CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
FIRE AGAINST ICE.
"WELCOME BACK." THE TWIN stated to them simultaneously. "Congratulations. Being safe and sound is better than anything else."
Seven days had already pass since the final selection began. Tanjiro passed through, killing demons every time he sees one.
The boy looks around.
There are only four people left?! There were 20 or so people before... Even that isn't here too... Because I passed out that moment he... I couldn't save him.
"Eh? Now what do I do?" A guy with a
buzz cut, with only a small clump of messy black hair left to grow on the top of his head, asks harshly.
"What about the blade?"
"You must first pay the cost for the uniform. Then you must get your body measured and have your rank engraved." The white haired twin, Kanata Ubuyashiki answers.
"There are ten ranks in total. Mizunoto, Mizunoe, Kanoto, Kanoe, Tsuchinoto, Tsuchinoe, Hinoto, Hinoe, Kinoto and Kinoe." The other twin, Kiriya Ubuyashiki adds.
I wonder what rank Y/N and Makito is...
"You are now at the lowest 10th level."
"What about the blade?"
"Today, you will each choose a chunk of tamahagane alloy. Your blade woll be completed within 10 to 15 days."
"Also, from now on, kasigaigarasu will be following you all." Then, several crows flew to each one of them. Tanjiro's crow directly landed at his shoulder.
"Eh? Crows? Isn't this... A sparrow?" A blonde haired boy complained, glancing up at the tiny bird that landed on the crown of his head.
"Kasugaigarasu is a crow that is primarily used for communication."
Kasugai crow, huh... Just like Makito. Tanjiro thought as he pet the crow on his shoulder. All of a sudden, he saw the bob haired male harshly shooed away his crow.
"I don't care about some dumb crow!" He shouts and angrily stomped towards Kanata then grabbed the five year old child's hair.
"What I want is the blade! Give me the blade right now! The blade of the demon slayer corps! the "blade of color change!" He yelled directly at the child's face.
All of a sudden, a hand grabbed the boy's wrist. Owned by a burgundy haired male with a bandage on a head and wears a blue haori.
"Let go of her this instant! If you don't let go I'll break your arm!"
"Huh? Who are you?! You can try if you dare!"
Tanjiro clenched his hand on the ravenette's wrist, causing him to pulled his arm back. The guy glared at Tanjiro and his own dark red irises returned the glare while standing protectively in front of Kanata.
"Are you done?" Kiriya unbotheredly interrupts, gaining their attention. "If so, please go over there and choose the alloy that will be used to create your blade."
"The alloy for that blade will be used to destroy demons and protect yourself."
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In a peaceful and beautiful estate, sat a specific blind ravenette with a crow on his hand.
"Is that so... There are five people remaining, they seem to be excellent."
"My swordsmen have increased... I wonder what kind of swordsmen they all are."
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It was the day that Tanjiro will be returning from Fujikasaneyama. Unfortunately, Y/N wasn't certain if he'll be coming back, nor she'll see if he already came back.
That day, she was given a mission by her sparrow. Saying that a demon was lurking at the village.
As for Makito, he wasn't given a mission like the girl, so he had to stay home. Making sure to send Tora after the girl. He insisted on taking the mission instead, but Y/N refused, not wanting to abandon her responsibilities.
Y/N went to the village in the afternoon. Wearing her signature black kimono and her bandages wrapped around her body, her sheathed katana hanging on her waist and her white mask on her face.
At night time, she walked around the village to look for the said lurking demon. And then all of a sudden, she tasted a strong presence in the air.
A stronger demon, huh.
The girl followed where her senses are telling her to go. And she came to an alleyway. Y/N prepared herself and wrapped her hand on her sword's handle.
"Oh my, what a pretty human you are! It'd be a shame if I eat you!" A flirty voice says even though they couldn't see her face.
The girl instantly unsheathed her sword and turned around to point her katana to the demon who spoke.
