Namu Amida Butsu
It was these words that saved her that day.
She's a street rat. She cannot remember where she was from or who her family is. She's always afraid of everything, never having the courage to do anything. It's a miracle that she's still alive to this day. She had to eat anything she could possibly find to survive. Rats, cicada, anything she could get her hands on. It made her grow a severe distaste of meat because the scent and taste of blood in her mouth is enough to drive her crazy whenever she caught and ate another rat. It got to the point that she rather starve than to eat meat again.
Thus, it led her to that day, starving and lying in the middle of the road, too tired to continue. Nobody bothered to give her a passing glance. Some even gave her a kick or two. Flies and maggots began to swarm around her. She just closed her eyes, waiting for death to claim her.
"Namu Amida Butsu."
That was the first time she heard them. She heard those words that gave her salvation. She felt a strong pair of arms lifting her up and carried her away. Did the gods send a messenger to claim her? A buddha, maybe?
She doesn't know, but she likes the feeling of warmth that those words gave her.
As it turns out, her time to go had not arrived. She was saved by a blind man named Himejima Gyomei.
"Pft, why bother helping her. She could not even stand up for herself."
One of the older kids, Kaigaku, often mocked her behind Himejima's back. She would flinch whenever he began to demean her. For some reason, Kaigaku just scares her.
Himejima raised them in a temple. They are dependent on the funding on the temple for survival which in turn, is dependent on the donations made by the public. Himjima often burns something called Wisteria Incense, saying that it helps to keep demons away. He often reminded them to never travel beyond the temple's borders and to always adhere to the temple's rules because the threat of demons is a very well-known one within the area in which they lived.
"What's Namu Amida Butsu?" She managed to gather the courage to ask one day, curious as to what those comforting words meant.
"It means that I entrust myself to the Buddha of Infinite Light and Life."
"Buddha? Are you a Buddha, sensei?"
Himejima merely let out a laugh and patted her head and told her that no, he is no Buddha.
She tried to help around as much as she could. She tried to help in farming the small plot of land the temple owned. She nearly hacked off her own foot with the rake. She tried to help in washing the laundry by the river. The clothes which she tried to help wash were nearly washed away. No matter what she tries to do she will screw it up somehow. Like what Kaigaku said, she's a "deadweight".
"Namu Amida Butsu. It's okay to fail, Chiori. Just don't give up. Keep trying."
Whenever she's down Himejima would come and comfort her. Namu Amida Butsu. Those words were the words that always gave her the courage to try again despite her failures. These are the words that gave her comfort, her salvation.
"Why don't you treat everything as a game! If it's a game, then it will be fun! If it is fun, then you wouldn't mind even if you fail!"
The words of one of the older kids stuck by her and she started to treat each attempt in learning something new as a game. It worked somewhat. She had tried to learn many things and failed, but she had fun, so it didn't feel as bad when she failed.
Himejima loves to play the shakuhachi, a type of bamboo flute. He would often play it for her and she would often hum along with a smile on her face. Humming the tune just makes her happy.
"Sensei? What's the meaning behind this tune?"
Himejima would look at her with a benevolent smile.
"It is a tune that prays for the safety of those who heard it."
"Then I will hum the tune for you too! So that you can be safe too!"
He is her salvation, her Buddha. Likewise, she wants him to be safe as well. So, she hums the tune everyday. Whenever she is doing chores or skipping along the road playing with the other children that are also part of her new family she will be humming this tune, praying for their safety.
Finally, she found something which she is good at. Upon Himejima's suggestion, she picked up sewing. Whenever someone among their family had their clothes torn she will be the one to patch it up. She didn't do such a great job at it initially, but she got better at it. Good enough to give her some confidence.
"Namu Amida Butsu. Thank you, Chiori."
She likes to see Himejima smile whenever she helps to stitch up and mend some of the holes in his clothes. She likes seeing this kind man smile.
"A handkerchief?"
"After learning how to sew I learnt how to weave and do embroidery too! I know you cannot see, so I purposely weaved the patterns with a different material such that you can tell the pattern on it with your fingers!"
Upon her prodding, Himejima began to slowly feel the pattern weaved on the handkerchief with his fingers.
"It's… a koi fish?"
"It is!"
Himejima fondly ruffled her hair with a kind smile on his face.
"Namu Amida Butsu. Thank you, Chiori."
She likes meal times, because it is a time when the entire family is together and they will always have fun talking to each other. It is a time full of laughter.
"Eh, Chiori, you don't want to eat meat? It's not everyday we get meat to eat!"
"It's… fine. Someone else can have it."
