In the Taisho-Period Era of Japan, a young girl named Aimi Kitsuki is left orphaned and now sisterless. She is taken in by an old man called Sakonji Urokodaki, former Water Pillar. He trains her, along with two other children. Aimi vows to kill the...
3 years had passed from that day I had yelled at Giyū. I was 21 now and bored out of my mind. The other hashira weren't all that bad. I was friendly with Mitsuri, the girl with pink and green hair. She had a tsuguko named Hoshika Amaya. Hoshika was a pretty young girl with blue eyes, star-shaped earrings, and straight black hair. She also wore a dark blue cloud-patterned haori.
My least favourite hashira was probably either Obanai or Sanemi. Sanemi was hot-tempered and unpredictable, while Obanai was rude and harsh.
Shinobu was on good terms with me. She was very pretty and became a hashira only this year. She replaced her elder sister Kanae, who had died fighting Upper Rank Two. Kanae had cared dearly about me and had considered me as a younger sister, though I was only a year younger than her.
But my favourite hashira was Tengen, my new friend. He wasn't a best friend yet, since we saw each other 2 times a year, but nevertheless friends. Our personalities matched each other, I didn't mind his polygamy, and he knew about my past. But Tengen invited me to his home once, and his three wives completely overwhelmed me.
I think I'm starting to fit in.
Although I don't think Obanai has forgiven me yet for punching him because he called me 23 years old.
* * *
"Giyū!" I said, running to catch up to him.
I had been woken up by the Kakushi during the middle of the night. "A mission? Finally! And battling Lower Rank 5!" I had said when they told me I had to go to Mt. Nagamoto. But my face had fallen when I found out I was going with Giyū.
But I realized maybe this was the time to make amends with Giyū. And that's where we are now. Giyū looked at me. "What?"
Whew. It was gonna be hard, apologizing. I took a deep breath and said my apology, recited in my head, all in one word. "I'msorryIyelledatyoupleaseforgivemeIwasjustreallyangryandconfusedwillyouforgiveme? YesIwasanidiot!"
As I stood there clutching my stomach like an idiot, I heard Giyū laugh. "Seriously? That's why you've been avoiding me?"
His laugh made the weight in my heart lighter (maybe a bit too light, because it felt like my heart was threatening to come out of my throat). I blushed. Giyū patted my head. "Come on, we don't want to let those slayers all die to a weakling demon."
* * *
"Race you!" I said to Giyū as we got to the foot of the mountain, "First one who gets to Lower Rank 5 wins!"
"Deal," he chuckled.
I took off into the darkest shadows of the mountains and nearly tripped in horror. There was a smell of decay so horrible I nearly retched up my dinner. As I covered my mouth, I saw the smell was coming from white cocoons. About 80 of them, hanging eerily from tree branches. And I had a good guess what was inside them. "Dead bodies," I whispered.
I continued forward and heard voices. One was female and menacing, while the other was male, terrified, and somewhat muffled. As I peeked around a tree pockmarked with fungi, I saw a young woman with white hair wearing a white kimono with a blue obi.
The young man's voice was coming from inside of another white cocoon. I smiled to myself. Time to truly shine. "The acid will dissolve your yucky clothes, then you..." the young girl said, pleased.
"Oh, wow! I absolutely adore your Blood Demon Art! Say, how do you generate the silk?" I gushed, appearing behind her.
She stepped back, surprised. "W-what? Where did you come from?" she asked, rubbing her wrists.
"Come on, let's be friends! We'll have a good time together!" I said, grinning. She glared at me and started shooting silk at me. "And here, you ruin my meal," she growled.
I giggled in amusement as I dodged the silk effortlessly. I saw the girl's expression twist into confusion and shock. "Well, you shouldn't mess with the Song Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps!" I said, shaking my head.
The girl stood rigid in shock. "No, please, have mercy!" she wailed, "If I don't listen to my brother, the threads around me are gonna cut me to pieces!"
"But how many humans have you killed, young girl?" I asked, pretending to be confused. "Only five... but I was forced to!" She was a very good actor. "...But I came from the west side!" I said. The girl cocked her head. "Huh?"
"The west side, my dear," I said, smiling even wider, "I found eighty cocoons!" The girl sank to her knees.
"I'm sorry, but someone's gonna have to pay for the deaths," I said, "Maybe I should let the threads cut you up... you won't die, after all."
'Please, no!' she wailed, looking horrified, "I'd rather die!" Then, realizing what she had said, the demon clamped a ghostly hand over her mouth. I smiled serenely at her. "Be careful what you wish for," I said softly.
Then, by using Seventh Note: Hymn of Death, I made quick work of the demon. I peered at the cocoon and gave it a hard jab, which caused a loud yell. "Ack, I'm sorry!" I yelled, as the silk split. Tumbling out came a young man with no clothes. I covered my eyes. "Maybe you should get some clothes on," I suggested.
As the young man scurried away, I reached out my senses to the area around me. I felt a slight pain to the left of my head. I whipped my head to that side and headed left. But it looked like Giyū had won.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was a long chapter... anyways, I have two announcements! Firstly, I would like to say that I have a discord server! Please join~: https://discord.gg/ftu33RqbxB Secondly, Song of Time will be going on hiatus by the end of this October! I just have a lot of projects due for school, that's all.
We're getting closer to when Aimi, Hoshika and Karin all meet! Thank you for over 100 reads!
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It's really rainy here in Sydney today, so I thought this image would be nice! Giyū my beloved... /lh
