Another

Chapter Seven: Hidden Scars

Five months have passed since I made that promise. Our family has been dead for nearly a year now.

Nezuko is now 15 years old. I am 17. However, no matter how long its been, we still look the same from when we lived on our mountain. When we asked about this, Urokodaki-san told us that many demons were capable of changing their appearance on a whim. However, we will have to figure out how to do it ourselves, since it isn't really his area of expertise.

I snorted. Urokodaki-san glanced back at me. I still have no idea what he looks like, since he never takes the Tengen mask off. Whenever I asked him about it, he always changed the subject, waves of sadness flowing off him. Nezuko and I still know very little about him, even after all this time.

Nezuko and I had finished our descent down the mountain a few minutes after sunset. When we had reached the clearing for our training, Urokodaki-san had gestured for me to follow him, leaving Nezuko to train on her own. She had simply nodded at me, watching as I followed Urokodaki-san into the forest.

My eyes followed the wisps of fog trailing around my fingers. Although the winter snow had melted some time ago, the night air still nipped at my nose. No birds sang, and our steps barely roused the dead leaves beneath our feet.

Although I could be considered a man now, I still felt like a child. After nearly a year of training, it was undeniable that both Nezuko and I have changed. However, Urokodaki-san has yet to allow us to enter the Final Selection.

At first, I had believed it to be that he wanted us to be prepared. The Final Selection was a dangerous exam. Anybody who wanted to become Demon Slayers had to undergo it. Many candidates end up losing their lives in the 7 day process. However, Nezuko and I have been training for nearly a year now, and on top of that, we're oni. Even if we were injured, we could regenerate. So why?

"We're here."

I let my thoughts trail off, looking past Urokodaki-san's stiff back. Nezuko and I've never been this deep into the forest.

"Urokodaki-san." I moved so I was standing next to him,"Where are we?"

There was another cabin, though notably bigger than the one we were staying in. It looked quite run-down. The door was busted in, mold splotching the swollen walls, indicating years of rain and snow. The dank smell of decay made me gag as the wind blew towards us. It looked utterly deserted.

"This was where my wife and I lived."

I felt my earrings slice at my cheeks. Urokodaki-san was motionless next to me, his mask hiding his face. Although it was dark, I could see the slight glow of the moon reflecting off the droplets gathering as his chin.

"Your wife?"

Urokodaki-san's cheeks lifted, a corner of his upturned lips peeking behind the mask.

"I met her out on a mission. I had saved her earlier that night, and was fighting the very demon that killed her elder brother. And yet-" I looked down as Urokodaki-san wiped the droplets away,"-when the demon taunted how weak I was, she lifted her sandal and threw it at his head."

Eyes trained on the cabin, I imagined Urokodaki-san and his wife's first meeting. "She seems very brave."

Urokodaki-san laughed, the smell of grief replaced by longing, "Oh, she definitely was. You can't even begin to picture how shocked the demon looked."

I trailed after him, the smell of rotting wood drifting closer as our sandals made little clouds of dirt. "The demon had escaped, in the end, but she had captured my heart when she threw that sandal."