Yae and Giyuu walked along the path to their destination, Yae looked in awe at how it was lined with wisteria trees. "It's just like Shinobu's tree at her estate... It's beautiful." Yae lagged behind for a moment lost in the beauty of her surroundings before quickly catching up. "I know you'll be alright with me being gone for a week, it's not like it'll be the longest we've been away from each other." Yae joked slightly as she could see Giyuu was mildly tensed up for her. As they made their way up the stairs, he remained silent as she watched him. As they made it to the top, Yae could see dozens of participants waiting for their own chance to become slayers. Some had on a sense of bravado, others a stoic expression that paled to Giyuu's, others however were not afraid to show their worry openly. "I know you wanted to bring Torakkā here, she's your hunting partner, but this place is too dangerous for her."

"These demons are desperate, the only people they've had the chance to feast on were the unfortunate slayers that couldn't survive. I don't doubt even with the wisteria, they'd eat through her uniform to get to her." Giyuu warned Yae as best he could about the dangers of Final Selection, only growing more worried for her as the time drawed nearer. "Don't worry, you can take her on missions in my place while I'm gone. Can't leave her at the house all by herself right?" Giyuu finally came to a stop as he felt his brow furrow. "You are taking this seriously right?" Yae actually felt a bit hurt at the question and looked to him with a stern look of her own. "Giyuu Tomioka, I have an estate to return to with lives that make it my home. I promised you my life and you promised to help me want to live again. I have Torakkā to live for, I have YOU to live for. I'll take this as serious as I need to for who I'm coming back for."

All present stopped and listened to the sound of footsteps approach as two children approached the front of the crowd. One with hair as white as pure snow, the other with hair as dark as the night, both wearing purple kimono that bore patterns of wisteria. Giyuu immediately bowed at the sight of the two, causing Yae to do the same. "These two are some of the Master's children, they still deserve respect for what they represent alone." "Water Hashira Giyuu Tomioka, it is a surprise to see you here." "Are you delivering to us Yae Hasinaw for her spot in Final Selection?" Giyuu raised his head to address the two. "Kiriya-sama, Hinaka-sama, it is most excellent to see you two again. You are correct that I bring Yae so she may participate." The two siblings nodded as they looked to her. "We allow you to say goodbye before we will begin." "It is wise to trust in her potential, but do not trust the mountain." Yae and Giyuu stood up, before Yae could say anything she was already in a tight hug from Giyuu. "Make sure you come back home."

Yae hugged him tightly before pulling her head back to look at him. "I'm expecting a graduation gift when I'm back." She actually heard him chuckle before smiling down at her. "There's that confidence of yours, There's the Yae I remember." She felt the blood rush to her head as she was certain her cheeks became bright. She watched as him walk away, slowly losing sight of him as he descended the stairs. 'And there's the guy I fell for.' "Good evening everyone." Yae turned back and kneeled to the Ubuyashiki children. "We thank you all for being here to take on the Demon Slayer Corp's Final Selection. On this mountain, many demons have been captured live by existing members for this very event." The siblings spoke back and forth, adding a veil of mystery to them.

"The wisteria prevents them from leaving, acting as a barrier for the demons due to it acting as a poison to them. They cover everything from the base of the mountain to halfway to the peak." "However there is no wisteria from this point forward." "In order to pass Final Selection, you will need to survive for seven days outside of the wisteria's protection. Kill as many as you please or are able, but just remember your kill count will not matter if you cannot survive to the end." The two children spoke in unison as the bowed to all. "Go forth, and begin your trial." Yae walked to the front of the crowd before any could move into danger. "Alright everyone, let's group up and handle this together. Handling a hunt alone is suicide, so we need to work as a group. Demons can't kill all of us if we know what we're doing."

Almost everyone looked at her dumbfounded, not quite sure how to process someone taking charge in a situation like this. One boy in a green and black haori stepped up to question her. "And why should we trust you? You look just as green as the rest of us and you don't even have a sword with you." Yae walked up to the boy, grabbing her shotgun and loading a fresh round of buckshot into the chamber. "Because one, I was a Matagi, I'm use to hunting down animals and predators that can kill me and know how to plan accordingly. Two, I have spent over a year training with some of the strongest current members of the Corps in making sure I'm capable to survive as that was their desires and expectations of me. And three, both my rifle and my shotgun are loaded with nichirin steel ammunition that has been field tested. Meaning I can kill a demon before it's claws can even wish to leave a scratch. Valid enough points?" The boy looked at her with awe and almost fear as he already unsheathed his sword. "Valid enough points, lead the way."