Even after it's been so long since she was saved by Himejima, she still has a strong aversion for blood and meat. Even when it's cleaned and cooked properly she could not stand the taste and the feeling of chewing it in her mouth. To her, eating meat felt like eating a corpse no matter how she tries to view it otherwise. Thus, her meals are always vegetarian. She would never touch a single piece of meat and she absolutely hated tasting blood.
"I will take it then."
Kaigaku's chopsticks grabbed the piece of meat and put it into his mouth before anyone could say anything. Chiori didn't mind. Kaigaku is always hungry anyway. He can eat her share of meat if he needs it.
She likes this way of life, their family of ten living here in this temple. That was the life she remembered until one fine night when the other older kids suddenly chased Kaigaku away from the temple at night. She couldn't understand why. Sure, Kaigaku had been a little mean, but he's still one of them, is he not?
She didn't have the time to ask for an explanation. It came before she could do so.
A demon.
She could only scream in fright. It was when one of the older kids shouted at her that she managed to get her act together.
"Make yourself useful, Chiori! Sensei cannot see! We have to protect him!"
"T-There's farming tools outside! I will get it for him! Sensei can use it as weapons!"
"I-I will call someone for help!"
For the first time in her life, she mustered up the courage to do something instead of backing away before trying to attempt it.
"Namu Amida Butsu, Namu Amida Butsu, Namu Amida Butsu-"
So, she ran in an attempt to call for help, chanting the three words that Himejima always chanted to give her the strength to continue running.
"No! Don't go! Chiori! Stand behind me! Let me protect you! It's dangerous out there!"
"I will call for help for you, sensei! I promise! This time, let me protect you!"
For the first time, she actually raised her voice and shouted. That was all she managed to tell him before she tried to get out of the door. A shadowy figure blocked her way and for some reason, time to seem to slow into a crawl. Somehow, she could feel it. Like a thread guiding her, she twisted her body in midair right at the very last second before the demon's claws could hit her. On reflex, she plucked out a threading needle that she always kept on her person out of habit and plunged it into the demon's eye.
Himejima somehow caught on and his fists landed on the demon's face and he began to bodily pin the demon down while punching at its face repeatedly. She knew it would be impossible for Himejima to keep at it forever, so she continued to run ahead, trying her best to not look at the corpses of her dead family laid about in the room which they call their home because she doesn't want to cry, not right now when Himejima and Sayo's lives depended on how fast she could run.
"Namu Amida Butsu Namu Amida Butsu Namu Amida Butsu NamuAmidaButsuNamuAmidaButsuNamuAmidaButsu-"
She kept chanting and chanting as she ran.
Namu Amida Butsu.
"H… Help!"
She could not find anyone because she found that she had gotten herself lost while running through the woods to reach the town. The woods look very different at night as compared to when it was in the day, something she never realised until now.
There were a few times where she fell and collapsed out of exhaustion but she always struggled to stand up and continue to run. She held back her tears and continued to run. She cannot afford to fail here like how she always did. Her family is mostly dead and there is only Himejima and Sayo left right now.
She has to save them.
"Namu Amida Butsu Namu Amida Butsu Namu Amida Butsu-"
She kept on chanting. Finally, she bumped into someone.
"Help… Please… Help… Demon… Help..."
She panted as she clung onto the man's pants like a lifeline. She could barely see anything at this point, her line of vision almost blacking out.
"What a pest."
She felt her head being punctured by five fingers and herself being dangled into the air. Her mind went blank.
What's… going on?
"Hmph, to think a child like you is still alive after having my hand punched through your head. Such admirable tenacity. Very well, maybe I should just turn you into a demon. See if you can work your way up into my Twelve Demon Moons with that tenacity of yours."
She screamed as a sense of burning pain flooded her body. She kept chanting within the confines of her mind, praying for salvation and to free herself from this indescribable pain.
Namu Amida Butsu
Hungry. So hungry.
She woke up in a daze within the shade of a large tree. Where is she? Wait.
Who is she? Why is she here?
Namu Amida Butsu
Namu Amida Butsu? What's that? Why does it sound so familiar? Why does chanting those words give her such a sense of peace?
Namu Amida Butsu
Her hands subconsciously pressed themselves together as though in prayer. She blinked in confusion. What is she doing? What is Namu Amida Butsu?
She slowly stood up and tried to walk out of the shade. She heard a scream of pain and it was only after she retreated a few steps backwards into the shade did she realise that she was the one screaming.
Why? Why did the sunlight hurt so much? Was it meant to hurt so much? She used to enjoy playing under the sun.
Huh? Wait, she used to enjoy playing under the sun? She was able to get out in the light before? What changed then?
Namu Amida Butsu
She clutched her head in pain. What is Namu Amida Butsu? Why is she here? She…
Was running.
From who? From where? Where is she? WHO IS SHE?!
