodded and with that he stood to leave her and confront the demon. As she watched him dash away she tried to steady her breath first and when she felt she had enough strength she took some bandages and bound her stomach with them first. She then continued her steady breathing, trying to locate the wounds and determine how bad they were.

'There's a few burst blood vessels but I have a couple of broken ribs, too.' She concluded in thought. 'That'll make things difficult, but I'll try…'

She increased her focus and tried to put her pain aside as she stinted them one by one. She had barely gotten halfway through when she noticed she was already pretty tired and almost out of breath.

'This is going to take forever!' Fuyume thought with exhausted irritation while taking a short break. She sat still and evened her breath, then suddenly got an idea.

'What if I…?" She continued before sitting up slowly on her own and slowly moved her torso and limbs. 'Seems okay…for the most part.' - she then used quicker more eager movements but instantly flinched in pain from doing so - 'The broken ribs are still a problem though…'

She stumbled into a standing position despite the pain and then concluded aloud with wavering determination. "I think I'll be okay! I've been through worse and I didn't even know recovery breathing back then!" - the sudden thought of Tengen nagging at her again if he found out made her sigh and slump her shoulders - "I just hope I don't get told off for this…"

Finally she located them, stretched to get her muscles moving and then when she felt she was able to rejoin them she did.

"You all healed then?" The hashira asked, gazing at her with a little skeptical concern after falling back to stand by her side.

"Yes," Fuyume replied as firmly as she could, trying not to wince and give herself away. "I only have enough strength for one attack though, so I'll need your help."

He paused and stared at her for a moment, then smirked. "Sure. I even tired him out for you so it should be easy." And he spoke truth, for Kamereon stood across the way with shoulders sagged and panting for breath.

"You…dare mock me, Hashira?" He managed to utter angrily. "I have yet…to get my second wind!"

"Sorry but you won't get that chance." Tengen rebutted before looking to his companion. "Ready?"

The brunette took a deep breath and took her stance, then nodded steadily. The hashira then ran forward to clash with the demon first, aiming to corner him. He easily did so while she steadily made her way to where they agreed they'd drive the demon to.

She then took her stance one final time. The demon was too tired and cornered to dodge, so this was the perfect moment. Unfortunately though he had one more trick up his sleeve.

Kamereon bided his time and waited until her broken sickle was about to make contact with his neck to change his appearance one last time. Fuyume froze for a second as she saw Taeru suddenly staring back at her with pleading eyes.

"He's trying to trick you again in a last ditch attempt! Close your eyes!" Tengen urgently instructed and she did so before continuing to swing her blade.

"You may be able to ignore the image of your brother," the demon quickly stated, getting desperate as he changed his voice this time. "But not his voice!" He then began to plead and call her name.

She hesitated at first but yelled loudly to drown it out as she continued. Her cut had been made, but it left a sliver of flesh attached due to her weapon being broken. That's when the hashira came in, quickly finishing the job before it could be healed.

It was finally done.

The demon that had haunted Fuyume's dreams and thoughts had been defeated, but he still had some final words.

"Heh, impressive. You actually managed to defeat me, girl…mostly anyway." Kamereon stated ominously as his body began to disintegrate. "You would've become a truly strong and delectable slayer, but it seems you won't be surviving the night…either…"

Tengen stood looking at him slightly confused until he heard his companion break into a coughing fit. He turned swiftly to see a worrying amount of blood seeping from her wound and mouth and ran to her side as she fell back against the nearest tree and collapsed to her knees.

He kneeled by her side and started asking angrily with concern, "What's happening?! I thought you had stopped all the bleeding!"

"S-sorry, I lied…I t-tried to s-stint all of the…r-ruptured vessels, but I was r-running out of…t-time and energy fast…" Fuyume answered slowly with difficulty, trying to keep her breathing as steady as she could. She continued tearfully with an apologetic tone. "I…don't th-ink I'll be…able to m-make it t-to Headqu-quarters…to see the Master…though…"

"Don't worry about that. I'll be able to get you there fast enough if I carry you." The hashira suggested, refusing to give up hope just yet. "I'll get you to see a medical team so they can heal you before you go see him."

"No…I've already l-lost far too much blood…and I d-don't have the energy to s-stint the r-rest of my vessels. I'll be gone…before we g-get there…" the brunette argued and the white haired male still seemed to deny that this was happening but still listened attentively to what she had to say.

"Y-You can probably just l-leave me here when…I'm g-gone, but…at l-least take this…with y-you. I k-ind of saw this c-coming and had some blood withdrawn…D-don't worry, the demons sh-ouldn't detect this s-so you'll be safe…"

She pulled out a vile of her blood and offered it for him to take. He gazed at it displeasingly and stated unwaveringly. "I can't do that."

"Please. I at least…w-want to be of s-some use to the corps." She insisted, placing it on the ground beside him.

"I can't just…leave you here either." She smiled sadly and in that moment of silence it started to sink in that he was starting to lose another…

He quickly shook that off and continued somewhat lightly. "I hate to admit to agreeing with a demon but he was right. You would've made a fine slayer."

She chuckled in response. "If I wasn't…so st-stupidly reckless earlier and s-survived tonight, I w-would've…joined and agreed to become y-your tsuguko, i-if you s-still wanted to t-train me…"

"Of course," Tengen replied with a smile. "Even my wives would've pitched in once they rejoined us."

Fuyume looked like she realized something and continued with slight chagrin. "Oh, I r-realize…that might have been a b-bit awkward though, t-traveling with you and your wives…"

He was quick to respond with a reassuring argument. "Nonsense. They would've loved you. You'd be like…part of our family."

She laughed bittersweetly, then coughed some more before taking a deep shaggy breath. With the last of her strength she managed to utter, "Thank you, Uzui Tengen, for helping me with my revenge, and not leaving me to die alone. Thank…you for…everything…" before closing her eyes and giving into death.

'Dammit,' was all Tengen could think when she had gone. 'Let another life slip through my grip…I really am going to hell for this...' - he trailed off, then became defiant and determined - 'Even so I'm not letting this happen again.'


I know how sad this chapter was (trust me it was extremely hard for me to write thank you Koyoharu Gotouge for breaking my tear ducts) and I do hope you'll continue reading to the end, but if you did find it a bitter pill to swallow I did write an alternate version where Fuyume doesn't die.

You can find it in my list of stories titled More than Meets the Eye: Alternate.