yokai | t. giyu, douma & k. muzan

二十三

With pursed lips and shaky breaths, Seriya carried on by walking around aimlessly; no particular direction in where she wanted to go. The pain inside hasn't subsided at all, if anything, catching and stabilizing her breath was a little bit difficult to the point that she had to hold onto the walls for support. Sometimes, she'd squat down and sit on the floor because walking in small steps even tire her out incredibly.

But nevertheless, she'd get up on her feet and continue walking around. Thankful that she didn't fall into anything she doesn't know. 

While still walking and trying to see if anyone was within her range, Seriya could smell the scent of iron and something burning. Normally, the scent of blood would make her go hungry, make her feel eager especially if it was a man bleeding, but now, it smelled sickeningly dry and pungent.

Debris scattered on the floor and Seriya made sure she wouldn't step on it, sliding her feet to make things easier for her. And as soon as she turned right, her eyes landed on another person's.

"Giyu?" She questions, blinking her eyes as she found him heating the blade of his katana while pressing it on his bleeding wound.

Giyu, who looked perplexed upon seeing Seriya, suddenly spoke. "How did you get here?"

Jolting, she walked closer and sat down on the floor besides him. "I...I really don't know..." she begins to say, "I was sleeping and then when I woke up I'm suddenly here." she added. "I was even dreaming- never mind." She smiled a little, shaking her head before turning to face Giyu who's wounds still kept bleeding profusely.

Despite not having been fed for weeks or already a month or two, her blood demon art has already grown weak. The Sakura in Seriya is slowly fading away, like a demon who's head has already been cut off. But for one last time, she held Giyu by his shoulder, sucked in a whole breath before blowing out a flurry of cherry blossoms. The blossoms made way to his wounds and although it didn't fully made it go away, it was enough to stop his bleeding.

"That's so cool, Seriya san!" Tanjiro beams, a wide smile painting his lips.

A small smile curls the corner of her lips. "It's probably the last I can do." She spoke, letting go of Giyu's shoulders. "I can't turn into my demon form nor read people's minds."

Standing again on the floor with his two feet, Giyu along with Tanjiro and Seriya ran on the opposite direction. But as they were running, Seriya could feel a light tap on her ear before hearing a whisper.

"Human version of me" She could hear her own voice whispering to herself. Sakura was whispering to her. "It's so cool to watch me go back as being human! I know you're suffering on the inside, but you're hella doing a great job at enduring the pain!" Sakura complimented her.

Why are you talking to me? Seriya thought to Sakura.

"Why am I talking to you?" Sakura asked back to Seriya, "You should be scared. Muzan sama is slowly reviving. But kudos to you for choosing to go on a different direction when you got here. If you went to the other side, you'd fall trap and the serum inside you would be useless." Sakura grinned at Seriya.

"If you see Muzan sama, hide. Most of the upper moons have died. Only one remains but were a numberless upper moon right? If he sees us, the chances of you receiving his blood again may be low, but never zero." Sakura told her before fading away.

Hide. The only advice Sakura gave to her. But how in the world would Seriya hide in this place? The movement of this fortress was puzzling, she wanted to understand it wouldn't allow her. Lost in her thoughts, Seriya found a man with dark ember eyes looking directly at her. She didn't needed to know what his name is.

"You've accepted medication from Tamayo that you're almost human." Muzan spoke, looking down at her with a bored expression. "If I were to make a hypothetical guess, I'd say you're eighty percent human already."

Don't forget, tomorrow sunrise! She heard Tsutako san's voice inside her head.

"I can still make use of your twenty percent." Muzan spoke, "It shouldn't be that hard. I'm quite generous to give you my blood, Sakura." Hearing a swift sound coming from above, Seriya felt two hands on her - one getting a hold of the cloth of her kimono from behind and the other Giyu pushing her back.

"I totally forgot how slow you are." Sakura spoke again to her ear, "If you just stood on that spot, I'll come out again." Sakura lets out a sigh, "One hour and a half left. Endure that."

Laying down on the ground, the fortress began to shake before crumbling down. Pieces of wood fell down on top of her as it was burying her. But though she was buried under it, Seriya could see a small hole, and through the small hole she found her right eye looking up at the dark shy, the moon shining brightly.

"The moon is beautiful, isn't it?" Sakura spoke to her again, a faint shadow figure of her laying down beside her. Sakura turned her head to look at Seriya's face that was slightly covered in dirt.

"Don't you have questions for me? Come on, don't be shy. I know you have a lot." Sakura egged on Seriya, but she only shook her head.

"Even if I remained on my spot earlier, received more blood and become you again, I'd take it." Seriya truthfully spoke. "I'll end everything here. No more running away." She added.

Sakura lets out a sigh. "Rejected." She spoke back to her. "If you come back as human, you'll be thirteen again. You'll be five years older than Himari and Tsumugi, take care of them for me, will you?"

"Forty minutes until dawn!"

Besides Seriya, Sakura's shadow began to lightly fade away. "You're about eighty five percent human already." Sakura smiled a little at her. "You don't need to remember what you've done when I'm you. Forget about it and live a good life."

With that, Sakura slowly vanished besides her. But when she vanished, Seriya felt herself getting into pulled into a place that she could very much know of. The appearance of her brought tears into her eyes.

"Mother!" She shouted at her, "I'm sorry for going out when I should've gone out in the early morning hours instead. Because of me, you died. If it wasn't for me, you would've still be living right now." She wept greatly. "You can go to the light now, mother. You don't have to talk to me. I'm the cause of your death."

As she turned around and opened the door to go out, she heard her mother's voice speaking to her. "Not yet." she spoke, Seriya could feel the smile on her lips. "When we meet again, the cherry blossoms are blooming."