Hey!
Hey, Big Bro!
Get up!
Eh?
Bright golden eyes were set alight, as he awoke to a pit of murky black encasing him.
Huh....?
He instinctively tried moving his arm, only to find that so much as a twitch of his finger was an impossible task. Confused, he furrowed his eyebrows, golden eyes darting every which way.
W-Where....am I....?
All around him was a constricting, eerie black, however, holding him down.
Why is it-......why am I pinned down like this?
He twitched again, this time managing a fist.
Ah.....I can move, He remarked to himself, So....I'm not dead yet.....
Maybe....if I just.....
In one swift movement, he yanked himself upwards, sitting up.
Ah.
Before he had realized it, the black had vanished. There was no longer the suffocating darkness clouding him, but rather more familiar surroundings.
The chirping of house sparrows called to him, as he stared blanky ahead. He familiarized himself with the feeling of thin, stained sheets and the hard mattress beneath him, the gentle early day breeze blowing in from the window left ajar. The small room in which he lay was near-barren, with a rickety old rocking chair draped with a lace piece of cloth over the headrest in the corner of it, by the door of the bedroom. Aside from the candle resting atop the small desk by his bedside and the loose stack of books by the chair, there was very little else of note, aside from the thin slits in between the boards that gave a view of the floor below and the hefty scent of smog followed the whisps of wind pouring through.
Yet, for him, all of this, the rising sun, the outdoor sounds of bustling cars and murmuring work-goers,
Ah.....this is.....home.....
For a moment, all he could do was remain upright, motionless, unsure of whether to move or stay still as he was.
Why.....why am I here.....
Then, his eyes, auburn and gentle, widened ever so slightly as the epiphany hit him.
Ah-....
He turned his head, towards the entrance, the thin wooden door.
Just now, he's going to-
"Big Bro, Big Bro!"
Just then, the door slammed open like the wind kicked it out, and a short, thin boy leapt out from the hallway with a jovial grin on his lips.
Ah.
"Big Bro!" The child repeated himself once more, racing over to his bedside. As the boy got closer and jumped up onto his bed, he was able to get a closer look at him.
"You've been in bed for hours, now!" The kid whined to him, sticking out a lip in a pout, "Mom left for work a while ago, and I've been left with nothing to do! I'm hungry, I'm bored, so get up and do something with me!"
The boy comedically crossed his arms and touched his chin to his neck, furrowing his eyebrows to reflect his displeasure.
This.....is....
The boy, sitting upright at his feet with a smile perpetually plastered on his visage, bewildered him. His arms, loosely covered with a stained beige long-sleeve top, seemed to be unhealthily slender, with the limp fabric doing little to mask the scrawniness of the smiling child at his feet. His collar was protruding like the bone wished to escape his very body, and the joints seemed to probe and prod at his skin in a winning attempt at breaking free. His cheeks were caved in, and shaggy brown hair seemed dull, void of volume or nutrition. Chapped lips, droopy doe eyes and yellow teeth seemed to hint at a lack of hygiene, though, for some odd reason, he felt no disgust at the boy's filthiness.
You...... Staring, motionless, at the child grinning at the foot of the bed, he tilted his head ever so slightly, and began to reach out to him.
".....Akemi."
His eyes widened, he hadn't meant to speak. His mouth opened on its own, and once more, he said,
"Akemi."
I, he muttered to himself in shock, I....I said it again.....
"Hm? What's up Big Bro?" The boy said again, mirroring the tilt to the head of the man in question.
His gaze shifted downwards as he pulled his hand back, looking down at his palm in confusion.
This.....is a memory, isn't it......
....Maybe a memory I forgot with time.....
Before long, the young boy he knew only as Akemi had dragged him from bed, still retaining that smile on his lips.
Part of him was confused, perplexed for the reason Akemi was always grinning so forcefully.
As their day went on, As Akemi nagged at him to cook him up something to eat, as Akemi dragged him outside into the muddy, sewage-scented streets to play, that smile still remained on his face.
There was a degree of mystery and oddity that came with the scene, he was unfamiliar, yet, completely at home with this memory.
Blank eyes glossed over every little detail of the street this peculiar child led him through, the broken windows of brick houses stained with soot, the ragged scrawniness of the passersby, all of which seemed to look with further disgust at him and Akemi, ignoring the similarities in their dress, namely the grime and dirt among them.
It intrigued him, the looks they gave him.
Such disdain, prying eyes with an unwarranted superiority laced within their hostility.
Why did they look as if they were better than him, better than Akemi?
For some reason, the look found in all they walked past bothered him.
Yet,
Akemi....
"You're so slow, Big Bro, pick up the pace!"
Despite this, the boy holding his hand, leading the way with a smile on his face, seemed unfazed. He hadn't so much as glanced at any of the onlookers, let alone noticed the dark ring of hatred surrounding them from all corners of the street.
Ah....that's right.....we.....were hated.....
His eyes, the right covered by his long, wavy bangs, kept low.
He remembered.
We.....were different....
.....You, and I, Akemi.....
........Our....'Mother', if you can even call her that, she was....a prostitute here.....
But, you didn't know that....you didn't know how she immigrated here with me, to a beloved who abandoned her for another woman......you knew not of the hardships that followed, being an abnormal woman in an unfamiliar world, with no way back, you were far too young to understand why people gave you that disgusted look....
Yes.....you, Akemi, around you......
There always seemed to be a glow....a bright glowing ring around you.....all your innocent joy, blind to the suffering and hatred in your life, it protected you.....
Just as the murky black that was his life dissipated as he entered his dream, once again, with Akemi as the epicenter, the black faded once again.
With it, arrived a smile.
He sped up, quickly following Akemi to wherever they wished to go.
"Wah, he did it again!"
The sound of a bell being clanged rung through the small venue, and a strong, brolic man with a shaved head collapsed to the ground.
"THE WINNER, ONCE AGAIN, IS THE ORIENTAL GLADIATOR, KUMA HISASHI!"
The man in question sneered at his name being called out by the stubby announcer in a bowler's hat.
Tch, quite the name you have for me, 'Oriental', my ass....
The crowd of dozens of working-class men let out howls of displeasure and chucked all sorts of trash into the hexagonal arena of mud and teeth, calling out to the victor as the defeated was slung over the bouncer's shoulders and carried off to the pigsty they refurbished into a makeshift medical clinic.
Akemi's cheers from the front row overtook most of the jeers to him, however, and he smiled and threw his fist up in his direction.
As he exited the muddy arena and walked off to the changing rooms, Akemi followed suit, rambling on about how strong his big brother truly was.
It wasn't long before he took a seat on the bench and began unraveling the muddied bandages from his hands, flexing his fingers to feel for any signs of fracture. As always, there was little more than broken skin on his knuckles, nothing that wouldn't scab over overnight.
This was how he often spent his evenings. Being thrown into a ring and forced to box for a living. No other workshop would hire someone like him, no one bothered to so much as glance at what he can do.
But here, he was someone.
He glanced over at Akemi, who was grinning as he counted the money he had earned for his three fights of the night.
It would suffice for a week, and then, back to where he's viewed as more than just a stain on a rug.
