The Moon's Descendant (Demon Slayer x Male Reader)

Chapter 4: Mission 1

The night fell like a dark, thick blanket over The village consisting of mostly small houses built in traditional Japanese style and some larger, but still in the same style. It was clear that the westernization hasn't really affected this part of Japan yet. The only light that was there was the faint glow of the yellowish moon, that stood high in the sky, obscured from anyone's sight by dark clouds. A beam sometimes managed to escape from that blanket and illuminated a spot here and there. The town and surrounding forest were eerily quiet this night, not a bird was chirping, not a grazer was foraging, not even the  crickets were chirping, not a person was talking not walking outside, no hearth was burning. It was like the entire area was holding its breath for something to happen, or to let something pass by. Your footsteps were resonating on the stone path you were walking on and felt like they were piercing your ears, although you knew that they weren't audible to anyone expect you.

You walked around the quiet town for a while, until you saw a shadowy humanoid figure running across the rooftops. You focused your eyesight more and made out district features that told you that he wasn't a human. Its long, sharp and dark finger nails that seemed ready to trap and tear apart any unsuspecting prey that passed by. Its inhumane skin tone that was black and white, like a Siberian tiger and slit pupils instead of the round ones of a human. It laid eyes on you and you stared back just as hard. That's when it decided to pounce on you, the last choice it would ever make. 'Night Breathing Fourth Form: Slicing Scythe,' you said and unsheathed your blade, while decapitating the demon in one smooth motion. That was the first demon you killed as an official Demon Slayer and without any complications.

You stayed with an elderly woman that lived alone in the village, just to be sure that no more people started disappearing. You got acquaintanced with the rest of the village too, but after three days you decided it was time to leave for the Butterfly Estate, the medical heart of the Demon Slayer Corps to bring out a report and to let your body get inspected from any injuries, just in case.

Once you got there you were met by a girl of about your own age at the entrance, wearing the standard demon slayer uniform, with a sort of white dress over it that was tied by her waist with a blue sash. She had black hair in twin tails that were kept up with blue butterfly clips and blue eyes, with her usual frown on her face. 'Hi, Aoi, how are you today?' you asked the girl who was getting water. 'What did you do this time?' she retorted. 'Directly getting down to business, I see. Well, I just finished my first official mission, so I came here for a medical check up. I already checked myself, but it can be that I overlooked something,' you explained. 'Alright, let me finish this and then get you a room,' the black haired girl said and lifted up the bucket with water. She tried to carry it inside, but she couldn't carry it due to the weight. So you lifted it up easily and carried it inside for her. 'You didn't have to do that, you know?' the nurse said. 'Well, I could have let you carry it, but then it would take an awfully long time,' you responded. 'Yeah, whatever, let's get a room to examine you,' she said and slid a door to the side to check if the room was empty. When she confirmed it indeed was she walked inside and you followed her. Once inside she turned to you. 'I'll go get Shinobu-san,' Aoi said and left the room, after closing the door.

After about 5 minutes the nurse returned with another girl that seemed to be slightly older than her. She had black hair that turned purple at the tips and eyes in the same color as her hair tips with seemingly no pupils. She was rather short, even for a Japanese girl, and didn't look physically strong as any other demon slayer. But you knew she was still strong as she was Shinobu Kocho, the insect hashira and therefore thus one of the best demon slayers at the moment. She was wearing the standard Demon Slayer uniform, but in dark purple and had a butterfly patterned haori over it. 'Ah, (L/N)-san, how is it?' she asked you, after Aoi left you two alone. 'Quit the small talk, Kocho-sama,' you said. 'Fine then. Undress yourself,' the small girl ordered. As you knew this was routine, you did so without hesitation and then sat on the bed in your underwear. 'Does it hurt anywhere?' she asked. 'No,' you replied. 'Does anything feel sore?' You shook your head. After having asked the necessary questions, she started to take a close look at your limbs, torso, neck and head, sometimes putting pressure on a couple of areas and some light hits on your tendons to check whether your reflexes were still fine. 'Lay down,' the black haired girl ordered and you did as she said. She then started feeling your abdominal area to check if any organs had fallen out of place, but everything seemed fine. 'Okay, in order to check whether your coordination is still functional I want you to stretch out your arms and hands in front of you and close your eyes,' she explained and you followed her instructions. 'Good. Now touch the tip of your nose with your right index finger.' You did so. 'Now the same, but with left.' You obeyed her order. 'Well done. Now keep your eyes closed and put your right leg just above your kneecap and let it glide down your shin,' she gave you new instructions. You did so successfully. 'Good. Now the same with your other leg.' You did so too. 'Good. That was the examination. As far as I can see I don't see any problems, but still: be careful. We don't want you to come back in critical condition, do we?' she said, with a rather creepy smile on her face. 'Yes, I'll pay attention to what I do,' you said and with that left the room and butterfly estate. Just outside the gate your crow lands on your shoulder. 'Caw! In Shibetsu people are gone missing at night and turn up mutilated in the morning! Caw! Find the demon and kill it! Caw!' And with that you left for the next village to complete another mission and get one step closer to be a hashira.