Tsunami of Dead Tears: Part 1

Chapter 11

Shinobu scooted closer to the little campfire she made, her hair down and messy. It's been 2 days, and the reality of being alone was starting to dawn on her.

She's been tracking down Douma's trail for quite a long time. Although she knows that he was in Mitsue, she didn't know WHERE in Mitsue. She was tired. Miserable. Homesick.

The darkness surrounded her like a fog, and the small fire didn't give off much light. Shinobu took out her broken hairpin and stared at it. Despite being Kanae's sister, she was barely anything like her. A smug personality reminiscent of Aoi, which was in direct contrast with Kanae's more friendly personality. The only thing that even clued people into thinking they were sisters were their hairpins. After Kanae's death, Shinobu did everything in her power to be just like her sister. Using her haori, wearing her smile, and finally, her hairpin.

Now that last similarity was gone, and the true Shinobu remained. An angry, scared, incompetent young woman, cursed with weakness.

But at least I was happy, right?

As the night carried on, and the dying fire amplified the darkness' magnitude, Shinobu's mind fleeted off to the past. Memories of Aoi enraged over her own patients. Oh, the way her face contorted! Of course, she couldn't forget Kanao, Tanjiro, Inosuke, Zenitsu...

Giyuu...

Memories of her teasing. It was always fun to try and enrage the water hashira. Of course, it never worked, but Shinobu was certain that one day, she would catch his attention.

Why did I tease Giyuu so much?

The man was mysterious. He was quiet, never indulging into other people's businesses. Knowing his past, she thought he too was hiding under a mask.

However, his silence was... genuine. Always was. Whatever he said, he meant it. No sarcasm, no hyperbole, just the raw truth. The scars of his pain were always present, but he never tried to hide it. He never looked like he was in pain, because he was always honest with himself.

Am I honest with myself?

Shinobu tried to make a genuine, unfiltered smile. Her cheeks raised, her eyes widened, and her lips struggled to move.

She couldn't. 

All this time, she was trying to be like her sister, and in the process she forgot how to be like... herself. It faded away from her. Now she was nothing but a jumble of negative emotions.

Shinobu sighed. It was exhausting to think. She stood up and continued walking to Mitsue.

. . .

Still late in the night, she spotted human bones littered across the ground. They seemed to be gathered together in one central spot. Intrigued, Shinobu kept looking until she saw a trail of smaller bones, as if somebody was carrying the bones to this spot. Shinobu followed the trail until she found two demons talking to each other under the trees. She hid behind a bush and listened closely.

"The demon king is going all out." The first demon said. "He said we couldn't just sit and wait for the demon slayers to hunt us down, so now, we're hunting them."

"Good move on his part." The second demon said. "I'm sick and tired of all these slayers picking us off one by one, so it's about time we retaliated."

"Still, I'm kind of disappointed that they didn't save the bodies. Slayers are pretty tough, so their flesh is almost always juicy."

"Heheh, you haven't heard?"

"What?"

"There were a bunch of slayers passing through a few months ago. Rookies. Captured 'em all just like that, easy!"