Final Selection (Day 1)

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The next day arrived. Urokodaki insisted that his student should not train so she could rest for the final selection tomorrow. Nezuko didn't quite agree – she had just discovered the Blood Breathing and didn't even have time to try it out! In the end, though, she agreed with her teacher, and instead of training, she started to breathe deeply to calm herself.

The next day arrived. Nezuko took the clothes given to her by Urokodaki, changed, and set off. She waved to her teacher until he was almost out of sight. She followed the well-trodden path and, after about two hours reached a place filled with wisteria. However, she wasn't alone – there were about 40 other people there, all carrying swords similar to hers. Nezuko was surprised. She didn't expect there to be so many candidates for the final selection. But now more people knew about the existence of the Demon Slayer Corps, so it was likely that there were more applicants for this profession.

Suddenly, two girls appeared from somewhere. They had white hair and purple eyes. Nezuko guessed they were twins since they looked so much alike.

The girl on the left greeted the gathered crowd, and the one on the right explained the rules of the test.
‘There are many demons trapped here, captured by the Hashira. However, they cannot leave this place because of the wisteria around them. When we tell you, you will move away from it and try to survive.’
‘Since demons can now withstand sunlight, the rules have changed. You must survive one day and one night. We will inform you when the time is up. After that, we will meet back here for a five-hour rest, and then you must survive another day and night.’
‘If you don't show up for the rest period, you will be considered dead, and even if you survive the entire final selection, you will not become a demon slayer.’
‘As if I would skip a rest after 24 hours of demon hunting!’ – groaned a boy near Nezuko.
‘The final selection begins at the signal. Good luck!’ – the girls wished and retreated. Shortly after they left, a crow appeared, cawing loudly that it was time to enter the forest. The children froze for a second, as they had never heard a crow talk, but then they were already running towards the demons.

---

Nezuko was walking through the forest. One hour since the final selection started, and she still hadn't found a single demon.
‘What's going on?’ – she wondered. ‘Am I in the wrong place?’
Just as she said that, a demon jumped right in front of her. Nezuko drew her katana and with one strike, cut off the attacker's head. Then she sheathed her sword and started walking around again. Suddenly, she heard some rustling and turned sharply.
‘Here I am, little sister!’ – Tanjiro's voice sounded in her head. – ‘Did I scare you?’
‘Tanjiro!’ – Nezuko hissed. – ‘Couldn't you warn me somehow? I thought it was a demon.’
‘But I am a demon, little sister!’
‘You know what I mean. And stop calling me "little sister." I have a name.’
‘Alright, little sister.’
Nezuko snorted in annoyance, but before she could start arguing with her brother, she heard someone scream. The girl turned sharply and ran in the direction of the voice.
‘Oh, someone's going to save the day!’ – Tanjiro joked.
‘Shut up already!’
Nezuko kept running until she saw the demon that someone had screamed because of. Her eyes widened at what she saw. A demon was eating another! And next to them lay a boy who didn't seem injured but was clearly very scared.
Nezuko waited for the demon to stop eating and drew her sword. She was still hesitant about attacking.
‘Oh, more food!’ – the monster shouted when it saw the child lying next to her. – ‘Akahana, this is great!’
Another demon, looking exactly like the first, came out of the nearby trees.
‘That's right, Chiasa! At first, I thought being trapped here would be awful, but I think I've changed my mind. But this child is mine.’
‘Alright then!’ – Chiasa hissed. – ‘Go ahead!’
At that moment, Nezuko jumped out of her hiding place and struck down one of the demons. The boy behind her gaped. He didn't expect anyone to save him.
‘Looks like today's lunch will be like never before!’ – Akahana laughed.
‘No way! I won't let that happen!’ – Nezuko replied.
‘But I'm not asking for your permission, dear’ – Chiasa smiled. – ‘Now die!’ – and she swung with all her might towards Nezuko's face. However, the girl blocked the blow with her sword and shielded the boy with her body.
‘Can you stand?’ – she asked him. – ‘If you can, please move away from here. I'll cover you.’
The boy stood up, took a deep breath, and stated that he would fight with her. They nodded to each other, and each attacked one of the demons.
‘One-on-one, is it!’ – Chiasa giggled, easily deflecting Nezuko's attacks. – ‘Well, alright, if you think you can beat someone who has eaten almost 100 people!’
‘A hundred people?!’ – Nezuko gasped. – ‘That's not possible.’
‘If you think I killed them all myself... No, I became the strongest demon here and started devouring the weaker ones. That way, I take their powers too.’
‘That's disgusting!’ – Nezuko wrinkled her nose.
‘I'm tired of playing with you’ – Chiasa replied sourly. – ‘Goodbye, little girl!’ – and she kicked Nezuko so hard that the girl lost consciousness and fell lifelessly to the ground. The demon grinned wickedly and began to approach her.

