"Shit." The girl cursed under her breath before steadying herself using the frail tip of her wooden sword, The pressure of her body making it penetrate through the cold snow. "This pain is going to kill me!" Her whole body was hurting like crazy. And, It was hard to breath. The air seemed to be a little denser than usual resulting in the girl panting heavily.

Her clothes were covered in dirt and small scratches etched all across her amateur body. While some of them seem to have healed a little, blood was dripping from the side of her legs which were almost completely bruised.

"But i... I mastered it...finally… after three years…" the girl whispered to herself. The thought of it made a smile escalate on her lips. today. All the eight forms of her breathing. Felt like it took eighteen years just to learn the last one, but the hardwork poured into this was worth it.

The feeling in her chest was satisfaction. Satisfaction to be able to watch herself grow out of her small cocoon of comfort. It almost feels like a dream, actually.

A figure appeared in front of the girl but went unnoticed since her eyes were long locked to the ground while she tried to control her breathing properly.

It gently placed its hand on her worn out shoulders. The touch felt nostalgic. Just who was this person?

"You did well, Eira."

The girl's eyes widened as she hastily turned her head up, ignoring the slight pain in her neck. To her shock though, there was nothing except a couple of leaves floating in front of her. The figure had disappeared into thin air. She blinked in confusion as there wasn't any aura she could detect either.

"I must be hallucinating then…" she straightened up, pulling the katana out of the snow. This was probably the most reasonable answer she could think of for this weird feeling, considering she hasn't eaten or slept for three days. Well, Except some of the knockouts she faced after getting hit on the head by a frickin' flying tree.

"Okay, after destroying all of the traps. I'm leaving for god's sake!"

She took in a deep breath, holding her sword by her right hand and ran straight towards a bunch of sharp planks aimed for her.

)_(

"Finally... Just a couple more steps and then..." The girl limped through the snow, clawing her because hell if she backs down now and just lie on the ground like a loser. She wasn't weak.

However, her sensei showing up out of nowhere and challenging her to a 1v1 was unexpected. Although, he gave her a small break before that, it was still so hard to even stand up. Even though her body felt like it was numb and sore after the test, he had finally recommended her to the final selection and she couldn't be more grateful for all he has taught her. He indeed is a great teacher.

Suddenly, her left eye started twitching, clearing her thoughts away as a sigh left her lips.

"Dad said… if the left eye ever starts twitching, it means good luck..." her eyes soon started becoming watery.

Its been about four years since her father has died because of pancreatic cancer.

She still remembers the hurtful expression on her mother's face as he uttered his last words.

"stay strong, Eira. Love your mother… she's not a bad person. I'll watch from above… okay?"

Her scoff. Her eyeroll. Her crossing her arms on her chest like him talking was just a waste of her time, was just too much to take in.

An arranged marriage was what brought her mother and father together in the first place. She truly can't blame her mother to love a man she'd barely knew either.

Even if they tried, they both just couldn't bring themselves to love each other. In the end, they seperated. Her mother was forced to come back to her village with her own parents while she and her dad decided to stay at the same cottage since that was all they could, and were able to afford considering they sold chopped wood for a living.

Her father was starting to being called names by the fellow villagers after she left because he could "neither be a good husband or a good artist" Which was completely false. those people were just complete morons to ignore his amazing talent that he passed onto the girl. She did too, draw sometimes. Alone though, because the others kids would usually bully her.

Her mother said she still did care about the girl so she would often visit during the summer.

The girl did not particularly liked her visits.

"Mico, you here?"

A small black figure instantly ran out of the small cottage at its name being called.

She crouched down at the cats level holding her katana out. "Take this, will you?"

The cat meowed in return and picked the said thing between it's teeth. he was so obedient today. must've sensed the girl's tired demeanour.

"Alright then, put it beside the wood chunks. I'll prepare the beef for the gyūdon."

)_(

The girl clapped her hands together. "Thank you for everything."

Mico rubbing his belly with his small paws was the first thing she was able to see after opening her eyes. He was so human-like, it was almost scary.

"You had quite the feast, didn't you?"

Before the cat could comprehend what his owner had said, two rough and cold hands caught him, pinning him to the floor aggressively rubbing its head.

Mico hissed as The girl burst out laughing.

The cat comically puffed it's cheeks in hoax anger, making her laugh even harder.

"Well..." She managed to speak. "its good that you did."

"Because i won't be here for some time after tomorrow. I have to take the final selection exam tomorrow."

The cat blinked at her in boredom and huffed noisily.

"What was that for?"

"Meow meow meow."

The girl raised her eyebrow. "Heh?"

"Sometimes I wish you could talk..."

But then again, you give off an aura of someone who just wouldn't shut up.

The girl relaxed her tensed body and pressured it on the palm of her hands, leaning back and staring at the ceiling.

This was peaceful. Much too peaceful, actually. If this went just a little back in time it would've been a completely different story.

The voices of her mother and father screaming at each other about the smallest of things are still clear as day.

She wasn't scared of her mother but it's just the aura she gave off that was kinda intimidating.

She hasn't even spoke a word to her about being a demon slayer, rather, she just can't. Taking in an example of a couple months ago, when her mom came to visit. when the girl had already started training for a quite a while behind her back.

The moment she took off her kimono to wear the one brought by her mother, she went all nuts on her because of the scar on her back. Screeching in her face that she was "too beautiful to get an ugly scar like that"

Remembering the dumb excuse she had to make for it to pass by, made the girl cringe.

She did understand that her mother might've been just concerned but, when people someone constantly bugging them about their bodies, its kind of annoying.

She also, very well knew that eventually, the day would come when she'll have to tell everything but it hasn't yet, why not wait until then?

After cleaning the bowl and pots, the girl hurriedly spread her futon.

The exam was at night meaning that she could train till the afternoon before leaving for the fujikasaneyama mountains.

She quickly swooped under her blankets as a black figure plopped beside her.

"Mico, are you cold?"

The cat almost gasped in surprise. Of course not. he could handle this, obviously.

"Meow!"

Suddenly the same hands caught him, again! He definitely needs to work on his reflexes.

She held up her blanket and placed the ball of fur a little farther away from her. "You can sleep here, just don't touch me though. I'm cold as an ice cube."

Her temperature somehow had always been very, very lower compared to an average human. There had been no reason whatsoever behind it though.

)_(

Before the girl knew it, the sun had already taken the place of the beautiful cresent moon. She was still asleep. Totally behind her normal routine. Had it been any other day, she would've been lying somewhere in the woods, half dead by all the training.

A slight voice of someone opening the sliding door to her cottage made her Instantly sit up.

who is it? a demon?!

a chill ran through her spine. she had kept her wooden sword away and her steel one had been packed beside her kimono which was kept in a different room.

The stranger took a step forward as she gulped hard.

Im going to die. There's just no denying it. Shit.

As the girl caught the glimpse of the red locks she instantly calmed down.

"Oh sensei, its just you. My bad, i should've recognised your aura." A couple of her lightly tied blue-ish white locks fell on her shoulders as she gave a weak bow.

thank fucking god.

"Eira, before going today, why don't you come with me for a bit?" The man asked with a smile.

The girl nodded and returned the gesture. "hai. I'll quickly wear my kimono-"

"Meow."

"yes, yes. I'll bring you a bucket of fishes before leaving for the final selection. So needy"