Kaori, the demonic Hashira / Demon Slayer FF

"Then let's try it out. Now!"

I was still blinking at him in disbelief as I was blindsided, still hearing the bomb blare. He seriously wanted to take me on a demon hunt, even though I was one myself and I had to retire from the hunter business a few years ago...! I didn't feel comfortable at all. I felt insecure, I hadn't had a single fight since then and it was still uncertain whether I could still perform my thunder breathing.

"You've got a bang... Tengen, no!" I tried to wriggle out of it even more, but I already had the feeling that I couldn't get out of it anyway.

"No, I didn't," he replied calmly to my bang, "listen to me, Kaori. Yes, I could ask Shinobu or Mitsuri, or any of the guys for that matter, but I prefer to have female assistance to go deeper into the remaining establishments. But I came to you because you know exactly how splendidly we fought side by side. I can rely on you blindly, you practically read my next steps from my eyes and that's exactly what I need. And now that you're a demon, I'm hoping to gain even more information.

Maybe we could lure them into an ambush. This is about my women, who are more important to me than anything else. I sincerely ask for your support. I'll look after you too. I promise! Nothing will happen to you."

I could clearly hear in the color of his voice that he was unspeakably worried and desperately hoping for my support. I couldn't possibly say no. Conversely, I would also hope for him to help me. Especially if Giyu had been in danger.

"So, so. Use me as bait?" I asked skeptically, crossing my arms in front of my chest, "I'm pretty sure they'll hunt me down and take me straight to Muzan. This is going to be tricky, Tengen. If that happens, it's not just me that's in danger, it's the whole mission."

"Don't mistake your help for me wanting to use you as bait. That's not the case here at all. Then I'd rather bait you instead and use you as a pillar, which they'll like just as much. But neither of us do that. First and foremost, I want to find the demon in the first place. Unfortunately, I can no longer assume that it's a low-ranking demon. Quite a few people have already lost their lives in the district, and in a very short space of time. Don't get me wrong, Kaori. I would never want to hand you over to those monsters. On the other hand, I can well imagine that I can make use of your demonic powers and that they will help me enormously. In a positive sense."

I tilted my head to the side thoughtfully. I trusted every word Tengen just said. He was without exception honest and sincere. I would never have doubted his intentions - on the contrary, I would have even offered myself as bait if it had been a matter of keeping his women safe again. I also trusted him with my life. Conversely, he could also fall back on this tribute. I knew that Tengen also had such a high level of trust in me and that he was just as safe with me. Nevertheless, my insecurity stood in my way like a protective wall.

And I didn't like the plan at all.

"Hmm..." I sipped the sake again thoughtfully, but only to cough.

"Ew, that tastes disgusting," I complained in disgust, making a face as if I'd bitten into a lemon, whereupon I managed to elicit a rising snort from Tengen.

"You just had a sip of that too. Then why are you drinking it?" he asked, amused, before he started laughing at me.

"Because I used to drink it too. Unfortunately, my taste as a demoness has changed completely," I laughed at myself, because I knew for sure that it would happen.

"Oh, Kaori," he smiled and gave me his pity, "you're still trying to stay human."

"At all costs," I confirmed his thesis, "but back to the subject. It's not that I don't want to fight with you or that I don't trust you. It's just that I don't trust myself. The last fight was a few years ago now. I'm not human anymore, I don't even know if I can use my breathing properly. Can I even fight and then we're most likely dealing with a high-ranking demon? Don't get me wrong, Tengen, I'd go into battle with you in a heartbeat, you know how rebellious I am, but right now I just feel like I might be more of a burden than a help. And I can't just accept that anything happens to you - especially not if it's because of me."

"Don't be so skeptical of yourself. Have you forgotten how brilliant you were in battle? How skillfully and incredibly quickly you dispatched your opponents? You didn't become a pillar for no reason. I want to help you regain your self-confidence. Why don't you give yourself a chance and give it a try? I'm sure it will work."