She screamed and she felt her blood roared with her cry of anguish. Her long hair whipped in response to her emotions and grew impossibly longer, piercing through every single thing in sight like a threaded steel needle.
She blinked in confusion, the pain in her head temporarily forgotten. Could she do that before?
The pain in her head came back at full force and she knelt down and screamed again, curling up onto the floor and trying to will the pain in her head to stop.
Namu Amida Butsu
Namu Amida Butsu
Namu Amida Butsu
Namu Amida Butsu
Namu Amida Butsu
Namu Amida Butsu
Namu Amida Butsu
Namu Amida Butsu
When she woke up again the moon was already high up in the sky. She blinked and squinted her eyes at the moon. She still could not remember anything about herself and why she is here.
She just remembered running to try and…
Running for what? From what? What was she trying to do?
She sat up, spotting the holes in her clothes. Why were they torn?
Her hands instinctively went to pull out a needle and went to search for a thread. It was then she stopped because she could not find any thread.
What is she doing? Why is she picking up a needle? Why is there a packet of needles on her?
Namu Amida Butsu
The gentle voice in her head is back again. That familiar voice that gives her a sense of peace and salvation. She stood up and looked around. She didn't know where she was nor could she recognise where she was, so she simply picked a direction and ran. She felt light like a feather and that her breathing came easy, like she can keep running forever. For some reason, she knows that she could not do this before.
Before? What's her before? Why before?
She shook her head and continued to sprint. Everytime she thought that she had remembered something she ended up having more questions than answers. For now, that can wait. Right now, she has to find the owner of that voice in her head. For some reason, she is sure that the owner of that voice will have the answer she needs.
"Namu Amida Butsu."
She whispered to herself and instantly, she felt at peace. All of her worries and frustrations are gone and she is as happy as she can be. She jumped up and reached a hand into the sky, trying to grasp at the moon. For once, she felt like she could do anything.
She will continue to run and find the owner of that voice. She will get her answers from him.
Namu Amida Butsu
She still could not remember what her before is, but she still managed to figure out what she thinks are the changes to her body in the after.
For one, she can no longer be in the sunlight. Secondly, she has unlimited stamina, insane regeneration, and inhumane strength. Thirdly, she could somehow compress any part of her body into as thin as a thread and weave her way through the smallest of spaces. Her hair could elongate or shorten to any length she wishes and could even easily pierce through the thickest rock. What she cannot explain is the fourth.
Hunger. Constant hunger.
No matter how much wild mushrooms or vegetables she tried to scarf down her throat she could never sate her hunger. Her body's instincts screamed at her to get meat but her mind naturally steered her away from it, making her want to retch at the mere thought of putting meat in her mouth. The contradiction between her body and mind is making her sick.
For some reason, she just finds the act of eating meat repulsive, but her body is screaming at her to go hunt some meat. Her body is craving for blood. She screamed herself hoarse as she clutched onto her head in pain the moment she found herself having such gory thoughts. She hates blood. That much she is sure.
So, she curled up in a fetus position and chanted. She chanted to keep those dark whispers at bay. She chanted to give herself a peace of mind once more.
Namu Amida Butsu
"We finally found you, demon!"
She blinked her eyes in confusion. It is night again as usual. She's still lost in the woods, so she found herself a small cave and decided to huddle in here for tonight because no matter how far she ran she is still stuck here in the woods. She wasn't expecting to see anybody else.
Food. Kill. KILL. BLOOD. EAT.
The splitting pain in her head returned. Those dark whispers are back, clawing at the back of her mind, tempting her to spill blood, to feast.
No. NO! NO! GO AWAY! GO AWAY!
KILL! KILL! KILL!
GO AWAY!
"KILL HER!"
"GO AWAY!"
She reacted on instinct when someone with a sword lunged at her. She screamed and tried to defend herself. Her hair elongated and grew, easily skewering through the entire group of people in uniform and left them hanging in the air, blood dripping all over the place.
She gasped in horror, her mouth covering her hands.
What had she done?
Blood. EAT! EAT!
"GO AWAY!"
She punched the side of her head, trying to make those dark whispers stop. The painful groans of the scary people with swords snapped her back to reality.
"I-I'm sorry!" She quickly apologised, still freaking out and not knowing what to do. "I-I-I… What do I do?! W-What-"
"Go… die, demon."
Someone threw their blade at her. Her hair reacted without her knowing it, blocking the blade aimed at her neck. That person stopped struggling and went still as she collapsed onto her knees, knowing what she had just done.
She had killed
"Ahhh… AHHHHH!"
She screamed. She screamed and screamed and screamed. She frantically checked for a pulse on the other people but like that person, none of them are breathing.
They are dead.
