It had been a couple weeks since Hayashi's last break, which really wasn't that much of a break since Sanemi had forced her to train until her hands bled. She was considerably tired and grumpy as she hadn't slept or eaten in a while, and her crow was constantly shouting in her ear about some spiders or shit, she didn't really listen to it.
The sun was setting behind a mountain, casting long shadows across the ground. The relief of shade was welcomed by Hayashi, as she had been walking in the sun the whole day. It seemed fun when she had first joined the demon slayer corps, walking around everywhere and seeing the different parts of Japan. That beautiful false sense of joy had shattered when Hayashi went on her first mission, and disappointment quickly replaced it.
Being a demon slayer was tiring, and required much energy. It also never really left any time for sightseeing or rest, much to Hayashi's dismay.
Hayashi was currently following her crow to some shady looking mountain with a putrid smell of rotten flesh, mold and blood seeping from it. The whole ordeal was not something Hayashi would recommend, until she saw three familiar figures in the distance. One of them loudly wailing and weeping on the ground. Hayashi perked up and picked up her pace considerably to catch up to them.
However, Hayashi discovered that she didn't put enough effort in to run fast enough because when she got there only one of the three figures remained.
"...ugh" She sighed and sat down beside Zenitsu who was still weeping on the ground.
"ARGH! A DEMON, A DEMON HAS COME TO KILL- oh hi Hayashi-chan!" Zenitsu stumbled back in surprise before realizing that it was the mysterious and tired girl that had saved him from the wrath of Inosuke a couple weeks back.
"What are you doing here?" Zenitsu asked in a weirdly cheery tone, which was mildly concerning since he had been producing rivers from his eyes a few moments before.
"I'm on a mission, but I don't feel like going. I'm so tired. Where'd the rest of your crew go?" Hayashi answered his question in an unbothered tone and sat down beside him to rest her legs.
"Tanjiro and Inosuke headed in to do the mission after another demon slayer got pulled back in." Zenitsu looked fearfully at the dark and looming forest.
"What about Tanjiro's demon friend?" Hayashi was just making small talk now, and had no idea how her question would affect Zenitsu, who suddenly popped up, startling the girl beside him.
"OH MY GOD, TANJIRO RAN INTO THE SCARY MOUNTAIN WITH NEZUKO! WHAT A MORON, I HAVE TO GO SAVE MY FUTURE WIFE!" He continued screaming similar things as he dashed off into the woods that surrounded the mountain.
"Wait, you can't just leave me by myself!" Hayashi reluctantly got up and made to follow him before being hit by a stench so foul she actually stumbled back. Things in that mountain seemed pretty serious, the presence - presences Hayashi realized - of demons was overpowering. There was also a strange sense something, well, living in the trees. Small creatures crawling around and observing Hayashi, even when she was standing outside the forest.
Hayashi took one last gulp of fresh air, savoring it's clean smell, before tentatively stepping in the forest. The smell was definitely worse inside the forest than out, and it proved impossible to track Zenitsu down in this madness. Even in panic, the boy left no clear trail for Hayashi to follow. Hayashi's keen sense of smell was utterly ruined in this environment, and there was so much movement in the trees so she couldn't focus.
So, Hayashi decided she would be guided purely by her own instincts.
"Let's hope this works..." She mumbled to herself, and cautiously drew her sword. The tip of the bright green blade pointed her in a random direction, which she followed.
Hayashi's crow was not with her, so she had no information regarding how many demons were on this mountain, let alone how strong they were. Her ears and eyes, the only reliable senses she had at the moment, worked furiously for any signs of demons and demon slayers alike to guide her to a fight.
Suddenly a shadow cast itself upon Hayashi, covering the full moon, she looked up in alarm. There stood a demon, suspended in mid air, or not quite suspended. Hayashi could see the thin strings glinting in the moonlight. She turned her full focus on the demon which glared down at her form it's perch.
"Tsk, another demon slayer." He said more to himself than her, but she heard nonetheless. His one eye looked about her as her thoughts raced. This demon stank more than anything in the forest, he had to be the most powerful. It was a demon moon, Hayashi concluded, a lower one most likely, but still powerful enough to cause serious harm to her.
