Kimetsu no Yaiba doesn't belong to me. This story is a translation of another fanfic of mine. I hope you like it!
Nezuko Kamado opened her eyes and looked around. She didn't know where she was, but she was lying in a bed, that was the first thing she thought.
She sat up, feeling nervous. It seemed that the room she was in had been prepared for her, considering that the only window was sealed, preventing the sun's rays from entering.
She concentrated a little and tried to gather information about her surroundings using her heightened senses. It was daytime, and there were still six hours and twenty-three minutes until nightfall.
She also sensed the presence of several humans. They had a very characteristic smell, but as she focused on them, the demon frowned. There were five humans, of whom she could only recognize one. Kyojuro Rengoku. But there was no trace of her sister.
Feeling panic envelop her, she got out of bed and headed for the door, but when she tried to open it, the door didn't budge. She had been locked in.
Combined with Sumiko's absence, Nezuko began to feel real anguish. Had something happened to her sister while she was sleeping? What if, by not being able to protect her, Sumiko was also dead?
Tears came to her eyes, but soon rage opened its way through. She took a step back and kicked the door with great force, causing it to come off its hinges and hit the opposite wall.
She hesitated for a moment about whether to go out or not, although the room had been dark, the same could not be said of the hallway, completely illuminated by sunlight. She instinctively retreated, almost forgetting her previous fear and anger.
She heard the hurried footsteps of two people. Rengoku and a woman were coming towards her. The demon stared down the hallway and waited.
Just a few seconds later, the two of them were standing in front of the entrance. The woman made a noise of annoyance at the sight of the door, but didn't seem surprised.
"I see you've woken up!" Rengoku exclaimed, as cheerful as ever.
"Where is my sister?" Nezuko got straight to the point.
"I'm afraid you'll have to wait a few more days to see her, my dear," the woman replied, stepping forward. "The Final Selection isn't over yet."
Nezuko frowned slightly but didn't protest. "Where am I?"
"In the Butterfly Mansion. Your sister was quite worried about...your condition, and I agreed to examine you," explained the woman. "Nice to meet you, my name is Shinobu Kocho."
"Nezuko Kamado."
"You've been sleeping for quite some time," said Shinobu, maintaining a smile. False, Nezuko noticed immediately, she could smell anger and hatred emanating from the woman's slight body in waves. Although that wasn't the most dangerous thing, the demon told herself after continuing to sniff. She reeked of poison, everything about that woman. She could smell the scent of it coming from her katana sheath, and strangely enough, from her body too. Not just one poison, several, she mentally corrected herself. She was more dangerous than she appeared.
"I'm aware," Nezuko replied sharply. Rengoku looked at both of them with concern. The tension that was building up in the room could be cut with a butter knife, and it was something that the Flame Pillar didn't like at all.
"We were worried about you!" the man admitted, approaching her. "How are you?"
"Fine," Nezuko answered, stepping back and sitting on the bed. She wanted to see her sister, and having to wait several more days didn't sit well with her.
"I would like to be able to give you a quick check-up," Shinobu said, not ready to give up yet.
Nezuko wanted to refuse, but the possibility of angering them could work against her. For the time being, while her sister wasn't there, she would have to give in to those things.
"Okay," she said, barely containing a sigh.
Kanao easily sliced the neck of the demon in front of her, while Sumiko did the same with one to her right. They had been enduring for four days and, so far, it had gone pretty well.
Although they had not encountered too many demons, between the two of them, they had eliminated five demons already. The nights were usually quite peaceful.
The two sheathed their katanas. Neither of them smiled. Sumiko didn't enjoy killing, and ending demons proved to be more difficult than she had expected. Kanao, on the other hand, was unable to feel anything when doing it. She saw them as mere killers of humans and didn't grant them even the slightest bit of mercy.
"Shall we continue?" Kanao asked, trying to hide that she had perceived her companion's voice trembling. In such cases, she was sure that Shinobu or Kanae would have tried to cheer up that person, but Kanao wasn't sure how to do it. Should she say something, or would just placing her hand on her shoulder be enough? What if Sumiko misinterpreted her intentions?
Out of habit, Kanao brought her right hand to the area where she kept her coin, but before she could do anything, Sumiko moved forward and continued walking. Kanao stopped, realizing that she had taken too long to make a decision. She hurried to follow her so as not to fall behind. Sumiko glanced sideways at her, envious of her friend's ability to kill with such ease. Perhaps someday she would be able to do that too.
They had been walking for a while when they heard a cry of agony. The two stopped in their tracks and looked at each other. It had sounded too close to where they were.
"Shall we go see?" Sumiko asked, hesitant.
