Second Chances {Doukaza}

34

Phewwwww we're almost there
I'm trying to stall getting to the ending as much as I can 😭
It's harder than you think! I almost ended it last chapter but had a last second idea that kept it going!
Kind of like balancing a bike on the edge of the sidewalk, it wants to fall off but you can jerk it back if you try hard enough.

Akaza's POV
With too much time on my hands, I once again find myself spending a lot of time worrying. But this time I worry that we are all going to die. As much as I wish this was a story where everything goes perfectly and the bad guys loose in the end, this isn't a book. Not everything will bode well for us. People I know could die. I could be killed just as easily. And with every person I drag into it, the chances of us being discovered go up exponentially.

Anyone who I haven't talked to in the past few days thinks I'm dead. That's a fact. None of them have any way to confirm my status without being caught in the crossfire. It hurts me to think of what Douma might be doing to himself. I desperately want to go to him, to tell him I'm okay. But I can't get into the infinity castle on my own, and I doubt Kibutsuji will continue to allow anyone to visit that forest.

But I don't regret helping Lady Tamayo and Yushiro. Without the blood samples I got her, it probably would have taken a lot longer for the cure to be created.

So I tuck my hands behind my head and look to the heavens, observing the distant stars and constellations.

Hinatsuru clambered up onto the roof with me, sitting a few feet away. For a minute, we just watch the sky, taking in the vastness of space.

"Why are you awake?"

"I couldn't sleep," she responded. "I'm just worried about Tengen."

"I can assure you, he's completely fine. He's done nothing to aggravate any of the more powerful demons, and all of the slayers are taking good care of each other."

We sat in silence, and I started to listen to the faint sound of the river as it rushed through the field.

"Do you regret becoming one?" She finally asked.

"Hm?"

"Becoming a demon, I mean."

I pondered her question for a while.

"I guess not. If I hadn't become a demon I wouldn't be here right now. I never would have met anyone I know now. Douma, Lady Tamayo, Yushiro, Tanjiro, you three, the other uppermoons, no one." I stretched my legs out so they were laying flat on the roof.

"So you think it's been worth it to serve under Kibutsuji?"

"Yeah. Aside from him, everyone I know is a good person at heart. We all have something in our past that pushed us to become who we are, and that's been true for a long, long time. Even He has something in his past, even though he's never told us what it is."

"I can understand having something that drives you, but how can it push you to kill people?"

"Well, we kill humans to survive, as well as on his orders."

"What about Kibutsuji? What's his goal?"

"He wants to achieve immortality and be able to walk in the sunlight. To do that, he needs to acquire a blue spider lily, and a demon who has conquered the sun."

"That doesn't sound very good for humanity."

I let out a long sigh. "Who knows. Maybe when all is said and done, he'll back down and live a peaceful life."

Hinatsuru let out a gentle laugh. "Wouldn't that be something. After all this bloodshed, he just sits down on a beach with an iced tea for the rest of his immortality."

I chuckled. It was nice to share a laugh with someone in this limbo between life and death.

"I think you three are the nicest demons I've ever met. Well, the most human-like demons," she smiled.

"Thank you. If only you could safely spend a day with the uppermoons. You'd realize we're all a lot more like humans than you'd think."

"Speaking of humans, are you going to take the antidote and turn back into one?"

"Yes. Douma and I are both going to take the cure and, hopefully, live 'happily ever after.'" I removed my hands from under my head and settled them on my stomach. "You know, a long time ago, I asked Gyutaro if he regretted becoming a demon. He told me he regrets nothing, but he wished his sister had been born into a normal family so she could have a future without being a demon."

Hinatsuru thought that over for a minute. "That's sweet, that he cares for his sister so much."

"They had a great bond. Daki said once that no matter how many times she was reborn, she would always be Gyutaro's younger sister, and would love him in every life she lived. Of course, I wasn't meant to hear that. I was passing by while they were fighting."

"Had a great bond?" She emphasized the 'had'.

"They were killed when we were sent to turn the slayers into demons."

"Im sorry, who killed them?"

"Iguro and your husband," I said grimly.

"Oh..."

I shook my head, trying to clear the storm clouds gathering in my mind. "It's alright, they probably belong to a happy, loving family now."

Hinatsuru nodded and got up. "It was nice talking to you, Akaza."

"Likewise."

She slid down the length of the roof and jumped down, landing quietly on her feet before going inside.

Hah short filler chapter!
I feel like these chapters are getting worse and worse...
Hopefully I don't mess up the ending!

PLEASE DON'T STAY UP ALL NIGHT- GET SOME SLEEP 💤❤️