The Parasite

Chapter 4: The attack on the Wind Pillar's Tsuguko

It had been 4 hours sense Kanao and Kenkyo go back from their sparring match. The two slayers returned with little injuries although Kenkyo was knocked out, Shinobu treated Kanao's slash wound on her chest.

Shinobu: "What happened out there, Kanao?"

Unknowingly to Shinobu and the others during her and Kenkyo's battle, Kanao was possessed by a parasitic Demon named "Kiseibutsu".

(K) Kanao: "Me and Kenkyo went to a deserted area and started sparring. He started taking the fight really seriously and slashed me on my chest and all of a sudden he got knocked out from his injuries with the demon." She answered with an emotionless face.

Shinobu looked at Kanao skeptically.

Shinobu: 'That's strange, Kanao never makes a decision without flipping her coin.' She thought.

She quickly replaced her look and switched back to her usual smile.

Shinobu: "Okay, Kanao just be sure to be careful and don't train for a few days okay?"

(K) Kanao nodded but when Shinobu left she took a small blood sample from Kanao. Shinobu walked a way into a small emergency unit room and shut the door behind her. She sat into her chair and sat her microscope on the table, she squinted out Kanao's blood from the syringe onto the stage.

Shinobu grabbed another syringe and took a sample of her own blood and put it onto the stage next to Kanao's blood. Shinobu studied under the microscope. Two cells were visible through the eyepiece.

They were active, neither quiescent nor dead. Shinobu's cell looked quite normal. Kanao's cell on the right was a circular dark grey spiky cell.

Shinobu's cell was stabbed by one of the spikes on "Kanao" cell. The two cell's came together, Shinobu's cell began to take a flattened a shape and began to visibly swell and took the shape and color of the spiky dark grey cell. Now two dark grey cells sat on the stage.

Shinobu pulled away from the eyepiece and wiped the sweat from her forehead. The door to her room opened and walked in was Kanae with a worried look on her face.

Kanae: "Shinobu, are you alright?"

Shinobu smiled at Kanae.

Shinobu: "I'm fine, why do you ask sister?"

Kanae: "Because it looks like you've seen a ghost." She said pointing out Shinobu's sweating pale face.

Shinobu dropped her smile.

Shinobu: "When I took a blood sample from Kanao and what I found was strange. It seems that Kanao has been infected by some kind of demon she's been acting really strange sense her fight with Kenkyo."

Kanae scratched her chin.

Kanae: "They both must've been infected by a demon at some point."

Shinobu: "But what kind of demon can possess someone?"

Kanae: "I'm guessing the demon Kenkyo fought in Osaka was a Upper Moon Demon. When I saw Kenkyo walked up to me I felt that his strength increased a lot so I'm guessing the demon that possessed both of them was a parasite like demon."

Shinobu thought about disagreeing with what Kanae said until she remembered what she saw what "Kanao's" cell did to her own.

Shinobu: "You're right sister but what should we do?"

Kanae: "Don't do anything for now but we should tell the other hashira's to avoid Kenkyo and Kanao at all cost. If that parasite manages to infect Gyomei, Sanemi or Rengoku then it's all over for us."