They were always different from others, and they knew it— they saw and felt it as well, especially when people kept pointing out how similar they were.

At one point, it was all they were ever told— how similar they were, how similar they worked and how similar they should be. Being different from one another was out of question for them, especially when even their own families treated them like one entity.

Hiroshi used to wonder if their mother even loved them individually. Did they had an identity beyond each other? Was his desire to be different from his brother... wrong?

Hitoshi sympathized with his brother, wondering about the answer of the same question.

It wasn't like they didn't love each other— how could they not? After all, they were a part of the same soul. Working with one another was way simpler because it didn't feel like they were working with a different person. And maybe that was the reason why they couldn't let others into their circle.

But ojisan was somehow different.
And even though Hiroshi and Hitoshi missed their late family, they were somehow, somewhat glad of the fateful day when their family...

...was massacred.
It was wrong feeling this way, they knew, but they couldn't help but appreciate the day because they met their kind teacher, who understood them better than their own parents and never compared them; nor did he expect them to always act similar to one another.

They were free of the bounds that held them forcibly together, and were now given the space to breathe; to explore themselves.

Hiroshi was glad to be the more quiet one, leaving the vocalizing part to his twin who was very happy to open and loud. Indeed, they both were part of the same soul - but not the perfect equal halves.

But Miyasha... was not someone they knew how to deal with.

They stood frozen as they saw the demon strangling Miyasha— her small frame struggling to free itself from the vice grip of the creature on her small body till her last breath was exhausted. And Hiroshi, for the first, saw what ojisan meant by the spirit of a warrior.

Suddenly Hitoshi ran towards the demon and rotated clockwise on his left leg, tucking his right up against his chest before striking out at his full power at the demon with the heel of his shoe. That resulted in an impressive— and rather disgusting —squashing of several of the demon's vines around the base of his head.

In the split second that followed it, four things happened simultaneously.

The demon yelled in shock and sudden, pain due to its extensions been suddenly destroyed. Ojisan cutting off the demon's head in a smooth, clean cut. The demon's grip on Miyasha loosening, causing her body— still somewhat wrapped in the demon's extensions —falling towards to the hard ground and Hiroshi running at his full speed to catch Miyasha's falling body.

Thankfully, her body fell exactly on his lap; the damn demon had her small body hanging from a good few meters above the ground. Hiroshi immediately started unwrapping her delicate frame from those despicable vine like things.

By the time he tore those demonic vines off of her body, she was already unconscious.

"Take her inside, now." Ojisan ordered, his voice stern with worry.

And for the first time in eleven years of Hiroshi's life, he didn't wait for his twin to come with him.


"W-Will she be okay?" Hiroshi cursed himself for his stutter— it wasn't like she was dying.

"She will be," the older male confirmed as he entered the twins' room. "But it'll take her some time to. She doesn't has much damage, thanks to you catching her Hiroshi, but has faced some wounds due to been dragged around."

"We are sorry for not acting fast, ojisan..." Hitoshi whispered the apology for the both of them, looking down at his hands in his lap as he felt guilty.

"Life is a fickle thing, Hitoshi, Hiroshi." Ojisan started, looking at his students sternly. "Life can easily slip away from ones' hands and yet, can also fight to survive through the harshest of conditions. The priority you should have during fighting a demon is not just to kill it, but rather protect the humans around it from harm as well. You are equipped to protect yourself, others are not. And even though life is stubborn in its play, it is delicate enough to slip by without the reasonable attention. Am I clear?"

"Yes, ojisan." The two twins chorused.

"Hitoshi," he called out the name of the elder twin, making him stiffen. "You started fighting without any regards of the location or the possible people around there, putting the humans around you in jeopardy."

"Hiroshi," The younger twin stiffened slightly, not looking up to meet his teacher's eyes. "You did the right thing by removing Miyasha from the line of sight of the demon, but failed to remove her from the battlefield and to protect her."

"Not to mention you two were slowing down and could not reach closer to the demon to cut its head." He sternly looked at both of his students. "You both also failed to notice its vines' movements properly - Miyasha had to shout to get you two out of its attacks' way, and she is not even trained."

Both the twins lowered their head in shame, looking properly chastised.

"However," they looked up slightly, as their teacher's tone of voice changed, "You both showed impressive amount of coordination and even though the first form was a bit off-key for you Hitoshi, you both did good. You had a good grasp of the third form though, Hitoshi, and the strength you showed in defending yourself at the end was beyond impressive. Hiroshi, your display of protection was very admirable, though a bit lacking as I mention before. Other than that, your performance of all the forms were impeccable and on-spot."

Hitoshi pouted and Hiroshi slightly blushed under their teacher's praise. Shigeno smiled at his students, proud of their achievements, but also somewhat disappointed. "I hope you two now know what to do, do you not?"

"Yes, ojisan!"

"Then, I'll look forward to sparring with you two, the next to next week." Shigeno watched satisfactorily as his student's faces paled significantly.

