•𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘• 𝑲𝒏𝒚 𝒗𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔! 𝒙 𝑭𝒆𝒎! 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓

Chapter 6 | Sabito and Makomo

*second person p.o.v.*

A while has past, and while Makomo had helped Tanjiro out, she had also helped you. Over time, you and Tanjiro grew more stronger. But even still, Tanjiro couldn't beat Sabito. Not until six months later.

Now, it had been two years since first training with Urokodaki, and you were now 19. You leaned against a tree, watching Sabito take out his sword. A real one this time.

Tanjiro had longer hair. He hadn't bothered to cut it after all this time. "Today's the day i win!" Tanjiro declared. Tanjiro took a deep breath, and they were gone.

They reappeared again with their blades raised. Tanjiro was the one who striked first, and sliced Sabito's mask in half, slicing the boulder with it in the process.

The battle was over in an instant. Sabito had grey-ish blue-ish eyes, with a scar across his cheek. You gasped softly as Sabito smiled at Tanjiro.

"Tanjiro, Y/n.... you guys did great. Hold this memory close to you heart. Make sure you win, okay? Beat that guy, too." The fog covered Sabito and Makomo, and they disappeared. "Where'd they go?" You asked.

"I-i'm not sure." Tanjiro said, just as confused as you. "Look, Tanjiro." You pointed at the boulder with your mouth agape. "The boulder.... i cut through it!" Tanjiro laughed.

You hugged Tanjiro whilst ruffling his hair. "You did it! You did it, Tanjiro!" You said. He hugged you back with a laugh. "Yeah, i did it." Tanjiro mumbled.

You heard footsteps to see Urokodaki walk over. "Master Urokodaki..." Tanjiro said. "I had no intention of sending either of you to the final selection. I didn't want to see more children die. I was confident none of you would be able to slice through any of the boulders, but...." He pat both yours and Tanjiro's heads affectionately.

"Well done, my children! You are remarkable children." Urokodaki praised. Tears poured out of Tanjiro's eyes at his words, and Urokodaki had pulled you two into a hug.

"Make sure you both come back alive from the final selection. Both your sister and i will be waiting for you here." He said.

*timeskip*

You put on the cloud haori Urokodaki had gave you and put on the mask you got from home. You turn around to face Tanjiro. "How do i look?" You asked. "You look great!" Tanjiro smiled.

You ruffled his now short hair. "Thanks, Tanjiro. You look great too." You chuckled. Grabbing your swords, you and Tanjiro walk out of the house.

"Don't worry about your sister. I'll take good care of her." Urokodaki reassured. "All right! Thank you very much." You bowed. You and Tanjiro waved as you both left.

"Say hello to Sabito and makomo for me, okay?!" You shouted. "Tell them thanks, too!" Tanjiro added, before running off with you.

Once you made it to the final selection, you walked on a path with wistera trees. "Wow. It's so pretty. It smells nice too." You took off your mask, smelling the fresh scent of the wisteria.

"Yes, it's very pretty." Tanjiro agreed. Walking further down the path, you walked up stone steps to see many other slayers standing there. "There are so many." Tanjiro whispered.

You nodded and walked through the crowd, feeling some of them stare at you walking by. You and Tanjiro stopped walking when two twins spoke up. "Everyone, we thank you for attending the demon slayers' final selection tonight." The said, perfectly in sync.

"Here on Mt. Fujikasane, the demon slayers have captured a number of demons alive. They are unable to leave." The white haired one explained.

"That is because wisteria, which demons hate so much, blooms year round from halfway down the mountain." The black haired one continued on.

"However, they don't grow from this point onward, thus there will be demons about." The white haired one said.

"To pass the final selection, you will need to survive here for seven days." The black haired one said. "And now, be on your way." They said together.

"Okay, let's go, Tanjiro." You whispered. He nodded with a grunt.

You and Tanjiro ran through a forest, staying close together. You stopped and hid behind a rock, looking around cautiously, then began to run again to the east direction. Then you and Tanjiro stopped, smelling a scent of a demon. You heard rustling in the bushes.

The grip on your blade handle tightened, as you prepared to fight a demon. "Above us!" You yelled as you and Tanjiro rolled away, dodging the attack of a demon.

Another scent of a demon was then detected. You and Tanjiro dodge another attack from a different demon. The demons then charged at eachother, cursing the other one for meddling with their prey.

They then both jumped at you both, having their claws out and ready. You and Tanjiro slashed at them, but were kicked away. "It's been ages since i last had human flesh!" The second one yelled.

'Total concentration! Water breathing!' You took in a deep breath and ran forward. "Fourth form! Striking tide!" You and Tanjiro yell in sync, slicing off the demons' heads.

A trail of water followed from your sword, fading off into nothing. The demons bodies slowly faded away, showing that they had been killed off.

"Our first demons!" Tanjiro said. "Yeah." You mumbled. You both put your swords away, putting your hands together and saying 'rest in peace' before taking off.

That's when you smelt a horrible, rotten stench. Immediately putting your mask on, you look around. You see a man scream and run, run as if something were chasing them. And something was.

That's when you saw it. You and Tanjiro quickly hid behind a tree, peeking out behind it to see a giant demon with arms covering most of its body. It was a horrid green color, and it had a dead body in one of its hands.

It opened its mouth and stuffed the body in its mouth. The sound of the bones crunching was disgusting. The demon grew larger in size, seemingly more buff than a few seconds ago. The human the demon was running after, screamed and started to run.

The demon shot out an arm and grabbed the man, bringing it up to it's mouth. "Don't be scared, Tanjiro!" You yell while running at the demon.

You'd seen Tanjiro shaking, so you went ahead. 'Water breathing! Second form! Water wheel!' You cut the arm off of the demon and landed elegantly, getting into stance almost immediately.

As it was about to shoot another arm at you, Tanjiro had cut it off and landed beside you. You raised a brow and looked at Tanjiro, who smiled back brightly. You returned his smile, although he couldn't see it, he knew you were smiling.

You both turned back to the demon. "Another sweet fox has come to me. Oh! And a cat!" The demon sneered. "'Another'?" Tanjiro questioned aloud.

"Little fox cub, and little kitten, what is the year of Meiji now?" The demon asked. "It's the Taisho period now!" You replied.

"Taisho?" He said slowly. He then screamed in anger. "What the hell?! Time has passed into a new period?! Again?! It's happened again while i've been stuck on this goddamn mountain! Unforgivable! Unforgivable! Damn you, Urokodaki! Damn you, Urokodaki! Damn you, Urokodaki! Damn you, Urokodaki! Damn you, Urokodaki!" The demon screamed.

"How do you know Master Urokodaki?" Tanjiro asked. "I know him, all right! He was the one that captured me! I'll never forget that day, forty-seven years ago! Back when he was still hunting demons! It was the Edo period during the Keio Era." The demon explained.

"Hunting demons? Edo period?" Tanjiro looked at you, but you were just as confused as he was. How could a demon live that long on a mountain like this....?

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(1317 words)