メモリ||Memory ~Demon Slayer||

三

First Blade

イントロアーク

救世主

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お願いが必要なのですが

~

↪ I wasn't ungrateful.

Would I have preferred Kyojuro? Yes. Did I know where he was? No. Is all and any help accepted at the moment? Yes.

Which is why I'd never liked Shinjuro Rengoku so much in my entire life as he stepped in front of me, hiding me from Kokushibo's gaze. Kokushibo said nothing, but Shinjuro was surveying the damage.

"Are there any other survivors?" Shinjuro asked over his shoulder.

Wow, he sounds so different from the drunk bastard I know-

"N-No." I coughed, climbing to my feet. My body felt like I was burning from the inside, but I couldn't focus on that. "I think . . . he got everyone else."

Shinjuro nodded, acknowledging that he heard me before facing Kokushibo. Despite it still being kind of dark, and their distance, Shinjuro must've been able to read the kanji on Kokushibo's eyes because he tensed.

"If you're off of your leash, does that mean Kibutsuji's let some of the others go too?" Shinjuro asked darkly.

Kokushibo chuckled.

"Get lost, you roach, I have business with that child." He said, eyes swiveling in my direction.

"What can she provide to you that I can't?" Shinjuro asked.

"Information." Kokushibo said, eyes narrowing. "Information that you don't have."

But the sun was almost up, and Kokushibo noticed it too.

"You are by far the luckiest human I have ever met." Kokushibo said, looking at me again. "No human has ever injured me and gotten away with it. I assure you, I won't forget about you."

His gaze darkened considerably.

"And I won't forget about what you know."

He scoffed at Shinjuro before he turned and phased, moving so fast he seemed to vanish.

I grit my teeth in anger.

He could move that fast this whole time, but he didn't. He was toying with us. he was toying with me-

Tadashi's body shifted and relief flooded me when I realized he was still alive.

"Tadashi!" I cried, stumbling over to crouch next to him. "Don't worry, he's gone, we need to ge-"

Tadashi suddenly reared up and slammed me to the ground, with strength I knew he didn't have. Dread filled me as I cracked my eyes open. His pretty green eyes had turned to slits, and his nails were sharpened. His teeth snapped at me and I dodged and kicked him back.

"Oh no, Tadashi." I begged, trying in vain to pin him down. "Please stop!"

Shinjuro blurred out of the corner of my eyes, and I yanked Tadashi towards me before Shinjuro could behead him.

"Wh- let him go!" Shinjuro ordered, reaching towards Tadashi.

"Wait, please, don't kill him!" I said, pushing Tadashi behind me.

Shinjuro's face hardened.

"I know you saw that massacre back there." He said quietly. "I know you're in pain, and he's all you have left. But that's not the boy you once knew. Not anymore."