"Shouldn't we get a little bit more time... Ojisan?" Hiroshi asked nervously, as he looked at his teacher's somewhat evil smile.

"No."

Hitoshi comically slumped as Hiroshi lightly chuckled at his twin's antics.

"She'll be fine though, right?" Hiroshi asked once again, when the atmosphere became sombre.

"Yes, she will." The strange finality in their teacher's voice did not escape anyone's notice.


"Wait, You mean she's finally gonna join us?!" Hitoshi asked excitedly as they made their journey back to the temple from the riverside.

"Not with you both," their teacher stated soberly, "But yes, she will start training."

"Why not with us?" Hiroshi wondered out loud, making his teacher turn to him and answer, "Because you two are way ahead of her. And she's..."

"She's what, ojisan?"

"And she's different, Hiroshi. She's much too different than you two."

"So, she'll be trained separately?" Hiroshi asked simultaneously as Hitoshi blurted out, "So, she finally wants to be demon slayer?"

"Yes, she's going to be training separately, Hiroshi but no, she doesn't wants to be a demon slayer, Hitoshi. At least not yet."

"What?" Both the brother chorused, making their teacher sigh in exasperation.

"She is still adamant about not wanting to be a demon slayer, and has been refused to learn the snow breathing technique," Shigeno huffed, annoyance clear in his tone. "But she agreed to learn swordsmanship; she did not wanted a repeat of what happened a few days ago."

"Are you sure you want to train her, ojisan?" Hiroshi sharply inquired, making Shigeno frown in confusion.

"What do you mean, Hiroshi?"

"What if she uses your training to harm other humans? Or worse, turns into a demon?" He reasoned, making Shigeno proud at his student's sharpness.

"That is indeed something to worry about, but I don't think she will be doing either of them."

"How," Hitoshi frowned, confused at his teacher's unwavering belief in the girl's ability. "are you sure? She even refused to help people!"

"True, but she is helping us for more than a few months, is she not?" Shigeno explained as they almost reached the temple. "She also cautioned you both of the demon's attack, giving her cover away just so she could help you, didn't she? I was there when it happened, so don't deny it."

As they neared the entrance of the temple, they noticed the subject of their conversation walking towards the same destination as them, but from the opposite direction, carrying what seemed to be a basket full of vegetables and a cloth bag on her little shoulders.

"She may seem a little too harsh for a child but she is not unkind. Her words may state otherwise, but her acts will always shine through her protective lies." Shigeno remarked, as he moved forward to help the little girl with her luggage.


"What do you think about her, Hiro?"

Hiroshi turned in his futon to face his twin. The moonlight from the window made Hiroshi's face glow, highlighting the greenish hue of his bluish-green eyes.

"I don't know, Hito. She's too..."

"...Mature?"

"Yes! And so... responsible for her age. She's not even five and yet her eyes seem as if she just, knows more. More than anyone." Hiroshi vented out his thoughts in the open, knowing well that his twin will never judge him for it like the others.

"...What if she is what ojisan claims her to be?" Hitoshi mused, "You know, old soul? You have seen how she looks at us, did you not?"

"Yes, Hito... Yes, I did." And that is what unnerved Hiroshi the most. That indifference of hers towards everyone was so...

"...unsettling."

"What?"

"Her indifference to us or anything unusual is so unsettling. She didn't even ask a question when she saw us; it was like- like she already knew! Like she knew what we are and she never looked at us twice... and she never even..."

"Never even what?"

"I don't know, confused between us? Or called us? She never called us by our names and just... I don't know." Hiroshi sighed heavily as he laid on back and stared the ceiling.

"Maybe she isn't supposed to be like them..." Hitoshi mumbled.

"What?"

"Maybe," Hitoshi started out a little louder than before, "She's not like others. Maybe... she's a separate group in herself, you know? I mean, she's so different than us, too."

In their whole eleven years of lives, they had only knew two groups of people- them and everyone else. And Miyasha didn't fit in any of those two. Because maybe, she was just another group on her own.

"Do you think there are people like her out there? You know, the ones who won't treat us different because we are twins...?"

"I don't know, Hito..." Hiroshi answered honestly, "But I really, really want to know more about her now."

"Me too, Hiro, me too..."


Okaaay!

We are almost at the end of this arc! Two or three chapters more and we'll meet Tanjiro up!

I'll catch up to the anime version of demon slayer first and then slowly shift to the manga - though both are pretty similar, anyway.

Expect another chapter by today (or tomorrow, lol)

And here is the answer to reviews!

Einklley: I'll be very honest, your reviews help me a loot, thank you so much! I really have no words to describe how much I appreciate your help ^_^ Thank you so much for giving this fanfic a chance!

Other than that, thank you so much to everyone reading, following, favourit-ing and reviewing! You guys keep me motivated and help me to write!

Stay safe and stay healthy, folks!