Kanao nodded, serious. It was evident that the other girl wanted to go, even if she didn't say it out loud.
The two ran in that direction as fast as they could. When they arrived, they found a macabre scene.
There were about ten bodies lying among the trees. Some were split in half, others were missing one or more limbs. And there was a demon devouring one of the bodies. Sumiko widened her eyes, horrified at the sight, and was barely able to contain the urge to vomit. The smell was unbearable, and she regretted at that moment having such a sensitive nose. The smell of death emanating from the demon and the scent of blood were too much for her, and she couldn't help but remember the moment when she found almost her entire family murdered.
Kanao noticed that she was completely paralyzed. She wasn't in a condition to fight in that state, and she made a decision. She was going to have to manage on her own.
The demon, upon seeing them, smiled and put his food aside. He was a huge being, his entire body composed of green hands, and only his eyes were visible on his face. He had his neck completely protected, Kanao noted seriously. Without hesitation, she launched herself at the demon with her katana drawn. She jumped and tried to cut the being's neck, but he responded by throwing several hands at her from his body with the intention of grabbing her.
Kanao easily amputated the four arms and landed softly on the ground, though she immediately prepared to try again. She had to finish him off as soon as possible, she thought. She glanced at Sumiko and noticed that she had covered her nose with a handkerchief. She looked better, and there was determination in her eyes again, although she was still quite pale.
"I'll cover you," said Sumiko as she prepared by drawing her katana with her free hand. Kanao nodded, and the two jumped. The demon barely seemed to flinch and launched a similar attack to the previous one. Sumiko took a breath and prepared, "Breath of Flames, Third Form," she murmured to herself as she traced an arc, and flames sprouted from the blade, easily cutting off the arms, leaving the way clear for Kanao.
The demon looked at her and smiled, expecting to see despair in the girl's eyes when she realized that she couldn't cut his neck. For that reason, when the blade cleanly cut the area where his neck was and his head began to fall to the ground, the demon looked at her incredulously.
"What? How was that possible? In forty years, no one has been able to do that." Kanao sheathed her katana. Sumiko hesitated a bit and only did so when she saw the demon starting to turn to dust.
"We should leave here," Kanao said, serious.
"Shouldn't we bury the bodies first?" asked Sumiko, not thinking it was a good idea to leave them at the mercy of other demons.
Kanao sighed a little. "How?" she asked. "We don't have shovels or anything to do it," she reminded her.
"True, but if we don't, the demons could devour the bodies."
"There's nothing we can do about it."
Sumiko looked away. Kanao was right, but that only made her feel worse, and she followed the other girl in silence.
Nezuko was silently looking at the night sky, two days had already passed since she had woken up. She missed her sister and, if it had depended on her, she would have already gone out to look for her, but neither of the two Pillars had allowed her to do so, the demon thought with annoyance.
A few meters to her right was Kyojuro, keeping an eye on her.
"Don't you have anything better to do than look at me?" she asked grumpily.
"Well, no!" Kyojuro responded with enthusiasm, but completely sincere, Nezuko noticed.
"I see."
"You should have more confidence in your sister! I'm sure she'll pass the test!"
Nezuko looked at him annoyed, it wasn't that she didn't believe she was capable of doing it, but the idea of having to wait without the possibility of helping her didn't appeal to her. She didn't like the idea of having to become part of that military organization either, but given her current situation, it seemed to be her only option.
"And once she passes that test, what then?" the demon asked, without much enthusiasm.
"She'll start receiving missions," Kyojuro explained. "Sometimes alone, sometimes she'll accompany me on one. Or she may have to go with others of her same rank."
Nezuko nodded. Killing demons would soon be her daily routine, she thought, seriously. She looked at her long nails for a moment, deep in thought.
"What do I have to do to become stronger?" she asked, looking back at the human.
Kyojuro tensed and furrowed his brow, reaching for the hilt of his katana. "Why?"
"If I want to help Sumiko, I have to be stronger, don't you think?"
"That won't be necessary," Kyojuro said firmly, not taking his hand off his weapon. The demon held his gaze, serious.
Sumiko walked silently towards the exit of that mountain. Kanao was by her side, also silent. They had passed the Final Selection without much difficulty. The demons they had faced weren't very powerful, so they didn't pose any problem.
They arrived at a clearing and saw the two girls who had explained the test to them days ago, waiting.
One of them, the black-haired one, approached the two girls, smiling a little.
"Congratulations on passing the Final Selection," she said. "But we'll wait for half an hour in case more candidates arrive."
Kanao and Sumiko nodded and withdrew to the side to wait.