She dropped the body she was holding onto in fear and quickly retreated into a dark corner, back against a wall and sitting down on the ground, hugging her knees in fright as she closed her eyes and continued to chant, hoping that this will give her strength.
Namu Amida Butsu
By the time the second night came around she had managed to calm down enough to think of what to do. She quickly used her newfound strength and dug a huge pit to bury all the dead people and planted a huge stone to use it as their grave marker. She knelt down by the grave and clasped her hand in prayer. She doesn't know why she is doing it but she somehow knows it is what people do when they are visiting a grave.
Namu Amida Butsu
Once done, she gave the grave one last look before continuing to run under the moonlight. She took a look at those weird yet beautiful swords she had taken from the dead people. These swords can actually harm her. For some reason, her mind just kept screaming at her that these pointy things are a lot more dangerous than the usual pointy ones.
Still, she kept them on her person. Until she finds a reason to discard them she will bring it with her. Her long hair smoothly grabbed them and used them as a hair stick to tie her messy hair up. She continues to run and experiment with her new funny power to turn herself into a thread and pierced through everything in her way, leaving nothing behind but a series of small pin-like holes barely noticeable by the naked eye. Throughout her journey, those words kept ringing in her mind.
Namu Amida Butsu
She lost count of how many moons she had seen in the sky. She didn't know how long had passed since she had woken up in the woods and had forgotten everything other than those comforting words. Many things remained the same. Some things did change.
She found herself having an insatiable quench for human flesh and blood. That can still be easily fixed because while her body craves it, her mind hates it. Her mind's intense aversion to blood and meat in general easily won out her body's instinctual want for them. For some reason, she just knows that she does not necessarily need to feast on humans to survive, so she didn't hunt them down.
She realised that she is what people call a demon. People call her a lot of mean names that she doesn't understand. Everytime she walks into town they would pick up their weapons and try to kill her, so she had soon learnt to not approach anywhere that is heavily populated by humans.
She learnt that the words Namu Amida Butsu is what people at temples would say, so she would often seek out these places and try to visit them at night, quietly hiding herself out of sight and listen to the various Namu Amida Butsu being chanted. None of the statues of the Buddhas have a face that she recognised. None of the voices are the right ones, but hearing Namu Amida Butsu being spoken in a voice that is not hers still made her feel at peace somehow, if only slightly, so she stayed to listen for as long as realistically possible.
Namu Amida Butsu
She continues to travel at night, trying to find and visit as many temples as possible. She soon got used to not needing to even eat and drink despite how tempting it is to just kill a single person and drink their blood dry. It is getting harder to resist the temptation but chanting those comforting words had managed to get her to pull through thus far.
Namu Amida Butsu
She can do this.
What she doesn't like are those people who call themselves Demon Slayers. Without fail, they would always try to kill her on sight for reasons unknown. She doesn't even know them nor did she ever do anything to harm them other than the one time in that cave. In her defence, she was just trying to protect herself. She didn't expect them to die from a single pierce of her super strong hair.
Her temper always turned foul upon every encounter with those Demon Slayers. It does not help a single bit that every fight she had with them would mean spilling blood and it is getting harder to not give into her bloodlust and drink them dry. She tries her best to not kill them. Really, she tried, but humans are just so fragile. A single punch could easily put a hole in their body. A kick would break their bones. A pierce of just a single strand of her hair might mean certain death. Still, she tries her best to not kill them. If she's feeling generous she might help to stitch their wounds back together. For some reason, the act of stitching gives her a great sense of joy and she enjoys doing those repetitive motions.
But did she used to stitch up humans? Why does she have a feeling that she used to stitch something very different? But if not humans, then what?
Over time, more and more of those annoying Demon Slayers kept coming at her. To keep things interesting and to also keep her temper in check, she starts to treat it as a game of hide-and-seek. If she treats this as a game, then it will be fun. If it is fun, then she would not get angry and kill them in response. That's it!
For some reason, that line of reasoning felt really familiar, but she just could not put a finger to it.
She began to learn how to evade the Demon Slayers sent her way. Sometimes she would completely blindside them and play a prank by stitching all of their clothes together in an instant and leave them hanging from a tree in a bundle of limbs. She cannot help but laugh every time she does that because the words they shouted at her are just too fun to listen and their reactions are always so funny. There's even a time when she stitched a koi fish onto the back of a Demon Slayer's shirt without him realising it during the entire duration of the hide-and-seek.
Hmm, come to think of it, why koi fish?
She discarded her large collection of swords very early on when she found that she had no use for it. She had collected them for the fun of it initially. Every single time she managed to fool the Demon Slayers sent to kill her and play them in the palm of her hand she would collect their swords as trophies. She soon realised she had no use for them and lugging them around while travelling is growing to be cumbersome, so she dumped it by the feet of the next group of Demon Slayers she bumped into. You have to return what you stole, right?
