If I Could Do You One Right...

Lethal Misunderstandings

~Kiritsugu's P.O.V~

I am Kiritsugu Ayanami another up-and-coming demon slayer. At least that's how I'd put it. Truth be told, I'm just not very good. My parents were killed by demons when I was young... Well younger. Anyhow, losing my parents to them, made me want to hunt them, and while I'm certainly not the best, I'm no less proud of my choice. That said, this next job is a bit freakier than the others. My crow told me this demon has been doing a lot of traveling. It goes between villages all the time, taking two or three lives and then leaving quickly after. It's only been sighted once, and it's description was kind of strange. The demon was of average height and wore the simple Haori, nagagi, and hakama that everyone wears, but it has it's haori was tied at the edges by a sash, it had fingerless sleeves, and a scarf tied around it's neck. It had it's hair tied back to reveal it's face that displayed horns large teeth, and an awful smile. However the truly strange thing was what it was holding. It was said to be holding a nodachi. The sword was emitting ash from it and was somehow held in just one hand, clearly the strength of a demon. To any demon slayer this would be very alarming. Most demon's don't carry weapon's, often too tied up in bloodlust to consider the use of a weapon. The thing is, I did say most. Any seasoned demon slayer knows that the mark of a superior demon, is their affinity for weapons. The logic goes that only a strong demon would use a weapon because a weapon requires a certain amount of skill and focus, something the average demon doesn't have.

That was all to say, I am scared shitless of this thing. Why me? I've been a part of the corps for a few years now and have seen a thing or two, but a demon swordsman was not one of them. Luckily I've been sent with a group, but even so, non of us are of a particularly high rank. The biggest comfort they give is really how brazen they are about walking into this demon.

"You guys hear; this one's got a sword covered in ash?" One started. Her name is Hinoe Soryu-san, perhaps the most brazen of us. She's the only one who introduced herself with her full name, the rest of us having some odd sense of reservation. I'd wager it was nerves considering how comfortable everyone got around each other over the voyage. We never really talked about the demon until now. Honestly it's felt like one long introduction since getting on the move. Talk about families we miss, first encounters, the usual stuff we'd talk about under normal circumstances, and apparently not so normal too.

"You think it's a blood demon art?" is the response she earned considering it was probably on everyone's mind. It definitely was on Yun-kun's mind. I take him to be the paranoid type, or maybe it's just his being the youngest. Either way, he took the longest to warm up to the situation and spoke the least, spending most of the time practicing his breathing. I swear, I'd say I was pretty on edge, but so much as a rabbit would scare the daylights out of him... In the middle of daylight! I get a sword-wielding demon is new for probably all of us, and we've all heard the theories and stories, but I swear he'll get us killed.

"It wouldn't be a very special blood demon art." dismissed Haberu-kun, his palms holding up the back of his head. He and I have worked together on some hunts, and he hasn't changed a bit. He's still a bit on the tubby side, he's still got his sleeves rolled up, despite it protection against lesser demons, still a bit of a glutton, and still holds his nichirin blade in wavering wrists. He was never good at killing demons, but he made for a good survivor, the scars all over being proof of such. But even he would admit that his bulk wouldn't outlast a demon with such an ominous blade.

"Only if it's just the ash... Wha-what if the whole sword is it's blood demon art?" Yun-kun retorted. An obvious conclusion, although the rest of us understand that that is one of the least worrying possibilities. Something Haberu-kun is slow to point out.

"Good grief, lighten up would ya? If all it is, is a cool looking sword than all the better. Hell it might even make a cool trophy when we kill it." Haberu pointed out with his every appreciated imagination. " I mean, I once fought a demon who's blood art was his finger nails that he could shoot. If they reached their target he'd control them like a puppet. They were cool too, they were black with red markings in the shape of a bug."