Tsunami of Dead Tears: Part 2

Chapter 38

Inosuke was sick and tired of pretending to sleep.

It had been a good long while since Giyuu left, and he had successfully tricked him into thinking he was asleep. Though, it did exhaust him, as he couldn't stand the fact that he would just let him die.

Shut up.  Inosuke said to himself.  This is what Giyuu would have wanted.

He still didn't feel any better about it.

Another cold breeze passed. Sleeping on a rooftop was not an ideal place to rest, Inosuke learned. Every cold gust of wind was like a cold spirit reminding him that Giyuu was going to die because he wasn't enough of a man to go and help.

No.  Inosuke thought.  Trying to help fight MUZAN would be the childish choice.

But his heart seemed to think otherwise.

"I can't sleep like this." Inosuke muttered, hoisting himself up and settling into a sitting position. He let his legs dangle off the edge of the rooftop. He was a demon slayer, after all. He could catch himself.

His eyes automatically twitched towards the Emperor's Palace, which was where Hirohito was. Judging from his previous conversations, Giyuu was supposed to go off and rescue him from Muzan's hands, and die in the process. It wasn't a case of if things went wrong, no, Giyuu was planning to die from the start.

He's in the right.  Inosuke told himself.  He's doing this for me and Shinobu. Being a demon slayer is all about making sacrifices.

But this isn't sacrifice... it's suicide.

Inosuke's hands subconsciously wavered off to his right, where his two katanas resided.

No.  Inosuke thought.  Not again. Not the same mistake again.

But his body did not listen. He took both swords and slid them through his belt, hanging them from his waist.

Stop.

Stepping up unto the edge of the roof, he felt his legs rush with energy. Even the deadly touch of the night wind wasn't enough to quell Inosuke's adrenaline.

Damn it, I'm just going to make things worse.  Inosuke tried to tell himself. Giyuu is right. People died that night. He failed them. Everyone around him is doomed to die from the start. He's saving us! He's saving me!

He hesitated. He really hesitated. The height between him and the ground seemed to stretch dramatically, like a vertigo effect. His legs buckled under him, but not to the point where he would completely give up.

But...  Inosuke thought.  He saved me. In every sense of the word, he saved me. He saved Shinobu too.

So what is it? Is the glass half empty or half full?! Did people die because of him, or were people saved because of him?!

His heart pushed towards the latter. His mind pushed him towards the former. But it couldn't be both.

Could it?

Inosuke grit his teeth and picked up his mask, which was laying on the floor beside the space he was sleeping on. As he slid it on, he could smell the familiar scent of his boar mother's fur.

Mother...  Inosuke thought.  What goes through your mind when you charge your tusks at someone? Do you want to die an honorable death?

Or did you just want to protect me?

And with that last thought, he fell off the roof.

. . .