… Right?
She continues to visit any temple she can find. She still cannot find a Buddha with a face that she can recognise even if she cannot remember what it is supposed to look like. She still cannot find the person with that same voice in the back of her mind, the one keeping those dark whispers at bay.
Namu Amida Butsu
"Namu Amida Butsu." She whispered as she continued to run into the night, the words invigorating her tired body.
She continues to stitch patterns with her hair on anywhere she can find. Anything she could stitch on, she did. Rocks, trees, buildings, houses, anything and everything. Every single time she visits a temple she will make sure to stitch a koi fish on the temple's wall with her hair as the thread. She doesn't know why she does that and why she has to stitch a koi fish of all things, but something at the back of her mind kept telling her that stitching a koi fish is important, that it will lead her to the owner of that benevolent voice, her Buddha.
Namu Amida Butsu
Again, she has no idea how long had passed. All she knew is that she had learnt how to control her strength and her abilities pretty well. She guessed she is getting kind of famous among those pesky Demon Slayers from how often these people are sent to kill her. So, she played all kinds of pranks on any Demon Slayer who rudely pointed their swords at her. She stitched all kinds of things on their uniforms when she had them wrapped up in her hair. Cute animals, faces, flowers, mountains, anything that comes to her mind, really. If she's feeling especially mischievous she would stitch their clothes together and watch them flailing about trying to move in that state. She once stitched a group of ten together. The result was hilarious.
In her curiosity, she once asked a Demon Slayer why they kept coming after her to kill her. The response confused her.
"Because you are a fucking demon."
Why? Why can they not simply get along with each other because she's a demon? It's not like she asked to be a demon, she simply is one. Why must they be so rude? If the first group of Demon Slayers she had met didn't try to kill her on sight, she would not have accidentally killed them. So why are they doing this? It's not like she actively hunted or tried to kill humans. In fact, she took the extra effort to avoid them and not harm them.
Humans are just plain weird.
"Have fun trying to get yourself out of this bind! Namu Amida Butsu!" She waved her goodbye happily to the group of five Demon Slayers that she had just stitched their clothes together for the fun of it and skipped away while humming a tune that she had no idea where she had learnt it from.
"It is a tune that prays for the safety of those who heard it."
She stopped in her tracks and blinked. Huh? Where did that come from?
She looked around. There's nobody around here but her. Was she imagining it? No, it couldn't be. Her senses had never failed her before.
She shook her head and continued skipping ahead, still humming the tune under her breath as the moonlight lit up the path ahead of her.
Namu Amida Butsu, she prayed. Saying those words out loud or reciting them in her head is just another habit to her at this point. Everytime she says those words it gives her a sense of peace and strength.
"What's Namu Amida Butsu?"
"It means that I entrust myself to the Buddha of Infinite Light and Life."
She stopped once more when she heard those foreign voices again. She looked around again. She's still alone.
Was she hallucinating?
She looked up, seeing the large rocky face of a cliff staring right down at her. On a whim, she jumped up into the air and let her hair grow. Like thread and needles, they carved and stitched an image into the rock within seconds. The hair would disappear by sunrise because her hair could not withstand the sun, but the image that her hair had drilled with countless pin-sized holes would still be etched on the rock.
She carved the image of a Buddha onto the cliff. The Buddha is praying with his palms pressed against each other. In his hands are prayer beads. His eyes lack any pupils but for some reason she felt that it must be that way, that the Buddha she knew of must be blind. His face looks stern but it is still a benevolent face. The face of the Buddha she carved is different from the other types of Buddhas she had seen of their statues in the countless temples she had visited and prayed in. Even then, she somehow felt that the faces of those Buddhas must be wrong. Hers must be the correct image of how a Buddha's face should be like.
She doesn't know why, but the face of the Buddha felt really familiar to her. Did she finally remember something?
"Buddha? Are you a Buddha, sensei?"
Who is sensei?
She could not get any answers no matter how long she stared at her handiwork. Her skill with threading and weaving is a lot better than when she first woke up in the woods. She's confident that very few in this world could match her in her area of expertise. Yet, none of this is able to help her find the owner of the benevolent voice.
Namu Amida Butsu
She knelt down and clasped her hands together in a silent prayer. She closed her eyes and prayed, praying for the day where she could finally meet the owner of the voice. She doesn't know who he is, but he has to be Buddha. Her Buddha. Her Buddha would have the answers she seeks.
So, she prayed to the image of the Buddha she carved onto the face of the cliff with the moon watching her.
Namu Amida Butsu
"Lord… Mu...zan?"
