Shinobu struck first.
She and Douma fought their way through the narrow corridors of the Pit and into a large, spacious room. Shinobu stabbed continuously, pulling back and springing forward like a wild preying mantis.
Despite her speed, Douma blocked every single one of her attacks, laughing as he did. This only made Shinobu more furious.
"Hahahahaha!" Douma cackled. "After all the preparation you've made in the last few years, this is the result? You should be ashamed of yourself!"
Shinobu paused to catch her breath. "Who says that I'm not?"
Douma smiled at her witty remark. "Good question."
Shinobu stabbed again, but Douma managed to trap the tip of her blade in between the slits of his fan. He then spun around and whacked Shinobu into a wall, causing her to yelp out a high-pitched ouch and fall on her knees.
Douma kneeled down and looked at Shinobu's miserable face.
"I must say," Douma said. "you were much more impressive than your sister."
Shinobu grinned behind her messy hair. "Allow me to impress you a little more."
Suddenly, a cloud of purple mist puffed out of Shinobu's palm, pointed right at Douma's face. Douma recoiled and grabbed his own face in pain, a few short giggles here and there to satisfy his masochistic side.
Shinobu stood up and blew her hair out of her eyes. She threw away the empty shell of her wisteria stun bomb (which was also heavily inspired by Urokodaki's hwatcha arrow, only scaled down). Seeing Douma's temporary blindness as an opportunity, she sent her Nichirin blade straight through Douma's kidney. Douma screamed in pain (and pleasure), and stumbled back, pulling the blade's tip out of his body.
"Ara-ara, Douma." Shinobu teased childishly. "It seems like I drew first blood."
Shinobu proceeded to stab Douma continuously, each one deeper than the last. Douma attempted to block her strikes, but the pain of wisteria in his eyes made his movements sluggish and confused, like a drunken man trying to aim a pistol.
Eventually, Shinobu stepped back and admired the masterpiece she had personally painted. A shivering, vulnerable, WEAK Douma, clutching his wounds with purple nerves visible on his throat.
He was still smiling.
I'm gonna cut that smile out of you...
"Had enough?" Shinobu asked cheerily.
"No..." Douma replied, a huge grin present on his face. "Just getting used to your fighting style."
Douma held both of his fans in front of him and thrust them against each other, combining their handles to form a circular shield.
(Kinda like this)
"Clever." Shinobu said sarcastically.
She thrust her blade again at Douma, but this time, there was no clear place to stab. Even as Douma was a bit woozy from wisteria, as long as he held his shield in front of him, Shinobu would have no way of attacking.
Eventually, Shinobu grew tired and pulled back. Douma let out a menacing laugh.
"What's the matter, Butterfly Hashira?"
Shinobu grit her teeth. She knew that as long as Douma had that shield, she wasn't gonna be able to stab him. He was quick enough to block attacks from behind.
Which means the only way to defeat him was by destroying his only line of defense.
Dance of the Butterfly: Caprice...
Shinobu sprinted towards Douma's golden shield, blade pointed straight at it.
SIXFOLD!
Shinobu, with all her might, pierced through the shield multiple times, disassembling it. Her strikes, being sixfold, were so powerful that each and every stab was as devastating as the Dance of the Bee Sting, only being repeated multiple times.
Douma's shield fell in pieces to the floor, broken beyond repair. Shinobu turned around and grinned.
She won.
"What are you smiling at?" Douma asked, smirking. He then pointed at Shinobu's hand. Confused, she looked at it.
Her Nichirin blade had shattered in the attack. Without a blade, she was basically defenseless.
Oh crap... oh crap...
Shinobu stepped back and laid her hands on the shoji door behind her.
"Well?" Douma said. "What're you waiting for? Kill me."
Shinobu glared at Douma menacingly.
"Or maybe you're too weak to do that?" Douma whispered.
Damn you, Douma...
Shinobu escaped through the door and ran down the winding halls of the Pit.
"Fly, little butterfly!" Douma shouted sadistically from behind her. "Fly!"
. . .
Tanjiro stood parallel to Akihiro, his hand hovering near the handle of his blade, which was still in it's scabbard.
