The Descendant (A Retelling and love story of Demon Slayer)

Ten

A cold sweat had jolted Akari awake sometime in the early morning hours. She had sat up so quickly that her head spun. Her breaths came in heavy pants and she batted the tears from her vision, gripping the blanket beside her with a ferocious grip that made her fingers ache. A single thought broke through the sound of her thundering heart in her head.

"What the fuck was that all about..." With gasping breath, Akari searched the darkness around her. Making sure that she hadn't woken anyone up. Nezuko she didn't have to worry about and Tanjiro was still sleeping soundly on his own futon. She felt like she was being suffocated by the darkness and needed to escape. Quickly and as quietly as she could, she left the house. Stumbling into the chilly mountain air under the light of a crescent moon. It wasn't until her feet met the rocky surface of the cliff near the waterfall that she finally felt less confined. Stopping to catch her breath, she found herself sitting with her knees to her chest. Unable to keep from reflecting on what she had just experienced in her dreams. She had been so consumed by it, she didn't even notice at first Sabito taking a seat beside her. Silently they watched the waterfall together.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She didn't even glance his way.

"Talk about what?" Her voice was soft, a whisper even. Hardly able to be heard over the loud sounds of the falls, but he was able to.

"Don't play dumb, something is obviously bothering you." She stayed silent for a while and Sabito was starting to assume that she was just going to try and keep it to herself. If there was one thing he had figured out about Akari, it was that she was a very secretive person. She hated talking about things that were bothering her because often they related to something that she wanted to keep secret. He was surprised however to hear her respond after taking that long silence to gather her thoughts.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you..." She drew her knees closer, as though to block the world from judging her.

"Even if I didn't, would it really matter?"

"...I suppose not..." She breathed a heavy sigh. "What if I told you... What if I said I knew what was going to happen before it happened..." The dead silence that filled the air really didn't do Akari's mental state any good. The scoff that left his mouth didn't help either.

"You were right, I don't believe you."

"Told ya..." They were silent again. The night was calm, a stark contrast to what was going on in Akari's mind.

"...But, just because I don't believe it, doesn't mean you're lying." Her head whipped in his direction so fast she thought she would see stars for a moment. "What are you going to do if it's true?" He turned to meet her gaze, watching as her mind worked to unravel her decisions like a puzzle.

"...I'm not sure... I'm determined to leave it be, but..." She didn't finish but he could tell that it was bothering her immensely.

"Tell me what you saw."

"I really shouldn't."

"Even so, something this important is not a weight that one person should bear alone. If there's anyone you can tell, it's probably the guy that's no longer living." He was being completely serious and in the state that Akari was in right now, she couldn't find an argument against it.

"Well... You've seen some of my memories, if you were to put all of those together how would you describe me?"

"You're different."

"Like I'm not from around here right?" He hummed in agreement but didn't understand where she was going with it. She decided to just spit it out. As he said, there was no harm in telling him because in all honesty, what could he do about it? He's bound to Mt.Sigiri and once Tanjiro gets through the first day of final selection, Sabito and the rest of the spirits on this mountain will be able to finally find peace. Then, in a year and a half, they'll disappear. Somehow that thought made her sad.