Disclaimer: I do not own Demon Slayer : Kimetsu no Yaiba or any of its characters/story.

XVI: Wounded

It was almost funny, in a way.

Kanao's thoughts were along that line as she stood with Nezuko and Tanjiro at her side. Who could have guessed that the boy she met almost 8 years ago and his supposed-coma-patient sister would be standing off with herself, a girl who relies on a coin for life choices, against a member of an important mafia family?

Said member of an important mafia family was in a crouch, reloading his guns and doing a quick job of bandaging his leg, with an almost bored expression. His white suit was caked with blood, but he didn't seem to care. In the distance, the screams of the innocent people that were just looking for an evening of fun could be heard. Kanao didn't know if they were alright, but she couldn't check. She had to have some faith in her comrades, and trust that they'd make it out alive.

While she wasn't entirely sure why neither she nor anyone else was attacking, she took a guess that this was like the conclusion to the assignment, the eye of the storm before the waves of bloodshed hit. It filled her with adrenaline, making her calm and more focused in an odd way.

Rui straightened, narrowing his eyes. "Three on one, huh? These are some unfair odds I'm up against. Why not make this more… even?" He made some type of signal with his hand at his side, and two small children appeared at his side seemingly out of nowhere.

They can't be older than 12 or 13, Kanao noted with pity. The two were twins, each with completely inexpressive faces and the silver hair of the Aranea family.

Tanjiro spoke up for the first time since seeing his sister. "Why do you control them like this?"

Rui smirked. "Whatever do you mean, Demon Slayer?"

"I think you know perfectly well what I mean." Deep red eyes brimmed with anger. "You can't just take over someone's life."

While Kanao and Nezuko were confused by Tanjiro's statement, Rui simply laughed humorlessly. "Well, here's the thing. I can do just that. These people had nowhere to go, didn't have anything to live for. But when anyone is poised on the edge of hellish despair and a spider's thread of salvation presents itself, they will invariably grasp it. I gave them that thread, and even though they probably knew it was a trap, they took it anyway. People will do anything to live."

Kanao's breath hitched in her throat for a moment. She knew exactly what Rui meant. She could easily have turned out like the Aranea family. If Shinobu and Kanae hadn't been there on that day, she would have been nothing but a slave, forced to work away her life and never know what it is that people see when they say that life is a beautiful thing. Even now, it may have been too late for her.

"I gave them a home and a family, on one condition. Obey my orders. Some were cowards, like that annoying Hikaru. She was the mother, supposed to protect her children. But what did she do? Die in the stupidest and most vain way possible." The silver-haired boy shook his head in disgust.

Tanjiro gasped lightly. "How did you-"

"I had a device installed in each member's body. The main transmitter" - He pulled something out of his pocket that almost looked like a phone - "Tells me when they have passed on."

Slowly placing the device back in his pocket, he suddenly whipped out one of his guns and pointed it at Tanjiro. "But that's enough information. What's the point of even telling you when you're just going to die immediately afterwards, anyway?"

The moments passed like hours. Kanao counted the seconds in her head.

1…

2…

3…

4…

5…

BANG

The gunshot rang out, starting it all.

.

Kanao threw a quick glance at Tanjiro, who had dodged the bullet fired at him.

She took out her own pistol along with Kanae's knife, and dashed forward and low to the ground to begin the attack.

Twisting this way and that so she wouldn't be an easy target, she shot at Rui. While some of her shots came close, she couldn't hit him since he was moving just as she was. The twin children were being battled by Tanjiro and Nezuko, so she didn't have to worry about them coming after her.

Getting close enough, she slid behind him and turned, slashing forward with Kanae's knife. A metallic shing rang out, Rui having intercepted the blade with his own. At a dead end with her first plan, Kanao jumped backwards and regrouped with the others, who managed to injure their opponents but not completely incapacitate them.

A blur of purple and white flew past the three Demon Slayers, taking on both twins at once. Shinobu nodded to Kanao, a silent signal for I have these ones. You deal with Rui.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could also see Giyuu, who was standing atop a nearby tree as backup. She almost smirked. The teachers always seem to make everything a test of sorts.

