Priceless Smile 2

Chapter 65: Sunrise

Aoki who was then sleeping inside a room suddenly jolt up fully awake. He's panting as he held his own neck. He looked down as he grit his teeth and his eyes glow in a blue color with slanted pupils. His tears slowly fall from his eyes and down his clothes and the floor as he look down. He then rushed out of the room in an instant as he run towards the place his feet would take him to. During his sleep he felt it, he felt something he already expected but wasn't ready to accept.

'Kazumi-sama.... please, Kazumi-sama....'
He mentally begged as he kept on crying.

As he reach the forest where the fight occured he saw Kazumi's body and head starting to disintegrate from a distant despite the sun not rising yet. As he's about to rush forward, a large white snake emerged out of the ground wrapping itself around him as he fall on his knees. He tried to shout but Fuji prevented him to do so as she hug him from the front and cover his mouth with her own arm. Despite Aoki biting it with all his strength, Fuji endured it.

"Calm down Aoki! We all know this would happen. Don't let your emotions get to you." Fuji whispered to him despite her crying too.

But Aoki didn't hear a thing as he kept on balling his eyes out with his muffled screams of pain, agony, and anger. Yushiro and Tamayo who were standing beside Kai, behind Aoki, watched him with pity in their eyes. They may not feel his pain and sadness but they could clearly see it. Their eyes shifted to Kai beside them, the demon whom they thought was dead turns out to be alive. They could see him silently crying too with his head down. All three of them are crying as Tamayo and Yushiro started to tear up too.

'Master.... may we all meet again.'
Kai thought as he then fall on his knees too covering his own mouth as he cry.

Ringo's now sitting inside Kazumi's room, former room to be exact. She looked at the blue spider lily placed in a pot. She watched as the flower lose its color and slowly wilt.

Her tears slowly brimmed down her face as she cry hugging Kazumi's yukata, hugging it so tight not wanting to let go. Mei could hear Ringo's muffled cries in the room from the outside as she then sat down the floor leaning on the shoji door as she cry too.

'Kazumi-sama, it's quite painful. Losing you is like losing a child for me. But for Ringo, I know it's much more painful.'
Mei thought.
'But.... Thank you for the happy memories.'

The Pillars and the lower ranked slayers with them watched as her body fully disintegrate. After that, the sun has started to rise as it's light reach them.

'Finally, it's all over now. We could finally live a world with no demons roaming around devouring humans.'
Tanjiro thought as they all looked at the rising sun with smiles on their faces.

They sat down the ground as they could feel exhaustion overwhelm their bodies.

"Dammit! That bitch killing Muzan yet still became our enemy, glad it's finally over." Sanemi huffed.

"You're right, she was quite strong." Genya agreed.

"If it wasn't for the medicine, everyone of us would've been dead." Kanae said.

But just then, as the sunlight hit the corpses of the dead slayers too, they all turned into ashes and disappear.

"What just happened? How is that even possible?" Shinobu asked herself as she watch the corpses turn into ashes.

"Maybe its because of Kazumi's attacks and maybe because they didn't receive the medicine on time." Giyu answered looking at the corpses too.

Kanae then felt different too as she didn't got hurt when the sunlight hit her. She looked at her hands as she saw her nails have turned back into normal. She also felt her fangs gone too and the mark on her forehead disappear. She has turned back into a human.

"I'm.... finally a human, again." Kanae cried tears of joy as Kanao and Shinobu hugged her.
"I'm happy!"

The demons in the shadows could hear them rejoice as Aoki's still trying his best to free himself until he just suddenly fell unconscious out of his own emotional exhaustion. Fuji instantly carried him as Kai did the same with Tamayo and Yushiro for them to go hide now that the sun has risen up.

The crows then announced the news of the Pillars winning and the Ubuyashiki children cried tears of joy too. Kagaya then slowly woke up from his long sleep as his children hug him too. Sakonji and Shinjuro watched them with smiles on their faces. Just then, Amane and their eldest daughters entered the room too. They all looked at them with wide eyes.

"M-Mother?" Kiriya stuttered.

Amane just nodded as Kanata instantly ran to her and hugged her.

"Amane-sama?! You're alive?! But how?" Shinjuro asked in utter disbelief.

"It may be unbelievable but Kai-san, Aoki-san, and Fuji-san saved us upon Kazumi's orders. That's what they told us." Amane answered.
"Watching as how Kazumi's hand slowly get closer to me back then, all I could think is that 'She's going to kill me.' But it turned out to be the opposite. All I could remember was that, it seemed like I heard her say 'sorry' to me before the explosion happened." She continued.

Everyone in the room went speechless. They don't know what to say and what words to use upon hearing her explanation. Now they don't know what to think of Kazumi anymore.

"Let's wait.... until the slayers come back." Kagaya muttered out as he kept his head down.

They all just agreed seeing Kagaya's unusual expression. He kept on looking down as if having deep thoughts about something. He clenched his blanket tight.

'She's dead, she betrayed us.... but why? Why do I feel suffocated? Why does it seems like something's wrong? And Nishiki-sama, why was he crying in my dream?'
Kagaya wandered in his head remembering seeing Nishiki, his ancestor, in his dream crying as he look at Kagaya.

"I feel sorry for everyone of you. I hope no one would regret anything."

A voice Kagaya heard from his right ear, as if someone just whispered to him when there's no one to do so. Despite his long sleep, he feels something's wrong. Sakonji looked at him, for a second, he saw as if an image of someone with the same black hair as Kagaya but has a longer length, just suddenly appeared beside him but then also disappeared in a blink of an eye.

'Must be my imagination.'
He thought to himself as he have a bothered look under his mask keeping his eyes at the Ubuyashikis.

Shinjuro and Sakonji then agreed to each other to stay and wait for everyone to come back too.

As the Pillars, together with Tanjiro and his friends, walk out of the forest, they saw several injured slayers waiting for them and the kakushis. They all ran up to them with tears of joy, happy that they all manage to come out alive and won. The Pillars didn't hesitate to hug back as they all cried with them celebrating their victory. Their crows are also happy to watch them hugging each other.