𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍, kny

「十二」

第十二章

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THE YOUNG SAITO QUICKLY DODGED, MAKING THE DEMON STUMBLE AND HIT A TREE. The demon growled as she rubbed her head, regaining her composure. She then turned her head to the shocked Saito and hissed, her demon eyes narrowing, as if boring holes into the poor bewildered human.

"You brat!" The demon spat, "You cursed brat! Damn demon slayers, always being goddamn agile! Curse you! Curse you!"

The hollow-eyed demon let out a distressed cry, her claws on her head, grasping what's of what used to be her hair, trying to pull out whatever was left on her scalp. The demon childishly stomped her feet, cursing to herself.

[Name] allowed her body to relax a bit as she watched the demon before her eyes, sweat-dropping. To her eyes, the demon resembles that of a child not getting what they wanted and throwing a fit.

"O-oi," [Name] stuttered, trying her best not to show how comical the demon's actions were to her, "If you don't mind I'm just going to-"

The demon didn't seem to notice the girl's words as she kept on yelling.

'Forget it, I don't have time for this.'

Just when [Name] was about to walk away, the demon's head perked up and creepily turned to [Name]. The sound of the cracking of the demon's neck made [Name] internally cringe.

"You..." the demon hissed, "Who said I was done with you?"

[Name]'s brows furrowed again as she tightened her grip on her sword, mentally reciting the method she had learnt whilst training with Urokodaki-san.

The demon ran towards the young Saito, claws out and mouth wide open, desperate to bite into the young girl's flesh.

Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide

[Name] charged towards the growling demon while making consecutive slashes, twisting her body in a fashion similar to that of a harsh, fierce and unfriendly tide clashing onto a rock.

The last thing the demon saw before her head had a clean separation from her body was a [color] haired girl with [color] eyes that she'll never forget.

"W-what..." The demon muttered as her head fell to the ground with a small and barely audible thud, "How..."

The demons eyes was met with [Name]'s back. Her black haori with red waves swayed and soon slowed to a stop, as her head turned around, making the demon let out a small gasp.

Her face wasn't that of anger.
She was sad. [Name] was sad.

"I'm sorry." [Name] muttered, "That your life has to end this way."

The demon's eyes widened as tears started to stream down. She's met and devoured a lot of demon slayers, but none of them had ever said sorry to her. The demon didn't know what hit her, but it was a s if she'd longed for someone to say those two words to her.

"I hope that," [Name] continued, her eyes closing and her head hung low, "In your next life, you will grow old as a human and live happily."

A flash of memory then goes through the demon's memory on her final moments.

The demon's skin is no longer pale. Her skin is now like any normal human being. Her hair is in a neat oriental-style bun with a beautiful color of strawberry blonde. She was in a room, everything is tidy and warm, unlike the forest she was cursed to be in when she was a demon. She then take a good look at herself and touched her face, she was beautiful–very beautiful. Her eyes are big and sparkling with a color of soft pink. Her lips were rosy, like her cheeks.

Who is this? This can't be her.

"Sakae!" a voice called out.

Sakae? Who's Sakae?

"Sakae!" There's that voice again.

A woman then come running into the room, panting. The woman was identical to Sakae, just a bit more mature. After her came in a man, tall and looked a bit old, with black middle length hair. The two adults crouched down to match her height, and pulled the strawberry blonde girl to a tight hug. The woman seemed to sniff and cry, while the man only stayed quiet.

The woman then opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a sob. The man tightened his grip around the petite strawberry blonde girl.

"Sakae..." The man finally spoke up, his voice strong but on the verge of breaking, "We're sorry."

Sakae. Now she knows who Sakae is. She was Sakae. The very name that her parents had gifted to her, but was taken away by the demon life. And now, she got it back.

The strawberry blonde's eyes widened, and subconsciously, tears started to stream down her cheeks, wetting her rosy cheeks. Sakae raised her arms to hug the two adults back as she burried her face on the crook of the woman's neck. She let out her sobs, and they seem to have no end.

When she felt satisfief with the amount of sobs and cries she let out, she raised her head and raised her arms to her cheeks, trying to wipe her tears, however, the man beat her to it and wiped the tears of her face.

"Now, Sakae," the man gave her a warm smile, "Let's all go home."

Sakae blinked a few times at the man, who starts to stand up with the woman as he took her small hands on his, guiding her. Sakae then plastered a huge smile on her face and nodded, "Okay."

The three walk out of the room. Sakae knew this feeling. It felt familiar. It was warmth. Love. Family.

The demon's body had disintegrated and now only her head is left, and that too, is beginning to disintegrate.

[Name] placed her sword back into it's case, her head still hung low, her bangs covering her face as she prepared to walk away.

"Hey..." The female demon called out weakly, making [Name] turn around quickly, surprised, "Goodluck."

"...Thank you." [Name] replied sadly, as she start to walk away, leaving the demon to only watch the young demon slayer slowly getting swallowed by the darkness of the night.

"No, thank you, demon slayer." The demon smiled before her whole head disintegrated and blown away.