Cataclysm // Demon Slayer Deku

The Prodigy

I looked out my window, watching as the wind swept through the trees outside, branches swaying from side-to-side. Crickets incessantly chirping in the tall grass.

"I can't fully rely on my training with Agatsuma-Sensei, I have to train as much as possible if I want to become stronger... and those therapy sessions have only been holding me back," I thought to myself.

"It is nice to talk to that nice man though... even though he hasn't told me his name yet... but still, I can't waste time on that."

"Mom wouldn't want me to... right? She'd want me to do this..."

I walked over to the other side of the room, where my wooded katana was currently propped up against the wall. "I can already somewhat use a form of Flower Breathing... the one that greatly enhances vision... it only makes sense for me to learn more..." I muttered, picking up the wooden katana.

"But the only way I can do that is by getting the Flower Breathing guide..... only problem is... it's in the doctor's room. I think she's asleep, but I'll have to be real careful as to not wake her."

I held the katana firmly by my side. "If I'm going to get away with this, I'll have to perfectly conceal my presence," I told myself, quietly opening the door. I lifted up my small backpack and swung it around my shoulders, creating an audible rattling sound. I winced at the noice.

Normally it wouldn't be enough to wake a person up, but I'm living with highly skillful people who have been trained to notice the slightest things. I have to be more careful. I slowly made my way out of the room, peaking my head around a corner, eyeing the closed door to the doctor's room.

A dim light stretched under the crack in the door, indicating that she was probably still awake. "Dang it..." I muttered. I listened closely for any noises coming from the room, hearing running water.

"She's in the bathroom. If I'm quick... I can go in, get the book, and go out, without being spotted," I though to myself, cautiously tiptoeing my way over to the room.

"I don't feel good about doing this, but the doctor and Agatsuma-Sensei are more concerned with my mental health than training me. If this is what I have to resort to, to get stronger, then I'll do it," I thought, carefully opening the door just a little bit, enough for me to barely fit through. I peaked my head into the room, noticing the door to the bathroom was closed.

"Good. This will be easy," I muttered, quickly concentrating on hiding my presence before fully entering the room.

My eyes searched the room, eventually landing on the same bookshelf I had seen the Flower Breathing guide in before. "There it is!" I thought, making my way over to the bookshelf, running my finger across each book until it reached the book I was looking for.

I grinned slightly, carefully removing the book from the bookshelf. I reached into my open backpack, pulling out a book I had created for this very day. It was a decoy in a sense. I remembered what the Flower Breathing guide has looked like when I first saw it.

I slowly put the book in place of the Flower Breathing guide into the bookshelf. I had made a realistic copy of the guide, so that when I took the real one, the doctor wouldn't notice that it was missing. I was probably going to get caught eventually, but that was future me's problem.

Of course the fake copy was full of blank pages, it was the covering that was identical to the real one. As long as the doctor doesn't look in the copy, I'll be fine.

I carefully made my way towards the door, towards the exit. I inched my way through the slightly opened door, and quietly closed it, not creating any noticeable sounds.