Yae was upset that not everyone was willing to join in creating hunting parties, she remembered when she tried to hunt her father on her own. She was still able to organize at least six hunting parties of five and she was still happy about that, but that still meant ten people would be on their own from the first night. She had no idea how to really be a leader, as there was never one in her old home, but she knew what it meant in doing what you needed to survive. She organized the groups as best she could, balancing all the breathing styles available so no one group was focused or solely on one style. Using her normal bladed knife, she skinned the bark off one tree to make it clean and prominent. "Alright groups, we meet back here in the morning every morning until we escape. if you catch any fish from rivers, clean it and smoke it to eat. Once you're done with a campfire at night, kick it out to not draw attention from light or smoke. Any wild fruits or berries, DO NOT eat immediately. We know there's demons here, but we don't know about poisonous plants. Any questions?"

One boy who she learned was a Wind Breather raised his hand from one of the groups. "How is it that you know how to handle demons already? For the rest of us this is going to be our firsr experience aside from the incidents that caused us to learn about them." "The man who trained me would take me on hunts to test different types of ammunition made by his swordsmith. If I didn't have ammo that worked, I'd be carrying a sword like everyone here. Those hunts are how I also learned these regular demons can act as simply as animals. They are territorial, they have an innate need and craving to eat, they will prioritize the kill over their own survival. This is why the hunting party idea is important, a desperate animal will still attack, but they are less likely than us to work together."

All the groups nodded in agreement at the idea. As Yae looked over the groups including her own, she smiled that just maybe what Giyuu told her of only a few people surviving wouldn't happen this time. He also told her to prioritize her own survival, but she had strength and ways to help save others like how he saved her. She wouldn't leave them to die if she could help it. "Alright everyone, scatter out and remember this place. I'm going to do this to a few more trees so it's more visible. Remember, get back here before dawn. We can sort food, rest up, and reassign groups should we face casualties." As she watched as the groups left the area, her own stayed with her until she was done. Putting her knife away, she readied her shotgun. "Alright everyone, let's move out."

Yae took to the middle position of her group, with the two Water Breathers as took the sides as defense, a Flame Breather took up the front, while a Thunder Breather took the rear. Her body almost shook with excitement at being on her own hunt again. She wasn't just part of Giyuu's hunt anymore, this was hers. She had on her old Matagi clothes, her hair was tied and she wore her headwrap, she almost felt back in her environment. Her ears quickly heard rustling from the trees as she whistled for all to stop. She spoke in nothing more than a whisper. "We may have one, don't move, just look on guard." They all listened, inclined to believe in the one with the most experience.

The group didn't need to wait for long as their first demon pounced out from the treeline. All looked up to see the demon above them, Yae could see it was already salivating from hunger. "Finally they sent us new meat! I've been starving!" Yae watched as it started to come down to earth. "Scatter, this is gonna be loud!" All moved away from Yae as she aimed her shotgun up. Her eyesight focused on him, her perception of things almost slowing down as the demon got closer. As it was on top of her, Yae pulled the trigger on the demon as it expected easy pray. All watched as the demon's head exploded into a mist of red and bone pieces, the projectiles of buckshot tore through the body, slowing down but still store apart any meat on it's path out of the target. All watched as the body fell next to Yae before slowly starting to vanish. The girl who used Thunder Breathing broke the silence as she was almost terrified of the results. "Oh dear Kami you weren't kidding that your ammo works."

The group continued on as Yae marked trees with her knife as a path back to the meeting point. The Thunder Breather girl walked up to Yae as she placed a hand on her. "I managed to hear him, but how did you? Thunder Breathing is for those most akin with the sense of hearing, but if you don't even use a sword do you even have a technique?" Yae embarassingly smiled at her as she played with her hair bun. "After we proved my ammo could work the first time, my friend/mentor thought of an idea called proxy hunts. He would hunt me in acting as a demon and I'd be tasked with hunting him or being hunted by him. If at any time I felt a knife against me I lost." The girl couldn't help but question just to confirm something. "The man you came up with was your mentor right?" Yae nodded as her smile became more genuine. "Yeah..."