"We don't have to do this." Tanjiro said.
"You know it's too late for that." Akihiro scoffed, walking towards Tanjiro.
Eventually, his walk sped into a sprint as he swung his blade at Tanjiro, which he dodged easily. Spinning his heel, Akihiro twisted his body and performed an overhead strike, which Tanjiro also dodged.
He's just as fast as Urokodaki-sensei... Akihiro thought. Cheeky bastard!
Akihiro swung again just a little too slow, as Tanjiro managed to grapple his arm and throw him down to the ground, knocking the air out of his lungs.
"Yield!" Tanjiro sneered. "It'll be better for the both of us!"
"For you, maybe!" Akihiro said. He kicked Tanjiro away from him and rolled back up on his feet. Tanjiro did the same.
"Draw your sword, dumbass!" Akihiro yelled.
"That would make me seem like I want to kill you." Tanjiro replied.
Akihiro lowered his katana. "You don't?"
"Maybe I do."
In a flash, Tanjiro pulled out his blade and sliced Akihiro's neck halfway. The cold metal of Nichirin caused Akihiro to completely freeze, not moving a muscle.
"Now yield." Tanjiro said. "You still have a chance to redeem yourself! You still... you still have a chance to reject hate."
Akihiro stared straight at Tanjiro's eyes, glaring.
"NEVER!"
Akihiro removed Tanjiro's blade and swung his katana up, down, and around furiously, trying to inflict some kind of injury. Tanjiro parried his strikes to the best of his ability, remembering the times when he sparred with Urokodaki-sensei.
He even fights like Urokodaki-sensei! Akihiro thought. Who is this guy?!
Soon, Akihiro's swings became wider, heavier, and slower. Despite Akihiro's throat being open to attack, Tanjiro never attempted to strike him.
"Come on, what are you waiting for?!" Akihiro yelled. "I'm wide open!"
Tanjiro just shook his head and held his blade in a defensive stance.
Akihiro swung his katana again, and again, and again, until his blade blunted from the sheer force and ferocity of his strikes.
Eventually, Akihiro stopped swinging. He dropped on his knees and took deep breaths, tears silently flowing from his eyes. He didn't cry, but tears still fell.
Tanjiro, pitying him, put back his blade and kneeled before Akihiro, putting his hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay..." Tanjiro said reassuringly. "You don't have to fight anymore."
They both stayed like this for a moment, smiling at the pleasant peace of silence.
Then that silence was broken.
"Blood Demon Art..." Akihiro muttered under his breath.
Oh, no.
"SOULS OF THE DAMNED!!!"
Tanjiro stumbled back and looked at Akihiro. The broken kitsune mask that was tied to his chest was now merged. Akihiro took the mask and placed it on his face, it's eyeholes glowing white.
"Rise..." Akihiro muttered, now wearing the kitsune mask. "Students of the Water Hashira."
Four shadows rose out of the floor and stood beside Akihiro. All of them wore kitsune masks with glowing eyes, holding swords. Each of them had a specific eye color, red, blue, green, and yellow.
They were only a few of the many souls of Urokodaki's deceased students that were slaughtered in the Final Selection.
Akihiro stepped forward and pointed his katana at Tanjiro.
"TAKE YOUR REVENGE UPON HIS LEGACY!"
. . .
Shinobu ran through the Pit's corridors until she reached a dead end. No door, no other pathway, just a blank wall.
This place is a damn maze!
Shinobu turned around to find a different path, but she could hear footsteps coming towards her. In an act of desperation, she hid behind the turn of the corridor. She took out one of her wisteria stun bombs and peeked at the corridor.
Douma still isn't weak enough! I'll need to pump 5 more bombs in him before my body's wisteria content is lethal...
Shinobu checked how many bombs she had left.
5 left.
Better make every bomb count.
She could hear loud footsteps from behind her. Douma's shadow bobbed up and down, menacingly.
Here we go!
Shinobu tossed the bomb at Douma and faced him.
He wasn't there.
Instead, what was standing in the hallway was a small ice clone, completely unaffected by the wisteria cloud.
I messed up...
"Hello, little butterfly..."
