A Murder of One - Kimetsu no Yaiba / Demon Slayer

30

"Akiko, wake up!"

Two golden orbs flutter open, squinting slightly at the sunlight. A sudden face blocks the light for her so that she doesn't strain herself, but it's a different kind of sun that beams down at her.

Tanjirou smiles at his fiancee, and in his hand is an orange.

"Let's go for a walk together!"

"But won't your brothers and sisters want to come with us?" Akiko asks, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. It's so peaceful today, and she can't hear the loud yelling of Takeo and Hana fighting over something mundane.

Tanjirou smiles mischievously, and Akiko doesn't get to see this smile often so she's a sucker for whatever comes out of his mouth, and usually does whatever he asks for.

This time, he asks Akiko to sneak away with him, and to leave their chores for tomorrow.

She agrees, because she would rather do laundry tomorrow and Tanjirou would rather behead Muzan tomorrow.

The two giggle quietly to themselves as they run into the forest, hand in hand. Akiko pretends not to notice Nezuko calling out for them, and they quickly rush off into a beaten path. They run and run until their little lungs hurt, until the legs are sore and their cuts bleed and their throats are dry and their fingernails feel like ripping off.

Once they no longer hear Nezuko yelling for them to come back and save her, Tanjirou slows their run. He peels the orange for her, always from the top and always keeping the peel in one piece. He likes to peel it into one long strip, going around and around the orange. Once he has the long peel, he wraps it around Akiko's neck.

"Like a necklace!" He says, and the two laugh.

Akiko points to a little mushroom, "Look it's you!"

Then she points to a squirrel, "It's you!"

She points to a single leaf hanging on a tree, "It's you!"

A tiny acorn, "It's you!"

When she points to a lonely crow and says, "It's you!" Tanjirou stops her.

"Why all those things?" He asks, holding her hand so she doesn't point at anything else. Akiko likes how warm his hands are. They're black with soot and calloused and rough from sword fighting, but they're warm like the sun.

"Because I see you in everything." Akiko smiles.

Tanjirou likes that answer.

They continue their walk hand in hand, munching on the orange together. It doesn't seem to run out.

"Look, it's us!" Tanjirou points to two baby deer, but they look up and run away at his loud voice.

"Hey, that's my thing." Akiko pouts, and Tanjirou pats her head. "Why'd you take my thing?"

"Well you may see me in everything but I'll always see us together."

Akiko likes that answer.

They continue their walk hand in hand.

"Akiko, wake up!"

Two wretched gold eyes yank themselves open. Goto is by her side, patting her face so as to wake her up. When he sees that she's regained consciousness, he pulls her up. Akiko can feel a bandage over her eye, and she's still uncomfortable with the darkness that comes with only one eye.

She has to survey the battlefield again to understand what happened. At the sight of the bodies piled up in front of her, she gags, and almost faints again. She looks up, fighting the tears in her eyes, to see everyone is still desperately fighting.