A Split in The River of Time

Part 8: A Choice to be remembered

(A bit shorter then normal, some thoughts of Shinobu and brief fighting. Buildup for the next chapter :D)

Another quick slash brought Giyuu's total of killed demons to an astounding one. These large demons fought well together and they were very quick to block incoming blows, almost as if they had dozens of sets of eyes. The demons tried advancing, but Giyuu's quick movement and especially the tenth form of water breathing made it so he was able to slice off limbs and keep them at bay with agility and speed. He cleaved through another demon's neck, slashing a second time because the neck was so thick even he couldn't get through it in a single cut. As its head dropped to the street below, he looked down to realize he was much higher in the air than he would have wanted. He had jumped to the rooftops to chase his group of demons, and leaping off of a several story tall building just to cut a demon's head off was not one of his smarter decisions. Jumping between the rooftops and the demons' heads left him airborne for a long time, which the demons took advantage of, with two of them leaping at the hashira and slamming him into a building. Slowly emerging through the ruble, he lifted his sword and looked out at the damage.

Two demons turning to ashes, with four more running off in different directions...

He climbed up the roof nearest to two demons, quickly slicing any tentacles or tendrils that made their way too close, before leaping at the first demon.

Water breathing, first form: Water Surface Slash.

His sword glided through the demon's neck as he jumped to another roof, leaping back towards it as soon as he landed to slice the rest of its neck. As the demon's head fell behind the man, he landed on the roof beside it but tripped as he landed, nearly taking an attack from the other demon he was facing.

I'm exhausted. I need to kill three more, but I'm so tired... Why am I so tired already?
As Giyuu dodges and slashes limbs, he thinks more and more.
The demons haven't used any noticeable blood demon art... aside from their size and strength, they are completely normal- albeit lower moon level demons. They have clearly eaten enough humans to scare the population, they should nearly all have blood demon arts...

He needed to test something. Taking in a deep breath of air, he began to hold his breath as he fought, slowly feeling more and more awake.

Every time we breathe near these things, it... drains the energy from us. Could that be the blood demon art? Is that even possible?

He could no longer hold his breath, the pressure in his chest building to an astounding high. He slashed through the arm of a demon and landed on the roof, sliding backwards when he breathed in. The shock of the breath and the Blood demon art entering his body sent him wincing in pain, his body crumbled from the strain and he collapsed onto the building tiles. A large arm shot down from the demon, with Tomioka responding as fast as he could with how tired he was feeling.
Water Breathing, Seventh form: Drop Ripple Thrust

He launched his blade into the arm, which cut through the hand and left it regenerating. For a moment, he was safe. The moment lasted for almost no time, as tentacles sprouted from where the large hand just was, and shot towards the man.

Shit! Shit, Shit!

He could barely move. The weight on his chest had increased several fold, and he needed time to rest, to catch his breath... The tentacles got closer, each tipped with its own barbed spine of bone.

Lift your arm, Giyuu! Lift! Your! Arm!

.

.

.

The tentacles attacking him were slashed mere inches from his face, into many small sections.

Love breathing, Sixth form: Cat-Legged Winds of Love!

Mitsuri bursted forwards, her slashes saving Tomioka from likely fatal damage.

"Tomioka, are you alright?" She said, ushering him to stand up. As he lifted himself up with his sword as leverage, he nodded.
"I'm alright, Kanroji. Thank you for that." The two looked at the demon, staring at its hand as if it was confused where the tentacles went.
"Did you kill all of your demons?" Giyuu questioned. His breathing was more stable now, and that interaction had woken him up a little bit. Mitsuri swung at one of the large limbs as it approached, and then responded.
"No. My demons started to migrate this way, hence those ones over there." She pointed to her three remaining demons on the roofs, running very quickly away from the hashira, totaling six along with Giyuu's.

"Well, let's get back to work Giyuu!" she said, with a tired smile.

"...Alright." He said, running down the roof with her towards the group of large monsters.

"What are you all doing?" Shinobu looked at the younger slayers. Tanjiro, Kanao (her coin chose that she would tag along), Inosuke (Of course), Nezuko, and Zenitsu all sat in the courtyard around a still injured Sanemi... in the middle of the night.

"Why are any of you up? Kanao you have a fever you shouldn't be out of bed! Tanjiro and Inosuke the both of you have f r a c t u r e d limbs." She nearly shouted at the lightning boy and demon girl but those two seemed to just be there because of the others.

"Uhhhhhhhgggggg....." She would normally chastise them for being outside in the middle of a freezing cold night when they were almost all injured, but she wasn't exactly feeling the best, having been crying at Kanae's grave just several minutes earlier.

"Your beds, now." she pointed at the door. Tanjiro and Kanao quickly agreed, disappearing almost as soon as she lifted her hand to point. Zenitsu chased after Nezuko as she chased after Tanjiro, dragging Inosuke after himself. She threw a blanket over the white haired man and left the hashira in his peaceful sleep under the wisteria trees.

"Kami help me." She muttered, walking back to her room. After Giyuu left, the slayers had mostly been hanging at the butterfly mansion as if it was a hotel. She didn't mind right now, as they all had injuries, some worse than others however.

They were supposed to be going out on missions tomorrow, and now they are injured and sleep deprived. Great.

She collapsed onto her bed, mildly agitated by something. Something in her night was missing, something had been missing for a while at this point. On tonight of all nights, her reassurance wasn't beside her.

"Sleepy"

The man's word stuck in her mind. She, as much as she ignored, hated, and despised herself for feeling this way, was missing Giyuu. Because of course she was. Since he started sleeping in his own bed in the medical wing again, she felt like she was missing some warmth to her night and that was a fact that was clearly displayed by the fact she had more trouble sleeping since he left. She rolled around in her large bed, despite the amount of pillows and blankets she had strewn around it still seemed extremely empty. The thought even came to her that soon he would go back to his own estate. The idea made her shutter, and she mentally kicked herself for it.

That Tomioka. Why do I even care? He's just another boy. How he acts is so immature. Why would I ever like a loner like him!

Rolling around like she was wrestling her thoughts, she tried really hard to rationalize her feelings but these insulting thoughts were disingenuous. She was falling for him hard, and she knew.

Whatever. I've got a mission tomorrow, two lower moons together. Sending me with Iguro of all people, though...