Seventh Moon

Mark of the Seventh

Me yelling in alarm wasn't necessary at all. Nothing of note happened all day, and I soon found my self being gently tapped awake by Akaza-san. "The sun has set. Let's go, Y/N." I shook myself awake and followed his lead. We made small talk as we walked, mostly just me asking and asking him questions. There's a lot of things that I do not know.

"So, it's those called Hashiras are what I should be careful of?" Apparently, the Demon Slayers are more organized than I thought. They have ranks, and the higher the rank, the higher the skill. "Basically. Though, even the lowest ranking members might be able to off you if you don't know how to fight back." I groaned at that, which Akaza-san somehow found amusing.

"I can teach you." Akaza-san offered, soft smile present on his face. I'm not going to deny the fact that Akaza-san can be scary looking, and that his tongue is almost as sharp as any blade yet I still find his presence pleasant. Maybe it's because my only other companion recently has been Muzan-sama.

I mulled over Akaza-san's offer. I have no desire to hurt and kill humans, and I've also been contemplating death for a while now. Learning to fight seemed very unnecessary to me... but the thought of dying at someone's blade made an unpleasant chill run through my spine. Maybe I do need to learn to defend myself – at least to run away when needed and to hunt stronger animals.

"I'd love that." It seems like Akaza-san liked my answer, for he went on about the technique he was going to teach me – something that won't require any weapons. He also talked about my blood demon art. "It's unique to every demon." Akaza-san went on to explain how his was called Technique Development. I honestly barely understood what it was about. The only thing that I'm kind of sure I did understand was how he is able to track his opponents by tracing their bloodlust or battle spirit.

Eventually, Akaza-san thought it'd be faster if we look for the flower separately. He went farther up the mountain, leaving me behind. I did my best and searched everywhere I could – the ground, bushes, clumps of grass. And no, the darkness of the night wasn't a problem at all. All I could find are young buds or dead flowers, not a single Blue Spider Lily in sight.

It seems like we might have to search a different mountain for it... or maybe Akaza-san has better luck than me. I decided then to look for him. However, footsteps alerted me to a new presence, followed by the smell of death. Not of human deaths that I'm getting used to, but of demons.

I felt the swish of the air near my head and jumped on instinct. In front of me stood a young man with a sword in hand. "You're the demon who slaughtered those woodcutters, huh?" He yelled accusingly. A demon slayer?

My thoughts are mixing in my head so fast that I didn't know what to do. Do I look so inhuman that it's obvious I'm a demon? I also had a strong urge to defend myself – to tell him how I've never hurt nor killed any human ever. Still, I let those murders happen. I'm guilty of it as well, right?

Another thought was swirling in my head, giving me dread. I'm about to die. I'm pretty sure it's kind of what I've wanted for a while now yet I can't stop shivering at the thought of dying. I didn't want to die. I don't want to die!

"Please don't hurt me." I pleaded. It was the only thing that I could do. Anger with murderous intent flashed in the man's eyes. "Was that how those men pleaded for their life, you monster?" Spitting at me, he raised his sword preparing to cut off my head. I remembered that there was another thing that I could do right then. Yell in alarm.

Akaza-san!!!!

The man was taken aback and his eyes started darting around. Dropping from the trees, Akaza-san sliced off one of the man's hands, his flesh dropping heavily at his feet.