Her E/C irises behind her mask met with a pair of rainbow eyes.
Y/N felt her heart stopped beating for a second when she saw what was engraved in the demon's left eye.
Upper demon two.
So that's why it tasted to strong. She came across with one of the upper ranks demon.
"Oh dear! It's rude to point your blade to someone, you know?"
She scoffed. "No, not when I point it to a demon, not a human." The demon shrugged, "mhm, well... I can't stop you, so go ahead. You can't kill me, anyways."
The girl raises an eyebrow at the demon behind her mask and smirks. "So you're one of the twelve kizuki, huh?"
The demon smiled brightly at Y/N. "Dear, yes! I'm so honored that I'm known by a beautiful person like you! You should marry me!"
Y/N scoffed. "Are you crazy? Why would I marry such something like you? And besides, I have no such tastes in demon." She says while flipping a part of her hair over her shoulder, with the sharp end of her katana still pointing at the demon.
"That's too bad. I must introduce myself, my name is Douma. How about you, darling?" The said demon smirks.
Y/N could sense that he has no intent on killing her yet. So she decided to play around as well, bringing her katana down.
Pretty stupid, if I say so myself.
"Hello, Douma. My name is Y/N and I'm a demon slayer, as you can see."
Douma playfully tilted his head to the side and pouts. "You don't look like one, darling. Perhaps it's because you're like no other from them and you're not wearing your uniform."
"I have special permission from the head of the demon slayer corps because I was not comfortable wearing a short skirt."
"I bet you would look lovely!"
Y/N releases breathily chuckle and gets into a fighting stance. "I'm flattered you think so, douma. But for now, let's fight."
"Oh, a feisty one!"
Y/N didn't waste a time and ran towards the upper moon while raising her katana. She swings her blade to where Douma was standing, who jumped back to avoid being hit.
As Douma jumped back, he hadn't noticed that the girl had took her kusarigama and threw them towards him.
The two blades tangled to the one another in attempt to trap Douma on the wall. Only to fail when he caught them on his hands.
While he was distracted with her kusagirama blades, Y/N took this as an opportunity to slice his arms.
Douma looks over at Y/N, his multi-colored irises widened in surprise, then he smirked. "Wrong decision, darling."
Y/N looked at the male demon in disbelief when his bloods transformed into ice and shoot them towards the girl. She effortlessly ran and slid down towards Douma and took her kusarigama blades that fell on the ground and kicked the demon's chin, causing him to stumble down.
Y/N stood up and looked at douma who stood up immediately. The girl returned her katana into its sheath and held her kusarigama blades instead as she slowly walked in circle and focused on her breathing.
Breath of shadows, first form: shadow walk.
Multiple images of Y/N started to appear in Douma's sight. The girl saw how confused the demon is and smirked behind her mask.
"So you can turn your blood into ice, huh? That's your blood demon art, I suppose."
While looking at her duplicates, he smirked as well. "Yes, dear. Powerful, right? And I can sense that you are quite powerful as well. Why don't you show your true self and full strength to me?"
Y/N realized what he was doing. He was confused, so he challenged her.
"Fine. I'll use a breathing that can battle with your ice then."
"Oh, a demon slayer with two breathing techniques? How amusing!"
Y/N stopped walking and removed her mask. She held tightly on her kusarigama blades while looking at the demon.
"Hades Breathing, third form: gluttony."
Y/N ran fast to Douma and kicked his stomach to catch him off guard and do several swings of her blades to his stomach before pushing the both ends of her kusarigama weapon on him.
The attack caused Douma to flew back and hit his back on the wall. His stomach bleeding from the girl. Douma looked down at his regenerating stomach and laughed. "I admit, that hurt. But it isn't enough to kill me!"
Y/N sheathed her katana once again. "Shadow Breathing, fourth form: pitch black - advance!"
While completely standing still, Y/N went close to Douma in a flash and slashed him on his stomach again.
She's fast. She's suddenly in front of me with a blink of an eye.