Who could say no to his pleading and inviting gaze? For a brief moment, I forgot everything around me and imagined what this battle would have been like. Would I have been fighting on the front line? Would I be in the background this time? Would I jeopardize the mission and be so clumsy that I would have been laughed at by my peers? Or even be taken prisoner? I certainly wouldn't have wanted that. Thinking about it like that ...

"Do you think ... now that I'm a demon, that I might be even stronger?" I asked my counterpart, arguing with myself and raising an eyebrow.

"Of course you are. Demons are basically invulnerable, incredibly fast and agile. Unlike us humans, demons should be vastly superior to us. Think about it, Kaori. You're a pillar, one of the strongest. With a special breathing technique as well as fighting style. You can combine both now, which means you're basically invincible."

Defeated, I expelled a good gush of air, "Good. I'll go and get ready then, because I imagine fighting in a kimono is extremely difficult."

"There you go. It'll be great," he gleamed happily. I hoped so too.

I immediately did as I said and got up from my seat to disappear into my bedchamber.

Quickly passing my nicely arranged futon bed, I let the sunshine in here too by clearing the window. Opposite my oasis of peace was a large wardrobe with several large mirrors attached to it. I fished my dark blue Hashira uniform out of it. It felt really strange to hold this fabric in my hands again after all this time. Not only because thousands of past scenes flashed before my inner eye like a lightning strike. No, there were so many memories attached to these clothes that I always wore. Good and bad. As soon as I had put down the kimono, I slipped into the uniform. Just putting it on gave me a great mixture of feelings. How often I would have lost my life in it...

I certainly wasn't a bad fighter, I was just too rebellious.

I liked to underestimate my opponent and go over the top and get myself into dicey situations. You could almost say that I was a master at running headlong into the fray, but that's how I gained the most experience. Thankfully, I was saved by my supporters on one or two occasions. Especially Giyu and Tengen and sometimes also Sanemi and Obanai.

The same applied to them. I had also helped them out of trouble several times. We called it teamwork, but compared to how often I was in a jam ... Well, I left it like that in my head.

Tying the last button at the top, I turned to the mirror. The sight stunned me and left me speechless.

It was unspeakably unfamiliar, even though I had been wearing this outfit for several years. But right now it was completely ... Strange?

"A demon has no business in our circles!" "Let's behead this monster!" "Let's just throw it into the sun so it burns!" "We do not tolerate demons among us. How can it be that we should always throw ourselves into battle with our lives and tolerate one in the same breath, Master?" "How am I, demon hunter, supposed to love a demoness? I hope you never set eyes on me again! Get out of here!"

I stepped closer to the mirror. A demon in a demon hunter's uniform... It was understandable that everyone was against and in favor of my leaving back then. It hurt to have those words slapped against my head again, even if it was just a memory... All the pillars had been against having me in their circle. I could partly understand it, as I would probably have held that opinion myself, but to have been the one affected by it now felt more than awful.

I deftly freed my sleek midnight blue hair from its bun, which eventually reached my hips and was sky blue at the tips, and tied a Half-braid. Before I became a demon, they were copper-red - something I had always missed. In my ultraviolet eyes, the demonic veins, which became more intense when I was angry, were tentatively visible. They were now in no way inferior to the night sky, which was not the case even before my transformation and were clearly lilac in color. I was very sorry to have changed my appearance so much. My appearance was gloomy, almost depressing. I could probably never get used to it.

I reached for the white wraps that I used to tie my trousers around my ankles and calves and got my sandals ready. The only thing missing was my cherry blossom pink haori, which was not only the color of cherry blossoms, but also shaped like a cape that reached up to my thigh. However, I refrained from putting it on for the time being - after all, it was only a training session.

And now the last and sometimes most important thing - my katana.

My queasy stomach added to the emotional chaos. I had not held my sword in my hands since my transformation. That night, when I was brought here by the master, he was gracious enough to carry it with him all the way and store it safely in this cupboard. Shakily, I reached out for the moonstone-colored steel and took it out of the cabinet by the handle. I fervently hoped that the sun sword had not discolored and slowly pulled it out of its sheath.

