Demon Slayer Swap AU

Chapter 33: Suffering and Floundering As You Move Forward

The caterpillar then proceeded to talk, a gold pocket watch being lowered down beside her.

"Look at this pocket watch," she said, gesturing to the pocket watch next to her with one of her abnormally large prolegs. "You still with me? By the time the long hand has gone around once..." she traced the edges of the pocket watch with one of her prolegs. "...you will have long become a member of my caterpillar club!"

She then pointed to the '1' on the watch. "When the hand arrives here, you'll start to feel tingling and pain in your limbs," she continued, the sadistic yet childlike grin on her face never leaving.

The caterpillar then pointed to the '3' on the pocket watch. "When it's here, you'll start to feel dizzy and nauseous," she said, her tone filled with glee and excitement.

She then pointed to the '4' on the watch. "Here, you'll begin to experience intense pain. Your body will start shrinking, and you'll pass out!" The caterpillar continued whilst Kanao stared at her with terror.

"And by the time you wake up..." The caterpillar burst into a fit of giggles. Kanao simply watched the caterpillar, clutching her poisoned hand with tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

As the caterpillar continued to laugh, Kanao's fear only grew more and more intense, the red veins in her eyes growing more and more prominent, and her whole body trembling. She gritted her teeth with quivering lips as if she were about to burst into tears, as the caterpillar's laughter slowly died down.

The long hand on the pocket watch ticked and ticked, slowly but surely making its way round the clock. By that point, Kanao simply couldn't take it anymore and let out a deafening scream.

Beneath her feet, the caterpillars with human heads, the same creatures she'd become within the next 30 minutes, began to swarm around her. Kanao screeched once more, tears running down her face like waterfalls.

She made a run for it, sprinting as fast as she possibly could away from the caterpillars, whilst the much larger caterpillar simply giggled at her futile attempt.

"Running away..." she began before Kanao yelled back;

"IS NO USE! I KNOW! I GET IT OKAY?! YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME TWICE!" Kanao then climbed up a tree as fast as she possibly could and sat on a branch, hugging the trunk as tightly as she could.

The caterpillar laughed at Kanao, finding her behaviour amusing. Now, what are you doing?" She asked, still giggling.

"Shut up! Just leave me be!" Kanao snapped, burying her head into the tree trunk she was clinging to.

"There's nothing to be afraid of!" The caterpillar replied with a flippant, almost teasing, smile. "Once the poison runs its course, you'll be an itty bitty caterpillar with no sentience!"

"OH, GOD NO!" Kanao screamed, more tears forming in her eyes as she covered her ears. "THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I HATE ABOUT THIS! WHAT'S SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT THAT?! I BET NOBODY LIKES YOU! YOU MUST BE A TOTAL LONER!"

The caterpillar's smile faded, replaced by a childish pout. "Looks like someone could use an extra dose of poison to get things going!"

Kanao gasped, her eyes running faucets as a satisfied smirk formed on the caterpillar's face. However, that only caused Kanao to shriek for the millionth time that night.

She clung to the tree, wailing and sobbing. "NO! ANYTHING BUT THAT! I DON'T WANT TO TURN INTO THAT!"

As Kanao continued to cry, a familiar voice could be heard within her mind.

Please, get a hold of yourself! It said. The voice seemed to belong to a woman, carrying a hint of kindness yet also sternness.

The voice belonged to her master, the woman who trained her to become a Demon Slayer; Kanae.