The girl immediately switched to her kusarigama blades. "Hades Breathing, seventh form: violence!"
But before she could perform her attack, Douma once again transforms his blood into ice spikes and shot them towards the girl.
Fortunately for Y/N, her surroundings started to heat up and fire coated her kusarigama blades before she ran to the upper moon demon.
Some of the spikes managed to slice the girl and some slightly melted because of the fire. Y/N's blood slowly spread on her bandages due to her wounds and some part burned because of her breathing techniques.
When Y/N ran to douma with her fire coating the blades, she was supposed to decapitate him, only to fail when Douma blocked her chains and twisted her down. Resulting her to pound her back agains the ground.
The impact almost knocked all the air out her lungs and damaged her spine. "Heh, I must admit. You really are a strong woman! But I must leave now, dear~"
Douma took a last glance at the injured girl on the ground. He smirked and finally retrieved for the night.
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Tanjiro walked in the night in a limping manner, with a stick to use as a support. Beads of sweat slid down on his face and he breathe heavily.
I was too naive. Even though I encountered demons in the final selection, I killed them without even having a normal conversation with them.
I didn't have the chance to ask for a way to turn a demon back into a human. I'm so sorry, Nezuko... I'm sorry.
I originally wanted to return as soon as possible but my body hurts so much. Even the uniform is so heavy. After climbing down Fujikasaneyma, a wave of weariness slammed into me. Leaving me utterly helpless in my fatigue.
The boy looks up at the sky. The sun has set over the horizon.
Tanjiro looked forward and finally saw the familiar structure of Urokodaki's home.
I'm here... Nezuko, Urokodaki-san, Y/N, Makito...
All of the sudden, the door was knocked down by a foot. The owner stepped out from the house, Tanjiro to looks at her in surprise.
Once again, he saw the familiar muzzled girl in her pink kimono and dark haori, with her hair flying behind her with the wind.
"Nezuko, y-you woke up!" Tanjiro caught his sister's attention as she looked at where the voice came from. Nezuko immediately ran to her brother and Tanjiro did the same, but not without falling on his knees.
"Nezuko..."
In an instant, Nezuko engulfed her brother with a hug. Causing the male to tear up as he missed his dear sister.
"Why did you suddenly fall into a coma like that?! You laid there in your bed and you wouldn't wake up. I thought you were dead!"
Another person joined the hug and said, "you finally came back."
Meanwhile, Makito who was silently watching the scene, looked around for a certain [hair color]-ette.
She hasn't returned yet.
Makito sighed. "Tanjiro, have you seen Y/N on your way back here?"
The boy wiped his tears and looked at him. "Is Y/N not here? No, I haven't seen her. Where did she go?"
Makito heaved a sigh, his heart rapidly beating against his chest as he worry for the girl. "She went into a mission earlier and she was supposed to return now."
As if on cue, a familiar female figure came limping towards them. Y/N looked forward. Her tired eyes widening at what she saw.
Tanjiro has finally came back, and now reunited with his sister who's now awake from her long-deep slumber.
"Y/N!" Makito immediately bolted towards the female as soon as he saw her state. "You're hurt! What the hell happened to your mission?!"
Tanjiro, even though is also hurt, came closer to the girl.
Y/N took a deep breath and took off her mask. She looks at the male Kamado and gave him a gentle smile. "I'm glad you came back."
"Y/N, please. There's no time for that anymore. You have blood all over you."
After Y/N's fight with the upper moon demon, Douma... Her head ended up bleeding, the bandages wrapped around her body now has blood stains and burn marks due to her wounds and her breathing technique. Her lungs were having a hard time functioning and her spine was damaged.
But despite all of the pain, she did her best to stand up and walk back to return to their home. To return to her family.
Makito brought her in her room and immediately instructed Tora and Ryu to call for a female doctor to tend the girl's wounds.
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When a doctor came, they left her room and let the doctor to clean the girl's wound.