To my astonishment, nothing actually happened. It remained colored in its shimmering light blue steel. Relieved, I pressed it against my chest and enjoyed it. I had fully expected it to change color when I picked it up again. I deftly tucked it away on my belt, as I used to do day after day, and examined myself in the mirror one last time.

Thoughtfully, I took a deep breath and expelled it through my nose. At that moment, I deeply regretted getting too close to Muzan at that time. All it had taken was one mighty blow and I could have decapitated him, but instead he was head and shoulders above me and had infected me with his disease called - I'll turn you into a demon... Bastard!

If I ever got my hands on that bastard again... He had ruined everything. Destroyed everything from one moment to the next. Everything in ruins. Due to my rising anger, I hadn't even noticed how tightly I was clutching my katana. It instantly brought me back to the here and now. The training with Tengen. If he really did manage to get rid of some of my insecurity, then I would of course stand by him in the fight in the joy quarter. There was no question about that, but I had to get it over with first. But was I ready to fight Tengen? Certainly not. Especially as I didn't have any wooden swords here on the estate with which we couldn't injure each other. Before I left my bedchamber, I said one last prayer to the heavens that we wouldn't do anything serious to each other.

As soon as I went to Tengen in the garden, he looked at me in the same way as I had just done. The only difference was that he looked completely thrilled.

"Splendid..." he breathed ecstatically, "I would never have thought it possible that I would see my Kaori in her uniform again. What a sight I've missed!"

I grinned mischievously, "You're exaggerating," and let his words go down like butter.

Flattered, I smiled at his compliment and once again gallantly unsheathed my moonstone-colored katana and assumed my fighting stance.

My ass was inevitably on ice. I'd already had a few training fights with the pillars, including with Tengen, but today was fundamentally different. The sound pillar also took up its position opposite me, gripping its Nishirin blades tightly and pointing them at me.

"Get ready," he told me with a mischievous look in his eyes.

I swallowed hard. Couldn't I back down after all?

"But without your explosive bullets, please?" I let him know a small part of my fear.

"Of course," I barely understood before he rushed towards me without stopping and was already swinging his blade at me.

I screamed in terror and backed away fearfully instead of defending myself and blocking his attack. There was no sign of my thunder breathing or my fully concentrated breathing. As if I had never had them. Tengen, meanwhile, continued to strike in my direction while I was still trapped in my escape behavior. My full concentration was hidden in it.

A successful prelude to prepare me for what was about to happen – not. Tengen became faster and his blows stronger, which made it immensely difficult for me to withstand. There was a loud clanging and whipping between us, which was caused solely by Tengen's weapon. The atmosphere between us seemed tense to bursting point and Tengen didn't give me a second to gather myself and counterattack. On the contrary, things got even more heated than at the beginning.

Come on! I had to do something about it! I finally blocked his next attack. I held my blade close to my face, on which Tengen exerted an insane amount of force. This muscleman was unspeakably strong! With every effort and every fiber of my body, I withstood his blade.

"Remember your breathing, Kaori! You must concentrate completely on your breathing technique," he instructed me meticulously, "concentrate, breathe deeply and remember. Get your blood pumping and warm yourself up. I know you can do it!" he hissed like an order.

He was right! I had to focus on the most important thing - my thunder breathing.

Without avoiding his gaze, I paused for a deep breath.

"Thunder breathing... First form... Flashing thunderbolt!"

The air around us began to literally shake and crackle and I unleashed my first counterattack.

I bundled all my strength into my legs and arms and pushed Tengen off me with a swing. I could feel it! My strength and perfectly concentrated breathing took me in an instant. I remembered how energetic I was. The energy that flowed through me when I focused completely on my breathing and used my fighting technique.

"There you are, Kaori! You've finally found yourself again!" Tengen rejoiced, resuming his fighting stance and coming towards me again quickly, "Sound breathing. Fourth form. Endless echo blows!"

