burning for you - rengoku k.

five.

I was standing in front of the mirror, brushing through my hair, then placing small braids on the sides to separate my hair from my face. The rest were flowing freely down my waist, as I grew I realized I preferred it that way.

I exited the bathroom, and finished the rest of my breakfast. Soon, Hayate-sensei entered the house.

"You have to leave soon, Kagemi-chan" he smiled, gently patting the top of my head.

"I know, I am ready" I nodded as I swallowed the last bite of my food. The katana Hayate-sensei lent me lay next to me on the ground, together with my haori.

I quickly gulped down my morning tea, then I grabbed the haori to wrap it around me.

It was the only thing that remained from my childhood home. An unfinished haori my mother made. The simple black piece of clothing had uncolored, white dandelions print on the bottom of it. I knew my mother intended to color it, but I liked it more that way.

Then, my hands reached for my katana and placed the weapon on my side.

Hayate-sensei looked even more nervous than I felt. Reality had yet to hit me, and the thought that I would leave the area for the first time in my life still not settled.

I stood up, ready to go.

"Be careful, okay?" he said, gently grabbing my shoulders. "I trust your power, you should be able to pass the exam"

I gave him a close-eyed smile.

"I am not planning to fail" I grinned. Then I wrapped my arms around him which surprised him. He hesitated to return my hug, but then his arms were around me. "Thank you for everything,  Hayate-sensei"

I let go of him, then left the house. I turned back to wave at him with a smile, then I turned around to walk towards my destination: Mount Fujikasane, to take the final selection exam and become a member of the Demon Slayer Corps.

————

The road was long and tiring, but it went really smoothly. It took me days to reach Mount Fujikasane, but I made it in time. The last bit was climbing the mountain to reach the exam's location.

My path followed through wisteria trees. I had never seen such a beautiful scenery before. The trees were at full bloom, the overwhelming purple dominated the area, combined with their sweet scent, I truly felt like walking through the scenery of a fairy tale.

When I reached the starting point of the exam, there already were many people, waiting. All heads turned my direction for a second, acknowledging the presence of a new possible future comrade, but no interaction happened.

I inspected them as well, some were seemingly younger than me, some were older. They all looked determined, I barely felt any anxiety or nervousness seeping from their aura.

Honestly, I wasn't nervous either. I trusted my training years, I trusted myself.

I admit I was scared to stand out with my unusual hair color, but I wasn't the most flashy person there, in fact, I looked pretty average. For example, I saw a girl with pine-green hair and a boy whose orange-red hair looked like flames on his head.

The green-haired girl noticed my stare, and she walked to me with a confident smile on her face.

"Hii" she greeted me cheerfully. "Is there something wrong with me?" she asked, tilting her head to the right.

My face turned red. "N-no" I stuttered. "I-I just like your hair" It was a half-lie. I did like her hair.

She touched her head, surprised by my answer, slowly brushing her fingers through her locks.