On the fourth day there was light. A brighter sky than the previous on what he ever saw. Too bad his vision burned and hallucinated nearly all he saw. His middle finger always found a way to stab his flesh and increase the migraine in his mind.
The outside became unbearable to him. The lights in his room became died, all the windows were shut, and the cracks of the door closed up with blankets. He passed the room, doing every activity he could think to wear him down. But nothing worked to enduce his sleep.
For hours he sat on the top of his head. His body completely straight his his arms folded in front of his eyes.
A small knock came from the door. "Hi-o!" Kocho called from the other side. "Is it okay if I come in?" Her voice still sweet without the lingering feeling of judgement.
"I am a guest in the house and I must oblige to the question."
She opened the door. He couldn't see her walk in, close it back, and lie her body to the ground. Her head close to his arms.
"I've returned and heard there was something the matter. The fact you sit in isolation with medical experts questions even me."
"My problems are nothing the girls here should worry about. My situation is not something they should waste themselves on."
"Oh you. The people here are meant to heal the Demon Slayer Corps. Even honorary ones."
Alistair removed his arms and revealed the locked eyes. "Four days and I haven't slept an hour. All I see are people, slanted walls, the sounds burst my ear drums till a ring only plays."
"That's all?" She pouted and reached inside her outfit to pull out a small glass vial. "Well if that's all it is then just take this. You'll fall asleep easy."
He reached for it with wandering figures until it somehow slid into them. Quickly the bottle went into his ready mouth. There was silence for moments, quiet enough to hear the gentle flaps of the birds outside. His body became numb, the stance he fell collapsed along with his legs.
His eyes came open to Kocho's. He matched the appearance of daze, a blank stare into the girl from nothing but lust and wonder. "Why aren't I sleeping?"
"I'm wondering that too. Everything in that should've knocked you out with paralyzation and unconciousness." She jumped up to her feet and squatted back down to grab his arm. It took alot of effort for her to pull his weight to the center of the room and push everything to the wall.
She went back down and sat by the tip of her head. Her smile bent over his face for it to only see that. "Do you trust me?"
"You're all I got that won't kill me."
"Can we be friends." Tears bulged at the edges of his eyes. Tears that Kocho didn't acknowledge. "But you must tell me the truth for us to be friends. So please tell me the truth and I'll tell you the truth."
Her fingers ran through the natural flocks of his golden hair. "I'm scared." He "So god damn scared. Not even the eldest and yet I'm the one in charge. I'm the big one, the smart one. Yet I travel thousands of kilometers away from home to fight creatures stronger than me even with my training."
She started to wipe the tears from his face. His attention to her started to fade from the water and never once saw her become disengaged. The moment was pure, and innocent from unwanted attention.
"I need that sword, I need everything from those who see me differently. But I can't be like my parents and fail. Everyone back home thinks I'm just going there to help them bring everything back." For a single instant he saw just the pure side of her. The side that everybody else saw inside her. "When I go back. I'll just me and a fucking book."
"My name is Shinobu." Her head came fully down to his forehead. "And it's not about getting to your goal as fast as you can. It matters that you make it."
His vision became blackened by her forehead. The bliss. This was the bliss he wanted. It made the cloudiness his mind produce turn into clear skies. He saw the words in his parent's journals in a new view. All those words he memorized circled in a new path.
The upper half of his body jumped up. His body in a pure sweat. "What the?" He was tucked into a bed different from the others. A finer quality of wood with softer and thicker blankets. He saw the tall girl again at the door. Her empty state shifted to the door and left.
The door came open again a breath later. "Good night." Mitsuri whispered as she tiptoed to the bed.
Alistair came quickly to the realization. He twirled out of the bed. His foot connected with Mitsuri's stomach and sent her to the wall. He followed up right away with his hand grappled around her wrists and his other around her throat. Both pinned her against the wall while his feet pounded on her's.