As the group continued on, they were lucky to find a river. She quickly ran to check for the clarity of it and happy to see it was clean at least in appearance. "It looks clean at least, but we need to filter and boil it to be safe. We rest here for now and see if we can get any fish to swim by." Yae stood by as now the Water users were on guard duty. She began to work on making one when she heard the sounds of combat. She saw the two in combat with a demon that tried to blindside them. "Come on, just a limb! I've been craving some flesh and it's been maddening! It'll give me five minutes of sanity, ten even if I eat it quick!" The demon frantically jumped from one swordsmen to the other as a desperate attempt to grab at anything. "You want an arm?!" "How about two?!"

One boy dodged backwards before rushing to the demon's left while another jumped over the demon. "Water Breathing Fourth Form: Striking Tide!" The first boy rushed past the demon, and in doing so released multiple swift strikes cutting off both the demon's arms. "Water Breathing Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust!" With one boy amputating the demon's arms, the other boy landed behind the demon and drove his sword through its back. "He's stuck in place!" "Water Breathing First Form: Water Surface Slash!" The boy who took the demon's arms, rushed back and delivered a powerful slash across the demon's neck to send the head flying. The group watched in excitement at the teamwork and coordination. "Amazing work you two!" The Thunder girl cheered for the two as the boys put their swords away. "Well we've been watching each other's back since birth." "It's why you came out first, you were the first one that had to be watched over."

The Thunder and Flame slayers moved towards the now discovered brothers and checked on them. "What was that demon even talking about? Why was it speaking like it was crazy?" The Flame user quickly asked as all seemed to be confused, not quite sure what to make of the situation. "It talked of sanity like it's head wasn't clear." "Sounded kinda like the opium druggies we've heard of that live in the entertainment district. Apparently they exist in a high that's so constant it becomes their new norm. Once they can't feed the need, sobriety kicks in and they almost can't function without the drugs in their systems." The brothers looked to each other as if trying to figure out, more so out of an odd curiosity than a serious questioning for answers. "Hey everyone!" The group quickly looked to Yae so who seemed to wear a smile of confidence. "Who's hungry?"

Everyone sat around the fire as Yae was thankful she packed from fishing hooks and flint. "They never said what we could and couldn't bring with us. The only goal was to survive after all." All stared into the fire as the fish continued to cook. "So shouldn't we introduce ourselves? We're going to be living together for a week after all. Plus could help with teamwork." Yae asked the people in front of her as they all averted their attention to her. "Are we sure that's a good idea though? We're not even sure if we'll survive to see tomorrow me alone get out of here. Wouldn't it be more emotionally safe for us to wait until the end to know who we are? It's easier to move on from the death of a stranger than someone you know, even if it's only their name." The Flame user pointed out, his expression a weary one as his eyes bounced from one person to another.

"Arashi Jizen." "Kōzui Jizen." The two Water brothers introduced themselves to Yae and the Thunder girl. "Yae Hasinaw." "Senkō Akaruki." The Flame user found himself utterly dumbfounded with how little his words or worries mattered, his shoulders went limp as his head hung low. Knowing he was outvoted, he did the only thing left he could do: Follow suit of the others. "Attakai Moeru." Yae looked to Attakai and grabbed him one of the fish on a skewer. "Try to have some hope we're making it out of this. Best case scenario is no one dies, but we all know that isn't going to happen." "But even if we know some may die we are still allowed to hope at least our group can pass with no casualties." Arashi and Kōzui pitched in as they each began to eat their own food.

"I don't want any of us die if I can help it, it's why I started the hunting parties. Life is sacred, it needs to be saved wherever possible." Everyone looked to Yae as she wore a grim expression. She was lost in memory, losing focus of everything around her. She instinctively rubbed the under of her jaw as if to wipe something away. "I need to make it back, I refuse to die in a place like this and take the life given to me for granted." All looked to Yae as she just stared on, not at them, not into the fire, off somewhere none could see. Senkō quickly decided to try and change the conversation as best she could as to avoid the dangerous silence. "So uh, why don't we talk about how we all became slayers? We all have different backgrounds, but there's still probably at least something we have in common." Everyone turned to her as they all ate.

