Why me? ᴷᴺʸ

아픈 꿈, 시험~ A painful dream, A final test

This time, she dreamt of the day when their father was still alive.

Her mother's face was not weighed down by sorrow and all of her siblings' faces had a glow to them from so much happiness. Here, Sumiko was human. She was the reliable and loved older sister who looked after them. Because she was the eldest child.

Nezuko didn't have the callouses from training, her eyes were bright and innocent. Her scent was not burdened by the will to fight, to shoulder all of it, and she didn't carry a shred of sadness in her smile. But this was merely a memory. Her sister now was a stronger person. She had worked harder than anyone, more than herself, to get where she was now. Because she'd refused to let the past destroy what was left of her present.

It was a concept that Sumiko initially struggled with.

Because she didn't remember enough of her past to move on and stay in the present.

Still, she realized that she needed to let go.

"You'll be okay, onii-chan," Nezuko told her gently, her smile softening into the present Nezuko's. "I'll always be there with you." Her voice rang with sincerity and the finality to it made Sumiko realize that this wasn't a goodbye at all.

She turned to the rest of her family.

All of them were smiling at her. Of course, of course.

Sumiko! A familiar voice called out her name frantically. She whirled around in shock, having never encountered her in her dreams. Please! You've got to wake up! Urokodaki-san needs you! Please, wake up! She continued pleading as she stared at her with desperate eyes.

You need to fight, a boy's words followed behind her. You've slept long enough.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw the familiar figure of a peach-haired boy with a fox mask.

***

Sumiko finally woke up.

***

Nezuko clenched her hands by her sides as she stared at Urokodaki intently.

"I learned to never ignore this feeling again when our family was killed," she told him with a determined set to her shoulders, unable to ignore the dread curling in her gut. "Urokodaki-san, something bad is going to happen. Ever since I woke up this morning, this feeling wouldn't leave." She placed a hand over her chest, a heavy sensation dwelling as her intuition blared in a persistent warning.

Whatever it was, it seemed to echo around her teacher's home.

Urokodaki placed a hand over her head.

"Focus on becoming a demon slayer," the old man told her in a voice that conveyed he wouldn't accept anything but her agreement. "I will take it from here. I will protect your sister." There was an unspoken promise in Urokodaki's words.

"Maybe I can just take the Final Selection next year–" she started to argue, still unable to shake the thought that she might lose them and, this time, she wouldn't even be there to protect her sister.

If she wasn't here to protect her, what was the use of her training these past two years?

"Don't waste this chance," Urokodaki declared gently as his fingers traced the outline of the fox mask positioned above her head. "You have your own battle to face. Focus. Remember what you learned. Sumiko and I will be waiting for you." He reminded her and she recalled that she wasn't the only one worried. Urokodaki had expressed, albeit vaguely, that he had sent out others before her to the Final Selection and they died.

It had been one of the reasons why he hadn't been initially in favor of her going. Hence, the boulder test.

Her eyes widened. She sometimes forgot that Urokodaki also had an enhanced sense of smell like her sister. The man likely smelled the root of her worries.