"Haha, hey, Big Bro!" Akemi hopped off the bench, and held out the banknotes like a hand of cards, and said, "We have enough to go out and do something special tonight!"
He shook his head, chuckling as he patted his younger brother on the head.
"No can do, Akemi, we've got to save some of this up for when Mom gets back from work, remember?"
The young boy made a pouting face and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Hmph, we can still use half of it for something cool...."
"Ah, yeah?" He decided to bite the bait with a smirk, "then, what is it you wanna do so badly, huh Akemi?"
The boy instantly perked up, and grinned.
"Beef stew! With real, real beef!"
He gave his hair another tussle and let out a sigh.
"Really? Why that?"
"Because it's yummy!" Akemi ran around his older brother to his back and started grabbing at his hair, tussling it just as his older brother had done before.
"Come on, come on, come on! You've earned some good food, Big Bro!"
He let out a long, drawn-out sigh.
There was just no winning with Akemi.
"Oi! Big Bro! Over there!"
He felt a playful yank of his hair to the left as he walked down the cold sidewalk, turning in the direction Akemi pointed him.
"There, there! Let's go grab some food in there!" Akemi excitedly called out, pointing to a black building with a handful of people in the window, all of which had gluttonous dinners before them with their tables lit by candlelight.
He hummed in indecision for a brief moment, looking down at the pouch in his hand, before smiling once more.
Hm....one time can't hurt...
Before long, he and Akemi had two glistening white plates larger than they had seen before, handed to them by an elderly man wrapped up in a suit and a tight orderly moustache atop his lip.
A heavy helping of dark brown stew, sparkled with dots of green and orange with golden potatoes poking out of the sauces sat in front of their hungry faces, the smell alone enough to wind them in.
Without so much as a glance in any other direction, Akemi dug in.
"Uwah! This is delicious, Big Bro!" Akemi lapped up the salty gravy from his plate like a dog and looked up to him with a saucy ring around his lips, grinning from ear to ear with peas stuck in his teeth.
He let himself crack a smile in turn, chuckling under his breath.
He leaned into his spoon and tasted the rich food on his plate, relishing the warmth it gave him.
The flicking of the light, the setting of the sun over the peaks of the rooftops as light slowly drifted off past the horizon,
and the smile of the little brother before him.
such a fond memory, one he-
Oi, Oi. Don't tell me you fooled yourself with such a farce, Selir.
His eyes shot open. All around him was nothing but the murky black he had escaped earlier. His breath, afflicted by the panic creeping up, heaved and his hearted quickened in his chest.
Back...Back here....why..?
Don't be stupid, Selir.
He shuddered at the sound of the ghostly voice behind his shoulder.
He tried to turn his head, though he remained unmoving. He could feel a swarming danger cloud him over as long, cold fingernails dug into his shoulders, making him wince.
Listen to yourself, who do you think you're trying to trick with this charade you're playing?
He tried responding out loud, croaking out a sentence.
"Who....are you...?"
That does not matter, Selir.
The response was harsh, like he had just asked something stupidly obvious.
Think about your situation for a second, Selir, the voice told him, Do you really think that you had such a peaceful upbringing?
He furrowed his eyebrows, unsure of what the figure was telling him.
"Huh....? What are you talking about...?"
Face the music, Selir. What kind of miserable blotch on the face of the earth would be able to live such a fine life with his beloved younger brother?
"What?" He crinkled his nose, unsure of what to make of this man's words.
You blind yourself with such falsehoods, Selir, the lies you tell yourself make you oblivious to the sacrifices you have made throughout your life.
He was only more complexed by the words spoken from this figure gripping him so tightly, his words tearing up at his insides.
The figure's talons removed themselves from his shoulders, to his relief, but a hand gripped him by the scalp and yanked his head upwards, making a fearful gasp escape his lips.
Come, Selir, the voice finally said, Let me show you the reality you find yourself in.
Before any utters of defiance could escape his lips, his visioned blacked, and he caved in on himself.
Walking, step by step.
Slowly, achingly twitching his way along the brick road.
His body, crippled by the spell placed upon it prior, ambled its way past the destruction of the streets around him. Without so much as a glance down as he took a step onto the burning coals scattered across the roads, he continued to walk forwards.
He followed the scent of blood, for he could not see. Staggering on his feet, he swayed with every step he took down the decimated city.
He stood above it, unmoving, head tilted down.
There lay the bifurcated corpse of the one he called family, his brother. Blank eyes void of the golden hue which was a constant throughout the countless demons under Sephir's control, it was clear to him there was nothing he could do.
Though he could not see, he still felt the bitterness of teardrops pooling from his eyes. His breathing quickened and his chest began to heave, as he felt himself crumbling from within.
As a screeching wail was let out into the air, anger and anguish was released all at once, and he collapsed to his knees.
He writhed in his suffering, and clawed as his skin with sharp talons on the ground, tainting the street with a murky blood. Slamming his head against the rocks, tearing at his limbs, screaming into the night, grieving.
Now, you see what has become of your brother.
He rose from the ground instantly. All signs of tears had vanished, his wounds sealing shut, the blood on the ground sucked back into his black silhouette.
Sharp nails dug into his shoulders once more, and the voice returned behind him.
This is who you are, what your life once was.
There was never any joy, any happiness, any respite from your suffering. You were trash, vile waste with no purpose other than to be filth and always be filth.
Fragmented images burned themselves into his brain, the polar opposite of what he considered to be irrefutable memories of his past life as an older brother.
There were no fights with good endings, at least, no endings that could be seen as good.
The men who bet against him ganged up on him after the fights and beat him senselessly, leaving him with new bruises and aches night after night. He fought back, naturally, and bludgeoned them until they ran off, licking their wounds after a failure to break him.
The scar where he was stabbed after breaking a match fix ached ever more after each beatdown, and being able to walk away with the money earned from the bets was seldom a worthwhile exchange for the wounds.
The words he heard as the immigrant son of a besotted and broken mother, the pain he endured for the sake of the family, the burden he alone was carrying, he resented and hated with every fiber of his being.
He never complained, though. It was all for Akemi.
His brother's emaciated structure returned to his mind.
....ah.
Maybe he never realized it until now, but, looking back on his memories of this boy, there were no smiles.
No laughter.
No constant, unwavering light shining off of this frail, fragile child he knew as family.
All he saw was blood, staining the stone of the alleyway under a moonless sky.
He heard the squelching of flesh and the cracking of bone as they snapped wooden posts over his sickly body, stepping on his face so that it barely so much as resembled what could remotely be considered human. His body writhed with every blow, and as he was pinned down barely a handful of feet away, face flush against the wet, coarse stone of the street, tears burning his eyes as he watched Akemi being battered into a bloody mess on the pavement.
The last thing he saw of the assailants was the blackened teeth of their self-satisfied grin, delighted in settling a petty grudge started over the loss of a handful of pence from a routine match.
It seemed as though they found a way to finally make him crack.
He only remembers kneeling before the body, staring blankly as it lay before him, unmoving.
Then, he arrived.
"Yeesh, that's some damage, isn't it? I assumed that a seasoned pitfighter such as yourself would be able to pummel these goons six ways to Sunday, and yet, here we are."
He didn't bother to look up, only glancing at the polished cream boots standing on the other side of his brother's corpse.