Shinobu turned and gasped. Douma was standing right beside her.
She sprinted away, her heart pounding and her legs numb with pain. She had just wasted her wisteria bomb, and now there was no way to kill Douma.
Shinobu soon reached a hallway with shoji doors on both sides. Desperate, she reached for the closest door and hid, keeping herself as silent as she could. As she hugged herself in the corner, she could hear Douma's footsteps so close to her ear, his silhouette visible through the shoji door.
"You can run, Shinobu..." Douma shouted, looking around with his devilish grin. "But trying to hide in MY house? Now that's just foolish."
Suddenly, Douma opened the door farthest from Shinobu. Them he opened another one. And another one.
The sounds were slowly getting closer to her door.
Shinobu checked herself to find anything she could use to inject wisteria into him. As devastating as her stun bombs were, a single injection would be more than enough to weaken Douma to a sufficient state, as injections guarantee the entire dose of wisteria to be delivered into the body, whereas wisteria clouds scatter around the air, wasting more wisteria.
As she desperately searched her haori, her fingers suddenly brushed on something she hasn't thought of in a long time.
Her hairpin.
She took out the two broken pieces and inspected them. The broken ends of the pin were quite sharp, sharp enough to even pierce through multiple layers of clothing. If she coated it with wisteria, maybe it could even pierce demon skin.
Shinobu squeezed the two pieces, tears falling from her eyes.
Kanae... I'm sorry, but... I think I'm going to die today...
Shinobu reached for the purple ends of her hair and squeezed, dripping liquid wisteria unto the sharp edge of the hairpin pieces. She pulled out a few threads of hair from her scalp and used them to tie her remaining wisteria bombs on her hairpins. Two bombs on each piece. The footsteps were only a few meters away now, and she had no time to waste.
She stood before the shoji door, gripping the hairpin pieces tightly.
I'll see you soon... Kanae.
Douma slid open the shoji door.
"Peek-a-boo! My little bu-"
Douma didn't get to finish his sentence, as Shinobu lunged at him and stabbed both of his shoulders, knocking both of them to the ground.
That's for my sister!
Shinobu pulled the hairpin out of his shoulder, pinned his right arm with her left hand, and drove the hairpin deep in his ribcage, the two stun bombs exploding inside the stab wound from the force of the strike.
That's for Rika!
Shinobu then pulled the other hairpin piece out of Douma's left shoulder and slashed at his face, creating a wide, ugly cut.
And that's for all the people you've experimented on!
Taking a breath, she looked at the edges of the hairpins.
All the wisteria was gone.
Shinobu relaxed her body and sighed. One of the hairpin pieces still had stun bombs wrapped on them, but she didn't care.
She had finally beaten him.
Douma shot his hand out and wrapped his fingers around Shinobu's throat, but she didn't react.
"Y'know, you keep surprising me..." Douma said, a crazy look on his face. He let go of Shinobu's throat and grabbed her wrists.
"Let go of your weapons."
Shinobu dropped her hairpin pieces.
"Good girl." Douma teased.
"Go to hell." Shinobu shot back.
As if to reply to her witty remark, Douma started absorbing her.
Finally...
Shinobu closed her eyes and accepted her fate. In a flash, all of her memories flooded back to her. She remembered the time when she and Kanae took Kanao away and raised her. She remembered how stubborn and frustrated she was with her. Now, look at Kanao. Obedient. Capable. Perfect. She remembered all of the sweet moments with Aoi and the girls. Aoi always prioritized the lives of her patients above hers. That girl never got ANY sleep, but she didn't buckle under that responsibility. She always kept her youthful side alive.
Kanao... Aoi... Stay strong while I'm gone...
As her consciousness drifted into limbo, she could see her sister standing in front of her.
. . .
Shinobu opened her eyes. She was standing in a sea of purple liquified wisteria, stretching across the horizon for eternity. As she looked down at her reflection, she noticed that she was wearing a pure white haori and with much shorter hair, her hairpin back on her head, not a scratch of damage on it.
She looked exactly like she was when Kanae was still alive.
Shinobu looked up and saw Kanae, with her original haori, standing there with a smile
"Is this heaven?" Shinobu asked.
