Misaki's Red Thread- "The Missing Pieces" [Kimetsu no Yaiba Fanfiction]

Chapter 2 二 [に]

It was a —surprisingly— peaceful night. Twinkling stars spread across the night sky, the misty clouds had cleared up, making it easier to spot them. The reflection of the moonlight danced in the river and in between the old magnificent trees that grew all around the forest. The forest was like a maze, the giant tree bark looming over whoever dares to enter, giving off a creepy intimidating vibe. Thousands of leaves forming a natural shade. In the day, it blocks the sunlight from shining through. In the night, it prevents the only light from guiding people out of the forest.

Despite the —odd— calm, serene atmosphere the forest held. Kyouko jolted awake from her nap due to a nightmare, she hasn't gotten enough sleep these past few weeks. She had lost sight of the kakushi she had been stalking, this was her 50th attempt on tracking down the man known as Ubuyashiki. To make matters worst, she was no longer able to have a good rest (sleep). Ever since she had entered this forest, she would always be greeted with another night.mare during her sleep. Thus, she decided on staying up all night —all though it failed miserably—.

She sat upright on the large tree branch, her feet dangling on the edge gently swinging back and forth. 'One wrong move and it'll be the end of my life', the thought of falling from a high position caused her to shudder in fear. But that didn't last long before she remembered what caused her, a young woman  sleeping in the middle of the forest —all though she barely slept—.

"I'm never gonna get to this Ubuyashiki guy, aren't I?" She sighed, stalking another kakushi would be too troublesome. She had done this more than what she can count with her fingers, and yet where did that led her to? Yes. That led her to this creepy, dark forest that stretched for miles. Her mother, at times like this would usually tell her to 'look on the bright side'. But she couldn't bring herself to do so, what was the bright side of being lost in a dark forest and being hunted by demons? Experience? And who would want to be stuck in the middle of the forest while being hunt down by demons? Certainly no one would.

Kyouko had stopped trying to be so optimistic. Instead, her mind was more focused on thinking the worst case scenario. 'having hope would only crush you even more when things don't go your way' and so, She had thrown the small amount of hope she had. Her thoughts were full off scenarios on how she'd die, or how the demons would feast on her, or how a spirit would take over her body, and other stuff her brain wracked up.

Suddenly, an ear-splitting shriek snapped her back into reality. She abruptly stood up —almost losing her balance and falling of the giant tree—, turning around in all directions to try and spot the source of the scream. "What was tha-" she was cut off by a 'presence', it radiated the same nasty 'dark' aura she had become familiar with.

'A demon.'  She thought, pulling down her Oni* mask that rested on the side of  her forehead to cover her face and identity. She leaped from the tree branch to another one, rushing towards whoever person is being tonight's damsel in distress. "It's close by" she mumbled, increasing her speed as she continue to jump from tree to tree faster.

Another scream was heard along with rapid footsteps. Kyouko stopped jumping, almost falling at the momentum. Her eyes frantically searched the area, trying her best to spot the person in need of help.

'found her'

She took out a two daggers from the bags attached to the belt on her waist  and jumped off the branch, her hand swung the daggers upwards and stuck them into the tree bark. This way, she could go down quickly and safely.

Once the distance between her feet and the ground was not too far, Kyouko brought her knees up and use both of her feet to kick herself off of the tree; pulling out the two daggers she had used earlier to get down.

The young girl wasted no time in chasing at the women she had spotted running away in fear. Putting away her daggers, Kyouko repositioned the scabbard attached to her belt in order to make it easy for unsheathing the katana later.

With the moon being Kyouko's one and only light source, the girl relied on her other senses to navigate her way around the forest. The large trees and leaves serving as a large dome to this maze didn't help much with spotting the damsel in distress.

"Somebody! Help!" Kyouko's head snapped towards the rows of trees on her right. Without any hesitation, the girl ran deeper into the forest; the voice of the victim being her only guide.

As she got closer and closer, the demon's presence became stronger and stronger. The sound of small tree branches breaking and something tumbling and falling caught her attention. 'there's a small hill up ahead, she must've fell-' .

The girl suddenly stopped and stood still, her eyes slowly turned towards the blood thirsty demon who's ready to feast on the injured woman.

Everything became pitch black, her breathing was loud and unstable. Cold sweat covered her entire body; it was just at the moment did she notice her shaking hands.

'im panicking'

As seconds passed by, the demon was getting closer and closer to it's victim. The unknown women on the other hand could only sob and whimper; begging the demon for mercy.

"You're a pretty one" the demon slurred, "but it's been a while since I've tasted human meat" he raised his hands; long nasty sharp claws ready to tear apart the woman's skin.

She closed her eyes, waiting for the excruciating attack from the demon. "Too bad for you, that ain't happening any time soon" The young girl said, blocking the demon's attack with her katana still unsheathed. "You should just go vegetarian y'know?" Bringing her feet up to its abdomen, she kicked the demon away to create a safe distance.

The demon didn't show any sign of fear, infact he had the audacity to laugh at Kyouko's presence. "You're just a demon slayer who can't even take her sword outta the scabbard", "what makes you think you can stop me?" The demon said with a smug look on his face.

'i hate that smug look. Makes me want to skin his face then chop it into pieces and burn it.'

While the demon was busy mocking her and prattling, Kyouko took the chance to unsheathe her katana. "Seems like demons have bad eyesight too huh?" The girl went into fighting stance; both hands lowered to her abdomen held the katana, left foot behind the other. "I'm not a demon slayer."

Only now did the demon saw her as a threat. He finally realized that the person infront of him wasn't wearing the common demon slayer uniform. But even so, she somehow has a similar sent.

Meanwhile, Kyouko took the demon's confusion as a chance. With a gust of the wind, the girl pulled out a small prayer bead bracelet. Within mere seconds the prayer bead increased in size and length, making it look like some sort of rope or whip that stretched for miles.

She charged at the demon, one hand holding the katana while the other held the prayer beads. Just as the distance between her and the demons was closed, she leaped into the air.

And somehow, everything at the moment moved slowly. As the young girl flipped in thin air, she whipped the praying beads at the demon; causing it to tangle around him and tie him down.

It all happened in less than a minute which left the unknown damsel in amazement.

"I'm an exorcist.", She tugged on the prayer beads. "Killing You demons just happens to be within my line of work".

"I'm not gonna kill you though...."

'atleast not until I get some information'

To be continued...

Author: Kyu/Chisuwu_arts/Chisuwu Kyu

Published: Monday, July 3rd 2023

Word count: 1375

© ChisuwuKyu 2023

A/n: sorry for the short chapter, slow update, and the horrible writing