A Shadow's Will.

Lost Shadows Left Behind

Bury The Light Deep Within. Cast Aside, There's No Coming Home. We're Burning Chaos in The Wind. Drifting In The Ocean All Alone.

Akito continues walking straight ahead, the sun peeking over the edge of the horizon. He walks and walks and walks and walks and walks. 

[Clang!] A distant sound echoes through the forest. Akito quickly turns to where it came from. 

*Is someone sword-fighting over there?* He wonders. 

He walks towards the source of the sound until he spots a boy with black hair, a few years older than him, sparring with another boy with orange hair. A young girl with black hair stands beside the two, watching them cross swords. They move swiftly and their strikes are powerful. Akito watches them from afar for quite a while. He analyses them, they move quickly, limiting any unnecessary movements. Their movements kind of remind Akito of water, like a river flowing through a mountain, calm and smooth at times, but sometimes it's rough and powerful. 

Akito waits until they finish sparring and the three people start talking to each other. He can't hear them, so he tries to get closer, but they all suddenly stop talking.

Next thing Akito knows, the guy with black hair is blitzing him at immense speeds. 

*He's fast!* Akito tries to react and move out of the way, but the guy is just far faster. Akito gets knocked back and pinned against the ground, a katana at his neck. 

"Who are you?!" The guy asks aggressively, keeping the katana pressed up against Akito's neck. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down! I'm not your enemy!" Akito frantically yells. 

"Then what are you?!" He asks again, pulling his sword back slightly. 

"My name is Akito Takahashi. I am... a nobody. I'm not your ally, but nor am I your enemy. Now, who are you?" Akito says in a calm demeanor, trying to show that he's passive towards them. 

"Hm." The guy gets off of Akito and sheathes his sword. 

The other guy with orange hair walks over to them. "Sorry about him, my name's Sabito." He smiles at Akito and offers his hand. 

"Oh, um. It's alright, I understand why he did that." Akito takes Sabito's hand and gets back up. 

The black-haired girl also walks over and introduces herself. "Hi, I'm Makomo!" She reaches her hand out to shake Akito's hand. Akito takes her hand and responds in kind. "Akito Takahashi. It's nice to meet you." Her grip is firm and her hand is calloused. It seems that she's put in a lot of work. 

"Giyu Tomioka. My apologies for my outburst. I just didn't want to take the chance if you were a threat." He reaches his hand out and also shakes hands with Akito. 

"Yeah, of course. You're really strong!" Akito says. 

"What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere anyways?" Sabito asks. 

"Oh... well, I can't really give you the whole story, but my mom died so I left the house to hopefully go join some organization called the Demon Slayer Corps." Akito explains. 

"Well, I think we can help with that." Sabito laughs. 

"Seriously?! Wait, are you guys part of the Demon Slayer Corps?" Akito asks, surprised.

"Well, no. But we're training to become Demon Slayers." Makomo explains. 

"What a coincidence! Wait, people even as strong as him aren't even in the organization?" Akito asks, pointing at Giyu.