"Yeah..." Kanae said. "Pretty underwhelming, huh?"
"No." Shinobu said. She stepped towards Kanae and took both of her hands. "It's absolutely perfect."
Shinobu, tears in her eyes, embraced Kanae tightly, quietly sobbing on her sister's shoulder. She had finally accomplished her goal. All those years of putting on a mask, trying to be like her sister, trying to keep the Butterfly Estate the way it was years ago, had finally payed off. She didn't have to worry about life anymore. She didn't have to replay that dreadful day in her mind over and over again.
For the first time in years, she was in the arms of her sister.
Shinobu pulled back and smiled. It was a genuine smile, one that could make any person's heart melt. "So now... you'll be with me forever, right?"
A feeling of dread fell on both of them. Kanae didn't answer the question. Instead, she looked down and stayed silent.
"Kanae..." Shinobu muttered. "What's wrong?"
Kanae looked back at her sister. "Shinobu... are you sure you want to die now?"
Shinobu felt a stab in her heart as those words came out of Kanae's mouth.
Am I sure? AM I SURE?! Of course I'm sure! I've been working my whole life for this! For you...
"What do you mean..." Shinobu asked.
"I've missed you too, Shinobu, but..." Kanae said. "You can't stay with me."
Shinobu's eyes widened. "You're kidding, right? Every day, I've took wisteria, I've trained hard, I've strategized, I've squeezed every last bit of myself just to get here! Now you're telling me that... that I should go back?!"
"Shinobu... you don't know how hard it is for me to tell you that..."
"You don't know hard it was for me to get here!"
"But-"
Shinobu grabbed Kanae and glared at her.
"OR WHAT?!"
Shinobu immediately realized what she was doing and pulled back, putting her hands over her mouth.
She had just yelled at her own sister.
Shinobu, overwhelmed with grief and shame and dropped on her knees, sobbing. Kanae kneeled next to her and embraced her.
"I'm sorry..." Shinobu said, in between her sobs and gasps. "I'm sorry..."
"Hey..." Kanae muttered, her soothing voice warming Shinobu's heart. "Remember that day?"
"What day?"
"The day I died?"
"...yeah..."
"I remembered you. You were kneeling down, holding me with tears in your eyes. You were so... sad. It was painful enough to die, but it hurt even more to see you alone."
Shinobu looked up at Kanae, her eyes resembling that of a teary-eyed kitten.
"What do you think will happen to the people that love you when you pass away? What kind of grief and anguish do you think they'll feel?"
Shinobu shook her head. "I've settled all my relationships. There's nobody that I haven't-"
Mitsuri. Iguro.
Giyuu.
Shinobu realized that, after all this time, she never had the chance to say sorry after what she had said to them.
And now that she was gone, all they would ever remember was that rage-filled Shinobu, shouting about how she hates them.
"You killed a child, Shinobu." Kanae said. "You killed a child because you were consumed by rage."
Shinobu glanced back at Kanae. "I-I thought she... but I never meant it..."
Kanae smiled. "It's not too late to go back. You can still make a choice here."
Shinobu looked back at Kanae. "But if I go... I'll never see you again..."
"You don't have to see me again."
"But everything I've done-"
"Shinobu, look at me!"
Kanae grabbed Shinobu's arms and looked at her straight in the eye.
"You need to let go of your past. Don't let my death be in vain. Don't let your anger make you somebody you aren't. You must live, Shinobu! That's what I told you when you were almost absorbed by Douma, and that's what I told you before I died."
Kanae paused. She replayed that moment in her mind, then let out a slight chuckle.
"That's what the Water Hashira said too."
Shinobu smiled too.
"He said that he loved me..." Shinobu said.
"Do you believe him?" Kanae asked.
"I... I don't know."
"Do you love him back?"
Shinobu paused. She had never thought of romantic feelings before, but now that she was asked about it, the only thing that played in her head was the moments when she verbally assaulted Giyuu's ego. It was fun to use him as a punching bag, but she never meant anything she said. No matter how harsh, her heart always had nothing but sympathy for him.
Shinobu looked down and smiled.
"Maybe."
