A Long Forgotten Heart <kny oc>

CHAPTER 26: Rest well

Word count: 1041

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'One by one..'

"Kirumi-san!"

'They all end up leaving...'

"Can you hear me? Kirumi-san!"

'... And... It's my fault...'

"Kirumi-san!"

'It's all my fault'

Sigh

'I'm sorry... I'm really sorry'

"Sora!"

"I'm sorry"

-

"Hiroshi-san!"

"I'm sorry"

"... Sorry..."

~

Knock

Knock

"Good morning- Oh? Kirumi"

Kirumi took a deep breath and slightly lowered her head "Good morning..."

"What brings you here?"

"... Are you... Hiroshi-san's wife?" Kirumi asked as she raised her head

"Yes... My name is Atsuki... Why are you asking?"

By seeing the expression and the tone of voice that Hiroshi's wife used, Kirumi knew that she already knew about the news

"... Uh... I... I am sorry... I never wanted this to happen, and... I know I would've been able to stop it, if only I was faster... So, I'm really sorry" Kirumi looked away from the woman in shame and guilt

Atsuki didn't say anything for a couple of minutes before she smiled at Kirumi "You have nothing to be sorry for... I heard about what happened yesterday... And you had a lot to deal with... It isn't your fault" She tried to reassure Kirumi

"... Uhm... Hiroshi-san... said he was sorry... that he wouldn't be able to... to stay with you and... to see his... his daughter grow..." Kirumi struggled through her words while she tried to control her own emotions

Atsuki teared up at the mention of those words, but, she still had a smile on her face "... Thank you... I'm really thankful... And... don't blame yourself... don't blame yourself for what happened, it isn't your fault... You did what you could..."

"... No... I could've done something, I know that... I could've been faster... I could've ran faster... So, I'm sorry..." Kirumi took a deep breath before turning around "Have a good day..." She said before leaving at an extremely fast pace

~

Kirumi rushed into the room she was given, panting from the long run she just had

She sat on the mat that was in the middle of the room and covered her face with her hands

She tried to take deep breaths and tried to calm herself

She didn't want to cry anymore, she was tired of it

She wanted to just... move on and go on with her life

But she couldn't... She couldn't move on

It had only been a week ever since it all took place, but she just couldn't stop crying

She probably only got about 5 hours of sleep throughout that whole week

She wanted to sleep and get some time to rest, but her body didn't let her, and when she got the opportunity to, her dreams kept reminding her of what happened

Over and over again

~

Knock
Knock
Knock

Kirumi raised her head and looked towards the room's door before standing up and walking towards it

Once she stood infront of the door, she took a deep breath before opening it

"Hello... Kirumi"

"... Akemi-san..."

The woman smiled and took a step closer "I heard about what happened"

Kirumi stared at the woman infront of her before lowering her gaze

"It must be hard for you..." Akemi sighed before walking closer to Kirumi and placing her hands on Kirumi's shoulders

"You've always been so hard on yourself... So, please... Stop it... For your own good"

Kirumi sighed before talking "I... I can't... It... It's all my fault-"

"No. No, it isn't. You have to stop with those thoughts Kirumi, none of this is your fault... There will be times when you won't be able to save everyone, you have to understand that-"

"I can't!... I was supposed to stop this, I was supposed to make sure nobody died... It's my fault..." Kirumi's tears were already falling from her eyes as she looked away from Akemi

Akemi sighed before going closer to kirumi and pulling her into a warm embrace "I'll be taking you back to your estate, so, calm down and then we'll go"

~

"The hashiras had a meeting today. They are planning to train all the lower ranked slayers. If I'm not wrong, you're going to be the last trainer. That is, of course, if you accept to help" Akemi mentioned while she walked towards Kirumi's estate

"... Can I deny?" Kirumi asked while leaning her head on Akemi's back

"Well, Tomioka-san denied, so I guess you can... But, do you want to deny?"

"... I don't feel ready... Also, I don't think I'll be able to teach people something while I am... like this" Kirumi sighed and closed her eyes

"Kirumi... You are greater than you think... And I'll give you one of the many reasons..." Akemi paused for a couple of seconds before continuing

"You were trained by a Hashira... One of the strongest Hashiras as of now"

"... I'm still not-"

"You have to give him credit...  Kirumi, need to trust in what people teach you... You can't ignore that, and you shouldn't, it'll be like wasting the time that somebody spent on you" Akemi said in a kind, but firm tone

"... I am not discrediting him... But I'm not strong enough to put on work  everything he or anybody taught me... Maybe it was a waste of time... And it all falls on me, I know that... I know it'll be my fault for wasting everybody's time..."

Akemi sighed "You're one stubborn kid...  You'll soon understand.. This is not your fault... None of it... Mistakes happen... and there are things we can't stop..."

"Rest well"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taisho era secret

▪︎ When Akemi was much younger, she used to train to be a demon slayer, but decided to become a kakushi after not being able to use a breathing style.

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Okaaay

I took a lot of time to update, but I didn't know how to start the chapter so I got a writer's block

Anyway, with this chapter, we finish the Swordsmith village arc! 🥳🥳

My goal for this will be to, at least, advance half of the chapters, or all of the chapters from the Hashira training arc, for when the movie comes out in February

So, hopefully, I can achieve that

Anyway, I hope you have a good weekend and that you enjoy this chapter! 😁😁

Byeeeeee 👋