Amare Flos (Demon Slayer)

Kindness part 2

Sorrow and guilt underlined Kaze's eyes, his mother slept peacefully, her grey hairs and wrinkles were idle as the moonlight shone from the dusty window. Kaze decided to let her rest instead of waking her for no reason, he didn't mind waiting for her to wake herself up. Kaze took a deep breath and he averted his attention away from his mother. He spoke more with the caretaker, they both sat around the small table in the corner.

"I laid her here since the bed in the bedroom broke recently, I hate to say this but... Kaze. Your mother, she isn't getting much better." The caretaker's eyes glistened with tears, her hands held tightly onto each other, the room was clouded with tension. Kaze's eyes were focused on the caretaker, his eyes had widened a bit, in his heart he had hoped when he returned that his mother would be better.

"Soon it'll be the fourth year since your father passed. The fourth year of this terrible illness." The caretaker clamped her eyelids shut, some tears escaped the tight clamp. The caretaker sniffed, and a single teardrop fell onto the dress the caretaker wore. Kaze's lungs expanded as he inhaled deeply, he could smell the dust in the room, he exhaled and gripped at the fabric of his jacket as a way to cope with the intense atmosphere.

"The medicine doesn't work?" Kaze spoke quietly. The illness his mother caught was mysterious, several doctors were clueless, some said it was a bacterial infection so they prescribed medicines to ease the pain, not combat the bacteria. There were no known medicines that would combat whatever illness was present.

The caretaker slowly shook her head. Kaze's heart sank, he couldn't imagine the state of his mother's body if she had been suffering for the last few years.

"I'll take her to a doctor I know." Kaze referred to Shinobu, he had a tight grip on hope. He was sure if he took his mother to Shinobu, she would be able to cure his mother. The caretaker didn't have the same intense optimism Kaze had.

"Your mother can barely walk... How will you take her?" The caretaker gave a realistic approach to Kaze's statement. Kaze's heartbeat, blood flowed into every artery, vein and capillary, Kaze's mind was overwhelmed with possible solutions, he was not going to give up.

"I'll carry her all the way if I have to." Kaze was insistent on taking his mother to Shinobu. His eyes burned with determination and hope, he would not give up. After all the death he had seen, he had to prevent all he could.

"She's frail. If you do... Please be careful." the caretaker whispered, the clock on the faded timber walls ticked slowly as both of them stayed silent.

"Why does it have to be so hard?.. Only... if I had a car." Kaze realised the value and efficiency of a car, he didn't care about the selfish nature of one, it would make it easier for him to transport his mother. Kaze's elbows rested on the table, his hands held his head as he closed his eyes and faced down.

"The money that your mother got from selling the dojo is soon to run out as well. I want to thank you for your monthly contributions, you're very kind to send whatever money you make to us." The caretaker only added fuel to Kaze's sadness, a feeling of stress and sorrow expanded in Kaze's heart. He missed his father. He missed the dojo. Suddenly, a small spark of happiness eliminated the growing darkness.

"Oh, I got officially hired as a Demon Slayer. I'll be getting paid much more now." Kaze's face finally found a reason to smile. When he was simply an unofficial Demon Slayer, he was usually paid by random villagers who wanted to express their gratitude. It was enough to live on, and whatever he had left he sent back to his mother.

"Well, that's wonderful." The caretaker smiled.

"You can take a bigger share now. Maybe buy some new clothes as well, sorry if the money till now wasn't sufficient enough for your fees." Kaze apologised to the caretaker.