Demon Slayer - Tale of Flame and Dream : A Fan Story

Chapter Twenty-Two: Obanai Iguro

It was half an hour after Kagaya dismissed all the Hashira, they had all stayed behind talking to each other, asking Ren what her mission was like, who Kellia was and how they met. Even Tomiyoka joined in the conversations, though only really saying one or two words at a time. The only Hashira to not say anything to her was Obanai. Instead of talking to people, he stood apart from the rest, arms folded and glaring at Ren. "Hey Rengoku?" Ren asked, turning to the Flame Hashira, who was laughing at something Tengen had just said. "What is it?" he asked, turning to her. "That Obanai guy, isn't he the one we were talking about after my first Hashira meeting? The one Shinjuro saved and has a photograph of?" She asked him in a whisper so only he could hear. "I believe so yes. You two have that in common correct?" he said cheerfully. Ren nodded but continued to look unsure. "I might not be the most open Hashira" Came the voice of Sanemi. "But from what I heard, Obanai was raised in a cult that worshiped a demon, that's given him a negative outlook on certain aspects of life." He continued. "Like what?" Ren asked, Rengoku was being pulled away by Shinobu, who wanted to hear about Mitsuri. "No idea" Sanemi said simply.

This anticlimactic answer from him didn't soothe Ren's thoughts, instead it intensified them, she wanted to learn even more about Obanai, even though she had the impression he didn't like her. Something that confused her even more. What could she have done to make him be so condescending towards her? She looked over to him, noticing him glare at her before swiftly looking away from her. The sounds of the Hashira began to disperse as they moved off, before long Ren and Obanai were the last two Hashira at the Headquarters. Realising this, he turned and walked away without saying a single word. "Hey!" Ren called after him. He did not respond, instead he broke into a run. 'Well that's rude' Ren said to herself, like the rest, she left the mansion and began to walk home. "Lady Ren?" A Kakushi member was stood in front of her "I was told to take you to your new estate" they said brightly. "Oh, is that right?" Ren said distractedly. She had just noticed a shape jumping from tree to tree above her. "Yes, please follow me" the Kakushi said. "Right ok.. half past six" Ren said, greatly confusing the Kakushi member. "Excuse me?" they asked. "Huh.. What?" she said jumping back to reality. "Oh my, I'm so sorry, Can you give me the location of the estate and I'll get there myself, I have something to check up on first" The Kakushi member looked slightly disappointed but agreed, they handed her a note with the address of her estate on it before bowing and moving off. Ren kept walking in a fixed direction, not turning left or right, her direction was dead straight. The shape kept following her. "I know you're there" she said to the empty space. A figure leapt onto the ground.

It was Obanai.

"So you were able to notice me... big deal" his tone of voice was infuriating, he was simultaneously dismissive and condescending. "Why were you following me?" Ren asked, realising that she was starting to greatly dislike the man. "I wasn't" he said, "You were just going in the same direction as me" Ren's eyes widened in sarcastic surprise, "Oh right, so its normal for people to casually leap from tree to tree instead of walking like a normal person, I had no idea" Her tone oozed with heavy sarcasm. Obanai said nothing. Ren started to move off again, thinking it best to not engage him. Instead, Obanai kept getting in her way, refusing to let her pass. "What is your problem jackass!" she shouted at him, losing her patience entirely. "I've only just met you, the first thing you say about me is that everything I've worked towards and done is insignificant, you're constantly in my way and your unnecessarily harsh and rude to me" She listed off. "All when I have done nothing to you at all!" instead of looking guilty, Obanai instead looked affronted. "See, I knew it, you're an impulsive and rude woman who cannot control her emotions" he said in a highly offensive tone of voice. Ren could not believe what she just heard. "You have got to be kidding me" she said. But before there was anything else she could say. Obanai had sprung towards her, his hand holding the hilt of his sword. "What are you...?" she asked in surprise but being cut off as they drew their swords at the same time, both blades clashing halfway out their sheaths. She was shocked at his sword. Now she knew why his sheath was as wide as it was. The blade of his sword was wavy, it was not straight at all, instead it looked like it had a slithering snake for a blade. Soon the two swordsmen were fighting an intense fight, Ren got the feeling that she was literally fighting for her life, Obanai's aura gave her the idea that he was trying to kill her. "Serpent Breathing, Fourth Form: Twin-Headed Reptile" he said, leaping towards her making a single slash aimed at her hips, looking to slice her in two, 'He's so fast' she thought, barely able to dodge his attack. She had to admit his swordsmanship was exceptional, she hardly found faults in his techniques and his movements were incredibly fluid. He was gliding through the air like a leaf in the wind, he moved with such little effort. "Serpent Breathing, Second Form: Venom Fangs of the Narrow Head" Obanai vanished from sight, Ren heard the swish of his blade as it closed in on her neck from behind. Instinct drove Ren's body to move, She threw her head back, to the point that she was almost parallel to the floor, saw Obanai's blade sore over her face and wheeled her legs over herself so she could kick his hands. Her foot connected with his wrist which took him by surprise, he staggered back allowing Ren to get up from the ground. The two continued to fight until they reached a stalemate, both evenly matched in terms of swordplay, Obanai faster with his attacks but Ren's agility matched that speed. The two stopped where they were, blades at each other's throats, both were panting. They had been fighting all out for a couple hours.

