(UNDER EDITING) 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐈𝐀. - demon slayer x fem!reader

三十二┃new strength

You could practically hear your heart pounding from inside your ears as you leapt from roof to roof and climbed from building to building. You ran as fast as you could; maybe even faster than you ever have before, just because the idea of Rengoku in danger wouldn't let you sit still. You knew you had to regain your focus, but you couldn't push away your worries and anxieties. Your brain managed to convince you every worst possible scenario instead of allowing you to properly navigate through the city, and because of this you wanted to scream.

You felt like a curse. Suddenly the memories of every single person you've loved came crashing down on you like a huge tidal wave. The last person to call you 'Little Snowflake' fell dead at the hands of an Upper Moon. You were scared. 

"Don't be stupid," you muttered to yourself. "He's a Hashira. He'll be fine."

Keigo was a Hashira.

"He's signaling you because he needs backup, nothing more." 

And you kept telling yourself that. 

You strayed away from the streets and ran through roofs, knowing you'd get there a lot sooner if you did so. The city was alight below you; the crowd boisterous and blissfully unaware of the imminent danger they were currently in. Should you tell them to evacuate while you're at it? No, that's stupid. They'd think you were delusional. And even if they did believe you, you would only ensue panic. Neither of those would help. 

You were thankful for the added strength that your training with Giyu and Rengoku had given you. You felt twice as resilient and capable of jumping through houses. Your movements were a lot agile, and even if you've already run somewhere near 2 kilometers, you still haven't run out of breath. Total Concentration Breathing seemed to be helping a lot too. Good. Let's keep it that way. 

What did this demon look like? What was its power? You've been thinking about this the whole night. Until Dae-Seong got into a conversation with you and got you all distracted. Hey, no. That wasn't his fault. You invited him in your room! Either way, that's not something you should be thinking about right now. Forget about the fact that you may have actually found a blood-relative. For now, focus on your job! 

That demon better be ready. You were eager to see if your hard work had done any changes. 

A set of red fireworks lit up the sky, you momentarily looked up, only to be tripped by black tar oozing from the clay tiles beneath your feet. Next thing you knew, you were falling towards the ground, quick to catch yourself by grabbing onto a window. You managed to land safely from there. Without letting your guard down for one second, you searched for whatever was responsible for your little mishap.

Laughter resonated through the air. A woman's. It reminded you of the demon from Nagamuto. Her voice was haunting, like it was eliciting from inside your head. 

You were at a dark alley. There was a group of drunk men walking by. They didn't seem to pay attention to the young girl with the crystal sword, angrily looking at the sky. 

"Show yourself," you growled. "Don't act all cowardly before me." 

"I'm not an idiot," said the voice. You tried to figure out where it was coming from, but you just couldn't put your finger on it.  The aura was scattered, like the sulfur from fireworks. 

You cursed through gritted teeth and continued to run. If it wasn't going to tell you where it was, then you're just going to continue to look for Rengoku-san. He still needed your help. 

With your anxieties piling up and creating an unbearable weight on your shoulders, you began to feel like you were running twice as slow as before. In reality, you were moving just fine, but the idea of finding your most recent sensei dead on the ground once you got there was messing with your head.