He spoke again, this time, piquing his interest.
"Hey. Want me to heal him?"
Slowly, hesitantly, he turned his head up towards the man, and his eyes widened.
Standing tall above him was a man only a inch or so shorter than himself, something practically unheard of in this country, given his behemoth size in comparison with the others around him.
The man, with silver locks reaching his nape and bright yellow eyes, sported a long black trench coat with equally dark pants and button-up, suspenders holding his trousers at his waist. He wore an unnerving smile on his face, with noticeable fangs poking out from his grin.
The aura surrounding this man was familiar to him, it was a sensation he could only find in the ring of mud and nails he knew so well.
It was not something so simple as malice, not the intent to bludgeon and tear limb from carcass that he encountered whenever he came across a tough opponent. It was far and beyond something so ordinary.
This was the scent, the feeling on his skin, of a true, undeniable killer.
Yet, he didn't say anything in return, only turning his attention back down to his brother's body.
The man raised an eyebrow at the lack of response, and let out a dry scoff.
"Pft, alright then, your loss, man."
The man then raised his foot over the child, and dropped it down with a chuckle. He froze when a grip tightened around his ankle, however, and heard a snap.
"....oh?"
The silver-haired man looked down in amusement when he saw bright eyes filled with rage looking right back up at him.
The older brother did not say a word, only glaring at him with murderous intent pooling out onto the street.
"....heh. There's the strength I knew you had in you~."
The silver-haired man pulled his leg back, the snapped limb healing almost instantly, visibly startling the silent man beside his brother.
"There it is," the man grinned, "that deep, incessant hatred you feel within yourself. Did you feel it too just now~?"
"Excuse me for monologuing for a little bit, but I think that you and I need one another in the situations we find ourselves in at the moment."
The silver-haired man introduced himself, and squatted down to the level of the other on the ground.
"My name is Sephir. In case you couldn't tell by the fact my leg reshaped itself back together in the blink of an eye, I am no human. I'm a demon, and I'm in need of two Demon Generals to watch over my outposts overseas."
"It doesn't look like you're bright enough to understand your own strength just yet, but in time, I think I'll be able to-
"Help. Him."
"Whatever you need to do. do it."
Sephir locked eyes with the bitter man on the ground, and smiled.
"Hmph. Yeah, why not~."
He slit his wrist with a slash of his fingernails, and let thick, murky blood drip down onto the child's body.
The man's eyes flashed wide when his brother began to change, transforming before him.
His body, already pale from his feeble upbringing and only worsened by the blood loss, writhed and he let out a throaty groan as he rolled onto his front, gritting his teeth visibly as his fists slammed into the ground.
"Your brother will become a demon, permitting he has the strength to withstand the power surge," Sephir said.
"If he evolves successfully, his only weakness will be that of the sun. You won't see him for months, even years at a time. But, in exchange, he will effectively be immortal."
The older brother was yanked from his fascination by a hand wrapping around his throat. He let out a choked sputter as Sephir dragged him to his feet and off the ground, bearing a grin on his lips.
"You're next, buddy~."
Suddenly, he was back to familiar surroundings, rocks, flames, and destroyed housing, gaze still fixed onto the body of his brother, refusing to vanish into dust.
Tell me, Selir, what do you think now, now that you are finally aware of your life's truths, and the lies you were fed by that man?
He said nothing, only raising his hand up to his face, staring at the whisps of black shadow that flickered off from his body, into the night.
He looked back at his brother's corpse, and held his palm out to the body.
"I.....I realize now," Selir finally said. His voice was hoarse and choked as tears fell down his cheek, and with it, a myriad of shadowy tentacles began to emerge from the black of the shadows, all rising high into the sky. The whisps of black smoke burned stronger and stronger off of his serpentine form, and the ground shook and trembled as the tendrils pointed down to the Angel and the body.
The whisps of black all pulled away from his visage all at once, and a young man, with tanned skin, brown locks draping over his features and a contorted saddened expression came out, bright golden eyes peering through the dark.
*Refer to Part 2 of Appearance Guide*
The figure in white grinned in hysterics as he released his nails from Selir's shoulders, and vanished into the night.
And, with the disappearance of the figure, Selir's tentacles all converged on him in an instant.
Just before he grabbed his fallen brother and consumed him in his shadows, he whispered, sobs intertwined in his tone.
"MY BROTHER AND I, WERE NEVER, EVER, MEANT TO BE HAPPY."
With a breathless pace, she wiped her brow and leapt down through the alleyways, vanishing into the night as she raced through the evacuated Shimabara streets.
Now, now, now....
where did I leave you....
From the cover of the shadows the buildings provided, Shinobu Kocho spotted it.
"There!"
In the blink of an eye, her needleblade was off the ground, in her sheath, and she was safely on the opposite rooftop.
When she emerged from the dark, it glowed and shone into the night sky.
On her right eye, was the violet insignia of a butterfly with its wings spread wide, glowing on her face.
She hadn't noticed the glowing violet mark just yet, though, she did notice one thing, as she glanced down at her hands, making fists and flexing her fingers.
W-W-.....what is this.....
For some reason, everything was.....different.
Her vision was crystal-clear, and her perception of everything around her was near-omniscient. She could feel every minute vibration in the air, every slight groove of the roofing tiles beneath her feet, the currents of wind that brought the black thunderclouds in from the sea. Her stamina was completely replenished, dramatically increased even. She felt stronger, faster, quicker to react, everything felt slow in comparison.
She could feel a brutal storm approaching, though it was none of her concern. At the moment, with the way she was feeling, nothing was.
She felt.....void.
She shook her head, unsheathing her blade.
No time to wonder what this was, she had one thing left to do.
Kill the remaining Archangel, and save Shimabara....again.
As she raced through the streets and leapt into the air, she felt her heart grow heavy, the only feeling she could muster.
Until-
"Woah!"
Narrowly dodging a mass of black striking out at her and landing on her feet on the ground, Shinobu sneered.
"Tch, there you are."
Standing ahead of her was the shadowy demon she had faced before, but her eyes widened when she took note of his appearance.
Ah....is he different now....?
From what she remembered, Selir was a long, tall, snake-ish figure with a single eye and constant smokiness to his body. Yet, gone was the height, and the elongated appearance. This one was far more compact.
Hunched over, with an ant-like face, sharp mandibles and a pair of fierce glowing yellow eyes, this humanoid stood with broad shoulders and a sturdy build, and, most notably, a pair of black locust wings on its back.
*Refer to Part 2 of Appearance Guide*
Shinobu raised a questioning eyebrow at the change.
Another summon, maybe...?
She shook her head, writing off the idea.
No, this guy.....
Almost instantaneously, the black grid of flames burst alight around her, with the demon raising its arms out, staring the ravenette down.
Shinobu knew right away.
Man....he's wayyyyy stronger.....
Her hands reacted on their own, parrying the claw that swiped at her throat, cutting open her forehead as it slashed right past her.
Ah-
She leapt back as an overhead blow shattered the ground where she stood, sending a release of energy in all directions, shaking the houses lining the street.
"W-Woah....fast..." Shinobu could only mutter to herself inadvertently, keeping her eyes locked on the figure that moved faster than her eyes could track.
The demon raised its head, staring her down again.