Little by little, more people arrived at the clearing. Sumiko recognized several of them by sight. She remembered the boy with the boar's head and a blonde boy who hadn't stopped crying during the entire explanation.
A little later, two more boys arrived. One tall, with black hair shaved on the sides and a perpetually furrowed brow. The other, also with a bad-tempered look, had short, dark hair.
For the moment, there were six, Sumiko thought. Would there have been more survivors? On the first day, about fifty people had gathered. Besides, they were supposed to have received the same training, right?
She nervously bit her lip, remembering the ten corpses she had seen when they faced the demon with the hands. Excluding those already present, only thirty-four more were left to appear.
She looked at her friend, Kanao still maintaining her characteristic expressionlessness. Sometimes Sumiko thought that everything was indifferent to her, she wanted to believe she was wrong, but she wasn't so sure anymore.
She relaxed a little when she saw four more boys appear, but after them, no one else arrived.
Only eleven of the fifty who had entered had come out. Less than half.
"Looks like we're all here," said the blonde girl, drawing the attention of those present.
"Congratulations to those of you who have passed the Final Selection," continued the brunette. "From today on, you are part of the Demon Slayer Corps."
"There are a total of ten ranks," explained the other girl. "We'll be naming them from the lowest to the highest."
—Mizunoto.
—Mizunoe.
—Kanoto.
—Kanoe.
—Tschinoto.
—Tsuchinoe.
—Hinoto.
—Hinoe.
—Kinoto.
—Kinoe —the brunette girl finished listing off the ranks —.Above this rank are the Pillars, but in order to ascend to this rank, you must have defeated one of the twelve Demon Moons, the direct subordinates of Muzan Kibutsuji, or have exterminated a total of one hundred demons.
The blonde girl then approached a table where there were a series of blackish stones.
"Please come here," she asked them. "These are the scarlet minerals obtained from the mountain closest to the Sun and they will be used to forge your katanas. Each of you must choose one."
The eleven obeyed and spent the next few minutes inspecting each piece. Kanao quickly chose a medium-sized piece, and Sumiko, trusting that she had some specific reason for it, grabbed another of similar size.
"Is that your choice?" the blonde girl asked when she saw that everyone had finally made their selection.
The eleven young people nodded and left them where they were told.
"Each of you will be assigned a crow," continued the brunette girl. "It will be through them that you will be assigned missions. They will also report on your performance to the patron, the leader of this military organization."
Almost as if they had been waiting for that moment, a flock of crows descended upon the clearing and perched on the shoulders of the new recruits.
"You can name them whatever you want," the other girl added when they paid attention again. "Finally, when you leave here, there will be a group from the faction of the Hidden, who will take your measurements to make your uniforms."
"You should have everything ready in a fortnight," the brunette girl concluded, ending the conversation.
Kanao smiled a bit as the Butterfly Mansion appeared in the distance. They were almost home, she thought, content. It was already getting dark and some lights could be seen.
Even though they had only been away for a week, she had missed the others. She glanced at Sumiko, who also seemed eager to arrive. But they were too exhausted to go any faster.
It took them half an hour to get to the mansion, and as soon as they saw it, Aoi, who had been cleaning the entrance, dropped her broom and ran to embrace them.
She was crying a little while smiling, happy to see them safe and sound. Sumiko responded to the gesture right away, but Kanao hesitated a bit before joining in.
"You must be tired," Aoi murmured, finally letting go and looking at both of them. "Come inside, I'll let the others know."
She left them alone at the entrance while she ran to find the others. But as soon as she left, they heard hurried footsteps, and Nezuko appeared at the end of the hallway, who, upon seeing her sister, ran towards her and hugged her tightly.
Sumiko winced a bit, her little sister was stronger than she looked and was hurting her a bit. But that wasn't the most important thing, Nezuko was finally awake.
"Nezuko..." she whispered as tears filled her eyes. She had been so worried about her...
The demon let go of her and looked at her, also crying. "I missed you, when I woke up and you weren't there, I was really worried," she admitted.
"Kamado! Tsuyuri!" Rengoku shouted, coming from the same place as Nezuko. "You passed the Final Selection! Congratulations!"
Shinobu came out of the infirmary and approached the two girls. "Congratulations," she said, smiling contentedly and embracing Kanao, happy for their success. But first things first. She wanted to see if they had any wounds or injuries, so she took them to the infirmary.
Nezuko followed them and stayed at the door, paying attention to Shinobu as she started to check her sister.
"It seems like you don't have anything other than some minor scratches," she said relieved. "But you could use a relaxing bath and a good night's sleep. Are you hungry?"
"No, not really," Kanao replied. They had eaten the last meal Rengoku prepared for Sumiko about an hour ago.
