Eclipsed (Demon Slayer)

trial

"What are you doing?" She asked as I looked up.

"Akari?" I say as everyone looks at her.

She looks to me and then to the Hashira that hurt Nezuko, she had a look of confusion and anger, I've never seen her angry.

"You're up?" Tomioka was surprised.

"Where are her injuries?" Asked the one with pink and green hair.

"I asked a question." She says.

"Akari, it's okay." I assured her.

She pointed to Nezuko. "Then why is she bleeding?"

"She resisted human blood--"

"How is she healed already?" Asked Shinobu. "Not even a scratch... Nothing."

She moved her hair out of her face as the wind blew, she covered her nose from the blood coming off of the Hashira.

She finally drops her hand. "You don't need to worry about Nezuko, you need to be worried about me."

"Akari, no!" I say.

"Why is that?" Asked the master.

"Nezuko is much nicer than I am. I got this...thing." She says.

"What thing?" Asked Shinobu as Akari lifted her sleeve, digging one of her nails into her skin, a line a blood appears, after a minute it completely heals.

I can tell everyone was shocked by this, considering she's the only known half blood.

"Impossible." The pink and green Hashira's says. "You're not burning in the sun!"

"Kamado Tanjiro, this concludes our business with you. You may step back." The master tells me.

"Akari has never hurt a human either, she resist everytime she smells human blood! Please--"

"There's only one way to find out!" Shinazugawa steps off the ledge of the veranda and onto the gravel.

"Wait!" I beg.

"Shut up!" He says cutting his arm again. The blood drips down his arm as she started to breathe heavily. He walks closer to her, taunting her. "You know you can't resist, you covered your nose before."

"I won't." She says firmly.

"Do it!" He says smothered her face with blood and pushed her to the ground.

"Stop it! That's not fair!" I grabbed his arm and he pushed me back as I hear Akari make a weird noise, she coughed some.

"Here we go!" He says lifting his sword, she turned around and he brings down his sword but she grasped the blade with both hands. Her eyes... they're red! But her eyes are soft and for the first time, she has a small smile. This is a first for me.

She forced herself off her knees and pushed against the sword causing her blood to drop profusely. There was a twinge of pain on her face but she still had a smile.

She spits blood out of her mouth and onto the ground. "Gross."

"What!" He says offended.

"You hurt my friends. They are the only ones that have accepted me for who I am. I get that demons disgust you but we are not all the same. I didn't ask for this but I got a second chance to prove myself." She says pushing against him, his feet pushed through the gravel, he had a startled look to him. "I don't need your expectations of what I'm supposed to be, I made the bricks to pave my way."

"What is your diet?" Asked the master.

"Ramen, Rice cakes, you know, the good stuff."

I smiled, it was a relief to see that she's not so different from Nezuko, it was a wonder how I found her or more how she found me.