She hadn't realized, but her feet shifted back on their own under the demon's eyes.
It spoke, raising its hand out to her.
"Black Gate."
As the demon spoke, its arm fell off, and slipped beneath the ground as if it were water, rippling in all directions from where the limb sunk in.
Slowly, however, a figure escaped the earth, and emerged.
Tall, incredibly so, the figure took the form of a knight clad in black armor, far superior to the protection the pawns wore on their bodies. A golden blaze fizzled from the sockets in the new demon's helmet, and a long, black mane of shadow flowed in the storm's winds as the clouds rolled in. In its hand was a massive, heavy blade, far larger than any human could wield on their own. *Refer to Part 2 of Appearance Guide*
With a swing of its blade, the demon knight slammed its blade into the ground in front of it, putting its hands on the hilt, standing steadfast before Shinobu.
Selir quickly regrew their arm and passed the knight by, stepping further onto the grid.
The black demon stared Shinobu down, and, in the knight's ear, whispered,
"Tear her apart, Umbra Knight."
On command, the demon broke out into a sprint, gunning for the Insect Hashira.
Ah, he's quick too, Shinobu thought to herself, and yet...
The knight brought their blade up for a swing and brought it down over the ravenette's head, but, with the most minimal of movements, she dodged the swing, shifting her feet out of the way as the force split open a building behind them.
Yet....
The following upwards swing narrowly caught her, clipping the tip of her violet bangs.
Everything....feels so....light...
Each slash the knight sent down on her was narrowly avoided by the slimmest of margins, as Shinobu ducked, side-stepped, and leaned back from the constant barrage of slashes.
Her breathing remained calm, her mind remained empty, everything faded in and out of perception around her. All that remained, was the demon's blade, and her soul.
With each and every passing attack, as what remained of the streets was decimated by the shadows surrounding them, and as she parried and escaped from death every time, everything around her continued to vanish.
She backed away from a horizontal swing and backflipped past another, leaping into the air. The knight, just as quickly, closed the distance between them, shattering the streets with every step it took at a blitzing pace right for her.
As she fell, time slowed to a crawl.
She closed her eyes.
She had let go of everything.
The heat of the flames eating through the rows, dips and valleys of buildings lining the bayside, the sound of the thunder as the first raindrops touched the ground, the blaze of the grid she expertly danced through as the demon slashed at her throat time and time again.
She emptied her mind of all fear, all second thoughts that forced her hesitation and naïve habits in battle. Her wariness of taking a wrong step and losing her life in a battle, the exhaustion that came with putting up an act for those around her, under the guise of a promise to Kanae to never stop smiling. Her constant anger fleeted her, lifting the burden from her soul.
Her ties to Sakusa, holding her down, forcing the doubts of her own abilities and the comfort of safety in the event that she would not be strong enough to hold her own, they soon vanished too.
All that remained, was her.
Maybe....this must be....
She opened her eyes as she fell closer to the ground, and the tips of her toes were mere centimeters from the shattered rubble beneath.
The demon slashed again, a two-handed swing directly at her neck.
Her eyes met the glowing embers of the helmet's sockets, and in the fleeting instant between the blade of the demon's sword and her neck,
SO THIS, IS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE STRONG.
Shinobu vanished.
"Dance of the Bee Sting; True Flutter."
Before the demon knight could finish its attack, a gaping hole burst open in its chest, and a thunderous clap rung through the air. Roofing tiles were torn from houses, wooden sliding doors were blasted off their hinges, and debris was thrown through the air.
The demon knight exploded into a black muck on the grid tile, and Shinobu sheathed her blade, breaking her thrust stance in the process, exhaling through her nose.
The mark on her eye flashed a brilliant violet, and she stared down the next demon, the insect humanoid that sent forth the knight.
The rain finally settled down onto the ground, going from a light drizzle to torrential downpour in seconds. Dousing the flames of the homes around her, the clouds shut out the glow of the moonlit sky above, encasing the bayside town in a murky shadow.
Shinobu crouched into her battle stance, and the demon likewise, lurching forward and spreading their arms apart, black insect wings unfolding from their back.
As the lightning flashed through the air, and the ensuing thunderclap rocked the earth, they vanished.
From all angles, flashes of violet and gold, and the sound of steel clashing over and over mixed with Shinobu's rapid paces across the ground as she exchanged strikes with Selir, both of them only getting faster and faster with every glancing blow.
Shinobu kept up with no issues.
Huh.....how odd....
She parried a strike past her head, and, without hesitation, blocked the follow-up aimed at her spine, flicking her sword over her head and flipping away, using the force of the insect demon's strike to push her off down the street.
Landing on her feet, Selir launched a fierce front kick, missing her again, only drilling another crater in the ground.
Everything this demon throws at me....it's not that it's slow, yet.....
She felt no need to rush, for some reason. What was once her go-to tactic of ending the fight in a swift jab of poison was now nothing more than a hollow afterthought in the back of her mind. Right now, as she is now, a loss of stamina seemed impossible.
Defeat itself seemed impossible.
She dodged another swipe, almost floating across the ground with the lightest of touches of her feet, lost in her own thoughts.
Why don't I....
The tip of her left sandal made contact with the ground, and she vanished again, into the night.
Right....let's go.
The butterfly Hashira raced towards the demon, into their range without hesitation.
Violet steam escaped her mouth as her toxin bubbled in her sheath.
Insect Breathing......
She ducked under a wave of black energy that sliced the roof off a building behind her with ease, jabbing the demon in its side, where the liver would be.
She followed through, parrying a downwards swipe off to her right, blowing up the ground.
She fired off another two jabs to the lungs.
Vanishing behind the insect demon, she kicked out its legs from beneath them, jabbing it through the spine, sending it flying into the air, the fourth injection in quick succession.
The ground where she stood and the side of a shop overhang both exploded, and Shinobu thrust her blade into the demon's skull, sending it higher into the air, just above the rooftops.
She rebounded off the building opposite, soaring high above the demon themselves.
She aimed for the neck.
Third Form....Dance of the Dragonfly...
With one final thrust, she crashed down to earth, sending a shockwave through the ground and a swarm of butterflies with the raindrops as she pierced the demon's throat.
A fraction of a second in all, the demon was on its back, immobile, with her needle embedded in the ground, a straight shot right through the flesh of the neck.
Her eyes flashed another shade of violet.
"Compound Eye Hexagon."
She was getting faster,
until blood burst from her mouth, and her eyes flashed open.
....eh?
The ground exploded where she stood, and Shinobu was sent flying backwards into the wooden pike supporting a balcony, crashing right through it and slamming against the wall of the building itself with a thud. Her blade flew off in the opposite direction, jamming itself into a log in the decimated remnants of a clothing shop opposite of them.
"K-KAGH!" She collapsed, feeling a searing pain course through her entire body like a hot iron pressed against her from all angles.
K-Kgh, shit! What the hell just happened to me!?
Shinobu rapidly began coughing excessively, sputtering as blood splattered against the rocks in front of her. She keeled over, her vision fading inwards and outwards as she frantically tried to catch her bearings.
D-Damnit....can't....breathe....f-fuck, over-....-heating....get your shit together, Shinobu!