Tanjiro had also cleaned up himself with a bit help from Makito and changed into a clean wardrobe. Beside him sat Nezuko, who's clearly confused on what's happening.
Makito silently waited while sitting on the floor outside Y/N's room. It was quiet. No one had spoken a word after seeing the [hair color]-ette female's horrible state.
Until Urokodaki spoke. "I've sensed that she was fighting with a strong demon. And that she used her other breathing style."
Makito sighed and nodded. He figured that already when he saw her burnt out bandages and when he touched her warm arms.
Tanjiro obviously sensed it as well as he also had strong keen of smell like Urokodaki. But his words still confused the boy.
"Urokodaki-san, what do you mean about 'she used her other breathing style'?"
"Y/N uses two breathing styles when she fights demons. Her commonly used style is called the breath of shadows and the other one is the breath of hades. Y/N rarely uses the second one for its too dangerous for herself."
"The breath of hades is a breathing style that is originated from the breath of flame. By using this breathing style, it causes the user to have burns on their skin. That's why she only uses it on stronger demons. Possibly against the twelve kizuki." The adult explained.
So maybe that's the reason she has bandages on her arms and legs.
"I've patched up all of her wounds. When I removed her bandages, she has some bad burns on her skin and a few wounds that's probably caused by a blade or anything sharp. Her lungs was damaged as well as her spine. It may take her a few weeks to fully recover, so she must not do hectic jobs for now." The doctor announces as soon as she went out of the girl's room.
They all thanked the doctor and went inside Y/N's room to check on her by themselves. She was laying on her futon but she wasn't asleep.
Y/N turns her head to face and flash them a smile. "How are you all?" Makito furrowed his eyebrows. "Aren't we suppose to be asking that to you?"
"Makito, go easy on her." Scolded by Urokodaki, but he understands well why the boy is acting the way he is.
Tanjiro frowned and sat on her side with Nezuko. "I heard that you went on a mission... What happened?"
Y/N sighed and her demeanor turned into a serious one. Nao also came into the room and laid beside his owner.
"I fought with a member of the upper moon demons."
They all gasped except for Urokodaki and Nuzuko who had a bamboo muzzle.
"So I was right." Urokodaki mutters.
"He was strong. I had to use my hades breathing style but it still wasn't enough to kill him. His name was Douma and he's the upper demon two."
"I should've gone with you." Makito looked down at his lap in disappointment and guilt. Y/N instantly shakes her head in disagreement.
"No. Even if we went together to fight him, I'm not sure if we'll be enough to kill him. His blood demon art was to able to control his blood and turned them into ice. I kept slicing his arms and stomach because he kept avoiding his head. So a part of it was my fault that I failed to kill him. Also, I'm not risking you." Y/N sighed in disappointment as well.
"It's fine, Y/N. The important thing is that you came back alive to us and that you probably tried your hardest."
Once again, they observed the girl's situation. She didn't have too much bandage wrapped around her like the usual. Showing her few bruises and burn marks on her arms and legs.
"Tanjiro..." They averted their attention back to her faces.
"Yes, Y/N?"
"I'm saying it again. I'm glad that you came back to us." She says with a smile. The burgundy haired Kamado smiles. "I'm glad as well that you're fine now."
Suddenly, he remembered Nezuko. "Oh! By the way, this is Nezuko, my sister." He introduced the demon girl who looked at them with dotted eyes.
Y/N looked at the girl with her mouth slightly agaped, mesmerized by the 14 year old girl's beauty.
"So the demon sister, huh. She's pretty." When Y/N complimented her, Nezuko smiled behind her muzzle and hugged her.
Tanjiro looked at his sister with widened eyes. "Nezuko! Y/N is still injured!" But what shocked him the most was when he heard the H/C haired girl chuckled. "It's fine, Tanjiro. She's adorable."
Tanjiro sighed in relief and smiles. Relieved that everything is all right now.
END OF CHAPTER.