"I won't lie in saying my reasoning may be a bit selfish, but I joined for the money. I want to try and send money to my family." Senkō hid her face with mild worry by focusing her attention to the fire. "My father unfortunately isn't able to walk because of old injuries, which caused my mother to work a lot. She gets jobs as housemaids, but they're never for long and aren't permanent options. When I found a cultivator who learned of my desires and my potential, he told me he did the same thing so his wife would live in comfort. My family just thinks I'll be hired security, but if it means I can help make my family happy I'll do whatever I need to to help them."

"Much more noble than my desires." Attakai laughed as he almost felt guilty. "I was saved by a demon slayer, and I believe that was the very first time I felt genuine excitement. Life was perfectly fine, everything was normal, but the world just seemed... Dull? I was just a farmer and I was happy to do it, but there just wasn't much that made life anything outside of a routine. Wake up, eat, work until sundown, cleanup, eat again, sleep, repeat. The world seemed to have lost color after so long. Then one day when I was saved, I had tingles across my entire body. The fight, the thrill of never being allowed a moment of peace because something new just happened, I'll admit it's a high. I may regret being here eventually, but I'll enjoy everything about this that I can about this life."

Arashi and Kōzui looked to each other before bonking their heads against each other. "Like we hinted at, we've always had to watch over each other." "Some more than others." Kōzui pointed to his brother openly as Arashi slapped his hand away. "But what happened to us was our mom got attacked." "Dad passed away from an illness and since we were people that lived outside of prying eyes, it was difficult to get any help at all from doctors." "So since there was no man of the house, mom made sure we knew to take care of ourselves." The brothers let their heads fall as they thought back to the scene. "The last thing mom ever did was use herself as a shield to protect us." "She apologized she wasn't able to do more to make our lives easier. That we had to parent ourselves. And that saving us, was the last thing she was able to do right as a mom." "Before the demon got through her to us, that's when we were saved. We knew we had to be stronger, so that's when we begged for the slayer to take us in."

Yae looked into the fire as her shotgun rested on her. "My father was turned into a demon, he killed the rest of our tribe and ran off. Something like a mental clarity like how that last demon talked about. I was stubborn and hurt and angry and tried to hunt him on my own. I tried to mercy kill him, but this was before I learned how to do it. I nearly died because I was so stubborn, that's when he arrived. Giyuu saved me twice, and I forced him to take me in. We became friends, student and mentor, we live in his estate and it's become my home. I can't even begin to describe how thankful I am for him, for everything that he's helped give me." Yae smiled finally as she looked back to the group. "He gave me a life that could've so easily been snuffed out, and I refuse to die before I can repay him. Before I can show him how much it's all meant to me."

Everyone watched on as the crackles of the fire filled the silence. Senkō quickly burst into tears as her eyes stung. "I'm sorry everyone! I only joined for money and you all had to go through such horrible tragedies! I don't deserve to be here for how noble all of you are!" She continued to cry as everyone else could only painfully were required to watch. "Hey... It's not like your goal isn't noble." "Yeah! You want to make enough money to help your family!" "Super noble." "Quite noble." Everyone's ears were too filled with the wails of Senkō to hear rustling in the bushes. A demon quickly jumped out from the foliage and aimed for the only one completely defenseless. "I don't know what gave you away more. The sound of you crying like crazy or that fire!" Before she could realize it, the demon's head fell to the floor, it's mouth still in the process of salivating.

"We were having a moment you damnded fiend!" The sound of thunder echoed through the immediate area. Everyone switched from painful awkwardness to awe as Senkō went from crying over something so miniscule, to her sword was drawn and already back in its seath after cutting down a demon. The demon died as confused as to what happen as it was hungry, and it's body soon vanished. Yae let out a whistle as she stood up, pulling everyone's attention back to her. "You heard the demon, it possibly saw us from the fire. We finish up this meal, and move. If one already saw us, we can assume others will be able to as well." Everyone acknowledged the thought and quickly ate what remained before snuffing the fire with dirt.