She felt her heart beating arrhythmically, further stressing her. Once again, so suddenly at that, her life was on the line.
With a brief respite, however, the worst of it subsided, and she weathered through it with her breathing.
Phew....
When her vision finally began to clear, however, she only saw the demon standing over her, talons sharpened and ready to pierce.
For once, the demon spoke, its tone deep, reverbing in her ears.
"You....you are a Hashira, yes?"
For some reason, even as she was facing down a demon powerful enough to level a city block, Shinobu still found it in herself to sneer and spit at Selir's foot.
"Pft...yeah, I might be," She scoffed, "what of it?"
In the back of her mind, she cursed Sakusa for her inability to keep her façade up as effortlessly as she once was. Just one of the ways he had managed to change her, it seemed.
"....I see." The demon said after a brief pause. Its pair of locust wings flapped open, and a wave of energy nearly sent her on another trip through a wooden building.
In a voice as calm as a voice could be, the demon only whispered with tears trickling down its cheeks,
"Then....please, die."
Her eyes flashed open when she realized what demon said and she lunged forward to counter immediately, but the fruitless effort only resulted in the demon's hand around her throat, lifting her off the ground.
A-Agh, fuck! She winced as the demon's grip tightened around her neck, being met with nothing but a cold, dead silence from the shadowed figure, that only killed her slowly, patiently.
S-Shit, n-no way...am I....
Whatever blind confidence and power overcame her only moments prior rapidly began to go down the drain.
However, something had taken her aback for a moment.
W-Wait....just...what was that...that came over me, anyways....
In the brief seconds she had before a complete blackout, Shinobu ran through each and every conclusion she could come to, looking for a semblance of an explanation for that rejuvenation she felt.
Thinking back, it was nothing like what she had learned herself. Total Concentration: Constant gave her no similar instantaneous boost in physical abilities, and her cognition and visual processing speed had never felt so refined through any of her Breathing Styles either. The boosts were far too high and far too intense to come from anything she had come up with herself. It wasn't Sakusa's anger control technique he tried to teach her months prior, she had never mastered it and cast aside the technique long ago, it wouldn't make sense for it to kick in now of all times.
She clicked her tongue as her vision clouded further, grabbing aimlessly as the demon's claws, trying to break free.
C-Come on, Shinobu, j-just try anything at this point....
Just what was that feeling before...?
Something, however, caught her eye.
Below her, to her very right, was a puddle, crystal clear through the torrent of rain coming down.
She glanced down, and in the reflection, came her answer.
W-Woah....what is-....
Her eyes shot open in her bewilderment, seeing the faint glow of a butterfly mark over her eye.
It was only an instinctive belief, but, the instant she saw it, she knew this violet glow was the root cause of her sudden influx of energy she experienced.
And, just as she realized this, the butterfly mark flashed again, and time once again relented its grasp on her.
I...I see now....
She reached for the tanto blade on her waist and a capsule of her corrosive poison, tossed the capsule just above the demon's arm, and jammed the knife into both capsule and forearm without a second thought.
The pill of poison instantly burst and ate away at Selir's arm, and the shadow demon immediately retracted, letting Shinobu go.
Right away, the butterfly girl rushed to her blade, snatching it away and escaping into the alleys.
She slid into the dark and slammed her back against a wall, catching her breath.
Hah....hah..hah......
Even still, she wore a look of amazement on her face.
I've.... I've got it....!
Her hand reached for the mark on her eye, as she thought to herself,
This...this mark on my face....it's what gave me that boost in strength!
I'm not exactly sure what this is, but if I had to bet on it, this must be some sort of awakening, something that only happened because of a life-or-death situation I found myself in, or, maybe, a rush of endorphins from being backed into a corner like that, and this might've only happened because-
She froze, the moment he entered her mind. The last smile she saw on his face, and the feeling of a kiss on her lips crept back into her thoughts.
She let out a sigh, and gripped at the hem of her uniform, right where her heart lay behind.
Because....of you, Sakusa......
Her glare softened as a ping struck her in the chest, still thinking about their last farewell.
Shinobu forced herself to forget about him, even for just a minute to collect herself. She couldn't have her mind on anything but the demon coming for her, anything short of sheer focus would prove fatal, she knew it.
She steeled her resolve and slapped her cheeks, forcing herself to fight not just for herself.
Come on, Shinobu, get your head on straight! Don't let his death be in vain, you've got to end this!
Take some deep breaths, now, you can't get ahead of yourself....
The butterfly girl let out a slow, even breath, closing her eyes.
Okay, okay, just....think.....
This demon, She thought to herself, it's strong, immensely so, but it's tangible, unlike the shadowy guy from before....is it some sort of trade-off for the extra strength...?
She rested her head against the back wall, looking up at the rain, letting it wash away some of the blood from her forehead.
I was fast enough to get it with Compound Eye Hexagon in each vital point, but it shrugged it off like it was nothing.....even Razel couldn't shrug off such a strong dose like that....so what's up, huh....
Her mind went back to her first encounter with the demon.
Just what was so special about them, anyways....
They could shift their body parts around at will, since their body was hollow, but they only did that when I caught them off guard, and I went for the head-
She stuttered, and her eyes shot open.
That's it! It wasn't his head that he was worried about!
Just when she was at her lowest, Shinobu Kocho felt a newfound courage inside of her, and she grasped her eye once more.
That feeling....of nothingness....it seems as though it fades off within a fifteen-minute timeframe, if that....I have to make the most of the time this takes effect, or else I'll collapse like last time....
She suddenly jolted back to her feet, feeling the hairs on her nape stand on end.
Wait, something's-
Before she could even finish her sentence, she ducked only a split second before another slash of black energy halved the building she hid behind, sending the uppermost stories flying through the air.
W-Woah!
She quickly got back up and turned to face the culprit, a black knight staring her down with their blade raised above their head.
Another Umbra Knight?!, she exclaimed.
Shinobu quickly flipped away from the ensuing strike and back out into the street, only to spot another figure aiming for her head with another longsword.
A-A second?!
Parrying the strike just before she was halved right down the center of her head, the raven-haired Hashira quickly found herself on the backfoot, blocking and knocking away heavy swings by two separate demons slashing at her.
D-Damnit, what the hell is with these two?!
Contrary to the gauge she had on the strength of the shadowy knights based on the one she defeated prior, these ones-
Are so goddamn strong!
Every swing of their oversized blade was not only thrown with conviction and the intent to kill, but a massive weight behind it, knocking her off her balance every time she deflected a blow with her own needle sword.
Both demon knights threw their swords down overtop of the ravenette, forcing her to block them both at once, instantly putting her onto the backfoot, in a contest of strength she would soon lose if nothing were to be done.
K-Kgh, Shinobu winced as the taller figures steadily overpowered her, W-Why the hell do you all have to be so damn strong!?
Gritting her teeth, she found it in herself to muster the strength to, with a cry and one big push-back, parry the blades down past her, and shuffle out of the way just in time before the two assailants got her.
Though, at a cost of a heavy blow to her stamina.
She collapsed onto one knee, coughing blood into her hand.
F-Fuck, I can't sustain this power for much longer, I've only got about ten minutes max, I'd say...
From down the street of ash and debris, the demon walked towards her and the duo of Knights.