"I'm surprised. I wasn't expecting a demon to run out of breath" He said to her. Ren was instantly confused. "What are you on about?" she asked him. "You're a demon, a smart one at that, being able to infiltrate the Demon Slayer Corps and become a Hashira" Ren couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You're kidding right?" She asked, but the look in his eyes made her realise something, "You really believe that don't you?" they broke away. "There's no way that a woman as short and average as you can have the strength to compare to Rengoku, to have the speed to rival Tengen and the Agility to match me in combat" he said, incensed by every point he listed off. "Only a demon would have all those qualities, and there's you're unnaturally green eyes" Ren's eyes widened with shock, "What about them?" she asked. "They're too inhuman and bright to belong to a human" She was offended by this, "Have you seen your eyes?" she said affronted, "Yours are unnatural in colour and you have two different eye colours too" she said, but she had to admit, his eyes were even more beautiful than hers. "We're talking about you not me" he snarled. "I was raised in a demon cult, I have known nothing but misery my whole life, I want to eradicate every demon there is" Obanai gave off a strong 'Holier than Thou' aura when he spoke. "I don't care what your life was like before you became a Demon Slayer, we all have tragic histories, especially the Hashira, Tomiyoka watched his sister and best friend get brutally killed in front of him during final selection, Shinobu watched as a demon killed and absorbed her sister, Tengen was made to kill his own siblings by his father, Gyomei was accused of killing the children he looked after despite them being killed by a demon, Sanemi watched as his own mother killed his family and was forced to kill her only for his own brother to think he murdered their mother in cold blood, and in case you were unaware, you're not the only one Shinjuro saved from demons!" Ren ranted in a loud voice. "I watched my whole family die on my birthday after my mother was turned into a demon, I almost froze to death in a blizzard only to be saved by Shinjuro, only for me to them kill my mother just yesterday!" Obanai sheathed his sword and walked away, "Like I care" he said in his normal dismissive tone of voice. "And for your other point, I would never consider becoming a demon, eternal life, that would take all the fun out of the life we live. Plus it's sunset and I've been in the sun all day, if I was a demon, wouldn't I burn away in seconds?" she said to him, sheathing her own sword. "Just stay out of my way" Obanai said before vanishing from sight.

Ren was at a loss for words, how can someone be so arrogant and misogynist? She threw these thoughts from her mind as she looked at the note the Kakushi member gave her. The address wasn't too far, and it seemed to be close to the city of Tokyo. The journey would take her a day or two to get there from where she was now but that didn't perturb her, she was excited to see her new estate and place to live, not to mention the swelling feeling of pride she felt about becoming a Hashira, The first thing she'd do when she got home, would be testing the training facility, if there was one. If not, she'd have Akio, Natama and Koba help her make one. She knew that she needed to get stronger if she wanted to fight other members of the Kizuki, where she was now, she felt like she wouldn't last long against an upper ranked demon if she ever met one. With that, she closed her mind and began to walk off into the night as they sun finally finished setting, her thoughts now only on how she can improve herself, only occasionally shifting to think of how Kellia might be doing.