Tsunami of Dead Tears: Part 1

Chapter 13

Shinobu tried lighting the fire with her blade. Due to the cold weather, it was taking longer than usual. The sparks barely came out, and it was getting on her nerves.

They were settled on a small hill overseeing the trees below them. The moon shined as bright as it could be. Shinobu let out a frustrated groan and looked up. A large tree loomed over her head, and the rays of moonlight twinkled in between the tree's red leaves as fireflies roamed the surrounding grass, giving the area an ethereal feeling.

"L-let me help you!" Yakeru blurted out as he took out his own blade and started sparking on his own.

Shinobu chuckled. The way he tried to help out almost reminded her of Tanjiro in a way, except a much less capable one.

I miss them...

"Oh, it's fine. Don't bother. I can handle it myse-"

Flames leaped out of the pile of cold twigs like a furnace. Shinobu recoiled from the sudden flash of light. She looked back at Yakeru, who just sat back to his original position.

"How did you do that so quickly?" She asked.

Yakeru looked at her with eyes just as confused as she was. "Luck?"

Shinobu stared at the slayer boy for a moment, then chuckled and sat back up. "Oh well, no wonder that happened, considering your name."

Yakeru's face turned red at her remark, then looked away. "O-oh, right. Yakeru, meaning 'ignite'. What a coincidence, huh?"

Shinobu nodded back, then decided to dip her feet in unexplored waters. "Speaking of names, do you have any family?"

Yakeru looked up at that word. Family. Then silently looked back down, his eyes showing a deep sense of pain that Shinobu was all too familiar with.

I guess all demon slayers had their lives taken away. Shinobu thought to herself. "Ah, sorry about that. I shouldn't have asked."

Yakeru looked back at me, those same child-like eyes brightened by the light of the moon. "No, no, no, its fine. I should have moved on by now."

No, Yakeru. Shinobu thought. Nobody can move on from something like that. Not even me.

One thought led to another, and now she was reminded of the ultimate purpose of what she was doing. Avenging her sister.

"Ah, I almost forgot." Shinobu spoke up. "Have you seen an Upper Moon while you were imprisoned?"

Yakeru shook his head. Shinobu sighed in disappointment. Another dead end.

But she decided to keep the conversation moving along. "Well, what was your mission? I mean... I've never seen so many slayers in one place."

Yakeru looked up at her. "Well... it wasn't exactly a mission. We actually settled there for a period of time. I guess we were... taking a hike?"

Shinobu cocked her head at this. "In your uniforms?"

Yakeru raised both of his palms in defense. "Well, I mean... we liked the feeling it gave us. Superiority, strength, all that."

Shinobu internally frowned at this, but kept her usual smile on. "Those uniforms are a symbol of hope for mankind. Not a party costume you can wear at anytime."

Yakeru looked down in shame. "I know. It was foolish of me.
But I was still fresh off the final selection back then. I still am, but of course, a few dead friends was more than enough to snap me out of it."

Yakeru continued. "But anyways, we were hungry, and all the local places banned us because we were quite a troublesome folk, so we sent a group out to the nearby forest to hunt for food... when the group came back, it was only 1/3 of what we sent. The survivors were bloody, beaten. Their faces looked... terrified. Haunted. Even traumatized."