"Hey, are you two done yapping?!" a strange voice said.
Shinobu looked over Kanae's shoulder and let out an audible gasp.
It was Sanemi.
"Ah, yeah, we were just wrapping up." Kanae stood up and walked over to Sanemi, kissing him on the cheek. The two just smiled, as if they've done that before.
"YOU'RE DEAD?!" Shinobu yelled.
"What, I thought you all hated me?" Sanemi shot back.
"Relax, airhead." Kanae said. "Nobody ACTUALLY hated you."
"But you love me... right?"
"Always."
They both shared a brief kiss as Shinobu watched in amazement. Somehow, their two extremely different personalities resulted in the cutest couple ever.
Kanae looked back at Shinobu. "Go now. From what I can see, Giyuu is looking for you. He's in the Pit, desperately searching."
Shinobu's eyes widened.
He was looking for me?!
"Hey, slickjaw." Sanemi said. "Before your first kiss, eat some salmon daikon beforehand. The guy loves that stuff."
Kanae chuckled at this, then looked at Shinobu once more. "Find him, Shinobu. He needs you, and you need him."
Shinobu looked at the two of them, her eyes watery. "I'll miss you..."
Kanae smiled. "Me too."
Shinobu quickly turned and ran through the sea of wisteria. The vast size of the sea didn't falter Shinobu's strength.
No matter how many times I fail, no matter how many people I lose...
I MUST LIVE! FOR THEIR SAKE!
. . .
In a sudden turn of events, Shinobu ripped herself out of Douma's grasp. Douma was surprised by this odd change in behavior and stumbled back.
"What's with the change?" Douma asked. "Dipped your toes in death's waters and thought you were too good for it?"
Shinobu stood up weakly and smiled.
"No... I just realized that dying by your hand would be too pathetic!"
Shinobu turned and sprinted away from Douma. She wasn't angry anymore. She didn't seek revenge.
She sought life.
Before Shinobu could reach a shoji door to hide in, she was interrupted by one of Douma's ice clones, which tripped her. She kicked the clone with all her might, but eventually more came, and she was trapped.
Douma walked up to her, giggling in fascination.
"You never cease to amaze, Shinobu."
Douma grew a claw from his hand. Shinobu struggled desperately, but against the ice clones, she was powerless.
"But your story ends here. Sayonara, Shino-"
In a flash, all of his ice clones shattered. Their leftover shards spread all over the floor.
Douma stepped back in shock. "How did you do that?!"
"Wrong question." a voice said.
Douma turned around in anger, but was quickly left speechless.
Standing in front of him was...
The Water Hashira, Giyuu Tomioka.
"The question is..." Giyuu said, taking his stance. "WHO did it."
"You..." Douma stuttered. "You actually came back... how did you do it?"
"Like this."
Giyuu dashed forward and tackled Douma through the shoji door on the side of the corridor, which led to a large, almost colossal hall. The two men stood up and brushed the dust off their shoulders.
"Such a bold move." Douma said. "This is gonna be interesting..."
"I'll make sure of that." Giyuu said. He held his blade in front of him, ready to strike at any moment. Douma took a martial arts stance, grinning in excitement.
The final battle was about to begin.
END OF CHAPTER 20
YOOOOO THIS CHAPTER WAS CRAAAZY!!!!
So that was chapter 20! I actually planned on ending the story on this chapter, but I think Giyuu saving Shinobu was a really good note to end on (and you know how I like to tease yall with a fight scene for the next chapter 😏), so I decided to end the chapter here.
The next chapter is coming tomorrow, and will probably be shorter, since its so close to the end. As of now, lets celebrate my re-arrival and this absoloute BEHEMOTH of a chapter. (3,000+ FREAKING WORDS! WTH?!)
Also, I heard that Stephen King writes 6 pages a day. One page of his novels is usually 3000 words, and I usually write half of that every day, 2000 words. But NOW, I've written 3500 words more than that limit, so you could say I'm BETTER than Stephen King. (Take that, old bastard!)
Jk love u, Stephen King 😘
Anyhow, what did you think of the chapter? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Until next time, Arivederchi!
-Mr. Veyrum
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