"Perfect," murmured Shinobu. They would celebrate both of their successes tomorrow when they were more rested. Although, Shinobu glanced at the door, they would probably have to wait until night to do it, so as not to leave Nezuko Kamado out of it.
Nezuko sighed a little, Sumiko had fallen asleep right away, her breathing had become more relaxed within seconds of lying down.
The demon approached the bed and, with her left hand, caressed one of the young woman's cheeks.
"I won't lose you," she whispered. She had to find a way to become stronger, although she was aware that Rengoku was not going to be happy about it, judging by his reaction when she suggested it, but she didn't care. She sat in the only chair in the room, intending to stay by Sumiko's side until daybreak.
She would have liked to be able to talk alone with her sister, but she hadn't dared to say it when she saw how exhausted she was.
She smiled a little, the important thing was that they were together again. Nezuko wasn't going to leave her alone again.
She looked out the window and frowned slightly as she looked at the flowering trees surrounding the mansion. They didn't affect her too much, but their presence there caused her some itching and she tried to avoid them.
The next fifteen days passed slowly. On the morning of the fifteenth day, two men wearing masks over their faces arrived. Each carried a long package wrapped in blue cloth.
"Do Kanao Tsuyuri and Sumiko Kamado live here?" asked one of them, the shorter one.
"Yes, they do," Shinobu said, who had gone out to meet them. "Please come in."
The three of them went to the room where visitors were received. There were the two girls and Rengoku, sitting and waiting.
The two men sat down in front of them and began to remove the cloth from the packages.
"We have forged a nichirin sword for each of you," one of them explained and proceeded to recount the process of their manufacture in great detail.
"Can you unsheathe them?" the other one asked. "Their blades should change color."
Rengoku tensed at hearing that and looked worriedly at his pupil. Sumiko had just obeyed and was eagerly looking at the blade.
It began to turn black from the hilt to the edge, while Kanao's turned a pale pink. Rengoku breathed a sigh of relief.
"Black!?" Although the blacksmith who had given Sumiko her weapon did not seem happy at all. "I wanted to see a red blade!" he shouted and proceeded to scold the girl for not providing him with that satisfaction.
"Oh, come on, Haganezuka," Shinobu intervened. "You know the color of the sword does not depend entirely on it."
Rengoku bit his lip. Although that was true, it did depend on who wielded it for the first time for the blade to change color. Many, even after passing the Final Selection, were considered failures for not achieving that.
Shinobu tried to get them to stay for some tea she had prepared, but both blacksmiths excused themselves, claiming the need to return to their village before nightfall.
"Well, then, nothing," the woman said, accompanying them to the exit
Sumiko looked worriedly at herself in the mirror. Hours after the two blacksmiths had left, their uniforms had arrived, and the two girls had gone to try them on.
But as soon as she put on hers, the problems started. She couldn't button up the jacket, leaving almost her entire chest and stomach exposed. To make matters worse, the skirt was too short, and it almost revealed more than it should.
"You haven't finished changing yet, Kamado?" To make everything worse, Rengoku was waiting outside the room to see her in the uniform.
Slightly embarrassed, she opened the door and looked around for Shinobu, as she had noticed that her uniform was not like that. Could it be some kind of mistake?
Rengoku looked at her surprised. Although he quickly looked away. "I think it's too small! They must have taken your measurements wrong!"
"So they gave it to you like that too, Kamado?" Shinobu asked, coming out of the room where Kanao had been changing. "Put on your clothes and come with me later. We need to fix this little problem."
The girl nodded and quickly went back into the room and dressed in the kimono she had been wearing before. She folded the uniform and came out. Again, only Rengoku was outside.
"Kocho went to get some matches and oil! She asked me to tell you to wait here!"
Matches and oil? What did they need those for? Sumiko wondered, confused.
Maeda, the man in charge of making the uniforms, looked frightened as he watched the pile of them burn in front of a smiling Shinobu.
"Maeda, tell me something, how many times has it been that I had no choice but to do this?" asked the petite woman with false sweetness.
"Well... I think this makes it... six times?" he murmured, trying not to tremble, but the presence of the Insect Pillar was intimidating.
"I hope the next ones you send are as they should be, Maeda."
Kanao and Sumiko watched without intervening, too surprised to say anything. Neither of them had seen this side of the woman before.
"Well, with everything settled, we'll be leaving now, okay?" Shinobu said, turning around and gesturing for the two to follow her. "I hope they arrive soon at the Butterfly Mansion, understood?"
"Yes! I'll have them ready in less than a week!"
See you soon with the next chapter! Don't forget to leave a review! I would love to hear your thoughts!