The Master's Product | Demon Slayer x Fem!YN

Chapter 16

  By the time the trio had arrived at the village, Y/n had suffered from a few sleepless nights. The demon in her mind seemed to creep just out of her vision, it terrorized her, followed her everywhere, and she had even refused to eat one night. Luckily, Tengen and Rengoku managed to keep her thoughts at bay while she ate. But it mattered not.

  Y/n took a moment before fully confronting the view of the village. It was burned down beyond repair. Some of the village homes were reduced to pure ash. Everything was gone in the neighborhoods, the gardens, the benches, the stables, everything. She paused in front of one house in particular.

"Was this a friend of yours?" Rengoku asked, softer than usual. Y/n had knelt down to take a handful of baked debris. 

"Before everything happened, earlier that day- there was a little boy I had helped. He was no older than 9 or 10. He had beautiful bright green eyes and black hair. His name was Kishi."
"Seashore," Tengen translated. "That's a very nice name for such a young man." Y/n nodded before rising up and looking down what used to be a very popular street. There, she could see something surprising.

Y/n trotted down until she stood in front of her old flower shop. Surrounding the base she could see a few bright and vibrantly red flowers reaching up from the fallen and burnt pillars of the shop. The sunlight up above shone down and seemed to kiss the beautiful red flowers. A smile appeared on her face. While the chaos around her had brought her no hope, these flowers changed that.

"Cyrtanthus. They're difficult to bloom without using fire...it seems this was what finally let them grow."
"Those are what's called a fire lily yes?" Tengen asked.
"Yes. Fire lilies. They usually grow just from bush fires so I'm surprised they were able to manage with the fires.."
"Do they not usually grow around here?"
"They're all the way from Africa. I got them from a good family friend."
"Well, you'll have to write to them about this amazing discovery."
"Maybe some other time."

  Y/n shook her head and walked further up the road to her house. The Hashira stayed behind, both giving her space and trying to piece together fully what had happened. Y/n took in everything, slowly and painfully. The trees around the house were either burned down or had given each other new life. The once snow-covered grass was now a luscious green and extremely uncut. Her father would be ripping his hair out if he saw the state of their yard which was now covered entirely by ash and darkened remains of the burnt home.

  She noticed the shiny glow of the cooking pot which was now covered in flora and other weeds. She could have sworn it was starting to rust. Nearby she could also see a door, a screen, and...

"IS THAT A FUCKING HAND?" Tengen exclaimed. Half impressed and another half shocked. Rengoku merely came up and put a hand on her shoulder. The hand itself was fully decomposed, however, the bone was very clearly visible. It still had part of a sleeve stuck in between one of the fingers, just between the thumb and pointer finger. It was disturbing. 

She finally began to pick up a little. She moved some clutter out of the way, propped up a door and a screen, moved some roof tiles, and slowly but surely made a path into her home. It was beyond a mess. It was inhabitable. If not for the two Hashira standing close she would have started crying.

  Over the next few hours, the three went around the village. Picking up remnants of the buildings, pieced together what had happened, and looked for clues as to what they could have possibly been doing there. By the time the sun had set, they had made a small encampment near her home. The fire stretched far into the night sky, Rengoku sat with Y/n in his lamp while Tengen was fixing the campfire to his bedazzled specifications. 

"Tengen-sama, I think it's fine-"
"Not even close! I will see to it this campfire is fit for the gods!"

  They all laughed as the sound hashira continued to work. Y/n snuggled into Rengoku's chest as he spoke softly about his earlier adventures. He spoke about Senjuro and his father. He spoke of Ruka, his mother, and of her beautiful red eyes and graceful personality. He spoke of training with his father and brother and of his first mission as a Hashira. 

"And then, I used my fifth form and was able to defeat that flute demon."
"Really?"
"Really! I must say, he had a unique blood demon art, but it cost me my hearing. I had to rupture my eardrums that day."
"I'm so sorry."
"Worry not, sunshine, I'm fine." Rengoku smiled and reached down to kiss Y/n's forehead. The two shared a moment as Y/n finally managed to drift off. She knew whatever was still out there would never get passed the Hashira and she found solace in that. 

"Goodnight guys."
"Goodnight Y/n."

+          +          +

  Rengoku held Y/n close as Tengen finally managed to finish up. The two talked long into the night about what they would do tomorrow. Perhaps even what they all would do tomorrow night. But something caught them by surprise.

"Do you smell that?"
"Yes...Camellias..."
"It's the middle of summer though. Why would-"

"I see the little maiden has returned, and oh goody, she's brought friends."