To the Flames of the Sun

Chapter Fifteen

At last, presenting to you, Tsugikuni Midori!

Midori's POV

"Brave lady!"

Agatsuma Zenitsu yelled as soon as we sisters walked over to stand next to all the surviving candidates, and basically came hurtling towards us. I chuckled softly. This boy was definitely a sucker for the attention of the opposite sex, probably much more than other boys his age.

"Good to see you made it out alive, Agatsuma Zenitsu."

"Well, of course, I made it out alive!"

He screamed again, his eyes literally forming hearts.

"I'd already told you that I needed to survive to be able to lay my eyes on your beautiful face at least one more time before I got killed as an official demon slayer!"

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Zenitsu."

I smiled but refrained from placing my hand on his shoulder due to the fear that he would pass out like the last time we had met.

"Anybody who manages to survive the Final Selection on their own usually has a good future as a demon slayer. Sure, you needed our help with that demon, but I don't blame you for that. It had been a tricky affair for all of us."

I glanced at Kanao nee-san who appeared just as thoughtful as I had expected. We both were thinking the same thing. Something had gone wrong during the Final Selection. A demon as powerful and cunning as the one we had battled against on our third night here should have never existed on Mt. Fujikasane in the first place. I looked back at Zenitsu and smiled again.

"Like I said, don't be so hard on yourself. You'll do great, won't you?"

Now I produced my signature smile, and Zenitsu began to scream in excitement again.

"Yes, yes, definitely yes! I will do exactly as you said, brave lady! Oh, you're so beautiful, and so is your friend here and-"

"Sister."

I corrected.

"Right, of course! You share no similarities except how endearingly exquisite you are! Ethereal! Divine! Heavenly! Celestial! And-"

How could someone possibly use such fancy vocabulary while screaming their head off?

"And please tell me your name! You never even told me your name! You disappeared that night like some kind of alluring and mysterious fairy!"

"Oh, who knows, maybe I truly am a fairy?"

I knew Zenitsu was going to scream his lungs raw all over again if I used that sultry tone on him, but I couldn't help it anymore. The boy was adorable, so much so that I somewhat hoped that we would be able to remain at least amicable acquaintances throughout the course of our carrier, if not friends.

"I don't have a single doubt about it! Your name is probably as lovely as you are!"

"It's just Tsugikuni Midori. And this is my sister, Tsuyuri Kanao."

"Tsugikuni and Tsuyuri?"

The Kamado boy had finally approached us, even though I'd planned on going up to him myself had it not been for Zenitsu catching up to us first, and I smiled at him.

"We're foster sisters. It's a very long and complicated story."

"Complicated or not, you two look pretty close to each other and that's wonderful! I'm pretty close to my own sister too!"

"You have a sister as well?"

His hitherto polite smile turned somewhat melancholic.

"Our story is complicated too. Anyway, since I finally found out your name at last, let me formally introduce myself as well. My name is Kamado Tanjiro! It's a pleasure to meet you, Tsugikuni Midori!"