As the group moved to find somewhere new, Attakai was the one to break the silence now. "I know it may sound weird to say, given what I said earlier, but how about we make a promise? We all get out of here, all live on. We may never see each other after this, so let's just enjoy this time as comrades in arms together." Arashi and Kōzui thew an arm around each other. "Would be nice to have someone else watching my back, I don't trust this one." "You're the untrustworthy one, don't think I forgot when my mochi went missing." Senkō smiled as she walked backwards to see the others as Yae lead the front. "Making a new friend or two in a place like this? May be just what's needed!" Yae wasn't focused on the others, just looking up to the moon as once again it was full. She couldn't see the reflection of it against the lake here, reminding her, that even with this group, she felt alone. She wondered if Giyuu felt the same. "The moon is lovely tonight, isn't it Giyuu?"

Giyuu sat on the engawa at the front of his home, sitting with Torakkā as her head laid in his lap. She whined as Giyuu stroked her head. "She's strong girl, She'll come home." Giyuu watched as she stood up and looked to the moon. The reflection was a clear contrast to her dark eyes as she let out a small howl. Giyuu was taken aback but let the dog do as she needed. "Is that the wolf's legacy in you? Or just the inherent need to do so?" She huffed softly as he nodded. "Noted then." They sat in silence as Giyuu suddenly felt a familar presence. "To what do I owe the late visit Shinobu?" He heard slight giggling before seeing her drop down in front of him. "I wanted to check on you, I heard you delivered Yae to Final Selection so I wished to see how you were doing."

Giyuu offered her to sit down. She happily accepted, however choosing to sit at the end of the engawa next next to the support beam. "It was quite rude of you to send her off before my own chance to see her though." Giyuu quickly apologized which caused Shinobu to laugh. "It's fine Giyuu, it's quite alright. I'm just giving you a hard time. She must be glad though you were the last thing she thought of before going in." She heard him make some sort of noise, she decided to at least take it he acknowledged what she said. "Your visit isn't unwelcome, I did have something I wished to ask you." He quickly turned to her as he was eager to seek answers. "What was it like sending Tsuyuri to Final Selection? What thoughts did you have of it?"

"Kanao actually snuck off from home to partake, I never sent her myself." Giyuu looked at her wide eyed before refocusing himself. "Are all people of your mansion unwavering monsters of indomitable will and intent? Kanae, with her desire to find a friendly demon and care for everyone. You with your becoming a Hashira with your poison. Aoi with her medical knowledge to almost rival yours. Now a Tsuguko who went against the desire of her family to become stronger. It's almost scary how determined the women of your home are." Shinobu laughed as she had to support herself. "So this is what Yae had meant. You almost know what to say and then you fail spectacularly." Giyuu flinched as his eyes were on her as she must laughed away.

"But to answer your question in a much better way. I was upset she left without my permission, but I was more happy she made it home. She learned Flower Breathing simply by watching Kanae.. I wouldn't be much surprised if she grew up to become as capable." Shinobu finally looked back to Giyuu as he finally looked away, staring up to the moon. "When Yae comes back, she will already be more capable than I was when I was there. She will become greater than me, I know it." Shinobu smiled as she looked to him, resting her head in her hand as her srm propped on her leg. "My oh my, what the confidence you have in her." "It isn't confidence if I know it as factual." Shinobu stood up and dusted herself off as she looked up to the moon. "Hm. When there is a chance I will be bringing her to my mansion to celebrate, the girls have missed her." Giyuu nodded as Torakkā perked up at the idea. She gave a slight tilt of her head. "Yes Torakkā, you can come along too."

Shinobu began to walk away before hearing her name called one last time. "Shinobu. There is one other thing I want to ask you." She turned around to face him, now curious what else he would like to know. "What is it you and Kanroji held her back for after the last meeting? She was completely fine before the meeting, but that night and ever since, things have been different. What happened?" Shinobu frowned and shook her head. "My apologies Giyuu, but it isn't my place to say. Mitsuri and I explained something and Yae has the answer, but only she will be able to tell you. She will though eventually, she promised us she would." Giyuu watched as she stepped away from his estate, sighing loudly as he felt a headache form. He did the only thing he could and looked to the moon for comfort. He knew she could see it too, and more so believed she had the same question he had. "The moon looks quite lovely tonight, doesn't it Yae?"