"I see, in that case will you allow me to give you a name to carry?" Urokodaki asked and I stared at him.
"I, I would be honoured if you did" I breathed out.
"In that case from this day on you shall be known as Akatsuki Hikaru" said Urokodaki and my jaw dropped.
"You may no longer feel that you are worthy of carrying the Akatsuki family name so instead I will give you the name of Akatsuki as your sensei" Urokodaki explained and I couldn't say no when he put it that way. I wouldn't be taking the family name of Akatsuki instead I would be bearing the name Akatsuki Hikaru that my sensei had given me.
"I would, I would like that" I hiccuped as I started to cry again. While I got myself under control Urokodaki talked about how a demon would be stronger the more humans that it had eaten and something told me that this had to do with Sabito and Makamo.
"There are demons who gain power, become able to transform their bodies and even use strange spells," Urokodaki said while opening up a cupboard door and pulling out two fox masks.
"When your sense of smell becomes keener Tanjiro, you'll be able to tell how many humans a demon's consumed. I am sure that the same can be said about your eyes Hikaru but I am not certain" Urokodaki said as he handed us the fox masks. They were both white like Sabito's and the one that Makamo wore but they had different designs. Tanjiro's had a large red sun like mark on the left of his forehead where his scar was while mine was like Sabito's and had scar marks the size and length of the scars on my face. I also noticed that the eyes of my mask were different seeing as Tanjiro's had red eyes but mine just had holes so that my real eyes would be able to see out of the mask.
"What's this?" Tanjiro asked while taking his mask and I carefully took mine using my fingers to trace the marks on it.
"It's called a 'warding mask'. I've charged them with a spell to protect both of you from harm" Urokodaki answered.
"I will make sure to take care of it" I smiled as I placed the mask to my face and it was a perfect fit.
"Wow that looks really good on you" smiled Tanjiro and I grinned behind the mask as Urokodaki helped me thread ribbons on each side so that I could tie it behind my head and keep it on. After Tanjiro finished cutting his hair we all retired for the night knowing that we would have to wake up early if we wanted to be able to reach the Final Selection in good time.
The next morning Urokodaki presented us each with a haori with the same patterns as his making me put it on straight away along with Tanjiro. Tanjiro also decided to have his fox mask on the left side of his head while I slid my into place over my face. Sure people would be a bit weirded out about me wearing a mask but at least this way, they wouldn't be able to see my real scars.
"See you later Nezuko, we will be back soon" I whispered as I brushed her hair behind her ears before I left Tanjiro to say goodbye to his sister.
"Don't worry about your sister, I will take care of her," Urokodaki said.
"Thank you very much," said Tanjiro.
"I made these for you Urokodaki-sensei, don't worry we will be back as soon as the Final Selection is over" I smiled, handing him a piece of paper that was rolled up as we both jogged along the path.
"We'll be going then, Urokodaki-san" said Tanjiro as we turned and waved, getting a wave in return.
"Say hello to Sabito and Makomo for me" Tanjiro said just as we were nearly out of Urokodaki's sight, making me shake my head, he still hadn't realised that the two of them were dead. Since we had already left we didn't see Urokodaki open up the drawings and his eyes widened behind his mask. On the first piece of paper was a drawing of both me and Tanjiro together smiling with our fox masks on the sides of our heads while the second piece of paper was a drawing of Sabito and Makomo with their masks on the side of their heads. I wasn't stupid enough to believe that we weren't running straight towards danger, a danger that could kill us if we weren't careful so I wanted Urokodaki to have something to remember us by if we did perish like the children before us had.
Chapter 4: Final selection
Start from the beginning