Hayashi didn't sense any sense of immediate hostility coming from him, and concluded that he wouldn't necessarily attack her. For now. However, she kept her sword up as a precaution.
"Could you point me to the nearest demon slayers?" She called up to him, which he answered with a bewildered look. "Please?" Hayashi added on, and before the demon boy could begin to speak there was a loud explosion and a scream in the distance.
"Alright, never mind. I'm going to help my comrades, I'll leave you to someone who's more powerful than me. I don't have enough energy at the moment."
Hayashi turned away from the demon, which was her first mistake. The next one was believing that the demon would just let her go like that. It was rarely possible to have a civil conversation with a demon, and unheard of to just walk away from one like that. How could Hayashi have been so stupid! It was a miracle, that she didn't die from the sharp object that was thrown at in incredible speed at her head, and a stroke of luck that she had noticed just in time to move her head so she didn't die.
Hayashi spun around to find herself face to face with the spider demon, who now had spiderwebs in his hand. The new cut on her cheek from where she barely dodged the spiderweb he had thrown now bleeding.
"You intrigue me, human. You claim to be so weak yet the power in your steps cannot be mistaken." His eyes glistened with humor as Hayashi's blood dripped onto the ground, "And you say you need to go help your comrades, instead of trying to take me on. Is it perhaps..." the demon trailed off, leaving the question shrouded in mystery.
Hayashi looked up at him from her hooded eyes. Her grip on her sword tightened ever so slightly. "Spiders are pretty creepy you know, out of all of the things you could have been, you had to choose the animal I despise the most."
"Wind Breathing, First Form: Dust Whirlwind Cutter"
Hayashi hurled herself forwards with blinding speed, and delivered one big powerful slash, aiming for the spider's neck, but the demon moved his head away a bit just in time to avoid cutting all of his neck. The impact of the attack sent the demon flying backwards, his head staying attached to his body by a mere inch of flesh.
'I was caught off guard! She's more powerful than she lets on.'
He looks up at Hayashi from his place on the ground to see her with a cold expression. The blood on her face still continuously dripping, but she made no move to clean it. Her eyes calculating her next move, carefully.
"Lower moon five." Hayashi looks at his eye that had become uncovered, and he swears quietly to himself, putting his hair back in place. She looks down upon the demon child, his neck was already mending and she could tell that she had angered him considerably. This was a dangerous game, he had been caught off guard by the power of her first attack but he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.
The demon slowly got up as his neck fully healed.
'His neck is already healed, I spent too much time thinking about my next move.'
Hayashi wondered what her master would say to her now. Probably something along the lines of 'Kill that bastard'. Killing a demon moon was probably something she couldn't do. She needed to run away, and find help.
"Blood Demon Art, Cutting Thread Cage"
Hayashi deflected the attack with her sword and rolled out of the way. She focused her eyes and began her next attack.
"Wind breathing, Seventh Form: Gale, Sudden Gusts"
Hayashi jumps up in the air, rotating her sword to generate powerful wind only to be caught in spider webs.
'Fuck, these spider webs are everywhere. I keep getting caught in them'
Due to her attack being cut short, the blow didn't even come close to hitting the demon child and instead nearly chopped a tree in half.
"You know, you would be able to beat me in a single slash if you wanted to." The demon spoke from below Hayashi was tangled in threads.
'Oh no, is he going to lecture me about not trying hard enough?"
"You'd be able to cut my head if you tried more, such a shame all of that talent got wasted on someone like you."
'Called it'
Hayashi let out an exasperated sigh. She was going to die for sure, and her last words were going to be heard by no one other than this pathetic looking demon and the creepy spiders that were definitely going to eat her corpse. What a shitty end it was going to be, Sanemi would have been disappointed. She did a double take when the demon started to walk away.
"Wait what? You're not going to kill me?" She called after it, already having accepted certain death.
"No, I won't bother. Mother will take care of you for me, if she's still alive that is. If not then you'll be consumed by spiders and die eventually. I don't see why I have to waste any effort on you."
'Damn, that hurts. Not even a demon sees me as worth it's time.'
Hayashi watched the demon walk away with squinted eyes. What a pleasant night this was, Sanemi was going to be royally pissed when he found out she had died so pathetically.