My Beloved (Demon Slayer Fanfiction)

#13

~Aki P.O.V~

It's been about four months since Rengoku and I started dating, and things are going really well! The only downside is that Sanemi found out about our new relationship; now that he spots me, he won't stop teasing me about it! I finished cleaning my headband and tying up the bow before putting it back on my head; my destination is not too far from where I am; I should be there hours before the sun sets.

This would be my twentieth solo mission thus far; my previous number of demon kills was thirty-eight; now that I've trained with Mister Shinjuro when I was recovering, I can slice demons' heads off much more quickly! That helped me increase my kills up to forty-four! It's funny how bodies work; although Rengoku and I did gain more muscle around the same time, his was more noticeable than mine.

I could hear my bird flapping its wings as he sat on my head, "what is it? Are you hungry?" He chirps and jumps twice, making me smile a little while petting his neck with one finger, "we're almost there. Just be a little more patient."

He chirps again as he finally sees the silhouette of the town we're supposed to be in; from afar, it doesn't look that bad, but once I pass the gates, it's a whole different book. Every building was filled with holes or had already crumbled; this entire place looked like a fire ravished it!

"This is awful," I mumble as I walk down the gravel road; even the rocks had ash. "Please," I hear a child weakly beg as he holds out a tin can, "spare change?" That poor thing, he looks like he might not make it through the night; he's nothing but meer bones.

I walk up to him and drop some coins in; I squat down to him, "hello." He doesn't raise his head or answer me; he just mindlessly continues to shake his can. "Spare change?" He dully says, "spare change, please." He reminded me so much of myself when I was a child, but he might have had a worse life than me. I take out a rice ball and hand it to him, "here, eat this. I have some water too if you're thirsty."

A few footsteps get close to me, causing me to turn my head to see who caused the noise. It's a small group of children who were stained with dirt and ash. Most girls had their hairs tangled and matted; the boys had cuts on their heads as if they did it to themselves while trying to shave. They had rags dangling on their boney bodies; their organs must have started to eat themselves from starvation.

"Demons," a girl no taller than my knees says, her eyes having no inkling of life or light, "demons did this." I place the rice ball in the hand of the boy I was previously talking to before sitting on my knees in front of her. "When did they attack?" I ask gently; I didn't want to sound so profound that it would scare them.

"Last night, that's when mommy and daddy died. They're coming tonight; I'm going to die." I bite my tongue as I fight back the urge to cry, even if it's not much, and even if all these children wish for death as their salvation, I will not allow even one of them to perish.

I gently place my hand on her head; I almost don't feel all her fleas and tangled hair. "I'll protect you," I vow with a smile, "I'll protect you all until the very end." I stand up and open up the little pouch I have on my hip; inside, there were plenty more rice balls since this mission would be weeks long.

I put one rice ball in each child's hands, "you all eat; I have plenty more so don't hesitate to ask for seconds. Oh, I also have water as well, who wants some?" A small hand raises in the air, "wa...ter," a boy no more than five years old says with a dry throat.

After he drank some water, the rest of the children began to ask for seconds, and some asked for water as well. My food and water quickly ran out, but it's alright; I can pass days without food. I take my brand new blue haori and begin to clean the faces of the kids, "Miss Ruka," I think to myself as I move to the next child, "please protect these children as you did with me."