丨Soar丨 Kimetsu no Yaiba x OC｜

Chapter 50

Tears stained Chizuko's face, a gravelly sob escaped from deep down her throat.

It was a belated hug.

A hug Chizuko waited for ten years.

From a person Chizuko missed beyond imagination, without noticing.

The barren, scorched part in her heart had finally received gentle, much needed rain.

"Chizuko," the woman smiled with her tear streaked cheeks, "My daughter, we meet again finally."

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A crow approached the Serpent Hashira and the Sound hashira, "CAW! CAW! URGENT! DECEASED! SUZUKI CHIZUKO IS DEAD!!"

Obanai and Uzui's eyes went wide.

What?

"CAW! ENCOUNTERED UPPER MOON ONE! UPPER MOON ONE!"

Obanai felt as if his heart was gauged out from his rib cage.

"See you soon, Iguro-sama," Chizuko smiled and waved to him.

What happened to 'see you soon' ?

Where was he when she needed him the most?

Why did it have to be now but not after she had lived life to its fullest?

"CAW! SUZUKI CHIZUKO IS STILL ALIVE! LOST HER RIGHT ARM!" another crow came flying.

The two crows stared at each other, visibly confused.

Obanai turned on his heels, sprinting as fast as his legs could carry him.

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"Chizuko, we won't have much time together, what I am about to say is very very important, so please listen carefully," Tsukina, Chizuko's mother, held Chizuko's hands, "Everything that is happening to you now... every suffering that has happened to you... It's all my fault."

Tsukina shushed Chizuko who opened her mouth, she needed to grab every second to describe to Chizuko what she must understand, "To explain the whole situation... The story actually starts long before you were born... You see, your mother was a rebellious teenager, who was dissatisfied with the mundane lifestyle of the small village in the mountains. So... I made the decision to leave the village with a few other girls, despite how your grandma kept telling me the opposite... It was... perhaps... the start of a series of regrettable mistakes."

"Us girls from the countryside, we didn't know how to read or write, nor did we have a lot of money. We soon had to resort to borrowing loans to afford the necessities," Tsukina sighed, "Th-That's when things spiralled downwards, we soon found ourselves in debt... W-We had no choice, jobs like waitresses did not pay as much as... prostitutes."

"It was shameful... and humiliating... But it paid, we did not owe anyone money anymore. I-I didn't stay in the industry for long like some of the other girls, but whenever I wasn't able to pay the bill..." Tsukina lowered her head, "A-Anyway, it were ugly days of the past, I was determined to stay in the cities no matter what... Everything changed after I had you, Chizuko."

"You really look a lot like your father," Tsukina caressed Chizuko's cheek, "You both have wavy red hair, big eyes, a tall nose, and sesame like dots on your cheekbones. He was a foreigner, a merchant who stopped by a port many years ago."

"The brothels... They would force the girls to abort their child if they ever get pregnant. I didn't want to loose you, so I ran away, back to the village in the mountains," Tsukina sighed, "What I never thought of was that... The real tragedy had just began."