‹Demon Slayer Nezuko› : A Kimetsu no Yaiba Story

Chapter 17: The Colour-Changing Blade

—————".......Total Concentration Breathing."

All around her, time was flowing in slow-motion; the massive monstrosity that was the Hand Demon approached her vision as she launched through the air, while she aimed her katana with both her arms straight at its head.

A powerful gush of air was inhaled through her bared teeth, filling her lungs to their limit in an instance, granting the muscles in her entire body superhuman capabilities.

—————"————Mixed Breathing."

Both her grips around her katana's hilt tightened, which triggered water particles to gush out of the navy-blue steel blade. Leaving behind her a trail of a violent, yet continuous flow of water, she twisted her wrists holding onto her sword, shifting the way she gripped the weapon in her palms.

Immediately as she did so, a powerful wind erupted out of the blade, engulfing both herself and the pre-existing water particles flowing out of her sword.

—————"Water.... and Wind."

The Hand Demon's neck was already in her reach as she muttered those words. Sending blood spraying into the air from her scraped forehead, leaving her hanafuda earrings fluttering frantically in the wind along with her short black hair ——— the girl, Kamado Nezuko, swung her katana using the full force of her wrists, arms, and shoulders.

—————"————'Tempest'!!"

* * *

"—————and with that, I was able to slice through the demon's neck, which was as hard as a boulder."

Finishing her recalling of the events at Mt. Fujikasane during the Final Selection, Nezuko took a short sigh, then looked up at the person seated right in front of her across the fireplace.

A red tengu mask stared back at her with its unchanging expression; although the accessory completely hid his facial expressions, Nezuko could tell that the old man sitting across her in the dark room was mildly surprised at her story.

The old man — Urokodaki Sakonji — placed his hand on his chin and groaned softly, appearing to be deeply in his thoughts. He averted his face slightly from the young girl in front of him; reading the man's line of sight, Nezuko also looked down at the wooden flooring beside her, where the navy-blue katana that she brought to the Final Selection was laid neatly.

A gentle flame flickered in the fireplace between Nezuko and Urokodaki, softly shifting the shadows in their surroundings.

"———mmhm."

Hearing a muffled voice that was neither hers or that of the old man, Nezuko looked down onto her laps — where she met a pair of red eyes with pupils constricted like a cat's.

Resting his head on Nezuko's laps bent in a seiza position while in an appearance of a young child, her older demon brother — Kamado Tanjiro — smiled kindly back at Nezuko. On the boy's mouth was his usual bamboo mouthpiece, through which he released another muffled grunt.

Nezuko softened her expression affectionately, and gently patted her older brother's messy red-tinted hair. The boy squirmed at her touch in a gesture just like a young child.