She didn't know that there actually is a Demon Lord. She didn't know until she felt his call for all demons to gather. She didn't even know that there's such a group called the Twelve Demon Moons.
All she knows is that right now, Lord Muzan is calling all the demons together for one decisive attack on the Demon Slayers. She doesn't really care about all of this because all she wants is to seek out her Buddha for answers, but she cannot go against Lord Muzan's wishes. His blood flows in her and he could easily kill her with a single thought.
So, she stayed within the Dimensional Infinity Fortress like all the other demons did, waiting for the fated day to arrive.
Playing with the other demons proved to be fun. Unlike humans, they don't have a weak body and they don't die easily. These bullies can afford to have a few stitches stitched on them for the fun of it. It is boring all by herself in here so she passed the time stitching any demons that tried to bully her and stringed them up in one looooooong demon chain. The demon chain got so long that it eventually caught Lord Muzan's attention.
Oops. She got carried away.
Funnily enough, Lord Muzan didn't reprimand her. Instead, he praised her and made her the Upper Moon Five, saying that her strength makes her worthy of such a title and position. Personally, she doesn't really care about her new title and position, but it sounds like fun being an Upper Moon Five.
She met the Upper Moon Six once, who seemed to recognise her and hurl all sorts of verbal abuses at her the moment their eyes met. His rudeness simply reduced all good sentiments she had for him into nothing. She doesn't want to fight, not if she can help it, so she simply left within five seconds of meeting the unpleasant fellow.
Not before stitching him into the wall and stitching his mouth shut, of course. Misbehaving kids need to be punished.
Still, the face of the Upper Moon Six feels really familiar. Had she seen him somewhere before?
Hmmm
She felt the Upper Moon Four gathering the power to use her Blood Demon Arts. It's at this moment that she knew that the battle between Demon Slayers and Demons is about to start. She doesn't want to participate in this battle because all she wants is to find her Buddha, the owner of that gentle voice, but she really doesn't have a choice because Lord Muzan's wishes cannot be gone against. His blood runs in her veins.
She closed her eyes and put her hands together. She prayed as the fortress moved, wishing for a safe return so that she could continue on her search once this was all over.
Namu Amida Butsu
She simply waited alone in an empty room. She has a duty to fight for Lord Muzan, yes, but she is not going to go out of her way to do so. If possible, she will just wait in this room until the battle is over and then she will be on her merry way again. It's not like Lord Muzan is spying on her every move anyway.
She stitched many patterns on the wall in her free time, her hair growing and elongating at will to replace any missing lengths she had used to stitch the images into the walls. She had only just completed stitching an image of a school of koi fish happily swimming in a pond when she felt someone enter.
"Namu Amida Butsu! Welcome! If possible, can we not fight at all? Let's just wait it out until the battle's over, okay?"
She didn't turn to see who had entered but she heard a hitch of the person's breath. She turned around at the sound of that, feeling slightly curious, only to see a face that she had once carved into that cliff.
"Sensei?"
Those words rolled out of her tongue before she even realised she was speaking it. Tears flowed out of her eyes without her knowing why. The man's composure had obviously shook upon hearing her voice as well.
"C-Chiori?"
"Chio...ri?" She repeated with a cock of her head, unsure what that meant. She pointed a finger at herself in uncertainty.
"M-Me…? Chiori?"
The man's hands are gripping onto his weapon so tightly that it visibly turned white.
"You don't… remember who you are?"
"No, I don't." She said with a wistful sigh as she sat on the top of a nearby table and let her legs waved about childishly in midair.
"I don't even know if I have a name. The other demons just call me the Upper Moon Five after I rose into this position and that is that. I cannot remember anything, you know? All I can remember is that I have to run. For what, I have no clue, so I kept running to find the answer. Oh, oh! Do you know the meaning of the words Namu Amida Butsu means I entrust myself to the Buddha of Infinite Light and Life? I only just managed to remember that recently! By the way, your voice sounds kind of familiar. Like really familiar. Do I know you? Have we met? And hey! You look a lot like the Buddha I remember and prayed to! Are you a Buddha, sensei? Eh, why did I call you sensei again?"
She narrowed her eyes and pouted. What's with her and the weird words coming out from her mouth today? Why is she calling this man sensei?
The man's body visibly trembled. Slowly, he raised his hands and put his palms together, tears flowing uncontrollably down his face.
"N-Namu… Amida Butsu. I have failed you, Chiori. I'm sorry."
Namu Amida Butsu
She leapt up in alarm. The way he spoke it and the way the man's voice matched the one in her head in such an exact manner made her jump onto her feet for a reason she cannot explain. She found herself trembling. As to why, she has no idea.
