Don't Leave (Kimetsu No Yaiba)

Candy 1

Kimetsu No Yaiba and its characters are not mine. They belong it their respective owner(s). It goes the same for the pictures in this book.

•••

Dark, cold, silence. These are the three things you remember after your last battle with the second upper moon demon, Douma. You couldn't recall a thing since then, and all you felt was the feeling of lost and grief. You tried opening your eyes, but your eyelids felt so heavy. You tried moving your arms, but they felt numb. What to do? Where am I?

There was actually nothing around you. You are in a pitch black void with no air, nor sound. Just vacuum. Yet, you still can breathe. You still feel alive, but lost in your own mind. Unable to speak, unable to move.

"Kanae..." you heard a voice. "Kanae..."

It sounded like your sister's voice, your dear beloved, Shinobu Kochō. She was calling for you, for your name. Not until you felt the warmth of her hands on your cheeks that you were able to slowly open your eyes. And there you saw a blurry image of her right in front of you with a bright light behind her back. "Kanae... come back to me." Shinobu whispered, "come back home."

After those words, your surroundings turned bright and clear. You found yourself in a prepossessing scenery. Tall trees, colorful butterflies, flowers, waterfalls, and mountains. You were in heaven, but it seemed like heaven itself had given you a challenge. At the end of the forest, you saw Douma standing under the sunlight despite of demons being sensitive towards the sun. You then looked at your right hand only to realize that you were holding your sword.

"Come back, sister." Said Shinobu again. "Come back." Her voice echoed away before Douma dashed towards you in a blink. You immediately blocked his powerful punch with your sword, slashing his arm off. There was no blood, no gore. Just his bloodless meat which had already regenerated within 0.5 seconds. As expected from an upper demon, they are extremely strong.
But....
I'm not going to die the second time.

Your eyes glowed in bright shades of purple, and your teeth began to sharpen. You could feel your nerves tightening as your nails turned into claws, and the edges of your hair dying itself pink. Your butterfly patterned cloak had glued itself to your skin and transformed into real wings of your own. From pure white, the color graded to pastel green with beautiful gradients of soft pink. Then your butterfly hairpins came to life as your fellow comrades, gliding around you for protection. They were bigger than their usual size, and were extremely strong.

Without hesitation, you darted to Douma and hoisted your sword at his head. However, the demon dodged your attack and attempted a heavy slash to your waist with his razor sharp fan. The blades sliced one of your butterflies which had sacrificed itself for your sake, but it instantly healed, and you sucker-punched Douma on the face, causing him to fly meters away from you. Not wasting any time for him to strike back, you widened your wings and spread glitters around the area.

"Blood Demon Art..." you muttered, and the glitters from your wings glowed in deep scarlet. They grew larger every second, and hotter. So hot that the plants quickly burned and the water from the falls vaporized. "Burning pollens!" You exclaimed, and the glitters shone brightly like the sun, before they exploded and damaged the whole area, killing and destroying everything in its path, including Douma, who had burned into nothing but ash.

Moments later, you stood on top of the flat, black soil decorated with small fire which had not been completely put out. You stared at the sky, until your two butterflies lingered around you. They were whispering, and muttering words only you could understand. As their kind master, you gave them your palm to land on. By the time the butterflies placed their tiny feet on your skin, the scenery blurred and changed to a familiar village.

A village left with nothing but burnt wooden houses, debris, and corpses adorned with their own blood. You contemplated on the obnoxious scenery, before you felt a slimy sensation on your feet. The pungent smell of blood grew stronger as your slowly looked at your feet, covered with one's guts and intestines. You stiffened, and scanned the person you were standing on, only to find that it was Douma. Gutless, without-a-stomach, Douma the Upper Moon Demon.

"Came... out..." the butterfly on the left mumbled, "we... came out... of... Douma."

<To Be Continued>