A Long Forgotten Heart <kny oc>

CHAPTER 38: The beginning of the end

Word count: 1225

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As the sun dipped below the horizon, surrendering to the night's cold embrace, the songs of the birds dwindled, while the soothing hoots of the owls echoed through the woods.

The wind blew hard on the trees, the leaves falling from their sticks, those leaves would soon enough end up drying, therefore, dying. That was their decided fate. It was the cycle of life.

A cycle so pretty, yet painful to grasp on.

Such a pity lives weren't made to be calm, steady cycles. People's lives were never simple, no matter how rich or talented that person is. There's always that annoying needle poking at them, reminding them of that problem in their life.

Those who were in the Demon Slayer corps were used to that, they were used to having that certain needle poking at their skin, over and over again.

For Ubuyashiki Kagaya, Kibutsuji Muzan was that needle. That annoying needle that kept poking his skin was always Kibutsuji
Muzan.

Life is full of surprises, but somehow, it all ends in a way that's known by many, no matter how it is that it comes to that point...

And the moment he stepped into the beautiful moonlit garden, his undeniably strong presence was felt. The air grew heavy and still, as if time had halted in its tracks. It was like a heavy blanket suffocating every ounce of joy, hope, and peace this place once held.

And in that very moment, fate took over... and decided...

It was time to begin the end of this all.

-

Running through a forest was easily something that was considered comforting to the mind, like being immersed in the calmness of the beauty nature held, but not now. Not now when it all could come crashing down any second now.

Each step felt heavy, as if hundreds of rocks were holding her back, as if they wanted for her to stay where she was and ignore what was happening.

But she couldn't. She didn't join the corps to go knock on someone's door, bringing the worst news someone could hear. She couldn't do that again.

She had knocked on enough door's already.

The loud cawing of her crow was the only thing preventing her from breaking down, it was as if her mind had already decided what would happen.

Her speed had to work somehow, she had to make use of those few seconds before disaster struck, she had to make use of those few things that she had gained.

As the estate came into her view, her steps sped up. She could feel it, she could feel the presence of Kibutsuji Muzan.

How much time did she have? What would Kibutsuji do? What would Oyakata-sama do if Kibutsuji attacks? What was the fate his whole family held?

She could see the kids playing in the garden. She could see the master sitting beside his wife.

How could she help them? Could she help them all? Could she win some time? Could she-

'Run.'

As danger came closer and closer, as the mist of the place stayed still right before it would be replaced by smoke.

She only had a few seconds. A few seconds to use her strength and push the kids as far as she could, while hoping it was enough, and run to the master and his wife.

Taking them with her, somewhere the explosion couldn't reach.

Sometimes a gut feeling was everything you needed to become a savour.

A gut feeling. Is it really a gut feeling? Or is it a feeling that comes from being aware of the hundreds of things that could be happening at the second? Is it being aware of the quantity of times the master kept looking down at the dirt underneath Kibutsuji? Is it being aware of the anxiety in Amane-san's voice?

Kirumi had no time to think of that right now, as smoke covered the place, taking everything away from her sight.

She stood up from where she was and walked closer to the center of the garden. Could she win against Kibutsuji? Absolutely not. But could she win against Kibutsuji? No.

The presence of Tamayo was not just a surprise, but also a reason to grow anxious. Why did everyone put themselves in danger? Why couldn't they escape? Why couldn't they live for themselves instead of for others?

She couldn't answer that question as she, herself, unsheathed her own bright sword, and launched at Kibutsuji.

She saw his face, a small smirk appearing on his face as a small door suddenly appeared right under them. Kirumi couldn't even take a hold of Kibutsuji for when she fell, but she had taken a hold of Tamayo.

As she was falling down, she could only spot the chains of the Rock Hashira being launched at Kibutsuji, before the door closed.

Was she that dumb? To be falling off a door that appeared out of nowhere?

As she spotted the ground, she tried changing her position, if her back made the impact, she would most probably die in the most ridiculous way.

Thankfully, the fall wasn't that bad, the floor wasn't as far as she thought.

She sat up from the ground, looking for Tamayo, and once she did, she sighed in relief before walking toward her.

"Tamayo-san, are you okay?" She held her hand out, wanting to help her up. She could see the shock in the demon's face

"Kirumi? Why...?"

"I couldn't let you die... And..." With the shock of falling down a door, Kirumi hadn't really checked Tamayo's condition. She didn't panic much, because Tamayo was a demon, she could regenerate, but it was still an odd sight to see Tamayo like that. "... Tamayo-san... Why were you-" Kirumi had no time to finish her sentence, as another door appeared underneath Tamayo.

"Tamayo-san!" Kirumi tried reaching out for her, but she was too late, the door was closed in less than a second, in fact, it had disappeared.

And as she raised her head, she realized she wasn't even in the same place. She was in a room. An empty room.

~

The estate was in complete silence once the hashiras fell down the countless doors, but that didn't mean there was peace in it.

The two children from the Ubuyashiki family, along with The master and his wife, were getting treated as they had gotten some damage from being rather close to where the explosion came from.

All this happened, while The master's three remaining children were all getting information from the crows that were able to pass through the doors right before they closed.

The fate of thousands of lives would be decided in this one night. Anxiety was bound to fill the place...

And torment the minds of those who knew of such a fact.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taisho era secret

▪︎ Suki had told one or two things to The master.

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Finallyyy!

I'm sorry for taking so long again!

I didn't mean to, but I seriously just had a block after writing half of this chapter

Anyway, I'm really thakful to those who are reading my book, even though its updates have been pretty slow. We've reached 1.37k! Which is a lot for me! So thanks again.

Well, please leave a comment if you liked this!

Byeeeeee 👐