"A-Are you… my Buddha? The one that I've been searching for?"
She asked in a whisper, not knowing if she wanted to hear an answer.
"I am no Buddha." The man gritted through his clenched teeth as he composed himself and began to spin the heavy looking flail in his hands. "I'm sorry, Chiori, but I will end your suffering today. I'm sorry, I have failed you. Don't worry, I will join you soon, tonight. I will make it up to you then. Namu Amida Butsu."
"Hey hey! I'm sure we can talk-"
She didn't get to complete her sentence as the heavy spiked flail was thrown right at her face. She compressed herself to be as thin as a thread and weaved through the openings she could find, dodging that blow. An axe was thrown at her next, but her body's flexible property as a thin thread meant that she cannot be cut. Hitting her is hard enough as it is.
"- things out! Geez! Seriously! Why are you all Demon Slayers like this?!" She shouted out in annoyance as she continued to weave herself around the man, darting around like a frenzied bee. "This is why we never get along! I've never eaten a single piece of human flesh or even drank a single drop of human blood, you know?! Even when those dark whispers kept telling me to eat you guys I just keep repeating Namu Amida Butsu in my mind until they go away! I'm not like the others, I swear! I never liked the idea of eating meat anyway! Makes me want to puke! So can you just stop attacking me?!"
The flail came at her again and she had no choice but to dodge. The man's tears continue to flow, grief clear on his face the moment he heard her words. Weird, why is he so sad? Why is he crying for her? Is he her Buddha? The face and voice all matched so she thought he had to be her Budhha, but he denied everything.
Humans are just so weird and confusing.
"Uh, mister? You okay?" She asked in concern as she took a temporary break by stitching herself onto the ceiling and letting her head resize itself back to normal in order to speak. For some reason, she doesn't like to see this man cry.
She doesn't know why, but she just knows that she doesn't want to see him sad.
The man did not respond as he looked up and began to spin his flail once more. His tears never stopped.
"Uh, do you want me to sing something for you? Well, it's not really sing per say, more like humming. I don't even know what the tune means but hey! I think the tune prays for the safety for all those who heard it! Want to hear me hum it? Humming it always made me feel so happy!"
The man let out a roar full of grievance as he threw the flail at her again. She hid herself within the cracks of the ceiling and scowled when her images she had so painstakingly stitched on the walls got destroyed.
"My stitching! You destroyed them all! That's not nice! Not nice at all! I tried to be nice, you know?! Why are you Demon Slayers always like this?! Do you know how much effort I put into my work?!"
She unleashed her attack at him in her fury. He defended against her countless strands of sharp and durable hair with ease using those chains, forming an impenetrable shield as he spun them around him. Her heart hurts for some reason. For some reason, attacking him hurts her on the inside without her knowing why.
"Have we… met?" She asked softly the moment they both leapt away from each other to create some distance. "You called me… Chiori. You called me Chiori earlier, right? H-Have we… r-really met? Do you know who I am?"
The man's face is contorted in both fury and sorrow, she can tell that much. Her words are having an effect on him.
"Y-You know who I really am, don't you?! We met before I lost my memories, right?! Right?! Then tell me! Please! Tell me who I really am! Please, TELL ME!"
She is almost at the point of going down on her knees to beg him if she wasn't so afraid of that scary looking spiked flail that he is still spinning. Under other circumstances she would have turned and fled but this is different. This man clearly has a connection to her.
She has to stay and find out.
"N-Namu Amida Butsu! I keep hearing those words in that same voice in my head! It's your voice, I'm sure of it now! Y-Your face! I keep seeing it whenever I think of Buddha! It's the exact same face! You are my Buddha, aren't you?! AREN'T YOU?! ANSWER ME DAMMIT! If you are my Buddha then ADMIT IT!"
She howled and unleashed her greatest Blood Demon Arts, sending her hair extending toward everywhere and anything in an effort to trap this man within her stitching. She's not going to kill him. She won't even injure him. All she wants is answers.
"Third Form: Stone Skin."
To her amazement and disbelief, each of her attacks were easily sliced off by his axe. Her hair that can easily pierce through metal got torn as if they were made of paper.
This man… is insanely strong. He must be her Buddha, right? Only Buddhas are that strong.
Namu Amida Butsu
She prayed in her mind out of habit as she dashed towards him. She is getting her answers tonight, one way or another. She compressed herself as thin as a thread and weaved herself through his chains, finally getting close to him.
She resized herself back to normal and caught him in a tight hug, restricting his arms with her demonic strength and not allowing him to swing those nasty chains any longer.
"Please! Please! Just answer me! Are you the Buddha that I had been searching for?! Please! I beg you! Answer me! Please please please please-"
She kept begging him as she hugged him close, tears leaking out from her eyes. The man is still crying as well, but he is no longer swinging those chains.
