He started towards the direction of the rising sun, his movement stiff and slow, he was hoping the sunrise had warded off any straggling demons. He hiked his way through the thick foliage, his surroundings starting to look more and more familiar as he recognized the steep incline and thick tree trunks. The last time he had seen them felt like years ago, it was hard to believe that it had only been a week's time. Just as he had begun his final descent, he heard what he thought was a whimper coming from his left. He turned sharply, dilating his pupils instantly with a quick inhale, he looked for movement in the thicket. He caught a glimpse of movement, something was shaking in the distance, right above a large fallen tree. He put his hand on the hilt of his sword, though he really hoped he would not be forced to use the mere inches that were left of it at this point. As he approached the tree, he took a deep breath and quickly jumped atop the log, and glanced down where he had seen the motion. To his surprise, he did not find a monstrous demon setting a trap for him, he found a young girl. The girl sat hunched in the fetal position, her face buried, sobs racking her body silently. She could not have been much older than Muichiro, her white kimono soiled with dirt and blood, her long black hair matted and messy, it had once been in pigtails. Takeshi took his hand off his sword and carefully knelt down behind the girl, he wasn't sure she had heard him approach.
"Excuse me… are you okay?" Takeshi said gently, extending a hand. The girl startled, jumping back and looking up at him in terror, her light blue eyes as wide as saucers.
"I'm not a demon, relax. I heard you crying and wanted to make sure you were alright, the selection is over, you…" Takeshi was interrupted by the girl who had lunged at him and grabbed him tightly, sobbing into his shoulder. He nearly fell from the log but instead steadied himself on her as she leaned against him.
"How… how am I alive? Is it really over?" the girl said in between sobs, Takeshi wasn't sure how to react, he hated seeing people cry.
"I was dead, I don't deserve to be alive. Do you hear me? I'm a failure, I was too scared to do anything but hide. I'll never be a competent swordswoman," Takeshi adjusted his stance and reached into his knapsack which was still miraculously in one piece.
"Nothing happens without reason, trust me, I know how you feel he said," Takeshi said gently, the girl now looking up to meet his gaze.
"My mother used to tell me that all that you need to worry about is the next step you take, not the journey, but the next step. Here, make your next step a pleasant one, try one of these," Takeshi presented a dorayaki, the last one he had saved from Kazuo's gift. The girl accepted the cake cautiously, taking small bites through her tears, slowly calming herself, and stepping away from Takeshi.
"Thank you, I really don't know what to say," the girl said, her voice beginning to strengthen.
"You're bleeding, you need a doctor right now," she said suddenly, her sorrow almost completely vanishing from her voice. Takeshi looked down to see a stream of blood from his kimono, he shook his head and smiled, he must have re-opened one of his wounds.
"I'll be fine, I'm sure there will be help waiting for us once we descend. I'm Takeshi by the way, I'm glad I ran into you, I was beginning to get a little lonely out here. Besides this one weird guy, I haven't talked to anything but demons out here," Takeshi said, laughing to himself at his own joke. The girl did not smile back, she still seemed upset about how he had responded to his injury.
"I'm Aoi, Aoi Kanzaki. I thank you for your help Takeshi, and for this pastry, a little stale but it's all I've had to eat in seven days so it tasted just fine to me. It's nice to meet you," she said, fully having regained her composure and raising to her feet.
"Shall we descend?" she said, now taking the reigns of conversation.
"After you," Takeshi said, jumping down from the log and offering a hand to Aoi. She took it, Takeshi feeling her calloused hands worn from what must have been months of hard training. Together, they limped closer to the altar where they had started their journey a week prior.
"You mentioned your mother," Aoi said suddenly, looking at her feet as she walked.
"Does she know you're here? Is she okay with you becoming a demon slayer?" She said, now looking to see Takeshi's reaction. He bowed his head, his turn to look at his feet.
"My mother and father… they're both… they passed away not too long ago," he said, his voice soft and exposed.
"I'm sorry to hear that, but I know how you feel," she said, both of them looking towards the ground now.
"Both of my parents were killed by demons, it's why I wanted to become a demon slayer, I felt like I needed to avenge them, and make them proud," she said, her voice close to breaking once again.
"Mine too," Takeshi said, looking over at Aoi, trying to be comforting.
"I lost mine on the same night, to the same demon, and then it tried to kill me too. I wasn't strong enough to protect them or myself, it's why I'm here. I don't want anyone to have to suffer like we have, Aoi, it's not fair," Takeshi said, now looking at her directly. She met his gaze, meeting his bright blue eyes.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, this was really difficult, deadly for most even," Takeshi said, clenching his fist as he remembered just how many corpses and bones he had seen over the past few days.
"What matters is that you're descending as a victor, not how you got here. In the end, no matter how many demons you killed, you're still walking the same path as everyone else. Everyone has strengths, it's up to them to figure out where they lie and take advantage," Takeshi said triumphantly, a trace of that signature smile crossing his lips. Aoi just stared, her guilt and doubt starting to fade, somehow this kid had made everything feel alright. She nearly forgot her wounds and starvation for a moment, how did he stay so proud through all this adversity? He had lost more than anyone his age ever should have, and experienced horrors that many adults couldn't even dream of, but he still mustered a smile. His tattered and bloodied blue and gold kimono, his oozing wounds, and his broken sword, all contrasted with that look on his face, nothing could dampen his spirit.
"Thanks, Takeshi. I don't feel so worthless after all, though I can't tell if you're being genuine or if it's your blood loss," she said, her biting humor showing through once again. Now that he thought about it, Takeshi couldn't actually tell if it was humor or not. He laughed anyway, gesturing towards the soft purple hue of the wisteria blossoms straight ahead.
"Well, then how about we stop talking and get this thing over with already?" he said, still smiling and quickening his pace slightly.
"Great idea, maybe you are still alive up there after all," Aoi said, matching his pace, never changing her stone-cold expression. Takeshi decided not to even attempt to decode what it could mean.
The two carefully clambered their way to the beaten path, walking under an archway of dense wisteria trees, the feeling of being safe and protected again was indescribable, relief washed over them like a tsunami. As the altar came into sight, Takeshi smiled to himself, he had just gotten closer to his goal, he was one step closer to fulfilling his self-proclaimed destiny, he knew Kazuo had to be smiling to himself too.