Sharing glances with Tanjiro and Nezuko, Kanao dove forward once again, clearing a bullet that would have hit her in the head. Rolling into a somersault, she stood back up and tried her previous strategy once more, this time with Nezuko firing her gun from a distance and Tanjiro following Kanao to close combat.

Everything was going well. They all felt as though they could win, seeing how Rui was getting tired. Sometimes they could land hits.

Finally, Nezuko hit him in the stomach with a well-placed bullet, making a clang sound. A clang? She could figure it out later on, as it probably wasn't important. In the meantime, Kanao would have to ask Nezuko where she managed to get that kind of aim.

Rui fell, blood pooling around him. Sheathing her pistol and Kanae's knife, she watched as everyone else did the same. Shinobu had taken down the twins, not killing, but still being just as deadly efficient.

Turning around, she went to check if the others had any injuries she could treat.

Well, she tried to.

"Rule number one." A voice whispered in her ear. It was… Rui?

"Never take your eyes off of your enemy." He was directly behind her.

Whipping around, all she saw was the barrel of a gun right against her heart. In a desperate (and admittedly stupid) attempt to dodge, she jumped so that the gun was instead against her lower abdomen.

She could hear the shouts of her classmates, before a loud BANG echoed out around her. She felt numbness, then intense pain, then nothing as her world faded to a cruel white.

TTTTT

Floating in endless darkness, - or was it light? - Kanao felt light and at ease. While it was comforting to be this way, she felt as though something was very, very wrong. As if she was forgetting something, a piece to the puzzle of her memories.

A feeling of unease settled in, and she wanted to open her eyes to see what was wrong, what she was forgetting. But she couldn't. No matter how much she tried, her still body wouldn't listen to her mind.

That's when a sharp, lingering pain began to register. It was centered around her abdomen, but washed over her form in waves. A voice began calling.

"Kanao!"

Who was that? Her mother and father didn't care about her enough to bother calling her by- no, wait. They never gave her a name. As far as she knew back then, she was nameless, only being called things like 'brat' or 'girl', sometimes 'bitch'.

Who was it that gave her the name she has today? Wasn't it her sister? Did she have a sister?

No, she had brothers. But they- they were killed. By her father.

Head beginning to spin, Kanao tried harder to remember.

She does have a sister. Two of them, in fact. Shinobu and-

"Kanae." She faintly heard herself whisper.

Kanae was dead, gone after a mission-

Gone after a mission.

After a mission.

A mission.

That was it! She is a Demon Slayer, and went on a mission to assassinate a mafia family. She was with people; Inosuke, Zenitsu, Rose, and Tanjiro. Wasn't Shinobu there, too?

She became conscious of her own breathing and heartbeat, along with an annoying beep sound.

What happened on the mission for her to be like this-

She didn't even have to finish her own question.

She was shot by Rui. She failed at one of the most obvious rules of battle, never turn your back on your enemy.

Is she- is she dead? Would she be in the same place as Kanae?

"Kanao!"

Oh, the voice is still calling. Wait, that was Tanjiro, wasn't it? The boy she worked with on several occasions, the first to make her smile.

Kanae's voice rang out in her head. "When you fall in love with some boy someday, you'll change too, Kanao."

"Tanjiro." She called out, becoming more aware of her surroundings with each breath, with each heartbeat.

"Kanao, are you awake? Can you hear me?"

"I can hear you." She murmured, not knowing if her voice reached him.

She'd have to decide that first question for herself though. And she wanted to live. She wasn't sure why exactly, maybe she could live once she found something to live for. Voices rang around her.

"Stupid girl, how could you think that anyone cares about you?!"

"Your eyes are sad. Please smile."

"Protect the innocent, Kanao. Save them, as we saved you."

She found that she could open her eyes.

And she did.

TTTTT

'Ello there. Might as well just end every chapter with a cliffhanger because torturing people is fun, apparently.

I made a Black Butler reference (specifically a quote) in this chapter. See if you can find it.

Actually, I make a lot of random references. I think I made a Hamilton one a chapter or two back. It's fun to put in subtle things that I highly doubt people would notice.

My chapters are getting longer, so that's good. Even if it's really only by around 200-300 words of an improvement.

See you all next week, where this arc should finally be concluded (it was supposed to all be over the last chapter, but I really do like taking my time it seems).