影の息吹 ᪥ shadow pillar [ON HOLD]

eight

final selection,
five years ago...

a frail, petite young teenager clenched her eyes shut. it has been almost a week since he and a bunch of people fighting for their lives atop the peek of the mountain.

she trembled, losing her balance and plopped down onto the ground. tears began to roll down her cheeks.

she hugged her broken katana close. she only manages to slay a weak child demon but run away as soon as she encountered the other. it broke as soon as she manages to cut off the demon's neck and lose hope as soon as she realized she has no more weapon for self defence against any upcoming demon assault.

a fat, chummy woman demon with the appearance of a giant humanoid rat crawled towards her, sticking it's split tongue towards the girl.

"i am useless, stupid!"

aoi kanzaki wailed under her breath. fears and tears anguished her spirit to keep on living. her feeling was down the dumps. then, the young girl pulled onto her twintails, hugging her katana close.

as she was wailing for the god to save her, a sudden gush of wind brushed past her soft white skin. she creaked open her eyes, staring widely at the appearance of a savior.

"are you alright?"

a female voice rung through her earlobes. a girl apparentally her age stood bravely, overshadowing her frail figure. aoi was moved to shock as she realized a girl her age saved her, grew to be curious of her face, which is masked. her ninja outfit, the flashy red undereye makeup and most importantly her odd red eyes seems eccentric in her eyes.

she was too scared to even talk, and yet the savior just stood without any hint of action to be made.

out of sudden, the demon growled and accelerated on its four feets towards the two of them. aoi squinted her eyes shut once again, hoping for her life to be saved.

she could feel her body being lifted up, so she opened her eyes just to be startled as she was hugging onto a tree branch.

"what the-"

her eyes catches a glimpse of the other girl making her way at the speed of light towards the demon. as soon as she was an inch away from the pathetic creature, the girl dissapeared once again.

"shadow breathing, first form : shadow silhoutte"

aoi noticed that the girl jumped up at quite a high height, before landing down on the back of the crawling demon. as she does so, the twinhaired girl was once again amazed at the mysterious youth.

she was launching herself onto the prey, but the very landing she made looks as if she was stepping down a transparent stair, as if walking on the shadow until she sliced the demon's neck without the demon has the time to notice at all.

×

the sun has risen over the horizon. the thick mist slowly paraded away, vanishing into the atmosphete as two girls made their way down the mountain.

aoi kanzaki stared onto shigure's back. she was moved to tears, seeing how she had to survive the mountain, slaining only a demon until someone had to drag her out of the demonic realm.

that person was shigure. now that she has pulled her mask off her face, aoi noticed the bitterness she displays. a strong sense of hatred was displayed in her cat-like eyes.

she has no words left to thank shigure. the taller girl never spoke up unless if she started it first. in her eyes, shigure is the true savior.

"i don't think that i will ever suit as a demon slayer."

aoi stopped her feets rigght on the track, looking down on her baby blue kimono and hakama pants. tears dwelled in her blue eyes, rolling down her cheeks as she bit her bottom lip.

"i... survived by luck. i can't thank you well enough, shigure-san. i... owe you... m-my life!"

aoi dropped herself on both of her knees, clenching her hands tight onto the sheath of her broken katana. she cried harder and harder when shigure does not flinch from walking.

as she has calmed down a little, she gazed up to see shigure staring down at her. her expression seems to be darkening the whole moment. aoi sat on her knees frozen at place, staring into her mysterious red eyes.

"are you finished? we have to go now."

her expectation broke into pieces. the twinhaired was hoping for a good comfort, but all she received after the sudden outburst of tears was a sharp shooting statement.

"we are alive. got it? stand up and wipe your tears away."

aoi was shocked when shigure's voice become rough and sharper, unlike her usual concerned yet soft tone.

"i... i am useless right?"

"cut the crap, kanzaki. if you think you are that useless, go and join the kakushi or become a nurse at the butterfly estate."

she stood up, trailing after shigure. as the two of them reached the foot of the mountain, they were greeted by two young childrens from the ubuyashiki family.

"congratulations on passing the final selection."

the childs who introduced themselves as nichika and hinaki ubuyashiki explained the system of demon slayer corps towards  shigure, aoi and a few other survivors who successfully passed the final selection.

as they are being led to pick their own ore, shigure quickly picked up a grayish red colored one. aoi was confused at first but soon after, shigure pointed at a bluish ore. she even leads the other future demon slayer in picking their best choice.

the amazement in their eyes of how shigure can pinpoint the difference between all of the ore does not last long. they also received a kasugaigarasu for each person.

"thank you, but shigure-san... i'm sure i'll be more of use, like you say, if i serve as a nurse instead."

×

red light district arc

"what a loser"

shigure grunted under her breath, eyes catching up with obanai's unbelievable speed. he might be little to less in height compared to her, but he apparentally runs faster.

the two of them heads on their way to the red light district. by using the special total concentration breathing technique that can only be mastered by pillars like them, it benefits them in the nick of time. both was able to accelerate and dashing from walls, roofs to their destination without any worries.

in the matter of being crucially sharp in time to assist tengen uzui, the two of them moved at their fastest movement. the night is still dark, the moon was being sjadowed by the thick night mists.

shigure gazed up to the fascinating moon in hope of predicting the time before dawn. her feelings suddenly become uneasy, so she clutches one hand to her chest, feeling her nervously pulsing heartbeat.

"we're almost there"

obanai turned his face to the side, muttering as he paced up onto a roof of a town house. shigure nodded, trailing fast behind him.

"lets get faster. my instict told me someone is in danger."

there is still an hour before dawn and their journey is about half an hour ahead. obanai seems to slow down his steps and so does shigure. their energy has almost drained in half out of running for too long.

out of the blue, as the two stopped for a while on a residential roof, a demon jerked itself up from the window down the roof they are standing on.

they could feel their feets pulsating and shaking as a loud growl echoed from inside the house. then, an ugly demon lurked out from the same window. the two wandering creature seems to be having a feast of human flesh.

"what the hell?"

"stand back. it's a demon."