⊱ ❅Clouded Judgement ❅⊰ | ❆ - • A Demon Slayer Story • - ❆

Chapter 10.

I was not sure how to react to his confession. Kiseki had been hiding a crucial part of his identity from me since we've first met all those years ago and didn't bother telling me even after I had had no problem talking about my own experiences? Was it my fault? No. I was overthinking it. After all, I hadn't heard his full story yet, and it was up to him whether he wanted to tell me or not. So I swallowed my selfish feelings and listened to what he had to say.

"I'm sorry to only be telling you about that now, Noriyuki.. but it took me a while to come to terms with what happened, and I hope you understand."

He cleared his throat and hesitantly continued, knowing I did not have a long patience span even regarding important things such as this confession.

"I had never met my parents, and I spent my early years with my older brother. I would ask him several times about what happened to them but he would dodge the question. Rumours say that they died in a fire and only we made it out, abandoning what I heard was a wealthy family of six. Most of the wealth had gone with the fire, but some was still left and my brother was kind enough to use it to sustain both of us."

He paused for a few seconds before reaching into his breast pocket and pulling out an object that he would then carefully press into my hand. It was heavy and smooth on the surface and would have a blade I could only imagine used to be sharp.

"That right there is a dagger I got from my brother. He only told me it was for self protection, but according to Kamiya it's made of Nichirin steel. My brother probably knew about demons and wanted me to be safe from them, but I digress. What matters is that we were very close Noriyuki, about as close as us two right now."

I had to fight a shit eating grin from forming on my face to the point of having to hide it with my hand as I was not ready for that comment to be dropped out of the blue. He softly chuckled under his breath but did me the courtesy of not prolonging my embarrassment and continuing with the story.

"But god forbid that happiness lasting, right?"

I could hear the quivers in his voice with the last word and onwards.

"One night, I came home to an empty house. The fortune was still there, of course, but my brother had left me all by myself with only a letter. If I recall correctly, it said something along the lines of "Stay safe". But no, of course my stupid child self couldn't listen to his advice. Of course I started searching everywhere for him, until I got lost and couldn't find the village we used to live in. So I would wander from village to village, looking for my older brother.. to no avail."

The tone in his voice started changing. The quivering became more intense, and I could tell he was on the verge of tears. It was like he wasn't only telling a story, he was reliving it.

"But my search found it's answer after a while. In one of the villages, I did finally find him through his yelling. From what I understood, he was trying to convince the villagers of the existence of demons and trying to get them to evacuate. I always believed his demon stories were fairytales, and so did the village. I couldn't even talk to him before his public execution had already been decided. That's why I decided to.. avenge him, you could call it."

I was horrified at the thought of what might have come next. Had he done what I thought he had? Was I overthinking once again?

"Kiseki.. what did you do?"

"What do you think? If a fire can take the life of my family, it could also take down the entire village."

We both fell silent. I was expecting to hear it but I wasn't ready for it. But could I blame him? When I wasn't any better myself? I couldn't possibly blame him, no.

"I feel guilty for my actions, Noriyuki, trust me. But that's why I took my brothers name and cheerful personality. His name was Kiseki, if you're curious."

I wanted to apologise for my ignorance and impatience, but our chatter was soon interrupted by two knocks on the door and a head peeking in before any of us had the chance to open. It was Kaoru.

"Are you two having a good time? If you need anything, like a place to store that nice looking dagger in, just tell me. Also, lunch has been prepared at the butterfly mansion so it wouldn't be unwise to hurry."

"Why? Can't you cook yourself? I'm not particularly fond of social intera-"

"I can't cook."

I fell silent. That was quite embarrassing for a soon to be hashira but we eventually accepted his suggestion as neither of us wanted to be making food in the first place.