Instead of dodging like a shy deer, as I had just done, I also rushed towards him energetically.

"Thunder breathing! Sixth form! Thunder and lightning!"

Our blades clashed and collided at breakneck speed. There was an unspeakably loud bang and hiss, followed by a continuous clang. Neither of us allowed the other a single hit, partly because I was careful to prevent this and not harm Tengen. Breath form after breath form, we fought relentlessly. But then it happened! An unforeseen powerful blow from Tengen, which I heard out of the corner of my eye and was therefore unable to block, cut deep into my neck from the side.

Not realizing it and with my adrenaline pumping, I didn't notice any pain at first, but I immediately panicked. Not my neck! If he had decapitated me now, I was finished! Tengen also interrupted immediately and even dropped his blades to the ground.

"KAORI-II!" he shouted in horror and rushed to me.

Now I realized the pain that was spreading furiously. I also noticed how my warm blood flowed down my collarbone and into my clothes. I felt dizzy and sick at the same time. The moment Tengen wrapped me in his arms, I lost my strength and fell to my knees.

"No, Kaori! Look at me!" I heard Tengen say, muffled and dazed.

I leaned powerlessly against him and half closed my eyes. I literally felt like shit. My neck was half cut, which is why I couldn't hold it up myself and leaned against his chest.

"Off... The... Su-n," I whispered weakly.

He immediately lifted me up gently and took me inside my little house.

"Don't move a bit!" he instructed me in a panic and noticed how he laid me down on my bed and immediately darkened the window. He also closed the sliding door in no time at all and sat down next to me. I also noticed that he covered me up and started stroking my hair.

"I'm so sorry!" he whimpered, "this shouldn't have happened! Please don't die!"

The bleeding gradually stopped and my wound began to close bit by bit. I also felt better from moment to moment before I had fully recovered a short time later.

"Are you feeling better again, Kaori?" the pillar of sound asked me, extremely worried and shaky.

I smiled weakly but contentedly at him as he leaned over me.

"Yes, I'm feeling better already, Tengen. Thank you for taking me into the dark," I reassured him and clasped his wrist, on which he was wearing his fingerless glove.

His face color had not returned to his face either. He still seemed to be in shock.

"Shit! Kaori, I'm terribly sorry! I certainly didn't mean to attack or seriously hurt you! I'm so terribly sorry! You have to believe me!"

"I do. Don't worry about it. I just wasn't prepared for that blow. It's just that I can't regenerate in the sun. It doesn't really bother me any more, but my wounds don't heal in daylight. Yes, I could have just been completely blown away, but everything is still intact and I'm fine."

"It's still all there," he repeated angrily, "are you kidding me? I was about to chop your head off if I hadn't stopped in the middle. How can you forgive me for that? I almost killed you, Kaori!"

"Now don't dramatize it like that and forgive yourself, after all, it wasn't intentional. I'm still a demon. It's only when it's completely gone that I die. It would have been different as a human, but I'm fine now. I really am! And I don't blame you either. It was my carelessness. I was distracted for a millisecond and didn't see the blow coming."

I sat up a little, whereupon Tengen immediately wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly. That seemed to be closer to him than I had expected. I also tentatively put my arms around him and stroked his broad back reassuringly.

"Have you just forgotten that I'm no longer human?" I asked gently against his shoulder, against which I was leaning.

"You are and always will be human to me. I cannot and will not see you as a demon. Yes, I know it, but it doesn't go into my head. So yes, I just forgot for a moment," he finally admitted calmly.

I kind of broke free from the embrace, tilted my head to the side to show him that there wouldn't even be a scar left behind, 'See, it's all healed. I just need darkness and a little more time than the other demons.'

Gently and gently, as if the huge wound was still gaping, he put his fingers to my chin and assured himself in the faint light that there was nothing there to see.

„Thank God," he sighed with relief, looking me in the eye, his hand still resting on my chin.