"Ah, there you are," Selir said.
Shinobu winced and sneered at the demon coming over, getting back to her feet.
She watched as the two giant knights stepped into line alongside the insect demon, stabbing the ground and resting their hands on their hilts, clicking her tongue and grabbing hold of her needle blade with both hands.
Great....just great.....all three at once, huh....
"Oi, you, Demon Slayer," Selir called out to the ravenette, pointing to her, "I have something to say to you."
"Ah, yeah? Did this revelation of yours come up before or after you tried to strangle the life out of me, huh?" Shinobu replied, visibly sneering, "Honestly, I don't exactly have any reason to listen to a damn thing you have left to say to me, demon~."
For a moment, the demon seemed to mull over her reply, saying nothing. Its head tilted low, however, and the insect's gaze was locked down at the muddy streets.
She hadn't realized, but the ravenette audibly gulp at the brief pause in the conflict.
Everything seemed to begin to shake at once as the demon looked back up at her.
W-Woah, what the hell...!?
Like a loud, unending rumbling of the earth, Shinobu felt waves push through the city, houses being rocked through their foundations, debris of the battles past toppling over and collapsing in on themselves as time went on.
"....so that is all you will say in defense of your actions, heartless murderer...!?" The demon spat to her.
....Huh? Murderer? What do they... Shinobu's eyebrows creased when she took in the demon's words, unsure of what to say in response.
"You, the bastards who took away the ones I hold dear?!" The demon brandished their sword and released a violent wave of violet that wrapped around the blade, the demon visibly shaking as they stepped away from the knights.
Shinobu wiped the raindrops from her brow, feeling the pressure on her shoulders and the bloodlust in the air as the demon stared her down.
"Every time I try to reason with you good-for-nothing imbeciles....it always comes to blows, to conflict, to senseless violence.....I've....I've truly had enough!"
"All of you...vile, sickening people with no remorse for the pain you cause for others...I will end you all myself!!"
Through Selir's ramblings, however, something they said caught her off guard.
"I'll start with you, and, then,"
"That filthy maggot Sephir, I'll bludgeon him to death too!!"
Shinobu's eyes widened.
For a second, the demon almost sounded like-
The white-haired one?!
Before she could move to respond, the butterfly girl narrowly evaded a cutting blow from the insect demon, ducking out of the way of another shadow strike.
Back and forth the duo raced across the ground, throwing strike after slash at one another, Shinobu clicking her tongue as her foe leapt away from a flurry of venom-soaked jabs and quickly countered, nicking her on the cheek.
Tch, damnit!
Shinobu backed away, and crouched low, planting her feet steady on the ground.
I need more speed, more power, I need more from myself!
Had she known this before, she would have spited him for planting another habit into her head with his training, but the butterfly girl sheathed her blade, and leaned forward, until she was on the verge of tipping over. Mirroring Sakusa's own animalistic battle stance in every way, Shinobu launched back into another assault.
Insect Breathing, Fourth Form; Dance of the Centipede, Hundred-Legged Zigzag!
She kicked up the puddles beneath her feet as she vanished from sight another time, keeping pace with Selir's endless slashes of shadow.
However,
G-Godamnit, I can't get an opening!
Shinobu closed the distance and aimed for a jab at the neck, but jolted to her right just as quickly when a downwards blow crushed the ground right where she had stood. A second attempt at going for a weak point only yielded the same result, the black insect demon stopped her the instant she got in their range. Once more, they quickly countered, launching their own assault that ravaged the area with a flurry of lopsided shadowy energy waves.
Come on, push yourself, you dolt!
The butterfly girl slid under a horizontal wave of black and somersaulted over the demon, right into their blind spot. With a triumphant smile, she aimed at the base of their neck.
Fufu, now~!
Just as she thrust her sword, though, Selir spun around, throwing a backfist directly into her side.
K-Kgh!!
Shinobu let out a yelp of pain as she was thrown to the ground, skipping on the beaten street like a rock across water, crashing through a wall and landing on the other side with a thump.
Laying limp on her side, Shinobu found herself gasping for air, eyes wide with confusion as she tried to collect herself, wheezing with the taste blood pooling in her mouth.
H-How... She thought to herself, how the hell did they get me from that angle?!?!?
I swear they I got into their blind spot and was finally able to get past them, but they completely turned the tables before I could react!
Shinobu tried to get up, managing to shuffle up to her knees.
Shit...
She looked down to her right, where she had been struck.
Had I not blocked that strike, I would have been split clean in half....
But, at what cost....?
Shinobu tried to raise her arm, and clicked her tongue.
Huh.....totally broken, just my luck....
Using her blade as a support, the butterfly girl got back to her feet, albeit swaying as she quickly tried to find her footing.
Hah....hah...hah....come on, Shinobu....
You....you need to....
Despite her attempts at remaining conscious, at keeping up the fight, her damage was beginning to take its toll on her, no matter what she tried to tell herself. Her vision faded in and out, the searing pain of her fractured arm was beginning to dull by the second, and her feet felt like heavy boulders chaining her down.
S-....Shit....
She took a step, only to collapse to a knee.
I've...got....maybe another couple of minutes now, haven't I.....before I black out....and this power....goes....away....
In a race against both demon and time, with her foggy eyesight glued to the wrecked tatami mat she stood on, her violet eyes softened, and her lip began to quiver. Her heart ached evermore when he popped back into her mind, his gentle smile plastered on his face.
This.....power you gave me, Sakusa.....it's-.....
Her tears pooled up as the sharp feeling in her chest worsened, and through the dull pattering of the rain over the roof above, the creaking of the wooden structure on its last legs, and the heavy footsteps of Selir and their knights outside approaching fast, she let out a choked whimper.
Everything's....all going to waste....damnit, god....damni-
Shinobu.
Everything stopped around her, and her teary eyes darted upwards.
Standing overtop of her was a tall, slim figure, with long, flowing black locks, and a pair of butterfly clips in her hair.
As quickly as she fell apart, she felt herself pull back together the longer she looked into eyes just like hers.
Shinobu, in a mix of disbelief and pain, only mumbled,
"N-.....Nee-san...."
Kanae, enveloped in misty white, stood overtop of her with a firm expression, looking down at her younger sister without much of anything but a glare in her eyes.
Just what are you doing, Shinobu?
For a second, her big sister's words took her aback.
"A-Ah-.....what do you-"
Get up, Insect Hashira Shinobu Kocho.
The girl in question gawked at her blankly, her tongue stuck in her mouth, unsure of what to say.
"N-Nee-san, I-"
Kanae's expression changed and she frowned at her, her voice deepening.
Don't say another word until you've gotten back up to your feet. You're stronger than this, Shinobu.
Her words almost made her laugh out loud, but Shinobu could only muster a pitiful blood-soaked scoff.
"Pft, me? Strong?" She muttered with a bitter tone, "There hasn't been a single moment in my goddamn life where I could be considered even remotely strong, Nee-san."
"Everyone I try and keep close to me only ends up dying. My Tsuguko, my close friends, you,"
Her eyes softened again.
".....him...."
"I'm so goddamn pathetic that anyone and everyone around me that I care about only ends up dead because I failed to protect them..!"