"Please! Please! I… I just want answers! It's the only reason why I keep running from place to place visiting temples because I learnt that Namu Amida Butsu is something that only religious people or monks will say, but nobody said it in that exact same voice! Until I heard it coming from you! Namu Amida Butsu is the only thing I could remember so please! If you know the answers I seek please answer me!"
She sobbed into the man's chest. She knew how dangerous this is. The man is clearly strong and can easily smash her head in but for some reason, she just knows he won't do that.
"Your… name is Chiori. One of the children that I used to raise in the temple."
The man's voice got her to look up once more.
"You are always trying to help but you are clumsy, so you keep failing to help and end up creating more trouble instead. Even then, you kept trying to help until you found your talent for sewing. You even gave me a handkerchief with a koi fish embroidered on it. I still kept it with me."
Slowly, she stepped back from the man and her eyes wide in disbelief, not believing his words. She watched as the man took out a single handkerchief from his pocket, the same design of the koi fish which she always likes to stitch on the temples she had visited staring right back at her.
"You hated eating meat because to you, it feels like you are eating a corpse. You always gave your share of meat to the other children. You like hearing me play the shakuhachi and you will often hum the tune I play without you realising it, saying that it is to pray for my safety and for the family. I'm… sorry. I'm sorry, Chiori. Other than Sayo I wasn't able to protect you and the others. If it wasn't for my failure you wouldn't have been turned into a demon. The rest wouldn't have died."
"I-I was h-human?" She took a step back in shock, her hands over her mouth in disbelief. "N-No way! I- Y-You are lying, aren't you?! B-Buddhas don't lie! Stop lying!"
"What I said is the truth." The man said solemnly as he held onto those chains. "We were attacked by a demon one night many years ago. You ran, saying that you will call for help. I tried to find you for years after that night but I never found a single clue as to where you may be. I had thought that you had died until I met you today. I'm sorry, Chiori. Namu Amida Butsu."
Those words. Namu Amida Butsu. This time, it gave her a lot of pain rather than the comfort she had seeked for so many moons. She clutched onto her head in pain as she began to cry again. She shook her head and began to scream.
"I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it I don't want to hear it I don't want to hear it I don't want to hear it I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!"
Her hair lengthened and hardened themselves to the extreme as she sent it at the man in her rage and grief. She doesn't know what happened but she knows for certain that she didn't hit him.
Then, there was a flash of pain at her neck.
"E-Eh?"
She felt unbelievably light. She felt her head fall and landed on the floor with a dull thud and saw her headless body landing not far away.
Ah, so she got decapitated.
Is she… going to die?
"I'm sorry, Chiori. Don't worry, don't be scared, I will be there with you soon. You won't be alone. I will do my best to make it up for you, everything you've been through, I will make it up to you in the afterlife. Namu Amida Butsu."
She heard him chanting those three comforting words for her as he knelt down beside her head, hands in prayer as he continued to chant those comforting words for her, the words that gave her salvation. The words that saved her that day.
Then, it all came back to her in a flash.
How she first met him. When she first heard those comforting words. The time they spent together in that small temple. Him suggesting to her to take up sewing. How she would listen to him play the shakuhachi for her and she will hum alongside him. Her time spent with the other children who she views as family. She remembered giving him the handkerchief that she sewed and embroidered for him, the one with the picture of the koi fish.
"Sen...sei… Himejima… sensei…"
She gathered all her willpower to slow down the process of her body disintegrating, trying to look at the face of her saviour and father figure for one last time.
Her Buddha.
"I remember… I'm sorry… I failed again, I should have… lis...tened… and stayed..."
"Namu Amida Butsu. It's no fault of your own, Chiori. You have always been so kind. You said you never ate a single human, I believe you. There's nothing to be sorry for, you did your best. Namu Amida Butsu, Namu Amida Butsu, Namu Amida Butsu-"
"I'm… scared…" She sobbed as her tears began to show once more when the fear of death began to grip her. "I don't want to… go… alone…"
"I will be there with you soon, I promise. Once tonight is over I will be there. You won't be alone. I will be there with you every step of the way, I promise. We will go there together. Namu Amida Butsu, Namu Amida Butsu, Namu Amida Butsu-"
"Sensei, continue to… pray for… me… please…? I want to… hear… your..."
She closed her eyes, no longer having the strength to keep them open and halt the claws of death claiming her life. She listened with a smile on her face as she heard her Buddha praying for her over and over again with those three comforting words accompanying her to the afterlife. The words that gave her salvation.
With the last of her strength, she whispered those same words for him, her Buddha.
"Namu Amida Butsu."