The color of his skin had returned to him, too.

It was a very intimate moment and almost perfect to get a kiss from him, but he was the wrong man sitting opposite me. I could never have done that to Giyu, even if he had rejected me and there was probably no future together.

„Amazing, isn't it?" I interrupted this intimate moment between us.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't find Tengen unspeakably attractive, who had a keen sense of justice and an appealing protective instinct. I also liked his self-effacing and confident manner. He was unique. Still, I didn't like the fact that he'd already had three women if I had a romantic interest in him. That said, Tengen had already won my heart completely. To take that away from him would have taken a little longer.

"I'm just glad nothing else happened."

"In other words, I will of course accompany you to the remaining establishments.

I'm still a little insecure, even though the training between us has reawakened a lot of things in me, it's another thing to fight a real opponent and a demon. But I want to do it. I want to help you with this mission, Tengen," he said.

At last his mind brightened again and a happy smile fell on his lips.

"Thank you, Kaori."

I said, 'Thank you until it's really over. Your women aren't safe yet.'

"Yes, just for giving me your help."

"To be honest, I'm actually quite comfortable with it. I've got to learn to deal with it anyway, to live as a demon. Maybe not necessarily as a demon hunter, but hey, now this opportunity is there and I'm just throwing myself into it."

"As always. Aimless and headless. That's how I'm used to it."

"Please," I said, "I've always had a plan! Even a plan B to K like Kaori!"

We both laughed. Yes, he wasn't entirely wrong, but my spontaneous plans were legendary, if often dangerous.

"K how Kaori... Do you know I miss you so much? You brought so much joy and love to our team. A true joy. You could get out of bed in the morning and you were always in a good mood. Even so. I almost shaved your head off and you still smile and don't get mad at me... Even Obanai loved being around you so much."

"Na- shut up, Tengen!" I interrupted him flatteringly and put my index finger to his mouth, "That's fine now. I don't want to hear that.""

I was unspeakably bad at dealing with compliments about me or my person. This was simply because I never saw myself the way others perceived me. Even though I liked to hear it, too much was just too much.

"I'm serious," he sniffed at my finger, before wrapping his hands around my face, "when you left, or rather had to go, I sat down at a table with the other pillars and the Master and talked to them about not letting you go. I didn't want you to go. Mitsuri didn't want that either, but the rest of us were firmly against it. But I'm sure, and I also sensed, that they didn't find this decision easy. Every day, I struggled with not asking the Master where I could find you sooner. But I also wasn't sure if I was wanted at all. I didn't know how you would react to me, which is why I didn't do it sooner, after everyone was shouting at you to leave. But now that my wives are in danger, I gathered my courage and came here."

So he was ... Against that? Against that I shouldn't have gone?! And he was trying to overturn the others?

I could still remember precisely that day when it was decided that I should go. I stood in the shade, obscured by the sun that would have burned me to death at that moment. In front of me, in a row, were the pillars as well as the master. And then came the heavy accusations, the desire to banish me. To obliterate and kill me. In retrospect, Tengen was the one who didn't speak at all.

"You didn't say a word about it, did you?" I wanted to know thoughtfully, "on the day we were all assembled. I stood under the roof, protected from the sun and it was decided that I should get lost. Everyone voted for it. Just not you. You didn't say a single word. Is that true?"

He nodded affirmatively. Unfortunately, I had never noticed this fact, or I hadn't noticed it at all, because the negativity of others was in the foreground.

I didn't blame him for not speaking up for me in the situation. Tempers were so heated that I even decided to have Tengen thrown out with me.

He gasped loudly, "but it didn't help. They weren't in any way reconciled. Since then, things have been awkwardly difficult between us, and then Kyojuro fell away... Giyu seems to have been swallowed by the earth...It's all so unbearably tense. I'm so glad you're joining me and helping me," he alluded to having finally escaped the Depri camp.

"I'm looking forward to it. When are you going to leave?'

"Best tonight!"