✾ BLOOMING ✾ Tanjiro Kamado ✾

NINE

It's so hard to breathe.

There was barely any air left in Naminé's lungs. One shift of her sword and she would lose all oxygen. Even with Total Concentration, there was very little air to revive from this bog. She hadn't trained her lungs in the thin mountain air that Urokodaki disciplined Tanjiro under. It didn't help that her concentration was aimed more at her injuries, most of which were still bleeding from her waist and calf.

The sight of it only inticing the demons more.

"Are you suffering, slayers? You'll both be dead soon enough with almost no air in this swamp! Then I'll gnaw at your flesh, girl, and listen to your screams while I slash open your belly!"

Tanjiro's face twisted with fury--from the heaviness of the bog weighing down their chances of surviving or the demon's words, Namine wasn't sure. But all she knew was that they had to reach the surface soon.

So they needed to kill these demons now.

The demons shot through the swamp, Naminé and Tanjiro back to back as they tried to see where they were coming from. It was nearly impossible, especially through the murky water.

But though she might not have trained in the thin mountain air, she did train within the dense fog that found a home near her master's quarters.

Which meant she was right in line with the two-horned demon as her blade thrust through the thick water.

Soil Thrust!

The slashes from her blade careened through the air, the demon only having enough time to give a surprised shout as the attack sliced through its chest, shoulder, and neck.

The beast's eyes were wide as its limbs fell somewhere far below.

But there was little time for celebration when she felt arms around her, nearly readying her blade to stab into the hands before she realized they belonged to Tanjiro, not understanding what was happening when he twisted her body around, forcefully placing her hands around him. Staring into his crimson gaze, no words needed to be spoken for her to understand what he wanted.

Wrapping her arms around his waist, she buried her sword in its sheath before she rested her face in the crook of his neck, already feeling Tanjiro prepping for an attack while the demon slashed through the water around them.

I can't breathe. I can't breathe! Just hold on for a little longer . . .

But even as she commanded her lungs to cease their insufferable burning, the edges of her vision began to seep in blackness, her heartbeat beginning to hurt as it pounding against her chest and eardrums.

If nothing else . . . she knew that Tanjiro would survive. With two demons dead by her blade, he only needed to finish the one to save himself and the others above. It shamed her to know that she would be executed on one of her first official missions. But she found comfort knowing that she would not die by the hands of a demon. Instead, it would be in the arms of a boy she admired greatly.