"Is this some joke to you people? That weakness will never show again while I'm here. And you'll be proof of that."
Mitsuri gently blew on his nose just as his grips tightened. He released her throat enough for the words to follow. "No no silly. I said that because it's night time."
Alistair caught the glimpse of the moon's beams through the cracks of each window. He released her and backed away to his bedside. Mitsuri made sure to follow and squeezed her body into the space of his legs. His face turned red at the touch of her hands around his head. She pulled him into her and rested his soul into her chest.
"I heard you have slept for the past two days. I couldn't let the strongest guy I know die like this."
Her hands moved to the edges of his jaw and angled them up. That look was not what Kocho ever gave him. A little more touch and spirit that he always gave her instead.
"You were the reason I couldn't sleep. The bad ember in the forge I felt since I got here."
"I had to make sure my future husband was safe without his weapons."
Before he had the opportunity to respond Mitsuri pulled his lips into hers. Alistair embraced her upon impact; his arms wrapped around her thighs and lifted her up as he jumped up. Their kiss ramped up, huffs of breaths between each space.
A strong tug forced her legs around his waist. He grabbed the collar of her komoto and yanked it off as hard as he could. His arms accidentally tore off the uniform underneath. Mitsuri's laugh followed up with a thick wet lick up the side of his face.
His face planted in the bareness and warmth of her chest. He twirled his body around and slammed her into the bed. Only then the moment rested for her and him.
Mitsuri's fingers grazed around the scars her sword created. "I'm really going to miss these. Always wanted to hold onto a memory of our connection."
His hand tightened around her chest. "Little lass. I always leave a girl with a lasting memory."
The hours drifted by which felt like only minutes in Alistair's mind. The morning rays of the sun perked through brighter than the monk's. A single stretch of one of the slits dragged right into his eyes which promptly cracked them open. The corners of his eyes glowed red as he looked around the room.
He groaned while he pushed himself up to the wall. His lips cracked and cleaned the dryness inside. Alistair cracked his neck his neck over to the open side, and stopped at the sight of her.
"Shinobu? We're you here for long?" Alistair laughed. "We are on a first name base now right?"
"Only if you cry at the base of my legs." Her head slightly tilted to the side and her eyes went south. "With some clothes on."
He pulled the sheets up to a comfortable level. "Then why are you here?"
"The swordsman are here with your sword. In a rather large box." She stood up from her chair and gently slid it to the wall. "Something you're used to."
He waited for the door to close before he swung right out of bed. A single swear came out at the sight of his underwear on the edge of the bed. He snatched them away and threw it on.
"Thank you girls." He grabbed the fresh clothes at the edge of the door frame.
He rushed outside to the open back yard, the closest area to his room. Just as he thought everyone was already there for him. The members of the house, Shinobu, the old man with the red whistling mask, but not Mitsuri. His pace went from a sprint to a eerie step forward to the earth.
"Boy get down and bow you rude child!" The tiny red man demanded.
Reality set into Alistair and he sprinted in front of the old man. One knee up and the other down with a bowed head and resting arms on the upper knee. "I apologize for the lateness. My sleep has been tampered with for the past week."
"A Demon Hunter can go days without sleep, without food! Don't show disgrace toward the name."
"My deepest apologies."
"I must also apologize for my lateness. If you were here on time I wouldn't be. We promised a sword in seven days since our talk, we're three hours late on that promise."
A single man covered from head to toe in a black and white uniform with only his eyes and hands showing circled in front. In his arms a solid wood crate stretching the length of Alistair, he dropped the box and returned behind the old man. Alistair moved his eyes up to the Male's eyes. A small nod in return was what he needed.
Alistair lowered his other knee and popped the lid open.
A sword, ten inches wide from the top to the bottom of the blade. Five slits carved diagonally from the base of the weapon with a small hole a half inch down from each slit. It stretched well over a 100cm to a slanted tip edge of a 110 degree point. The handle, covered over with the gold guard of his old sword.
