A Jar of Unfinished Dreams

Kny x FGO (8)

Wing eagerly for his student to come home, only to hear that they had died...

No wonder he never wanted him to go on Final Selection.

ーDon't, Ritsuka shook his head. Remember what is your goal, Ritsuka. Don't let anger and grief blinded you.

You have to become Demon Slayer.

You have to stop Kibutsuji Muzan.

You have to help Gudako turn herself back into human, he touched lightly the hanafuda earring dangling on his right ear. Remember your promise with Father.

Our promise.

Ritsuka took a deep breath and looked at the top of the boulder. The sun had steadily dived back into the end of valley.

The night had came. It's time to face them.

"...I know you're there," Ritsuka spoke slowly. "Please come out... senpai."

A silence. Then, a young figure appeared on top of the huge boulder with a thud. He wore a green yukata, patterned with geometric square design of yellow and a darker green together with white haori. His face was covered by a mask that took a shape of fox's face.

"Who are you exactly?" the masked man asked. "How do you know I am here?"

Ritsuka couldn't see his expression, but he could smell the thick tension came from the wandering spirit. He couldn't blame him.

He was a reincarnated person who came from different timelineーmaybe even different world. His origin clearly not belong to this era, and undoubtedly they had realized it.

Furthermore, he was a mage. A mage with high-quality magic circuits. Coincidentally, he knew step-by-step how to ward off spirits in church-approved way.

Let's just hope there won't be any misunderstanding.

.

The newest student of Urokodaki Sakonji was dangerous.

While living beingーdemons includedーcouldn't see what's the big issue, Sabito and others couldn't say the same. They were wraith; souls of dead people that remain attached to this world due to past grudges, regrets and other sorts of unfinished business that they had during life. They're sensitive with things that couldn't be seen with naked eyes.

This man reekedーno, radiated strong odd energy it felt suffocating. Nobody could identify what the energy was, but Sabito could feel the lingering death just by standing face-to-face with him.

It's as if he wasn't already dead. It's as if the man in front of him very much capable to forcibly dragged him to afterlife, even though his regret hadn't paid off.

Even normal exorcist couldn't do the same. They only could harm spirits with malice intent; without evil thought, it's impossible to harm a lingering spirit. It shouldn't be possible.

But it seemed this man had different story.

"Are you an exorcist?" Sabito griped hard the wooden sword on his hand. He had to negotiate with this dangerous man, or else he couldn't take revenge to that damned Hand Demon who had killed his comrades.

Much to his surprise, the young man smiled and shook his head. "I'm not," he said. "I am Kamado Tanjirou, the newest apprentice of Urokodaki-san. Your kouhai. All of you.

And like you, I love him."

Sabito tensed at his last word. How did he know he was, together with other twelve spirits here, the previous student before him? Is he bluffing?