My Instincts Never Lie || Demon Slayer Nezuko

25. To The Rescue

"Oomph!" Nezuko grunted as she fell face first onto the ground, feeling every inch of her body swell with soreness. Glancing up she saw Rui's head and body flop lifeless as well, which elicited a sigh from her lungs that were barely able to move. THUD!  Agonizingly turning behind her, Tanjiro as well had joined them on the dusty earth as his blood stained clothes went dry.

    "Oni-chan... Oni-chan..." Nezuko's voice was hoarse calling out for her brother. Barely a peep could've reached his ears from where his blurry figure lay in her vision. "Oni-chan! I... won. I beat him." She whispered. Every inch and crawl she made closer to him felt as if she was being stabbed with a bunch of needles.

    'Dad helped me.' She thought, looking back at her father's peaceful smile. 'The kagura dance helped me out, somehow.' Holding her stomach in her hand, Nezuko just barely rose to her feet, immediately feeling like the world was swaying left to right. 'I'm so dizzy. Tanjiro... Is it because I took too many breaths?' To be frank, it was painfully obvious that Nezuko's body was on the verge of giving up, as she fell to the ground once more, pained by the sudden ringing in her ear. "Kaghk! Ow!"

    However the ever stubborn Kamado Nezuko had no plans of lying still. 'It hurts everywhere but I must... I must recover fast. I have to keep fighting. I must get back to Inosuke. Quickly!'

    Fwoosh! Her eyes widened and her body froze. But it wasn't from the pain. 'That feeling. That uncomfortable tug from earlier. It's back... Oh god. This presence of blood, it's so strong it's sickening.' She timidly covered her mouth as if she was about to throw up. 'Come to think of it, I don't see any ashes floating in the air... Could it be?'

    Tmp tmp tmp. Faint footsteps travelled to her ear. 'How could he still be alive? No hold on. I clearly cut his head off!' She said, her breathing shaking.

    "Did you really think you could defeat me? What a pity." Rui's emotionless and heartless tone ran a shiver down her spine. The fwips and strains of the threads reminding her of a creaky old home. "Are you happy in that pathetic delusion of yours?" Rui asked with veins showing on his cheeks. 

    "H-How? He's supposed to turn to ashes already." Nezuko was at a loss for words.

    "I severed my head with my thread before you could chop it off." He informed her. Rui should be completely out of his mind to sever his own head, but after all, he is a Kizuki. Who knows what they are capable of.

"I've had it. Neither of you will live another day. I've never been so angry for so long." Rui's incoming footsteps were enough to creep Nezuko out. But despite the freezing fear that riddled her skin, she crawled away, clinging to what little energy she had left in her, because Tanjiro was ever so close.

'Do something. Stand up or something! Breathe! Adjust your breath! Come on Nezuko!' Her mind rushed in circles for what felt like forever.

"How the hell did you not get burnt by those flames? Only my threads and I got burnt." Rui was approaching faster now and from the disgusting sound that she caught, his head had reattached to his body. "Is it because of your brother? Thanks to you, I'm irritated." It sure didn't sound like it, but laced deep within Rui's voice was an anger she had never sensed before. She didn't dare look back.

"I can break you into pieces without the slightest regrets."

Those words struck her with an emptiness, unfamiliar to her. No options, no breathing techniques, no energy left.

"Blood Demon Arts: Murderous Eye Basket." Spinning and spinning around her, blood red threads formed a cage with her at the center of it. Faster than her eye could race and miles away from what her body could do.