"It's a beautiful blade." Alistair commented.
He grabbed the sword from the box and lifted it straight up into the air. Not a single wobble came from his swing. The silver blade itself became pure black like smoke entered and filled the blade. The matte color solidified over and cracked up at the top line. Red grooves started to scar over and intertwine with the top design.
"Ah just as we thought. You're doomed!"
"Huh?" Alistair looked at the old man more shocked and curious than frightened.
"A solid black blade means the user is destined for a demise and short life. But the red cracks could entertain the idea of a rare and beyond special swordsman."
"So he isn't just a fool but the greatest fool of them all." Shinobu joked.
"Even with special moments." Alistair whispered to himself. He looked back inside the box and pulled out a special black and while kilt from under the placement hay. A kimono rested on the other side, silver with a black arm, collar, and bottom trim.
"Mitsuri the Love Pillar also sends her gratitude towards you with the uniform."
Alistair's attitude changed; his face now straight and stare solid into the sword. He grabbed the separated harness and threw it over his shoulders. He clipped the sword to it and stood up. "I thank you for all the work you placed into this sword. The effort it must've gone through is far more than my ability as a smith. But now I can finally move forward with my plan." He turned to Shinobu. "Are you ready?"
"Usually they like to talk alot about their swords and the crafting it took to get there. Seems oddly rude to skip before they finish."
"Let the rude boy go. I already delayed his time enough as it is. I warn you. A Demon Slayer scout went into the area. Another moon was spotted."
"Oh dear I hope it isn't from any of the upper six."
"That information was unclear, but travel with caution." The old man warned. His mask faced Alistair before he got up and stood at his feet. A strong slap went hard across his cheek. "Whatever it is that your family was doing on that mountain. Whatever you see, look at it good and destroy it. Demon Slayer secrets should remain that way."
Alistair could only glare while his breathing became heavy and slow. His hand clenched tighter around the grip as he held back his actions. The man took his look better than Alistair thought. He simply bowed slightly at him and turned away.
"I'm surprised." Kocho surprised him with her face so close to his ear. "The muscles in your neck said you really wanted to hit him."
"I do." He grumbled. He placed his hands on his knee and shoved his body up. "I don't need unwanted swords at my throat."
"You ready for the trip then? It isn't a nice trip up."
"We have your bags all set!" One of the small triplets shouted.
Another held up a small gray sack with a giant smile. "We packed it with all the essentials you'll need!"
"Lady Mitsuri added her own touches to it!" The third one added. She grabbed the bag from the other and skipped up to Alistair.
"I want you all to witness what I have to say and decide then if you wish to further your involvement with me." He looked around at the various types of Slayers at his side. "If any order I receive goes against my own moral views I will not hesitate to break them. I'm telling you right now, everything I find I will keep and bring back. Fight me on this, and I will not hesitate."
"That also means I can do the same to you. And I promise to you. On my own moral code, I won't hesitate to end your life." Shinobu's sinister smile stopped at Alistair's face.
"When your eyes and actually meet mine, I'll hold that threat." Alistair swung the sword around his back. "But you still have my back?"
"That was my orders. And it follows my moral code."
Alistair let out an exhausted sigh. "I get it."
The mountains weren't far in the sense that it was less than a day's travel. A dozen degree different and another season entirely. Summer turned into fall, a skinny dip became a cuddled up campfire. And a quiet stroll became a cautious ready search and seizure.
The pair looked up the mountain. Months and months after the last reported residency of the hills, the smoke still rose above the line. "That fire. My parents called it the Phoenix ember. As long as there is a source, there will always be a flame. They didn't intend to leave here. And they didn't intend to clean up."
"So you're confident that what you're looking for is still up there?" She asked. "Or else you'll look very stupid on the way down."
"If the ember still burns, they'll still be there. Whatever it is that I'm looking for."
