𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐄𝐒 𐑺 ֗ ִ ˖ kimetsu no yaiba

𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 ╱ life without you

     When Sayuri awoke with a start, the first thing she noticed was the blinding sun. The second was a face directly in front of hers. The boy she remembers as Murata was watching closely and made some noise like a squeak when Sayuri's eyes opened.

     "Sayuri! You're awake!"

     "Hmm... what happened? Where's Giyuu and Sa-" Oh. The memories answered her questions far too fast, bringing forth all the emotions she'd been unable to experience when succumbed to slumber. Murata squawks when Sayuri brings him crashing to the ground in a desperate and longing embrace. Her ugly tears and sniffles wet his shoulder, but the agony wrenched from the young girl was enough to make them seem like the smallest problem at the moment.

     The other contestants, everyone besides Sabito, look over with guilt. Word spread fast about someone who spent the last seven days protecting the entirety of the Final Selection. The boy who dragged Giyuu and Sayuri away couldn't even make eye contact in guilt, because what had he done except be a nuisance?

     "Sayuri." Murata pushes the brunette back and points to their left. Sayuri wipes her nose and eyes, following Murata's finger to Giyuu. Perhaps even the ghost of Giyuu, with that far-off and dull look in his eyes. There was no sparkle to them anymore as he clutched Sabito's bloody haori close to his chest. A bandage was wrapped tight around his head along with multiple on his shoulder, and he stood like a trembling leaf in the wind.

     "Sayuri I'm sorry..." Giyuu starts, voice heavy with guilt, "-I should've done more. I didn't- I should be de-"

     "Please don't," Sayuri's head was spinning with how fast she scrambled to her feet, a thousand pounds wishing to force her back onto the ground. This wasn't the time to worry about that, because the one she considered a brother was insisting he was the cause of Sabito's death. As if a giant demon with much higher status compared to the rest of the demons within Final Selection hadn't appeared to tear them apart.

     In Sayuri's arms, Giyuu stayed silent despite his shaking fingers clutching deep into the fabric of her clothing. Sabito's haori still remained in his grasp and became a part of the hug that said a thousand words neither could express. Guilt, comfort, lingering trepidation. What were they going to do now?

     "Welcome back everyone," The twins from the beginning of the selection arrive at the same location as before, in front of the surviving crowd. The table behind them was covered with a purple cloth over some lumpy figures. Giyuu and Sayuri separate from one another, still holding hands, as they listen to the final part of the last hellish week.