---

‘Nezuko? Nezuko! Get up!’ – Tanjiro screamed in her head. – ‘Don't let the first demon you meet kill you!’
‘This is the second demon’ – his sister replied weakly.
‘Come on, wake up! Or they will kill you!’ – he shouted desperately, and for the first time, Nezuko sensed worry in his voice.
‘You're right’ – she groaned. With great effort, she opened her eyes and slightly lifted her head. She couldn't see anything and felt dizzy. It wasn't her first time fainting, but she really felt awful.
‘Oh, you're already awake?’ – the demon was surprised. – ‘Maybe I underestimated you, little girl! But no matter, we'll fix that mistake now.’ – and he leapt towards the dazed girl.
Chiasa was convinced that the next blow would be fatal for her enemy, but she was wrong. Nezuko switched to recovery breathing, took a breath, and used the Second Form of Water Breathing, i.e., Water Wheel. But to her surprise, not only did her strike not cut down the attacker, but it almost broke her sword instead.
‘Use Blood Breathing!’ – Tanjiro reminded her.
Chiasa attacked again, but this time Nezuko used her new breathing technique and managed to cut off the demon's head.
At the same time, on the other side, the boy beheaded Akahana, and both heads fell side by side, just like about half a year ago with Daki and Gyutaro. The demons slowly began to disintegrate, and the boy approached Nezuko.
‘Are you alright?’ – he asked, but looked at her stomach and his expression changed. – ‘Oh no! Does it hurt a lot?’
The girl looked down and saw three deep scratches on her stomach that had torn through her clothes and cut deep into her flesh.
‘Wait a minute, I think I have some bandages!’ – the boy said and started searching his clothes.
‘Thank you!’ – Nezuko replied. – ‘By the way, what's your name? I'm Nezuko Kamado.’
‘And I'm Akira Takahashi, nice to meet you. Can you bandage yourself, or should I try?’
‘I can manage!’ – the girl replied and took the bandages he handed her. A little later, she was ready.
‘What about you?’ – Nezuko asked. – ‘Are you hurt?’
‘No, I'm just a bit scared!’ – Akira admitted, and his face turned red with shame. – ‘I shouldn't have been so frightened.. Demons can do all sorts of horrible things, and I should be used to it by now...’
‘Don't worry! It can happen to anyone!’ – Nezuko replied.
‘I hope you're right. Do you want to fight together?’
‘With pleasure!’

---

The rest of the day and night passed without major incidents. A few times they slept in shifts, with one of them napping for about an hour while the other kept watch and woke them if there was any danger. They rotated like this two or three times. When the sun rose, the same crow came to tell them it was time to rest. Akira and Nezuko made their way together to the wisteria-surrounded area. When they finally arrived, they discovered something horrifying – less than half of the candidates had survived!

---

Guys, thank you so much for 100+ reads, I really appreciate it! ❤️❤️❤️
I will try to post the next chapter this week (it will be about Akahana and Chiasa's backstory! Thank you again! 🥰 Also, here is the promised drawing:
Next time, I will try to draw the demons!
(Almost 1500 words 🤯)

Guys, thank you so much for 100+ reads, I really appreciate it! ❤️❤️❤️ I will try to post the next chapter this week (it will be about Akahana and Chiasa's backstory! Thank you again! 🥰 Also, here is the promised drawing:Next time, I will try to ...

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