"I'm weak....j-just admit it, I'm completely and utterly weak...!"
A silence broke out between the two sisters as Shinobu held back her tears from exploding from her eyes, and Kanae only looked down with a furrowed brow and tight-lipped scowl.
After a moment, however, the older girl let out a sigh, and she relaxed, giving a smile in return.
Shinobu, was it not you who made the decision to kill this demon you now face?
Shinobu stayed silent, biting her lip.
Kanae continued on.
Was it not you who took it upon yourself to kill the Second Upper Moon and avenge me, my little sister?
Was it not you who found strength in your love for Sakusa, in the bond you two share?
Kanae knelt down beside Shinobu, taking the younger girl's head and placing it on her shoulder. For a moment, the butterfly girl felt a semblance of warmth in the illusory embrace, and she blinked a few times to see if the feeling would dissipate.
Shinobu....I must tell you,
Sakusa hasn't crossed over to this world just yet.
Her eyes shot open.
"W-W-....What...he's not-....?"
Kanae pulled away, and gave her a soft smile, squeezing her shoulders.
Still in shock and gawking at her, Shinobu let the tears run without any resistance.
Kanae nodded.
Mh, even if he was standing in front of Death itself, I doubt that stubborn idiot would go down, fufu~.
The wave of relief that washed over Shinobu was indescribable, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing even if she tried. She even felt a smile come up as she let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding, tilting her head up to the roof above.
"Ah.....thank god...."
Kanae's expression quickly changed though, and her tone grew serious again.
However, Shinobu, listen here. That doesn't mean he's not still in critical condition. You need to act fast, or else you both will die. You still have time to save him.
It is your duty to save him, as a Hashira, and as his lover.
"A-As.....his lover...?" Shinobu murmured. Just hearing those words alone brought a foreign feeling to her chest, just the idea of having that title all to herself carried so much weight and emotions.
Kanae nodded again.
He loves you, just as you love him, no?
He placed his trust in you the very moment his lips touched yours. You have a responsibility as a lover to protect him when he needs it most, just as he does to you.
I have no doubt that he would give his life for you a thousand times over, and you must face this threat with the exact same strength of will, or you will never be able to overcome it, Shinobu.
Kanae stood back up, taking her hands off of her little sister. Shinobu seemed to snap out of her reverie with this motion, however, and she limply tried to pull her back, to no avail, her hands only slipping through Kanae's wrists.
Before fading away into the night, Kanae gave her one last smile, and said,
Just as he found strength in protecting you until the very end, now is a time where you must do the same.
Get up, and keep fighting. Not just for yourself.
With every fleeing step Kanae took away from her, she faded away, before eventually she fully disappeared in a whisp, leaving Shinobu on her own, mouth awkwardly agape, frozen like a statue.
K-Kanae-Nee-san.....she-....
She woke herself up, suddenly, with a slap to her cheeks.
Hmph! Damnit, Shinobu, what the hell are you doing wallowing like this?!
She's right, she's right, she's right, she's right!
She shook her head up, and with one large push and some help from her needle blade, the butterfly girl shakily got back to her feet, letting out a groan when a shot of pain from her ribcage nearly caused her to capitulate and keel over.
Tch, sorry, Saku-san, I almost let those persistent thoughts get the better of me....
Nevertheless, she stood up, her breathing heavy, but resolve firm.
Shinobu could sense the presence of the three demons all closing in onto her, but she calmed herself down, relaxing her pace as much as she could.
Pheww.......right. What to do, what to do...
She closed her eyes.
I can say with confidence that I have barely any more time left with this mark, and if I spend any more doing nothing, I'll only be digging my own grave....
Though, at the same time, I'm not Saku-san, I can't rush in blindly and expect anything but a quick death, I need to come up with a plan, and fast.......
The first issue to come to mind was how she found herself in her predicament in the first place.
The primary thing I need to be aware of is how the demon read my moves and sent me flying, if I take another one of those, it's game over.....
Her eyebrows furrowed in thought.
Just what was that....they hadn't managed to come close to reading me from their blind spots, so unless they were bluffing and taking my strikes directly, which is unlikely, then it would mean that they're not predicting where I am going to attack from, but something else....
Come on, Shinobu, think!
She jolted when she heard the clanking of the knights' footsteps right outside, gripping her blade tighter.
Oh, shit! It's-
She froze, her jaw dropping open.
It's......the knights......
From outside, standing further back than the duo of summons, Selir watched as the Umbra Knights gripped their blades, and pulled back for a heavy swing. Their eyes widened when a flash of violet washed over one, though, and their head burst into a puddle of black on the ground.
They turned to the left, and faced Shinobu down. The butterfly girl, albeit wincing and visibly struggling to remain upright, kept her blade focused on the insect demon before them, trying her very best to ignore the pain of her broken arm.
The other knight demon, seemingly unfazed by the other's defeat, silently moved to Selir, standing by.
Panting, Shinobu celebrated the small epiphany that had come over her.
I've.....I've got it....!
Their vision...it's connected!
Peering at the remaining Umbra Knight, and crouched into her forward stance once more.
The demon can see through the eyes of their summons too! That's why they could see every move I made!
I've got to do something about that last demon, and fast!
As Shinobu scrambled for a plan of attack, Selir and the last knight entered their forms for battle; the Insect Demon brandished their claws and unfolded their wings, the Umbra Knight twirled their grandsword and grabbed it with both hands, swinging it over their head and leaning forward.
Unbeknownst to her, Selir, in their own internal struggles, only saw a furious, undying rage bubbling from within.
Kill.....Kill.....Kill her, Kill Muzan......Kill Sephir.....
For You, Akemi......
In Selir's mind, fleeting, repeating visions of Akemi's smiles, his wincing expression as he trips and falls, the quivering lip he would bite to hold back his tears when his beloved brother would come back bruised from a fight, every single memory he held dear to him was warped, forced through his mind in a translucent lens; all the constant sequences ever ended with Akemi's lifeless, unmoving corpse on the street pavement.
Each, and every time.
Again, and again.
Every day that went by, filled with moments of a past life he wished not to retain any memory of, was but a mere fraction second in actuality. Caught in a loop he had no escape from, Kuma Hisashi suffered on, through the death of his brother, again, and again.
This only strengthened his desire to kill, his desire to avenge, his desire to grow stronger.
To grow stronger as a demon, to grow stronger as Selir.
And from this darkness swirling inside of him, the iridescent glow of a feigned smile emerged.
Seething, heaving and snarling like the animal he had become, the Insect Demon roared, and with it, came a swarm of tendrils from the black, reaching high into the night.
Shinobu couldn't hold herself back from gawking out loud, saying, "Geh- w-what the fuck?!"
Swirling through the air high enough to breach the storm's clouds, the tendrils twisted and contorted, and, as quickly as they soared above the downpour, the swirling mass of shadow raced back down to earth, smashing into Selir, shaking the ground and sending a shockwave directly into the Insect Hashira's face.
K-Kgh! Shinobu shielded her eyes from the wind produced by this burst of energy; D-Damnit, another boost of power in the endgame, what a fucking cliché!
As the tendrils finally subsided, fully absorbed into Selir, the Insect Demon's eyes flashed a vibrant, rejuvenated gold hue, and a thrashing violet aura surrounded the figure cloaked in black.
