Glimses of You

Protect

1914 - Three years prior to Giyu's Final Selection

(Shinobu Kocho - 8 years old)

Kanae held me for a while as I cried. We both cried. I couldn't tell how long we had been crying, as time seemed to blur. I couldn't think of anything else. An interruption came into my thoughts.

The woman stood in front of us

" Are you two ok?" Her voice was gentle, filled with concern.

I looked at her tears still streaming down my face not even saying a word.

" I'm sorry" She spoke again

The woman's gaze softened. "I just wanted to ask if you have anywhere else to go."

"It's fine," Kanae said.

Fine. how could anything be fine? Mom was gone. Dad was gone. How could anything be fine?

"Nothing is fine," I spoke back "Mom and dad, the house. It's all gone."

I spoke again "Everything is gone,"

She pulled me into a hug. "I know, Shinobu. I know."

Even more, tears burst from within as I cried into her chest. I wailed and wailed everything coming out.

"We have nowhere else to go" Kanae answered the woman.

"No relatives, family friends, nothing" She added, her voice breaking.

"I see... I am willing to take the two of you in."

" Thank you very much," Kanae spoke in response.

"It is no trouble," the woman said kindly.

The conversation drifts in my mind as my body begins to give out my eyes falling victim to how tired I have become.

(Kanae Kocho - 11 years old)

As the voice of Shinobu trailed off further and her breathing and tears steady I glanced down at her. Her eyes were closed. She had cried herself to sleep, her small body leaning against mine. I carefully lowered her to the ground, making her comfortable with my lap as a pillow.

"Ms.," I began, my voice barely above a whisper, "Could I make one request?"

She looked at me "Please tell me what it is."

-Flashback-

My parents stood staring as the monstrous figure in front of us continued its horrific display.

I stood behind them staring at the thing before me. It looked like a human but so much was wrong. Its skin was an inhuman deathly color and its nails were blood red. His eyes looked as though there were engravings on them. What was most concerning was the objects inside his body. He had knives sticking out his body one in his head two in his stomach but he stood there paying them no mind as if they were not a bother at all.

I gagged as I was finally able to see the rest of the room. It's smell finally hitting me as well. The stench of death and blood was overwhelming. I had seen people with chopped-off limbs or deep cuts I had seen people leek blood throughout the house and this was incomparable.

Blood-stained rivers merge into a sea covering the floor. Severed limbs in every other place. Heads body parts and organs all stood there.

My father looked at me and then looked back in front of him.

"Kanae, run!" My father's voice was urgent.

The monster sprung forward attacking my dad. He picked up a rifle off the floor and swung it as hard as he could knocking the monster back.