𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐮𝐬 - 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐮 𝐊𝐨𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐮 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟗

Kanao swoops down from the tree branch, silent enough for anyone to hear. She's got her sword out, the silver area shing a reflection of the moon, and lands on the part of his back that isn't protected by the wooden box. The thump of her thick boots might have fractured a bone, especially considering the height and speed in which she jumped, and her weight was just like adding salt to a wound- and the boy's already injured enough to make him vulnerable. Tanjiro is undoubtedly in shock, unable to process what happened as he collapses to the ground.

I could only imagine the pain he's suffering from right now. And if he makes it out of this mountain alive tonight - even though his sister might not- he's going to require a lot of medication and months of treatment to get him back on his feet. Especially in his current state. However, seeing how well he's able to function while enduring all that pain and all those wounds that decorate his body, he might need just a little less time to recover and he'll be back on track in no time. But because of what he's doing- defending a demon and going against the number one policy of Demon Slayer Corps- I doubt he'll be allowed to stay. I wonder what Oyakata-sama would have to say about this hard situation, maybe he'll have both Tanjiro and Nezuko excecuted? Whatever his choice is, though, we'll all have no choice but to oblige to his orders.

Nezuko rolls on the ground as Tanjiro drops her and as she lays still and unconcious,  I see Kanao lift her sword, ready to attack the sleeping demon. I could only helplessly watch from afar as the events roll out one after another. The best I could do would be to get down there and hep Tanjiro stand up. I watch as Tanjiro fears for his life, and for his sister's life, because every breath she takes might be her last, and this might be her end. I don't know who I'm rooting for anymore- Kanao, the girl I've watched grow up, helped nurture, and guided as she grew up, or Tanjiro, a wounded and injured desperate boy who only wanted to save his unfortnately transformed sister. If I help Tanjiro, I'd be in the same situation as Giyuu. But if I help Kanao, I'd only worsen this boy's conditions. And yet, I know what's right.

Perhaps it's time I stopped making decisions logically, and followed what my heart said was right. Tanjiro pulls on Kanao's cloak, holding her back and making a narrow opening for the suddenly awaken Nezuko. 

"Nezuko! Run! Make a run for it!" Tanjiro cried, hoping his sister would follow his desperate orders.

Nezuko stands up and starts running deeper into the forest. Tanjiro takes a short glance at Kanao, who now sat flat on his back. She kicks his head with her thick boot, and Tanjiro's immediately half passed out, just as any person who has been kicked and stomped hard on the hea would. The black haired girl wastes not a single second in getting up and going after the demon. As soon as she's out of sight, I run over to Tanjiro and kneel to make sure he's alright- which he's clearly not, because now, he's in even more pain than when I first met him. 

I lift his head, and his eyes are rolled back and his forehead, which I could feel from the touch of it, is extremely hard, is bleeding. What has he been going through? I got a closer look on the odd, fire shaped scar on his forehead, which I recognized from somewhere. Probably just a picture of a character from a book at home. 

I don't have much with me at the moment, especially not a full medical aid kit box. I try to shake him awake as gently as I could manage, and I try to get him as concious as possible.

"Nezuko, Nezuko..." he mumbled, only loud enough for me to hear. His hand is reached out but falls back as soon as his wound acted up. 

I whisper to him, in hopes he'd fight and get up. 

"Tanjiro, Tanjiro! Please, get up. Your sister is in danger!" 

He's too weak to stand and go after Kanao, so I figured that it's my job now. I stand up reluctantly and go after Kanao as fast as my feet could take me. Fortunately, they haven't gone too far deep for me to find. As I catch a sight of Kanao, I see her whip her sword out to decapitate Nezuko. Just as I thought I had been too late to save her, I witnessed Nezuko do something i didn't expect her to do.

She shrunk down.

And she was fast to do it, too. A little demon trick? Nezuko scurries away, and Kanao stands still for a while, in utter disbelief. I assume she's confused, just as confused as I was. I take this chance to hold out to her arm and stop her, and she looks at me. She's even more surprised now that I'm here. 

"One-san?" She whispers.

"Kanao-san." I call.

She whips herself out of my grasp, and continues her chase after the shrunken Nezuko. She's confused about many things now. She swings her swords multiple times and Nezuko does nothing but run from her, not blowing out a single attack, not even swinging out her arm. 

"Message, message!" 

We all stop chasing after one another, and we look up to see a kasugai crow delivering a message from headquarters. 

"Tanjiro and Nezuko are to be taken into custody and brought back to headquarters!" It flew around in circles, repeating the message over and over, "Tanjro, dressed in a checkered haori, with a scar on his forehead. Nezuko, a demon girl with a muzzle!" 

 "Bring them back, bring them back."

Kanao bends lower to Nezuko's height, and asks her gently," Are you Nezuko?"

I run back to Tanjiro, and watch as the Kakushi aid him up. Kanao walks up to me, and she waits for a little explanation, looking at me.

"Kanao-san, I'm sorry for earlier on. I wasn't thinking straight, and I let my emotions get into my head and my job. Please forgive me."

She nods gently, and takes a soft reply," It's alright, One-san."

I nod, helping her up. We walked back as dawn arised behind us, the sun rising and coloring the starless black night sky with a light pink shade.

I hope I'd have nothing else to explain, but the guilt's already piling up on me.

Word count: 1099 words.