Why me? ᴷᴺʸ

두 자매 목표~ The goal of Two sisters

"Who cares if it seems impossible?" Nezuko complained under her breath as she swung her sword down again. "Then I'll just do the impossible!" She yelled in frustration as she swung down her arms again, breathing heavily and trying to regain some semblance of control because, otherwise, she might just lose it and proceed to either lash out or break down crying.

It had already been more than three months since Urokodaki had given his final verdict.

She was to slice that boulder to gain his permission to let her enter the Final Selection.

And it was now up to Nezuko where to go from there.

To be honest, she had floundered at the start. She had tried to slice the boulder from the get-go. Thankfully, her sword hadn't snapped as Urokodaki's threat of hacking her hair off until she was bald and bleeding still echoed in her head. What a scary old man, he always knew where it would hurt the most. Still, Nezuko knew that it would take more than simply striking it with her blade to even make a dent.

She might now be able to swing her sword like an extension of herself but it never meant that her strength was up to par as to be able to slice through that large thing.

For the past months, she had continued with her everyday routine of training even without Urokodaki to supervise. Just to go beyond her limits, she had continued through the night till exhaustion claimed her. Some nights, she would wake up where she fell asleep in the woods. Other times when Sumiko wasn't asleep, she'd wake up with her head on her sister's lap as she watched over her back at Urokodaki's home where she'd carried her back.

It was easier to give up, she knew, but she had already reached this far from that weak girl that had simply begged for her sister's life to even think of faltering.

Then there was the fact that Sumiko had gone to sleep last month. And hadn't woken up since.

Truthfully, her worry was weighing down her mind on most nights and it was further emphasized by the fact that the number of mornings she'd wake up without her was increasing. So, she focused on her training to take her mind off of it and gave it her all. Even if her hands were left raw and blistered, rough with callouses from training, she persevered.

Nezuko knew that she was stretching herself thin.

But it was the only thing that kept her going so the loneliness wouldn't continue to fester.

It had already been more than a year since their family died. She was grateful to Urokodaki as he had given her a break on the anniversary of their death. Sumiko, who was thankfully awake on that distressing time, was there to light up some incense and pray with her. Nezuko wasn't certain if she remembered them completely but she was glad that some part of her acknowledged the time of their passing.

Only her older sister's presence stopped her spiralling thoughts that just wanted to give up at this point.

"I'm trying, I'm trying," She whispered under her breath, hating that familiar surge of helplessness.

***

Today, again, is another mark of my failure. But I'm not giving up. I can't. If I have room for despair at my lack of progress, then I still have more energy to expend in swinging my sword. Every single day, I thought about why I am doing this. A blade swung out of hatred can't cut through anything as Urokodaki-san had constantly taught me. I already know that. Cultivating animosity was not something I wanted in the first place.

I've already decided that I'm using my blade to protect.

But just memorizing all these exercises and forms aren't enough.