Shinobu could make out the demon mutter under their breath.
"This....all of this....is for you, Akemi."
With those final words, the demon rushed forward, slamming into Shinobu, who just barely managed to put a guard up, getting sent flying down the street with a grunt.
W-Woah, shit!
She quickly grinded to a halt, parrying a following blow by the Umbra Knight, ducking under another slash by Selir by the skin of her teeth. Without a moment's hesitation, she dove back into the conflict. Shinobu blocked another attack by the Umbra Knight, kicking the greatsword off to the side injecting three separate doses of poison along the demon's arm, watching as the corrosive mixture quickly ate through the summon's arm with a smirk.
Got it!
A short-lived victory was cut even shorter as Shinobu was nearly caught by another shadow-cloaked slash, evading the attack with a yelp and unleashing a flurry of incessant thrusts, going blow-for-blow with the Insect Demon.
Now, I need to do it now!
I need to kill them now, while the Umbra Knight is still recovering!
Shinobu ducked under a roundhouse kick and parried the follow-up punch with her needleblade, wincing as the demon's knuckle caught her cheek, slicing it open.
Tch, ignore it, you welp! She screamed to herself, refusing to end her assault, You're not just doing this for yourself, your own selfish reasons anymore!
Shinobu leapt past a winding sweep of shadow that cut the roof of another building off, jamming her blade into the demon's shoulder and injecting her poison deep into the tissue. As the limb blew off Selir's body, her pursuit did not relent.
Selir's very own panic began to set in, their surprise evident in their face.
S-She...she got me....!?!
As a demon would, however, their arm regrew nearly instantly, and their concern dissipated.
No matter, you're stronger than this, as you should be!
You're fighting not for yourself, you're going to burn everything to the ground, for Akemi, for Akemi, for Akemi!!
Before long, she found herself pushing the demon onto the back-pedal, piercing their chest with a thrust.
Do it, Do it, Do it now, Shinobu!
Selir screamed.
Endure it, for fuck's sake!!!
Selir grabbed the blade, and snapped it clean.
Damnit! Shinobu clicked her tongue, leaping past the nigh-endless wave of black tendrils that followed her. Leaping high into the air, her thoughts only pushed her further, as did Selir's the demon's eyes burning gold with unbridled anger.
Kill her, kill her, kill her!!
Shinobu stumbled as she reached the ground, but did not pause, diving right back into the demon's range without hesitation.
Move, faster, faster, faster!
For-
For-
"FOR SAKUSA!"
"FOR AKEMI!" Selir raised both hands above their head, and slammed them into the ground, and, from a wide river of murky black that burst from the ground, came a horde of demonic summons; an endless swarm of shortswords wielded by the Pawns; the rampaging claws of the Rook; the robust, heavy swings of the greatswords held by the Umbra Knights. With a vehement screech, Selir spoke the words;
"BLOOD DEMON ART: UMBRA KING'S MASSACRE!!!"
Shinobu's heart did not waver. In the face of an attack that swamped the street from side-to-side, all she could truly do was rush forward, head-on, using the dying embers of her power to their fullest extent,
her fastest attack of the battle, filled with her most potent mustard gas poison.
"DANCE OF THE BEE STING; TRUE FLUTTER!"
She burst through the attack in a violet frenzy of butterflies, causing a savage chain of explosions as her venom ate through the summons like fire through paper.
"UWAHHHHH!!!!!"
Selir entered Shinobu Kocho's range, and time slowed.
For you, the one I have grown to love,
I will achieve the unthinkable.
Her knees buckled, and she lunged forward, bridging the little distance between them so that mere millimetres separated her and the demon's body.
The timing.... it's perfect.
She took one step forward, past the demon's last-ditch slash at her head.
Dance of the Giant Killer; Ephemeral!
Shinobu Kocho, Insect Hashira, lover of Sakusa Kari,
Pierced the glowing eye of Kuma Hisashi, Archangel of the Seventh Day, older brother to Akemi Hisashi, with one flawless thrust of her shattered needle blade.
Silence. Deafening, cold, silence.
Not even the comfort of the rain seemed to delight in the situation at hand, as it too ceased, and moved on.
As if frozen in time, the wave of summons remained motionless, unmoving as the poison withered them away.
As if it were ice melting away, the murky black enveloping the Insect Demon began to drip down, burning away into a whisp of smoke as it hit the ground.
Shinobu, despite a fixed expression, muttered, "It's....it's....over...."
Her gaze softened, however, when, as the black slowly peeled away, revealing a young man, not far from her in age, weeping softly as he held a young child in his arms, looking down ever so fondly. It seemed as though, despite her broken blade embedded in his eye, and his body withering away into the calmed winds of the night, the young man turned his attention to her, his face rife with regret.
He spoke to her, a broken voice her heart grew heavy for.
"I-I....I never wanted any of this....."
He kneeled, the back of his brown locks already withering away.
She joined him, collapsing to the ground, releasing her grip on her blade.
Their eyes met one last time.
With the dissipating of the clouds, the moonlight revealed itself again casting a glow to the back of the young man.
Faced with the shimmering glow of a moonlit sky, Shinobu felt a tear fall from her cheek.
Kuma looked down at Akemi one last time, brushing the matted locks from his forehead with a teary smile on his lips.
He murmured, "Forgive me, Akemi.....I hurt you, so, so much....."
Kuma leaned down, and kissed his forehead.
"I alone will carry your pain from now on....you will go to a better place than I, I promise you."
Akemi's ashes floating into the sky, and, as Kuma raised his hands to the embracing glow of the moonlight, he smiled. "Thank you....."
The ashes of his soul, what remained of his body, seeped into the ground, vanishing in a faint orange glow, dissipating as fleeting embers.
He turned back to Shinobu.
"Young lady," Kuma said, "please, when you die, and you find peace in the afterlife,"
"Tell Akemi Hisashi that his brother could not be happier, fighting for him once more."
With those last words, he was gone.
She was alone, on her knees, her broken blade clattering to the ground.
Shinobu turned her head to the sky, looking up at the moon.
I....did it...
She collapsed to her side, vision hazing, feeling in her body slowly dulling into numbness.
She could faintly hear the sounds of approaching voices, clamoring over one another in a myriad of jumbled words she couldn't make out.
Foggy blotches of red moved around in front of her, and she felt the sensation of being lifted by several hands, and the softness of fabric beneath her. She was lifted once more, and the rocking rhythm of footsteps swept her into sleepiness.
The commotion could wait; she merely needed a brief nap to gather her bearings, and, then, she could go find Sakusa.
She would tell him of her love for him; before she lost the chance to again, she would let everything out. She would reciprocate his affection to the fullest of her abilities, she would taste him on her lips time and time again, stroke his chin and relish in the feeling of his arms on her waist, run her fingers through his locks of beautiful crimson, she would let him know from this point onward that she was unbearably in love with him.
Shinobu smiled faintly. In mere moments, she would let him know.
A slumber managed to capture her in her weakness, and with that, consciousness was no longer with her.
Atop the roof Shinobu last saw him,
Were the shattered, fragmented blades, and the long swarm of black chains, undone and loose on the tiles,
and an eyepatch.