Demon Slayer: Histories Past

Chapter Four - The Final Selection

One Year Later...

"Zenitsu! Karin! Today, you two are going to take the Final Selection!" Oji-san announced, throwing open the door to Ōnisama and I's shared bedroom.

That's how our day started this morning.

Currently, we were walking towards Mt. Fujikasane, the place where the Final Selection takes place, which was about an hour and a half walk away from Oji-san's house.

Ōnisama seemed calmer then I would've thought he'd be, maybe he knew we were prepared for this. That this is what we've trained for the past three years.

The closer we came to the mountain the more nervous Ōnisama seemed to become. Once we finally arrived at Mt. Fujikasane, I think his nerves reached its peaked; to the point where instead of openly panicking, he was silent, staring ahead.

Looking around the mountain, I couldn't help but admire its beauty; the petals of the wisteria flowers seemed to glow in the shadows. I reached into the pocket of my golden hakama pants, pulling out a small bottle and plucking a single petal from the trees, placing it inside.

Since coming to live with Oji-san, I've developed the hobby of making my own perfumes from flowers and selling them whenever I go into town. It's a fun little hobby I picked I suppose.

I've never made any perfume with wisteria before, and Oji-san has told us that for some reason, demons seem to despise the smell. Between then and now, I've decided to make wisteria perfume in my free time and give it to those I encounter in my travels, in order to protect them from demons they may encounter.

It's the only surefire why I can save people.

Glancing around the way of the rest mountain, I looked over the other contestants. Most of the participants seemed to be hiding their fear, except for a few wearing colorful clothing; a girl with black hair pulled into a side ponytail with a butterfly pin, a boy wearing a blue water patterned jinbei-styled kimono with a scar on his forehead, a boy with a buzz cut and scar across his cheek and another girl with long straight black hair wearing a mountain patterned kimono.

I looked over at my brother, who seemed to be on the verge of openly panicking. Opening my mouth to reassure him, I was interrupted by the appearance of two small children, one with white hair and another with black.

"Greetings, everyone," they chimed together perfectly, "Thank you all for joining us in this years Final Selection."

The two then explained the rules of the Final Selection; saying that we were to spend a week in the mountain battling against the demons trapped there, who were brought there by Demon Slayers of before.

"From here on out, there is no more wisteria growing on the mountain. Good luck." The two parted to let the participants travel through the open curtains of wisteria, which led to the rest of the mountain, which was pitch black compared to the soft lanterns and glowing wisteria which illuminated the waiting area.

"Ōnisama, remember what Oji-san said," I whispered to him, gripping the hilt of the katana Oji-san had given to us earlier this morning, "We can't stick together. We must do this alone. I will see you in seven days."

I nodded to him quickly before heading into the mountain ahead of him, leaving him alone.

As I walked forward, the sound of my own blood and heartbeat was heard in my ears. Had it not been for my gifted sense of hearing, I wouldn't have been able to hear anything else around me.

Like my Ōnisama, I had enhanced hearing, which according to Oji-san, was more similar to echolocation. By closing my eyes, I'm able to perfectly envision sound bouncing off objects, thus giving my a flawless vision of my surroundings, which is better than just seeing it with my eyes.